#actuallyaltaria

[ckret2]

@actuallyaltaria said: You could probably get away with something newer still like Steven Universe! They sing about their feelings!

This is gonna be a long post because every time I go "man it sucks I can't mention [some kids' cartoon] lmao" I get multiple people trying to suggest ways I can include some kids' cartoon, so I think I need to explain myself.

"Use Steven Universe instead" is a solution if you're assuming I'm coming from a position of "my ACTUAL GOAL is to reference a TV show, any TV show, that people know about, I'm just struggling to find one that's universally familiar." So let me clarify: my "alas, if only everybody knew the plot of Rainbow Brite" theatrics are me being funny for my own entertainment.

I want, very specifically, to NOT reference a real TV show, no matter how well-known it is.

I've mentioned before that I don't want any part of this fic to be dependent upon the audience knowing some other series. I'm extremely firm on this. It would be alienating to any readers who aren't familiar with the property, it would be alienating to readers who ARE familiar with the property but dislike it, it would be distracting to people who know the property TOO well—and it doesn't fit into the Gravity Falls universe.

Gravity Falls doesn't make references to real world pop culture! The hit rap song of the summer isn't attributed to a known rapper like Lil Jon or Snoop Dogg, it's Lil Bigg Dawggg. The biggest boy band isn't NSYNC, it's Sev'ral Timez. There's no Dungeons & Dragons; there's Dungeons, Dungeons, & More Dungeons. There's no Fun Dip, there's Smile Dip. The master of claymation isn't Ray Harryhausen, it's Harry Claymore. Hoo-Ha Owl substitutes for Chuck E. Cheese, Fight Fighters for Street Fighters, BABBA for ABBA... for Journal 3 they even made up a dimension named Exwhylia so that they could avoid canonically mentioning Flatland.

Almost every song, show, cartoon, band, movie, food product, chain business, or other brand name that gets mentioned in Gravity Falls is either a parody of a specific real-world equivalent or a broader parody of a whole category of pop culture.

In a universe where some of Mabel's favorite series are Believe in Yourself and Dream Boy High, it would be weird and jarring to throw in something real like Care Bears.

Honestly—putting my jokes about forcing all of tumblr to watch a cartoon aside—gun to my head if I was forced to include a reference to a real world cartoon, I'd probably be less likely to use Steven Universe than something like Care Bears or Rainbow Brite. Steven Universe would be even MORE jarring. Like, most of the people who are inclined to read Gravity Falls fanfics probably haven't seen Rainbow Brite, so—even though it still has the "this is a Real Thing so it feels like you're expected to know about it" stigma that adding ANY real thing to the fic would have—it's at least is on equal footing with Believe in Yourself and Dream Boy High in that it's still the name of something distant and unfamiliar to most readers, and therefore I could say anything I wanted about it and most people would be like "sure, okay."

On the other hand, Steven Universe? This is tumblr. SU and GF are plot-driven kids' sci-fi cartoons about kids caught in supernatural shenanigans and complicated family relationships that were airing at the same time. The audience overlap between Gravity Falls and Steven Universe is almost a circle. Anybody who sees Steven Universe get name dropped in a Gravity Falls fic is NOT going to see it as some distant unfamiliar story-within-a-story being introduced as a lighthearted narrative device for a goofy "Mabel thinks showing Bill children cartoons is a valid form of therapy" scene. It's going to be the heavy handed insertion of a MASSIVE fandom that a LOT of readers will already have EXTREMELY STRONG IN-DEPTH OPINIONS about—and any that DON'T have such strong opinions are probably the ones who are sick to death of seeing Steven Universe everywhere and are just gonna be irritated that now, apparently, knowledge of that show is necessary to read this Gravity Falls fanfic??

If I said "Bill thinks he's totally exactly like Rainbow Brite" a few readers would politely chuckle and the rest would wait for me to explain the metaphor and why it matters to the storyline. If I said "Bill thinks he's totally exactly like Rose Quartz" I'd have dropped one hell of a bomb of a hot take into a fic that isn't in the LEAST BIT about any alleged character parallels that might exist between Bill Cipher and Rose Quartz. Anyone who's seen the show will immediately start thinking VERY HARD about the comparison and anybody who HASN'T will assume that, because SU is so big, I'm expecting them to know enough to understand the comparison.

If I were to put either of those comparisons in the fic, the point I would be trying to make is "Mabel makes Bill watch a kid's show hoping it will teach him to be a better person, and is surprised that instead of taking away moral lessons from the viewing, he's concluded he's basically the same as the idealistic young hopeful rebel leader fighting against oppressive conformist forces and protecting the people of earth." My authorial intent would be at least partially drowned out by any reference to another show (especially for people who don't get it), but it would be SUPER drowned out by a reference to an extremely well-known show.

The only way to avoid distorting that authorial intent is to not hinge part of the story on some other show.

So am I melodramatically sighing and lamenting over how tragic it is that I can't directly reference The Last Unicorn or whatever in the fic because it would be so totally perfect and very funny and absolutely has valid narrative parallels to stuff that's gonna happen in the fic? Yeah. But my problem wouldn't be solved if TLU was universally watched, or if I substituted something that is universally watched for TLU, because the root of my problem is that TLU is a real cartoon in the real world.

I accept that the specific comedy that can ONLY come from saying "[character from Show A] is EXACTLY like [character from Show B that's jarringly incongruous with Show A]" is comedy that I'm not going to have in my fic, and I cope with this by comedically kvetching about it.

And I'm gonna make up an imaginary girly 80s cartoon for Mabel to force Bill to watch.

[peregrineggsandham]

Putting together, for the first time ever, a playlist inspired by the character I'm playing in my latest 5e campaign. So far, so good:

I have not been this hyped for a character in so long, y'all.

The DM likes to center campaigns broadly around player character development arcs - he and I had a character-building Zoom call full of dastardly scheming, after which I... uh... wrote over 8000 words of backstory. Leaning hard into some of my absolute favorite tropes. Man, I am invested in this in a way I haven't been since @actuallyaltaria's Pathfinder games. And the rest of the party is fantastic - we all play off each other so well.

I desperately hope this campaign lasts long enough to see some of this arc play out, but frankly even if it doesn't, I think Abraxas "Pickles" Copperhill is going to go down as one of my favorites. Almost want to try to write it all into some original fiction... but it only works as a sequel, so I'd have to tell that story first. Hm. Perhaps one day.

Apologies to anyone who finds those "ask me about my OC" prompts annoying, because for the first time in years I am hyped enough to possibly actually reblog some. Possibly a lot of them. Good lord.

[quaxorascal]

rule: put your spotify on repeat playlist on shuffle and post the first 10 songs that come on.

I got tagged by @grapecaseschoices and have been listening to a variety of music all week, let’s do this!

“Soldier, Poet, King” by Colm R. McGuinness and Rachel Hardy

“Being Alive” by Eleri Ward

“Wait A Minute” by Sub-Radio

“Rule #4 - Fish in a Birdcage” by Fish in a Birdcage

“Hail The Hero (Mo Ghile Mear)” by Celtic Thunder

“Boss Bitch” by Doja Cat

“Really Over” by Sub-Radio

“Divide” by Bastille

“Ain’t No Other Man” by Christina Aguilera

“Haven’t Had Enough” by Marianas Trench

I’ll go ahead and tag: @actionsurges @actuallyaltaria @rebuketheviolent @subcorax @samusthedude and anybody else who’d like to give this a go!

[starsnhiseyes]

anyway for anyone who has known me since i was 13-14 (particularly like @phastcast @actuallyaltaria @avicarion @galbos) etc like not that i am required to apologise or anything but i do feel bad that i was misleading abt my gender identity/sexuality for years cos i feel like yall wouldnt have given me shit over it? or maybe you would have who knows it was 2012? my point is just that irl i was being VERY poorly treated for even being suspected of not being cishet for the vast majority of my life so it genuinely never occurred to me that i even had a chance to be myself and thought itd be best if i just kept it to myself forever and never talked about it. like i always felt bad that i never said anything to you guys cos i know i actively lied about it and ive worried that it seemed like it just totally came out of nowhere and i just joined tiktok and changed my pronouns or something

[jewish-people-problems]

Jewish People Problem #63

Walking over to the "Kosher section" in Kroger like "mmm, Yartzeit candles, delicious"

Submitted by @actuallyaltaria

[knownlesbianalexandracabot]

I remember an Archie comic from when I was a kid, they had a TV crew come to town to make a show about "a day in the life of a teen," but they decided the gang was too boring. I've been looking for it for ages, do you happen to remember the name?

it could be “The Real Deal” from World of Archie Double Digest #65 or “The Stars” from Archie's Pals 'n' Gals #46, reprinted in World of Archie Double Digest #34 and in Archie and Me Comics Digest #23. i also remember a Cheryl story with a plot like that but it’s not from her self-titled comic as far as I can tell, maybe one of her yearly specials issues? If you remember what year it was, what type of comic(digest vs regular issue), other stories in the issue, etc. that could help narrow it down too. 

[theraveninhisstudy]

👀⚡

Times I didn’t agree with Matt’s call:

Really, nothing actually comes to mind. I’m not one of those people who have every single rule memorized, but I feel like I know them well enough to know when a call sounds or feels wrong. Plus Matt Mercer has basically lived and breathed DnD for almost longer than I’ve been alive and has been called one of the greatest DM’s alive, not only is his knowledge of the rules of DnD certainly more comprehensive in mind, but the times he makes calls that might not be quite Rules as Written, they still feel fair and are usually in service of the players having Fun which is what really matters.

Favorite Yasha moment. 

At first I was going to say Yasha ripping Obann’s goddamned wings off, because fuck Obann and in the words of a certain Paladin of the Raven Queen: POETIC JUSTICE. But really my real favorite is when they all return to the Xhorhaus for the first time after getting Yasha back and Yasha goes to see that Jester’s flower mural is still there in her room. that moment just broke my heart in the best way. 

[shinondraws]

actuallyaltaria replied to your post “I'm really not good so if anyone has any nice pick-me-ups, shitty...”

My dog likes to lie in the back yard and stare at the wild asparagus, waiting for it to grow so she can eat it. She has become a tiny fluffy asparagus farmer

Hahahaha well who can blame he, asparagus is the best! I hope she doesn’t scare the asparaguses/asparagi/aspawhatever away with her intense staring.

[sleepyspoonie]

1? 6?

1. Animated character that was your gay awakening?

Lol, I sent this question to my wife and it’s killing them because they can’t remember. For me, though? Fucking Hawkgirl from the Justice League animated series was 100% my first crush. She was cool, competent, aggressive, blunt, gorgeous, and she had a compelling and emotionally poignant storyline only one or two other people over the course of 5 seasons came even close to. I was in love. 

Lbr though, I was and am still gay for most strong, pragmatic, competent women in the shows I saw/see :P Also the moms. Fucking love moms.

6. Top three cuisines?

Fuck. I like sushi so much, as well as a lot of different Japanese food as a whole. Huge fan of BBQ, but I’m still searching for a BBQ place that actually does good brisket in my city. Italian is also a winner. Mmmmm, this is a mean question because I’m try to keep from going to the store until I’ve used up absolutely everything I have, and I still have several days left of food ):

Thanks for the qs!

[mightyisthepen]

Angel, peach, petal, sunshine?

angel - what’s one character trait you like about yourself?I like my dedication to helping people when I can.

peach - what’s your ideal aesthetic?I have so many! Right now I’m really feeling that cozy sweater aesthetic that you usually see during the fall.

petal - what’s your favourite smell or perfume?I think my favorite smell is probably coffee, despite the fact that I do not like coffee.

sunshine - what’s the nicest compliment you’ve ever gotten?I don’t think anything particularly stands out. A friend of mine recently told me he really likes my writing style.

Thank you for the ask, dear!!

[gallusrostromegalus]

Tonight for dinner I made about a gallon of fancy mac and cheese because I was So Done. It barely fit in my biggest bowl and I froze a bunch

Good for you!  Both for making food and having the impulse control to not eat an entire gallon of Fancy Mac because I definitely would do just that.

[ckret2]

I'm so excited to watch GvK, it will be my first Godzilla movie but I already feel really invested from reading your posts over the years! ❤️

Aww thanks! Hope you enjoy it! (And if you do, feel free to come back for recommendations for more. 😏 We’ve got over 60 years of this stuff)

[peregrineggsandham]

been decorating my new apartment, and there is a single space on the Wall of Science that is about the right size for an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper with the requisite little fabric border

not sure what to put there. the signed animorphs cover art goes by my desk so I can look at it and feel happy while working. the kitchen wizard goes in the kitchen. I cannot think of any other paper-sized Art Object in my possession. which, given the sheer amount of random miscellany in my possession, is somewhat unexpected.

*possibly* the unicorn drawing @actuallyaltaria made for me ages ago will work... but I think it's too small, and it's already framed anyhow. same with the painting of Kat and the crew. maps go on the Wall of Maps. I apparently have a realistic pencil sketch of a bald eagle in my old scrapbook folder... but with no idea who did it or where it came from, it meets neither the Niftyness nor Significance criteria necessary to join the wall.

this is a Conundrum.

[quaxorascal]

Mollie @actuallyaltaria drew that image of Taber the same week that Taber was going to confront Judoc, and while we were having that ~Family Reunion~ in-game my darling wife took it upon herself to make it even more appropriate to how it actually went down

[ID: a traditional watercolour painting, featuring an addition that was made digitally in the same style.

The watercolour painting features Judoc and Taber, a human and tiefling woman respectively. Both women are featured in profile, looking at one another. Judoc stands with her back straight and her chin held up, looking down her nose at Taber with a stubborn, haughty expression. She is a tall woman with pale skin, dark eyes, shoulder light brown hair that’s been tied back, a large nose, and a defined chin. She is wearing a white blouse with billowy sleeves and no shoulders, with a brown leather underbust corset on top, and a light blue skirt. 

Taber is marching toward Judoc, angrily shouting “Enough!” at her and pointing a finger in her face. She is a tall woman with red skin, shoulder-length dark auburn hair, horns that sprout from her forehead and curl behind her head, pointed ears, and a similar nose and chin to Judoc. She is wearing a blue gambeson under silver plate armour; she is also wearing a silver circlet with a red gem in the middle of her forehead, and black pants.

The digital addition is on the left side of the image, behind Judoc’s back. Four figures peek around the corner at the ensuing drama: two elven women with beige skin and dull blonde hair, and two crow people with black feathers and beaks. From top to bottom, these figures are Nymerinae, Aracelli, Sabina, and Belasco. Nymerinae’s nose peeks over the corner, as do everyone’s eyes. /end ID]

(thank you to @sleepyspoonie​ for this masterpiece!)

[starsnhiseyes]

actuallyaltaria replied to your photo: i finally finished it what ya guys think

It’s great but when the fuck did you get so young?!

oh! you see, in 1998 i was born at a very young age and ever since then ive been very young :)

[dailypokemoncrochet]

WHAT BETTER WAY TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF PORYGON-Z