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I have a confession to make to you all.

I don't believe in electoral politics. All it does is put a vanguard into power and continue structural hierarchy, which I personally condemn. I believe in direct action like mutual aid over electoral politics, especially since I don't believe in vanguard saviors.

I know, it will shock and anger a lot of you, but that's why I'm boycotting the mayoral elections today. The lesser of many evils is still an evil, and I'd rather not fall for that fallacious political sedative.

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This is the mascot for this channel. Their name is Shutterlens and they're a representation of myself.

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Jesse and May. May is the librarian of the group, while Jesse is the group's protector.

Her name is Alex. She is a woman.

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She is in the same universe as Alex. Her name is 3D.

She is into tech and hacking, and her favorite food is pizza.

Her name is Alex. She is a woman.

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Her name is Alex. She is a woman.

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To be honest, I think we need more unhinged Sir Flutton in our lives.

Also, he's canonically a concealed carrier, but he'd never kill his colleagues in the actual show. (He's from this show concept called Imagination Station.)

This drawing is a reference to a "lost episode" of the show that I imagined where he goes fucking postal and sings the song "I Can't Decide" by the Scissor Sisters before killing everyone.

(The pose ref: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1618549860151887/)

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Hi, Tumblr! Happy Pride Month!

I have some news about one of my characters.

Dahli Ikabara is canonically asexual.

That's it. That's the post.

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Hi, Tumblr! I just wanted to share this sick outfit idea I had with you all. It's these camo pants with a Chinese dragon muscle tee, combat boots, and 1990s-style sunglasses.

The only thing I didn't draw was the Chinese dragon on the muscle tee because I cannot draw Chinese dragons to save my life.

This was actually the first time I drew this outfit idea. The main illustration, I did on Autodesk Sketchbook, while I did the outline in FireAlpaca.

I really wish I had this outfit in real life. I know, the whole "Chinese dragon on a shirt" thing is kind of problematic, but the outfit's still really cool.

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reminder that gazafunds is a great website.

each time you load the site, it shows one randomly selected, verified fundraiser that's low on funds.

extremely straightforward, & an easy to remember url. it's my go-to when I'm able to give; removes any room for procrastination or overthinking.

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Here's a character design tip for you all.

Keep your designs iconic. That is, make your designs unique and easy to draw again and again without reference.

How do you make a design iconic? I'll let you in on the answer.

Keep their color scheme limited. I usually like to go with three colors at most.

Don't clutter their design with detail, but do be sure to include iconic features.

Karra Ereyan from Genesis: Rise of Zero is arguably my best example of an iconic character.

Their design has iconic features (their fins, monocle, and cloak), and I can draw them again and again without a reference. Sure, I sometimes forget to draw their fins, but that's on me.

Their color scheme is two blues and a golden color. Not only did I limit their color scheme, I made sure to include contrasting colors in their design, with the darker blue being the dominant color and the other two colors being highlights.

I also made sure not to include any clutter or too many small details in their design, because small details and cluttered designs give me a headache and make me feel really bad physically.

How do you make unique designs? Vary your influences, but don't copy them directly.

For example, I took the cloak and jagged smile from Count Bleck from Super Paper Mario, but I took the idea of Karra being a fish person from Undyne from Undertale. Notice how I didn't directly copy-paste those characters? That is something that my most successful designs do.

Sure, some of my designs have heavier influences than others, like Umibara and Dynabara from UnaBara: HiSeas HiJinks being based on Chikoriki and Pogoriki from Smeshariki, but I still make sure not to directly copy-paste their personalities into my characters. Umibara is a conniving mastermind hiding behind an "introverted bookworm" mask, and Dynabara is a manipulative jerk who abuses Ikabara and hides it behind his "extroverted sports star" persona. These two are not copy-pasted from their influences.

(characters from left to right: Ecchi Umibara, Clyde Zellibara, Crash Dynabara)

Keep in mind that these are old designs of the three exes from HiSeas HiJinks (from late September 2024), so they are going to have some details that I consider clutter, like Dynabara's freckles and the "1" on his short, or the lines on Clyde's jellyfish hat thing and his jacket. I'd personally consider this version of Clyde a more iconic version of him, just because he has the least amount of detail in his design.

Also, notice the colors. Umibara's color scheme here is indigo, red, and cream, and Dynabara's color scheme is cream, orange, and blue. These two are arguably more iconic color schemes than Clyde's, whose colors consist of two purples, blue, black and white (and that's excluding the pink and yellow I included in the heart and star patches in his 2025 design). Sure, in my 2025 design, I included another color for Umibara (dark brown), but I still limited his color scheme to four colors.

Also, notice the triangular shapes I put on Umibara's mastermind design. The jacket forms a triangle and his head is covered in triangular spikes. This communicates a sense of danger to Umibara. I also added a kind of "toreador" leitmotif to Umibara's mastermind design (2025 Umibara doesn't usually wear red) because Clyde here is supposed to be the "bull" here, being baited right into his plan to get Ikabara into Dynabara's hands.

Shape language can contribute heavily to an iconic character design. Dynabara's face is round to convey a false sense of trustworthiness and compassion to the viewer, because, after all, he is a twist villain. Similarly, Umibara's glasses are round to similarly hide his conniving nature. Including big, identifiable shapes can also make your character easier to draw without constantly needing a reference, because you'll be simplifying your characters into recognizable shapes.

Speaking of shape language, Evil Magic Meralin from Lanky and Lofty is primarily composed of triangles, signalling their dangerous nature, as you can see below. I consider Magic Meralin to be one of my most iconic characters.

Anyway, I hoped this lecture on iconic character designs helped you all. Be sure to take my advice with a grain of salt, though, as I am an amateur and therefore not formally trained in character design.

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A short comic thing I did for UnaBara: HiSeas HiJinks.

This is the part of the story where Umibara baits Clyde into killing him so Crash Dynabara can conveniently "save" Dahli and get into a relationship with him (that turns out to be incredibly abusive and controlling).

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happy juneteenth <3

its juneteenth!! help a black trans man pay back some of his medical and school debt please!

cashapp: shineymeowth

venmo: lchristo0215

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THE ENTIRE WEST IS BEING PUT UP FOR SALE AND I AM BEGGING YOU TO CALL YOUR SENATORS

Trump’s budget bill has many, many things in it, but buried amongst it is the MILLIONS OF ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND FOR SALE.

This is the entirety of the Arizona state forests, the entire Cascades mountain range. Swathes of pristine desert around the national parks in Utah. On the doorstep of Jackson Hole.

THIS BILL IS BIG, BUT IT CAN BE AMENDED AND ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT PASS AS IS please.

If you have ever enjoyed the wilderness, we stand to lose it all forever.

CALLING your senators - NOT JUST IN THE WEST. ALL SENATORS, is CRUCIAL.

Outdoor alliance has a great resource for reaching out.

I don’t have a huge following but please, everywhere I have ever loved, the forests I grew up playing in, the land I got married on, is all at risk and I am begging.

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Keep Eyes on Sudan. State sanctioned genocide and starvation is ongoing in Sudan. Free Sudan.

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A mid-transition Dahli Ikabara poster I made.

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In honor of Juneteenth, I compiled some great songs by black artists

I highlight genres other than rap/hip-hop, as I don't see them get enough love from non-black people. If the list seems overwhelming, I'd recommend picking a genre of your liking, or the songs marked blue, which are my personal favorites. Hopefully, you find some new music and add a couple of these to your playlists

Jazz: Lester Leaps in [Live at Carnegie Hall] by Charlie Parker (1949); The Star-Crossed Lovers (aka Pretty Girl) by Duke Ellington (1957); Springsville by Miles Davis (1957); Speak No Evil by Wayne Shorter (1966); The Black Messiah [Live at The Troubador] by Cannonball Adderley (1971)

Vocal Jazz: Unforgettable by Nat King Cole (1954); Autumn in New York by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong (1957); Lover Man by Billie Holiday (1958); Don't Go To Strangers by Etta Jones (1960); Work Song by Nina Simone (1967)

Soul: I Say a Little Prayer by Aretha Franklin (1968); Tired of Being Alone by Al Green (1971); Grandma's Hands by Bill Withers (1971); Home Is Where The Hatred Is by Gil Scott-Heron (1971); Someday We'll All Be Free by Donny Hathaway (1973)

Funk: That Lady, Pts. 1 & 3 by The Isley Brothers (1973); Summer Madness by Kool & The Gang (1974); I Want You by Marvin Gaye (1976); Some Love by Chaka Khan (1978); Dreaming About You by The Blackbyrds (1994)

Disco: You Saved My Day by Cheryl Lynn (1978); Good Times by CHIC (1979); Hot Stuff by Donna Summer (1979); Give It To Me Baby by Rick James (1981); It Should Have Been You by Gwen Guthrie (1982)

R&B: Nights (Feel Like Gettin' Down) by Billy Ocean (1981); Outstanding by The Gap Band (1982); Sweet Love by Anita Baker (1986); Real Love by Mary J. Blige (1992); I Get Lonely by Janet Jackson (1997)

Neo Soul: Lady by D'Angelo (1995); Didn't Cha Know by Erykah Badu (2000); Locked Inside by Janelle Monáe (2010); Where Did I Go? by Jorja Smith (2018); Stay High by Brittany Howard (2019)

Alternative: Charcoal Baby by Blood Orange (2018); umbrellar by Dua Saleh (2020); All My Girls Like To Fight by Hope Tala (2020); Neptune by We Don't Ride Llamas (2022); Outta My Mind by chlothegod (2023)

Listen and support black musicians, and the black people around you, specially those close to you. Listening to music is not doing enough to support or boost black people's voices, so, please read and share what they have to say, particularly today, while also respecting and immersing yourself in their art and culture

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"Perfectly safe, feel quite well, why don't you just go to hell?! Back where you came from, where you came from~..." /lyr

A poster featuring Clyde Zellibara and pre-transition Dahli Ikabara.

The lyrics here are from "The Song Of McGillicudie The Pusillanimous (Or Don't Worry James, Your Socks Are Hanging In The Coal Cellar With Thomas)" by Egg.