if you are a person who rambles in the tags of posts you reblog

Thank you very much *・ﾟ✧

when you start centering your online (and offline - your internet usage does not exist in a vacuum) persona around being mean and you start making harsh jokes at your friends’ expenses and at STRANGERS’ expenses you just become an unpleasant person. there is no “irony” and there is no “humor” - or if there is, it’s such a fine line that you’re bound to stomp all over it. like the overlap between being an asshole and just joking about being an asshole is almost a perfect circle. take a good hard look at yourself and figure out why you’re sooooo quick to label being kind and genuine as “cringe” and why you would rather parade yourself around as an unpleasant, rude, disrespectful prick

is it weird to go onto someones blog rb like 2 weirdly old posts and then leave

Honestly I have realized that 99% of my shipping of vashwood comes from trimax. Yea I vibed with it while watching tristamp but trimax is what took my utter heart and soul

It's to the point where I just don't rly enjoy tristamp vashwood that much anymore hfkshfjd like. OK? Those sure are some dudes. Not My dudes tho, sorry.

I'm gonna be nsfw and frankly a little weird for a minute so bear with me I guess and YES this is about the thing I'm weird about, jesus

There's this like... genre of post that really Gets Me. It's like... There's something about those kind of kinky posts about like, mmo armor you cant glamour that's slutty but really good for you that is in the same vein of post as like, hypno or even kind of healslutting which i am admittedly not super against shchshjxjs

I KNOW it's discord kitten cringe shit but it's something about like...... obedience equalling safety maybe? Specifically in a kink environment? Especially because in the freedom vs safety argument I'm firmly on the freedom side even if it's dangerous and shitty. But in KINK.... the idea of giving up freedom entirely and oftentimes even agency in exchange for like, armor that protects you, or teammates that protect you, or in hypno mostly just like... praise and the idea of Doing A Good Job

Maybe it is literally just the idea of it being such a departure from my real life ideals and being able to just Let Go and not have to worry about anything. I have adhd so my thoughts are always racing racing racing and the idea that I can put on a brainwashing helmet and stop thinking, or be told "this is what's best for you. wear it." Is so nice, alongside the obvious praise kink mommy issue shit I have

I'm absolutely rambling at this point and maybe it's to defend my weird Pokemon playthrough that isn't really even that weird and doesn't even need defending but I'm self-conscious about kink at this point and I'm trying to reclaim that by talking about it in a quiet little corner over here where I dont feel as bad

Anyway my point is that shit is hot and I hate that healslutting is also hot GWHCHDHHFJS I know it's cringe. I know it's petplay for people who play Overwatch (derogatory). But goddamn the idea of playing support which I already do and getting "good girl" out of it? Sends me to the fucking moon, my dude

list of possible netscapenavigaytor tags:

something kind of insane and only tangentially relevant

talking about fictional character

hopefully genuinely thoughtful insight and commentary to the post at hand

deeply baring my soul for the whole fucking world to see

"this is so fucking swag awesomesauce badass"

I distinctly remember growing up I had a limited selection of "nice clothes" I'd usually get as gifts from family members that I my parents would only let me wear for special ocassions.

As an adult, I maintained this habit until I realized every couple years I'd clean my closet and pull out a bunch of very beautiful coats and shirts rotting with mold and humidity from sitting in the damp dark, burried under piles of discount jeans and polos that I barely tolerated, but wore to bits.

This is to say that I think, if you have the chance, it's better to have a few nice things in your closet you really love and wear to tatters than it is to have a bunch of stuff you don't really like, but you use so you can save "the good ones" for "special ocassions". You never know when, or if, those special ocassions will come, and you deserve to feel nice all the time.

i keep on blearily reblogging things and then realising ive reblogged the wrong version or something

keep seeing that "tag a piece of media with bisexual energy" post and its a good post but i dont have anything. world heroes mission is transgender and gay though. in like, an ass-backwards way. on accident but also maybe on purpose. the people who did it on purpose did not let any of the people allowing it to happen on accident know about it

not people on the bts cookie run ad saying they all look the same…. on the website that’s considered to be extremely liberal…

I finally got all my brain ducks into enough of a row to send this! I just wanted to say that Tumblr recommended your art to me on a whim, and I am actually OBSESSED now lol. I had no prior investment in Submas or anything tangentially related to it prior to this (aside from liking Pokémon generally lol), but I couldn’t help but tear through everything you’ve drawn for these silly little rat children and I love them so much now!!! I wanna pick them up and shake him around like little action figures! The shenanigans and the heartfelt moments are just,, UGH so good! I have no words! Thank you for the food I am going FERAL over them <3

Your art is also high key goals for me now tbh. I absolutely ADORE your coloring and rendering style, and also they way you draw Pokémon in general?? Very animalistic but still recognizably Pokémon?? Literally galaxy brained. I’m going to SCREAM. I know you already posted a bit of your art process, but I’d love to know if you’ve got any rendering tips and/or how you get that clean but sketchy look. It looks so good I want to eat it lol.

(Also I really love the way you’ve been formatting Elesa’s dialog, with the extra lines around the letters. It really gives the vibe that her grasp on Galarian is currently shaky at best and idk, I like that you’ve managed to find a way to convey that over text. I think that’s pretty cool :D)

I SAW YOU REBLOG A WHOLE BUNCH AND IM,,, (throwing hearts at you)

Thank you so so much! I’m glad you love these terrible little guys wandering Unova just as much as I do, haha!

As a treat, lemme pull out some drafting for the mini illustrations. I usually start every snapshot with a run down of what I remember from the area, possible shenanigans encountered, and then a doodle of ideas to come.

From there, it’s a SUPER rough sketch, followed by lineart and rough color, and then cleanup!

(More thumbs and their finals below!)

At the end of the day, all my lines are VERY sketchy. I’m a lot stronger when it comes to mashing colors. That, and if you set your line layer from normal to multiply, the lines will always be automatically darker then whatever layer is placed underneath. It’s a trick used quite a bit for placing cel shadows in animation, but it’s useful for lineart in a pinch.

For colors, I like to stick to a limited pallet and branch out only after setting my primary colors. This entire series has been very experimental for me though, as you can probably tell.

As for the last bit— YES… YOU GET IT! As Elesa grows, the lines in her dialogue will start appearing less and less. It’s the little things that map the span of time for these guys.

Yippee!

Stucky, Fandom Longevity, and "Primacy Bias"

There’s this post that's been floating around the past few days about how the Stucky fandom in its heyday produced fic and art masterpieces like they were all collectively possessed by an unprecedented spirit of creative insanity. It’s a good, fun post and I agree with the person who wrote it. (not rb'ing because I didn't want to hijack their post with something that's only tangentially related).

It was indeed a magical time and the creative output in both quantity and quality in the two-year period following the release of CA:TWS is—with perhaps a few exceptions—unmatched by anything that I’ve seen before and since. However, going through the notes on that post, I noticed something that left me a little irritated and quite frankly sad since it is in congruence with, and to a certain extent the confirmation of something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

For one thing, there are so many people in the notes expressing sentiments along the lines of “it was such a wonderful time; I wish I could go back; I miss these fics; I want to read these fics again,” etc., etc., you get it. And it feels a little silly pointing this out, but…you can just do that? Almost all of these fics are still right there, waiting for you to be (re)read. Yes, a lot of people left the fandom after The Great Devastation of 2019, but their stories didn’t just disappear. It's not like there is now a big, black hole where the Steve/Bucky tag used to be on AO3. So, if you miss these fics and you want to revisit them—just do it. Chances are the authors will be delighted that people are still finding and enjoying their stories all these years later. And—since apparently this needs saying, too, judging from the notes on that post: A lot of people seem to be very concerned with losing ‘coolness points’ for openly admitting that they still miss the ship and often feel tempted to dip their toes back into the Stucky pool. I don’t know how to tell you this, but if someone tries to shame you for simply enjoying or missing something, they are an asshole. Not to mention that all this is happening on tumble.com—'coolness' doesn't exactly live here. And that is a good thing, to be clear. Fandom is not about being cool. It’s about being as enthusiastic, as silly, as absolutely fucking unhinged about the things you love as you want to be. So, stop caring what other people think and enjoy yourself.

The other thing is that there seems to be a pretty widespread misconception that the Stucky fandom hasn’t produced any good fanworks after 2016.

First, that is patently and demonstrably untrue. There is so much incredibly good fanfiction and fanart still out there. Not as much as back in the day, sure, but it still exists. And more is being posted every day! Even some of the OG Big Names are still around. One of the most beloved Stucky series that started all the way back in 2014 was updated as recently as December of last year. The artist, who I believe the op is referring to as creating ‘baroque’ paintings, posted their latest Stucky art not even two months ago.

Second, I find this “primacy bias” more than just a little insulting to the many hardworking and incredibly talented people who are still putting their blood, sweat, and tears into creating for this community. And it’s one thing if people who have long left the fandom believe or say something like this, but it’s frankly irritating when I see people who are still very much active—and therefore definitely should know better—feed into that same false myth. Yes, it sucks that the Stucky ship isn’t as big as it used to be, but that doesn't mean there isn't any 'fresh talent' to be found anymore. I’m also not saying we shouldn’t still celebrate and recommend older works—I do it all the time! And it sure as hell doesn't mean everyone has to reblog absolutely everything all the time, either. Your blog, your rules.

But maybe we should put a little more focus on the good things, on the creators and the community we have now, especially if we want that community to still exist in another ten years. I mean, imagine you’re a person who’s just gotten into the fandom (because yes, there are indeed still new people discovering Stucky all the time) and one of the first things you’re being told is “eh, nice that you're here, but you’re about 7 years late; the big party is already over.” Does that seem like a fun space to hang out in to you?

So. Let’s all—and I do not exclude myself from this because God knows, I love to complain—spend a little less time mourning the ‘good old days’ that are never coming back anyway, and instead focus our attention on enjoying and appreciating both the incredible treasure chest of an archive we have AND the wealth of high-quality art and fic that is still being created by this wonderful community every single day. With this in mind:

🥳🎊Happy Stucky Week 2023!!! 🎊🥳

*I want to make it very clear that this is a general thing that’s been on my mind lately and that I’m trying to work through here—probably not very coherently. I'm not trying to tell anybody 'how to do fandom' and I’m most definitely not vagueposting about any particular incident, person, or group in this fandom. This isn’t a callout post. It’s an I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this and I don’t know what else do with them post.

My Trolls 4 concept

I posted this somewhere as a comment or a reblog, but I think I still wanna put it out there anyway

I firmly believe that Trolls 4 should explore the relationships between Viva, Peppy, Poppy, and Branch in regards to Peppy’s sketchiness and who “deserves” to be on the throne.

The actual plot line might be similar in nature to that of Shrek the Third (Justin Timberlake as a candidate for king doesn’t help), but the general concept is something like Branch and Poppy are finally getting married but Branch doesn’t actually want to be king (let’s be real, he’s made strides, but that boy would be so uncomfortable as king), meanwhile Viva pipes up and is like “well…shouldn’t I actually be queen anyway?” and Poppy is like “ok but…I’ve actually already been sworn in?? So…” Then some other semi-catastrophic probably world-building event happens that sends them all on a tangentially related mission (could be anything, but I think it should be something that exists within the pre-established world, I’d love to see something go wrong with a troll tribe or like, a need to prevent a war or something) while they’re still in the midst of figuring out the whole royalty issue and the movie ends with a lesson along the lines of “the titles don’t matter, what really matters is how you treat your family and your community.” The movie ends with the wedding and Viva and Poppy becoming co-queens and Branch becoming either Poppy’s consort or like, the royal safety consultant or something. There’s a million different endings so long as they’re executed properly (dismantle the monarchy, Branch becomes king, Viva marries Clay, Peppy dies, I don’t know), but regardless the story is a character-building opportunity for our main bunch, it provides opportunities for Branch to have heart-to-hearts with his funk trolls buds and his bros, it allows a chance to bring all the leaders of the genres back, and it gives the focus back to Poppy and Peppy and lets them develop through some real and much-needed conversations with Viva. A secondary lesson about trust mayhaps? A reminder that every good relationship takes work, be it friends, significant others, or even familial ones?

Just miscellaneous thoughts of course, I just think there’s so much to be done within the already established world of Trolls and I really just want to see them explore it and develop their characters properly.

your reblog of that post reminded me. i have no connection to my indigenous culture on my father's side because i want nothing to do with that side of my family. the people i know from that side of my family are all horrifically and violently abusive. and what i often have to sit with is that this is one way various cultures are subsumed into a hegemonic whiteness. i have little doubt that the substance abuse and violence from that side of my family can be at least partially attributed to white supremacy. what little i know of my paternal grandfather is that he treated his kids and women largely the same way my father treats his kids and women. white supremacy turns trauma and the consequent violence into our culture, which (of course!) we want to separate ourselves from. so we're left with this hole where culture should be. i'm lucky enough to have (some) cultural polish roots via my adoptive grandparents on my mom's side, at least.

This is a very common story -- a friend of mine who is reconnecting with their Indigeneity has a similar struggle. In my family, the violence of assimilation and the violence of abuse, neglect, heavy substance use, and even interfamilial murder are all inextricably linked. There is this big hole in my family life, an occluded spot taking up more than a quarter of the page, but in the background so it's easy to be tempted to ignore. The family that had a distinct culture separate from the dominate white middle-class one is also the family that has almost no historical records of itself, erased much of the history that remained, took deliberate efforts to pass as white, and sometimes literally killed one another because they were so poor and traumatized and dysfunctional. Every healthy, loving, supportive link that i had to that family legacy died very early, as if marked by a curse. And my dad, who was uhh not so healthy, did too.

I can only connect to that history by doing things like talking to my one surviving uncle, exchanging foggy memories with one another to try and clarify things as best we can, reading about the region, doing geneaological research, and connecting with local tribes as well as heritage groups that preserve some vestiges of the culture, and cultures tangentially close to what once was there. I find it healing while also feeling like a fraud and an interloper, but I have settled on the understanding that keeping these words and practices alive and giving to them without demanding anything for myself is the right thing to do. And a whole lot of mourning. But if you are Indigenous at all, then mourning what is lost while fighting to preserve what is not is kind of the very culture itself, too.

On the other side of my family, it is harder. They were more present in my life, and less dysfunctional, but there is a profound hollowness there. My dad, my grandma, my uncle, my relatives who died before I got to know them, they were marked with trauma...but they were outspoken, and distinct, and so vibrantly alive. I can take the good with the bad of them and see a rich, full humanness. It sounds so terrible to say, but i find it very challenging to locate the humanity in my mother's side of the family. They do nearly all that they can to choke it out. I'm trying to not be resentful anymore of what they never learned how to do. So instead I will just be sad. Being around them is so cold. It's so lonely. Except for my sister.

Sorry, I made all of this about myself, but I hope some of this is resonant. I think there are ways you can connect with your Indigeneity even if your feelings toward your direct relations are quite negative. There's a lot of talk in Native spaces about pretendians and people not knowing their people and having no family ties and that exists for a reason, but it can sometimes scare the wrong people away, much as talk about straight people in queer spaces can drive the wrong people away. There are ways to forge new connections and practice a culture and find your people if you do not have them already, and some of my friends have shown me that. But you also do not have to if all the associations with that background are just...too upsetting and too linked to trauma. It might be healing to find your own way of relating to it, or maybe just connecting with the culture that you have fond warm feelings and associations with is the path for you. I miss my parternal grandmother so much. She was a truly radiant and special person. Decades after her death, my uncle, her son, still says she was his very best friend. And it's not even in a toxic way. she was just that wonderful a person. ive never been loved quite so actively, nurtured and made to grow while also listened to. i am so thankful i got that even for just thirteen years. and sometimes honoring her is just being a searcher and having a fiery spirit inside me and going to yard sales and crushing at trivial pursuit.

hi i am cal, they & them, and this is my second attempt at an introduction because my first one was not doing it for me. i'm currently attempting to get back into writing, and maybe make some friends along the way. please send me wips, asks, tag games, messages, prompts, anything. interaction is difficult so some direction would be helpful.

my aim is to finish a few short stories before i move onto anything bigger, which is what i will mostly be talking about on here for now. there is the possibility of the occasional unrelated drabble and fanfiction. books rants will also be here, as they are tangentially related, and i'm open to discussing books and giving or receiving recs.

my tastes are quite flexible so i am almost guaranteed to enjoy any wip sent, although i adore horror, fantasy, found family and stories surrounding moral ambiguity. anything along those lines is enough to get me invested, and i typically write about them often. queer characters are also a large focus in my works, especially those who are on the aro/ace spectrums and use neutral pronouns, which is really just me crying for representation and diversity in that rep. supernatural and inhuman characters are often my protagonists, mostly because i think they look cool and create a lot of interesting dynamics.

oh and i have a website. most writing will be posted there, including completed wips.

( A SHRIKE TO A SHARP AND GLORIOUS THORN ) — the story of a hunted witch and a forgotten god, and the death that binds them. to separate would be their end, but they may find it in each other regardless. an unhealthy and obsessive romance, horror themes, fantasy setting.

( IN THE ABSENCE OF MYTH ) — a soul finding its place, a world healing after a war. cosy fantasy, found family.

( CAL WRITES SOMETHING ) — any form of writing.

( WIP ) — a master page for a wip. they will also have their own specific tags for connected posts.

( OC ) — a character profile. they may also have their own tag if i post about them often.

( FANFICTION ) — fanfiction, what it says on the tin.

( OTHER WRITERS ) — reblogged introductions and wips.