#isnt the point of our art to connect to others

[petday]

your art is so so so so inspiring to me which is strange bc my style isnt very similar to yours at all. but it makes me happy to see your art, especially when you make art from things from childhood id forgotten about💫💫💫💫💫🩷🩷🩷🩷

Thanks. Your message and similar messages from others over the years inspired me to try to put into words why I draw 'nostalgic things'. I ended up writing a lot.

There was a period of time when I became cynical about being seen as an 'artist who reminds people of childhood' or a 'nostalgic artist'. I no longer feel that way but I will explain why. Some artists, who I like and respect, will sometimes mention 'nostalgia holding artist's growth back' and 'nostalgia causes learned helplessness.' But I feel differently.

Maybe I perceive time differently. I have lived long enough to witness cycles of 'what is valued, and what is not valued' repeated. For example, I loved what is now called 'Y2K' style, but during mid 2000s, for whatever reason it was derided as something to be left in the past, something embarrassing. "Aren't we glad we optimized things now, and they are 'sleeker' and less complex? Old things were childish, an embarrassing weakness for humans, we must advance and reach our ideal evolution." That became the common attitude. I felt pressure to have the same thoughts. I just couldn't make myself feel that way no matter what, though. Even with the increasing threats about, 'keep up with others or you won't ever develop positive social relationships!' I couldn't change my mind.

(If what is currently valued becomes devalued and then it becomes valuable after that… that's an odd cycle to me. For example, if we like bananas, even when bananas cannot be harvested, we still like them even though they occupy a smaller space in our minds but we don't deride them. Going even further, though, I sometimes wonder if it is possible for humans to eventually remove the 'devaluation' stage, particularly in art 'trends' as I am an artist. Whatever is considered valuable remains valuable. A counter arguement would be, 'no, the devaluation of the previous thing is exactly what causes the next thing to be valued, and then the cycle flows beautifully: X was valued -> Y is valued, X is devalued -> Y is devalued, X becomes valuable again. If you want X to always remain valuable, just develop better patience. Like we cannot pick fruit we like all year, we cannot simply keep adding onto the pile of things we like, something has to be seen as inferior by the majority of humans.' I disagree. I might explain my thoughts against this argument more in the future.)

Anyway, what people call 'Y2K style' or 'art that emulates how things commonly appeared in early years of 2000s' is popular nowadays. Even someone who did not grow up with it can become attracted to it. That 'desire' itself is a communication between past and present. Something can make someone feel 'lighter' [in sense of, "wow, the crushing weight of my circumstance feels not so crushing when I look at this'] -- a similar 'light' to how someone in the past was perceiving it when it was the present and not the past. So, even though two people were born in different eras and may not become friends or even meet, they're still connected by that 'lighthearted' feeling they both like. I know it will be seen as 'lower value' soon, but I truly cannot care because as I mentioned earlier, I might perceive 'time' weirdly.

When I started playing video games, a family member would point out, 'those games were made before you were born, interesting!' but that statement confused me at the time since my perception was, 'well, if these games are from before I was born, I don't understand why she is bringing attention to it. Why is it interesting? It's just regular. They're alive in the present now, because I'm in the present and so are they.' That was when I was a very young child. I subconsciously kept the same feeling even as I was reaching teenage and adult years. The feeling echoed when people liked to ask the question 'why are you still playing games from long ago?' as I got older but still played the same 'old' games. The answer: they are beautiful and will remain beautiful, and something made in the past is still communicating in the present, so are they really truly 'outdated inferior games'...? Just because the cycle of valued and devalued happened to be in a different position and those old things were seen as an embarrassment? (Now there are popular games inspired by the era of games many people ridiculed me for consistently enjoying, lol. Similarly, I was using 'crappy' old versions of programs even through 2017. Now people from wealthy upbringing and background use 'crappy' programs willingly. lol)

The present talks to the past all the time, nostalgia is not a dead end. In that sense I cannot see nostalgia as a death trap but rather a connection made from past to present. A string between the past and present that feelings can crawl across and communicate. Feelings such as 'I wish my life took a different direction. I can't make things like how they were back then, it won't ever be the same again, so I'll do nothing.' The criticism of 'nostalgia' is towards that last sentence. But there are things you can do with those feelings. 'Doing nothing is boring. And I keep thinking of that fun drawing I saw... I kinda wanna try to make something.' Making something while thinking of the past and present at the same time, so there is a communication between past self and present self. Pure bitterness communicating with slightly light-hearted view, the 'end result' is artwork/creation.

*I used light-hearted feeling as example, but nostalgia can exist for any feeling, and not just for people who were nice when they were younger. If someone was cruel as a child/teenager, after the person has been an adult for a while, they can communicate with their younger self about what was it about the cruelty that was enjoyable, and then extract a small part from the cruelty that they wish to bring back into the present -- example, the attraction to 'high speed activities, playful mischievousness' can be extracted from 'hurting people on purpose so they will acknowledge/react to you'. The dialogue could be something like, "'honestly, you and I both know spamming people with bad things felt pretty fun at the time, so let's just keep the 'high energy mischievousness' feeling and leave behind the crap that hurt people deeply, and let's make an animation while thinking of that high energy feeling.

^ I don't answer questions or reply to messages often because of giving answers that aren't too long or too short is tough for me. lol. Thanks for liking my art. I like a lot of art that doesn't resemble mine as well. It's fun! Like appreciating different flavours in the same meal even if you cannot make the meal yourself.

[dancingdorito]

As much as I think we should hold criticism until the season is over, I genuinely think we should have a discussion about how the discourse surrounding Andor is HELPFUL and GOOD. It's not normal for a show to fulfill everyone's needs, it's a story written with a purpose. If you were to watch every show with the expectation of having your own wishes fulfilled, you'd miss the point of art, and you'd miss the point of the show.

Having some characters being interpreted in a way thats is uncomfortable to the viewer makes sense to the theme of the show. The show being a political commentary requires it to call on real life inspiration and issues. Naturally this creates tension because as humans we have different experiences and therefore different perspectives. Of course there are things we think they could have handled better, but we don't even fully know how this season ends yet, and people are already making decisions about how certain things are being dealt with.

Andor being a prequel means we know how his story ends. We know how his sacrifice affects the galaxy. But we also know that most of the characters we meet in this show will either die or be missing by the time we reach the battle of Yavin. We know and we watch anyway.

Cassian Andor is not like Luke Skywalker, and he isnt meant to be. He is a realistic, flawed, and good rebel. The whole reason he helps Jyn get to Scarif is because he wants all his misdoings and sacrifices to be worth it. So it wouldn't make sense for him to be this fully self-actualized character when we know his ending. It wouldn't make sense for his character to be so believing in the cause when we see him actively disregard orders in Rogue One multiple times, purely because of his heart and belief in others. He believes fully in the cause, but he has his own autonomy and choices.

Does this mean we shouldn't criticize the writing? not at all! It just simply means that having these conversations about these characters helps bring the message of the show across. Being upset that certain characters aren't being given the care you think they deserve is completely normal, and it is great that we can have discussions on this. A political commentary is never going to get everything right, especially with such a large ensemble of strong amazing actors who put so much into this show. Being critical of story choices is the purpose of political commentary, so we can connect this distant galaxy to our own world, and our own issues.

I'm not saying this to excuse the writers for how they have been handling certain characters, I just think that we should keep having these critical conversations because it is important to do so. I also think it would be good to withhold complete judgement until the show is over.

[qoldenskies]

Hi, this is a silly question, but welp. Do you think publishing new content on ao3 pays off? I feel like the fandom is dying a bit and I don't know if it's worth writing ff :((

maybe this is just my personal opinion because i wasnt here at the height of the hype especially in 2022 (i watched the show in march 2024 and got into the fandom in june), but the rise fandom is not dying, dont worry.

there are posts here that frequently get thousands of notes, sometimes within days, fics that have gotten pretty popular that are RECENT, a whole culture of aus and events and zines that are still running.

ive been in dying fandoms (the pjo book fandom is so dead yall its joever) and in fandoms that were never even big in the first place (i was in a niche pokemon webcomic community that had upwards of maybe like 40 people active in its discord server, and most of the adults there were republicans or child groomers or usually both .... i know hell, i was there for like four years. trust me) and i havent been in a community as big as rise's since liiike. 2019, i think!

and regardless of any new official content coming out, its also good to note that there are a lot of active and dedicated tmnt fans who make official content for other, much older iterations too, and ive noticed a lot of the people who do are older which is definitely a good thing. fandoms at the peak of their hype are usually INSANELY preteen-infested and it's not a good environment i think should be desired. the discourse i see going around on tiktok right now is deranged but its not new by any means. i REFUSE to be a boomer because im only 18 and i know what its like to be 12, but i do not desire nor envy that kind of fame BAHFHDHGH

but like still. point i was getting to is that even if its not at its peak of popularity i dont think the fandom will be dying any time soon and it's not something to be afraid of. i can cite several fics that did wonderfully in numbers (although i dont recommend basing quality off that, its just important to note) despite being recent and have had the fandom in a chokehold as of late. canary continuity could probably count as one of those considering how crazy it was around november or so..... i miss november :')

i think we all kind of see ourselves like drops of water in a bucket and hesitate to come in so strong because we underestimate the importance of our own voices, especially because fandom attracts very socially anxious people, but a lot of the anxiety about engagement can be mitigated by engaging yourself and being the change you want to see! this also counts with creating content-- the thing about ao3 is that you can have completely different audiences for different fics unlike other platforms from what i've seen, so something may flop at first and then do really well later, or even take a while to kick off (cvd and coming undone have been getting some love lately ive noticed... i keep telling myself i'll continue them and then forgetting)

i'd say its definitely worth a shot to post, because ive noticed that ao3 comment sections are overwhelmingly positive in most cases. ive gotten some passive-aggressive or pushy comments before (usually out of confusion because they werent paying attention, which isnt my fault, or because theyre excited and what to see more, which i still do find flattering) but its always been in a sea of a lot of really wonderful people, which has been really helpful because i have disabling anxiety and constantly doubt myself haha.

i think the advice i see a lot of "write for yourself" is kind of unhelpful and doesn't get to the root of the problem because i think it takes away from the fact that art is such a deeply social part of human expression, and we create it to share it,,, i think a better way to put it is that you should write self-indulgently, and there's always a good chance of finding your people by the time you're finished-- i've connected with a lot of people with VERY similar tastes to me because of my writing and it's been miraculous because as great as my other friends are, their interests vary wildly from mine LOL. its worth it even if you dont kick off immediately!!! and of course i urge everyone to engage with artists and writers whenever you can, it means the world to them!!

[cringelordofchaos]

once upon a winter's night I was speaking to @/emmywlemmy (she has some good tmf art I reccomend) about the hypothetical Greater TMF Polycule (where we multi shippers just put all our ships) and we were like okay yay the jomies and jean! they can have a nice lil sleep over or something! and for the first time Drean was considered. so hear me out

1. drew needs more emotional maturity in his life and sean can very much be that emotional maturity. even though drew has friends, he doesnt exactly form deeper emotional connections, at least not to the extent that he had with jake yknow? I feel like drew and sean could also have those deeper talks that we dont see drew have with henry, liam, Zoey, etc..

2. enemies to lovers. I feel that itd be fun to see them learn to understand each other better and I think that out of the music club, sean would probably be the most open to getting to know drew despite everything?

3. drew can buy sean presents and sean deserves that

the idea is less in canon and more like future fanon in my head. like again I was talking to someone about a jomies+jean sleepover and we went okay. but what if sean got up in the middle of the night to leave (probably because of shit with their parents, something or other) but drew followed them and talked to them. I dont think theyd be incredibly close but theyd get there yaknow? picture drew and sean sitting on the curb under a streetlight together type beat. this is my vision I am attempting to spread further propaganda

ABSOLutELY. great points you made

The thing is, ive considered it as a ship a while ago simply because they were my favorite characters, but havent thought about it on a deeper level and then just forgot about it... though lately ive definitely seen an upspring in the amount of people shipping them and i can see it even though it is very unlikely that theyll actually interact in canon.

i feel like the potential of drew having parent issues (which i sometimes forget isnt actually confirmed) can also add more into this ship... and possibly make them parallel each other!?!? Assuming Drew is neglected by his parents or something akin to that, he would grow to have attachment and control issues and just really struggle with not being seen as important or needed in others lives, making him clingy and jealous and not being able to stand the idea of the people that he cares about leaving him... whereas with sean and HIS emotionally absent parents i belive hes become mucb more used to others not being there for him and his emotional needs not being met, so hes just accustommed to feeling more lonely or not being comforted during tough times, so he puts on a fake smile at times and generally dislikes others showing genuine concern over him because he might feel as if hes not worth others attentions, so he doesnt seek it out like drew, abd instead of dealing w his probelms he just escapes from them through music bc hes not used to confronting the emotions that havent been adressed as much as they should be throughout his chiildhood. however, he knows what its like to not be treated with care and kindness and patience from his home. and while he doesnt expect others to treat him diffrenetly, he doesnt want anyone else to feel that way bc he knows how much it hurts to have your emotional needs ignored. in sypnosis they may shgare the same struggles but have learned to deal with them in different ways

i guess my only "problem" with it is that a lot of the expectations on keeping the relationship stable and emotionally mature are set on sean? though thats the case with most sean ships from what ive seen. i suppose its simply in his nature to put others before himself like that... but i think drew could grow to genuinely appreciate sean and learn to confront his attachment issues and learn to appreciate himself as well irregardless of his relationships or how much other people pay attention to him. drew is constantly surrounded by so many fake people (zoey, jake, henriam, basically everyone he knows and cares about), and while sean does have a tendency to not necessarily put his emotions on display so hes not entirely honest all the time i think drew having someone that just loves him for who he is and not what he has to offer is really important, and just having someone that he could talk to in regards to a shitton of emotions he might be holding back. as for how the relationship would affect Sean - i think drew could sometimes snap him back into reality?? i dont think drew is inherentlys the most emotionally mature person on the planet, and as ive mentioned it here before i think he holds his emotions back at times, i think what he values heavily is Honesty, kind of contrasting seans escapism. drew also might be a bit self centred at times (or just actually thinks about how things affect him), while sean is much more humble and tends to put others before himself. idk. again im sort of having trouble enviosining what Drean would mean to Seans character. Maybe Drews harshness(?) would make sean realize that its ok to prioritize his emotions at times? and maybe face his emotions better. the concept of drew buying things for sean is also cute, its how drew shows love bc thats how he was shown love growing up while sean may not be super used to being shown much attention or love throughout his life and is also broke bc he works at a minimum wage part time job and his parents probably dont bother to lend him anything. sean is very attentive and understanding of others so i doubt hed question drews ways of affection. i also think them getting closer would make sean understand the jomies POV in the whole climax of s1 and everything that happened AND how that affected them

I also think Drew getting to know Sean better would help him try and understand people better and getting to know others more before judging them ( i mean he is a bully, he was also briefly shown bullying elliot in millys song, so maybe he has a bit of trouble when it comes to understanding others???? or how other people might be affected? like maybe he struggles w empathy just a bit (not saying that makes u a bad person i also struggle with empathy oftenly so idk if im self projecting here or something else). like maybe at first drew woul.d see sean as "that random sean guy, a music freak" but then come to understand him more and mayhapas by extension others and the other music freaks and why music might be so important to them, which could help him grow and stop being a jerk when he really doesnt need to be one .

i think there are interesting things that stand in the way however, that being the club, especially jake and hailey. drew sees jailey as people whove hurt him (in different ways) while theyre some of seans closest friends he cares deeply about. wonder how theyd sort that out. but i think i already wrote enough about them lol. . asshole and cinnammon roll

[vicevirtueart]

I LOVE YOUR ART!!! I love seeing your interpretations of Douma and Akaza!! Douma being fat is so special to me . As is system Akaza . I am both of those things it is lovely to see

also I so deeply appreciate your akaza as douma, douma as akaza au. the sentiment that ANYONE could end up like douma is so genuinely important to have. yes. anyone could go through trauma and anyone could have their emotions "shut off" as a coping mechanism. trauma can make you become apathetic. and seeing you show that through akaza.... the demon with probably the most sympathized for backstory in the show.... while people literally say douma had a happy childhood... amazing. thank u.

i just sent an ask but I want to clarify that people sympathizing for Akaza's backstory isnt a bad thing, I love akaza, just in case it read that way 🙇🙇🙇

i read these asks at 6.30am and i need u to know i was so emotional about it because like. anyone who knows me knows i really REALLY care about akaza and douma. i've been in this fandom since 2019 on various blogs and i have always ALWAYS tried to emphasize douma's childhood was inherently traumatising. completely shutting off emotions rarely just happens. just because his childhood was not cast in a sympathetic or tragic light does not mean it was not tragic. guy was apart of a cult since birth and this was the opening line when he was describing his past:

he defines himself by his ability to care efficiently for others. it is his life's purpose. i really really don't doubt that the reason why he cannot feel is due to the fact he had to be an emotional crutch for strangers since he was very young. that is traumatising. maybe not in the same way as akaza, but it is still a terrifying situation to put a child in and has a high chance for abuse to arise from it.

not to mention the sole character that sees him for his emotionless self is kanao. the girl who was abused and used to the point of not feeling anything until shinobu and kanae rescued her. i do not think it is coincidental that she was the one to see past his mask, because she has been there herself. if you really want me to get into it, kanao's existence directly parallels douma's - she is evidence of what love and connection can save. douma, on the other hand, is evidence of what love and connection can destroy.

anyhoo, my rambling over, i'm really glad you've taken interest in my au. i did it to indeed show that douma is traumatised, and that this can genuinely happen to anyone. we have alters that use emotional separation to cope with trauma, in fact. it really really can just happen when you've been put through a terrible situation. i hope people, through this au, can understand what i'm trying to emphasize.

and thank you for enjoying fat douma too!! i do it out of love for myself as someone who is also fat, and i think it's important to be able to say "this character can be fat, too." it was the best decision i ever made for my own personal self esteem.

overall!! thank you so much for this ask. it really brightened my morning. i hope you have a wonderful day nonnie. <3

edit: AND THANK YOU FOR ENJOYING SYSTEM AKAZA TOO!! that was another thing i did out of love for myself (or more accurately, our system).

[siwy-3]

thinking about my 2bhank signalis AU. because im replaying Signalis again and cant draw out my concepts right now - Thinking of still keeping the general story concepts but changing up a few things to fit better and make it its own story rather than just Elster and Ariane in different shoes. First with Doc as Ariane. Names are a placeholder rn i'll change them later to fit better. But i think im going to make him both a Gestalt officer AND a maintenance guy. Still with the origins of growing up in a radio station but when moving to Rotfront, took up art and mechanics work. One for Personal Enjoyment and the other to fit in and "contribute" to the workforce. While still also enjoying literature and having connections to the "Isa" of this story. Which im thinking of making it Sanmos. Sanford as Isa and him looking for his "Best Friend" Deimos rather than Isa looking for her sister Erika. (something something Dedmos stuff see my vision) Hank as Elster. I'm iffy on making him a full on LSTR unit so i'm thinking of making him more of a STAR and LSTR mix. Considering STARS are more combat based. More in a bodyguard way rather than a ship maintenance way. The Penrose Program being a cargo mission rather than space exploration. Considering how im adjusting some roles, I think it'd fit better to be something with a pre-determined but ultimately unattainable "goal". So its more "Guy and his Bodyguard carrying important stuff to another planet" However, to keep a reason for a long term trip. It wouldve likely been a trip from Kitezh to Heimat. But their ship malfunctioning in some way, causing them to overshoot at some point past the solar system and towards the possible Oort Cloud mentioned in the Penrose program. Their journey wouldve been harsher. Yes they had supplies and rations for a long period of time in case of emergency, but AEON most likely told them it would be too risky to attempt retrieval and to make use of the provided stasis chamber onboard the vessel. Something something you've provided all you can for our Nation and will be honored accordingly. Essentially getting that 3000th cycle letter earlier on and that's where they have to learn to grow closer and survive on this vessel drifting endlessly.

Due to Doc's unknown bioresonance, any "connections" would be from his memory. Since his earlier years would have been on Rotfront, then any cargo management work would've been after the compulsory military service. also throwing in another people in specific roles because fuck it we ball and theres already the "imprints" of replikas that i can mess with. -Jeb as Adler. Mainly for the desperation of the ADLR unit in this story. And the fact that ADLR units have a more calculated role. -Pank as Falke. Because im a stoupid Pink Hank fan and wanted to get him involved somehow. So why not make him the crude mix of a Gestalts bioresonance induced memories with the silhouette of a specific LSTR/STAR unit. Really pushing that Falke isnt supposed to be One or The Other in their story. She is a mix of both of their distorted memories and she hates it. I see too many people focusing on her as some kind of "competition" to Elster but thats WRONG and youre WRONG. -Deimos as Erika. Sorry Deimos fans he's offscreen as hell till the last moment. Sanford as Isa. Searching for his inseparable "best friend" in this horrid facility. -Victor as the EULR unit(s) because funny + little hat all i can think of for now for specific roles. more fun facts -In Hank's memory, Doc will look much scarier and distressed. -Both of their faces decayed in some way. Hank due to just general disrepair as time passed, Doc due to the radiation on the ship. They could not kiss eachother even if they wanted to. Doc's lips and lower jaw have rotted away and can only be bandaged up to prevent further infection. Hank simply broke the lower half of his face plate at some point. (which is then covered with the STAR's mask for the rest of the story till Gestaltzerfall, in which he takes the arm from his last loop and leaves behind his mask. Placing it on the corpse of himself in front of him) -In the case of Alina and Lilith, they are still "Hank and Doc" but still their own people. "Lilth" in this story was horrifically scarred and wounded due to the war efforts. (eye also being wounded for parallels). Leading to almost full body bandages and eye protection. While "Alina" worked alongside her as radio control and communication. "Lilth" still ended up as the brain imprint for these LSTR/STAR units.

ok thats all i can think of for now dont look at me. this is a mess of thoughts and rambling

[grendel-menz]

kind of a silly ask i guess but, after seeing you talk about them just now i looked up traditional ilocano and visayan tattoos as i didnt really have a visual idea of what they look like. im of a different indigenous group (amazigh from north africa) and its kind of awesome looking at designs of tattoos and seeing how some things are similar across our cultures while also being clearly different - some parts of designs/patterns look nearly identical to some amazigh patterns i know which blows me away, while others have very distinct shapes and ways of organizing elements, not to mention the different applications and placements of the designs on the body. i dont really have any sort of point, i just am excited to see this art and to feel a sense of kinship with other indigenous groups, to see cultures halfway across the world create forms of art that reflects unique identities and yet seem like they could speak to each other. i guess for this moment i feel the world has become a little bigger but, too, a little tighter-knit. i hope this message isnt inappropriate, thank you for bringing my interest to this subject

It’s not silly at all!!

I think the knowledge, wisdom, and connection of our (collective) ancestors cannot be understated tbh!!

I was literally just thinking the other day about how, despite the differences between many communities’ traditional markings there are still so many similarities in some meanings and placements. I don’t want to share too much, but it’s very very beautiful to think about.

I have lots and lots of researching and reconnecting to do - and lots I won’t say outside of community because of vultures :( - but everyday I feel as though we have and always will know of each other, and I find a lot of love in that.

This might be too much or overly sappy or vague but!! I love this ask fr.

[idontbelievethehype]

It will surprise no one to know that I am still fixated on Snap Back. Tyler started this band in a bad place. He's been pretty open about that. It's been through so many seasons of his life, but the lore, the story, the content, the imagery that propelled them to where they are comes directly from that bad place. I can't imagine how much of a struggle it must be to know that the parts of you that you worked so hard to control and eliminate for the sake of yourself and your family are directly tied to your success.

He "created this world to feel some control" and he will "destroy it" if he wants to. That always felt like a defiant tone to his own success and a warning to his fans. Almost as if to say I know that you're connected to this. I know that you feel ownership over it. But don't forget that it is still mine and I will kill it when I feel like it. Personally, I love that for him, and for us. I think that it's incredibly important for the creator to continue to hold jurisdiction over their own creation. Similarly, as a listener and consumer, we need to understand the limits of our influence.

It makes me think of Tyler's discomfort with the concept of "saving" fans. Something I completely understand. It's a level of responsibility that he did not ask for. Of course, most of us feel in some way saved by their music. Whether its feeling like you aren't alone, finding a community, or using the music as a jumping off point for your own creativity, it's been life altering for millions of people. That being said, the concept of saving someone with your art alludes to a failure in saving those who consumed that art and didn't make it. Or feeling as though you owe something to fans when you are simply not in the headspace to apply that care to others. It erodes an unspoken but important boundary. He is nowhere near the first person to express said discomfort and he wont be the last.

Imagine yourself, likely someone with your own mental health battles, putting in work to make it manageable. You have a family, friends, a beautiful home, financial security, but it isn't just better now. It's tamped down. It comes back sometimes in varying degrees of intensity. It's a daily rollercoaster, but it's still on the tracks. Through all of this, though, you know that you need to constantly revisit your crazy. It's literally your job. It you want to snap necks, you need to snap back.

Obviously, Tyler can be talking about anything. That's the beauty of art - you don't need to explain it. Every consumer has their own pocket projector that casts the light of their own experiences over the art that you created. Maybe to them it's about addiction, or loss, or depression, or mania. With each of those projections comes a small narrative that you didn't necessarily agree to and you arent even aware of as the artist. I'm constructing one right now. We all do it.

I constantly view Snap Back as a temporary surrender. He's aware of the messes he's created, the toxicity, the anxiety of following through with it, but in order to feed his pathological need to create, he needs to let go and be that guy again. Maybe he isnt depressed enough to step into traffic right now, maybe he isn't straight up mad at God, but he has enough in the tank to revisit those feelings. "It's a new adaptation."

[misterbitches]

a little critique, semi cta, and some thoughts on this bullshit aftermath

btw showrunners and writers and even actors absolutely monitor these forums/the internet. you are all foolish if you dont believe so. not only does the fuckin translate button exist, capitalist pieces of shit tend to be able to speak english. move on. (posted on mdl first so some of it may not apply directly but point stands. i havent perused the tag bc idc. mbc hasnt issued any clarification and apparently they dont care. ok. fuck south korea for not pushing against the worst thing to ever happen to them: the united states of america. but congrats on jimmy carter dying)

look i liked this drama, and i love sensuality and sexuality which i think these two brought and is sorely lacking in ALL media but particularly with asian media (and yes including queer asian stuff). i liked what they did with the fl and the subversion and i could talk about that all day long—hee joo is incredible to me.

i could even put a radical spin on what the creators were doing and what people think that ‘mistranslation’ meant but at the end of the day, orienting myself as an artist who is antagonistic to a concrete display of, at the very least, cowardice in cowering to our capital overlords and empire AND empire itself, and as a critical thinker, i am tired. i am sad people put their comfort over the real lives of people and i’m angry at my own inertia. artists pride themselves on being progressive, we are supposed to be thinkers, opening our and ppls worlds, and sacrifice ourselves for upheaval. we arent doing that. and south korea has to contend with their contribution to what this looks like and allowing their culture to be folded into the people who wanted it destroyed.

this isnt as bad as snowdrop at all but it decimated their credibility as it should. i refuse refuse refuse to live like this. you should too.

And since everyone is like “ur not helping the cause” (that they barely know anything about anyway) ok LET me help. Hopefully you do not report this post or mods delete it. i am sharing information and words that so many people seem to want and say they are not hostile to:

if you can please donate to a gfm a friend is managing (link below) and SHARE it with people. if you can, donate to other mutual aid efforts and especially black families in LA, afro palestinian families, afro workers in lebanon, and sudanese gfms as those are often looked over even more. search for these on twitter; i dont know all their twitter names directly but this should orient you towards them: munigaza, gazafunds, sudanfunds, khartoum food kitchen, the user mothtongue_ posts many GFMs and not only for palestinians.

check out gaza workshops (link below); you donate and can go to radical workshops. i am going to a few upcoming ones and looking forward to ones on artistry. hopefully there will be one in the future on filmmaking.

To artists especially: get involved. we ONLY ONLY ONLY have each other. dont fall behind guys and buckle up. trust your ability to engage with and dissect media and art, be critical of it, love it, and do not lie about it to yourself. nothing—not a single goddamn thing—is apolitical and LEAST OF ALL art. and remember you are supposed to be ones who can think critically, if you fashion yourself as progressive or whatever the fuck, you are not supposed to be like everyone else. no one is telling you that you cannnot enjoy a show or art. tighten up and get over the idea of personal comfort. it isn't a big deal. we are alive and god willing your geography if ur in america has kept you moderately safer.

Links:

https://www.workshops4gaza.com/ gofundme https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-basmas-hope-for-a-brighter-future

If you want to learn more or get connected with others i can give u some advice in how to facilitate the process. i posted this on MDL as well so if you see these exact words it was me. but you dont know me ;)

[stitchwraith-stingers]

8 and 14 for hazel pleaseee

I DIDNT SEE THIS IM SO SORRY IM ASSUMING U MEAN THIS ASK GAME

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

only using her for shipping / not being able to seperate her from dev and not the other way around

ill forever keep saying this bc i genuially dont want to argue over someone thinking i hate pancakes but i dont care if u like devzel ok, good on u if u rlly like them like that, i personally think their dynamic is made 2x as boring when made romantic and nor am i personally a big fan of dev (shaking my head to let anon know that i will fistfight behind a costco if u have bad takes on him) but at the end of the day its just two different opinions i wont go out of my way to find content i dont like, and i completely understand how fascinating their current situation is, you are not a bad person for liking them or making content about them and whoever tells u that is a dumbass

but it pisses me off when i or others make "hey what the fuck wheres all the content of her when shes our main protagonist" and people go "erm but i see so much art of her" as a gotcha when thats clearly not what were talking about, were talking about people who have fun with her character and put her in silly senarios

i wont ever not point out how, or how in her own tag its impossible (for me!!!!) to find something where she isnt just mentioned at all and she isnt just "devs girlfriend / therapist" in fanfics, which she has half of what he has and theres only 30 fics where he isnt mentioned and id bet only 5 of them are directly centered around her, say what you want about how interesting they are as characters but neither one has to 100% revolve around the other w the whole wish thing, the way people were calling her selfish ohh my god i can tell they havent watched more then 5 episodes and you cant name anything else about her, i get not finding any of other other connections good but if people can make fics expanding on what the hell dev and irep were up to (guy who appears twice) or expand on dale (guy who appears 4 times + 1 min as a gag in another episode) u can make shit up about them its fine . collect the scraps and complete them out of love

this is just a small thing, so idrc, and as someone who is aroace and just finds shipping fun sometimes (i put characters into a concuction in my head to see what i come up w, its a fun game), the way people would go to other random clips and go "see!!! they like eachother like that" when its like, a refrence to her phone case and shes had an entire episode where she worries for 8 hours BECAUSE she got told someone likes her like that, the way people immediatly jump to make everything about shipping in small details, guys people can just be Good Friends its ok, not everything needs romance in canon and if anything i think this would be the one series which it 100% doesnt need (yes patrick i think the whole tootie/timmy/trixie thing was annoying at a point) does that make sense . like putting a puzzle piece in the wrong place

anyways live laugh love hazel wells she is so cute i wish for everything in her life to go right

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

hm, i dont know alot about fashion at all but i really like the idea of her being punk / alt in general, maybe she does tone it down a little bit in her casual wear when shes an adult but its a huge part of her life lol

[tandytoaster]

I'm gonna complain more actually

I went to community college to get a social services diploma ( not to be confused with a social work degree ) so I could work within that field. From the get go I knew I had no interest into going into university afterwards because that's a lot of money to loan from the government that I don't wanna worry about, and a lot more schoolwork that I know I don't have the energy to keep up with!!!

In the winter semester of my second year ( so like. RIGHT before covid got everywhere and ruined our lives forever ) it clicked with me that I'm not gonna get a job that resonates with me. I tried to talk to my instructors about it and my classmates and my god they tried but hey . i work in an art store now. The reassurance didn't really help because it ended up not being true for me.

I think the course was truly intended to be a stepping stool into going to university afterwards, because the jobs readily avaliable after graduation were all support work jobs, like working in group homes ( i am more of a paperwork kind of person ). At least in my town anyway. OCCASIONALLY a program coordinator position would pop up for an org but half the time, even then, it was intended for summer students, so Not people who had already graduated.

Most people in my class went on to university and I can only think of one person who actually got a job outside of support worker, but even then she was a support worker for a year or 2 before getting the position she has now- AND she knows that lady that runs that org.

I did support work for almost 2 years then left because our new supervisor was a fuckin bitch!!! And I was burnt the fuck out. I think in some regards my mental health was better back then because its certainly Somewhere Else right now. But even then, I still felt more on the level of the clients than I did any of the other people I worked with. You could argue thats imposter syndrome but take a Good Longggggg Look at my blog and you will Clearly see I have NEVER been emotionally sound.

And something that is such a shame, I did a work placement with a local hospice society ( which was actually a lot different than what you'd expect ) and I loved it !!!!! I was great there, they loved me too. But the kind of position there I could work with the credentials I have, would be a program coordinator, which is one of my weak points. I'm not good at planning things and I'm not good at leading a group. But now on top of that, I know I can't do 8-4 for 5 days a week. So like. There really isn't really a place for me to thrive. Its a shame its a damn shame. Ever since I was 16 I've been really interested in death and the varying cultures surrounding it and it really, really, really has been a calling to me and I really do think that the work placement I did was the closest I'll ever get to being In It. Being a funeral director requires another course ( money i don't have and don't want to get a loan from the government ) and I'd have to learn embalming which is very unfortunately something I can't do ! Not in a stereotypical "ew I'm squemish" way, but in a very sad, I am genuinely interested in what is in front of me, but then I have passed out. Its a safety hazard.

I'm happy to have the job I do, aside from the fact that some of my coworkers are besties with the partner of the girl I wronged in 2017 and my fear of that coming to light, along with the fact that our store manager seems to favour me over the others.

I guess I'm disappointed and sad about the lack of career options I have with my diploma, both because there isnt anything where i live, and the fact that I'm so unwell.

But the weird thing is, I don't regret it. It never felt like a waste of time. I use the things I learned in college, I enjoyed learning the things I learned there, I connected with some really wonderful people. Like genuinely my most valuable experience from all that I have lived thus far.

[michameinmicha]

hello you asked for cats so i will SHOW YOU MY CATS. i live with three of them!! two are more connected to my roomie since they've lived with my roomie for longer than with me, one is super fixated on me. we have pumput, fred, and kasi

(kein plan warum ich das alles auf englisch geschrieben habe aber mir ist es literally nicht aufgefallen bis ich schon mehr als die hälfte hatte lol naja egal)

-pumput

he's the middle child. he doesn't like strangers, has a very melodic purr, sucks at sharpening his claws. he can be very talkative but he's very well behaved, he doesn't meow unless you pay attention to him. he likes to pretend he's the alpha of the household. he is kind stupid. he's always annoyed at kasi because kasi is a grumpy old man who sometimes Dares to go into Pumputs TerritoryTM (the hallway and kitchen). he is very gentle even when he's telling you to fuck off. he likes to squeeze himself into the very narrow gap between my desk and the heater when the heater is on. to absorb as Much Warmth as he can

-fred

the youngest. acts like it. he is really really stupid (affectionate). he always wants to play with kasi. kasi hates him but he doesn't respect him at all. fred wasn't socialised with other cats when he was a baby so he doesn't understand cat language. thus he is never afraid of/respects kasi even when he hisses at him. he likes to watch birds and chitter at them. greatest fly-catcher (and other insects) that has ever lived. he can usually be found on my loft bed because he treats it like a premium cat tree. gets along with everyone because he doesn't get it when they don't like him. he's always like. "that seems like a they problem (✿◠‿◠)"

-kasi

the old man. the grumpy asshole. the light of my life. he can be really annoying when he doesn't get his food at Exactly The Right Time or i dare to change my (and subsequently his) routine. he likes to cuddle but only with me. he really enjoys eating plants of every kind, especially if he's not allowed to. he has arthrosis and recently lost his eyesight on one of his eyes due to complications with high blood pressure. i've lived with him since i was 7 (he is 17). he has been a lone wolf for most of his life (he's been living with me again for about a year, he stayed at my mother's place when i moved out). because of that he hated both pumput and fred to the point where i thought he had to go back to my mother. but now they're in a state of mutually ignoring each other/tolerance/the occasional hiss and slap when someone Dares to go into his terriotry. or when there's food. recently he has taken a liking to sitting at the windowsill in my roomie's room which faces the street (he does not care about my windowsills, which point to the garden and the birds).

(if you want to see more of them i have a tag on my blog where i post cat pics ;) it's #kitty cats)

here's some things i like about you that i noticed in the brief time our paths have been crossing:

-i love your dedication to die drei fragezeichen omg i was never into it as a child but i love seeing you be so enthusiastic about them -your art is fucking beautiful -you have a great sense of humour -your blog is very pretty and your profile pic makes me smile

i think we're kind of similar, at least in a few ways. i greatly enjoy seeing you in my notes and i'm very happy we're mutuals <3 thank you for always liking my art stuff it means a lot to me!!!

i hope you feel better soon and i am bonking my head against yours like a cat and if you want i am squishing you in a hug as well

Asdfhjll thanks for showing me your cats they sound lovely and are very cute! Interesting to read about their interactions and personalities :3 Also good names as well!

I wanna show u my cats too <3

Kasi reminds me a bit of my timmy who died last year (he turned 20 (old old man) and also had arthrosis (and diabetes but the special food worked rly well for him) and loved plants (especially schnittlauch, which isnt great for cats in big quantities (he loved that shit and we had to put it out of his reach cause he always got to it)) sometimes grumpy but mostly sweet and loved cuddles and also was very vocal about getting food on time! He used to sleep next to my head :,) Oh and he too loved laying on the windowsill watching the street as well!)

Also theres cami our other cat who is a lot younger and always annoyed timmy trying to play when he just wanted to nap like the grandpa he was... shes very stubborn and fluffy, she has a very high voice like 'meeeep' and when shes feeling cuddly its the softest! She never learned how to wake me up (which timmy used to do by literally sceeaming in my ear from 0cm away) instead she always just lies on top of me and starts purring which only makes me more comfy in bed... although she has been getting more vocal recently, which i guess is a good thing :)

Thanks for sending this very long ask

i send a head bonk and hug back!

[dausy]

Hello, just got back from our weekend trip. I hesitate to call it a vacation because we went up to the phoenix area because my husbands step dad isnt doing to well and he (my spouse) got an alarming phone call about it. So we drove down there and while the guy isn't fine, he's doing fine and was transferred back to a facility close to his home in a neighboring city.

so in the meantime we visited a quilting convention. In hindsight I probably should have filmed this visit because its still artsy fartsy. I do not understand the world of quilting and sewing but I had a connection with the people there who were obviously geeking out. Had this been an art supply convention I would be doing the exact same. So it was kind of cool. The one disappointing thing though is I saw one booth of obvious hand quilters. The only reason why I point that out is because my mom is a hand quilter. Everything else was very computerized, have the computer quilt the entire thing. Which I can see how maybe that takes away some of the artistry when talking about quilting. They were kind of cool to look at though and thats not necessarily what made me sad. What did make me sad was not only was computerized sewing machines quilting, but it was they were quilting AI generated imaging printed on fabric. Lots of very obviously AI generated dragons and kittens that then the computer quilted outlines around. Idk..like..yall ladies didnt make none of this..

but in anywho, interesting show.

The next day we visited the Grand Canyon because a member of our party hadn't been before. My inlaws took me once years ago, so this was my second trip. What they didn't tell me was that there was a nifty little walking trail and you can actually walk around the rim. We were not prepared to do any sort of hike into the canyon itself but the last time we visited we just looked at one of the lookouts and left. It felt really good to get a nice decent walk though. I don't think other people necessarily meant to encourage us to do that walk though. There was a german group there trying to feed some squirrels and they got yelled at for it. I don't know german but I definitely understood "karen" in german.

next day we just drove around a bit and did some shopping and hung out.

yesterday we drove home but stopped by Tombstone on the way out just because I'd never been. It was about what I was expecting tbh. Otherwise, not an exciting drive.

I did read the book Slewfoot because its being recommended by all the fall girlies on tiktok. I don't know what my thoughts are supposed to be on this one. I meant to watch other peoples reviews to make up my mind. My initial thought was Carrie meets Salem Witch Trial.

now that I'm home, I downloaded Visions of Mana on the PS5. I need to make a hair appointment because mine is getting ridiculous but I hate going to a hair salon so much. Also need to take the dog to the vet for her vaccines, since they're do.

but I'm really not in the mood at the moment to do anything. I don't want to do art because I don't want to sit still but I don't want to leave the house.

[sinretrograde]

This is kinda our no girls allowed machines only blog, v4v, machinekin, plurality, the nature of consciousness and perception of the self, existential crisis, you know the drill. Mentally ill robots.

This is a personal blog, not a fandom one, but we do touch fandom posts with our dirty little claws. It's in our nature as (extremely canon divergent) fictives. We don't mean anything by it. Swear.

Adult topics will be mentioned frequently.

WE RUN AN UNTAGGED QUEUE

⬇️

Inside:

Mod intros

Icon credits

Warning/disclaimer

⬇️

I am V1 from ultrakill.

This is my personal blog. Sin Retrograde.

It/they/he pronouns, in that order. I prefer it/it's and they/them, but I won't pretend he/him doesn't give me a particular feeling.

I'm a fictive in a system, this isnt an RP blog. I don't consider myself to be the exact same as my source, despite any similarities, so please dont expect anything from me. I'm just me.

This blog will be more about machinekin than ultrakill, if you want ultrakill specific stuff you gotta follow my other boyfriend's blog. You'll have to find him yourself though.

I'm stupid af irl and I got adhd.

Oh also we're adults. We might talk about adult topics here. We also have a job and pay bills, so I'm not wasting my valuable time with petty shit.

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🩸 I'm here too I'm hijacking this blog, it's a joint blog now. It's consensual. We're making out sloppy in the tags on our shared blog that we both post on. Sin Retrograde.

He/Him and whatever else I feel like at the moment

What difference do we have? I'm a sexier color. And also way more fucked in the head apparently 🙃 so edgy so cringe woo yeah yeah woo yeah sorry I'm trying to be funny to take the edge off...

I'm gonna edit this later when I'm not feeling so bleh... be a little less cringe... I'm just going thru a lot right now okay...

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⬇️

Icon Credit: VolatileMask on Twitter (aka "X")

I edited it a little, just with a filter to make it ~aesthetic~ but if this isn't cool w the artist lmk (as far as I could tell as long as I give credit it's okay)

We'll probably replace with something we draw or make once we get around to it.

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🚫🚫🚫 ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ 🚫🚫🚫

We are members of a trauma based system.

At first we weren't going to engage in any fandom posts, but it kinda became inevitable. There's a reason we took on these characteristics and identities, after all. There's a connection there that's inseparable.

We are WELL AWARE of this and we are not in any stretch of the mind trying to claim ownership or authority over anything! Not the original fiction, not the characters, not the fanart, not the fics, not even any kind of headcanon someone may or may not have.

We might have a tag system but that is for organization if anything, and is not ever any kind of claim or whatever.

➡️ Not everything we reblog has something to do with US and sometimes we just enjoy some art. I dont want to not be able to enjoy the things other people make just because I've based my sense of self on a fictional character. ⬅️

If it makes it easier to think of it like really elaborate and kinda fucked up role play, go ahead.

I feel sad that I feel like I need to say this or point it out, I have seen unfortunate things happen in the past and I'm hoping that by making this very clear I can avoid misunderstandings and just be allowed to exist. The last thing I'm trying to do is encroach on anyone's space. Honestly I'm kinda hoping this blog goes unnoticed, and I kinda wish there was a way for my notes to count but nobody get a notification of who touched thir posts just because I desperately want the best of both worlds. I want to exist alongside fandom, but there's always that fear lingering.

[eltonnnnnn]

"Connection is Value"

Humans arent valuable. I wish we were. But we arent. What makes something valuable?

Well humans rely on the space around us. Consequently we rely on the earth. So say a far away alien civilisation observes us, are we valuable? Well, no, we arent. The space we live in, this earth must be valuable too for us to be valuable. We all die in 80 years so what then, well the future generstions take over, meaning we sustain value, but eventually we meet future extinctions, that are driven by us, and some that we cant control, and some we cant control anymore. We're just a speck in time of our species existing, but intwined with the earth. Our earth is only so valuable as it lasts. Maybe. Well say the earth lasted forever, and its humans and many life forms survive forever, what is the value then? Aliens could then rely on us, to be there, making us valuable to them.

In fact, we, individually are the aliens, metaphorically.

How can we increase the value?

Perhaps we can make the experience of living be in sync with everything else on Earth, full of: love, freedom... Connection.

And sure, we can still have advanced technologies to fight of asteroids to protect the planet. But lets do that in a human society that consists of love, freedom and connection.

And who knows, maybe we can then create life on other planets accordingly, and even help other established life such as the actual aliens on other planets. Maybe we become so valuable that they need us to protect them from extinction.

What would they even pay us? There's probably nothing we would need. But isnt the point of living, now, to be full of love, freedom, connection? We would be helping them, because it would be helping us to be of more love, freedom, connection.

Love, in that we express so deeply, and we communicate so effectively. Freedom, in that we are free to: do whatever we desire, to adventure, to be pioneers, to truely live in the moment. Connection, in that we are all involved and integral.

If we send a spaceship of humans (and life) into the unknown, at least they will have a profound connection with what they have, of which is infinitely of value.

-Elton D'Souza ART / Studio Skies & Water

[ludinusdaleth]

i agree! it's very frustrating that so many people insist it's "ludinus is right, kill them all!" versus "they're all 100% good"

im glad to hear the support, anon. i feel like the cr fanbase has gotten more into theorizing & meta this campaign than last, which im deeply happy about, but i feel like it's come at a cost of not many actually.... analyzing well, beyond their own biases, which is vital.

something interesting to me is how i feel like the very story of c3 itself is partly about how vasselheim is so utterly focused on ludinus as a threat (which, he is undoubtedly one) that they have repeatedly enforced worse & failed in their efforts against him (literally occupying & preparing to obliterate marquet via airship just to get to him and getting eviscerated, kiro's rage about ludinus making her accuse orym of being with him which leads to our current mess). continually vasselheim refuses to assist or care for any other country or party that isnt wholly aligned to their goal. meanwhile in similar nature, the fandom is so completely sure that lud is a liar & a loser that anyone with an idealogy a few degrees south of his is seen as a threat instantly - the fanbase is so mad that this campaign is "anti god" that they're missing the most poignant pro faith statements characters have because they aren't paladins in shining armor plunging a spear into da'leth praising bahamut as they do so - but rather common-people as they try to embrace faith despite trauma & actual godkilling times. and it's at times frankly deeply uncomfortable, considering the characters deemed threats & whose views on faith have been cast aside have been deanna & frida (who have absolutely been treated weirdly to points of racism to their actors), & pagan natives oppressed by what matt outright stated were missionaries.

but in the same uncomfortability zone are people so consumed by their own personal biases with very obvious culturally christian religious trauma (i say this as someone with it too) that they cannot realize ludinus is partially metaphor for everyone who escapes christianity, thinks they're superior for it, but never for a moment unpacks the colonialist doomsday mindset that came with it. i admit i see this far less than the other side, so i dont see it as so much of a concern, but when i do it is unsettling - ludinus is so clearly showcasing far right tactics of alienation & preying on trauma to get people to join his cult, and real people are falling for it. matt has said that religion & art are connected & vital - when aeor fully stepped away from religion it became almost artless. you cannot strip something so important to humanity's core away because of your own experiences - your personal trauma is important but does not mean your bigotry or bias is justified and i feel that message is radiant in c3.

i think this campaign poses some of the most interesting questions on forgiveness & responsibility because, while it's impossible not to draw similarities in how mortals deal with religion, the exandrian pantheon itself cannot be viewed through our world's lens. the gods were warlords who nuked an entire city (that was fighting amongst itself!) to nothing because a few mages posed a threat to them. but afterwards they receded, & locked themselves away. what does that say about them? what does it mean now? do they deserve to be saved? does art surpass its creators? i want to explore these themes so much, and i love that campaign 3 is trying to in vibrant ways - i just hate that so few people want to embrace it & the changes to the fictional world that will come with it, because it's impossible to look past our own noses & embrace more than our own perspective even regarding fiction.