#but there is a difference between knowing that certain artists aren't for you or even certain genres

[doux-amer]

Don’t reblog this because I frankly don’t care about opening a dialogue about this beyond people I know, but it’s been tiring to see well-meaning people including longtime friends and mutuals have opinions on K-p0p that are disingenuous, ignorant, or flat out racist. It bears repeating that I’ve grown up in this world and I’m also highly critical of it, so I’m not blind to its faults nor is this post a kneejerk defensive reaction. 

Look, I respect you all. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be following you, and if you follow me back, then please extend that same courtesy to me because as silly and unimportant as it is to you—and to me too most of the time—bearing with years and years of this from different people with no escape is taxing. 

I don’t have the energy to deal with this and everyone has limited attention span so I don’t want to put in effort, but these are my main issues:

1. If you look down on K-p*p for being generic but are okay with or even enjoy non-Asian pop music—namely white pop music—do some self-reflecting because that’s racist. I see some of the artists and groups you all like, and people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. 

2. Actually, if you like other genres, that still applies. God, the number of white indie acts that sound the same and are as unpleasant as oatmeal that I dealt with over the years because people raved that they were “good” or “interesting.” 

3. Don’t generalize an entire country’s pop scene if you don’t know anything about it. I can tell right off the bat that you don’t because idol acts =/= the entirety of K-p*p yet 99% of the time, that’s what you’re criticizing. You also tend to lump virtually all Korean acts under the meaningless umbrella term “K-p0p” when some are not, in fact, even pop or pop is only one of the various genres they play around with.

4. Saying that all K-p0p is manufactured and there’s no real emotion or deliberate craft behind it is racist! You might not mean it, but there’s a long history with Asians being stereotyped as emotionless robots who have high technical skills and are efficient/good at mass production but are incapable of creativity or original thought. Your thinking falls neatly into that pattern. This goes hand in hand with #1 because you can say the same with numerous pop scenes across the globe and it’s eyebrow-raising that it’s only really when people talk about K-p*p, that this becomes a prominent argument. 

5. It’s also racist because once again, you have a superficial understanding beyond your annoyance at seeing idk, pretty people dancing in synchronicity on your screen because they’re ubiquitous and maybe you tried one song and hated it immediately. It’s a huge insult because yes, it’s true that there are acts that are carefully produced, packaged, and branded. AGAIN, this is not specific to K-p0p. Yes, there are artists who don’t care what they’re churning out and have zero calorie songs (to be clear, I’m of the mind that sometimes that’s what you want/need; if I want to jump up and down at karaoke with friends, I don’t need to put on the world’s greatest masterpiece). But there are also a lot of artists who DO care about artistry; are talented, creative, and even boundary-pushing; and put a lot of meaning and thought behind every aspect of their music, performance, wardrobe, etc.! By being so readily dismissive of an entire country’s pop scene and painting everything with the same brush, you’re shutting yourself into a provincial mindset when you don’t know what’s out there. 

This was blunt and it probably got mean at points, but I’m too tired to care. If you do want to talk about it, though, I won’t bite your head off or be short with you because again, if you’re a friend/mutual, then I like and respect you. I don’t know why I bothered wasting my time writing this, but I’m so sick of this.

[deep-space-netwerk]

What do you mean by Venus floating cities?

I'm hoping to write a science fiction story about visiting Venus as part of the space race and I would love your input

Alright so the thing with Venus is that we're all very familiar with her horrible hell-death clouds and 900°F surface temperatures. We all understand the surface of Venus is not a fun place for humans to be.

But, nobody ever talks about the fact that ABOVE the hell-death clouds, Venus is a paradise. The most Earth-like environment we know of in the solar system, beyond Earth itself, is actually in the skies of Venus.

About 30 miles above the surface, the pressure is ~1 atmosphere, and the temperature ranges from 30 - 100°F, which is Happy Human™ standard pressure and temperature.

What's more, a breathable mix of oxygen and nitrogen provides over 60% the lifting power on Venus that helium does on Earth. In other words, a balloon full of human-breathable air would float to the habitable range of Venus's atmosphere. We could float a ship with the very air we breathe.

The other great thing about this is that it avoids one of the big problems with Mars colonization. On Mars, any habitat on the surface full of breathable air is vulnerable to leaks and explosive decompression, a la the Martian.

Floating on Venus, a balloon full of breathable air doesn't have a significant pressure difference between the inside and the outside. Which means, any leaks or tears would be very slow and manageable. You could fix that shit with duct tape!

Similarly, because the environment outside the balloon is so Earth-like, humans living there wouldn't need any big fancy pressurized suits for extravehicular work. We'd need air to breathe, maybe some heat protection, and protection against the acid rain. That's it. 

Venus also provides the tools to keep us fed! It's atmosphere is made primarily of carbon dioxide, even above the dense horrible clouds. What likes carbon dioxide? Plants from Earth!! Lets grow FOOD on FLOATING PLATFORMS in the SKIES of VENUS.

This whole idea actually came out of a NASA effort exploring potential Venus colonization. The program was called HAVOC - the High Altitude Venus Operational Concept.

It hasn't really gone anywhere, and as far as I know there are no real plans to revisit it. Unfortunately, from a practicality standpoint, Mars is a much more viable target for human colonization. Not only is it better poised for outer solar system exploration, being farther away from the sun, but living on Venus would come with too many complicated contingencies. In the event of a major failure on Venus, you'd need to fly to another base, or fuck off all the way to orbit. I understand why people aren't really in a hurry to live somewhere where landing on the surface means certain death.

But that doesn't mean I won't be forever and always enamored by the skies of Venus. Here's one of the artist concepts to come out of HAVOC.

I want to be there.

[proudproship]

Not so friendly reminder that creating "dark" or "taboo" fiction can be a sign of childhood trauma!

More below the cut. Warning: long post.

TW: Mentions of trauma, child abuse, and paraphilias

Hi. I'm someone who studies psychology and sociology, and someone who also happens to have an interest in this shipping discourse stuff.

So, back to what I said a few paragraphs ago: Creating "dark" or "taboo" fictional content can be a sign of childhood trauma.

How?

When a child goes through something they consider traumatic, their brain will play the situation on repeat subconsciously, which can cause hypervigilance and symptoms of PTSD.

A common sign of PTSD in young children is that they will reenact their trauma with things like dolls, drawings, figures, and basically any other thing they can use to express their thoughts.

For example, a child who has gone through physical abuse may reenact similar things with their toys, such as making their dolls hit or yell at each other.

This symptom isn't limited to children, though. It is a symptom closely related to the presence of flashbacks and nightmares.

Many artists will create a "self-insert" character, "sona," or a character who is otherwise much like it's creator; when an artist creates a character like this and also has past trauma, their symptoms may reflect onto their character.

Projecting yourself onto characters can happen with other characters as well, even if you didn't make the character.

This is a healthy symptom. It shows that the brain is willing to become stronger from their trauma.

Reenacting trauma in ways that aren't harmful can help the brain process what happened to them, and can even help them deal with their trauma directly.

In order to heal trauma, you must know what your trauma is; you can't heal a wound you don't know you have.

While dark fiction creators are indulging in positive healing mechanisms, certain people will shun them for doing so.

"Antishippers" claim to be the "heroes" and to support healing, even though the thing that makes someone be considered and antishipper is if they're "anti healing through fiction."

Antishippers will throw the same ableist rhetorics around by claiming "if you ship adult x child you're a pedophile!" or "if you have age gap ships (even if both are consenting adults) you're a pedophile!"

This, not only is it hurting trauma survivors (especially those who have been harmed by those with paraphilic disorders), it is hurting EVERY disabled person.

Armchair diagnosis is not something anyone should do.

It is when there is little to no evidence that the condition exists within a person, though people still throw labels onto them to make them seem like they're a "bad guy." (Usually.)

This is also hurting people with actual paraphilias. Paraphilic disorder is real condition characterized by intrusive thoughts of a (usually abnormal or harmful-if-acted-on) sexual nature.

Even if someone claims to not be ableist but still demonizes and villainizes paraphilias, they're ableist.

Ableism is ableism.

And before an anti decides to call me a "pedo-apologist," go right ahead! You don't know what you're saying anyways.

There is a difference between a criminal and a disabled person.

Proship people do not support abuse. Anyone who claims to be proship but still supports abuse is NOT proship.

---

Of course anyone who makes dark content doesn't have to have past trauma.

There are many people who make dark content that don't have what they'd consider trauma, or think their trauma is unrelated to the content they create.

What if they did experience something traumatic in the future?

They'd be able to cope with it better, because they'd seen it in fiction before, so they'd know the impact of it, and how they could handle it.

Of course, not everyone who indulges in fiction will be able to handle it, though.

However, no matter if they have past trauma or not, assume the best when it comes to content creators.

They're creative and strong, and we should be thankful that they're adding onto fandom culture by just existing and doing what they love.

All people, no matter what fictional content they create, are beautiful in their own way and should be met with kindness and compassion.

Do not go out of your way to harass/abuse innocent people.

Do not go out of your way to be ableist towards content creators and content consumers.

---

Thank you for reading my long post, I hope it helped at least a bit.

Have a great day/night and stay safe, no matter your taste in fiction.

Feedback is appreciated, and reblogs are encouraged.

[blueskittlesart]

Question abt drawing: been trying to attempt learning how to draw forever but I always have trouble getting over the obstacle of having to learn/study things like anatomy and shading, which then causes me to stop drawing and have a harder time picking it back up. I know it's important for improving your art and yourself as an artist but I can't help but see it as tedious and overwhelming, especially the anatomy since it's more on the science side of things and science is not my thing lol. Do you have any advice on how to get over it or work thru it?

i think there's a couple facets to this question. firstly i'd recommend you consider what exactly your end goal is in learning how to draw: do you specifically want to be able to produce anatomically accurate figures and true-to-life shading, or do you just want to be able to make something for fun that looks good to you? one of the most helpful things I ever learned at art school was that accuracy doesn't matter if it looks good. 99% of my art isn't strictly anatomically accurate, and part of that is stylization, but even when i'm doing realistic figure drawings i like to lengthen limbs and exaggerate curves in order to make my drawings look better. So if your only real goal with art is to make something that looks good and enjoy the process, my first piece of advice would be to stop worrying so much about stuff like perfect accuracy! if you use references and keep pushing yourself, the skill and understanding you're looking for will come naturally with time. before I was ever classically trained, I got pretty far just by drawing my favorite characters in different poses and situations over and over again, and that experience laid the groundwork for when classical training did become available to me. Just because you're not necessarily doing serious figure studies doesn't mean you're not getting valuable practice--what it means is that you're having FUN while you're practicing, and having fun with your art is the most important thing!!!

Secondly, you mentioned anatomy being on the science side of things, which suggests to me that you may be looking in the wrong places when trying to do more serious anatomical study. if you look up 'anatomy' or anything similar on a web search engine, you're likely going to get a lot of very complex scientific illustrations. and while those aren't necessarily devoid of artistic value (I took a class all about scientific anatomy for artists last semester and it was GREAT) for a beginner who's just trying to learn how to make a body look like a body, they're not what you're looking for. what is going to be much more helpful for you are sites like line of action or quickposes. these sites are basically repositories of figure drawing images, and you can set them to automatically switch to a new image after a certain interval of time. if you really, desperately want to improve your anatomy specifically, what I recommend is going to one of these sites, setting it to the shortest interval possible, and trying to copy the pose as closely as you can before time is up. this might sound crazy, since the shortest interval is usually somewhere between 30-60 seconds, which obviously isn't enough to get much down. but what this will do is force you to look at how these models' bodies are constructed and translate it onto the page quickly and without overthinking it. be warned, your first maybe hundred of these are going to look like shit. but if you do this enough, you're eventually going to gain an intrinsic sense for 1. how a body works and 2. the easiest way for you personally to construct a body when drawing it. even without knowing the scientific names and anatomical rules, you're going to get a FEEL for how things work, which is much more important and useful to you as a character artist.

Finally, i think the most important thing to remember is that no art is bad art, even if you're not satisfied with the end product. when you're first starting out as an artist, you're going to make things that don't look right and you're going to be frustrated with yourself because of it. i vividly remember crying over a sketchbook at maybe age 11 or 12 because I was so upset i couldn't put exactly what was in my head on the page. Skill comes with time and practice and that is a frustrating fact of life, but no time spent doing something you enjoy and are passionate about is wasted. It might look bad now but you are laying the groundwork for your future success, and someday you're probably going to look back on your past work and say "I can't believe I thought this looked bad back then. for my age and my skill level i was doing AMAZING." And as previously mentioned, it's a lot less discouraging when something looks bad if you had fun making it, so try to have FUN with your art. draw things you enjoy and are passionate about and don't worry if it looks bad. focus on the experience, the skill will come in time. you've got this!!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Is Malleus not that famous in other countries cause in the Scalding Sands event Najma didn't seem to know who he was, there probably aren't many pictures of him around the internet but with how nervous Jamil was getting its weird it didn't cross her, you'd think he'd be pretty well known being the top 5 strongest mage and heir to the throne in Briar Valley

Well 😅 Najma’s just one person, right? I don’t think her specifically not knowing who Malleus is reflects on the average Twisted Wonderland civilian’s knowledge.

With that in mind, there’s actually many reasons why Najma in particular (and/or some other people) may not recognize Malleus:

People don’t always know political figures or figures of prominence in specific circles, especially if it isn’t of interest or of relevance to them. Think about it. Do you know the names and faces of political figures in countries outside of your own? What about specialists (athletes, artists, scientists) in fields you aren’t involved in? Thinking of it like that, it isn’t at all surprising that Najma, doesn’t recognize royalty from another country or highly ranked magicians (when she isn’t shown to be one herself).

Maybe Malleus just hasn’t been mentioned in Najma’s history class yet. For example, in Glorious Masquerade, we learn that Magic History class does not cover certain materials like the accomplishments of the Just Judge until year 2. Therefore, it’s possible that Najma has not yet learned about the Draconias in school. (Alternatively, it’s also possible that non-magic schools skim over notable mages; this would explain why NRC students specifically take Magic History, which I assume focuses on magic and mages, rather than just “History”.)

With how fae aging works, maybe the history books are just not up to date. There is a noted few hundred years of unexplained time between Malleus’s egg existing and it finally hatching when, in reality, it should have only taken a few years for his egg to hatch. It’s also said in book 7 part 4 that none of the history books speak of what happened to Briar Valley’s monarchs (ie Malleus’s parents), and that “the books at home and at the school library don’t mention anything about the Briar Valley’s history”.

It’s difficult to communicate with the Briar Valley. This is very possible, especially seeing as how the country is said to be lacking in way of technological advancements. (STYX is able to contact them, but they’re a secret organization 😂) This would likely mean that historians would have to physically travel far north to personally document Briar Valley themselves—which may be an arduous task, seeing as mirror travel and warp pads are not widely accessible to the general public. Since the Briar Valley is reclusive and even implied to not be accepting of non-fae, it may be even more challenging to get clearance to visit the country. A lot of their history seems to spread mainly by direct word of mouth (as Silver and Sebek imply in book 7; their father and grandfather, respectively, did not either of them about the Draconia family history or about the several years’ period of war Briar Valley went through).

In the actual Scalding Sands event, the visiting NRC students mention that the locals aren’t panicking about Malleus because the head wrap he’s wearing disguises him. Najma also later mistakes his horns as being decorations or fakes. This can easily be explained by the simple fact that… well, celebrities would wear different clothes in public to “blend in” and people wouldn’t recognize them because no one thinks “hey, I’ll run into a super famous person roaming my local market”. If you don’t pay enough attention to something, you may just overlook it. Attention is selective.

Aaaand of course, we have the good old boring explanation of “it’s for plot convenience, don’t question it” 😂

Personally, I think the “the history books just don’t talk about it” explanation is the most accurate, as there’s actual strong narrative implications of it in the main story; however, it’s possible that the real reason is a combination of all of these.

[typologyastro]

Neptune in the First House

💜 You may have an innocent, naive, childlike, young, and cute looking, especially when Neptune's close to your ascendant.

💜 People put their guard down when they see you. You don't look like the type of person that harms people. Your look doesn't scare them. Unless you have other placements to back it up.

💜 People may think you're dumb and weak even when you don't feel that way inside.

💜 Usually, you have big eyes and a small face. The gap between your eyes and lips is short, so it creates a young and cute look (like a cat that has super big eyes and a small round face).

💜 You are artistic, imaginative, dreamy, and creative. You like to portray, act, and roleplay as a fake character, which makes people think it's your true personality when it's not. You want to embody everyone's dream/ideals in human form.

💜 You don't try to be fake. You just enjoy being/living a character you create in your dream/fantasy. Hence, you create a different persona from your true self unconsciously.

💜 You like to accentuate your best features and hide your bad ones like a makeup artist. You act like you don't do it, that your beauty is natural when it's technically not (makeup, hairstyles, angles, surgeries, etc.).

💜 You may look and act differently at different times. Sometimes, you don't want people to know who you are. You act like you're someone else and want people to believe that's your true self to fit in.

💜 You change yourself in a different scenario. People're surprised at a new aspect you show. They think you've changed when, in fact, you just successfully convinced them to believe in your other self. The self they saw before may not even be your real self.

💜 You're a walking beauty standard like Venus in the 1st house people but more radiant, resplendent, and glamorous. Glittery gowns and fur suit you. Basically, you look like a celebrity attending an important event.

💜 A celebrity has their public and private images. Neptune in the 1st house people live a double life. They just aren't aware they're doing it subconsciously. Their true self is hidden even with you.

💜 They want to live in a dream/fantasy, so they embody this in their appearance and personality. And people start to fantasize them.

💜 So basically, you know how to act to match someone and society's perfect ideals. You don't purposely try to trick them for your own agenda, but because you want to be as close as a dream/fantasty/ideals itself.

💜 People tell you what they think of you directly with no filters. People may underestimate you due to your look. People don't try to know you because their fantasy about you sounds more believable.

💜 How you see yourself may be different from how people see you. But when you see yourself in pictures, you may understand why people assume your personality differently based on your look alone.

💜 You have that vulnerable looking face. Your eyes are sparkling and watery. Your eyebrows may curve downward (like this 🥺) or are straight naturally (I have this, lol). You look like you want to cry, so people like to console you.

💜 You also like to act as an innocent victim, like you don't know things when you know because you want people to ignore you.

💜 People have no fucking ideas how you feel about them. You act like you don't notice a thing.

💜 People feel accepted wholeheartedly in your presence. Fantasies have no boundaries where you can be anything you want. You are their fantasy.

💜 The ones who don't forgive and accept certain part(s) in themselves project those parts on to you negatively as you embody every part of a human being where they're all accepted. You accept the things they hate, so you become those things in their eyes.

💜 You also blend in with the people you're with without knowing. You observe how people act, and then you act like them. You may actually start to believe it's your personality! You may gaslight yourself. You should learn to stay true to yourself.

💜 Usually, your mind is somewhere else, not in the present, so you look lost to people.

💜 Finally, whatever different form/shape/look each person's dream is, you are their dream. You change yourself to match every dream that exists.

I hope you like this post! This is my placement, so I use my own experience to explain it.

[batwynn]

Hello. So I have a genuine, honest question as someone who isn't an artist. I saw you made a post about AI art floating around Tumblr lately. How does one differentiate between AI-created art vs. ACTUAL art? Some things have been easier to notice than others (ie: YouTube videos and like, moodboards and the opening to Secret Invasions) but for art specifically, are there any key things to look out for that make it obvious it's AI generated? I do not support AI in any fashion but in this day and age I do find it increasingly more difficult to tell the difference between something that was created by AI vs. created by an actual person.

Hi anon! So, heads up this might be a bit long of a post but I wanted to point out some things that I don't see frequently mentioned in other posts about A.I stuff.

First things first: Look at their other 'art' pieces. If they have a generally consistent style, a consistent type of work (Realism vs ink art for example), characters you see more than once and from different angles, character sheets, etc. You're going to notice if someone suddenly switches from little ink doodles to fully colored and realistically rendered 'art'. Now, this doesn't mean everyone switching styles or mediums is A.I, but it means to take a closer look if you notice something vastly different than their usual stuff. More A.I. clues below!

For things to look for, there's a lot of different clues but generally you're going to notice a certain new car shine to everything. Everything will be a little too clean, even if the style they are ripping off is sketchy. Sketches will have crosshatching that doesn't really make sense or random lines in a place that an artist probably would not put there. That being said, here's some examples where that isn't as noticeable:

Here you've got your usual body/anatomy problems. (Plus some elements I'll talk about later as well. This one's got it all!)

Glitchy foot, glitchy hands. glitchy eyes. Strange proportions for legs that don't exactly fit a stylization, but more of an glitch. Now, of course an artist can draw 'glitchy' things like this either by accident or intentionally, but you really only see these types of things in A.I vs actual art of a similar style. Realism artists are generally not adding extra fingers or varying sized fingers, they're not rendering the foot to only have too many toes, missing toes, and the foot also... sort of part shoe. Unless art artist is otherwise intentionally including these elements, it's generally a clear cut example of A.I stuff. (For example: Different body types and disabilities exist, and there are people with different shaped hands, shorter/longer fingers etc. But you will also usually find some kind of info with the post about the person/character that will tell you about them that can clue you in on if it's A.I vs real art.) If the artists are drawing in a style with 'exaggerated' anatomy, you can almost always see that as a persistent and intentional STYLE in their art. If they aren't, this is something you'll really notice in A.I vs realism. It can be especially true with people who fully render realistic art because it's not in line with the style, and the relevant elements of rendering art this way. Artists who do realistic rendering at this level generally know their anatomy very well, and are going for realism in all elements of the art. Some stuff like the exaggerated long legs in women are kind of everywhere, but the hands, the foot, the lopsided winky eyes (I don't know how to describe it) are not things a professional artist rendering realistic art would generally do. It's just not in line with the style, or the ability/skill that the artist has worked on. (Again, unless completely intentionally and in line with the person/character.)

For 'real' life items like the tables below, you've really just got to ask yourself: Is this physically possible? Do all the elements make sense and actually work together in a real way?

Sometime it's hard to know if you don't have any experience with, for example, acrylic and wood table making. But there are things that just don't work in real life, and there are things that maybe someone can do, but even in the provided examples it just doesn't make sense to do. For example, the little 'tree' hanging from the bottom of the left table. Would that be possible? Probably. Would someone do that? Probably not. If you're really stumped, sometimes just looking up videos of people making that type of thing can give you a better idea of what actually works together, how it's made, etc.

Here's something that really helps when you're really struggling and zooming in for every detail: TANGENTS

Ok, so tangents in art are when you're drawing a thing, like hair, and it's lining up with a different object to the point where the visual line continues from one part of art to another and it looks really unrealistic/weird. Most artists figure out how to avoid this on their own just from noticing it and feeling uncomfortable with how it looks, while others learn via the internet etc. It can happen in anyone's art at any skill level, but the amount that it happens in A.I stuff is HUGE. It's almost every single image, and you can really notice it in places where something overlaps like hair or, from the above image with the money: there's two bills that just kind of bleed together. From the same image, you can also see how her hair bleeds into the wrinkles of her jacket in an unnatural way. Comparatively, you can see in the Hela art I did below that there are overlapping elements like the hair and the ribbons behind it that do not mesh or bleed together.

Something else to look at: Symmetrical elements that don't work right. So, this is kind of getting harder to see depending on what they're generating as a subject matter and the style they are using. As always, there is a disclaimer for this. Art does not always have perfect symmetrical elements in it.

For example: in the real world, this dude's coat would have more clean symmetrical elements. As it is a sketchy doodle, they're there but they're not 100% symmetrical. With a LOT of A.I stuff, you'll notice that something meant to be mirrored on the other side of the clothing, room design, etc. is actually completly wonky/incorrect or not even there at all.

For example, in this A.I we have missmatching elements on both sides. Not only in things that could be designed to be asymmetrical, but also things that 100% should be mirrored. The left side under the buckle on the shoulder has a diamond shape. The right has a weird spikey thing. The little leaf pattern on the gold lapel area appears to be just blobs on the right side. The left shoulder area has a button and additional little detail under the buckle area. It is not there on the right side. And, again, some of this can be intentional with real art. Her arm bands could be intentionally different, for example. But elements that clearly should be reflected on the other side and are very clearly not are generally a good clue that it's A.I. A few last moment things to look out for:

Styles that are recognizable someone else's whole thing. Example: The monstrosity that someone just generated that is supposedly Calvin and Hobbs. It's pretty easy to tell because it looks like shit right now, but generally if someone is ripping off a distinct style of someone famous, it's probably A.I or at least worth double checking.

Did they suddenly start doing ______? This could be anything, backgrounds, drawing horses, full color, etc. But if they're suddenly, overnight just BOOM they're 'drawing' in a whole other style, it's suddenly really rendered, and/or there's no 'growing pains'/work shown that they've started working on drawing the thing they never drew before... It's time to take a closer look. Last but not least, look for the language they use around the stuff they're putting out. A.I people are often... a certain type. They use a lot of that NFT bro lingo that can tip you off. The tags might be all over the place for styles, or tagging certain famous artist's styles, etc. They also can be a bit more blatant in the tags and just outright tag A.I or NFTs somewhere in there. And, in the end, if you really can't tell and you really love the thing and want to share it: Ask an artist. Or just don't share it.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this is helpful in some way!

[sugasiren]

~MOON 🌕 IN THE 8TH SYNASTRY~

**FYI: This is my very first blog post! 🦋

"WhOoo FeELs It MoORe?" - is the question everyone always asks. My Answer: BOTH of us feel that sh-t!! 💯 We're just playing Different Roles within our overwhelmingly intoxicating & binding dynamic.

The Exception: When one or both of you isn't PHYSICALLY attracted to the other whatsoever. Then, it's a wrap. Otherwise, it's GAME ON.

Being a natal 8H Venus w/ 1H Pluto - I'm very acquainted with this energy. I *must* have some form of Plutonian contact in my Romantic Relationships. 🔥 Period. MOON in the 8th is one of my personal favorites within synastry.

I've primarily been the MOON PERSON in my connections. 🌕 I can think of at least (3) scenarios. All of these gentlemen initiated deeper contact with me. Insane sexual tension was present right OUT OF THE GATE. 👄They were patient and each one "studied" me and built a real foundation with me. Eventually, they started sharing deep secrets with me & I with them. We often "counseled" one another on a wide range of things. Even started dreaming about each other! Then... their possessive streak & sexual desire began emanating from their pores. 🔥 And I could *feel* them wanting to envelop my entire freaking soul (just like Hades for Persephone) with primal abandon.  And you know what?? I wanted that sh-t! To be transformed & ravished... Mind, Body & Soul. ❤ They were the powerful YANG to my sensuous YIN. My (Moon) presence was healing & rather comforting for them. While they made me feel very protected in turn.

However, we did deeply trigger each other at certain times as well. Manipulation & mind games can ensue if insecurity starts to rear its head. 💯 The HOUSE Person can potentially start to HATE how vulnerable or "out of control" they feel while in the presence of the Moon Person. Not everyone is used to being *consumed* with deep desire & powerful emotion! The MOON Person is equally invested and isn't as afraid - but may or may not start mirroring their partner's torn behavior. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Maturity is surely a MUST with this energy along with a willingness to trust. If you both can push through your fear... this can become the marriage of a LIFETIME with a passionate bond that continues to grow immensely and never fades.

~The House Person = The DOM or The ARTIST. 😎 You are on THEIR territory. They set the rules & the pace of your connection. You have trust, respect & deep admiration for them - they are your Rock! 💪 You lust for them.

~The Moon Person = The BRATTY SUB or The MUSE. ⚘ You choose *when* you will surrender and *what* your boundaries are. You are the House Person's greatest inspiration! They are in AWE of you. They aren't happy unless YOU are happy - you are their Sunshine w/ a sip of Moonshine. ☀️

I do feel that Moon Synastry is the most potent & profound you can experience overall. 🌕 So how have 8th House connections played out for you?! 🔥 And which Role were you in?

**THIS scene below from 'Bridgerton' is a perfect example of this (MOON 8H) all-consuming energy between two people earlier in a connection. 💕 "You are the bane of my existence... and the object of ALL my desires" is exactly what Anthony (8H Person) feels about Kate (Moon) and it's just so damn delicious!

[taegularities]

a brief drabble of jk seeing oc in the exhibition or what he thinks when she did not stay the night :( from his pov please

fic: colour me in

pairing: jungkook x reader warnings: overthinking, heartbreak, hope, simping lol, lovesickness, a bit of nervousness, implied tears, soft sweet koo, a cmi9 spoiler :') wc: 1.5k LOL a/n: tysm for the request, i know one or two people wanted that one, so that was a great opportunity to explore koo's mind :') this is unedited, i apologise!! might come back to edit it later. anyways, love you, i hope you like it, lmk what you think mwah!! <3

ask my characters/request a (brief) drabble <3

–

The second day of the showcase and it's already ending again.

And once again, you're nowhere to be seen. It sucks.

He wishes he could calm that raging storm in his stomach; that stressful feeling, mixed with hope you might show up eventually.

But as he glances around, all he sees is a crowd of visitors and fellow artists. They look so happy; the smiles might etch themselves onto their faces forever once this is all over.

From afar, Jungkook waves towards them, faking a brave face. It's annoying how his eyes keep wandering to the entrance of the room, manifesting a glimpse of you.

New guests make his heart skip a beat, and it keeps sinking when it's not you.

That is, until it is.

Some of the people chatting with him finish their inquiries. He sends them off with a nod, following their steps for a moment. Only for his gaze to drift through the room again. And then–

The odd emptiness morphs into gut-wrenching breathlessness. He sucks in a breath when you stand among the dozen faces, looking around.

And you're not a haunting illusion this time. The way you shift your weight to the other leg, heaving your chest in the same nervousness, eyebrows slightly furrowed as you seek him out – no matter how much he's memorised you, he can't make up these tiny details.

You're here.

And now you're looking at him. Directly. Blinking.

As you approach him, time starts moving slower. Thoughts of whatever you shared. Hope for tonight to proceed well. Fear of what you might think of his artistic accomplishments.

He doesn't dare to blink. Doesn't even flinch when you say, "Hi."

He responds, "You came."

"I… almost didn't."

"…I'm glad you did."

Your words are piercing, and his heart in tiny pieces. They pound to a certain, rapid beat, like water drops on drums.

But he doesn't show any of the weakness he feels when you keep talking. Or when you detect his paintings. The speechlessness and the tender gratitude, the pain in your eyes when you understand what he's created.

The moments pass and the uncertainty between the two of you grows, but Jungkook doesn't want this night to end. And when you eventually suggest to take him home, he feels a strange combination of anxiety and relief.

Unfathomable.

–

Small spaces usually didn't bother either of you, because they were the temptation that closed the gap between your bodies.

Like, when he was trapped under the sheets with you, magnetically drawn to you. Arms around you like a safe swim ring, and your breathing against his chest.

Tonight is a little different.

The urge to make you stop the car and to reach to the driver's seat is overwhelming. So he focuses his attention on the outside. Listens as you converse with him.

He appreciates the care, but he'd rather skip to the inevitable talk than to speak about his lack of a transportation vehicle.

The wait toys with him. The tension is palpable. It won't fade; only increases when you finally dive into your emotions. Asking about the showcase and the pain.

Grows and grows when you halt near his place, getting out of the car when you shouldn't need to.

Because aren't you leaving in a moment?

No.

Instead, you pull out a silver object, wrapped neatly. He knows what it might be, and somehow, it already hurts. The intention behind it… that's what aches.

Though the uneasy yearning doesn't end when he opens it, setting eyes on an apparent notebook and his name written in the middle of it, golden and elegant.

Inside, he finds a message

To fill these pages with every curve and contour you desire, and to colour them in. Like you do with me. Happy Birthday, Kookie.

The goddamn hurt won't stop. His breath hitches. He rereads the words, mouths them, relaxing his muscles and slowing down his heartbeat.

It's not working. And his eyes are watering. God, he doesn't think he's ever seen a soul filled with such tenderness before. A heart of cloudy texture; breaking apart every now and then, but soft and light and dreamy and so incredibly vulnerable.

You're looking at him like you're holding yourself together. And he figures he must be mirroring that very expression.

"So… You like it?" you ask.

Does he like it? The fact that you combined his dreams and the affection you hold into one small object? Your feelings for each other aren't materialistic, but if they were, he'd stuff them all into these pages.

He answers, "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

“I’m glad. Happy Birthday, Kook.”

Can he let you go again? He doesn't know. Or he does. But he fears your answer. But he still needs to try, right?

And he does. With all his courage, he does.

When he finds himself close to your body a minute later. Face in his grip, apologies on his tongue, hurt in your pupils – lit by the streetlights.

"I crave your comfort," you tell him. Your words are overwhelming. "I hate that I've grown to crave you."

If you knew. If you knew about the sleepless nights and the damp cheeks. The curled up body, tucked in blankets and the summer's heat, but still cold without you next to him.

If you knew. He should tell you.

"What do I do to make it right?" he asks.

But what you answer breaks his heart anew.

"You open up. You tell me how you feel. What you feel." Your chin is quivering; he wants to hold it, wants to calm your sorrows. "You stop keeping secrets from me and tell me what's wrong."

"I have never opened up with anyone as much as with you."

And he means it. All you know are pieces of him; the most hidden one only ever got out to witnesses or when things became unbearable. Like with Nara. Or Tae.

His fingers rest on your cheek, and you wonder, "Why have you never before? To anyone else?"

He's scared. God, he's scared you'd leave him. This is ridiculous. His worries and his faults and all the mistakes he's made. So damn ridiculous.

Shouldn't be keeping you away from him.

"Can you tell me?" you question again. He wishes you didn't – because he wants you to know, but it's not fucking coming out…

And he can't keep hurting you.

"I can't," he admits.

"Why not?"

"Because it hurts."

It always will, won't it?

And maybe he could endure it if it didn't drag you down in the process. Because he sees as your face falls, frustration spreading across it as you start giving up.

He sees that you're waving the white flag, even when he begs for you to stay, to endure this until he can open up. He sees your desperation when you don't answer and he finally walks away and he hates it.

Head fallen and intense dejection expanding in his chest, slow steps carry him across the street. Tonight will be filled with more hours without solace.

But then he hears your voice again.

"That night at the frat party… last year," you start. He halts in his steps, moving to face you. "We were dumb to treat it like nothing. You kissed me back then, too. You kissed me like you didn't want me to leave."

He blinks at you. The frat party.

Maybe he didn't just kiss you like he didn't want you to leave. Maybe it'd feel the same if he kissed you now, too.

And he fucking wants to. He wants the distance gone. Craves that same warmth, enveloped in you, breath against breath, lips against lips.

He doesn't know what to answer. The hundred thoughts confuse him. But among those, one of them is the most prominent, in bold and capitalised letters, surfacing in high speed.

And perhaps he should hold onto it; so he wraps a mental rope around it, pulling it close and whispers, "Angel…"

Steps back to you, closer until you're barely breathing, "Stay the night."

–

It's okay, he thinks.

That he expected so much. That he thought you'd agree. That he painted a picture of you stepping in here again, sitting on the same couch, crying the same tears as him until you fell into his arms.

But none of it will happen tonight, will it? You won't come back. He saw you driving away…

It's okay.

You're right. You probably need time to think; his attack on you was sudden. The change in mind and the pleas to stay. Only half of him thought you would, really – so it's alright.

But that doesn't mean that his chest won't heave once he closes the door and enters the empty apartment. Or that he won't shower with a certain numbness in his heart, trudging to the bed with a bitter ache in his body.

It doesn't mean that, despite the sliver of hope, he won't yearn and pine and crave and long until his eyes are rimmed red, worse than before.

–

okay :') if you happen to read this, come and let me know what you think, i'd appreciate it super much!! bc lol holy that took like 2h? and i am sad. thank you for the request, love. hope it was alright 🥺<3

[gefdreamsofthesea]

Something I wish more folks realize is that a law can simultaneously be a stupid law and actually have a very good reason for existing (even if it makes some things difficult).

A lot of Americans like to poke fun at the "Canadian content laws" we have here in Canada where a certain percentage of media must be Canadian content (I'm not sure how that is defined but that's not the point) but the whole point of that law (at least this is what I've been told) is so Canadians actually are exposed to artists from Canada, because so much of our media is American.

I think one good example of this is in legal dramas/jargon. We're so used to hearing about "pleading the fifth" that I bet it never occurs to a lot of people that pleading the fifth does not exist in Canada (as we do not have a fifth amendment). I made a previous post stating there was no equivalent here but I just googled and there are a bunch of laws protecting a person from self-incrimination (unless you're being prosecuted for perjury). Even then, you cannot outright refuse to answer questions unless you straight up refuse to testify at your own trial. Miranda rights are also specifically a U.S. thing, what we have in Canada are Charter rights. One very important difference between the two is that here you do NOT have the right to have a lawyer in the room during an interrogation but you DO have the right to remain silent. If someone knows more about this than I do please correct me I'm not a law person.

This is why I'm always suspicious of legal advice for activists because it's nearly always U.S. based (although I would say the basic idea of shutting up until you can speak to a lawyer applies) and this is the sort of stuff that can really fuck people over if you aren't careful.

I don't know about the laws regarding spitting on the sidewalk though they just seem kind of dumb. I mean that is pretty gross.

[hiswitchcraft]

id love to see your collection/list! my tarot niche is cat themed decks but i love seeing what otber people are drawn to :)

My Collection of Divination Decks

You're so sweet! You got it! I wish this post hadn’t taken so long. When it was halfway done I decided to take the pictures myself instead and got overwhelmed so I've done it a bit at a time. Anyways you guys remember that I'm always happy to help you find beginner decks that work for you or decks that fit certain ideas or themes! Rather if that's more inclusivity, certain vibes, the deck being based on animals, plants, etc. Don't be afraid to reach out!

Without further delay, the decks...

The Classic Rider Waite

This was my first deck as I'm sure it was for a lot of people. I heard a lot of people talking about it and knew a lot of other decks were based on it so I got it. I'm glad it was my first deck because it helped familiarize me with all the Rider Waite based decks yet to come in my practice and it's just a sort of neutral starting point. I could also see the appeal in getting a more themed deck which is why I offer to help beginners find one that fits their needs. The good deck is the deck you'll pick up and use!

The Linestrider Tarot

This was my first deck that's well... not just the plain old Rider Waite. I was 14 or 15 when I got it so it probably wouldn't be my first pick now, aesthetic wise, but I have a huge soft spot for it. It's always felt like I was in tune with this deck and I love little details like that The Fool has no face and the two of cups are cats! Like isn't that just the cutest? Also it wasn't that expensive and came with a solid box and a thick guidebook, which is always a welcome bonus in my opinion.

The Hedgewitch Botanical Oracle

Ah, my first oracle deck, as you might have guessed. It was also made by the same artist that made the Linestrider tarot, which you may also have guessed. I'm pretty sure I got them at the same time because I adored this art style so much. I like the way this deck is laid out. There's detailed illustrations of plants, and y'all know I love a deck with plants, as well as the name of the plant and the main theme of the card written on it. I need to use this deck more! Let me know if you guys have tips for doing oracle readings or using oracle decks more.

The Star Spinner Tarot

I was interested in this deck for its inclusivity. it's also a hopeless romantic deck in my opinion. It has a fairytale sort of art style and you can choose between four different The Lovers cards, two of which are distinctly gay. Also the two of cups are pink mermaids, what else could you possibly want?

The Avatar Arcana

This deck is based on avatar the last airbender if you couldn't tell or aren't familiar with that series. It's a fandom deck. I was such a feen for it when I found it online. I waited patiently for it for ages. I feel like the selections for what characters go with what cards, especially on the major arcana, are a little on the nose and show that this is more of a novelty deck. But hey, it's a deck themed around a show, I knew what I signed up for, y'know? Anyways I'm very happy to have it!

The Illustrated Herbiary Oracle

This deck is going here because I wanted to show all the decks in my collection. It was a gift and even though I don't wanna be ungrateful, I'm hard to buy gifts for, and picky about my decks. I usually like decks based on plants (and have several in my wishlist) but this one just isn't my favorite if I'm being honest. I think it's the borders. Either way it's in my collection, which makes it worth note, and who knows! Maybe someone else will love it or just generally be inspired to get a plant based deck.

The Dream Interpretation Oracle

The cards are unfortunately bent on this deck so there was a slight glare on a few cards, but even if they’re hadn’t been I feel like the cards here or any picture just couldn’t do this deck’s vibes justice. I got it at witchfest (which I'm so excited for this year, that's a whole different happy ramble) and I feel like it really captures the strangeness of my dreams. There are whole cards for things like shoes, or shouting. Shuffling the cards is a weird time indeed.

The Antique Anatomy Tarot

I feel like this deck is quite popular and for good reason. It’s exactly what it sounds like. It has vintage vibes, it has skulls, it has flowers, these are some of my favorite things to draw so of course they are some of my favorite artistic themes in a deck. I have multiple decks on my wishlist that are just based on skeletons or plants. I love how this deck combines the two. I also like how on the elixirs, the labels on the bottles relate to the card's meaning. Additionally the jumbling of body parts in a lot of the coins suit, particularly the four of coins shown is also an aspect I like. It just looks neat to me.

The Fyodor Pavlov Tarot

This is by far my favorite deck so this section will be so so long and I'm not sorry! This is double special interest material. I'm t4t and deserve to gush about my representation damn it. So I’ve been trying to stick to 6 cards max with maybe the back of the card's pattern or box shown for these pictures, however this deck is my favorite and just too good to contain with such restrictions. I worked so hard to get this deck. I saw The Lovers card online and fell in love. The card's artwork is t4t and I'm SO t4t and so in love with just The Lovers card as an art piece in general. Anyways after I found just that card somewhere online I said a prayer that a full deck by the artist existed, and went on the hunt for it. I found it. I originally found the kickstarter, which had stopped, and after some digging found out the artist had moved the sales to Etsy. The artist was packaging small batches all on his own. I tried to get it twice off Etsy and both times it sold out immediately. The deck has now had an official release and is a lot easier to get. I preordered that newer version and waited months and months for my beloved and it was by FAR so worth it.

I love that this deck is Rider Waite based but inclusive to various experiences. This includes the minority representation, but also details like how the queen of cups is pregnant. Maybe I don't look at a lot of decks but I feel like I don't see that very often and I think details like that are cool. As you'd probably expect, the artist is queer and trans and I love that and supporting them and that kind of artwork. He's also a tattoo artist and I feel like that shows in his work. I love artwork with ink, but I'm biased, because my artwork is usually ink based. Also I already put too many cards in the picture so they're not there but shoutout to Strength and The Hermit in this deck for being women.

Basically I love this deck more than I can put into words!

The Tarot of Pagan Cats

The newest addition to my collection! This is a mini deck that makes me want about ten million more cat themed decks. When I decided to take the pictures myself for this post I added some other cards. Originally I was just gonna have The Tower though. I feel like it tells you everything you need to know. This deck is adorable and charming. The Fool makes me laugh as well as The Tower and Strength. The Lovers, as well as the two and ten of cups are just precious. The design for Death is perfect. Fuzzy, and somehow still comes across as stern. I want more cat decks!!!

(Also side note down here real quick for that one person, someone asked if I could go over how the decks personalities differ from each other but I found I was very bad at putting that into words especially in this post so that will have to be something I talk about elsewhere if I do!)

This post was about gushing and the vibes but if you guys want beginner deck recommendations, help finding a deck that fits your niche, or for me to show off my wishlist in a similar style, just ask!

Thanks for letting me gush and reading the whole post. I had such a fun time making it ❤️

[beautifulpersonpeach]

I feel like the ot7 "love all members equally" became such line pushed from some of the fandom in response to solos acting up and attacking anyone who they thought/think doesn't support the member they stan. It was almost a direct response to the "fake ot7, you're a ot6 or x member anti" that has become such a copy paste attack, so it almost became a copy paste response.

A world where each solo work is as equally supported or successful was unrealistic to anyone not too caught up in stan life. Taking member popularity out of the equation, even Bts songs perform differently and have different success levels depending on the actual song type, the release strategy etc. I think some people forget that despite army being massive they are not a hive mind for one, but also Bts have a lot of fans who aren't actively engaged in online fandom life or stan culture. Casual listeners, people who consider themselves fans, but don't spend any time online in kpop spaces, general music fans who like them. People like to put all their success on fandom, which yes Army play a massive role in, but they end up being very dismissive of the mystical gp people talk about so much. Bts have general music fans as listeners. If army was singularly responsible for everything then every bts song would perform as well as if not better then the previous and we know that in itself isn't true. It was the goto after Dynamite and Butter to treat anything not reaching those levels as a failure. If we can acknowlege their own group songs perform less well (well less well by chart watchers anyway) by being a korean ballad over an upbeat pop song, then that also extends to their solo releases as well. Infact most music artists have songs that hit and songs that miss charting wise despite having their own fanbases to help push them.

It's also perfectly normal for people to have preferences. Nobody loves each bts song equally. People prefer different genres and will act accordingly. Personally I'm more rapline biased so I naturally prefer and listen to their solo music more. On opposite side I've never really connected with Taes solo music prior to chapter 2. Does it mean I hate him? No it just means I have a musical preference.

People criticise army for being brainwashed and mindlessly supporting everything whether they like it or not, then criticise army for not being brainwashed and letting preferences show.

I guess my point is that we can't say Bts have broken through beyond kpop meaning getting on the radar of non kpop fans and then try and pin everything about them at this point onto only their kpop fandom. There's a difference between being a stan and being a fan and Bts don't just have stans they have fans. Look at how wonderfully diverse army can be from race, gender, age etc and you think all those people are sitting on twitter or tiktok? That every single butt that fills those stadiums also has an online stan account? It might come as a shock to solos, but even people whe might like one members solo music won't automatically develop a hatred towards their group and other members because general music fans are not hyper competitive in that way.

It's like Yoongi talks about people seeing the world in black and white, when most people are grey. Stans, certain factions of army, solos etc they see things about Bts, the members, Army and achievements in black and white, but there are many Army or general Bts fans that exist in the grey area and the grey area isn't a hive mind so people need to stop expecting the actions and results of one.

Anyway sorry for my rant, it's not directed at you bpp because I feel like you'll understand what I'm saying. I've been thinking about it for a while and its a topic you've been discussing recently, so it just came out.

***

Yeah, I get what you mean and agree for the most part.

I'll copy-paste what I said in the replies earlier:

"The notion of ‘equal in every way every time’ is a mantra that actually comes from solo stans, that ARMY started mirroring back because in group systems, nuance isn’t well communicated. The reality is that while all the guys are equally responsible for the group’s success and should get similar support over the course of their careers, the nature of that support will likely change depending on year/era/concept etc. It requires us to focus more on ‘equity’."

I don't really blame the fandom because I understand it's easier to say 'treat the members equally' when what you actually mean to say is 'Recognize all the members contribute equally to the group and should get your support if you claim to support BTS within your means, preferences, and ability, no matter how that support looks like. Also, 'support' doesn't mean interloping their team and management to push your own preferences on them if what you see isn't what you like.'

BigHit has always seemed to highlight different members or sub-units of members in different eras, rather than equal focus on all seven all the time. It's like the line distribution discourse: they select different members to use in different ways depending on the song. Someone doing only adlibs could just as much to add to the quality of the song as someone with half the lines. Like I've said, BTS is a team, a utility tool, or a room of weapons that they all decide on strategically using to elevate the whole group from time to time. From my observation it was:

JK + rapline - 2013

Jimin + rapline - 2014 - 2015

Jimin + Jungkook - 2016 - 2017

Taehyung + Seokjin - 2018

Seokjin + OT7 - 2019

Jimin - 2020

Taekook - 2021

JK / OT7 or Chapter 2 - 2022 till date

It doesn't mean the other members were being 'mistreated' during those times either despite the akgaes of those members being absolutely convinced this was happening. BTS is just continuing in Chapter 2 a pattern they've showed throughout their career. All the members' debuts have been of outstanding quality and have been some of the best releases this year. It's clear the members ideas drove the music, concept, and presentation, and they're all reflecting on how to improve based on the feedback they've received. That to me is the most important thing in Chapter 2, and why I simply cannot force myself to be worried for them. That also would not have been possible under a company that's looking to stifle them or limit their potential. It's simply not how these things work here. Jungkook and Seven is the weapon they've decided to use this time and I hope they're successful.

"People criticise army for being brainwashed and mindlessly supporting everything whether they like it or not, then criticise army for not being brainwashed and letting preferences show."

Like I keep saying, it's a myth that people in the fandom are being coerced to support everything BTS releases. The fact is everyone here does what they want, and the overwhelming support BTS gets is because they have that many fans who genuinely like what they put out and want to support it. The results frankly speak for themselves and many narratives from multis, mantis, akgaes, and other k-pop stans, haven't matched the reality for a long time. The only reason it's still spread is two reasons: copium and hate.

*

It doesn't surprise me that the fandom is in this state tbh. I did a poll three months ago asking when people joined the fandom, and it showed ~60% of the responders joined after 2020. And many of these people are in jikook spaces (given I posted the poll on my blog) so I'd assume many could be very heavily biased to one or two members, and that's usually a pre-cursor to becoming a full-blown akgae unless someone actively de-radicalizes themselves. The only limiting factor for that transformation, is time.

I've been getting an ask from an acct for months asking the same thing. It's like they copy-paste the exact same ask into my inbox at the same time every week. I've never replied. One time they slipped up and posted the ask without being anonymous, so I saw their profile. This person was asking me why people in the fandom hate Jimin, how there were many OT6s, how they think I'm one myself, how they didn't understand how someone as sweet as Jimin would have people dislike him much less hate him. I looked at that person's profile, saw their following list filled with self-avowed PJMs whose blogs were more about 'Tedros', 'Payolakook', 'arrogant, selfish, stingy Yoongi and Namjoon', 'useless Seokjin', and 'sweet j-hope' (I'll come back to this), than anything about Jimin, his words, and his art. In fact, j-hope who was initially lauded on one blog as Jimin's only true friend in BTS (it doesn't escape me how he's had the furthest debut time from Jimin), was a fave until someone pointed out how he 'hogs' the dancer position in BTS and that he actually released On The Street close to FACE, and then Hobi became an asshole too according to those PJMs lmaooo. Like, these people just have such a simplistic, juvenile approach to BTS that I'd assume they were children, if not for the fact we see the same thought process play out in our politics - the realm of so-called adults.

Looking at that account's posting history, it was clear this person likely wouldn't think of themselves as a solo stan. Maybe just someone with a heavy bias who 'doesn't want to be in an echo chamber', or feels interacting with that part of the fandom is necessary to properly support their bias, or who wants to see frequent updates related to their biases; but it amused me how they could not draw a connection between their actions, their tolerance of hate towards members they don't think are as important/talented/etc as Jimin, and the state of the fandom towards the member they like. Like, do they think they're the only 'heavily biased ARMY' who casually scrolls pages that treat their bias like a god but nitpicks and tear down other members for real and perceived slights? Do they not see how they are creating the very problem they're observing? A lot of people are comfortable with supporting relentless 'criticism' or flat out hate thrown at other members (maybe even a member that person also doesn't like), but then act surprised that someone else in the fandom is just as comfortable with that mindset towards their bias. These people are mirrors of the exact same behaviours they say they hate, just towards the members they don't care about.

It's one of the most curious, hilarious, cognitive dissonances I see in these parts tbh.

But anyway, unless there's something drastic that splinters the ease with which people like this can stay and move around in the fandom, the situation will only worsen towards a full implosion. And if JK indeed gets a nomination, I'll be very happy. For many reasons. But the tantrums and resulting chaos will be a pain. If he doesn't get a nom, the heaving sighs of relief from the fandom too will be a separate problem loool. And then, *gasp* another k-pop act snagging the nomination and/or winning? Might as well become a prepper and plan for Armageddon.

Fun times ahead for the Purple Bloods! :)

[braisedhoney]

So what's your LEAST favorite pigment?

oooooh... let me see.

i don't think i have any one particular pigment that i dislike ALL of the time—watercolor can be temperamental, and the difference between using a transparent vs opaque color really can change the entire experience. they even dry differently, depending on what color you're using and with what materials. i can't really speak to oils or acrylics though since i've only used those in passing. (i do want to get into oils at some point... it's a gorgeous medium.)

if i absolutely had to pin down a specific pigment or pigment type that i don't particularly enjoy using myself, it... miiight be the cadmiums? yellow, red, orange, it doesn't matter. i know a lot of artists love them to death and they're even a staple on a lot of palettes, but the opacity and toxicity of them just puts them lower down on the list of the pigments i would usually reach for. (as long as you aren't eating them or inhaling the pigment itself handling cadmiums is usually okay-ish, but i prefer to err on the side of caution.)

that's not to say that i outright hate them, i've used them once or twice. but if i have an alternative to cadmium red (pr108) on hand like pyrol red (pr254) or something, i'd rather reach for that. especially since it can make cleaner mixes! (colors that are really opaque tend to get muddy easier, which is also the reason people hear 'don't mix with white, just dilute it' all the time. pyrol red is still opaque, but yk.)

for a while, cadmiums and the like were the only way you could get really true, lightfast and vibrant colors of whatever category they occupied, but there are so many other alternatives now that i find fun to explore and more comfortable to work with.

that said, it makes more sense in general to just play it by ear and see what colors speak to you. pr206 isn't exactly a perfect all-purpose mixing red, but that doesn't stop it from being one of my favorite colors of all time lol. and warmer reds do have a much smaller selection than cooler toned reds do!

(also, not a huge fan of colors that are incredibly hard to rewet, like true viridian (pg18) or potters pink (pr233) even if i do find their shades delicately pretty and really unique. working with them can be frustrating if you aren't using them directly from the tube. some brands are better about that than others though! and both of those are kind of bad examples anyway bc i think they're gorgeous when allowed to granulate on cold or rough press paper, in mixes or on their own.

ultramarine blue (pb29) sometimes has a similar issue actually, but the color is so intense that it remains a staple for me anyway lol. sucker for certain classics ig.)

[bells-of-black-sunday]

I do actually really want to talk about Tarhos's model, because a lot of people don't know that he does have a full model up on the artist who modeled hims art station along with every killer they've worked on. That can be found here, but I am going to put Tarhos's model sheet below anyway. With that out of the way:

One of the things I remembered the devs saying over and over again back when they did actually do lore livestreams and the wiki will mention this as well is that the killers that look the most messed up are killers that are not obedient to the Entity. I'm assuming there's exceptions for ghosts obviously, but for the most part this has rang true since. Killers like the l.egion and G.hostface are unharmed on their base models and at least in terms of Danny he has been confirmed to have a sort of special connection with it. On the flip side killers like Trapper have historically been at odds with it and thus he's full of hooks and covered in wounds that don't really heal. We also know from observer tomes that this is normal, the entity tortures killers that aren't subservient to it and if they keep refusing they get discarded like the survivors that have given up hope.

In terms of Tarhos if we take his lore very literally it tells us directly that he finds the entity to be paradise and maybe even a sort of deity.

" He had found his paradise. He had found — The beauty and the horror. He had found — The Sublime. "

But if we look at his model we can see he looks like how killers that aren't subservient to the entity are and especially the faithful three where Alejandro especially has been morphed into this almost skeletal monster. You can also see Tarhos's face in certain helmets, but he does also have a body model for reference. No one would be able to live with wounds like that especially not back in the early 1400s where infection didn't have as well of a treatment.

He also has shrapnel in his face which would not be able to exist with how his armor is for the most part undamaged on his actual model itself. He did not get these wounds before the Entity took him. He did not die before the entity took him. He was fine. To quote his lore word by word again, because I'm not trying to be obtuse about it, but I know its the commonly held belief that he did:

" Amidst the carnage and chaos, the pack found Tarhos, and back-to-back, they became a whirlwind of death. Some believed their courage gave them luck. Others believed something otherworldly protected them. Whatever it was, they alone felled dozens of warriors as easily as stomping and crushing beetles. And as they butchered the enemy, Tarhos didn’t notice the strange fog rising from the fallen corpses and clattering armour until he couldn’t see two inches in front of him in any direction.

Tarhos stumbled forward, groping in the thick fog like the dark fluid his mother forced down his throat all those years ago. His coordination and sense of direction was confused as he called out for his pack. "

There is no mention of Tarhos getting seriously injured in fact if you want to take it literally, the entity was protecting them. And again if we look at his actual model in game this lines up with the condition of his armor, there's no serious holes or tears that would show these wounds. In fact most people don't know that they exist on him at all, because they're all hidden and you only see small glimpses of it. And no matter what anyone says, Alejandro would not look like a shark toothed skeleton from a battle injury. That's not possible. Same with Sander, you would bleed out in minutes from having a giant hole in your abdomen even if you shoved something in there. Durkos is the only one that looks relatively fine, but again he's burnt and yet his mask and clothes aren't.

The quote about paradise and violence lines up with a lot of contradictions between his lore and what he says, but that's a different write up. So- what does this all mean? Me personally I think maybe he thought it was paradise at first and Tarhos being a man who hates authority quickly realized he was back where he was before. Or maybe it happened really slow where he became jaded to everything. But I don't think he enjoys the the fog and calls it paradise anymore, I just don't think he'd look like that and have no damage on his armor while obviously still being alive.

[genericpuff]

This isn't meant to be a hateful ask, but you should probably stop saying you've 'fixed' Rachel's art whenever you redraw comic frames. At first, I could see why your posts were titled that, considering they were just edits made onto a frame, trying to keep in mind the style of the comic alongside it (and let me say, you absolutely nail colors when it comes to your gLOw series, I use your notes for my own art all the time). But it seems like for your more recent posts, you're redrawing panels in your own style and saying that you've 'fixed' the frames. I'm not saying that you can't do that, redraws are a core part of the LO community. But it feels as if you're putting Rachel's art style down in favor of your own. For example, your recent post. Smaller necks and 'googly eyes' (big eyes with small pupils) are usually apart of LOs more cartooney style, they aren't something as bad as LOs men's shoulder to head width, or awkward hand and feet positions, etc. The point I'm trying to make is that you should probably start titling frames you redraw in your own style as that, a redraw, not 'fixing' someone else's art style

EDIT: oh god I totally went off with this, BIG apologies for the essay dump in response to a very simple ask, it's just a topic I'm very passionate about and am willing to talk about at really extreme lengths. I appreciate your takes on this even if I do disagree with them, I just don't make shit easy and I apologize for that 😖 😂

Oookay, so I'm gonna try and answer this as best I can, with as little curtness as possible, because I know you're asking it genuinely, but please understand that this is a topic that comes up a LOT in artist/LO spaces and I'm sorta exhausted with having to talk about it. Often times because it's approaching the argument with a very misconstrued idea of what 'style' is.

Ironically enough, before I get into this, I actually do have a post queued up for tomorrow already that's called a 'redraw' because unlike the panels I'm assuming you're calling out, I actually painted the upcoming ones for tomorrow entirely from scratch. I'm still trying to replicate the LO style, of course, but it's not trying to remain quite as faithful as my edits tend to be because it's meant to be a redraw in the true sense of the word like you're referencing. My edits are often just a normal layer on top of the original that I paint over, which is what the last few posts have been. My redraws are drawn from the ground up, backgrounds, faces, poses, etc. often times with the goal of re-compositing the scene entirely. The ones from the last couple days were not drawn from the ground up, simply altered over the originals - but the unfortunate reality is that some of them simply can't be accurately edited entirely due to the original composition being such a visual mess. That includes this one which was a struggle to edit faithfully without my own anatomical stylizations bleeding into it due to how janky the original was (IMO). Like, the original panel didn't even "look like LO", it's godawful, and it's a stretch to say I'm dissing Rachel's "style" when I'm fairly certain Rachel didn't even draw any part of that original panel, it's INCREDIBLY obvious two different people from her team drew it and there's no way of knowing whether or not Rachel was one of them. I did not touch Hades because he's not the problem with the panel. Hades as you see him in that panel is exactly how he was in the original, I merely tried my best to edit Persephone to look more consistent with Hades and less creepy.

Disclaimers over, let's get on with this.

So here's the thing - if it were a simple matter of "style", I'd agree wholeheartedly with you. I'm not about pitting artists against one another, we're all different people with different takes and inspirations making our own thing.

However, there's a difference between style and execution.

With full disclosure, I do not accept the argument that because LO has a more "cartoony style", then it's "fine" for it to very blatantly lower its quality in technical execution or turn into a cheap copy of what it once was. LO was never 'cartoony', it was more akin to storybook art, like something you'd find in old Disney concept art pieces or in children's illustration books. 'Cartoony' as in 'not realistic', sure, but definitely not cartoony in the way most people envision it or market it (like what you'd see in legitimate cartoon shows). The use of color was vibrant and had thought put into it, compositions were dynamic, lineart was only used where needed to create depth, and overall, there was a vibe to it that many of you can still recognize, it's what a lot of my blog talks about.

When I do these panel "fixes", my goal isn't to go "hey, my style is superior to Rachel's! Fuck Rachel!" Far from it. My goal is to analyze what made the original LO art so special and unique, and help preserve those elements in newer panels through key elements such as color choice, glow layers, composition, texturing, etc. many of which are elements that are outright missing from S2 of LO onwards.

Because, full bluntness, LO has zero effort being put into it anymore.

LO never had perfect anatomy and it's always struggled with creating a cohesive visual narrative, but it hid its issues well with a good balance of color choice, mood/tone, and lineart-less rendering. It wasn't meant to be some hyper-realistic comic, what set it apart were the colorful panels and vignettes and use of 'cutout' style backgrounds and foreground elements.

Stuff like this:

I have spent literally hours dissecting LO's art style, researching and hunting down its brushes, crawling the best and most recognizable color palettes, drawing and redrawing old panels in attempts to replicate Rachel's style and techniques as best I can. I'm not doing all that just to try and be like "I can do it better", more so to preserve what once was and could have been. Because I genuinely miss how old LO looked and so do many others. It's my own way of participating in a fandom that's being torn apart each week by the new episodes that only seem to further degrade the comic's original presentation and why people liked it.

Trust me, if I wanted to just draw LO in 'my style' as some sort of self-gratifying flex (because everyone in the art world nowadays thinks the only point in creating art is to have a "style" that they can pit against other "styles" as if styles are collectables like fucking Pokemon lmao), you wouldn't even recognize it.

THIS is my "style", y'all. The only elements that I've purely taken from LO is the background and how I did the lighting effects along the side but everything else is my standard 'style' when I draw anything that's NOT LO, especially with my own comics and my day job.

"Style" is not a tangible thing, at least not in the way people nowadays tend to define it. Style is an accumulation of everything that's influenced an artist over years of practice, learning, refinement, and mastery. It is not something any one person can 'own' nor is it something that can or should be 'fixed' in and of itself. Just like how Rachel has adopted elements of her style from inspirations such as Glen Keane and Mary Blair, I've gotten my stylistic inspirations from anime, manga, video games, and other webcomics. Our styles and why we create art and who we create art for are completely different.

I have zero issue with Rachel's 'style'. At its core it's actually freaking gorgeous, when she puts in the effort. Not even just LO, take a look at her even OLDER art that's still available to sift through on her DA:

The issues I'm bringing up have to do with the execution of said style, how it's blatantly obvious Rachel doesn't put any effort into the art anymore and often has her assistants picking up the slack in a very disorganized manner that leads to disjointed, bland, weird ass art that often can't even maintain consistency between SINGLE PANELS, like this:

The magic is gone. These are not reflections of Rachel's capabilities in the slightest. She is far capable of so much more, this is beyond being a 'stylistic choice' and falls more under the implication of laziness or lack of care.

What's wild is that she's outright stated that she's "streamlined" the LO creation process to make it easier for new assistants to acclimate - which would be fine, if it weren't for the fact that 'streamlining' shouldn't mean 'downgrade'. There are plenty of ways to streamline the LO art style that can still retain the original charm of LO that drew people to it in the first place without cheapening it. It's not like LO is the only webtoon under strict deadlines, Rachel has more assistants than most working for WT and yet everyone else on the platform seems to only improve in their comic's production workflow and its presentation whereas LO has only declined.

(The Kiss Bet, 2019-Present)

(Tower of God, 2014-Present)

Not every comic needs to make improvements this drastically, and technically LO didn't even have to make improvements in its original execution - but it's so far gone in the other direction that it begs the question, "Why do other creators and comics with less prestige and as many or less assistants compared to LO seem to make such bigger strides in the technical execution of their work?" Regardless of whether the style is erring more towards anime or cartoon or realism, 'style' doesn't make up for poor technical execution and lack of consistency. That's the same energy we get all the time from newcomers to the craft who reject any form of criticism towards their technique and understanding of the fundamentals with "THAT'S JUST MY STYYYYLE". Even many animators who predominantly work on cartoon productions still understand their fundamentals and utilize them in the creation of stylized pieces of work. This isn't even me questioning how much of the fundamentals Rachel knows because, again, she clearly has understanding of it in her older work, she just seems to have stopped caring or isn't doing a proper job directing her team.

I criticize the stick necks and googly eyes the same way I do the inconsistent body types, refrigerator shoulders and same-face syndrome because they're all things that are detracting from and lowering the quality of LO's art as a whole. They didn't always shade whites in the old episodes of LO, but they did often tint them to make them less jarring against the more vibrant colors. They didn't always color in the irises back in 2018/2019, but at least when they were just solid black pupils, they were actually drawn EQUALLY, vs. the solid pupils nowadays which feel like they're each on their own schedule and are never the same size or facing the same direction. They didn't always draw perfect necks and faces, but nowadays it feels like the heads are being stuck on sticks and attached to separate bodies that aren't even consistent with the characters' body types. All of these things are issues, there's no 'hierarchy' of problems, they're each a part of a much bigger lackluster whole.

When it comes to my own panel fixes/redraws/whatever you wanna call them, if they don't look enough like Rachel's 'style', that's either because we're failing to recognize what makes Rachel's art unique due to it being so watered down over the years, or because I'm just not doing a good enough job replicating it. Undoubtedly a little bit of both. I'm still 'adjusting' to a workflow that accommodates the LO style and how it looks. It's not exactly easy to just jump from one style (my style) to another without my own usual biases bleeding in (trust me, I'm not happy that there are people who know my usual art style who can still 'see' it in my LO art, because that completely defeats the purpose of what I'm trying to do lmao)

All that aside, we can't pretend that S1 LO's signature style is still being executed to its fullest potential in S3.

If I can be really brash here, there are WAY more egregious panel 'editors' out there who straight up are drawing stuff legitimately just in their own style. And they're still all great in their own right and get to the point of what they're trying to say even if they don't fit what you would define as a "fix". Don't bug me about mine.

Rachel's style in and of itself is gorgeous and unique. It's the lack of effort in the execution as time goes on that is the topic here. I can never hope to fully achieve that 'vibe' that so many people miss about 'old' LO because that was all Rachel and I can never fully capture the spirit of her work because it's hers, it's the accumulation of everything that's inspired and influenced her in her artistic journey.

What I can do is point out and design alternatives to the many errors, inconsistencies, and technical issues that tries to get it closer to that original look and feel of S1 LO that better reflected Rachel's original efforts. It's what it could potentially look like if modern LO art wasn't so disjointed among its scattered assistants and rushed with as little visible effort possible. It's what could have been if it didn't feel like Rachel has essentially given up.

Does it really matter how I specifically word my posts between 'edit' and 'redraw' in this context when both things are attempting to accomplish the same goal?

[quartercirclejab]

christmas in the time of hyperabundance

when i was a kid, my favorite Christmas song was a Paul McCartney single called "Wonderful Christmastime"

this schmaltzy ear worm was recorded in 1979, in the short interim between the release of Wings' final album and the release of Paul McCartney's second solo album. it got a lot of radio play over the years, eventually becoming a holiday classic. hearing it on the radio was how i first discovered it, in fact- and the minute i heard it, i knew i wanted a way to play it anytime i wanted to hear it

but that was the challenge: for many years, the only way to actually own the single was to get the 1993 reissue of that Wings album from '79, "Back to the Egg." my childhood was mostly in the pre-to-early internet years, so that meant my options for tracking down that specific reissue of that specific album were limited to local music stores and whatever Wal-Mart happened to be carrying... which meant owning "Wonderful Christmastime" was all but impossible for me

for many years of my childhood, i would look forward to the months when the local radio stations would switch over to playing Christmas music, because it was the only time of year i would get to hear "Wonderful Christmastime." like i said before, it was a popular song in its day, and remained so even in mine, but it was competing for airtime with dozens of other holiday standards. i was lucky if i heard it more than three or four times a holiday season

everything changed in 2001, when Universal Music put out their first holiday compilation album, "Now That's What I Call Christmas." it was the first time i was able to own a version of "Wonderful Christmastime" and play it any time i wanted. a game changer for certain

that was more than 20 years ago. now, at the age of 32, i'm reflecting on how different things are. music is so accessible now- pretty much any song you can think of, by any artist, from any era, is available in some form on the internet. all you have to do is remember the name (sometimes you don't even need that much) and plug it into youtube.

naturally, this is true for "Wonderful Christmastime." the song is on spotify, both in its original and extended mixes- there are also 57 different covers of the song, enough to listen continuously for just over 3 hours.

it's such an extreme reversal of the circumstances of my childhood that it's almost comical, and it's been making me think about how much of American culture in the 2020's relies on hyperabundance and the illusion of choice

it's been observed by parties cleverer than myself that the modern American myth of freedom is intrinsically tied to consumption- we American citizens have been conditioned to view freedom through the lens of what we're allowed to buy, and how much of it there is, and how many choices there are, and how fast we can get it. sure, our leaders regularly disregard the will of people and none of us have the ability to influence how our nation is run, but there are six different brands of mustard to choose from at Wal-Mart, and we can buy as much of it as we want, whenever we want! how can you say we aren't free?

i guess i don't know exactly where i'm going with this, except to observe there seems to have been a shift in the last 20 years toward drowning the American people in a deluge of options that seem distinct, but aren't actually different in any way that's actually meaningful, as a way of pacifying our growing dissatisfaction and providing the illusion of stability. we may not be able to control that our tax dollars are funding genocide, but we can control what brand of donuts we buy. we can control what month of the year in which we listen to Christmas music