[fandom tags defunct until I get back into sci-fi television probably] These will only work if you search within my blog, ofc:
For the art I made: #my art
Fics/stories I wrote (tends to be a link to ao3, where all my fics are blue locked/registered users only): #my writing
General, nonspecific things I talk about that aren't worth putting under a whole fandom sec: #cicatrixee yaps
When I talk about music (now I only rlly do it on my sideblog @topperpopper for rpf reasons and I'd say nsfw reasons too but I've said or reblogged worse things): #cicatrixee talks music
For any fandoms, I'm sure you can just search dps, landduo, minecraft, qsmp, mcyt, tbom, doctor who, mlb, you get the picture. I'll bring back fandom specific tags when I get back into smt that isn't music
The thing is, even if you were lucky and your parents taught you how to clean, they probably didn't teach you how to clean the stuff you clean stuff with, like brushes, mops, sponges, rags, and so on. Or how to clean your cleaning appliances, like a dish washer, clothes washing machine, and clothes dryer and its ducts (if you have a ducted dryer), or a carpet cleaner, vacuum, Or how to clean up clean messes, like spilled bleach or detergent.
My parents threw away all of these things (even the vacuum cleaners and the dryer) when they got too dirty to function, because no one even told them THAT they could be cleaned. Cost them thousands of dollars over the years.
All I'm saying is that cleaning is not intuitive, and not knowing how to clean is not a moral failing, but it is something you can learn.
I'm going to reblog this post with resources for learning how to clean things and how to clean cleaning things (I'm not at my desk at the moment). If you have any favorites, please feel free to add them in too!
I like this video because it does a great job of introducing the basic foundations of house cleaning (and because he doesn't use bleach, which is a common allergy in addition to being awful to inhale). He also talks a little about how to clean a vacuum. And why you shouldn't put grease from your pots and pans down the sink drain. I also love that he mentions that different houses and different people have different needs and different versions of what clean and cleaning looks like.
He doesn't mention though that the toilet seat comes off. I take my toilet seat off to clean under the hinges and clean the seat more thoroughly once a quarter.
This is another video from the same guy about cleaning and depression. This advice, especially at the beginning, can feel really really difficult and oppressive to hear. However, I find that it's generally pretty solid. But I'm autistic and so is he, so that gets a massive Your Mileage May Vary stamp on it.
I have a favorite part of this video. It's from 10:52 to 12:36. I think we could all use to hear that. There's a HEFTY pause after that one. I promise the narration does come back.
I'm also going to recommend KC Davis' book "How To Keep House While Drowning"
This is a pair of videos about how to correctly load and use a dish washer.
The first one is a quick 1 minute 30 second overview on loading. I can't find the exact video I'm looking for, so consider this a substitute for that. If I can find the one I'm looking for, I'll swap it in.
The second is a half hour deep dive on dishwashers and detergents. The short form of that is you shouldn't need to pre-rinse anything, detergent pods are overpriced and can cause problems, some dishwashers have a filter in the bottom that needs to be cleaned (but most don't), run your sink until the water is HOT before starting your dish washer, and put a little detergent in the pre-rinse dispenser when you're washing extra dirty dishes (or on the inside of the door if your dishwasher doesn't have a pre-rinse dispenser).
How to clean a front load washer (with bleach). This should be done monthly or every time you wash really soiled clothes.
With expert tips and tricks for all types of washers.
How to clean a top loader (without the removable agitator thing). This should be done every 1-3 months depending on you unit, or every time you wash really soiled clothes.
Regular cleaning of a top-load washing machine will prolong the life of the appliance and leave your laundry cleaner and brighter.
How to clean a top loader (with the removable agitator thing). This should be done every month, or every time you wash really soiled clothes.
These carpet brushes are a LIFE SAVER if you have dogs. This thing allows me to go from vacuuming about 4 square feet before my vacuum is full to vacuuming half the living room (I don't vacuum often enough. You should vacuum weekly, and I just can't.). I have to unclog the vacuum less often. It fluffs up some of the flat spots in the carpet. And I also use the brush to shampoo my rugs in the spring.
A spot cleaner (or a carpet cleaner with a spot cleaner attachment) is another life saver, ESPECIALLY if you can afford to splurge on a heated one. I see them at Goodwill or at yard sales occasionally, and they're worth picking up. The shark one in the video is great too.
This channel is gold. There's tutorials for cleaning EVERYTHING on there. Just go subscribe!
Gonna throw another potential resource at the end of this very long list, which may be potentially helpful for others like me who loathe videos. It's... the weirdest thing that has genuinely been helpful to me in housekeeping. Absolutely full of useful advice, and bizarrely still relevant in large part. (Though, caveat, research ANYTHING to do with chemicals or cleaning products more complicated than vinegar + lemon + water for modern information.)
It's America's Housekeeping Book (1941). Available for free download on the Internet Archive. (Large PDF file at the link here).
The LISTS y'all. The step by step lists. The emphasis on efficiency and arranging spaces for the least resistance possible. The basic concept of "take a tray or basket into a room when you are tidying up so you can put things that belong elsewhere on it and take them out LATER in ONE GO".
not my tweet or my fic (and there’s a good chance of this comment being a bot) but yeah, don’t do this. sure, some writers wouldn’t mind having fanfics (or direct continuation) of their fanfics written by someone else. some may even be thrilled and happy. but the fandom etiquette is that if you want to write a fanfic or a continuation of someone’s fanfic, YOU POLITELY ASK THE WRITER FOR THEIR PERMISSION. not their readers.
also 5 months isn’t long at all. 5 months is 5 minutes when it comes to fanfics. I’ve waited years for my favorite fics to get updated (one of my favorite fanfics was updated by the author after 13 years) and I’ve never said anything to them about “it’s been ___ years, I don’t think it will get updated anymore”. because another fandom / fanfic etiquette is that fanfic writers write for free in their free time, they don’t owe you anything. maybe they will update one day. maybe they won’t. if you want your favorite fic to get updated, you comment something like “this is good!! I’m excited for what happens next” and maybe your positive comment will motivate the author to update. but you don’t say “it’s been ___ months or years”. fanfics writers write for themselves and their own enjoyment. they’re just kind enough to let you read their works for free. stop being rude and entitled to fanfic writers.
And there are quite a few authors who are happy to pass the baton if they really are abandoning the fic as long as you ask them. Then you can proceed to write a continuation as a new work that you do the "inspired by" thing for
ABANDON SHIP GOODBYE CRUEL FANDOM (tbh it wasn't that bad but the kids keep fighting and it's a 22 yr old arguing with a 13 yr old like pack it up)
I've taken down my fanworks and I won't tag the fandom but if ppl like my work enough to remember the name of my blog they'll see it and know what I mean. My art is either published within a collective fandom project or it was a gift for a specific person so really nobody's losing anything as long as the ppl who received the gift saved it to their phone or computer. If they didn't, they can DM me they know how to find me. Same with fanfiction, bc they're anonymous now (ik my most devoted fans of that specific fic have it bookmarked) but other than that I'm severing this blog's ties with the fandom! This has been a long time coming bc I grew out of it but I'm doing all this so I don't get doxxed by a kid who is mad that I like a character and dislike another
reblogging this again bc I have gained britpop mutuals who are following this blog which has pretty much no britpop! And I'm way more active and much funnier on @/topperpopper
Like if you don't rlly care that's fine but I feel bad cause y'all probably followed bc common interests and then you'll be hit with random ass fandoms like MLB and musicals or even Minecraft
the chances of Alix taking over as my favourite character are low but never zero
I love Nathaniel and I relate to him but I've done so much characterisation, made a million headcanons and stuff, written about him since 2022, and Alix feels equally deep but she's untapped territory currently so I'm getting intrigued. God I just really am drawn to characters that show some kind of bitchiness but don't come across as daft... I love a clever girl who is perfectly capable of being a mean girl
The thing I miss most about the MCYT fandom after I lost that particular hyperfixation was all the art!! All the fanart, fanfics, animatics, songs, cosplays, little keyrings and plushies and stickers everyone made and sold. The way creators interacted with the art too! I've had this post forgotten in my drafts for a while but I just saw the MCYT couture zine again, as a whole ass binded hardcover book (if you see this and don't know what I'm talking about, go look it up in Tumblr—I'd tag them but I feel rude to like I have no place to or this post isn't related enough to do so but the zine blog is @ mcyt-couture-zine and the blog of the person who made the hardcover is @ keystonepublishing).
As for me, I just remembered that it wasn't only drawing and unfinished writing I did— when I was 14/in year 9, I had made a giant pair of mechanical wings, inspired by the avian art, mainly of Philza and BBH's demon wings. Had a picture but I deleted it for privacy ig
I know there are more fandoms like that, but no fandom I've been in since has ever matched that level (sure maybe that's my problem for not getting into Star Wars or Harry Potter). Back in my DSMP and then QSMP days, there was always a new, gorgeously written fic to read and new art to admire. Definitely took that for granted. Y'all were writing epics. omg. I'm forever crazy about how the fandoms were the land of found family and greek mythology obsessed nerds instead of all ships and romances (I enjoy romance but sometimes you wanna taste a different fruit).
I think the reason was because of the nature of the media we interacted with. It wasn't just a novel, a concrete thing. These were characters that we could so easily imagine in all sorts of situations, as vigilantes, gods, and ordinary dudes in Brighton because they were personas. The irl side of it gave everything another dimension cause these invented personas were fully realised to the audience to be able to be whatever the hell we wanted! I still have such a soft spot for landduo (Foolish and BadBoyHalo) because they were ambiguous deities that could be any kind of god, angel, demon, fantastical cosmic creature we wanted.
It really revealed what a positive, productive place fandoms could be, y'know? Fanworks (excluding things like BBC Sherlock, which let's be real, was modern AU Sherlock Holmes fanfiction, all the professionally published and released things) have always had some stigma around it and MCYT really shaped my view of it for the better. In my 9th grade of school (so 14 years old), my writing had improved SIGNIFICANTLY because I read Tommyinnit superhero/vigilante AU fanfiction and it taught me what a narrative voice was. I am not joking.
So this is my love letter to all the creatives of the MCYT fandom. Thank you for your art. And to anyone beyond the fandom who stumbles upon this post, don't be afraid to create! Most of you already do, and that's amazing. Your "silly hyperfixation" is an outlet.
