#CREATORS

[lackadaisycats]

Since it's Indie Animation Day...

I figured I'd repost that list of other animation creators on YouTube that I shared last week, separate from it's original, weird context. I've also included several more entries based on suggestions in the comments. Thanks for the feedback! General Content Warning: Some of the below is not for kids, or contains violence or other subject matter some viewers might find distressing. Please use your adult discretion. Also, this is not a list of moral endorsements. I know some of these creators personally, but many of them I do not. While I have tried to make sure I'm not listing anyone who is a criminal or otherwise objectively harmful person, I don't have encyclopedic knowledge of every little internet drama that has gone down (and chances are I'm not super interested in hearing about it all because it's really difficult to tell fact from fiction from hyperbole around here).

Anyway, check out some Indie Animation:

Far-Fetched Worthikids Satina | Scumhouse Noodle and Bun Punch Punch Forever Ramshackle Noodle Papajoolia | Pipi Angel Hare | The East Patch Jonni Peppers Salad Fingers Monkey Wrench Studio Heartbreak Felix Colgrave JelloApocalypse Odd1sout (started indie, got picked up by Netflix) Allie Mehner JaidenAnimations Lumi and the Great Big Galaxy Cloudrise | The Worlds Divide Telepurte RubberRoss James Lee ENA Godspeed | Olan Rogers Ollie and Scoops Meat Canyon Port by the Sea Kekeflipnote Boxtown Kevin Temmer Weebl Joel Haver CircleToons Long Gone Gulch Atlas and the Stars Animist Skibidi Toilet A Fox in Space Alex Henderson Talon Toniko Pantoja Sr. Pelo Hullabaloo Kane Pixels (started indie, picked up by A24) Homestar Runner Fennah Gods' School Alan Becker Dungeon Flippers JazLyte Psychicpebbles (started indie, Smiling Friends picked up by AS) Piemations vewn Metal Family Dead Sound chluaid Jacknjellify Betsy Lee | No Evil My Pride Cranbersher GeoExe | Gwain Saga Horatio the Vampire Mech West Playground | Rodrigo Sousa The Brave Locomotive Finchwing (+ check out other Warrior Cats animators) Quazies SamBakZa Kamikaze: Trial by Fire Parasomnia

[cy-cyborg]

Forgetting your character is disabled isn't a "good representation" flex: Writing Disability Quick Tips

[ID: An image with “Writing Disability quick tips: Forgetting your character is disabled isn't a good representation flex” written in chalk the colour of the disability pride flag, from left to right, red, yellow, white, blue and green. Beside the text is a poorly drawn man in red chalk looking down confused at his leg, one is drawn normally, the other is drawn to resemble a basic prosthetic. He has question marks above his head. /End ID]

For a while, I was involved in the booktok and Tik Tok writing communities, specifically parts of the community focused on more diverse books and authors. During this time, I noticed a reoccurring pattern when people were highlighting stories featuring disabled characters, or even promoting their own books, and that was how often people would say "I kind of forget they have [insert disability here] because they're such a badass."

The intention behind this statement is (usually) good, with people trying to show that their disabled characters are self-sufficient and don't fall into the tired old sad/helpless disabled person trope, however, you can - and very much should - do that without erasing your character's disability. If you find yourself forgetting your character is disabled, or your beta and pre-release readers are commenting about forgetting it, then there's a good chance that's exactly what you've done - and as a disabled person myself, if I see that statement being used in your marketing in particular, it's a giant red flag and a sure fire way to make sure I give the book in question a skip.

Remember, disabilities (especially major ones) are a part of your character's identity, and they're important regardless of the character's personal relationship with it. Even if your character doesn't specifically identify with the label of disabled or doesn't really care that much, it's should still be impacting their daily life, even in small ways. If you're finding yourself forgetting about a major part of your character's identity, it might be a good idea to check and make sure their disability is having an impact on the character.

I see this comment most often with amputee characters, and to me, it's a pretty consistently good indication that the author has treated their character's prosthetic as a cure rather than the mobility aid it is. It's far from unique to amputees, mind you (I talked about this a lot when I was discussing the character of Toph from Avatar), but it's when I tend to see it the most. Remember that mobility aids and other forms of assistive technology and assistive magic (if it's a fantasy story) are just that: they're aids, they assist, they shouldn't be cures.

Of course, this wasn't unique to Booktok, I've seen it on nearly every other social media site with a writing and book-focused community at some point, but Tik Tok was just where I spent the most time and it seems to be where I see the most people specifically gloating about it.

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[ineffectualdemon]

Please reblog

I'm interested in the answer but also kinda want to prove a point

[midstpodcast]

MEET YOUR UNRELIABLE NARRATORS 🧡 We had an incredible time recapping Season 3 and getting a glimpse at what's next for the MIDST cosmos at last night's Roundtable! Xen, Sara, and Matt have plenty in store for the future as we turn our eyes MOONWARD...

[drchucktingle]

free choice day

we are all creators bud. you start creating the moment you arrive on this timeline and your creation radiates from there in infinite waves that go on and on and on. the artwork you decide to make is up to you

[spirk-trek]

I bought this BEAUTIFUL print from @sevvrael, who is donating all proceeds to charity for Palestine. See their post for all the details and here is their etsy shop!

[freckledjoes]

Can we normalize not apologizing for not being around so much on the interwebs? "Sorry for not drawing/writing/editing so much lately..." Sweetheart, you do all of that FOR FREE. You're not obliged to do them, you should never feel like you have to apologize for taking a little step back from giving everyone free presents. Santa also only comes around once a year, he's got nothing on you. I sincerely hope that the only one that makes you feel like you should apologize is you (and let's fix that real quick - you can do whatever you want whenever you want) anyone else who gives you that feeling should be booted. BUH-BYE!

[sir20]

Dorado, Ibiza by sir20

[pagesinmylife]

It’s fascinating watching the difference in opinions on AI between people who simply want to consume content vs people who create said content. Like, I have yet to meet an artist or a writer who is happy with the growth of AI, particularly generative AI. Yet there are so many people online calling creators ableist and classist simply for wanting to protect their work! And there’s so many people who refuse to listen to the valid criticisms of AI!

Yes, AI can be an awesome tool but there’s a lot of ethical issues that haven’t been addressed yet. Creators aren’t in the wrong for wanting to have a conversation about this

[thrandilf]

The issue is that people who have a sense of boundaries probably won't @ or otherwise ping writers/creators directly, but rude people Will which skews how negative fandoms seem- if you're a public facing creator I hope you have a good day and know you and your work is loved

[cy-cyborg]

How your disabled character's allies react to their disability can make or break the representation in your story: Writing Disability Quick Tips

[ID: An image with “Writing Disability quick tips: How your character's allies react to their disability matters” written in chalk the colour of the disability pride flag, from left to right, red, yellow, white, blue and green. Beside the text are 2 poorly drawn people icons in green, one is standing with their hand up to the face of the other, who is in a wheelchair. /End ID]

Something I brought up in my big post about Toph Beifong was how the other characters reacted to Toph pointing out that things were not accessible to her and setting boundaries regarding her disability, which were ignored. I had more to say about it than I thought I did, as it turns out (when isn't that the case lol) but I feel like this is an important aspect of disability representation that is all too often over looked.

You can write the best, most accurate portrayal of a specific disability ever put to screen or page, but it won't mean much if all the other characters, specifically those we're supposed to like and empathise with, treat your character terribly for being disabled and having needs relating to said disability, especially if the story justifies their behaviour.

You see this most often with autistic characters and especially autistic-coded characters. The character in question will be given a bunch of autistic traits, most often traits relating to not understanding certain social dynamics or sarcasm, and when they get it wrong, the other characters we are supposed to like jump down their throat, tease them or outright abandon them. Autism isn't the only disability that gets treated this way, but it is one of the more common ones that get this treatment. It doesn't matter if you do everything else right when creating an autistic character if the other "good guys" constantly call them annoying, get angry at them or laugh at them for the very traits that make them autistic, or for advocating for their needs.

Likewise, if you have a leg amputee character who is otherwise done well, but is constantly being criticised by their allies for needing to rest their legs or taking too long to get their prosthetics on, it undermines a lot of the other work you've done. Same goes for having a wheelchair user who is accused of being a bore or a stick in the mud because they point out the places their friends want to go to on a group holiday have no wheelchair access, or a deaf character who is accused of being entitled for wanting their family to learn to sign, or anything else.

This isn't to say you can never have moments like these in your stories, but its important to remember that a) people with the same disability as your character will be in your audience. If you spend a whole season of your TV show shaming your autistic character for real traits that real autistic people have, they're not exactly going to feel welcome and may not want to hang around. b) it's going to very, very heavily impact people's perceptions of your "heros" who do this, especially in they eyes of your audience members who share the character's disability or who have had similar experiences. This isn't like calling someone a mean name or being a bit of a dick when you're sleepy, it's going to take a lot to regain audience appeal for the offending character, and depending on exactly what they do and how frequently they do it, they may not even be able to come back from it at all. And finally, c) there should be a point to it outside of just shaming this character and saying the other guy is an asshole. Like I said before, you're character is criticising real people's real disabilities and the traits or problems that come with them, things that they often have no control over, it shouldn't be used as a cheap, quick way to establish a quirky enemies to lovers dynamic or show that one guy is kind of an ass before his redemption arc. If you really must have your characters do this, be mindful of when and how you use it.

[ivaspinoza]

i did it - the little zine is here!

it's so simple but it took me so much time to actually DO IT

(do you know when you want to do something and you just... don't? okok so now.... I did it! ihihihih)

I'm folding the printed versions here as I type and tomorrow I will take them to the library, coffee shop, and other little art shops in my town :) and you can get yours for free here!

Download, print, and fold: the mini poetry zine is all yours! xx GO MINI ZINES

reblog if you love poetry :)

and the mention list for the dearests

@fairytaleinagem @remnantofabrokensoul @yakultstan @illarian-rambling @cssnder

@thedayoftherae @sablewing @stumbling-through-time @burntblanc @lelestarmy

@caustic-splines @hersurvival @icantdance @poetici @informedimaginingn

@crow-with-a-typewriter @goodluckclove

[theblueflower05]

PLEASE.

If anyone knows who the creator is behind this beautiful art-

PLEASE TAG THEM.

They deserve so much praise. I had to post these here to try to find them. They are so so beautiful. Lie the feelings they emote…my gosh.

Magical and romantic and mysterious and sexy. Like. Seriously. Holy shit these are insanely good.

They literally just resparked my inspiration, I want to cry right now. Ugh. I love this fandom.

[rosesnwater]

Content Warnings and A Lesson From Lore Olympus

As some of you may know, I write a comic, which i occasionally post about here. I'd like to address a conversation around creators and content warnings in this post as well as the general tremd of authors overstating whats happening in their story. I've seen it come up recently in webtoon discourse within my own comic.

So first off, right after my three page prologue I have an authors note that details all the topics my comic will be going into throughout the course of the story.

It follows:

These are ALL the issues I tackle within the comic and I leave it here so people can decide whether they want to continue with the story. I have labeled my story as mature. There is a warning when anyone accesses the comic for the first time on both Webtoons and Tapas. I also have warnings that come in three degrees that I place before each episode that handles one of the mature themes I mention. However, what I don't do is tell the reader what they're going to see before they see it. I don't like doing this for a couple reason, some of the most important being, I think makes the story redundant because it's already explaining what's going to happen and this in turn disrupts the narrative.

I understand why people feel strongly about warnings and making content safe on a platform with a young audience. However, seeing as this is a work I have invested a considerable amount of time in, that I'm offering for people to enjoy (which i enjoy doing), I believe it is important I tell the story in my own way.

When you pick up a book you may get a warning in the synopsis (although I find this is rare) or in other people's online reviews of the book BUT you have to go looking for those reviews. As a creator I can only testify to my own experience, but like novels, comics are stories and in my own work, the story should NOT be bisected by warnings expressly stating what's going to happen in each episode.

I feel this speaks to a general increased uninvolvement in the material readers are reading and a lack of reading comprehension to the point authors think it necessary to guide their audience through their story.

There has been a decent amount of discourse in the UnpopularLoreOlympus reddit thread about readers reading comprehension. It is now common practice to have images like the one bellow before an episode.

On more than one occasion Rachel has put warning paragraphs at the end of her episode stating without any subtext what EXACTLY a character meant during the episode, even though readers would ideally understood the subtext as communicated by the narrative.

And before that she would have warnings signs like this before episodes where the content would be present:

The above warning is actually quite common amongst comics but it should NOT be required by the audience. If an author is doing their job, they'll have the proper box ticked off when submitting their webtoon

SPOILERS FOR MANY WORKS OF FICTION.

No one tells you at the beginning of jane Eyre that there will be violence, death of children, and abuse, let alone where these incidents will occur.

The hunger games won't warn you before the start of a chapter that there will be starvation or gruesome depictions of character death or content describing mental illness.

Most movies will have warning before the whole movie but they won't briefly cut out of the narrative to tell you what's about to happen and people shouldn't expect comic artists to do this either.

As a comic creator i am rellyng upon my audience's discretion to decide on whether or not a story is safe for their consumption. However, I'm adamant in my own work that that's where my required involvement ends.

I will explain things in the comments or answer reader questions, i will be happy doing so because i get to engage with people on something Ive spent hours creating. I will go onto my discord and jump into the deep world building or explain a particular scene, but this should not be required.

Holding authors accountable for going thoroughly over the controversial issues every episode they post is unreasonable and honestly (for me) damaging to the creative work. We end up with situations like lore olympus where authors are there to explain every warning and subtext to the audience without any work on the readers part.

I know this may be controversial to some, but as a creator, it's something that's bothered me for a while and something I think we should be able to talk about in the artistic community.

[nasa]

Digital Creators: Apply to Watch Astronauts Launch to Space with NASA

Do you spend a lot of time online? Would you like to see our next crew of astronauts lift off to the International Space Station?

We're looking for digital content creators of all backgrounds to join us at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for our Crew-6 mission to the space station, set to lift off no earlier than Sunday, Feb. 26. Applications close Friday, Jan. 27 at 3 p.m. EST (2000 UTC)—we'd love to see you there! Apply now.

Can't make this one? Click here to stay updated about future opportunities.