#Thank you for EVERY thing

[unforth]

Gentle reminder that very little fandom labor is automated, because I think people forget that a lot.

That blog with a tagging system you love? A person curates those tags by hand.

That rec blog with a great organization scheme and pretty graphics? Someone designed and implemented that organization scheme and made those graphics.

That network that posts a cool variety of stuff? People track down all that variety and queue it by hand, and other people made all the individual pieces.

That post with umpteen links to helpful resources, and information about them? Someone gathered those links, researched the sources, wrote up the information about them.

That graphic about fandom statistics? Someone compiled those statistics, analyzed them, organized them, figured out a useful way to convey the information to others, and made the post.

That event that you think looks neat? Someone wrote the rules, created the blogs and Discords, designed the graphics, did their best to promo the event so it'd succeed.

None of this was done automatically. None of it just appears whole out of the internet ether.

I think everyone realizes that fic writing and fanart creation are work, and at least some folks have got it through their heads that gif creation and graphics and moodboards take effort, and meta is usually respected for the effort that goes into it, at least as far as I've seen, but I feel like a lot of people don't really get how much labor goes into curation, too.

If people are creating resources, curating content, organizing the creations of others, gathering information, and doing other fandom activities that aren't necessarily the direct action of creation, they're doing a lot of fandom labor, and it's often largely unrecognized.

Celebrate fan work!

To folks doing this kind of labor: I see you, and I thank you. You are the backbones of our fandoms and I love you.

#unforth rambles #this wasn't really prompted by anything #I'm just sick and tired and distractable #or i should say it wasn't prompted by anything recent or that happened now #like no one has disrespected me #but as i hit the point that it's regularly taking me an hour plus every single day to queue things for the danmei art blogs #i just think of all the times people go WAIT YOU RUN ALL OF THOSE??? BY YOURSELF??? #like i just don't think a lot of people realize how much work it is to really do background fandom labor long term #and i appreciate places like rec blogs and networks and events and just everyone #y'all are awesome #thank you so much

[inkskinned]

at some point it's just like. do they even fucking like the thing they're asking AI to make? "oh we'll just use AI for all the scripts" "we'll just use AI for art" "no worries AI can write this book" "oh, AI could easily design this"

like... it's so clear they've never stood in the middle of an art museum and felt like crying, looking at a piece that somehow cuts into your marrow even though the artist and you are separated by space and time. they've never looked at a poem - once, twice, three times - just because the words feel like a fired gun, something too-close, clanging behind your eyes. they've never gotten to the end of the movie and had to arrive, blinking, back into their body, laughing a little because they were holding their breath without realizing.

"oh AI can mimic style" "AI can mimic emotion" "AI can mimic you and your job is almost gone, kid."

... how do i explain to you - you can make AI that does a perfect job of imitating me. you could disseminate it through the entire world and make so much money, using my works and my ideas and my everything.

and i'd still keep writing.

i don't know there's a word for it. in high school, we become aware that the way we feel about our artform is a cliche - it's like breathing. over and over, artists all feel the same thing. "i write because i need to" and "my music is how i speak" and "i make art because it's either that or i stop existing." it is such a common experience, the violence and immediacy we mean behind it is like breathing to me - comes out like a useless understatement. it's a cliche because we all feel it, not because the experience isn't actually persistent. so many of us have this ... fluttering urgency behind our ribs.

i'm not doing it for the money. for a star on the ground in some city i've never visited. i am doing it because when i was seven i started taking notebooks with me on walks. i am doing it because in second grade i wrote a poem and stood up in front of my whole class to read it out while i shook with nerves. i am doing it because i spent high school scribbling all my feelings down. i am doing it for the 16 year old me and the 18 year old me and the today-me, how we can never put the pen down. you can take me down to a subatomic layer, eviscerate me - and never find the source of it; it is of me. when i was 19 i named this blog inkskinned because i was dramatic and lonely and it felt like the only thing that was actually permanently-true about me was that this is what is inside of me, that the words come up over everything, coat everything, bloom their little twilight arias into every nook and corner and alley

"we're gonna replace you". that is okay. you think that i am writing to fill a space. that someone said JOB OPENING: Writer Needed, and i wrote to answer. you think one raindrop replaces another, and i think they're both just falling. you think art has a place, that is simply arrives on walls when it is needed, that is only ever on demand, perfect, easily requested. you see "audience spending" and "marketability" and "multi-line merch opportunity"

and i see a kid drowning. i am writing to make her a boat. i am writing because what used to be a river raft has long become a fully-rigged ship. i am writing because you can fucking rip this out of my cold dead clammy hands and i will still come back as a ghost and i will still be penning poems about it.

it isn't even love. the word we use the most i think is "passion". devotion, obsession, necessity. my favorite little fact about the magic of artists - "abracadabra" means i create as i speak. we make because it sluices out of us. because we look down and our hands are somehow already busy. because it was the first thing we knew and it is our backbone and heartbreak and everything. because we have given up well-paying jobs and a "real life" and the approval of our parents. we create because - the cliche again. it's like breathing. we create because we must.

you create because you're greedy.

#every time someones like ''AI will replace u" im like. u will have to fucking KILL ME #there is no replacement here bc i am not filling a position. i am just writing #and the writing is what i need to be doing #writeblr #this probably doesn't make sense bc its sooo frustrating i rarely speak it the way i want to #edited for the typo wrote it and then was late to a meeting lol #i love u people who mention my typos genuinely bc i don't always catch them!!!! :) it is doing me a genuine favor!!! #my friend says i should tell you ''thank you beta editors'' but i don't know what that means #i made her promise it isn't a wolf fanfiction thing. so if it IS a wolf thing she is DEAD to me (just kidding i love her) #hey PS PS PS ??? if ur reading this thinking what it's saying is ''i am financially capable of losing this'' ur reading it wrong #i write for free. i always have. i have worked 5-7 jobs at once to make ends meet. #i did not grow up with access or money. i did not grow up with connections or like some kind of excuse #i grew up and worked my fucking ASS OFF. and i STILL!!! wrote!!! on the side!!! because i didn't know how not to!!! #i do not write for money!!!! i write because i fuckken NEED TO #i could be in the fucking desert i could be in the fuckken tundra i could be in total darkness #and i would still be writing pretentious angsty poetry about it #im not in any way saying it's a good thing. i'm not in any way implying that they're NOT tryna kill us #i'm saying. you could take away our jobs and we could go hungry and we could suffer #and from that suffering (if i know us) we'd still fuckin make art. #i would LOVE to be able to make money doing this! i never have been able to. but i don't NEED to. i will find a way to make my life work #even if it means being miserable #but i will not give up this thing. for the whole world.

[guthulhu]

back with another EXCESSIVELY low effort post <3

#pomni #tadc pomni #the amazing digital circus #pomni x ragatha #digital yuri #ragatha #tadc ragatha #dont notice how i draw changes every five minutes thank you <3 #also dont believe my lie i spent so much time trying to get that things face right #that thing being pomni

[loves2spwge]

a very sweet & loving stankyle kiss i commissioned from @currrsy 💙💚

#sp style #south park #aaahh this still feels so dreamy i need 2 keep staring at them forever and ever #the little details!!!!! just agh love the way their hair looks so fluffy and messy and its still my fav thing about cursys stan #poor baby always looks like hes in need of a good rest and here it looks like kyle can kiss him until he falls asleep #kyles got him hes safe in his arms ;; #the little hearts were such a cute little bonus ^_^ and the green shade was exactlyyyy what i had in mind !! #and all their freckles & beauty marks so so love i kissie each and every one ✨ + stans dark circles mwah 💋 #my heart is so full and happy thank you so much cursy!!💗 #💘

[jazzzzzzhands]

Heyoo! It's @partycoffin's Birthday! So have a Wally in a Birthday suit! I had a lot of fun designing clothes for him! Pastel looks really good on him UwU <333 Have a lovely Birthday!

#jazzart #wally darling #welcome home #partycoffin #birthday core #fashion #ok but my favorite part was the leg sash thing ahahah #hnnnn i love asymmetry so MUCH #every ounce of this puppet project just has me so happy #thank you clown

[turtleblogatlast]

Every day I’m haunted by the fact the boys happily swim in sewer water

Even if it’s filtered somehow there’s no way it’s not still nasty 😭 Bet they can defeat any of their villains just by accidentally giving them diseases I swear

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #bless their hearts but they’re nasty #it’s funny because like #each and every one of them has moments #where they’re a typical disgusting teenage boy #and then the next they have STANDARDS #can’t blame Leo for being so determined to go to a spa #even if he nearly licked his own foot that’s prob cleaner than anything else the boys have been up to in years 💀 #thank you shelldon for all your hard work cleaning after then 🙏 #they’re all gross teenage boys!!! #even Donnie he is NO exception here #bro was DRINKING A BEVERAGE while wading through sewer water he is just as gross as his bros #bro also talks with his mouth full he is no more refined than his equally gross bros fr and I love it #but yeah no way that water isn’t disgusting even filtering it would still leave grime on the walls of the sewer for yearsss #pros of them moving into an abandoned subway system is fixing their sense of smell enough to not be as gross #100% that’s part of why they didn’t mind being so filthy pre shelldon #because I mean they were literally raised in the sewers and they’re teenage boys like that’s a double whammy #THEY ALSO DONT WEAR SHOES #the few times any of them do the shoes are discarded before heading home 💀 #I love them tho they are endearing anyhow #April’s immune system must be godlike just being around them fr #honestly no joke Mikey’s probably the cleanest of them all #just by virtue of being a chef #Leo I see as a mixture since he no doubt loves to pamper himself so he’s clean like #a percentage of time before he goes out and ruins his own hard work #Donnie is similar in that he’s just VERY SELECTIVE about what he thinks is too gross #Raph may be more on the stinky end but it’s not his fault he has his stinks and eats things of dubious origin(esp since his bros ate poison) #Donnie and Leo really have the gall to be sick about Raph eating the origami salami but they have no room to talk #all their villains are prob like please stay away from us we have salmonella now

[colourofmagic]

captain sunshine and the best backliner in ncaa exy ☀️

#finally got around to a new sketch of jerejean #first things first #ASGAHDHAGSJJAGDJAJD #WHAAAAT TF THE SHUNSHINE COURT #man #nora did it again #exceeded every hope and expectation i had #i will eat them they don't know they're next #i lohe jean with all my heart #i had adopted him before tsc already but THAT IS MY SON #i cried #neils story was so brutal and heartbreaking but jeans actually made me cry #anyways #they will heal #they will be happy #i am so hyped for everything to come #thank you nora #aftg #aftg fanart #fanart #tsc #the sunshine court #all for the game #the foxhole court #sketch #art #jean moreau #jeremy knox #jerejean

[canisalbus]

Alright.

.

#oh OH #!!! #ask and you shall receive :O #a certified creechur #going unhinged over the lil' boots #those are 100% Tove Jansson imagery #moominvalley and it's gender neutral high heels mwah #I think he must belong to the same genus of narrow anxious critters as sniff and fillyjonk #brain combusting because suddenly I have a terrible urge to reread moominvalley in november or something hhhrhrh #I'm not a rabid fan of that many things I don't collect merch and such #but moomins just spark joy every time and Jansson has been my personal idol since childhood #an unexpected niche thing but his makes me exceedinly happy #thank you! #;_; #gift art #kuroikamome #own characters #Machete

[kidovna]

🤝🏻 part 1 (next)

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things #artovna #byler fanart #I almost made this my first post of 2023 and then decided it was too sad to begin the new year with lol #Joyce taught a five year old Will how it’s polite to say thank you and Will said thank you at the end of every sentence

[hyunpic]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HYUNJIN 🖤

#hyunjin #skz #bystay #staydaily #gifs #stray kids #love u with every fiber found within me. no one has ever impacted my life quite like you #i will be thinking about you even at the ends of the world #I WILL NEVER LET U GOOO O OO OO. OOOOOH my everything forever and ever like we are 4lyfers for real #if he asked i would hand pick stars from the sky for him just like flowers #😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞❤️❤️ #idk why im getting so emotional rn like woah hh h woahhh woahhh #ive never been more proud and excited to be a fan of someone #the passion love and care u put in to everything u do is unmatched and #im looking forward to future knowing how u want to improve at things u love #even though to me u are perfect rn as u are #but the thought of u wanting to show us even greater things in the future makes me vibrate #thank u for being u and bringing light and love to my life every day 🥹 #i hope the whole universe brings u all the love back u give to it #YIPPIEEEWW MIGHT OF SHED A TEAR #HAPPY BDAY MY LOVIEEEEEEEEE ILYYYYYYY

[rad-roche]

It's Valentine's day! You there, browsing the tag. Have you ever thought 'I like Nick Valentine, but I wish he starred in two novels lovingly written in the prose style of a detective noir from 1943, and so help me God, I don't want to pay a cent for it?' No! Nobody has! What an unusually specific dream!

But it's too late, I've already written them.

More than that, I've filled them with art, too.

If this sounds like something you'd like, you can find the full series (the two books and two small side stories) here.

#fallout #fallout 4 #fo4 #nick valentine #DiMA #gloria roche #sole survivor #rochedotpng #unmade man #dead man talking #dead woman walking #this vday i'm treating myself. to a plug #i've hauled absolute ass on these and loved every minute. thoroughly glad i did and i think the love shows #thank you to people who've reached out to say kind things about it also

[buglaur]

fireworks show 🎆

material preview version is very cute also :)

i struggled with the lighting on this one so badly, but it turned out alright in the end.

i actually started it last year for new years 2023 but never got around to finishing it, hence no progress pictures this time sadly lol. i do have a very low-res, first draft, test gif though

stills 🥳

#first post of 2024 hi happy new years 👋🎉 #ts4 #ts4 render #tw flashing #flash warning #< please let me know if i need to put any other tags #it took me a whole 90 minutes to jump through every loophole possible and make this gif under 10mb.... #and now the qualitys shit #for the love of all things good please do not look at this on mobile #thanks for stickin with me through 2023 :) #i know i don't respond to comments or asks half the time but i read every single one and they make my day #sorry #haven't even started gameplay with them yet and i'm already making renders #spoilers for what relationships may form 👀 #the urge to design the bands first album and photoshoot and everything is strong #but calm down girl you haven't even given them a name yet #i'll try make a sim dump for anon in the next 2 weeks some time #edits #for now goodnight

[somerandomdudelmao]

this is so bad that people are asking you when your comic updates are so they can sleep.

Yall really SHOULDN'T do that, its messed up, im just speaking from my standpoint but hearing stuff like that i wouldn't even Want to update anymore or announce wips or anything with all this "when is it coming out? can i sleep? can i do this? is it coming out soon?" i mean asking for WIPS of the comic seems fine but asking when its coming out bc its affecting you is wild. and not good. imagine what type of stress that is on a person to know that people arent taking care of themselves until the comic comes out.

idk it feels like some of yall dont know how to act. this comic is a passion project if anything. it just seems. so unhealthy and offputting to deal with this from an audience. idk.

:т

#would I be able to sleep tonight? #tell me when is the update so I can finally sleep #don’t get me wrong here #I don’t judge anyone for not sleeping because of the comic #I was the same lmao #but bruh #it would be nice if you stop making your health my responsibility #if I had nickel every time someone tried to make me promise updates through quilt #I would have like…..hundreds? of nickels #idk #I had something like 15 whenistheupdateiwanttosleep asks only today #not the worst thing I ever had in my asks tho but still #All said doesn’t apply to Hoddi and Tapa btw #They are special #thank you anon:)

[jeeaark]

If Greygold was a companion, what would be the best way to initiate a romance with them? Would they go for the “L” word early or an Act or two later?

The "L" word was lube, right? Right? Else showering Durge/Tav with kisses Gomez-Addams-Style is the alternative.

Maybe the Nat 20 romance isn't the best way for Tav/Durge, but it sure is for Greygold. You just know Greygold scared that Dream Guardian away the first time and has been low-key obsessed with that armor since

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #durge #greygold #bg3 fanart #bg3 comic #Sometimes I have to make Greygold's idea of a good time sould like its wild stuff in order to make a really REALLY dumb joke #But truly they just wanna cuddle the SHIT out of anyone who goes out of their way to get that dream guardian armor for them #everyone thank the anon for the “L” word joke #and the silliest thing I have ever drawn #what are you doing to me guys- got me drawing durgexgreygold fluff and I still don't know jack about durge howdidthishappen lskdjdklj #I suppose Greygold's favorite type of folk are dorks who are complete disasters with mushy bits- tough coconut shell or not #so. every companion in this game

[uncanny-tranny]

Scientists ought to study the chemical link between Butches and trans men* and transmasc* people. Like, they say that the triple bond is one of the hardest to break, but I don't think they've looked at the bond between a trans guy and a Butch

#trans #transgender #queer #butch #lgbt #lgbtq #ftm #nonbinary #every time a butch gives gym advice or how to behave like a gentleman i shut up sit down and get out my pen and paper #like butches may not all be men but they know what i want and frankly i will kill and die for butches #very unfortunate that the 'u' key is RIGHT NEXT TO the 'i' key because i really do not want to say 'bitches' on accident :/ #something i love about the trans scene is the way the venn diagram between butchness and transness overlap often #thank you to all the gym butches in sports bras who are WAY more jacked than me for giving me their wisdom 💛💛💛 #yes obv this INCLUDES trans butches who aren't transmasc* or trans men* #the THINGS that butch trans women have shared? innumerable. they rival the grains of sand on earth

[letitbehurt]

Dog-catcher poles being used to manhandle Whumpee.

Wire choking off air when Whumpee fights or fails to move fast enough, easily cutting through the skin. Hands bound behind their back so that they can’t grab the pole being used to drag them along. Whumper(s) keeping their distance because watch it, this one bites—

#Thank you @whumps-and-bumps for the brain food <33 #Whumpee’s head being forced against the bars of their cage for an injection or a taunt #Whumpees who still fight the whole way DESPITE being choked and yanked and shoved every step of the way #Whumpees who promise that the only thing saving Whumper is the length of that fucking pole #Whumpees who are gagged in some way and so their sounds of struggle and pain sound animalistic #Whumper(s) degrading them for it #RECAPTURE #Whumpee’s cheek pressed to the ground as one Whumper holds the pole and another ties Whumpee’s hands behind their back #Whumpers treating Whumpee like a dangerous or disgusting animal #that’s the good stuff #whump