#yes this is the shitpost comic no i don’t know why i put so much effort into it

[thatfluffyboi]

So Hello There to all people following me who are still there. I guess it’s finally time for an update and what may happen in the future So, why I disappeared? Honestly? I can’t really pinpoint the reason. I finished highschool, got to my dream college, finally moved to a big city and now I have the adult resposibilities™. Another thing is, after the second DLC my passion for doom kinda fizzled out. I still love the base game and I do hope we get some more lore either through next game, spin-offs books, comics anything that isn’t streams really. It was just hard to do anything doom related when the game’s end left a bad taste in my mouth. Another thing is that, I am now a trans dude and i go by he/they! I know the “now” might sound weird but I started this blog when i was stil a cis woman. So woho to me coming out. So now that we got through the updates and comfirming that i am in fact not dead, time to say what will happen or at least what I hope will happen. I will try to go back to writing my fic, I still think about it, I’m still working on the story and I have a a lot of stuff written for it, I just need to organise it and maybe make it sound somewhat good. I also have other stories with my doom ocs planned out that i want to put out there somewhere. I might ignore the lore of the dlcs somewhat tho, purely because I don’t like them. There are also new fandoms I’m Into, mainly Devil May Cry so don’t be surprised when you see the wacky woo hoo pizza man himself on my blog. At first I wanted to keep it purely doom but with twitter collapsing on itself rn and other websides and social media being meh at best i will just kinda, throw evething in here, it’s my blog after all. And yes i might write or draw something from these fandoms too. How often i will post? it’s hard to tell really. as of now uni is surprisingly *not* kicking my ass but who knows how long that will last. Another thing is that I draw slow as fuck same with writing and with my schedule already being busy I don’t have that much time to work on stuff. That and it’s hard for me to find motivation most of the time. I might start shitposting tho As for now, just know that neither me or the goddess of war are dead, you will get your lesbian marauder i swear even if i will need to crawl out of my grave to finish it

[nikatyler]

random questions game

Tagged by @kbeesims. Thank you very much! I’m taking a break from studying rn, so let’s do this.

1. why did you choose your url?

Nika is actually one of the first things I’ve ever called myself as a kid and last year I decided to sort of “reclaim” this old nickname and start using it again in online places and I’m surprised by how right it feels.

As for Tyler, well. I think it’s obvious. In my head he’s the main character of this blog, the mascot, if you will. And also, and this is a bit embarrassing, but about a month or two ago I saw this post that was like “changing names shouldn’t be such a big deal, we expect trans people to do it if they’re uncomfortable with their birth name, but we should normalize EVERYONE changing their names if they’re not okay with it” (or something along these lines). And well, I like my name, but I thought, what if I didn’t like it, what would I pick instead. Immediately, this one popped up in my head. Yeah. I mean it makes sense to me, but it feels so dumb at the same time. So yeah. I guess if you called me Tyler, I would respond to it. I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that I would respond to it, but hey. It’s weird but it would work.

2. any sideblogs? name them and why you have them.

The only one that is still active is my cc finds blog @simmeronnie-cc (yes I need to rename it too, we’ll do that). I don’t really post on my sort-of-studyblr-but-more-like-a-rantblr sideblog or my simspiration blog anymore. Among other things, I rant on twitter again (@/nikatyler22 if anyone’s interested), and I need to bring back the simspo tag on this blog.

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

Almost five years. I refuse to believe that.

4. do you have a queue tag?

I do. Well, I schedule my posts manually, I don’t queue them (because earlier this year I noticed it would eat at least one post a day, so I stopped using it), but still. I don’t know what I’d do without this function haha

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

There was this blog that did this really cool comic with very pretty characters. That’s what convinced me lol, even though my content has never been like theirs.

6. why did you choose your icon?

Because Tyler lol

7. why did you choose your header?

Because Tyler and Sharon and I want to have what they have dAMMIT

But I might change the picture for the one I posted yesterday, you know, the awkward one

8. whats your post with the most notes?

That would be the pride paints post I believe!

9. how many mutuals do you have?

I don’t know, but a lot I think? At least in the simple sense of “I follow you and you follow me.” I never counted it. I’m not sure how many people would actually consider me their mutual or online friend or something like that. I hope someone would haha

10. how many followers do you have?

Over 2 000. What the heck. I mean, not many people are actually active and I think most of them don’t even lurk, but it’s still a pretty cool number

11. how many people do you follow?

I checked and it’s 183. I can’t realistically keep up with all of them but at the same time I’d feel bad for unfollowing any of them

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

My entire blog is a big shitpost tbh, and I wouldn’t have it any other way ✌✨

13. how often do you use tumblr a day?

I usually keep the tab open all day and just check it from time to time. I’m not counting

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

Oooooh boy

Yes. I was dumb, okay? Very dumb.

15.  how do you feel about “you need to reblog” posts?

Those scared me when I was younger, I remember I couldn’t sleep when I was like 8 and saw one of those “repost this or you’ll die in 7 days” pictures. Now I’m okay with them, I just scroll past. Usually. Sometimes I still get nervous. Don’t post them, guys. You can really hurt people with anxiety and similar issues.

16. do you like tag games?

Y E S

17. do you like ask games?

Y E S   Y E S   Y E S   PLEASE SEND ME ASKS

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

One that immediately comes to my mind is @berrysweetboutique. I can’t believe such a big simblr is following me and seeing my daily pixel clownery on their dash :D

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

I don’t, but back in the day, I used to sort of put some simblrs on pedestals and then act in a way that I thought they would like, if that makes sense, and I was really insecure about what they would think, and if we started talking I was so worried I’d say or do something wrong and it was all in all not a great experience. I know it’s not a crush in the romantic sense, but it reminds me of how sometimes you’d go and try to impress a crush and change yourself so that they like you too. I guess they were sort of crushes in the sense of “oh wow this person is so amazing and perfect, I’m so little next to them, they could probably never love me the same way I love them”. Anyway, once you let go of that mentality and just start doing whatever, without trying to impress anyone...oh that freedom is sweet.

Sorry, went off topic here 😅

20. tags?

I’m just gonna tag whoever wants to do this, go make another cup of coffee and go back to my 19th century poetry 😄

[spookyboogie3]

The trope Last Minute Hookup shouldn’t be used for LGBTQ+ relationships.

AND DEFENDING MY LAST POST ABOUT THIS.

I DO NOT hate any of these pairings. A good many of them could have been handled differently by the creators, writers, and networks. But this isnt me hating the relationships or characters or shows. Just going off about how they shouldnt have been tacked on at the end of their respective series. 

As of writing this all of these shows have ended their original runs. Except for Supernatural which is on its last few episodes. And Supergirl, which announced its coming to end with season 6.

LGBTQ characters and relationships aren’t as common in the media as straight-cis characters and relationships. Sure things are improving but a lot of networks and writers still don’t fully understand why representation is important why they can’t keep using the same throwaway tropes they’ve been using for the straight-cis relationships.

You could name any piece of media and find and name one character that isn’t LGBTQ+, but you can’t do this with LGBTQ+ characters. We haven’t gotten to the point where they are as common as non-LGBTQ characters.

I have a whole paper I wrote on why asexual representation is important to have in the media and the same logic applies to any part of the LGBTQ+ or anything that falls under minority.

Back to the topic on hand. The trope of “Last Minute Hookup.”

Its exactly what it sounds like. Characters get to together at the very end of the story. These characters could have a on and off again relationship, lots of ship teasing, the classic “Will They or Wont They?” trope. What makes it different for non-LGBT characters in relationships to do this, we know what these relationships look like. Not to say the that both Non and LGBT relationship cant have similar struggles, however members of the LGBTQ+ community know how hard it is to feel like your identity and self matters and is normal.

I know that the whole “will they, wont they” thing is done for drama and networks and showrunners think if they give the fans what they want that they’ll start losing viewers and they have nothing to look forward to. Which is true to some degree. But most of this comes from the writers not knowing how to fucking write relationships.

Let’s just focus on whats it like to be in a non-straight relationship.

Heres an example: you have an action series, with 2 male leads and halfway through the show, they get together. Cool. Now you have a Battle Couple.

By making LGBTQ relationships happen at the end of a series that’s already had plenty of other non-LGBTQ relationships happen before it, it makes it look like the people in charge don’t care for it or were afraid of backlash. But it’s the end of the series so its not like they can get the show cancelled or anything. (The only people who are going to lash out at LGBT couple or characters are homophobic people, we don’t want them around any way so just make stuff super gay, so they’ll leave)

This is especially a problem when the writer and network have spent the whole series queerbaiting the audience with these characters.

 Side note for anyone is doesn’t actually know what queerbaiting is:

It’s a marketing technique used in entertainment, which the writer or creators hint at but then don’t actually depict sex-same romance or LGBTQ representation. They do this to attract (bait) the LGBT/queer or straight ally audience into the show with the suggestion of representation but at the same time avoiding this as not alienate other audience members *cough* (homophobes) *cough*

Definition is from Wikipedia, not a reliable source says my highschool teachers and college professors but fuck em

The Legend of Korra is a great example of Last-Minute Hookup. Korra and Asami had VERY little ship teasing, and that was in the last 2 books/seasons. Any thing that was perceived as romantic came from the fans wearing shipping goggles. So to a lot of people just casually watching, yes this looked like it came out of nowhere. Nickelodeon had some serious balls to say how brave they were for putting 2 girls into a romantic relationship.

Theres a few problems with this.

A. It never actually aired on TV (to my knowledge). The last 2 seasons of Korra were put on Nicks website.

B. The confirmation that this Korrasami was canon had to come from the creators on twitter because of how unclear it was.

C. The show did the bare minimum when it came to hooking them up in the series. They walk off holding hands (very cute btw). They didn’t even get a kiss. Aang and Katara had a Last Minute Hookup at the end of ATLA after 3 seasons of ship tease and THEY GOT A KISS. Hell the original end of LoK*, has Korra and Mako kissing. *(the first season, they didn’t know they were getting more seasons at the time, no matter what you hear the writers say, they’re full of shit)

D. Anything continuation of Korra has come in the form of comics, which her and Asami are in a fairly well written relationship. Yes, they do kiss. Yes it would’ve been great to see this stuff happen in series.

A show that handles this a little bit better is Adventure Time. Not by much though. It implied several times that Princess Bubblegum and Marceline have history together and its shown more and more in its last few seasons that there is some ship tease happening. However its not until the finale where they kiss, and they are shown in the last minute of the show cuddling together in Marcy’s house. HBO has picked up Adventure Time and has a miniseries called Adventure Time: Distant Lands, where Bubblegum and Marceline’s past relationship is shown.  

I had brought up in my original post about being upset with networks making LGBTQ+ relationships canon in the last season/episode. I originally had Catradora tagged. While Catra and Adora have history together, they did not become official couple until the end of the series.

Yes, I was wrong about the network making things canon in the last episode as they’ve always had ship tease with each other, and it probably was the writers’ intent to put them together by the end. They do technically fall under the Last-Minute Hookup, however.

I wanna talk about Once Upon a Time really quick. Fans of the show were hoping and wishing for an LGBTQ couple for the show as a lot of characters, especially Regina and Emma, have alot Ho Yay moments. The showrunners weren’t going to put those two together, for whatever reasons they may have for that (im indifferent on all the shipping going on with this show). The showrunners thought to put two characters together, and hoo boy did it not make people happy. The characters they put together are Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Ruby the red riding hood, which would be fine if they had properly been developed.

The entire episode they did this in was a mess. They stopped the current arc during the season 5 episode ‘Ruby Slippers,’ to go over the characters that haven’t been seen in years, Dorothy was introduced and last seen in season 3, and Ruby was introduced in season 1 and was last seen in season 5 before ‘Ruby Slippers’. The characters get together in the same episode the meet in and are never seen again. The characters barely interacted, barely got along, and showed little to no ship tease or interest in each other and BOOM they are in love and together aaaaaannnnndd they’re gone. Other than having One Million Moms, a Christian fundamentalist organization, protest against the show and want it taken off the air (yes this really happened). The fans weren’t please with this development of the characters either.  

(also Mulan was right there and already knew Ruby from a previous episode, and Mulan already is established to like girls as shown by her being in love with Aurora. Don’t know why the writers didn’t just put these 2 together but whatever I guess)

So they tried again in season 7 with MadArcher. The characters of Alice, a version of Alice in Wonderland from another realm (its complicated) and Robin, the daughter of Robin Hood and the Wicked Witch (it’s also complicated). And the writers did a lot better here. Both characters were allowed to have time together and have a history together too and it was done over the whole season. Not just one episode.

Now even though the writers decided to do something different with the last season and it could be detached from the previous 6 seasons, MadArcher is not really a Last Minute Hookup per say but still falls under my thing about it being the last season so who gives a fuck if One Million Moms gets mad us and tries to get us cancelled again.

 I would like to say I have never watched a single episode of Supernatural in my life. I may one day. But as of right now my knowledge of it is coming primary from what ive seen on tumblr. You know a great source for doing research and looking for reliable information among the piles of shitposting.

From what I know from fans, the writers of Supernatural have been queer baiting for years. I mean it’s the CW, I’m not that surprised. What also wouldn’t surprise me, that by the end of the series Castiel is back and he and Dean actually start and relationship or strongly hint at starting one. I actually fear for the writer lives if they threw out a confession scene after years of queerbaiting and potential ship tease (debatable) and they don’t put them together. Fans are going to be angrier than they probably ever have been with this show and the showrunners and writers really would be known for queer baiting.

From what I know about how previous shows have done and if anyone that has ever worked on this show wants to continue living, Castiel will be back from Super Hell (is that what yall are calling it?) and he will get together with Dean. And they will fall under the Last-Minute Hookup trope and my networks make LGBTQ relationships canon last season.

 One last show I want to talk about is Supergirl, which in has been recently announced that the 6th season will be the last. The show started on CBS but moved to the CW after the end of season 1. So more CW bullshit. There is no confirmation about whether the CW or any of the Supergirl writers are planning to do this, its all speculation. Supergirl is more LGBTQ friendly than some other shows on the Network. One of the main characters came out a few years ago and had a girlfriend a season and has had plenty of hookups with other ladies around the Arrowverse. They even introduced a trans-woman superhero in the form of Dreamer.

Let’s talk SuperCorp. Lena Luthor was introduced in the 2nd season and has been a major character in Kara’s life ever since her introduction. Even if she isn’t involved in the plot, Kara always goes to her to talk and check in on her and worry about her. They are best friends. Since the 2 have met, there has been plenty of Les Yay going on. The writers seem to be aware of the fans wanting SuperCorp to be canon and they keep throwing in moments like Kara and Lena struggling together or Kara carrying Lena bridal style.

Why I bring this up after the announcement of Supergirl’s final season to start next year. We may get SuperCorp. Kara has a relationship with William in the show and not a single person likes this relationship. The writers may scrap it and get put Kara and Lena together for the final season. This is a big maybe though. The Supergirl writers and crew get called out a lot for queerbaiting.

   Let me know if you guys have any other examples of last season/last episode LGBTQ+ hookup.

And please let me know if you see any mistakes. This was all done in one sitting so I may have some things wrong.

Also check out the video by @aretheygayvideos on this topic too.

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[crampdown]

got tagged by @thespiritofvexation @see-sawed and @lovely-menza (thaaanks :D) to answer some lovely questions~

1. Why did you choose your url?

I love the song “Clampdown” by The Clash almost as much as I love horrendous puns. And that’s how I got to a name that’s basically a period joke :^>

2. Any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them.

Nah. But I am thinking of eventually creating a side blog since I’ve been drawing a lot of original stuff lately and not the fanart doodles that got me most of my followers in the first place. But I’m currently too lazy to make a new blog

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

Let’s say I’ve been aware of this infamous hellsite since 2016 mostly for some artists I liked back then. But I didn’t make an own account until late 2018 before finally posting stuff in 2019.

4. Do you have a queue tag?

No. I’ll spam ten to twenty rbs in a row and then vanish for the next three days again

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

Because I gained interest in everything classic rock back in summer 2018. I’ve always enjoyed this kind of music but didn’t bother to learn anything about the  musician in question least of all their NAME up until this point. But the “Yellow Submarine” film won me over and before I knew better, I started doodling the Beatles :^) however it would take me more than half a year before I finally gathered the courage to upload my drawings somewhere. At this point I’ve already gotten into Pink Floyd (cause I used some of their music as inspiration for a short comic but that’s another story). FUN FACT: Me being a music dummy not knowing anything about certain subgenres looked up “How do I tag Pink Floyd? Like, what are they?? Prog? Dunno what that is but okay! Gonna write that in the tags :D” And that’s how I accidentally catapulted myself into the prog niche of the Classic Rock Fandom. Hi.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

It’s the ugly-ass-sort-of-mascot-rabbit that originated from a three year old doodle of mine when I wanted to draw a furry parody, anthropomorphic rabbit but as disgusting as possible, sloppy schlong and all that jazz :^). But since you can’t see him in my header thanks to the ink bottle, he’s quite the looker. Also I love inking the most when it comes to arting around.

7. Why did you choose your header?

Made it myself and still am quite proud of it ^^

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

To this day still that one inktober drawing featuring the Maxwell’s Silver Hammer Recording session :D

9. How many mutuals do you have?

tbh the exact definition of “mutual” is beyond me so I’m not sure. Let’s just say there are definitely some people I love appearing on my dash

10. How many followers do you have?

495 as we speak ^^

11. How many people do you follow?

52 blogs respectively because I always need some time and consideration before following anyone

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

I’m sure there are some cartoons I made counting as shitposts, at least that’s the category I’d put in any sort of meme redraw

13. How often do you use tumblr each day?

depends.

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

Sometimes “hOt tAkEs” will randomly appear on my dash and some of them really make my blood boil but not to the point I’d actually bother to interact with them. I just hate online drama way too much. Everytime I see internet discourse completely escalating about the most abstract of concepts I just wish these people would actually spend some time outside.

15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

Oh speaking of random things on my dash that make my blood boil....! I wish :) everyone participating in :) blatant emotional manipulation :) a very pleasant “hope you’ll wet your sleeves while washing hands” :)

16. Do you like tag games?

yes ^^

17. Do you like ask games?

yeeeeess 

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

I thought the general opinion on tumblr fame is that it’s basically worthless? 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

I don’t think so? However I love the things you people create <3

20. Tags

gonna tag: @catfacedcryptid @nolavulpina @taterpie @raptorcat1960 @mothmanghost @melloclastic and everyone who feels like it :)

[gawain-the-tax-evader]

I was tagged by the lovely @rainbow820 thanks dear 💜

1. Why did you choose your url?

So when I first joined, I had a very fandom url and eventually I outgrew it and wanted something less fandom specific. Initially I wanted starsfordreams but that was taken so instead I changed a line from my favorite poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas which was very English major of me but I like it so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. any side blogs?

Yep, I have a religious side blog that’s essentially an archive for resources and stuff. I also have a side blog for role playing an OC in the DC comics universe.

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

Joined in 2014 like right after the dashcon drama died down. So that’s.....7 years. Wow.

4. do you have a queue tag?

No, I don’t use the queue anyway

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

A girl I knew in high school was working on a group project with me and we were talking about Gravity Falls and she was shocked I didn’t have a tumblr and made me sign up. I actually didn’t really use it for about a year at first then I finally found some mutuals and now it’s the only tolerable social media app

6. why did you choose your icon?

Is me! I just liked the picrew and since my blog is a mess, I didn’t want to use anything from my fandoms

7. why did you choose your header?

It’s a pretty picture of the sky that I took at sunset. Tbh I don’t really like it that much as a header but I haven’t found anything to replace it with.

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

It’s this post, which I’m much more proud of than I probably should be. Pretty sure I came up with it while sleep deprived but that’s where all my best ideas come from

9. how many mutuals do you have?

20. I’m kind of picky on follow backs

10. how many followers do you have?

408. Pretty sure a lot of them are inactive

11. how many people are you following?

154. Once again, pretty sure there’s a lot of inactives in there because I see less than half of that on my dash.

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

Yes. Did you see question #8?

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

😅 way too often. I scroll through while doing other things and the scrolling is kind of relaxing so I’m on here more than I should be, especially with the past year

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

Nope, I’ve been pretty drama free. I block people I don’t like or agree with band I don’t really post enough original content to get attention so I’m just vibing

15. how do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

Ehhh kind of depends on the message. I have anxiety and a lot of those “you must revolve this” things really bug me if it’s something I don’t want to put on my blog but there’s a few posts where I understand why they put that on there.

16. do you like tag games?

Yeah, it’s fun and honestly it’s how I get to know my mutuals. I’m, uh, bad at talking to people I don’t know so this is how I interact

17. do you like asks games?

Depends on the game, because some of them can get too personal. But for the most part, yeah I think they’re fun, just wish people would actually send me stuff when I post them

18. which of your tumblr mutuals do you think is famous?

Define famous? I’m pretty sure like half of them are more popular than I am but also tumblr fame is hard to determine sometimes

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

Nope. We’re all just friends but I’m happy with that

20. tags

I’ll tag @thevastnessof @casualfunchaos @the-gay-cryptid

[bellatrixobsessed1]

On Azula Fans vs...The Rest Of The Fandom???

 So I was talking with several people (@wingsfreedom, @wish-i-was-fiction, and @iabsentmindeddreamer--though I didn’t actually reply to them, just read their post) on this post (https://wish-i-was-fiction.tumblr.com/) and I wanted to write my own desperate post as I have been kind of thinking about for a while but have been hesitant to post because Idk how it would be received/I don’t want to start anything. But it looks like a thing has already started so I might as well.

I’ll start by saying that this isn’t a Bryke, Yang, or any part of the fandom hate post.

The thing I’ve been wanting to talk about is that I feel like Azula fans (and Zutara fans) are kind of being ostracized by the fandom and I feel like the creators kind of help that happen.

I can’t say when I started feeling this, I think that it might have been around the whole Azula vs Katara debate. That whole ordeal made me feel like Azula fans just aren’t taken seriously/aren’t respected even in in civil discussion. Like I ended up pulling out of that debate because I felt as though people were becoming dismissive and/or aggressive. I’m not saying it was everyone, not at all. But there were a handful. And yes, I am aware that it came from both sides. But that debate has since died down, which I’m glad for. 

The point is, things like this seem to keep happening. I also think that there’s a certain user who keeps targeting specific portions of the fandom and says things in the fan tags that come off to me as very instigating and antagonizing. These posts tend to lead to a whole bunch of people coming along to completely drag Azula’s character through the mud and eventually her fans as they try to defend her character and justify liking it. I’ve since blocked that user, because (though they’ve always been rather civil with me) I just got tired of seeing hate towards a fandom I’m in and I started to worry that I wouldn’t be able to keep conversation civil. I say this because I want everyone to know that, though I’ve mentioned this person, I don’t particularly have bad blood with them or whatever. Those two things I mentioned were kind of the catalyst in me thinking that Azula fans are kind of isolated from the rest of the fandom. 

And if this is beginning to sound familiar; I turn everyone to Zutara. The very first part of the fandom to be cast out of the fandom in a sense. Now I never shipped Zutara, in fact I hate it very much. And I used to think that the Zutara fans were ‘bitter’ and ‘hostile’. Now I kind of sympathize with them. I feel like that bitterness comes from not only not being able to see their ship on screen, but also because they’re kind of the black sheep of the fandom. To the point where even the creators seem to shit all over them and make fun of them and this is NOT okay. Because when creators start making fun of sections of the fandom, even in jest, it basically gives the fandom a green light to do the same. Like, ‘oh the creators do it, so its fine if we do’. It creates for a very bad and unfriendly atmosphere. 

I feel as though the same thing is starting to happen with Azula fans. With Yang calling them a cult (even if this was a joke I feel like it is in very poor taste) and Hicks saying that they are scary. Etc. 

There are two things that I think happen here (and it is the same stuff that happened with Zutarians).

1. Anti’s post hate in Azula’s tag (and the Zutara one) and fans get ont he defensive

2a. Some vocal people--seemingly on twitter--send hate to creators and the creators react creating a chain. 

2b. Some fans started 

I’ll discuss point 1 first because this happened first. I feel like one of the biggest problems is that a handful of people have begun to post Azula hate in her fan tags. Once upon a time people kept hate out of the fan tags with the exception of one or two posts every now and again. Then it started happening. And I have never seen an instance where massive amounts of hate in a fan tag was met with a positive response. The hate was posted and there was a reaction. Some fans were more kind in their responses and others got more aggressive. The amount of aggression increased as the volume of hate increased. And this I understand why Azula fans and Zutara fans get so irritated. We just want to enjoy our tag and see love for Azula and Zutara. But people keep knocking them. And so it puts fans on the defensive and starts a chain; hate is posted, fans argue back, anti’s now feel justified in their hate (and fans feel justified in their outrage), and more fighting happens. 

All the while a second chain was being created. Unfortunately I do think that this one was started by the Azula and Zutara fandoms (mostly on twitter). I’ve noticed and have been bothered by this. I’ve been rather quite on this one because I like the people in this fandom and I love talking to them. But there are a few people who I feel like are being rather unfair or harsh. I feel like this fandom has become a bit of an echochamber for shitting on the comics and on other characters (mostly Iroh, Zuko, and Ursa) and I can see how that would be off putting. Like people started woobifying Azula and using other characters to prop her up I feel like this actually drove several people away. Granted I feel like this was actually a bit reactory as well--people kept using Azula and hating on her to prop Zuko up and so the opposite began to happen. But I digress; I’ve started to notice that people started taking an almost ‘Azula did nothing wrong/is the victim mentality’. And I strongly disagree with that. I won’t get into that now because that’s not the discussion. But it began to get off putting for me personally. But I like the character and fans of her enough to stay.

Between the above and that crazy Sokkla vs Tyzula ship war, we lost a lot of really fun people who used to shitpost, make fanart, and write fics. And so the bulk of our tag has disintegrated into discourse and arguing instead of having fun like back in the day.

And then the hate began to stray from discourse to, actually sending hate to the creators; Yang in particular. Again I think that this was more of a twitter thing (hence why I don’t use twitter, I think that it’s a nightmare of a site tbh and a breeding ground for bad behavior). A good vocal few kept complaining about how the comics and show were/was being written and after receiving so many harsh comments the creators began to react. I’m gonna just say it; I don’t think that Bryke (in the above link) was in the wrong here. I feel like they were pretty tactful and respectful in their wording. And as a fic writer I 100% agree with them that it is their story and so they should write it as they see fit, even if I don’t like xyz plotline. And as someone who has had someone try to strong arm me into writing my fic their way, I understand their frustration.  My issue lies with Yang mostly. His ‘the Azula fandom is kind of a cult’ left a really bad taste in my mouth. Joke or not, this kind of grants people permission to judge the entire fandom. And we already saw it a bit in the very clip. This girl asked an innocent question, that response was her answer, and the crowd actually laughed. I feel like that was probably very uncomfortable for her. This was followed up by Hicks saying “I got a scary email from an Azula fan...please be nice to me guys”. Again, I’m not gonna knock Hicks too much because I feel like she’s still new (at least to Avatar) and that hate-mail can be quite rattling. 

The point I’m trying to make is that a second chain has been created. Once Yang made his cult remark that cued a lot of outrage in the Azula fandom and it was a green light for them to openly hate on him and his work. Which is something that was already happening. In this regard I am kind of on Yang’s side. I’ve noticed that the fandom began to religiously knock Yang for everything he did with the comics in the same way that Zutarians started knocking Bryke for everything Kataang. Again I found myself off put by all the hate because I actually kind of enjoyed the comics. Discussion of the comics always seemed to lead to more debating over whether they were good or not. I do feel like Yang didn’t like Azula’s character from the start, but people sending hate and him seeing this probably didn’t help. 

Eventually he reacted with his cult remark and so the fans felt justified in being more spiteful to the man. They started posting more hate. And so Yang probably feels more justified in thinking that her fan base is scary. And so the people who haven’t been posting hate and sending mean tweets his way are viewed as scary and mean too. 

Where I disagree with Yang is that he made that remark at all. While I understand being frustrated, I really hated that generalization. As mentioned above, even the fans who liked the comics are now associated with unkindness and hate. I really enjoyed the comics, though that enjoyment is kind of shadowed by a feeling of being unwelcomed. And with his generalization I think that it kind of puts a bit of the stigma around the fandom in the exact way that Zutarians have a stigma of being hostile. 

And when such a stigma is created it starts to become true because the fans feel like, ‘well they already see us this way, might as well be this way’. It starts to become true because others go into the tags to knock fans for being aggressive to the creators and so more people get defensive and the cycle just continues. 

Now with Azula’s fandom, this is only just starting, but I can see it getting to Zutara levels pretty quickly. And that’s a shame because this fandom is something I have enjoyed for a while and I like being able to react with other parts of the fandom. But personally I haven’t been venturing outside of the Azula tag much because I feel like I’m only going to see hate and arguing if I do. 

Idk, I hope that this didn’t come off as antagonizing to anyone because I’m not trying to blame any one group of people. Tbh I think that everyone has kind of played their part in this hot mess. I just really wanted to get this off of my chest. Mostly because I want people to tell me that I’m wrong lol and that the Azula fandom isn’t becoming a black sheep fandom and that I’m seeing something that isn’t actually there lmao.

I hope that I was able to explain things clearly, fairly, and kindly. Feel free to discuss in the comments and stuff. 

[aemondtragaryen-archived]

tag game because i said so (and i was tagged)

thank u for the tag maddie @soldatsass !! ily

it is 2 am so my replies may be a little out of pocket (nothing new)

1. why did you choose your url? bro i just love natasha romanoff

2. any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them. @laniereads for fics i reblog (i barely read atm though) @romancff-library for fic updates from me, and [redacted] is my other fanfic blog where i write things you will not get to see! and i’m not sorry

3. how long have you been on tumblr? i joined in august 2020

4. do you have a queue tag? yes it’s queue know me solely because that scene in catws makes me laugh for no reason

5. why did you start your blog in the first place? this is so embarrassing but.... i wanted to read and write weasley twin fanfiction. i’m a changed woman now don’t worry <3

6. why did you choose your icon? once again i love natasha and i love the comics

7. why did you choose your header? i don’t have one!

8. what’s your post with the most notes? besides fics, my comic clint barton lockscreen has 400 ish notes and i think that’s wild!!

9. how many mutuals do you have? most of my following is mutuals so i’d say 140 maybe?? who’s to say

10. how many followers do you have? somehow 3k and i’m in love with all of you

11. how many people do you follow? 150 i think? i don’t really check it may be mroe

12. have you ever made a shitpost? every day i log on and bombard you with unstable thoughts, usually about fictional characters. yes.  

13. how often do you use tumblr each day? what are you on about tumblr is my bedroom. 

14. did you have a fight/argument with a blog once? nah. i block anyone who puts their silly little discourse on my dash because i’m not getting paid for this.

15. how do you feel about “you need to reblog this post”? ignore them. if it’s important i will see it on somewhere that isn’t tumblr dot com

16. do you like tag games? yes!!! love them so much

17. do you like ask games? these are so fun yes!!!

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? so bold of you to think i know what this means 

19. do you have a tumblr crush on a mutual? no i only form attachments to fictional characters so

tagging @nancybycrs @tripleyeeet @mickey-henry and anyone else who wants to do this because i’m brain dead right now

[moonraccoon-exe]

You know what sorta people I don’t understand, and I’ve seen a lot lately?

The ones that comment...unrelated things under an artwork? Idk how to explain it, but it’s like, not hate, not intentionally or straight attacking the artwork itself, but still...off comments.

The sort like, to recall some I’ve seen lately, it’s a super phenomenal artwork and someone goes

“I’m not even in the fandom or have ever played this game or anything related so what is this, is he upside down? where’s that hair coming from? WTF is that? how does this work?”

like...?? thanks for your unnecessary contribution? that was not hurtful at all please tell me more of how you don’t know the context but you’re still around not understanding this haha thank you, much useful very feedback!

Or it’s a super good artwork of a ship and someone goes

“But imagine (this other ship of this other unrelated different fandom)”

Like. Good? I gUESS? tha...n...ks...?

or

“this character and I share birthday”

Like. Cool jeremy but. the artwork. Did you like it? Did you not like it? Good thing to know you share a birthday but. Why not make your own post? Or why here and not via chat? WHY HERE? WHY NECESSARILY HERE?

“The artstyle reminds me of X which I didn’t like”

THEN WHY ARE YOU COMMENTING JUST SCROLL PAST IT

I mean I get it if it’s shitposting...and sometimes not even then because that’s how unrelated some comments are, but I’ve seen this happen in a lot of stunning, prize-worthy artworks that must have taken so much time & effort & passion & skill, and there’s still comments like

“Idk what fandom this is” “his arm looks like a lamp lol” “this reminds me of this other unrelated thing” “why in the last panel does he turn into his younger self lol” “the character depicted and I sleep in the same pose lol” “idk who the characters are” “it’s 3 am i’m making waffles and I see this lol” “I never share things like this” “my school has a chalkboard that looks identical!” “i have a sweater like that lmao” “something similar happened to me except it was this and that instead of that” “this looks like *this other artist* style” “When I first looked at it I thought it was this other fandom but then I saw it was not! :(” Or like

*super emotional, incredibly beautiful, detailed, stunningly colored wordless comic depicting a heartbreaking scene*

“this isn’t accurate because the real life actor doesn’t like burger king”

Like??? COOL, I guESS katherine but was that comment necessary? Was it. Was it...ultimately NECESSARY, do you believe in your heart, deep in your soul itself, if you sit and thoroughly think it through and come to the conclusion that yes, it is ultimately necessary that you HAD to say it even though there’s no way the artist can answer because you’re not saying something...anything related at ALL?

Like, you don’t need to praise it with a whole paragraph, but even just a ‘cool!’ or ‘nice!’ does WONDERS to the artists’ self-esteems, but when you go “this isn’t my fandom” there’s...?? no way the artist can know if you liked it? disliked it? Say SORRY? Link you to something you actually like? WHAT DO YOU WANT ARTHUR, WHAT IS IT, HOW IS THAT COMMENT ANSWER-ABLE OR RELATED AT ALL? 

I don’t say people can’t share their experiences or thoughts, you know I’m fan number 1 of commenting in creators’ works AND expressing everything you want to express, but there are comments that are COMPLETELY unnecessary, unrelated, and that can come off as hurtful for the artist. 

Express every thought, feeling, experience you want to share, you say everything you want to say. But learn that there are places and people to tell them to. The limit of your freedom to express yourself ends where the line of respect for the other person starts. It’s not “stop commenting personal things, nobody cares” because yes, we care, some of us care. But tell those things to the people you know care, not under an artwork that the artist posted purposefully expecting people of the fandom to say something about the content itself because why else would they create something and share it if not to see what people think about it? If they wanted to know an unrelated story they would ask for it or make another post.

Wanna share an experience unrelated to the art, go make your own post, or hit someone up on DMs, show them the work and then make your comment to THEM to spare the artist from this, because they just want one person to say one word about their artwork, not completely unrelated comments that don’t even acknowledge the artwork at all like it’s less than a lamppost in the background. Why drop the comment under the artwork to no one other than the artist when you KNOW the artist has no clue what you’re talking about and when you’re not saying one single word about the art at all?

You don’t go to a violin solo concert, then go tell the violinist about how a dog was running outside when you arrived, they made that presentation to be the protagonist for once, can you please not....just...can you please. NOT? You don’t go see your friend act in the theatre play they rehearsed for months, the entries are free because they’re starting and want their work to be to everyone’s reach so it can be known because it isn’t yet, and then after two hours of watching your friend gifting you their years or months of work and passion and effort, the first and ONLY thing you tell them when they come off stage expecting to know if you liked it is “I have the same shirt you know”. You. DON’T.

Like, it’s cool to know you saw this at 2 am or that your bird scared you when you were seeing it or that you have slippers that look like the background’s stuffed toy or that you sleep like the character, it’s super cool much interesting haha 10/10 BUT DID YOU LIKE THE FUCKING ARTWORK, DID YOU AT LEAST LOOK AT IT?

The artists put a lot of their time and best skills and effort and so much heart into what they’re doing, and you come up with an unrelated comment that in many cases YES, THEY COME OFF AS HURTFUL. Express impressions, feelings that came out thanks to the artwork, thoughts on what you think about it, but the unrelated comments are just unnecessary. Not your fandom, not your ship, don’t know what’s going on, THEN FUCKING SCROLL PAST IT, or at least say something on the visuals if you want to support the artist! 

Nobody gets any useful knowledge when you comment under an art “I don’t know the characters”. Well the artist does, that’s why they drew it you piece of unflavored discount cracker. Be nice to artists, if you don’t know the fandom or ship, praise the visuals, if you don’t like the visuals fucking scroll past it, why do some people have to stop and comment an unrelated, totally off, not helpful (not even in a bad way), not answer-able thing? 

OR DON’T SAY ANYTHING DAMMIT. UNRELATED COMMENTS ARE AS BAD AS HATE-BASED COMMENTS, but at least hate could be replied to in a logical way.

Hate at least acknowledges the art and is most times based on envy. Unrelated comments dismiss the artwork like it it doesn’t matter, like nobody cares, like it doesn’t exist. Which, in my experience in life, hurts more than being hated. So just. Don’t.

If you’re not going to be grateful, then at least be respectful.

[bonestructureandcontempt]

I got something to get off my chest about the Joker movie before I hopefully never feel compelled to talk about it again. Some spoilers.

And this is coming from me being on Twitter too much nowadays and seeing the discourse about it. The biggest champions of Joker I see there besides rabid DC stans are like, the Chapo Trap House hosts and the weird left wing shitposters/fellow podcasters in their orbit. So there's this section of the Extremely Online Left that has latched onto this movie as like, something that we should embrace the way the Right has co-opted Fight Club or The Matrix. Annnnd I think that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard for two reasons.

1. The only way Joker is actually a leftist movie is if you're a total blackpilled nihilist. Which I'm sorry, I'm not. I know I get angry sometimes, but I'm a pretty easygoing guy who believes a better world is possible if we work for it. I happen to think I would deserve to be ridiculed if I held up Joker as some kind of polemic. Like, yes, it does a sorta okay job at talking about mental illness and how bad it is when the state cuts funding for social services that benefit the poor and mentally ill. And sure, you could say the riot against Thomas Wayne and Gotham's elite is direct action, which I definitely am in favor of. But what's the end result supposed to be? We're still talking about the Joker, or a character we're supposed to accept as the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime, the supervillain. Even in this version, he doesn't have sincere ideology to overthrow the rich, he basically says as much at the end of the movie. He is purely reactionary, even though he has the vaguest and most facile of antifascist leaning. So why is this a leftist movie again? We can do better, we should demand better.

2. Who the fuck cares anymore if bad people take art for their own twisted ends? We really shouldn't put too much power in that. That's gonna happen no matter what. Reactionaries and conservatives NEED desperately some kind of leg up in the culture war. Because they know they will always lose it. They lost cool - fuck they never had it to begin with. So they take popular movies and try to twist it into being about the dumb shit they're into so they can trick feckless normies with memes into doing racism. It sucks but we can't stop it. All we can do is learn to cut through it.

Underneath whatever veneer you prescribe to it, Joker's just another comic book movie, guys. I know this is an incongruous thing to say on tumblr, but...don't get too worked up about it. It's really not worth your energy, trust me on this.

[threadsketchier]

storytime: I almost quit my job to write fic

haha u see what i did there it’s kind of a pun get it

Not exactly clickbait-y, it’s literally what it says on the tin.  This past Wednesday I was a gross, undignified sobbing mess in my bi-weekly meeting with my boss and I flat out said I’d turn in my last month’s notice on Friday.  I didn’t have another job lined up, I just wanted to run away and have about a month of freedom to actually write.  My two week vacation wasn’t enough time to get around to that because it was taken up by IRL stuff that my job makes difficult to do either because of lack of time or lack of spoons to do it.  (Frankly I wanted to vegetate a lot from being drained by the sheer insanity of work as of late, plus my monthly frenemy showed up and made me feel borderline flu-like the second week.)

But it hit me that night that this was just another flare-up in a long string of events all the way back to childhood from my notoriously poor decision-making capabilities.  I’m impulsive and nearly every choice I’ve made in life is The Worst™ with no good or helpful outcome.  However horrid it is, I was going to throw away a viable job - the only job in this shitty wage-starved area that will pay me this much without a college degree - and put not only myself but my mother in financial jeopardy for the sake of being able to write fic...for a limited time anyway.  Then I’d be all stressed out again once I’d have to get up off my ass and find another job, and then worry about how the hell to pay all the bills at a steep pay cut.

(TBH, it’s like 50/50 about the free time issue but also just the toxicity of the job itself, the crushing sense of futility that things will never improve because of others’ incompetence and laziness and the company’s relentless drive to keep expanding and becoming more and more of a Corporation™ that will soon own my ass around the clock but I digress)

I’m almost 34 years old, and I barely opened a savings account for the first time in my life.  Pathetically tiny, but I have one now.  And I was stupidly going to give up on that immediately just to be a faaaaaaanguuuuuuuurl.  And, and, selfishly, it also feels really nice to be able to buy more fun shit now and not be broke constantly?

So I chickened out and despite knowing how idiotic it made me look, I typed up a brief note to my boss and took back what I’d told her and said, “ok, this officially means I can’t bitch about this anymore because you’re my boss, not my therapist, and it’s unprofessional” and asked her to pretend nothing happened, and that was that.  (Bless my boss, at least I’m lucky to have this understanding bish; I’m sure she thinks I’m nuts now but she’s cool enough to not say anything about it)

Once again I’ve haven’t been on this hellsite all last week because once I miss one day, I know I won’t be able to catch up in a couple of hours on a weeknight evening.  And I’m at the same crossroads again of do I want to just keep being a passive lump of fandom consumption and drowning my sorrows as I scroll forever or give up on this place entirely so that I have a sliver of a hope of getting back to writing.  Not being on here for another week makes it really easy/tempting to make a clean break.

I don’t mean delete or completely disappear - because the point would be to eventually and occasionally produce SOME content - but to pull a fialleril and vanish for long periods of time and only briefly emerge from the depths to post something.  It’ll feel hollow because I have no idea what’s going on, I’ll have missed who knows how much quality meta or beautiful artwork or awesome comic scans or hilarious shitposts - aka, I WILL MISS ALL YOU DORKS OUT THERE.  THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF BEING HERE.  I’ll feel like I’m just shouting into the void.  But it’s the only way I’d maybe get anything done.  (Still a big Maybe™.)

I’ve seen countless posts about “writers are never obligated to finish stuff” and that’s fine, yes, I agree - but for me personally, I DO feel obligated because I made the choice to start posting.  I got people invested in that shit.  I feel that I do owe it to them to at least try to finish what they started reading.  (This is why I rage-quit a few years back and deleted all my fics off AO3 and the JCF boards, because I have this all-or-nothing attitude about it.)  It’s not just fic content either, I’d love to make other stuff.

I’m just.  Tired™.  Of having my leisure time on such a tight schedule, that Adulting™ is squeezing the life out of my creativity and making existence feel so pointless and futile.  So I guess this is goodbye, of a sorts?  For anyone here who gives a flip?  I’ll say it again - if you peeps of mine see some bomb-ass posts you know I’d love, please feel free to tag me in them so at least I can glance at them in my email or go skim them on AO3.  You have no idea how much the FOMO crushes my soul.  It’ll take a long time for me to feel numb about that.

[gorogues]

evaakibaep replied to your text post: @gorogues wow thanks!! Glad you liked it :D

You're welcome, and your art style is so fun and adorable!

juniwonderland replied to your post: Thank you so much @gorogues <3

You're most welcome, and I always enjoy seeing your lovely art :)

marielwho replied to your photo post: Nice! But, am I the only one who thinks that the last one kind of looks like the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver  

You aren't the only one, because my spouse likes to bring it up too!  And he said during this episode's scene "I'm convinced more than ever now that it's an oversized sonic screwdriver" :>

frankashazam replied to your text post: If it helps, I take a lot of flack for preferring Barry as well...

Oh no, I'm really sorry to hear that :(  I don't understand why a harmless difference of opinion bothers some people so much, but in the case of the folks I've run into, it seems that they think all real Flash fans prefer Wally, and anyone who says they like Barry must be lying or hasn't actually read Flash comics.  Just typical fannish gatekeeping (not that this is ever a good thing), but some people take it to the realm of nasty insults for some reason.

apprenticenanoswarm replied to your text post: XD Digger, NO

Digger yes :D  Been making a terror of himself since the day he was born!

apprenticenanoswarm replied to your text post: evan ;_;

I was hoping you and other Evan fans would enjoy that :)  I don't write him nearly as often as I should, and he's always fun to tackle.

belphegor1982 replied to your text post: My favourite just might be the first one (because goodness knows I love guile anti-heroes/villains who can bullshit their way out of an alien invasion!!), but they're all great, really. (THAWNE, omg. And nice on the de-pantsing - turnabout is fair play ;o)

Thank you! :)  I figured if any Rogue would like making bullshit speeches it'd be Roscoe, and for once he should put it to actual good use :>  He really does like to speechify during the Johns era, and is quite good at being polite and well-spoken (you may notice that most of his dialogue in the Johns era is unfailingly polite, even when threatening people)...he just seems to utterly fail when it comes to dealing with people in a genuine way.  So I think he's an excellent bullshit artist, possibly because of having to canonically repeatedly trick/deal his way out of Hell, but has lost the ability to sincerely relate to his peers.  Before he died he wasn't like that at all though, and was mostly just awkward.

And Trollobard is always too much fun to resist :D  He's a terrible man who’s done horrible things, but I feel we shouldn't forget his established history of being RIDICULOUSLY petty (*cough pushing kids down the stairs and making them miss baseballs cough*) at times :>

ianxfalcon replied to your text post: These are all great! The first one made me laugh. And the last one was cute!

Thank you very much!  Those Eobard ficlets are ridiculous shitposts but they're a blast to write :D  And I'm glad you liked the Evan and Sam story...I'd like to see the two of them interact someday for real :) (zombie Sam doesn't count, because the zombies were all inherent jerks) 

[underpuffau]

Underpuff 200 Follower Retrospective

Well, we’ve done it Underpuff now has 200 followers. How many of them actively follow the AU is impossible to know, but one thing is for sure. That 200 people saw my AU, and enjoyed it enough to hit follow. This means so much you can’t even imagine. No matter how you look at it, 200 people is a fuckton of people, and I couldn’t be more happy you all decided to follow this little ol’ Kirby AU. Sadly though, unlike last time, I really don’t have a way to celebrate this via a sneak peak of the next part. There also isn’t anything I particularly wanna show off either as far as roles or plot goes. So clearly the most logical thing to do is talk about my old work and laugh at it. That’s right, to celebrate this step forward, let’s take some steps backwards, and look at the hilarious atrocity that was the Underpuff Preboot.

Let’s start from the beginning. Starting from the middle was considered but I thought it was too post modern. Back in ye olden days of Sprite AUs, crossovers were just becoming a thing, the leaders of this format being Undertoad, and the now dead Smashtale.I oved the idea of crossing over Undertale with other series, and the number one AU I wanted to see happen, was of course, a Kirby AU. Every day I prayed for some kind of music track or comic part to be made for one, rather than all the vague concepts I saw thrown around from time to time. I waited an waited, but a Kirby AU never came. One day, on a Meta Knight as Mettaton shitpost on r/Undertale, I talked about this want for a Kirby AU in the comments, and some vague ideas I had for one.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Undertale/comments/4h335y/metta_knight/d2nb7p7/

As you can see things, really didn’t pan out like this, but one step at a time. After posting this comment, and reading responses to it, I came up with more and more ideas, and I even drew concept art of all the roles!

Adecryforhelp

Keel me

Kirb stomp me into the ground

LololOH GOD

JOLY SHIT

eta knig.

eta knig period.

Whispy (why) Wood(you do this to me)s

Here take this for your eyes, I bet you need it right now

But yeah, my art and design skills weren’t up to snuff at the time. I’ve obviously gotten much better, but at the time I was a full blown amateur and was blissfully unaware. Gotta love that Dunning Kruger effect huh?

But all these “ideas” and art were for nothing, as I had a shit laptop at home that couldn’t do jack shit without coming close to fucking combustion. Like, it was so bad, I used my Wii U for everything Internet related. The Internet Browser on the Wii U was a better alternative than my actual computer. Let that sink in. However, spending so much time on the Wii U would lead you to discover new games and apps when they popped up, and for me, one of those was the software called Pixel Maker. And this is where Underpuff would get it’s start.

Pixel Maker was a pretty good software. I did exactly as was advertised, allow you to make pixel art on your Wii U. I saw this as my opportunity to finally make my ideas a reality, and when I had enough money, I bought it without delay. I got started making the first stages of Underpuff. I had no way to pull straight from Undertale. I had to eyball the maps and recreate them to the best of my ability, with the Great Cave reskin aesthetic of course. When I went to make text, I tried to recreate the UT font myself, but was unable to do it. With all the pre made fonts in PM not being to my liking, and the software lacking text sizes at the time, I decided to make my own font.

This was a mistake.

It was poorly made and ugly to look at, but I used it throughout all 7 preboot parts. And since this was my own font made in PM, I couldn’t use the text tool to apply it. I had to meticulously copy paste EVERY SINGLE LETTER. It was annoying, and resulted in me despising text. But hey, it’s just the font, so long as the spritework looks good, who cares?

Anymore of that bleach leftover? It’s for me.

But yes, Underpuff, in all awfully sprited and JPGed goodness, was murder on your eyes. (And probably soul too)

Why is the file type blurry ass JPG o all things you ask? Well my fan, allow me to tell you about my process for getting Underpuff to imgur.

Step 1: Create Panel

Step 2: Go to miiverse

Step 3: Save screenshot of the panel into screenshot album

Repeat till part is complete

Step 4: Access album from browser

Step 5: Copy image url

Step 6: Paste this url into imgurs uploader

Repeat until part is uploaded

But what does this have to do with JPG? Well, the answer is that Miiverse’s screenshots save in, you guessed it, JPG! So my images were blurry not of my own volition!

But, even if the visuals are completely, 100% awful, the dialogue must at least make uop for it. Surely I didn’t stoop so low as to just slightly modify Undertale dialogue right? RIGHT?

...

God dammit.

Underpuff was a reskin to the highest degree. Character relationships, dialogue, areas, all just Undertale with a Kirby paint. That’s all it was. And I was sitting here, wondering why the hell I couldn’t break 10 upvotes on reddit. This was why, cause I was a terrible writer, artist, and typographist. But it added up to something in the end, because one day I realized this, and rebooted Underpuff into it’s current state right now. A fully fleshed out, new story, with logical relationships, and a huge focus on lore and characterization. You know why I put those on such high pedestals, because of this. Because of preboot. I don’t want anything like Preboot to ever exist again, and it’s why I want to make Underpuff as sound in the Kirby universe as I can, while still having plenty of characters to work with..

And now, I have an actual computer, that I can actually make panels with. I still go back to PM from time to time, usually for battlesprites, since I like doing those by hand, but most of my work is done on here now. The parts may come out slower these days, but that’s because actual effort is being put forth now. Everyday I think of how to improve Underpuff’s story, fix plot holes or mistakes, all so I can make what I’ve been told is the only good Kirby AU the best it can possibly be.I take my time and not try to rush parts out per month like I did, all so I can achieve the quality I want. (The Reboot battle system wouldn’t exist if I didn’t take so long on Part 2.)

While I may not get the amount of asks, fanart, or music as I would like, one thing remains true. 200 of you appreciate the new Underpuff, and the work I put in. You appreciate the fact it’s not a shitty JPG reskin. You appreciate the fact I try to be lore and characterization friendly. And I appreciate all of you, my friends and fans who support me and what I do. If it weren’t for all of you, I may have given up, but all eyes are on me, and I’m not gonna disappoint. I may be a little sappy right now, but hey, I’m a Kirby AU, gotta be somewhat wholesome right? But to all of you, whether you have been here since the preboot, or jumped on for the reboot, I just gotta say...

-Thank you, Pika

[kansetsukiss]

Winter 2018: First Impressions

The new year always comes with a bout of unwarranted confidence and energy, and what better way to spend it, I thought, than by keeping entirely up to date with the new anime season. (I say “entirely,” though I have clearly omitted several shounen / fantasy shows out of respectful disinterest, and Citrus, for reasons that may evolve into their own post.) Here are the first impressions of the season’s first episodes. I’ll be checking back in halfway through and at the end of the season to chart each show’s progress. Saa, hajimaruzamasu yo!

Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san

Though they’ve since been deleted, the first episode of Koizumi-san encouraged two extremely negative reviews to surface on MAL. Why anyone would submit a formal review after one episode is beyond me (get a tumblr blog, you herbs), but why this of all shows should warrant such backlash also confounds me. Yes, it’s silly - it follows goofy lesbian Oosawa Yuu as she follows her crush, the enigmatic Koizumi, from one ramen eatery to another, while Koizumi rebuffs her flirtations and educates her on various ramen cooking styles. It should be pretty fucking clear from this set-up that we’re not in for a thematically dense thrill-ride - why is this Cute Girls Doing Cute Things show apparently that much worse than others with equally pointless premises? All this said, I’m certainly wondering if the show can expand on its small roster of characters and settings to fill a full cour. Stranger things have happened. I’ll be following along, if only to hear more of Ayaneru’s darling voice acting, dreamy sigh.

Yuru Camp∆

(Don’t forget that delta!) This season’s iyashikei delivers exactly what was promised on the package, resulting in not much to say about it at all. I’m not sure the ambience here is quite luscious enough to warrant this many slow shots (cf. Studio Ghibli, Mushishi), but I was never bored, and it looks like we’ll be heading to more slice-of-life settings soon enough anyways. It’s quiet, thoroughly nice, even somewhat educational. Healing as it may be, it’s also definitely a Cute Girls show, and yes, the girls so far are very good. Fingers crossed we get some yuri with that yuru…

Sanrio Danshi

Ahh, a familiar conflict: a mega-corporation creates / sponsors art that supports progressive politics, but is also using the medium to shamelessly promote their products - cf. Pepsi, Heineken, etc. This time it’s Sanrio fighting restrictive gender stereotypes: why can’t boys be into cute animal mascots too? It’s a sweet message, but the irony of it coming directly from the merchandiser is hefty. Sanrio Boys makes an inoffensive first impression - the titular boys are entirely generic in design and expression, distinguished mostly by their mascot kyara of choice (disappointingly, my lovely Cinnamaroll has been claimed by a boofy-looking doofus). It’s shallow and ironically enjoyable, as most teen-girl-oriented media inevitably is, alas. Here lies another mystifying contradiction: a clearly low-effort show featuring an ensemble cast of five handsome but emotionally vulnerable boys is so clearly aimed at girls, so how is their boys-can-have-feelings-too message even going to land with its supposed target audience? Are the boys themselves just another marketable Sanrio product for girls?? Christ.

Violet Evergarden

Speaking of mega-corporations, Netflix is still on track to subsume all art and artists by 2020 - but hey, they’re putting out some good stuff. Violet Evergarden is a decisive question mark. I’m partial to both its main tropes of “post-war melancholy” and “emotionless person learns to feel again,” but they can intersect respectively with “leaning heavy on the Feels” and “literal objectification of women.” Violet’s emptiness doesn’t make for a compelling main character - it’s strange to see KyoAni’s unparalleled expressivity lavished upon an unexpressive character - and it’s hard to say whether her traumatic past will justify this, or just fall flat. I’m cautiously optimistic for now, and if it all does go south, I’ll always have Sora no Woto to give me the good stuff. (Special shout-out to both all-too-brief timelapse shots. KyoAni, you magnificent bastards.)

Sora yori mo Tooi Basho

I think it’s understandable that I would enter into this with trepidation - it seemed somewhere between a sports anime and a Cute Girls Etc., both of which can stretch to ridiculous settings. But it seems, in a weird way, fairly grounded. Well, I mean, for a show about high school girls travelling to Antarctica. I’m really hoping they’re not just on their way by episode 2 - Shirase’s struggle with the depressive realism of her ludicrous dream is ripe for exploring in itself. Both the main characters are wonderful; Shirase’s design indicated another taciturn raven-haired maiden (cf. Kousaka Reina), but she’s wonderfully expressive, and I’m always happy to hear Kana Hanazawa doing any voice other than Default Kana Hanazawa. Overall, it’s very nicely animated and paced, quietly comic, and almost definitely going to trip over its absurd premise by the time I next check up on it, but I suspect it will still be a fun, if silly, ride.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card

OH MY GOD. I’ve only been living in a post-Sakura world for about 2 years, and this was still a quasi-religious experience; I can’t imagine how this would feel to the fans who grew up on the show. Everything about this is fucking fantastic. I’m losing the ability to criticise. I’m dangerously close to “I can’t even”-ing. The production is perfect, the sakura petals are abundant, there’s a fucking oboe solo stripped-back rendition of Platinum when Syaoran appears, the fucking ED is so beautifully animated. I’m sorry, I’m doki-doki-ing all over the place. This is the by far my favourite of the season so far. Not even Meilin’s absence can sour this for me. (Okay, maybe a little, if I really think about it :c)

Pop Team Epic

Hmmm. This was preceded by its reputation, evenly regarded by my Twitter feed as “a shitpost in anime form” and “excellent lesbian representation.” Given how dense my watchlist already is, I’m pleased to say I absolutely don’t care about this. It conveys the same humour as short-form absurdities like Teekyuu or Plastic Nee-san, but mostly leans on shallow pop-culture references and crudeness. The face that it’s a full-length show - let alone the fact that the first episode is the same half-length episode played twice - is exasperating. As a fan of Wonder Showzen and the Eric Andre Show, I see the appeal of the style, but it definitely falls short of both such marks. (And though I know this is unfair, it’s a little hard to get into something so well-received by 4chan dipshits.)

Darling in the FranXX

There’s a sexual harassment joke roughly 4 minutes into the first episode - nowhere near Bakemonogatari’s record, and not damning in and of itself, but it unfortunately does reflect the overall tone. This feels like a weird teenage rebellion by Studio Trigger, defying their parent by making their own Evangelion, with blackjack!, and hookers!, and absolutely none of the subtlety or character exploration that made Eva great. Zero Two is a deafening klaxon of fanservice masquerading as a sexually autonomous character - I wanted to believe otherwise, but her fucking robot has nice boobs, and even gets its own panty shot. The robot, which is powered by making out, mind you. I’m not one to hold low-brow shows to higher standards - I will call a fanservice-y spade a spade - but I expected more out of Trigger at this point, especially on the heels of extremely wholesome Little Witch Academia series. Even the mediocre Kiznaiver had loftier goals. I’ll keep tabs on this one - if nothing else, Trigger’s animation style and an excellent OST will sweeten a bitter pill. 

Mitchiri Neko

Hard pass. If you’re gonna watch a banal, cutesy, 3-minute runtime cat show - like, if you really need that - watch Bananya.

[makku-ruko]

Magic School mains

Miandre family:

History: Children of Jenissent Miandre and Glory Bayweiver.

Their mother was a sweet, benevolent and weak individual. Frail whereas the father was brutal and reckless yet he’d soften greatly for his wife. They all inhabited a small village to the North northeast of said famous magic school. A quaint village by the name of Reisse.

Mahogany was the firstborn and the only child to have been raised by both parents. Makurai came after. However, at the age of four, Jenissent fell gravely ill whilst pregnant with the third child. Come the full moon, she went into labour in her sick bed and by then everyone was sure it’d kill her....but it didn’t. Once the child was born, Glory forgot himself, quickly dashing out to find a doctor leaving Mahogany to name him.

Believing the saviour of his mother to be the blessings of the moon, he decided on: Tsuki. He’d plucked said name from their neighbour who frequently spoke and chanted blessings of the Moon god. Nobody could understand her yet she was old and wise with her words—passionate. ‘Tsuki’ was all Mahogany could recognise from her speech and so stuck with it. Villagers would smile genuinely and nod in acknowledgement when she spoke. She passed away shortly after Tsuki’s birth.

A few years later, Omo was born and he was named collectively by them all. This was influenced by the neighbours’ granddaughter who took over with her chants of wisdom yet her speech was more casual. She spoke in her mother tongue as a benevolent guardian much like their mother. However, that same night, their father was killed by a creature of unknown origin. An outbreak had occurred and they had no clue that this was the beginning of a rogue attack.

The loss of their father left both Makurai and Mahogany devastated yet Tsuki was always taken aback and focused on Omo. None of the coming minor attacks to the village would faze him as he only remained concerned about Omo. That was all he could see.

Finally, at the peak, when Omo was 12 months, it happened. The final attack that would decimate Reisse and leave it unrecognisable—Arson. The night of the new moon following Omo’s 12 month consisted of a fire attack that burned down the village. Once alerted of this, Mahogany was informed to take the children and leave. Of course he was defiant at first but Jenissent was already sick and dying. He had to...and so he did.

This escape was how they found the current village they inhabit. Pfera.

The kids:

“Botashi wa omoshiroi hito desu!” Omo.

A whimsical and imaginative Child. Omo is a rather hyperactive ten year old that can turn anything into a game with his ability to think obscurely. This is why he was branded ‘Omo’ as in ‘omoshiroi’: Interesting/funny. He hasn’t yet been kept up to speed with the details of his past due to his age but no matter what, he’ll always be looking to play and cheer up his older siblings.

“Soreto boku wa, Usotsuki desu!”

Liar(Tsuki):

Excitable yet untrustworthy. Shitpost and honest? He loves to tease and torment his bigger brother (Maku)— the classic imp. He came to the bar to collect a fallen Makurai but ended up staying due to the conflict. He’s taken interest in Nephilim and John the wanderer as they bring the most conflict. His temperament is unknown. His weakness is cute things such as: Sprinkles.

He and his siblings are the guardian monster hunters of the village. They go by different names as said heroes. He is “The Liar.” His favourite armour is a cloak of invisibility but it glitches out often.

On the inside however, he’s mentally unstable and very sensitive. For a while now, he’s used this ‘alter ego’ as it were to protect himself from being harmed by people. His only safeguard is his family in which he doesn’t need to explain as they know him well enough to tell how he is feeling.

He’s also developed a need for power and a complex of sorts in which he strives to gain power so that he can be important due to his discomfort towards his own identity. He’s aware that his façade will always hurt other people but sometimes will still feel guilty enough to apologise. However, being so self aware of his corrupt moral compass has left him opened to the unexpected, namely being loved unconditionally by his current peers at the magic school. That and the transition of falling in love with two people is now something he must adjust to and finally get comfortable with accepting another family into his life that loves and cares as deeply for him as his biological one.

“M-...murihito desu.” Makurai:

He’s rather shy and suffers from asthma as well as fear of blood and monsters. He’s easily frightened and has a weak heart so hunting monsters is his hell. As a result, he tends to run away often and as he’s branded a coward, he often gets bullied by those of the village. His nickname is ‘Impossible’ Because he’s a pessimist.

At a young age, he wandered off and got trapped within a monster’s nest. There, the babies hatches and one found it’s way into his ear. It nestled itself into his brain and has laid dormant ever since until that one fateful day he ran away to the bar. The chocolate milk producing serotonin ended up waking the creature up. That was his first instance with the beast that sleeps within.

Generally he’s rather calculating but too much of a coward to be upfront and/or abrupt. As such, he tends to be the secondhand to his Older brother who leads the whole team without question.

“Masta Kurai.” Mahogany.

From a young age, he’s always had the urge to help those who could not do it for themselves. From his mother, to his siblings and now leading them as a team. He takes all burdens on his shoulders as the sacrificial substitute in the hopes that nothing will befall his precious siblings. He almost never thinks of himself, catering to analysing the needs of his family instead. None of it is ever a bother. Though he may be considered strict and critical, his siblings never doubt for a moment that he loves them dearly. As such, he will openly display affection towards them and ‘mom’ them in public just because he cares so much. His siblings are his life and he would gladly give his life to protect them– they of course will never let that happen.

He was given the nickname ‘Masta Kurai: Master Dark’ as an homage to the dark authoritative yet protective aura he gives off.

————

As the boys crouched over the new burial of their Mother’s remains, sobbing, a voice appeared to glide on the wind. Caressing their ears.

Mahogany could feel as though delicate hands were cupping his face.

“*My darling....you’ve done such an exceptional job raising the boys...do not weep or fear...you’re a natural born leader and I’m so proud of you...I will continue to watch over you...my little warrior...*”

The voice then shifted to Makurai. He had covered his face, tears dripping through the cracks of his fingers. The sorrow. Such profuse sobbing. The gentle tone of her vocals made it through however. He felt a soft grip on his wrists.

“*Makurai....my sweet child....to struggle so much and still remain standing...I know you don’t think you support Mahogany enough but you do...I’ve seen everything...you will continue to bloom and I will be watching...you’re doing fine..*”

Her words then shifted to Tsuki. His own grief lost within lack of memory. Her face was so blurry...this place...so dear yet he could only feel it within himself. Nevertheless, he clutched his chest. Tears pricked at his eyes. A single one falling yet his eyes remained screwed shut. He trembled.

A light hold graced his cheeks. “*Precious little Tsuki....you don’t need to remember me...but I’m also proud of you...you’re ambitious....you’re strong...yet troubled by so much...it has pained me to watch you struggle...but I know that you’ll be okay...you’re capable of so much...please remember that...your mother and father both believe in you to the fullest...my beautiful boy...*”

Little Omo, his face drenched by the watery pain of realisation. He’d known his mother was not of living...yet the picture of her remains imprinted in his mind...

A delicate embrace to the small child followed by a gentle hush.

“*Ssssshhhhhhh...I know darling...but I have never left you...you have never been alone...my quirky little Omo...I love you so much and have enjoyed watching you grow as well as you are growing...do not be afraid...with a heart of a hero....you will do great things...and your brothers are always right behind you...*”

As if taking place in front of them all, her voice followed through into their ears. Clear yet soft.

“*My precious boys....thank you for returning to me...putting me to rest...As I’ve said...I have never stopped watching over you. Your father and I couldn’t be prouder of the men you are all becoming...we are with you always...until we meet again...I love you all more than words can convey...please...stay safe my children...farewell for now...*”

And with that, her presence vanished. The subtle warmth of love fading appeared to break the hearts of the boys. They broke down further, uncontrollably sobbing. Tsuki and Makurai weakened to kneeling to which Omo started wailing. This triggered them all.

After having cried their hearts out for their losses, they instinctively gravitated towards each other. Huddling upon the grave. There, they fell asleep.

————

Liar’s arc progression:

-Villainous Joker (comic relief)

-anti-hero (Mikhail added)

-Lovestruck (double realisation)

-suffering sanity

-grief

-Cursed darkness (kidnapped saga)

-Last chance for good= empty/acceptance

-Chosen Darkness (final resolve)

-Questioned existence. (Need for power. Under the Goddess’ light)

————

“Ye of holy white. The tides. moon. The night. *

I summon you on behalf of my faith.

Grant me your power. I give my being in return.

Blood to Blessing. *

Bloema, heed my call.”

Bloema’s prayer.

—————

Bloema: demi-Goddess of the Moon. Pale water only works when she’s around her sister, Tsula. She was created by the corrupturer and normally goes for impish individuals. They normally obsess over her due to how quickly she can get into your mind hence why her following became a cult.

Personality wise, she’s much like Enoshima Junko in erratic personality. She can go from lazy mom to bumbling little sister in seconds.

When she and her sister are around, pheromones start to fly.

-Off-white pink tinted eyes. Her aesthetic is basically the reflection of a full moon’s night sky in water. Her fringe is loose yet the top is up and the rest is down. Pearlescent hair with a lilac tint.

[luwha]

Do you have any tips on how to get started as an artist? What websites, how to get exposure, or even how to set up and actually do commissions?

All right! This is something complicated to talk about because every artist will have an different experience, but the hint is: almost all social medias work in similar ways.

So i’ll answer one by one!And my friend, it’ll be a journey.

Note: Every artist/professional have different views and different experience. I’m not specil or the holy grail, it’ll be based on MY experience on the field and i don’t speak for other artists! Don’t forget to ask more than once person, and more people on the same field (comic artists, freelancers, MArvel/dc, animators, charter designers, etc).

Ok there we go:

What websites

Depends on what you will show, i’ll suggest tumblr because here is where i succedded, but we have Deviantart, Twitter, Hentai-Foundry(18+), Drawcrowd, and even facebook. Ill suggest Tumblr and Twitter for you who draw like me, random pieces, some nsfw, fandom; and mostly Facebook/Deviantart if you’re going to promote your art in general, with only super polished stuff, if you want to launch comics, etc.

The websites can be all done at once tho, depends on how much time you will work on! I personally can’t work with many, i have ADHD and it’s a little harder to me to work with many, but i’m sure you can pull it out!

I cannot say much of Instagram, so i hope my followers can help me with more! Please comment!

Exposure

The exposure depends a lot, and you can do it in many ways, but the first i suggest is FANDOM. Many people see fandom as the crushing evil who destroy all (i’m talking about the popularity of the games, not the community), but it’s an amazing way to get your art to be seen and shared, because people love the characters and feel closer, you connect more with them.

If you want to refuse and start with OCs and personal works, it may get harder because on Fandom the characters are already emotionally linked, while you’ll have to build it from 0. From this, i suggest you to be funny, making memes or stuff, because this gets your job spread. Don’t feel ashamed or frustrated and don’t give up, always take a LOT of work to pull it!

And INTERACT. Save some hours on the day to talk to other artists, draw some fanart, make trades, the before/after art thing, find artists who draws the same content that you do because you can learn a lot and have a friend with the same interests! I’m a very shy person and personally i’m afraid of interacting, but don’t let it stop you, you have more than this option if you’re not comfy with it!

Giveaways are a good way to be seen, to be known. Never think you’re drawing for free, wasting your time, you’re building up a field, you’re interacting with people, it’s not an ‘free‘ art for you: It’s being paid, trust me.

Commissions

First of all: Having a huge fanbase (followers, shares reblogs, dunno) isn’t the only thing you will need. You know that friend that loves you as heck? Always support you?  Always talk to that friend. They’ll be probably your first clients, because they know and trust you, and believe in you. They’ll build your confidence, because it’s not easy dealing with all sorts of clients. It’s a good chance to make a friend happy and learn a little about profissionalism!

If you don’t have many of those friends, make ‘ghost client‘ commissions. When we deal with Logos and Design, we create fantasy companies to create a portfolio. A pizza place to create a mascot, etc. It works here too, it’s a way to show how the commissions will turn out, the product you’re offering, the time you spend.

DON’T BE AFRAID OF TALKING TO THAT ONE POPULAR ARTIST WHO DOES LOTS OF COMMISSIONS. They started like you, they were a personal shitpost blog too. They have experience, and they know the rules you should set, how to make the commission page readable, and avoid scams. And more, they’ll know PayPal and other plataforms to help you to set up! They may not be able to help you to the bones, but know THAT FRIEND? They’ll be the one that will help you to be familiar with the plataforms you can use to pay. Trade 1 dollar, then refund, then see how it works, to avoid future problems.

Dealing with people may seem hard, but there are stuff that are the basics that shouldn’t even need to be mentioned, but i’ll do it because i’ve seen professional artist to do it:

Be always kind. It’s like a job interview: not everyone likes lots of jokes/emoticons, neither everyone likes to be threated coldly, but kindness is the key.

Patience: Sometimes the client never commissioned before, you may have to teach and guide them, and sometimes the even you beg for the client to make it short they’ll send a 20 pages fanfic. You must know how to reply the email and ask again for them to NOT do it. Kindly. Sometimes you’ll deal with people who were scammed/dealt with bad commissioners, and they’ll be a little suspicious of you, you must understand where they came from but don’t bend over either, since they can ask different kinds of payments you may not be familiar. Sometimes it won’t happen, and it’s ok!

Know yourself. yes. KNOW YOURSELF. How many time takes you to finish the piece? And what if something bothers you, you find an struggle? In how much time you can solve and still deliver the commission in time? Every artist have a time to finish a piece. I studied animation so i have an habit to draw really fast, but artists who work with digital painting like oil on screen need more time because our styles are different. You need to know so you can offer the client a time. It’s scary paying and never hearing of the artist again. Make ways for them to see that you’re working, post progress if it takes longer, make a Queue page for them to see why it’s taking so much, if you’re working on someone’s else art. LET. THEM. EMAIL. YOU. to make questions, let them know that they CAN talk to you, that it’s not an annoyance.

Be communicative! You pen is messed up, a shark invaded your house? Let they know. Some wont visit your blog daily, so you may have to email. You have to be patient. And KIND. You’re afrad of artists you love? Some of your commissions are afraid of you. It’s natural to feel afraid to be closer to those who we admire, that’s wy we mess up talking to the crush, so let them know that it’s fine, that you’re here for them as well.

The clients ARENT ONLY YOUR MONEY GIVERS. They’re people, they can be easy or hard to deal with, but they’re people who support you or like your job. NEVER mock their requests, never make fun of them, don’t share their personal information (such as gender when it comes to paypal). The client pissed you off? Annoyed you? Didn’t pay/scammed? if MUCH, tell it to your artists friends IF THEY ASK, but don’t go on making callouts. You don’t know, I already happened to have a client who didn’t pay and i never finished the piece, and after months they explained what happened.

Protect yourself. Don’t finish pieces withot being paid. If much send a very basic sketch that can’t be used for anything. Will happen that scammers will try to get the sketch and don’t plan to pay. Well. Anyway.

And finally: The fanbase. You will need some followers, that’s why the other steps came first. You wont get fanbase if you’re passive agressive, or threat them badly. Be kind, trust me. It’s a daily job interview.

Commission system is A JOB and must be done like it. You have to take it seriously, if you don’t plan on doing it properly, it may not be what you want. It’ll take you time and skills you will develop. Long time to work? Let the commission open. Short time? Open 3~5 slots and close while you work. It’ll depend on you how you will deal with it.

EXTRA: Don’t underprice yourself. You will HARM BADLY other artists, people who need it seriously will be forced to down their prices. Know the currency, know dollar if it’s your first, if not, learn. You’re on X country but selling on dollar? Prince on the dollar, base it on the hour system, the wage so you don’t mess up with others. If you need help, ask your friend or the sempai, but please don’t harm us, we already work too cheap :/

Well, this was a long travel and long ass text i bet, but yeah i don’t even know how to put a period i talked so much omG HOPE IT HELPS!!!

[pankopop]

Sono Chi No Sodomy

Renegotiating Gender Politics of Anime and the Complex Queerness of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Now, I’ll be the first to admit I’m a dumb baby newcomer to anime. And I’m not gonna pretend that I have any authority at all here. I think letsplayer Arin Hanson once tweeted about “The Weeb” being like chicken pox – you’ll be okay if you get it early but if you contract it in your twenties you’re basically doomed.

When I was 13 I never let my sister off the hook for being into Inuyasha. One day, I walked into the anime club at my highschool and just belly laughed at the dorks who dared to enjoy things. I’m a recovering fuckhead, and boy do I feel bad about the assholey things I thought and said.

The sneerishness stemmed from this idea that ALL anime was sexist, racist, and sexually obsessed with underage girls. To me, the entire country of Japan was ideologically written off as an ethical dystopia. That was when I still thought of myself as a real hard manly masculine boy, with long hair and motorhead on loop loud enough to drown out any opinions but Lemmy’s. I had things to prove! Boycott Japan! I’m very insecure!

Of course, things have changed (I hope). It took me many years of hurting and deriding really wonderful people to come to terms with how fucked up my thinking was. Studio Ghibli flicks became something to share with my partner, and then I happened to sit in on a pal watching subbed Attack on Titan. I had realized how much incredible stuff, how many fantastic worlds I was missing out on. How I didn’t need to worry about authentically being my true analog self if I was just fucking enjoying something.

***

When I first heard of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, it was through the tweets and tumblr posts of femmes and queer folk. That should have been a tell…

I had previously looked into the entirety of the Fatal Fury anime films because of cartoonist/roadwarrior/bisontaur Coelasquid waxed on about the pretty bara boys. That was kinda my first introduction to enjoyably dumb thousand-punch-a-second anime, but I was more interested by the way in which Coelasquid read into the schlock, seeing more complex narratives and richer characters than at face value. I began to see this blatantly masculine-centric misogynist text as more complex than what was intended.

Fragile and Close to the Edge were cornerstones in my musical childhood, so the roundabout meme (playing on the first couple series’ “to be continued” sepia freeze frame) was enough to get me interested. Also, I had just finished One Punch Man, and that left a big ol’ fist-shaped hole in my heart, so I was down for some new hyper weeb fighty fights.

Eventually I took it upon myself to find some Jojo episodes, starting S1E1. I got about six episodes in, and kinda lost interest. I think I got to about the episodes that involved the warriors devout to Mary queen of Scots. I can’t remember exactly why I fell off the wagon (anime Queen Mary really spoke to me). I probably had shit to do, and life gets in the way. Excuses excuses.

It was around this time that Lego Bionicle had received its half-hearted and ultimately futile reboot. By way of a 4chan /toy/ thread I came across the tumblr bionicle fandom, and then was redirected to someone’s twitter which had some fireemoji 100emoji fireemoji shitposts. She also posted jojo stuff non-stop. Which was cool. I didn’t mind not “getting it”; it was all so absurd that it was kinda just a joy to have on the feed.

It also piqued my interest as to why someone so into a weird niche robo-tiki fandom would be into this big boy barafest. In Bionicle, there were very few female characters. The extant few were actually pretty well written, but this left a big population of masculine heroes with a fandom hungry to ship romance into. I remember one person posting “If they didn’t want bionicle to be so gay, then why did they write men almost exclusively?”

“Alright”, I thought. “If they’re on the same wavelength regarding avatar-but-robots, Jojo might be cool.”

So I picked up where I left off, and was hopelessly hooked. I finished part 1, was admittedly chuffed by some pretty fun plot twists, and I absolutely got into Joseph Joestar in the part 2. The outfits, posing, and artistic obsession with lips, hips, and eyes were all so decadent, and the absolute disregard for toning it down really got me into the series.

Simultaneously, I was watching Steven Universe and absolutely adoring the story for its inclusive, positive social activist platform and it’s kindness. Each episode basically became my time for cry. I was also finishing up a cultural anthropology degree that would sustain that allowed me to unpack all the self-loathing I had as a teenager. I came out of that degree a kinder, more open minded person.

I was in a mire of anti-bigotted pink futurism. So why the fuck was I so into this show about big muscular boys punching big muscular boys? Well for one I started realizing things about myself but ALSO:

In some sense, the absence of women as plot characters had left the shipping possibilities open. As previously mentioned: all men, all gay. I noticed hard aesthetic resemblance to hyperbutch homo-ero british and American schlock portraits of the 60’s and 70’s. In many ways, yes, it is a male power fantasy. But in other ways it is absolutely a bergerian spectacle of pecks and soft lips and sad eyes and thighs and midriff and chiseled V. It’s an animated pinup mag.

I saw more porn of the characters than battle portraits. The fanart knew what was up. The fanfiction was dripping. Jojo is so sexually charged, and more importantly, sexually charged for a specific audience.

Now you could probably write a paper drawing a lineage from Charles Atlas through the dark ages of comics and into jojo, but I feel that’s more of an artist-centric industry perspective. The fact that Jojo sits comfortably in Shonen Jump, with a reader base insistently for boys, raises some exciting questions. I mean, it’s definitely not classically bishounen - there’s no accessible femme softness playing into romantic hetero dating scenario.

I think what, in the very least, feels revolutionary about Jojo is its unapologetic, unspoken, and hard sexualization of male forms. There’s really not a lot of actual fighting going on - so much frame time is spent ogling these tight bodies. You know this sexuality is for someone, and that someone is heckin’ queer and/or heckin’ female.

Furthermore, this powerful sexual decadence is fairly uncommon for non-hetero male eyes. It’s cruder and far more raw than your average bit of media meant to titillate boy-lovers. I can really only think of Magic Mike XXL as an equivalent.

This isn’t what your average dudebro wants to be. There are examples of male power fantasy you could point to, but deep down you know: jojo is for the loins of the spectator. There’s something incredibly subversive about putting the power of sexual spectatorship in the hands of women and queer folk. Tailoring to that spectatorship.

Yeah okay. That could just build off of the cliché of the big beefy hunks that naughty suburban blondes get flustered over after their 4th glass of white wine. But hear me out: Jojo’s not at all getting his beautiful body out of this queer reading.

For example: there’s a theme of piercing in Jojo. Bits of wood and shrapnel in bodies, the Pillar Men’s betrothals to Joseph (which y’know, gg ez), Dio’s obsession with fingering people’s necks… etc. Unlike the invincible bulletproof armour-bodies of Superman, Goku, etc etc, these bodies are fleshy and soft. They are vulnerable, even if the character himself is stoic enough to tough it out.

Men’s bodies, in the patriarchal scheme of things, are not supposed to do that. They should be hard, to pierce the bodies of the subjugated (read emasculated/females) that defy them. But here we are, Araki, with the men who can be penetrated, curiously burning gender roles and expectations with violence in a very violent narrative. Far from subtle, sure, but it’s nothing to ignore.

If the Jojoboys were really just a heteronormative eye candy for thirsty women, I don’t feel like male penetration would have been as pervasive. The male would be doing the penetrating, but no real males would be penetrated, especially not the protagonists.

To build on that, the garish, revealing fashion doesn’t point to male power. There are no massive pauldrons or chestplates, everything is laid bare, sensuous and exposed. These adjectives tend not to be associated with hegemonic masculinities. Nor is the world of textiles and high fashion seen as a socially acceptable male venture, as much as a trivially feminine pastime. There is genderfuckage abound in this hard boy cartoon.

***

I overheard someone talking about how they tried watching Jojo and they couldn’t understand for the life of them why any self-respecting femιnist would be into this mess of tropes. I’m not gonna argue against that. The whole argument for Jojo as a progressive show sounds like someone covering their ideological ass. I’m in no way suggesting that Jojo does the same work for femιnism that shows like Steven Universe and Avatar/Korra might be doing.

The point I’m trying to bring home is that I came of age thinking that anime was inherently sexist. That idea came from a whole lot of not listening to the people who were actually experiencing real sexism. Especially in those incredible cultural circumstances where the distinctions between content creator and content interpreter become blurred, it’s always worth it to investigate what identities, intentions, and libidos are involved. Something that seems like run-of-the-mill propaganda might actually be backfiring in a more progressive direction than media with actual progressive intentions.