#unable to do much online or with art

[sphaliro]

One way to avoid AI from stealing your art jobs is to make your art as varied, diverse, expressive as possible. If your art is formulaic & focuses on the same type of subject, AI can break that down to a science & duplicate it. People like SamDoesArts, who is a popular professional artist who draws beautiful girls, or people who only draw yassified, smouldering webtoon-style kpop hotties, have styles that fall heavy victim to AI takeover. That's not an insult, it's a fact.

No matter how good your art is, if all the faces, style, color, composition looks similar; you have an exploitable formula. If you make money on your art, this is a bad thing for you! It's not fair that AI is using your work without permission for no pay. But this is our modern world, & it won't go away.

All we can do is focus on the power of what makes us human. Expressiveness, diversity of subject, ages & race; story & character-driven pieces, always trying something new... So far, AI (aka, the hack-jobs stealing art to put in a formula for free without permission; this is the fault of greedy nerds, not cute robots!!) cannot duplicate things like that so easy. If you're a pro, please consider that.

If you want to protect your work from AI algorithms, there's also the revolutionary (free!) GLAZE tool, which when added to your art, will destroy all data AI-bros try to extrapolate from your work. (More info on GLAZE here!)

If you really care about making art "accessible" to everyone, you must accept that it's only ethical with permission from the creators you want to use.

Artists are not soulless billionaires or Hollywood money-machines who are robbing you of the psuedo-socialist 'right' to have an anime-you profile pic. We are real people, living paycheck to paycheck, disabled, raising families, mentally going through everything you've struggled through, & more. It's not ethical to rob us of our expression & livelihood... AI-bros, if you won't pay us for our labor, you have no right to it. Any side of the political spectrum, capitalist pig to centrist sissy to commie scum, should agree with that.

The philosophy of "it's our right to use it, just get a real job" is the very philosophy that separates you from actual artists.

Technology is a wonderful thing. Start acting worthy of that wonder. Don't be a Skynet pawn. They won't spare you just because you taught them how to generate yassified kpop elf girls.

[abiglizord]

.

[alexa-nowak]

Fandom culture has changed so much, I honestly just don't get it anymore

It used to be absolutely normal to like morally questionable or straight up irredeemable characters, there was no "if you like a bad guy, you are agreeing with the bad guy" in my 2013

Now nearly in every fandom villain lovers are getting bullied, fandoms are busy protecting pixel's feelings, while severely hurting real people's mental health with this neverending flood of toxicity

And it genuinely upsets me, because villains and the whole concept of liking "against the good guys" characters in media/ literature/ art/ etc was always a safe space for outcasts and people who felt rejected by society, for being queer, for just being different and unable to fit in for any reason

And seeing that even inside online fandom culture villain lovers are getting nothing but this bs is heartbreaking

And all this discussion about "healthy relationship with imaginary bf" is the whole different bucket of crap that I would waffle about at some point

How these people are doing in literature classes, I mean, every other classical book has some kind of toxic love story, do they need a trigger warning for every book or something

[comikbook]

Im unable to go to school for art, bc my parents cant afford it and my family in general wouldnt be too supportive of it (I live with them)

I dont mind that, I still do art as a hobby, but it kind of hurts. I like what I am in college for actually, but I just love art

Is there a way to better my art while not having the tools art students have? I dont care if its harder, I would just like hope :/

hi !! so i can totally relate to this

i did not grow up with a wealthy family, i got into my highschool (which was a specialty art highschool) thru application. After that, i was kind of lost with art education. I had no money to go to a big art school, so i did community college.

here is what my art looked like in highschool

However, that was kind of a waste. It was pretty much a repeat of what i learned in highschool and to be honest the entire time i was in highschool i didnt improve at ALL. not one bit. This continued into college. In fact i didnt improve at all in college either except for the times i took a gap.

as of this point in the timeline my art looked like this

now i havent been in college now for a couple years, and let me tell you my art has gotten the biggest improvement ive ever seen. Hell i didnt even finish school, I owe money and cant return until i pay it. But honestly ? its hard to find the motivation.

What im getting at is all of my improvement has been done thru my own means. School did not help me improve. And everything you learn in art school can easily be found online via videos and tutorials.

So what made me improve so much out of school ? Honestly ? Passion. I hated being told what to do, I always have. I do not like cookie cutter assignments, boring studies, all of the subjects that are rinsed and repeated every semester. I stopped caring, and during the last bit of time i was in school, I went to my professor. I said I didn’t care, I hated the assignments, I had no desire. You know what she told me ? To ignore them then. She pushed me to make what i WANTED to make, she made assignments specifically for me, she gave me full creative freedom. THATS WHEN I IMMEDIATELY IMPROVED. School isnt what helped me, what helped me is being given an environment where i could be passionate and raw and make art i wanted to make. And you dont need thousands of dollars and a studio to make that happen.

You don’t need those tools. And remember, when it comes to art school, its never the students who are naturally talented or only have technical skill that succeed, its the ones that give a shit. the ones who love art, who love to create, and have a story to tell.

one you realize that it gets so much better.

Anyways, as a last update, heres my art now that im out of school and doing my own thing

[feverdreamjohnny]

The Epitaph of Anything Goes

I decided that this morning I would talk about The Museum of Anything Goes and the subject of lost media.

For the uninitiated, The Museum of Anything Goes is an obscure "game" released in 1995 by Wayzata Technologies, a company that is so far under the radar that I was unable to find any useful information about it outside of TMoAG.

All I could uncover is that they published a few multimedia projects (which are essentially lost now) alongside some asset discs (clipart, SFX, etc.). That's it.

The brains behind Wayzata are even more difficult to locate these days: there are only two main names credited inside of TMoAG - Michael Markowski and Maxwell S. Robertson.

The game alleges that Michael and Maxwell are well known in the art world, but any additional information about the duo is scarce beyond the confines of the museum. Attempting to search for either name online turns up plenty of rabbit holes - but none of them have anything to do with the Michael and Maxwell responsible for TMoAG.

This is particularly fascinating because it essentially means that TMoAG is the only accessible record of their lives. Before we dig any deeper into that statement, let me step back and actually address what this game is.

The Museum of Anything Goes is, by definition, a virtual art museum. Functionally it's a prerendered point-and-click adventure game where you can explore a bunch of multimedia exhibits that give the surface-level impression of a children's edutainment game, but once you start exploring further it reveals a side that firmly plants the game's feet into a haze of substance abuse and surreal humor.

Many exhibits are essentially just toying around with the astonishing new powers of CD-ROM. Everything has to make noise. Everything has to spin and flitter around. There's an air of genuine excitement for the medium, and I can't help but find it extremely charming.

The game also functions as a scrapbook, filled to the brim with photos of random trips to the zoo and snow-mobile rides with friends. At one point we even get insight into something as specific as Michael's one-year job as a tutor at a Chicago middle school, where he talks about how it opened his eyes to how poorly funded and mismanaged the school system is.

It's simultaneously quaint and chilling to see so much personal history packed into a world doomed to obscurity. As I explore the deeper parts of the museum, I contemplate if the creators are still alive today. It's a bit morbid, but imagine that - you create a single obscure game with your friend and it's all the world can see. TMoAG is currently the only surviving piece that gives any insight into who these two men were.

While many exhibits are lighthearted or nonsensical, there are occasional moments where the game dips into the eerie.

One exhibit has the player kill a man by dropping him from the sky, and after burying him you open the coffin to a video of a rotting pig carcass being put into an incinerator.

Other exhibits just feature simple 3D renders shifting around a dark screen while haunting groans play in the background.

While I would never refer to the game as "scary," its darker moments combined with the occasional mature subject matter definitely begs the question: Who is this game for?

You have to remember that this game came out long before the concept of "alt-games" had become codified in the digital space. Sure, unconventional digital art had been around before the advent of 256 colors, but TMoAG was being sold on disk as a game! It came out 2 years after DOOM hit shelves!

The trend of using the PC for entertainment was certainly on the upswing around that time, but It's not like TMoAG had a massive audience to find a niche in. With its mature themes it certainly wasn't suited for the kids market either, so who was it for?

At the end of the day, it's a moot question. We already know the target audience for The Museum of Anything Goes: Nobody. It doesn't have an audience because by its nature, TMoAG wasn't being made FOR someone, it was being made BY someone. It's a raw, unfiltered form of personal expression.

I think games like these are pivotal, because they question why people assume a game has to exist for the sake of being a consumable product. TMoAG certainly has the shape of a product: it features an intro cutscene, it has a tutorial, it features intuitive UX, it even has a map! These are all features that are solely integrated to provide comfort to an end-user. But once you actually wander around the museum for a bit, you realize how bizarrely its packaging fits its contents.

I think TMoAG is criminally underrated. It's not because its core content contains some earth-shaking truth, it's because the game defied all odds and cheated death.

How many thousands of other personal projects were deemed a little "too exotic" to be archived? How much history was lost these past 40 years as the digital space evolved and ate its old skin?

God knows how many other TMoAGs we'll never learn about because they weren't lucky enough to be preserved.

The Museum of Anything Goes isn't just some nonsensical art piece, it's a grave marker for so much lost media. Its existence is a reminder that some people's lives were fossilized, then macerated into nothing because a construction company built a skyscraper over them. The only evidence we have of those other games existing is this little fossil that somehow slipped out from under the skyscraper unscathed.

Even though so much has been lost, TMoAG survives as an epitaph.

[miraclemaya]

art exhibit that is a simple wooden chair and a sign that says "if you can stay on the chair for two hours you win a prize". after thirty minutes on the chair someone part of the crowd walks by you and punches you hard in the gut without any warning. if you leave the chair you lose. after forty five minutes, long enough that you've recovered, a group of five people will walk directly to you and surround you. they will then take turns insulting you with incredibly personal knowledge, all the while implying that someone you are close to and trusted told them everything about you. they do this for the rest of the first hour. if at any point you get up, they will let you leave, but if you attempt to retaliate, physically or even verbally, they will savagely beat you for anywhere from 1 min to 20 mins, and rip you off the chair if you haven't already left. the last hour starts with an announcement of what the prize is, personalized to each entrant. it is said over the loud speakers, and for the first time the other museum acknowledge your existence. but they all leer at you. crowds of people, in the dozens no in the hundreds, start to scream at you, altering between begging you and cursing you, people take pictures of you and post them online calling you a monster, doxxing you, getting you fired from your workplace for made up crimes, but eventually, if you don't give up, the crowd will disperse leaving the rest of the museum completely empty. strangely enough, not only empty of guests but of exhibits. they must have taken them away when the crowd blocked out your view. now completely alone, all you have is a single clock for reference as to what the time is. but the clock isn't moving? it probably doesn't matter so you wait and wait and wait and you count the seconds in your head and after thirty minutes, you look around and see if you're done but nothing. finally, in walks someone, dressed up as a mechanic you think. carrying nothing but a bucket and a knife. they look at you coldly and explain that they are a vampire and will fix the clock and tell you the time if you fill the bucket. they are obviously not a vampire, they don't even have sharp teeth. you know they just want you to hurt yourself. if you leave now, you get nothing. if you bleed enough to fill the bucket you will likely die. you take the knife and cut. the blood comes out slowly, taking agonizingly long, draining you of your very life force while this "mechanic" looks on coldly, obvious disgust written on their face. once the bucket is full and you feel like you are about to pass out, the mechanic walks over to the clock, fiddles with it, and suddenly it says that you're done. the full thirty minutes had passed and you won. confetti falls from the ceiling, and a bunch of people cheering you on come in. then comes a person in a business suit carrying a picture of your prize, whatever exactly it is. they walk over to you and give it to you, telling you that you'll get it shipped to your house tomorrow, but first you have to sign for it. you sign, unable to make the effort of reading the document even if you wanted to. you pass out

you wake up at home, and the bell is ringing. you open the front door and see a delivery person. they tell you the item is in your garage, and hand you a bill. confused you ask what it's for, and they tell you that you have to pay the taxes for the item. you stare in disbelief, realizing that you likely don't have a job anymore. the item is pretty cool though, so don't worry to much okay?

[just-pug-things]

Tips for artist learning?

Draw. And have fun doing it.

To elaborate.

Many people who ask and answer this kind of question are thinking about tutorials, guides, and courses to improve their artistic skills. You will hear things like, "You need to work on your fundamentals," and be pointed in the direction of guides like DrawABox or Proko or Ethan Becker's Youtube channel or the many, many other resources that exist. Beginners need to build their skills, right?

This is the incorrect starting point. And why is that?

Before I started drawing Just PUG Things, I drew very irregularly. Every time I tried to draw something, I was struck by my own inadequacy, my amateurish lines, scribblings that failed to transform into beautiful, elaborate illustrations. Drawing was an uphill struggle as I tried to draw faces that weren't disproportionate, taking hours to draw something that always looked so, so wrong.

I was discouraged from drawing by people around me. My drawings were scrutinised, labelled as weird (I couldn't draw faces), innapropriate (I was trying to draw people) and immoral (I was trying to express the pain I felt).

Everywhere on social media I was surrounded by the beautiful art made by incredible artists. And instead of admiring them, all I could do was peer down into that endless valley between our skills and despair. I was jealous of their ability, devoid of joy in my own. Why was I struggling so much when someone on the internet could do something better, faster?

Every time I picked up my pen, it was like fist fighting an active anthill; painful pointless punching that results in nothing. It was like this for years, but I couldn't give up making art nevertheless. I felt like I'd shoved myself into an iron maiden and was unable to leave.

Does any of that resonate? Does any of that feel familiar? Does any of that make you think, "That's me!"

Then first and foremost what needs to be repaired is your relationship with art. To rekindle the love for art that will keep the flame of your candle burning bright. To make it a part of your life routine so you make art because that's just what you do. Lynda Barry's book, Making Comics, was my inspiration when things got hard. It will not matter how many guides you read, art courses you complete, Youtube videos and TikToks you watch if you never make any art.

After that? The art learning gets easier.

Get a personal project (like, oh, I dunno, a weekly comic about a game you love) where you encounter art problems and think, "I don't know how to do that," and then start looking online (or in libraries) for what other people did to solve that problem.

Get interested in the craft so the studying and learning isn't merely a chore but something fun and exciting so you're actually motivated to draw hundreds of boxes and cylinders and enjoy it.

Get really obsessed with a character and draw them so many times that their essence gets directly injected into your bloodstream.

Get time to enjoy other forms of art that does not immediately appeal to you and try to understand what is so captivating about it to others who love it.

(Get friends like mine, who encouraged me to to start drawing Just PUG Things, which started as a 'ha ha wouldn't it be funny if I drew the tomfoolery in duty finder idk how to draw any of the stuff but-' 'you should do it' and now here we are. They kept my spirits up during times where I couldn't do it myself.)

But first and foremost: Draw. And have fun doing it.

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

The US Election and the Future of Queer Media

To start this off, I'd like to say that if this post leaves my side of the Internet, this is primarily a religious blog. You won't see takes like this again from me, but I majored in history and have a passion for the preservation of queer culture, so here I am.

I want to start this out by giving my heartfelt condolences to everyone who will be negatively impacted by this election. I'm lucky enough to live in a part of the country where I will likely not experience the negative side of the new administration for at least a year or two. But I know for many, it will come much faster.

The current Republican party has approached queerness with fearmongering, labeling it as "pornography," and attempting to eradicate public expression of it with book and drag bans. While the past 4 years have seen this slow creep, I believe the next 4 years will be much faster, and wider-reaching. I would not be surprised if the Trump administration attempts to ban queer media and public displays of queerness on a federal level, likely under some sort of "anti-porn" law, where queerness will fall under that umbrella of "porn". And with Project 2025 very much existing, and with so many anti-queer people who have the potential to end up in very important positions, we need to get cracking on preserving the queer literature which we do have.

Now would be a good time to start getting USBs, or organizing Google Drives, and trying to get as much queer media onto them as possible. I'm not going to explicitly say that we should all just start pirating stuff at random. If we can buy books, buy art, legally watch movies, donate to organizations etc., then for the love of all that is good, do that. But with the very real threat of our existence being labeled as obscenity on a federal level, it's better safe than sorry. If a time comes where we're unable to access the resources that we need and the stories that we love on the internet, their survival offline will be crucial.

At the end of the day, we will survive. We have the rights that we do have at this moment because our predecessors fought for them. They lived through worse than this, and while it will likely get bad again, we'll survive just as they did.

Linking to two resources that I think are perfect right now, while nothing is falling apart yet:

The Internet Archive, which is a glorious free library, entirely online, with almost anything you could hope to find

The Queer Liberation Library, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit with a collection dedicated primarily to queer literature

[crowley-winter-boots]

Instead of humouring the messages in the screenshot, I would like to make a post regarding people who think this way. DO NOT LOOK FOR THIS INDIVIDUAL OR HARASS THEM. I know people like to jump the gun and do that online, so please don't bother with it. I am making this post to address, that you can in fact, still protest without attending mass protests and that not everyone is able to attend those mass protests.

(*Notice how I didn't "name call", I said "I won't reply anymore as I'm PRETTY SURE you're trolling." I was making an observation based on past experiences, and I'm still convinced they were only saying this to cause problems.)

You CAN still protest without going to larger protests. Its OKAY if you can't attend those large protests.

Here are some ways you can help out if you're unable to go to a protest!

Spread the word

One of the best ways to get people to attend is to tell other people about it! The more people that know, the more that can know when and where to show up.

Find a way that fits you to do something as an individual

There are a few ways you can go about this, but here is what I've personally been doing:

- I've been wearing a pride flag to school. Specifically, the trans flag. Pride flags banned from hanging up in schools? Nothing in the dress code that denies it. It will make people angry and confused, but it will also make people like you feel seen. I've had a lot of negative reactions from students and teachers alike, but there have been fellow queer kids who walk up to me and talk to me about my flag, often saying they wish they had one of their own. I'm planning on painting "WE THE PEOPLE" on it soon (I was going to this weekend, but there was too much going on and I didn't want to start a project I couldn't finish before school on Monday.)

- Make a battle vest (or any other punk fashion, such as crust pants!) I've been working on mine, and will post the patches and progress soon. I've been meaning to make one for a while for myself, but put it off until recently. I'll also make a post going more into detail on how you can make punk fashion yourself, and the ideology of punks.

**PLEASE NOTE. Both of these can be dangerous. Especially wearing a pride flag, as there is't anything that can make it safer. With the punk fashion, there are ways to make it safer, and I'll go more into detail on that on my other post: but essentially, you don't want any political statements or pride flags on the back. You won't see anyone coming, and they'll be less likely to attack you if they see it from the front.

Talk to local activist groups to set one up in your area

I'm not too sure about how this process works, as I haven't yet contacted any local activist groups to set up a protest. I'm not even sure if that's how you CAN set up a protest, but I asked around and this was the answer I had gotten. I'll make an update once I figure out how to set up a protest and if I personally was able to (and the details of the protest, ofc!)

Make signs or stickers to post in your community

There are a lot of ways you can make signs and/or stickers! I've never made a sign myself, so you'll have to do the research yourself for that, but you could make them as flyers with paper as well. But with stickers, they're relatively easy to make! I sold some for a while, and made about $250 off of it in just a few weeks by selling them on my school campus. You just need a pack of sticker paper (GLOSSY makes it shiny, MATTE makes it flat like printer paper,) a printer, and some kind of art app to import your images on. Fitting stickers is like a jigsaw puzzle- you'll need to rotate them at weird angles and fit any nook into any cranny. Find patterns, repeating patterns will make the process easier. The goal is to have as little white space as possible- but that being said, leave enough room between each sticker to give a solid border. A common mistake I made when I first started making stickers was overlapping the edges.

Join communities online

Discord servers are a good way to find online communities for people who want to oppose the American government! I am in a server that shares resources, information, protest days, and more. I can share the link in DMs, and you can also look online to find more.

Start a social media platform

That's what my blog is for! I'm posting online as a form of protest. There are a number of social media platforms (except Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok....) that you can advocate on. I do believe Tumblr and YouTube are the safest ones, and therefore have the biggest communities on there.

Buy banned books

THESE WON'T BE SOLD ANYMORE, SOON. They are information and knowledge the government is afraid of. The Diary of Anne Frank is on the list, which just goes to show how far they're going in this. They know they're fascists. They know America is going through the same beginning stages of a fascist dictator's overtake of a country. You can find a lot of these secondhand before they're gone. Find PDFs online of the books and download them in a place they can't be deleted. Physical copies are much better to have as they can't be taken away.

Pirate and get physical copies of music

Alphatron, FMovies, those are good sites for live action. WCO.tv is a good site for cartoons (and as far as I know, perfectly legal online archive!)

Learn how to burn CDs. Collect CDs. Collect vinyl records. And please, for the love of the Gods, DON'T USE SPOTIFY. I used Spotify because it was the easiest option for me, but they financially supported Trump's campaign. I switched to YouTube Music. Even the free version of Spotify supports the company- every song you listen to and every advertisement you sit through puts more coins into their bank account. I also have a vinyl collection I've been growing for 3-4 years. I'm thinking about learning how to burn CDs and get a Walkman (I currently don't have money, but I'm looking to get a job soon.) Like with the banned books, physical copies are the best. They'll have to pry it from your cold, dead hands.

That's all I have for now!! Feel free to add onto this with your own ways to protest and/or additional information from what I've already put.

[manicrouge]

John Price and your hobbies

[𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝]: 823

I can imagine that Price is one of those people who just embrace everything that you love- why? Because he loves you of course! He loves to see you happy and he knows well that embracing your interests is the easiest way to your heart; all you have ever wanted is someone who likes what you do and he makes it his mission to fulfil that desire.

You're trying out a new recipe while baking sweets? Best believe he will be there helping you taste test every single flavour you make, and when you ask for his honesty, he will give you it. But he will say so softly, he won't try and ruin what you've made, not at all!

Think that needs a little more sugar, love.

Or, when you take up the hobby of writing, he will sit there in the living room, reading quietly while you're curled next to him with your head resting on his lap with your laptop open on the draft you printed just for him to read. And he will read it; he knows how much work you've been putting into what you're writing and he has a genuine admiration for anything you put your mind to. He thinks you're one of the smartest people he has ever met!

I don't know if it's good enough.

Seems pretty fuckin' good to me, sweetheart. My pretty talented girl, eh?

And when he's out on missions, he keeps drafts of what you've written on him for whenever he gets a moment of rest. Being unable to have contact with you for a while is brutal, though, he knows you're always with him in the words you have poured your heart into. You live through your art and your art lives through the articulation of you.

Not to mention when you decide to open a small business, nothing big, to sell art prints and stickers of your drawings... oh my goodness, this man cannot get enough of your creativity. To see you making art so freely and producing it for him to keep is a blessing. You make a new sticker? He'd buy you out of stock just to see you smile (also for his equipment back at the base... he's comfortable enough to rock your dainty flower stickers on the hilt of his knifes).

The fuck is that, Cap'n?

My girl made it, you want one for your throwin' knife?

And when you take up gaming with some of your friends, he'll sit on the sofa, sometimes having you sitting on his lap as you sit with a headset on your head, looking at the TV. It's some shooting game they persuaded you to try, and he sits with an amused look on his face, watching you kill the enemy, the occasional scoff or squeal of frustration escaping you when you get shot.

And when it comes to gun customisation on the game?

He has got you covered!!

Wouldn't it just be better if you could put a suppressor on a shotgun though... like, imagine how effective that would be.

You're overly passionate about this, love.

Yeah, well, you are underly passionate about this and this is something you do for work.

You will have the best gun in the game, and you'll sit with him even when your friends aren't online, listening to him giving you orders while playing- in true Captain fashion, of course. And, he even goes as far as buying an extra controller so he can play the game with you (also to beat you; the pair of you have a competitive streak and he isn't beyond using his expertise to frustrate you).

His heart especially melts when you seek interest in his hobbies and what he likes to do during his time off work. Even if you're not fond of his music, while he's away, you will walk around the house while cleaning with Led Zeppelin and Slipknot at full blast.

You been listenin' to my playlist while I've been gone?

Might've; I want more recommendations.

His eyes light up whenever he hears you humming a familiar tune whenever you're cooking or writing- doing anything, and he'll take a moment to just stand there and observe you with a smile on his face.

And you also both have an agreement with one another that, when he's away, you can with the TV shows the pair of you started together, although, you never do. If you ever want to, you'd rather watch the last episode the pair of you watch over and over again before ever thinking of committing such a crime.

It's the small things in your relationship, even living in the absence of one another that make everything so special, and the intimacy of something as little as interest is the one thing that has the pair of you falling head over heels for all each other over and over again <3

𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝

[almostempty]

get to know your moots

thanks for the tag @yxtkiwiyxt, i can never resist a classic myspace about me bulletin survey throwback bc i yearn for the days of agonizing over finding the perfect profile song

what's the origin of your blog title?: it's too much pressure to create a witty name, i've used such gripping online usernames as waterbottle, casual-stapler, oldfruit, etc..

favorite fandoms: this is all i participate in actively! but i do enjoy being exposed to other fandoms through y'all here and there

OTP(s) + shipname: i just want all of the various fictional ppcu characters for me

favorite color: black n yellow 🖤💛

favorite game: nothing recently, but i enjoy zelda games, rdr2, elden ring, and roller coaster tycoon (1999)

song stuck in your head: listening to Sativa - Jhené Aiko, Swae Lee currently

weirdest habit/trait?: dissociating in car (parked)

hobbies: reading, writing, finding new/old music, making myself laugh over silly memes, swimming, solo adventures, people watching, going to da movies, etc.

if you work, what's your profession?: drug and alcohol counseling and juvenile justice advocacy

if you could have any job you wish what would it be?: obligatory i do not dream of labor, but like @yxtkiwiyxt, for my next trick i'd like to be a digital nomad somehow

something you're good at: i have a good picker for friends, i'm occasionally funny, dogs like me

something you're bad at: being concise, perception/management of time in any manner and remembering

something you love: music, all day, every day, non stop

something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: various rants about capitalism (i'm fun), movies i haven't seen but feel like i could accurately guess the plot of, my fav cursed double features

something you hate: my poor perception of time and memory issues, executive dysfunction, facing my demons aka doing IFS work in therapy

something you collect: concert vids, i think i'm the only one that rewatches them?, books, nearly dead peach ice Lost Mary's

something you forget: plans, texts, objects and people not in my line of sight, if a memory real or a dream/idea, if i've already told you the story i'm halfway through (but i still think it's funny so i intend on finishing it either way)

what's your love language?: i know it's an innocent question, but i have mad beef with the author of the book about love languages and the christian gender roles perpetuated in the book and lack of empirical research around the concepts, and the creator's homophobia, but i digress (i told y'all i'm fun)

favorite movie/show: some movies: office space, SLC punk, eternal sunshine, the thing, drive, bottoms; don't make me pick shows rn

favorite food: been unable to stop getting nachos and the poblano crema from the taqueria on my block for the last ~6 weeks

favorite animal: big time animal lover here, shout out to my dogs!! i can't choose a fav otherwise

are you musical?: i can play a couple instruments, i wish i could sing

what were you like as a child?: a pleasure to have in class

favorite subject at school?: art, but i pursued science

least favorite subject?: i never took chemistry because everyone complained about how hard it was and i figured out you didn't need it to graduate, but i suppose technically i didn't take it so can't confirm

what's your best character trait?: adaptability (i just took an updated personality test lmao to help me figure one out)

what's your worst character trait?: perfectionist (not with editing heheh)

if you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be?: a few interpersonal interactions

if you could travel in time who would you like to meet?: maybe an artist from the 27 club, just to see them perform

recommend one of your favorite fanfics (spread the love!):

two completed longfics i enjoyed <3, best kept secret- enemies to lovers/bodyguard din by luckbealincoln on ao3, vampire waltz - idiots in love/ max phillips by absurdthirst, wardenparker on ao3

obligatory free memes if u made it this far

tags, but no pressure: @auteurdelabre @gothcsz @lovely-vamp-princess

@slimybeth69 @swankyorange @syd-djarin @itwasntimethatdidit40 @probablyreadinsmut @thundermartini @ace-turned-confused

@persephone-girl @thischarmingmandalorian @pinkypromisepascal

@hoelaris @lilac-boo if u read this and i didn't tag you, tell me all ur secrets and tag me anyway <3

[abdullahbroshairif]

New England college-aged brothers Daxton and Brandon White were -art tomb a little too much. Their dad always joked, when they misbehaved, “I’m gonna sell you to the Sheik.” And , throughout their lives, the boys always laughed at that. As IF their dad could, or would, sell them off to live with a Middle Eastern royal. Well, Dax and Bran’s first semester grades were pitiful. Seemed like the brothers couldn’t stop partying enough to make their way to class and went to the gym every day instead.

Bill White had done some work overseas, as a military contractor. And Bill was beginning to think his sons needed a lesson of perspective. So Bill, early on, before he was even married, found himself rubbing (hairy) elbows with the Arab elite, back in the Gulf War days. In fact, Bill had spent time with Sheik Qadar. Sheik Qadar had even come into possession of an ancient changing stone.

One day the boys got picked up from the gym by their dad’s companies’ “fixer,” Mr. Nadir. Nadir took the boys to the airport and shipped them off, first to the city Bursa, Turkey, where they lived each day as a new hairy Arab. Then they were taken overseas to the Caribbean to wake up daily as black man who lives their lives as online influencers personal training the wealthy arabic vacationers. Next, the boys were shipped of the UAE where they did the same, learning arabic with their thick Eastern Caribbean accents. Gosh, it was getting difficult for them to remember English after becoming so used to speaking Arabic. Lastly, they were sent to India where Daxton and Brandon completely forgot being white Americans, but were able to remember their lives as Caribbeans and Arabs.

Dakaar and Brishaan now are being picked up by a man they’ve never met, Mr. nadir, to be taken back to America. Oh, so sad how the boys were crying and scared, not wanting to leave their homeland of India. Dakaar soothes his younger brother and tells him, in Hindu “we’ll be okay, brother. We must obey this new life with our new master in America”

The trick is on Bill, who assumed his sons would eventually regain their life as his white American sons… three years later the Indian brothers are just as unable to attend school, since they only English they now know are the names of the machines in the gym and the only counting they can do is May decidable by the numbers on the side of weight plates and dumbbells. Bill is doing his best, though, to teach his boys English. They get tutored by handsome blonde university men every day.

💚💚💚

[daffi-990]

Seven(ish) Sentence Sunday ✍️

Tagged by @missmagooglie

I’ve been tippy tap typing away at various different scenes for Chapter 9 of Rival Firefighters 🚒. A few sentences here, a couple of hundred words there … trying to just go with the flow and let the words happen.

Todays snippet is a direct continuation on from this one. (Also I changed it from two days after the tsunami to one. So not the very next day, but the one after that. So Buck’s only had around 24 hrs to spiral instead of 48 … which is probably a good thing 😅)

Eddie had messaged him yesterday, updating him on Chris’s well-being and the results of his doctor & therapist appointments, and while Buck appreciates that Eddie did that (Buck hadn’t been able to feel a single drop of ease until Eddie’s first message that Chris’s doctor gave him the all clear), he doesn’t understand why.

Why was Eddie keeping him informed about Chris? Shouldn’t he be deleting Buck’s number and telling him that Buck is never to see Chris again? That their friendship is done and the only relationship they’ll have is at work? Until even that falls apart, Buck’s mere presence becoming too much for Eddie - a constant reminder that he almost lost Chris. That Buck put Chris in danger and almost got him killed.

Eddie had tried to call him last night, but Buck had ignored each attempt, unable to bring himself to answer and hear Eddie say everything he’s already said to himself for the past 24 hours. He knows he’s only delaying the inevitable, but he just can’t do it. Answering the phone mean’s saying goodbye and Buck never wants to say goodbye to Eddie. To Chris. They’re his family and he doesn’t want to lose them, even though he knows he already has.

Buck drops his head into his hands, ready to give in to the sea of despair and loss that beckons him to dive into its depth and drown, when there’s a knock at the door. With a weary sigh he gets to his feet, goes to the door and opens it. The sight of Eddie and Christopher standing on the other side is not one he was expecting to see today, or ever again.

Christopher smiles at him as he moves forward, leaning into Buck for a hug. “Hey, Buck.”

It’s a bit awkward, mainly because Buck’s brain is still trying to process the fact that they’re here and so he just kind of stands there, one hand still on the door and the other hanging by his side.

“Good morning, Buck.” Eddie says as he moves past them into the apartment.

Buck’s brain finally comes back online enough for him to wrap his arm around Chris loosely in a small return hug, afraid to hold on too tightly. Chris may not have sustained a lot of injuries in the tsunami, but Buck doesn’t want to accidentally hurt him. He’s done enough damage already.

No pressure tagging: @tizniz @diazsdimples @hippolotamus @spotsandsocks @watchyourbuck @athenagranted @wildlife4life @puppyboybuckley @wikiangela @exhuastedpigeon @fortheloveofbuddie @elvensorceress @eddiebabygirldiaz @epicbuddieficrecs @evanbegins @rainbow-nerdss @rewritetheending @jesuisici33 @jeeyuns @mellaithwen @monsterrae1 @malewifediaz @thewolvesof1998 @try-set-me-on-fire @shortsighted-owl @theotherbuckley @prettyboybuckley @princessfbi @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @steadfastsaturnsrings @shitouttabuck @devirnis @disasterbuckdiaz @fiona-fififi @giddyupbuck @hoodie-buck @honestlydarkprincess @homerforsure @loserdiaz @lover-of-mine @spagheddiediaz @ladydorian05 @bekkachaos @nmcggg and anyone else who wants to share something, be it a wip, some art or an edit. Everything and everyone is welcome 💕

[the-femslasher]

Why I gave up on Succubuns

Hey there, it's Jack. I'm an artist and use any pronouns but on the closed species site Succubuns, I previously went by toxic-candy. I signed all my work with my Bluesky handle, femslasher. I primarily drew the characters Fray and Deedee. You can find art of them posted here under the tag "mine" or "upload" but most of my work is on femslasher.bsky.social. You can use this info to verify my identity.

Okay so a disclaimer before we get into it; I'm currently waiting on an official autism diagnosis after I was professionally assessed and found to qualify for further psychiatric evaluation. This isn't an excuse for my social quirks, rather a reason as to why this post might be messy. I've never been the best at my wording.

Additionally; this is not a callout. This is an explanation and summary of events leading up to me leaving the site. I'm writing this here instead of an ask because I never felt right participating in gossip online but what others do isn't my business. Nothing personal meant by this, genuinely.

That being said, I know I can come on too strong. I know I'm loud and annoying and that I'm too excitable and open and talk too much and that's on me. However, this is also part of the reason I'll be leaving Succubuns.

Yves describes my conduct as disruptive and inappropriate. After I expressed confusion over a rejection seemingly ignoring design changes I'd made, I was accused of complaining in the discord and promptly muted.

This is a link to the message I received from Yves: https://discord.com/channels/@me/1297682011313672264/1314717635837165629

The message ID is 1314717635837165629

The messages, shown below, read as follows

Jack: did you seriously mute me for being confused about a rule I was told to disregard?

Yves: Jack, you have continued to be unable to act appropriately in chat despite many warnings. Complaining in community help that you're unhappy with staff rejecting your design and talking back to moderators is not okay. You've also continued to overtake chat to talk about yourself, your own characters, and your own interests excessivly since you returned just a few days ago.

If you want to continue to interact in the server, you need to act more appropriately. This is your second strike-- on your third, you will be permanently banned.

For additional context my first strike was for the same cited reasons as this one. Below is a screenshot of those messages as well as a transcript

Message ID 1: 1299187139199897674

Message ID 2: 1314717030309691452

Vortex, on 10/24/2024: You have received 1 strikes in Succubuns for: Inappropriate conduct in chat

🤐 You have been tempmuted for 1 weeks from Succubuns

Vortex, yesterday 5pm: You have received 1 strikes in Succubuns for: Repeated warnings about inappropriate discord behavior

🤐 You have been tempmuted for 4 weeks from Succubuns

Jack: oh come the fuck on

At this point I've decided to pack my bags, say "fuck it all," take my characters and leave. I have more followers on BSKY now than ever and nothing to lose because almost none of them care about Succubuns.

I'm cancelling the promise I made to draw Christmas gifts for new users. There's no point in trying to fit in here. The space isn't for me, and while I have tried I can't fix that. I haven't been able to fix that in the over 20 years I've been alive and I'd rather go my separate way than force myself into a space knowing I won't be accepted there.

@succubun-salt

[romeodraw250]

Sorry for the anon.

Regarding the WHB translation errors over the MC gender...this has been a problem since it first launch. They never addressed it. It's clear the translations/writing is geared towards female and considering how they haven't done much to ease the other issues the community has had they're not about to listen now. I actually preferred to play a male MC despite being cis female, but since then I purposely left my profile as male to see how much they mess up and I'm sorry to say it's constant. I'm so sorry.

This is very sweet to hear but it's not your fault at all. Don't worry.

I started playing Whb since day one too. So I knew how it was at first. Sometimes there's some issues but that's alright. I honestly don't mind and understand. Knowing it's not a big game like genshin impact where they really have to be careful on which twin your choosing so they don't fail the cutscenes.

But here....

I won't go in too much detail but I've been very busy and exhausted from my art school. Making me unable to play any games even when I need to rest.

So I was very veeeeeryyy happy and excited when I saw the new Christmas event. But first thing I read... Female pronoms. Obv I knew they sometimes forget to change it in some sentences. But not the full story? Like I did keep going just a few hours ago cause well. I was calm down but still. This made me uncomfortable.

My classmates didn't see me but a online buddy know, I was about to cry. It's not a big deal I know. It's just a game. But well... Sometimes it's not good timing.

Anyway, I'm glad to see the male mc is for everyone too. It's very sweet to know I am (and others) are not in the same issues.

Honestly I'm pretty neutral towards PB. But here... Why let us choose if they just ignore the second one. We even got a cool new outfit with leviathan bride card. Both mcs looked amazing. I should draw my Ra-on... Urg no time.

Anyway, I'm not use to ramble but I'm better now. Knowing I'm not the only one who found this hurtful in a way.

Obey me was a game I cherished a lot because of the gender neutral mc, same for twisted wonderland that I love a lot.

I tried to play Tokyo debunker and still play love and deepspace. But it's a bit hard for me because of the female mc. I know "otome game" means game for women dating make lead. I'm not here to say "guys, put a male mc" that would be stupid.

Just saying my preference.

I've been able to talk to some of my classmates Abt this game, with ensemble stars. They r both games I really love and cherish. I have no clue why but sometimes the hyper fixation is on weird ass game.

Well I miss my wife Mammon now. ( Sentence I kept saying when I'm alone in my thoughts, in class mostly)

For work I had to do a big ass illustration so here's Kathy mc of @katy-the-same-as-tsuki and my silly Ra-on

[bonegloss]

You're not a failed artist.

After over almost two decades on the internet, entering various art communities and establishing my online presence, I've noticed something.

The persistent idea that you've "failed" as an artist if you get a "real job" will not go away.

This, for the longest time, permeated my electronic meat slab and nestled in deeply MUCH to my detriment . For years I fought with myself over this idea. Self-flagellating and noisy, negative thoughts were almost suffocating because I was unable to Do Art As A Job consistently and efficiently enough to maintain a living off of it. Between navigating life for almost 30 years not knowing I was autistic (and all that entails) and trying to turn something I love into something I could make a living off of, it was a vicious and repetitive cycle of trying something new, getting burned out, entering a depressive state, climbing out of it, rinse and repeat. This is clearly unsustainable, especially now that I am more independent in my adult life; bills aren't going to wait for me to get out of my depressive funks. Even having jobs and still making art on the side today, this idea is still nestled in there, nagging me sometimes.

Would I like to make a living off of my art? Of course! Would it be even better if I was supported from making stuff from my own IP's? You fucking bet. But I know how I operate, I know I can't personally do that (yet? maybe?). Now, I realize not everyone can just go get a job, and I don't want this to come off as a rally cry to Just Go Out and Work (I know many creative people are disabled or have other reasons they cannot work), but I do want to stress that its okay if art needs to remain more of a hobby than a job. It is okay if you cannot sustain yourself solely as a living artist. Over the years, I've burned myself out so god damn hard and have watched others work themselves to (near) death or can barely scrape by because of this incessant feeling that we need to be doing art 100% of the time to have "made it". It is hurting us both physically and emotionally to keep this shit up.

Going forward, we have to do better. There is no shame in having an income that is not dependent on the things you make. I think that it can help alleviate a lot of stress and fatigue that can become associated with creating (and thus, making it hard to do something you love). We need to learn to be kinder to ourselves and unlearn comparing our experiences to what we see from other creative peers on social media. Its hard, finding work sucks ass, and no job will be perfect, but if it can help you survive a little easier and rekindle your relationship for creating the things you love to make, it'll make a world of difference.

You are not a failed artist. You're doing what you can so you can keep doing what you love.