#arts and crafts also sounds good tho

[mohammedalanqar]

I find myself in a situation where it’s difficult to think about the luxury of dedicating a room to any specific purpose. I’m in Gaza, where my home has been destroyed, and we are currently displaced without shelter. For me, all I long for is just one room—a safe haven for my children, providing them with comfort and protection, far from the sounds of destruction and fear.

When I think about the question, my priority now is to restore stability to our lives and give my children a safe place where we can build simple memories, rather than living in constant worry for our safety and well-being.

Link my story ❤️:

[buttered-milky]

How maglor gets treated in fandom is so interesting to me because like? I feel like it just…it exactly what the canon narrative wants from you? This is not articulated well let me try to do that better—

Maglor generally gets treated as the softest of the sons, and I don’t blame people for this. We see comparatively little of his Atrocities tm than we do of some others, and we also see comparatively More of his personality than some of the others. Like. Caranthir and Amburussar have maybe the same level of atrocity description in my mind, but also. Let’s be so real. They do very fucking little besides kinslay and get killed—which is something we already know about all the others. They aren’t given much extra spice to their personality. (I’m talking about in the published Silm here bc tho I know many of us have read other extra shit also a lot of us haven’t!)

We get a lot of time with Maglor and we actually get to see him be remorseful towards the end. He tries to save Elrond and Elros, fucked up as that situation is, and he tries to convince Maedhros to just surrender.

Also, he doesn’t die nearly as violently as the others.

Maglor is in this odd space of still being very much A Fëanorian and also having some interesting sense of morals and (at risk of this sounding weird, but idk how else to put it) an artist’s soul. What do see of him feels markedly less dangerous that what we see of the rest of his family.

And that’s interesting! The narrative has painted Maglor as a little less dangerous and a little more sensitive than the rest of his family, and it has painted him nicely, and we know from having read the fucking book that that is probably not fair. He has killed so many people.

He has killed so many, but he has good PR. I actually kind of love that the fandom is not immune to the PR because shit like this happens in real life. I love when we can all learn a little lesson from a fictional guy. People in real life have great PR and commit great atrocities all the time. Also people in real life make wonderful art and then are terrible people in the rest of life.

Sometimes I see people say we should treat Maglor different and maybe not as soft but I disagree. Getting this take on him is on purpose I think. The text is trying for that. Because this is a real thing—crafting yourself an image which is better than you actually are is a real thing.

Whatever if he’s some weird sensitive goth. Do you know how many weird sensitive goths turn out to be horrible fucking people? Maglor I love you just as much as the next guy but if I saw you in the goth scene irl we would be fighting. This is the guy people are talking about when they say “keep your scene clean.”

Maglor should probably be treated as harshly as his siblings but also I’m okay that he isn’t. I actually prefer it this way because it can be a good lesson in the difference between someone’s image and who they are.

Tldr; it’s actually a little funny that the fandom treats maglor the way they do and i hope it never stops. Play into his pr it’s fun. And a good life lesson

[absolutebl]

Wedding Plan Trash Watch!

You ready to snuffle-kiss the burn? 

Before I start...

Find out about Mame and the Mameverse here.

Find my other trash watches of her and others here. 

We all know what we are getting in for, 7 episodes of BLduggery. To crane your neck as you drive by the car wreck or not... that is the question. Me? I'm wallowing in the guts. 

Episode 1 - In which I craft an ode to Dumpster Fires Everywhere 

I am sorry, but they opened with Battle Hymn of the Republic for PrapaiSky’s wedding? I busted out laughing. 

Also, you KNOW I can’t just let that go. 

Ready?

LET’S SING! (Bet you’d never thought I’d type those words). 

Battle Hymn of BL Tumblr

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the trash This is barely even BL it’s just Mame writing slash  She hath set ablaze such garbage in pursuit of all our cash But the trash watch must go on! 

 (Buh buh ba buh) 

Glory, glory hallelujah!  Mame hit us with a sewer.  Spoiling all our fun, Oh the shit storm has begun, But the trash watch must go on! 

I have seen the dumpster-fires of a hundred BL tropes She will sacrifice her ukes ’til they’ve lost all of their hopes We will watch in righteous anger while the refuse burns and smokes But the trash watch must go on! 

 (Buh buh ba buh) 

Glory, glory hallelujah!  Life’s rough for a BL reviewer.  When OG BL fans run afoul of Mame stans  But the trash watch must go on! 

 Buh buh buh buh! 

Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here for the next 7 weeks. Yes some of my rhyming conventions are awkward af but I never claimed to be a filker. Now where was I?

Oh YES, 

STILL AT THE VERY BEGINNING. 

Where have I seen this seme before? Oh! Top Secret Together. 

Micky D sponsorship? Nice. I’m impressed. 

Too many sound effects, abort! Is that the sound tech from Lovely Writer I sniff? Someone please fire his ass. Yes, it must be him. Only a straight dude misuses buttons like that. 

I feel Nuea’s pain I too hate the gym. 

This better not be in one of those situations where after instalove our seme arranges for the wedding planner boy he likes to plan his own wedding so that he can marry him at the end. 

Lots of pronouns going astray in that sentence, but you get my meaning. 

Drag baby around. Locker room. Kabeldon 

Honestly? And this is not usually a criticism I lob at Mame ( I know is there anything I have lobbed at her?) but the leads seem a bit stiff and uninspired. 

It is just me? 

Episode 2 - What’s this? Oh is that boredom? 

What are these boys in these office BLs doing behind their desks on those computers? They never actually seem to be working at all. They’re like brochure stock art ads for boys on computers. 

I had to skip most of the humiliating stuff with the food in the car and whatever was going on because… aargh. 

They keep ordering food in this episode of nobody’s eating it. And it looks really good and I’m hungry and this is very upsetting to me. 

Lom is just totally jerking Nuea around. Just tell him what your relationship is with the bride. 

There’s no need to be so fucking coy about it. 

I love the flaming yelling fit from Nuea tho.  

It was also a good kiss. 

But that’s what we expect from a Mame. 

Mame giveth and mame taketh away. 

Somewhat dull episode frankly. Even with the kiss.

Sigh. What have I become?

Episode 3 - WHAT IS THIS? There is nothing about this episode that pleased me even a tiny bit. Except Noel’s hair. But that wasn’t part of the script. 

Buckle up, I got A LOT to say. 

It’s a pleasure to welcome you back to your normal and expected ABL meets Mame interface where... ABL LOSES THEIR TINY MIND. 

Right on schedule it feels like. 

Ready?

Oh who am I kidding, you sadists life for this shizz. And you can’t tell me you don’t. 

Lom is so frustrating. 

I wanna punch him too. Sing it, sister! 

Random water sports. (And not of the kind one might expect from Mame. Stop it. You know she would go there. She’d think it was edgy.) 

Peeps! 

We need a name for when a BL reviews itself. 

It keeps happening. 

Should you tell him everything? 

Yes. 

1000 times yes. 

I’m basically screaming it at the screen. 

TELL HIM!!!! 

You tricked him into a date without telling him a single thing about what’s actually going on. Are you insane? 

What the hell. 

You keep kissing him but he is planning your wedding. How fucked up are you? You monster 

A Mame show calling out its own exploitive sexism is so fucking awkward. 

Mame. Sweetheart. Snookums. Sugarbeans. Shaken-baccon. You don’t have enough fucking talent to go meta. Leave it to the better BLs to follow trends. Your shizz is old fashioned and that’s why people like it. Don’t try to be classy, it makes this whole shit show just look even more shabby. 

Poor baby. 

Now he’s doubting himself completely. 

What are these assholes doing to you? 

Come with me. 

I’m going to transport you to this other terrible BL trash watch happening right now, where there is a LOVELY adorable boy named Max and I think you would be perfect together. 

So it’s basically just Narnia-level closet cases we are dealing with here? 

THAT’S IT?

THAT’S THE EXCUSE FOR THIS LEVEL OF MANIPULATION?

WHAT IS GOING ON? 

Nuea is such a cutie.

I want to punch Lom all over again.   

Noel looks v pretty as a blond. 

The proposal sequence was unnecessary. But at least I don’t wanna punch anyone. 

THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE for lying. For manipulation. For not understanding how you’re betraying another person’s faith in himself. 

Especially not if you’re in the position of power: social, cultural, employer. 

Why doesn’t Mame EVER understand this? 

You can’t have a character that is sincere and earnest in love and yet entirely lacking in all forms of integrity. 

This is driving me crazy. 

No one is in the show is as crazy as this show is making me.

I started this episode wanting to punch Lom, and I’m ending this episode wanting to punch Lom.

That’s a mame plot for ya. 

No character development at all, on any side of the screen. 

And someone, mostly me, is always left with a mad desire to punch something. 

Frankly, I kinda want to punch the screen.

Episode 4 - I Am Going to Start Drinking

I like consent especially when “no” is activated. But this being Mame she shoe horns it in and then the seme ignores it. 

It’s so awkward. She’s actually incapable of making any non-problematic tropes sexy. It’s like there is only one lane for her shows and that lane is...

the WORST 

My “Punch Lom in the face 2023” campaign continues.

I don’t see how he can ever become a sympathetic character. He just trundles along lying by omission (when speaking up would make everything better). I hate him. 

I’m glad we get to see Nuea suffering, now show Lom what he has done and make him lose the boy. 

No? No.

Instead Lom gets rewarded with sex for being a sleazy lying gutless jerk? Well terds to both you fine gentlemen. 

I mean, very gay of you, Nuea sweetie. 

“Because just SOOOO hot” being the #1 excuse in my personal “I slept with WHAT?” experience. (Heh, to be fair I’m often the WHAT? in that equation. I live to be someone’s bad mistake... just not Lom-level-bad. 

Where was I? 

Oh yeah, Gaga has the sex scene. FYI. Came outta nowhere, that sex scene did. Very disjointed... not that kind of joint. Not that kind either.

It’s not a particularly impressive sex scene, which is disappointing. Because WHY ELSE WOULD WE BE WATCHING?

I mean, if you’re going to have your characters (and by extension us) forfeit all integrity and taste in order to watch your stupid show, the least you could do is give us decent chemistry. 

I’m not saying this is worse than LITA but at least LITA was hot.

It wasn’t anything else. But it was hot.

This this is 

not hot. 

In conclusion: if Nuea’s baby bro doesnt’t punch Lom in the face next week I will have to start drinking on Weds...

oh wait!

BMF ends this Friday! I can switch to drinking mid week!

YES

(I have a new rule: only one BL a week is allowed to drive me to drink in any give rotation.) 

Imma preemptively point out that I am aware that bearding and lavender marriages are still quite common all over the world. I would whole heartedly support a good depiction of it. (Even one where it stays fix in the beard position.) This is NOT a good depiction. 

I shall draw your attention to 2017′s rarely discussed (not really BL) We Are Gamily out of... you guessed it... Taiwan. You can argue with me about this only AFTER you have watched that. 

Okay, back to the trash watch. 

Episode 5 - I Neglected to Drink and that was a Mistake

Ate a lot of crap traveling home today (feel gross) + tumblr new desktop UX has me pissed + Mame & alcohol? I’m not sure I’d survive. So no alcohol. 

Here we go. 

Poor Nuea feels so guilty. 

Please save me from ever feeling that way after sex. *shudder* 

Before you ask, to the best of my knowledge, I have never slept with a married person. I’ve slept with married people... married to each other mind you... but I hope that makes it clear everyone was consensual. (I recommend it, by the way. Being a unicorn is lots of fun.) 

Where was i? 

We were dealing with punching Lom not my misspent youth. 

(looks at calendar. wait, that was last month.) 

PUNCH LOM 2023! 

Queen! 

I love her.

It wasn’t a physical punch but a verbal one is almost as good. (And can be more damaging in the long run.) 

Could we please still have an actual punch?

Pretty please?

Mame punches her characters all the time. And no character ever deserved a punching more than Lom. 

I do wish there was a nice boy back home to scoop Nuea up. 

That line of boys wanting him, could we see it, not be told it? 

I do like the random sinshine hyung side couple. 

Omg. COLD MICKY D?! 

That might just be the most objectionable moment in this whole show. 

And that’s a tall order. 

Pun intended.

(straight, HA! pun not intended but still very much THERE) 

Was I pleased we got multiple characters who are just outright gay? Yes. 

But representation has not been one of Mame’s issues. 

I mean Tharn was one of the first openly gay seme leads in a Thai BL, and she also had rep for lube and condoms in that show. That’s not the issue with TharnType. Or Mame. 

Her issues tend to revolve around story structure and audience manipulation. 

Was I pleased that Nuea knew what was going on? Yes, I’m glad he’s not totally clueless. 

I still want Lom to be punched in the face and I’m still mad at this show. 

Episode 6 - Too hot to drink, still a Mistake

I finally figured out my real problem with Lom. It’s not that he was closeted and manipulative without good reason (although he is). It’s not that he lied and strung Nuea along for a lot longer than was necessary (because he did). It is that he basically does everything for himself and his own ends. Even when he’s confessing his love it comes off as flat because it isn’t about Nuea and what Nuea wants or needs, it’s about Lom wants.

Hanging a lampshade on it doesn’t make it right. 

It was good bridge kiss. And car kiss. And sex kisses. 

There is something corrupted grunge romantic asking the person you love most in the world to hide that love and climb back into the closet with you for the sake of your nasty arse family (is that a queer taboo, hum). I’m not saying lavender marriages are necessarily wrong, I’m just saying it’s an interesting plot twist in a BL. 

I think we HAVE to hold this up and examine it in stark contrast to the final ep of Bad Buddy. It’s interesting how the closet retreat didn’t bother me at all in BB, and I thought it was quite a clever and elegant ending twist. Whereas here it’s just annoying. It’s not making me as angry as it probably should. But it is annoying as a narrative conceit and denouement.

Can I ask a question.

 It’s not a serious question, of course. 

What is up with all of the shows this year having dates on lakes featuring that thing where you ride a funny little floaty-boat while being dragged behind a fast boat. I’m sure it has a name, but I could not care less. New sponsor? 

The sex scene was fine. But I have to say, I wish they had leaned into the fact that Lom is a virgin and Nuea has more experience. It would’ve been a really interesting dynamic to see honestly represented on screen.

In conclusion, Nuea is a saint and next week everything comes to a head that didn’t already get head this episode.

Episode 7 - Finally I’m drinking! 

I am having a tiki beverage this evening to round out this show. Coconut rum and mango popping Boba are involved. Don’t judge. I have the alcohol palate of a 7 year old. 

I’m ready! Let’s shave this beard!

And, well, that was a pink saturated drama of the mothers in law. Enjoyable lakorn style scenery chewing. The ladies seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Lom pretending to be sad and pitiful. Also funny. 

Using his evil against his mom is acceptable. Suddenly his manipulative lying ways are working in the right direction. 

Honestly? 

This was a fine ending, I’m not mad at it. 

They managed to keep Lom in character until the end, he remained deceitful.  I would never trust him, but clearly Nuea is willing to ride that dragon. 

I guess 7/10? 

If you can tolerate Mame and liars (kinda the same thing) you’ll be fine with this show. 

But, frankly? Lom as a character would sit better amongst the drama bananas of Only Friends.

In summation: 

A lackluster Mame offering with less of her usual stellar chemistry, but all of her usual manipulation. An innocent wedding planner falls haplessly and hopelessly in love with a groom who relentlessly pursues him, even though he’s about to marry someone else. 

(source) 

[alectricblue]

Saw this tag game on another post and thought I'd do it (idk if I've done it before, maybe something similar, but my answers will be different anyway)

1. Were you named after anyone?

Nope My chosen name (Allister) however, is from a youtuber who has a very cool name and I stole it (Alasdair Beckett-King, very funny videos and he has great hair too). I adapted it a bit so people in Spain would at least have an idea of how to pronounce it at first glance (hopefully) It has nothing to do with any Crowley (which I did not realize was a thing until recently), tho for a bit I named myself AJ like Good Omens Crowley, but I don't like how it sounds in Spanish...

2. When was the last time you cried?

Last month probably

3. Do you have kids?

No. And I don't want any. I don't dislike them, but it's not for me

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

Judo, karate and football (the indoors kind). All as a kid/teen. Now my brother and I walk every week day and go up and down stairs (when we remember...) One day I want to try to go to a gym to get some muscle, but not too much, just a bit of definition. Also, I'd enjoy doing rock climbing, but not competitive climbing or anything like that

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Sometimes

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Irl: the way they move their face and hands when they speak, which then I subconsciously use to recognize people, bc I'm a bit face blind Online: the way they choose to express themselves

7. What's your eye color?

Gray/light blue on the outside and artichoke green/lime on the inside

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

I like both, but I'd rather watch a happy ending. For scary things I prefer to watch Markiplier's scary games videos

9. Any talents?

I'm VERY good at jigsaw puzzles

10. Where were you born?

East of Spain, by some of the best Mediterranean coasts 😁. I enjoy it here, but one day I'd like to live in the UK, at least for a bit, I think I'd like it there

11. What are your hobbies?

Listening to music, singing, making art (crafting, building, drawing, painting, writing, ...), watching media (shows, panel shows, youtube, twitch), video games (rhythm/dancing, platformer, puzzle... Also minecraft, powerwash sim, potion craft...), going for walks, exercise, learning languages (especially English) If I had any good ones close, I'd go to theatres and museums too. And, if I had money, I'd travel. I'm also slowly learning about taking care of plants

12. Do you have any pets?

Not yet. I'd love to have dogs, cats, frogs, snakes... or anything really. I love animals. But I think cats and frogs would be the best fit for me, considering my personality and current lifestyle I've always wanted a dog, but I've only had a turtle and a hamster

13. How tall are you?

1.63m or 5’3”

14. Favorite subject in school?

Biology and technology

15. Dream job?

Anything that pays me enough to be independent and let me do all my hobbies Although, if I ever have the patience, base skill, and required mental fortitude, I'd go for general robotics and/or prop making (for film and/or theatre)

No pressure tags in no particular order (I tried to tag as many people as I could, but apparently there's a tag limit 😅):

@swamp-communism @they-thespian666 @strongsuits @skelesona @shinekittenace @yeetmewithachainsaw @rockium-z @gordonzola-ramen @vampireopossum @libraryfag @frostytheduck @tetostar @xyrnys @normalscientist @dolltwink @anxi0usgh0st05 @piersgender

@mettatonsass @sinfulauthor @flaretheidiot @sneebles-mcgee @pivotallemonade @aroace-genderfluid-snake @monstrousmaws @satanic-leaf @virtualunease @villowrose @handrazedsun @ceiltheoutcast @atroph1k @entropy-sea-system @abby-cat99928 @maroroque @galaxgay

@realyfroggyfrog @angrysheep @llamaflower @ultrabean @sea-salt-sky @queerestqueertoeverqueer @crowleys-queen @foolishlovers @cassieno @crowleys-hips @argylepiratewd @trianglebird4 @sugarplumanderson @underlilithswings21 @crowleys-bentley-and-plants @healingmyinnerteen

and anyone else that sees this, consider yourself tagged!

[mapizb99]

SPOILERS!

Thoughts on the awakening movie

Ok so I have thoughts, not very organized thoughts but thoughts nonetheless

1) why was Marinette’s voice actress when she was singing SO DIFFERENT from her speaking one??? It took me out of the movie every single time.

2) there were too many songs and the fact that none of them were Ce mur qui nous separe is heartbreaking. At the third Marinette song I was rolling my eyes. Plus they all felt pretty same-y and I didn’t think any of the, were particularly good.

3) the scenes felt SO disjointed! Like they had some cool storyboards but weren’t quite sure how to join them together.

4) the whole story felt kinda like that to me, like they couldn’t quite explore all the elements they wanted to include and relies a lot on the fact that we already know (and love) the characters, like if it was my first approach to the universe I’d feel like the movie was rushed and shallow.

5) on a more positive note the animation was incredibly beautiful, a few characters felt a little too baby faced but the lighting and textures really made this very pretty to look at.

6) what was Gabriel’s villain song? It’s like they had an interesting idea but they just couldn’t deliver (which unfortunately rings true for most of the movie)

7) related to Marinette and her many many songs was her character arc, it felt kinda all over the place, like her whole “gotta face my fears” lesson was learned like three different times and not once in a fulfilling way.

8) Alya was kinda mean at the beginning? Did anyone else feel that way?

9) Tikki’s rap was SO CRINGE and the bit in Hawkmoth’s song where he gets a hat and poses un a rap-y way was so weird as well. Like come to think of it they were probably referencing “friends in the other side” but it only makes this song seem way worse by comparison.

10) the movie had serious issues with its rhythm and pacing, with the whole story but also in every scene.

11) kinda related to that but their mouths sometimes would not move with the dialogue? At first I assumed it was because it was made for French first but I could very clearly read their lips in English just not in sync with the sound.

12) the kwamis (genies in this movie apparently, ugh) were characterized in such a weird way, it was like trying to be Tikki but not quite getting there. I did enjoy when she got all wide eyed and musterious, it kinda goes with her being super old and powerful.

13) Plagg??? Being mostly just a fart joke??? 0/10

14) that and Chat feeling so unimportant.

15) Chat also fell in love way to fast, and like it didn’t feel genuine? Like they barely knew each other and Marinette wasn’t like particularly impressive yet for him to be fawning over her.

16) after the little montage tho? I loved their dynamic and relationship, and I really liked their little fight on the roof

17) the movie was sprinkled with little scenes and moments that were enjoyable and well crafted, but even if they were emotional moments they just didn’t feel earned and were kinda buried under a bunch of mid scenes.

18) I did like that Hawkmoth was dealt with in the spam of one movie, 11/10 much more realistic for his abilities than 5 seasons.

19) most of the jokes didn’t land because the timing of them was so weird, like long pauses or they were delivered too fast.

In general there were some bits that I enjoyed and the animation was obviously gorgeous (even if the pacing brought it back a bit) but maybe I had too much hype but I was disappointed. Still I’m certainly inspired to try some fan art and will save stills from the movie cause they were so beautiful.

I probably didn’t make a lot of sense but I needed to get everything out there!

P.S. HOW COULD THEY CUT JUST BEFORE THE KISS?!! UGHHH!!!

[siodium]

last con haul for a while!! (famous last words 🤡) no but fr i'm running out of cash, stamina, and sanity. 💸

doki doki anime market (DDAM) and konbini 3.0 loots ↓↓

chainsaw man mini acrylic standees (@kabanokii)

"go for it, jinshi!" print (@xuanllli) - it's a parody of the series "go for it, nakamura!" which i haven't seen bUT same, jinshi.... maomao is beautiful....

kim dokja birthday print + freebie sticker (@del_lwl)

shibuya incident gojo print (@thisiskeets) - i haven't caught up to the series but the vibes of this print?? so good.

dungeon meshi print (@aznpew) - i finished the anime!!! it's so good!! waiting for the second season now.

AA:DGS asogi kazuma print + dunmeshi and persona 5 stickers (@jaayes_)

acrylic omamori charm for safe travels (@barelybreathingbunny) - this was from mercury fest but koko was holding on to it for the haul pics.

sandalphon keychain (@pomokat) - FINALLY GOT SANDALPHON HEHE

rowlet phone strap (@lime.artz)

custom biyoo linked keychain - idk who the artist is!! should be one of the booths at the end of row J iirc. the biyoos look so tasty~

biyoo stickers + phone strap set (@yishyre)

pink star-shaped crystal bracelet (@lyrasflair)

aquarium stickers + pokemon cafe stickers + washi tapes (@mochigardens)

puffy sushi linked charms (@thebunmeo) - i didn't get the chef charm bc i wanted to put my biyoo puffy charm on this?? maybe??

ivantill phone strap (@akinerui) - managed to get the display piece!!

ivantill photocards + stickers + keychain set (@del_lwl) - made a beeline for this booth bc i need that keychain!! it looks like hard candy.

"no brain cells" socks (@vensroom) - same.

kitsune gacha plush keychain + freebie sticker (@shermstan) - yO we figured out the trick to getting kitsune/nekomata!! if you shake the ball and hear a bell sound, it's probably one of them. and so the both of us acquired a kitsune each!! the ones i wanted were kappa and tanuki tho, but i had enough of the oni curse to try for them....

radish outfit (@labutori) - super cute and fits kitsune!! also fits the smol chiikawa plushies.

and a bunch of freebies. the oc cards and the smiski stuff were from koko's dachi (@dachi_duck) art polaroid trades~ the smiski fighting for his life on the toilet is me..... after downing one cup of milk tea.

⋅˚₊‧ ଳ ‧₊˚ ⋅

pretty sure it's DDAM's first event?? bc i've never heard of it. the entrance fee ($5) was surprisingly ok so i wanted to go check it out. we went on a sunday which means the wristband collection queue was pretty much nonexistent (according to koko), and we also didn't have to queue to enter the venue!! i heard some concerns regarding the safety of the event bc there were quite a lot of booths packed into just oNE hall (compared to three halls for doujima??), but i thought the walking space was ok. the crowd started pouring in at 3 pm+ and i was getting shoved around by shoulders and bags so umM maybe they need better crowd control idk.

konbini is an event similar to mercury fest, with a focus on handmade crafts and vintage/j-fashion clothes. i didn't see a lot of things i wanted?? i think bc it was the last day and almost closing time, a lot of stuffs were already sold out. i bought a pair of socks and a bracelet, and yeeted myself out of there before something else could tempt me.

[nanjokei]

i think the spread of character ai usage (and ai art generation usage also) is definitely an issue with people wanting instant gratification which actual rp usually is just not sustainably built for unless you're doing chat rp, even then your friends aren't awake 24/7 waiting at beck and call to entertain you. it's not literally entitlement, but it 100% stems from entitlement to be entertained constantly and passively instead of actually going out and finding something to do.

god this sounds like such boomer shit but the creation of endless scrolling like on tiktok with specifically tailored algorithms has made people so PASSIVE. ai can never come close to human creators but if people, especially the younger generation, are getting too cozy with choosing it over seeking out other human beings (whether it be indirectly via consuming fanmade work or directly via actual collaborative stuff like online roleplay), then how different is it from the ai "winning"? i don't think any of the excuses are valid. it's a subpar product in every way. it's almost never im character, it breaks if you propose anything too left field, and it's ultimately empty wish fulfilment and i have no idea how anyone past the age of 16 AT BEST gets any gratification from it. is it just the spread of a lack of reading comprehension? OPEN THE SCHOOLS!!

i do think it's an issue of people not being comfortable with boredom, always needing instant gratification, not wanting to sit down and hone a craft, or give the people who hone a craft themselves the time of day because they can't crank out """content""" for you 24/7. in a way, i'm thinking right now, when i'm bored i just channel surf on tv even if i don't do it as much anymore. but most people don't have tv anymore (personally we pirate iptv so LOL). i don't blame it on that necessarily, but i think with the rise of streaming, you just sit there on a media library staring at a bunch of thumbnails and posters, having to make a decision on how to invest your time. in this case, i get why people are so passive. tiktok is easier, character ai is easier. because i never ended up watching anything whenever i opened netflix (when we had it years ago). one could argue that watching tv is passive, but there's still a choice. you check the tv guide or google it and you know a certain show is on tv a certain channel at a certain time so you keep that in mind. what do you do in the meanwhile? i remember when that was an actual routine for me. i'd be slacking and not doing my homework, so maybe i'd draw a bit, maybe i play on my ds for a while, maybe i go make myself a snack or bake some pastries if i have all day, maybe i continue a book or even surf the web a bit.

the instinct of "aight, im gonna do something else on my own while i wait" is kind of dying. yes i'm on my phone! the difference is my use case. these days i'm not on social media aside from here so i don't use it as much aside from talking to friends on messaging clients and playing games (rarely tho). i say this as someone who stares at the ceiling not doing anything for a good bit each day, but at least i feel like i still have retained some ability to sometimes go, ok time to learn about a new hobby! i don't have to even pick it up. just entertaining it is gratifying on its own. i'm not a writer, but sometimes i'll write a little bit for fun then go "yeah i get why i don't jive with this". lately, i've been interested in competitive pokemon (with not much interest before) because i've been replaying platinum. i research a bit, watch videos, i even got a little brave and tested some sample teams on showdown. it was a fun time killer! i might keep doing it. i might even do it later today. i started reading pokespe too to scratch the pokemon itch too. and it's not like i don't suffer from crazy hard executive dysfunction but hey, this is a product of my effort. lately i've been thinking i wanna pick a character in guilty gear and learn at least one combo! trying new things is fun!!!

i'm sure this post sounds self important, self impressed, self absorbed (c-c-c-combo breaker) and boomer ish as fuck but honestly i don't care anymore. if someone who struggles with simple tasks on the daily like me can find shit to do that isn't just instantly caving to endless scrolling and resorting to chatting up an AI then i'm sure most people can too. it is so much more gratifying actively seeking out fun than to be passive about it.

[moonlight-tmd]

beeprowl + team prime & Sari go to a carnival. have fun as a group/family

Hmm. I actually had ideas similar to this.

I don't know what a carnival is like but i suppose Bee would tag Prowl and his friends to big events like such. Now do mind those ideas were originally BlitzBee and i'm twisting them up a bit to fit the ask.

So first idea is them going to a Pride Parade- I think Bee and Prowl would be at this awkward before-officialy-dating stage of relationship and Bee heard about this whole thing and wanted to participate so bad.

On Cybertron, things like being trans, gay or pan didn't really existed. Since they don't really have genders there, it was normal for someone to upgrade their frame or have multiple sparkmates if they desired (seeker trines, for example). It didn't stop the sexism or racism from few of the people tho sadly...

To know that some people were treated worse law-wise was horrible and Bee wanted to help. Plus it was a parade- i mean, who doesn't like a big colorful parade? So he nagged the whole team about it- Sari didn't really need the nagging since she was the one that told him about it and invited him to go too. Prowl was sceptical but he couldn't resist the puppy eye tactic Bee has mastered for manipulating everyone, so he went too. With his mufflers cuz the loudness was too much for him.

Optimus, Ratchet and Bulkhead took on a more serious role of keepign everything in tact, Prowl was hanging out in the sidelines also watching out for any potential trouble. Bee however was nearly at the front of the parade, wrapped up in the respective pride ribbons that matched him and waving a huge banner. Sari was sitting on his shoulder and together they were shouting "We are equal! Love is not crime!".

Later on there was an afterparty at the big park. Bee had dragged Prowl from the crowd and was pulling him all over the place to dance. Prowl complied for a while before he slipped out and Bee was going wild on his own. The rest of his group stuck around for a bit before they went back to base and Sari went home. However, Bee did not return...

Optimus was a little worried so he stayed up to make sure Bee returns, Prowl also stayed up for the same reason. It was a very long wait and they both were wanting to drive out and go find him already...

4am the next day, they hear a shutter open. Bee, all worn out and tired, optics barely lit. He was all dirty with rainbow paint and dust and confetti pieces sticking out of his plating and a giant, everlasting smile carved into his face.

He didn't even acknowledge both Optimus or Prowl speaking to him, they were worried when Bee didn't respond... more so when he just faceplanted into the floor right in front of them.

...A moment later they heard the familiar sound of recharge system cycle coming on from him. They didn't know what happened but surely Bee must have had a lot of fun to barely come into the base and sleep on the floor. Of course, Optimus took him to his berth so he wouldn't recharge on the cold hard floor.

He ended up recharging for 27h.

They all didn't know how he did it, Ratchet joked that he must have burned his energy reserves. So Bee woke up basically 2 days later at afternoon, he didn't even say good morning when he came out of his room, he only walked swaying to the fuel station, pulled 2 Bulkhead's portion-sized barrels of oil and drank them straight. No additions, no sweeteners, just plain oil. He drank them both in one go. There was a moment of silence before his frame jolted and he turned to his teammates with the usual happy and energetic personality.

In short, it was the best day he ever had back then. And he wouldn't shut up about how great it was.

Another idea, Bee somehow persuaded everyone to go to the amusement park because of some big event that was happening.

I don't know much about carnivals but i would defo say Bulkhead would enjoy the arts n crafts stations where you make your own masks n stuff. Optimus likes watching rides zoom around, i think at one point Bee would catch on and persuade the pirate boat ride operator to let Bossbot play on what was essentially a swing for him. Ratchet, while also taking it upon himself to not let anyone be too dumb, prefers the precision games. He knows some of them are rigged, but with some fiddling with the magnetic field he knocks down even the presumed impossible game. Sari is Sari and loves all the things, rides, games, food- her favorite are the rides where they have a designed area like a cave or a themed ride such as haunted house or dino land. Prowl is not a fan of such places, at least not anymore... but he takes it upon himself to try and enjoy it and he finds something for himself. He lil fishing games. He loves the way the ll rubber ducks wobble on water when you try to catch them. Since he is technically smaller than Bee, he would defo sit in one of the spinning tea cups. Bee himself enjoys the dance floor and interacting with the dress-up folks running around the place. He loves winning plushies at the games and even got one for everone; Bee, of course, won himself a little fluffy bee, Bulkhead got a big teddy bear, Optimus got a lion, Sari has favored the long noodly snake, Ratchet got the special beaver in a doctor outfit and Prowl... Bee wanted to get something special for Prowl, he spend way too long looking around and thinking before he spotted a beautiful big plush of great horned owl... Unfortunatelly for him, the kid in line before him was also competing to get the owl.

In a figurative sense, the fight was brutal but Bee managed to fill the things with water just barely before the kid and got to choose his prize first. He doesn't regret making the kid cry, the brat seemed spoiled enough with the way he talked to his mother. He also tried to rip the plush out of his servos in a tantrum so Bee's not feeling bad at all. So Bee hides the plushied from everyone, except Sari's because he helped her get it at the stand so he couldn't get it back to surprise her with it.

They go back home and Bee prepares the plushies with little bows and sneaks one into their rooms at night for the surprise... except for Prowl.

Prowl woke up, grabbed his morning oil and went back into his room to meditate. Soon enough he heard someone knock at his door. Upon opening he was met with a fabric face of a big owl. Soon after the happy face of Bumblebee popped up behind it. "I got you something!"

The owl itself was huge, probably half his own size but Prowl had little trouble holding it. Honestly he was flattered that Bee remembered his favorite bird and got him a gift, it even had a pretty golden ribbon tied around its neck. Bee was so proud of himself for that one, Prowl couldn't get enough of that happy smile beaming- and bee couldn't get enough of Prowl smiling like an idiot. Such a rare sight, he managed to sneak a polaroid photo to hang on his wall later.

I didn't know what to do with this prompt, honestly. The time i do see them acting liek a family, if this post wasn't it, is when it's just them and no one can see them. For example when they have a little event at base of go out to have a picnic at the river, that sort of thing. I hope my answer as enough to... well, answer your ask.

[therealressii]

do you mind if i give feedback on the game you're making?

i played a little bit of it (i got to the temple place) and so far i love the art style, but it is super not obvious what is and isnt an enemy? like i saw these garbage worms that damaged me, but they where so thin i died to them and didnt even see them

i also encountered what i think is a bug, where if you jump and then quickly jump after, you can almost double jump, and it gives you enough height to clear distances you probably could only climb without, however it does feel satisfying to pull off, therefore im unsure if its intended or not. i also couldnt heal, despite there being a control shown at the beginning that said i could, not sure if theres a reason for that or not

(also sorry i realize its kinda rude to ask if you want feedback, but then give it anyway, take that what you will lol)

last thing, a lot of the enemies are super vague in how they attack, and a lot of the time i die, its because an enemy i encountered hits me with something i cant really dodge, like the firelizzard guy, i hit him enough and then it blows up and jumps at me? i cant do any damage to it without dying before i land a hit, its just super confusing

i will say though, the platforming is really fun, if its a bit finicky, but so far the art style is stunning, and i love how the main character moves and looks. they look like they give good hugs lmao

sorry if this seems overly negative, but i love the game so far, and i cant wait to play more of it! (it might also be a problem with my potato laptop that i use lmao) ((also i realize this is a MASSIVE ask, its really easy to talk about this game it seems. i cant believe how little people are talking about this! its such a cool game so far and EOURGH i love it and i love the characters they hit all the right spots with me EUIUGH))

sorry for my inefficient way of typing, and the wall of text uuuh your really cool and i wish more people talked about your game and your art because its absolutely amazing how much you have made and how little its talked about! this is such a diamond in the rough and its absolutely stunning

thank you so much for playing, i always welcome feedback so don't worry about that and to address each point:

it was deliberate to make some enemies very hard to spot (blame pikmin 2 and rainworld) but it could be worth considering adding some additional audio and/or visual indicator i did plan on adding low threat music to play when any enemy was near you (similar to rainworld) though i haven't gotten around to learning how to make music yet so we'll have to see

yea that's a bug that appeared pretty early in development, a consequence of how the game detects if the player is on the ground or not i haven't bothered to fix it as my general rule for bugs is if it doesn't negatively affect the player or gameplay, i wont bother touching it so semi intended

im curious, did you ever craft any upgrades or know about that, including the healing potions needed to heal i didn't provide any tutorial or indication that there was a craft system for upgrades since i assumed that at one point or another the player would try to figure out what they could do with the materials that came from enemies, plants, and such sorry if that sounded rude, im genuinely curious for obvious game design purposes since i wanted to make roa with as little tutorial as possible to let players figure out the game without too much hand holding, but i could definitely add some additional tutorial/indicator besides the interactable arrow indicator

im guessing you went to the ruda'ishvura temple region straight away and that area is purposely filled with enemies with much higher health pools and damage its basically to indicate to players who get there early that they may need more health and general upgrades though i don't block it off based on boss progression since i want to allow the player to explore and well figure out their limits tho i could try make certain enemies a lil less confusing (not promises on that sorry akfaghs)

lastly, im curious about the "potato laptop" comment, were you experiencing stutters or anything like that optimization wasnt really my main concern at the beginning given that i just wanted to get something out there and as long as the game ran 60+ fps on my setup in the editor, i considered it good enough to run on most pcs and laptops but i might have to do an optimization patch of sorts if there are issues on lower end setups

anyways thank you so much again for playing roa and for the feedback, it is always good to get insight from different player experiences and their reactions/responses to my admittedly silly game design philosophies for my game

[d1gnan]

some thoughts abt aesthetics, the way people engage with my art so far and also stuff youll be seeing from me in the next year..

first off i wanna say im not actually educated on any of this and its all just coming from personal experience/ its kind of just a mad mans rambling

im the kind of person who is always curating, always putting like with like (on a consistently changing/personal/almost random metric that spans like any kind of media , things tangible and abstract, my memories, yadda yadda (everyone does this to some degree but as an artist and an introspective person, i find it hard to just let stuff go once i form a connection. (and im sure a lot of u guys reading this are like this too, tumblr is like The website for people like this) im hyper aware of everything that ever happens to me and im always trying to connect everything with everything else

(forgive me too in advance cause ive never been satisfied with my ability to explain myself and usually i just let everything i do speak for itself/dont bother trying. im really really visual and i usually think of things In pictures too so it just frustrates me to try and describe something thats worth a thousand words..

jewelry came pretty quickly to me as a favorite art form because its a way to convey some of what goes on in my head when i engage with the media i like , being able to turn all these pretty abstract feelings into colors shapes symbols.. a lot of times when i listen to something or watch something, i get almost itchy with the feeling of needing to get the way i percieved it out into the world in a visual and tangible way asap before it loses its original shape or before i forget how it made me feel. (dementia runs in my family so a lot of my art is trying to archive my feelings since i know i wont have them forever.. its almost a frantic need to be seen/known by others before its too late.

a lot of the jewelry ive custom made for people has been specifically music and film related, and thats been a great thing because i can both 1) make something that satisfies my own vision of the thing but 2) it is still easily readable by others as related 2 the source material because the design language usually is distinct enough to withstand being skewed too much by my own personal associations

moving forward tho, i have a TON of ideas for way more personal/abstract/highly conceptual projects, and have been slowly gathering pieces so that i can do full justice to my vision for them.

doing this has first and foremost always been an art form/way to express myself . i do it because of the ideas, i do it because i have to do it, and then im left with a bunch of stuff that i would like way more to be in the hands of someone who relates to it. and, i do it in a way thats not at all good for being a business owner. if i'm going to create a product, i would be going against my ideals if i didnt try to battle with all the things i hate about products. fast fashion and aliexpress craft supplies and mass production.. (to have a successful business you need a lot of the same product, it needs to be easy to make and you need to be able to get your materials cheap. all of which i can't and wouldn't do, so it's a very shit thing to attempt to make a living off of..

maybe this sounds a little funny too when you look at my work and then at what i have to say about it.that i think about it so seriously since it's something any one can do. my kid sister makes jewelry, it's a pretty accesible hobby. the idea of making jewelry based off of media is also the furthest thing from unique, which brings me thinking about the reception of my art online so far, and some weird stuff i've noticed.

when you're making anything that you mention is directly "inspired by" something else, you run into some pretty weird habits from others online, and a kind of unique way of engaging with "aesthetics" thats started in the past couple years. what im talking about now is less movies/music. its stuff that blurs the line between an existing body of work to reference and just a concept. ( y2k, fill in the blank-core, frutiger metro/aero).. i'm really into most eras of these fashion / design trends/aesthetics in a historian/archivist kind of way, and i really enjoy to do work inspired by things like this, but these are always way more personally influenced than anything made for a movie/music. i went semi-viral (feels so dumb to say seriously lol) on tiktok for a frutiger metro/sleepyhead by passion pit inspired bracelet.

i get hate on most posts on tiktok since its a gigantic platform(as well as praise) but the majority of comments always tend to be people correcting the authenticity to the aesthetic ive listed as an inspiration. people way smarter than me have way better things to say on this, and if i tried to go too into detail with it this post would be even crazy longer, but ive seen people call it "what aesthetic is this" culture, (some examples of this: " "this aesthetic is called this, not that" "this aesthetic is from this time frame only" xyz

i never know what to do, because i want to respond by explaining that i see these aesthetic names/labeling system solely as a tool. to help people find and connect like with like. labeling aesthetics is just recognizing a pattern. knowing the "name" of an aesthetic can help you find similar things, but there are no set time periods to any of this unless you are specifically making something that is an exact recreation of something else or making a period piece. everything comes back in some way over and over again. rigidly defining aesthetics is flawed/missing the point because aesthetics are completely individual/unmeasurable/skewed by experiences/memories/opinions. its a little different too when it comes to stuff thats actually like made For marketing cause that Will have an exact language that goes with it or whatever, but most of the time i see people arguing about an aesthetic thats not even applicable. there are genuinely no rules to what fits an aesthetic because anything you create, you add your own experiences to and are effectively continuing these patterns in a new way/ sometimes creating a whole new movement or sub category if you are really into labeling it as something directly. peoples personal art is definitely affected by their time/whatever the common design language was at the time, so thats where a lot of the names get born, but when you make it this rigid thing , "this needs to be more like this.. this needs to be more like that.." you'd be right- but only in the sense that yes, it IS that way, For You. in your mind you experience it that way, it is your personal relation to seeing these patterns. and you can use these aesthetic tools to expand on what was done before you, you can use these images to convey your own perspective so that i can try to understand it.

marketing vs personal aesthetics is a different thing that idk how to tackle with my like super limited language but for example, when someone is using a popular aesthetic to sell you something, you can tell. it's shallow and impersonal. looking back on ads that are dated and use a certain aesthetic usually tinges them with nostalgia that you can take and make into something that it wasn't because you have this priceless new angle to look at it with. if you believe in aesthetics as being this rigid thing, you dont get new ideas, you dont get new sub aesthetics, you dont get new movements, you get a copy of a copy, you get shein clothes. and! anyone can call anything they want an "aesthetic" ..any collection of things together influenced by anything in the world can be an entirely new aesthetic.. and im so sick of typing the word aesthetic

but i know that if theyre commenting something like this, they r so fundamentally different from me/ engage with the world in such a different way then i do that it would be a waste of time to try to explain..

i am a little scared when i launch some of the new projects i've been working on they'll be met with this kind of reaction. maybe ill try to write some kind of TLDR, some kind of zine to send along with any of my bracelets, some kind of manifesto about sustainability/personalization/mindful consumpution.. but it takes a long time for me to feel good about explaining myself, even this post ive deleted and restarted countless times.

ill post some more about some of the "aesthetics " (i gotta figure out better language for this shit i swear to god) ive found inspiring that have heavily influenced these upcoming projects, as well as scans from books ive collected that match the design language and i definitely want to release kind of a companion zine with the collections that include music/fashion/home photos etc...

if u have any thoughts or anything about any of this id love to hear it, or answer questions or expand on shit, this is kind of just like a word version of me throwing mac and cheese up at the ceiling and seeing if anything sticks.

thanks to anyone whos said anything nice about my stuff, i love u guys more than lyfe

and if you read all of this youre a g

💚

[badassbutterfly1987]

White London clothing redesign ideas

so I've mentioned I've been wanting to craft a more distinct visual look for White London clothing since I think that having a potentially wildly different history from the other worlds would have different cultural influences in values, food, clothing, etc. (Also I just have trouble with drawing Regency/Victorian style)

since some of the names have Swedish and Dutch influences (Holland having a Dutch sounding surname, Makt being Swedish for power), I decided to lean into that a little.

fun fact: we don't know how/why the author chose the names she did (could have been reflecting specific influences, could have been whatever sounded good) and they're kinda all over the place. So we have Nasi who has two potential meanings: in Hebrew it's a title meaning prince and in Indonesian it's a word for a rice dish.

if we lean into the latter, that opens up Southeast Asian influences like Indonesia and Thailand. Both have tropical climates and therefore less layered clothing, so anything there will need to be paired with a heavier layer to compensate for WL's cold weather. Indonesia also has heavy associations with intricate jewelry; makes for something White Londoners can use to trade favors or turn into amplifiers (also should incorporate bone jewelry, fits their vibe).

a lot of my recent art pieces have been inspired by Kdrama shows, especially those set in the Joseon era, so we can keep up with that. Womenswear of that period tends to be poofy and doesn't look all that practical for characters who always have to be prepared for a physical fight (might be wrong tho; could still work for Leta). The Mongolian deel has the right level of practical and aesthetically pleasing so that's on the list. (Also there are so many intricate and vibrant colors here).

it makes for a good starting point i think. now have to figure how the different styles can be melded together, which materials characters would have access too, which styles would appeal to which characters, how the class divisions affects styles, etc. then a consistent style and color scheme for each character, let's see how many months that takes lol.

[starrycat123-blog]

oksies hi starting a new thread of get to know you

haii I'm moth and also thea you may call me any nickname as well <3

I love musicals so so much (niche and popular!! basic-shaming is lame)

I am superhero obsessed (augh pied piper)

doctor who is my autism (yay river sonf!!!!)

good omens heoughhhhhhhh

super excited to meet you <3333333

Hi moth!! You can call me tetra. Don't worry that's not my real name or anything tho. I took it from the concept of tetrachords in music.

If we're generous about what we call superheroes, then maybe most of the things I like are superhero based. I mean obviously there's marvel and dc, but then there's stuff like dpxdc, sonic the hedgehog (idk if I've ever heard him called a superhero but he kinda is), if we count magical girls then like. Sailor moon and madoka magica

I haven't seen any episodes of good omens, but I read a really good fanfic of Crowley going to therapy a while back, and a couple funny ones with like yelp reviews of Aziraphale's bookstore. Plus I love the good omens analysis posts on here. I feel like maybe I half know some of what's happened in the show but also probably haven't scratched the surface. I'm kinda bad at watching TV shows, so there's a lot of stuff that I know from fandom but haven't seen. For another example of that, I've only watched one or two episodes of Sonic Prime. I reblog posts for it and it sounds good but idk. Just bad at it.

I'm a much more casual fan of musicals, I think for the same thing as above where I just struggle to sit and watch something on purpose. But I listen to the music from them sometimes, I've read transcripts online of a couple, and i swoon whenever I see a post analyzing the meaning of a musical song, especially when they go beyond lyrics and start going into the music theory in the tune. I don't have the skills or knowledge to do that myself but I love it so much

(when the singer changes their technique to enhance the meaning,, when this or that chord is a step outside the key to symbolize change or isolation or anything,,, using instruments as symbols for this or that character,,, tbh it doesn't have to be a musical even shout out to that youtube video by Scruffy on how fnaf's audio and sound effects make it scarier)

Lately I've been bouncing back and forth between Sonic and DPxDC. With hints of Slay The Princess in there bc I saw part of a playthrough of that awhile ago and loved the concept. I reblog madoka magica stuff whenever I see it (except magia record bc I know next to nothing about it) because that stuff makes me lose my mind. The love the pain the hope the despair!! Homura is probably like my ultimate blorbo but I love all the five girls they're so cool. I actually read the manga instead of watching the show though so I'm not as familiar with all the music. Plus I think the show had some extra scenes. Although it's a little confusing bc I think some of the extra scenes I see are magia record so idk.

Also I'm a fan of arts and crafts and will reblog that kind of thing once in a while, along with cute cat stuff.

Super excited to meet you too!

[glitchphotography]

Writing a short addendum of action steps to my “You Don’t Hate AI Art, You Hate Capitalism” essay that I posted yesterday and including some AI photographs made with DALLE2 of Capybaras helping a union drive. These outputs were all based off of original photos I took of Capybaras in Ipaussu, Sao Paulo, in 2019. Let’s start with some advice for illustrators and commercial artists who are worried about AI ruining their lives.

UNIONIZE YOUR WORKPLACE! Seriously, your bosses are the ones out to get you, not the AIs or AI artists. Unions are the best way to prevent outsourcing to AIs.

UNIONIZE WITH OTHER FREELANCERS! This is harder to accomplish, but freelancer unions do exist and there should be more of them. (Side note: many artists who will be affected have the privilege to work in highly gatekept cultural industries that, in the US, discriminate against POC, immigrants, Queer people, Disabled people, etc. They are also mostly based in the Global North and they don’t hire many experimental new media artists, so keep in mind, this aint my battle lol)

Opt-out of Stable Diffusion V3! If your work is showing up on the “Have  I been Trained“ website, you can opt out of future AI model releases through this link: https://haveibeentrained.com/

Learn about new media histories and experimental processes! The art world is changing fast and visual arts don’t all revolve around representational illustration and commercial imaging. Expanding your craft is a matter of adaptation and survival. We new media artists have been messing with AIs for almost a decade now and this whole hysteria makes a lot of you sound brand new.

Train AI models using your own works and let everyone make derivatives. This is the classic “dont beat em, join em” approach and I think it’s awesome. It makes you seem generous and not like some boomer screaming “muh copyrights” into the void. Here’s a tutorial on how to train Stable Diffusion on your own set of images .

Now for some broad structural solutions, because these calls for AI Art Bans are giving strong “Disco Sucks” vibes:

AI’s should be treated as public infrastructure and thereby socialized or nationalized.  No private company should own AI systems or vectors of information. AIs should be open source and free for all to learn and use. 

Commercial applications of AIs should be strictly regulated. Not just because biases and misuse of sexualized images are rampant, but because private ownership of AI will lead to more socio-economic inequalities.

Generative Image AI Services should be paying royalties to artists. If you want your favorite illustrator to get those royalties, go pressure OpenAI and MidJourney directly. They have records of all their prompts and are making bank. What people don’t know is that when these services came out, they had atrocious licensing restrictions where they owned the prompts and images AI Artists were creating, but community pressure made them cave in. Now AI Artists own the outputs while granting a nonexclusive license to the AI corps (much how social media platforms operate).

Finally here’s some advice for digital artists working with AI:

Artists should fully disclose if their works include AI-generated imagery, especially if it’s the main visual. Many exhibiting artists use terms like “Collaboration with AI” to describe their art and that’s a good practice, because it really is a collaboration with a computer. (Side note: China is making it a law that all AI-generated media have a watermark or disclaimer and I think that’s a fair approach).

Artists should attribute the other artists they reference in their prompts, especially if they are relying on a living, working artist’s aesthetic for their output. Many AI Artists will mash-up several references, like cyberpunk + lisa frank + ansel adams + raphael painting, and tho i personally wouldnt fault an artist for not disclosing these references, since they are all canonical, I think its commendable for AI Artists to share their prompts along with their visual work.

It is unethical to take raw outputs based off of a single living, working artist and in order to commercialize a whole unattributed series of derivative works based off their aesthetic. But I think there are caveats if you are working within a legitimate conceptual framework and you attribute the artist you referenced. Also if you are remixing your artistic reference in your own workflow, you are protected by Fair Use and that’s ok. The best way to tell the difference if someone is using AI in unethical ways is to consider that person’s entire body of work. Are they appropriating in an interesting way? Is there a concept or politics behind their appropriation? Is AI Art all they seem to do? Art history has been driven by appropriation and that’s not going to change. 

Consider whether your AI Art punches up or punches down! Sure, go ahead and rip off the damien hirsts and jeff koons of the world. But if you are a white dude making japonaiserie or chinoiserie, or outputs based off of Black hip-hop culture, you should reconsider your approach. That FKN Meka thing is a perfect example of white guy owners creating a fake AI rapper using lyrics ghostwritten by Black rappers. That shit is gross and evil. Keep in mind that evaluating cultural appropriation requires an understanding of colonialism and racial capitalism.

[tonberry-yoda]

WAAAH! Hello! I'm here to ask if I can have a matchup for Arcane and One Punch man?

| # - I'm an average guy, I have pale skin , black fluffy hair in a wolfcut (?) dark brown eyes wearing glasses and such. I'm goth, I listen to the music & have some gothic novels && dress in trad goth fashion, i like to play guitar, i'm the textbook definition of the song "yes I am a nerd! What word? I am studious" Although my brain decides to dissolve at simple conversations like I will not understand , I'll just be saying "huh??" until I finally get it. So I'm kinda smart but stupid at the same time. And also very chaotic and will say the most out of pocket thing with a calm expression or a smile, I like collecting and playing with Yu-Gi-Oh cards I also like My Melody from Sanrio. I'm obsessed with cute stuff, like trinkets, figurines, plushies, & I like drawing in a cute art style, and drawing my partner too. I have two pets one is an Arizona Blonde tarantula named Bobby, full name Bobby Bobberson the Third and other is a fuzzy brown cat named Morrigan, i have extremely broken humor I'll literally laugh at anything that is remotely silly sounding to me, [i.e : the word "balls".] I also enjoy crafting knives it's a cool thingy named Knife Making

| # gender preference: both. If possible

- 🔪

sorry anon, my requests are closed AND I'm on hiatus. I just made a post asking for people to check writer's pinned posts, so please please PLEASE be kind to writers and check their pinned posts

I'm just doing some older matchups, so I'm gonna have to toss this one out. I don't usually take matchups anyway

but please, and sorry if I sound repetitive, but PLEASE check pinned posts or ask writers before you request, it's the kind thing to do

have a good night tho anon and I hope you find someone who can write something for you ❤️

[protectingtulpas]

I've been trying to make a tulpa lately, but I've been living in isolation and recently broke up with my long time partner, who was the only other person close to me. Because of this, my thought patters have been really dark and difficult to pull myself out of. I think because of this I'm having a hard time having my tulpa feel like her own person, and not just a facet of me, so she's been taking this incredibly hard as it feels like obviously everything that's happened to me also happened to her, and I think that's been causing difficulty forming her own person? Because I don't have any friends to source from, and I don't spend a lot of time playing games or watching media, it feels like I'm just making... a second version of me?? Obviously I don't want to tell her she can't be how she wants, but also... it feels so weird, almost as if I'm living with a clone now... It hasn't caused any big problems so far, but the energy between us has been weirdly tense and I don't know how to navigate her toward more individuality, if possible, without her feeling like I'm invalidating her identity?? Do you have any advice :(

Ah shit, yeah trauma can definitely cause complications like this. I'd say try and find/get things for her without considering whether its something youd like- you gotta let her expand her horizons as her own person. Let her make her own blog or discord account and socialize on her own, too- separation sounds important here. If you can help her find something- an activity, arts and crafts, a blog, anything- to latch onto that's HERS and HERS alone, I'm almost certain that'll help some.

Obviously don't force her into anything tho. Her name, her appearance, her activities, all that shit- that's her choice in the end. You're both going through a lot and if you can be down to earth about that and talk to her about why you're worried, maybe you can hit the base of the problem together instead of having that awkward energy. Good luck to both of yall

[hummingbird-hunter]

ok wait maybe I'm not lazy (because I'm a lil bit insane!)

Jose Mauro (Google him tho his whole story is fucking insane ngl!) Makes I think stuff in Portuguese.

Kit Sebastian makes stuff in I think English & French?

Azymuth is a Brazilian funk/jazz trio.

Arthur Verocai is Brazilian as well, he's made some cool stuff.

Lily Allen did a version of Smile in Simlish which is always fun if you have both in your playlist because it's a horrible 50/50!

The Mauskovic dance band is an interesting band, I think they're from the US?

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is like 8 siblings and a random dude they hired to be a drummer, really good band, Ballicki Bone is very good.

I'm not sure what language it is but Haydar Haydar by Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek is fun.

Out Of Reach by Klaus Johan Grobe is in German?

People, Let's Dance by Public Service Broadcasting & EERA is in German.

I think Men I Trust has stuff in Quebec French.

Utu by Eno X Dirty is a bop.

Sonos Cor De Rosa by Tiawa is Spanish & English.

Sudan Archives is in English but she makes really fun & interesting art pop especially in her current album cycle.

CASIOPEA is Japanese like Jazz, Mint Jams is a really good place to start.

MF DOOM & BadBadNotGood's song for GTA is partially in Spanish.

Also Madvillian by Madvilliany is one of the best albums I've ever gotten to listen to.

SAULT makes amazing music, they've pit out a crazy amount of music since 2019.

Birds Of Paradise by Karnan Saba & Hone Be Good is really good. (I really like the label it came from)

Ethel Cain's debut Preacher's Album is definitely something, I loved it, be warned it's fucked up, and long.

Pip Millet has a series of Amazing EP's, still need to listen to the album though).

MĀ has an amazing album (Breakfast with Hades).

Deltron 3030 by Deltron 3030 is a great album.

Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) by Jai Paul is amazing, it's a tragedy that it ruined his creative drive.

Caroline Polachek has done 2 art pop records under her own name, both are amazing.

Ravenna has made some beautiful music.

Ayonha by Hamid Al Shaeri got me into Arabic Jazz.

Balkan - Honey and Blood by Jordi Savall is a really investing album, idek how i found it.

La Sabotesue by Yazz Ahmed is a really good album.

Dub Yalil by Natacha Atlas is just, an amazing song.

Cosmic Funk by Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes is good, my brother loves it and he has amazing taste.

Todo De Ti is really good pop, it's all in Spanish but I'm surprised it didn't get a Dua Lipa remix.

The Nu Deco Ensemble version of I Am The Antichrist to You by Kishi Bashi is beautiful. but haunting

Rosalia's Motomami is amazing. Hentai is a really beautiful song.

Celeste's album "Not Your Muse" was a really good listen.

All You Get From Love Is A Love Song & Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day) made me desperately to find this album from The Carpenters.

If you're feeling Horny the remix of Wizz by Coucou Chloe is fun, same with the Cupcakke remix of Good Puss. Also anything off Alias by Shygirl.

Roisin & Crooked Machine are great albums.

Tinashe's 333 is an amazing album, it's so good.

Orville Peck is gay country music.

Revulva is an 8 piece jazz band, Stop Pulling On My (Hair) is so pop though.

Lava La Rue makes amazing (and very queer music).

If I Sleep by Dystopia hits really hard.

Code by The Comet Is Coming had my friend jamming out because it sounds like the comet is coming.

I Feel Love by Donna Summer is one of the most important songs in moden music history and its so fucking good.

Nia Archives makes jungle, it's Drum & Bass but more fun.

Giving Up Air was a really nice EP by Bloodmoon, amazing production.

Julia Jacklin & Stella Donnely are both kinda sad Australians, thank you land of Muck for these artists. And the story of Engadine Maccas in 1997.

TRYON by Slowthai is really amazing, espech the A/B side differences.

Blood Orange's 4 songs are a nice chilled out 4 songs.

Self Esteem, I too do this all the time, but yet I don't Prioritize Pleasure.

She's So Kind by Harve is the sibling song of Theirs13 by JGrrey, both artists wrote the songs about eachother, truly a queer love story.

Wolf Alice's Blue Weekend has some moments more Blue than others.

The Danger Mouse & Black Thought album is well produced, with amazing features. Do not skip Strangers.

Doomsday by MF DOOM is an essential song, same with Nobody by Nas & Ms. Lauryn Hill, also recommended is One Mic, One Gun by Nas and 21 Savage.

Body Dysmorphia. by RAYE is such a constant mood!

this is the hits from my like 7.3k song spotify playlist

Thank you I am saving this