#my mom went to school

[kermits-cup-of-tea]

we are children

my brother and i

giggling in the back seat

of our new well loved car

putting coffee mug stickers

on the inside of the front seats

squeaky clean leather

covered in orange spots.

later,

we get in trouble

and forget why it was funny

the stickers stay up.

we are adults

my brother and i

strangers in the same room

of our childhood house

the coffee mug stickers still hold

on the front seats of my car

old and dirty leather

covered in orange spots.

its been years,

he still gets in trouble

and we no longer laugh

the stickers stay up.

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

[theexorcistiii]

Cant believe I never posted my guitar! I covered it in cutouts from my moms big old anatomy book :)

[tariah23]

aisjsjjensnJAJAJ

[voxmilia]

Oh Sklonda's righteous fury hits so hard, as a kid who WAS taken advantage of in many ways by her friends when she was in school, and whose mom tried to tell her they were being unkind and who didn't believe her until she got kinder friends

[beeduoo]

wonderful

[littlecrittereli]

So I was reading this transcript of an interview the Kratt brothers did and at one point Martin talks about how he almost became a veterinarian, but ended up changing his mind and becoming a zoologist.... so I raise you.... TEAM MEDIC MARTIN?????

Bro carries around a slew of random medical supplies on him at all times. (Just like the creature power disks nobody understands how he can remember where everything is but he's always handy with exactly what he needs)

Chris skins his knees climbing up a cliff? Martin's got bandages and antibacterial spray.

Koki burns her hand while tuning up the Tortuga? He's got burn cream and a cool towel and making sure she compresses it for at least 10 minutes

and God forbid someone in the Tortuga so much as SNIFFLES in his presence. It's bed rest, soup, and fluids from there.

And beyond that, I think he'd be very knowledgeable about natural remedies too. They ran out of cooling ointment for their sunburns? its okay, they can use the aloe vera plant sitting in the window! Aviva is nauseous because she's had nothing but redbull and coffee for 2 days? peppermint oil and ginger tea!

Just like how they learned from the Orangutans about the leaves that relieve muscle sores, Martin would pull a lot of inspiration from nature's remedies.

[ink-the-artist]

forgive me if you've been asked this before or if its annoying, but how did you learn to use colored pencils like that? your art is so special to me.

ty :) I took an art class for a few years where our teacher had us buy prismacolor pencils as one of the art supplies and had us use them kinda like paints, pressing down hard right away and blending the colors together. its not how youre supposed to use them she was just trying to teach us to use color and ig this was more to the point. I picked them up again years after i stopped going to that class just bc they were there and i wanted to play around w them a bit and ended up actually enjoying it when doing it on my own terms lol

[bogkeep]

i've been reading ducks by kate beaton for less than a minute and it already has me staring at a wall. nova scotia 🤝 northern norway

[incorrectfatui]

Childe: Bonjour, Sandrone. Voulez–vous coucher avec moi?  Sandrone: No, I don't want to sleep with you.  Childe: Is that what that means? Oh, man, I had a really weird tour guide…

[expelliarmus]

[they-didnt-last]

anyone interested in talking about the iconic 2000's middle-grade-bordering-on-ya book series gallagher girls??

[cinderellaboychallenges]

Alright!!! Sorry for being so disorganized guys💀💀

OK SO THIS MONTH THE PROMPT IS...

THE CREW'S REACTION TO BUGS

as always pop off y'all

I wanna see fanworks, fanart, fanfics

even if the month is over, y'all can continue using these prompts!!

I have yet to gather last months prompts in one post and I am terribly sorry

We've been a bit disorganized recently BUT NOT TO WORRY

THESE CHALLENGES ARE GONNA CONTINUEE

Can't wait to see what y'all have in storee!!

@blareviridi

@screechingart

@robottko

@niekanarcotics

@iz-nomerants

@iz-nomewrites

@tmkalp

@nocontextsock

@toonietoonstian

@secretlyasimpforbuddy

@frosting-pudding

@peculiarpeace

@tea-132

@kazul-101

@p4n1cl0v3r

@xiaomao-ai-wo

@cookiekat-blogz

@silvermoon617

@nevernovember

@stinkypeanutbutter

@buttons-f0r-eyes

@eglanasy

@blobfishuu

@starsnowcone

@those-rainbow-ninjas

@cloud-pug

@pinkshampooedcows

@brainrotwriter

@dreabastante

@karabell

@gothicbeastgirl

@papayasreturn

@glooomm

@malnivia

@strwbrrylou

@nicomithi

@fishinspacey

@buttons-f0r-eyes

[yuri-alexseygaybitch]

Hey don't cry, second verse of "All Star" by Smash Mouth ok?

[akkivee]

the pivotal points in bat’s past 🤔

kuukou

age ????- his best friend moved away

age 14: attained a higher level of asceticism than his father, met hitoya who helped clear an assault charge on some good will that went awry

age 15: left home to flex his talent, got humbled quick lol but met ichiro and vowed to grow stronger

jyushi:

age ???? (presumably 6)- received amanda from his grandmother

age 13- started middle school where he ‘befriends’ iyogi

age 14- has been a victim of bullying for a year and the bullying escalated to the point his grandmother was killed. met hitoya who made sure iyogi ain’t seeing the light ever again and a little later helped jyushi find the will to keep living

hitoya

age 14- loses his brother

age 23- upon receiving a tip, he decided to change majors from being a doctor to a lawyer in order to jail the guy that bullied his brother. broke up with jakurai after a disagreement

age 31- meets kuukou and jyushi for the first time and we see the fruits of his lawyer efforts

[blackbackedjackal]

Kinda fucked that I know Kamala Harris personally.