#i just know ive been getting new followers still even when i havent been posting and it makes me feel bad like OH NO.... I HAVENT POSTED....

[badlydrawndedkidz]

hello there! it's me, Tortilla, known mostly as Mod by the people who have been following this blog for a While!

if you've ever scrolled for a bit here, you've probably Seen that I've tried a few times to get back into posting more often and failed comically as i grappled with the dreaded Mental Eel Nesses and Executive Dysfunction, among other things. especially since ask blogs aren't as popular as they were back in the day when i made this blog (2015! turned 9 years last aug 15th! that's an entire child. jin owes me a lot of child support,)

(before anyone gets scared, no I'm not deleting anything lol gimme a sec to word this thought)

okay so like. cutting straight to the point not gonna get sentimental right now I'll save that for later: i want to keep this blog active REALLY bad, but as much as I'd like to, for multiple reasons i cannot draw as much as i did back in the day, which is like... the main thing i usually post here. so I've been pondering for the past year or so What to Do about it

my one idea is to turn this into a general kgpr blog and reblog other people's art and official stuff and the alike here, instead of keeping it Just My Stuff

but the thing is, if i DO that i would want to change my url, because reblogging art to a place that's named "badly drawn--" whatever is. i Don't Want That y'know? it's disrespectful lol

the thing is that that's soooo many links that would Break. among other things. (+ i have nooo clue what id change the name to but that's a different issue)

so like, my question here is,

[plxnetn1ne]

since everyone in this fandom and their mum seem to be giving their piece about the ‘update’ coming to Hogwarts Legacy on the 6th, i figured id give my piece even if no one has asked

ive been seeing a lot of posts and replies about how “we should just take what we get and be grateful” and “the devs are working hard, do you know how hard game development is?”

im very aware of how difficult game development can be and how mentally taxing it is. i dont doubt that they’ve been through the mill.

the update is trash. its that simple. we’re allowed to feel upset about it, and for people saying that its not fair to be upset — it is fair. we shouldnt have to expect the bare minimum from a game that sold 22 million copies and reached nearly 2 billion dollars in revenue, a game that had 14 nominations for awards and 3 wins.

we were told we were getting a summer update alongside the Haunted Hogsmeade quest — the quest they promised to release to PC and Xbox in march when the game celebrated one year of release. they said, and i quote;

“As we near the one-year anniversary of Hogwarts Legacy, we wanted to let our community know that the Hogwarts Legacy PlayStation-exclusive content will be available on other platforms later this summer, along with additional updates and features for the game. Stay tuned in the coming months for more details on what’s coming to Hogwarts Legacy this year.” copy and pasted straight from Hogwarts Legacy’s official twitter page. along with additional updates and features to the game.

yes — i know, thats a very vague statement. it could have been taken in any way, but typically when additional updates and features — plural — is put into a sentence, you assume that there will be more than one new feature. it wasnt wrong for the community to assume that there was more than a few new additions coming to the game.

okay, we got photo mode — thats great for console players, but it isnt new for us PC players. im happy for my console buddies that finally get to bring their mc to life in the way ive been able to. im looking forward to seeing the uptick in photos upon the updates release. PC and Xbox got the new haunted hogsmeade quest, and thats great, considering the release of it was delayed by 3 months, but atleast we’re getting it. but basically. PS5 was fucked in the process, because everything minus photo mode is stuff they already had, and honestly, thats not fair. and double honest — thats not an update. thats the release of exclusive content plus a new addition.

for several months a summer update was hyped up, and the result was…. ps5 getting fucked, a photo mode that im going to bet my ass on will be buggy as all hell, and some cosmetics. so no — i wont be grateful. especially when we keep getting promised things and then getting fucked by a hot iron in the process. because i havent forgotten the documentary that was supposed to come out, and i still remember during September when they hyped up a digital surprise for Back to Hogwarts day and it ended up being 30 percent off on a game most of us already had, only for the game to go on sale for half off the following Nov/Dec for the holiday sales.

since the release of the game, modders have been basically picking up the slack by working their asses off to create bug fixes, better cosmetic options, enhanced schedules, companions, and so much more to keep the community somewhat entertained. this as well as the file miners that are constantly digging things up that we were robbed of, like the relationship list for companions, gaunt manor, other house specific quests, more quests concerning Isadora, on and on. on top of this, ive seen first hand how much of the outer parts of the map was developed only to be cut out. i spent a solid hour and a half today using free cam to fly around the outskirts of the map — buildings, caves, entire areas laid out for towns or poacher camps, all thrown out on top of all of the discarded quests and content.

and while im at it — ill be one of the few to say it, but Hogwarts Legacies storyline was not well thought out, or at the very least it wasnt very well portrayed. there were hundreds of questions we were left with upon beating the game. where did Anne go? what happened to the keepers after the final battle? why wasnt Isadora in her portrait? what were the keepers hiding? did inhaling the magic actually make a difference or was it just for shock value? how much of Isadora’s story did we miss? how was the undercroft tied in with Isadora when it was apparently a Gaunt secret? what even really was the undercroft?

yes, i know — “well arent they making a second one?” and yeah, im pretty sure they are, and maybe thats why we’ve gotten nothing more than a pile of bricks in the last year and a half. but, they should probably finish the first game before starting on a second.

this doesnt mean i dont love Hogwarts Legacy. i love the people ive met, the stories ive read, and i love capturing the screenshots i take from that game. the entire situation is just frustrating to no end.

[pommunist]

thank you for allowing people to vent their frustrations or discuss whats been happening in your inbox, a lot of qsmpblr from what ive seen wants to ignore anything besides brightest side outlooks and they shove everything else down by labelling things like the spreading of the latest updates as "doomposting".

i personally havent seen any actual doomposting (expecting the worst possible scenario, ex. "the server is over and will never come back") from anywhere besides a small handful of people who hate quackity on twitter, the closest i can find here is sentiments like "yeah i dont know if ill be back to actively watching every day even if everything is fixed" or "im so disillusioned at this point that im not coming back until we get concrete proof things are better" where its people personally deciding to (often temporarily) leave the fandom, not any actual doomposting or discouraging anyone to still follow the server because "theres no chance anything will ever be fixed".

so yeah, thank you for allowing stuff besides the most positive of takes in your askbox <3 im too scared to post stuff on my own because of the toxicly positive mindset on qsmpblr, so being able to vent my frustrations in your askbox really helps!

Tbh I don’t blame people who are complaining about what they see as « doomposting ». When you love something you don’t want to wake up every morning learning about another set of bad news on it, instead you want to believe that everything will be fixed and that you will soon be able to enjoy it like you used to.

However the situation IS bad. People are talking about negative things because they ARE happening. And it isn’t just some random drama like this is a situation that affected negatively on people, could even be considered breaching some laws and, also, be the end of the project. I don’t like saying that, obviously, but it’s the truth.

Saying it’s joever already won’t do any good but so will blindly hoping that things will be better. Tbh I’m happy that I haven’t seen much of both of these takes except from the extreme sides of the fandom (out of all the anons I got since it started very few were extremely negative, no hate to them btw feel free to vent in my askbox i just chose not to post them).

People can stop watching qsmp altogether, or just keeping to their fav ccs streams, some can chose to keep watching like they did before for X reasons, others are straight up leaving the fandom, it’s all fine, we just need to understand everyone’s perspective without jumping to judgement.

Side note : One thing I won’t tolerate here is hate on the admins who spoke up though (this + the usual assholery aka random hating, bigotry etc)

Personally I haven’t watched a qsmp stream since the situation was exposed but thats just because I don’t want to support the project rn and can’t enjoy the content knowing what we now know. That’s just me though !

Anyway rant over kkkk thanks for the nice ask anon ! Weirdly I think keeping track of the situation and answering so many people who had questions/wanted to air out their thoughts is what helped me not dwell on my own sadness regarding what’s happening ahah

[bisquuet]

hi! still alive! AN UPDATE: LONG READ :D no new devlin content since im focusing on my oc comic :( ( speaking of comics. remember that other comic i posted here like once and never talked about it again?? yeah.. ) - lets talk about that. will i ever go back to that comic? -yes, when? i don't know.. i realized i went into the comic very.. unprepared.. or less prepared than i thought i was. so it got me second guessing things and getting confused..!! i have a VAGUE idea of how I want it to go, or atleast i DID, now im not so sure.. I think i need to sit down, splurge out my thoughts and ideas and go from there,, now i technically have a WHOLE post that is done that was supposed to be dropped shortly after the first one. but i thought to myself, oh ill just work on the next update and once im halfway THEN ill drop the second one! i never got halfway. i ended up just sketching more up ahead and adjusting and ''fixing'' things in the second update. making me loose track of time and getting behind, not only i had school to deal with too! so i just have a LOT of storyboarding of pages...that im slighlty afraid of looking at cuz i know that ill want to fix it but ill be unmotivated to actually fix it.. (bad rawr!!) eventually i have to get to it..!! >< ANOTHER major factor of the delay was my confidence, i wasn't satisifed and even frustrated at times when something didnt come out as good as it did in my head. i REALLY like the first update pages! especially devlins scene! but i think i got too ahead of myself and put WAY too much onto my plate, raising expections, of others and myself, mostly myself.... and I was trying to copy to a manga style, rather than convert my style normally into a manga setting, if that makes any sense. so i wasnt.... 'comfortable' drawing.. i dont know how else to describe it! but ever since then and even before, ive been getting less confident with my art and my style, feeling like its ugly or its getting worse. forcing myself to keep drawing, straining myself trying to make something that looks good to me. i have lots of fun and joy drawing for others, the reason i draw is BECUZ i just want to share what i make! as shallow as it sounds i like creating content for others to enjoy! it makes me happy and proud of what i draw! so. when i make something i dont like, i cant bring myself to show it cuz I dont like it.. others may, but that wouldnt change how i would feel about it. i felt that way deeply with the second update, which is why i kept tweaking it,,, and so I just let myself get caught up with other things.. feeling upset and guilty that I kinda just.. abandonded the comic..! saying that ill pracitce and oh ill do that , i Need to do this and this and this when i havent even done ANYTHING! i think, and i genuinely mean this, i think ive only recently started to ACTUALLY do things.! like development for my OC comic, writing for it, making content and sharing about them to whoever would lend an ear! so in a way the seewar comic walked so that my OC comic could run, hopefully.. so, unfortunately ill be focsuing more of my attention on my OC comic, and i honestly can't promise anything. the only thing i CAN say is that i will share the second update that i finished long ago.., no matter how much internal rawr doesnt want to, i feel like thats the first step to overcoming this fear and dread ive associate with the comic, which is something i DONT want. ill be scheudling to drop this weekend since ill be away.. i dont know when ill actively start working on the seewar comic again becuz i genuinely want to finish it and share it, i just have to not be too ambitious and plan out whats necessary. anyways.. now that school is out im finally paying all of my debts and owed art.. its rough but it has to be done. thanks if you have read all of this,, i greatly appreacite the support, from friends and followers, fossils, (thats what my fans are called wink wink) love yall fr <3

[meruz]

another ask post

i mean i also read it because a friend whos rly into queer SFF fiction circles recced it but she did kinda lead with "the writer used to write hs fanfic...tasmyn..taz...?" to which i replied

of COURSE I read the locked tomb because i heard taz had written a book. of course. ill consume most any media made by a beloved homestuck bnf. thats also why i played undertale. and read like..snotgirl. and idk... watched the new dub of neon genesis evangelion.

if u made homestuck fanwork 10 years ago and havent even made it since chances are I still remember and I love you for it.

sdlkfhsg its funny you sensed that because that drawing did in fact start kinda more........ well, I'd be lying if I said my hands never wrought a drawing toeing over the pg-13 line LOL...

NOT to say i have a secret stash of porn or anything. in general im more interested in the implication of sexuality or mature themes over any explicit depiction. like everything i draw is so softcore itd almost feel silly to make a nsfw acc for anything.

but im not rly jumping to post anything on main either bc i get the sense i have a lot of kids in my social media following. it varies from site to site and fandom to fandom but the themes in my work often circle around childhood, coming of age etc and in general i like stories about kids so the fandoms i draw for have a lot of kids in them. even stuff like IT (stephen king) which is about kids but isn't necessarily for kids.. there were a lot of kids in that fandom lol.

actually thats why ive been censoring swears in comics lately because the tmnt fandom comes across to me as a little young...IDK I've had MULTIPLE people ask me what "sodomize" means because of the joke in this post and I'm like... I Cannot be the one to explain this to you. you have to look it up on your own klfsdhsdg like i wouldn't be doing this if i were doing a comic for mgs or even homestuck wherein the characters textually swear constantly LOL but sometimes u gotta change tacks depending on the faces u see in the crowd yknow.

i HAVE been thinking abt drawing nsfw of sunspot/richard rider/kobak from x-men red just because that comic seemed to be really asking for it. who knows.. if the need rly arises maybe my separate account policy will change.

its rly more a matter of the fact that i havent read/watched much of any other iterations... im sure id like most lol. I like most things related to my interests regardless of quality. i rly like the marvel ultimate alliance games for instance. sometimes seeing my fave guy is enough he doesnt have to be well written LOL. i dont exactly have a wealth of free time tho thats the real impediment.

i did watch the 2007 movie on new years eve and found it quite charming overall. and i have read about 30-40 issues between the mirage and idw comics. still feels like im barely scratching the surface but i liked em. i rly want to read all the sophie campbell stuff bc i think her work is interesting. jason aaron will be a mixed bag i think lmao. i say as the worlds biggest Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) fan.

hmm this is kinda hard bc i feel like i naturally draw very loose and the hard part for me is tightening it up. maybe some suggestions tho...

1) hand excercises. i think its easy to forget this when many artists sit in front of the computer all day but drawing is a physical activity u do with ur actual...bodys...muscles lol. if u feel urself tightening up it might help to strech (any google search for "artist hand excercises" should yield good results) or do a page of loose practice strokes like..big circles. long lines. scribbles. that kinda thing. whatever feels good for ur hand. this is also just good to do as a general warm up before u sit down for any drawing sesh.

2) draw further away from the canvas. as a general rule...when ur painting traditionally you do the big strokes with your whole arm outstreched and a long handled brush. and when you do the details its smaller wrist movements and a shorter handled brush. so it might help to take a step back or push back from ur chair a little.. or hold ur tablet a little further away. and hold your pen further away from the nib.

3) change mediums / brush types. some brushes and mediums are more suited to loose sketching and some more inclined towards detail work. so changing ur tool could help. also! i personally have this problem where sometimes if im using a brush i feel really familiar with the pressure to make a "good" "finished" "perfect" drawing is greater... if i want to force myself to loosen up ill switch to a tool i dont use as often so it feels like the pressure is off. a lot of times for me this is switching from digital to traditional. but sometimes its switching from a small pen to a big marker. or a smooth pen to a textured one. or a nice brush to a shitty dried up marker.

but also every body is different so i dont think these tips will work for everyone. u should listen to what ur body and mind tell u and how drawing feels to you

bro just sign up and set it up i dont think theres much to it... i dont rly think too much abt my itch.io store because its digital goods so u just upload the file and let it do its thing. no distribution work needed on ur part. youll notice i barely even advertise my itch unless i have smth new on there lol.. its easy. but good luck!!!

idk if im the best person to ask this im more a comic fan than i am a comic professional... a comic hobbist.

well. scott mcclouds understanding comics and making comics are good books on the craft. i think i had to buy them for a class in art school once.

other than that idk just keep at it. comics are really laborious i think for a lot of people the hardest part is sitting down and doing it.

i think a lot of people have a very instinctive understanding of how to read comics and what they look like so whatever you think seems like good way to tell the story you have in mind, its probably right. if u get stuck, study comics that have done something similar. most people in comics are relatively self taught and actually it can be problematic bc you can tell when a lot of comic artists are all copying the same like 5 old white guys LMAO. but on the flip side if you make sure to reference and study broadly your comics will almost assuredly feel unique.

sorry im responding to this anyways. this is just a really nice ask. i like when people reference my older work bc i feel like sometimes theyre subtly implying it wasnt very good LMAOOO. but its true! at least compared to the work i make now ^^ and the fact that im still making art is whats keeping me from being embarassed abt how much of my old art just floats around online lmao im never ashamed to be growing and learning. isnt that a nice thought <3

[ericstoltz]

life update!!!!

hi hello friends good morning good afternoon good evening its that time of the month again! this isnt really a big life update like the last time bcs i just thought id list down a bunch of things ive had on my mind.

first of all, im very happy to announce that i was able to watch 16 movies last march !! exciting!! i know ive said the last time that i quit the bingewatching thing but HONESTLY im in a work from home setup and the only way to keep me inspired is by watching a movie ... i am yet to find other ways to stay inspired so watching movies will just do for now... ALSO im gonna try to update my newsletter for the first time this year and itll probably be about the movies that i saw this march that i liked ! im now comfortable with turning the newsletter to be more about movies bcs nothing major has been happening in my life lol . so pls stay tuned for that newsletter post if ur interested!

another thing is ive decided to make this blog more personal! for the past year ive made this blog to be more about movies and gifs and stuff, and as much as i love getting the notes and reading ppl's tags, im going to try and make this blog work for me this time :) hope it doesnt get annoying or something... im also in the process of fixing my about pages and tags and all. ive used tumblr since 2012 so im still struggling with the setup. LIKE yes i want to maximize the fact that you can edit html pages and its cute and lets me be creative but at the same time, im on my phone majority of the time . and i dont like being on my laptop after work because ive literally just been using a laptop the whole day. for work. im rly shy to post some stuff about me (bcs i havent done it before fr insert the tom hanks dialogue from joe vs the volcano abt doing some soul searching and coming to the conclusion that hes just boring so he stops doing it) so if u see me doing it as an attempt to fix the personal pages on my blog, im sorry! AAAND as for the gifs thing, im thinking of changing my film diary tag, one thing i really enjoy is taking note of dialogues i love from a movie so i might just do screenshots. i really miss making gifs even though most of the gifs i end up with are LQ , but it just really isnt feasible now . (also some movies are just so tempting to gif LIKEEE valley girl and everytime we say goodbye 😭😭 it physically hurts me that i cant gif josh whitehouse and tom hanks in those movies....)

ALSO im really very very happy that ive gained new followers recently. i enjoy chatting with you guys and get so happy whenever i get the notif that someone sent me an ask/message!! ive been idle on stan twt/fandoms in general so its been a really long time since ive actually... talked to people... it makes me really happy talking to u and im sorry if my happiness doesnt show in my replies/posts. as i said, its been a while since ive done this and i usually go on here as soon as im off work (when my brain is semi-fried and the words are not wording anymore) . i hope i dont come across as bored/uninterested :(

and it isnt just about fandoms too, im genuinely insterested what u guys are up to lately and all... (in a non stalker way). it just feels nice to have friends in general ^__^

SO YEA, i think thats about it :) if u've read this all until here ilysm! thanks for ur interest and lmk how ur day was! or just send me something u want to talk about !

have a nice day :)

[adonis-koo]

decided to stalk your blog on a random 5am bc i couldnt go back to sleep and found that chapter 20 of wicked had been posted!! and proceeded to read said chapter instead of going to sleep 🤡

i have been following wicked for so long and can words just cant describe how much i love the world building in this fic!! like even after not re-reading the previous chapters before the new update i could always just fall right into it immediately when i start reading the new ones.

and i love how far oc has come all the way as the crowned princess!! her growth!! development!! the way she carries herself!! her love for jungkook!! her combat skills!! literally everything!! ive become so attached to her character that i empathise with her emotions, and make inner commentary on things that happen to her 😂

and jungkook 🥺 both him and oc’s childhood trauma 🥺 makes me wanna just place them under a blanket, tuck them to sleep and tell them everything will be okay 🥺

and also the smut 🫣🤡 keeps getting better as every chapter progresses!! and talking about MAKING BABIES IN THE LATEST CHAPTER WTF!!

in case if you havent been getting feedback i wanted you to know that i still am an active reader of the fic, and i am very much appreciative of you taking your time to write and upload your work onto public platforms, risk people stealing it, AND FOR FREE?? it’s just that i always finish reading the chapters at very ungodly hours when im actually supposed to be sleeping 😂 but i PROMISE you that i will always love and support wicked!! love youuuu

first of all !!?!? immaculate!! I love seeing longtime fans talk about seeing the progress of character growth over a fic, it’s one of my favorite things!! Its especially now that we’re in late-game wicked and I’m finally able to write the things I had been writing during the draft!!

This is honestly such a fun story arc in the story’s and next chapter is even better as a certain….ahem fight breaks out 👀 Seeing MC grow more confident in her own combat abilities was something that I didn’t think much of during the beginning of wicked but it’s become SUCH a little treat, given her background for such a thing is so unlikely, makes me happy that I went this route with her even if a lot of others may have preferred to preserve her original character.

ALSO !!!! Another thing about this story arc is that we get a much more intimate look into Jungkook’s childhood trauma and his personal feelings and stories about a lot of things, it’s just such a sweet and intimate experience along with them becoming more and more smitten with each !!! hence babies potentially being made 👀

Thank you so much for your review 🥹 Long asks like this are SO welcomed as they are not very common anymore! It makes me so happy when long term readers who have been here since earlier chapters come back to drop a little extra love, thank you my dear!!! 🥰❤️❤️❤️

[demadogs]

oh please elaborate on your ocs & story if it's not a secret project!

its not a secret project at the moment but i would like it to be one day so i dont wanna share too much! i also couldnt share too much if i wanted to just because its SO new and fresh that theres still so many plot points im still working on. ive got a lot of character traits for each of them but not a lot of the world building. like its post-apocalyptic but i still dont even know why lol. im leaning towards a meteor. something interstellar, not human caused.

basically its a gay mlm love story between a deaf character and a hearing character in a post-apocalyptic world where everythings in shambles. theyre not quite enemies to lovers, more like reluctantly working together and tolerating each others presence to friends to lovers. theyre in their early- mid 20s. theyre traveling long distances together but dont speak the same language. one only uses sign language and doesnt speak or read lips and the other doesnt know any sign language so they write in mud or sand any chance they get and when they take rests he teaches him the alphabet in sign and so they can eventually talk through spelling things out.

they do have names and i have a lot more details than that but im feeling very protective of them and dont wanna share too much lol. ive always had little ocs and stories in my head pretty much since i started reading regularly in high school. id take my favorite traits from multiple characters across like five different books and make my own little stories. its always just been a fun little thing to daydream though. ive never actually considered creating a story with it but when i thought of this one i just got so attached and now i fear im gonna have to actually create something because i cant stop thinking about them!!!!!

if i do, itll be in the form of a screenplay. i see it as a movie or miniseries, not a book. i got my degree in film and have taken screenwriting classes and feel way more comfortable writing in that format. i havent written anything yet though. i have like 10 scenes perfectly crafted in my brain but nothing on paper. i also will have to do lots of research on deaf culture and sign language! ive already bookmarked some sources and i follow some educational deaf youtubers that i plan on watching more of and taking notes. thats definitely the first step. ive just been too busy lately to really start but one day i hope she exists in the world. <3

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

For some reason Ive been thinking about the shipwar recently, specifically about this thing that I remember elriels saying a few months ago before I had everyone whos shipwar posts ended up in the anti-tags blocked. Apparently SJM said that she wanted to do something different for Elain in some interview and they were taking that to mean that she didnt want to do another mates-plotline and basically using that as confirmation for elriel. And I think thats interesting because it shows that there are people out there who think of her as a fated-mates writer, while I very much think of her as an angsty-edgy-shadowey-bad-boy-love-interest writer with the mates-stuff just being an additional thing that she likes.

Like, I dont know about the main character of throne of glass and her love interest (although Ive heard sjm basically did the same thing as in acotar where the first love interest gets replaced) but in acotar and the first crescent city book we get the following endgame romantic dynamics: traumatized female main character with her angsty edgy shadowey bad boy love interest, traumatized female main character with her angsty edgy shadowey bad boy love interest (jock flavor), traumatized female main character with her angsty edgy shadowey bad boy love interest (fratboy flavor)

And Ive seen some people argue that Azriel doesnt really fit in with the IC or even the entire night court, in response to anti-elriels pointing out that it would hardly be different if its just another plotline where its these two in hanging out in a house in velaris and having sex and growing closer, which is a good point, but imo it doesnt really change their fundamental dynamic thats been setup so far; Elriel is just another interation of Traumatized Female Main Character With Her Angsty Edgy Shadowey Bad Boy Love Interest, and if this thing about SJM wanting to do something very different with Elain is true and shes not just going to bend the characters into something completely different (which could still happen, I feel like not enough people take that into consideration in this discourse), then Elucien is really the only pairing that she can write. Unless she wants to do something truly crazy i guess, like introducing a brand new character or pairing her off with a woman

Idk, Im not invested in the ship war because i really havent found any of sjm's canon romances compelling, but I am rooting for elucien because if they get together that means we might finally leave the night court next book. Which, I actually havent decided if Im gonna read that one, I know im not gonna pay for it if I do get it, but I guess I should wait to do that until Ive finished the books that are currently out lmao. Also, ive seen some people speculate that next book is not gonna be Elain's book but that Nesta is gonna get a second one, which I find pretty believable considering the stuff ive heard about hofas, and in that case it seems like its gonna be primarily about like, prythian's past and maybe reviving the dusk court, neither of which are plotpoints that sound at all interesting because we barely know anything about present day-prythian and the courts that we have now, like how are we talking about the fucking dusk court when the dawn court has been 100% irrelevant so far

[thisisegregiouuuus]

ok i was gonna make a post abt my rh oc kitty but i got distracted like usual so i gotta say 2 THINGS!!!

first of all, im kind of getting back into warrior cats...not rlly the books, but moreso the game clangen which im legit obsessed with, and its kind of similar to how i act w royale high. ill randomly be like 'oh hey i havent been on clangen in a while' so i hop on, get attatched to it for a week or 2 at most, and then wham bam thank you MAM!!! im sick of it and leave

but rn im back on it! and im kiiinnndddd of maaaaybbeeee considering starting a new clan and recording the events and stuff on a new blog/account/idk whatever thingy here on tumblr (for the billionth time... bc u have NOOOOO idea how many times ive started a new clan, been like 'oh yeah, this is the one', documented it for ages, then just gave up on it. i probably have like 10 random google docs floating around that are documenting random stuff in random clans </3) so yeah, idk if its gonna happen, especially bc i kind of need to focus on school rn, so idk. i might leave it to do it on the holidays but who knows if ill still be interested by then....theres always too much things going on around me and in my brain for me to even keep up

and also if anyone was wondering, yes i kind of am into warrior cats, i useed to love it as a kid and i still do. i remember playing the old roblox roleplay game back when it was just like rlly shitty cylinder morphs of cats back in grade 8 but let me tell u....the poor quality just added the more fun and charm to it. not even kidding, i loved it so much. i literally would stay up every single night so late just to rp, that game used to be my life, like i cant put into words how much i loved that game. every night i played the warrior cats rp game, that would be the highlight of my day, or the thing i was most esxcited abt after school was over. but things are different now, dont get me wrong the new and improved version of the game is rlly impressive, but ill always miss the good old days with the bad morphs of the cats </3 they will always hold a dear place in my heart, and same with all the fun and memories i made playing that game

also bc of how often i used to rp i became like a pro, like i was rlly confident and everything came naturally, but now ive left it for too long, i havent roleplayed in what feels like a billion years, and im hella rusty </3 it rlly sucks bc rn id love love looooveeee to get back into roleplaying on roblox. even if it isnt on warrior cats, id be happy, i just miss roleplaying in general

anyway im going soo off course rn. i did read the warriors books as a kid but i didnt rlly read the series in order tbh, like i remember reading into the wild, but thats it. otherwise id only read the special edition books lmao, idk why but i did and i loved them, and even tho i basically didnt follow the chronological story line, i still loved warrior cats sm

anyway that abt does it for the whole warrior cats stuff. idk where its gonna go from here but for now ill just enjoy clangen as is

and now that i said all that i cant be bothered mentioning the second thing lmao. its legit almost 2am im not even kidding, and i have to wake up at like 9am </3

sorry for any spelling mistakes and stuff btw this isnt proof read

[eggtwobroes]

big post explaining/apologizing for my (eggtwobroes/theyhitthepentagon) behavior under the read more

sorry for maintagging this i just. think its important

i dont really kniw how to word what im thinking so im like. going to type it as im thinking. but i wanted to make a real genuine post explaining my behavior over the past year, because ive been a dick there is no avoiding it!! this post is going to be about how ive acted from june up until now. im mostly going to be explaining the situations and apologizing. if you see this please feel free to share it around, i know it most likely will not reach alot of people because i have like. a loot of people blocked. and alot of people have me blocked. idk please share this ok thank u

back in june 2022 (specifically one year tomorrow, june 16th) i got like. really worked up after i had foundout that most of my adult mutuals (and some people i followed) were drawing hlvrai nsfw! the only post i had made about it (at least from what i remember) is liiike a not Kind post that basically said "hey if u like hlvrai nsfw please block me i thought that was common sense". after i posted this a large hlvrai artist (either by chance or caused by me) posted like "hey if u shit on hlvrai porn ur homophobic! sex is an important part of gay relationships etc etc"

this caused a Massive out break of discourse over hlvrai nsfw and me getting alot of adults in my inbox being weird towards me. here i feel its important to mention that:

when i was 12, i was around Ex Friends that posted a lot of porn of media i liked. even though most of them were teenagers and not that much older than me it Greatly Impacted Me and how i act, both related to what i saw and how i was treated

i used twitter from ages 12-15 (recently left) and you know how they handle conflict there. its not good

i dont think either of these excuse how i acted (but they may explain it)

the combined pressure of getting a bunch of adults in my anons being (from my perspective) really weird about this 14 year old kid who doesnt want porn artists to interact, and the unhealed trauma of Being Exposed To Homestuck Porn When I Was 12 (a devastating situation that everyone goes though all the time) i didnt really. handle it in a Good Way. which Means i sent horrible anon hate to people.i dont clearly remember if i made alot of public posts about the situation at the time (beyond answering the anons i was getting) but if i did im very very VERY sorry.

i feel like. alot of how i acted during this time (june-early august, mostly) was extremely Dickish and rude. as much as i justify or explain why i acted the way i did, i was still causing issues and handling the situation in a way that was unhealthy for not just myself but for everyone else around me. for this i really genuinely do apologize as much as i can, to the people ive hurt (melonsharks, xenodogz, many other artists) and to the people who were annoyed by me rehashing 3 year old drama. ever since the situation i have been working towards learning to block people and move on if they make content that makes me feel nauseous.

As for how ive acted in recent months, mostly over characterization, im not going to pretend that im already a new person. because im not! as much as i say im trying to be less of an asshole im just Not. it takes effort that i feel like im not putting in.

for those who just Dont look at my pages often enough, i will occasionally make posts about how hlvrai fans treat or characterize the. characters. and lets behonest these posts are really rude and ive been working on at LEAST being more vague or keeping it in private or like. just Not Posting it. but of course i HAVENT done all of those things! ive been really unvague!

ive posted direct screenshots of authors writing (someone younger than me, ive recently learned) to shit on it for being mischaracterized. i should Not have done that. at the very least i should have kept my thoughts to myself, not even shared with my friends.

after reading how other authors and artists have felt about the things ive said, and looking at the way ive come to think of other artists or authors in the community, ive realized that even though i thought i was targetting mischaracterization and poor treatment of the characters, i was harming and discouraging artists and authors who are still learning and growing as creators.

for this, im VERY very sorry to all of the artists and writers ive hurt or discouraged with my posts. i want to personally apologize to joyflameball, for publicly posting about and hating on your writing and the discouragement i caused as a result. i should have never put mischaracterization over your own feelings, and i definitely should not have put your work on blast, especially because we are (i think) around the same age. i will be trying as best as i can to deconstruct the way ive come to think of other creators in this community and support other creators as best i can.

i dont expect to be forgiven for the way ive acted, since alot of this is VERY very recent and so far i dont think ive shown any signs of improvement. i am writing this post now because i want you all to know that i will be trying my hardest to become a better person, change the way i think of other people, and change the way i act in public. i dont think my actions can be excused, as much as i try my best to explain them from my perspective. ive undeniably hurt many people. if i havent addressed something important, or if you have any questions/things to say, please feel free to send me an ask or dm me at wretched yaoi lich#9564 on discord. im most likely going to be queueing this post alot so my followers see it. thank u for ur time

[oh-cramity-its-amity]

hi dear mutual ….. this is random but i just Wanted to drop in and tell U that. my tumblr sometimes has a glitch where whenever i open it it opens to the same few posts and i have to reload it to scroll and see new ones…. and one of the like 7 posts that happens to be caught in the glitch is one of yours and it’s the one where u rbed a very sweet post that says something about Caring and Loving ur mutuals hehehe. know it was definitely not intentional but it still puts a smile on my face whenever i open this silly little site :) I HOPE U R HAVING A NICE DAY FRIEND AND ALSO U HAVE A LOT OF GOOD FOOD AND BUMP INTO A STRAY CAT!

HEY!!! even if random its still always nice to see you!! and ive heard abt some people getting stuck with that glitch, but thats super kind that it was one of mine about mutuals. i do love yall. a bunch!! it makes me happy to see my mutuals and you too around, and even though i havent been here on tumblr for long; i feel like i have a good little circle of friends for the first time. its always a little weird to me to think abt people caring about me, and quite frankly it can make me emotional at times; im super grateful for all of my friends here. they mean a bunch!! even too, if we arent in 1on1 communication. sometimes that "like" or the tags below a reblog of a post brightens my entire day, you know?? its just such a reminder that people want me around. people are kind and like me and i dont have to hide myself anymore, and im in a place where i can be silly and myself. it makes me happy to see you when i do!! you are wonderful to see around because you always reblog positivity or cute things and it makes my dash even more personalized (i never leave my "following" tab). i like to think that since we are made up of the people we love, its sort of like that for me. my dash is of the people i love (also super talented artists too).

anyway!!! im having a good day now with this. i was reading the locked tomb books (i started harrow the ninth today) and ive been texting my mutual, ghost (i dont want to tag them but theyre wonderful too) as ive been listening on all of my thoughts and rambles and theories about whats to happen since its my first time reading. its quite frankly such a rollarcoaster atm and so ive been sending so much speculation about things because i loveeee my mystery type elements to plots. trying to figure it out before the reveal. :)

hope u dont mind a super long response in return but im glad that u sent this ask and you too are having a wonderful day. <3333

[cartoonemotion]

sofa. I'm trying to think of another question but im not sure. would you list some of your top 10 favorite cartoons of all time

DAMN ANOTHER TOUGHIE.. ive watched a lot of cartoons... i feel like its easy just to list more current ones/cartoons ive very recently watched but im gonna try real hard not to do that. so in no particular order:

adventure time: probably an obvious choice to ppl who know me personally. im pretty sure ive said this before but i quite literally grew up with this show, like i watched the pilot on nicktoons when i was like 9 and freaked out when the first episode of the actual show aired, and ive still regularly and enthusiastically kept up with it ever since, even to this day. i have to be honest and say the inclusions of distant lands and fionna and cake had me worried in a very cynical way about wringing the franchise dry or it succumbing to nostalgia bait but ive been happy to have had those fears handily dispelled every time. it makes me really happy to see that the cast and crew that have stuck with it just seem so genuinely excited to continue to tell new stories in the expanded universe and explore the land of ooo and new characters who live there, i think thats a good way to keep an ongoing series with spinoffs or limited series or what have you to keep from getting stale

ducktales 2017: once again anybody who knows me personally or follows this blog knows why this is on the list. i. fucking. love. ducktales 2017. ive said a million times before that i think its like a perfect encapsulation of what a reboot should be, something that obviously has a lot of love and respect for the original that its rebooting, but isn't afraid to incorporate entirely new ideas or deviate from pre-established "rules" or roles of the previous installments/versions of the characters and story, so on and so forth. i think it blends the family sitcom and action adventure elements really well together, its got a great ensemble of charming characters, i think most of the over-arching storylines it sets up are executed really well and it has a lot of fun one-off stories. its not perfect but its damn near close, in my opinion. also as much as i hate disney the corporate i do still love donald duck hes the best legacy disney character ok american moment over

the secret saturdays: i was a HUGE fan of the show as it was coming out but didnt remember much of it as i got older until i rewatched it, whereupon i found out just how much it fucking holds up, oh my g0d. i genuinely cannot believe its not more popular considering its premise, and again i think the story and character writing really hold up !!!!!! it has fantastic twists, you are immediately endeared not just to the saturday family but a lot of the other supporting characters, its overreaching storyline is executed so so well especially when you consider it was unfortunately gutted and prematurely cancelled by CN. some parts of it may be a little dated but again i think for the years it was developed and coming out there are some elements that were kind of ahead of the curve. if you havent watched the secret saturdays PLEEEASE please do !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im fucking begging you. its good

ben 10: i think ben 10 might be my white whale. for important context i was scared to death of the original series as it was actively coming out when i was like, 6 years old, only to get extremely invested in it and the "original universe" franchise in like late middle school/early high school, and then they fucking got my ass AGAIN as a current twenty-something. every time i think im out they fucking pull me right back in. i know its a dumb meat headed action cartoon for little children but the wasted potential in this franchise is nothing short of insane, i wouldnt be saying this if they didnt literally bring up certain threads and ideas in the show only to be like, actually who gives a fuck ! that being said its a premise that sticks with you forever. to quote that one post

justice league unlimited: i dont post much about superhero cartoons on here but make no mistake they were hugely influential to me when i was a kid, my dad was and still is a huge marvel nerd but unfortunately for marvel (and my dad) their cartoon game was (and honestly, still kind of is) just aaaaabsolute trash, except for the ones about the x-men, but thats a ramble for another day. it wont surprise you to know a lot of the writing staff for the justice league and justice league unlimited cartoons would go on to work on the original ben 10 continuity so they have a lot of the same issues, but i would be lying if i didnt say jlu had a huge effect on my little baby brain, arguably maybe more than ben 10. why unlimited and not the original justice league cartoon of the aughts you ask ? well because jlu is hornier, and also booster gold is there

discovery kids favorites: this is technically cheating cuz its 3 cartoons, BUT ! i dont remember them enough on their own to put any one above the other. as a kid my mom hated cartoons (and honestly most tv programming aimed at children) and hated me and my sisters watching them in the room with her, or in general, for more than like 15 minutes a day, unless they were educational, and so i felt extremely clever for exploiting the discovery kids loophole bc they were cartoons made to teach you stuff. the ones i remember the most vividly and fondly were tutenstein, grossology, and growing up creepie, which i feel like honestly. says a lot about me. i should rewatch those sometime.

samurai jack: i will not argue against the fact that genndy tartakovsky is a tremendously talented individual, and a lot of his work has been extremely inspirational to me, that being said, if given the chance, i would drop an anvil on his head. i probably shouldnt say that but i cant express to you how much a lot of his work frustrates me and samurai jack really takes the cake. i cant even talk about season 5 but a lot of stuff in seasons 1-4 has problems that i feel like should be addressed, THAT BEING SAID, in spite of it all, i still fucking love samurai jack. i have fond memories of it from when i was a kid and during the collective resurgence it had as the 5th season was coming out, i cant argue that it doesnt have a lot going for it or pretend that again it isnt responsible for a lot of my own personal artistic inspirations.

class of 3000: I KNOW IVE BEEN POSTING ABOUT THIS A LOT LATELY BUT ITS NOT JUST CUZ OF THAT ! this last rewatch hasnt been my first, ive genuinely brought up this show to a lot of people both online and irl in the desperate hope other people remembered it because it was one of my absolute favorites as a kid and i remember the visceral feeling of how unfair it felt when i found out at like age 9 that it had been cancelled and there would never be another episode of it again. i think it just came into my life at the right place at the same time, i was both getting really into drawing and coming up with little stories myself and so the art and the cast really drew me in, and i had a music teacher at the time who was really into jazz and blues music and seeing that reflected in a cartoon i was watching was so cool :v] and again i just think so much of it holds up. its a gem i dont think should be hidden

spongebob (but only the first four seasons and the movie): im almost 25 so this is supremely unoriginal. its not that i think the newer/newest stuff is all bad its just that everybody gets one thing to be unreasonably blinded by nostalgia about and for me its early spongebob. the userbase on here is aging you all know what im talking about i dont need to explain this pick

the owl house: i really like the owl house for what it is ! its not for everybody, i know people tend to think it kind of skews towards "children's cartoon that is targeted for adults who still watch that stuff" but i think thats kind of cynical and not very generous to the cast and crew, i know the show got pitched around a bit before disney picked up on it but i dont think its fair to exclude the care and thought that went into re-adapting it for a broader and therefore younger audience, and the care that went into it in general ! i like its take on the fantasy setting, both the main and minor cast clearly have a lot of love and thought put into them, genuinely i think luz is maybe one of my favorite cartoon protagonists ever, the messaging it tries to get across i think comes from a personal place and is thus very earnest and sweet, and much like the secret saturdays i think its able to accomplish a lot in the limited time it was given. the whole show just feels like a labor of love to me and i just like the way that comes through !

since this was hard here are some honorable mentions:

batman the brave and the bold: wouldnt be fair to bring up a superhero cartoon and not mention this. i was pretty obsessed with this rendition of batman as a kid, unsurprising since i unironically loved the joel schumacher batman & robin movie and liked to catch the adam west batman re-runs they would play at the wee hours of the morning when i couldnt sleep, i think brave and the bold channels both of those a lot, its deeply stupid and kind of sucks in a lot of areas but thats also kind of part of the charm

3below: so i watched the first season of this before ever watching trollhunters, and while i recognize trollhunters is on a lot of levels the superior tales of arcadia cartoon i just like 3below the best. the stakes of trollhunters can get a little exhausting and i think 3below lets itself get a bit more goofy, plus its about a little group of "fish out of water" aliens !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love fish out of water stories AND aliens, what do you want me to do

fangbone!: real sofa fans remember my fangbone phase. ongoing actually cuz hes still my icon. its one of those cheaply produced flash canadian cartoons but from my perspective i think it was made by people who actually put more effort than was expected of them, which i like, and again its another fish out of water story, and the graphic novel its based on is also very cute

dwampyverse cartoons: phineas and ferb and milo murphy's law mostly ! pnf was very impactful on me as a kid and i loved the first season of mml. i think theyve reached a kind of oversaturation maybe ? that has made me juuust a little bit jaded about them, but i cant pretend like i still dont hold plenty of fondness for em in my heart

unicorn warriors eternal: see the above points about genndy tartakovsky in the samurai jack bulletpoint. the premise is a really cool one and the first season managed to be really good in ways i didnt think it would be but theres still the second season, so im scared. i hope its good. ive got the clown make up ready to go just in case though.

lastman: don't watch lastman. we all have our own cross to bear, alright, and this one's mine. i watched lastman, so you don't even have to worry about it, i mean i haven't finished the second season yet so i will, so don't watch lastman, please. im telling you as your friend, don't watch lastman. we all make mistakes sometimes, like for example, i watched lastman, both in french and english. if you watch lastman than my sacrifices will have been for nothing. don't watch it, and don't look up the comic either. im completely serious.

big city greens: im very picky about sitcoms and sitcom-type faire, but big city greens takes i think a very flat and tbh cynical gimmick and explores it with a lot of heartfelt earnestness, its hard not to be charmed by it. just pure comfort food tv to me.

danger & eggs: fun fact !!!!!! the cartoon that made me decide to make this sideblog !!! i keep meaning to revisit it, i would recommend checking it out if you havent before, both its premise and humor is very idiosyncratic and sweet to me, again its just another show that feels like it came very a place very near and dear to the creator's heart and i just always love to see that. if i had kids of my own which i never will i would definitely show it to them

[huckleberryblossom]

hey can i ask for a tutorial or guide on how to draw a cat body? i've been struggling for days

just to get it out of the way since anyone you ask is going to say this, references are your best friend and will make this a lot easier

a friend of mine shared this site which has lots of good references, not just for cats but lots of things. if im looking for something specific, i usually google something like "cat curled up" and just scroll for a while or use multiple references to get what i want.

but as for how I draw a cat body, i use references but honestly a lot of what i do is a result of just having spent so long studying references (and how other artists drew them! sometimes studying what artists are doing can help you translate realism into whatever style you're going for) that i kind of just know where certain bones go/how the muscles would stretch or contract

this is how i tend to visualize the body at its most basic. the parts i highlighted are the pieces i use to ground the anatomy: the shoulder, the haunch, the elbow, the ankle, the paws, and the skull. their shape tends to change very little from pose to pose, which is why i exaggerate/define them so strongly. they're usually what i sketch first and use to get the pose the way i want it. everything else is stretchy and fluid to "connect" these pieces of the body.

here's an example of the parts using a photo from that site i linked

and the way it looks without the ref, vers what i drew by looking at the ref!

these are pretty standard walking/standing poses, but the idea works for more complex poses.

i havent really said much about it, because most of what i draw are refs, and they dont really have dramatic poses or difficult perspective, but its up to you to decide how much anatomy you're willing to sacrifice to get a more fluid motion, or a dramatic shot. i think this is where those guiding "pieces" of the body is helpful for me, because i can lay down those pieces and then do what i need to to connect them, so i may lose a little bit of exaggeration but the body doesn't look broken.

you can see that in action here, with this anniversary piece i did. my first sketch was only meant to get down expression, pose, and movement (i changed raven's completely, lmfao) and unfortunately i dont have anything for the steps inbetween because i think i refined on one layer. but i kept the vibe the same even after cleaning up the sketch and fixing the anatomy issues.

fur is one of the last things i draw when i draw cats. i like to get the body shape and movement down first, and then cover it with fur if i have to. i think this ref is a pretty good example of that

on the left is how i start most of my drawings, getting the pose down and everything where i want it. i make edits to this until i like the body shape (notice how the belly is much larger, and all of the limbs are thicker + the paws are big) then i use that sketch as guiding lines for all of the fur placement. the fur here ends up covering nearly all of the body, but it still looks fine because the anatomy was there to start with

i hope this helps anon skjfdhfkgjh ive never made a tutorial like this before. there's definitely better ones out there by other wc artists, but i dont have links to those posts on hand, maybe some of my followers can link them? good luck to you!! ill leave you with one last piece of advice you'll also hear a lot: just keep drawing! we all improve with time and practice, and are always learning and trying new things.

[wildcatofgreen]

🌻🌻🌻

new ask game send me a 🌻 and ill just tell you whatever the fuck i want

((1. after using the new post editor vs the old post editor and switching back and forth between them on my blogs, i gotta say! old post editor fucks

((though the new post editor has a TON of QoL changes that elevator to more of an equal status ((like, being able to tell when a special thing like italics starts and stops is a fucking amazing feature and i wish it was on the old post editor ((or being able to edit tags, or being able to make text BIG or BIGGER, or things like that

((but running with the old post editor for a while on the qkd blog has brought about some really funny/interesting bits!

((this gimmick is really fun. it feels like ive been running the blog for months but its only been less than one. i love that blog

((2. speaking of--if things havent been obvious so far, then lemme say it outright right now ((i am going through the entirety of poppy's story on that blog, pre-poppy to... an ending, of sorts ((which means events will just sort of happen over there, in slight congruence to when they happened in poppy. such aaaaaaaaas

((this whole thing! in fact, it's happening in a thread right now~.

((at the end of arcs/events i plan on tagging all of the previous posts that took place in that event as like... a relevant tag, so that i might chrono them and maybe my things can be read as a sort of story. this is... going to be a pain. but! i am incredibly committed to all of this now. i am excited. things are going to fucking happen.

((uh, sorry for all the kit-blog talk. i am just kind of. really excited for that blog! i have this base guideline already set for me to follow and i get to explore how this MF goes through the entirety of what-we-know in poppy. including somee other things that are at play because of the nature of just. knowing more than my characters know

((having characters like lila and chicadino just making funni appearances this early into the story is just so much fun you dont even know.

((sidenote bonus thing but i really want chicadino to interact with @/fallen-symphony crew because like. he's a villain, with an outrageous lucky star at that. it'd be REALLY FUCKING FUN. i wanna do arthur interactions IN GENERAL, REALLY

((but alas. there is literally no conceivable way i could approach first about this without majorly breaking things and his knowledge on the world rn. his little birdy would not know about multiverse theory (yet).

((3. im thinking of like, making some slight changes on this blog? to save myself the sanity? but i dont know how. ((i aint stoppin' playing carol--i love this dumbass just as much as i love kit ((but man oh man i look at the amount of threads i have on here versus the amount i have on kit and its like

((well of course im over there more--i can actually count the things i have to do over there. and one of them finished! and another one has a finish line i can conceivably get to! cant say much for the other threads but im sure a finish line can be gotten.

((i do feel bad that activity has waned over here. again, carol has a lot of shit still happening and a lot of things i still havent properly addressed. the ideas are in my head, its just ((pen has to touch paper, y'know? that's it, that's all it is. i dont wanna take on new threads here because i get this anxiety that its just gonna stall me from actually doing things. i already have important threads that do need to get finished that i simply havent touched in like, weeks.

((maybe i just need to find these threads and hyper focus on them and then like, one or two more things. have something that can keep my sanity, well, sane. because otherwise it is going to be very hard for me to keep up things over here.

((i pray that this same issue doesnt occur on qkd. ive been thinking about implementing a thread cap of sorts, just so the overwhelming thing doesnt happen.

((still need to think about things tho. my mind is being RACKED as of current.))

[arothin]

I'll take you up on that offer of being genuine because I like it when people do the same for me. This first part is all for your first question.

Short answer is that democracy is the worst form of government there is, except for everything else we've tried. Long answer is an essay below the cut.

I want to go through your first question kind of point by point, but first I want to try and imagine a better system of government, and while I disagree with a violent overthrow of the current government (as I do not think it is yet necessary), thats where I'll start for building a better government; a blank slate.

So all the fascists and other parties and ideologies that want power over others are dead and gone, both foreign and domestic, so we don't have to worry about defending against an outside force reverting us back to the current status quo, which happens in so, so many revolutions.

All basic services necessary for life (food, water, electricity, sewage, medicine, education) are readily available. There are still resources to share and standards to set. I'll even propose a moneyless society that works (though I disagree about such feasability or necessity). The greatest resource of all: land. Not just land for farming, but for nature and for living, for industry (electricity and its generators must be produced still, medecine must still be made), etc. How will what goes where and when still needs to be decided. Even if there is a group of experts to decide these things, how do we form agreement on who gets to be in this group of experts? if theres no group of experts, how do we form agreement with eachother? You cant just make more land, you will always need to share and the dutch cant make enough for everyone.

Then there are arbitrary standards, for the longest times these have been weights and measures. competing standards with no oversight leads to bad results:

So how do we get everyone to agree on arbitrary standards that must be followed, but theres no reason for any decision to go any which way? Switching medication amounts from CCs to fl oz will kill people. you say CCs I say fl oz. now what?

Democracy does not stop any of these things from going wrong, and it certainly doesnt automarically provide for everything ive laid out in this hypothetical future, but its also pretty much the only way to get these things right, if thats at all possible. Now this is just an opinion, but I prefer having a system that sometimes gets things right over a system that cant get things right at all, while we try to find a system that can always get things right. its a tough pill to swallow, but we havent found that system yet.

Now answering your first question directly. Right now, whats the appeal of democracy? A fire extinguisher, or at least fire retardent. Anyone who tells you "all you need to do is vote" is indeed trying to pacify you away from direct action. Voting also buys you time for direct action to work. If you reply, I'd like this responded to directly, as I know this is a length post: Is it impossible to vote for a new system that does indeed outlaw fascism? Not that is it impossible for anything else to bring about a better system, but can this? can voting? If it can, shouldnt we have a diversity of tactics, try everything we can do bring about that better system?

Now onto your second question. First, yes I do really, really believe that (not all, but too many, and certainly of those in positions of power) want to do exactly as youve listed. However, political violence is a dam that once burst is not easy to rebuild, and its a river that flows both ways; usually until everyone is drowned. If republicans and fascists already hold systemic power then if history repeats itself, that means they are better positioned to engage in political violence then we are.

Whether we like it or not, there are genuinely neutral people who will only ever care about justifications and what is or is not within the rules, regardless of how moral those rules are, and they will turn against whoever breaks the rules first. I know it doesnt always seem like it because fascists have gotten away with bending the rules and shaping them to benefit themselves for so long (and disavowing their own who outright break them), but its true. Theres a reason abolitionism skyrocketed in the U.S. only after the confederacy broke the rules first.

It is a petty, vindictive, and cruel game fascists are forcing others to play with your lives as the game pieces; but I think all they care about is playing the game, and if we don't play at all, I think theyd prefer to just smash the pieces. When they start smashing pieces (and it is a matter of when, not if) I have no problem with violence then. Until then, they are offering not to smash the pieces yet as long as we keep playing the game at the ballot box. Right now, if we stop playing, that large group of neutral people will stand idly by as the fascists start smashing pieces, and theyll say the rules allow it because the fascists won by still playing. If we play the game long enough to win, the neutral party will side with us when the fascists start smashing pieces, because we played by the rules to win, and losers dont get to smash pieces. If we break the rules by hitting the fascists first, that neutral party will side with them, even if we did the right thing, because we broke the rules first.

I really do have an honest question for libshit voteblues, and it seems like it isn't an honest question because that's what I call them but it's merely an honest descriptor:

Anyway, two questions.

Question the first: If Republicans have managed to game the formal structure of the democratic system so that they threaten to end it each and every election cycle, and the proximate consequence is transition to a fascist dictatorship under God Emperor Trump and his Project 2025, then what the FUCK is the appeal of democracy supposed to be? Why are we supposed to fight to keep this system in place instead of inaugurating some other system that categorically excludes fascists from access to political power?

And closely related question the second: if you really believe, if you really, really believe that the Republicans are getting ready to send my family and me back to the plantations and open up death camps for every central American immigrant and Muslim in the country, then why aren't you moving to make the Republican party fucking illegal? Why aren't you firebombing their offices or assassinating their ideologues? Because that's what people have done in the past in similar situations and your insistence on simply forestaying their sweep into power until 4 years later is not commensurate with the seriousness of the consequences in imminent loss of life that you're claiming to believe is at stake.