#wish us all luck

[kedreeva]

I texted Sark to ask him to bring Bug in with him when he got home this evening, because she is currently undergoing learning how to be an outside bird. Normally she's so thrilled to see me that she runs around in circles and puts her train up at me and dances. He sent me back this photo:

with the note that she "doesn't wanna."

She'd made herself a dort hole, and did not want to stop being a filthy little gremlin for him. I'm glad she's learning to accept the outdoors, at least.

[clockworksir]

Time to wrap 2022 up. 

Barely did any good art this year, spent most of my after work hours vegetating and moping around. Didn’t get to meet new people, did not get into any new hobbies. I told myself earlier this year I will be a regular at the gym that did not happen. Did not learn anything interesting. Didn’t achieve my goals from last year.  I aaalmost finished one (1) good art piece, but then I dropped it mid-december. Overall, a year wasted. I mean, 2021 was also a miserable year for me, but this time I’ve learn not to stress myself too much over the fact. :D Yeah I’m wasting my life away, and so?

Eh  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Here’s to a better 2023! For all of us 🎉 Seeyou next year

[booksr4ever18]

manifesting... manifesting... manifesting...

[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.

[cozylittleartblog]

worst way to start my new year, thanks. i have a lot of things to say about these companies but i'm tired and just keeping it focused to the pin side of things for this one. do not ever buy pins from these companies, literally ALL of them are stolen from small artists like me. if you want to buy enamel pins, check out etsy, and artist's personal websites and shops! (though even Etsy has some bootleg pins that ship straight from china, so tread carefully…)

Every pin I've designed is, thus far, EXCLUSIVE to my etsy. if you find it anywhere else, it's been ripped off! and once these stupid bootlegs pop up, it's basically a never ending game of whack-a-mole trying to get them all taken down...

[foxscarf]

26.3.24

it's time for one more big effort! I'm determined to get this all done now.

(and I'm in love with my vintage desk I bought second hand only last week; plus my gran's blanket is keeping me cosy. So I'm beginning to feel I'll be alright!)

37/100 days of productivity

[lycandrophile]

let trans men&mascs romanticize testosterone.

keep your “you’re not going to look like an anime boy or whatever, you’re just going to look like your dad” to yourself.

keep your “but what about the balding and the acne and the anger problems and the gross hair everywhere and the horrible painful bottom growth and and and” to yourself.

keep your “once you look like a man you will scare people and you can never stop thinking about that” to yourself.

keep your “testosterone is poison and don’t you dare even suggest that saying that might hurt you” to yourself.

we are not obligated to take on your fears and traumas around testosterone as our own, nor are we obligated to let them influence our relationship with it.

we are not obligated to sit here in a world that heavily restricts and constantly threatens our access to it and listen silently as you contribute to stigma around it.

we’re already tired of watching cis society as a whole try to rip it away from us; we don’t need fellow trans people and supposed allies giving credence to their cause.

for many of us testosterone is life-saving medicine, it’s liquid gold, it’s the nectar and ambrosia of the fucking gods.

is it so hard to just let us have that? to let us believe that and say it and celebrate it without being given a million reasons to question it? is that really too much to ask?

if you can find it in your heart to let other trans people romanticize their transitions, i promise you can let us do it to.

testosterone is a beautiful thing. it makes people hotter and even more importantly it makes them happier and anyone who wants it should be able to have it because it’s so life-changing and magical and wonderful and incredibly important to so many people who deserve the happiness it offers.

[popsicle-stick]

what if we were boatwomen sat on a lock gate on the grand union canal in 1889……and we were both girls….👉👈😳

historical context under cut!

during the 19th century entire families lived in the tiny back cabins of narrowboats on the british canal system, hauling goods from town to town. they had a hard nomadic lifestyle, and experienced exclusion from on-shore society. due to this, an entire folk culture, with its own crafts, formed. narrowboats were painted in bright traditional patterns, in a style known as roses and castles, and the interiors were full of crocheted lace and polished copper. men wore wide, bright crocheted belts to spread weight when hauling boats with ropes, and women often wore elaborate frilled bonnets that both acted as a point of personal pride and practical shade from the sun for an outdoor existence - these became black after the death of queen victoria in 1901. much has been said about the similarity between traditional english narrowboats and roma vardos, but as far as we know there's not much historical crossover.

link 1 (with photos!)

link 2

[thatskynews]

October 16th brings a new place for friends to connect, build a stronger community, and create beautiful memories together in Sky 🌟

We'll see you in Aviary Village soon 👋🏞

[chimerathekid]

"Aren't you a little young to be a detective?" I still like making fake screenshots and crossover pictures

Crow Country is fun and since I did some crossover art with the Detective Grimoire guys a while back, I figured I'd do a piece for this series too. Theyre both fun and I like detectives

[bamsara]

24hr no sleep milestone and running off of pure spite

[tazzertopia]

i know feminist tumblr doesn’t need another take on the 4b movement but oh my fucking god after looking at tiktok posts about 4b post election results i want to bash my head in with a rock SOME THINGS ARE MEANT TO BE EXCLUSIVE!!!!! you cannot be apart of the movement if you are having sex with or dating a man…. NO BUTS!!!!!!! the guideline is so fucking simple it cannot be that difficult

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Have you guys ever heard about this game "Slay The Princess"?

I sure have... It's been constantly spinning in my mind for a couple of months...

So I've tried to make something in Hero Forge about it... Here are my attempts at slaying modeling Chapter 2 Princesses...

Bonus: Hero Forge doesn't allow more than two figures on one base, so there is no way I could model The Stranger... So here is five of her fragments:

And also Tower lifting the chin of a raven that was used to determine Her hand position... He was so charming to me, I've decided to show you... Not Long, but a Little Quiet...

All models are free to use in your DnD campaigns, and will be available through links in my Google Doc... Once I finish compiling it... I also need to acknowledge, that I'm not the first person doing this... That honor, as far as I'm aware, goes to @imafuckingnerdineveryway and their two sets of models: Long Quiet and Shifting Mound Adversary and Damsel Which were partial inspiration for starting this project... Check them out! More people should engage with Hero Forge as an art program!

[bogkeep]

testosterone OBTAINED

[songofsunset]

Tips for talking to someone with hearing loss

(this is what helps when people are talking to me, and when I'm talking to my relatives)

Make sure they can see your mouth. Lip-reading helps with clarity, and facing them while you talk also helps a lot with volume. People are really bad about getting your attention, starting to say something, then turning away mid sentence. Stay facing them the whole time!!! (People are the worst about this while we are shopping together!)

Be comfortable with repeating yourself. Either they will ask you to repeat yourself, or you will realize they misheard you. Both of these are fine- just repeat yourself clearly and make sure they can see your face while you do. "Never mind" makes me sad :(

If someone misheard you: try rewording your sentence! Maybe certain sounds are harder for them to hear than other sounds. Instead of "grab that shampoo!" three times at increasing volume, try "grab that blue bottle, the one next to the conditioner" or "I like that dandruff shampoo up there, can you put it in the cart?" There are a lot of ways to rephrase things that will give the person you're talking to more chances to understand, and it feels much less patronizing for everyone. And make sure you're facing them so they can see your mouth!!!

If someone misheard you: try a Yes, And approach. If your grandma didn't understand your question and starts telling you an unrelated story, enjoy it! When she is finished, thank her, and then try asking your question again with more clarity, or worded differently. "No, that's not what I said" is much less enjoyable for everyone involved.

Enjoy your conversation! Not everything needs to be understood perfectly. The important thing is that you are spending time together and talking to each other. Each conversation is a journey and you will get there in the end!!!

[anthyies]