#its just. its like a longform art piece to me

[thescarlettdetective]

I think my favorite thing about the muppet joker blog is that even outside of the larger concept/bit the individual posts still hit phenomenally out of context

[writingwithcolor]

Author with cultural disconnect: How do I write without making it seem as if I hate my own heritage?

Anonymous asked:

I’m a white-passing Asian author, and I’ve never felt all that connected with my heritage. My current story centers on a fairy (re: fantasy-world POC) child and ends with her realizing that her parents are toxic af and her human best friend’s family takes her in. This is the perfect opportunity to sort through my own issues with my heritage and finally convince my monkey-brain that it’s okay to not know how to cook Vietnamese food or celebrate tet or speak Vietnamese… But I also realize that if I’m not careful, this could easily slip into “Hey, I hate my heritage and so should you!” So how can I stop that from happening?

Writing for yourself first, not an audience

I ask you a simple question: why put pressure on yourself to have any sort of non-offensive messaging for a story that hasn’t been drafted yet and is to convince your monkey brain it’s okay to exist as yourself?

That seems like the fastest way to stop the story from being actually cathartic and instead a performance art piece when you already feel hung up on performing as “properly” part of your culture.

As I said in Working Through Identity Issues and Other Pitfalls of Representation, not all stories you write need to be for public consumption. Especially stories you’re using for your own self-processing and therapy, because you’re trying to get a cathartic moment that is rewriting your own story.

At what point does the public need to be involved in that?

I do understand the compulsion to want to post—I have definitely posted some Questionable™ material in my drive to get validation for feeling the way I do, wanting people to witness me and say ��same.” It’s a powerful urge. Sometimes it’s worked, but most of the time it’s just made me feel horrifically exposed.

But you really do not have to post in public to get any sort of validation. Set up a groupchat with friends if you want the cheerleading and witnessing—people who will know your story and give you good-faith interpretations and won’t accuse you of anything. Honestly I’d suggest setting up this groupchat anyway; as someone who just got one again after quite a few years without it, my productivity has skyrocketed from being around supportive people.

Let the monkey brain have its monkey brain moment and shut off the concept the story is for the public. Shut off the concept of performing for an unknown audience. It’s for you. Be authentic, no matter how bad it would look to outsiders. They’re not reading it. Part of getting catharsis, sometimes, is being the worst version of yourself, somewhere nobody else can see it.

Deciding to publish the work

If, after you do write it, you find that you actually do want to polish it up and put it somewhere… edit it. Rewrite it entirely if that’s what it takes. Take the story through the same drafting process every story needs to go through, ripping out the unfortunate implications as you go.

Editing can be its own form of healing, as you try to figure out what this character would need to not be hateful. As you realize, once this longform journal entry is out of your head, what was bothering you now that you can see it pinned down on a page. But you absolutely do not need to write with the intention of editing in that healing. When I’ve tried, it’s fallen flat.

The healing will come from being yourself, no public involved, and writing about your feelings in their rawest form. Anything else is extra.

There’s no point in trying to put guard rails on the drafting process, not for a deeply personal piece. And by the time that drafting process is done, you’ll likely have specific scenarios and contexts that you can ask about, and you might even have ideas on how to fix it yourself once the story has a shape to it.

This is 100% a situation where there’s no real sense in idea workshopping something in the plotting stage. You’re doing something for you. Decide if it’s for public consumption later (while acknowledging “no” is a perfectly valid answer), and only figure out how to make the story not overtly harmful if you decide to put it out into the public.

~ Leigh

[naumin]

2024 retrospective and 2025 goals

this is the censored version of this post. for full images, check out the full free post on subscribestar!

hi :)

i'm really happy with everything i achieved in 2024. it was my first year illustrating full time, meaning no school and no salaried job on the side (believe me i tried to get one) and i'm happy to report i did not die! fuck yes. i even illustrated for 7 (i think) art books, designed merch for 2 and organised my first collab fanbook.

from top left clockwise: michael deforge, anna haifisch, Michel Esselbrügge, CLAMP, saul bass, jon whitcomb, rene gruau, paul rand, molly fairhurst

at the beginning of 2024 i made this moodboard for influences i wanted to incorporate into my work more, they are pretty much the same faves ive had for years but i just wanted to have them in front of me and start deliberately choosing elements to ape.

i'd say i basically want to incorporate more 2D cartoon graphic elements combined with detailed, realistic, delicately rendered characters, more theatric background design and props... features like borders etc. the thing about a moodboard is unless you print it out and put it up by your desk it will sort of slide to the back of your mind which is what i think happened w mine LOL. cuz looking at this now im like well i didnt really hit all these ideas but i did inch closer.

the first pic here is sth i drew immediately after making the board and i like it but it does feel like a slightly clumsy attempt at mashing stuff together... i wouldn't say that it shows i dont understand whats appealing about the work i was referencing (even though thats how it looks), its more like the picture goes in an unexpected direction while making it LOL. but that's part of the fun. whereas in my mind the 2nd pic spiritually embodies the ideas of the ppl i'm trying to copy. even tho visually it's still a ways off. its probably my favourite thing i drew all year? :) though that's hard to say bcus i'm so pleased w so many other pieces especially those u can see on my summary pic!!!

i have a few more artists i wanna add to my board and then i will definitely print it this time so i can look at it every day instead of just twice a year LOL.

another thing im really pleased about is the number of comics i drew in 2024. i have this odd relationship with comics where i do draw them and have for years and im more or less decent at them but i act like drawing them mortally wounds me. like im so dramatic... i do partially believe the only way ill ever be able to complete a longform comic is through abusing stimulants but you know ill also never find out if i keep crawling off to die after inking a page. i see a lot of illustrators suffering when approaching comics from the illustration mindset of making beautiful pictures instead of the comics mindset of making finished pictures, but u know, im extremely slapdash as an illustrator and im also proud enough to believe im a guy that can do both, so its really time i act like it... basically just shut up and draw. i want to apply this especially to perspective drawing/panel backgrounds, which im, like, fine at. honestly fine at. i do think i trip myself up because i want to be the next dostoevsky or beyonce or whatever, i want to be great, but have to remember the most anyone can do is aspire to express something from your inner world. everything else is secondary.

one thing i learned the hard way is how hard it is to have work life balance when you work from your bedroom and 'monestise your hobby'... you know, the thing everyone has been warning each other about for years. turns out its real. its super confusing when so many elements of your work bleed into your social life, physical health, leisure time etc -- like i go online for fun, and also to promote myself. so wheres the distinction? i watch movies for entertainment but also for research... ive definitely felt like ive been working around the clock or my job has consumed my life at points. but i think being stricter with my work hours is the way forward. it truly is shaytan at the wheel when u answer an email at 3AM... no more of this!

and tied into this is being realistic about what i can achieve in a day and not feeling ashamed or that i need to do more... i get stuck in this silly loop that's like... 'i believe everyone should work 4 hours a day, but because other people are stuck working 40 hours a week i should also be making myself do that' and then i work myself into a flare up and wreck my work ethic and enjoyment. u can laugh... i know it doesnt make sense. well i wont do it any more. because i CANT... because i will DIE... some days i work 4 hours. some days i work 6. some days i work half an hour... it doesnt matter as long as stuff gets done.. and it does.

also want to talk about my chronic pain and hypermobility... after a year of lifting weights i am stunned to let u know ive actually improved. unfortunately i dont look anything like the rock and i still cant do a real push up but im stronger and have more stamina and suffer from way less zaps and aches and numbness, which was unthinkable before. i only really noticed after taking a trip and doing different activities (painting walls) that i can physically do a lot more than i usually do at home. but also my house is fucking cold so its hard to do anything for anyone. hoping for warmer days and big muscles to come.

some of my other art goals are to work more on paper whenever i can. i used to have a huge stack of newsprint on my drawing board underneath my ipad and id doodle and test ideas on that paper before drawing it digitally. i wanna do that again. many people find its easier to 'think' on paper and im the same. whenever i have an idea i wanna go 'what would this look like on paper?' and then find out.

i want to be thinking about composition and storytelling more in my illustrations, as in, think cinematic, movie posters, communicating big ideas. even if that idea is only as big as 'this blue looks great with this orange'... i want to make more stuff that looks like promotional material for my stories. of course behind every movie poster is 100,000 thumbnails and sketches and half-finished ideas. i want to remember that and not be hard on myself for drawing girl in profile #997.

i want to draw more autobio comics, just to be drawing more comics and also to look back on and know what i was doing that day. nothing fancy. a lot of people are doing that gentle comics habit this year and i fear my competitive nature may get me into it too.

i have more books i wanna create which ive talked about at length in my last diary entry and for now i think that's enough goals thank you very much. thank you for reading this far and for all your support. happy new year! love you x

[knife-em0ji]

"I can't read big paragraphs/walls of text bc of ADHD/some other nd condition" I'm truly sorry about that! That sucks! But also authors who write fiction or other creative works are not obligated to cater to you! What they are doing is creating art, not content.

I agree making things largely more accessible is a good thing, and I also agree making things more spaced out might be good for online articles and such that convey specific information. It's definitely okay to have preferences based on what's comfortable to you. But it's a wild thing to ask someone to compromise their artistic vision or discard what might be their preferred stylistic choices or even just say otherwise gramatically correct longform prose is bad because "I don't like long paragraphs :^("

There are lots of post-hoc tools that make reading on screens easier that don't compromise the author's style choices. You can change fonts to something more friendly to your disability. You can change line spacing. You can change the color of the screen background. The world is truly your oyster in terms of reading on screens.

And sometimes you just may not be able to engage with a text that you might otherwise find compelling! And that's fine !!! Not liking an author's style is a completely legitimate reason to not read a work. It's not up to them to make it more palatable to you. You are simply not their target readership, I'm afraid.

Would you ask a painter to change the value or brightness of their colors because they give you a headache? No, you simply decide you dislike that particular piece of work and move on. So why do this to another creative working in a different medium. Unfortunately, art is not something we can always make completely accessible to everyone in its original, intended form. Which is why, as I've said, there are post-hoc tools to help with this.

Anyway. I have ADHD too, tf. I don't write to reach as many people as possible; I write because there's something wrong with me and I have a compulsion to do so, and I take my craft seriously! I'm always looking to improve! But also I revel in being bloviating and long-winded as much as I love snappy action. Everything you see in my work, from sentence structure to paragraph length, is a stylistic choice that I choose based on mood and the information I want to convey. There is no wrong or right way to write. Period. End of sentence. And if it doesn't jive with you, that's your perogative. If you prefer short paragraphs for whatever reason, you're completely valid. But that does not mean short paragraphs good, long paragraphs bad and vice versa.

Instead, ask yourself, does what I've created convey what I want it to in the way I want it to? Is what I'm reading having the sort of impact I think the author is hoping to impart? How would what I'm reading change how I recieve it (regarding emotions and implications for the narrative, not just whether it gives you a headache or not) had the author tweaked its method of delivery just so.

Literary style is also part of the art, not simply the means of delivering content. Fiction is not simply a movie delivered through words instead of images. It's a medium all its own. And, well, sometimes it might be uncomfortable, even physically, to read! Thinking about that big wall of text run on sentence from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. Nobody likes the sensation of reading that, because it's a bitch to read! But it only adds to the chaoticness of the imagery presented within the actual content of the text. It's the overwhelming grotesque nature of having to read that beast that adds to the overwhelming whirlwind grotesqueness of the scene.

Ugh! Anyway. Please, believe me, pushing your limits is fine sometimes. I totally get if you don't want to do that with your free online fanfictions that you read to unwind! That's perfectly understandable! But if you're serious about art and craft, unfortunately sometimes you need to go outside your comfort zone. You might have to read something over and over before you get or absorb all of it. That doesn't make you dumb. Trust me, that's part of the process.

[snugglesquiggle]

tag reference:

#mini squiggles (for shitposts) #my thoughts (for serious posts), #my writing (for prose),

#maintenance & disassembly (reblogging robot erotica), #robot stuff (reblogging robot art), #my recs (reblogging things people should check out)

the main thing i've been working on lately is Hostile Takeover, a longform murder drones fanfic about a lesbian killer robot torn between her directives and her own needs.

my most extensive work, though, is the many writing about Black Nerve, a dark fantasy setting with giant insects wield magic that dissolves life and matter, mutant bat-blood and of course esoteric fungi. there's a couple of novels and LOT of lore posts

i have a website which is probably the best place to see all of my stuff:

but to get a taste of what you can find on that site, keep reading

most people are probably following me for my murder drones stuff.

as mentioned, i write the critically acclaimed J/Uzi fic, Hostile Takeover:

it's a beyond-novel-length enemies to lovers slowburn, and distinguishes itself by pulling it all off without heavy alteration to canon characterization.

most people are probably put off by the tagged ship, but i've received numerous comments to the effect of "i never liked this ship" or "i didn't think it could be done" followed by "but you somehow pulled it off".

give it a shot!

besides that, i've read a lot of murder drones fanfic, and maintain a page on my website dedicated to indexing and reviewing fics that i'd recommend

several of the people following me are writers, who may be interested in know that i've written several essays on the craft of writing. people tend to find them pretty insightful!

i've written many stories other than Hostile Takeover. you can find them on my site; there's too many to list, but in general, i write nonhuman character near-exclusively. (my friends were only so surprised when i became obsessed with murder drones)

still, HT is my most successful work for a reason, and i'm not certain fans of that will enjoy my earlier writing; i have reservations about recommending most of them. A Chimerical Hope is still cool, i think, though its issues are undeniable

the majority of my site is dedicated its overarching setting: Black Nerve, a dark fantasy world of giant sapient insect ninjas and corrupting fungus and gruesome mutagenic blood magic. there's so much going on there that i just cant get into all of it here. not even sure where you should begin reading

lore posts like "In Dialogue With Plagues", or "Lardsuckers and (What Were) Grubsuckers" give you a taste of just how freaky the setting is, and i think "The Duality of Mantis" is a great look at the weird psychology of the dominant species. but there's so many articles i can't list them all

writing is probably what i've done the most of, but i have other skills :3

i've released four albums of electronic music on bandcamp:

and there's more!

i'm sometimes an artist, and there's gallery on my site with over three hundred pieces i've drawn over the years. i mostly draw these weird alien dudes i invented, plus a lot of praying mantises and dragons and pokemon. quality varies a lot and i'm bad about staying in practice, but here are some pieces i think turned out rather well

ok, now is that it?

well, mostly. i have some poetry that's neat, and i recently produced a game demo that's shaping up into something interesting:

but now, that's probably everything of serious note.

if you read through all of that, i love you. thank you for your time and i hope there's something here you appreciated

[goron-king-darunia]

Eggtober 19th, 2023

"Vampire Season" Pavlova with Strawberry Jam.

(Clip Studio Paint, Gouache Brush. 7 colors. 45 minutes)

Back on my bullshit with all shiny and no cast shadows and no scene. I just like SOFT egg and item in void. It speaks to me. I will learn to draw full scenes eventually. I'm getting a biiiit better at rendering complex forms but because it's all organic shapes there's a lot of wiggle room. I will learn harder stuff, eventually. But Eggtober is for fun and after drawing the Cipriani cake yesterday I was like "I liked drawing the meringue but trying to toast the edges is hard and trying to render a full scene is a challenge. I wanna do that again, but just the fun parts. At the point again where I'm having to learn and it's awkward because I just wanna goof off. When I finish more personal projects after Eggtober I might come back for Drawcember and finish some OLD AS BALLS pieces I started as a teen and use them for longform learning and subject studies. But the perk is... if I can draw a pavlova like this, it means I can draw roses too. Which means you're gonna see me painting them on random shit eventually. XD Hopefully @lady-quen's breadbugs don't get too sticky with the syrupy jam!

Big thanks to @quezify for organizing eggtober. Is it obvious that my favorite part of the egg is the yolk and that my favorite part of an egg dish is any shiny stuff I can put on it?

Speedpaint Time!

Not a 1 to 1 render. I try not to copy 100% because part of art is learning to draw what you see. But when I do that 1 to 1, I call that a study. When I make art that isn't a study, my goal is to capture but iterate. And I thought that one big drip up front looked much more dramatic by its lonesome than with the other drip. Also extra shiny. But I did take a lot of direct inspiration from this one. I like that big floppy petal-looking stripe of meringue on top and those creases at the bottom where the edges overlap and make little channels... so hopefully I rendered all the most dramatic pieces well for you all!

[fandomsoda]

Ok so let me start off by saying that this post is probably gonna be very clunky simply due to the fact that I’m addressing a two day old situation and I’m doing so without it being directly prompted,, please bear with me.

So, late Tuesday night an anon expressed concerns over the ways that I’ve brushed over the topic of aromanticism in the past, expressing that I only ever seemed to mention partnering aros and that it came off as if I was saying all of that only in service of shipping. These things of course are not things I intended, but are not unfounded claims nonetheless.

My initial response to that ask was definitely not great, I came off as very customer service-y and expressed that I felt as if it was exaggerated (simply due to the way it was phrased as “constantly”). It didn’t help that it was like 11 pm and for some reason my dumb ass didn’t actually go back and look through stuff, purely going off my notoriously bad memory.

Needless to say, this wound up coming off as dismissive and insufficient, and thus I’m making this post now as I have processed everything and want to give the proper actual respose (and in a sense, apology) that this situation is deserving of.

After going back through past posts, while definitely far from constant, I have been able to observe that whenever aromanticism was brought up I definitely had a really bad tendancy of only mentioning partnering aros and it definitely came off as scummy now that I look back at it. This was never something I consiously did, but it was shitty and potentially harmful nonetheless and should have been something I was being more aware about. I’ve already been trying to boost aromantic voices lately since the Valentine season’s been around, but doing that and centering non-partnering aros especially is going to be top priority from here on out.

Now let me real quick circle back around and address the shipping bit, as that’s like its whole own thing-

Now I definitely stand by the fact that I was never only talking about stuff in service of a ship, at least not consiously, but the topic often came up in reference to or alongside shipping and thus I acknowledge that that extrapolation is not at all a difficult one to make. And the fact that I even acted in a way that resembled that is not good.

And discussions with my friends have brought to my attention that I have not been making a number of things nearly clear enough and that whole mess is entirely on me so let’s get some things straight-

First of all, due to the more fluid attitude I’ve seen a lot of people have towards it, I never realized just how strictly romantic most people view shipping. Maybe I’m just a little bit dense but for the longest time, the term “ship” being used in a more platonic sense seemed more common than it actually is. And for the longest time, I’ve viewed shipping simply as “I think these characters have a nice dynamic and that they should be affectionate with one another”. But it has been a violent wakeup call recently that that is far from the most common thought process.

And in this I’ve come to realize that I’ve not been clarifying or establishing the fact that most if not all my ships are queerplatonic in some fashion because romance is a concept I’ve never fully grasped (not gonna go too deep into that here though, my weird perception of relationships is a topic for another day-). And things involving aro characters have especially always been queerplatonic in my mind.

I have not been nearly as clear enough about that as I should be and have failed to mention or establish that as much as I should. So from here on out, im going to be much more clear about that to avoid future misunderstanding or sending the wrong message.

It should also probably be noted that it’s very hard to convey these things given the type of art I do. I don’t properly write nor do longform comics, so it’s much harder to convey the internal complexities of things in the simple individual pieces my art often is.

Characters are also often left unpaired and single in my mind, but once again these types of things are hard to convey visually and the bonds between characters usually inspire art more often.

So most of this has just been a matter of “it’s all been up in my head but my ability to convey it or actually make content of it has been extremely lacking”. And again, in a sense, that’s on me.

Overall I know my handling of this situation has been incredibly scuffed from an outside view, for a lot of this I’ve been just very confused and all over the place so the few things I have said have been poorly summarized and basically just me completely tripping over myself. I’ve been processing things and getting things in order privately though, as you can probably tell. And in that I have come to the conclusion that I must take accountability for my actions as it is truly the only correct course of action here. I’m sorry to those this whole mess has upset, I hope this post is enough to explain everything.

I’m not super certain how to end this off but that’s about it, please let me know of any futher concerns. I’m genuinely sorry for all this mess.

[kikicandoit]

Hi! I'm Kiki!

Hello and welcome to my little corner of the Internet! ^-^

My name is Kiki, pronouns she/her, and I’m a writer and illustrator currently based in Canada. I usually write longform original fiction, though I’ve also dabbled in gaming journalism—you may have heard some of the scripts I’ve written for YouTube channels like Did You Know Gaming and TripleJump! I also write and illustrate comics in addition to character illustrations and commissioned works (commission info can be found here!).

As for media, I love movies, video games, and books! I usually prefer things within the “genre fiction” label: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, et cetera. I’m not usually great at keeping up with current things, but I always love discovering a new favorite among older titles.  I like monster movies (especially black and white ones!) and curling up under a blanket with a good mystery novel. When it comes to games, I typically like RPGs, fighting games, and adventure games the most.

Before I go any further, here’s some ground rules for my blog:

Transphobia of any kind will not be tolerated.

I don’t post NSFW content on this blog.

Potentially triggering content will be tagged “tw [label].” If I post something without an appropriate warning, please reach out and let me know.

As you’ll soon find out, I’m someone who likes having my fingers in a lot of pies (even when I really shouldn’t @_@) so I’m often dabbling in little projects on the side, or experimenting with new creative mediums to tell stories in, or bingeing a new series.

Here's a breakdown of some things I commonly post about!

My WIPs:

#Corpse Worm: My first original webcomic, a horror-comedy action adventure about monsters engaging in shonen-style battles with unique powers; think Courage the Cowardly Dog meets One Piece. Current status: permanent hiatus, though I’m working on writing a synopsis of the unfinished story to give some closure. You can read it all here.

#The Witching Hours Are 9 to 5: My current webcomic, an urban fantasy buddy comedy about a brother-sister duo of paranormal investigators that combines action with chaotic sibling energy. I started it as a warm-up project, just making something for the sake of making it without stressing about the quality too much, so the art is a bit slapdash but I’m proud of it all the same. Current status: active, updated whenever I feel like it. You can read it on its own website here or on Webtoon here.

#Scarlet Canticle: My primary long-form writing project, a (planned) series of dark fantasy novellas with a gritty, pulpy style to them. I wanted to write something in the vein of Conan the Barbarian but with less…baggage. And more buff women. Current status: actively being worked on!

#Swole Hearts: A visual novel dating sim I'm currently developing in Ren'Py. It's a silly and lighthearted game where you can meet and date buff women. You can play the demo here.

#Ginormous: Another comic project that I’ve done some early work on but not yet committed to full-time. It’s a battle series about people who summon kaiju doing battle with other kaiju. It’s a project where I channel a lot of my love for monster movies. Current status: inactive, but you can read an “episode zero” on Webtoon here.

#Mascara: A comic project I hope to do someday. It’s an action drama about female pro wrestlers (in a setting where wrestling is a legitimate contest). Current status: not even started, I just love drawing the characters I have in mind for it.

#Lonesome Stars: A sci-fi writing project I dabble in on the side about a ragtag group of voyagers in a universe without planets. No real end goal in sight for this one, it’s just for funsies at the moment. Current status: worked on intermittently.

#Cloud Sea: A fantasy setting I created, originally for a book I wanted to write but now it bounces around from project to project—sometimes it’s a novel, sometimes it’s an RPG Maker game, sometimes it’s a homebrew tabletop system. It’s focused on swashbuckling fantasy in an early-industrial world of sky islands and dwindling magic. Current status: worked on when I feel like it.

#Heinous Highness: My first attempt at making a video game, a turn-based RPG where you play as an evil sorceress tired of having her plans for world domination thwarted. Current status: inactive, but I like the characters.

Fandom Tags:

Fandoms that I frequently like to post/reblog about include, but are not limited to:

#Godzilla: My favorite movie series of all time!!! This tag is mostly about Godzilla and related topics specifically, but I also use to include posts about other kaiju as well.

#Ace Attorney: Guilty as charged! I’m a big fan of the Phoenix Wright games!

#Wrestling: Yup, I’m also a filthy mark who loves to watch the graps. It’s still real to me, dammit!

#Jojo: I’m not a huge anime fan normally, but I do love Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

#Darkstalkers: I love fighting games of all kinds, but Darkstalkers holds a special place in my heart. It’ll get a new installment…someday… ;-;

#Tales of Stuff: In addition to fighting games, I also love RPGs, and the Tales series is one of my favorite franchises! I talk about the entire series, but Tales of the Abyss is by far my favorite.

#Castlevania: Another one of my favorite video game series. I’m a fan of the whole kit and kaboodle, though I’ll generally talk about the games more than the animated series.

#Discworld: My favorite series of fantasy novels, and one that continues to inspire me as a writer. GNU Sir Terry.

Miscellaneous Tags:

#Kiki Can Do Art: The tag I put on all of my own original art.

#Kiki Can Do Writing: The tag I use when posting or discussing something I wrote.

#Kiki Can Do Comics: Likewise, I use this tag when posting about my own comics.

#Kiki Can Do Commissions: Usually seen in conjunction with “Kiki Can Do Art,” this tag goes on anything I was commissioned to make for a client.

#Kiki Can Do Journaling: For general bloggery and posting about my life.

#Friend Art: A tag used when reblogging art made by people who are close friends of mine. <3

#Friend Tags: A tag I use for posts that I was tagged in by a friend. It is always morally correct to tag me in things you think I’ll like.

#Fav: A tag I slap on any reblog of something that I find particularly funny or interesting.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog! I hope you like what you see!

Find me elsewhere on the web: My Website | Twitter | Instagram | Bluesky | Ko-fi | Patreon

[burlveneer-music]

Lonnie Holley - Oh Me Oh My - part secular gospel, part spoken-word memoir, with musical backing that sounds like a collaboration between Daniel Lanois and Bill Laswell (but is actually produced by Jacknife Lee)

Some years ago, there was a magazine piece wherein the writer meditated on the concept of the “Cosmic Southerner”: the late Pharoah Sanders, André 3000 and Col. Bruce Hampton (on whom the piece was ultimately focused) were all mentioned. Somehow, Alabama-born, Atlanta-based self-taught artist Lonnie Holley was left out of the piece. But Holley, 72, has improvised — nay, conjured! — ecstatic, baffling and heavy moments that can often only be described as “cosmic.” In a mere two lines of a song, Holley can zoom in on the pores of one’s skin and pull back to encompass the whole of the Milky Way. All that said, Holley’s music and visual art (for which he has shown at The Met, The Smithsonian and is represented by the illustrious Blum & Poe) is much more about our place in the cosmos than the cosmos itself. It’s about how we overcome adversity and tremendous pain; about how we develop and maintain an affection for our fellow travelers; about how we stop wishing for some “beyond” and start caring for the one rock we have. Holley has never delivered this message as clear, as concise and as exhilaratingly as he does on his new album ‘Oh Me Oh My.’ ‘Oh Me Oh My’ is both elegant and ferocious, sharpening the work contained on his 2018 Jagjaguwar debut ‘MITH’. It is stirring in one moment and a balm the next. It details histories both global and personal. Holley’s harrowing youth and young manhood in the Jim Crow South are well-told at this point — his sale into a different home as a child for just a bottle of whiskey; his abuse at the infamous Mount Meigs correctional facility for boys; the destruction of his art environment by the Birmingham airport expansion. But, as mentioned, Holley’s music is less a performance of pain endured and more a display of perseverance, of relentless hope, of Thumbs Up For Mother Universe. Intricately and lovingly produced by LA’s Jacknife Lee (The Cure, REM, Modest Mouse), ‘Oh Me Oh My’ features both kinetic, shortwave funk that calls to mind Brian Eno’s ‘My Life in the Bush of Ghosts’ and the deep space satellite sounds of Eno’s ambient works. There are also elements of Laurie Anderson’s meditations, elements of Gil Scott-Heron’s profound longform soul, elements of John Lurie’s grabbag jazz, and yes, elements of Sun Ra’s bold afrofuturism. But ‘Oh Me Oh My’ is a triumphant sonic achievement of its own. Acclaimed collaborators like Michael Stipe (“Oh Me, Oh My”), Sharon Van Etten (“None of Us Will Have But a Little While”), Moor Mother (“I Am Part of the Wonder,” “Earth Will Be There”), Justin Vernon of Bon Iver (“Kindness Will Follow Your Tears”) and Rokia Koné (“If We Get Lost They Will Find Us”) serve as choirs of angels and co-pilots, giving Lonnie’s message flight, and reaffirming him as a galvanizing, iconoclastic force across the music community. Holley reflects, “My art and my music are always closely tied to what is happening around me, and the last few years have given me a lot to thoughtsmith about. When I listen back to these songs I can feel the times we were living through. I’m deeply appreciative of the collaborators, especially Jacknife, who helped the songs take shape and really inspired me to dig deeper within myself.” ‘Oh Me Oh My’ is also an achievement in the refinement of Holley’s impressionistic, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. During each session, Holley and Lee would discuss the essence of the songs and distill Holley’s words to their most immediate center. On the title track, which deals with mutual human understanding, Holley is as profound as ever in far fewer phrases: “The deeper we go, the more chances there are, for us to understand the oh-me’s and understand the oh-my’s.”  Produced and mixed by Jacknife Lee

[glassesblu]

For the artist asks: 16, 17, and 23! Your work is an inspiration to my own art, so im interested in these 3 answers especially! (It's @emmettings btw!)

Hi @emmettings ! Good to see you around, and thank you for the ask! Hope to see your art in the tags as well :)

Artist Asks

16. What’s the most daunting part of your process? Ex, planning, sketching, lineart, rendering etc

Hm I'm pretty fond of most of the process, but lets say we talk about lineless work, just starting out the color blocks is such a tedious thing. I need to get the shapes right, I need to get the colors properly contrasted, my coloring process takes a long time - its just a bit exhausting because the finish line is seemingly beyond the horizon. And to note - that its partially a "trust the process" sort of deal. I see it during its ugly phase and despair. And when I'm done it's really nice amd I have a really big ego about it. Otherwise, here's my process for Lineless - traditional thumbnail - taking the sketch to digital,and resketching it with proper proportions and the like - fixing up the sketch so that all the shapes are better defined - palettes study - lineless execution - color editing - effects

17. What inspires you?

I reblog a lot of art, and I like to study how they were executed. I enjoy a lot of other art forms as well like paintings, sculpture, packaging design and the like. I also enjoy composition of art, and a nicely composed piece looks so fantastic to me. I also find stories and characters very inspiring to me. I love exploring how a character interacts with others and the world. I like audiobooks, story podcasts (tho its been a while), cartoons, shows, and games. The stories and art of such media really get me going (brain excited) I'm kind of a bad media consumer cause either I'm tired or I'm drawing.

23. Do you listen to music or watch shows while you work? If so, what’s your favourite?

I do like audio noise. I like music, I make playlists for ships, Or just playlists for vibes. I also like to listen to long video essays and audiobooks. (The Murderbot Diaries is a fantastic series that I listened as an Audiobook). I prefer longform videos, like video games analysis. I need noise for my brain while I go on automatic mode when I draw. When I think though I need to hear myself think, and turn off sounds.

[llycaons]

palm tree + sage !!

hi dolly!

palm tree ⇢ do you have a fictional villain you shouldn’t like but love regardless?

let's see *checks my database of media real quick* eh the only character I can think of is xue yang, just because he's so unhinged. whx is a real treat to watch, and his scenes were just fantastic. he manages to be fun and amusing despite the truly horrific things he did. and if his performances wasn't enough, the sheer power of wearing cheetah-print robes in a wuxia setting sealed the deal. 10/10 presentation but I AM glad he's dead

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

oh, I love this question! when I was an edgy high schooler I used to joke that I hated art 😭 this was foolish and short-sighted obviously, I just meant that I don't really care for the types of paintings I would see in museums. obviously I appreciate visual arts like illustration and painting now for its aesthetic and the talent that goes into it, but I can't say it really touches me emotionally. same for most songs, poetry, music....I like sculptures more than most things, but still only in a way where I think it's cool and exciting and not in a way hat I feel like, the deeper meaning of what the artist is trying to say.

my most beloved, most meaningful, and most emotional connections to art has always primarily been through storytelling, whether through animation, comics, movies, tv shows...especially longform works where I can follow a character's trajectory and watch their development. I've seen some very condescending posts about people who treat fictional characters like real people who we like personally and who we believe deserve things, and maybe that means that I'm engaging with stories on a more juvenile level than the other people Consuming Art on here, but that's what fun about it, for me. so I don't really mind? yeah it's cool to step back and see something deeper and keep that distance and objectivity but a lot of the times I like rooting for my little guys and sharing their losses and their joys.

the creation of fictional lives and people gives me that emotional connection to really feel a piece of art. I've certainly never cried at any painting or piece of classical music no matter how beautiful it may be...I just find stories about people to be the richest, most rewarding, most endlessly fascinating type of art to be invested in. from the moment my librarian introduced me to fiction to get me to read something besides animal care booklets, to my current fascination with all the worst fanfic the internet has to offer, I just have the most to say about storytelling, and my engagement in it feels the most rewarding.

as for why....idk. I'm well aware this is the majority of how people interact with fiction on here, so my reasons are probably similar to lots of other people's. I've always struggled to communicate with others, so through fiction I feel like I'm getting that sense of connection, whether I'm discovering how other people perceive the world, or seeing myself in someone else's writing. there's also the escapist appeal, but I don't think I've watched this stuff for escapism in a long time. I just like to feel connected to other people, I guess, and I find that writing and tv and other forms of linear storytelling can deliver the types of character development and engaging plot that I find very rewarding. and sometimes I just want to watch or read something that makes me stand up and walk around like

and storytelling (manga in particular - I love you yu yu hakusho) has been the only form of art to give me that

what a fun question. thank you!

[tumblebagel]

Hey look! It Me!

Uh, hi!... This is my blog. I started this up because my friends got tired of hearing me rant for hours about my hyperfixations, so now I can get them out of my system here. Score.

My grand plan is to eventually make longform content on YouTube, Ala HBomberguy video essays with a little more love-letter sprinkled in. That by no means invalidates this blog, though, because this place is where I'm going to post WAY more shit. Random thoughts, practice sketches, rants that don't make sense as videos, et cetera.

I'm not sure anybody will actually CARE about that kinda content. Fuck, I'm not even sure anyone will care about the stuff I wanna post to YT. But this is just as much for me as it is for any potential viewers. Sometimes you have thoughts that you just gotta get out of your head and into the open, you know? And maybe for the early days that "into the open" might mean "into the void" but I'm alright with that.

I don't need people to care, I just need to have said my piece. 'Try your best and accept the outcome', you know?

Alright, maybe that's a little too philosophical for one post. I think it's about time I introduced myself.

Howdy! My name is TumbleBagel. You can find me on Youtube as Everything Bagel Animations. And you can find me on Among Us as Space Bagel. Really Bagels are just my whole thing. TBH, I don't actually know how that started, but I've taken it in stride to represent "variety content".

Everything Bagel == Everything Blog

I am trans. My pronouns are She/They. I've been on HRT for... just under 3 months now. I surround myself with grays and blues but secretly my favorite color is Red. I know American Sign Language. I'm not completely *fluent* since I only took up to ASL II in college for my foreign language credit, but I know enough to hold a conversation.

(Side note: Even if you have no need for ASL in your life, LEARN THE ASL ALPHABET. It's so fucking useful. If you need to communicate silently, or across a loud and busy room, or have your mouth full. It's just generally such a good utility. If you're feeling especially adventurous, you can also learn to count to 10 on one hand, which is also quite useful!)

My two favorite games are Undertale, and The Outer Wilds, but for completely different reasons. I can't choose either to be my favorite game because they're simply not comparable.

I'm a deep-fandom, long time Undertale fan, and you can easily recognize me by the heart locket that I always wear from the Collector's Edition of the game.

I also wear a rather recognizable dark-grey hoodie everywhere I go. It's glued to my body. This has proven especially uncomfortable given that I live in Florida, where the sun is so close that tourists are sometimes picked up and eaten by its gravitational pull.

I prefer coffee over tea, but my opinions on tea have softened over time.

I like to swear. My favorite is "Son of a Motherfuck" because it makes no sense :3

I like retro lofi stuff, but also magic and catgirls. I have a bad habit of including coffee shops in my medival D&D campaigns. I may also reference mature themes in my content, so view at your own discretion.

I'm currently going to school to become a Librarian, at which point I will fuck off to a small town in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Northwest, working the tiny local library by day, and drawing for my blog & channel in my free time. I had originally gone to school for art, but came to the conclusion that I want to draw art for MYSELF, not by anyone else is standards, and not under the pressure of making a living.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand I think that's everything.

I'm excited. Whole new world of opportunities. Now if I could just find my motherfuCKING TABLET PEN-!

[misqnon]

nhello monti! it is March Again :v i feel like it's super obvious who i am so thank u for humoring me and using the name i gave u LOL.

my bad, ive never really celebrated april fools so i forgot it.. was... that day. im also glad u checked ur inbox. also theres no pressure to reply in a certain time frame!! i see ur posts that u have seen my asks and thats enough to put me at ease. so . take ur time!

fellow zoro fan!!!! i have a hard time choosing a favorite straw hat tbh.. they r all so special to me. i do probably like brook and franky just slightly more though. old men my beloved (tbh franky isnt that old but hes old compared to the younger members so). wano is the arc of buff men!! as a man liker... it pleases me.

the edit u sent Is So Good. thank u for sharing. i keep seeing sanji tiktoks and wanting to send them to u but i dont wanna spam ur inbox </3 my messages r already So Long..

ive listened to a bit of the dub (through clips) and tbh i do like it!! i like brook's voice acting a lot (hes who ive heard the most of. also he nails the laugh, which is very important to me) but luffys voice is so jarring to me i just cannot.. get past it. i think im just too used to the sub luffy after . a decade . of hearing him sound like that. plus i usually have to use subtitles anyways cuz i have an audio processing disorder so. sub is just what i default to. but yeah definitely valid to watch dub instead!! they do a great job from what ive seen :)

i have seen a bit of extra content involving the live action cast and tbh usopps actor.. is my favorite. he nails usopp. hes real life usopp. and i love usopp a lot so,,. tbh i might just pirate it (ahaha.... pirate.... pirate.... pirate the pirate show .......) because i really want to watch it!!

YEAH u have plenty of time!! plus i imagine there will be a part of the story where they go back and visit places they said they would return to (like u mentioned laboon). so 2 more islands plus however long it takes to revisit everything! no need to stress

stay strong 🫡 egghead will be so much better going in blind!

catholic guilt about liking sanji is ... i get it. thats funny /lh. i also feel intense guilt for the weirdest and simplest of things LMAO. im glad i didnt make u feel bad about it!!

YEAHH FELLOW DOFFY LOVER!! ive seen a few videos by melonteee and theyre super good. i would watch more but.. ironically (considering i got 800 episodes through one piece..) i cant watch a lot of longform content because i space out so bad. it takes a lot of effort for me to give my full attention and it gets pretty exhausting so i dont do it often. ur art of him is lovely!!! tongue piercings..... 😳.

i got to like .. stardust crusaders. in jjba. and i imagine i just havent seen enough of dio to feel attached to him like i do doffy, but i have seen a few people say they feel the same!!! ive kinda been wanting to go back to it but i just hate old man joseph joestar with such a passion.... i get too angry when hes on screen LOL. its way worse than how i feel abt sanji bc i dont simmer with intense RAGE every time sanji's on screen and i have a lot more positive feelings towards him. that was a bit of a tangent, whoops.

thabk u for validating my sanji hatred. actually i have come to enjoy a lot of sanji content recently though, and i dont think i hate him as much?? as i did?? i will credit this to u. idk if me just talking about it with another human being helped or if its because i see how much u love him but. i think this is good for me!! less rage .. is always good for me. watch me go back to hating him with a passion again now that ive said im fond of him. because im That Inconsistent 😭😭 (i hope this doesnt happen)

it was only super recently where i realized its not inherently a bad thing to like problematic media. to be fair tho there are definitely a lot more problematic fans when u enjoy problematic media, and i see it with one piece a lot. there is a WEIRD amount of transphobes in this community and i cant help but feel like part of that is because of oda's writing spreading some common transphobic ideas. i think hes redeemed himself a lot with the most recent trans characters, and i adore them, but the damage.. is done. but yeah im sure another big part of why theres so much negativity is just because one piece is insanely popular. the bigger the fandom, the bigger the shitty part of it is.

THEY *HAVE* EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE REAL PEOPLE.. UR SO RIGHT. i love that u can see their morals so clearly in like. every action . or inaction. they take. ughh. people talk about luffy falling asleep during people's backstory and say hes rude for it. and its like!! thats a core part of his character!!! he doesn't care about what happened in the past!! he just cares about how you are NOW. tbh though i WOULD be offended if he fell asleep while i was traumadumping LOL. like as a character decision its genius, but as a person .. i am too sensitive for that. BUT IT SHOWS HIS CHARACTER SO WELL!!

IM SO GLAD U NOTICED AUJFH. that moment is so special. u ARE my favorite sanji lover!! my favorite character?? honestly its law... hes so stupid (/pos)... but like.. its hidden behind a very serious mask. i just love people who are extremely silly. and someone who hides their silliness with all their might (and fails) makes them more silly. some of my favorite law moments are in wano and i Really .. ugh. i wish i could tell u but i refuse to spoil even the most minor of things!! so i will wait till u get there. also his backstory just Kills me. it . it hurts. i love tragic characters. looks at choso from jjk. i have a type .

law may be my ultra favorite but i have .. at least 30 different Favorites. including the straw hats. and tbh everyones at about the same level.. in terms of how much i love them. i think its safe to say i adore one piece characters. its because everyone is silly!!! i can list all the ones im aware of (since there r so many op characters.. i have. a list . but i keep adding to it.) if ur curious LOL. if not, no worries :)

YEAHHH ZOROOO MY LOVE!! thank u for The Food. yum. his one eye is very pretty in ur style 🥺. i havent tried to draw him yet tbh but i understand the struggle!! i tried drawing choso a while ago and his hair is so insanely painful.. art is hard.

hello march!!

is. is it super obvious

i have a guess but i wasn’t feeling super confident about it or anything JSAHBZJVHFD

More below ↓

i actually had like no idea until i received a reply earlier and now im wondering if ur possibly a recent mutual of mine 🔍🧐 maybe starting…with @ a….but i will not make u answer if u dont wanna HAHAHA

i will humor u as long as u want 👍

good to know there’s no pressure!! as soon as i get a message i like to reply as soon as i can but thats bc i get excited lmao. however this does make me feel more at peace

YEAA FELLOW ZORO FAN!! originally my favs were just the top 3 of 1. sanji 2. robin and 3. franky but as we got past water 7 and franky didnt get much more development spotlight he fell a bit just bc i dont get to see him doing much :( still love him though. bc of Shipping Reasons (embarrassing) Zoro got on my radar more and i started to appreciate him as a character more and more. plus he’s just. really badass im ngl. and in addition to that he is. so fucking stupid and uncool and goofy at the same time and that just makes him more likable. so now i just have a quartet of favs cause zoro wormed his way in there somewhere and i hold him dear to my heart. (plus im so bad with directions it is QUITE LITERALLY almost as bad as zoro and so i. genuinely relate to him on that LMAO) but i agree !! i LOVE ALL THE STRAWHATS VERY MUCH. I CANT EVEN CHOOSE A LEAST FAVORITE BC I LOVE ALL OF THEM A LOT. also god yes we fucking love an old guy in this household. and i LOOOVE FUURANKIIIII my silly king!! franky is fairly young but early on in the story when its just a bunch of teenagers and 20 somethings and then 34 year old franky is there its. kinda funny and i love that for him. also speaking of old men i called dofuwani old man yaoi once and someone called me out saying 41 and 46 was not old enough 😔 /ashamed. sorry yall lemme pull out some slash of rayleigh and crocus real quick-

aside from the strawhats my other favs are doffy, crocodile, corazon…god there’s so many characters now that i think about it lmao. secondarily i also like bartolomeo, kizaru, kid, bon clay…i have huge crush on katakuri even tho i havent met him yet…im sure there will be more as i continue and meet more

omg im so flattered u consider sending me sanji tiktoks sjnkjcnd!??! someday. someday u have to do this for me. i will send u more funny edits and op posts

BROOK’S DUB VOICE IS GOD TEIR. ARE U TALKING ABOUT/ HAVE YOU SEEN THIS VIDEO. IAN SINCLAIR IS AMAZING LAMNDKJFN

i got used to luffys dub voice bc i watched it first but ive always been meh/neutral dislike towards it and once i heard mayumi tanaka in sub i was like damn. its the only voice i dont like but hes the Main Character. his sub voice also makes me like luffy more as a character mvkjdnvf dub just makes him sound more like a selfish weird boy instead of a silly selfish little guy. you feel me (and no i feel u even with dub i have captions on bc. yeah </3)

taz inaki and jacob are a trio of mischievousness and silliness that i adore. emily is also fun and goofy but on a more ~ refined ~ scale. and mackenyu is so professional to them all in comparison but it makes it hilarious tbh. i follow all of the main 5 on instagram and love seeing them post about it. the recent april fools video starring jacob (usopp) was. hilarious. like what is

(and yes…pirate it….do it….yohohoho or whatever nami would be proud)

i am so ready for wano and egghead i will stay strong for u march 🫡 must avoid spoilers…and still take my time to enjoy the story..

i understand not being able to do longform content lmao. i did watch their 3 hr stream comp of one piece odyssey but like…i had it on in the bg while doing other things. im glad uve seen their stuff tho!! its one of my fav one piece content channels. im glad u liked my doffy 🥹i embellished a Little bit but his piercings are actually from this colorspread !!

i was insane and in highschool when i was into jjba. a lot of it was also during the summers and i had a lot of free time so i. read all the way up through part 7 after watching parts 1-3 (or 4? cant remember). im not as into it anymore but jojos (and araki) still hold a place in my heart <3 HATING OLD MAN JOSEPH IS SO FUNNY KDSNFVK NO OFFENSE JUST LIKE. YEAH. U SHOULD HATE HIM. THATS A VALID RESPONSE AND HE DESERVES IT. KICK HIS CHEATING OLD ASS. i loved younger joseph and like a lot of ppl him cheating on suzie q pissed me da fuck off. but in pt 4 he’s frail and old and they make u feel bad but still. i KNow What You Did. appreciative u hate someone more than sanji tho like hell yea my boy aint at the bottom LMAO. its cool others have noticed the similarities between dio and doffy too! i always wonder if long running mangaka take insp from each other sometimes

omg…im converting u…my influence as the fav sanji lover /j. but that makes me happy!! hell yea we’re changing outlooks over here. i validate ur sanji hatred but i also wont be mad if u like him a little teehee. his fanon is. a lot better than his canon tho so. that helps. we are fixing him. taking him away from oda and dressing him up like a doll . and if u go back to hating him thats ok too at least he isnt old man joseph 

i only interact w one piece here on tumblr or in the 2 op discord servers i happen to be in. with it being so mainstream (and i have. never been in a mainstream popular fandom like this before) i know theres a ton of gross dudebros who like it so i try to avoid that. sucks to hear there’s a bunch of transphobia but im not surprised :/ i still do see yamato discourse and its like got damn how much convincing do u need yall. but no i agree it probably is the audience oda cultivated + his earlier portrayals…though i do really like that he. tried again and did better. though even with yamato i sometimes feel like he puts him in situations that go against canon (like why did he draw yamato as a geisha and include him in the womens day colorspread…oda why) but alas. give and take

YES THERE;S SO MANY CHARACTERS WHO HAVE INSTANCES LIKIE THAT!! SO MANY MORALS AND CONVICTIONS THEY STICK TO AND SO MANY STRONG CHARACTER TRAITS. thats why i find so many op characters easy to write, bc they’re outlined so heavily in the show in what their archetypes and ideals and behaviors are…it kinda bothers me that luffy falls asleep during moments like that too bc it would make ME upset but like. YEA THATS IN CHARACTER FOR HIM DFKNFV

AH A LAW LOVER!! he’s very popular !?!? i know he comes in again in wano but during punk hazard and dressrosa i was like is this enough screentime for how popular he is omg. i guess he’s just pathetic and sad and grungy punk emo boy . tbh if i didnt already have so many favs who fill that spot i would probably have him as a fav as well. but i do REALLY LIKE law. his backstory with cora….fucks me UP!! and he’s been through a lot and come out stronger. plus his juxtaposition and interactions with luffy and the strawhats is so fucking funny kcncd. the op server im in has PLENTY of law lovers so i see him often. i think i stole this from a tumblr post recently but i saw this and saved it to my phone bc i loved it so much

i relate to him here. he is so me. this was me dyking it up at university fr

ik this is from one piece party but i think it shows his secret silly here. he got it from cora i think how could he not. but he hides it under that I Am A Serious And Scary Doctor . like sure trafalgar 

YES send me the full list!! in return i will list more favs as well. mayhaps a tierlist of some kind. we will see

glad u liked the zoros :^) idk anything about jjk but i will look up this choso man one moment. [...] okay i actually really like his design (and hair) but that looks like hell to draw i wish u the best </3 i have a degree in art and ummm its still really hard sorry to tell u it does not get better </3 [JOKING THATS A JOKE A JOKE CJNCD]

here’s a question to leave u off with: what do you think each of the strawhats eye colors is? since most of them are just drawn with black dots. and IF DIFFERENT what are your headcanons/what do you Wish they were 👁️ eagerly awaiting ur response bc i have Opinions on this

talk to u next time!

[cinemacentral666]

The House That Jack Built (2018)

Movie #1,082 • Ranking Lars von Trier #10

For the sake of changing shit up, I decided to watch the Lars von Trier filmography out of order. I formulated the order somewhat randomly, keeping the trilogies intact but otherwise jumping from era to era. Having completed his most recent work, 2018's The House That Jack Built, I can definitively say that this was a terrible idea.

[Ed. Note: In fact, it was such a bad idea that I quickly reverted to a mostly chronological viewing schedule.]

For starters, similarly to Peter Greenaway's later work, the director specifically references his own earlier work in this, inserting actual clips of films I've yet to see in the middle of the chaos. This is self-indulgence in its purest form and I am here for it, but damn if I could do it over again.

That being said, just as the enigmatic UK post-punk combo The Fall were famously described by DJ John Peel, I already feel you could ascribe the saying "always different, always the same" to Mr. Sunshine Lars von Trier as well. There are seemingly no parallels to his earlier work–aside from his devotion to utterly bleak and unending human pain — until, that is, you start seeing them everywhere: the handheld camerawork, his stark and repetitive use of non-diegetic pop music, period pieces that somehow feel like they don't belong to any timeframe, and so on and so on...

The House That Jack Built is actually the third major motion picture to have that title, The House That Jack Built. The first, a short silent drama film from England in the year 1900 clocking in at 54 seconds long, and the second, an 8-minute Canadian animated movie, are both direct adaptations of the nursery rhyme "This Is the House That Jack Built." The House That Jack Built (2018), if you can believe it, is not.

This is a 2.5-hour film about a serial killer played by Matt Dylan recounting his crimes to Roman poet Virgil as he descends the layers of hell. It's absurd by design but what's even more audacious are the sheer amount of themes LVT attempts to hit on here. Art, life, gender, death, just to name a few. Every pathway isn't a winner, but damn I kind of loved this for the effort alone. For as barebones as Dogma 95 attempted to be, the bulk of his career has been full-on maximalism. I've yet to feel bored watching any of his films.

From the opening of the New York Times feature piece, "Is Lars von Trier Trolling Us?"...

Near the end of my interview with Lars von Trier, I asked if he was trolling women in his latest, “The House That Jack Built.” He said he didn’t know what trolling meant, so I explained, even as I wondered if he was feigning ignorance and actually trolling me.

As if you couldn't take a man who looks like this at face value?!

This question is certainly related to the thread in The House That Jack Built about how only men are the ones who are born guilty. And it is 100% a troll move. The troll is that he's baiting people into wanting to think that this is also, somehow, an idealization of that sentiment. But I don't know how you could watch this and actually think that men are innocent? Matt Dylan is LITERALLY a serial killer. I never felt a shred of sympathy towards him. That some ideas are offensive does not mean that you need feel offended by their existence.

On some level, I might agree with you that Trier is a master pilot… who can't land the plane. I think he excels in the ultra longform because he needs the room to try. There are so many big ideas at play and so many different styles, risks and tactics that there's nearly no chance of it all coming together. The beauty, in my eyes, is in the attempt. And if his films are filled with hate, it seems like a self-hate, for having the audience soldier on in the face of all these miserable thoughts and compulsions which he's brought to life. I can kinda relate. Life is confusing and weird and full of sadness. That checks out.

SCORE: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ll be counting down all of Lars Von Trier’s movies right here at @cinemacentral666 every Thursday through September 2023

[questionablecuttlefish]

A Call To Arms - Light the Cannons for Lightcannon!

Lightcannon Week is coming in one month, baby! And it's also Pride month RIGHT NOW! So I want to issue a challenge to everyone out there interested in the Little Crack Ship That Could.

For all of Pride Month, and later for Lightcannon Week, I want everyone who can to write as many good Lightcannon fics as they can.

Why's this important? Well, because Lightcannon (Jinx/Lux) is currently, and has been for more than a year, both Jinx's and Lux's top tag on Ao3.

That's right, both characters have more fics about this silly, crazy, non-canon crack ship than any of their 'canon' romantic interests. That's wild, and I'm so proud of my Little Crack Ship.

But after we hit 1000 fics last year (WOOHOO) we slowed down, bad.

Other ships are now less than 40 fics behind us, and likely to get a big visibility boost from Arcane S2, and that means the crown is at risk. Lightcannon supremacy could be at an end. 😱

Now, I wanna preface, I don't have anything against other ships. I'm just hyper competitive and I'm proud of our girlies being the top of their tags. We get so little, everything we have to our name means so much to me.

I don't want to lose the crown. And there's only one way to keep it.

We gotta WRITE, fam!

So here's my call to arms!

Write! AUs! Prompts! Main canon fics! Star Guardians, Valoran Town, Battle Academia, modern romance, pirates, ninjas, robots, anything you wanna!

Short fics will bump those numbers quicker! Don't let it stop you from writing longform, but I recognize that me and my 30 chapter epics aren't boosting them like one-shots would be 😅so for LC week I'm committed to keeping to shorter fics. I swear.

DO LIGHTCANNON WEEK! Every year this event boosts our ship and its visibility!

Share 'em! Far and wide! Let the word be known! Preach the gospel of Lightcannon! Let's get eyes on our pairing and show off why they're awesome!

If you're an artist, JUMP in too! Ao3 is fantastic but it's not the only place! We wanna see more of our pairing, everywhere, and each new art piece is a treasure for our fandom! It's Pride Month, we can do this! Who knows, we might even get Riot's acknowledgment, FINALLY. Not holding out for that, though, and we don't need it 🥰

Please do not antagonize other shippers or engage in ship wars. This is healthy competition and it's all in good fun and in the name of boosting fan content for our community. Ship wars only hurt fan communities and fan content creators. Keep it clean and fair!

We've never been on the "Top 100 WLW ships" list in A03, and I think we ought to see our girls up there, don't you? 😄

We 'win' by making awesome fan content and that's it! So let's get out there and light those cannons, mateys!

DATES AND PROMPTS

Sorry for the delay everyone, but I have finally decided on the prompts and date. You all had great submissions this year so without further beating around the bush the dates are: July 24th-31!

It was admittedly not the most popular week but due to the delay and a special idea for pride month I think this will work out the best. Prompts:

Day 1: Bar/Club Meet-cute or Fake dating

Day 2: Cheerleader/Jock/Geek AU or Murder

Day 3: Sleepover or Dystopian

Day 4: Popstar AU or Royalty AU

Day 5: Isekai or Rebound

Day 6: Hiking or Friday the 13th AU

Day 7: Running from home or Camping

Day 8: Free day!

[hanoscorner]

Tomie

Synopsis:

Tomie is a succubus who can seduce men and control them. The catch is that some of them feel compelled to kill her and cut her into many pieces. Fortunately for her she always comes back.

Art:

In my opinion this is the weakest of "Junji Ito's big three" (Uzumaki, Tomie, and Gyo) in terms of body horror. It does not have the best body horror and is somewhat restrained in the weirdness department, which are the things that most fans want, and its length and premise makes it somewhat repetitive. Maybe it's my adhd but I feel like Junji Ito's work is strongest in his story collections and weakest in his longform works. In his story collections he is drawing a different scary thing more often so all the scares are fresh whereas in his longform work the scares are the same and become kind of stale. Uzumaki avoids this problem by being formatted more like an anthology than a longform story, Gyo also has this problem but makes up for it by having cool HR Giger sharks.

Story:

There isn't much of one, Tomie just kind of dies over and over again.

Themes:

This one has the clearest themes (to me) of the big three. It is about attraction and not being able to let go of something (or someone) and how this is toxic.

TL;DR:

This is probably the weakest out of Uzumaki, Tomie, and Gyo in terms of art and story but the strongest in terms of underlying message. However, I think that if you wanted a good message then you would be reading a different author. However the weakest among the best is still pretty good.