#like when they're 80 they're still gonna be friends kinda bond?

[thirstyvampyr]

Shameless 10x12 "Gallavich!"

[findafight]

Why do you (personally) think so many Steve fans loathe the idea of him becoming a dad? becoming a parent is the only dream we know he has, but it's thrown in the trash in most fics. I keep reading about steve being childless by choice, because the party is enough for him, which I really don't get, they're only 4 years younger than him, their relationship is brotherly, not parental, and they have their own parents who raised them. I love found family, but it's not the same as raising children

Oooh. Anon you are so bold giving this to me, a person who has an elaborate studio era lavender marriage au where Steve and Robin just. Get adopted by children who break into their house AND one where Steve becomes brotherdad to his half sister. A person who clearly also doesn't know why people have future!Steve childless. Man attracts kids like the pied piper.

But let me try. I have some ideas.

First off there's less space between Steve and Dustin than me and my little sister, but more than me and my big brother, so I can for sure say, you definitely become more friends less caretakery with your siblings once you/they are not fourteen. Still protective though. Maybe many people writing those don't have close sibling relationships with moderate age gaps? Like, there's a point where you feel comfortable letting your little sibling do mostly whatever, because they're big, but you're not gonna let them get hurt if you can stop it. There's also never a point where you stop looking at your older sibling to help you. That doesn't mean my big brother is like my dad?? It's very different, and that's important!! The Party for sure has a sibling-like relationship with Steve, especially Dustin, and Max, and I'd say Lucas (he has a little sister, but no older sibling, and Steve and Erica are scoops troop bonded so. Bonus brother for Lucas!)(will and Mike have their own older siblings. El and Steve interaction WHEN!!!!) and they all have actual parents. So yeah. Steve has a gaggle of little siblings he'd fucking die for, and his kids are going to have so many uncles/aunts/non-binary sibling of parent (there is no good word for that)

So. I think it's possible that because a lot of people headcanon Steve as queer, that immediately makes "having kids" a bit more complicated given the state of things for queer folk in the 80's. That's fair.

With that, possibly people sort of...transfer Steve wanting kids and a big family to working with kids. Which isn't that big of a leap for Steve! He obviously does well with the Party and Erica, and he canonically worked as a lifeguard, which almost definitely means he taught swimming too! (Small pool def wanted duel certs. Trust me). He likes kids, works well with them, and wants them. These are three things that are separate, but blend well with each other.

However I don't really agree. Obviously being parents was harder for gay/queer people in the eighties, especially men. But it wasn't unheard-of! I think saying that because he's queer and in a relationship with a man in the eighties that he'd have to give up on his dream of being a dad is rude. There would be obstacles but, really, I think Steve would see it as totally worth it.

Another reason I think people don't want to give future Steve kids is. Listen it's been a while since I saw it but. His little speech was pretty embarrassing. Mostly because it was to Nancy. And that he followed up on the way to vecna and said he thought it would be her there too... Literally any other character would have made it not awkward, but because he and Nancy haven't talked about anything other than the upside down since season 2, it was awkward and bad. If it was ANYONE ELSE it would have been so cute (it still kinda is just. Ignore that they tried to give stancy development without actually giving them development) like if Robin was there? If Dustin or Max? Erica? Lucas? Were sitting in that seat, it'd be Steve sharing a dream of a big family he had, trying to lighten the mood, of opening up to people he cared about. They'd tease him, but the implication of him wanting them there as well would be clear and very cute. Adorable.

Because those are characters that don't have the same baggage in their relationship with Steve, but the six nuggets speech was made to Nancy so immediately it's already a bit off for people who want the characters to actually, y'know, talk about the past and move forward from it. Nancy and Steve's relationship is so messy and interesting and if they wanted me to get into actually rooting for it then maybe they should have an actual conversation about it!! And have Nancy break up with Jon before!! Not just half dreams of the future while her bf isn't there!

People also try to use it as saying Steve assumed Nancy would? Just be a Sahm? Or something? When that was never the implication? Maybe Nancy would have interpreted it that way, but I didn't. Steve wanted a big family who spent lots of quality time together having adventures. Six kids is a lot, but I betcha if Steve thought that much about having that many kids and road tripping to the ocean, he was probably imagining being the primary caretaker of those lil nuggs. He was daydreaming about first day of kindergarten and tearing up for real I know it.

Also I think people are cowards if they don't think Robin and Steve would get convenience married and adopt a couple kids even tho Robin is slightly terrified of toddlers (they are fast and they BITE) and Steve would be Robin's trophy husband who's a stay at home dad that wages physiological suburban warfare by being a Wife Guy and the envy of all early nineties housewives.

[snowmuttgetsweird]

6/19/24, early-ish afternoon

I've been processing some feelings about art.

In a fit of frustration over social media with Twitter constantly teetering on the verge of death, and a rash of new sites popping up all the time that I feel pressured to reserve my handle for and then never touch again when it turns out they're all garbage anyway, I told myself "fuck it, I'm just gonna make a VCL."

Well, turns out VCL itself has been long dead now, but there's still at least one archive out there that still hosts a lot, if not all, of what was on VCL before it went away, and I've been perusing its content for a few days when I've got "free" time.

It made me very nostalgic. There was a sense of discovery, maybe REdiscovery, finding a massive collection of people like me, of varying levels of artistic ability, creating characters and worlds and stories all for the sake of creation. It was cool seeing how many people leaned really heavily into an 80's/90's anime aesthetic, the odd painter, the Western cartoonists, the BlackTeagan wannabes, the Kenket-likes, the Goldenwolf imitators, the absolute deluge of Furcadia portraits, edgy teens with black and green outfits and spiky hair, etc. Such a huge variety of people still kinda tinkering with what they could do within the creative space of the furry fandom, either just discovering a semblance of style or aping styles from the artists that inspired them... It was kinda inspiring. It helped rekindle that sense I remember having early on like "I think I wanna be a part of that."

I guess furry art just didn't feel as produced back then. Like, it didn't feel as much like it was engineered to be impressive or marketable, it was just bohemian, therapeutic, and a form of exploration and expression.

I think that's the part that feels dead in the fandom- especially with the economy being what it is, cost of living, etc.

I've heard it said before that "culture" is something that begins to develop once the basic needs of a society's population are sufficiently provided for- housing, food, healthcare, etc. That said, culture is the result of a stable economy.

Instead, nowadays, culture IS the economy. Much like the way we breed and force feed livestock to feed our bloated population, the industry is pressured to bloat and bloat and bloat to feed the ever-growing demand for NEW content, MORE content, MORE entertainment, MORE enrichment, and as the quantity rises, the quality falls, and innovation stagnates.

I dunno. I'm probably spouting nonsense, but it just feels that way. It feels like we're starving, and eating rocks to make the bad hungry feeling go away instead of food.

Anyway, the point I was trying to get at was I think I just miss WANTING to draw.

Like, I think when I was young, I liked Pokemon, so I drew Pokemon. I liked Mortal Kombat ninjas, so I drew Mortal Kombat ninjas.

When I got older, I started questioning my identity and sexuality, as most do eventually, and I explored it through art, and bonded with other people that did the same.

Now I'm not usually drawing because I want to EXPRESS or EXPLORE something- I'm drawing because if I don't do enough drawings to compete for new clients' attention, I'm going to lose everything. My apartment, my best friend, my independence, my pride, my hope- everything. So I draw.

I draw whether I want to or not. I'm not drawing to express anything, I'm not drawing fan art of cool things my friends have done, I'm not drawing gifts for my friends or other artists I admire, I'm not studying anyone's style and trying to incorporate the pieces I like into my own, or really even developing my own style. Instead I'm just drawing what I'm told with explicit attention to trying to make it as marketable to THAT client and other potential clients as I can as long as the money keeps flowing and I can pay my bills, and that's all I'm good for right now. Even if I'm given full freedom of expression, I'm still not doing it because I WANT to necessarily, I'm doing it because I need to do it to survive. This isn't an activity I choose to partake in because I'm thriving and I have some time to burn, it's just the only job besides retail that I'm actually somewhat qualified to perform.

It just feels bad sometimes.