I still love sharks

Like worstie, I can barely promote my own published book without wanting to curl up and die.

They’re just not disclosing it as ads, which they are supposed to do, and instead it's marketed in a very Tumblr-esque way which can be summed up as “omg guys look how CUTE this is” followed by a different account underneath going “omg found it!!” and it links to a drop ship site with the item(s).

And the link usually has an affiliate tracker in it, which you may or may not be able to spot unless you’re familiar with them, which is also something you are legally supposed to disclose.

I used to get a lot of offers from around 2016-2020 to sell “moon lamps” on here, y’know those orb lights that look like a moon? Yeah. I was offered a higher kickback to make it look like I wasnt posting an add because these sellers know Tumblrites don’t like ads.

They wanted it to look as organic and hyped up as possible and then I’d just so happen to be like “omg you guys it's on sale” and post a link. Which is skeevy as shit and also illegal af in the US.

It’s like the insta/tiktok girlies saying “link in bio” to get around saying “here’s a product I make money on if you buy it” because they want to sound like your friend because people are more likely to impulse buy stuff if a “friend” is recommending something.

They’re also trusting that everyone knows “link in bio” means “affiliate link” which is technically not enough of a disclosure but whatever.

This is why I tag all my own book promos with “affiliate links” because depending on which storefront you buy Hunger Pangs from, I may get a kickback from the vender which I do to help mediate the fees I lose from distribution. It’s not much—literal pennies in some cases—but I’m still legally required to state it.

It’s also why when I do post products I use or like, I make a point of letting people know I’m not an affiliate and not sponsored because despite the legal ramifications these people are flirting with by not disclosing their affiliate status, I want to be fully transparent with my followers when it comes to me trying to sell them things.

Y’all keep my lights on by reading my work and through my ko-fi and patreon. I am not about to risk that trust for the sake of some shitty vibrator sales from a sketch-ass drop shipper who wants me to pretend I’m not selling you things.

So, yeah. People do successfully sell stuff on here. A lot of us small indie creators sell our own work all the time.

These type of undeclared sellers are relying on you believing that Tumblr is different from other social media platforms where the advertising is usually more blatant. They are also relying on your trust in your community not to put undisclosed ads onto your dash.

After all, everyone knows Tumblr is a sinkhole where profit goes to die and everyone hates ads. Why would anyone waste time doing that here… unless they can adapt what they’re doing to make you think you’re not being marketed to, because Tumblr as a user base would never allow that kind of thing. Right?

Turns out, not so much.

Some people might say, “well that’s just obvious! You’d have to be really silly not to realize it!”

And maybe it was obvious to them.

I know it was obvious to me. But I also know I have enough online experience to play “spot the affiliate link” and enough knowledge as a indie author about how those links are supposed to be disclosed by law, to know when someone is being dishonest and trying to make a post seem organic and not like an ad.

But not everyone has the same knowledge or life experiences to put the context clues together, and that’s why I wrote the above post because many, many, many people on here are unaware they are reblogging ads—usually while talking about how much they hate ads!

LAST ANON, I MEANT SEX INDIFFERENT NOT NEUTRAL, MY BAD D:

No worries, I got your correction!

So whether an asexual can feel romantic attraction is pretty unrelated to them being asexual — that's aromantic, which is different.

Assuming you meant sexual attraction, however, yes and no.

See, asexual is an umbrella term as well as an individual identifier, the same way trans is (ie you can be binary trans or nonbinary and that's still under the umbrella term trans). So someone CAN be asexual and experience 0 sexual attraction ever but still enjoy and want sex for other reasons, but someone could also be demisexual, aceflux, grey asexual, or any of the other many acespec microlabels, and they identify with the asexual umbrella but still experience some degree of sexual attraction, and also enjoy and want sex for reasons either for related or unrelated to their experience of attraction.

For me personally, my experience of my ace-ness is so nebulous and difficult to pin down that I simply choose not to put a microlabel to it. Not because I'm against microlabels, but because I have no personal desire to sit and hyperanalyze my feelings and sift through the many labels to find the one that most closely fits. I'm perfectly happy leaving it at "I'm somewhere on the asexual spectrum, and I like sex".

Basically you don't have to be sexually attracted to someone to want to have sex, either at all or with them specifically. If you're romantically attracted to your partner and sex is fun and feels good, then maybe you want to have sex with your partner. I know an asexual who experiences zero sexual attraction but enjoys BDSM for the fun of it and because it feels good, and they used to do it for work. On the other hand, I *am* an asexual who experiences sexual attraction under the right conditions, and I enjoy it with my partner exclusively and have never been comfortable with hook ups/one night stands/etc for myself.

saw this on Insta and the idea that people who are anti-AI are just using it anyway like... willing to give it up? I ACTIVELY AVOID THAT SHIT BUD! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?

ALSO

part 3

timelapse under the cut

Do you? Do you know that aces can have sex and aros can date? Do you know that it's possible not just to do these things, but to WANT these things? To actively desire them and seek them out? To prioritize them in our lives? To prioritize them in our romantic and sexual pursuits? Do you really know that? And more importantly, do you remember that other than when we're convenient to your post or argument?

Because if your answer to the above is "yes", then act like it. Include us in your community posts. Include us in aspec spaces and discussions. Speak up when others act like or claim that repulsion is mandatory for someone to be aspec.