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At this point, I've made two posts that serve as a quick introduction in different communities, and will probably make a few more in the upcoming days, but it's difficult to really convey who you are as a person when just listing different things that you like.
So, who am I?
That's a question I think I'm going to struggle with for the rest of my life, since who I am changes a little everyday. Sometimes, I'm the adult who has no clue what anything is anymore. Others, I'm a dreamer with their eyes set on a clear goal: completing and publishing my writing, so that some day, some kid out there will have something that they can see themselves in, the way that I wish I could have as a child, and continue to wish for now. There will be times when I will lock myself away from the rest of the world, withdrawing deeper into myself until I am lost to myself, and there will be times like now where I'm eager to get to know people. I am very much a person who goes through the motions, my thoughts the tides that both yearn for the world and retreat from it.
Of course, there are some things that remain constant, and some things that are, in theory, a little less abstract than those descriptors above.
For instance, I am Rori, and though this is not the name I was given at birth, it feels more permanent than the one I was born with. I am currently 21, use they/them and she/her pronouns, biracial (African-American and European-American), a biromantic asexual. I'm an English major currently working at a library who is looking into what to do with their future. During my freetime, I enjoy writing, reading, listening to podcasts, and cooking when I can. I've always been rather introverted, but when presented with one of my interests, it takes less time than usual for me to build a connection with someone.
( Here's a good picture of what my current interests are: )
Most of the time, however, I probably won't talk about the stuff I'm interested in unless I'm doing some analysis for it or it's a fandom I'm writing for and I felt like sharing a fic on here. Heck, this list will probably change a bit in just a couple of months.
But back to the introduction, I suppose. I'm someone who tends not to see the best in a situation, but I'm trying to work against that, as there's already so much negativity in the world, and having it as my default has not enhanced my life in any way. There's a lot I don't know, but to me, one of the best things in life is getting to know more about the things you don't know about. I'm hoping not just to find a community here, but also to continue learning about others and the world, to have a true exchange of ideas and information. In other words, I want to start changing for the better.
Reflections on Tumblr and A New Start
Dec. 4th, 2018 11:01 pmIt has been a long year in many aspects for people all over the world. Politically, things are looking horrible
for a variety of reasons, environmentally, big corporations continue to ignore what's going on, and now, even the internet is coming under attack from a few different sides.
When compared to everything else, the Tumblr Plague is bad, but personally, it is not that high on my list of things that are seriously wrong in this world. Of course, I understand that different people are going to be hit harder than me, and I have no intentions of minimizing how it will impact them - artists whose work would be unacceptable under the new regulations were basically given no time to react, and even people whose work should not be flagged down are suffering. So, it makes absolute sense that a lot of people are jumping ship now. After all, the site has been suffering from a variety of different issues, including being plagued by Nazis, and the site has done little to fight back against them, leaving the community leaving very frustrated, rightfully so. But the second that something that impacts the company happens, that's when they choose to crack down (not that I believe child pornography to be acceptable in any way, shape or form - they absolutely should be doing something to make sure that it never appears on their website).
But I do not think that the Tumblr Plague will be the "death" of Tumblr. Will it fundamentally change the way the website works? Yes. Will a lot of people leave with no intention to ever return? I'm sure of this. But a lot of people will remain, as well, since, in all honesty, Tumblr is unique in how it operates, for better or worse. Perhaps, in a few years, a true contender will rise, serving as a true alternative to the website. But for right now, people are left with trying to find a site that suits their needs the best, and for some, that site will still be Tumblr. I'll probably remain on there for a while, going back periodically as I have been for the past few years. But I think, the day is coming when I'll stop visiting Tumblr altogether. Because the truth of the matter is, I never really formed a community on Tumblr.
I think part of the issue I have had with Tumblr is that I want more than what I get with it. For the last few blogs I have started up, I always went in with the mindset that my blog would be a place where I could get creative, record my thoughts in an honest manner, and provide me with a space to have meaningful interactions with those who share my interests. But while I have found people with similar interests that I have been able to form a bond with because we were both on the site, Tumblr itself has not really facilitated any meaningful relationships for me. I rarely talked to someone directly on Tumblr, and when I did, the conversations were typically a couple of short messages sent back and forth. Of course, part of this is simply because I simply stopped trying to talk to people, but I also never really felt like I could open up on Tumblr. I felt more like I was putting on some sort of front for everyone, and while I never lied about who I was, I also felt weirdly inauthentic on that site. Slowly, Tumblr started becoming like Instagram for me - a place where I rarely put out new content, and only like things occasionally.
In some ways, I wish that I could have been part of fandom in the 2000s. Since I only got into fandoms at the end of the 2000s, I missed those initial years of online communities, and I think I might have benefited more from them than I did from Tumblr. I quite enjoyed my time on sites like Neopets and the Nick forums, and for a while, I sorely missed TinierMe. I am not sure what I will find here, but I am hoping that I can find a community on here in a way that I have never been able to on Tumblr. It's interesting being in a space where a lot of the community on an initial viewing appears to be older than me, as I'm used to being in spaces where people are either within my age range or otherwise younger than me. I think it will actually be refreshing, in a sense, to write on a platform like this.
I am not hoping for this to be some new home for me, as I tend not to be all that active whenever I join something, despite how interested I might be, or how involved I am when I initially join something. I know that eventually, I will stop being an active member, and I accept this part of me. But I am hoping that I will find people that I can really connect with because of our similarities. Time will tell what will happen with this account, but I hope to at least make some effort to connect with others.
for a variety of reasons, environmentally, big corporations continue to ignore what's going on, and now, even the internet is coming under attack from a few different sides.
When compared to everything else, the Tumblr Plague is bad, but personally, it is not that high on my list of things that are seriously wrong in this world. Of course, I understand that different people are going to be hit harder than me, and I have no intentions of minimizing how it will impact them - artists whose work would be unacceptable under the new regulations were basically given no time to react, and even people whose work should not be flagged down are suffering. So, it makes absolute sense that a lot of people are jumping ship now. After all, the site has been suffering from a variety of different issues, including being plagued by Nazis, and the site has done little to fight back against them, leaving the community leaving very frustrated, rightfully so. But the second that something that impacts the company happens, that's when they choose to crack down (not that I believe child pornography to be acceptable in any way, shape or form - they absolutely should be doing something to make sure that it never appears on their website).
But I do not think that the Tumblr Plague will be the "death" of Tumblr. Will it fundamentally change the way the website works? Yes. Will a lot of people leave with no intention to ever return? I'm sure of this. But a lot of people will remain, as well, since, in all honesty, Tumblr is unique in how it operates, for better or worse. Perhaps, in a few years, a true contender will rise, serving as a true alternative to the website. But for right now, people are left with trying to find a site that suits their needs the best, and for some, that site will still be Tumblr. I'll probably remain on there for a while, going back periodically as I have been for the past few years. But I think, the day is coming when I'll stop visiting Tumblr altogether. Because the truth of the matter is, I never really formed a community on Tumblr.
I think part of the issue I have had with Tumblr is that I want more than what I get with it. For the last few blogs I have started up, I always went in with the mindset that my blog would be a place where I could get creative, record my thoughts in an honest manner, and provide me with a space to have meaningful interactions with those who share my interests. But while I have found people with similar interests that I have been able to form a bond with because we were both on the site, Tumblr itself has not really facilitated any meaningful relationships for me. I rarely talked to someone directly on Tumblr, and when I did, the conversations were typically a couple of short messages sent back and forth. Of course, part of this is simply because I simply stopped trying to talk to people, but I also never really felt like I could open up on Tumblr. I felt more like I was putting on some sort of front for everyone, and while I never lied about who I was, I also felt weirdly inauthentic on that site. Slowly, Tumblr started becoming like Instagram for me - a place where I rarely put out new content, and only like things occasionally.
In some ways, I wish that I could have been part of fandom in the 2000s. Since I only got into fandoms at the end of the 2000s, I missed those initial years of online communities, and I think I might have benefited more from them than I did from Tumblr. I quite enjoyed my time on sites like Neopets and the Nick forums, and for a while, I sorely missed TinierMe. I am not sure what I will find here, but I am hoping that I can find a community on here in a way that I have never been able to on Tumblr. It's interesting being in a space where a lot of the community on an initial viewing appears to be older than me, as I'm used to being in spaces where people are either within my age range or otherwise younger than me. I think it will actually be refreshing, in a sense, to write on a platform like this.
I am not hoping for this to be some new home for me, as I tend not to be all that active whenever I join something, despite how interested I might be, or how involved I am when I initially join something. I know that eventually, I will stop being an active member, and I accept this part of me. But I am hoping that I will find people that I can really connect with because of our similarities. Time will tell what will happen with this account, but I hope to at least make some effort to connect with others.
