#And most especially on my Redbubble artwork post

[pastel-medic]

My name is Xed/Pastel ^v^ (He/Xe/They)! I am 24 years old and any other art accts will likely have the username pastelxapple if you want to find me on other platforms!

Medicsona:

Mercenary Intros

Full Refs:

RED Team:

BLU Team:

Gentlesurgery Ship 💜:

Roulette Class AU:

Blog intro, tags, & rules ⬇️

Ko-fi (sketch comms):

Strawpage:

Tags:

#my art (or #xed art) - My art tag! You can find my artwork directly with this tag 🐍✨

#ask box - All replies to my inbox are tagged with this! It comprises mostly of Q&As of my mercs or other characters, art requests, and other questions!

#roulette class au (or #tf2 roulette class au) - This is the tag for my TF2 AU, the Roulette Class AU! The long and short of it is I swapped all of the mercenaries' classes and there's major differences in the lore.

#quixote - My gentlesurgery ship tag! So not to confuse my ship with RED Medic and VLT Spy from the usual gentlesurgery ship you can find their content separate from that with this tag!

#medic brothers - This tag is specifically for my Medic Brothers (Fritz and Ludwig), so any art and lore for them are tagged with this!

#lore crumbs 🍰 - Small pieces of art and/or posts about my ocs or AUs! 👏🏼✨ I try to tag posts with any info or headcanons about my characters/AUs ^^

#shortcake medic - Tag used for any art I make of my Medicsona, Shortcake Medic! 🍰💖

#tsu art - (or #twin art) - Art tag for my twin's artwork 🦊 (@/hoshi-tsubasa )! I love sharing her work and she deserves more praise for it! ^v^✨ Yes she is a furry so be kind!!!

#moot art 💖 - Art tag for my artist mutuals! I love to share their work so I keep this tagged to their stuff so I can find it again (cuz I'm dumb and don't wanna scroll through reblogs for eternity)

#other artists (or #reblog) - This is the tag I use when I reblog other amazing artists' work!

General Info:

I've technically been in the TF2 community for more than 6 years but I just recently got back into it as of 2024!

Pr0shipper/“problematic” accounts DNI!!! I will block you >:(((

@/hoshi-tsubasa is my twin! Her art is just as incredible so go check her out too if you'd like! She also draws TF2 stuff here and there, plus she has some TF2 merch you can check out on her redbubble!

My main ship is Gentlesurgery, which I draw quite a lot! If that ship is not your cup of tea I kindly suggest to be polite and just move on, harassment and hate will not be tolerated here. I also have other favorite TF2 ships that I don't have listed above in the "Meet The Artist" template that I may draw from time to time! However, please be mindful that I don't really draw HeavyMedic (Red Oktoberfest), MedicScout (Quickfix/Blunt Trauma), or SniperScout (SpeedingBullet) ships, as those are not ships I'm particularly fond of compared to others (MedicScout cuz as a passionate MedicSpy shipper it just feels uncomfy for me) ;3; very sorry! (ALSO ABSOLUTELY NO SPYSCOUT GET OUT OF HERE WITH THAT DISGUSTING STUFF) I do like most TF2 ships tho (I especially love all Spy ships)! 💖

Please be aware I likely will not draw nsfw! There may be suggestive art tho from time to time :3c Some things will be tagged with tw if needed!

Also please do not tag my art with ship tags unless I have them put under my art! I am not comfortable with certain dynamics being labeled as ships, especially if the dynamic is not meant to be in any form romantic/sexual ;;

My hyperfixations do shift so I may hop from one media to another or draw crossovers! I will usually post my other non-TF2 art on my instagram, but all TF2 content will be here!

In addition, please be aware I have ADHD and an alter system (DID), so please note that I may go silent with posts every once in a while. My mental health is not a subject I care to make front and center here, so I prefer any questions or topics of such be kept private! Thank you! 💖

If you can I encourage you to reblog my artwork if you like it! Traction on tumblr is very different than on other social sites like twitter and tiktok, so it would mean a lot to me if you could share my art! 🥺💌 I'm deeply humbled if you enjoy my content, thank you!

Ask Box Rules:

This is a 16+ ask blog, so if you wanna ask me or my version of the mercs something pls feel free! Anon questions will be turned on and off from time to time, but if people completely abuse it or things get out of hand I will shut them off permanently ;3; Also please respect that there's a limit for how much you can ask of me, I won't consistently draw the same thing over and over if it's asked for like more than 3 times (especially by the same person)!

Also, if I do not respond to your ask, it may be because I am either uncomfortable with the ask, am unsure how to respond, or simply do not feel that it is an ask that needs to be posted. I am also NOT an rp blog so I will not respond to rp-like asks. Please respect this, thank you!

Please be respectful! I have major anxiety and communication/socializing is difficult for me, so I may not engage in conversations much ;0; I do get super nervous with parasocial behavior!!! I will do my best to respond to my inbox so please be patient with me 💌

Fanart/Art Rules:

Art Trades are for mutuals only! I rarely do them but think they're fun! Also will only do an art trade if the level of art quality and skill is the similar to my own, thank you! 💖

This isn't entirely an art request blog but depending on the question in the ask box I might doodle something if I'm interested enough! 🍰✨ I don't really draw ship requests often tho! ;3; Might do some that I like but depends!

I don't mind fanart! If you'd like to make fanart for me please tag me so I can see your lovely work! However pls don't draw my ocs or version (aus included) of the mercs inappropriately or in ships I otherwise am not comfortable with, as they already have pre-established relationships ;; Also please do not misinterpret/take creative liberties with my Medicsona (Shortcake Medic) specifically, as he is my personal sona and I am more sensitive about art of him! He is not an oc, he is a sona, so I am uncomfortable with misinterpretations and/or nsfw art of him. If you are unsure about anything please ask me first, I am very firm and particular about him! Thank you!!! 💖🍰

If you want to use my art as a profile pic please ask me first!!! DO NOT REPOST OR EDIT MY ARTWORK!!!!

[doodlemancy]

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhhhh

so here's the deal re: this fucking horseshit. god i hate this.

i, personally, have mostly given up on trying to dodge inclusion in AI datasets. the stuff i make generally isn't what they're looking for anyway and there's no real way to 100% avoid being scraped short of becoming entirely invisible online, which would um, lead to me having no money and dying. that's part of the cruelty of all this, but also, in a way, it's the same risk artists online have always taken; if you want people to see your work, you have to post it knowing that some of those people are fucking lowlife piece of shit scumbags who will try to resell it on redbubble or something for a quick buck. AI is just a new and exhausting way for garbagey people to stink worse. i am not in any way excusing that behavior or trying to imply people should not be mad about it or that we shouldn't condemn this move and fight back. "if you don't want your work stolen, don't put it online" is the kind of shitty Internet Tough Guy talk i've always hated since my dA days. it's as useless and heartless as telling people that if they don't want their bikes stolen, they shouldn't leave them at the bike rack. i'm saying that i, personally, will not let a bunch of soulless thieving shitheads drive me offline. i belong here. they belong in a wifi-proof dumpster.

nightshade and glaze eat my artwork alive. they make it look terrible. when you have to sell things on the basis that they look nice, it's a big problem when protective measures make them look like dogshit. my work is not a good candidate for these processes. even if that weren't the case, i don't have the stamina, especially right now while my chronic pain is flaring for the third month in a row and my adhd meds are scarce, to go back and shade/glaze everything, and it wouldn't work on reblogs anyway. given the way midjourney and its equally stinky siblings have already scraped years and terabytes' worth of image data from popular websites, it doesn't seem worth my time. if you think it is worth yours i am not going to like, yell at you. i am just one person. but i want to be clear about the kind of situations some of us are being forced into.

i think some of the doomsaying about AI and what it will do to us has been overblown-- they need you, for marketing purposes, to believe that someday their shitty robot will be as good at "drawing" and as practical to work with as a human-- but the consequences of "AI" (which is not even actually AI) are already real and visible and obvious to anyone paying attention. i unfortunately am not infinitely wise and powerful and therefore do not have an ideal all-encompassing solution to this deeply stupid problem that the Most Unlikeable Manbabies On Earth have imposed on us after NFTs fizzled out.

what i do have is a very large repository of nice anime and game screenshots i've taken, knowledge of many archives of nice public domain images, a computer that can run nightshade overnight or while i'm off doing other things, and, most importantly, near-infinite capacity for pettiness. i do kinda feel like the jury is still out on how well nightshade/glaze will work in the long run, but in the meantime, i suppose it wouldn't cost me a lot to... perhaps... every time i get Mad About AI™, channel that anger into dumping some thoroughly-but-not-spammily-tagged, high-quality, inconspicuous poison onto this godforsaken hellsite via a secret side blog. i could make a batch of poison ahead of time, keep it on my phone, use my Toilet Scrolling Time or my Public Transit Time to post and tag up an image here and there. it could be a fun challenge to try to make some pretty robot poison that some humans will still enjoy.

the other thing we need to poison at this point, IMO, is the word "AI" itself, by being loudly and mercilessly critical of any company that dabbles in it, the same way we all clowned on any company that pushed their luck with NFT/crypto shit a couple of years ago. we need to have every corporation terrified that association with AI will tank their sales and hurt their brand. AI must = number go down and lots of people screaming at you. companies will fuck around. we must provide the finding-out. we shouldn't have to. but we can!

so make sure to let tumblr know you hate this. maybe you could include this interesting link (tw child abuse) about how Stable Diffusion was trained on some extremely serious crime. or these screenshots of Midjourney devs just sort of admitting what their whole thing is, which i got here but which have kinda been spread all over since January.

spite and anger can be forms of hope. that's all i have to say, or at least all i'm willing to type with my left hand tonight.

[not-poignant]

If you don't mind me asking why did you stop working as a professional artist? Your work is amazing! I could totally see your animal artwork being in kids picture books or even on wrapping paper

Hi anon!

I'm so so glad you enjoy the art! That makes me happy. Feel free to check out my DeviantArt because there's a lot more there than elsewhere. :D (Eventually I'll probably be using ArtStation or something like that too dsalkfjsa).

I stopped working as a professional artist because of money. I make more money as a writer than I ever could as an artist, despite giving art my all. Not to mention that art gave me repetitive strain injuries in my wrists (that I still have to this day) as well as eye-strain and a few other physical ailments that I still have to be careful of.

While writing is hard on the body, it could never be as hard or challenging as my particular art style was. And after a while it just got hard to justify working that hard, in that much pain, for like 0.50c an hour. And while I don't make that much more these days, I definitely make more for less suffering!

But yeah it was purely a financial/economical decision. I still actually do make art! But I no longer do commissions, and I pretty much only do it when I feel like it. But some of the things I've done this year alone include:

I think professional traditional art is also in some ways less disability friendly than writing. Or at least the kind of writing I do. I'm a traditional artist, and the easiest ways to make money as a traditional artist are to go the gallery circuit, which requires visiting galleries, pitching to them, and being seen at gallery shows (all things I could not do), or to go the mass production circuit via selling prints and so on. But I also can't go to print shops. And I can't drive. And I can't get to the post office (Glen posts all my art for me). As a result, I have to use a lot of POD services (and I do have a Redbubble storefront!), and anyway, it just didn't work out.

I still sort of think of ways to monetise the art on occasion. Which is usually trying to go beyond the lifespan of just selling an original piece of art. I tried prints, that didn't didn't work out. I tried colouring pages, that didn't work out. Children's picture books are the least profitable form of writing and art-making out there, unfortunately (people don't know this, but it's the most competitive writing market out of all of them, with the least longevity, because kids grow out of picture books, so while a few authors make a mint, most authors and artists make a pittance). I released an oracle deck and that made me about $900 this year which... is both good and not great or sustainable.

So yeah, that's why. Because while I'm not making a liveable income still, it's more liveable for less labour. My decision to quit art was purely down to income, which is why I know if things get dire with writing, I will do the same with writing, because I have given away a creative career that I loved before.

That being said, I have the particular satisfaction of knowing that my artwork is owned / has been commissioned by a cameraman / cinematographer that worked with David Attenborough across many of his series, and filmed birds of paradise on location more than once (he purchased almost all of my birds of paradise illustrations). By a head zookeeper at London Zoo who got so many pieces we became friends and are mutuals across social media, and I got to meet her in 2019 and she took us 'behind the scenes' to spend a lot of personal time with penguins and we chatted for ages.

Because I've done so much creative natural history illustration I've made connections and friends with biologists and zoologists all over the world, and it's been a humbling privilege to have been able to draw the favourite animals of some people, especially when those animals rarely get artwork in general. And I still love animals, so I do still draw them.

But it likely won't ever be my main job again sdalfkdjs

[breelandwalker]

This Witch Hexes Fascists

Friendly reminder that I can and will lead my life and practice my craft as I see fit.

This includes promoting acceptance of others, harmonious coexistence, inclusion, compassion, common sense, critical thinking, and general good will.

This ALSO includes vehement rejection of willful ignorance, religious intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, fascism, and the motherfucking patriarchy.

These things are neither mutually exclusive nor diametrically opposed.

And if that makes me spiky or sharp-edged or unpalatable in some way, so be it.

I will not soften myself in order to flatter the delicate sensibilities of those who can afford the luxury of soft-spoken pacifism.

I am not here to make bigots comfortable. I am here to fucking RESIST.

[silvermoon424]

Idk what anon is talking about, being a minor and not speaking English does NOT give someone a free pass to post others art without permission. It’s better to gently let people know WHILE they are young that what their doing is wrong, instead of letting them grow up doing it so they know they can get away with it. It’s not malicious to tell them either, most of the time when it’s a kid they don’t know what their doing until you explain how harmful it can be

I have a lot of friends who get their art reposted a lot, and it’s not something to be chill about. Randos spreading it around Pinterest and Instagram with no regard for the artist causes it to be sold on places like redbubble and Amazon. When an artist is making most of their money off commissions and your directly contributing to their art being used by big companies to make money, you should be told what your doing is harmful

I know, when I got that message telling me I needed to chill I was like "???" Like yeah, I guess I could have sugarcoated what I said more, but I think I did a good job of being polite yet firm. Not to mention I explained how to reverse image search to find the original artwork source. I could have been way ruder, especially considering that this isn't a couple of offenses but rather an entire blog full of stolen artwork. But I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and not be rude.

Art theft really is a huge issue that impacts artists not only in terms of lost recognition and attention, but also straight-up monetary theft. Like you said, Amazon and Redbubble have huge problems with people profiting off stolen artwork slapped onto t-shirts and other items.

I'm not an artist myself, but I have gotten my manga colorings reposted (and even sold in a book!) without credit and it really sucks. At least I watermark my stuff.

[duckprintspress]

Fanart and the “Right to Publicity”

As we make progress on our second anthology, And Seek (Not) to Alter Me, a collection of queer transformative works inspired by William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, we confronted the following question:

If artist contributors do works recognizable as performers in specific adaptations, does that present copyright issues?

To solve this, we did some research, and we thought we’d share the results with you all!

The use of likenesses of performers in original artwork doesn’t fall under copyright protections. Instead, in the United States, performers are protected by the right to publicity, which gives individuals the exclusive right to license the use of their identity for commercial purposes. This means that, for an image or likeness of a performer (or other public figure) to be used in a commercial context, either the performer needs to be the commercial originator (as in, they need to be the person selling the thing), or they need to have given their express permission.

However, there are two significant exceptions to this.

Freedom of the press allows photographs of performers to be used without their permission if the image(s) in question are considered newsworthy. This is how paparazzi are able to sell images to tabloids, for example, and in general, legal precedent has favored unauthorized photographers over the privacy and publicity rights of performers.

First amendment rights to artistic freedom allow artists to create transformative  works of artistic merit that include a likeness of the individual, even without permission, and to sell the original or reproductions of that work.

Obviously, the second of these is what is applicable in our case, and in the case of the majority of fanartists. The challenge is assessing what counts as “transformative.” As with fanfiction, this is a legal gray area, and there’s precedent both in favor of creators and against them. Different states have also interpreted their laws more loosely or more strictly, as have different countries. Therefore, there’s no hard and fast rule for “this is transformative enough” and “this isn’t.”

Creators are on their most solid legal ground when they either:

create a work that heavily modifies the appearance of the performer(s) depicted in a distinct artistic style (for example, doing an abstract work versus doing a photorealistic one) or

sell only limited numbers of the work, in a way considered “artistic” instead of one seen as “for commercial gain.”

And again, these metrics are subjective - a major example in the case law, for example, involves an artist who did a work that featured the likeness of Tiger Woods - without permission - and then put it on T-Shirts which the artist sold. The court ruled in favor of the artist, deciding the work was transformative enough, even though the approach was clearly commercial. But in another instance, where an artist did a painting of the Three Stooges and put that on a shirt, the court ruled that the aim of the artwork had been primarily to create fiscal gain and commercial, and that the work wasn’t sufficiently transformative. It can truly go either way, with the vicissitudes of legalities, the views of the ruling judge, state and national and international law, and the individual aspects of each case.

In addition, a creator will be on much safer legal ground if they are careful not to violate any copyrights or trademarks. For example - if a creator uses a reference image taken by someone else, that reference image could be copyrighted. For a second example - if a creator makes a piece of artwork and then labels it as “Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter” the issue of trademark is introduced - Harry Potter and many related terms are trademarked - and could face legal challenges from multiple directions. Avoiding these pitfalls can help reduce the risk of a legal challenge.

If a creator makes a piece with a recognizable likeness on it, and sells reproductions featuring that likeness, they are potentially at risk of being sued. However, those of us in fandom know that the extent to which most celebrities pursue their right to sue people is limited. Consider how many shirts are up on sites like Redbubble with art featuring recognizable images of main characters from popular franchises. Theoretically, any of these individuals could be sued, but in practice, few have been sent cease-and-desists, much less actively taken to court. Because these individuals have chosen not to enforce their right to publicity across the board, they’re also in a weak position to start enforcing it - when a right such as right of publicity isn’t consistently enforced, applying it to specific cases can become difficult for celebrities (in a similar way to how trademarks can lapse into the public domain if a trademark holder doesn’t vigorously defend their trademark, which is how some brand names have legally entered the vernacular even though they’re technically trademarked).

Performers are more likely to pursue legal action if the work in question damages their “brand” - for example, if it’s derogatory - or if the work in question is to be widely distributed for extensive profit (profit the performer receives no amount of, because they haven’t been involved). They’re also most likely to win a legal case if they can prove damage has been done to them - as in, if the work(s) in question have cost them jobs, opportunities, money, etc.

When considering whether to create a work that includes a likeness of a public figure, a creator should therefore consider:

Do they have the permission of the public figure in question?

Does the public figure have a history of pursuing legal action against creators who use their likeness?

How widespread will sales of this work be, and how profitable?

Is the work insulting or derogatory toward the public figure?

Is the work being produced and sold in a state or country that have “right to publicity” laws?

On the off chance they choose to sue, is the creator able to protect themselves?

In conclusion: there are real risks, but they are minimal for creators in the United States. If you have concerns, make sure you research intellectual property law for your area, contact an intellectual property lawyer, and/or research the celebrity you are creating artwork of to see if they have a history of vigorously protecting their rights. When in doubt, it’s safer to opt not to sell the work in question.

From the point of view of the anthology we’re working on, we’ll be advising our artists to keep in mind the “significantly transformative” aspect, both as regards “right to publicity” and copyright of reference images, and try to avoid direct representations of living actors who have portrayed these roles - because Duck Prints Press operates under the laws of the state of New York, and in New York, “right to publicity” rights end upon the death of the person in question. A photo-realistic image of a performer playing a specific role would likely be a no-go, if that performer is still alive, but otherwise - especially considering the positive light our work will portray performers in, the transformative nature of our project, and our projected scale of sales (not more than in the hundreds, we expect) - we don’t predict having any issues, even though technically we could be sued if we use a recognizable likeness of a living performer.

For those coming at this issue without our specific interests - make sure you do your research, understand your rights and the rights of the performer/celebrity, be aware that you could potentially be vulnerable, though the odds are low, and consider speaking to a lawyer if you have concerns.

Good luck, and happy creating - and selling those creations!!

DISCLAIMER 1: We are not lawyers. Nothing in this post is intended as, nor should it be interpreted as, legal advice. This post is for general information purposes, and may not be the most up-to-date information or the most relevant to your individual circumstances. If you have questions about intellectual property law, your best bet is always to consult an intellectual property lawyer.

DISCLAIMER 2: Duck Prints Press LLC is incorporated in the state of New York in the United States, and operates under the laws of the state and country. Creators in other states and other countries should supplement this information with research specific to their location. This website gives information state-by-state.

References:

“When Does Painting a Portrait Violate the Subject’s Rights?” by Isaac Kaplan, accessed May 30th, 2021.

“Can I Sell My Own Artwork Depicting a Celebrity?” question and answers on avvo.com, accessed May 30th, 2021. 

Right to Publicity: Statutes. Accessed May 30th, 2021. 

Right to Publicity: An Overview. Accessed May 30th, 2021.

[hippano]

Hello Hippano, I was wondering if you ever considered selling your artwork as a NFT. Thank you and have a great day. 🙂

Hi! I haven’t given it much thought, since I only recently learned what an NFT is (explanation if it’s new to anyone else), but my first impression is that I don’t feel comfortable selling “ownership” of any of my art, especially since most of it is commissions or fan art. And the idea of selling or buying an instance of something that is freely available to anyone else on the internet feels like a bit of a scam to me. I will admit though, that I don’t know much about them so I might be missing something. 

I have heard that there are some accounts out there that are selling NFTs of stolen artwork, so if you see any of my artwork being sold as NFT, it isn’t being done with my permission. 

If you want to buy art from me, you can commission me or purchase from my Redbubble shop. Thank you for asking!

--

Edit:

So I’ve done a bit more research, thinking, and discussion with friends, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m firmly against the idea of crypto art. I know I don’t have a following who cares about this and nobody is going to bother looking at the edits of an old post with 4 likes on it, but here goes anyway.

I recognize that artists have the right to do whatever they want with their art, and I’m not going to judge or stop anyone who wants to get in on the game while it’s fresh and try to make a few bucks. It seems like it’s very little work and little risk for artists to make money off their work, but there are just too many unknowns and ethical dilemmas for me to take part in it.

Cryptocurrency trading and mining costs a lot of energy, and I don’t want to participate in an industry with such a serious environmental impact. An entire country’s worth of electricity is being spent calculating transactions on this virtual market, and I’d like to avoid contributing to that carbon footprint if I can.

The idea that you can make money by selling an intangible item that will increase in value is essentially a pyramid scheme, and a lot of people are going to be financially hurt trying to play the crypto art trading game. This twitter post summarizes it pretty well. 

I’d much rather sell my art directly to people who appreciate it, and not people who only care about the money. And if all you want is a digital copy of my existing art for yourself, all you have to do is right-click> Save Image.

[zerachielamora]

I’m still in shock over watching Cry’s video and reading his tweets. There’s nothing I can properly say that will fully express the feelings that came from that, other than I can’t fucking believe it.

I’ve been following him since way back in 2011 - I appreciated his way of playing games, that he let the game speak for itself mostly while adding humorous commentary along the way. The channel introduced me to games I would not have known about otherwise. He inspired me to draw numerous art, hell I would draw him something for his birthday through 2017. 

I’m seeing reactions to this and most of it is from people who were young when they started watching him. The strange this is, is that I’m Cry’s age. I’m 31 as well, and while I don’t think I idolized him, I respected him. I enjoyed his content, especially when he was collabing with other Youtubers, like Totalbiscuit. I doubt any of the mainstream Youtubers he befriended knew about this stuff.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this since I watched the video and read the tweets. Stewing over this for two hours and I’m just a mess. I put my drawings for him on deviantart in storage and removed the artwork I made celebrating him from my portfolio to sell on Redbubble.

I thought about deleting posts related to him on my tumblr as well. I tend to do that - when it comes to either falling outs or otherwise, I do a tumblr purge, as if certain things never happened. I think I’m not going to do that this time. That was part of my journey, leading me to where I am now.

As for his future content and going forward, I can’t see myself continuing to support him.

This fucking sucks.

[puppyluver256]

Welcome to PuppyLuver Studios!

Hello there! Thank you for stopping by my blog!

-----

Jess / Pup | they/them

adult, born in June ‘92 (if you don’t wanna take the time to do the math just ask)

white and learning

proudly queer - nonbinary asexual, romantic lesbian

proudly atheist - not a “sinner”, just not convinced

-----

I’m just an artistic goofball tryin’ to enjoy my existence in this wild, wild world. I love video games, animals, and food, and I’m considering looking into learning more languages for both character reasons and the obvious utility of being able to communicate with more people. I’ve got a lot (a LOOOOT) of fandoms, but those I’m currently focused on are Pokemon and Smile For Me, among others. Honestly, a good majority of Nintendo franchises are in my likes! Feel free to mention me in posts that you think I’d like, be it something you came across or something you made that was inspired by my stuff! You have no idea how much I love fanart omg

If you follow me you’ve likely seen [this post I reblog nearly every morning], but here are my main links to the most preferred methods in which you can financially support me and my artwork:

[Commissions] ~ [Redbubble] ~ [Patreon]

If we’re mutuals or you follow me, feel free to ask me if you need anything specific tagged. I usually try to tag things for organizational purposes as is, but I’m just as human as you are so I might miss things that I don’t think about. Or maybe seeing the word itself bothers you, that’s valid. In any case, if you need me to use a specific “(your name) don’t look” tag for things, let me know about that too!

I don’t reblog call-out posts unless I have an actual understanding of the situation in full. Don’t try to get me to do so if I don’t know you, especially if you’re the only one calling the person out and your “evidence” is flimsy at best and misrepresented at worst. I’ve seen personal beef used to tear down innocent people too many times to not do my research or otherwise ignore it.

I freely and liberally block blogs that make me uncomfortable, be it for serious conflict of ethical positions, blatant bigotry, general squick, or empty blogs with no indication of actual humanity (seriously, just put a simple phrase like “not a bot, just lurking!” on your blog if you’re not gonna reblog anything, that’s like the bare minimum of indication that you’re a human user). This is not a DNI, this is just a warning. If you reblog my art/writing and I’m not comfortable with it being on your blog due to your blog’s themes, I will most likely block you and remove the reblog from my post’s notes. 💖 (I have tried the “ask nicely to delete the reblog” thing before, I got snapped at because their fetish-focused blog “wasn’t as hardcore as [their] main”, and given that plus the time I’ve had someone reblog a very personal post of mine with malicious intent once I’ve learned that clearly does not work so straight to blocking it is.)

To mobile viewers who are unable to use adblocking software: any advertisements you may see on this blog that are not distinctly marked as a personal post or reblog were selectively placed by Tumblr itself without my express permission, and as such do not represent any views, opinions, or monetary support of PuppyLuver Studios.

[bitchesgetriches]

Hello, I love your new stickers! I have a question about something you said in that post. You mentioned that someone was selling unauthorized copies of your work. I understand if you can't speak to that experience specifically, but I was wondering - in general, what is the best way to deal with art thieves? Is your work trademarked/copyrighted, and how did you do that? I see so many people on tumblr talking about the problem of art theft, but basically zero practical advice.

This is a fantastic question, and it’s one we’re happy to answer!

Our work is indeed copyrighted, and we (Kitty and I) formed an LLC together to help with taxes and legal matters. While you sometimes can’t do anything about art theft, here are a few ways you can protect yourself:

1. Copyright your work. Copyright law is confusing and lengthy, but here’s it in a nutshell: if you can prove you made The Thing first, then you own The Thing. A super easy, cheap, old-school way to do this is to mail your work to yourself, then don’t open the envelope. If you ever need to contest your copyright legally, you whip out that sealed, dated envelope to prove your ownership. You can also copyright it via the U.S. government’s Copyright Office, a division of the Library of Congress. Here’s where you register a copyright online. It costs a small fee, and the website is a bit clunky.

2. Trademark your work. If it’s a logo or a motto or something like that, it’s worth trademarking. We have not yet trademarked our logo, but we will soon, especially since it’s being stolen. The difference between trademarks and copyrights is confusing, but you can read about it here. And you can register a trademark using the same governmental website.

3. File a DCMA Takedown request. The DCMA ( Digital Millennium Copyright Act) is basically a law that says “don’t steal stuff someone else made and pretend like it’s yours). This website explains all about how to use the DCMA to get stolen content taken off the Internet. But that website also charges you to do it on your behalf. Don’t do that if the theft is small-scale, as you can easily handle it yourself. Here’s how:

Go to the site where your work has been stolen. Find their contact information. If it’s a site like Spreadshirt or somewhere else that posts tons of designs for sale, they’ll have a specific link for handling DCMA takedown requests. Then, send them an email that reads:

My name is [NAME] and I am the creator of the [DESCRIPTION OF STOLEN WORK]. It has been reproduced in full at [LINK TO WHERE YOU FOUND STOLEN WORK] which infringes on my copyright. The original logo and shirt to which I own the rights can be found here:

[LINK WHERE YOUR ORIGINAL WORK CAN BE FOUND] The unauthorized and infringing copy can be found at: [LINK TO WHERE YOU FOUND STOLEN WORK] This letter is official notification under Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”), and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your website. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material in the future. I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that rights I own are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and I have the authority to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright(s) involved. Should you wish to discuss this with me please contact me. Thank you.

[YOUR CONTACT INFO]

If they’re a reputable site and not total assholes, you should receive a letter like this in return:

We are contacting you in relation to issues you recently raised with us regarding content on the Redbubble website. We've reviewed the information contained in your complaint and, in accordance with our policy, we've:

removed the content you've referred to; and

written to the relevant end user about your complaint and the content we removed.

PLEASE NOTE: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE FILED A COPYRIGHT WITH THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IN ORDER TO FILE A DCMA TAKEDOWN REQUEST. Normally, the above letter works just fine! If they turn around and say “lol prove it,” then you’ll need to take steps to prove you own the copyright.

This is a really simplified way of handling these things, but in general most of these online thieves are bots not interested in fighting you on your intellectual property. In more serious cases, you might need to lawyer up. But start with this cheap method first.

Do a reverse Google image search from time to time to see if your artwork is popping up around the web, then take the above measures to get it taken down. And try the mail thing now if you suspect some art is likely to be stolen, as that’ll make it easy to prove copyright and ownership.

Anyone else have advice on how to handle the theft of your intellectual property?

[mysticsparklewings]

Fire Flower

Note: I originally made this painting and typed most of the description towards the end of March. I meant to upload this sooner, but things happened it obviously got pushed way back. Oh gee, would you look at that. It has somehow been 8-9 months since I last made a full acrylic painting... But! I have a video for this one to make up for it! Link: youtu.be/8IgVvgTiZjM I promise I've been trying (and failing) to come up with ideas to do more with this medium. Acrylic paint just isn't my thing. I swear I said this somewhere before, but I have no idea where; It's just hard for me to commit to an acrylic painting when I know I can get the look I want usually much faster and much more easily with other supplies. Acrylic painting just takes so much more time, set up, and patience. This very painting I know I probably could've had done in half the time using primarily watercolor instead, for example. So why is this an acrylic painting instead of something quicker and easier? Because my dear Sparklers, I made this painting and filmed it as a bit of a blending demo for a friend. They tried their hand at an acrylic painting with a sky going from red to yellow...except they lost most of the yellow in the process, and even they weren't really sure how it happened. So since I'm in sort of an art teaching/mentoring position to them, I decided I'd pull out my paints and take a shot at a similar look. Now, to be fair, my end result is very different from their's intentionally. They painted a boat on the water during sunset, I wanted something different and more me, so after some browsing around on Pinterest, I settled on this flower silhouette. I made my own job harder because the reference image had a blue and orange background with lots of black, almost like a vignette, so once I got past the stage of putting the base background colors down, I had a lot more work cut out for myself in trying to replicate that. Speaking of which, you can see most of my process in the video, but a recap just in case: I started by picking out my paint colors, and to be fair I could've gotten away with less or slightly different colors, but I got extravagant and picked a total of nine colors from my Liquitex Basics set (also known as currently the only decent acrylic paints I have):

• Mars Black • Ivory Black • Titanium White • Cadmium Red Deep Hue • Cadmium Red Light Hue • Portrait Pink • Naples Yellow Hue • Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue • Primary Yellow Why the two blacks? Mars Black is a "denser" black so to speak, it's more opaque (less transparent/see-through). The Ivory Black is less opaque, and it's a bit warmer in color than the Mars black. I used the Mars black in areas where I wanted a total and complete black and the Ivory black where I wanted some of the colors from the background to leak through a bit. It's subtle, more of a "feeling" to the eye than something you can clearly see. Also, I used the Portrait Pink, which like the name implies is a very pink flesh tone, and the Naples Yellow Hue (think a shade similar to Yellow Ochre...or fancy Mustard if "yellow ochre" doesn't help you visualize) primarily for blending and not so much for the colors themselves. And the Cadmium Red Light Hue is much more of a reddish-orange in person than it is red, which is why I picked it. It's also pretty transparent (yellows and oranges often are in acrylic paints, especially more student grade ones like the Liquitex Basics) so it also got lost in the mix fairly easily and I had to build it up a lot. In the video, you can definitely see as I start that I do indeed do a lot of back and forth with the paints, blending and layering to my heart's content to try and get the right color balance while also getting a smooth transition. And this goes on for quite a while; the background was definitely the part that took the longest. Initially, I did sketch in a couple of lines as markers for roughly where I needed certain parts of the gradient to begin and end, and with the paints, I went in and got down the base of red and yellows so I could then start working on marrying the two together. And I have to admit, even I let my yellows get a bit lost/pushed down more so than I would've liked. It's a difficult balance to strike; red is already a strong color that easily overpowers yellow. It's even easier when the yellow and your transition colors are more transparent while the red is more opaque. And even more so when your painting has a vignette feel to it. But once I finally had something I was comfortable with and blocked in most of the black (which was a pain in the butt to blend out, by the way, as I'm sure is obvious by how much I go back and forth with it in the video, misusing a fluffy watercolor brush as a mop brush to blend), I then took my outline for the silhouette that I'd already prepared on another piece of paper and used a Faber Castell Gelato (first a gray, then later I'd use a black) on the back to be able to transfer it on the canvas by tracing it with a mechanical pencil with the point pushed in. Personally, I really do think the Gelatos are the best method I've tried for making faux-transfer paper. They're soft so they transfer the color without much fuss without making a powder smudge-y mess (like charcoal, chalk, or pastels might), and they're also water-soluble so they play nicely with the wetness of the acrylic paints, especially if you've thinned them with a bit of water. Then I got the lovely challenge of trying to paint and blend out a nice bright setting sun on top of the blackish mess I'd made.  (It actually wasn't that bad; the Titanium White is pretty opaque so once it mixed with the yellow and I got a couple of layers on it really didn't have any problem covering the darkness that it had to.) After that, I transferred again some of my lines I'd covered up and then got to work on the black silhouette parts. I did have to alter the look slightly because I wasn't quite as careful with lining up the placement of my "transfer paper" that second time and also because the brush had different ideas about how much black should be in some places than I did, but it wasn't too much of a hassle. And then, of course, the real challenge of blending the black up to meet the silhouettes without completely covering up my sun or messing up my other blending. Although, this also wasn't as tricky as I had thought it would be. Ironically, I think by the time I got this far I was finally starting to get a handle on the acrylics after having been away from them for so long.   Believe it or not, this tiny 4"x6"  painting took well over two hours to complete. I had at least two hours of footage that I trimmed down and sped up like four times, and that doesn't include the dry time in between two background layers, the background and the sun, and then the sun and the silhouette. I'd say it was probably closer to 3 and 1/2 hours total, although technically longer because I kept getting interrupted by things and I had to figure out how to set up the camera and everything before I actually started painting. Once I was done with the painting, I also had to actually edit the thing together, which took many more hours than I bothered to document or care to admit. (P.S. Whoever decided all free video editors that don't come pre-installed on a computer either must have stupidly low export limits and/or super obnoxious watermarks, I hate you.) Yeah, there's a reason it's been almost a year since I last posted an actual video of me making art... It just takes so long to edit everything together and I also have to make an extra effort to get stuff set up before and after for filming...Like, maybe it would be different if I had the space and resources to have an area where I could just leave everything and have a camera set up that doesn't move, but right now when my space is limited and my phone is my camera it's just so much easier to...well, to not. At any rate, here's one. One acrylic painting, and one video. A two-for-one special! Sort of! And I think both turned out pretty okay in the end, at least for someone that 1. Doesn't acrylic paint and 2. Doesn't make videos regularly. I call that a win, wouldn't you? Although, I have a few canvases stockpiled. I really should work on trying to squeeze more acrylic paintings into my art regimen somewhere to use those up, if nothing else... ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

[that-bookworm-guy]

I'm really sorry but I don't think people like you should make pride art. Leave it for actually LGBT artists

Sorry it’s take me a little while to answer. I had to step back from this. 

1. If people make Pride things, most of the time, they support the LGBT community. If not, I doubt they’d go through effort to create something that people will use. They could be closested, and making Pride art as a ‘straight’ person might make them closer to their community. It could be a parent making them to support their kid. It could be a friend making them to support their friend. So much goes into creating any amount of artwork. 

2. I don’t know if you are following me, and if you are, I doubt for very long. I am very openly gay. I was in a relationship with a guy for 3.5 years. I was very open with that on here. He even used to have a tumblr account. I always tag my selfies as gay. 

3. I do a lot of pride things on here. I take pride photos, I do a lot of posts about pride books. I probably post mostly pride things, especially in June. 

4. I’m transgender. I’m very open about that too. I’ve been documenting my transition on wordpress and here for 9 months (hormones wise) and longer through out my whole process. I’ve been on this blog for 5 years, I’ve been openly out to everyone for 4 years. There is probably a lot on this about my transition

5. Just because I do not put in my bio that I’m gay and trans, doesn’t mean I’m not part of the LGBT community. My blog is a book blog first and foremost so I put mainly things about books, my writing and my artwork in my bio. I don’t feel the need to share that information with everyone that passes my blog. Some people do, and that’s great for them, go them. But I don’t want that in my bio. 

Please research a little before you send an ask. it’s very easy to type LGBT into someones search bar on their blog to search it. If you had done that, you probably would have seen the fact I am gay and trans. 

Also in regards to the artwork bit, I’m guessing you are referring to my pride collection on Redbubble. In my bio on there, I do in fact state I am trans in my bio, purely so people are aware I’m an actual LGBT artist. 

I wish you a safe and happy pride

[profoundnet]

Profound Member Post - October 2018

Header by @pantydean and is available on merch from her redbubble store. You can use all those fancy emojis(and more!) on our Discord Server!

The Masterpost is open for all creations by ProfoundBond members which are posted in entirety during that month.

MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS FOR OCTOBER 2018!

Masterpost below the cut.

Darmys - @darmysasagiri​ - Darmys

Not in Kansas Anymore

Summary: Sareno Dean Winchester answers to no one. Born to a powerful House on the storm wracked mining planet Kansas, he and his brother Sam have grown up strong and independent. The only person that holds their respect is the enigmatic Bobby Smith, Master of the martial arts academy where they train.

When alien bounty hunters kidnap Bobby, Dean throws away the life he knew and sets out—with Sam and Baby—to rescue his mentor, no matter how far they have to travel through known space.

Tags:  Alternate Universe - The Highroad Trilogy, Alternate Universe - Space Opera, Past Benny Lafitte/Dean Winchester, Past Dean Winchester/Nick Munroe, Robot!Baby, Canon-Typical Deaths, Canon-Typical Violence, Attempted Sexual Assault (Not Involving Our Main Characters), Period-Typical Racism, Dean/Cas Big Bang Challenge 2018

SFW

JessJesstheBest - @saywhatjessie​ - JessJesstheBest

Fucking Hollywood

Summary: 

“Okay…” he started, aware that the only way out of this conversation was through. “So I admit, I don’t know a whole lot about,” he gestured vaguely at Sam. “That. But me, personally, I have a hard time telling the difference between romantic and platonic love.” 

“So like aromanticism.” “No, what?” Dean glanced at Sam who was looking at him weirdly. “I don’t know. But one of the only ways I know how to confirm the difference is with sex.” Or the boys have a discussion about media theory and Dean learns a new word.

Tags: Fluff are!Dean, Bi!Dean (I mean obviously Dean is bi but he's actually explicitly aro in this so, Human AU, Sam's at Stanford, John is dead, Aromantic Dean Winchester, 

SFW

waywarded - waywarded

Discoveries

Summary: Dean and Cas are in a relationship and Dean is being too considerate for Cas's liking with making sure they don't take things too fast in the bedroom. Experimentation on what turns Castiel on ensues.

Tags: Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Romance, Fluff, Sexual Content, Castiel and Dean Winchester are Cute, Kissing, Making Out

NSFW

ultimatetrollcolinfirth - @ultimatetrollcolinfirth 

Destiel Art Round Up Oct 2018

Summary: A round up of my Destiel based creations, mostly for inktober. Tags: Destiel, Inktober 2018, 

Link to art piece #1, Link to art piece #2

SFW

ultimatetrollcolinfirth - @ultimatetrollcolinfirth - LeafZelindor

Dean’s Weakness

Summary: Profound Bot prompt Challenge

Dean just saw Cas getting out of the shower. Cas is Dean's win. Sam is likely a leviathan.

In which Creature Sam figures out some important information about Dean Winchester.

SFW

amandacanzo - amandacanzo

Sweet Surprise

Summary:  Dean is a great baker, but perhaps not the best communicator. When Dean had an embarrassing accident in his bakery (Sam’s fault), he left a lasting impression on Dr Castiel Novak, who had the pleasure of stitching up Dean’s asscheek.

When Cas comes to Dean’s bakery with Anna to order a wedding cake, Dean figures that Cas is getting married.

While Dean’s happy to have a new friend, it’s instantly clear to him he can’t keep his feelings in check. Especially when Cas is super affectionate and seems to be treating each hang out as a date.

On top of everything, Dean still has to make what he thinks is Cas’ wedding cake.

DCBB 2018

Tags: Baker Dean Winchester, Doctor Castiel, misunderstandings, angst with a happy ending, AU 

NSFW

Accompanying art by @abaddon-all-hope​

alessariel - alessariel

A Promise At Sunrise

Summary: “Dude, don’t look now, but there’s another guy wearing the same costume as you!” Charlie daintily sipped her drink while Dean nearly spat out his beer. What starts with a similar costume rapidly turns into the most amazing one-night stand Dean's ever had. Cas is funny, gorgeous, mysterious and really knows how to use his... wings. Among other things. Dean made Cas promise to stay the night and watch the sunrise with him, but he finds himself hoping that Cas will stay a lot longer than that.

Tags: Alternate Universe, Halloween, Creature Fic, Creature Castiel, Costumes, Smut, Fluff, A little bit of angst, just a tiny bit, Bottom Dean, Top Castiel, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, Bisexual Dean Winchester

NSFW

blueeyesandpie - @blueeyesandpie​

Destiel Gifset 

Summary: A gifset of key early-Cas moments that establish his loyalty/connection to Dean, set to the lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel's Kathy's Song.

Tags: dean winchester, castiel, gifsets, destiel, kathy's song, season 4, season 5

SFW

pingnova - @pingnova​ - pingnova

Don’t Kill The Messenger

Summary: Father Castiel Novak investigates miracles for the Vatican. While it’s disheartening when they all end up fakes, he continues his relentless pursuit in the name of faith and science. After a particularly convincing case in Brazil is taken from him, he’s reassigned to a believer in New York City who’s blessed with the wounds of Christ. Except, Dean Winchester turns out to be no believer, and he and Castiel have very different ideas of what constitutes a divine gift.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Hurt Dean Winchester, Priest!Castiel, Possession, Angst, Gore, Temporary Major Character Death

SFW

Accompanying art by SketchyDean

gouinette parle trop - @artbloggouinetteparletrop��� 

Collection of Fan Art Made Through SUPTOBERART 

Summary: MASTERPOST for the art I created during suptoberart 2018

Tags: destiel, destiel fan art, wayward sisters, suptoberart 2018, spn fanart

SFW

MalMuses - @malmuses​ - MalMuses

Something in the Fog

Summary: Finally settling into some semblance of normalcy after Cas comes back from the Empty, Sam finds a case up in New England. In one historic town, people are losing their minds and drowning themselves in a nearby river. Sam and Dean set off alone, only to quickly call Cas to their aid when they realize that the unnerving town of Dunwich is hiding far more than your average witch or ghoul. Drawn into investigating a cult that worships a being far beyond their comprehension, Team Free Will doesn’t understand quite how much danger they are in... Fic posted for SPN Eldritch Bang.

Tags: Dub Con (Possession), Further Clairification of Dub Con Tag in the Appropriate Chapter, Cults, Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Miscommunication, Eldritch Horror, Angst with a Happy Ending

NSFW

MalMuses - @malmuses​​ - MalMuses

Without A Trace

Summary: When Sam disappears during a hunt gone horribly wrong, Dean and his angel Castiel follow a trail of clues that lead them back through Sam’s past. Will Dean be able to save Sam from his history – and will Cas be able to save Dean from himself? Nothing is a simple as it seems for Dean and Cas. Luckily, they have some great friends (and unexpected allies) willing to help them through it. (WIP fic that finished posting this month.)

Tags: Canon Verse, MCD (temporary), Slow Burn, Smut, Fluff, Plot Twists, Torture, First Dates, Drowning, Kidnapping, BAMF!Cas, Gabriel is a badass, Redemption Arcs, Friends to Lovers, Sharing a Bed, Hurt/Comfort, Wing Kink, Grace Sharing, Angel True Forms, Miscommunication, Angst with a Happy Ending

NSFW

MalMuses - @malmuses​​​ - MalMuses

Soup and Whiskey

Summary: “Jack, you know Dean and I, well, we’re not…” Cas spoke quietly, making an awkward, vague hand gesture. The raised eyebrow that Jack gave him came directly from Sam. Cas could see the developing bitch face and it was equal parts entertaining and alarming. “Really,” Cas confirmed. “We aren’t.” Jack put his spoon down slowly to pick up his juice. “Then you should be,” he responded easily, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. A little 14x03 coda.

Tags: 14x03 Coda, Jack ex machina, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions

SFW

saltnhalo - saltnhalo

What The Rain Brings

Summary: In which Castiel's new roommate—supposed to be an alpha, under the guidelines of the college dorms—turns out to be a) late, and b) a beautiful, sarcastic, drenched omega.

Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Castiel (Supernatural), Omega Dean, Meet-Cute, True Mates, Scenting, Misunderstandings, Explicit Sexual Content, Topping from the Bottom, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Porn with Feelings

NSFW

The Sketching Fox - @sketching-fox​ 

My Little Destiel Collection

Summary: A Collection of 10 digital artworks, created during the SupToberArt /Inktober 2018, showing all posts about Destiel!  

Tags: Supernatural, Destiel, Castiel, Dean Winchester, SPNFanart, Spnart, suptober2018, suptoberart2018

SFW

Jdragon122 - @jdragon122​ - Jdragon122

Outlast

Summary: It seemed like a normal case. It always does... Dean has never seen Castiel, the real Castiel. But he’s never really thought about it until the truth of it is thrown in his face, abruptly, and violently. A case out in the deserts of Arizona and old Native American lands uncover a long dormant evil that reemerges when the brothers and the angel stumble upon it. The evil is hungry for power and what powerful being is more tempting than an angel. With Cas suddenly ripped from the brothers, stranded in the middle of the desolate wilderness, they must find a way to save their friend. With the clock ticking and their resources dwindling, Sam and Dean must find a way to defeat the evil and save Cas — before Cas becomes twisted beyond recognition, and before the hunters become the hunted.

Tags: Canon Divergent, Canon Conpliant, Canon-Typical Violence, season/series 11, Dark, Angst, Dean Whump, Cas Whump, Sam is okay though... mostly, Male OC, female OC, Angel True Forms, Castiel (Supernatural)’s True Form, Blood and Violence, very brief scene that might be considered noncon, graphic description of corpses, BAMF Castiel, BAMF Sam, BAMF Dean, switch Castiel, switch Dean, panic attacks, Case Fic, Hurt Dean, Hurt, angst with a happy ending, temporary character death, wings, topping from the bottom,

NSFW

BinJLG - @honeyedsam - BinJLG

Holloween

Summary: Dean spirals into a deep depression after casting Michael out and ends up isolating himself. But Castiel WILL NOT let him spend his favorite holiday alone.

Tags: Destiel, Dean Winchester/Castiel, Sam Winchester mentioned, Jack Kline mentioned, Mary Winchester mentioned, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicidal Ideation, Depressed Dean Winchester, Canon Divergence, Halloween, First Kiss, Depression, Mental Illness, Unreliable Narrator

SFW

Nera_Solani - @nera-solani​ - Nera_Solani

Show me your secrets and I’ll show you madness

Summary: Are you afraid of the dark? No?If you ever find a door that leads nowhere, don't go in. Four teenagers make the mistake of doing so anyway and don’t come back out. Which is how Dean, Sam and Castiel find themselves investigating a case that leads them right into an ancient Greek myth about a labyrinth housing a monster. But the monster isn't the only thing lurking in this dark place; the walls are breathing, watching, waiting… Being separated in a giant maze that isn’t attached to our reality isn’t how any of them had envisioned this case would go.

What is real? What is an illusion? Is that blood? What was that shadow? In every corner awaits a new nightmare, each one worse than the other. The three men need to save the missing teenagers and find a way out — if they can find each other, and live through the terrors the maze shows them. But none of that is easy when you’re being confronted with your worst memories and fears. Especially when you have to lose the love of your life over and over again… Well? Are you afraid of the dark? Maybe you should be.

Tags: Graphic depictions of Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Gore, Injury, Post-Season/Series 13, Case Fic, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Illusions, Hallucinations, Temporary Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Fluff and Angst, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, Cuddling & Snuggling, Idiots in Love, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester Knows, Nearly Human Castiel, Grace Sex, DCBB 2018

NSFW

grumpyphoenix - @paintmeahero - grumpyphoenix

Glutton For Punishment

Summary: Castiel is trying out everything now that he's human. When he finds Dean's porn-stash, he wants to try some of it out, but Dean won't let him. So he has to goad Dean into it.

Tags: Kinktober 2018, Not Beta Read, Edgeplay, Dacryphilia, Spanking, Sadism, Masochism, Biting, Praise Kin,k Angry Sex, Bondage, Hair-pulling, Asphyxiation, Crossdressing, Costumes, Creampie, Under-negotiated Kink, Mildly Dubious Consent, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Jealousy, Human Castiel, Possessive Behaviour

NSFW

supernatural9917 - @supernatural9917fic​ - supernatural9917

We Eat in Here!

Summary: Sam is really sick of walking in on Dean and Cas boning. Written for the Destiel Smut Bingo. Square fill: Sam is scarred for life.

NSFW

supernatural9917 - @supernatural9917fic​ - supernatural9917

Doctor Doctor, Please

Summary: Dean has a special request of Cas Written for the Destiel Smut Bingo. Square fill: Playing doctor.

NSFW

supernatural99117 - @supernatural9917fic​ - supernatural9917

Roommate Wanted

Summary: Dean Winchester moved to Pontiac, Illinois six months ago when his girlfriend Carmen got a new job. Unfortunately for Dean, Carmen then left him for her boss, so he needs to find a roommate ASAP. Castiel Novak needs to move out of his brother’s house before his niece is born, and when he finds Dean’s ad on Craigslist, it seems like the perfect solution for both of them. So what if Dean is ridiculously gorgeous? Castiel can keep his crush under control. So what if Castiel is gay? Totally straight Dean isn’t at all affected by seeing him hook up with dudes. They’re just a couple of completely platonic roommates. Well… that’s what they think, anyway…

Written for the DeanCas Big Bang 2018 with art by @busysquirrel

NSFW

jscribbles - jscribbles

Taker of Souls

Summary: The angels have fallen. Castiel is human, Sam is recovering from the trials, and Dean doesn’t want to expose them to the world as it’s crumbling outside the bunker doors. To pass time in their solitude, Dean discovers a hidden room in the bunker full of dangerous magical artifacts and accidentally exposes his friends and family to an ancient horror. If Castiel thought adjusting to humanity was already a terror in itself, he experiences a world of pain when the ancient spirit Dean released chooses him as a vessel to fulfill its evil prophecy. Castiel begins to change as voices call out to him in the night and take the form of the one righteous man he desires, temptation drawing him to complete a ritual that will allow one of Hell’s most feared ancient entities to occupy his vessel. Before Sam, Dean, Kevin and Crowley know what is happening, they are thrown into a lockdown, unable to escape the bunker as the cruel, twisted monster inside of Castiel prowls the hallways, hunting them, thirsty for their blood, hungry for their souls.

Tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Castiel/Dean, temporary major character death, Minor Character Death, Pining, Slow Burn, non-con, dub-con, Blood, Gore, Body mutilation, Self Harm, zombie-type characters, Hallucinations, Nightmares, horror-imagery, offensive language/insults, spoilers for The Witch, the boys cry, Sickness, Possession, canon-calibre discussions of religion, the evil dead 2013, Crossover, Inspired By, Smut, minor prescription drug use, Vomiting

NSFW

idjitsaviors - @idjitsaviors - Glitchedwings & Akobel - @akobel

Baby, Baby

Summary: Trench was used to sitting on lots of objects, sitting in lots of cars. Baby was used to accommodating articles of clothing (mostly of the flannel variety), and many different items. Of course, Trench was not yet used to being dragged along on celestial plots, and Baby was not yet used to that happening in her backseat. Still, weirdness was the one constant in their daily lives, so the day the trench coat and car met was like any other. By now they’ve met several times over the years, caught in the crossfires of their two owners' friendship and pining. But when Trench is forced to spend months in Baby's trunk, will they finally watch their owners find love? And can they make something of their own? A mostly canon-adjacent fic following Dean and Cas through the eyes of Baby— and the eyes of Trench, her partner in crime.

Tags: Crack treated seriously, canon compliant, mutual pining SFW

[gravityrulez]

places I’m at

In case anybody misunderstood - I will not be leaving tumblr. I will stay active on both @chi-loves-keith and @chi-arts

I’m pissed, of course I am, but the only way I go is by tumblr deleting either me or itself. And I honestly don’t think it’ll come to that. There are no original posts on my main or art blog that go against the new quidelines. And while a few artworks did get flagged as “sensitive” they have been deemed fine after I requested for them to be reviewed again.

However, I know others might leave. That this mistreatment of a huge part of tumblrs userbase will lead to folks jumping ship is understandable. In that case - or in case tumblr actually ends up shutting down - you’ll find me here:

DeviantArt (@Wolflideluxe): I post most of my art here and am otherwise semi active.

Twitter (@Chiarts1): I’m currently uploading most of my 2018 art and retweet pretty much the same fandom stuff that I reblog here (just less). Chances that I’ll follow back are quite good, especially if I recognize you from tumblr!

pillowfort (@ TBA): Currently I’m waiting for it to be up and running again so I can get myself a key. I’ll let you know my username once I do!

Discord (@Chi#5720): I’m socially awkward and anxious but if you’re a long time follower or we’re mutuals and you want to chat, feel free to just start a convo :D

Ko-Fi (@chiarts): If you like my art you can send me a tip here!

Redbubble (@chi-arts): Products with my art on it can be found here

I know the last two are not like the others but I thought if I’m already doing a masterlist I might as well add them :’D

[youngfisay]

SELLING ON REDBUBBLE: TIPS FROM SOMEONE WHO HIT 20K SALES

Over on Instagram, I shared that I recently hit 20k sales on Redbubble and started getting a lot of questions about selling on Redbubble! This blog post details all of my best tips for selling your work on Redbubble from starting out to sharing your shop. Make sure to follow me on Instagram for more tips on selling your work! Click here to follow me!

what is it?

Redbubble is a website similar to Society6 and Casetify, where artists, designers, and photographers can upload their work to sell on various items like stickers, tshirts, prints, and more. The best thing about Redbubble is that they handle all of the production, shipping, customer service, etc. so all you have to do is create the artwork and upload it! I began selling on Redbubble in 2017 when I was a sophomore in college starting my brand. I knew I didn’t want to be shipping products or keeping an inventory as I was living in a dorm room at the time. I highly recommend selling on Redbubble for everyone, but especially those who don’t want to deal with shipping and keeping inventory!

how does it work?

When listing an item on Redbubble, you want to export your artwork as either a PNG or a JPEG, depending on the design. If it’s a digital design, I usually do a PNG. If you are uploading a pattern or a photograph, you may want a JPEG. When creating your work, you do want to keep in mind your resolution and artboard size. I usually made mine at least 10x10” (I would think of it in terms of inches because I often uploaded my designs to work for both stickers and tshirts) and at a resolution of at least 300. After you create your piece, you upload it to Redbubble and select which products you want the design on. I’d usually go through and format it for most of the products but stickers and tshirts were my most popular.

is it free?

YES! It is free to signup and it doesn’t have a listing fee like Etsy does. The downside to selling on Redbubble is you only get paid an artists margin. So, a shirt could sell for $20 but you may only see $6.00 from that sale. I usually make 20-75 cents per sticker I sell, which is my most popular item. While this may not seem like a lot, I don’t have to do anything after uploading the artwork. I rarely even check my Redbubble shop, usually once or twice a month do I even look at my analytics!

I totally understand that 20 cents does not feel like a lot. It isn’t. My first paycheck from Redbubble was like $3.00 so I get it. However, Redbubble is something that once you build it up, it runs itself. In the last year, I’ve maybe uploaded like 20 new designs. It took me about a year to hit 1k sales, then I hit 10k the next year, and I just celebrated hitting 20k sales about a year and a half after that. It’s one of those things where you put the effort in up front and it can pay off. It’s now something that I don’t even have to think or worry about- the only thing I have to check is to make sure I claim my Paypal earnings each month!

getting started

To create your Redbubble shop, you can click here!

It’s super easy to create an account and start selling!

tagging your work + collections

I’ve found that tagging your work is SO important! Once you upload and format your work, there is a section near the publish button that includes tags. Here is where you should add words that customers may search for to find the design. I think of this like a hashtag on Instagram. Think about it like this, what would your ideal customer be searching for?

I’ve also found that sorting your work into collections can be helpful when people find your shop. If you have a lot of designs like I do, this can help customers find similar stickers. For example, one of my collections is named Ohio and one is named Baseball. Any stickers that have to do with baseball are found in that collection so if someone is interested in baseball stickers and they like my style, they could find other designs!

sharing your work

After you publish your art and create your shop, you want to share about it! Make sure your shop link is in your social media bios or linktree to help drive traffic. One tool that Redbubble has that is really neat is the mockups and resources they provide to help artists share their work. While I think this is a GREAT resource, my biggest tip involves taking your own photos.

biggest tip for selling on redbubble

While Redbubble provides mockups for their artists, I personally preferred taking my own photos for social media when I had the time! I would order a couple products and then take my own photos so they matched my personal brand and stood out on Instagram. When you post to Instagram, make sure you’re using hashtags.

Some examples of good Redbubble hashtags:

#redbubblestickers

#redbubbleshop

#redbubbleartist

#redbubblelaptops

#redbubblestore

#redbubbleart

When you scroll through these hashtags, you see a lot of Redbubble’s mockups. I would take my own photos for social media instead which helped me stand out. While I obviously couldn’t order and take photos of each product- I have 295 designs on a variety of different products- I would order a couple every now and then.

need some photo ideas? here’s a list!

Order a shirt with your design and post a photo of you wearing it! People love seeing the person behind the work. Some caption options include making it a #FridayIntroductions post and mentioning that it’s a shirt from your shop or wear it to an event like a pop up shop or craft fair. If you take brand photos, that’s another great chance to wear one of your shirts!

Purchase stickers and showcase them on your laptop or water bottle! This shows how multiple of your designs work together and could encourage multiple sticker sales from your shop. You could take the photo in your work space- whether that is in your bedroom, dorm room, home office, or in a coffee shop! Another note: I cannot tell you how many times my stickers have started a conversation - when someone compliments them, PROUDLY say you designed them!!

Order a mask with your design on it and wear it! My whole family has been wearing masks I made with our enneagram type patterns on them.

Purchase a print with your design and showcase it hanging in your work space while you’re brainstorming new designs. include some behind the scenes with your work in the background!

Order a mug with your design on it and share a shot of your morning coffee! Ask your audience how they like their coffee (I’m an iced coffee girl through and through) in the caption and/or do a $5 coffee giveaway!

Design a journal or sketchbook and use it to keep a list of your ideas! Post behind the scenes shots of you brainstorming new ideas on your account and show off your journal. People love seeing how designs and concepts come to life AND you’d be promoting your own products.

Incorporate some products into your home decor! A couple ideas could be purchasing a throw pillow and sharing a shot of your couch with the pillow and some of your artwork hanging above it. Or put your designs on some coasters and style your bar cart or coffee cart with them!

Do a giveaway! Giveaway a collection of stickers or a tshirt (whatever your budget allows) and do an instagram giveaway where people have to follow/like/tag others to enter! This will help get you new exposure AND give back to your followers.

other tips

Upload a profile photo and a banner! This helps people see and connect with who they are supporting!

Include a bio on your page with links to your social media and portfolio. This can help direct people who find you on Redbubble to your social platforms!

Post about Redbubble sales- especially around holidays, black friday, etc. Share them on stories and make sure your link is in your bio!

If you utilize Pinterest, try pinning some of your designs! Redbubble does create and run ads with your work but Pinterest is such a good resource!

Upload new designs as frequently as you can! I used to set a goal for like 5 a week when I was really trying to grow my shop.

Wear and use your products! You never know when someone might ask you where you got something and you can share your shop. When they do ask, be proud of your work and you shop!! You’ve worked hard so own it.

Offer to create custom designs for people or put a suggestion box up for your social media followers to give you ideas!

Order a couple of your stickers or an item and do a giveaway on Instagram!

[eskiworks]

Using Commissioned Art for Merchandise: A PSA

I recently published a calendar for sale featuring various floating island pieces that people have commissioned from me over on Redbubble.  I’ve gotten more than one inquiry about the ethics of doing this, including more than a few accusations of “sketchy” behavior.  I recently responded to one of these inquiries in private, which became rather lengthy but which I think is useful to post publicly.  I know this information is floating out there in other posts, but because of the frequency of misunderstandings, I thought it useful to put it out here again!

I'd first like to open this with a brief explanation of copyright and trademark law, because usually this question comes from a place of not understanding how those laws work. When an artist makes a piece of work, that individual piece of work is protected by copyright. No need to register the piece with the copyright office, though doing so can help in cases where your artwork is used illegally without your consent for profit. This applies to commissioned artwork as well. Unless it is specified in a written agreement (an exchange of emails can count), the copyright to a commissioned piece by default remains with the artist. The client is paying for the time used to create the piece. It's a service, not a product (though it's a bit of a combination especially in regards to traditional commissions where the original painting is shipped to the client). Even with traditional paintings, the rights to use the image remain with the artist by default. Because this isn't widely known, I have it outlined in my term of service, a link to which is available on my front page of every gallery I have, and provided in email exchanges with clients before payment is made. Now you might ask, what about the copyrights of the characters? Don't the clients own the character design? In an absolutely strict legal sense, the answer is no. Character design, unlike individual works of art, is not protected by copyright. However, a character creator can TRADEMARK their character, the process for which is a bit more rigorous than copyright. While trademark isn't protected immediately upon creation like copyrighted individual works are, you need to actually file for a trademark according to certain specifications to have your character design protected legally. Examples of trademarked characters are Mickey Mouse and Superman. Ethically, however, the characters absolutely do belong to the clients! Despite there being no legal precedent, that is something I respect. Which is why I often alter commissioned works before selling prints, stickers, or other products of the piece. Some people prefer this. Some people find it insulting, and desire me to represent their character exactly as designed in my products. Most people don't care, as they've read and agreed to be terms of service before paying for and receiving commissioned artwork. I do my best to respect the wishes of every client in this regard on an individual basis, within reason. A side note I want to bring up, because this is often a point of confusion, is the term "Work for hire", which you will see nowhere on my terms of service. This is a specific legal term that applies to artists doing work for clients who will retain all the rights to the resulting work. Many people think "work for hire" means "any work which you are hired for." This is incorrect, and the source of a lot of grief for artists. It's important to know that it refers to a very specific legal term, and not ALL art which you are hired to create. Now onto my terms of service. If you take a look at the link here - tinyurl.com/katiehofgardtos You will see I have more than one clause covering this exact issue. Clause 14 outlines basic copyright law as it pertains to commissioned works.  While not necessary, helps to avoid confusion. Most people aren't aware of the law, and I believe clients should be informed. Clause 15 states that I do not claim ownership of the character, another concern that potential clients may have. By commissioning me, you don't give over the rights to your character in any fashion whatsoever. They still belong to you, just as the artwork belongs to me. Clause 16 is an extension of clause 14, to further clarify that "rights" include the distribution of the digital file and sale of the image in any way. Again, many people don't understand what rights are, so this is to keep them informed. Clause 17 outlines the limited rights that I transfer to a client, because some people want to make a print for their wall, or a t-shirt of their character just for personal use. That doesn't harm me financially in any way, and I think it's only right they get to do that. Every single client is given the opportunity to read this terms of service often in several stages; once before emailing me when I open for commissions, once in email exchanges before sending payment, and any time they wish to refresh their memory as it's linked on all of my gallery pages. This is not hidden information, since it’s important to make the transaction go smoothly, and to protect both myself and the client.  Commissioning me is a choice, and preferences for the use of the commissioned art absolutely do get taken into consideration within reason.

I want to end this by emphasizing that without the use of commissioned works for creation of prints and other products, I and many other artists who work almost exclusively on a commission basis are reduced to being laborers alone. We are paid for the labor of making brand new art, but would be denied the opportunity to make passive income from our own artwork through products and licensing. I'm someone whose business is mostly labor. It will eventually catch up to me physically, I will not be able to make brand new art for pay later in life. It doesn't seem like it, but art is a physically laborious task which can (and has) resulted in repetitive motion injury which threatens my livelihood in the long term. But with passive income (making and selling merchandise, or licensing artwork for companies to do so), I can create a secondary income for myself which frees me to do BETTER work, hurts me less, and provides a needed source of income for my family, for which I am the sole provider. If you have questions, I recommend checking out from your local library this book - graphicartistsguild.org/handbo… Along with the courses I took in art school about copyright law, contract law, and common art business practices, this is one of my main up to date resources for building and maintaining the way I do business. My business practices are based off a combination of what I learned in copyright law/contract law/business practice classes in college, what I've read on my own, & common practices in the furry art commission arena. I've tried to create a balance that's fair for me and clients!