#idk about you but this is one of the best art i have done so far (especially under a few minutes)

[theriverbeyond]

#SPOILERS

ok so I watched arcane s2 act 1 and my immediate reaction is mostly mixed -- I think there was gorgeous art and strong individual emotional beats but I think it all got watered down by everything else -- I did LIKE it, I guess (?) and am reserving full judgement for the whole season until the next 2 acts release, but yeah.

warning for SPOILERS and also critiques below:

the deluge of new characters I have no reason to care about, and whom i am given no specific reason to care about (besides the itty bitty one, and that's just bc they are a child) does not hit. I dojt get it. why are these people special or chosen for the strike squad. they're just randos, and fangirls and one of them is a random dude you all seem to have grabbed off the street (?) also who tf is amara. was she even in season 1 at all?

the integrated music videos felt significantly LESS integrated this season than the last. last season it felt like the "music video" segments were just like.... really well done and stylized parts of the show, here they feel more like clipshows or standalone music videos during which the actual show takes a pause. some of them do advance the plot and all are gorgeously done but like, I dunno. feels a bit much, honestly, especially in a show that NEEDS to be incredibly economical with its time

relating to that, it feels as if nothing really happened at all besides setup, and I guess that was perhaps narratively necessary, but using THREE episodes of a 9 episode season to set up the plot feels..... REALLY wasteful, especially when i feel like those 3 episodes didnt have a tight plot OR tight character focus. everything feels very loose. the timeskip between s1 and s2 is like.... idk! why did we skip that. why didnt we just skip farther. how is Vi suddenly beloved by topside those bitches hate her!!! anyway. there is a lot happening and a lot being set up and, as i said before, a LOT of new characters being introduced and I'm not very emotionally invested in most of them. The differences between act 1 s1 and act 1 s2 are feeling incredibly stark right now.

To me, Arcane has always been a character driven work, so I can forgive it of plot issues if the emotional focus and character arcs are strong. I.... didn't feel that here! and even the big character moments didn't quite hit. for me. like ok CaitVi kissed. but like. they've known each other for a week? Why are they acting married? The most resonant and emotionally intense part of the CaitVi arc in act 1 was when Caitlyn HIT HER with HER GUN, in a way that felt deeply reminiscent of how encorcers probably hit Vi when she was in prison. And that was like at the very end. sorry but the kiss just did not hit for me. sorry. so sorry. you can kill me with Hammers if yuo want to

A lot of characters seem to be making plot centric decisions that simply do not feel within their character. Vi becoming an enforcer -- I literally do not care about the game, it is emotionally inconceivable for show!Vi to do be super down with gassing the undercity. Jinx and Sevika suddenly being buddy buddy is weird, even thought i LIKE it, it just feels.... fast. Jinx's arc, emotionally, feels the best and most consistant, and I feel like there's so much setup happening it isn't given the space it needs to breathe. Caitlyn becoming a facist is like.... fine, I guess. I really like the emotional conflict this inserts to the story but again it just feels inconsistant with her lifelong characterization as someone who is out of place on the force. also didn't she actually get fired lol. why is there a Kiramann supercomputer.

a lot of stuff just feels emotionally really off. Cait going wild with anger in her grief is fine, but then it feels.... bad that the redhead bitch who's CHILD Jace KILLED last season is a villian for wanting revenge also? maybe this is just an inherent weakness of the genre. or the source material. or whatever. i mean season 1 was pretty enforcer-critical at least in the first 2 acts. sorry for wanting a story made by people with money to be consistant in its negative framing of cops :/

l am deeply confused about the Noxian angle here -- I think it serves a meta narrative function of giving Topside and Bottom (aka, all the characters we care about, who hate each other rn) a common enemy to rally against, but there is just. a lot going on, honestly. too much? only time will tell. this all makes me deeply concerned/curious about the governmental system of Piltover though. why is Caitlyn like the town King now. why are they not electing new councilors.

don't even get me started on viktor being undercity jesus

Anyway. things I liked: the opening, especially its contrast to season 1. Jinx & Vi's fistfight was incredible I just wish Vi felt more emotionally consistant BEFORE it happened. I really LIKE jinx being given essentially a second chance in the form of saving and caring for a child in a situation that puts HER in a reversed position from her youth. like OK it definitely feels way out of left field but like, that's fine I guess. I like what they're doing with the kid. the art is gorgeous as always. I love how the enforcer squad is represented like hunting hounds, coming out of the gas. unfortunately i think their gas masks are wildly erotic. anyway. what was i saying?

that's my immediate thoughts. I'm definitely open for comments/explaining, but i really don't like the "it makes sense if you play the game/pay attention to LoL meta" kind of explanations I see thrown around -- it's a narrative weakness to be relying on viewers to know LoL lore, especially on the heels of season 1, which didn't need viewers to know anything.

[azaracyy]

one of my finished ych commissions. other finished artwork can be found here. the tailmon is based on the twitter meme / trend of tailmon with pikachu build

[eyndr-stories]

Everyone needs to see him. I’ve sent him to all my friends. I sent him to my brother. I sent him to my aunt. I’ll show him to my therapist. Now he is here,

catboy mobster

[st4rstudent]

I think every social media website should have an effective tagging system, just my thoughts

[gothamcityneedsme]

something that's getting me. people, looking at work others produce (regardless of if that work is provided for free or for some compensation, ie not you directly paying for it but the creator receiving ad revenue and such). is just being very... heartless about it? not thinking about the process, demanding constant improvement and see it as a failure when there isn't improvement, someone cannot call themselves and artist if they do not proceed, they are failed if they do not produce in a way that is more consumable or deemed more respectable.

[luhman16]

ancient artifact

[slice-of-magenta]

Reminder that this still exists

Teen Wolf

Scott and his questionable love interests. Im pretty sure this happened

[muirneach]

mom told me just now that i should maybe pursue art 😑 girl dont remind me that its secretly my dream to live that hashtag aesthetic artist who sells prints and can live off that full time and own a house like…. sigh idk i dont want to be defeatist like ill never know unless i try and i do plan on trying and maintaining a small art career. hashtag side hustle small business. but like unless i somehow get a gazillion sales we have to be realistic and understand its not that feasible. doesnt mean i dont want it tho….

[todayisafridaynight]

Oh yeah also to be exact for stream purposes, average playtime from all 60 reviews is 10-12 hours, but total range is 8-15, double for a 100% playthrough. You do have to progress in the side content to progress in the main story (complete x missions/get x points/get to x rank type of deal), and you'll probably want to progress in the side content to level up since it's money-based and that's the fastest way to make money. I'm pretty sure the variance comes from getting sucked into the side content (probably not likely for your playstyle) or having trouble with the bosses at a lower level (they're apparently pretty hard this time).

It also looks like the Infinite Wealth demo is split into two (an adventure mode with the extra cutscenes and another one that's basically the demo we've seen around). Adventure mode Allegedly doesn't have proper saves at the time of writing (this was an annoyance for one reviewer so I assume it's long enough to warrant that), so it's worth taking that into account too. Anyway that's about it lol don't quote me on any of this because my brain just shut off after a certain point <3

OK BET TYSM CHAMP YOURE A LIFESAVER soooooo doing Quick Maths in my brain i might divide the stream up in two if i start playing at 4:30PM and i plan to marathon it.

ill take a break 3:45 - 5:45 saturday morning since that's a part of my regular routine and ill feel weird if i dip on it. I Dont Need Sleep but god forbid i skip out on all That apparently. plus it's a good break period to get exercise in and move around LMAO

going from 4:30PM -> 3:45AM's like.....10~11 hours... so that's about halfway through the game if i get entranced by side content... if we do somehow finish it all in one shot then we can just do the IW stuff after my routine.. epic.. it prob wont be any longer than an hour if that so stream- AUSPICIOUSLY THINKING- should wrap up around 7~9AM saturday.

[shivasdarknight]

i feel like we also got to address character C and character D and how person C and person D (...and E and F) interact with them because there's still a level of harm that media can inflict, and that depends on the intentions of the author and the type of fan who engages with them.

character C is a character is an offensive caricature part of an otherwise standard show. they are played off as normal through the show, but everything about them is harmful in terms of how the audience engages with them and how they continue to portray (blank) group in offensive lights. the author may not realize that character C is offensive, but to the audience - especially the group that they reflect - it's glaringly obvious. person C recognizes the harm that this character can cause but they also find themselves liking this character in spite of it. person C's engagement with character C is still positive, but due to understanding the problems with character C's portrayal, most of their engagement with the character comes in as mitigation (rewrites, redesigns, etc.), while also acknowledging vocally what is wrong and never condoning it.

person D also likes this character, however they do not recognize what is wrong and continue to play into how the piece of media portrays character C all the way down into intentionally/unintentionally adding in more offensive material because "it fits." person D can go one of a few ways: denying that the text is offensive and continuing to act blindly; acknowledging that it's bad and learning from it to follow person C; or doubling down on their beliefs and even sometimes finding tokens of the targeted group that agree with them to use them to justify their uncritical love of character C. a person D who takes the last route often doubles down on their interpretation and finds themselves at odds with a person C for their denial of harm. they also use the argument that because it's fiction, that they should be allowed to enjoy it when a person C is still enjoying it while acknowledging the arm it can cause and trying to work around it.

you can also extrapolate this into a person E, who likes character C because of the harm they cause. they see character C as emblematic of (blank) group and are often attracted into fandom spaces by a person D who creates enough of a fuss from being asked to be careful, critical, and respectful when engaging with the sensitive topic of character C's design and existence. a person E often first appears as a defender of a person D who comes into conflict with a person C to portray person C as someone who is trying to take away their right to like fiction, while reinforcing the uncritical love of character C, who perpetuates the harmful portrayal of (blank) group. This causes person D to double down, and slowly be dragged into spaces that person E occupies, where they curate harmful ideas through this media (see: how antiblackness manifests in many fandom spaces and how white supremacists and nazi-types take uncritical (mostly white) fans and turn them against black fans in these kinds of conversations).

character D, on the other hand, was intentionally made to be offensive or represent an offensive idea (see: Rita Skeeter being an early reflection of Rowling's transphobia; the entire dichotomy of AoT, Eren's ideology towards the end, and how titans are designed + later revelations about them) and it's difficult to remove them from the views of the author (Hajime Isayama is a staunch Japanese imperialist, and has gone on record to mock and discredit the existence of comfort women during Japan's occupation of Korea; his characters are named and modeled after notable Japanese imperialists). no matter which way you look at them, they are offensive and harmful, and often times they exist to expose uncritical audiences to their rhetorics (often eugenics, transphobia and general queerphobia, the great replacement theory, antisemitism, antiblackness, and pro-surveillance state sentiments (the last two especially in copaganda media). things like misogyny definitely come up a lot, but they're often red flags for much deeper issues that the author fully endorses; if misogyny is the focus here, it's a lot deeper than just shallow sexism and goes into femicide, the glorification and sexualization of sexual assault, and the reinforcement of "traditional" values. antiblackness functions similarly in that it permeates everything shallowly, but the levels of it can be a red flag for deeper issues - like dehumanization, justification for violent hate crimes, etc. - but im also not qualified to get into this too deeply because thats not my lived experience). they can look kind of like character C, but the important difference is that the author did this intentionally. a place of ignorance can be extremely offensive, but the intentionality of it tries to sneak by audiences and trick them into agreeing with them.

person C may like the character in theory, but it's impossible to deny the reason why the character exists as such. like with character C, person C may try to mitigate the damage, but this more comes in the form of talking about how character D is handled in the source material. there isn't a lot that can be done by these fans because again: the character is meant to harm. they may play into a bit of uncritical fandom, but for the most part just talk about them. person D does not recognize the harm that is does and acts similarly with character D as they do with character C. the problem is, character D is meant to cause harm where character C likely wasn't. so when a person C tells a person D that character D is extremely harmful and you follow those three ways a person D could go, you now have someone who is parroting talking points that may even be antithetical to their own views. they're usually the targets of authors who write character Ds so that their rhetorics get broadcasted to audiences that wouldn't knowingly engage with them.

to bring back person E, this is exactly the kind of person and character they're looking for. people who really like character D are usually like person E - or, they use character D as a way to publicly air out their -isms with the plausible deniability of fiction. entirely depends on the angle of character D. if they're an eren, then person E is one of their biggest fans; if they're a rita skeeter, then person E is using character D to air out their grievances about (blank) group through them and they loathe character D.

we can also introduce person F here. they more align with person C, but the crucial difference is that they will not engage with character D on the grounds of the harm. they can acknowledge the writing all they like, but they will never like, engage with fanworks, or anything unless it's criticism of the character and the author. if anything, they think person C doesn't go far enough in condemning the harmful nature of character D by the fact they still engage with fanworks involving character D and the media they come from as person F views positive engagement (even when it's just a tiny bit, like in person C's case) as tacit endorsement. they are explicitly against people like person E, and often try to work to educate people like person D into moving away from that and more towards person C (ideally further), but often are at odds with person D for the reason that they will double down on fiction and fall in line with person E who reinforces their "right" to consume all fiction. Because the important thing to remember here is that character D was made intentionally to broadcast the author's shitty viewpoints. This means the character is meant to cause harm, as media perceptions do skew worldviews, and it's more complicated than just how people engage with a character in fandom spaces. To reconcile with a character meant to cause harm is a difficult thing, and naturally there are people who choose to divest entirely because of the tangible harm it can cause (again: see copaganda and the perceived rate of solving crime (i think it's around ~75-80%) versus the actual statistics (~30% if you're lucky and more often ~16%); see also the military entertainment industry)

And yeah! It's all extremely complicated because people, their beliefs, media, and media literacy are all really complicated! It's way more than just if a bad character is portrayed as bad and everyone reacts to them as bad - sometimes that bad character is the protagonist and the author wants us to view them as a hero and not a genocidal freak like Eren Yaeger is. Because no, that is not how you portray a "fall from grace", given how many people associate him with sigma male goals and im not joking nor using that term out of nowhere - i recommend this video on the subject, but here's the specific part about eren and the idolization of him and a very fun roast since this is about role models for boys, unhealthy power fantasies, and how anime ties in with all of this. FD's got two other videos on this ("two" and "other" are two different links) on his side channel. Eren's just one of the worst case examples of this since his base full of uncritical enjoyers who don't realize that they're in community with literal fascists who idolize Eren's goals. there are other extreme examples that at least thankfully arent as common as the usual stuff (like Wyll's treatment by Baldur's Gate 3 fans and specifically Astarion fans - links to their wiki pages for people unfamiliar with the characters but tl;dr: wyll's a black man, a sweetheart, and literally has the folk hero background; astarion is a white man who tries to kill you upon first meeting, dislikes it when the player helps people, and is frequently manipulating those around him. it's more complicated than that obviously - especially astarion's motivations - but it still stands that people take wyll's traits and act as if astarion is like that, villainize wyll, and the cherry on top is that wyll has 8 hours of content while astarion has the most content out of all of the companions and the devs won't add more for wyll while astarion (and the others) continues to get more. as an aside, lae'zel - a mean woman who isn't conventionally attractive by virtue of being a fantasy alien - was made to be Less Mean because people didnt like her...not being nice, and fans frequently boast about killing her).

Intentionality is really crucial here, and the way people behave with characters says a lot. You're allowed to engage with not-so-great characters, but you also have to keep in mind other factors such as your own biases and the author's biases - whether they got in intentionally or not. to summarize really quickly:

character C comes about from an author's own ignorance to their own biases about a marginalized group. they are harmful, especially in the fact that the text treats this as normal, but their treatment is like any other character (but depending on the marginalization, they may not receive as much screentime as their less-marginalized counterparts, or are more likely to be antagonistic). authors may or may not be receptive to criticism - those that are will adjust character C in future media or even retcon and republish old media, while those that arent may just ignore criticism or double down and attract people who agree with those harmful tropes

character D is intentionally placed in the text by a bigoted author, and their offensive nature may be either overt or covert. the intention of this is to spread their rhetoric to those that consume that piece of media and introduce it to as wide of an audience as possible - one of the most common forms of this being copaganda portraying the police in a positive light and marginalized people as threats to white society (see: how frequently white women are the victims, while black men or arab men are portrayed as extremely violent and often are the perpetrators). it's not like character A who's mostly just an asshole, or character B where they're bigoted but that can serve a purpose in the narrative: character D exists to do harm - be it as an offensive caricature, or as a bigot to be idolized - through their actions in the text and how that reflects real world issues, or how the text informs people on how to view real people that are like character D (eg: idolizing the police or military, or viewing all black men as thugs). the existence of character D is problematic, but what often exacerbates this issue is when people argue that because they are fictional, they can't do any real world harm. if that were true, then we wouldn't be pushing back against examples of minstrelsy in media or continued use of blackface in fiction. positive representation in media is important and also proves that media has an impact on real people - you can't just say that it doesn't affect the real world suddenly when the portrayal is negative. negative, harmful portrayals do impact people just as much as positive ones - if anything, they impact people more when they're negative. to engage with a character D is to engage with the stand-in of the author's views, and to stand by their reason for existence is to agree with the author who intentionally made them that way (again: people who think Eren's right).

person C is someone who acknowledges that characters can be problematic and tries to engage with them as best they can. they try to give the benefit of the doubt in cases like character Cs, and often try to reconcile with canon in whatever way they can to mitigate damage. while character D is harder to reconcile with, they will still talk about the problems of character D while still engaging with the media that character D is from. they acknowledge harm, talk about harm, and will critique their favorite media while still enjoying said media - even if the character they engage with is intentionally or unintentionally a harmful stereotype.

person D is someone who refuses to engage with media critically and take characters like character C and character D at face value and will often defend them and their right to like them. they do not view them as harmful, and will often expand upon the character without thinking about what other harmful tropes they may be adding. a person D can go a few routes: continuing in ignorance or choosing to remain ignorant, doubling down on their views and arguing that it's not actually an issue (and even going so far as to find tokens of that group who agree with them to back them up), or stopping and considering their actions and taking more after person C. the second route can often lead to them becoming more like person E, even without realizing it.

person E is someone who recognizes the harm in these characters and embraces that because these characters line up with their way of thinking and their world views. they prefer a character D to a character C, while often portraying character Cs as worse than in canon. a person D doubling down on their right to like character Ds will often attract person Es, and they will attempt to pull person Ds further to their side. these are thin blue line people who love cop shows; these are antisemites who love Attack on Titan and Hogwarts Legacy; these are transphobes and literal nazis that get giddy at seeing Rowling becoming more extreme in her bigotry with every passing day. if you are in community with a person E, you need to examine why that is.

person F is someone who recognizes the harm that character Cs and character Ds cause in the real world, and while they will openly criticize character Cs and their authors, their main targets are character Ds. a person F will talk about character Cs to try and educate people on harmful tropes and often fall in line with person C here, though they tend to more focus on the author and the harm this can cause to try and get it to change (rather than keeping that change in fanworks only). a person F will talk about character Ds, on the other hand, to get people to drop them. they view the harm they cause as more important to address rather than their own fandom interests. these are people that will abandon media when they introduce a fascistic character to idolize, or when they continue to play into offensive tropes even after being made aware that the author was doing it. they care more about impact than personal enjoyment in fandom, so they measure things in terms of how the text and metatext can impact the audience. where a person C will continue to read AoT while talking about its harm, person F abandoned the franchise well before it ended and only keep up with it from a distance to discuss its continued harm. they often don't think person C goes far enough when it concern character Ds; they can often be at odds with person Ds because of how person Ds prioritize their personal fan experience over harm, while person Fs prioritizes harm over their own enjoyment; and are antithetical to person Es. this does not mean that they don't enjoy media like a lot of people love to accuse; they just would prefer to drop something they like once they learn the harm that it causes - it's mitigation just like person Cs, but to a much more drastic degree.

yeah, you are allowed to like things. and yeah, who and what you like does says something about you as a person. but the problem is that the third factor - real world harm - isn't discussed much, especially with how people engage with things that cause it. because to like and engage something that causes harm is to perpetuate it. you can try and reconcile with the issues in that character or piece of media, but a lot of people ignore it. and to ignore it is to create a space that lets in people who thrive on it and seek that stuff out - your person Es.

character B exists for a reason and the text criticizes them. the text may not criticize everything, but still shows they are meant for critique. character D does the same things as character B, but the text portrays them as correct and that you should like them. person B will like both regardless and end up a lot like person D, but the both of them are susceptible to being pulled further into bigoted ideologies by the existence of person E who seeks out things like character D and anything that looks like them - like character B, and character C.

we need to examine things outside of the framework of "character is bad and text portrays them as bad" more often. it's not as simple as that. there are a lot of things that show someone doing something would generally be considered immoral, but the author agrees with it so it's portrayed as good. there are things that are portrayed as bad, but when you pick apart why it's bad you suddenly realize they're bad because they're marginalized - or, they're a standin for a real world group and made into the bad guys (eg: how many games have "barbaric" "tribal" enemies (like moblins from LOZ or the hilichurls from genshin) which are just offensive anti-indigenous caricatures, or how goblins (especially in harry potter) are used to perpetuate antisemitic sentiments and conspiracy theories). a fascist can be portrayed in a sympathetic light or have their ideologies be repackaged to sound appealing. a civil rights advocate can have their views warped to make them look like a threat to the white majority and be portrayed as an antagonist often by playing into stereotypes around "barbarism" and violence. there's a difference between having a fascist be a hero and is never condemned (jjba, marvel's zeemo), having a fascist be weakly criticized but be considered sympathetic or even your friend when they're an unrepentant fascist (many characters in ffxiv, this is literally the plot of hetalia and so much nazi chic), and having a fascist be held accountable for their actions and sometimes even maybe working past what made them fascistic to begin with and have them stop being one (terran emperor philippa georgiou from star trek discovery i adore you) - and that difference is the intention of the author in creating that character, the intention behind portraying their ideology for a wide audience, and what ends up happening to them in the end. An author can even kill their fascist off and still be in support of them because they frame it as martyrdom and try to make you feel bad for the character (jjba, ffxiv) - so it's not at all simple.

This is why being critical of the stuff you enjoy is important. No one is saying don't enjoy villains, and I'm certainly not because I'd be a hypocrite. What I am saying is: consider how the characters - protagonist or not - are being portrayed and how it relates to real world harm. Consider the intentions behind them, the impact they have had, and how they can be used against marginalized groups to hurt them and change how others view said group. Again: you are allowed to like things but what you like and defend says a lot about you. I do not disagree with OP. I just feel that the facet of harm and intention behind said harm needs to be considered because you may be putting investment into a character you don't realize is harmful (or you're ignoring is harmful). They don't even have to be a villain in the story to be harmful because again: look at copaganda and the military entertainment industry.

What you like has impact outside of you. How you engage with it impacts others around you. Some people try to mitigate, others try to ignore, while others still double down and get solicited by people who intentionally seek out things that support their bigoted viewpoints.

When the character is just an ass and the text treats them as an ass, that's not an issue. When the character is bigoted for a reason to explore and deal with, that is also not an issue. But if you find out that your blorbo is the focus of critical discussion because they were written to be a harmful stereotype/a means of idolizing bigoted rhetoric, you need to ask yourself this: are you willing to take the steps to mitigate harm - even if it means not engaging with that character or piece of media again - or are you going to continue on as if nothing's wrong and risk alienating those around you that are impacted by the harmful ideologies that are inseparable from this character/media?

What I'm not saying: Don't like villains. What I am saying: Every character - regardless of if they're a protagonist or antagonist - has the potential to cause harm because of the author's biases or bigotry. It is on you to recognize that harm and mitigate whenever possible, and choosing not to reflects on you as a person. You still can like villains. But how you like them and for what reasons says a lot about you, and people may choose to avoid you if you decide that your "soft feelings over the imperial leader working to colonize what is now the empire" are more important than understanding why people are uncomfortable with you, your blorbo, and their rabid uncritical fans.

You're allowed to like villains. What you like reflects back on you. You need to take real world harm into account when you engage with media, because what villains you like reflects on you very differently based on the real world harm that those villains can cause.

hot take but i think that "fictional characters are fictional and liking or disliking them have no real life effect" and "the way you treat certain characters can be an indicative of your character in real life" are statements that can and should coexist

example: character A is violent and makes misogynistic comments. they're still charismatic and their arc is interesting to read/watch. person A acknowledges that the character is bad but they still enjoy consuming content from the character and they do so unapologetically. they're allowed to like the character, especially considering that literally everyone the character has harmed is also fictional. they don't pretend the character isn't violent, or misogynistic, they just like the character despite that. they post about it constantly. this is a neutral action that shows nothing about person A.

character B is a white man that makes racist comments, treats a black person in the show badly and gains money through anti-ethical means. they're still charismatic and their arc is interesting to read/watch. person B claims the character is flawed but overall misunderstood and all their actions are entirely justified. they're allowed to like the character, especially considering that literally everyone the character has harmed is also fictional. person B claims the black character that character B treated badly either had it coming or overreacted. all of person B's favorite characters are white men. person B goes out of their way to justify that all of their favorite characters are actually misunderstood and good people, and more people should like them. this shows that person B likely has some favoritism for white men.

just. you're allowed to like fictional characters even if they're awful fucking people but. and im not sure why this is controversial. the way you interact with media says something about you. this isn't necessarily a bad thing. does this make sense please

[turmeric-lover]

i made an instagram account for art out of need for more attention but i'm not gonna handle it, it's maybe my third attempt at doing this, i should just send my makings to the groupchat once in a while, much less stress and embarassment for me.

[hkthatgffan]

Hey, Kiki-Kit. Your customers are waiting!

Well, this is a painful post to make given the respect and admiration I had for her, but a long overdue one because I'm not alone in this mess and I refuse to let another fan fall for it when I could've said something!

Back in February, I bought a commission from Kiki-Kit. You may know that artist as she was one of the best in the Gravity Falls fandom back in the day and the illustrator of Don't Dimension It in Lost Legends.

She'd been running emergency commissions at the start of the year and I got one from her for $40 USD.

I have the invoice and everything saved and also messages with Kiki of us talking about the comm and me paying her. I owe nothing on my end money wise! I paid in full.

She said later she'd have them finished by around the end of March but come late April, still no response. So, I messaged her about it. Nothing odd I thought. I get things can happen and if Kiki is busy, at most she'd reply telling me it'll be a while longer and all's good.

But I got nothing. I messaged her, emailed her on the commissions email she had and tweeted at her. NOTHING! Turns out there were other people, including some friends of mine who had not heard back either. Then in June, Kiki made an update post explaining the situation.

Naturally I felt bad and wished her the best. She said iirc, she'd have the remaining comms done by the end of the Summer but here we are at the end of October and still nothing. I messaged her too again and no response.

You know, it's one thing if there's a reason for no response for a few days but then another when it's been months and still nothing. Oh and btw, I very much remember Kiki on Twitter liking tweets (back when Twitter let you see liked tweets) while I was there messaging her for an update. Real sus if you ask me.

But okay, I shouldn't rush it. Everyone has reasons to take time and maybe Kiki is just very busy and can't get back. She went through a very rough and difficult experience and I can understand and respect that. I'm more than happy to wait. But how long is too long without an update? Maybe a bit longer I guess. Art takes time.

Well, IDK about you all, but I don't remember any other Gravity Falls fan artist taking oh, idk...FIVE YEARS TO FINISH A COMMISION AND STILL NOT RESPOND!!

FoxieSkullzArtz on Twitter made me aware she has been waiting since 2019 for Kiki to respond to a commission they paid her for.

2019!!

I'm not an artist, so forgive me if I'm wrong. But I don't think it should take any artist 5 years to make a commission and even if, at least communicate with the person who paid you about it so they're not left guessing.

Oh, and it gets worse. I got another person who let me know they've been waiting since 2020 for a comm and Kiki handled it far worse!

Oh yeah, she blocked them for asking about it!

And okay, even if we give Kiki-Kit the benefit of the doubt and assume she has reasons to not communicate with people and maybe even assume people messaging her are being mean about it, then why not refund them? Nice or bad, you were paid by them to do something but also have the power to deny it and refund their money. And yet, Kiki did not even do that. And even if we be super kind and assume everyone is lying, I'm still here.

I paid Kiki-Kit $40USD for a comm I thought I would get in late March and it's now late October and still nothing. And even if you don't wanna believe me cause you can't believe an artist like Kiki-Kit would do this and assume I'm after clout (which would be odd, given why would I take pleasure in calling out an artist I respected)...well, there's gonna be someone else who says this too. And people have been saying this for years and she still is getting away with it!

It's disappointing honestly. Kiki-Kit is a name so many in this fandom know and love. And I love her art too. She's a fan artist who got to be on Lost Legends. We all celebrated that in 2018 and still remember it. And I know how hard it may be to hear this, but it has to be said.

I do not like having to do this, but I have a platform that can get this message across further than others could and having been someone who lost money to her too, I know first hand what all these people have been through.

And before you say "Kiki was going through a rough time in her life. Why are you blaming her? Be patient and she'll get your stupid art done," read over everything again. I'm not saying Kiki-Kit needs to be making art 24/7 and fulfilling these comms. I'm not saying she isn't allowed to be offline and not finish things on time for reasons out of her control. What I'm saying is that she hasn't communicated properly with anyone here who paid her and has continued to accept more and more commissions from people despite not finishing ones she has backlogs of.

When an artist opens commissions, why do you think they have slots or only accept a few? Because they know they can get that many done in a certain time or know anymore will take longer. And even if it took longer, at least they give updates. I bought a commission for the interview with Alex Hirsch and got it both on time and with proper communication from the artist.

And even if you disagree with all this, be honest with yourself...is making someone wait since 2019 or 2020 for a comm and not responding to them really something still worth defending?

I'm not here to cancel anyone. I don't want Kiki-Kit's reputation to be that of an scammer who stole money from people. But she's painted herself that way to far too many people who have been warning about this for ages but no one either saw or listened to them.

I tried to be nice and messaged Kiki-Kit over and over for an update and she never responded. I had friends who she took money from who similarly have not heard anything back! If you know Kiki directly, tell her to reach out to these people and all the ones she has taken money from and not gotten back to and either refund them or commit to finishing their commissions. Please don't be rude or hostile either though, given despite it all, she is still a person like your or me who deserves a chance to make things right.

I wanna believe Kiki-Kit has just made some negligent mistakes and isn't the best with time management or communication. I mean, I'm not the best either. But I'm not asking people for money for something and then not getting back to them with it. I'm sorry to everyone who is learning about this who saw Kiki in a positive light and I'm sorry also to everyone like me who lost money to her.

I hope if nothing else, Kiki will respond and make whole everyone she has taken money from. If she really cares about this fandom that put her on a pedestal high enough that Alex Hirsch himself picked her to work on his book, she can respond to us and fulfill what we paid her to do.

I'm not asking for my commission to be done tomorrow...I just want an update. That's all. We all do! No more stalling, @kiki-kit. Please respond to us now!

Sincerely,

Every person who has paid you for a commission and has yet to hear back from you and every Gravity Falls fan who your work inspired and are now having to learn this about you!

[boltonbritreads]

🗣️Eddie Munson Fic Recs

This is gonna have a sappy start before I get into the fic rec portion: but I just wanted to say that at the end of May 2022, I was finishing up my first year of law school. It was rough, challenging, lonely, and basically everything you’d expect and I was in a bad place and the fandom I’d been in was slowing down just naturally. I truly wish I could remember how I even became aware of Eddie Munson because stranger things wasn’t really on my radar anymore and whoever I followed at the time that started to veer off into Eddie-mania, thank you. In the two years since then, I’ve graduated and become the worlds babiest lawyer and I genuinely owe a lot to this fandom and community on here for giving me a fun, usually safe, creative place to escape to when it got rough.

I’m just hoping to maybe remind people that there are already an incredible, incredible amount of existing stories to read and talk about that deserve your attention and love if you’re looking to read some Eddie stories. Some of these will be fics I’ve recommended before but I’m going to try my best to pull together writers and fics that I love and think everyone should read in the hopes that someone like me who still scrolls through eddie tags looking for my nightly bedtime story can find something new to them to read! ✨

Previous Fic Rec list here!! some overlap but there’s no such thing as too much hype for these writers

@munson-blurbs I hope it’s ok but I’m linking Bug’s full masterlist here because I have genuinely loved everything she has written. There are blurbs, series, and special events which are all incredible and worth a read! Bug is currently still writing the “Living after Midnight” series which is my current obsession and features rockstar!eddie x motelheiress!reader and it’s angst and lust galore

@corroded-hellfire also sharing the Eddie Masterlist here because there’s so many fics to read!! As You Wish, Big Brown Eyes, Where the Heart Is are all incredible but truly there’s so much here to enjoy

@upsidedownwithsteve SIMMER!! jk I’m actually linking the Eddie Masterlist here too because I love them all but “I Want You To Want Me” and “Simmer” are out of this world

@pinkrelish The Yes Policy I love it, you love it, we all love it and if you haven’t caught up yet oh my god I wish I was you and could read these chapters for the first time again

@ghost-proofbaby I’ve previously told people to go read 24 Hours, and you should, that’s an order; but Maroon is ongoing! and it’s actually infiltrating my every thought so go on over and get caught up bc I think it’s safe to say things are getting amped up

@trashmouth-richie I have also previously recommended Honey, I’m Home because it’s a work of art but Ziggy has a new mini series “Crash + Fall” that I’m completely obsessed with the concept for and I’ve loved every piece so far!

@tiannasfanfic I just reblogged Conviction again but I genuinely am not exaggerating when I say I think about this story and these two monthly and try and find this story all the time to re-read it endlessly. It’s a really lovely story of unplanned pregnancy and two characters not realizing they’ve been smitten for each other the whole time and I love it

@carolmunson I’m sharing another Eddie Masterlist here because I’d be making this post far too long but Carol’s stories are all incredible, complex, and honest. “Let’s go, don’t wait” just got updated and I had to read it like 3 times last night because it was too good to just read one and done

@rebelfell I just discovered Sarah’s blog after reading the most recent “Frenemy” fic and idk what I was doing wrong to not already follow her and not have already read her whole Masterlist but I’m linking the whole thing bc she’s so good!!

@the-au-thor I also only just discovered Elle’s blog and that’s criminal but thank god I found Babysitting Mun because I am a sucker for rockstar!eddie and this series has me on the edge of my seat rn

@storiesbyrhi I’m sharing the Masterlist folks because I have genuinely loved every single story and series and I have read them all now (some several times). So many of Rhi’s stories have a wonderful warm witchy vibe that I crave and I’ve read Siouxsie and the Soulmates, The Cabin in the Woods, Our Patron Saint of the Arts, Vintage Reeboks, and Burning Yarrow (insert screaming fan gif) multiple times now

@heart-eyed-love this fic is the epitome of a soft, cozy, domestic night with Eddie and if you need a hug read this 🥹

@eddieandbird I JUST got caught up on Eddie/Tour Manager series and I’m fully obsessed and desperate to know how they’re gonna navigate this - for folks new to the story, Eddie and his tour manager accidentally drunkenly get married- what could go wrong??

@eiightysixbaby the scream I scrumped when I finished reading Princess Leia, and Other Wishes - look bffs to lovers is already my absolute weakness on this earth but then you had to make it witty and funny and FLUFFY I just can do nothing but re-read and pine

@superblysubpar I’m still obsessed with this addition to The Boy is Mine writing challenge and oh god it’s so good 😩

…and while we’re talking about it - here’s the entire The Boy is Mine masterlist with an INSANE amount of incredible stories to read

@the-unforgivenn !!! tumblr hates me and deleted this bullet (so if you already saw this post, no you didn’t) but And I Need You to Know is a proper novel! I can’t imagine how much time, love, effort, planning, and work went into creating this insane and absolutely incredible world but everyone needs to read this!! and then follow up with She’s So Cold bc I love it and I am so reader

~~ this is not the end nor an exhaustive list! I just wanted to put something out there now that I plan to build on because I know I’m always scrolling and searching for new things to read or old things to revisit ♥️ ~~

[giannaln4]

Silly Little Bet

lando norris x artist!reader

summary: You were an artist and Lando loved to do what you did best with you, even if he wasn't very good at it. (917 words)

warnings: this turns into a make out (not heavy, very short), use of y/n

a/n: hi lovelies! i know i said i was going to take a little break, but honestly i just need to not think about quali today (still crying about it idk what to tell you). anyway, this is incredibly short so i’m sorry but i still hope you enjoy it! pls let me know what you think!! feedback is very much appreciated 🫶🏻 i also wanted to thank everyone who reached out to me and sent support ❤️‍🩹 ily all so much, i really appreciate it!!

↺ back to navigation — send me a request!

Quiet nights were your absolute favourites. Getting to spend time with your boyfriend without having to worry about some schedule one of you had to stick to was perfect, to say the least. You always found a way to occupy yourselves, doing anything and nothing at the same time. 

Tonight, though, you got to do one of your favourite activities: art. You were an artist, a professional one, and of course he loved that about you; he loved seeing you in your element, so focused on what you did best, and even though he didn’t know yet, you loved dragging him with you so you could see him struggle a bit to at least not be the worst artist the world has ever seen.

Now, he was extremely talented, and if he weren’t a racer, he would be somewhat of an artist; he’s said it himself many times, but that was before he met you, because compared to you, he would never say that about himself, no matter how many times you have said it to him. 

Right now, you found yourselves sitting on your shared bed, facing each other, trying to win a silly little bet you made earlier. It was simple, really. You were supposed to draw the other person, and whoever loses would have to come up with a plan for dinner, which the both of you already knew would end up being a homemade meal, eating it on the couch, and watching some dumb show. This really worked out for him because, as talented as he was, he still struggled to draw real people, and he knew he was setting himself up when he accepted.

You knew that too, and you also knew he only gave in so he could have another one of your drawings of him. But that was okay, because another one of your favourite things was to admire his focused expression while he tried to replicate someone on a blank piece of paper. 

If he was being completely honest, the top reason he loved doing some type of art with you was because you would always come up to him and help with something, holding and guiding his hand or just being really close to his face as you explained something, so he would never say no to that suggestion.

“Okay, so I do you and you do me. Do I have to paint it as well?” He asked as you poured some of your art supplies on the bed.

“No, just a quick sketch,” you replied, scanning the bed as you carefully chose the pencil you wanted to use. “I’m starving, anyway.”

You started sketching each other; you were faster (and probably better) than him, but you couldn’t help but blush any time his eyes fixated on your face for too long, studying every aspect of you to try to draw it. After several minutes, you were done, just finishing up a few details before placing the paper on the bedside table next to you, away from him so he wouldn’t see it yet.

“How is it going?” You asked.

He looked up at you and yelled, “Don’t move!” When you started to get up.

"Sorry,” you whispered, going back to your previous position.

You stayed like that for a while, watching as Lando looked at you repeatedly and then back at the paper, occasionally erasing stuff. He was almost done, but there was one thing holding him back. “I can’t get it right,” he sighed, dropping the pencil.

“What can’t you get right?”

“Your lips. They look too big or too small, and now the paper looks worn out from erasing so much.” He was clearly frustrated.

“Can I see it?”

“Promise you won’t laugh?” Lando asked you with an embarrassed look.

“Of course I’m not going to laugh; why would I do that?”

“You are a real artist, Y/N. You finished a while ago, and I’ve been stuck here trying to fix it, but I’ve only made it worse.”

“Lando, you are actually talented; I don’t make you do art with me because I wanna have a laugh. C’mon, show me.”

He sighed again and slowly turned the paper, showing you the drawing. “It looks terrible.”

Your eyes set on the paper, and an endeared smile appeared on your face. “It looks great, baby.”

"No, it doesn’t; as I said, you’re an artist, and you know exactly what’s wrong with it.”

“I mean it." You whispered, leaving your spot on the bed and sitting next to him, “Maybe the proportions are a bit off, but it does look great, I promise.”

“Thanks,” he replied with a smile, a moment of silence filling the room as you both stared at the drawing. “You know, maybe I just need to take a closer look at them.”

“Oh- I guess that would be helpful." You turned your body to face him, cupping his cheek and brushing away a few curls that rested on his forehead. “Do you want help?”

He nodded and broke the distance between you, locking his lips with yours as he pulled you onto his lap and his hands fell on your hips to intensify the kiss. You got closer and closer, pausing when your bodies couldn’t possibly get any closer to each other even if you tried.

“You know I can actually help you,” you said against his lips and in between kisses.

“Uh huh” Lando replied, not really thinking about the drawing anymore.

[leovenuslatina]

𝓓𝓞 𝓜𝓔 ୧ ‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡ PT.2

⊹

!!! this reading is 18+ ONLY !!! ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

part 2 in the “do me” series yay !! this reading is about: Your FS favorite thing about having sex with you 💗 ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•

thank you for having so much patience 2/3 this series is almost done !!

ᰔ

₊˚⊹ ᰔ౨ৎ₊this is just a reminder that tarot isn’t permanent or set in stone YOU decide how your life goes no one or nothing else now take a deep breath and choose the pile that calls to you ₊˚⊹ ᰔ౨ৎ₊˚⊹

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pile one - ace of wands , ten of cups

🧿

pile one ur FS is such a perv when it come to you lmao !! their favorite thing about having sex with you is literally you ! the way you look and smell and your body is like a work of art to them you’re literally so so hot to them. during sex you’ll just catch them staring deep in into your eyes and he’s just lost in the mf sauce so deep in love and literally shocked that a hottie like you loves having sex with them. i’m getting that even though the two of you have been married or been together for a long time he’ll still feel like he scored BIG TIME. like he’s in high school and he’s like a nerd loser or something and you’re the hot popular girl and he literally can’t believe you’re interested in him. even when you’re not having sex they constantly he’s always look at you for validation that he’s making you feel good and not uncomfortable but also because you’re just sooo pretty he loves watching you. your FS LOVES watching you get dressed and he hates when you kick him out so you can change because like i said he views you as art would you keep people from seeing the mona lisa? so why keep him from the masterpiece that is you? Your FS loves having sex with you because you’re the most passionate lover he’s ever had i think it’s because your connection w your FS IS SOOO STRONG that it makes everything you two do in the bedroom 1000 times better.

⊹

extra messages- pregnancy, excitement, faster speed, high energy, spontaneous, fairytales coming true

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pile two - four of wands, ace of swords

☁️

Pile 2 your FS gives me subby vibes. they love to care for you that’s their favorite thing about having sex with you is taking care of your needs he likes knowing you depend on him to feel good. during your sex they love when you tell them what to do to you. Your FS is like a puppy just waiting for your next instructions on how to best make you happy. your FS favorite thing about doing you is how much stronger it makes your connection of course it makes you two closer but something spiritual happens to them when you’re in bed together it’s like you’re his own personal slice of heaven. idk why i’m getting he proposed during sex like he just blurted it out he was mid stroke in you and was like “please marry me” or he just decided he wanted to marry you while having sex with you he realized you’re just too much of a catch and the two of you are just too sexually compatible to not make you his forever!!! when your FS is having sex with you he feels it calms him that’s why i think this pile is my soulmate twin flame pile because i just keep getting a strong spiritual healing sense. another thing your FS LOVESSSSSSSS your dirty talk either one or both of you love to talk dirty but i think you more than them like it and they are in love with hoe filthy you whisper in their ear it makes them almost cum on their pants you know exactly what to saw to make them feel something.

⊹

extra messages: acts of service, mind reading, stability, celebrations, commitment, protection, dominant/domination, work, frustrations

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pile three - wheel of fortune, nine of cups

🌸

your FS loves that you’re innocent but in the private of your own bedroom you’re a freaky ass. it’s very unexpected for him but he loves that the more he gets to know you the more you surprise him and that just makes you that much more attractive to him. i think like pile two your FS feels a very deep connection to you like he manifested himself to be with you 🥹 that’s so sweet. Your FS LOVES how risky your sex seems ??? i’m getting one or both of you have like super dark kinks and your FS loves that they never know what to expect from you it turns them on so so much they have never been with someone as adventurous as you it makes them feel like they’re on top of the world. even if you don’t see yourself as kinky now Pile 3 im seeing by the time you and your FS start having sex you will be confident enough to explore all facets of your sexuality your FS may even have a lot to do with how confident you feel in indulging yourself in kinky ways 😉.

⊹

extra messages- cycles, the universe has a plan, lucky, things going well, value yourself, emotional fulfillment, pride

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[the-ancient-dragons]

Welcome back to Overcomplicating the Pyrrhian Tribes! This week: the beloved RainWings!!

You know what's up. Joy Ang and Tui are so cool and I am just me.

Details and explanation below!

Otherwise, next week are the chilly IceWings! See you then!!!

More overcomplicated dragons.

I knew the RainWings would be really important, and I think they turned out the best of all the ones I've done. I think they're my favourite because they are basically the perfect mix of extra realism spice without altering Joy's design too much. The SkyWing design is awesome and I love it to bits, but it is one of the two that are the farthest from canon.

As for the RainWing.... I had. So. Much. FUN. I heavily used chameleons and snakes - they're basically the two main species on my research board - but there is a dash of cuttlefish and frilled lizard in there. Where, you ask? Well if you look closely, all over the RainWing are little tiny flecks of darker colour. I found a beautiful reference of a close-up on a cuttlefish eye. Its skin is dotted in thousands of little marks and I thought that would be perfect for the RainWing, who can camouflage just as well as them. I don't know if it's been discussed in canon but I bet they could animate their scales more than just colour shifting - cuttlefish are known for using their rapidly shifting patterns to hypnotize prey. RainWings could do it too, sort of like Ka from Disney's 2D animated Jungle Book.

Speaking of Ka - snakes. I love snakes. The head structure of the RainWing here is very smooth and rounded with muscles based on snakes like the python. I was even going to originally draw them in a venom striking pose and got as far as completing the lineart, but ultimately decided it wouldn't fit the calm portraits of the other tribes.

Will you see it in the future? Hell yeah! Pure, unhinged, magical death spit. Looking at it now I might try to alter it to be a full piece of Glory attacking Scarlet or Crocodile.

In the striking pose you can see the frills much better, but I still took my time on this serene pose (this is where the frilled lizard influence comes in). If you notice that I've drawn every scale (every single scale) then, yes, I am insane. If you didn't know that yet, you know it now. You have to draw guide lines and follow them meticulously while you wonder why you don't make a scale brush, and then cry because you know the randomness and imperfections that come from drawing a thousand circles is how it looks natural. The eye area is actually my favourite part, since drawing dragon eyelids was the original inspiration for doing this. Did I mention that? I wanted to draw eyelids.

EYELIDS.

I digress. Besides the eyelids, I like the frills on the action pose, but this pose is where I like the body scales more. When zooming in on my chameleon colour refs, I noticed the very rhythmical distribution of their scales and figured I would give it a try. They actually do have extra large circular scales along their bodies, which is where I guess the canon RainWing design gets it from. Very clever, Joy!

Anyway, on this version, those small circular scales appear on the face. Not only that, but I added a bit of influence from the snouts of my ref chameleons by extending the nose bridges to wrap around the nose horn. They blend in so seamlessly and that's the reason why I love this design - it's subtle, barely there, mostly Joy but a little extra.

Wow, I talk too much. If you're here, thank you! It's not mandatory to read, but very appreciated. I heard once that visitors at an art gallery look at each piece an average of 2-3 seconds. Or was it 3-6? Idk, but it was shockingly short, and ever since then I've tried to encourage myself to pay more respect to other artists and glean their work for little details I skip after that quick glance. I could talk so much more about these designs but that would be like an hour long video, each, lol. If you have questions about anything, ask away!