reddit is a much more toxic place for fandom because it centers discussion instead of creation. and there's only so many things to discuss before you start spreading unnecessary negativity.

there was an actual popular post on the hermitcraft subreddit encouraging to voice your unpopular opinions which ccs read and it was, uhh. what you'd expect. at this point tumblr might actually be better for creators

Oh anon. You don't have to tell me about the infamous unpopular opinions post. I think I was the one who basically brought that one to hermitblr and my blog was pretty much entirely posts and asks about it for a few days--I was basically the center of discussion for that awful incident for tumblr users. I have NOT forgiven the subreddit for that. Some of the stuff there was practically libel and the moderators had to approve every comment individually before posting, and just....approved blatant character defamation. And I'm not using "character" in the narrative sense. That was so bad that it upset some hermits and one of the hermits reached out and asked for the post to be deleted (again, the post contained more than just unpopular opinions, and even had comments making baseless accusations.) The post was taken down, but then reddit does what it does best and cried about freedom of speech and censorship, so the hermits let the mods put the post back up and Xisuma (iirc) made an apology to the fandom for "censoring their opinions." When it is, in my perfectly honest opinion, extremely valid to to be upset about the things that were being said....like if you said that to me irl about a friend, i'd want to slap you, but they're on the internet so they're just expected to accept everything happily i guess....

Fortunately, the moderator who allowed and approved a lot of the worst comments has been removed. I think. I am pretty sure they're the same person that was involved in another incident but I'm not gonna mention it because I can't (dont feel like) confirming it and the last thing I'd want to do is make the same mistakes as in the thread by making random accusations.

I think you're right about about some of the discussion versus creation aspect. Even when you post a creative product, it just sits and accumulates comments where everyone can give their opinion on it. You can comment on art on tumblr too, but the emphasis is way more on sharing it with others. And you tend to see art only as a result of following people you like, so you're already vetting the list of what you see. Reddit is like...going to the town hall and just hanging a picture on a board. I guess? It's like the only thing you could do was browse the main tags on tumblr and everyone was mad all the time lol

I don't think having negative opinions on media is a bad thing, nor do i think being critical of it is. I think that a lot of discussion and analysis has to be critical in order to dig into issues in media (either via social issues or just regular narrative issues.) But it's the sheer concentration of it that is so exhausting. It's just not a fun place to hang out because you can't really vet what posts you see so the people who only want to discuss negative things will always be hanging at your periphery. Whereas, on tumblr, i can intentionally follow analysis centered people. I was big into the dsmp analysis community and it wasn't all positive posts. But if i wanted out I could just unfollow them and follow some more chill people instead. On reddit you don't really get that choice.

I kinda have the itch to make more floral self portraits again, but it feels more complicated now, with the knowledge that those pieces are the ones that most frequently get stolen. Used as social media content for other ppl’s onlyfans, (poorly) traced for clout, reposted in terf spaces, resold reprinted redrawn repackaged. And that’s without mentioning all the messages I’ve been getting about my body Post-Breast-Reduction-Gofundme. Like, am I still supposed to feel okay about putting my body out there?

He's despicable, I'll take 12.

[Work-In-Progress]

Please feel free to drop your favorite toxic positivity slogans in the notes!

I want to write at least one such quote on this image. The top contender right now is "We all have the same 24 hours in a day!"

Also valid examples: "Nothing's impossible!", "Anyone can do it!", and "Pull yourself up by the bootstraps!" - or maybe just "Self-made :)"

---

Originally drawn in crayon at my local bar's game night because tabletop games are slow as fuck

@raventhekittycat

hi okay so I've been mulling this one over for the past day or two and I think I have the answer. not to be using hamburger to explain anything to an american but you're my detco mutual so I'm going to try and explain it in detco terms

There's a post going around recently about how if you've read detco and only detco, the first time hakuba shows up you're going to be totally flummoxed, because damn this guy is clearly important, he gets to be even cooler than Shinichi, he's got a half-page shot of him (in such a panel-dense series such as Detective Conan, no less!!) and he's got a fucking hawk. he's CLEARLY important. everything about the narrative is indicating that you need to PAY ATTENTION to hakuba and that he's the coolest guy and he's important!!!! and then he dies in the case lol (not for real. but still.)!! and you're like huh??? what was that. why did aoyama do that.

But with the context of magic kaito this totally makes sense. He's a beloved character that people have been waiting decades to see again. Of course Aoyama is going to hype him up!! It's his big moment after years of being locked in the backrooms!!!

Anyways reading birdmen for me was kind of like that. The author's previous series, Kekkaishi, was pretty one-dimensional at the beginning, and even after the main plot started picking up at around volume 6, it still felt quite understandable. I knew what she was trying to get at, and the spectacular job she did with the anthropocene and climate change metaphor towards the end of that series really made me interested in the rest of her works. That and the way she writes familial relationships is absolutely DEVASTATING. (I mean this with the highest of praise)

But when I read BIRDMEN for the first time, I was probably in... middle school, maybe? And I read it, sure, but I didn't get it. I could see what was literally happening on the page but the narrative choices were absolutely baffling at times. Why skip over the entire part of the plot where they figure out who the birdman that saved them was? She blatantly doesn't care about that. What does she care about then?? I knew I didn't get it, I knew there were parts of it that were important and I couldn't figure out why and THAT'S how it dug its pretty little claws into me. Even after I finished catching up it nagged at me a little bit, not often at all, but enough that every once in a while I go, huh, right, that was a thing, let me go read it again.

For the record this type of story haunting has happened to me twice. First time was the Heart of Thomas, second time was BIRDMEN. I think the thing is that these are both stories which are not what other people say they are and I think I came into both of these stories with a misconception, trying to look too hard for things that weren't important and therefore missing the things that were.

Because sure, BIRDMEN is about mental illness. Yeah, it's about an evil scientific organization growing mutants in a lab. Yeah, it's about what it means to leave your humanity behind. That's all technically correct, on a surface level, and the fandom at large likely agrees with these takes for the most part, but in my opinion none of that really delves into what the thematic messaging of the story is about.

There are cryptic conversations about authority and human extinction and peculiar outfit and ability choices. You can tell these choices weren't made to serve the purpose of "writing exciting shonen manga" because that was what she did for the most part in Kekkaishi and you can tell she wasn't putting her whole pussy into doing that here. So what was she doing? What's like. All of this. Waves my hands at this.

The short answer is that it's really about the interplay between capitalism (represented by humanity) and communism (represented by birdmen), and explores the role institutional white supremacy (EDEN) plays in enforcing capitalism. It is ALSO about queer liberation and the importance of community, but hey, that double-stacks conveniently with the communism metaphor.

But also take this opinion of mine with a grain of salt. As far as I know I'm the only one who really truly deeply believes that it is not only AN interpretation of the work, but one that was fully intended by the author.

So basically, I like it, because I think it says something true and beautiful that I also believe in, even if I didn't have the words for it the first time I read it. But I don't really think that's what people really look for in a media recommendation.

Do I like it? Yes, I love it. Will I recommend it to others? Yeah, sure. But do I think it's deeply flawed? Yeah, absolutely. It's flawed in the same ways as The Witch from Mercury— a rushed ending, too many threads that were opened and never tied together. The pacing and characterization is perfect in the beginning, and too rushed at the end. There are prerequisites you basically HAVE to read in order to understand the story (tempest for G-Witch and the communist manifesto for birdmen). I think a truly good story wouldn't have any of these things so if people don't like it I never blame them.

It's my personal experiences that make birdmen so profound to me. If you are not queer I just don't think Eishi coming out as a birdman to his mom will hit the same, just as an example. Sorry that I wasn't the kid you wanted me to be. I know you love me and you just want the best for me and that's why you're so controlling, because you think I can be saved by conforming to societal expectations. But I can't live like that. I can't be like that. And that's why I must go. etc.

Aesthetically I do love birdmen a lot. If I had to describe it in a few words it would probably be "chilling", "beautiful", and "powerful", which nicely coincides with the type of things I personally like to draw. It's also silly to a small degree but it's so serious and I know Tanabe can be way way way funnier (read kekkaishi for this. kekkaishi and hanazakari no kimitachi he were foundational to my sense of sequential art humor) so that's not really the standout trait of this series.

I can't let it go because I'm chewing this series like a bone. And it's taking me years but I am getting that sweet sweet marrow. By god. We are on year 3 of this shit and I am GOING to understand this series. and I'm going to make 3 video essays about it

If I do not post this I will never stop fiddling with it and it’s already partially glitched my tumblr, so please enjoy some four horsegirls of the apocalypse for @an-ungraceful-swan’s dtiys <3

Original + taglist:

KotLC Art Taglist: @bronte-deserves-better @imaramennoodle @thisbluewind @we-have-no-bananas-today @theofficialkai517 @ruewen-and-rising @keefeinnit @thesandsofdawn @crumpledwitchfeet @ascendant-queen @tribblemakingalicorn @axels-corner @loverofallthingssmart @silveny-dreams @girlofmanyfandoms @enbies-and-felonies @impostertamsong @sofia-not-sophie @alabestrine @keefes-hairgel @fanartofthelostcities @three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat @a-lonely-tatertot @ketterdamkid @cosmogyral-cleo @meg-doodles @dragonwinnie-kotlc @anaccidentwaitingtohappen @maglorslostsilmaril @even-if-in-another-time @crazedfangirl14 @callas-pancake-tree @katniss-elizabeth-chase @wolfstar-being-ridikkulus @thefoxysnake @florida-preposterously

just finished debug mode's video on totk's story and OUGH they surmised my problem perfectly with the issue being more so the way of storytelling than the actual story. i mean i personally still wouldn't be the biggest fan because aside from zelda, tulin and riju i didn't find the characters to be all that compelling (even characters that i liked in botw got on my nerves this time around), but i would at least be more willing to accept it for what it is.

I mostly agree with q!Bad's take on q!foolish, except for these two things:

1. q!foolish has joined the federation

2. q!foolish may have not meant harm, but when it became clear that his friends were harmed, he cared very little.

The reason q!bad is so forgiving about q!foolish's actions is because of how well they know each other and how much trust they actually have between them. I think he's gonna be distraught when he learns that foolish does work for the federation now.

This also works the other way around, btw. q!foolish doesn't mind q!bad's shenanigans, even when it's torture and interrogation, because they know each others limit. But I also think q!foolish is letting it be bygones because he knows he's lying to q!bad lol

excited for their new song ^^

open for better quality | no reposts

the song Cien Años by Pedro Infante is 100000% shuggy coded. look at the lyrics and tell me that it isn't them!!

i see shanks singing his heart out to this song while looking through pictures of buggy. meanwhile, buggy is in a very happy relationship and has healed and moved on; now it's shanks that is left in the past. clinging to old memories.

lyrics under the cut to further prove my point:

Pasaste a mi lado con gran indiferencia / You passed by my side with heartless indifference

Tus ojos ni siquiera voltearon hacia mí /Your eyes didn't even turn to me

Te vi sin que me vieras / I saw you but you didn't see me

Te hablé sin que me oyeras / I spoke to you but you didn't hear me

Y toda mi amargura se ahogó dentro de mí / And all my bitterness drowned inside of me

then we get to the chorus and it's:

Me duele hasta la vida saber que me olvidaste / It hurts me to life to know that you forgot me

Pensar que ni desprecio merezca yo de ti / To think that I don't even deserve contempt from you

Y sin embargo, sigues unida a mi existencia / And yet, you're still attached to my existence

Y si vivo cien años, cien años pienso en ti / And if I live for a hundred years, then for a hundred years I'll think of you

I have a chronic maybe irrational fear as an artist that one day I'll put out precisely two mediocre pieces back to back and that will tear down Everything. Everyone will be like "i usually like ur stuff but this one kinda a miss :/" which btw is genuinely the worst thing you can say to any creator bc then we can't even pretend like ur a h8r.

The algorithm i so carefully managed to please will suddenly turn one me and shadow ban my butt into the unknown for being a plebeian. And I'd have no one to help me out of that pickle. I'd have to give up bc it's too painful to continue otherwise as a has been. Art will become this weird relic of my early 20s, a "Hey i used to be pretty good at art!" story. But my lack of practice over the decades has made it so I could NEVER draw gojo the way i can currently and it will frustrate and disappoint me and I'll die with regret so deeply entrenched in my blood and bones the earth around my grave rots and festers.

I will not stop complaining unfortunately. one of the players just asked to do something, rolled for it, failed, then claimed she was trying to do something completely different the entire time. like a LIAR

"You look like you've lost weight"

Oh???? My????? God?????? IT'S NOTICABLE?????? FUCKING FANTASTIC

Now I just have to keep going!

miss oscar piastri's lie detector test preview... obsessed with her i fear

thinking about how i want to write again and read a million books and play ts4 and finish my piano duet arrangement and work on my percussion ensemble project and cross-stitch and and and but i only have the energy capacity to work on one project at a time and by the time i finish something (or just make progress cuz let's be real, when was the last time i finished something), i don't have the stamina or momentum to work on anything else so i just lull in a state of inertia.

so i know i asked you all if i should post about the ending but in the end I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF, I'M SORRY, tr ending discussion under the cut

as a summary of my previous thoughts on the ending... my number one problem with it has always been the lack of an explanation for how mikey/takemichi managed to leap back in time together. to me, this makes it seem like they just got lucky that the leap worked at all, which ruins the theme of "you shouldn't take on your burdens alone/rely on your friends a little."

the reason it ruins it is because it comes across as like... mikey was right to push everyone away, because when he finally gave into his impulses and trusted takemichi like he told him to, he LITERALLY KILLED TAKEMICHI. and it was seemingly just luck that they both managed to go back??

i have, however, had thoughts since then which make the ending work a bit more for me personally. mostly, that the reason the curse was broken/they were able to go back was still ultimately a direct result of mikey deciding to trust takemichi/breaking the mindset of "i have to take everything on alone." specifically, in part because he trusted takemichi to save him and "gave into" the dark impulses, but mostly because in the moment takemichi was dying, he begged him to come back. basically he was asking takemichi for help; asking him to prove his beliefs right - that mikey should and can rely on others, and that it's okay to do so. basically i'm trying to help the ending to make thematic sense (to me), is the idea.

now... that's interpretation of the final leap is kind of a stretch. and not really stated or implied in canon, unfortunately. BUT i do think there's some symbolism to support it, like the heavy emphasis placed on mikey's tears that are implied to play a reason in why the leap worked (at least that's what it looked like to me??). mikey has been set up as a character who believes that crying is weakness, so seeing him openly cry represents the shedding of that belief/being willing to ask for help.

but anyway i've said all this before, so what are my new thoughts? well, not much tbh WHOOPS but in the past, i interpreted the dark impulses as being a result of not the curse on shinichiro/karma directly - the punishment for THAT was shinichiro's death at kazutora's hands. instead, mikey's DI are more a circumstantial result of him having been dead in the previous timeline.

and also in the past, i said that the DI appear due to his desire to not rely on others, and are therefore broken when he admits he needs help. i still hold to that, but now i also really like the idea of like... they also come about as a result of him believing he doesn't deserve to be saved, & that he can't be saved?? and therefore it's not just him admitting he needs help that breaks the curse - but also him admitting that he wants to be saved at all. maybe even coming to believe that he deserves it, or at least that he wants a future with everyone.

after all, he DID technically manage to save everyone (but himself) in the bonten timeline. it's not just that he needs help because he can't save everyone by himself. it's also that he needs help so that he can save himself, too, and that he deserves to be a part of that happy future he created for everyone as well.

does that... make sense?? at all?? lmao i feel like it's a meaningful distinction a bit, but idk if i phrased it in a way that makes that clear or that is indeed coherent at all. regardless though. those are my ending headcanons. but god i wish wakui implied all this a little more than what we got KSJFHDSKF