#just for fun i added image descriptions to the posts i put in the queue today

[redbootsindoriath]

Welcome to I-just-realized-that-I-only-posted-4-times-in-the-whole-of-last-year. I was largely uncreative throughout 2023 and 2024, unfortunately, but I think I've finally compiled enough stuff for a short queue as a sort of apology to you guys. A lot of the art is over six months old, some of it from more than a year ago, which means I get to dust off my backlog tag again.

A majority of the queue is going to be stuff from my own original works, which I am aware is not the reason most of you guys follow my blog, but alas, the artist must be a slave to the muse. Last month I picked up writing again more than 5 years after setting aside my main writing project, so there's been a lot of character design and other worldbuilding taking up most of my free time lately. Which is exciting for me, but I know it's nothing compared to Tolkien's legendarium and I apologize for that. Unfortunately I haven't worked on much Tolkien stuff for quite a while, which is going to make this a very unusual and jumbled series of posts with artwork from all across the board. Some of it is going to be unfinished in a big way: stuff I meant to share here when it was done but never got around to finishing.

First post should be up tomorrow at 11 a.m. GMT (I think), and then one per day at that same time until the queue runs out.

[fixing-bad-posts]

I looked around and didn't see anything about this on your blog but I apologize if I missed it.

I was wondering, what does doing the work behind this blog...feel like? I guess what I'm asking is if it does anything to you. Like, I had a thought. For a flash, I imagined you as Butters from South Park in that episode where he is tasked with filtering out all the negative comments on Cartman's social media. It ended up really messing with Butters, what with him having to see all that negativity.

You're definitely not being affected to that extreme, I assume, but I wonder if you would have anything to say about the process of finding these negative posts and reading them several times to edit them. Has it exposed you to unpleasantness that you wouldn't have otherwise seen? Or is there perhaps a kind of catharsis in editing such filth?

I'm making a lot of assumptions here. Maybe I'm also asking about your process. I just think what you're doing is neat and would love to hear about your experience with it.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have plenty of reasons to feel joy <3

oh boy, i love talking about myself haha—so thank you for giving me an excuse to do so! i have answered similar questions in the past, though never at length. every once in a while, someone pops into the inbox to ask about my mental health (which, rest assured, is just fine—i don’t put this blog’s operation above anything; it’s honestly pretty low on my list of life-priorities), and it’s always quite sweet. having a mob of strangers following one’s sideblog has its perks: one being that sometimes parasociality results in some well wishes, kind thoughts, and general goodwill. which is very nice, and probably an unearned vanity-boost for my ego.

what does the work behind this blog feel like? in turns: mundane, challenging, vindicating, annoying, amusing… and probably other things that i’m forgetting. most of the work i do on this blog is actually me procrastinating! i am a certified adult with a job™, and i’m definitely guilty of slacking off at work sometimes to queue posts submissions from my inbox, which is more fun than like… proofreading financial documents and making spreadsheets. other times, i’m sitting in a café with my partner, and allegedly i’m “writing” fanfiction. but, uh, if you know any writers, you know that sometimes “writing” means, ‘looking at a blinking cursor’. so it’s in those moments that i open up tumblr and start writing image descriptions and adding tags to prep posts for my queue. that’s mainly when the blog feels mundane.

something that i think helps me avoid negative doomscroll-spirals is that i don’t actively seek out bad posts for this blog. being a citizen of the internet delivers fodder to me naturally. that, and running a semi-popular sideblog on tumblr. when i see a bad post in the wild, that’s when the feeling is annoying/challenging. challenging, because ever since starting this sideblog, hateful posts don’t feel as vicious to me. once i see them, they stop being posts and turn into word-puzzles. and i love word puzzles!

solving the word puzzle is amusing for me, as is getting to look at my resulting “blackout poem.” it makes me laugh, it stretches my brain. when i started, i used to have to read a post several times to find the ‘good post within the bad post’ so to speak. these days, i’m so used to it, i barely read the bad posts more than a handful of times. but as i was saying to my partner, one of the reasons i love found poetry (erasure poetry, and cut-up poetry) is that it uses the same part of my brain that loves scrabble (the board game). then, of course, it's vindicating to see my posts get so many notes, sometimes surpassing the original bad post. that's more of my own vanity, i'm sure.

as for the last part of your message: yes, i have plenty of reasons to feel joy. i work with people who respect me, i live walking distance from a bubble tea café, and have friends and family whom i love. i have the good fortune to be safely out as a queer person. i’m a fanbinder. i’m currently working on a long fanfiction which is getting some very nice comments on ao3. and i’ve recently decided to become a poet (like, for real).

i must admit, i’m fascinated by how you imagine me. i often wonder how i am perceived, especially because i keep many cards close to my chest here on my sideblog.

anyhow, thank you for this excuse to ramble about myself and the process of running this blog. i hope you also have plenty of reasons to feel joy 💛

[gaylittlewizardcat]

gaylittlewizardcat’s tag master post

The purpose of this post is to avoid duplicate tags (such as having both “Mister Mistoffelees” and “Mr. Mistoffelees” as tags) and to easier navigate my blog (both for others and myself). It will probably get updated a lot with time

This post also includes tags I think I may have use for in the future, even if I haven’t used them yet, and may exclude some other tags I have used for varying reasons

(This also applies to reblogs on my main)

Accessibility tags:

I do my best to tag triggering content, though the format varies a bit (such as using tw or cw, putting it before or after etc) if there’s ever a post you feel is triggering that doesn’t have proper warnings please don’t hesitate to tell me! Anons are on if that makes you more comfortable :]

Negativity: the tag I use when complaining about stuff. I try to keep my blog fun and light hearted so it’s nothing super upsetting, but if you don’t want that this is the tag to blacklist

Undescribed: I try to add image descriptions to all posts with gifs or images, but sometimes I don’t have time or aren’t sure how to describe something, in which case they get this tag so I can easily come back to it later. Things like bingos, “get to know my ship” templates or videos are never described because I simply do not know how to format them in a sensible way. If you use a screen reader and would like for me to add a description to a specific image let me know and I’ll try to prioritize that post! Anons are on if that makes you more comfortable

“Type of content” tags:

My art: art I made!

Doodle: silly very low effort art I made!

Writing: something I wrote or plan on writing, really pretty much anything writing related

Drabble: something small I wrote, usually also has the “writing” tag

Fanfiction: something I wrote I also posted on AO3, always also has the “writing” tag

Gif: this post includes gif(s) I’ve made

Gay little ramblings: me just spewing whatever nonsense is in my brain in the moment

Reblog: self explanatory

Excellent addition: when someone adds stuff to my post I think is neat, always also has the reblog tag

Fandom event: sometimes people do things like ship weeks or gift exchanges! Sometimes I participate!

Cats fanart: both my own and gift exchange stuff!

Incorrect cats: incorrect quotes

Source: my wretched brain: Incorrect quotes I’ve thought up myself

Jellicle queues: queue tag, rarely sees usage lol

Jellicle memes: memes

Jellicle polls: polls! I think they’re fun and I post them sometimes

Jellicle asks: invitations to send asks (such as ask games)

Jellicle answers: answered asks

Cosplay: Cosplay stuff, mostly added to this list symbolically since most posts tagged with this are gay little ramblings about WISHING I did cosplay but not actually doing it

Video: some type of content in video form, most likely edits of some kind

Audio: sometimes I edit audios, most of the time they also have the “video” tag because I upload them in a video format

Edit: a variety of stuff, but usually me doodling over a screenshot

Year in review: yearly tumblr check-in cause I love stats and organization

Discord shenanigans: Discord related shenanigans

Character tags and any possible specific tags that only concerns one character:

Alonzo cats

Amunet cats (I also tend to tag her with “Exotica cats” so people who like her have an easier time finding her, but I use the name Amunet otherwise)

Asparagus Jr

Bombalurina

Bustopher Jones

Cassandra cats

Coricopat

Demeter cats

Electra cats (Autistic Electra)

Etcetera cats (Autistic Cettie)

The Everlasting Cat

Jellicle dog George

Grizabella

Gus the theatre cat

Jellylorum

Jemima cats (Cryptid Jemmy)

Jennyanydots

Macavity

Mistoffelees (Cryptid Misto, Autistic Misto, Mute Misto, Misto and the Glitter Chronicles)

Mungojerrie (Trans Mungojerrie)

Munkustrap (Autistic Munkus)

Old Deuteronomy

Plato cats

Pouncival

Rum tum tugger

Rumpleteazer

Skimbleshanks

Tantomile

Tumblebrutus

Victoria the white cat (Deaf Vicky)

Relationship tags (these tags may or may not get used together with both/all relevant character tags, depending on the specific post):

Bombatuggoffelees

Bombatuggoffeleesandra (I am in rarepair hell)

Cassoffelees (platonic? romantic? qpr? Yes.)

Demecavity (Mostly past Demecavity)

Demelurina

Demestrap

Electcetera

Platoria

Tuggerlurina

Tuggoffelees

Victeazer

Monochromatic siblings (Mistoffelees and Victoria)

Monochromatic family (Mistoffelees, Victoria and Bustopher (occasionally Alonzo too but much less frequently))

Chaos twins (Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer)

Chaos trio (Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer and Mistoffelees)

Mystic twins (Tantomile and Coricopat)

Mystic trio (Tantomile, Coricopat and Mistoffelees)

Deuteronomy brothers (Munkustrap and Rum Tum Tugger)

QPR Amulorum (queer-platonic relactionship between Amunet and Jellylorum)

Oldie squad (Jenny, Jelly, Amunet, Asparagus, Skimble, Bustopher, Gus and Ol’ Deut, on rare occasions also Griz)

The kittens (Electra, Etcetera, Jemima, Tumblebrutus, Pouncival, and sometimes Victoria)

Other tags:

Jellicle Cats

Pollicle Dogs

Cats OLC

Cats OBC

Timothy Scott (I usually don’t post about actors but I have a habit of not shutting up about Scoffelees)

Cats 1998

Cats international tour 2022

Cats non replica

I’m not going to mention all the different productions, I don’t keep great track of them so I just,,,, tag them only sometimes

Jellicle folklore (the Everlasting Cat as a deity and the beliefs Jellicles may hold regaring Her, and some stuff about how the magic in this world may work)

The man over there (sometimes the character himself, but mostly me complaining about people who hate on or fundamentally don’t understand the musical)

Human AU

Which Misto makeup design am I going to be Not Normal about today? (I am completely 100% biased but I think Mistoffelees has some of the most interesting makeup designs and they make me go just a little bit feral sometimes)

peak autism moment (when cats the musical,,,,, but autism <3)

[stimtoybox]

Have you ever considered adding another mod who could just act as your editor? Idk, I was just thinking about your recent posts about how you can't make your posts as good as you want to, and I thought it might help take some of the pressure off if you had someone to help, so you can focus your spoons on more important things than fixing typos.

Oh, anon. You’re not the only one who’s reached out to me this week, by the way, on the subject of help and mods, so I’m kind of answering everyone in the one discussion. Can I say that it floors me, absolutely floors me, that people are taking such an interest in this little blog, and me, and want to see it keep going? I don’t have words, not really, but there’s teardrops splashing onto the keyboard. Thank you. Just - thank you.

I’ve been thinking about another mod for the last month or so and thinking about it more the last week. And I keep running up against one thing: me. So I’m going to talk it out here, so you can get a sense of where I’m at.

I’ll be honest: part of me very much wants to wrap this blog this chest and go mine, mine, mine. (Think the seagulls in Finding Nemo.) This is, I admit, because I’ve spent years and years blogging on various platforms and struggling to gain an audience for my writing and now … now, somehow, I’ve happened across the right topic on the right platform to not feel, for the first time in my life, as though I’m shouting into the void. And that? That is phenomenally amazing, and something about which I feel extremely possessive.

But it’s also unfair. This blog serves a community and this blog would not exist without the hard work of other people. Tumblr blogs, unless they’re all the blogger’s own content, are a collaboration. That mine, mine, mine feeling is factually incorrect and largely born of my own deep insecurity.

I don’t know if people realise it or not, but I started this blog as somewhere to post my own findings and collate and tag other things. Because Tumblr being as ephemeral as it is, it’s hard to find information that’s grouped together, and most blogs tag with an eye of other people finding their blog or advising for content; I’m doing the latter and tagging for grouping and collecting. (I’d be shocked if anyone found this blog through the tags!) There’s lots of great stim toy blogs out there, and I reblog from them, but I don’t think anyone is quite so obsessive about the archival side. Which is pretty understandable, because it’s a big job.

(It makes answering asks like the autism-owned store master post and the DIY master post so much easier to create. Tagging is annoying and the HTML coding for the tags pages even more so, but it is worth doing.)

That I’d have nearly two hundred posts in my draft folder (not counting the 100 posts in my queue) wasn’t in the plan; I thought I’d have problems finding enough content for regular posting. That anyone would ask me anything, about anything, ever … how do I express the depth of my surprise that it happened and has continued to happen? It never crossed my mind. Not even once. That I’d end up in a position of knowing things? That my time as a dabbling crafter and fashion doll collector would be relevant?

I’m trying to say that I’m spectacularly unprepared for what happened and I still have no idea how I ended up having to have this very conversation.

But. The thing is that I don’t play particularly well in shared sandboxes. (It’s a personal failing, one of many.) I’m particular and controlling and very much enjoy the freedom of doingthings my way, to my standards. Even when that way drives me up the wallbecause I cannot myself live up to it!

For example, I couldn’t give the tagging over to someone else. (There’s amulti-page document beside my keyboard instructing me on how to tag and I still make mistakes.I could never unbend enough to watch someone else tag and do it “wrong” - andby “wrong” I mean not “incorrect” but “not following my system 100% to theletter”.) I would likely drive a fellow mod up the wall by complaining or drive myselfup the wall by trying not to complain.

I like answering asks - Igenuinely enjoy looking things up and discovering new information, so a fellowmod would have to pry that out of my dead hands unless I have to take time off for resting/writing/appointments. If I were to ask someone tomod with me, in all honesty, I’d be asking them to do the grunt work of editing, image descriptions, maybeproduct links if I unbend enough … while I do all the fun stuff. And I think that’s a little or a lot unfair, personally, which is why I hesitate to ask. There’s also the financial aspects of things like affiliate links - in honesty, I’ve only made a dollar or two from my links, but I don’t know that I feel comfortable with making any kind of money when someone else is doing some of the work. I’ve also been thinking about putting up a tip jar (I suppose for that one, at least, the theoretical co-mod can and should do the same) so that those of you who might have an extra dollar or two and feel moved to help me out can do so.

(It’s complicated, because there’s always a part of me that’s thinking about my online presence and how I might make either any income out of it or gain the kind of internet presence (read: something that appears to be an audience already inclined to buy my work) that means an agent or publisher doesn’t toss my fantasy novel abouta physically-disabled, autistic, non-binary, stimming protagonist and hir mentallyill, ace trans companion straight to the slush pile as financially unjustifiable. I wish, I really wish, I were in a situation where neither was a factor and I could do this blog just for the fun of it, but I’m not, and so I hope you’ll forgive me for seriously thinking about the ways in which I can use this blog, now that the miraculous thing of people following me has happened, to help me with, well, living as a disabled, autistic creative who’s in the un-fun position of being far too disabled for full-time employment and not disabled enough for governmental support. Part of that might be through affiliate links and a tip jar. Part of that might be making you all look like an audience.)

Plus, in truth,there’s a high chance my fellow mods would come to hate me with a passion that flaresundimmed until the world ends…

So, I’ve dithered, and I’m still dithering. (And, like always, I’ve written a lot of words to describe said dithering.) I don’t know if it’d be best to take on a mod or two, or to post a list of posts and ask people to describe them for me, or … I don’t know. I don’t. Dithering makes it hard to know!

If this doesn’t get me closer to an answer, it at least lets you know what I’m thinking about and why. At this stage, I’m pretty firm in the “no decision yet” camp, despite taking on a mod being the super obvious answer, but is absolutely something that needs thinking about and deciding on.

(If anyone read this to the bottom … wow. Just wow. You’re amazing.)