#at which point im pricing out other artists

[angel-x-guts]

a problem that i have is that i often enjoy the process of doing a craft more than i enjoy having the final product of it, which obviously leads to not finishing projects but it also means i have a bunch of projects i have actually finished but have nothing to do with. theyre just sitting there taking up space. but its not like i can just sell a finished diamond painting of van goh's starry night

[hotvintagepoll]

Peter Lorre (The Maltese Falcon, Arsenic and Old Lace, Casablanca)—to me he DEFINES scrungle hes the first person i think of every time the term comes up! i want to fold him up like a paper accordion and put him in my pocket. guy that spawned a million voice artists and impersonators. they made a ghost version of him for halloween cereal staple boo berry. bewitched by his nervous mania and tooth gap <3 (for the purposes of propaganda im linking a photo from his extremely short appearance in muscle beach party bc ive been obsessed w it for years and i couldnt find any video for it :/ anyway imagine youre frankie avalon spending the whole movie battling a bodybuilder faction thats taking over your beach and your girl and then you find out this fucking guy is their mastermind mystery leader and hes stronger than all the bodybuilders combined. like Huh. What.)

Elsa Lanchester (The Bride of Frankenstein, Witness for the Prosecution, Mary Poppins)—Surely somebody's already submitted Elsa Lanchester for this right? Right??? Because her scrungle levels are OFF THE CHARTS in literally everything. The way she's Katy Nanna straight-up refusing to spend another minute with Jane and Michael Banks because she has DIGNITY thank you very much. The way she's Mary Goddamn Shelley stuck listening to Lord Byron mansplaining literature like "ha ha maybe even YOUR little monster story will be published" and she shoots back "It *WILL* be published, *I* think!!!" in the most bright-as-nails fuck-you-Byron voice imaginable. The way she's a nurse herding her lawyer charge through a sordid love-triangle case and we gradually realize the real love story was between her and the lawyer all along. The way she's a clandestine witch casting hexes on telephones, the way she's a princess's PA and helps an old friend steal an invitation card, the way she's a cleaning lady who goes to Germany to personally assassinate Hitler, the way she's a posh village worthy trying to impress Danny Kaye, the way ERRGHH i could go on just look at her scrungle.

These are the the semifinals for the scrungly little guy contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you’re confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Peter Lorre:

he's pretty much the archetype of the scrungly little guy. the blueprint. the example by which all other scrungly little guys are judged

The entire point of his iconic role in Casablanca (apart from introducing the central plot mcguffin) was to be LITTLE and SCRUNGLY to make Bogie look even cooler. And Maggot in Corpse Bride - the littlest scrungliest guy in that film - was a parody of him.

Between his big eyes, wheezy laugh, short stature, and expressive faces, Peter Lorre achieved icon status as the scrungliest, littlest guy in Hollywood. His scrungly little guy energy was often contrasted with the more typical masculinity of the leading man, but whether this contrast was meant to make him seem especially sinister, comedic, or pathetic, it always left an unforgettable impression!

The perfect sniveling character actor, “scrungly” is the first word that comes to mind when I think of him.

I'm sure somebody else has already submitted him (if not then ???) but he's a cute kind of scrungly little guy. He's got a distinctive nasal voice with an accent that is instantly recognizable and often imitated. His later horror movies are so much fun, especially when he's playing off of Vincent Price. He's so good at being unhinged, creepy, or manic, but also pathetic and sympathetic.

Classic scrungly hollywood golden age little guy who was friends with Humphrey Bogart and still played some of the wettest most sniveling characters ever committed to celluloid (complimentary) there is a deep despair and darkness in many of his characters that enhances his scrungly

To be clear, I am one of those people who will argue that Lorre is one of the most underrated film actors, but the POINT is that he's also just a scrungly delight. A delightfully pocket-sized man. Somehow endearing even when he is being actively amoral (see esp. Casablanca. "I found myself much more reasonable!") The faces he makes while doing the Russian cossack dance with a butter knife between his teeth in Silk Stockings make me laugh just thinking about them.

Wikipedia described his typical characters as "timidly devious", lots of weird little villains and evil sidekicks that are pretty horrifying but still manage to be sort of pathetic and the very definition of "poor little meow meow". His look and voice and mannerisms are so iconic they're still imitated

Cartoons for the next century have and will continue to include Peter Lorre-esque characters when needed to up the scrunge factor (see Bugs Bunny and so many more).

Youtube link for characters inspired by Lorre [editor's note: I'm not actually sure how many of these characters are directly, verifiably influenced by Peter Lorre, so take with a grain of salt. tw for suicide depiction.]

I think Arsenic and Old Lace is his quintessential "scrungly" performance. He's so put-upon and tired...all he wants is sleep and some schnapps! I love the way his shoulders fall slowly when he thinks he's caught (he looks like a sad puppy!), only to gleefully sprint out the door when he realizes how dumb those police officers are.

Elsa Lanchester:

[bawkrya]

when it comes to art/lore dragons, i really really genuinely need people to think of the gems that artists charge in the USD equivalent. like horrifically. because i need people to realize how little that artists on FR charge for their art.

1,000 gems is 10$ give or take, 2,000 gems is 20$-- that is LITERAL PENNIES for the type of effort that goes into the art dragons I'll see posted, and the fact that people STILL have the gall to complain about those prices-- especially DIRECTLY to the artist in @ pumpkin-bread's case --is fucking insane to me.

like I know perfectly well that it can be a pain in the ass to get gems on FR if you are not able to consistently grind, my primary source of gem income in game are commissions, but that does not give you the right to go up to artists and complain about the prices they list their stuff for. that's insanely entitled. any and all art that is sold is a LUXURY, especially in terms of flight rising, because you don't. NEED to buy a lore/art dragon in order to play the game. sure you can want one, but if its out of your price range, its out of your price range. Artists shouldnt have to change THEIR prices because YOU cant afford it

and of course im not saying that you can never buy art/lore dragons, but its like. acknowledge that they have put in skill and effort into their art, most of which have spent years to get to the point they're at now, and that YOU will have to save up in order to purchase from that artist.

and its like. i can Get thinking that something is expensive when you're not involved in those circles, but its like there's a pre-existing audience that has been buying these items for these amounts for a While now, on top of artists knowing their worth and building their name up from that. u kno. like i personally would never spend 30kg on a skin, But There's An Audience For That! there's demand for that! ill bitch about it personally but oh my god im not going to dm the artist like why is your shit so expensive. thats insane!!!! you dont know that person!!!!!!!!!! they dont know you!!!!!!!!!!!

its just. so insane to me i hope this is legible, and there's also things that could be said about how modern fanbases act in regards to artists in recent years, but that is a whole other tangent that is only barely related to FR because ~as far as i know~ the FR fanbase isnt so bad rn but like............... i fear its heading in that direction.

[stychu-stych]

hello,

I was wondering how did you go about selling stuff on conventions? (also im asking from a polish perspective cause i know you are from here and most vidoes on the matter are from american perspective) how did you went about pricing? what were the first conventions you went to sell to? how do you go about stocking up? is there any conventions that you recommend avoiding? anything you could share

thank you for your time, even if you dont answer

That's so interesting question! I have to admit that most of the videos about being a vendor doesn't work for me JDBDJDH unfortunately there's tons of cute content with people talking about their super inspiring art journey that is just a content, and I'm talking about videos from all over the world. Also don't get me wrong, those videos still can be super enjoyable, but you have to be aware that most of them are not real. I learned much more on my mistakes than on videos on yt or tiktok and I can tell that being a vendor isn't really different from working in a casual shop (the main difference is that you're your own boss, manager and employee). Also I want to clarify that everything below is just my own experience which may be different from other people.

So basically the store MangoMilkStudio was created by my fiancée about 6 or 7 years ago. I helped her a little, tried to open my own online shop as well but it quickly turned out that we prefer to work under the one name and I decided to start adding stuff on, at that moment, our common store.

Our first convention (that doesn't exist anymore) was in Wrocław in 2019 if I remember correctly. It was a barter-like transaction, we made some illustrations in exchange for the booth. We didn't earn much but we both had different jobs at that time and we saw making merch as some kind of a hobby.

If it comes to being a vendor and what cons I recommend- it depends on where you live, how much money do you want to spend on sleeping and transportation, how much on a booth, what kind of con you're interested in. The good thing about Poland is that we have SO MANY cons so you can pick whatever suits you best. I don't want to point out specific conventions, because I know that some of cons work for us but don't work for someone else and vice versa. I think the best way of deciding which con you want to attend is just applying and then consider whether it's worth it after the con is over.

The one but very important mistake that people usually do on their first conventions is that they're expecting to earn a loooot of money and they are disappointed when it doesn't happen. Being a vendor, even as a small business artist, is still a work related to trade and that means you have to put a lot of money in your business before you'll start to earn money, you have to create your own base of customers, you have to know how to talk to the client, how to talk not only about fandom stuff but also about your own products, how to arrange your table so all the products are visible for a client etc. It works on the basis of trial and error and can take a lot of time and effort.

About the prices - if you don't know how to price your product, you should try to check other vendors' price lists and then analyze if that price sufficiently covers your production costs (yes, including your time and effort). And for a love of god DON'T lower your prices too much because of the competition. It never works and it only spoils the market.

After each convention we try to save some money for the next con but also for a restock (and taxes JDBSJSH""" yeah, we unfortunately have huge taxes). If it goes to restocking items like keychains or anything that is acrylic, Poland doesn't really have much good manufactures unfortunately (I hope this will change in the future) so we usually buy stuff in China. I'm not complaining, products are well made, people are super friendly, the only things that can be exhausting are - tariffs, super expensive shipping and long time waiting for a package. So be prepared with some extra money and make sure you won't place an order a week before convention.

Few more tips:

- don't restock merch in large quantities if you don't know if people would buy it. I did it with my Deltarune stickers, people stopped to buy them and I still have tons of them hidden somewhere dhdbdh

- home printers and plotters are great for making things like TY cards, packaging, single stickers but I recommend to find good printing house or manufacturer. It's just more cost-effective in terms of time, materials and nerves. Also if you make a mistake it's on your own, if manufacturer makes a mistake you can ask for a remake

- most people at cons are super cute and friendly but some of them can be weird as well, don't be afraid to set your boundaries

- keep your cash close to you

- don't eat food that was offered to you by someone you don't know (even if that person looks like con helper)

- write down orgs' phone numbers just in case

- remember to eat and drink a lot of water

At the end I want to say that it's hard to make a living from just one artistic job. We have an online store, we're vendors at cons, I make tattoos, commissions (from time to time), now I'm trying my best on patreon. Most of the people I know, that are vendors as well, have a "normal" job. So don't feel bad if you want to start earning money with your art but you still have to work in a second job

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

Swift definitely had a chance to buy her masters just not for the price she wanted. At first she said she didn't know about selling and was caught off guard with this information, but former owner of the label said she did get message about it prior to selling happening, plus her father is/was share holder in that company, so he had to be informed about it. So we already know she's not saying the truth. Most likely she wanted to buy just her masters, but Borchetta did tied deal of label+masters, for which he cannot be really blamed, it makes sense for him to sell it like that, because it gives him better options and price.

Also artists not owning their masters, not being able to buy their masters, someone else buying their masters for profit - those are literally industry standards. For example in the 80s Michael Jackson bought ATV label with entire The Beatles' catalogue actually thanks to McCartney's advice. He bought it for $47.5 million, sold half in the 90s for $95 million and after his death the other half was sold for $750 million. Since buying this deal was basically funding his very expensive lifestyle. Right now just the catalogue of The Beatles is estimated to be worth about $1 billion. It's just business. By buying Big Machine with Swift's masters Scott Brown didn't do anything special or nefarious as Swift tried to portay this. He was just making a deal and soon after sold it again for profit, just that.

Swift felt slighted for not getting what she wanted the way she wanted and figured out that from capitalistic point of view it is a good situation to once again pull out victim card and weaponize her cult fanbase against her "opponents" and against itself's wallets as well, since she knows they're gonna buy anything and everything from her even without playing victim. Lies and greed, pure capitalism.

Yep. 100% agree- especially with that last part. She wants so bad to have the world view her as an innocent victim of circumstances.

It makes no fucking sense. Frankly, she's not stupid, even though I don't believe her to be a creative genius, I admit she is a smart businesswoman. (not an ethical one- though).

I just don't understand how she fools the whole world into thinking she didn't know the deal was going down, and that she was never approached with an offer to buy her own catalouge.

First of all, of course they would approach her- the business world is about money, and anyone doing business with Swift knows she has a lot of money. So, how is it logical to assume they didn't even offer her a chance to purchase the music?

She clearly ran with the narrative that they somehow cheated her out of her own rightful property, because it's the point of view that enables her to rally the fan based against the mean corporate overlords. She carefully crafted it all to look like a personal attack on her, and her music, by playing the "Im just a girl who didn't know any better and got overlooked by the sleazy businessman" card. She knows this will land on people's heartstrings because- lots of people do get screwed over by businessmen. However, those people are not Taylor Swift who has decades of experience- a world-renowned reputation, and God knows how many people working for her. She has all the power she could ever want- and yet wants to make herself look powerless.

It begs the question, why? She requires the image of powerlessness in order to ratify her fanbase into trying to protect her.

Truly- you said it- She wants to make it look like Scott was doing something nefarious, when, in fact, he was just doing his job. Music Industry professionals engaging in multi-million-dollar business deals over some of the most popular music in the world? Color me shocked and appalled.

It's so disingenuous of her to paint the situation like this especially when considering her own economic and social power against that of the other players in this drama.

Now we have to deal with her re-records, which, honestly, some of those "from the vault" tracks should have stayed in the vault.

[torchiiko]

how come asking for help pricing comms has a 50/50 chance to yield the most unhelpful replies ever.. sometimes its other artists telling you your prices are fine or you should raise them actually, even tho you already arent getting many (if any!) commissions. sometimes you get the same "well, price what you think its worth!" or the time spent drawing times ~10 dollars advice, which still isnt helpful if you already struggle to get sales at your current prices Using that advice -_-

im Trying to figure out what the Market is willing to pay without doing the trial & error of waiting & waiting & waiting to see if anyone bites after each adjustment!! its easy to get comms if you severely undersell yourself but by that point the little money you get isnt worth the work you put in!!

sniffle... i just want a semi-regular stream of comms..... without dooming myself to overworking by working for barely anything.....

[artharakka]

Are you okay with people using, reposting or editing your art with proper credits? :3

(I'm sorry if this has been asked, I can't find anything mentioning this!)

Thank you for asking 🧡

Hmmm I think it depends a bit of the case? I think you here have good intentions, but since "using" is very broad term I'm going to answer kind of broadly here and not just yes/no in case someone else would refer to this ask at another context.

So, all of my works are copyrighted under Finnish/EEA copyright laws. The copyright is created and valid automatically from the moment of creation of the art piece (and it also includes sketches I've posted on Patreon, for example). My answers are based on those copyright laws and on my personal preferences within those.

(under cut as this got long)

USING: I'm ok with most personal use. That is, for example, printing out a single image for personal use or using a picture on your blog header or as personal playlist (spotify etc) cover art AS LONG as it is not a piece commissioned by someone else.

If you own a print you have ordered from me, you have also right to display it publicly (i.e. posting a photo of it). Owning a print doesn't however mean that you get right to print more copies for sale.

I'm not ok with my art used in buyable products or copies of my art sold by others than those I've individually authorized. I have copyright even to commissioned pieces, so even those cannot be used in products without my consent. If you'd like to use my art on products/covers or otherwise do some kind of collaboration, send me an email at artharakka(at)gmail.com and we can discuss prices and royalties.

REPOSTING (public display): Usually I'd say I prefer people reblogging (through the little arrows at the bottom of the post) rather than reposting it (meaning making your own original post with it). If you'd like to post it on other social media sites besides tumblr, I do have Instagram (also @ artharakka) where I post my art and I'd prefer if no new art of mine ends up on twitter/x/whatever.

However, if you'd like to do a collab of my art or with my art, to do reference/shoutout post or a moodboard for your characters etc., I'm ok with reposting as long as I'm mentioned as the artist. Though here you are also bound by the laws' moral obligations which means no putting my art "in context that could be offensive to the artist" (very broad and case by case point but I bet mocking me is not your intention)

I'm also ok with using my art in noncommercial contexts i.e. as figures in articles or school projects.

EDITING: I'm ok with most edits, again, as long as it isn't offensive to me. (And offensive meaning mostly not aiming to mock me or use in contexts that would show me in bad light, but also don't draw smut of my characters without asking). Im ok with, for example, removing a background from some piece, but in that case you have to remember that I still own the copyright. If the edit / modification of the idea is original enough, it might become it's own piece with own copyrights (again, I don't own themes or ideas and sometimes I also borrow compositions/themes from older art).

TLDR: I'm ok with most things not offensive and that you don't aim to earn money with. Credit is welcome and I prefer as direct link as you can provide. Commissioned pieces are off limits without the commissioner's consent.

For individual case questions you can send me message, email or another ask!

[starrygalazy]

There's been a massive amount of OW hate (most of which is just a ton of angry people who won't let go of the whole PvE issue and stuff Blizzard at this point has no control over at this point in time), but it's OW Dev Appreciation Day so I wanna talk abt my favorite things about the Overwatch franchise and my feelings about most everything (I kindly ask for no hate or saying why the company/game/devs suck)

The devs have been working on Overwatch since 2016, and I genuinely have never loved a game and it's characters more. They were all their own character with awesome kits, great personalities, fantastic skins, and more. The game modes are smart and well thought-out, and balances are constantly being made to adjust the characters and make them fun for all. The devs are constantly trying new things with the characters to make them as fun as possible. They're also constantly working on lore, relationships, voice lines, maps, game modes, skins, characters, and a ton more. They've been doing this for close to a decade, and even when they took a break on making new content for the game, it was to develop Overwatch 2.

Overwatch 2 in its own right is my favorite game ever and I doubt I can find anything to top it. There's so much crammed into the game that at least once a week I find a feature or interaction I didn't know about even since launch. Im playing with people who are having as much fun as me and making cute little friendships. And don't even get me STARTED on PvE. I was kicking my feet screaming and laughing (and annoying the shit out of my brother bc I was so excited) as I played through the missions. Every little bit of it was so fun and, personally, 100% worth the 15 dollars. I mean, we got 3, THREE, missions with 4 difficulties, multiple heroes, and a shit ton of voice lines to discover for less than the price of some of the skins. Knowing Blizzard, that's amazing. There's a ton of stuff to discover in all of them. They distribute it pretty evenly throughout all the characters too, so none are getting completely neglected and all of them have unique lore.

All that being said.

Is Overwatch 2 a flawed game? Oh yeah. Is Blizzard a very flawed company? Oh yeah. Some of the prices and bundles are definitely ridiculous in price. There's a lot of issues, especially within the company and being greedy for money and harrassment. It's not like Overwatch 1.

But isn't that kinda the point?

It's a whole new game. If they wanted to keep it as Overwatch 1 they would of. Comparing the two, obviously Overwatch 1 comes out on top. But that's why it's pointless to hold Overwatch 2 to those standards, you literally can't. But in its own right, in its own category, Overwatch 2 really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. To a new player or someone somewhat easy to satisfy (like me), it's crazy addicting and fun.

I could say so much more, but it's bound to start a debate and I don't have the energy to write it all down. But personally, I love the game. I hate what angry, immature people are doing to it just bc they didn't get what they expected (like seriously, at least be grateful you got SOME kind of PvE), especially all the steam reviews about the nsfw artists doing more than the devs. They're literally trying to make money just like Blizzard. They're trying to achieve the same means: get money by making something others can have fun with.

In the grand scheme of things, the flaws are manageable and sort of overexaggerated. I have a blast playing the game and so do so many people other than the people spamming negative reviews on Steam (Seriously, you're taking time out of your day to do that?).

So, a big thanks to Overwatch Devs. Overwatch 2 in its own right is super fun and enjoyable, and even if it's expensive people can have fun with or without spending money. Thanks for actually giving us PvE and new systems to make the game unique. Thanks for the content to come and the content we have.

My hat's off to the devs who work hard and want to make this the best game it can be. There's flaws, but they're handling all the recent events and hate very well, and working on their ability to the best of their ability. That's not something everyone can do so easily.

[eldritchmochi]

yeah I am pretty young lmao, I'll spare you from another playlist by just naming some artists that gave me inspiration for god knows at some point

first off you mentioned Hozier, which I kinda only mention because he released a new album recently. Arctic Monkeys and Father John Misty are kinda in the same boat as him. More like the same lake.

The Amazing Devil and The Oh Hellos never fail to give me some sort of D&D/character inspiration. Ghost does?? something??? as well with characters, but specific ones. Same with Steam Powered Giraffe.

other than that, Library Magic by The Head And The Heart is very Wizard, along with The Magician by Andy Shauf. and because I just can't go without mentioning it, Queen is my favorite band. :)

that's all! with any luck it'll end up being useful somehow lol

hozier is one of those artists who i dont listen to on purpose like ever i dont thinki could name a single song of his with confidence BUT i know his voice starkly as one i really lusted after pre-t. i saw he just dropped a new album and i HAVE to give it a listen to especially the video of sssomething or other (full album mv??? pLEASE) because it stars domnall gleeson and i am still horny for that man even after all these years (he's the actor for hux for context lmao)

queen is also one of my long time favs, though definitely a band i dont know in and out the way i do with a lot of more modern punk bands lmao. freddie has and always will be Gender (god the video for i want to break free was IT for me in like 8th grade right around when i came out)

ive seen spg live before!! they are *great* experience even if you're not deep into the lore (i had friends who were big lore fans). i have heard precisely One And A Half Ghost Songs and im keeping it that way on purpose because its just sooooooo funny that im not into them because aesthetically they are way up my alley (and one of my sibs, a number of irl buddies, and MANY artists i follow are all nuts for them)

ive some passing familiarity with the artic monkeys, enough that i can pick out a number of their more popular songs on the radio even if i cant name them (i am garbage at song titles tho so)

i'll have to check out the rest, especially good Wizards Songs 👀

in response!! further things to check out:

FUNKY.FM - playlist by alexmoukala who is one of my FAVOURITE video game composers. i know him primarily through twitter where he posts snippets of remixed or reimagined video game music... but FUNKY (this one is particularly relevant to u based of ur playlist shared w me)

ye old spooky club 1995 - playlist by unnerving governess who i am 90% sure is gothic charmschool. i know i got the link thru her but i thiiink she also made it (another playlist that may vibe w u based off your playlist)

creature feature, especially the album "the greatest show unearthed" (ookey spooky rock with a lot of vincent price era horror camp and a lot of really impressive technical skill. i want it to be halloween damnit)

the mind electric by the miracle musical (behold, the essence of the inside of my brain but in tangible form. it is. incredibly ominous. do recommend headphones for max goosebumps (includes a lot of records played backwards type sounds and other distortions))

dance monkey by tones and i (one of my big essek songs since i get a lot of that vibe where he's beholden to his station for *so much* that its a disservice to his growth as a person)

bottom is a rock by mother mother (my m9 as a whole song. the chorus has a line for each of them i stg and if i could reliably draw i would do an old school lyricstuck to it)

my verdict on ur playlist btw is that it is very solid and cohesive a+, but *just* to the left of my tastes, largely because a lot of it skews 70s/80s which just by nature of the beast lacks the bass i like (because it was mixed entirely different compared to modern music, which is better suited for sounding big when played digitally through smaller speakers. ive heard some of these bands on big sound systems and theyre MUCH more in line with my tastes then lmao)

[iamnotawomanimagod]

I really liked the halsey movie, I went into it with a grain of salt as the only other album movies I've seen was fall out boys and Melanie's, so I kinda expected ya know, weirdness and not so perfect acting lol, and im sure as halsey has taken up other acting projects they've heard the criticism and have done some work (I still haven't seen americana yet and I'm also pretty excited for maxxxine, also as someone who hasn't even seen X or pearl yet)

But I feel like the movie itself was based around a lot of halseys experiences with pregnancy, I fucking loved what you might call the "impregnation" scene, idk, something something, self induced body horror.

I don't know if it was worth the 12 bucks on amazon, but my sister bought it for me lol. Fall out boys movie was free on YouTube and also had some boobs, but maybe 12 bucks is the price you pay for imax and full frontal nudity from the artist themselves. I know nudity is more so relevant for ratings but for some reason my brain is correlating that with the cost lmfao

I really liked it too! I was a bit apprehensive, just because it was such a huge undertaking. I'd also seen Melanie's movie at that point, and of course jumped on the Lemonade train with Beyonce as soon as I could. Janelle Monae did a movie for their album Dirty Computer, too (which I adored.) So I was prepared for the whole "concept album film" thing, and I figured since Halsey already makes very cinematic music, they had a good chance of making a really cool film.

And I think IICHLIWP is a great film! I really loved the whole storyline about Lila and her pregnancy and how that was tied to her royalty. All the little hints and glimpses about the "Lilith" character, especially whenever Lila saw her in the mirror - it just made for a really cool kind of "legend" style story, when it all ends with Lila dying and Lilith coming to life. I think it gave Halsey a chance to work through their own complicated feelings about motherhood, pregnancy, and the way these things are both incredibly liberating and horrifying and limiting all at once. It's also just a very visually interesting film and I love the costumes and the makeup. (And hey, shoutout to Halsey's pregnancy titties, they looked so good 😂😂)

I will agree though with some of the criticism H has gotten around their acting. I think they're an incredible artist - they can paint, sing, dance, create incredible visual worlds, do gorgeous makeup, write beautiful poetry... it's probably okay that they aren't also the most talented actor in the world, lol. I tend to think that she's really good with like, facial expressions and body language, but something about her line reads often comes across as just a little stilted to me.

That being said, I also haven't seen her in Americana. And they were clearly talented enough to land a role in Maxxxine, which is a pretty big deal. Maybe she's grown and worked on it, like you said.

All in all I'm curious to see what she'll do as an actor. And I'm always excited about their music videos and the other visual/film mediums she does for their albums. I feel like she's already so great at so many things, and even if I end up being underwhelmed by her acting, I'll have a million more ways she's gonna impress me to enjoy. <3

[columbiafawn3]

Im still debating what to buy with my Mecca opti money. The lip gloss is a definite yes, but then im tossing up the strobe cream. I feel like its such a random product that doesn’t necessarily spark joy, but it is very practical and probably in the top 10% of my most used products. It’s just rlly nice to make my skin look healthy and it can pass as natural. Not much of my makeup can say the same.

I think my doubts are coming from the fact that I’m going to buying a whole new bottle of a product it’s taken me so long to work through. And I just don’t know if I’ll make my way through another bottle. Plus ofc I’m thinking about my exchange when I’ll presumably have to shrink my makeup down to maybe just a few products, plus the fact that apparently makeup on guys in France is not accepted. I’m kinda scared French ppl will be quite vocal about my « mauvais goût ».

So yeah those are my hesitations.

Instead I was considering repurchasing the ceremonia hair mask, which I’ve about 3/4 finished. But that too idk if I’ll use it up in time to make it worthwhile, or if I should just use what I have and then use conditioner or buy a drugstore one instead.

Idk I think I’m in decision paralysis mode atm cos I have so many assessments to do that all other decisions feel like superfluous distractions. I just want mental peace. But I’m too wise to think that buying something will give me that.

I think my assignments are progressing quite steadily, so I’m not necessarily worried that I won’t finish them in time. It’s more that I just don’t have the bandwidth to be worrying about other things. So, yeah I’m just putting off using my opti until I can make an informed choice about what I want to buy. But ik I want the lip gloss. It’s just that it’s $24 and I need $25 min for them to ship my order. Literally just one dollar extra people!

But I know I’d end up buying smth else anyway so I don’t want to throw something dumb into my cart just to bump it up. That’s how we got into the strobe cream idea.

I think my makeup is reaching a saturation point where I don’t want to buy any more. Like I feel especially with eyeshadow that if I buy any more I’ll explode. The mac blue and white were really the tipping point I think, because they’re simply replicating what my MUFE ones were doing. And I was so loyal to my mufe ones. I feel in some way like I’ve lost myself to the idea of « good » makeup or looking like I know what I’m doing, like I know what’s up. Because I feel sort of like a novice in makeup still, but I’ve been invested in it for what’s coming up on four years and I feel like I should know more and have more sophisticated tastes than I do. I really think that’s it: I feel like I should have better taste. And Mac eyeshadow feels more tasteful than mufe. But I don’t really like Mac. That’s the truth of it. I find them soulless and lacking creative vision. They sort of just do « makeup ». It doesn’t feel like there’s a personality behind it, if that makes sense. Whereas Nars feels like they have something to say, some perspective on makeup as an art form. I suppose Mac is for makeup artists, to allow them to bring to life their own perspective. Idk maybe that’s it.

But yeah now I look at my Nars things and I’m like « am I just falling into the branding of it all? » because I really do love Nars and I respect their artistry so much, but I’m worried that I’m just a noob who lacks the refinement and experience to see Nars for what it is: a branding exercise in repackaging the same shades and charging high prices for products that other brands sell too.

But I just can’t fault their quality. I know if they come out with something that it will get the job done. Mac just feels too finicky, like I have to think about too much. For example, Nars released liquid blushes last year and they released 6 shades. Mac released like 12 shades of liquid blush recently. That number of shades just scares me and makes me feel like Mac lacks a perspective. They’re sort of just pumping makeup out into the market with all the possible shades someone could need.

I feel like Nars is more curated. Each shade is considered and sufficiently different from the others to earn its place. They offer enough choices that everyone can find something, but not too many that you feel you never made the right decision.

Idk I’m just still in love with Nars but I feel like I lack taste for it. Nars does have a cult following though. So maybe that’s it. Maybe I’m just a happy little member of the Nars cult.

The Mac cult feels like it’s full of makeup artists who know way more than I do and I feel like a dumb dumb next to them. I feel like I’m prone to choosing the wrong shade because there’s so many. It makes me doubt myself.

But Nars feels empowering. Once you know how the brand works, you can find your shades and experiment with the products, but it still feels like the brand is guiding you. Mac I feel left to my own devices with a bunch of products sitting in front of me that I have to work out how to use. Mac feels cold and impersonal, whereas Nars feels like someone you can get to know.

Wow I really just went on about that for a while.

Anyway, so yeah I’m hesitant to buy the strobe cream because it just feel like the wrong step. I can’t explain why exactly, but I just don’t feel comfortable inviting it into my collection. Maybe when I actually do finish my current bottle I’ll reappraise, but for now I’m going to leave it and just go for the lip gloss.

[hotvintagepoll]

last poll of the quarterfinals!

Gene Wilder (Bonnie and Clyde, The Producers)—Gene Wilder's first starring role was a pathetic little guy who was lured into committing crimes and panicked about it, then continued committing the same crimes in prison!

Peter Lorre (The Maltese Falcon, Arsenic and Old Lace, Casablanca)—to me he DEFINES scrungle hes the first person i think of every time the term comes up! i want to fold him up like a paper accordion and put him in my pocket. guy that spawned a million voice artists and impersonators. they made a ghost version of him for halloween cereal staple boo berry. bewitched by his nervous mania and tooth gap <3 (for the purposes of propaganda im linking a photo from his extremely short appearance in muscle beach party bc ive been obsessed w it for years and i couldnt find any video for it :/ anyway imagine youre frankie avalon spending the whole movie battling a bodybuilder faction thats taking over your beach and your girl and then you find out this fucking guy is their mastermind mystery leader and hes stronger than all the bodybuilders combined. like Huh. What.)

These are the the quarterfinals for the scrungly little guy contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you’re confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Gene:

"Excellently scrungly, even in his debut film. And the Producers requires no explanation. Big this energy":

Peter:

he's pretty much the archetype of the scrungly little guy. the blueprint. the example by which all other scrungly little guys are judged

The entire point of his iconic role in Casablanca (apart from introducing the central plot mcguffin) was to be LITTLE and SCRUNGLY to make Bogie look even cooler. And Maggot in Corpse Bride - the littlest scrungliest guy in that film - was a parody of him.

Between his big eyes, wheezy laugh, short stature, and expressive faces, Peter Lorre achieved icon status as the scrungliest, littlest guy in Hollywood. His scrungly little guy energy was often contrasted with the more typical masculinity of the leading man, but whether this contrast was meant to make him seem especially sinister, comedic, or pathetic, it always left an unforgettable impression!

The perfect sniveling character actor, “scrungly” is the first word that comes to mind when I think of him.

I'm sure somebody else has already submitted him (if not then ???) but he's a cute kind of scrungly little guy. He's got a distinctive nasal voice with an accent that is instantly recognizable and often imitated. His later horror movies are so much fun, especially when he's playing off of Vincent Price. He's so good at being unhinged, creepy, or manic, but also pathetic and sympathetic.

Classic scrungly hollywood golden age little guy who was friends with Humphrey Bogart and still played some of the wettest most sniveling characters ever committed to celluloid (complimentary) there is a deep despair and darkness in many of his characters that enhances his scrungly

To be clear, I am one of those people who will argue that Lorre is one of the most underrated film actors, but the POINT is that he's also just a scrungly delight. A delightfully pocket-sized man. Somehow endearing even when he is being actively amoral (see esp. Casablanca. "I found myself much more reasonable!") The faces he makes while doing the Russian cossack dance with a butter knife between his teeth in Silk Stockings make me laugh just thinking about them.

Wikipedia described his typical characters as "timidly devious", lots of weird little villains and evil sidekicks that are pretty horrifying but still manage to be sort of pathetic and the very definition of "poor little meow meow". His look and voice and mannerisms are so iconic they're still imitated

Cartoons for the next century have and will continue to include Peter Lorre-esque characters when needed to up the scrunge factor (see Bugs Bunny and so many more).

Youtube link for characters inspired by Lorre [editor's note: I'm not actually sure how many of these characters are directly, verifiably influenced by Peter Lorre, so take with a grain of salt. tw for suicide depiction.]

I think Arsenic and Old Lace is his quintessential "scrungly" performance. He's so put-upon and tired...all he wants is sleep and some schnapps! I love the way his shoulders fall slowly when he thinks he's caught (he looks like a sad puppy!), only to gleefully sprint out the door when he realizes how dumb those police officers are.

[passionfruitmango]

Big vent

*deep sigh* so I was fucking right about the black friday merch order I've been waiting on

Im really sad mad disappointed pissed idfk a lot of feelings.

Cool yay the onesies (the backordered item) are finally ready and shipping out woohoo

Im not getting my fucking hoodie.

Mind you that was the main thing I wanted from the merch drop, to wear over the cooler months, guess i shouldn't have fucking complained because they really told me "the hoodie was oversold at the time of purchase"

WHICH IS CRAAAAAZY because I WATCHED other sizes sell out when I checked the site for other sales.

They HAD my size. That I had ordered. That they HAD MY FUCKING MONEY FOR.

And now they're sold out because I had a backordered item on my order. Because I "didn't reach out to pay shipping AGAIN and get the two in stock items right away"

Mind you at no point did I get ANY email communication, they just took my money and said "6-8 weeks for backorder uwu"

The only reason I fucking found out about them taking longer is because i happen to be in a Facebook group, where someone posted A SCREENSHOT OF AN INSTAGRAM POST TELLING FOLLOWERS ABOUT THE ONESIES????

I didn't get ANY updates ANYWHERE about the order, what was going on, I HAD TO SEARCH KEYWORDS IN THE FUCKING FACEBOOK GROUP TO FIND OTHER PEOPLE RELAYING THE MESSAGE INSTEAD OF SOMEONE JUST OH IDFK EMAILING THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY BOUGHT ONE ON BACK ORDER???? OR PUTTING SOMETHING ON YOUR FUCKING WEBSITE?

"oh the merch team is so great and it's tour time uwu" oh fucking kay? I've wasted my time and money and now have a sour taste left in my mouth and don't even know how I feel about the artist anymore?

Im venting here because I'm probably going to wind up with issues getting my refund too and I want this EXPRESSED and OUT before I talk to another human directly about it!!

Fuck im just so fucking pissed and disappointed, I was looking forward to that shit for months, specifically wanted the hoodie from the drop, last minute skipped out on getting the jersey to match my pash because the price at the time was a hair too high and now I'm having the worst kind of buyers remorse. Didn't want to pay separate shipping so my partner and I could enjoy our new stuff for the first time together like we have from every other order we've placed from them.

I'm really sad now. Just really fucking sad. Like now I have these reinforced thoughts in my head about purchases which is most likely just a lesson for me.

Don't buy shit on backorder even if they give you a window of availability.

Pay separate shipping to get all items as soon as they're available.

In general just don't buy shit unless you can see it right in front of you because a lot of the time something interferes and you don't fucking get it.

Disappointment hurts. Stupid fucking dumb shit. Whatever. Can't even lie that right this second I want to sell the pash because I don't want to open it once it gets here. Barely even want to wear the shit I have now because now my brain associates hate and anger with the logo and merch because of this shit.

Chock it up to a lesson or some bullshit UGHHHH IM SO FUCKING MAD

[roseband]

honestly, i wasn't upset about the rose package until i saw people talking about the sheer amounts of debt they were taking out for it on twitter and facebook groups

and it feels like every single hobby of mine is being ruined cause even when things are priced for a proper supply/demand curve to push down demand by raising prices, people will complain about the prices but still take out the DEBT and its a global cultural issue at this point that seems to be getting worse, especially over the last year and a half. its not even just the states any more cause we're not even in the top ten for household DTI.

cant go to disney anymore, people take out debt for the tickets, even though iger has explicitly said in shareholder meetings he's been pushing for the raised prices to cull demand. cant do vip packages for concerts as easily, even for artists who aren't super popular cause people take out debt even though the prices keep going up

my husbands entire relationship with his parents is ruined cause they fell for a BRRRR real estate class scheme, which is daisy chained mortgage debt to "get rich quick" and we won't take out DEBT to support them having luxuries cuz "we'll eventually get the houses" (with fucking 5-20% equity each....thats not a fucking house thats basically a low yield savings account in the shape of a house with a ton of debt against it that requires manual labor of landlording to keep....ffs.)

for fucks sake best example of it is we literally offered (2.5 years ago) to pay the 3k difference to add his parents and siblings to our cruise with my mom and extended family and they demanded we take out debt to get the suite.... it would have cost us 40k. they refused a free vacation to the bahamas with infinite buffets as a gift, to insist on us going into debt for them...so they get nothing.

we dont have debt. the only debt i will touch is masters programs (and only for t10 schools if i get in, otherwise more CUNY babyyyyy), medical god forbid, or primary residence mortgage that's it. anything else is irresponsible and just giving in to marketing. go to the public college, avoid spending unless you've saved for it or its a necessity.

we go to a coop apartment showing for something we can afford to put 75% downpayment on for a 1 bed (only thing that makes it worth it to leave our rent stabilized unit until we need a second bedroom unless theres an insane deal, new york is crazy land) and we see people trying to skirt the coop boards rules for DTI and downpayment and rentals to get rich quick on more leveraged debt. literally saw a man fighting with a sellers agent about this stupidity. no the queens coop isn't gonna let you put below 30% down or have worse than a 25% DTI ratio including common maitenence fees, its not happening. they won't let you rent a coop out cause a coop needs to be 75% owner occupied for best mortgage rates in case of buildings needed repairs. they won't let your debt ruin the rates for the responsible people in the building.

debt debt debt everything is DEBT.

the only thing that's making me not vomit out of anxiety over the tariffs (cause i work in consumer product development on an art team), is i know people are dumb enough to take out debt for the fandom aspect of the products im on..... and the only reason my husband and i won't lose our jobs is cause other people will bury themselves in a debt hole while we're debt free

its so fucking horrifying. i feel guilty being in a better place, but if it's not debt for necessities, its not like someone's holding a gun to people's head telling them to shop.

[iamyelling]

on the topic of the previous post, i was thinking about movies again, and i was thinking about saltburn in the shower (ha) this morning. where are the movies for adults? i feel like . i don’t know maybe i just like older things more, but i feel like old stuff is the only place ill find good stuff, either that or super small indie work (for contemporary things) and im just not dedicated enough right now to put the effort in to get to the limited screenings or find the people doing good work.

i blame it largely on the cost of living, which makes it difficult to devote any time to creative pursuits due to the necessity to work as many hours as possible, often with a long commute, to pay for the necessities of life. so like we’ve priced out the starving artist niche because now those who would’ve been struggling artists are now just struggling with no art of depth being able to be worked on. this isn’t the only thing of course, lots of other contributing factors but that’s one that is boring to point to. i mean obviously there’s the over-polished, over-audience tested issue. there’s the “this isn’t second screen enough” issue. there’s the smartphones in the hands of the creators issue, lack of attention span of the creators as well as the audience. there’s the aesthetic quality of digital mediums and current trends in visuals. people being out of practice. people are referencing what they’re familiar with which is less on depth itself, things keep getting summed up and distilled. the necessity that everything is guaranteed to turn a profit, which stifles creativity, risk taking, and experimentation and anything that isn’t already shown to be popular and approved, whether it’s broad appeal or a specific niche. and probably other things that aren’t coming to mind. idk i’m on the bus to work rn

[theblazewolf]

Blaze Midyear Evaluation 2024

Alright its the middle of the year. Let's discuss somethings to clarify how I want to plan out the next few months in this rare Official Blaze Silverwolf Blogpost™ where I'll give a short introduction about myself to new followers, discuss my art goals, and what I'll do with my current posting manners.

Blaze 101 A comprehensive repost of a tweet I made a few days ago, here’s a short intro and the websites that I frequent.

I’m Blaze, old enough to exist. A furry artist in law school too. Weird huh?

My main hobbies include playing games like Cities Skylines 2, Guild Wars 2, and Fortnite, playing instruments, and drawing. I’ve been at it for 10 years and currently looking for ways to tell stories through other mediums.

Not all my art is being posted on twitter though! I’ve been posting my art on other sites for archiving reasons or because twitter recently has been on a downturn.

deviantArt, for art posted from 2014 until May 5, 2024.

Cara, for all art posted starting 2024.

Tumblr, for art posted from 2015.

I also hang around bluesky, and have been tending to use that for a while now as a main social media site. Just like a sticky situation, my time is divided between the two. But (as much as possible), the silly text posts on bluesky get mirrored over to twitter (or the other way around). This ensures you all get the best “blazexp” ever.

You won’t have to wonder what username to find for those sites, since I use only one username: itsdablazewolf

For those who want to get pinged every time I post art, I also have my discord server and my telegram channel.

You can find the links to those at the front page of my carrd here: https://itsdablazewolf.carrd.co/

Current art goals Off to the subject matter of this post, recently been in a (forced) state of reflection. Recently I’ve been posting finished poses once a week. This was to keep an online presence at the same time trying to keep some standard of quality I’ve been satisfied with. For the past few days, I feel like my art could be pulled up a little bit higher.

Ok, it's hard to put that feeling into words, so I’ll take a chart from the internet.

https://www.deviantart.com/shattered-earth/art/Art-Cycle-329593292

Here I am. I'm on an “art low”! This means I see things in my art which were once perfect, but now sees them as an opportunity to learn from and improve more. (Something something anatomy… perspective… things I keep putting off because I’m too scared to get through lol)

There is an inspiration board just floating around for me and my artistic endeavors and I believe it is time for me to hunker down and focus on improving instead of finding ideas, half-making paintings, just to post something every week. Yall can handle me slowing down on finished pieces right? Right? :)

Once-a-week posting This means that the sacred time of posting on Sunday (Philippine 🇵🇭 time) will be adjusted. Won’t be posting finished pieces as much while I try to learn the tips and tricks of making better art. Think of it like I'm going to school and social media (specifically, posting finished art pieces) is at a lower priority right now.

So please expect less background pieces and more chicken scratchy drawings for now. Occasionally some pretty finished work will pop out now and then, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Think of it like a house renovation. You can still use the house, there will be some growing pains and ugly spots. But when its finished, it’ll look a lot better for the long term (hopefully!)

Tl;dr - Blaze is going to focus on learning how to improve art over creating art for social media. 

This has already happened before, but this is the first time I’ve explicitly announced it.

Commissions? I will try to open commissions before my semester resumes. It's a goal this summer to get through one batch of commissions. Price point will still be the same, and slots will probably be around 3-4. Lets see!

Tl;drs Hi im blaze.

I have art goals. I will pursue these art goals over posting art like before. I will also open commissions before my semester starts.

Ok bye :D