ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

Hey guys! I’ve been seeing a lot of people do this, so I thought i should do it too! Here’s a little info about me and my WIP’s!

About Me:

I’m Aimee! they/them, bisexual, mid-20s, and graduated college with a degree in Spanish! My interests include creative writing, trying to read, and art (mostly drawing). If you want to see me reblog stuff and occasionally post art, my main is @artsietango :)

Published Works!

Embrace & Unravel - Bottlecap Press

Embrace & Unravel is about trying to find yourself in other people, finding the right people, and convincing yourself you’ve moved on. These poems and short essay in this work explore the different feelings of angst and longing associated with what we consider love, what love looks like when it’s what we need, and the feelings associated with figuring life out.

BUY HERE

My current WIPS are:

The Questing Academy (Fantasy):

The first book I’m working on is The Quest for the Book of Balance, and The Questing Academy is the series name. 8 teenagers are accepted into a school that shows them that reality is more magical than they could have imagined. But what comes with the light of magic is also paralleled by a slow rising darkness, turned by the tides of an sorceress. It’s definitely not the first year they were expecting!

WIP INTRO

White Teeth (Young Adult):

As far as I’m aware, this might be a standalone, but it also may have a sister album. And it may be more of a passion project than something I plan to publish. Harper Coaste is 19 and ready to get out of town, but she has some old scores to settle and bridges to burn before she goes. Will her internal rage and spite destroy her though? Or will the consequences of her actions change her story forever?

Metal (Science Fiction):

A crew of eight find that the ship that they operate and call home is being junked, but only a few of them are making it onto the new craft. Throughout their different POV’s, they try to figure out why their government has some of them blacklisted, and the real reason why their Mother ship is being junked.

Short Stories (on Tumblr):

As Clear As The Sun Speaks

Draconis Decisions

The Answer

Vivika’s Bones

The Color Yellow (a QBOB one shot)

I have so many more stories I want to work on, but these are the main four that I think are a good start for now. I’ll be sure to update more often with what I’m working on and my progress! And please feel free to include me in writing ask games and ask me questions about my wips!

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[jv]

Folks, backup your Tumblrs, for real this time

[jv]

To be clear, I don't have any news about any impending doom. But I've heard a bit more about what's going on with staff after the layoff of last week, and there are even less people than I thought still working here.

I don't think even the current staff know what's going to happen, but honestly, I don't see how the high ups could even pretend to intend to keep this place open while virtually unstaffed.

[jv]

And of course, if the most despicable thing happens, you can find me at @javi@goblin.band from any fediverse platform 🤷

[plaidos]

for reference, OP is a former employee of Tumblr who tries to keep up to date with tumblr’s inner workings. please back your blogs up.

[butchlinkle]

In your blog settings you have the ability to initiate a blog export, and this will generate a backup for your blog.

Fair warning though, if you've been on the platform for a long time this archive is likely to be quite hefty in file size. This blog I have had for 5 years with 22k posts, and the export from tumblr came to be 48GB. My previous blog I made in 2011 and has 95k posts, so needless to say I did not use tumblr's built in export to back that one up.

If you want more control over exactly what you back up from your blog, I recommend that you use tumblr-utils instead. It allows you to backup specific tags, post types, and to ignore posts that you did not create (reblogs where you've added a comment count as a post you created, to be clear).

To use it:

1. download and install python 2.7
2. download tumblr-utils
3. create an application on tumblr to get an api key
4. extract the tumblr-utils zip and open the tumblr_backup.py file in notepad
5. search for "API" and paste in your OAuth consumer key
6. then go back to the folder where you extracted tumblr-utils and choose open folder in terminal / command prompt, or type cmd.exe in the address bar while inside the folder

now in the window that opens it should show the current path, and you can type "py -2 .\tumblr_backup.py [your options] [your blog name]" and hit enter. Example:

Backing up just my original posts from this blog with this command came to 632MB rather than 48GB, and also gave me the option to save my posts in JSON format which will be useful for converting my posts to a new format for self hosting.

On that note I'm currently looking into figuring out a simple (and ideally free) way of self hosting a static site blog that utilises activitypub, and also converting my old posts to re-host on said blog.

This post series by maho.dev on implementing activitypub with any static site is my primary source of guidance atm if you also want to try figure that out yourself, as well as having an explanation for why you'd even want to do this if you don't already know

but if tumblr goes down before I get things sorted and write up a post about it then i'll be reporting back on it via my bsky, mastodon, and toyhouse accounts

if you dont have an account on any of these I'll also be sharing an update via my personal site's RSS feed, link of which includes an explanation of what RSS is and some feed readers you can use, I highly recommend checking it out as getting a feed reader is going to be the best way you can stay connected with people if they scatter across the internet!

tldr: download tumblr-utils to backup your blog more efficiently, introduce yourself to RSS and get a feed reader to stay connected with people, consider saving mine so you can find out how to self host your blog later if tumblr goes down

[hms-no-fun]

i have already personally backed up all of my tumblr posts but this is a good reminder for everyone else

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[srosehh]

people who write fics. how do you feel about comments on super old ones you wrote like 2+ years ago

[cha-melodius]

Bringing this out of the tags:

A fic written 2 years ago is NOT OLD. Two years is nothing. Two years ago was yesterday.

Also I don't care if a fic is 10 years old. Leave those comments!! Even if you think the author isn't active, or moved on from the fandom, I promise you it will make them smile.

[texasdreamer01]

[ellowynthenotking]

I commented on a fic that was 11 years old, and there was already a response by the time I got up the next morning. Comment on the fics, please, comment on them, I promise it'll make the author's day either way

[vashtijoy]

I got a comment on a fic of mine this week that just read "TWO THOUSAND AND NINE?"

I replied to it within seconds, of course. someone commented on my fic

[tonyglowheart]

As @pentapoda put it in this post:

(transcript: Every time someone comments on my old fic, i feel like I'm an old actor getting paid residuals. Appreciate you, old-fic-commenters. Key source of emotional income, tbh.)

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[howtokillavampire]

but what if i read one of your fanfics and then went to your ao3 accounts and read all of your fanfics and left a comment on every single chapter of every single one and you got spam emails from all of my kudos and comments and it made you smile, what then? what if i brighten your day with my words like you did mine, what then???

[idkhowtobenormal]

marrage

[wynnyfryd]

weddning

[steviewashere]

honmoon

[himbosandhardwear]

Babby

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[pinespittinink]

guys I’ve decided that I’m going to be nuking this blog and starting fresh on my official author one! it will still have the same dumb memes and reblog but I’m going to use it as a semi-hub for updates

anyway you can follow me over @catherinehellens pretty soon, once I’ve got things figured out!

[pinespittinink]

things are rolling on the new blog, this one will be gone sometime in April!

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[49-ibr]

Pick a magic from my series!!

Change

Darkness

Energy

Force

Light

Space

Strength

See Results

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[moremysteriesthantragedies]

The one thing I hate that my teachers instilled in me when getting my creative writing major was this idea of "realism". I constantly kept getting critiques about "realism" and not answering questions like "how does this character afford this house?" despite lots of other works not caring about answering this question either. But, to be honest, it's a trend I've seen a lot, and I just think we all need to relearn our suspension of disbelief. That and recognizing answering certain questions for "realism" is literally not the point of some pieces of art.

Like, can we please go back to the days where teens had convenient hideouts no one ever disturbed, adult characters owned an apartment or house without needing constant justifications for how they afforded it, characters could somehow magically have the funds to travel cause it's important to the plot, etc. and audiences just took it as part of the fun of the story? Thank you.

Don't get me wrong, addressing these things can work really well in some stories and help develop the characters or world. Some stories use this to speak out about certain issues or comment on capitalism, and I adore those stories. I just think this push to constantly explain how characters live in a capitalist society some writers don't wanna think about in stories where it is completely irrelevant is annoying. Like, the only reason we know how Quince and Bradi afford their houses in Infernal Serenade is because it's actually relevant to the plot and leads to major development for both of them. How Sawyer gets his house in Ahses of The Vale despite being a young adult is also only answered because it ties into the main mystery of the plot.

But in cases where it's not? Life is tough, let people imagine living in a house they likely will never be able to afford in their lifetime.

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[new-royston-cursebreakers]

Wanna submit to a litmag?

Hey all! I've been pretty quiet here recently, but only because I've had something in the works.

A long time ago, I worked on a litmag. I missed that. I wanted to do that again. And then it hit me: start my own.

I've got a website up here and I'm open for submissions. Fiction, poetry, nonfiction, screenplay, blog post, anything that can be expressed with the written word, I'm all for it. Full submission guidelines are on the site.

Here a little excerpt to show what we're all about:

Inspired by the work of countless activists, and taking our namesake from the duration of Senator Cory Booker’s historic speech on the U.S. Senate floor, 25:05 was founded in response to the 2025 American climate with the aim of uplifting the voices of the people. 25:05 responds to the need to bear witness, to reaffirm through resistance that we exist and that our stories deserve to be told.

I hope you'll consider submitting, and if not, that you'll pass it on to those who might!

[moremysteriesthantragedies]

Boosting!

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[kkglinka]

This is a Moving Forward PSA for everyone using AO3. I am witnessing the results of a culture clash and communication failure. Not a lack of communication, but a misunderstanding caused by changes in fandom culture.

Before fic tagging was common, fics weren’t tagged. You had a pairing, if applicable, an author’s note about genre or general content, and if they were feeling charitable, a vague content warning. There are even a few genres of fic where even vaguely tagging literally spoils the plot and impact (such as horror, psyche thriller, in which the likely content is implicit to the genre). As a result, there is a basic category tag that permits this, as a courtesy to “old-fashioned” writers.

“No Archive Warnings Apply” means the fic is PG13 at worst, probably fluff, totally safe.

“Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings” is the polar opposite. It’s a glaring Enter at Your Own Risk billboard. It means: a shitload of warnings apply but I ain’t telling because this story requires shock value. It’s very important to read the author’s notes for those fics because they might be using that older format from above.

But without the context of fandom culture that generated AO3, it’s understandably easy to conflate the two categories, given their similar wording.

[mrv3000]

“No Archive Warnings Apply” means there’s no

• graphic depictions of violence
• major character death
• underage
• rape/non-con

“Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings” =  HERE BE DRAGONS. (implies that one or more of the above exists, but the author doesn’t want to give anything away by tagging)

[kalajorn]

I often use “Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings” when a specific archive warning doesn’t apply but there’s something there that really should have a warning.

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[writeblrfantasy]

I am far from the first person to make this point, but…

Isn't it strange how authors, both self and traditionally published, have been forced to become jacks of all trades in recent years? Graphic designers, content creators, social media managers, web designers, marketing managers tasked with knowing what’s trendy and exactly where to go viral, all while juggling day jobs and leaving room to actually write?

since we are both passionate about this strange shift in recent years, author @ettawritesnstudies and I collaborated on this topic, and you can read our blog post about it here.

Why have modern authors become one man bands? with author Etta Grace

I am far from the first person to make this point, but...

open.substack.com

if you're an author for which this issue grinds your gears like it does mine, give it a read! not only is there some good old fashioned (thank you, etta, for your endless optimism and insistence on finding a solution to the problems of the publishing market.)

enjoy! if you're an author with any personal experiences to share or thoughts to add, we would love to hear them. we worked hard on it and i would love to hear what everyone thinks

[ArtsieTango's Writing Side blog]

[fahye]

CINDER HOUSE: A NOVELLA

coming in October this year: an extremely angry Cinderella retelling about ballet, fire, skeletons, intense epistolary friendships, and aaaaall the feelings I had about being trapped in my house and betrayed by my body, thanks for nothing, long COVID.

Ella is a haunting.

Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father's house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters.

Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.

Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched.

You think you know Ella's story: the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince.

You're halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.

Preorder UK/ Preorder US

Incredible cover by Cristina Bencina.