#having no fanart of the character is better than anything generated

[wolfertinger]

"Im tired of skinny toriel!!!!" this is the part that just reaffirms to me that 90% of the 'people' salem references in his posts are porn accounts. Toriel is maybe like, one of the characters most consistently depicted as fat or at least chubby, even in porn- which even plays up the milf/gilf aspect. but the only place were i've ever seen her depicted as skinny or young is porn accounts who are just drawing whatever gets clicks or even just AI generating it. Honestly, a lot of salems fandom takes make more sense if you consider him to be looking at the porn of the characters rather than non-pornographic fanart. shockingly i know salem- people who are drawing characters to crank it to arent trying that hard to represent anything other than fat tits and ass.

genuinely. what art is he looking at. i have a feeling, the reason he thinks his art is so novel, is because 90% of his references are anime. so of course, drawing the bare minimum for him, would be worlds of representation in a sea of skinny, conventionally pretty anime body types. unfortunately. he refuses to look past his own bubble.

looking up "toriel fanart". besides the literal thick assed art of her. these are the first few results. and do a "motherly" body type, far better than salem.

[im-thekeeper]

cringe is reborn

it's all in the AI slop now

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Hi Skyen, hope you're well! I'm seeking some advice and since you used to work doing mainly art commissions I figured asking you was worth a shot.

I'm a furry artist and I'm looking into doing commission work as a side gig while I finish animation college, and hopefully acquire enough experience/clients/notoriety to turn it into a full time job once I graduate.

Do you have any advice for someone literally just starting out with fresh accounts and zero following? Especially when it comes to reaching people and getting your first clients, and anything that one should take into account when working with NSFW specifically. Also advice for pricing your work is always useful 😅

No need to answer obvs but I'd appreciate your viewpoint if you want to share!

Got 2 asks on this exact subject so I'll write up what advice I can. One big caveat: I haven't worked as a commission artist for like half a decade at this point, and this job has a tendency to change fast, do not take anything I say as gospel. This is advice from a limited perspective, be critical of what I say and trust your peers and the people you are in community with before you trust me.

building audience

Step one is getting people to notice the artwork you create. Literally nothing else can happen until you have eyeballs on your work, and the most consistent and reliable way to make that happen is fanart. Ideally you'd want to produce fanart in a fandom you are personally engaged with and passionate about and familiar with, and which also has a sizeable community whose attention can help you build recognition and a base of followers.

This isn't always possible, and there's many a working artist who creates work for fandoms not out of deep personal connection, but because the fandom is large and relevant and a good way to capture the goodwill of algorithms and content feeds.

This approach has some downsides. For one, genuine fans can usually tell when someone's engagement with Their Thing is shallow, and for another it can be deeply creatively exhausting to chase the algorithm. I don't recommend this approach, but it is a valid means of building a business.

Another important consideration, especially when you are early in your career, is that volume tends to trump quality. Every artist will eventually learn that their shitty joke-doodle they sh*t out in ten minutes on a whim will get a billion reposts, and their complex personal work that took eight weeks to finish gets 2 likes from their closest mutuals and a comment from a bot saying "wow!"

In the age of the algorithm, what machines and for you pages value is a consistent, high-volume of output that generates user engagement. You will generally get further, faster, by producing a lot of work than you will producing great work. Again, this can be rough on your mental state, and a fast way to burn the fuck out, so please be careful and mind your health before all else.

The best way to build something that will last is to build your audience in communities and around fandoms and themes and ideas you genuinely care about and enjoy exploring and interacting with. Being your authentic self and creating work from your authentic interest is generally both healthier and long-term better for your career than trend-chasing. Treat trend-chasing and volume > quality output as tools in your toolbox, as creative and business decisions you can make to achieve a specific purpose, never ever EVER let them become the center of your praxis or your philosophy. Never ever EVER allow the Numbers™ to be your source of validation and accomplishment.

building business

Ok, so you've got eyes on your work. You've got some followers. How the hell do you get them to commission you?

Well, again, by demonstrating a capacity to create kinds of art for which there is demand. In the furry community, there's brisk trade in things like ref sheets and character design, for example. For most fandoms, ship art is a product which tends to be in demand. Being able to do really good expression sheets is a marketable skill. Being able to create compelling and clear emotes for streamers and creators is a marketable skill.

Showing the capacity to work in a wide range of styles is valuable. Showing the capacity to work in a wide range of genres is valuable. If you can do both comedy and romance your appeal expands. If you can do shonen-like action and angst as well, it expands again.

Equally, being incredibly good at a specific niche is valuable as well. Focusing hard on an under-served niche of work can give you a lot of opportunities to be the Go To person for that specific kind of thing.

Perhaps the hardest part of all of this is marketing yourself. Not only showing that you have the skills, but actively informing your audience that you are available, eager and willing to practise your skill for a fee. You have to sell yourself. It sucks, but you have to do it. You have to advertise what you can do, and you have to suffer the rejection and annoyance that comes along with doing that.

You have to ask people to commission you. You have to raise your hand and demand attention. It's not fun, but it's business.

Walking the line between self-promotion and being a person is hard. I can't help you that much with it, it's a very personal balance to find. Stay in touch with your soul, but kill the part that cringes at yourself.

Ultimately, you best marketing asset is your portfolio. Every time you do work, show it off. Repost it, retweet it, spread it around. If someone is happy with what you've made for them, do your best to make sure that other people see that happiness. Ask your clients (politely) to tag you when they share your work.

Oh, and for the love of god, sign everything you create, slap watermarks on anything that's likely to get reposted, and make it impossible for someone not to find your business email on your profile.

building network

If you're a commission artist, you are in community with other commission artists. You share interests, you share experiences, you share needs.

Practise solidarity. Absolutely seek out professional peers to help your business, but equally seek out opportunities to help them with theirs. If someone comes to you for art and you don't have commission slots open, point them at a colleague who you know can do the work too. Gas up your peers and spread their work.

Be a symbiote, not a parasite. Respect the craft of your peers, and don't chase celebrities and big names in the hope of coasting on their coattails. It will fail.

smut

If you're a working artist, at some point you have to reckon with smut and r34.

These genres are excellent sources of income, and fertile ground to build a business and network of customers. BUT. Do not ever make the mistake of thinking that they are "the easy way" or a shortcut. Do not ever make the mistake of thinking you can simply offer to draw tiddies and rake in the cash.

It's work and graft same as literally any other form of labor, it's challenging on both a technical and creative level, and the audience can sense if you're looking down on them. If you approach this from a position of shame, of "eugh, I'm debasing myself by doing this for rent money," it will not work, and you will lose standing and respect in the eyes of every peer whose support you need to succeed.

Just as in all other forms of creativity, if you treat the audience as morons who will slurp up whatever slop you serve them, then you will attract clientele that agrees with you, and you will deserve the misery they will inflict upon you.

If you are going to work in smut, establish your boundaries and enforce them. Know that good clients will feel safer and more comfortable with an artist who clearly states their red lines and earnest interests than they will with someone who tries to attract more clients by pretending to be open to work that they are actually uncomfortable with.

Never, ever, EVER let a client push you to create work you are not comfortable creating. It scars your soul in both the short and long term.

Also, when working with this kind of content, know the rules of payment processors and know how to hide the nature of your business from them. PayPal should never, EVER know the details of the content you sell with their service. Frankly, neither should your bank, most likely.

Look to your peers for advice and best practises about this. And be meticulous about your bookkeeping.

money

I want to tell you to charge at least minimum wage for your time. I want to tell you to charge substantially more than that, because your labor is specialized and highly skilled.

But the economic reality of commission work is that there is a crushing downwards pressure on the labor price of art, which has only been made more devastating by the rise of generative AI, and especially when you are a young artist just starting out, you're going to find yourself in a position where charging even minimum wage for your time will turn away a huge proportion of your potential customers.

Again, your portfolio will be the greatest argument for the value of your work, but you have to build that portfolio first, and very often that means doing a f*kton of work for not remotely enough pay until the pressure of demand finally works in your favor.

I don't condone or justify this state of affairs. It is horrid and I hate it, but I don't know how to fix it either.

Making a living from content creation of any kind requires you to get lucky, on top of working obscene hours and foregoing rest and vacations. It's not a safe or sensible plan for a career or paying your bills.

My sensible advice is to get a "normal" job you can survive doing, and do your creative work on the side, and resign yourself to the possibility that the creative work may never actually pay your bills.

And that is soul-crushing, but I cannot stomach pretending that hard work and gumption will guarantee anyone a decent living if they just try hard enough.

There are people who are better at every aspect of my work than I am, and they struggle harder and work for longer, and they will never see half the success I have, because I happened to get lucky, and they happened not to. It's wretched.

I'm not telling you not to chase your dreams. I'm telling you to do it with your eyes open, and with compassion for yourself first before all else.

All of this to say: I can't tell you what to charge for your work. It depends on everything from your competition to your niche to your genre to your community to your economic situation. You have to figure it out on your own.

All I can tell you is never forget that your work is worth more than the market will let you charge, and to raise your prices as soon and as much as you can. Try to reach at least minimum wage for your time as fast as possible.

in conclusion

Again, I haven't been a commission artist full time for a long time, please do not take any of this as gospel. Listen to your peers before you listen to me.

But trust me about the solidarity. It will save you when all else fails.

[xvxblahhhxvx]

Ok, I'm convinced at this point that instead of teaching English, schools should just start getting their students into bsd, because honestly, the effects are about the same.

Like, what is this fandom??? As far as anime go, it's sort of known, but it's not even close to mainstream, and then you join the fandom to discover that it's actually huge.

-The fans will write five thousand word analyses, complete with textual evidence, about anything and everything, and they'll all be more well written and deeper than their thematic essay for English class.

-They won't even think twice about reading a bunch of classics to understand their favorite characters, and then they'll happily write you an analysis of a Japanese classic written in the mid-twentieth century and how it connects to their favorite character. They'll casually read Crime and Punishment, a book english teachers have no hope of having their students read in general, let alone for fun, and they'll do it and then give their theories about how it may connect to the villain's powers. They also end up just getting into classic literature in general.

-Ask them to give a summary of the book they had to read, they'll stare at you blankly, but ask them about the chain of abuse vs the savoir chain and you will hear a psychological breakdown on the concept of abuse, and how different characters treat others differently because etc etc etc.

-Not even the top criminal defense lawyer could compete with a bungou stray dogs fan explaining why Chuuya Nakahara, a man who is an executive in the Mafia, a man who has killed many people, has gotten involved in smuggling and all sorts of illegal activities, is actually a good person and deserves all the sunlight and happiness in the world.

-And the art that comes out of it??? The fanfictions, the fanart, the edits- I've read fanfiction that made me feel more than a published book ever will. Seen fanart that belongs in a museum, and the edits are some of the coolest stuff known to man.

-And they're just so low key??? Like seriously, don't teach English, teach bungou stray dogs. You'd get better results that way.

[sabotage-on-mercury]

I can't believe you are still in the good omens fandom after everything that happened. I really thought you were better than this. Seriously you always seemed so smart and empathetic and now this? Or are you just ignorant to what happened? Really disappointing.

I probably should ignore stupid asks, but there are lots of people like you with the complex thinking skills of an amoeba, that come into people's asks, and it's your lucky day that I'm in prickly mood, so congrats you get your answer.

First of all, who the fuck do you think you are coming at me, a person you do not know, like that and allow yourself any kind of moral superiority? Are you really playing the fucking tumblr police?

What is your intention anyway? Are you really that far up your own pretentious ass to assume that I feel any kind of obligation towards you, a person that never contributed to my life in any positive way?

Also, when you feel disappointed by anything I do or don't do, that's 100% a You-problem. Breaking news, you rotten piece of bread, I don't give a flying fuck about what some rando thinks about me. Words to the wise, if the behaviour of a total stranger on the internet has this effect on you, it's a good indicator for you to put your phone away, get outside and touch some grass.

I don't owe your whiny ass any kind of explanation or even justification but you know, I feel generous today ✌🏻 There are enough brilliant, well written posts about participating in fandom after the Gaiman allegations came out (which was like idk last spring btw.)

To break it down to the basics: Neil Gaiman co-wrote the Good Omens book (and no, there is no denial that he wrote it, however little part it might that have been) and was involved with the TV show.

But - and now better take a seat - fandom is not the same as the book/TV show. Mindblowing, I know! What we do in this fandom with these characters is our own work, our own creation. Neil Gaiman is not involved in this process, nor does he profit from it. It is possible to access the original work without supporting him, financially or morally.

I can acknowledge that he is a horrible person, I do support the victims and at the same time I can find comfort among the creative, reflected, and empathetic people of this fandom, which NG isn't part of!

(On a personal note: I 100% stand with the victims, and I hope NG will die in jail. If a proper investigation leads to a cancellation of Good Omens, so be it. Maybe that's what should have happened anyway.)

As key words for you to broaden your horizon , I suggest "separating art from artist" and "dialectic thinking".

And finally, a warm suggestion: Just block me. I couldn't be bothered about who unfollows or blocks me anyway, but if your online experience is more positive without my presence on your dash, feel free to let go. 🫶

I'm gonna look at some good omens fanart now.

[crkfragmentedsouljams]

fictional cookies suffering? oh myyy 🙃

Last Updated-3/27/25 (Added Smilk & Misty down below, updated general)

| Fragmented Souljams AU! — Introduction/Masterpost ig-

(FSAU for short)

This crk au is basically: What if the ancients loses to the beast and is now under their control? :)

| General Info:

Blog is owned by @cheesymellow (MINOR!) :D, so no weird stuff please 🙏

Fanart & Fanfiction are COMPLETELY OKAY!! (TAG ME IN IT!) Aslong as its sfw. And heck you can send it to my inbox too if you want!

This is still a massive WIP and i dont have that much planned rn for this. But feel free to ask questions in my asksbox or in the comments-

Sometimes im either really active or not at all. If im ever randomly missing probably means i got alot going on in my personal life/school

| Asks Info :

You can ask any sfw questions in my askbox!. I wont reply if its nsfw or anything weird like that

If you want you can ask stuff to the cast (Any cookie related to BY!)

Ex: “Empty Vanilla how is it like in the spire?”, or “Soulless cacao, Do you like peach baos?” <- already used questions. (Its optional to call the ancients by their AU name btw, you can still call them Pure Vanilla, Dark cacao, & Golden cheese :D)

i will most of the time reply with a doodle of the cookie but small chance it will js be dialogue depending on my day- I take a while to answer stuff so bare with me 🥲

Oh yea you can do anon names if you want. Like ✨ anon or smth i dont mind.

If you have any non-au related questions, Just ask in my main blog @cheesymellow

Eyy you interested? If you are, All character info & stories r DOWN BELOW!!

| The Lineup of characters!

—Designs & info may change in the future!

1st, Lets start off with.. The Ancients!

| Pure Vanilla/Empty Vanilla

(Ep7) Empty vanilla is now a shell of his former self. His souljam exploding unknowingly whilst falling down the tower. Injuring him in the chest and half of his face, even severely damaging his memories… Now with those damaged memories. He contemplates if he is “Pure Vanilla” or “Truthless Recluse”. Residing in shadow milk’s domain to find answers. (At least, thats what he’s been told.)

As for Gingerbrave, Strawberry, And Wizard cookie. They all are forced to reside in the spire. Reluctantly joining shadow milk TEMPORARILY obeying orders as they try to escape and recover Empty Vanilla’s memories. (cant think of a color palette)

– Extra Info!:

Empty Vanilla was given his name by none other than Black Sapphire! He found it fitting considering he doesn’t know what he is.

His personality is a mix of Pure Vanilla & Truthless Recluse. Kind and forgiving but sometimes rude and pissed (Mostly to Shadow Milk ☺️)

80% of the time you’ll find him sleeping. The 20% is him doing orders/chores

Also Re-learning both Light magic & Dark Moon magic. That wont go wrong right?

He can see WAYY better now and doesn’t need his staff to see! He only uses it to do magic. (which is barely)

| Golden Cheese/Lusterless Cheese

(Ep5) Burning Spice had TOOO much fun fighting with Golden Cheese that he shattered her souljam in the process. But even after doing that. He still continued to fight her until she somehow managed to escape. Crumbling and bleeding jam as she was holding a piece of her souljam. That had enough power to heal her but… She couldn’t reclaim it. For she has lost to Burning Spice. After that she manages to find Smoked Cheese and barely escape together… They’re now both lost in the desert trying to hide from the Spice Swarm.

Smoked Cheese is in worse condition. His arm almost falling off yet surprisingly still very strong. He still has the soulcheeses with him and vows to protect it with his life despite his dying state.

– Extra Info!:

Lusterless Cheese was a nickname given to her by the Spice Swarm after she lost to Burning Spice. She isnt really that shiny and golden now is she?. Only Smoked Cheese calls her Golden Cheese. (Also just a name so i can differentiate her from canon and this au)

Constantly gets reminded of that fight and is slowly losing hope

She took extra clothes from a nearby village due to hers being heavily damaged & dirty. And has wrapped bandages over all her scratches.

Her wings are slowly regrowing thanks to the bit essence of her souljam!

Speaking of souljam, Burning Spice is delighted by this change. Trying to find out what the shattered souljam can do.

| Dark Cacao/Soulless Cacao

(Ep3) Kneeling down infront of Mystic Flour as he accepts his fate and sees his souljam getting taken.. Mystic Flour attempts to turn him into flour for she feels pity for him. But alas.. No matter how hard she tried, He wouldnt disolve completely. Even after giving up. Until she realized his souljam was shaking uncontrollably, Then—Poof! Shatters unknowingly and simply loses its shine. She is lead to believe this is fate telling her that Dark Cacao could be of good use to her. So she recruits him to become his servant/devoted follower. He accepts willing to find a purpose.

As for his warriors. They are lost in beast yeast, Currently having made their own campsite while trying to find their king.

– Extra Info!:

Soulless Cacao was a name given by Cloud Hatae (Yes this 💩 is alive). Just a random nickname on spot since he has changed.

He dosent use his sword anymore. Doesn’t commit violence at all

As days go by, His memories fade away bit by bit.

He loves watering the plants of the ivory pagoda. And has made good friends with the guards and even Peach

Slowly becoming a peach bao lover..

Keeps his cape/cloak thingy as dear memory/remembrance

2nd, The beasts!

| Shadow Milk

Ever since Pure Vanilla has fallen under his control. Hes been more happy? than ever with a new comrade by his side! But even with all the pieces from the shattered souljam. Its power has.. vanished. He cant reclaim it back. Hes been researching on how he can re-piece its power back while also keeping an eye on what Vanilly’s doing. Giving him books and scrolls to keep him busy and to also try getting his memories back (but slowly reconsidering whether he likes him this way or not) Only time will tell i suppose? Overall still your same silly ol’ jester.

Candy apple and Black sapphire have been tasked to help out Empty Vanilla while hes busy. And lets just say they have mixed feelings about it.

– Extra Info!:

Hes been slowly growing paranoid over pu- Empty Vanilla for a while now. He just dosent feel like the same cookie to him.

Smilk LOVES making outfits for everyone. Hes the one that made Empty Vanilla’s , Gingerbeave, Strawberry, And Wizard cookie’s outfits! He purposely made them all match :D

He has very VERRY flowy hair, You can walk through it. (Sometimes he ties his hair up too when bored)

Gave everyone a plushie of him so he can track all of them anytime.

Everytime he lies, The eyes in his hair show his real emotions/intent >:D,

Shortest among all the beasts. And flies alot to make himseld appear taller (Still taller than EV/PV tho)

Cat pupils

| Mystic Flour

Ever since Soulless Cacao’s arrival. She’s changed a bit. Being less apathetic and more merciful than usual. Even after persuading Soulless Cacao to her side, She couldnt reclaim the souljam either. Unlike Shadow Milk who couldnt reclaim it due to the lack of pieces. She has all and yet all it’ll so is flicker slighty. It has little to no power left but she dosent thrive for the half of her power anymore. She’s just been chilling with the rest until their inevitable doom of disintegrating to flour.

– Extra Info!:

Shes been enjoying the stay of Soulless cacao lately. Feeling the joy of life

Has a spider form when shes mad or pissed, And hides her extra arms inside her robes >:D

Regularly lets Cloud Haetae and sometimes Soulless Cacao fix her hair

Secretly enjoys peach baos and its flavor. and is trying to secretly make her own garden-

Her eyes are scary to everyone except Soulless. And maybee cloud haetae but depends on the situation honestly

——————————

Thats all for now! I am STRUGGLING ON DRAWING BURNING SPICE IM SO SORRY WAAAA THIS IS LIKE SOULLESS CACAO ALL OVER AGAIN. I MIGHT add burning spice’s info but without the drawing or only add it once i finally draw him. lmao we’ll see ig

LOOK- I MOSTLY DRAW FEMALES AND I DONT KNOW ANATOMY JUST BARE WITH ME BARE WITH M-

Oh yea have a lovely day

[geminid]

some thoughts about my age, the age of fandom, and the perception of me.

I was an adult already when fates came out and so it's a bit odd being in the current day fandom where a lot of people talk about having been 14 or so at the time it came out and how they're coming back to it now or something. A lot of these people are in my inbox regularly. And perhaps because of its overall reputation I feel like people talk about it like "I was just a kid, I got hyperfixated, I couldn't help it" etc. Which also does feel awkward because well, I guess that means I should've known better since I wasn't a kid?

I know I jokingly tell you all that you apply the +Old debuff on me a lot but sometimes it's a bit less of a joke than I'd like. We could all be nicer to ourselves and each other. You're fine, we're all fine. My daily life is going to simply continue even if I'm cringe online. I'm having some real fun out here and I think putting my time and energy into creation is pretty cool, not everyone devotes time to a creative hobby. And not only do I make stuff for myself, my fanwork has inspired fic, more fanart, and even cosplay, multiple times. I only want to continue to do the same and hope it continues to inspire others.

Tangentially related but after years of being derided over my choice in Fire Emblems, I don't find this series overall to be a showstopping masterpiece. I've not played all of them but I did play some fan faves like telIius and trio of houses and none of them blew my mind and made me change my ways. I actually find most games I play in general to be OK at best, because it's pretty damn hard to deliver a perfect video game but I've also just seen a lot of stories and not all of them will resonate strongly with me anyway. I like fates because I've actually made this choice myself, I like the characters and their interactions and find that getting to choose between a gothic western aesthetic or a traditional japanese aesthetic is incredibly fun to draw. I'm not some poor soul who has simply never truly experienced Fire Emblem or whatever.

So anyway, I suppose I still get surprised at the sort of things that change in this fandom despite how old it is. If I'm anything though I know I'm steadfast in pursuing my interests. Perhaps more because I'm stubborn than I am brave or self assured. Who knows.

[justice-for-jacob]

Justice for Jacob: Jacob Taylor Fix-It Week

From February 10-16, this blog is hosting Jacob Taylor Fix-It Week 2025 to encourage new posts and fanworks about Jacob Taylor!

Why a fix-it week instead of a general appreciation week? Because we all know his writing and storyline in canon are not great. That's where we as a fandom can step in to make things better for him!

Post about Jacob with the tag #JacobFixIt2025 during February 10-16 and we will reblog.

This does not have to be full on fanart, fanfiction, edits/gifsets, mods, etc (though these are of course beloved): even if it's a rec list of Jacob fanworks you like, bullet points of how you'd fix his storyline, or an "I think Jacob would look cool with locs" one liner post, you are welcome here.

Optional themes

You don't need to follow the themes nor post for every theme: these are just inspiration to get your brain going!

Day 1 - Feb 10: Dossier Anything you would change about Jacob's background before we meet him in 2, be it his general background or his Galaxy or Foundation storylines.

Day 2 - Feb 11: Suicide Mission 2 is the main place people meet and form opinions on Jacob. Turn things around for him in the 2 storyline.

Day 3 - Feb 12: Loyalty Mission Racist tropes ahoy. What alternate loyalty mission would you give him?

Day 4 - Feb 13: Wartime Jacob's writing does not fare much better in 3 than 2. Imagine a different approach to the Reaper War for him.

Day 5 - Feb 14: Ships It's Valentine's Day, let's treat the man! Fix a ship of his, launch a boat with someone new, or make him some friends.

Day 6 - Feb 15: Crossovers Bring out your Wakandan Jacobs, Pokémon gym leader Jacobs, Destiny Titan Jacobs, you name it. Andromeda crossovers can come too.

Day 7 - Feb 16: Free day!

Rules

Be positive: No character bashing (this doesn't mean you need to be all hearts and stars about his canon storyline, especially given that this is a fix-it event, but we can be critical of the writing without bashing characters)

Be cool: No bigotry of any kind against real people (warn for fictional bigotry) nor whitewashing

Be polite: Respect your fellow creators and different ships, put NSFW or long content under a cut, tag common triggers

Alternate submission

Since Tumblr tags can get wonky, feel free to also @ tag justice-for-jacob and/or submit a link to your post.

Timing

Mod is on the left of the international date line, meaning that you may see posts about the week starting before it is Feb 10 for you. Please don't feel rushed or think a themed post will be late ❤

Mod also works full time and has other time-intensive hobbies, so if you don't see your post reblogged, mod has probably either not seen your post yet or queued it.

[hatkuu]

heyo, thought it'd be important to address because i recently hit 100+ followers.

but there's an account (spacedreamboy) blatantly posting ai art in the dol fanart tags, and they've recently deleted old posts of their inconsistent ai art to appear that they have created these artworks themselves. they have not. their 'art' is ai.

(exposé utc, old deleted posts, inconsistencies in artwork below)

i'm really happy that i screenshotted these posts when i did, because i had an itching feeling that they would delete their old inconsistent posts that did not have a consistent, repetitive artstyle (thankfully, consistency within art is something ai cannot recreate, which makes it easily identifiable).

while i cannot say what ai art program has been used (most likely an image-prompt generator ai bot; something like Dall-e or the character ai image generating bots) i want to let you all know why this is problematic.

- to create artworks like the 'fanart' above, ai programs steal digital artist's work.

- spacedreamboy is openly putting these works in character fanart tags rather than ai art tags

- they are (unintentionally or intentionally) fooling people in the dol community that they have created these artworks when they have not.

here are some weird things within one of their deleted 'artworks' that are common within ai art generation.

- random coins everywhere

- weirdly long cigarette (that looks like a blend of cigar and a cigarette)

- cigarette smoke trail that blows in weird directions.

- the fountain (if you look closely) is warped and the water in it is just... weird to look at.

- the tattoo on whitney's chest isn't really of anything. it's a blend of random popular bad-boy tattoos into one amalgamation.

- in general, just look closely at the art and you will notice the faults within it that an actual artist with this level of skill would not have.

i really hate ai art. i think it takes away from actual, hardworking artists within online communities. @spacedreamboy do better.

if your art isn't ai, i'll happily apologise publicly if you post a speedpaint or some traditional art of yours.

[mystycalypso]

do u ever pray u lived in an au where the show wasnt cancelled.... i wish theyd made season 3 according to their original plans then just went on hiatus until that company merger or w/e was done n they had money for s4 </3

Okay so, I was going to draw some- very fruity Laserblast art ngl, but this ask hit me enough I sat down, and opened my laptop to write a real response. I've also got the series on in the background. I started episode 1 when I began typing, and we'll see how far I am in the series before I finish typing it.

First of all, I love using au to refer to real life, honestly better than various timelines. And secondly

Absolutely. Every day of my life. Every time I draw one of the characters, or see fanart, or hear the VAs or- anything. Because- I'm insanely hyperfixated on this show. A disgusting amount, unhealthily. It's not normal lol.

And I do constantly think about what could have been, I mean, after all once again my favorite character is Laserblast of all things. Not Venomous, Laserblast. The version of that man that has like five minutes of screen time and no canon first name. So much so that when on the Saberspark Q&A when he came up in a question for quote "Me and the three other Laserblast fans" I cheered out loud, alone, in my apartment. I would have killed to not have to pull at removing his mask myself and Ian's one tweet calling him a himbo to show people characterization.

And honestly the wiki makes it all worse, in a loving way. What do you mean we were going to get multiple sitcom comfy style episodes where K.O. spends the weekend with his dad? I could've had more proof that Venomous isn't an abusive dad, just an unskilled and undisciplined one? I COULD'VE HAD AN EASIER TIME SEPERATING HIM AND SHADOWY TO OTHERS?!

And sure, I constantly wish that somehow someway I'll wake up and Ian will have announced the movie, the Hue Troop spin off, post finale storylines, the works.

But, on the other hand, here's why I'm grateful for what we did end up getting (this will probably be the longer section, sorrey)

tldwr (Too long don't wanna read): Cartoon Network is dead and pathetic and I don't wish that suffering upon this wonderful show.

So, something you guys can also notice from Ian's posts and the wiki, and just from what the cartoon industry is like in general, that getting what you want out of your series, storyline and representation wise and all that is actually pulling teeth.

For an example of later episodes, things like a seemingly Radmond episode getting changed to rad and mikayla. Or Voxman having to be pretty heavily censored (although I'm proud of the subtext they managed so heavily) which is partially because, and this isn't to take away from wlw rep and how hard it is to get on air, but is more difficult to get outright mlm representation simply because- it's harder to censor.

After all, it's much easier to pull a "they're just close friends!" Thing for two fem presenting characters, than it is for two masc ones. It sucks and they shouldn't have to be censored across different countries at all, but it's just- how it is.

Which is why, realistically, as cool as the movie centering around a voxman wedding would be incredible, I don't think it would've made it past S&P. Not to mention, even if it somehow did, It'd either suffer the fate of being a TV movie, getting limited as hell views, OR best worst case scenario, a box office release which would get hate bombed by people for it's- everything. Because people suck. I mean, even not counting homophobic people there's a disturbingly high chunk of this fandom that hates Voxman- because... *checks wiki* Oh yeah, "Evil people not being perfect good guys = bad representation"

Also, cartoon network was- already starting to die by now, with less funding each year in the first place. Meaning we don't know if it getting that funding was even an option as time went on. And the idea of getting a longer season three, with the reveal being drawn out another season like they wanted, and then potentially never getting closure on- any of it? That's horrible even to think about.

Sure, the entirety of season 3 was rushed as hell. And I cry about all the missing stuff we'll probably never get, because well there's not even a cartoon network building to make this stuff in anymore, I'm glad that we have a finished storyline and understanding of where arcs would've gone to fill in things ourselves. I mean, getting to look into and imagine all the things we didn't get to see is much more fun than theorizing on an unfinished story.

So, yeah, I do wish that somehow, someway, we will get more someday. I'm at least glad we got a finished storyline and an ending that, while rushed, is still one of my favorites. I love let's fight to the end so much, I love how much I hate shadowy figure, and I love that I can be here making content for you guys!

Well look at that, it only took me seven episodes to write this whole thing, and I get to end this rant knowing Raymond was on screen. That's cool.

[cripplecharacters]

I know this isn’t a drawing blog but I can’t find a art based version of this blog and since this mainly just falls under stereotypes and representation I thought it might still work on this blog. When drawing fanart of a character whose design fits into some sort of stereotype/trope (in my case rn it’s the whole blind white eyes trope but it works for anything probably), is there a way to make it respectful without straying from the original design? With fanart of like official characters from tv etc I’d normally just go this route and remove the stereotype completely but this is a drawing of an OC I’m doing for a specific person that I’ll be giving them and I wouldn’t really want to start changing aspects of the design considering I don’t know this person. Is there any ‘middle ground’ between leaving it and changing it entirely, and if not, which of the two would be best? Tysm have a nice afternoon (for me rn at least lol):D

Hello!

This is definitely one of those situations that can be difficult to navigate.

On one hand, that trope is a pet peeve for a lot of blind people (Myself included) and it causes real harm. By promoting the myth that there is a certain appearance of "blind eyes", it suggests that blind people with eyes that look "normal" aren't actually blind. There are a lot of blind people who have been denied accommodations or accused of faking because they "don't look blind".

On the other hand, a lot of people are very attached to their OCs and can take any design changes made to them very personally. Although the trope is harmful, upsetting this person would likely do more harm than good.

Honestly, this is one of the situations where I would generally suggest talking to them about the character. If you're comfortable with it, you could start off by asking them about the character's blindness.

What's the cause of it? How much vision do they have left?

Who knows, maybe they do have a condition that causes their eyes to be white/milky in appearance. Some conditions that cause vision loss (Such as cataracts or an infection of the cornea) can also cause the eyes to look milky/white.

If they don't have a reason for the milky/white eyes, it may be a good idea to gently inform them of the trope and it's harmfulness. Unfortunately, a lot of sighted people don't realize that this is a myth and that most blind people's eyes don't look that different at all.

I think the best thing here is to approach the situation with the mindset that this person likely doesn't know any better and with the goal of educating rather than judging or correcting.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[john-does-middle-finger]

Part 52 Live Finger Reaction

except i have patreon so i've listened to most of this already (y'all are NOT ready for the interlude) and also i forgot to start typing until several minutes in lol

SPOILERS FOR PART 52 BELOW

i'm so proud of arthur for catching on so quickly. side note---i love the moments in malevolent when arthur knows more about what's going on than john does despite john having their sight. just a neat flip when you look back on the earlier seasons

"why am i here??" me every day fr john

need me a woman who'll put maggots in me

that's right john open your third eye

thank you harlan for our monthly arthur whimpering podcast

OUGH I FORGOT HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS MOMENT WAS. THEM BOTH SEEING THE STARS. I BETTER SEE SO MUCH FUCKING FANART OF THIS.

okay john maybe making trains is hard...

okay hamilton

which one of you was the damn fool that shot him then mr. "i thought you were my purpose"

arthur in hell for homosexuality (too many hoes in New York)

oh there he goes falling again. all men are the same.

it was difficult to put the nightmare together

BUT IM ONLY HUMAN AFTER ALL!!!

oh arthur...you weren't there for that poll buddy...

i love how gentle john is with arthur sometimes

fr? ong? just like that? we're awake?

arthur...snookums...dont...

it's not a rock. it's a stone!

harlan thank you for your footstep sound effects and also more of arthur laughing

oh lilith...

quick headcanon that arthur can generally feel where john is and every now and then he'll lean against him for a moment of rest. anyway. pick up that toenail or whatever

go on arthur. that's a fragment of a god! you can change her! make her a new person! give her a new name! name it spike or some shit.

maybe it was on purpose?? considering...idk. likely not though unless lilith really is that good at acting

go on arthur collect your freaky fingers.

nuh uh john that was a great idea and an excellent vote

sopping wet cat antoine

damn arthur you really do doomed yaoi with every guy you meet. except the yaoi is minimal and the doom is maximal.

arthur...i love you for caring so much

"was i kind?" HARLAN WHEN I GET YOU.

"a friend's love can carry you through the worst of life's trials and tribulations" I KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, ARTHUR LESTER. side note can we get this man a middle name i want to use his full legal name for science purposes and also to yell at him

JOHN we just had an IMPORTANT and LOVING character death DO NOT EVEN BRING THIS UP.

SEE JOHN. EARNED IT. IF ONLY...well...y'know...it lasted...no rest for the wicked or whatnot.

THIS REVEAL GOT ME SO FUCKING BAD BECAUSE WHAT DO YOU MEAN "maybe the blackstone was the friends we made along the way" WAS RIGHT.

YORICK. OH, YORICK...yorick i'm so fucking sorry

hello arthur, apologies for the deception. kayne here, vsauce stone! idk man

watching the wager (song) get released after the full episode dropped on patreon was so fucking wild

^watching people say "i hope we see kayne again soon!" after knowing the ending of this episode. my pookies...my blorbos...my yoricks...

"oh lose the get up honey" bro fr said "you're not going out in that."

footstep sounds x 2

yorick you never did anything wrong and i forgive you for everything except there isn't even anything to forgive! YORICK MY MOST DEARLY BELOVED

fruit of my loins. buddy you are the fruit

i believe you yorick

LEAVE THAT LITTLE GUY ALONE

YORICK. MY SHAYLA. MY SHAYLA. IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO RECOVER FROM THAT THE FIRST TIME. AND NOW AGAIN...oh my god...

listening to this on 2.5x speed is so funny. specifically because of kayne

me when im in a disguising my desperation competition and my opponent is kayne (im losing so bad)

arthur dont you ever fucking say that shit again.

KAYNE'S LAUGH IN 2.5x.

i was losing it at the description of the blackstone so fucking much

NOEL!!! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL! NOEL MY FUCKING GOAT RAHHHHH

this poll. this fucking poll. had me stressing so fucking hard.

oh the fanfics are going to go SO fucking hard with this new arthur lore.

kayne i love your painfully obvious ploy at emotional manipulation because you have no actual power

i am so happy the poll ended up with lilith. choosing hope and all that yknow, as much as i love kayne

benevolent canon

arthur. arthur no. arthur you know these promises won't be enough. arthur please. ARTHUR.

was? am? john, my most dearly beloved

kayne please don't make life with soaking wet bloody dogs

MY SHAYLA

but kayne what is joy if you know nothing else? ugh

god i remember tweaking out so fucking hard during this ending. my shaylas. my pookies. everything.

"i forgive you" arthur i love you. john i love you. kayne i love you but i will never forgive you. still love your zest for...not really life but yknow.

MY SHAYLA x3

i was so worried john was going to make another deal here and i'm so glad he didn't.

anyways

the interlude is so fun harlan i'm begging you to release it soon (preferably tomorrow) (as a post finals treat) (for me specifically) (please) (please) (i need to yap about it)

[tentoorosemonth2024]

Something's returning next month, and it's not David Tennant 👀

Introducing for the third time, TENTOOROSE MONTH!!

Doctor Who S04E13 Journey’s End aired on the 5th of July, 2008.

For the entire month of July, we will be celebrating our favourite complicated event in time and space through fics, gifs, fanart, manips, graphics, fic-rec lists, metas, playlists, general screaming...and anything else you can think of!

We will be tracking #tentoorosemonth2024, so please tag your posts and/or mention us! On ao3, tag your works with #tentoorosemonth2024.

Need ideas? Here are 4 themes for each week in July.

Parallel

Are there any particular doctor/rose parallels you enjoy? What's your favourite foreshadowing for this ending? What do you think of parallel worlds? What do you think of Doomsday? What did the Doctor and Rose do in their time apart? How did they heal post JE? Interpret this theme as loosely as you like!

2. Firsts

The first time there was something more than friendship. The first time they held hands. The first time they kissed. Their first time. The first time the Doctor went out to the shop for groceries--anything, really!

3. The Tylers

A big part of why JE is such a fabulous ending is, of course, the Tylers. With this theme, we're looking for allll the Found Family goodness. Give us Jackie & Tentoo shenaningans. Give us Rose sorting out her feelings about her not-exactly-but-biologically-identical-dad. Give us the Doctor realising that he's not alone anymore, and he's never going to be again :')

4. A Life Like That

Street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home...the Doctor and Rose finding joy in the ordinary.

GUIDELINES + ADDITIONAL INFO:

1. any medium is accepted. fic, art, manips, metas, gifs, moodboards, textposts—it's just got to be about appreciating tentoorose ❤️

2. you can submit more than one entry! the more, the better

3. fics can be as long as you want, there is no word limit

4. background ships/characters are entirely okay as long as the prime focus is tentoorose

5. any rating is acceptable, as long as you tag appropriately

6. we strongly encourage pro-tentoo works!

7. if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send us an ask

8. if you're new to tumblr and need a quick summary on how exactly posting and tags work on here (something that was an issue last time) please check this out

[gooberschmoober]

I'm bored so heres a list of underrated, obscure and somewhat forgotten Punch Out characters in my opinion :p (including characters outside of the games)

I never see anyone talk abt the Challenger from the original arcade games + arm wrestling but I kinda get why, theres not a lot too him and Little Mac is just a better protagonist in general. Its kinda neat he did get referenced as a smash bros skin tho.

Piston Hurricane is another one of the first characters from Punch Out and I dont see him get any attention either even tho hes kinda neat :[ (Piston Honda is superior tho hehe)

Considering how big punch out is on its stereotypes, I'm shocked they never brought back Pizza Pasta and turned him into a major Italian or even mafia stereotype but maybe its best they didnt.

More of an honorable and debatable mention but I dont see content based on Kid Quick either. But to be fair, Disco Kid is a revamp of him so I guess I can understand why kid quick doesnt get a lot of content himself.

Moving onto the spinoff game, anyone from Arm Wrestling who isn't "Mask X" or Alice & Ape III are very obscure. No fanart or hcs r anything abt these dudes, not even of the supposedly deleted character found in the files of the game. I feel like a character like Texas Mac could have such a personality, sucks that they'll likely never appear again in any future installments. :/

This one really disappoints me but Bob Charlie (wow i wonder who this character is based off of) barley gets any recognition either. I really fw his character and the few fanarts I've found of him r great but sadly a lot of characters from SNES Punch Out arent as noticed compared to say, anyone featured in Punch Out for the NES or Wii. I've seen someone say he was also apart of being revamped into Disco Kid but i couldnt find any source or evidence behind that besides the two having rhythm quotes.

Masked Muscle is another cool character that I dont see anyone talk abt or ever get referenced after Super Punch Out. I really like his mechanics and i like his luchador design too, but hes on the more underrated side of fan favorites from what I've seen.

Not a whole lot to say other than Mad Clown is just another obscure character from SNES Punch Out. I dont have a whole not to say other than its kind of funny that on the Punch Out wiki in the stereotypes category, he gets listed with clown stereotypes rather than racial ones (mostly.)

Hoy Quarlow is too underrated in my opinion. Motherfucker brings staff into the ring and no one bats an eye, he was THE Aran Ryan before Aran Ryan got revamped into being insane. If we ever get a sequel to Punch Out for the Wii or simply just another game, it would be great to see this prick again.

Finishing the SNES installment, the Bruiser twins dont get talked about a lot either. I've definitely seen some art and takes on them b but their also very obscure leaning. Again, they dont have a whole lot going on for their characters but idk, theyve grown on me since I got into the games.

Any "characters" that never appeared in the games but rather in outside media like the comics or ads are extremely obscure and id argue there's only one actually good character, but I'll get to him at the end.

I have no idea who the blonde guy is on this cover. My only guess for the time could have been Glass Joe but this was for the Super Punch Out arcade game, which he never appeared in. I'd honestly dig to hear some theories or hcs on who this guy is. (Also isn't the guy on the far left supposed to be Dragon Chan? Why does he have a Japanese bandana even tho hes from Hong Kong? Piston Honda didn't exist until 2 years later after this ad so it cant be him either.)

Vonnie and Reg only appeared in one of the Nintendo System Comics, specifically the issue Fox and Hounds. The system comics arent exactly the greatest but I kinda liked these two characters despite them both not having a whole whole lot of personality. In a way I kinda wish there was more content with them, especially of Vonnie. I oddly liked her character and I have a lot of hcs for her :D

Finally, GUSHIKEN THE KANGAROO FROM THE PUNCH OUT MANGA IN THE MORE UNDERRATED YET PEAK CHARACTER IN FICTION. PLEASE NINTENDO DO MORE WITH THIS CHARACTER, PLEASE IM BEGGING. /hj

(This entire thing was made out of boredom and is entirely opinion based, srry if anyone I mentioned isn't actually obscure/underrated)

[lord-aldhelm]

Lord Aldhelm's Blog on Tumblr

The future of this blog and my feelings on current 'events'

It feels like not too long ago I had to post something similar on here due to ... circumstances ... regarding a certain someone affecting my sanity and enjoyment of this fandom. It appears that I will have to do this once more.

I want to make it perfectly clear, that I have no intention of ending this blog, or leaving the TLK fandom. This place is my home; all my friends are here, and I have a place that I can express myself amongst like-minded people and feel welcome and accepted.

Aldhelm, and by extension The Last Kingdom TV series and fandom, means a great deal to me and has embedded itself into the core of my being. I love Aldhelm with my entire heart and soul and he has become an important part of my life and my mental well being. I am still very much inspired and motivated to continue writing fanfics with him, and still have a strong desire to continue creating fanart of his character.

Aldhelm means far too much to me to tear out of my life and discard just because James Northcote has chosen the path of destruction with his endorsement and promotion of Generative AI. He has sold out to an evil corporation with this GenAI project of his, and is proud of having his hand in the destruction of art and creativity.

Aldhelm is NOT James, and James is NOT Aldhelm, and never will be. I would never hold the character, whom I love more than anything on this earth, responsible just because James decided to wake up and choose violence.

To me Aldhelm is much more than 'James in a costume'. I don't see him that way at all, and to me they are completely different people. I did not set out for it to be this way, but my mind separated them from the beginning, and thank the GODS for that because otherwise I would be lost without my muse.

James, I know you are on Tumblr, and if you are reading this, I hope you are ashamed of yourself for what you have done. For the damage you are promoting, and actively taking part in the destruction of humanity and creativity. You should be better than this.

LINKS FOR CONTEXT:

[sawnickrings]

2024 art recap

My favorite piece from each month! I can't say I've grown much over the past year, but perhaps a little. Open the post to see my reflection on each piece. 💙

Tw for first two months mentions of $H

January

This was the only thing I could find from January, since my old phone got busted and all the dates on my photos got messed up. But luckily I really like it anyway so I guess it's my favorite of the month by default! During this time I was still battling with s3lf harm and so this character was supposed to represent that. Yes it's edgy, no I wouldn't have picked this one if I had any other image from January. This one was also very experimental, I've used this brush a grand total of 1 time other than this one. I felt it fit the aesthetic.

February

Again, this period was sort of like the dark ages in the fact that most of my images got screwed with after switching phones, so I don't have many drawings that I know were from February. However, this one again is a favorite of mine in general so it's not so bad. This is the only other time I used that brush. I also created this character as a sort of way to cope with my s3lf harm urges, except she's far older than the last one. This image doesn't feature it, but they have lots of scars and often open/bandaged self-inflicted wounds due to how their power works, which is blood manipulation. Again, edgy as all get-out.

March

I'm not super happy with some aspects of this but I worked really hard on it. This is a character of mine that I didn't design but still cherish lots. Her name is Coralina or just Coral for short. You'll see her again soon.

April

Once again I could not find much for April, but luckily I remembered that I did a bunch of chalk stuff at a school event that month and this one is both relevant to my blog and one of my favorites. I did a good ring too but that's in a different image.

May

This was something I designed as a contest entry that I don't believe I won so as far as I know it's my character now. I think the spots on the tail clash with the gradient but oh well.

June

There were a lot of good options for this month since I got back into commissions and art trades, but there's something about this one that I especially like. It's not fancy or anything but it showcases my style well.

July

Artfight season! Surprisingly this wasn't an attack but rather a character I made specifically for Artfight. They're based off of Miracle Musical's album Hawaii: Part II. I'm really proud of the design but I haven't really done anything with him since besides a couple drawings.

August

Here she is again! I used this image a lot to show an example of my work when offering art trades. I think I made it with that in mind? It's hard to remember. But anyway, here she is again! Plus one of my sonas, Pop Rocks!! I love her to bits. I originally made her as an adoptable that I traded to someone else, but I regretted it later and luckily my friend got her back for me! I have so many drawings of that little goofball but this is my favorite.

September

There are absolutely parts of this that suck balls but there are parts that I really like too. And I remember enjoying drawing it. This was for an art trade.

October

During this time I made matching bust drawings of all the 10 main characters from my comic. (calling it a comic is a bit of a stretch, I only have 2 chapters drawn and it's been well over a year (maybe two?) since I've touched those pages) Although I've made next to no progress on actual pages, I draw the characters often and love them with all my heart. I especially like how this one turned out.

November

At the time of drawing this I hadn't practiced drawing ferals in ages, so I was very worried about the result, but it turned out better than I could have imagined! This was another art trade, and I love the character design so much!!

December

And now we're here! I've been doing more scenes recently with my fanart, but I just love how Sonic turned out in this one so I had to include it. It almost doesn't look like my art, though the hands give it away. At first I wasn't impressed with how Shadow was looking but it's grown on me. ❤️🖤