#i literally commissioned ONE artwork a few YEARS ago

[petalpierrot]

.

[olderthannetfic]

Ok, wow, this is NOT the type of ask you seem to get usually, but this appears to be my best option...

I'm seeking out a post that is not particularly fandom-y in nature, but I was reminded of it after reading the earlier anon who was burned out from AI discourse - I totally feel the same way, and there was a really great lengthy textpost I reblogged a few months ago (read: "I read it any time from, like, April 2024 to almost a year ago......sorry") that I cannot find on my blog nor on tumblr in general - either because the post has been completely nuked from the internet OR because I'm just bad at SEO searches and remembering the keywords that were actually IN the post. I'm hoping it's a me issue or, if the post IS nuked, at the very least someone here remembers it and has an internet archive link or screenshot or something????

to get to the point, there was a post that was like (paraphrased, quote marks are not literal quotes):

"When it comes to the anti-AI crowd on tumblr, there's basically two schools of thought: people who completely hate AI and everything about it and are opposed to all forms of AI without even learning what AI really is. These people are stuck in their ways and generally can't be reasoned with.

Then there's a second group who are against AI for pretty good reasons - they really are worried that AI is gonna completely take over and steal artists' livelihoods, those who criticize it for environmental activist reasons, etc. These people generally can be reasoned with as they're truly misinformed, and in fact they would be - or already are - receptive to a less harmful AI."

The post then went on to compare AI to other forms of automation and made some really great parallels; such as bringing up the fact that stores that have both self checkout AND cashiers tend to be the best business models, because people who have their preferences can choose how they want to shop, AND we can utilize automated checkouts without completely getting rid of cashiers, which is obviously good for a lot of reasons.

It also debunked a lot of common fearmonger-y arguments against AI, i.e. explaining what "training AI" really entails, with some general copyright-critical philosophy in general. (I don't know the actual, like, political term, if one even exists, but basically they were talking about flaws with "intellectual property" as a concept - or at least how IP works today and why it works the way it does.)

There was also a really good addition to the OP's thoughts that I liked, with another user talking about: Essentially people who are gonna use AI would likely have done something else sketchy anyway, even if AI as it stands today didn't exist. For example, chatGPT isn't to blame for plagiarism. The people who use chatGPT to do their homework would, in an earlier time, likely go on Chegg / pay someone to write an essay / reuse their old work / etc. Likewise, the people who tell open AI to make artwork for them likely wouldn't make (or try to make) their own artwork anyway, nor would they even commission someone. They talked about how since fandom is so damn divided on the topic of AI, that the artists who DO feel as if their commissions are being taken away from them, or the writers who DO fear AI taking over fanfic.......well, to put it nicely, those people likely wouldn't really be losing many fans in the first place. You didn't lose a commission to AI - that person never would've commissioned you in the first place, and the people that do commission you hate AI as much as you do. You're not losing readers to AI - people who choose AI fics over yours are likely already the impatient type who can't handle waiting more than a week for an update, so they just make AI feed them 10k in one sitting! And the people who DO comment and read on your stuff, also hate AI!

I definitely did not agree with every single point made on the post (ie i dont think the self checkout metaphor was a great direct parallel logistically, but I def picked up what they were trying to put out and overall agreed with the general sentiment), overall it made a lot of really, really, really good points about the AI debate that I'd truly never considered before.

I know I've damn near rewritten the whole post myself now at this point but I also know there's a lot of stuff that I'm missing or that I just can't word and I'd love to know if anyone else has seen this post or has it on their blog in some capacity.

--

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I decided not to finish and deliver commissioned artwork?

I owe a couple of people art pieces I started literal years ago, before my life fell apart completely. They were taken on as emergency commissions; unfortunately the scope of the emergency was far greater than I could handle even with some extra funds.

I was homeless (not unhoused, luckily, but living at a friend's illegally without a permanent address on paper, with no access to stable internet when I had internet at all), severely anxious and depressed, struggling to find work and pay off debts, and only recently got kind of stable again thanks to support from people I currently live with, though I have a move-out deadline coming up...

To make matters worse, in all the chaos of the last few years, I lost all the art I had actually managed to get done, and in one case also lost access to the original commission refsheets. I could ask again, but after a few years of radio silence (because aforementioned lack of stable internet and severe mental illness) I don't even know how to approach them about it.

Even if I did figure out a way to do talk to them, my life situation still isn't stable enough that I could guarantee finished work in the near future.

I think about it every day, and have stress dreams and procrastinate on sleeping and eating because I "need to work on those drawings instead of relaxing", but that usually just results in me being unable to do anything because I feel like I have to make their art pieces into things worth waiting years for, so it's this big daunting monster in my head...

On top of that, I have new injuries that make drawing difficult, and every time I think I'll have a few days to catch up with tasks, some new crisis or other slew of bullshit happens. I really just don't have time, and when I have time I don't have energy bc all my energy is tied up in looking for work and being anxious about where to even start making a magnum opus for each client that would make the absurd wait worth their whiles...which, of course, just makes the wait longer.

I do still have the PayPal invoices, and could offer refunds once I have enough money saved to do that. It doesn't seem very satisfactory, but I don't know what else to do that's guaranteed to get them something. WIBTA if I just saved up and gave them their money back in lieu of the art they paid for?

What are these acronyms?

[thdramas2]

I just wanna rant about the most stressful thing that happened ever happened to me on TH lmao

This happened a little more than a year ago,,,

I’ve had my account since 2017 but didn’t use it until 2021. I’ve never uploaded my sona who I bought from a popular artist back in 2014 on Furaffinity since i have so much art of them from back in the day and can’t seem to find majority of the artists and I just never bothered to upload them. One day I’m browsing TH and I look up the pop artists name to see what other designs of theirs was on TH and I see my sona under some random persons account with over 300 favs and 46 artworks that I have not commissioned/drew of my character. I looked at the OG Image and it’s watermarked with the original auctions prices (it looks like it was cropped from the auction post) + it was poor quality

I looked at the ownership log and the character was uploaded by that person and didn’t have any transfer history. I immediately message them asking wtf is this all about

After some stressful back and forth basically they said they couldn’t find the owner (me) and since it’s been so long they thought the character was “abandoned” and thought it would be ok to “claim” the character. They had the audacity to compare it to squatters rights and basically since I wasn’t using the character and they’ve “owned” it for a year it’s theirs. Which funny thing is I have a suit of the character that I wear to cons and there’s literally multiple pictures of me in my suit at these conventions that happened only a few months ago, I commissioned multiple pieces of art and had a plush in the making,,, all of this at the time of the incident. So the character wasn’t “abandoned” and after some more back and forth and them trying to guilt trip me into doing a co-own and getting the admin involved my character was taken off their account and I now got +46 art works of my character. I did pay $50 for the art cause at the time I did feel a little bad but ultimately they are the one who got themself in this situation. I now have all of my characters uploaded and heavily watermarked so hopefully this doesn’t happen again :’)

theres no such thing as an abandoned chr if it ISNT uploaded somewhere

its like trying to steal undertale chrs bc toby fox "hasnt done anything" with them

[maddiebiscuits]

i don't know how to phrase this any other way so i hope you don't find this rude or anything: you are (imo) a very skilled, very prolific art toaster. it's great quality artwork obviously, but your turnaround is wicked crazy fast to me. what does burnout look like for you? how do you manage to toast so many arts? what dark magics must you employ??

The hard truth is I worked in journalism for two years between 2010-2012 and customer service/hospitality starting at 16 years old in 2007 all throughout my life until 2022 and I don't want to go back to any of it now that I'm almost 33 - that's the main motivator to keep my freelance gig career doing art commissions going as long as possible. Fear and loathing of going back to that work environment keeps me focused.

In action...I'm not quite sure if I ever experience 'burn out'? I do experience art 'block' in that I can't think of anything to draw on my own or feel really unsatisfied with my work...so I just goof off with my canvas or do studies, but this doesn't interfere with doing commissions where I am told what to draw.

I just enjoy the physical act of drawing. Sometimes when I'm bored and restless and going for a walk doesn't help, I just draw more. When I was a kid I would just come home from school and draw crap between playing Gameboy/N64/Gamecube or browsing Elfwood/Newgrounds/DeviantART/Gaia Online, so it's literally just a habit now. If I don't draw for a long time I feel anxious and unwell. Somehow I just programmed my brain to think that art = leisure fun time, even if it's for work. I also tend to get into a "zone" sometimes and just put on video essays or music and a few hours later I'll have worked through some commission stuff.

I have three 'task lists' for my workflow:

A public trello board organized by work order types (N/SFW link)

A personal trello board organized by type/date in chronological order

A coloured tagging and folder system in my emails where I can just see the actual dates/timestamps of my last correspondence with a client so I know exactly who in my taskboard needs to be prioritized for their next WIP update

I hold myself to a standard of sending a client a WIP in stages:

rough draft (1-14 business days)

revisions (1-5 business days)

line art (1-14 business days)

revisions (1-5 business days)

final render (1-14 business days)

tweaks (1-2 business days)

So ideally, the client gets a finished commission in 3-6 weeks, so about 1-2 months. For larger projects I send more WIPs and the process is obviously longer. For simpler stuff like chibis, it's rarely a full six weeks. Over holidays I add an extra two weeks to my noted turn-around to account for IRL time off. On all my terms of service I have a maximum four months turn-around, essentially doubling the time I know my work flow is just in case there's some sort of medical or equipment emergency in my life that I need to account for that gives me a buffer (I also notify all clients)

Monday to Friday I wake up usually...late morning/early afternoon? I do anywhere from four to eight hours of artwork, broken up by walks, stretching, eating, cleaning, cooking, hanging out with my partner, etc. I look at my personal trello taskboard and emails to see what must be done and what can wait. I try to get at least 1-2 things done in a day though, be that sketches/line art/renders/revisions.

Right now I am looking at my email and task board, and the client with the highest wait time chronologically is someone who is waiting for their final render (sketch and line art already revised and done for them). Last email correspondence with them on the email says 9 days ago (so 7 business days, I'm supposed to take Sat-Sun off). Their order was paid in full and confirmed by me on November 9 and it is currently December 13, so I'm at about the 5 week mark (not accounting for delays in clients getting back to me of course) and I am very much On Course for my work load, no one has been without contact from me for 14 days or more so I'm pretty ahead of my game right now! I could take tomorrow off if I wanted, or only do 3-4 hours of work if I feel like it.

However the more work you finish and post, the more you show prospective clients your ability to finish orders and show your audience more art for engagement, so ideally I always like posting stuff when I can, it just creates a cycle of positive production and income.

[frankhightower]

Beware of this scam

A few days ago, Sharon (relatively new user, blank gallery) fav's one of my arts on DeviantArt and notes me saying that she loves my style and wants to paint something of mine.

So I start by thinking she wants to do a collab. I ask and she says she wants to paint it, oil on canas, and that I would give her a finished, fully-detailed piece and she'd credit me on the oil painting.

So now I think she does reproductions. Why would she want me?

The piece will be huge, a crowd of humans and a crowd of furries. My most expensive commission ever, even at my prices.

Okay, but the art of mine she fav'ed was the Great Seal of the Mouse Government. Did that impress her that much?

I tell her we can start as soon as I get payment and she says "oh."

I'm thinking I asked her for too much money upfront, so I say "all I need is $10 for the initial sketch: the two main characters, and we can work up from there"

"No no no no no, I'll contact you tomorrow"

The next day she wants a second piece, and now they're not on canvas, but murals. Also, her name is now Hannah since we've moved to Discord. I tell her my price and she says, "no, it has to be the same price as the first." But, I object, there's no crowd in this one. That is not how I work. "It has to be for the same price. My client was impressed by your experience" What client? (The one who owns the walls the murals go on, of course!) What experience? (I didn't even have a price sheet before this year!) "They'll both cost him the same in supplies so the original artwork has to cost the same. You'll get the paycheck tomorrow" "You mean a literal check or...?" "Check as in Cheque. My client is very old" I say that's fine so long as I can digitally deposit it with my bank app. "You can't deposit it tomorrow, it's a holiday" I'm pretty sure the internet still works? "I mean, you can, but it will take longer to clear and we need to get started right away" Wouldn't it be cleared on the same day regardless then?

She seems like she wants the information for the endorsement (and I know that means account numbers). That's not how checks work, you're supposed to endorse it yourself. I ask why does it matter? "Oh, just in case he asks!"

Day 3 begins with her asking if I want to be on the old guy's company payroll. The job is now to populate an art gallery. "What company?" I ask "Here's the back of the check! Remember you can't deposit it today!" "...Where's the front?" "Of course he'd have to meet with you to put you on the payroll" "like... a zoom meeting?" "Conference call. He's veeery old fashioned." "Where's the front of the check?" "So I'll need your phone number" "Here's a phone number you can call me at. It's a burner. You can't create accounts with it." "Oh, hahaha, it's a burner? I hadn't even realized! I just need your email to send you the check, and you'll additionally get all the paints you asked for, of course" "...No"

So, aside from the red flags I comically highlighted, you can almost hear her brain going "Crap, he has low prices. It's not going to work for that little money!" "Crap, digital deposit. He's not going to give me an address!" "Crap, he knows how digital deposits work! The check will bounce before we grab him!" "Crap, he knows how checks work!" "Crap, I can't use this phone number!" "Crap, he already knows I can send the check through the chat and won't give me an email!" "Crap crap crap!"

And yes, I know it's a "her". There were voice calls. (Her accent was slightly different each time).

It wasn't at all funny as it was happening, though.

Posted using PostyBirb

[luvtonique]

Alright, it's time to do a callout post.

LONG AGO, HEARKEN BACK

SuperMega's Matt and Ryan made an episode of their show where they designed an official Supermega Fursona, and encouraged furry artists everywhere to put tons of time and effort into their drawings and tweet Matt and Ryan with them.

Dozens of artists contributed, such as...

Reddit user /u/TelepathicLollipop

Reddit user /u/OfficerFurry

Twitter user @Motfal

FA user Pentacorn

So on and so forth, and obviously (up top) myself included.

The list goes on and on, there's dozens.

I've spent the last year trying to get in contact with SuperMega to find out why on earth they have completely ignored the artists that they, themselves, asked for free art from.

We've gotten no shout-outs, no retweets, no reblogs, no commentary, no mentions in any way shape or form.

I've seen posts of other people asking about this, and have seen that the commission costs of all of these artists combined is something like $5,000-$15,000, roughly, meaning that SuperMega got several thousand dollars of free artwork of their fursona and immediately shunned and ignored all of them, not even giving them any kind of advertising or exposure.

I've tried, I've sent a question in literally every Patreon QnA for SuperMega for nearly a year now, and have even commented on every single one of their YouTube uploads asking them why they're ignoring the furries they goaded free art from.

I'm calling them out, now.

I've tried politely asking for 11 months. Matt and Ryan goaded thousands of dollars of free artwork out of their fanbase and then ignored them completely despite having promised to give them retweets, shout-outs, etc.

And the best part is I guarantee they'll ignore this too. This'll go completely unnoticed and will vanish into obscurity.

But at least I did infinitely more for these few artists I mentioned here than SuperMega did by wasting their time.

In the end, honestly, whatever, who cares. For each of these artists it really is only 1 drawing they put time and effort into and is ultimately no major loss that they didn't get it retweeted by SuperMega.

But as an artist who hates seeing artists get promised advertising if they draw something and then getting immediately ghosted, I refuse to just let this slide. I've tried, and tried, and tried to get in contact with them to get some kind of answer and I've gotten nothing, literally nothing in return, same as all these other artists who never got any commentary, retweeting, reblogging, anything from Matt or Ryan.

This is a scumbag move. Asking for free art "for exposure" in the first place is already bad, but when dozens of artists draw that free art and you don't even give them the exposure you offered, you're a fucking dickshit, and I'm amazed nobody else has called them out for this before me.

In the end, do I still support SuperMega? Sure, why not, I don't think this one thing makes them total assholes, but it's still something I think should be brought up and I think it'd be nice to get an answer from them.

But ultimately, like I said, it's whatever. So they got me to draw a picture and ignored me. Whatever. It's one picture. I spent 9 hours on it, but that's just 9 hours. Whatever.

[doublerainebow]

Artist Resources (Part 1?)

This is basically just going to be a bunch of resources I have found to be useful. I can’t say that I’ve used all of them, but I’m sure they’re all worth checking out.

I’m also gonna try to put a detailed description for most of the links so you have a better idea of what you’re getting. I apologize in advance if some of them are redundant lol

(I put “Part 1″ if in the case I make another one)

~Links to Tutorials, Tips, Resources, etc~

Another Resource List -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Apparently, the post isn’t mobile-friendly, so it’s suggested to view this on Tumblr browser. Has a bunch of other links. I’ve checked out a few of them (mainly the copyright stuff lol), and it seems that some of the links may be a bit outdated. Still, it doesn’t hurt to check out the links.

Arms and Legs -- Leads to another Tumblr post. A handy tutorial on elbow and knee placement.

Art & Game Dev -- This leads to my personal playlist of a bunch of YouTube videos. Has a bunch of tutorials and interesting videos that I’ve collected over the course of a few years lol.

Blamblot -- A website that contains resources and tutorials on comic lettering. This is primarily in reference to western comics, but it doesn’t help to take a looksie.

Commission Calculator -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps artists to stop selling themselves short.

Comparing Heights (hikaku-sitatter) -- A height comparer for centimeters.

Comparing Heights -- A height comparer for feet and inches.

Mouth Shapes and Lip-Syncing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Useful for... drawing mouth shapes.

Reference Angle -- Useful for when you’re trying to map out a face from an odd angle.

Soft Proofing for Printing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps when you’re trying to make prints of your artwork.

Textures -- A website full of different and mostly free textures. While this website is made for 3D texturing, it can also be useful for 2D drawings. Signing up gives you 15 free credits everyday, and you can use those credits to download some textures for free.

The Models Resource -- A website of models ripped from a wide array of games.

The Spriters Resource -- A website of sprites ripped from a wide array of games.

The Textures Resource -- A websites of textures ripped from a wide array of games. 

~Links to Stock Images~

Please check out whatever policies they may have for their images before using them!

(not sure if any of them are active anymore as I followed some of these accounts a long time ago when I used to be more active on Deviant Art lol)

adorkastock (formerly senshistock)

anatoref -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Has a bunch of hand photo references

charligal-stock

HumanAnatomy4Artist -- Does contain nudity

null-entity

PhelanDavion

RobynRose

~Links to Other Artists~

Akihito Yoshitomi -- Yoshitomi is a mangaka who has tutorials on manga making. He also has an insightful series in which he drafts and draws a 30-page manga in 18 days. Remember that every artist works differently and his process may be different from another’s.

Drawfee -- Drawfee is an improv drawing show of four artists: Nathan Yaffe, Jacob Andrews, Julia Lepetit, and Karina Farek. While they don’t have tutorials in a sense, their videos explain the different processes they go through as they draw. They also occasionally provide tips, tricks, and resources in their videos. They do have another channel and a Twitch channel where they host drawing classes in addition to other fun shenanigans.

EtheringtonBrothers -- Has a bunch of useful and eye-catching tutorials called “How to Think When You Draw”.

Mark Crilley -- Mark is a comic artist, specializing in manga, who has a bunch of tutorials about anatomy, perspective, comic making, and other things.

Miyuli -- Miyuli is an artist who posts tutorials on their Twitter. Their tutorials range from anatomy to clothing to other things. They even have a few books of art tips. Currently (as of the time of posting this), their 2018 version is free for download, so I highly recommend you download that. Some tips may be outdated, but they should still be helpful.

Whyt Manga (Twitter/YouTube) -- Odunze is a comic artist, specializing in manga, that has a bunch of tutorials on manga making and drawing characters of color.

~Links to Free Programs~

Blender -- A free 3D program if you’re into 3D modeling and such. I also personally haven’t used Blender (I use Maya lol), but I know it’s a respectable program.

Krita -- A free painting program if you can’t afford Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint. I personally haven’t used Krita, but I have recommended it to a few friends and they have positive reviews about it.

Paint Tool SAI -- Okay, this one isn’t free, but it’s a significantly cheaper painting program where you don’t have to pay a subscription. It’s 5,500JPY (~50 USD). I’m not sure how well it still works on modern computers (the last update was 2016), but I still use it here and there because I love the pen tool feature it has, and it still works like a charm for me.

~General Tips From Raine~

Raine admits that she’s guilty of not following her own advice, but Raine hopes that the tips that she does know will be beneficial to someone who will follow them. She’s also going to keep all her tips under the cut so as to not make this post a huge wall of text (even though it technically already is lol)

Also, if you have some resources, tutorials, tips yourself, please feel free to send them to me and maybe I’ll make a part 2 to this post!

ALWAYS LOOK FOR REFERENCE. This should really go without saying. You can’t draw from life if you refuse to observe life itself.

If you can’t find the exact thing you need, MAKE YOUR OWN REFERENCE. Time and time again, I can’t find something exactly that I need. So instead, what I do is that I take pictures of my own reference. Sometimes I even grab a friend and take pictures of them doing whatever it is I need.

Have a mirror handy when you’re drawing. Sometimes what you need is actually right there in front of you.

Having trouble drawing something? Do some studies. Take the time to understand what it is you’re drawing. I can’t remember the exact story, but I heard that the people who were working on Tarzan were having a hard time drawing his hands. So, what they did was spend a few hours looking at hands to try and understand how they work.

IT’S OKAY TO STUDY THE ART OF OTHER ARTISTS. Just as we look to the old masters as a reference, it’s definitely okay to look at modern-day artists for reference. Just don’t go copying exactly everything that they do, or worse, trace what they do. Just don’t do it... at all.

Not every line needs to be realized. The viewer of your work will automatically connect the dots.

DO NOT TRASH YOUR OLD DRAWINGS. Please, never ever do this. Your old drawings have value to them, even if they look terrible to you. Old drawings may hold ideas for things you could do for the future. They also serve as a way to see how far you’ve come as an artist.

GETTING BETTER AT DRAWING TAKES TIME AND EFFORT. You’re not gonna get better overnight. It’ll take months, or even years, to feel like you’re a competent artist, and even then, you’ll still have room for improvement.

DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOURSELF IF YOU’RE TAKING A LONG TIME TO GET BETTER. It’ll be better for your mental health in the long run.

Alternatively, DON'T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER ARTISTS EITHER, ESPECIALLY TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER. You know the struggles it took for you to get where you are, so don’t go putting down other people when you’ve been in their shoes once.

KEEP DRAWING. If you’re not making an effort to get better, then you’re not going to be better. I get that it’s hard to find the inspiration to draw (I’m very guilty of this), but just keep trying. It doesn’t have to be big or spectacular. You don’t even have to post it if you’re the type who likes to post their art stuff.

Try to find references from real-life. It’ll help you better understand form, lighting, shadows, etc., especially if you’re going for a more realistic kind of art style. Otherwise, finding reference from things like cartoons, anime, comics, etc. are just as good.

Try new things. Try new art mediums. Try a different art style. Switch up the way you do things. Maybe you’ll hate it, maybe you’ll like it. Who knows if you don’t try.

Watch time-lapses (or speed draws/speed paints) of other artists!

Pinterest and Google are your friends if you need tutorials or references or whatever.

If you’re offering commissions, DO NOT WORK UNDER YOUR LOCAL MINIMUM WAGE. You are literally devaluing the work you actually put into a piece.

I like to think I’m an aficionado of Photoshop, so feel free to ask me questions on how to achieve something! I’ve used Photoshop for about 11 years now and know my way around the program. On another note, I do recommend setting custom keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop because the default shortcuts are terrible (in my opinion), and because having custom shortcuts increases the speed of your workflow.

Because I’ve been seeing this a lot lately in Twitter, you’re never too old to start in art. Art is just one of those things that anyone can pick up at any age because the only thing you really need to get good in art is time, diligence, and patience.

Try not to post hi-res images of your artwork to prevent art stealers from selling your artwork in high resolution.

Always, always, always add your signature and watermark on your artwork. I like to add my signatures and watermarks in places that’ll be hard to erase or crop out. I’ve also seen people add their signatures and watermarks in creative ways (ex. on a character’s shirt). You need to protect your work in an era where people will just blatantly steal it and make profit off your work.

Tag List

@reality-is-often-disappointing

[ohnotoomanyfandoms]

On Cordelia’s Persian heritage and how it relates to future Herondales

“If Cordelia’s skin is so dark, how come Jace is blond?” is a question I get at least a few times per day, so I decided to intervene. Many Jordelia shippers have come to the Help Desk wondering about this. Many Fairstairs shippers feel that Jace’s blond hair is the validation they need to prove their ship is canon - although I’m not sure how Jace Herondale’s hair in 2007 relates to who Matthew Fairchild married in 1904, but I digress. 

Anyhow, I get so many lovely questions like this one every day, both on here, on Twitter, on Instagram, and even among my friends (yes, I operate Jordelia Help Desk sessions in real life too). 

Sit tight, kids, cause mama is about to give you a very sound explanation and put your minds at ease.

I understand the concern for Jordelia, I truly do. But I promise genetics and Jace’s looks are the only things we don’t need to worry about. I am going to give you two very separate answers to this question, both proving my point that Jordelia is endgame. 

1) The Scientific Answer: 

It’s been a few years since I aced AP Science, so forgive me for probably using improper genetic terms here, I might be oversimplifying things for the sake of this post. To put it bluntly, Cordelia and Alastair are mixed-race. They’re not white, they certainly wouldn’t be Black (I’ve seen some confusion about this too), they are Brown. However, they are the children of a Persian (Brown) woman and of a very white (English) man. 

What this means is that their genetic code is already 50% white. It may not show in their physical exterior, but it’s in their DNA. Their children - regardless of who Cordelia or Alastair may or may not marry - would be inheriting that genetic code that is already half Persian and half English. If Cordelia and Alastair and their Unborn Carstairs Baby Sibling stay in England and their hypothetical children and then their children keep marrying white people (for 3 more generations until The Mortal Instruments), there is actually very little part of Sona’s initial genetic code that is being transmitted by that point, and the more you go forward in time, the less likely it is that those genes would manifest outwardly in significantly dark skin. 

James and Cordelia’s babies (the found family tree tells us they have one son, you can do with this information what you will) have the potential for skin as dark as Cordelia’s, as pale as James’s, or something in between. But as we go on with the generations of marrying white people, the skin tone will become lighter and lighter. 

If you think that’s a load of scientific crap that you don’t trust coming from me, I will give you one other thing to hold on to when it comes to Herondale descendants: while Jace is in no way a person of color (he’s the whitest boy to ever walk this earth, and I mean that in the worst way possible), in later books Cassie has taken care to never describe him as pale, which could be a subtle nod to one of his ancestors being a Persian woman. In earlier TMI books - keep in mind that City of Bones was published in 2007 and written years before - Cassie had no idea who he would descend from, the thought simply had never occurred to her. Additionally, in super early concept drafts of The Last Hours now dating almost ten years ago, before the series even had a confirmed name, Cordelia was most certainly white. You can see this from the way she was described and also depicted in official artworks commissioned by Cassandra herself. 

Jace’s blond hair can come from literally any of the women who married a Herondale in the following three generations. We know from City of Ashes that Imogen’s greying hair was once blond. She passed it on to her son Stephen Herondale. Stephen married Celine Montclaire, who is also blonde: Jace’s blond hair therefore comes from his parents passing on predominantly blond genes to his DNA. That’s it. 

Now, on to my second answer.  

2) The Logic Answer 

I will prove that you’re all stressing over Jace Herondale for no reason with one very short sentence: Emma Carstairs is also white. 

In her case, we have absolutely no doubt who she’s descended from. She is a direct descendant of Sona. Whether Alastair decided to marry and have a child to carry on the Carstairs bloodline, or Unborn Baby Carstairs is a boy (which I think is the most likely option), Emma’s ancestors are undoubtedly Persian. We fully know there are no other relatives to carry on the Carstairs name at the time of The Last Hours (this issue arose in Clockwork Princess when Elias wanted to give Cortana to Will because Jem was dead and he had not married Sona yet).

So if Emma descends from one of Cordelia’s brothers, and you guys aren’t worried about HER being white and blond, I don’t see why you should worry about Jace being the same. 

3) BONUS - the @destinedtobemine​ Crack Theory answer

(Please know that we’re just being Fairondale clowns here.) Matthew is the biggest Herondale fanboy and upon marrying Lucie, he would take on the Herondale name. That’s how you get to Jace. (We’re truly joking. Jace has James’s eyes so we know he’s descended from him.)

Just kidding with that one, obviously. But you get my point: genetics = not at all against Jordelia being endgame. I hope this helped!

[levihantrash]

hello there!! <33 hope u r okayy

for the ask game: 9, 29, 41 (levi)

hello!!! ^_^

9. Do you own any AOT Merch?

I think like 7ish years ago I did bought a SNK necklace with the wings of freedom? Yes it's been a long time... makes me want to dig in my drawer to find it XD I would actually prefer commissioning artwork than the merch only because I don't think I'll know where to put figurines / keychains at home!

29. You’re trapped on a deserted island, who would you be paired with ideally?

Hange, and not only because I love them, but because I think they seem the most resourceful and are able to innovate on the spot, even if we only have scraps to build anything. Ngl I would also want Levi because he could quite literally kill an animal easily. (But I think so would Hange!) Ah... the two of them are just quite reliable.

41. What kind of movies/tv shows do you think [Levi] would enjoy?

omg this is so hard because I never imagined Levi to be someone who enjoys tv/movies! Also I don't watch tv/movies that much... I just watch one every few months and fixate on it like mad (cough SNK cough) I think (canon) Levi would appreciate something peaceful, I mean I think going through war would make you adverse to war /fighting films? Super random but I recall this slice-of-life fluff-tearjerker japanese movie called "The Travelling Cat Chronicles" that is about a cat and his owner going on a journey while meeting the different people his owner is close to (no spoilers but spoiler alert: a bittersweet ending!) I think Levi would enjoy a good cry if I'm being honest and he would like cats so that lines up.

9th anniversary ask game question list

[vampish-glamour]

tbh if i wasnt dependent on art as my main income i would have quit the art community so long ago. i feel like i still have it relatively good with most of my clients being just normal gay men and straight women (and a bunch of bi people tho that's rare most are ~pan~) because i usually draw only men lol

but occasionally there are mogai people too, adults over 25 that actually send hateful messages because i drew one (1) problematic thing (they don't know about my alt account lmao), people requesting me to draw pre transition trans people or those with exaggarated features that would be very dysphoria inducing, and for some reason i have also gotten so many commission requests to draw pregnant trans men. i have literally nothing against drawing mpreg or whatever, i'm actually really good at it because i have a client for a few years (my fave lol) who always wants me to draw vore or inflation art so i have the practice, but why do those other people want trans men pregnant? just do normal mpreg like everyone else and don't make trans people dysphoric its not that hard

I’m not even really in the art community yet... from what I’ve seen it looks like hell. I just do art privately and don’t sell it because I’m too anxious about selling shit, and tbh idk if I’d last in the community.

IMO it’s fetishization of trans men. I mean, there’s too many fics on AO3 tagged with “trans character” just for porn purposes, too many artworks out there that makes a character “trans” just to draw porn, etc etc. I think people see trans men as Men Lite, or womanized men, or femboys, “soft bois”, really anything along those lines. So if they want to do mpreg (which personally I don’t get lol, probably because as I’ve mentioned before pregnancy in general is a huge squick of mine. So I don’t really understand the infatuation with pregnancy in writing and art in general), they can just slap the “trans man” label onto it and now their fetish (is that the right word for it?) is more realistic.

My heart really does go out to trans men though, because I can imagine it would be really frustrating to see this sort of thing everywhere. As I said, it’s fetishization. And that’s upsetting when it becomes so widespread.

[cynicalities]

I'm on the fest blog but,

Consider this ask as a coupon to infodump us about something you're passionate about!

Okay first of all, you are extremely sweet to have sent this in, thank you! I’m not very good with words, so this is going to literally be an infodump, unlike the beautiful articles that you people wrote.

Lately I’ve been reading a book called The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair. It talks about the stories of different pigments, hues and colours throughout history. The writer starts the book with “I fell in love with colors in the way most people fall in love: while concentrating on something else.” and that is honestly the most relatable thing I have ever read.

So I fell into the rabbit hole that is ancient pigments and their history.

Earlier, artists were restricted to using only the colours they could make from naturally derived pigments. That meant pigments derived from the ground, or leaves and insects. That lead most prehistoric artwork to have earthy tones.

Quite later, humanity did figure out how to form pigments from minerals and gemstones, leading to the art having a wider variety of colour. Sometimes, the art itself is a hint towards what pigments were used in its making, because people tended to draw what was around them, using paint made from what was around them.

The pigments themselves vary considerably, not only in colour, but in other properties. Some are very commonplace, some are so rare that they were only used for commissions by the royalty. Some were quite literally toxic (though that was discovered long after those pigments had already poisoned a lot of people).

In earlier days, pigments were sold in special shops, including alchemists and apothecaries, and the artists made their paint themselves.

Vermillion is a colour we are all familiar with, but the vermillion pigment we use today is a synthetically made one. The original vermillion used to be made from Cinnabar. Cinnabar, or mercury sulfide, is a highly toxic natural mineral. The first documented use of vermillion colour to date is at the Neolithic village of Çatalhöyük, in modern-day Turkey. Traces of cinnabar have been identified within burials preserved at the 8,000-9,000-year-old site. Because of its cost and toxicity, though, it was almost entirely replaced by a new synthetic pigment, cadmium red, in the 20th century. According to Wikipedia, the Chinese were the first to produce a synthetic vermillion as early as the fourth century BC.

Anything I write about art or colours would be incomplete without a Van Gogh reference. This particular story is about Van Gogh's Sunflowers, which use a generous amount of chrome yellow. The artists of Van Gogh’s day had access to a lot of brilliant blues and reds, but they did not have a saturated yellow. This changed when the French chemist Nicolas Louis Vauquelin began working on crocoite and soon discovered that the orange stone contained a new element. It was a metal, which he named chrome or chromium, after another Greek word meaning “colour,” because its salts seemed to come in an extraordinary variety of hues. By 1809 pigments made from this mineral were already on artists’ palettes. However, chrome yellow tends to brown as it ages. Research carried out on Van Gogh’s paintings in Amsterdam over the past few years showed that some of the chrome yellow in the flowers’ petals has darkened, and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers are slowly wilting. This reaction also forms lead sulfide, which is very toxic. Because of that, it was replaced by another safer pigment, cadmium yellow.

Hematite is the mineral form of iron oxide and gets its colour from Fe2O3, anhydrous iron oxide, or, more simply, rust. The word hematite itself is derived from the Greek word "haimatitis" which means "blood-red." Primitive people discovered that hematite could be crushed and mixed with a liquid for use as a paint or cosmetic. Cave paintings dating back to 40,000 years ago were created with hematite pigments. Since it gets its colour from iron that has already oxidized, it cannot rust more. So it is in a way weather-proof.

Emerald is probably one of the prettiest colours to have existed. The Romans considered green to be soothing to the eyes because the colour was so commonly found it nature, so they powdered emeralds and used them in eye balms. Because it was quite cheap to manufacture, emerald green was used not only as an artist’s paint but as a household paint: it was widely used on patterned wallpaper up until the 19th century. Unfortunately emerald green is chemically not stable, and made from a very poisonous copper-acetoarsenite. Which means it contains arsenic. In 1867, farmers in Illinois and Indiana found that Paris green was effective against the Colorado potato beetle, an aggressive agricultural pest. Despite concerns regarding the safety of using arsenic compounds on food crops, Paris green became the preferred method for controlling the beetle. By the 1880s, Paris green had become the first widespread use of a chemical insecticide in the world.

Before World War II, manufacturers often used uranium oxide in colored glazes to produce vibrant red and orange ceramic wear. This meant that these pieces of dinnerware were radioactive. But since radiation and its effects weren’t seriously studied until the late 19th century, this went unnoticed. These dinnerware lines were discontinued when the US government seized control of uranium because of WWII.

Lead white is a basic lead carbonate with a crystalline molecular structure. It is thick, opaque, and heavy, and there is strong evidence that it was being manufactured in Anatolia from around 2300 B.C. It has remained in production the world over ever since, using roughly the same method described by Pliny the Elder 2,000 years ago. The resulting pigment was used in the enamel on ceramic dishes and bathroom fittings, in house paints and wallpapers, well into the 20th century. White lead had long been used as a cosmetic to make skin look smooth and pale. However because it contained lead, it was extremely poisonous and deadly, and people who used it were often afflicted by painter's colic (which we now know is lead poisoning) because of the absorption of too great a quantity into the body.

Wow this is already too long now. Infodump accomplished!

[lemonz-and-limez]

The Anniversary Pandemic Alignment

A/N: CEO of turning something in last minute 😬 I almost didn't write anything, but this popped into my head and I couldn't resist. Please enjoy my contribution to FluffCrawlspace

It was not how she pictured spending their 10th anniversary.

Stuck at home while a pandemic was quite literally trying to tear the world apart. Amy was sure Sheldon would try to make up for it once things started opening up again in California, but that didn't appear to be happening anytime soon. It was okay, she figured, spending the day at home with her husband was still a good way to celebrate

She knew Sheldon had something big planned, the way that the payments dropped so quickly on their credit cards told her as much. Still, he never disclosed what it was that he had planned, and she assumed she would never find out. Which was probably better, nothing to be sad over losing.

The days leading up to their anniversary were lighthearted. For the first time since March, Sheldon didn't appear to be stressed or overwhelmed about the current state of the world. He was just more than happy to spend time with her. He even accompanied her to restock on groceries, even though she knew he hated going anywhere. It had been an excursion, yes, but the gesture meant more than his actual attitude towards being out.

On the morning of the 24th, he wasn't in bed when she woke up. Odd, but not uncommon. He often got out of bed before her anyway. She just expected him to be there considering what day it was.

Sheldon didn't leave her wondering for long; he appeared in the doorway, holding a cup of coffee moments after turned off her alarm. "I made us breakfast," he explained as he handed her the mug. "But anniversary or not, we're still not eating in bed." He winked at her before returning to the living room.

Amy chuckled; some things would never change. She took a sip of her coffee, which Sheldon had made perfectly, and set it down on the nightstand. Reaching for her glasses, she smiled fondly at the functional MRI he'd given her for her birthday. It may have seemed like a dumb gift to other people, but to her, it meant a lot of things. The biggest way was that it showed her, with biology, that he loved her. And nobody could take that away from her.

Walking into the main room of their apartment was like any other day. The breakfast was not extravagant, just like she expected. Supplies were still limited, so he had to do his best with what they had. Just enough for the two of them. He'd opted to make the waffle batter from scratch rather than the box mix like they usually did. Instead of cooking extra links of sausage, he only made enough for both of them to have two.

Like usual, they ate their breakfast, enjoying each other's companionship. Discussing how difficult it was to work at home, bantering over a TV show they mutually enjoyed, even playing a few rounds of Counterfactuals.

It was enough to prove that she didn't need some grand gesture or big present to celebrate their 10 years together. All she wanted was to bring their relationship back to the basics and enjoy his company. After all, they wouldn't have made it this far without the strong foundation of friendship they had built.

Sheldon insisted on doing presents next. That was one thing they had agreed upon before the quarantine that was still manageable. But Sheldon seemed giddy as they sat down on the couch. Almost too giddy.

"Why don't I go first," he offered, his voice giving away his palpable excitement.

Amy nodded in agreement. "Alright."

He reached down and grabbed a box from the little shelf of their coffee table. Amy wondered how he managed to hide it in plain sight. Upon closer inspection of the item, however, it became obvious. There was superhero stuff lying all over her apartment, what was one more tin can. A Wonder Woman tin can to be precise.

She looked at him quizzically. "A superhero gift?" She asked, her fingers running over the textured lid.

"The real present is inside, but the traditional symbol for a 10th anniversary is tin or aluminum. It seemed fitting to wrap your gift in it." He told her with a shrug.

'Of course!' she thought. Sheldon was not one to forgo tradition after all, and scotch tape did still give him the heebie-jeebies. Amy smiled down at the lifeless face of Wonder Woman beaming up at her. There is no way Sheldon is getting this box back, it was hers now.

She could feel his eyes bearing down on her as she popped the lid off. What could he possibly have gotten her that made him this excited? He hated gift-giving after all.

She had no idea what she was expecting, but it certainly was not what she lifted up and out of the box. There were words on the cover and illustrations that she didn't recognize, but it looked and felt familiar somehow. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, she smiled at him and asked: "What is this?"

His response came like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's our comic book."

"Our?" she asked.

"Read the title," he told her.

Amy inspected the comic closer this time. Her heart jumped into her throat when she read the words printed across the cover.

The Adventures of Sheldon and Amy

And there they were, right on the front, drawn in comic book style.

She was speechless. "Did you- how- how did you do this?" Amy stuttered, gently flipping through the pages now. Everything was inside. From their first meeting at the coffee shop to their unfortunate breakup to their wedding officiated by Mark Hamill.

It was so unequivocally perfect.

"I commissioned Stuart for the artwork," He explained. "I approached him after we got back from Sweden about it. He immediately agreed when he saw how much I was willing to pay him." Sheldon paused for a moment. "Anyway, I wrote it out for him, and he illustrated it. I am quite pleased with the way it came out."

Amy put a hand over her own heart. Did he have any idea how much this meant to her? It captured them perfectly. His love of comic books and her love of literature and storytelling.

Tears brimmed in her eyes now. "Sheldon, I love it, thank you," she whispered, mirroring the words she spoke when he'd given her the MRI.

He scooted close to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You're welcome," he said, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'm glad you love it."

"Oh, Sheldon, this is the most beautiful gift you've ever given me!" She exclaimed.

"Pretty sure you said the same thing Valentine's Day 2013 when I gave you my emergency contact information," he smirked before continuing. "That account is in there by the way," he told her, gesturing to the comic book sitting in her lap.

Her face hurt from smiling so much, but she didn't care. She really did hit the jackpot on the husband lottery.

"I mean it, Sheldon. You and Stuart put so much effort into this, and I really appreciate it… It's beautiful." She didn't need to say anything else, and she didn't want to. Turning her head, she pulled his down for a kiss. It was perhaps the purest way for them to express their feelings towards one another, and that was all that mattered.

10 years of ups and downs. Highs and lows. In Sheldon's words: "the best love story within their social circle." And now it was written down, something for them to show their future children. Amy's heart bled with love for him.

She settled into the crook of his arm when he sat in the corner of the couch. Just like they had all those years ago before they were even dating. She rested her head against his chest as they flipped through their comic book. His fingers twisted in her short hair, a new habit he appeared to have grown quite fond of.

She looked at him with wonder as he told her tidbits about the comic's creation and the process of making it with Stuart. Was the comic book one of the best gifts he's ever gotten her? Yes. But it wasn't her greatest gift. No, that title belonged to him. He was her greatest gift. He had been for 10 years.

So, it was not how she pictured spending their 10th anniversary. Cuddling with her husband on their couch, recounting all the fond memories they have made.

No, this was the perfect way to celebrate.

Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think :)

[wcamino-confessions]

Alright so, I saw all the replies and will be replying to them accordingly. Also my English is awful so there may be a few spelling mistakes, Dutch is my first lanauge. This is part two of my Charli is Stella post + a reply to Castro 🤡

Charli.

Your "old account" seems really specious. I did go over and check it out, according to the Amino date you joined roughly a year and a half ago. You are fourteem according to your bio and you were underage when you first made that account being 12 at the time. Simple maths. Your bio does however say 13-16 which was a diddly darn lie.

Looking through the account I have noticed you have many name changes. On your wall there is a commission link for someone named Ocean, your account is linked to this Ocean persona so I know for a fact it's correct. Your account also has the name, "Leila" which is not your name.

On to the next thing. Your new DeviantArt account join date. Your account is a month old. I have seen your Instagram and it looks pretty new as well. Care to explain that part if or when you respond. Tokyo informed me they messaged you about the Loonpaw chatacter that could have been possibly stolen. The messages were sent on February 7th, Stella was banned before then. Your accounts are about a month old. If you ask me that is very well, sketchy. Stella was selling the Loonpaw design before Feb 7th so therefore you had contact with Stella if you purchased the character. I would love to see those messages of you buying character, if you're not Stella you would have those messages correct? correct. Giving the excuse of deleting dms makes you seem more suspicious 🤗

I have a few screenshots provided from Tokyo Tea proving this conversation due accure + the dates of the interaction. From all the messages between you both I have seen, Tokyo assumed the character was stolen without having any proof due to the fact Ally is an oc/design thieving rat.

Casto -

I'll be responding in order of what you said to simplify my points. First off, who the fuck doesn't have Tumblr? It's 2020, you're late on trends.

1. Hallie/Ally whatever you want to call them, was banned for underage on Amino proving so with the screenshot above. But I wonder why both of her Toyhouse accounts were deleted and banned? Ally later blamed me for having $200+ in characters deleted because when a Toyhouse account is banned, the user can no longer log in to grab the artwork belonging to the characters. When a Toyhouse account is frozen, the user can still log in to grab the artwork. I asked Toyhouse mods about the difference between banning and freezing of accounts. How the hell are you gonna tell me, these two characters are not the same? I literally went to an art app and color compared. The colors are VERY VERY SIMILAR. This is no coincidence here. Analyzing the design it's obvious Ally's verison is the off brand.

How the hell are you gonna sit here and tell me I'm wrong and that Ally's toyhouse was frozen due to "uncredited images" when I have fucking help desk tickets where I reported Ally??

Here's an Imgur link to the entire conversation between Eren and I PROVING that Eren was not comfortable with the design being so similar.

2. No, I was not kicked from Jake's roleplay. I informed the groupchat that I would be gone for a small hiatus, the message was sent so everyone could see it. I had a small problem at home including my abusive and transphobic aunt with her trying to kill my cat and axoltol, as long with threatening to kill me. I was gone less than a week between on a short hiatus when I was removed for missing the activity check but I was reinvited. Screenshots of messages between a member of the roleplay between- name and profile picture is blocked out of respect since this person is very cool. I later left on my own will due to my aunt still being an abusive pos and I became really inactive in all my roleplays, not just this one. No, there was never a rule of "if you leave, I steal the character back uwu." Someone mentioned that a T.O.S is between a company and needs to be agreed on by the other person with a signed document. I have a few dms with Rat but I left the conversation, I would go back to the chat but Rat has disabled chat invites. Rat never did once mention this rule.

3. Ally/Hallie whatever the fuck her name is did steal a design and got all pissy when the oc owner and creditor found out pulling the victim card saying she spent alot of money on the design.

And without afuther adue, I am done. Please enjoy these photos of my axoltol, Mooshu and feline friend, Aztec.

*about my aunt threatening to kill my animals- I am turning 18 in June and have been looking for a place to rent but currently I am living with my boyfriend. my animals have been moved to his house.

[awkward-octopus-art]

I’ll never write this perfectly. But the concept of perfection is the enemy, so by letting it go, I allow myself the opportunity to actually do things with my life (I also allow myself to never shut up and to continue talking about it-yay😂)

Big cheesy waffle warning: I will be info dumping my thoughts surrounding the doodle above. Many bad metaphors to avoid blunt vulnerability ahead.

A few years ago, my relationship with art changed drastically. It’s hard to describe, but as I worked it seemed like something in my brain was being mended. Indulging different parts of my creativity was healing. It didn’t solve my problems but this new little excitement was born. There was no need for a fire to be reignited because the embers were dazzling and that was enough to ground me in some sort of sanity.

But the thing that didn’t change were the unhealthy coping mechanisms🙃 (Although, I am grateful that they became more apparent because then I could stop being in denial about them.) As it turns out, Art was just another way to ride the highs and lows of my self-esteem👍my sense of self obsessively clung to my artwork and the reaction I got from it. When this aspect of life was amplified, the consequences seemed really great but then the highs just weren’t worth the lows anymore. It took me a bit to realize that the highs and lows were related and that this wasn’t exactly new.

Looking back I can see that Art was the foundation I built a lot of my identity and self worth from. Whenever my identity of being an artist was compromised, I went into panic mode as if my entire existence was collapsing. In order to combat this and start building again, I was competing with the idea that every single thing I made had to entirely represent me. The hypothetical scenario was that if one person only saw one piece of artwork from me, it had to be the best thing I’ve made because their entire perception of my existence depended on the one thing they saw. This limiting mindset is so exhausting and extremely counter-productive because it just causes more stress and unneeded crises. 10/10 do not recommend, especially since it prevents you from even starting projects. (Maybe God knew what He was doing, because if I was ever not haunted by the idea of perfection, I would probably be too powerful.)

Even though I am grateful for how far I've come with skill and the ability to make the things I've always wanted to make, I do miss how I used to draw and have fun doing it when I was a lot younger. I would just power-through paper like the embodiment of “non-stop” from hamilton (drawing pixar characters is the same as writing the majority of the federalist papers if you didn’t know.) I never spent more than one sitting on a drawing and I didn’t agonize over every little detail. (no thoughts, head empty, every-single-piece-of-paper-in-sight? full.) drawing was like an instinct, and I had just so much fun? (I still do have fun making things, there’s just more angst now lol) it was beautifully simple really, and totally, innocently selfish. Selfish in the way that breathing is. Even though it’s the thing that allows you to connect to the world and other people benefit from you breathing, you are your lungs’ number one priority.

And Art is still that way for me-I am my number one priority. Yes, I love communities, and making things for others (and commissions are VERY cool 😉) but if I didn’t create, regardless of the benefits the world gives me, I just couldn’t be a human being. I don’t know if any of this makes sense, but basically, Art is ultimate me time 😂

So the anxiety sucks, and I wondered if over-compensating in the opposite direction would help. I did not dwell on that idea for very long because severing the ties between Art and my entire identity didn’t make much sense? Especially when I JUST compared it to breathing 😂 But Art isn’t the bad guy, it’s the reaction to it  that needs to change.

So this is the answer I came up with for now: I want to speak through my artwork, not let my art speak for me. My art doesn’t “make up” for my existence and imperfections. I don’t deserve to let myself hide behind a literal crafted distraction. I’m throwing away this shield that enables the lie that I am disappointing and boring (It really had the audacity, I know 😤)

Anyways, the more I think about it, the more it seems painfully obvious, bUt iTs EaSiEr sAiD tHaN dOnE. That’s why I’m posting this here. It’s a reminder to focus on what I'm trying to say-not what I'm trying to hide. If I am not actively steering my brain into this mindset, I will I fall into the downward spirals that I've maintained over the years. So this drawing represents all that and more. Hopefully posting this will help when my brain starts to lie again. This is a struggle I am enthusiastic to deal with, because I refuse to hide behind something I should and do thoroughly enjoy.

My brain does not plan to ever stop overthinking, so I might as well enjoy writing and drawing about it again and again (and that’s a threat lol)

I’ve written this thing way too many times, I hope it is decipherable and relatable in some way. I think being a bit vulnerable is a good thing, and I hope future me is severely embarrassed that I posted this. If you took the time to read all this, or any of this, I really appreciate it.

[ourimpavidheroine]

Yeah, so I read the comic. Spoilers below, consider yourself warned.

I think the artwork is great, and thank fuck they got a decent colorist. The first series was hideously colored with some sort of an overall mustard tone, I still can’t get over it. In this one the drawings are crisp and animated, and the color is rich and has more than three tones to it. Michelle Wong has a knack for nailing facial expressions which works so well in this kind of story. Huge thumbs up from me.

(Although I still hate that Mako went back to his teenage hair. I do not at all get this. AT ALL. Why the hell would he want to do that? This says a LOT to me about how Bryke sees the obviously temporary maturity they gave him in Book 4 since I sincerely doubt the return to his teenage hair was a choice made by either of the comic artists.)

The writing, though? A huge thumbs down from me.

The first Korra comic had Asami In Danger ™ as a means of moving the plot forward and now the second one has it as well. Sure, we’ve got Mako and Bolin thrown into the mix to up the stakes a little. But at its heart? That’s just lazy writing. And it’s very, very male writing as well. I loathe the damsel in distress trope precisely because 99.9% of the time isn’t written well. (This is definitely not one of the .01% of the times it is right.) Ho-hum, Asami has been brainwashed to hate Korra. I mean...there’s no real drama there. It’s not really her! The drama the two of them were having over even having Kuvira along was more interesting than that. There are no stakes with the brainwashing. We know that it’s going to get fixed; the Krew (and Wu) won’t stay brainwashed forever. 

Listen, Korra is the fucking Avatar. She is the most powerful person in that Universe, and her job is to bring stability and balance. Not to chase around her girlfriend who keeps getting kidnapped. TWICE.

At least we didn’t have to deal with straight white cis dudes writing about systemic homophobia in this one. (Or at least not so far. They aren’t done yet.)

Wu singing along to peeing actually made me laugh. That is very teenage Wu. (Also? His Jungle Outfit was EVERYTHING.) I did like the swamp vision of Hou-Ting and it actually showed that despite the accusation she was making that he was giving up the crown because he didn’t care/was a coward that it wasn’t the case. Which obviously is more in line with how I see the character. Although Toph calling him Spindleshanks pisses me off because now I can never have Lin do it in my fanfic. DAMMIT. Also? Pabu on his shoulder was frankly adorable.

Toph was great, as she usually is. Although you know what I loved the most about her in this volume? The way she’s cradling an injured Opal at the end. That’s the first gentle thing I think we’ve EVER seen Toph do, on the show or otherwise. I thought it was beautiful. 

I do like that Korra is still trying to work forward in how to be the Avatar, even when the things she does as an Avatar aren’t always approved of my her nearest and dearest. That’s one thing I always did think Bryke got right for her; it’s been a struggle for her to find the balance between having her own life and being the Avatar and I personally think it’s one she will always have, even if age and experience ease it for her as she gets older. I think all Avatars do.

I did like that even when brainwashed Mako took charge. That’s just what he does; even being brainwashed doesn’t change it.

Oh lord, and I guess I have to address Kuvira. So look. Here’s the thing. Bryke clearly wants to redeem her. Which...I know there are a lot of Kuvirastans out there that are happy about it. That’s not a slam on my part; I am not interested in it, but that’s why I write my fanfic the way I do. Fans like what they like, and redeeming her is a big one for a lot of people. I’ve got no problem with redemption stories, if they are done well. (Zuko’s redemption arc remains one of the best I have ever seen.)

But in order to redeem Kuvira they have to retcon her. They have quite literally no other choice in order to redeem her. And I loathe that regardless of what story it is. I mean, just walking her back by saying that Guan was doing experiments without her approval? Come on. 

The thing is this: canonically speaking, Kuvira commissioned a weapon of mass destruction that she had every intention of using, and which she did use. She killed we don’t know how many people (I mean, the idea that a city as big as that one had a 100% clearance rate is just silly, there were plenty of people who didn’t evacuate for various reasons, never mind the sailors on that ship she took out), left who knows how many homeless in Republic City, caused who knows how much yuan worth of damage. She took out half a fucking foreign city, which she attacked without any provocation. You cannot erase that by saying that she didn’t approve human experimentation and had a rough childhood. You just can’t.

That’s not even getting into her attacking Zaofu as well as conscripting soldiers from all over the Earth Kingdom and coercing provincial governors into allowing her to take control. I mean, she was a security guard who became a fascist dictator in the space of three years. You cannot forget that, no matter how hard you retcon her. If you do forget it it’s because you wanted her to have never done those things in the first place, you know? But she did do them. It’s canon.

Bryke’s whole stated approach - and it is stated, Mike DiMartino has done interviews - of Kuvira just wants to do good but can’t understand why Asami won’t forgive her for killing her father and never mind all of those other people is just painful to me.

Now look. The idea that Korra recognizes that as the Avatar she has to put aside her personal feelings and deal with Kuvira as a means to an end for a political situation she cannot handle on her own is not one I have a problem with. AT ALL. And having her and Asami clash over that? GOOD STUFF. In fact, I hope like hell some of the better fanfic writers out there are jumping on that, because that’s something that I firmly believe they’d have to deal with as long as they have a relationship with each other. Asami isn’t dating the Avatar, after all; she’s dating Korra. But Korra IS the Avatar, and that’s something the two of them will have to come to terms with, which they clearly have not. So I am onboard with this, absolutely. Yes!

But Korra does not have to retcon Kuvira. She does not have to understand nor forgive her. She does not need to be her BFF. As the Avatar, what she should be doing is using Kuvira to help bring about the balance that is her entire job and then putting her back where she found her, because the Avatar’s job is not to dispense justice or override what has been decided in a court of law. If Kuvira is going to be pardoned from her jail sentence forever then that’s for Zhu Li to decide as the new president of Republic City, not Korra.

(I have a sinking suspicion Bryke is going to have Zhu Li - who was the only person actually working directly under Kuvira to have the courage to not only defy her but to call her out on being the monster she was and get sentenced to death for it - pardon her. UGH. LAZY WRITING.)

I am sorry that Kuvira’s parents were shitheads. My own mother punched me in the face and broke both my nose and glasses when I was cast as Mercutio in my high school rendition of Romeo and Juliet because...well, I guess because she didn’t like that I would be playing a guy and not Juliet? (I dunno, it was 35 years ago and I’m still not sure but I’ve got a crooked nose to remember it by.) She was not exactly winning any prizes in the mothering department, believe me. Nevertheless I am still responsible for the decisions I have made as an adult. Having a shitty childhood was not my fault, but it certainly is my problem if I hurt others because of it. Kuvira is no different. I have a nagging suspicion that we are being set up to give Kuvira a get out of jail free card for the whole FASCIST MURDERING DICTATOR thing because her parents sucked. And frankly, I think that’s a terrible message for Bryke to be giving to people reading this comic and to be frank I am just bewildered as well as angered by it. I mean...they aren’t, right? They are setting up the whole bad childhood thing in order to prove that no matter how rotten things were for you you are never justified in cruelty (or you know, dictatorships) towards others? Right? Please?

Not to mention I am all for forgiveness but Kuvira didn’t pull a few pranks as a teen. She attacked foreign countries without provocation, commissioned and used a weapon of mass destruction, conscripted armies, set up camps for dissenters, and so on. If you want to redeem her, then have her recognize that she did wrong and willingly GO TO PRISON BECAUSE OF IT. The homeless, grieving and devastated people she left behind deserve that, they really do.

I did like that Su came when Kuvira asked. Her feelings about Kuvira are clearly complicated ones - to say the very least - but she was able to put them aside when her help was needed. That’s the Su Beifong I believe in and write about. She brought her three warrior children along as well. (Although what Opal was doing in Zaofu instead of RC I don’t know, but hey, what’s a plot?)

But if she goes on to forgive Kuvira for straight up attempting to murder her son then I call bullshit all the fuck over that. I’m a mother. NOPE. There are limits. I am telling you, anybody who tries to retcon that doesn’t have children themselves. The end.

My baby Baatar is coming back. Ya’ll know how I feel about him. I have no faith that Bryke will do him right, especially as Bryan once said that he was the character he hated the most. I cringe to think of what they are going to do to him. Blame him for all of Kuvira’s mistakes in order to continue her retcon? Retcon him into being the one actually responsible for her leaving and doing the things she did, making him the puppet master behind the scenes? Would not surprise me at all if it happened. Not at all.