#i am actually learning art fundamentals

[amaimint]

i found like 1yr+ old k project doodles from my instagram stories (which is why there is text pls ignore it haha)... a lil apology for vanishing for a few days and probably a few more after this bc i have been unexpectedly busy. sorry it's blurry btw

i have 3 requests left to complete on here so i'm almost caught up 🔥🔥🔥 feel free to send more k project requests if u want but idk when i'll get to them bc i'm also working on instagram requests.

also for reference since someone asked me about this, i prefer to keep this acc k project specific but i can do other requests on instagram when i open them. my handle is almost the same as here (a.maimi.nt) ok bye

[star-rats-arts]

[touteytout]

i think the day i stopped following these cardinal (digital) art rules from deviantart or whatever is when my art got infinitely better. like things like Dont shade with black/always shade with purple, Dont use airbrush, Never EVER trace anything etc arent inherently wrong as they are based on actual techniques that work. its just that when theyre simplified to this degree and applied regardless of art style/end goal theyre absolutely useless.... theyre made with this very specific lineart-flatcolors-celshade comic/anime style in mind and aimed at like 12 year olds drawing like warrior cats or whatever. and even then its still better to (try to) learn how light/shadow etc actually works

[junebugjo]

second iteration of medieval girls with phones after the first print im making for my printmaking class

[viarayy01-blog]

If you did open commissions, what would your prices be?

uh cheap as hell. 5 bucks for a rendered headshot with a simple background. max 25 dollars for a fully rendered drawing (fullbody / halfbody whatever) with a detailed background. if u want another character its 2 dollars more.

[soufre-de-paris]

so metcalf's argument is that there was always slavery in western europe. but it was only ever what it had been since antiquity: slaves were peoples captured in the process of wars of expansion (political or religious) and most of the time, the enslavement was not a permanent status linked to an unchangeable trait, but something more amorphous, possibly reversible with time/money/whatever

then portugal changed that by securing their right to enslave whoever the fuck they wanted through a series of legal arguments sent to the fucking popes, who then signed off on portugal's "right" to basically raid northern africa wholesale for non-combatant, oft "christian" peoples

[nthflower]

I need to do arttttttlttttttttt

[thecultofproductivity]

X.x y feel like all art I tuch bad.

Making animations feeling fake af because I didn’t make the rig from the ground up like it’s 2013.

Also the animations are kind of just actually disfocused like sh*t bc perfecting the workflow is genuinely the important part even just for this project f my development as an artist.

Okay cool I feel slightly better. Art art art

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Since you mentioned this in an earlier ask, what is your take on feminist Leona? I see people saying things like "consent king" "he drinks his respect women juice" and "leona kingscholar says men ain't shit" but I think those are mainly jokes but I've also seen a lot of for example Leona x reader fanfics where he's a lot nicer to femme Yuus than masc ones. I don't play the game so I don't know how much of a feminist he really is, could you clarify and give your own insights? Ty Miss Raven!!!!!!!

[Referencing this post!]

Admittedly, I am guilty of having made “consent king” jokes but that’s mainly because I think consent + respecting others’ autonomy is very sexy important and it’s slightly funny to have a 185 cm muscular anime cat boy championing the concept. However, I try to avoid making jokes which would imply Leona puts down his own gender or thinks lesser of them because 1) canon doesn't indicate this and 2) it can be hurtful to non-femme Twst fans. Yes, most of the fandom is women--but that doesn't mean we shouldn't make this fandom space welcoming for masculine or nonbinary Twst fans.

Let's delve into a brief history of where feminist!Leona comes from! After that, I'll discuss my own thoughts and feelings about it.

The idea first came into prominence because of an exchange that occurs in Cater's School Uniform vignette. In it, Cater is trying to convince Leona to join him for a party that he's throwing for Rosaria, one of the talking paintings at NRC. At first, Leona refuses--but he quickly changes his tune once Cater mentions Rosaria is a "she/her". Leona states, "Portrait or not, I respect ladies and Rosaria is a lady." Cater then whispers to Kalim (who is shocked that Leona suddenly agreed to come along), "Leona's kingdom is all about being respectful to ladies."

It should be noted that Leona says something slightly different in JP: “Even if it’s a portrait, a woman is a woman.” JP does not have the “I respect ladies” portion; “I respect ladies” was added to EN, which may have further amplified the interpretation that he is a feminist.

Now, as we learn from that vignette, the Sunset Savanna has a culture of "respecting women". In Leona's Ceremonial Robes vignette, he elaborates that, “[Beastwomen are] already way stronger than [beastmen]." Furthermore, Ruggie states in one of his Chats that “Girls have both the grit and the camaraderie to triumph when the goin’ gets tough.” Then, in events like Tamashina Mina and late in book 7, we are told that many of the royal guards are women who volunteer for the positions and it's common for them to have learned martial arts from a young age. From this dialogue, we can glean that the women of Leona's home country are physically strong, strong-willed, and honorable.

With that being said, I think certain interpretations of Leona's "feminism" (a term not actually used by official materials; this is a fandom take) definitely take it a step too far by either assuming Leona treats woman as a special class and/or he dislikes men. Both of those interpretations (if serious and not said as a joke) are owed to a fundamental misunderstanding of what "feminism" is. Feminism is "the belief in full social, economic, and political equality for women." Feminism is NOT misandry (a hatred of men), and nor is it female chauvinism (the belief that women are superior to men)... unless, of course, you're talking about very radicalized forms of thinking. The basic concept of feminism doesn't involve man hate or putting women on a pedestal.

Twst itself appears to go with the basic definition of feminism. As Leona himself states, he doesn't treat anyone special. "I ain't extra nothin' to nobody. As if [women] even need men fawning all over'em."

Leona, whom we know to be arrogant and unwilling to obey others' orders, appears to be more willing to listen to and carry out tasks if there's a woman involved. I already mentioned the case with Rosaria the painting (which proves that his "respecting women" thing extends beyond just beastwomen from his home country). In his Ceremonial Robes, he also grumpily puts on the aforementioned robes and takes a picture of himself in it upon the request of his sister-in-law. But--and this should be stressed--he's not exactly jumping for joy or eager to do so. Instead, Leona cites that "Goin’ against [beastwomen] only brings more trouble.” This indicates annoyance at having to carry out this chore, and gives the impression that Leona's only complying because not doing so would only overcomplicate things for him. He's not an idiot--he knows when to make a strategic retreat if it's going to save him time and effort in the long run. (For example, he immediately surrenders to the Ferrymen in book 6 rather than continue to put up a fight.)

I should note that, like in the earlier definition of feminism I shared, Leona does not simply bend the knee to every single woman. In the first Halloween event, he was still capable of scaring off the Magicam Monsters (some of which have distinctly female voices) without any qualms. He was still fully able to express anger and upset when Eliza, the Ghost Bride, smacked him. "You've got a lot of nerve turnin' me down over some nonsense!" He's also not above tricking the Fairy Queen and her entourage to steal back the special magestone from NRC.

This shows us that Leona doesn't just... "respect women" indiscriminately. If someone is going to be rude and selfish to him, he's going to respond as is appropriate. He's not going to turn a blind eye because of the offending party's gender.

In terms of Yuu interactions (assuming Yuu can be any gender), Leona acts pretty aggressive towards them in their first meeting. Even though it's clearly an accident and Yuu didn't realize they stepped on his tail, Leona is annoyed by the act and them walking away without apologizing or stopping to acknowledge him. He also makes it known that Yuu is magicless, and thus has no way of defending themselves from him. And you know what this man does? He says, "Well, can't say it'd be much fun to hurt someone so helpless. Still gonna do it, though." AND HE THREATENS TO TAKE A TOOTH. His wording, "No one gets to stomp on my tail and just walk away without payin' the price" + him still deciding to attack Yuu desite knowing they are weak/cannot fight back, implies to me that he may have still reacted this way regardless of Yuu's gender. (Key word: MAY. We don't know if this is the truth or not, I am leaving this up to your interpretation.)

Notably, there is a slight change between EN and JP versions for Yuu's dialogue choices in response to Leona's threat. The EN dialogue options are far more humorous, but the JP options clearly convey fear (ie Leona is being serious about his threat of bodily harm). The top option is like noises of surprise, like "Eh, eh, eh!!"; the bottom option is along the lines of, "What, I'm going to be hit/beaten!"

There are, in fact, multiple instances where Leona acts callous towards Yuu. He refuses to let Yuu stay in Savanaclaw unless they earn their keep by beating up some mobs. He constantly degrades them by calling them and others he considers weak "herbivore". He has to be goaded into helping us or taking us along on trips instead of automatically caving. It could be argued that he would be more agreeable or polite if fem!Yuu was in these scenarios. And who knows, that might be the case--but again, I don't think he would be egregiously kind. I would like to point out a more direct example of a Leona-fem!Yuu interaction. Leona has interacted with a female Yuu before: Yuuka Hirasaka, our main character for the Episode of Savanaclaw manga. There's some debate over whether or not the NRC students know that Yuuka is a girl since the topic is never mentioned once, but I assume that they are aware because: 1) Yuuka makes no effort to hide her figure or chest; she even wears her blazer open, and 2) she has no motivation to hide her gender; she is capable of defending herself if needed and has a nonchalant personality. Proceeding with the assumption that Yuuka being a girl is a known fact, Leona does not treat her any differently than any other student.

Yuuka seems to experience the same tail-stepping scene as is depicted in game, although we don't see the aftermath of it/if Leona gives her the same threat.

The more telling scene for Yuuka, however, comes when she and her friends arrive in Savanaclaw to investigate. They are confronted by a bunch of mobs that start to pick a fight with them. Like in the game, Leona intervenes (ie he doesn't stop the fight just because Yuuka is a woman) and has them duke it out in a game of spelldrive/magift instead.

And you know what? Leona doesn't hold back just because he's playing against a woman. In fact, he kicks Yuuka's ass and then some. Then he stands over her and tells her to get back up, to keep playing. Leona isn't cutting Yuuka any slack whatsoever. He treats Yuuka the same as the boys she's playing with.

This brings me to my final prominent example of Leona interacting with a woman, which I think best exemplifies what my interpretation of Leona's "feminism" is. In the JP server's 2024 Halloween event Lost in the Book with Nightmare Before Christmas, Sally indicates that she plans on making a meal using the plants from around the cemetery. Leona is at first displeased by this, but then agrees to help her catch snakes, rats, lizards, etc. as meat for the meal. This leads into a conversation about how sad Sally's home life is, which earns her sympathy from the other NRC students. Jade, Riddle, and Epel are shocked at the cruelty that Sally faces. Jade volunteers to take the doctor out for Sally, and Epel even tries to convince Leona to help him rough up Dr. Finkelstein. But Leona just smirks and tells them Sally's not in any need of their "help"; isn't she the one who slipped the doctor a "drink"? Riddle scolds him for this "ungentlemanly" behavior and Epel refuses to believe that the "kind Sally" would do something like use poison. Leona was able to smell the deadly nightshade on her and deduce that Sally slipped some to her guardian and then slipped out on her own. She's not a damsel in distress--she's resourceful. Sally used her brains and not brute force to rescue herself from a bad situation. (We know that this would deeply resonate with Leona because he has been struggling his entire life to have his own merits recognized.) Leona praises Sally for her cunning and goes so far as to offer her his arm and tell her that he's looking forward to this evening's dinner.

In this situation, could it not be said that Jade, Riddle, and Epel were the ones assuming Sally is weak that Leona was the one who saw her true worth? I'm of course not accusing anyone here of being sexist. Society socializes us to see women as the "fairer sex" in need of protection and aid--but isn't Leona being more equitable by not underestimating Sally because of her gender?

That brings me to my conclusion. Leona respects women, no doubt about that. However, that's NOT a blanket statement. He clearly knows how to separate who is worthy of his respect and who isn't, and then he acts accordingly. Yes, he is polite, slightly softer, and more willing to listen to women he knows (his sister-in-law), women who haven't offended him/are just existing (Rosaria), and woman who have demonstrated their own strengths to him (Sally). He doesn’t become a completely different character just to bend to the whims of women. Those who have acted in ways to earn his ire, woman or not, will be treated as such (Magicam Monsters, Eliza, even Yuu when they/she enters his territory and/or steps on his tail). At the same time, I don't believe he thinks that women are delicate flowers that need special treatment (as we see with how he handles Sally + the Yuus and, more specifically, Yuuka). If anything, the women from his home country have demonstrated that they can be strong and self-sufficient. Why would he feel the need to go out of his way to be extremely lenient with the women he is around?

Lastly, nothing in official materials implies Leona treats men significantly worse than women. If he seems exceedingly rude to men, it’s most likely the result of the main cast (the characters Leona most often interacts with) being guys. If we were to compare how he treats his peers and how he treats women who have irritated him, I would say the behavior isn’t that different.

I know that was a long post but 😅 Hopefully I was able to articulate my thoughts well enough… May you find it helpful in forming your own opinion, Anon!

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hello! Someone genuinely trying to understand and perhaps unlearn some reactionary tendencies. With the response to that anon about "not asking if you're a pro or anti", the response about "imagine if they put this much effort into protecting real kids" definitely got me thinking. So... Is an adult shipping children and finding that hot NEVER a red flag? Or is it case by case on seeing how that person handles the distinction between fiction and reality in other things? And bringing the issue of real kids into it, if a real kid who has been abused sees someone shipping kids and finds that a red flag in that person, that... No, no I juicy answered my own question on that one. Block them and cultivate your own experience.

hi there anon, and congrats on trying to unlearn some things! and great job catching yourself at the end there, that's exactly correct.

I will start by saying this right out of the gate: fundamentally, I do not really give a shit about what made up scenarios about fictional characters people are jorking it to in private. I am, first and foremost, interested in how they are interacting with actual, real people.

"but Makenzie are you saying people who look at sexually explicit images of real human kids should be allowed near children?" no I'm not. please note that I was specifically talking about people engaging with fictional characters who are, you know, not real and do not have feelings and therefore cannot actually be hurt, traumatized, abused, etc, in any way that actually matters. I want to be so clear about this: you can genuinely think whatever vile things you want about fictional characters. you can enjoy any problematic shit you want with little guys who don't actually exist.

like, here's an example I use a lot: I'm kind of a huge Batman fan. don't know if you could tell that or not, I'm pretty subtle about it. if you spend any time in the Batman mythos, you know that this is a story where you just kind of have to take for granted that our hero is a billionaire using his vast wealth to dispatch vigilante justice with military grade weaponry and a small army of child soldiers and cop friends to help him put people in prison. these are moral quandaries that are discussed and acknowledged within the story, but fundamentally the universe is always going to involve billionaire vigilantism and child soldiers and the so-called carceral justice system. that's just the price of admission if you're gonna read Batman.

and like. I spend a lot of time in that world. I love Batman, I love his child soldiers. he's my little blorbo or whatever. but like, at no point have I said "yeah, fuck it, preteens should be learning martial arts to fight domestic terrorists, actually. I think Elon Musk SHOULD be allowed to put on a fursuit and beat up criminals. cops need more funding." no amount of Batman comics can make me believe or act on any of those things because, you know, I'm a person with a brain and I know the difference between "thing that makes a good story" and "thing that should actually happen for real."

and the thing is that genuinely, honestly, if someone thought that it was a red flag that I like Batman, and that enjoying Batman comics was somehow a red flag indicating that I'm fine with violence being done against real, actual children? I would think that person was a nut, if I can be super real. like, I'm thinking about somebody trying to make the case that I shouldn't be allowed to hang out with my nephew because I enjoy the fictional character of Robin so clearly I'm going to kill my nephew's parents in front of him to try to get him into vigilante justice. or if someone attempted to bar me from teaching my 4th-6th grade sex ed classes on the grounds that I was obviously going to teach them to do karate to clowns instead of how their reproductive systems worked.

(although, lets be real, there are a lot of politicians who would MUCH rather let little kids cage fight each other than learn anything about safer sex.)

this doesn't just apply to morally bad things, either, btw. I also read a lot of romance novels, especially hetero romances. and the thing is, not one of those books has made me want to fall in love with a ruggedly handsome but condescending straight man. hell, none of them have made me want to fall in love with anybody, period. that's not really something I'm interested in for myself, it's just a fun and frequently funny dynamic to explore. I'm hardly the first queer person to point out that the allegations that queer media "turns kids gay/trans" is obviously bullshit since the vertible mountain of cishet media evidently failed to turn any of us straight/cis, you know?

my point being: no, I genuinely don't think it's often, if ever, reasonable to judge someone's actual, real life morals by how they interact with fiction.

I'm going to say something so vulnerable right now, because we're in a safe space here: since you asked me this very reasonable question, you evidently value my judgment and perspective at least a little bit. and I once read and thoroughly enjoyed a fic in which Dr. Horrible, from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, gets fucked by a sapient evil horse. and I don't think that makes me a morally reprehensible person, or a person who advocates for real human beings having real sex with real horses. I think it just makes me kind of a weirdo with a bullshit tolerance.

if you want to hear a MUCH more thorough take on this, complete with addressing the issue of shipping fictional children, I cannot recommend Princess Weekes' video essay enough:

[purpledemonlilyposting]

Apparently @crimsonender critiquing and instantly improving Morch's uninspired chibi comics has put Lorch on the defensive.

Mikaila Orchard is at an early intermediate level when it comes to cartooning. Like something a teenager into anime would be drawing in high school art class. There's nothing wrong with learning how to draw later in life but seemingly Morch doesn't seek to improve. She seems to vaguely understand the surface level of style and construction but not how to actually implement these things. Morch desperately needs to go back to the fundamentals of drawing.

Morch on the left, Crim's improvement on the right.

Crim is a more advanced artist than her and I'm sure Crim wouldn't be insulted if I said I'm a yet even more advanced artist.

I bring this up because it sure is funny that Lily is complaining about basic art critiques...

When Lily is still going on about the one time she sent her racist friend @sneaky-taffer to try and "critique" my art who discovered I drew a hand backwards by accident in a single comic panel. Which is a mistake I used to make more often cause I'm an autist and sometimes have trouble with left and right.

...And then I... fixed it. Cause it was a legit mistake.

The rest of Taffer's "critiques" either were going after art that is over 5 years old or surrounded her not understanding stylization at all.

And then Taffer started sending messages from throwaways calling a friend of @britts-galaxy-brain's a "n-word lover" so you know there's that. She still hangs out in Lily's Discord by the way.

It's absolutely hysterical Lily thought sending her mediocre artist friend after me would hurt me when I routinely am critiqued by and critique other artists and none of us take it personally because we're all trying to help each other advance in our craft. But the second someone more experienced at art points out the ways your wife could improve hers? NO! It's perfect the way it is! They're just jealous!

IT'S HER STTTTYYYLLLLEEE-

Also the fact Lily is saying I wouldn't be reacting to her if I was good at art? Uh... I can do both. I do both every time I react to you in fact. People pay me to do art for them, Lily, I'm a professional. And then other people pay me to make fun of your dogshit opinions. 😂

[oak-n]

Hello.

What are your most used references and choices (in medium etc) for studying? Also do you study regularly or is it in a "this time i want to focus on X" fashion?

I'm confident in my skills but it has been long since i actually grinded for them. I'm both in need of a guide and curious about what you do.

Thanks in advance.

Hi! Thank you for this inquiry cause hooo am I eager to yap about practice.

So, as for references and info, my most used resources are:

- Sketchfab, has anything from meticulous anatomical models to most random 3d scans.

- Line of Action, timed sketching as a warmup. - Google maps! Environment warmup.

- Pinterest is heaven, but you have to curate the quality yourself. It can be turned into the most valuable visual library or a landfill of AI slop and disposable tutorials.

As for the medium, I try to balance traditional/digital sessions. Most knowledge transfers between them well, but certain skills need extra time (colors work differently, pen sketching requires more focus and planning, etc). Even though digital art is my domain, I need to have a good chunk of traditional practice. It’s less forgiving, sure, but much more engaging. The feel, the smell, the sound. Besides, I rarely share traditional stuff, so there’s less pressure to make it “good”.

I used to study consistently years ago, but mental health + skill plateau took their toll. The further you go, the more subjects add up, the less obvious your progress is. As a beginner, I had a simple routine - a bunch of gesture studies, then color palettes, then some environments, rinse and repeat. Did challenges like 365 sketching days, Figuary, Huevember etc. But as I learned to see more, it became overwhelming. Like, okay, today’s an anatomy session. Do I focus on quick gestures? Or maybe delve into 1 h. lecture about back muscles? Different body types maybe?..

Combined with the amount of stuff I need to draw beside that, I can’t keep up with a consistent routine. This is where the “focus on X" approach saves me. I take notice of the subject that causes the most trouble at a given moment and pick up an exercise for it. BUT remember I’m too burned out to come up with a practice plan every time. To navigate art theory better, I boiled it down to an octagon of fundamentals, with more subjects branching off them (pic attached). Feeling stiff about composition? Go to a respective section, do a couple exercises, feel better.

A grindy version of it would be to go through the whole octagon lol. Wish I had a whole year dedicated to studies only, I’d test and perfect this system.

[archerdepartures116]

Archer how to anatomy? I've attempted to draw the same pose 3 times already..I'm getting better but the arms are so fucking hard to draw..

I'm probably the last person on earth you should be asking for anatomy tips but here are the things that has worked out for me cause I am lazy and hate practicing fundamentals so most of this was just passive learning accumulated during just years of drawing in general

Also more things to keep in mind:

-Bone and muscle structure: learn how the muscles connect (especially when drawing busts, learn how the muscles of the neck overlap) and how the bones affect visual appearance on the skin (protrusions such as shoulder blades and collar bones)

-Proportions: learn the proportions of the body

"but Archer, what about stylization like chibis?" Even then, stylization requires a degree of understanding about the anatomy of whatever being ur drawing. For example, if your character has an arm or hand that is bigger than the other intentionally, fine, that's how the design is. But if it's not intentional, its not an art style. That's a mistake.

Basically don't let pride get in the way of learning tbh (my dad flamed me on this enough ( mf my greatest hater fr)) (I am still struggling with this don't be me and actually learn from ur mistakes and study)

But what if you don't wanna practice all that bullshit and jump straight to the fun part and draw your favs?

Use them as the character practice. Obsession is the pathway to glory.

But, of course, take everything I say with a grain of salt, I am no professional and just so happened to be able to stumble my way through shit without many ppl directly telling me "wow you suck ass at drawing *insert death threat here*"

Most importantly, reference the masters or whatever artist inspires you. If they have speed paints, watch how they construct the body and how they render it

[devotion-disorder]

UR ART IS SO PRETTY 😍😍🙏🙏 lT MAKES ME WANNA GOBBLE IT UP

Have any tips? I've been tryna get into drawing but i'm rlly strugglimg 😭

First off THANMKYOU FOR YOUR NICE WORDS....🥺🫶🫶

i'm gonna assume you're asking about advice for people that are just getting started with drawing! Now im not a ~seasoned~ artist or anything, i've only been drawing on-and-off for about 7 ish years? so this is all coming from someone who only approaches art as more of a casual hobby... also if you're asking about more technical/ practical advice then feel free to send another ask because I don't really go into that here lol :p

Honestly, i recall that being a beginner artist was tough, because the gap in my skill level and my expectations seemed so daunting. The hardest part was probably having to motivate myself to keep going even when it's hard to see actual progress and, again, the disappointment in "what I draw does not match what I envision in my head". It's hard and sometimes I question what am I even doing all this for. As of right now I can say that this feeling doesn't ever really go away, just that now I've managed to build a bit more confidence in my stuff.

So how I see it is that it's important to find a way to keep yourself motivated no matter what, so that you have it in you to keep practicing, improving, or at least, to just keep drawing. This is something that is gonna look different for everyone so I think it'd be a good idea to explore yourself what can keep you motivated. I was very lucky in that the people around me were also into drawing and were always really nice and supportive, so they played a huge role in building up my confidence - such that I wasn't afraid to experiment and take risks, which is necessary for learning and getting better.

Another major thing for me is to remember to have fun with art, and understand that as long as I managed to enjoy some parts of the process then I've "succeeded" so to speak, even if I don't like the end results. This still applies now...it's frustrating when something I spent time on doesn't turn out the way I wanted, but at least rendering it was fun and relaxing, so it was still a good use of my time. Its about striking a balance i guess; its important to practice and do fundamentals etc etc but imo its equally important to draw things that will make you want to keep drawing. for some this could be doing fanart, for others it could be original art. Social media and fandom-ry is a whole 'nother can of worms, but I will say that they were helpful to me in keeping me motivated and inspired. so basically its this *taps sign*

anyhow i hope that was helpful,,,,, i hope I didn't come off as preachy because im the last person with any authority to be telling other people about art so it was mostly just my own experience with art...but i think its really just about finding your own rhythm and if you keep at it you will get better...either way GOOD LUCK I BELIVBE IN YOU AND I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN🫶🫶🫶🫶

[cultkinkcoven]

*Us chilling in his bedroom, he was getting dressed for something, not entirely sure what but he was doing his makeup and putting on jewelry and he looked very gorgeous*

Lord Lucifer: I really liked that post you wrote about paraphilias

me: I knew you would

Lucifer: I suppose I already know the answer to this question, but don’t you ever worry about going… too hard?

me: too hard?

Lucifer: You’re very passionate and you put a lot of effort into defending those who are the most hated by society in my name, in the name of Luciferianism. And I am proud of you, I am very, very proud of you. But when you go so hard, people will inevitably assume it’s because you’re defending yourself. and people will eventually accuse you of being a predator too.

me: people can accuse me of being the devil himself. It doesn’t mean anything in reality if I never actually harm someone. There can be no trial if there is no victim.

Lucifer: Sure, but people don’t always care about that. People can and will still wrongfully determine your guilt regardless of a lack of evidence or justification because what you represent is fundamentally uncomfortable.

me: …

Lucifer: …

me: Well, that sucks. It’s a shitty thing to have to sacrifice for the sake of Luciferianism. But it is something I have already accepted.

Lucifer: and what is that “thing”?

me: The perception of others. The sacrifice is public perception, maybe even opportunities, comfort and safety, convenience, for the sake of being honest and open about my principles. I am willing to accept and learn how to navigate the uncomfortable nature of the truth in order to preserve the truth. If the public were to determine me guilty, but I and you knew in my soul that I did not do such a thing, then yes, it would fucking suck. But I would also sleep at night, and I would continue doing my thing and following you.

Lucifer: You could also just simply keep your opinions to yourself.

me: Yeah lol, I suppose so. But you know me. It is my compulsion. I write and speak and do magic and make art because I need to. I don’t do Luciferianism because I want to be a Luciferian, I do it because it is the culmination of all of me predispositions. Some people need to dance. I think I need to think and debate about things that I find complex and interesting the same way a frog needs to hop around.

Lucifer: you are cute like a frog

me: and I’d like to jump on you

Lucifer: I agree, I think you need to, and I think you should.

[plaidos]

I worry I phrased my question badly so I would love to try again: is detransition baby actually is a good resource for learning about trans family planning, and could it be true that Torrey Peters’ work can’t be easily replaced by nonfictional political theory?

I fear that works by trans writers writing about their everyday lives are devalued in the hierarchy you’ve established between novels and theory. Sometimes the novel is the theory and can’t be so easily discarded.

no, it is a fiction book about some trans people who want to have children and how they go about it. it has many insights and there are things to learn from the story, but fundamentally, it's a storybook. the things that happened in it are not real and do not necessarily reflect reality.

you're right that Torrey Peters' work can't be easily replaced by nonfictional political theory -- because it's a storybook. it's doing a different thing. i'm not saying it should be discarded at all -- you'll note i called it my favourite fucking book?

like there are actually non-fictional accounts of trans people having children & the trials they went through to accomplish that. there is a lot of non-fiction political writing about trans existence. you don't need to fill this gap in with storybooks, which serve a different purpose. Torrey Peters is fundamentally not trying to teach you or anybody anything about having children as a trans person. she is telling a story about that inspired by the real life struggles trans women often live through. like i said, it isn't that there is "no political value" -- there's plenty political value in art. but it cannot replace non-fiction political theory. i cannot believe i am having this argument with somebody as verbose as you. like i feel like those people who have to explain that The Hunger Games isn't political theory

i genuinely believe Torrey Peters would laugh at the implication of Detransition Baby being a serious piece of political theory. it is an amazing and yes political piece of art in many ways. but it isn't political theory. i don't know why you consider this an insult lol.