#not directed at the original reblogs

[lyssophobiaa]

[bamsara]

I think that one thing people fail to understand is that unsolicited literary criticism coming from an online stranger who is reading with no knowledge of what the authors intended goal is, is not going to be received the same as say: the authors beta reader or friends who know what the authors intended goal and has the sufficient knowledge and input to help the author reach that desired outcome.

"But I'm only trying to be helpful" How do I know you have the knowledge and literary skill for you to be able to actaully do that when we don't know each other and you are essentially a stranger to me? Are you applying this criticism based out of personal biased experience and desire to see the story or characterization be driven in another direction or tweaked, or do you know the author's intentions for the character? If the story is incomplete, are you basing your criticism of a character on the incomplete narration with only partial information available of them or are you building up a report until the story's completion? Did the author provide you with the information needed to make a fully informed criticism?

Have you discussed with the author what their plans are or are you assuming them based off the narration, especially if the narration is proven or implied to be unreliable or missing key points of the plot? Are you unbiased enough to help them reach their desired outcome for the characters and story regardless of your personal feelings towards the characters/antagonists and setting? Can you handle being told your specific input isn't wanted because you're a reader and/or have no written anything relating to their genre or topic? Do you understand and respect that the author's personal experiences might influence their writing and make it different than how you would have done it personally? Do you understand if an author only wants input from a specific demographic relating to their story?

If it's for fanfiction or other hobby media, are you holding a free hobby to a professional standard? Are you trying to give criticism because you feel like the author has produced 'subpar job performance' of their fic? Are you viewing their work as a personal intimate outlet or something that must conform with mass media? Are you applying rules and guidelines when the fic is shared for simple sharing sake? Is your criticism worded appropriately and focused on the parts where the author has requested input on rather than a general dismissal and or disapproval?

Have you put yourself in a place where you assumed you have the input needed for the story to evolve better, or have you asked what the author needs and what they're having trouble with? Can you handle having your criticism rejected if the author decides their story doesn't need the change and not take it as a personal offense against your character? Are you crossing that boundary because you think you are doing the author a favor? Are you trying to be helpful, or do you just want to be?

I think sometimes when people hear authors go 'please don't give me unsolicited writing advice or criticism' they automatically chalk it up to 'this author doesn't want ANY constructive feedback on their stuff at all' and not "i already have trusted individuals who will help me with my writing goals and- hey i don't know you like that, please stop acting so overly familiar with me'

[marciaillust]

an Angel

[yzafre]

I've decideeeed to do a "draw fast" experiment this week. Basically: given a sketch I already have on hand, I have to get to "finish" (new line art, flats, & shading) in under two hours - the closer to 1hr, the better.

The idea with this is that, like... trying to get a fast time will keep me from sitting and overthinking things, then fidgeting with it. I just gotta get stuff on the page. Don't know how, if at all, it'll help my art, but I think it'll be fun.

I figured my "three iteration" sketches I did last week were good ones to use, so have some Leo's for today. This one was at 1hr 32min.

[theregressionlibrary]

Agere/petre archieve promo post!!

Hi! Thought it was a good time to do one of these! So, if you don't know, this is The Regression Library! Here, we reblog and boost lovely age and pet regression related works such as fiction, headcanons, moodboards, audio recordings- anything!

A lot of people are too afraid to post their fandom regression stuff in the main tags and if a work is completely from scratch then it often struggles to get traction! So what TRL does is reblog and tag works accordingly and add them to our big big list so it's easy for people to find what they can enjoy!

Why send out a promo post? Well, to encourage people to submit more! As much as we love to go out and collect pieces ourselves, we can only search through so many tags. There are just so many different ways different people use tagging, and it's hard to think of all the different pieces of media out there that might have these themes! So! We would love for you and your friends to submit (by ask or DM) any works you have made or you have found. Original works or fandom related is great! Hope to see you soon!

*cough cough, please reblog*

[hl-obsessed]

✨ closer ✨

[click for better quality]

[dark-orca-dynasty]

3am thoughts because I woke up way too hot:

I think of Kathryn Nekton as being indigenous Australian, and she met Jacques when he came to Australia to see if there was any mention of anything that could be linked to Lemuria could be found in an oral history that goes back over 10,000 years.

[ravangie]

now if that's not me

[gramophoneturtle]

"It will be alright, Mini-moto..."

No context here. I needed some background texture, so I went to back these shapes. Maybe pretend they're glitches or something?

And where is his cap? Good question!

[cthulhubert]

"Scarf/veil worn over the elbows" - like Aqua in Konosuba? Yeah, what is that? Seems tonbe associated with holy/divine characters, so maybe it's referencing some religious art?

In reference to my tags on this post.

They don't always seem to draw her with it, so for a minute I thought you were talking about those detached sleeves, LOL

But yes, exactly!

I actually had a dream, and while it was tangential, one element was an ancient aliens esque theory, that angels/gods were real beings, because of the consistency of this sash/stole/shawl/ribbon thing shown in art across the world.

Unfortunately for the theorists in my dream, we actually know pretty well how it went.

The ancient Romans just really liked showing deities framed by a billowing garment, "Velificatio ... represents 'vigorous movement,' an epiphany, or 'the vault of heaven,' often appearing with celestial, weather, or sea deities."

The etymology is roughly "setting sail", and Pliny the Elder describes a wind god as "Making a sail of her garment."

I sometimes call it a veil because well, the Japanese version is always really diaphanous, but as you can see in the wikipedia article, it's sometimes associated with initiations into mystery religions, where it's related to the veil or shroud Romans would put over their dead, so removing it symbolized rebirth, and (stretching a little here) it billowing around someone showed them as near but aside from death.

It's shown a lot of ways (there's this little known painting called Birth of Venus from the 15th century, check out Zephyrus in it), but, well, here's Neptune from the 3rd century:

Familiar, huh?

Art meets silk road, and a sash becomes really popular in depictions of celestial, flying apsaras:

I think this guy's from 500ce or so.

The cloth itself doesn't really have a name, but in Japan the tennin (lit, heavenly people, analogous to angels) wear hagoromo (feathered rainment) that they sometimes need to fly.

Here's a guy doing a selkie to one. "Marry me or you'll never return to the heavens."

As you can see, a hagoromo (center) includes this exact windy sash, but there's also more to it.

I don't really have a conclusion, but thanks for the ask, prompting me to retrace my path learning about it.

[thedovahcat]

@ the every sex scene in a movie is necessary post stop being a cringe whiney baby about it

That's all well and good. I don't go seeking out the stuff for sure, and if it just ends up shoved in my face I just mute or skip it till its over. no big deal.

But can we acknowledge the fact that so many of those shoved in (hah) sex scenes in movies or tv shows that aren't about sexual escapades are like.... so cringe?

It's done in poor taste? It serves no narrative purpose other than to show main cis man/woman chara horny hound dog wigglebrow they sure love gettin it its-so-integral-to-their-chara-and-then-we-never-see-this-brought-up-again?

Like you can have that kind of stuff just to have it, sure. Don't let people like me ruin your fun. But ONLY personally speaking, I would prefer a bit more tact and build up, and maybe a bit more artistry or purposefully well-done shots than a random wannabe porn shoot lol

[bonni]

if you believe that just because a person has done some objectively good things in the name of communism, that that exempts them from criticism when they speak on issues that they do not have any experience in, i.e. antiblackness, you are contributing to a pattern in marxist spaces in which (white) communists are uplifted and deified and treated as flawless, and the black people (primarily black women) who criticize their tone-deaf and ignorant words are treated as the scum of the earth. this is a pattern not just on this website but all throughout communist and leftist history. it's why black marxism is a thing. so posts like this:

are ridiculous. they're deflections. nobody is saying that maia has not done good things. but her post was tone-deaf at best; it misappropriated the language of a black leftist movement to drive home a point that was already disorganized and weirdly equated anti-kink sentiment and mistreatment of sex workers with... wanting pedophiles to die? i'm not even saying that her main point, that we should be against any and all government-sanctioned death, was wrong, i agree with that position; but her post was not well-formulated. the op should have been two separate posts in the first place, because the comparison was nonsensical; and bringing "acab means killing the cop in your head" into the picture, when i've seen Black people on this website talking for years about how white people saying shit like that really waters down the meaning of acab, was also not okay. white communists are still white, white trans women are still white, and they are not exempt from criticism when they say something antiblack!

[unopenablebox]

.

[clarabosswald]

can you imagine can you IMAGINE taking someone's suicide story and using it to promote your conspiracy theories like the lowliest of anti-vaxxers

newsflash, o warrior of truth: states don't neglect mental health patients and disaster survivors to "silence the truthers", states do so because they're capitalistic and bureaucratic hellholes, especially when run by corrupt, criminal, and useless governments and if you had bothered to read EVERYTHING about this case and not just cherrypick quotes and twist them to fit your own agenda, then you'd have seen just that

don't pretend you give a shit about her or her family when you claim in the same breath that her story is fake and is just coverup for wHaT rEaLlY hApPeNed

don't pretend you give a shit about the survivors of october 7th when you absolve hamas of any responsibility in the same breath

don't pretend you respect her fucking memory

[rustbeltjessie]

Just in the nick of time, before the end of International Zine Month 2023, I finished my newest zine—Ransom Notes. All of it was composed and collaged during IZM. It’s twelve pages, 1/2 letter size, with six poems—five collage poems, one blackout poem; two wistful poems, one wistful yet silly, two straight-up silly, and one sexy. (One of the silly poems is the Doctor Who poem above.) It’s $2+$1 shipping (w/in the U.S.). You can buy it at ko-fi[dot]com[slash]rustbeltjessie but if you prefer to pay a different way, or wanna set up a trade, or live outside the U.S., please DM me and we’ll work something out!

[beaft]

my policy on spoilers is i either want to know everything or nothing. if i think the content will distress me, i will read a synopsis beforehand. otherwise, i prefer to go in blind. vague comments tend to be much more alarming than actual plot details - when i hear people say things like "i just can't believe they did that!" or "(x character) deserved better!", my brain starts running on a hamster wheel trying to figure out the context, and i often end up spoiling myself on purpose just to alleviate the stress. might not be the most normal way to watch things but it's the way that works for me