New Website, Final Post

Hello! I have a new personal website. Now that this final adjustment to my online presence is live, I will not ever sign into Tumblr again, but I promised to let ya'll know where I went, so here it is!

Dusty Rose's Blog

Tumblr Confession #1: Squigglydigg

I left Tumblr at the beginning of 2022. In truth, I withdrew my heart from it at the beginning of 2021. I left for many reasons, each one long enough to fill a blog post. This one is about Squigglydigg.

For many years I was a part of a really wonderful fan community that sprang up around a series of animated music videos. It was called Mystery Skulls Animated, to differentiate it from the band Mystery Skulls, whose music was used in the videos. Squiggly was an up and coming artist who rocketed in fan community status for her stellar fanart. She was lauded and loved and pedastaled for a long time. Our posts intersected from time to time--as they do on Tumblr--and we talked sometimes. Occasionally she would show up in my writing streams and gave me advice as I worked on the fanfiction saga Thicker Than Water Tales.

I don't remember exactly when she first got dragged. I know that it was done behind her back on Tumblr. She wasn't even tagged in the post. It was allowed to circulate for a long time before she saw it, so she got to see a list of people who "liked" the callout post, several of whom had seemed like her friends before.

Months (years?) passed, and she got called out again. And again. And each time I watched, bewildered, but silent. It didn't seem right, but I was afraid. Lines were being drawn and I didn't want to stand anywhere when the lines made no sense to me in the first place. I thought I knew what was right, but I didn't know how to say it. And I was afraid of the anger.

I kept silent.

Signing Out

I have written way too many drafts of this post in the past year. Some were angry, some were depressed. All were too long and preachy. In the end, they sounded divisive and incendiary. Nothing I wrote read back to me as helpful or healing or unifying. So, let’s keep this simple.

I don’t have a personal site to move to yet, but it’s time for me to leave Tumblr. For most of this year my posts have been queued and I logged out for weeks at a time. With no Facebook and minimal Tumblr in my life for a whole year, I stabilized way more than I thought I would, which is enough of a reason for me to log out for good. I will leave my blogs up here until such time as I have a place to port them, but I will not be posting any more, and I will not be here to answer asks or IMs. I have three in-progress fanfics right now, and the rest of each story will be posted to the fanfic specific sites mentioned at the bottom of the post.

I don’t anticipate joining another social media platform, and the websites that I’m a part of (see notes at the end) were chosen for their focuses, not for their interaction capabilities.

There’s been good times and bad on this site. I appreciate the communities I’ve been a part of. I appreciate the people I’ve spoken with. I appreciate the tool that this site was for me and the ways that blogging out my brain mess helped me sort it. But, like my meds so long ago, I kept using this tool long after it was no longer helping me, and long after it started doing me more harm than good.

Thank you for the experiences. Thank you for tagging along with me on part of this journey. I leave you with my favorite video that I found on this site, and I hope you have a nice day.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME

Find me elsewhere in the future by searching Dusty Rose or Hecallsmehischild (on rare occasions as Hecallsmehisown when a character limit is imposed)

I feel like I used to rush to Tumblr every single time to unload every single experience, internal or external, big or small. Now there is a new little whisper at the back of my mind that I've been attending to lately. It says, "Some things, just for myself." And I shut the laptop and walk away.

TITLE: HIT AND RUN

FANDOM: MYSTERY SKULLS ANIMATED

RATING: T

SYNOPSIS: Mystery Skulls Animated secret santa oneshot. It was supposed to be a calm, relaxing, fun game night. No ghosts, no cryptids, no hot leads. Just friendly competition and fresh pizza. But the pizza delivery person claims to have hit something weird on the way over, and it's impossible to say no to Vivi once she gets going.

Note: @msaholidayspirits 2021 Secret Santa gift for @titenoute! Featuring Titenoute's MSA OC Fiona! A fic of firsts: First time I've written an MSA fic with someone else's OC, first 3rd person non-specific POV I've tried in ages, and first time I've written solely pre-cave material. I had a couple mini-comics, sketches, and a profile to go off of for the OC Fiona. Fingers crossed that I landed somewhere close to an accurate portrayal and also that the literary police don't ram down my door. Pre-Cave gang gains a new friend, Merry Christmas! Cover photo by 5demayo at morguefile.

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(Mid-November) So, I've been on a major cooking kick lately...

Went to visit my sister in Lancaster, PA and I got to feed a goat. They had a little quarter-for-feed machine nearby and the goat followed me every second after I squatted in front of that machine. It was especially eager for cracked corn. It was a bit magical to get to feed it (says the city slicker).

I'm grateful for roads. For the roads that crisscross the country. For the private and public services that repair and replace them. For the ability to get in a car and travel, near or far. I am grateful for cars and the network of roads we've inherited.

I am grateful for cooking gadgets that make cooking cost me less energy.

I am grateful for easy, instant, free/cheap access to a wide range of knowledge.

There's an older guy who my husband and I have over for dinner a lot. He's brilliant. Like truly brilliant. And, like us, he's odd, so we don't have to be awkward about social interactions because we're all odd. He'll come fix a couple small things at our house, and we'll either go out to eat or make something here. We'll talk everything from politics to physics to invention ideas and whether or not I should take up sewing. He loaned me a sewing machine to see if I would like to work with it. Recently we went to a high school football game and he narrated over it every step of the way until my husband and I mostly understood how the game works, and that was a first! I'm grateful we have this friend in our lives.

I am grateful that this year felt like it moved, like there was an actual flow of time, unlike last year.

I am grateful for very silly hats, and all the people who make them.

I am grateful for poke places that offer delicious options for people who hate raw fish.

I'm grateful for dumb memes that get stuck in my head and make me laugh.

I am grateful for the child-like joy of stickers. Large ones. Small ones. Shiny, glimmering, colorful ones. Stars, flowers, butterflies, and unicorn stickers. Stickers.