#but i also appreciate that part on an artistic level even if i think it's a big part of why this run is so overlooked

[drchucktingle]

THE TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION HAVE ISSUED AN APOLOGY AND A RE-INVITATION. HERE IS MY STATEMENT

hello buckaroos. the TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION have issued a formal statement and apology which you can read at the attached link.

while i find the language used to discuss what was done a little unsatisfying, i would like to start by saying i appreciate anyone taking steps to prove love is real and make things right. the genuine feeling of ‘realizing you have made a mistake and hurt someone else’ is a terrible one, and i have so much empathy for this group as they reckon with their choices causing harm. i appreciate their apology.

i also think more good than bad has come from this situation. i am so thankful this happened to me (someone with a large social media presence) and not a smaller buckaroo author without the means to stand up for themselves. i think the next time someone comes to the TXLA with an accommodation need, they will hopefully be taken more seriously

lets trot down to business about specifics now. the TXLA has re-invited chuck to the original panel and even offered to take a moment at the top of the panel to talk about what happened. this is very kind of them and i will say THANK YOU. 

unfortunately i will also have to decline.

the fact that it took this much effort, social media backlash, and discussion to let me simply EXIST PHYSICALLY in a way that is authentic to myself is not a good sign. if this organization immediately questions an authors chosen presentation in this manner, i cannot imagine what my other accommodations would be met with.

sometimes i am at an event and i very quickly need extra space to breathe. sometimes i am at an event and i need special guides to help me along from place to place. these are not ‘big asks’ and every other conference has gladly provided them, but if the TXLA had this kind of initial reaction to my physical appearance, i cannot imagine them readily helping with my other needs without ‘proof’.

this is clearly not a safe place to trot for those who require additional accommodations. regardless of any apology, their ACTIONS have shown that people who appear unusual or unique are not welcome at this event on a subconscious level. i believe the TXLA have some serious inner work to do beyond this apology, and i believe this inner work will involve actions more than words.

but even more importantly i would like to make this very important point: IT DOES NOT MATTER IF MY MASK IS A DISABILITY AID OR NOT. i appreciate the way this discussion has allowed us to trot out some deep talks on autism and proved love in this way, but i think there is a much more important point at hand.

regardless of WHAT someone looks like, it is not the job of an event or conference to pick apart WHY. physical presentation can be a part of someones neurodivergence, or gender, or sexuality, but i can also just exist as a nebulous undefined part of their inner self. it can be a piece they are not ready to openly discuss yet. the guests at TXLA are authors (aka ARTISTS) and the idea that a conference dedicated to an ART is going to deny people with unique and unusual presentations for ANY reason is absurd. since when are we applying a ‘dress code’ to our artists?

without knowing it, i personally believe there is an element of the ‘good queer, bad queer’ phenomenon going on here. there is a push to say ‘LOOK we accept these marginalized groups and cultures’ but behind the scenes that means ‘we accept these marginalized groups and cultures who are quiet and speak in turn and wear the metaphorical suit and tie’. it is easy to show diversity when you only take on the voices that arent too ‘strange’.

to prove my point i ask you this: do you think orville peck would have FOR ONE SECOND been asked to perform at the texas library association event without his mask?

so with that i say ‘very sincerely, thank you, but i will have to decline the re-invitation. maybe next year’

[welcometogrouchland]

Its all good man, I'm major busy atm too. Good point about how Steph's gender is a core part of her character in the sense that her female relationships are as important as, say, her experiences with gendered violence. I think a lot about her relationship to female mentorship, re: Cass, Dinah and Babs. All very complex relationships with a lot of rough patches but you can tell that when they're good, especially w/ the batgirls, all of them feel very...seen, I guess. Encouraged.

But yeah Steph and Nocturna's dynamic has been revisited approximately twice since this initial arc and i find both instances interesting but lackluster- there's one post-crisis in the gotham gazette mini, which is sort of a thematic prologue to Steph's batgirl run (lots of talk about how Steph's been left behind by the batfamily but is still fighting, how people return to Gotham despite everyrhing fkr a second chance- all of which shows up in Steph's BG run). Nocturna's comitting a robbery, Steph stops her (and weirdly has invisibility tech?? That she stole and is never brought up again??? Okay?) Its overall not a very significant interaction, just interesting that they pull on nocturna as a rogue for Steph instead of any of her dad's gang. I like that.

(Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive? #1)

Post-Flashpoint (and post-rebirth and infinite frontier...i think?) Steph and Nocturna interact in road to dark crisis #1 where we have a story about Nocturna taking advantage of Batmans 'death' to rob a museum, only to have a sort of hostile heart-to-heart with Steph, who talks her out of it. It's an interesting little appearance for multiple reasons? It seemingly tries to canonize every version of nocturna as one, using pre-crisis nocturna as a reference for flashback art, referencing her robin 93 version by having her already know Steph (and know her civilian name too weirdly? HC that was one of the things Steph told Nocturna on the roof ig) AND referencing her post-52 version just via design and whatnot.

(road to dark crisis #1)

Certainly doesnt work continuity wise but that was kinda the motto with the dark crisis era soft reboot. Also implies Steph was chillin' with Jason's adoptive mom. Funny to me

Anyway it doesn't get too into the weeds of nocturna and Steph's history and in fact most of it is actually about how they're feeling about Batman being gone (so, second time they've reunited post-batman seemingly dying. If i had a nickle, etc etc).

It's interesting to contrast how Steph feels in dark crisis compared to how she expressed herself in, say, world's finest #4, and it's also interesting that even tho Nocturna tries to needle Steph's insecurities (and she doesn't let it get to her, which, good for her!) implying she's inferior to the "real heroes", Nocturna seems to bring out some vulnerability in Steph.

It feels like it could tie into her whole ~lower inhibitions~ thing she had going on (could've been a cute use of the spoiler ninja mask actually) but that's not really said.

(road to dark crisis #1)

(sidenote: Clayton Henry is a very talented artist but man this may be the absolute worst the spoiler suit has ever looked post-flashpoint. Too shiny, Symbol is an off-purple shade and overlapping the paneling, no texture on the paneling. Frightening stuff here)

Again it's just an interesting pull for a Steph rogue and also interesting to me that they keep pairing nocturna with Steph during times of uncertainty/upheaval in Steph's life (not counting their first meeting which is actually one of the more stable periods of Steph's on-page life probably), considering how pre-52 nocturna was all about getting people to Reveal Truths n junk (via her weird girl astrology and pheremone powers).

Neither interaction references the 'sisterhood' they once shared (which makes sense bc it was only a few days in canon and ended w/ nat getting sent to S.T.A.R labs by Steph) but it still feels like there's untapped potential there between the two of them.

Finally re-reading Robin 101-104 (the nocturna arc) bc I remember being intrigued but overwhelmed the first time and looking back I really, really enjoy it (it's timsteph at their most enjoyable and has decent balance between the conflict in Tim's life and the inner workings of Steph's life, which was always unequal in Dixon's robin to the point of being slightly infuriating) but an interesting addendum to what you were saying a bit ago visa vie Steph's costume: Nocturna keeps saying to Steph "I see the colours you wear" as a means of arguing that her and Steph have some Fundamental Aspect in common. Which is potentially connected to womenhood/feminity? Said bc Natalia calls her "little sister" during the second time she mentions the colours Steph wears and bc Steph connects hers and Natalia's experiences of gendered violence in her head. I also mentioned in my comments on that post that the pink/purple colour choice feels connected to Steph's status as the 'young girl' character of the batman cast at the time (since Cass' character actively subverts a lot of teen girl stereotypes that Steph's character more incorporates and is in conversation with, Buffy Summers-style) so that feels like a personal win lol. Tbh a connection between Steph and Nocturna over ~feminine energy~ is kind of fitting from a modern lens considering like, modern tiktok influencer 'woo woo crystal energy' spiritual girlie phrases and buzzwords that sucker young girls into believing a bunch of borderline medievalist garbage.

Which got me thinking about Steph and Nocturna and how brief their relationship is but how interesting it is and how it's been referenced and revisited briefly in modern continuity but that's a whole other can of worms. Wish someone would take the time at DC to sort out the continuity between Nocturna's tbh, pre-crisis post-crisis and post-flashpoint all feel so different I can't reconcile them really, even tho post-crisis and post-flashpoint are meant to be the same(?) now.

Anyway yeah. Random Steph and Nocturna thoughts as I reread this arc! Hope they give some food for thought

Thank you for this! Im always so happy to see I got an ask from you, you always have such great Steph takes and thoughts.

I totally get how this arc can feel overwhelming. On one hand, I adore how much detail and nuance Jon Lewis brings to the table when it comes to Steph, and I definitely appreciate how we get so much of her internal monologue aside Tims, really emphasizing her perspective as a valid and important one. (As you point out, this stands fairly in contrast to Dixons approach). But on the other hand: there’s so much fucking internal dialogue. Swaths of it. It’s a lot sometimes, especially when it’s not broken up, and (for me at least) is sometimes easy to get lost reading.

(Also have to confess something: i didn’t realize Natalia was meant to be a version of Nocturna. Whoops. Definitely good to know, thanks.)

Big fan of the take about Stephs costume and femininity. Especially fun to look at this in contrast to Cass. Like you mentioned, Cass stands in contrast to the expected archetypes and trappings of a teen girl character, while Steph tends to conform to them. (Which is especially ironic to me given Cass begins with the explicitly gendered title ‘Batgirl’ while Spoiler is gender neutral.)

Steph being a female character is (for better or worse) essential to how her character is treated on every level. Misogyny and especially sexualization and sexual violence are kind of core parts of her character. Unlike Cass, Steph isnt detached from femininity, she is constantly reasserted to be part of it and hurt by her association with it, both through the sexual violence she is threatened with consistently and more than that through the way she can be narratively treated, dumbed down and villainized and discarded when convenient.

But Steph’s ‘femaleness’ can also be core to her character in a (somewhat) positive way. Her strongest familal relationship (while rocky) is by far her relationship with her mother. While pretty much every male relative in her life we see is some degree of absolutely shitty, Crystal and Steph’s relationship is deep and compelling and genuinely touching.

One of the first missions she gave herself as Spoiler was to track down Jim Murray: for the specific reason of protecting other young girls he might try to prey upon.

So given that, I’m interested the read of Steph’s femininity as connected to the purple of her costume. Given how often is Steph doomed or defined by her femininity I think it’s interesting to have it grounded in her costumes coloration as well, for better or worse.

Anyways, another bit of the connection between Nocturna and Steph and femininity which you got me thinking of is the moment where Steph tries to contact Natalia’s mother.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve had Crystal and Steph’s relationship on the brain so much recently, but it’s so interesting to me that Steph thinks to try to contact Natalias mom.

Especially as a character who we know spent a long long time seeing Crystal as unreliable or unsafe to confide in, and who Steph is at times more accustomed to seeing as someone she has to take care of instead of Vice versa.

Maybe this is because they’re in between these rough points right now. Steph is probably experiencing a high point in their relationship. (Crystal is clean and present, they’ve commiserated over how shitty Arthur is, and Steph has gotten a lot more time getting used to her mom wanting to be there for her.)

Good point about the whole ‘feminine energy’ spiritualistic stuff w Noctura retaining relevance, huge agree.

Their relationship is just generally very interesting, with the ‘little sister’ of course, and Steph seeing Natalia as a child to some degree, and their connection through music. I also find her convo w Steph with the stars just so enduringly touching, definitely a highlight for me.

(And who fucking knows w continuity at this point. It’s rough out here. Also, didn’t know her and Steph’s interactions had been revisited, that’s very interesting, good to know.)

Anyway great thoughts as always, thanks for the ask, and sorry this took like literally forever to respond to I’ve been stupid busy.

[yebyyhfushi]

Different anon but I do want to mention that the “This is very old practise, but many in BSD fandom don't seem to know it or be aware how even their fandom has caused trouble to scholars and other regular people” is something I’ve experienced when looking into Japanese authors (before I got into BSD) for a number of reasons.

Like I kept (at the time unknowingly) getting exposed to BSD fanon!Mori content that was presented as if talking about Mori Ougai (the real life author). This was also off of tumblr and presented as if it were purely factual.

Because of that, for the longest time, I thought Vita Sexualis had themes like Lolita (along with thinking what people said about BSD fanon!Mori was stuff about Mori Ougai (the real life author)), so I put off reading it for literal years (because I thought the book wouldn’t interest me).

I deeply regret that as I feel it’s one of the best (unintentional) ace-spec representations (not directly/explicitly stated, but there’s multiple lines and scenes describing the protagonist’s experience that sound very ace-spec to me) I’ve ever been exposed to and made me realise things (e.g., I, as an aroace person, thought I was fine with the current state of aro and ace-spec representation. Now I’m very much not and understand the importance of it beyond like a conceptual level). It’s now my favourite book

That was years ago. I feel like it’s gotten extremely worse since then (this includes people reblogging posts to spread awareness of using tags like “bsd [name]” and not the author’s full name and etc…but then continuing to use the author’s full name (without the media tag) despite the post they reblogged about it). Like it’s to the point where I’ve contemplated not reblogging from people who use the author’s full name (especially without a media tag) and/or not just interacting with the fandom outside of translations

(Fun(?) Fact: My experience with the above also dissuaded me from writing a college essay about Japanese authors because of that very issue)

Ohhhh thats very interesting!! I had seen a lot about Mori (author) on Twitter bcs of an artist who really likes him and his books

It's great to know now about that part of the authors full name and other such information, I appreciate every info about it all

[llorom4nn1c]

☆🎀 "I want an emo boyfriend" 🎀☆

Okay so this is going to be kind of different from what I usually post but I just wanted to rant about something. I've been seeing a lot of non-alternative people saying that they "want an emo boyfriend" and that just kind of rubs me the wrong way. While I'm glad that parts of our subculture are being appreciated by people outside of it, this is literally just the male equivalent of the "big tiddy goth gf" thing which a lot of people also take issue with because of how demeaning it is to goth girls. The emo boyfriend and goth girlfriend trends both reinforce the idea that both of these types of people are only wanted for their look which is so demeaning.

The sexualisation of emo guys is also really gross. Most pictures of emo guys from the 2000s on MySpace and VampireFreaks, the places where most popular pictures of emo guys originally come from, are of boys typically about 15-19 years old and sometimes they're even 13 or 14. They are kids, and yet people are commenting things like "I would f*** an emo boy." I don't care if you're also a minor, that is still so gross. If a guy commented on a picture of a 16 year old goth girl with something sexual, people would start mentioning her age and calling him weird for sexualising her even if he was the same age or younger.

I feel like a lot of this trend stems from Emo Boy by Ayesha Erotica, but I think it's obvious that most if not all of Ayesha's discography is satirical. Like she's rapping about the most surface level stereotype of an emo boy who wears MCR shirts, goes to Warped Tour, and works at Hot Topic and that's all it takes for you guys to suddenly want an emo boyfriend? Like this is the same artist who has a songs about how she refuses to have sex in Cadillacs and how she thinks Lady Gaga killed Lina Morgana and you think she's being completely serious?

So yeah, that's my rant. And if I see any normie in the reblogs or replies being upset at me, someone who is actually part of the subculture and has a genuine reason to take issue with this, I'm actually going to be so annoyed. Basically the tldr is most emo boys are minors so it's gross and weird to sexualise them, especially if you take issue with the big tiddy goth girlfriend trend. And you guys are also taking Emo Boy by Ayesha way too seriously.

[if-you-heart]

A small ramble on Canon vs Fanon, alternatively titled; Hey! You’re part of the “Fanon”! Now what?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot as of recent, I just haven’t had the time to properly jot my thoughts down. I like to put a generous distance between myself and the fanbase that comes with basically any piece of media I get into, and this also goes for the fandom that’s been built around CCCC and the rest of Chonny Jash’s albums. Don’t get me wrong, there are some lovely people here from whom I’ve interacted with (and from how far I’ve been willing to stick my head out of my own little crevice in this place), but I’ve noticed that, unfortunately, this album isn’t free from what’s been happening in more “recent” fandoms.

This isn’t me stoning anyone specifically. This is purely a generalized observation I’ve made during the (checks calendar) 8 or so months I’ve been floating around this space. same goes for every other fandom I check in on.

One of the biggest things l've come to notice the most is how the line between "canon" and "fanon" seems to be blurring more and more each day. Especially here. CCCC is first and foremost an album covering another album. Things are not explicitly narrated like a storyline you'd see in a movie or something. That doesn't mean there isn't a story to be told, but a lot of it is more up the air than most media out there right now. To my knowledge, certain events/incidents that appear to be a staple in many interpretations that I’ve seen (including my own!) only exist because of how the fanbase perceived the narration inside the songs. Which in of itself isn’t a bad thing at all— I’ve seen some really creative stuff from artists who connect to the album purely for how it describes the struggles of mental health and simply being in a bad place.

HOWEVER. There comes a point where I think it’s necessary that a line be drawn..! I’m mostly talking about the ridiculous amount of gore and torture I’ve seen in the depths here.

I have absolutely nothing against gore by itself. I’m a Resident Evil fan of all things. it does not bother me. However, there is one crucial thing to keep in mind when indulging in media of varying… maturity ratings. And that is that there is a TIME and a PLACE where such content should be the main focus in fanmade work. For example, there is a lot of fanart and writing surrounding the topic of absolutely horrific levels of torture here. Which is very disconcerting to me! Because there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING whatsoever in any of these songs that even imply the idea of, say, soul beating heart and mind with a long sock filled with quarters (pretend that example is some jigsaw level torture scenario or something because I ain’t typing allat). There’s already a lot of dark themes in the album. Why we stackin em now? Are we listening to the same album??

And I’m not talking about this just because I went “oh…that’s gore of my comfort character.” a couple dozen times now. I sincerely think that a lot of people sort of forgot that this album is a vent album. Made by a real guy. Venting about his own poor mental health. It’s great that people can connect to the characters in CCCC because they may feel the same way that they do, but I don’t think anyone would appreciate seeing the characters they constructed to express the nuance of mental health and coming to accept every part of themselves absolutely mauling each other like bloodlusted gorillas. It kinda takes away from the point of self acceptance at the end of the album if you ask me.

This does not mean every single part of the fandom is bad. not at all. There just happens to be a lot of bizarre shit here. however, just because you may not agree with these more violent interpretations does not mean you aren’t a part of the “fanon”. I think a lot of people try to vehemently deny that they fall under the fanon category (and denounce it altogether) because of the negativity surrounding the term fanon now. But truth be told, if you’ve made your own fan interpretation/au with a storyline based off of the songs, with creative liberties taken, you are part of the fanon group. This is not always a bad thing! In fact it’s better to embrace this so newer fans who are getting into CCCC and such don’t immediately think certain fanmade events/headcanons are real things that occur in the album. Because it eventually turns into a game of telephone for those who do not communicate that these aren’t canon, and then we’re back at square one.

I’m by no means the headcanon police. Do whatever the hell you want. Just be courteous and mindful about what you’re putting out there maybe.

Moral of the story, maybe listen to the album all the way through a couple more times. And please, do NOT trust genius lyric annotations, I am BEGGING you.

[merakiui]

wait,,, i think i understand malleus's appeal (i say for the nth time, but please hear me out!!!!)

mal is commissioning the most talented artists in all of briar valley to make elegant marble sculptures, watercolor paintings, portraits, etc of you and he worships them with everything he's got. the artists have to be extremely careful and meticulous because if they portray you in a way that offends you or malleus they're being incinerated on the spot. T_T luckily, you often prevent this outcome by appreciating the artist's efforts by honestly expressing your approval for the parts that are indeed praiseworthy, thereby sparing the poor soul. it takes some convincing, but malleus soon comes to see the beauty he neglected to notice before, even if he still swears they got your eyes wrong by a very slight, minuscule detail.

the two of you fuck in the castle gardens. this is sacrosanct. if you ever want to be taken anywhere else that isn't in the bedroom, he'll send everyone away so the two of you are afforded true privacy. also, malleus has this habit where he cups your tummy with his palm so he can feel his dick(s) pressing up and bulging against your belly!!!! he handles you so sweetly and gently AND THE TWO OF YOU ARE SO IN LOVE AAAAAAAAAAA.

he also tends to hover. a lot. he likes being near you, but sometimes if you're doing something and he's not occupied he'll just,,,, tower over you like a second shadow. he doesn't mind the silence, but then he also doesn't realize he hovers. the hovering gets really bad and even more habitual when or if you're pregnant. ;;;; he cannot be away from you for one second; he has to be by your side at all times.

lots of kisses to the top of your hand. lots of tender kisses to your lips. they always feel so chaste and fleeting; he just likes to snag a kiss every now and then hehe. it recharges him. <3 but then also lots of slow, deep kisses stolen in shadowed halls, where he's leaning down and tilting your head to meet his mouth at an angle, and he rests his hand on your waist to pull you flush against him.

if you're ever sad, he's sad. the whole castle gets this incredibly gloomy feeling and depending on the level of sadness it may even be felt over briar valley. ^^;;; similarly, when you're happy he's happy. he doesn't need anything else, for he already has everything he could ever want (you).

he's a really good listener. the type who never zones out while you're talking and he listens so intently to everything you say. he will gladly sit and listen to you rant or vent or excitedly ramble about all manner of things. he thinks your enthusiasm is very attractive. of course, if you're venting, he's ready to get rid of the thing or person causing you such anguish. think the meme of "is the sun bothering you, my beloved?" with the person pointing the gun at the sun.

this is one of the many dynamics you likely have with mal:

[roo-bastmoon]

Things needing immediate attention in MUSE era...

We have GOT to diversify streaming platforms. Last year as a present to myself I went ahead and purchased a premium family bundle (for 6 email accounts each) for YouTube/YT Music, Pandora, and Spotify--plus a premium Apple account hooked up to Stationhead, and I currently have free trials going for Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon. Premium streams are essential for charts.

Every day I make clicking through playlists on all these platforms as part of my routine: before breakfast, at lunch, and before bed at a minimum.

We also need to be very diligent about voting. Once I sat myself down and took the time to download the apps, set up accounts, and watch a few YouTube tutorials about how to do it, it's actually pretty easy and usually only a once or twice a day sort of thing.

Then there are the polls that have unlimited voting. That is a numbers game, a war of attrition. So while I wait for my lunch to heat up? I vote. Stuck in a waiting room for an appointment? Voting. On the phone with someone who is just gabbing away? Uh huh, mm mhm, but clickity click, I'm voting the whole time. I aim to hit that Vote button about 100 times a day. All told, takes less than 5 minutes.

Also our boy just posted on Insta after 126 days of silence. Please interact with the story and show him the love!

All in all, I think we really need to get into a routine where we fire on all cylinders. Streaming parties, funding parties, outreach & hype parties... We are hyper-focused on Spotify and YouTube videos and that stuff is absolutely important, but it leaves too many gains on the table. Let's use every tool in the box, okay?

Finally, I want to wrap up this post with gratitude:

I know I encourage you guys a lot to push yourselves and work hard, and I don't mean to come off as your taskmaster, but rather as a cheerleader.

We took a mostly Korean song with an insultingly low level of promo, plus no ads, no playlisting, no radio, only one version, with less than a full week to chart, which dropped during a major US holiday -- and it's very likely it will land on the Hot 100. That is...outstanding.

If nothing else, Jimin will see that he's loved and appreciated and we have his back. Whatever the assholes online try to say about vpn and bots and other bullshit, it was your blood, sweat, and tears that gave Jimin his well-deserved seat at an otherwise unwelcoming industry table. I'm so grateful to you and to this community for that.

We all know that Jimin is organic, authentic, and uniquely talented, and therefore isn't even in competition with anyone else. But we can still get him some good wins. What we do for him, we do out of love--not obligation or bragging rights. His music and his artistry are a source of JOY!

WE ARE OFFICIALLY IN OUR MUSE ERA!

We have two weeks to study up and get premium accounts and gather all our energy to support a whole album. How lucky we are to be so well fed and loved.

FIGHTING!

[micahulrichdraws]

I don't think self-deprecation or concern for the person's well-being is ever going to come across well to someone saying they like what you do. Maybe I'm missing something, but there are reasons to like your art besides being miserable. Even if only the truly miserable liked your work, responding to them by pointing out how miserable they must be wouldn't feel great for them. Your art isn't giving them depression, and it's not like you're contributing to net suffering by making art with ~themes~, so it seems unnecessary to bring up. You suggested that if you struggle to enjoy life, and you make something, anyone who resonates will also struggle to enjoy life. I disagree. Some people will like it for completely shallow reasons. Some people have empathy for others' suffering. You can have a decent life and no mental illness and probably still appreciate a well-drawn skeleton. I don't know what kind of art a perfect world would produce, but any world where people are mortal is going to have sadness, and some art will reflect that. Yours isn't uniquely dark.

Sorry if you've gotten 100 asks saying this same thing. I wasn't sure based on the ones you responded to, and I just found your blog. I know it's sort of a joke, bc you do still sell art prints and stuff, so you clearly are okay with people liking your art. Tbh, I /had/ depression for a few years, so I'm not exactly proof against the theory that your art somolehow only appeals to depressed people. It seems unlikely, though. And the way you talk about your art as "garbage" kind of gave me flashbacks to the sort of self-deprecating humor I'd use when I hated myself. I don't know you or how you're doing, but that feeling made me want to say something.

You didn't just miss something, you missed like, everything I've ever said on my blog about like, everything to the point I'm not even sure this was intended for me? Like I'd break it down, point by point and be like 'no what are you smoking' but that'd be a waste of time after the 'why do you think my art gives people depression!?' part of whatever this is. Like, this is offensive levels of trying to make me be someone I'm not for the sake of a hypothetical argument against a strawman. So if, you want to take offense to who I am in case you misclick and end up here again here's an asshole enough of a response to give you a legitimate reason to find me intolerable:

Welcome to my page! I make art, jokes, and bullshit with folks to make people happy. I started doing this when I was big sad, because cheering people up cheers me up. Now, here's the crazy part: some people are very sad, and sometimes they tell me it makes them a small amount of happy, which gives me dopamine and makes me do it again. The word 'some' means 'not everyone', or even 'a fraction of a percentage'. For example, in this case, it means 'most people just like my drawings but some people get an extra lil bit out of it'. I don't take myself seriously because I know that the art world is insanely intimidating to those outside of it, and sometimes artists tend to be egotistical and condescending, a word that means 'having or showing a feeling of patronizing superiority'. Naturally, I do everything in my power to avoid that, because I'm a very 'gates open' kinda person.

So, here's the WILD part: in my perfect world I would've never had depression. Now, I know, that would have been inconvenient for you as someone who passed by my page one time, and I do apologize. I also apologize that I don't make 'dark art', because I like frogs and mice doing cool shit. Finally, I apologize for my art having -~*themes and concepts*~-, I know good art only comes from ChatGPT and that was my bad.

Sike, I didn't apologize, my fingers were crossed behind my back when I said that. Fuck you for thinking me not wanting to be around for a decade is 'worth' because I drew a mediocre skeleton, and because somehow sadness is necessary. That line of thinking is so awful, here's a video explaining it:

PS: the reason my friends and I in these parts call my art 'art garbage' is because that's what my professors called it back in school for like 4 years, back when I started this shitshow. Much love.

[natalyarose]

𝓣𝓪𝔂𝓵𝓸𝓻 𝓢𝔀𝓲𝓯𝓽'𝓼 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓼 ? //𝒱𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒸 𝒶𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓎𝓈𝒾𝓈 🪷

Hey ♡ ! I'd been stuck on what to write about for a while, but I felt drawn to doing an analysis on Taylor Swift.

As always, I have no interest in forcing others to use the Ayanamsa I use or anything like that, I just love being able to share my thoughts & observations :)

Taylor Swift being Mula Sun rather than Jyeshta Sun in Mid-Mula Galactic Center Ayanamsa made a loottt of sense to me, and in this post I'm going to talk about that & her other major chart placements. I hope whoever reads this enjoys/learns something new :) 🩷

I'll note that I am by no means a Taylor Swift expert, I don't really listen to Taylor but I do find her interesting and really appreciate what she has done for the culture as an artist!

Let's get into it-

𝒯𝒶𝓎𝓁𝑜𝓇'𝓈 𝐹𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓉 🌕

First of all, this makes Taylor Swift a full moon child (Mula  🌞, Ardra 🌙).

Obviously not every Full Moon child will end up Taylor Swift level famous, but being born on a Full Moon gives a certain 'luminosity' to the person and the life they are leading. In a Full Moon chart, you'll find that the moon's placement in the chart is especially emphasised energetically, perhaps even seemingly 'outshining' the Sun at times (we marvel at the Full Moon, but the Sun shines the same every day).

Not only this, but it's also that Full Moon charts give the native an Earth sign (not commonly used in nor Vedic or Tropical astrology, see my post on Earth signs here) that is the same as their Moon sign. Earth is always 180° opposite the Sun, so if the Moon is opposite the Sun as it is on a Full Moon, 'Earth' is conjunct Moon.

Full Moon natives tend to be very likeable to to the masses. They possess a polarity- and that polarity makes them NOT overly polarising. I mean, they are polarising in the way the exuberant shine of the Full Moon is, but they are not as likely to have very strong opinions or ideals one way or the other and are somewhat balanced since they deeply understand & live in two contrasting worlds. Full Moon babies tend to come across mostly pleasant and well-rounded, yet magnetic and powerful like the Full Moon.

New Moon babies can be more likely to be polarising because they are embodying one energy so strongly and adamantly with no energetic association with dual energies (unless they do have the opposing sign somewhere else in the chart).

I definitely think Taylor being born on a Full Moon really accentuates her Ardra Moon's influence, which is why her Sun's influence sometimes feels almost a little overshadowed. The associations with fame, illusion, 'trends', etc. we see in the realm of Rahu Nakshatras very much overwhelms her image & identity. She possesses the ethereal, soft quality we often see in Rahu Nakshatras (and Saturn Nakshatras, which I'll talk about later). Taylor's Mula Sun is still very much there and a huge part of her identity as you'll further see.

𝑀𝓊𝓁𝒶 + 𝑀𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓎𝓎/𝐵𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓈

Honestly I never quite understood Taylor Swift being Jyeshta. I always keep an open mind for the wide range of ways Nakshatras can manifest, but she really lacks the intensity we usually see with Jyeshta. The sharp tongue, the overt emotional intensity, the playful Mercurial sexuality, not to mention wheree are the Jyeshta owl-esque/occult inspired energies? *not to knock her songwriting or suggest it isn't intense or emotionally intense enough, but she has been known for being consistently very 'vanilla' in her disposition emotionally, artistically, etc which is part of her wide-spread and consistent appeal as an artist. Jyeshta energy can feel very much emotionally like a loose cannon, very explosive & potentially contorversial

Of course, depending on the rest of the chart; not every Jyeshta native will be directly interested in dark topics or the esoteric (or necessarily sexual), but you'll notice almost all prominent Jyeshta women have something in their look & persona that gives an aura of mystery or 'witchiness'- or overt seductiveness/taboo. We don't see this kinda energy with Taylor. This is not to say Taylor has no sex appeal or something like that but it's more that her image generally is not associated with sex appeal/scandal in the way we often see with Jyeshta and other Mercurial women). If you know Jyeshta's mythology with Lord Indra and his uh- scandals, you know what I'm getting at here.

(Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Niki Minaj are just a few Jyeshta natives we see in the media who in part are known for the way their seductive qualities meld into their art/image & bring about controversy/make them come across less family friendly).

When I saw Taylor is Mula Sun in Mid-Mula Galactic Center; it clicked... A lot of people attribute Taylor's billionaire status to Jyeshta, but here's the thing. While Jyeshta can absolutely signify growing incredibly rich and successful by means of sheer independence and the raw 'hustle', Mula & Ketu nakshatras in general can also signify extreme, absurd levels of wealth.

Jyeshta & Mula are both manifestations of Alakshmi and can both yield similar results pertaining to extreme loss & extreme gains.

We often see Jyeshta natives really struggling to get to the top, all alone with a complete lack of nourishment and support. Or, being in a situation where they are the 'black sheep'. Now, we can only judge Taylor's internal life to an extent, but from what is publicly known, she was very well supported by her father in getting into the industry and has been consistently backed up and invested in by others in order to be in her position. She's come from pre-existing wealth into more wealth; which you'll see as we go on can be a very Ketuvian theme.

Of course, Ketu represents the void; so people often associate it with poverty and having nothing. Especially Mula, it's deity being Niriti, Goddess of Destruction. However, sometimes the 'void', is like a void of wealth where this person just magnetises money. An endless depositor for others' wealth. Another popular figure who is extremely wealthy; Donald Trump, is taken to be a Jyeshta native but is Mula in Mid-Mula Galactic Center. There is a reason the word 'moola' is slang for money 💸

With the Goddess Niriti, it is said that in her most 'exalted state', she is blonde, wearing a gold outfit & sitting on a golden throne. Not only does this hint to Mula's connection to wealth, but this explains how Ketuvians; particularly Mula sometimes gives very light hair & features though it more famously gives very dark features.

Ketu natives can embody the archetype of being a little tone deaf/unaware socially, especially when it comes to money/class in the case that they are born into it. 'Daddy's money' sort of vibe. I have no gripe with Taylor about this personally. Everyone is born into different circumstances and that's okay- however a lot of people do accuse her of being tone deaf in this way.

𝒦𝑒𝓉𝓊𝓋𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝒢𝒾𝓇𝓁𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 '𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝓈𝒽'

It's been talked about in the Vedic astrology community how Ketu influence can give women a 'bookish' quality... sort of innocent and lost in her books, a little 'nerdy' and perceptive, socially retreated/introverted. While Rahu is a bit more loose, free 'off with the fairies'; Ketu is uptight, down to Earth, controlled.

Taylor embodies both, being Ardra Moon & Mula Sun. I definitely feel like this more innocent, 'nerdy' image is a big part of Taylor's brand and appeal. Yes, she is beautiful, but she's got this sweet image of being somehow a little quirky, relatable, down to earth, quiet, etc. despite the reality of her lifestyle of mass fame & wealth.

With Taylor, we observe a similar persona to what we see with figures such as Emma Watson (Mula Moon). Both are known to be 'good girls' in a media landscape where being a 'bad example' is more popular. Both emanate this energy to the public of being sweet and to themself, once again very down to earth despite the wealth and lifestyle they have. Interestingly, I've definitely noticed even in real life too that Ketu Nakshatras lovee their big, warm, dark coats. Perhaps it feels like they're all safe and cozy in 'the void' lol.

𝒯𝒶𝓎𝓁𝑜𝓇'𝓈 𝒜𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝐼𝓃𝒻𝓁𝓊𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈 + 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓃𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈

In her early days (I don't know much about Taylor Swift offhand, but I be doing my due research for this post lol), Taylor talks about one of her inspirations being country artist, LeAnn Rimes (Mula Moon, Magha Sun).

In one of Taylor's very early demo mixtapes from when she was young, she covered LeAnn's song, 'One Way Ticket'. It's also worth noting that she covers Dolly Parton who is Magha Moon, Ketu in Mula; so another Ketu native. (ETA- this post inspired me to go down a rabbit hole and I discovered a strong pattern of Ketu influenced women in country music!)

As touched on earlier, we can see the pattern of Ketu natives and their very light features- we talk a lot about Ketu giving dark, intense features which can be true; but it can also swing the opposite way and give very light features. Either way, genetically Ketuvians pull from an extreme.

Taylor does have Ardra Moon of course, and Rahu can also contribute to light features but I do think Rahu similarly to Ketu (its counterpart), can pull from either significantly light or dark genetics.

It's no surprise to me that Ketu nakshatras have a connection to country music, seeing as Ketu tends to represent a more 'stripped down', raw element of reality as opposed to the vibrance & stimulatory qualities of Rahu.

I can definitely see Taylor's grapple between embodying Mula's very authentic, down to Earth energy & Ardra's sparkly, controversial, stormy energy.. A part of her enjoys sticking to her roots and romanticising Ketuvian simplicity & rawness, but a part of her wants to and does play into Rahu's energy of embodying the 'popstar' image.

Another interesting connection- I always thought Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne looked (mildly) similar. Decided to check it out- Taylor & Avril Lavigne performed 'Complicated' together in 2021. Avril Lavigne has Mars in Mula ruling her chart (Avril is Chitra Ascendant in Mid-Mula Galactic Center- which makes a world more sense than Hasta)

// Side note- Michelle Tratchenberg, Chitra Sun & Avril Lavigne lol

𝑀𝓊𝓁𝒶 = 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝓉𝓈

Mula's major translation & association, is to the word/symbol 'root(s)'. Mula's purpose is related to getting to the core, to the deepest truth of a situation and directly relates to trees and their roots reaching deep into the earth. Especially in Taylor's Folklore/Evermore era, we are seeing a lot of this tree & root symbolism. The big coat in true Ketuvian style, lots of black and white (Ketu natives loovee black and white imagery). Come to think of it, this reminds me of how in country music (we earlier noted how country music has significant connections with Ketu) features a lot of songs about trying to find the truth of a crime, of a husband cheating, etc.

From one of Taylor's songs, 'no body, no crime':

Este's a friend of mine We meet up every Tuesday night for dinner and a glass of wine Este's been losing sleep Her husband's acting different and it smells like infidelity

'And I noticed when I passed his house his truck has got some brand new tires And his mistress moved in Sleeps in Este's bed and everything No, there ain't no doubt Somebody's gotta catch him out'

I think this song is one of my favourites I've heard from her! I love the slight edge to it 🥀 it does also feel it's tapping into her Sidereal (and Tropical actually??) Scorpio rising.

I was shook when I came across Taylor's song & music video, 'Out of the Woods'. As if the name isn't Mula enough (the woods, trees, trying to find the truth/clarity in darkness), the music video is like a perfect, beautiful artistic accumulation of her Mula Moon & Ardra Sun. The beautiful pastel blue dress, the magical sparkles, the wolves & the storm is all Ardra/Rahuvian related symbolism, but then we have the roots coming out of the Earth almost threatening to grab her, the trees, etc.

(apologies for the low brightness images, it's a very visually dark, cinematic style video).

I've noticed many pieces of art/literature, etc. where Mula natives are threatened to be consumed by the literal roots of the Earth-

Emma Watson, Mula Moon as Hermione being taken over by the 'Devil's Snare' The Rock, Mula Moon in the movie 'Jungle Cruise' being consumed by the roots of the earth

𝒯𝒶𝓎𝓁𝑜𝓇'𝓈 𝒜��𝓊𝓇𝒶𝒹𝒽𝒶 𝒜𝓈𝒸𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓃𝓉

Now, the very only thing that confused me about Taylor not being Jyeshta Sun, was that she always did appear very deer-like to me (Jyeshta being the deer yoni). Her most widely accepted birth time (5:17am) puts Taylor as Vishakha ascendant in Lahiri.

If we consider that this would mean she shares an ascendant with slightly edgier/offbeat personalities such as Lana Del Rey, Melanie Martinez, or Marina Diamandis and that Vishakha is considered an 'outcast' Nakshatra, this doesn't make much sense for Taylor. Not to say that Taylor hasn't ever endured feeling left out or anything like that, but she is known to have a very 'clean', palatable and widely appreciated image that has contributed to her major popularity.

However in Mid-Mula Galactic Center, Taylor Swift is Anuradha ascendant, hence the deer-like appearance as Anuradha is the other deer-yoni Nakshatra. Being a Saturnian ascendant explains Taylor's clean, controlled more 'responsible' image. She also has the very symmetrical face & slim, taller build that is typical of Saturnian Nakshatras. Also, a very strong cupids bow that is typical of Saturn influence!

Model Emily Ratajkowski known for her naturally slim build, Uttabhadrapada Moon & Taylor, Anuradha Ascendant

Similarly to Rahuvian Nakshatras, Saturnian Nakshatras are known to give an ethereal, angelic appearance and demeanour at times.

This also means that Taylor is both a Sidereal & Tropical Scorpio rising. I noticed people speculating that she may not be a Scorpio rising and moreso fits having a Capricorn rising since she is very 'proper' and methodical like Capricorn. I believe this is because people's main association with Scorpio rising is pulling from Swati & Vishakha energies, since only a very small portion of Anuradha falls into Tropical Scorpio.

Anuradha is a Nakshatra associated with a certain tenderness, a softness- especially being not only the deer yoni, but the female deer yoni (the doe). Anuradha Nakshatra is often considered a Nakshatra related to love & the trials and tribulations that it takes to find the one you love or to make a relationship work.

Due to the mythology (Vedic Gods Varuna & Mitra, (Anuradha's deity) both loving the same woman), Anuradha natives can often live through love triangle situations. Taylor has a trilogy of songs in her album 'Folklore' named 'Teenage Love Triangle' detailing a love triangle between two boys and a girl told from each person's perspective.

Most of Taylor's songs are about love in general and especially in earlier days when she was newer to the scene, they were regarded as somewhat 'mushy' and overdone, but there were many who appreciated the vulnerability on the topic of love in her songs.

One more thing I'd touch on in relation to her Anuradha ascendant, is the way that Taylor Swift has a strong audience of people, often young girls who are Christian or otherwise religious. Saturn can definitely relate to religion in itself, but it's also that the Saturnian 'straight', good girl image makes Taylor very palatable and non-controversial to idolise for those who adhere to very religious lifestyles/have parents who impose it upon them.

However, it is Taylor's Ardra Moon (and perhaps her Mars in the 1st) that does add a wild-child, slightly more flashy and risque element to Taylor's demeanour. As mentioned in the beginning of this write up, having a Full Moon & embodying both elements of a polarity helps her to be universally liked. I definitely think that Taylor's Mula Sun & Anuradha ascendant are how she manages to come across and be perceived as very once again, very down to earth, relatable and almost 'quaint' despite being one of the biggest stars we know of this in this time era.

EDITED TO ADD- I just wanted to note that Taylor has Ketu in Ashlesha ruling her Mula Sun, which explains some of her Mercurial qualities, penchant for writing, etc. As an artist & a Ketuvian, Ketu is going to naturally be a very prominent placement for her.

Also, I think this absolutely gorgeous early picture of Taylor holding the flower in the water is very Anuradha. One of Anuradha's symbols is the lotus flower, symbolising purity & stability amongst chaos/adversity, and external impurities. Yes, she is holding a flower but I love it because it's like in this image, she IS the lotus! 🤍

🪷 ♡ 🪷 ♡ 🪷

Thankyou for your time reading this piece, & I hope this (very long) analysis was interesting to someone :) 🩷

[wings-of-ink]

Looking for your Input for IF Patreon

Hello my friends and neighbors! I hope you are all safe and well. I had some things to share with you and I am once again fishing for thoughts and opinions.

Like many of us who create these IFs, I am strongly considering a Patreon. I have no plans to go exclusively to Patreon, so don't fret. I want to make extra content to go along with any IF I work on, and I'd like to be able to put more things into these projects such as real art (including character portraits), and not just the stuff I flounder through on Canva. I'd like to pay my artist a fair wage and devote more of my time to this. Getting some support would help me allocate even more to these projects and extras. I'm testing the waters here to see if it's sustainable for both myself and subscribers as well. I do not know what timeframe I'm looking at to start this either.

I only want to do this if it's worth the while for everybody, so I'm putting out feelers and asking for your input.

Most of all - I want to know what you want in a Patreon sub. I also want to know what you feel to be a fair sub price for different tiers. Over the years, when I have been able, I have subbed to help support my favorite creators at all different levels. So, I have some ideas on what I am looking for in a subscription, what keeps me coming back, and what prices are both fair for the effort of the creator as well as for my pocket. But, what suits me may not be what you want, so that's why I need some feedback.

Below, I have compiled my ideas, so far, for possible tiers. None of these are set in stone, just a framework to build on to see if I'm on the right track. At the bottom is a poll (of course, it's like my favorite thing), and is probably the first of a few about this topic I will use. I welcome comments and suggestions on this topic. Tell me what you are looking for in a Patreon. What do you want from one each month? What keeps you subscribed? Please feel free to comment below or to send comments and suggestions via the Ask inbox, especially if you prefer to be anon (do let me know if you do not want your response posted - I may post some that either have questions or that I find relevant to the conversation).

I still do not know for certain what the ultimate future of God-Cursed will look like (meaning when it is all finished). I've played with the idea of eventually refining it to sell on itch and/or Steam. I have to admit that being able to do so would really feel like a huge accomplishment to me. I've always had dreams of being published and such, and it feels like a part of that dream. I, personally, prefer to buy IFs through either platform whenever I can. It supports my favorite authors, shows my appreciation, it compiles my favorite stories into an easy-to-find library, and I can relive my favorite stories over and over easily. So, needless to say, this is calling to me more and more.

Anyway, what I have come up with so far for possible offerings are these. Please let me know if something like this would work for you or if you have any suggestions for improvement:

An appreciation/tip jar - if the other tiers aren't for you or you just want to give a little love. Subscribers could get updates and public posts, and participation in polls.

A "Supporter" level - all the other stuff plus GC demo releases 1 month (30 days) in advance. I debated about the time, but I want to really make the early access feel worth it. This level would also be privy to some "insider" info (things cut, character development, the egregious typos, etc…). Of course there would be some sort of dev-log to go with this as well.

A "Plus" tier - all the above plus early release of demos for other IFs, more "behind the scenes" type things, and I'm thinking some POVs and other extra content (some interactive) such as short stories. These extras need not be exclusive to IFs either if anyone is interested in other things I write.

"SMUT" or "Spicy" tier - (being very honest, I'd be the most excited for this tier, lol) all the above including all things smut for each IF. This will include interactive extras, short stories, and any other horny content we want. Likely will run some polls and take suggestions for the spice you desire each month.

"Smut plus" (lol) - all the above, PLUS a patreon-only IF that I will have in the works (so, access to 3 projects in total). I have an idea for an IF that will focus on 1 RO at a time (each with their own complete and unique story within the same world), and I am itching to write it even if updates for it will be a bit slow. It will be more like a traditional dating sim type thing and may comprise all sorts of genres. This may be one that would be good for just subscribing on months that will have updates, and that's something I would probably post about publicly so if you're just interested in getting access, you don't have to worry about staying subbed.

And finally a sort of "Power Supporter" tier - this may be like a limited number sort of thing and be a bit pricey (not sure yet how much). You'd get a custom interactive story set in whatever world of mine you want that can be spicey or not. You'd give me all your MC's details (mostly cannon things but some liberties could be taken), physical traits and personality, and pick your RO and/or other desired characters. I'd take prompts or ideas from you as well concerning what you'd like in the story. You want a sexcapade - you can have that. You want to have tea with Oswin and his weird twin sisters - you got it. The main limitations are spoilers, of course, especially for any mystery ROs depending on when and if this all comes to pass. There may be some subject-matter that I will not write about, but I'd let you know what is out of bounds for me.

Naturally, I would also pop your name in the credits, I just don't know which tier that should go on.

So, there you have it. This has been on my mind for a while and I've gotten some questions and messages asking about if I will do something like this, so I'd like to give it a go at least.

Looking forward to hearing your ideas and desires! ^_^

~Lunan

[xclowniex]

So wait Lilith got her name a class of Mesopotamian demon? Isn’t that arguably cultural appropriation?

And If I recall the Noah’s arc story was kind of a ripoff of part of the epic of Gilgamesh, I think there where other parallels to

But yeah neopegans should at least try to change the names a bit or something, heck just make up your own gods at this point. That still doesn’t make it right to just use this Jewish character like that.

There is a difference between cultural appropriation, cultural appreciation and a natural mixing of cultures due to two or more groups living in a place.

Cultural appropriation is generally when a majority group adopts aspects of a minority groups culture and either benefits from it whilst the majority society is still ostracized for it or benefits from it without acknowledging its history.

For example non black people wearing braids benefit from braids as they're seen as cool or trendy, whilst black people still face racism for wearing braids. Or when a while ago this lady on tik tok made a Korean Cucumber dish and called it her Cucumber salad, and did not at all acknowledge that her recipie either was a Korean recipe or acknowledge that she was inspired by a Korean recipe, and instead claimed it was her invention.

Cultural appreciation is when you learn about a culture, and engage in it whilst acknowledging the history and rules within the culture. For example, Megan The Stallions recrnt music video where she featured a Japanese artist, filmed the music video in Japan with Japanese directors and actresses and actors, and used a Japanese tale as the plot for the video. She learnt about things, honored those within the culture, and made sure that they also benefitted from her use of it.

Natural mixing of cultures is when two or more groups coexist in a land and/or the minority culture assimilates to a degree to the majority culture. Jews existed in Mesopotamia for years after Judea was destroyed, and some where even there before then. Jews assimilated to a degree whilst living in Mesopotamia, and that brings with it, a level of mish mashing culture.

The idea of lilith had existed before jews went to Mesopotamia, lilith only became who she is known as in Judaism today due to a mixing of the Jewish idea of lilith and the Mesopotamian lilitu. It wasn't like lilith was purely taken from Mesopotamian beliefs. Hence not cultural appropriation.

Whilst I have no problem if neo pagans like the concept of lilith with how they have appropriated her, to call her lilith and to use literature and mythology from judaism is just wrong. There was never the mish mash of cultures which can happen naturally, it was some people who looked at a poem a jew wrote about her, misinterpreted the poem and went "mine now".

[emojellyace08]

Lookism x Artist! Reader Headcannons 🖤🥀🎨 Part 1 (J-High-Main Boys)

Warnings: None Genre: fluff ☁️ Reader is gender neutral (and in an established relationship with the character of choice :)

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿

Daniel Park (Park Hyung Seok)

He is so amazed by your drawings no matter what art style you use. Your works never failed to surprise him.

Daniel can't also help but to stare at your focused yet cute face when you try to draw on your sketchbook/paper (he'll stop if you find it creepy but he can't help it sometimes). He's really astonished by how you illustrate something with passion and take it to the next level even if it's just a doodle. Danny also finds it really smart and creative if you put meaning behind your drawings, whether it's sad or happy! He really likes to see the way you view things in life and express your thoughts on a piece of paper/canvas and he also can't help but to shower you with lots of compliments "Y/N It looks so cool! Keep up the good work!"

Daniel will also appreciate it if you use him as your reference! His heart will melt if you initiate to sketch him especially his original body. He felt so loved and cared about when you, his special someone sees the beauty in him no matter what shape, form or size he's in. He'll look at you like 🥺👉👈"Wa-Wait really? Are you sure?" HAHAHHAHAHAHA XD. Don't mind him but when he'll have an angst episode especially when his insecurities are getting in the way again, your comfort plus your artwork of him can really lift up his spirits. "You really find me cute in my other body?" he'll ask you in his taller form as you cup his cheeks and give him a peck as a sign of affection not wanting him to feel sadness and self-loathing himself. "Yep, that's why I always ask you to be my super model for my drawings! You're more than just your looks, so chin up Danny!" he can't help but smile thinking about it especially when he's feeling sad again, him feeling loved by you especially when it's not just his looks that you really adore and love about him (he feels the same for you). It really boosts his confidence more and in return, he'll not only compliment your works but also everything about you that's just so amazing to him.

If you're the shy type who won't show off your artworks to him, he'll definitely respect your privacy and space though he can't help but to be curious sometimes. And if you're the messy and inorganized type, expect him to just randomly check out your sketchbook especially when you both clean your shared apartment (don't scold him though he just picked it up on either the floor or the dining table which where it shouldn't be lmao). "So-Sorry Y/N I didn't know what I was doing sorry!" Though he will feel relieved when you just simply brushed it off saying it's fine but he won't stop apologizing when he can feel that you're upset about it. But this rarely happens since he will think about his actions first before doing it and he'll feel so much relieved when you started showing him his drawings and him seeing you breaking into your comfort zone.

Overall Danny's supportive about your hobby as long as you don't illustrate something too weird. He wouldn't mind if you teach him the basics or if you also you use one of his friends as your model/reference (especially Duke or his mom). He just loves you so much as much as you love him too (I need a Danny in my life right now).

Zack Lee (Lee Jin Sung)

This man will talk about you to literally everybody 24/7 (in good and really romantic way of course).

Zack's so amazed by everything you do even if it's the simplest things, so what more if you make a masterpiece everybody should be proud of ;)?

He'll also ask if he can take a look of your sketches and he'll be SUPERRR HAPPY when you showed him your sketchbooks and random doodles. Zack's so fascinated by how you illustrate things in your art style, making him showering you with lots of compliments. "You're so good at this! You really are a perfect person!". Trust me when I say that just like Daniel if you asked him to draw him as a reference, his heart will not only beat a hundred times faster but he's also going to explode from your request. His someone asking him to sketch him? His day couldn't get so much better. Just like Danny, Zack will also look at you with that puppy eyes when you ask him to draw him "Really?🥺👉👈" AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA xD. He will also tease you about it. Him posing with funny poses while you force yourself to not laugh (he's also doing it to make you smile trust me). "Y/N you think I'm attractive?" "No why?" you playfully denied as you smirked at his reaction before he teases you back. "But why did you ask for me to be your model for your drawings?" "OH C'MON ZACK JUST STAY IN PLACE I CAN'T TAKE A GOOD REFERENCE PHOTO OF YOU" "SORRY Y/N I WON'T DO IT AGAIN!".

If you're the shy type, he'll be okay if you don't want to show your drawings to him. But he'll be definitely be sad and crying inside since he feel like you don't trust him enough lmao (though he'll still respect your wishes). And he will also sneak up to see your works when it's just chilling on your desk or table, but he'll be so sorry and crying when you caught him touching your things without your permission. "SORRY Y/N I WON'T DO IT AGAINNNN!!! PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEE!!!. However, he'll be also relieved when you're okay with him checking out your sketchbook, though next time he'll ask for your permission though! (Always asking you with those puppy eyes. "Y/N can I take a look of your drawings again? I'll be careful with it I promise🥺👉👈 ". He'll also not let anyone touch your things and your coloring materials to other people unless you say so (He'll hand it to Mira since she's careful enough about others' belongings or he'll just simply put it on your desk when he needs to do something important).

Zack is just wholesome and supportive about your hobby. He will always flex you on his friends not only about your artistry but almost about everything about you. "Do you know Y/N is a great artist? You can ask for her to draw you if she/he doesn't mind it ;)". (Protect Zack at all cost).

Vasco (Lee Eun Tae)

Another cinnamon roll here.

Vasco really loves your drawings so much! He's always curious on how you managed to sketch pretty illustrations especially cute animals like kittens and puppies! He has that same puppy expression while his eyes sparkle as he views your artworks in awe. He's so confused when he tries to draw the same as you but it always end up looking a bit weird lmao (But we still love him).

He'll talk about you to Burn Knuckles especially Jace. Their reactions will be so priceless. No one had made Vasco smile and made his day better other than them! "VASCO, YOU TALKED TO A GIRL/BOY???!" "YEAH! SHE'S/HE'S SO PRETTY/HANDSOME, KIND AND SHE'S/HE'S A DRAWER!" "You mean artist right?" Jace asked as Vasco nodded with a cute smile. "Yeah! her/his drawings are so amazing!" As you became friends, Vasco will ask for you to draw him a puppy if you don't mind! And he'll be sooo happy if you did so especially on his birthday (he cherishes the others gifts that the others had given him but he just really loves your art so much!). "JACE! Y/N DREW A PUPPY FOR ME IT'S SO CUTE SHE/HE EVEN PUT IT INSIDE A PICTURE FRAME!"

If you're the shy type, he'll wonder why you're a bit hesitant of showing your works to him, though he will respect it and not force you to but he still can't help but to be curious about what it looks like. But after getting to know each other and getting closer, he will ask again if he can take a look of your sketches and if you agreed so, he'll appreciate you for trusting him and he'll give you lots of compliments so that you can show him your other drawings and he'll have that huge and cute eyes 🥺👉👈 while his mouth his gaped open in shock about how your drawings are so pretty. "Y/N you did all of this? It looks SOOO PRETTY!". And if you're the messy type or you constantly misplace your things, he'll always find your sketchbook where you left it and he'll shout at you with that childish yet deep voice as it echoes in the school hallways holding it up while waving his hand to catch your attention. "Y/NNNNN! I FOUND YOUR SKETCHBOOK IT'S ON THE CAFETERIA TABLE!!!" If he's a dog right now, his tail will waggle if you pat his head and thanked him for helping it find it. "Thanks Euntae, I appreciate your help". Your kindness along with your warm smiles, talent, and hard work never fails to amaze him and fall in love for you more!

And if you and Vasco became official after some time, expect the Burn Knuckles to cry while cheering for the both of you. You'll also find it entertaining to teach the them how to draw silly stuff that they like (It can be a pain in the ass but if that's what makes Vasco happy and you to get each other know better you're probably going to do it lmao, protect Vasco at all cost).

Jay Hong (Hong Jae Yol)

This man would be so protective and proud of you.

Jay finds it really interesting when you illustrate something beautiful while being effortless. If you're seatmates with him, he would slightly look at you sketching random things while the teacher discusses another boring lesson. Him multi-tasking with him just listening to the teacher's ramble while his eyes are focused on you drawing on your scratch paper instead of taking notes. Both of you may get into trouble for not listening but since Jay's a top student he can help you catch up with the topics (Istg I saw him on the anime and webtoon not taking notes down while there's a lesson yet he's manages to be in the top how does he do that?)

Headcannon: You and Jay would communicate with cute and silly drawings. For example you and Jay would exchange notes with you asking him how he's feeling or if he's been doing well with a cute cat doodle with a confused/concerned expression plastered on its face with a question mark. And he would respond back with a much simpler drawing of a dog smiling (considering how much he's scared of dogs, well he used to be), a sign/message that he's okay as the conversation will go on :) He also respects it if you're a bit shy of showing your drawings to him not wanting you to feel uncomfortable but he would also appreciates it when you initiate to show it to him. If you're the messy type he'll also check your sketchbook before giving it back to you. Though he will often ask permission if he can check your artworks out.

He also really likes your artstyle! No matter what style or genre of drawing you have you'll never fail to amaze him. He would also appreciate it when you draw him! I promise you he will put all of your illustrations that you gave him on expensive frames and he'll take care and preserve it like it's a delicate piece of masterpiece that needs to be put and hang on a museum (I love him so much).

Overall, Jay and you will have a special bond especially with anything related to art. Jay's perspective on it is so unique. Since he's having a really hard time in expressing his emotions and thoughts through words, he finds it as an escape and comfort on his problems (for an example is him with good fashion style). So having a partner who's an artist can be relatable for him, you and him will be a good power couple! (he also loves your good attitude and values so please be nice to him :).

A/N: Part 2 will be with Eli, Hudson, Warren, and Johan (if possible)

[turbulentscrawl]

i haven't seen lots of edgar content lately,, maybe general hcs for edgar valden if you can? :D

👌

-Edgar is a tunnel-visioned, broken-hearted creator who spends most of his energy seeking out the meaning of life and a reason to live. After the death of his mother and sister, he gave up on fulfillment through love or friendship, and now appreciates the world only through his art. Otherwise, he is apathetic. He does remain cordial with people, though, like his mother taught him to be.

-Edgar is an observer in most senses of the word. He rarely cares to devote energy to conversation himself, so he watches and listens instead. He doesn’t have much remaining interest in participating in the ‘game’ that is society, or the subtle mind-games it requires, but he is intrigued by other people’s reactions to them. When he does interact with others, he expects it to be strait-laced. Anything else is a waste of his time. (In short, he’s nosey. He enjoys knowing all the gossip but very rarely spreads it himself.)

-In that same vein, if Edgar has a specific opinion on something, you know it’s because that something has inspired him in some way. Edgar is a Centrist and does not hold very strong views of political or social situations one way or the other. In general, he thinks it’s best to let people do what they want, so long as it doesn’t interfere with what he or anyone else wants.

-Since the betrayal of his master, he’s developed a strikingly low tolerance for interruptions and interference. Edgar’s artistic muse is the most important thing in life to him, and he’s already lost it once. He’s not willing to lose it again, and does not give a damn about what anyone else thinks about his methods of maintaining it.

-Edgar was used by people for so long for his artistic skills that he has a hard time connecting with anyone who’s first interest in him relates to that. Ironically, with time Edgar gets along well with people like Kevin, who was confrontational and distrusting of Edgar in the beginning. Kevin did not give a fuck about Edgar’s art, and disliked him for some entirely different principal. And his art neither salvaged Kevin’s opinion nor won him over when they were finally on neutral terms. People like that can be trusted to be genuine, as far as Edgar is concerned, and frankly Edgar doesn’t see conflict as a dealbreaker for friendships or relationships. Disagreements happen.

-He’s physically weak—this boy has never seen a day of recreational exercise in his life. He is, however, not squeamish or easily disgusted. He dislikes what he perceives as ugliness, but has no issues witnessing or interacting with dirt, grime, or gore. He’s also not easily frightened and tends to be one of the more level-headed survivors in matches. He holds a similar reverence to death as Aesop and isn’t afraid of dying in matches. Some little part of him wishes it could be permanent—as some final devotion to his art, his Swan Song.

-Edgar cross-dresses sometimes. He needs no particular reason for it, as far as he’s concerned, but if you must know it just comes down to ‘he likes what he likes.’ And he likes flowy skirts. He’s not the type to let the gender roles of a society he’s not even part of anymore dictate what he wears. Were he alive in a modern world, he may identity as Agender. He doesn’t care much about gender and just presents however he feels like on a given day.

-Outside of his art studio and bedroom, Edgar is terrible at keeping track of things. He’s blind to anything he sets down outside of those two spaces, it simply no longer exists to him. Other people in the manor are often returning his things to him (especially Joker, who has a knack for finding things without even knowing they were lost.)

-When he was younger, he was taught several other skills that were normal for young men of high class. Piano and dancing, for instance. he didn't like them enough to practice much after his mother died, but he's still decent at them.

-Edgar has commandeered several hallways of the manor to hang his art. He’ll probably take over more later—he’s got an eternity to make his art, after all.

[archerbeans]

talking about the art style for this show because I am lowkey (high key) obsessed with it and how unique and genius it is.

Warning: this is sort of a long-ish post. Everything here stated is purely subjective lol

S1’s style has a certain charm to it but personally doesn’t actually give me that wave of “nostalgia” (I started watching the show in 2023 summer) but it does have a certain aura to it. I personally love experimental styles and for the time this came out I still consider it to be very unique. Noting the experimental phase of it where things look less polished and the line weight isn’t as well executed as it is in the later seasons.

Using rigging for the time this series came out was certainly a bold choice with the realism and complex designs that this show used while also having a perfect balance with well done cartoony style. Archer is one of the most well known cartoons when you look into rigged animation! Floyd County’s process of using Illustrator and After effects together at the time was certainly bold as well. The team for this show was not as big as most people might think, as it states in the Art of Archer book that there were around 70 artists, illustrators, etc.. that worked on production. Compared to the average Hollywood animated movie, it’s surely a small crew. Using multiple levels for character movement, as the usual storyboarding that’s essential for any animated project (you cannot have a quality animated series without story boarding!), having to design an entire new model when the state of any character changes (scars, scrapes, torn clothes, etc..) which becomes a lot of extra strain, along with the actual design process in illustrator and using skeletal positioning as well. It’s truly impressive imo!

The backgrounds and settings throughout the show were also very cleverly executed. Using 3d modeling and royalty free assets to paint textures and the amount of detail was insane. Apparently Adam had a good eye for everything.

I really admire the effort that goes into all of the details in the show’s settings, along with the painted scenery. Which only improves over time. As you can see the quality difference between the earlier seasons and the latest.

S1 Malory’s office and S2 Tunt Manor

Vs

S6 Office and Tunt Manor. Notice the different in light fixtures and textures, the marble walls moving away from more of a tile texture, and the lighting in Malory��s office is much more smooth, the texture of the chairs, etc.. I love the improvement.

The more obvious and interesting part about all of this is the actual character design changing over time. I will always wonder what those first season 1 and 2 storyboards looked like. (If anyone ever finds any info on that please feel free to let me know! Ik there’s a few artists portfolios out there that are more easy to find and I’ve seen S12/11/etc..)

As with S1, it had a certain charm to it in which I love. The funny looking experimental angles, I wish we got to see more of, just for the silliness alone. Im glad they tried their best with dynamic poses. </3

I’d say there’s definitely even just a difference between the line weight in S1 vs S2, it’s slightly more smooth in S2 depending on the pose. Depending on the show you’re watching, I noticed line weight is sort of an underrated and mostly overlooked technique upon other people I’ve seen talk about art styles. It adds a lot of depth. Dynamic poses are not easy.

Not all line weight is used for dynamic posing though

I love this shot in particular. From what I remember and notice the most is that this is the first shot in the show where there’s much detail like the card reflection of the characters, they’re flipped like proper mirroring (obviously the modelling is not perfect for Ray, he still looks a little janky which isn’t a huge shock since we only saw him a handful of times in previous season) But the line weight for Malory’s thumb is something I appreciate very much and just thought this was a cool shot and shows a huge step up. The text boldness and format is also well done.

I guess the last elephant in the room surely is the actual style for the characters changing over time. There are about 3 different changes throughout the series, based on looks, clothing and movement. I wont get into specifics but it is always going to be entertaining to me how stiff and wonky certain shots looked. Not everything looked super goofy though.

I will never hate you scoliosis Lana </3

It’s very entertaining to see the changes through out the show.

(Malory’s hair was a tragic mess. Bless her cold heart <3)

First two seasons are where its flip flopped the most. Models were more stiff, tho on the brighter side the movements were still up to par with the action scenes. It’s still perfection. Some of the one-offs had funny designs (Krimenski, Uta, Mannfred, etc..)

Fast forwarding to S3 is when the improvements finally come in,

Noticeably mostly with Archer, Malory and Cyril (though he still has his old glasses. I much prefer his post S5 ones)

Lana and Ray still look a little off but certainly different in face shapes and Lana is much less- “S” shaped lol. Pam has improved looks as well.

The side profiles have had an improvement as well up to this point. But it doesn’t change much going down the line. The side profiles are very rarely shown. Krieger’s head finally looks less stiff as well. Cheryl looks completely different, with her hair being much more consistently styled. Also, notice the clothing saturation specifically, it’s much more toned down. The colours tend to match better more than they did before in S1 nd 2.

Completely new character…. Hah.

Moving on past S3, since the character models stay pretty much the same, everyone at this point has their new looks leveled out, notably Ray and Lana

This style pretty much remains the same through out the next few couple seasons. The models and settings have a new flair, the lighting improved immensely, especially with Vice. I dont wanna drag this on for too long but the modeling stays the same until the coma seasons.

One of the biggest reasons I love the coma seasons is that it brings a lot more to the table for the show as I played around with 3 different completely new environments. It mostly likely brought a lot of new people to the production crew as it cover a lot of architectural different and themes (jungle islands, temples, spacecrafts, etc.. )

Going forward past the coma seasons straight to S11 is where the style gets a little harder to explain the huge differences. Backgrounds and shots look very polished and none of the characters look stiff in any way anymore.

We’ve also gained more soft lighting on the characters compared to mostly pre S6, dynamic lighting was improved immensely. In the Art of Archer book the majority of the animation process that is presented is mostly BTS for S6 and so on, though it does go into the works of Vice, its mostly with the musical production though they do delve a bit into the music video, which is a whole other level of its own. The environmental feel excels greatly with the lighting changes and also background ambience. Much of which was actually visible in the Danger Phone mobile game (RIP </3) I’ve always thought the sound design in this show was clever enough but it got significantly better over time.. Atmosphere makes a big difference. I’d love to add more specific examples but tumblr DOES have a limit on media that can be in one single post. But I can recommend going back and rewatching the show wearing headphones/earbuds and you will notice the difference.

Just a few extra things I wanted to point out is that as much as the animation has improved there are little quirks I do miss about the older seasons, for example the clothing colour changes. It really added more depth and realism to the show and I think despite it being subtle it was something that the majority of us fans enjoyed. But assuming they needed a different model for every colour worn, I could see why it was weeded out. Maybe it helped with the polish! That’s just personal bias.

The difference is subtle, but it’s there! The faces shapes and body proportions have been “improved” slightly. But I genuinely think thats due to setting changes and having higher quality animation tools. But lighting makes a huge difference.

I don’t have a lot of cons for the art style improvement besides really that “nostalgia” feeling a lot of ppl have for this show. I personally believe pre- S11 is when the artstyle was the best, of course with having a few sacrifices

Not sure how I feel about this one. He looks less like an ocelot in the right panel. The colours do look better but Babou’s eyes are eyes extremely different, not a fan of it. Some things just look better than before!

I would also like to take a moment to appreciate this gal’s glow up.. Not to drive too far from the point of this post but Im glad they kept Trinette relevant.

Not 3, but 4 different improvements. Even though she has 3 completely different hairstyles there’s still the difference in quality..

Anyhow, I’ve run out of gas for this post and I’ve pretty much covered mostly everything I wanted to go over. I definitely would like to cover more on this topic but unfortunately tumblr has different plans.

Anyways I love this show so much and everything a bit and probably has one of the most compelling art styles out there with a very passionate studio. I think Floyd County is unique on its own and even just outside the art style there’s a lot more to be said about this show’s greatness. If you read this far and actually enjoyed reading my word vomit… well- thanks! Hoping to write more someday if I get any more literate than LOL

If i missed any details or got anything wrong then plz let me know! Most of everything here is subjective and I may perhaps be a bit biased with some things, but thats just me

[thecurioustale]

Notes on my Watch-Through of Jennyffer by F.I.P. Industries

This week I watched the animated webseries Jennyffer, by @fipindustries / Amanda Avila. It’s a short series about an assholeish trans girl in high school, just living life in our silly world. You can watch it on YouTube!

TL;DR: This series is funny, witty, edgy, delightfully absurdist, and full of visual richness, gags, and allusions despite the minimalist style of the drawing and animation. Jennyffer grew on me as I watched it and I definitely think it’s worth the hour or so runtime. There are nine episodes averaging about 4 minutes apiece, plus a few small bonuses.

Fip is a friend of mine so I wrote down my thoughts as I was watching, but I am posting them here (with her approval) in the hope that folks happen to get intrigued and decide to go check it out. I’ve adapted my notes a little bit to make them easier for you to read, but for the most part these are extemporaneous notes speaking directly to Fip.

Indented (“ ---> “) comments are written after I watched the entire series and went back to review my notes.

“TUMBLR PEEPS / TP” comments are additional comments I’ve written for you lovely people on this huggable hellsite. I’ll also give you my overall review and recommendations at the end.

* This post contains spoilers for Jennyffer.

Title Sequence

Very fun! :3

TUMBLR PEEPS: Not very useful for you, I know. Fip is both an illustrator and an animator, and I think this title sequence sets the tone for what she’s aiming for with the series. There’s always a moment of disorientation when stepping into the world of an artist whose style you’re unfamiliar with, but if you hang on it begins to make sense soon enough.

Ep. 1

I appreciate subtle touch of “Panoptic” High School, with the round building, etc. TP: This series is full of background references. It’s one of my favorite things about it.

Lol @ the identical 😮 faces on the pack of Mean Girls in the background.

Wasn’t expecting the confrontation to escalate that hard! 😮😂

----> You don’t really go this hard ever again in the series! Both the shooting and Jennyffer’s primal scream are unique to this episode in their tonal intensity. 

LOL @ the Mean Girls actually turning into a pack of feral monsters when their leader falls; unmasked at last!

---> This is a candidate for my favorite single joke in the series just because of how economically and absurdly it encapsulates so much about this trope.

I appreciate that Ashley admitted defeat; that’s cathartic because this (almost) never happens in real life.

TUMBLR PEEPS: When I watched this episode, it came across to me as uneven on the audiovisual production values. Things like Fip’s audio recording setup not being as good as the guest star’s, sound levels being a little imbalanced, etc. I would encourage you not to be scared off by that! Although it doesn’t completely go away over the series, it does improve a lot, and in any case it doesn’t interfere with the storytelling or worldbuilding basically at all. I wanted to lampshade this because I know some people nope out of a series if the production values aren’t AAA. Give this one a chance!

Ep. 2

I appreciate that Mom is trying her best.

---> To build on this point, I appreciate that it’s true to life for many trans kids whose parents are willing to accept them when they come out, but don’t really know “how.”

TUMBLR PEEPS: That’s my only note for the entire episode, lol. This episode is probably my least favorite in the series. Fip’s style of humor is very much old-school Simpsons in that it keeps dropping joke after joke; so you’re always smiling because even if one joke doesn’t land there’s another one coming up in a few seconds. This episode is different in that it’s basically one joke that gets hit over and over again. And since it’s a joke that doesn’t land for me, it’s kind of forgettable. (When I was preparing this post for Tumblr I was like "Why did I only write one sentence for Episode 2?" And then I went back and realized why as soon as I saw the thumbnail.) This is my most negative criticism of the entire series. In my opinion, things get significantly better from here!

Ep. 3

RIP his Gains 🤣🤣🤣

Lol, and they still win the big cup! 💪🎀

---> I appreciate the continuity on these jock girls later in the series.

You have a great sense for comedic layering of different jokes operating on different wavelengths happening close together or even at the same time. (That’s more of a sense from everything I’ve seen so far than just this specific episode, but it stood out to me when Jennyffer’s friend Peter gets his lights punched out just as a side gag.)

---> I originally wrote “when Jennyffer’s friend gets his lights punched out…” here because I couldn’t make out Peter’s name whenever you first introduced it. I am hard of hearing and the audio mixing, especially in the earlier episodes, is a little low at points. One frequent constructive criticism I have for people is to make sure that dialogue is sharp / non-mumbly on the soundtrack, otherwise people like me get lost, especially with names and proper nouns.

---> (I hope that isn’t an unwelcome criticism. A friend of mine just started a new podcast, and he had this same issue on his soundtrack. He got so upset when I gave him this feedback, because of course the reasons we do things are often not closely connected to the things we do, and I realized too late that he was doing this podcast for validation and self-empowerment, so it turned out that he wasn’t in the mood for constructive feedback at all. But that's about the only kind of substantive feedback I know how to offer. So I hope you understand my intent isn’t to shoot down your work; I’d just like to be able to hear it better. You got better with this as the series went on, but I think there’s still room for improvement.)

Ep. 4

That is some Grade A, all-natural, free-range School Counseling for sure. I have a hard time dealing with this shit in the media (including in this comic) because I’m already rubbed so raw at the dysfunction of systems (in this case the healthcare system) that are supposed to help (and which I very much want to support in principle) and I just don’t have much resiliency left to deal even with fictional accounts of it.

I think the Mean Girls are my favorite background part of this series so far. They come across as (tragically) true-to-life, and your depiction of them is just utterly unapologetic. Going so hard on that is what makes it work.

---> I’m also just weirdly fascinated by Mean Girls, so I love the attention you give them here. I guess they live in a tonal space that’s fairly close down the block to the tonalities of the types of female characters I tend to like to write. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to push Mean Girls off a cliff when they’re actually Being Mean, but in terms of the “vibe” there’s something I find compelling about it.

I think it makes your work a lot more real that you’re willing and able to illustrate the transphobic worldview as a fact of life among many people and the background cultural default in society, with all of the transphobic jokes and wrong pronouns etc. that this entails. I see a lot of queer artists choose not to do so, probably in some cases because they can’t (see my comment above about not having much resilience myself to put up with systemic dysfunction in fiction). The willingness and ability to be able to do this is the difference between art that is capable of also being subversively realistic (among its other qualities) versus art that is limited to being escapist or revisionist. It’s always empowering to be able to depict “the enemy,” in whatever guise they might take.

I’d never heard of Hannah Daigle, but since the Credits told me I need to go look up Satina, I looked it up, and wow! Going by her subscriber count, that’s a pretty big get!

3’44” This isn’t even half the true power of high school students and their superability to befoul school bathrooms. 😭😭😭

Ep. 5

For a minute there it seemed like things were going well. Too well. One thing about a series this ruthlessly cynical is that the expectation that “Nothing Good Will Happen and Nothing Good That Does Happen Can Be Kept” sets expectations for the other shoe to drop (indeed, many an other shoe).

3’15” Just the one cat ear up as she’s leaning in and talking secretively…great attention to detail! This is something I often notice with illustrators who get into animation (as opposed to artists who go directly into animation). So many details in virtually every frame! Both in support of the story and simply there for environmental embellishment. (Like the rose that hasn’t bloomed yet.) I can only imagine how many references I’m missing! TP: Seriously, I love the depth of subtle background references in this series!! I’m not calling out most of them in these notes, but they’re a constant presence in the background of the story.

She [the tutor] got there! Yep. As soon as it occurred to me to notice that the rose hadn’t bloomed yet, I knew how this one was ending. 😏

Ep. 6

* breaks computer *

MOM: "You know you don’t have to break your computer every time I come into your room, right?"

🤔🤔🤔

But seriously, that’s what I’m talking about when I say you have a great sense of comedic layering. It’s also a good example of something I haven’t articulated yet, which is that your comedic style is ultra sharp and punchy. It’s so economical, so efficient! It goes really hard with minimalist support, and, in my experience with other creators’ work, that only works for people who have a genuine gift for being funny. I think this is one of your strongest suits as a potential entertainment creator, and you could potentially develop it as a possible pathway to get noticed / get bigger.

---> This is a skill I could only dream of. I’d like to think I have a good sense of humor and can be funny not infrequently, but I need way more words to do it than you do, and my efforts are rarely as clean.

Lol, Jennyffer is the true master of the schoolyard. I appreciate the continuity from Episode 3. TP: When I was writing my notes during my watch-through, this is the comment where I realized “Oh no! I haven’t been checking to see if I’m writing ‘Jennyffer’ with two Fs!” I was like “Did Fip do that just to catch people who aren’t paying close attention?” And I figured, probably not! But I went back and made sure I got all my spellings right, and corrected a previous erroneous instance of it, and tried not to mess it up again going forward. I hate to get names wrong, especially when it’s the title of the goddamn series, lol.

That first stringer chord was great. Then I stopped noticing the next few. Then the ones after that actively grated on me. I get what you were going for (I think), but it didn’t work for me.

That confrontation with Dad went surprisingly well!! I was prepared for (and about halfway-expecting) this conversation with Peter’s dad to go in a much darker direction. <3

Interlude

0’39” That Whale is TOO CUTE omg :3333

---> Seriously, that Whale is the cutest friggin’ whale on the planet. Too wholesome for this world; too pure! <3333

Happy Birthday, Jennyffer! So sweet. I think it’s important for cynical works to have moments like these. I mean, that’s just my opinion, but it really humanizes the work, I think, which makes it easier to connect with and perceive as “real” in the sense of reflecting reality as opposed to being a purely stylized fiction.

TUMBLR PEEPS: I just want to emphasize that point. If you’re writing a work that’s heavily cynical, I would suggest that, unless you’re going for a very specific stylistic effect, a few moments of wholesomeness here and there, where you’re willing to let characters care about things and not get punished for it, is really important to adding depth to the story and humanizing the people in it.

Ep. 7

1’09” “No, that’s not how that works.” 😂 The deadpan here (and really through the whole series on this same joke) is so good. This kind of straight-man (figuratively speaking of course) reaction to an insane world is pure 😒😒😒, and 😒 is one of my favorite forms of absurdism. TP: This is in reference to a joke about how cis people sometimes misgender trans people because they just flat-out do not understand gender or queerness.

Also, can I just say, I’ve been noticing it for a few episodes, and I have no clue what it’s called, if it’s called anything, but I absolutely love Jennyffer’s ridiculously high and short ponytail. I wish we saw this hairstyle more in real life, because I always love it when I see it, but in American culture anyway it’s usually played as a joke / a sign of somebody who isn’t being serious. Then again, maybe that’s exactly the point with Jennyffer wearing it; I could see that being a decision she’d make. So maybe its mockédness and unpopularity are exactly why I get to see it here?! 🤔

2’40” lol, I am delight. TP: You’re a rotter, Mister Grinch…

That ending! 🤣 Yep. Jennyffer is chaotic neutral for sure, and a USDA Prime goofball.

---> I think this was the tipping point where I basically started liking Jennyffer as a character and identifying with her / rooting for her to succeed. It often takes time for characters to build on me, especially cynical assholes. (I have a hard time with cynicism despite having devolved into a cynic myself from my many years of woe.) And coming around on Jennyffer basically meant this was the point where I came around on the whole series. I certainly hadn’t disliked it at any point, but I originally came to watch it because you had recommended it to me and as a friend I wanted to check out your work, and not because I was actively seeking it out for its own sake. But now I think I can say I like it on its own merits.

A personal anecdote: In this episode, there is a moment where Jennyffer gets the wind taken out of her sails over the crotch bulge in her bathing suit and how it is making other people uncomfortable, and, instead of fighting or being an asshole about it, she is defeated and retreats. A very rare moment for her in the entire series, and thus a potent illustration of how humiliating it can be to be the target of bigotry. I love the creative decision that was made to play it this way. I can sort of relate to this issue in my own way. When I was a kid I never swam in public without a t-shirt on, because, for me, my attraction to fat is a sexual orientation which has been with me my whole life, even before I adolesced and understood it as a “sexual” thing. So as a kid I was always super sensitive to being perceived as fat. And I had a big ol’ round belly my whole life, not even because I was actually overweight as a kid (I mostly wasn't) but because I’m just shaped that way. I am convex at all weights. And I was very embarrassed about it! So, in my childhood memory, public pools were always a minefield of me trying to have fun versus trying not to be humiliated. Also, I couldn’t swim until I was like 12 or something, so that was embarrassing too, and I tried to fake it by splashing around in the 4’ zone.

Ep. 8

1’43” Glam!! Even cynical dystopic trans girls aren’t immune from the siren song of the shutter and flashbulb! That jacket is sweet, too! I love that look.

This is the second time you had a chance to completely change the tonality of the series into something way darker because of a scary father figure, and this time I genuinely didn’t know what would happen. But I’m glad it turned out this way, not only because it’s totally one of the many different reactions that are true-to-life among real-world parents but which don’t get highlighted as often as the more awful scenarios, but also because I just really struggle with grimdark stuff and I kinda just want everyone in this series to turn out okay. <3

Also: John Jingleheimer, eh? (Jennyffer Jingleheimer, lolol!) So, if Peter’s dad is named Jacob Schmitz, then I totally see what you’ve done. I’m pretty sure their family name is Schmitz (right??), but I don’t remember what episode(s) I got that from. I went back and watched Ep. 6 but his name is not mentioned. I personally appreciate all the J names in Jennyffer’s family. 😏

Stingers at the end of episodes really suit this series’ style! I found myself explicitly missing them in the beginning of the series. I’m glad they found their way to you.

7’06” The happiest we’ve ever seen her, 😂! 💖 (Give or take the birthday episode.) I just wrote that same moment in Galaxy Federal a few nights ago. (Cherry’s parents get her a spazer after she sneaks out one time and is gone all night.)

I appreciate the clearer-to-read credits at the end as the series has gone on. I had decided in the early episodes that I wasn’t going to criticize the original cursive because I kind of hate it that we live in a world where we can’t have nice / bespoke / Weird things because people always want something easier / more convenient / more accessible (I’m still upset they killed the big clock a block away from my apartment, whose chimes had been a charming part of living here; I’m sure it was because of “noise” complaints). So, since they weren't a content accessibility issue the way, say, the sound levels were at the start of the series, I was actually rooting for your cursive credits to never give up! Let the people struggle to read them! Long live the glory of the impenetrable! It would be very much in Jennyffer’s spirit for her credits to be totally unreadable if she were to make an animated series herself. Oh well! With legible credits I win and lose at the same time.

Ep. 9

Love the comment at 6’57” (from somebody who had written that your series is doing work to advance trans acceptance in society). I think there’s some truth to that, too. A lot of people can only come around on issues of acceptance by being introduced to it through the humor of this sort. More medicinal / academic / intellectual approaches don’t work on them at all.

April Fool’s

Caramelldansen!! A Desert Bus classic. I watch this every year! They’re both doing it right. Lol, Jennyffer is the best; it’s like Fate has put her in this skit so she has to do the dance, and she hates it, but she also secretly loves it.

I love seeing them in color.

Also, “Episode 10, Part 1,” lolol. Beware scope creep! 😂

Final Thoughts

Like I said in the TL;DR, this series is funny, witty, edgy, delightfully absurdist, and visually rich. It packs a lot into a small space.

Fip is freakishly smart, has a lot of insight and perspective to offer as an artist, executes on her concepts well, and has a distinctive style all her own. This, together with her artistic talents, makes her art very approachable, very easy to enjoy once you settle into it. On a more personal note, Fip has been the most supportive person I know here on Tumblr. I am inexpressibly grateful for the work she has done to try and boost my own art, and it is an honor to have the chance to offer something like that to her in return. She works hard to get her work noticed without being spammy about it, and deserves more attention than she gets, so I hope at least one (and preferably more than one!) person reads my notes here and checks out her work. It’s very important for small artists to support each other, and moreover it’s an honor to support a friend.

Go check out Jennyffer! I went into it with an open mind and no expectations, and I enjoyed the ride, and came away liking the series. You can also see more of Fip’s art on her alt account, @unbeknownsttomen.

[bcacstuff]

STELLA MCCARTNEY dress and GIVENCHY boots.

There’s something about Izzy Meikle-Small. It’s not just the delicate cheekbones or the quintessential Englishness that makes her a favorite for period dramas. It’s not even her enviable resume which includes her stepping into the shoes of some of the UK’s most luminous stars. No, there’s a quiet but resolute determination to claim her own narrative—shadowy beginnings, a taste for the unconventional, and a new era of artistic self-possession.

For years, Meikle-Small was cinema’s favorite time machine—a younger Carey Mulligan, a pint-sized Vanessa Kirby, a teenage Charlize Theron. Yet, there’s something deliciously ironic in her being cast as the precursor to these screen giants. “I don’t really look like any of them, but I’ll take it!” she laughs. “It was amazing to learn from them.” For a young actor finding her footing, the sets of those films were both playground and classroom. “Being on set as a kid can be really intimidating,” she admits, “but all three of them made an effort to make me feel really comfortable.”

Indeed, while her face was a canvas onto which casting directors mapped their favorite leads, Meikle-Small was watching, learning, absorbing. Working alongside the likes of Mulligan and Kirby wasn’t just a brush with greatness—it was a kind of mentorship. “We would have big conversations about the characters and the plot, and that helped me understand their process, which therefore informed my own and taught me how successful actors created their characters. I really appreciate the time that they took with me because it really helped shape my view of the industry and what it means to be an actor and a filmmaker.”

SACAI jacket and shirt.

Meikle-Small is no longer standing in someone else’s light. With her role as Rachel Hunter in season seven part two of runaway success historical drama series, Outlander (streaming now on MGM+ in the UK and Starz in the US) she’s stepping out of the shadows and into her own spotlight. “I’ve never joined a show which had such a pre-existing fan base,” she says. The Outlander fandom is nothing if not passionate, and Meikle-Small knows she’s shouldering the expectations of readers who’ve cherished Rachel on the page.

“Rachel is so sweet and pious and all of these things. She’s sassy, but she’s a really kind person, which is lovely to play, but I’d love to play someone with maybe a bit more edge. Maybe somebody in comedy could be fun, or something modern, where I could wear jeans,” she laughs. That’s not to say she doesn’t appreciate the role’s intricacies. “Rachel wears a bonnet, and that’s a lot to do with her religion but also feeling bound in. Doing period dramas, I feel like the history informs your character, and with Rachel being a Quaker living in the 1700s, all of these layers of history do add to your character.”

SACAI jacket, shirt, and boots.

And the audience reception has been equally rewarding. “The Outlander audience connects so deeply with every episode, and they’ve really welcomed me in with very open arms,” she says earnestly. “I was worried that people might not love me as [Rachel] as much as I would want them to.” For someone who spent her youth in roles that were more scaffolding than centerpiece, this level of engagement is a revelation. “When I was younger, I didn’t have a fan base in the same way. Because I was a kid, my exposure was different. Coming and doing this now is such a blessing.”

If Outlander marks Meikle-Small’s coronation, her ambitions reach well beyond bonnets and bodices. “I would love to do an indie British film,” she says. “In the last few years, we’ve seen some amazing films coming out of the UK. I think the new year will bring new freedom. I just started auditioning, so we’ll see what happens.”

This isn’t her first time coming out of the shadows and shaping her own destiny. “I got my first job at nine and my first movie at 13. By 18 or 19, I’d missed a lot of school. It got to the point where I was like, ‘What if I just went away, lived my life for a few years, was able to kind of grow up and mature physically but also mentally, and have some life experience?’”

UNDERCOVER dress.

She’s also drawn to the unexpected. “Genre isn’t really that important to me. There are genres that I prefer to watch as a viewer, but in terms of acting, I always want to do something different. I tend to be cast a lot in period dramas, and I think I just look very English, and that’s why that happens,” she chuckles at the inevitability of it all. “If I haven’t done a genre before, I’m more likely to be drawn towards it because it’s something that I’ve not done yet.”

For example, Meikle-Small is a dark comedy-fan, and since she specialized in medieval dark comedy in school, she’s grown incredibly fond of them. “I think that probably is one of my favorite genres to watch,” Meikle-Small admits. “It’s funny, but also it really normally packs a bit of a sucker punch message. It’s a clever way of concealing the emotional message to make it more palatable.”

While at university, Meikle-Small fell in love with producing, a role that seems perfectly suited to her thoughtful and measured approach. “I tend to work with a lot of writers who were actors who’ve turned to writing,” she says. “Because I am also an actor, they trust that I will understand and can see their point of view and that I can lead them behind the camera in a way that they’ll understand.”

If there’s one thread tying together Meikle-Small’s eclectic pursuits, it’s her deep love of stories. “I definitely would say I am a book lover,” she says, noting her background in English literature. “Doing period dramas feels natural because I love adaptations. It’s kind of my niche.” But she’s not content to simply bring existing narratives to life—she’s crafting her own.

UNDERCOVER dress and shoes.

“I have started writing, which feels a little bit scary,” she reveals. “There’s a short that I co-wrote with my friend—it’s not ready at all, but there’s something really interesting in the idea. There’s also a book that I’m trying to adapt to be a film screenplay.” For someone who has spent years embodying other people’s characters, the act of writing is an exercise in autonomy. “Whenever I’m writing things, I’m imagining myself playing the character that I would like to play, which always makes it more fun.” 

Her dream? To merge her passions into one cohesive whole. “The aim is to kind of get bigger and welcome bigger things. My absolute dream would be to act in something that I’m also producing and be able to have a kind of creative say in front of and behind the camera, especially on Outlander like watching Caitríona [Balfe] and Sam [Heughan] do that with such grace. It feels more tangible now, and I think I’d have less imposter syndrome.”

As Meikle-Small looks ahead, she’s taking stock of what she’s achieved and where she wants to go. This self-assurance radiates in her ambitions. Whether it’s an indie film, a dark comedy, or something completely different, Meikle-Small is ready to embrace whatever comes next. Izzy Meikle-Small is no shadow; she’s the whole picture.

All seasons of Outlander, including 7 Part 2, are available to stream on MGM+ in the UK and Starz in the US now. 

UNDERCOVER dress and shoes and JAEGER-LECOULTRE watch.

Photographed by Lee Malone

Styled by Karen Clarkson at The Wall Group

Written by Lily Brown

Hair: Grace Hatcher using Sam McKnight

Makeup: Irina Cajvaneanu at Caren using Lisa Eldridge Beauty 

Stylist Assistant : Maïlys Pereira