The ‘You Made A Difference’ Tag! — Celebrating The Bloggers Who Brought Me Here

good morning, cyberspace!

Today, my dearest peasants, is a day of pure celebration. For today is the day in which I post Smudged Thoughts’ 200th blog post!

*internal screaming*

I honestly can’t believe we’ve made it this far, guys. Smudged Thoughts started out as just a smol little hobby of mine in 2016, but since then I feel as though it’s grown into so much more. It’s become my safe space, my tiny corner of the internet in which I can scream and rant and fangirl about all of the writerly/bookish things. And over the past 3+ years, I’ve found community here on the blogosphere. It’s been a wonderful, beautiful, magical ride, and I wouldn’t trade away these past three–almost four!–years for anything in the world.

So today, in honor of our 200th blog post and all the wonderful peeps I’ve met here on the blogosphere, I thought today would be the perfect opportunity to do a tag!

But not just ANY tag, however. This tag in particular was created by the ever mischievous, forever enchanting Jem Jones, who just so happens to be one of my favorite humans on this whole entire earth. (hint: this means you definitely need to go follow her blog, peasants.) Secondly, it’s a tag about other bloggers–specifically the blogs and bloggers that influenced us in our blogging/creative journeys. And if THAT doesn’t sound like the perfect way to honor my life here on the blogosphere, then I don’t even know what is.

Unfortunately, I cannot, however, don my spare ski mask and eye-patch and become the thieving pirate burglar that I’ve always dreamed of for this tag, because Jem was an absolute dear and ACTUALLY TAGGED ME FOR THIS. So alas. I’m doing this, not under the guise of piracy, but with a gentle pat on the head and a soft, “Hey, Kenzie, you should totally do this tag!”

Very disgruntling, I can assure you.

But I digress. If you are reading this and find I did not tag you, BY ALL MEANS please tag yourself and go for it! This tag actually takes your answers and turns them into the taggees, which I find a very delicious concept.

Let’s begin!

YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE: The Tag

(also, can we just take a moment to appreciate how GORGEOUS this tag is??? JEM. MY FRIEND. PLEASE TEACH ME YOUR GRAPHIC DESIGN WAYS. [seriously, please, i need this…])

{ O L D  F R I E N D S }

i. who was the first blogger you followed? (or the first few you remember?)

Shock of all shocks, I actually know the answer to this one!

The first blogger I ever followed was Cait from Paper Fury. I distinctly remember stumbling across one of her blog posts one day–I don’t even know how it happened–and immediately falling in love with her sarcasm and wit.

And, not to mention, her affinity for cake. I mean??? Anyone who loves cake is sure to be a wonderful person, am I right?

This all happened about half a year before I started my own blog, so you could also say she was a major influence on me deciding to create my own little corner of the internet. (but alas. we shall get to that later. XD)

ii. who was the first person to comment on your blog?

I had to do some digging for this one. . . (and by digging, I mean I literally just tore like a ferociously rabid cat through the sewer pipe that is my blog backlog in search of my very first post.)

AND WOULDN’T YOU KNOW IT??? My first ever comment came from Cait. XD (thank you, Cait. I knew there was a reason your blog was one of my favorites….)

Actually, looking down through the comments on that post, I’m seeing a lot of faces that either A) aren’t around the blogosphere anymore, or B) are people I’m still friends with? We’ll get to one of the ones who I miss in the next question, but I just realized that I THINK this is the first post where Jethan and I connected on the blogosphere. . . So I’m gonna leave a quick shoutout/tag to her, because HOLY COW, JETHAN!! I think you might be my oldest internet friend??? <333

iii. sometimes bloggers stop blogging or go on indefinite hiatus – who do you miss now they’re gone?

Okay, THANK YOU for ripping my heartstrings in two on this one, Jem. No really. Thank you. *distant sobbing*

One of the things I absolutely HATE about blogging is when my favorite bloggers–or, more specifically, my FRIENDS–move on. I understand why they do it, of course; sometimes blogging just takes up too much time. But still. It’s painful when someone you grew close to up and vanishes into thin air without so much as a reason why.

I think the one that sticks out in my mind the most for this is Anna from what used to be Swords and Quills (a.k.a. another commenter on my very first blog post) Anna was a member of the very first writing group I ever joined/co-created: Assassins of The Night. Over time the members of that group sort of pivoted off into another group which I’m still a part of, so even though the Assassins are no more, I’m still friends with most–if not the rest?–of the original members, which is honestly amazing. They’ve become some of my closest friends and conspirators, but I still wish I knew what happened to Anna. I think about her and her stories sometimes, and I miss her so so much.

(I’d link to her blog, but I’m pretty sure it’s not around anymore. #sadness)

iv. who started blogging around the same time as you?

CONFESSION: I joined the blogging party REAAAAAALLY late in the game. While most of y’all were out here publishing blogs and squealing and becoming forever-friends since you were 14, I started blogging in 2016. I was 17 at the time and had just suffered through some REALLY odd years, so I think, for me, blogging sort of came as an escape.

However, that being said, I really have no clue who started blogging around the same time as I did? I think a couple members of my squad started blogging a few months in or out from when I did, though, so I’m gonna give them some shout outs.

• Jethan from Rosedale Arts

and

• Anna from Dear Memoirs

Both of these girls are absolutely amazing, and I’m so glad I got to become friends with them! <333

{ C U R R E N T  B L O G G E R S }

v. do you have a blogging friendship which has extended beyond the screen?

YES! A few in fact, and in a couple categories:

P E N P A L S

• Jem Jones >> a.k.a. my VERY FIRST PENPAL OF EVER!!! Her first letter to me was a complete surprise (literally), and our entire friendship has just grown stronger ever since. XD (we also started doing nightly-ish writing sprints together during Camp NaNo, and it’s been very, VERY fun.)
• Kate >> This girl has been one of my bestest blogging friends since my early blogging days, but it’s only recently that we’ve started becoming penpals. (which, again, is mostly my fault, but I digress.) Kate is such a smol, sweet bean, and I’m so thankful to have her in my life. . .  She also sent me the most amazing short story in her recent letter, and HOLY GUACAMOLE. The girl’s got talent, folks. (oh oh oh! we also facetimed once! [ahem, yes, Kate, we need to do that again soon???])
• Ally  (a.k.a. The Nature of Pages) >> she sent me the most LOVELIEST of postcards recently, and I’m so excited to grow our penpalship/friendship. XD (except I’m the world’s worst penpal and therefore have utterly FAILED to send a response yet, but IT WILL HAPPEN. I’M WORKING ON IT.) She’s also a wonderful friend and one of the sweetest souls you will ever meet, so I’m very lucky to have this girl in my life.

M E T  I R L

• Phoebe >> I MET THIS GIRL IN REAL LIFE AND I HONESTLY HAVE NOT STOPPED SQUEALING SINCE. She is every bit as hilarious and kind and WONDERFUL in person as she is on the screen, and I will never ever EVER forget that amazing November day. (we are also becoming penpals!–she recently sent me the most wonderful present, which contained one of my now-favorite-reads-of-ever, and I now blame her for my deep, eternal love for Illuminae.)

Currently, Phoebe is the only one of my writing squad who I’ve met in real life, but I’d seriously like to have a giant squad meetup someday. And since it’s been something frequently mentioned in our group chat, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who wants this to happen. XD

vi. which blogger has most influenced your current blogging or writing style?

Ohhhhh. . . See, this feels like a bit of a loaded question, because A) everything I consume has the potential to influence my writing style–really good books, heart-stopping movies, a simple little quote scribbled across watercolored canvas–and B) I like to think of it less as influenced, and more as inspired.

Aha. *sweats nervously*

But alas, there are some clear-cut answers for this, so let us begin!

First and foremost, this entire answer would be a complete and utter lie if I didn’t mention Cait from PaperFury. (again.) As I mentioned earlier, hers was the first blog that I found that actually revolved around writing–a concept I did not know existed in the cyberwebs UNTIL finding Cait’s blog–and because of that, I feel she not only influenced my decision to build a blog, but also gave me the hope that I could be funny* and sarcastic and me, and not have to worry about sounding like some snobby pancake trying to write an essay.

And then there’s Christine, who’s blog is JUST !!! SO !!! PRETTY !!! that I would love to think that someday . . . maybe . . . if I try to be good enough, my blog will look half as beautiful and magical as hers does. She’s also a fantastic writer, so obviously if I had the choice, I would wish to write like her in a heartbeat, but alas. We must accept our own style and try and nurture that, and I guess I’ll just have to be me for now. (which is lame, but I digress.)

There are also some blogs that I used to follow in my dark, decrepit past that I feel like I could say influenced me in a negative way–as in, they showed me what I didn’t want my blog to be, and therefore I steered clear away from those particular attributes–but, you know. We’re gonna focus on the positives and ignore those. *smiles awkwardly*

*I mean I try to be funny? Maybe I’m not? Maybe I’m more like a sad little clown at a three-year-old’s birthday party who’s making all the cake-bloated children scream in horror instead of laugh. . .? ah well. we’re all here for a reason.

vii. who was the last person who tagged you?

That would be Jem from Jem Jones, Writer! . . .which I’m only now realizing is maybe not the answer we were looking for. . . Is this like a “who tagged you for this tag?” kinda deal, or more like a “who’s the last person who tagged you for a tag that was NOT this tag?” kinda thing?

. . .I guess we’ll do both.

So Jem Jones tagged me for this tag (obviously, you’ve mentioned it 15 times, Kenzie), and the last person who tagged me for a different tag was . . . um . . . honestly I don’t even remember. I’ve been so out of the loop for such a long time now that I don’t even know what tags I’ve been tagged for recently. (or if I’ve even been tagged for any at all?) So that’s awkward.

If you’ve tagged me for something and I haven’t done it yet, I AM SO SORRY. I really appreciate getting tagged and I do try to keep track of them all! Everything’s just been insane lately.

Which I’m sure you can relate to.

SO. For this one I’m just going to tag another one of my favorite humans, because I feel she really does deserve more credit and fame for her work. (she hasn’t posted in a while, but seriously. just go stalk her blog. her poems are STUNNING.)

And that person is Ruby Sky!!! Oh my goodness, you guys. This girl right here is literally THE sweetest bean in the whole entire world. She’s beautiful and wonderful and perfect, fangirls over your characters harder than you do, and always has the perfect thing to say if you’re hurting and need a hug. She is an actual sunbeam, and I just love her to pieces.

So since I have no clue who’s tagged me last, I’m tagging Ruby. Because she’s amazing.

TAG! YOU’RE IT!

• Ally
• Anna
• Cait
• Christine
• Jem
• Jethan
• Kate
• Phoebe
• Ruby

Once again, I would like to mention that if you are NOT on this list, this right here is my official tag for you! Or, you know, if you’d rather be a thieving pirate, that’s perfectly fine, as well. Being a pirate is the much preferred option, anyway, so feel free to pick up an eye-patch and hook on your way out the door. They’re on the table to the left.

And to all the people who have decided to join me on this perilous adventure of becoming a writer . . . thank you. You guys are the reason I keep blogging. You guys are the reason we’ve hit 200 posts. You guys are the reason I’m still just as obsessed with the blogosphere as I was when I started, and I cannot possibly thank you all for the love and support you’ve shown me throughout the years. *gives you all of the cookies*

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talk to me, peasants!

• are you going to do this tag??? (I highly recommend giving it a go. Jem is an absolute GENIUS and I adore her so so much. [also THANK YOU for tagging me, you beautiful bean??? you’re the best, and I cannot wait to come to Australia to meet you someday. {IT WILL HAPPEN.}])
• who was the first blogger YOU ever followed?
• do you remember the day–or why–you decided to start a blog? was there anyone in particular who was instrumental in you doing so? (she doesn’t have a blog, but my mom was a HUGE inspiration to me when I decided I wanted to start one. She believed in me–and even helped me find my name!–which made the creation of my blog a lot more fun than I think it would have been otherwise.)

and most important of all. . .

IS THERE ANYONE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK/GIVE A SHOUTOUT TO?

If so, tag them down in the comments below! Whether they were instrumental in the creation of your blog or supported and motivated you when you wondered whether or not you should keep going, give them a shoutout down below! Let’s spread some positivity and thankfulness throughout the internet today. <333

And lastly, thank you all SO MUCH for sticking around for 200 posts! Here’s hoping for 200 more in the years to come!