#especially not randos on tumblr

[utilitycaster]

I think that discussions of TTRPGs would be much more productive if the advocates of moving from D&D could separate out the ideas of "WoTC is part of the massive Hasbro conglomerate which engages in the shady capitalist practices massive conglomerates do"; "D&D is not suited for every single type of story or gameplay style"; and "here's how to pick a different TTRPG that suits you needs" because as I've said many a time like 99% of them are just trying to sell you on their favorite game, which might be out of print, prohibitively expensive, something no one around you is interested in playing, or is just as bad if not worse a fit for what you want to do as D&D.

I also think said conversations would be more productive if acknowledging many people came into TTRPGs via Actual Play but would be willing to branch out if you weren't the world's most condescending dickhead towards them*; if people considered the hard truth that if you're fluent in D&D and own the materials and have a group already the pitch for Pathfinder specifically actually becomes much harder, not easier; and, as always, if people tailored their recommendations. I agree that heists or space operas or low-combat social games don't play well in D&D; they also don't play well necessarily in your favorite game that you recommend for everything that isn't magically better or more versatile just because it's from a smaller company.

Anyway the point is if you just want to whine about D&D being a dominant force be my guest but you will probably lose all but the most impressionable/desperate for the validation of strangers portion of your D&D-playing audience. If you're actually interested in changing minds and not jacking off to how much cooler and better you are be prepared to ask or answer these questions:

Is D&D genuinely a bad fit for what they want to do, or are you just an intrusive hater?

What is the person you're trying to convert interested in doing at the table? This is is a complex question that covers genre and tone; session-to-session gameplay such as combat vs. RP balance but also (for example) granularity of rules; and overall scope of the game (eg: is this something that you can play a long-term campaign in with character progression? Or is it fairly static and intended to be a few sessions at most?)

What games are accessible to them? This means within their budget (unless you advocate for pirating from small indies, which will not really help with the whole WoTC dominance situation); within what they and their table have time to learn (or, if they are looking to get into games in the first place, what they might be able to find a group for); and again, I can't believe I have to say this but I really do because I've seen it multiple times: whether the game is in print.

Have you considered gently directing them to their friendly local gaming store with answers to the second and third questions above and unleashing them upon a person who knows the gaming scene in their area and (while I've dealt with a Comic Shop Guy or two in my time) is less likely to call them a dumb bitch to their face if the answer ends up being "I'll stick with D&D"? Again, is this about them having a good time? Or is this about you?

*the best way to describe this, since I've been talking a lot about people attempting to claim the status of the systemically oppressed, is that a lot of non-D&D/non-AP fans of TTRPGs on Tumblr act like they are an oppressed class and it's like Kevin, you are a white sysadmin Monte Hall Games fanboy, you are not oppressed by the girlies making Keyleth-inspired D&D characters. You are not part of the more popular fandom and indeed dislike it; this does not make you of a lower class.

[front-facing-pokemon]

[corpsentry]

love to block people on the internet. annoying post? Wrong Opinion? luigi inflation art? block block block. block the person who put the post on your tl too. block them all. much simpler and sweeter option than subtweeting them on priv or (god fordbid) typing up an angry response and hitting send imo. imagine how many minutes of being upset you could avoid experiencing. once you hit that block you never have to hear them yap ever again. out of sight out of mind. be generous and kind to yourself; you are not being problematic or cruel by blocking because blocking is truly never that personal (and people who feel it is are small and vicious and need to touch grass) you are taking care of yourself!!!

[polaroid-steam-room]

I’m upset that a lot of people here, in fandoms I’m currently into, have deactivated accounts on this site

I feel like I was late to see, like, share, and enjoy what people posted in my fandoms and I just want to experience the same hype when it was there, yk?

[acebytaemin]

that’s made me so upset lol like my looks are the least interesting part of me i just genuinely love sharing my thoughts and talking about my interests and sometimes that includes my appearance but most often it literally does not like. i go on non-looks focused rants DAILY and that’s what this person picks up from me? genuinely i hate being perceived by people who don’t *get* me it fucks up my entire mood

[punctuation-completionist]

well @futurebird i am a punctuation nerd. can you explain what exactly compelled you to comment this seeing as i see no problem

i have a plan for punctuation day everyone! so here's what i want you all to do!

my goal for the day is to get punctuation trending. is this too ambitious? maybe, but i don't care. i want everyone to appreciate punctuation a little

what are some things i can do you ask? well let's look at some things i could think of:—

you can make a post with every punctuation on it (but try, and here's the hard part) to put some text around it and not just list them all out

you can make up a new punctuation mark! for inspiration i would look at the works of people like hervé bazin, martin k specktor, or other people who tried to invent new punctuation

you can make a post about your favorite punctuation mark and why you like it

you can post anything related to punctuation really, those were my ideas but feel free to. i dunno. dress up as an interrobang or make art or something. go wild

so everyone! mark your calendars! september twenty fourth is the day we get #punctuation trending!

[ladydragonkiller]

Ah yes, I’ve seen quite a few posts about The Stormlight Archives on my dashboard! Though admittedly, most with very little context. Is it a tragedy?

I also intend to read Pride and Predjudice at some point! As well as other Jane Austen novels. I’ve listened to podcasts and analyses of them, but never actually read one as of yet. Perhaps this summer.

As for what I’ve read — Dracula is probably apparent, huh? I am fond of that as well as Carmilla and Frankenstein. I tend to like Arthurian novels too. Of those I think my favorite is The Forgotten Sister, though I also liked the humorous but sincere writing of the Squire’s Tale series.

Hm, a question. Do you like snow or rain better?

Also, heads-up, asks may be sporadic with me. Also-also, hello to the Cowboy (and Knight as well)!

- Mysterious Vampire

It's. . .very long, mostly, so there's a bit of everything in there. Epic fantasy series about such things as: what happens when war is the basis of a country's culture, healing and redeeming after terrible things happen, glowy magic powers, and lots of crabs. The shortest book in the series is 383,389 words, and there's ten books planned (with four out), so it was a fantastic thing for me and my sister to discover back when we nipped through a book or two a day.

They're good! especially if you imagine yourself as an old fashioned romantic hero languishing in a window seat. idk, it always helps me indulge in the older style of prose rather than be tired from it.

I've read dracula and frankenstein (and enjoyed both), but I haven't yet had the time to make my way through Carmilla yet. I checked it out from the library earlier this year, but got swamped by school and work before i got further than the first two chapters or so.

I haven't read any of the arthurian novels - maybe i'll make a note of those for once my semester has ended! (two weeks to go baybee)

I love the aesthetics of snow, but since my siblings aren't often interested in playing outside/going sledding, and i usually have to take lead on the shoveling efforts, it's usually a net negative experience. Rain is fun to see and listen to, especially the big dramatic storms with thunder and lightning. My response to events such as the power going out is to start actively enjoying things, as that's a lot more fun than being cold (or hot) and miserable. There's a lot of fun to be found in a power outage if you're looking in the right places (and have a flashlight)!

What's your favorite type of weather?

and no worries for inconsistent asks! I count myself lucky to have such communicative admirers at all

[copperbadge]

Hey, Anon who just messaged me about legal advice, you have sent this ask to several other people and I'm about 90% sure you're just harassing the person you named in the ask. If you aren't, apologies and I can't help. If you are, I'm not stepping into your weird beef, so please fuck all the way off.

More broadly to all my readers: Don't ask randos on tumblr for legal advice, and if someone asks you, especially if they name a "friend" by tumblr username and discuss their criminal charges while on anon, don't post the damn thing. If someone is dropping other peoples' usernames in your inbox they shouldn't be on anon, full stop.

[jumbled-thoughts-here]

Prince x Pirate AU

Okay so. Hello tumblr... I have lost ALL motivation to write for this au, BUT I'm just gonna lay out some of it and give fun facts >u<

In this au, Scar is a pirate and Grian is the prince he "kidnapped"- more like saved.

It's a slowburn, of course, but they do fall in love in the end!! There's also some small Redscape/Grumbo, Flower Ranchers, Shiny Duo (beginnings of a qpr), and Jizzie. There is a Clockers family dynamic, a Cub and Scar brother dynamic, and Skizz and Impulse act like fathers to everyone.

Here's my facts:

(Please note that these were written on discord to my best friend who I yap with about this a lot.. there's probably so many plot holes but WHO CARES)

Scar's Father left when he came out at 14, his mother helped him and stayed before she passed away from -- when he was 17. He gathered up close friends to start a crew of pirates with no official name, and that crew included Cleo, Bdubs, Cub, Impulse, Skizz, Gem, Joel, Mumbo, and previous member Lizzie. (Oh and Etho, but he just abandoned ship. Lizzie fell off and "drowned".) (There's also a few crappy randos)

Scar Facts: -Scar found a kingdom named Rivendell. He received top surgery there with stolen money, and he also helped Cleo, Skizz, and Joel get their surgeries. (They're all trans ok,,, shhh) -Scar has killed 20 people; the first two years he was squeamish (18 and 19), but when he turned 20 he began killing bad people and stealing mainly their riches. He avoided stealing from the poor. (Those people do not make up the entire 20..) -Scar and Mumbo had some romantic feelings for a while, but Mumbo stated that he believed Scar was fit for someone else and he couldn't handle a full-on romantic relationship. They remained qpr. -Lizzie fell into the ocean, yes, BUT… a siren found her, and felt.. mercy. They turned her into one, and she basically became the queen of the fuckin' ocean. She reunited with Scar's crew (AND JOEL YES YES YES!!) 2 years after she "died". -Scar thinks of Gem, Lizzie, Bdubs, and Cub as siblings. He sees Impulse and Skizz as father figures, and Cleo as a mother figure. He sees Joel as a best-friend/brother.

Grian Facts: -Grian is worshipped and pampered like a god, and he is seen as the embodiment of the sun. He does not see himself this way. -Grian's parents only wanted one heir and one child, so they kept Grian and sent Pearl and Jimmy away. Jimmy went to Rivendell, and he eventually found a lover (or two) and married them. Pearl went to Mythland and found a guy who became her best bud named Sausage. Grian was 16 when his siblings were taken from him.

Scar AND Grian Facts: -When Scar started the fire in the kingdom, (he's 23 at this point), he started it in Grian's parents room (Grian is 20 at this point). The guards fled and got the civilians out of the kingdom, but Grian had passed out in his room due to the smoke and was forgotten. Scar found him, though, and escaped with him over his shoulder and a ton of riches in his hands. -Grian woke up bound in rope, done by one of the crappy randos. Scar checked on him, tended to his wounds, yada yada. Cleo knitted him a sweater, Scar gave him one of his old binders that he outgrew and some shorts, and Scar also wrapped his feet since they had no shoes on board so he wouldn't get cuts on his feet. -Grian sleeps in Scar's cabin, in his bed. Scar sleeps on the damn floor. -It takes months, almost years, for Grian to adjust to Scar's crew, but he grows close to Joel, Gem, Mumbo, and especially Scar. -Grian grows feelings for Mumbo faster than he did for Scar, but Mumbo tells Grian the same thing he did for Scar and Grian is okay with it. They do kiss though. -Grian decides just randomly one day to ask Scar to kiss him. Yes, it was 1 AM. Yes, Scar was awake. And yes, they did kiss. And Scar finally got to sleep in his bed. (Scar has been sleeping on the floor of his cabin ever since he gave up his bed willingly for Grian.) -They get "married" unofficially, and Scar throws the crappy randos overboard (FINALLY.) -Grian eventually tells Scar about his siblings, and Scar helps him find them. They found Pearl first, and they have a happy reunion and Pearl joins the crew. She gets along quite well with Gem. -It takes them a while longer to find Jimmy, and boy was Grian shocked that he could pull AND that he was a king now. But, either way, Scott, the now-king and previous lone prince of Rivendell, was the officiant to Grian and Scar's wedding. -They stay a bit in Rivendell, and Joel grows close to Jimmy. (The Bad Boys become a thing now guys) -Scar finally tells Grian he killed his parents, which he hadn't done before. Grian doesn't care, neither do his siblings.

Cat Facts: -Scar had one cat, Jellie, that he had since he was 10, and he brought her aboard. He found two strays, and left them unnamed, unsure what to name them. During his travels, he found two kittens, the same breed as Jellie. He named them Katy Bee and Mr. Finnegan. When Grian came aboard, Grian named the two cats Pearl, after his sister, and Maui, who he almost named Timmy but didn't care enough to do so.

[pro-sipper]

I understand that we should just block content we don't wanna see, but I still think things like proships or ships that are wrong and illegal in irl should be kept private. Because that is exposing kids to the romantization of abuse, incest, and pedophilia. This content may expose them to predators, which could cause them harmful trauma, the type that people claim to use proshipping for. They may think that a person older than them liking a kid is ok, even though the adult has bad intentions. We know that they are fictional characters, but they represent real people and can still affect kids. And if this isn't supposed to affect them irl, why do so many groomers show proship media and illegal art to grow kids?

Don't want to start anything just curious

I think the short version of the argument is basically "the internet shouldn't have to be a 100% sanitized and safe space for children". But getting further into it...

"but I still think things like proships or ships that are wrong and illegal in irl should be kept private."

It's not worth mentioning now but "proships" aren't a thing. Proship doesn't stand for problematic ship, it's not an adjective.

My question is why this line of thinking only applies to ships? Murder and cannibalism are also illegal, but no one's going around saying you should keep your love of horror to yourself, or only watch R rated movies in the privacy of your own home.

"Because that is exposing kids to the romantization of abuse, incest, and pedophilia."

The majority of people interacting with media like this, or making posts about this, DO NOT want kids interacting with their content! They slap every rating, warning label, and trigger tag under the sun onto their work to say that it is not for kids. At the end of the day, that's all you can do. It is not one random proshipper's job to shelter every single child in the world.

Furthermore, kids are exposed to that crap from plenty of other places besides randos on tumblr. Walking into a library or turning on a television can easily expose kids to these topics just as much as going onto ao3 or opening tumblr could. That doesn't mean every professional author or tv writer on earth needs to create art that's palatable for children. Because that's not their responsibility.

"This content may expose them to predators"

It's grim to say, but literally anything on earth could potentially expose a child to a predator. Getting on the bus, going to the park, going to school, going to church, going to a friend's house, going home. Honestly I think it's a bit of a privileged mindset to think that a child would be 100% safe in this world if it weren't for faceless boogeymen online committing the sin of writing dark fic of their Blorbos.

"which could cause them harmful trauma,"

Again, that trauma could come from anywhere. And you're putting the weight of preventing that onto random strangers online, not anyone who's concretely in the hypothetical child's life, or actually responsible for them

"the type that people claim to use proshipping for"

Appreciate the subtleties of invalidating other people's trauma. Just because you don't have the same coping mechanisms doesn't mean theirs are invalid. Especially when countless licensed therapists agree that writing is one of the better ways you can help process trauma.

And to state the obvious, you don't need to have trauma to be a proshipper. Not everyone uses dark content for self reflection, some people just think it's neat.

"They may think that a person older than them liking a kid is ok, even though the adult has bad intentions."

A kid should not be getting 100%, or even most of their life lessons from fictional media. Parents, guardians, teachers, and other trusted adults in a child's life are the ones who need to teach them right from wrong, and how to protect themselves. I remember being a kid and being told by my mom "now if a stranger pulls up to you and says they lost their puppy and they'll give you candy if you help them look for it, do NOT go with them". That was her job as a parent.

Now I know that sadly, not every child has that kind of trusted adult in their life. But it's not the responsibility of a bunch of fanfic authors on tumblr to fill in the gaps.

"We know that they are fictional characters, but they represent real people and can still affect kids."

It doesn't matter how closely or loosely fiction depicts our reality, it's still just fiction at the end of the day. Movies have been using the whole "Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental" disclaimer for almost as long as there have been movies.

"And if this isn't supposed to affect them irl, why do so many groomers show proship media and illegal art to grow kids?"

One, art is not illegal. Unless you get caught graffiti-ing, then you might get fined. And no one is saying this kind of thing can't affect a child. But why, in this scenario, are you putting the blame on fanfic authors and fanartists before putting the blame on the actual groomer??

And again I ask, what exactly is "proship media" anyway? I'm guessing the kind of stuff that constantly appears on people's DNI lists, which could be anything from Steven Universe to Cannibal Holocaust, so who really knows??

Like I said in the short version, the internet should not have to be sanitized for the sake of the children. The entire internet does not need to be one giant safe space for kids. Adults have a right to talk about adult things with other adults. To explore dark topics in fiction, or to have fun with taboos in a harmless way.

I want the world to be safe for kids too. But the way to do that isn't to forbid adults from posting shit online. Instead of trying to shield children from every controversial, difficult, or uncomfortable topic under the sun, give them the tools they need to learn how to process these things.

Be a safe person to talk to if a kid has a question. Help them understand why something might be okay in a fantasy setting, but it's not something that should carry over into real life (like, a fairy tale prince kissing an sleeping princess to break a curse is fine, but in real life where there's no magic you should always make sure someone is okay with it before kissing them. Something like that)

Teach them internet safety, above all else. When I was a kid, you didn't give out any personal info. Nowadays kids have no qualms about giving out their full name, age, list of phobias and disorders, showing their school, their house - the list goes on.

Honestly, I think we need to go back to scaring kids with Stranger Danger, at least a little. But that's starting to veer into a different topic and I think I've said all I need to say about this one today.

[corpsentry]

love to block people on the internet. annoying post? Wrong Opinion? luigi inflation art? block block block. block the person who put the post on your tl too. block them all. much simpler and sweeter option than subtweeting them on priv or (god fordbid) typing up an angry response and hitting send imo. imagine how many minutes of being upset you could avoid experiencing. once you hit that block you never have to hear them yap ever again. out of sight out of mind. be generous and kind to yourself; you are not being problematic or cruel by blocking because blocking is truly never that personal (and people who feel it is are small and vicious and need to touch grass) you are taking care of yourself!!!

[bonefall]

I understand being upset by the moonpaw dog post but i dont think talking about some random teen publicly (on a pretty big fandom blog) as opposed to like, dming them about it, is a very nice thing to do? Would recommend keeping that kinda gossip in dms going forward personally.

??????? "That kinda gossip???"

Saying that it's fucked up that a publicly posted incest joke about how deformed she should look went to the top of the Warrior Cats and Moonpaw tags, is gossip???

TRENDING TAGS?? GOSSIP?

I'm not talking about "some random teen," I have not even dropped a username and been VERY clear I don't want harassment of anyone. During this discussion about wider ableism against Moonpaw, I've directly answered two anons about the contents of a post that was/IS extremely popular to the tune of nearly a thousand notes.

One of those two asks was an anon who only stumbled in to say that the post was funny in a display of SHOCKING tonedeafness, while I was talking about how shitty it is to compare people who are the products of incest to unethical dog breeds, especially in the context of WC. The other was an actual XX/XY chimera who expressed that the extremely popular post hurt their feelings, and when they tried to express discomfort to someone, got told they "probably killed their twin in the womb."

It's not just one rando weenie little blog the minute half of the Tumblr space is openly laughing at a joke about deformed incest kids and hoping Moonpaw dies because she's so "gross." Not nice?? Your feelings are hurt? OTHER people's feelings were ALREADY hurt.

NOTHING about this was "nice" to begin with!

Difference is, when YOU cry me a river, you can build me a bridge, and get right the fuck over it. A person who's the product of incest cries and has to go right back to every shitty banjo-hunchback-hapsburg joke they've heard before, just feeling more unsafe about a space that PRETENDS to care about the abuse they experienced. If you feel guilty about that, maybe you should!

If you were under the impression I was ever "nice" about bigotry, you were mistaken. I don't appreciate calls for ME to be more polite when I'm at a trend of fandom ableism and calling it fucked up. I've named NO names. Sounds like what you ACTUALLY want is for people like me who have a platform to shut up.

[cator99]

top 10 long-term psychiatric lockdown facility patients:

#1. "DJ B-Rad": severely hyperactive autistic 11 year old. Looked and acted like some sort of elf. Would only respond to DJ B-Rad. Spoke and conversed pretty much exclusively in outbursts of classic youtube poop quotes. The other kids thought he was schizophrenic but I understood him and appreciated the humor he brought to what was often a quite dour situation. The place held I think 30 kids at a time– 10 per wing, divided by the risk-level associated with their interactions/how much care they needed. I was in the "low risk" section... in a room beside DJ B-Rad. He would frequently beatbox while partaking in the enjoyment of punching or hitting himself. Not in a depressive or self-haming way, nor in a "the voices made me do it" way. He just seemed to genuinely enjoy it. #1 because I have never met someone with such jouissance before or since. (and also because I wanted to start this off on a high note.)

#2. really charismatic stylish fat girl, maybe 15 or 16, who told everyone she was autistic. all professionals dissuaded her from mentioning it since that didn't seem to be her problem and really she didn't seem to have any beyond claiming to be autistic for no appparent reason. It became clear very quickly that she was self diagnosed and had her autism refuted by every professional she had come across. Regardless– she didn't seem to know why she was there either. She genuinely came across as normal, confident, well-adjusted, healthy family life, so why was she there? I had a bit of a crush on her and she had lesbian moms so i kept my fingers crossed that she would self diagnose herself as some flavor of kweer. I didn't think too hard about it back then because in all honesty I hadnt the faintest idea of what autistic even meant and no one seemed able to give me a straight answer. In hindsight... my conspiracy theory is that her moms initially took her to a psychologist because she kept telling people she was super autistic and back then that sort of claim carried massive weight (non zero chance tumblr played a part in her autism proclamation, but she was way ahead of the curve seeing as this was like... early 2012. in canada. I wasnt really online back then so idk when this sort of thing started to pick up steam but judging by how 2013 unfolded im gonna guess that it was right about then...) so maybe they thought she was like having some sort of very pressing identity issues or psychosis maybe muchausen and decided to ship her off without delay... A genuinely normal girl adamant on having a disability that was considered (especially back then. especially after DJ B-Rad.) debilitating must have seemed so insane..... until suddenly it wasn't lol (even normies I know nowadays say things like "everyone is a little autistic") . She arrived a few weeks before my graduation and at that point almost all of the people I spent my time with were gone and the place was full of randos who I otherwise didn't gaf about which meant I was able to spend more time getting to get to know her, trying to understand why she was there and what autism meant. Unfortunately, her timing could not have been worse. No one had time to entertain her autism claims. She had arrived almost immediately after the grand spergfest that was DJ B-Rad's graduation dinner. the bar was high. If you were gonna be calling yourself autistic, you were gonna have to prove it. She didn't seem at all bothered, nor deterred, nor invalidated by the professionals refusing to entertain the idea of her being even slightly on the spectrum... she was certain they were just ableist. During group therapy, when trying to get to the bottom of things, the "why" of her stay here, what issues she may have been dealing with, anything really... There didn't seem to be an answer. She most often took on a supportive role for others that came across as slightly tone deaf because she was trying to tell trauma patients to just keep their chin up and stay positive... which on paper could be possibly bad faith interpreted as "socially autistic" but no it more so came across as out of touch, as one of the rare patients who didnt have a background involving trauma, poverty, neglect, mental illness, etc. But to be honest, most people seemed to appreciate just having a truly unbothered, kind, and optimistic peer around– her intentions were, at the very least, pure. And for someone with low-level munchhausen, it didn't seem as though she was doing it for attention, nor did she fake any symptoms, or do anything really beyond say "i am autistic" and continue on with her day which I'm sure was extra confusing for the professionals dealing with her to wrap their heads around at the time.

#3. The Escape Artist: 14, caring and emotionally intelligent when she let her guard down, but typically quite guarded. Screwed up from her life on the rez. Always kept it real– I had some of my best discussions about life in general with her. By the time I got there, she had taken on a sort of mythical status as the unapproachable girl who had almost escaped the facility, and as a result had her stay extended "indefinitely". The minimum (and typical) stay was 4 months... by the time I arrived, she had been there for over 6 months, and she was still there when I "graduated" 4 months later. The story was that not long into her stay, she was being led back inside with the rest of the herd following a highly-supervised game of soccer in the fenced-off field attached to the back of the facility. To get outside at any time, you have to go through two (or 3) sets of locked doors. Beyond that... I mean, this place is in the middle of nowhere. This isn't some city psych ward shit. But security wasn't as tight as the staff let on. She had been plotting and waiting for a chance to escape for weeks– it was almost all she thought about. As the crowd was ushered along, distractions and misbehaving children were plentiful. While the staff were suddenly very wrapped up in dealing with whatever pressing issue had begun occurring, she realized that the door behind them had not closed properly. She somehow slipped out unseen, and managed to get a 10 minute head start before they realized she had vanished. She had run out the back, climbed the fence, hurt herself in doing so, but booked it down the highway regardless. She was in the middle of attempting to board a bus at one of its very few stops between this nowhere-place and the nearby city, when suddenly she was tackled down by staff who had been frantically driving around looking for her. Every kid there joked about plotting their escape– so of course she was a legend for having gotten that far. However, her response was always to roll her eyes at anyone who even joked about it: "Dont be stupid. Just do your 4 months. It passes like nothing." While she tended to be withdrawn from other patients, she had close relationships with all the staff there- including the ones who caught her- and often admitted that she wasn't sure anymore what she would do if they told her that it was her turn to graduate. Her entire support system was there. She didn't want to leave. At some point the program director decided she was making good progress and tried to push her on the path of the family reintigration stage. First time she went out for a brief day-pass type visit with her family, she stabbed herself in the stomach. Spent some time in an actual hospital. Upon her return, she played it cool and acted like it was no big deal, even tried to warp it into a badass thing while she showed us her stitches. But we all knew it was fucked up and that the next group therapy everyone was gonna have to sit back and give her the front and center even though she wanted to brush it off. She otherwise did seem happy to be back, even as she was placed back on "indefinitely stay" status. She was one of few I kept in touch with... which became very difficult very fast as she proceeded to dissappear for months and then years at a time, with the only indications of what's going on being people posting to her fb page asking if she's out of jail yet.

#4. Future Millenial Cringe Tiktok Star: 17, Baddie of the low-risk wing. She always had the most useful insight to offer during group-therapy (split by sex– sorry4tangent but of course as a fresh ftm I asked to get put into the "boys" group– was talked out of it by a staff member who assured me that it was an absolute shitshow in there and that yeah I could go down that road and maybe succeed but I would 100% regret it. I talked to some of the guys who told me it was just 2 hours of total retardation and anger outbursts often leading to physical fights and restraint-room utilization, all to the soundtrack of DJ B-Rad yelling "Pizza Time!" "PINGAS" "You Must Die" "Sos" etc. lol)... I always admired her maturity, level-headedness, and ability to tell off the dipshit dudes there in such a way that the staff had her back, and I often asked her how tf to handle this shit while maintaining my sanity. She was certain that you don't, but that's alright– comes with the territory– and if your sanity is reliant on being kept in here then you're not going to know how to cope on the ouside– she frequently said that hating it there and wanting to leave was a good thing (as you could imagine, her and Escapee had a strained relationship, and while Escapee would directly bring these things up with her, she saw the topic as dead on arrival since she was there solely for herself and knew it, and kept form boundaries between herself and other patients, which isnt to say she didnt engage with others but I could tell she was... I guess just way more self aware than the rest of us, likely due to her being the oldest one there), but sometimes people challenged this idea by positing that she was just saying that to justify her negativity, since it "wasn't that bad" there. She assured them that it wasn't normal to be locked up in a psychiatric facility, and that not treating it like a vacation wasn't a failure on her part– she was there putting in hard work to sort her shit out, and thought that it was a waste to just sit around waiting for it to be over. Oh also staff low-key knew she had snuck a phone onto the wing but didn't care really, because she was a model patient (phone was snuck in during her "family reintigration" period nearing the end of her stay, where the program gives patient families the opportunity to visit and go out for the day– and more rarely but sometimes even overnight, depending on the patient. All of this was pretty rare tho because kids often came from idgaf-families)... not much else to say except she was dope and it's weird seeing her getting dunked on online for calling herself clumsy in a tiktok. She once ran for some political position while also being open about the fact that she was a stripper. She almost got voted in too (small town politics moment)I honestly wish she had because she has always seemed very intelligent and driven...

[guppygiggles]

Sigh.

Alright.

I'm going to weigh in on this discourse between the SFW and NSFW community, but before I do, here's the long and short of it in terms of how it's going to affect you interacting with me.

If you are an adult who allows minors to interact with you, or you reblog from minors, please do not reblog anything from me. I don't want minors being led back here. I used to be lenient about this, but since I have started making actual NSFW content, I'm not anymore. Don't do it, please.

If you are an adult who is talking to minors about tickling or teasing them, please don't interact with me at all. I'm going to expand on this, but I don't think this is ever okay.

I have turned anonymous asks off and I will not be turning them back on. This is not because I was getting hate, it's simply because I don't want to risk minors sending me asks.

Like every discussion that gets rehashed over and over the way this one has, there is nuance. If you want my nuanced opinion, you can read it under the cut. However, there is one part of this discussion I want to state here, where people are most likely to see it: I have seen people in this community make the argument that "minors need 'safe' adults in this community to talk to, so they know that liking tickling isn't weird." Emphatically... No they do not. Minors should not believe that ANY adult online is safe, in the tickling community or otherwise. The people who will hurt them know how to behave like safe adults. They are not stupid. They won't show their true colors until they have already gotten the minor to trust them, and ideally, rely on them for something (teasing, emotional support, etc). That is how grooming actually happens. It is a process, and it doesn't happen when someone is obviously creepy and weird and minors know to avoid them. It happens when someone is welcoming and friendly, completely sfw, and easy for the minor to trust. Spouting this rhetoric about how minors need "safe" adults to talk to them is the most dangerous thing this community could be doing, and I'm sorry, I'm not going to be quiet about this one or hide it under a cut. There are plenty of resources online, free books and articles written by actual doctors and psychologists that will reassure them they are not weird for enjoying tickling (in whatever context that might be), if they care to look. Those are the resources they should be exposed to, not some rando on Tumblr telling them it's okay. If they want to talk to someone who is actually in the community, clearly, there are plenty of other minors for them to talk to. They do not need to talk to adults in this community... period.

This is not a callout, I am not going to name names, this is not for drama or sensation. I am simply doing this so that you can make an informed decision about who you are following and decide whether you want to continue to interact with my work or not (and so that you will know whether or not I want you to interact with my work.)

I don't think adults and minors in this community should be interacting with each other. The only time I think this is okay is when a minor in this community turns 18. I don't think it's reasonable to expect them to stop talking to their friends who are slightly younger, but I do think any teasing that was happening should stop, and I think that once someone is 18, they should not make any new friends who are minors. Some people don't feel ready to be a legal adult -- I understand that, but nonetheless, that is what you are when you turn 18 and that comes with new responsibilities to protect minors and yourself. This isn't my opinion, it's reality.

I don't think there is any reason for an adult who is 21 or older to be talking to minors online, especially in private chats, period... whether they are in the tickling community or not. I think it is really weird for an adult over 21 to have a personal friendship with a minor who they have no attachment to (IE: they are a family or similar, a friend's kid, etc.) If someone I worked with told me that they have a personal friend who is a minor, I would consider that to be a red flag and would really question what reason they had to be talking to kids in a personal context. Lest you be tempted to think I simply hate kids -- and I've said this before -- I love kids. I worked for a school district for over five years. I loved helping kids learn about their technology. I had some kids who were my assistants and they were bright and funny and great to work with. I did not interact with them outside of work, ever, and when they graduated or left I never spoke to them again. If I ran into them in public, I would briefly talk to them and then go on my merry way. I would not have a private discussion with them about anything; that would be wildly inappropriate, and I sincerely find it very hard to understand how any adult would see this differently. I know that the administration I worked for would agree with me, and if it was discovered that any of the staff I worked with were chatting privately with, meeting privately with, or otherwise maintaining a private friendship with a kid outside of work... that would be very seriously questioned and most likely lead to a termination.

If my feelings about this have made you enjoy my work less, resent me, or not want to interact with me anymore... You are probably not someone I wanted to interact with, anyway, I'll be honest. My feelings about this have been very clear from the outset, this blog has never been SFW, I've never used SFW tags and I never will. Even before I started making NSFW art, I still didn't use SFW tags because I know that minors heavily use and monitor those tags and I did not want them finding me that way. My final point here is... if you have a SFW blog and you allow minors to interact with you, you'd better make damn sure that nobody you're reblogging from makes or reblogs NSFW content in addition to the SFW content you're reblogging from them, and that they are okay with minor interaction, because otherwise, you are leading minors back to blogs where they will be exposed to NSFW and/or violating the boundaries of the people you're reblogging from. Seems like a lot of work just to curate a space for minors. That's kinda all I have to say. Block/unfollow me if you want to, really, I don't care about my follower count. I would rather you know my true feelings and hate me for it than assume I'm okay with something I'm not.

[venacoeurva]

Commission of a more 🔞adult persuasion 🔞 are available again! Some very important rules before you IM me (ignore mentions of the slots being experimental, the rules were from my recent run of these testing the waters but still apply other than that) and the process:

Under the cut to save your dashes

Process:

Read the rules (below) and figure out what you would like if it's something I'll do (if shading, poses, overall scene, etc.). Also please acknowledge the price is something you can/are willing to pay.

IM me including an email you can use to discuss such content, if you're someone I recognize and am comfortable taking such a comm from you (unlikely chance I WON'T, but y'know) I'll email you. DO NOT INCLUDE THE ACTUAL COMMISSION DESCRIPTION/ANY IMAGES OF THAT NATURE HERE. Don't accidentally get yourself flagged.

I will give you a randomized codeword in the IM so I know who is who, especially if email and username don't match. Also, so I can verify it's not some rando who saw us interact/saw that you commed me before and is trying to sneak around. (in my and others' experiences, people do weird, cringeworthy desperate things to get these types of commissions, man...)

When I email you, respond with the following info: -The codeword and who you are on Tumblr -Paypal email to invoice - What you would like drawn as well as parameters (if cropped specifically, what type? If you want shading, if a comic then how many panels or pages, etc.) -Any visual references such as for OCs/Player characters or AU versions of characters. I will not draw characters that only have a written description unless I have done a commission with that for you before and I know you do written descriptions very well and are responsive wrt changes.

We continue from there. If I accept your commission, I will then invoice you and once paid and started, send you a sketch to be approved, and finish it once that sketch is approved. Until you approve a sketch or give feedback asking for any changes necessary and then approve the modified sketch/want any more changes, it will be counted as inactive and will not be worked on further. A lack of response from the client when it's required to move forward for 3 months will result in your slot being forfeit, and if I have gotten past the sketch phase, you forfeit a refund as well; this doesn’t come into effect if I haven’t started your comm yet due to backlogs.

Some examples of the type of lineart texture and how I do the black lineart shading in my style, including an actual comm I COULD censor enough. I can also add the weathered and halftone effects, just ask for it!

[genericpuff]

As someone who can't afford to go to animation school n adores your work- are there any advice or tips they taught you could share that transfer to art or comics? I know you talked about learning how to properly reference things which I admit I think I and a lot of other artists struggle with knowing how to do

Ironically enough, as much as I learned that I do NOT have the patience for animating (which is... ironic, considering all the patience that's required to make a comic LMAO) I did still learn a lot from it that I was able to take into comics. Storyboarding was one of the more obvious ones, as storyboards are basically just the "still versions" of an animation before it's been animated, with establishing shots, camera pans, dialogue shots, etc. all of which you'd find utilized in a comic.

Alongside that was learning how to draw consistently. Turnaround sheets are a shared practice in both animation and comics, they're necessary to creating an ongoing project that features the same core cast of characters. Learning how to draw the same characters the exact same way every time in a way that's both consistent and efficient is crucial.

That said, aside from those little starting tips, I do hope that some day you're able to find the means to go to school for animation or whatever it is that you're desiring to go into and learn. Yes, post-secondary schooling is expensive, and there are a lot of risks in pursuing a diploma/degree that can affect your future. That said, as someone who went to a school that literally no longer exists (like fr I don't even know if I can get my transcript anymore so for all I know, the year I spent in animation college only exists in the student loans that I'm still paying off, rip) I still learned and gained so much that I simply wouldn't have in high school or on Youtube. The biggest of which was the environment - being put into an actual dedicated space for learning art, with peers and teachers who were all unified in that space working towards the same goal, made so much more of a difference in my learning than I initially anticipated. I got so much feedback and guidance thanks to my instructors, and it really put me into a space where I was forced to try new things, I couldn't keep relying on the same tricks and comfort zones anymore. If it weren't for my instructors pushing me to step outside of that comfort zone, I never would have learned how to draw from life or use other mediums that subsequently became the foundations of the stuff I make today.

And while a lot of the things they taught I could have learned on Youtube or CTRL+Paint or Draw-a-Box, being in an actual classroom with grades and a schedule to abide by actually kept me moving in a forward direction and gave me so much more help on a personal level than some guy on Youtube could have given me reading from a script or, in this case, some rando on Tumblr responding to anonymous asks LMAO

Obviously, I'm never gonna recommend that anyone put themselves into financial ruin for post-secondary schooling, ESPECIALLY right now with the economy being what it is, but I do hope that if you genuinely want to go to school that you can find the means to do so, whether it's opting for community classes or applying for scholarships/bursaries/grants/etc or even just signing up for a local art class. Do your research on what's available and feasible to you - even art clubs can be super helpful in getting you out there and talking to people! As much as we may all be slaving away over our desks creating our next big piece, art is still a form of community and interpersonal communication - whether it's between you and an audience, or a peer with whom you exchange new ideas and feedback, or a mentor whose skills you hope to inherit and pass on to the next generation.

Until then though, keep creating and keep getting inspired. If you've never drawn from life before, set up a bowl of fruit and draw it as closely as you can to the real thing, or go to the food court and see how quickly you can sketch the people walking by before they're gone. If you've never tried storyboarding before, grab a piece of paper, find a scene from a live action movie you like, and storyboard it as if you were making an animated film. Try things! Fail at it! Try it again! See what happens!