#we all chose

[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.

#writeblr #warm up #this is longer than i wanted i really considered removing that part about myself and what i went thru #but i think it really fucking bothers me that EVERY time i talk about being an artist #ppl assume i just like. had the skill and ability to drop everything and pay for grad school. #like sir i grew up poor. my house wasn't a safe space. i gave up a FREE RIDE TO LAW SCHOOL. for THIS. bc i chose it. #was it fucking hard? was i choosing the hard thing?? yes. #but we need to stop seeing artists as lazy layabouts that can ''afford'' to just ''sit around and create'' #when MANY - if not MOST - of us are NOT like that. we have to work our fucking ASSES off. hard work. long and hard work #part of valuing artists is recognizing the amount we sacrifice to make our art. bc it doesn't just #like HAPPEN to us. also btw it rarely has anything to do with true talent. #speaking as someone with a chronic condition i hate when ppl are like u have it easy. like actively as i'm writing this my hands r #ACTIVELY hurting me. i haven't been posting bc my left hand was curled in a claw for the last week #this isn't fucking luck. after a certain point it's not even TALENT. it's dedication & sacrifice. #''u get to flounce around and do nothing with ur life'' is a narrative that is a direct result of capitalism #imagine if we said that about literally any other profession. #''oh so u give up 10 yrs of ur life to be a doctor? u sacrifice having a social life and u get SUPER in debt? #u need to work countless hours and it will often be thankless? well i wish i was that lucky'' #we should be applying that logic to landlords ONLY #''oh ur mom and dad gave u the money to buy a house? and all u did was paint it white and rent it? huh.''

[amelia-yap]

warrior

#ruby rose #rwby #my art #for one of my assignments where we could chose any fictional character of our liking to render #wanted to go for weiss but #sweet baby bastard is so bloody white. i am not rendering all that white. naw #might draw her on my own time lol #ruby's v7 hair still greatly confuses me lmao #the ear is so fucked up hghhhh #this could've been better but im too tired to give any more fucks hjhhhhjh #one more week sth until sem break again!!! १(>益<१) #gonna go barf out the remaining work i gotta do byee

[theoldkyokodied]

[Hi Dennis. How was the lion feeding?...?]

This has been something I've been working on for quite a while now, as some people who look at my insta story might know, but I'm finally done!! those text messages from s14ep5 are so unhinged, they haunt me every goddamn day. To drop "i love you so much" just to follow it with what essentially is a "no homo.. for u... even tho u r so hot and i like you so much!". exploading them with my mind into a million pieces, okay?

#macdennis #macden #iasip #it's always sunny in philadelphia #dennis reynolds #mac mcdonald #charlie and dee are also there but like for one frame. not tagging them for that #btw i hope mac sexts like he texts. with ellipses and all. and we KNOW dennis would know about that too. i am giving them my best blankstar #i started drawing this before the zine i think. i worked on this so long and had to go back and fix things bc of course i chose the hardest #angles to draw <333 #i am normal about this show and have definitely not started a whole art class project oil painting based on it (sweating) #you can find these on the google drive folder btw. debating if i should add the painting without the text as well #*blank stare. reached character limit on the last two letters 🙄

[attleboy]

QUICK GUYS while it's still relevant!!! do your thing!!! 📸 okay good you can go now

original by glitch...you've probably seen it 10 million times by now

now for bonus content... flat color version

andddd individual characters... jax is a little halfbaked in spots sorry you weren't seeing those bits in the full thing anyway

i also made some doodles based off eizouken clips i found but i ended up making a lot so i'm just gonna give that its own post tomorrow :)

#that picture is so cute im so glad we collectively chose it as a dtiys #i can't reblog literally all of them but it's been super cool to see everyone's take on it <3 <3 very awesome good job y'all #the amazing digital circus #tadc #pomni #jax #ragatha #my art #my fancy art

[ewwww-what]

friendship so strong it grants you a sixth level spell slot. I have words to say.

#you aren’t always supposed to handle doubt alone. #even if you aren’t afraid of the dark it’s easier to navigate with someone holding your hand #Kristen said ​‘I just love my friends. I love my friends so much.’ #and Fig said ‘maybe I’m not an artist. maybe I’m just a really good friend.’ #and everyone in the world wanted me to be okay and normal about it #queerplatonic love comes in so many forms and this is one of them #fig and Kristen. fig and Kristen. fig. Kristen. #also also #I’ve been so emotional about the fact that all of the bad kids care so deeply about Cassandra despite not worshiping her #‘​I believe in Cassandra because I’ve seen her!’ like they have come eye to eye with a goddess and chose the mutual friends route #god I love it so much #also nonbinary fig believers how are we feeling tonight #fantasy high #d20 #d20 fantasy high #d20 fanart #fh #fantasy high fanart #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #d20 fhjy #fig faeth #fig fantasy high #kristen applebees #kristen fantasy high #faebees #queerplatonic #that’s important to me. that is an important part of this. #undescribed #my art

[leupagus]

On Voting in America

So one of the most profound comments on routine chores that I've ever encountered was, hilariously, the Pickle Rick episode of "Rick & Morty," where (after a lot of shenanigans have already ensued) this therapist absolutely lays Rick out:

"I have no doubt that you would be bored senseless by therapy, the same way I'm bored when I brush my teeth and wipe my ass. Because the thing about repairing, maintaining, and cleaning is: it's not an adventure. There's no way to do it so wrong you might die. It's just work. And the bottom line is some people are okay going to work and some people, well, some people would rather die. Each of us gets to choose."

I think about this at least once a week — usually while I'm doing my laundry or sweeping or some other task that needs doing and won't get me anything more than clean clothing or a dog-hair-free floor. There's no Pulitzer for wiping down your microwave or scrubbing your toilet; no one's awarding you for getting all the dishes out of the sink. At best you have the satisfaction of crossing it off your list.

Voting is very much the same (and I'm talking about the US here, as an American). Sure, you sometimes get a sticker; but nobody's going to cheer for you. There's no adventure here, no potential for anything more than crossing something off of a list. It's a chore, something that needs doing in order to repair, maintain, and yes even clean. So I get why people don't like doing it.

And I've decided I don't give a shit.

Do it anyway. Your country takes astonishingly little from you — taxes, the once-in-a-blue-moon jury duty, and a theoretical draft that hasn't been used in over half a century and likely will never be again — but it asks you (asks! not requires! not demands!) to vote once a year. It's not always easy; especially in conservative states, the impediments to vote can be ridiculous. But it is once a year and unlike in our nation's all-too-recent past, you will not die if you do it.

In fact, the worst outcome from voting these days is that the person or issue that you vote for loses — but you won't know if they lose until after the election. Polls are less accurate now, for a whole host of reasons; you cannot know until after the election who or what will win. This makes your vote more valuable than possibly ever before.

Use that power. Not because it's exciting or even rewarding, but because your vote is what keeps our country's metaphorical teeth from falling out and our metaphorical ass from stinking.

Brush, wipe, vote.

#ok the metaphor may've gotten a little gross but rick & morty chose it not me #anyway if voting didn't matter then rich people wouldn't do it #and I can assure you: they do #also: please don't think of voting like a reward for the person you're voting for #or as a punishment for the person you're not voting for #my mom's advice was: #think about the most vulnerable people you care about and vote for the person or issue that will make their lives better #and you'll rarely go wrong #yes there are often two bad options but if you're old enough to vote you're old enough to understand the difference between bad and less ba #anyway that's all the political lecturing I'll do this year #except maybe to complain about the 18-hour day I'll be having on Tuesday #oh also SIGN UP TO WORK ELECTIONS WE NEED MORE HELP #thank you #politics!

[abbeyofcyn]

Wanted a new banner. :^)

Highway to hell - acdc

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt donnie #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt leo #my art #disaster twins #sang this with my colleague at a work party #everyone was all 😮 #because they all chose very Dutch songs #and we just ROCKED #and they were surprised to see two young people sing this idk

[dindjarindiaries]

No way people are actually mad that Hunter and Wrecker are cautious of Crosshair

#last they saw him he actively chose to stay w the empire that had tried to kill them all #like *we* know different but they don’t l #their reactions are totally valid #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb crosshair #the bad batch #the bad batch spoilers #tbb spoilers

[pearlynia]

Sirius: have you guys ever attend a family dinner party just so you can start drama and it'll end with everyone at each other's throats.

Regulus: you did that last week and Bella ended up stabbing mother's hand and someone ripped out a chunk of father's hair.

Sirius: I should get Bella a gift for that.... Do you think Bella would like a dagger?

Very concerned James: ...what the fuck-

#very tired Remus: well we chose them #Sirius loves making drama #Regulus is tired but he also enjoys it #james is slightly traumatized #remus is so done #they all love each other tho #sirius black #regulus black #james potter #remus lupin #jegulus #wolfstar #the black brothers #marauders #bellatrix black #the black family #the Black family madness #wally burga #ore ion #ao3

[ryllen]

their confession dynamic of all time

#fshfsdhsdhdj TREYY SANN NOOOOO............!!!! me everytime this is what fanartists chose it to happen fhsdshd #BUT THEN WHEN THEY PUT JADE IN TURMOIL & DESPAIR over THIS IT'S TOO FUNNY FSHDSHDH #twisted wonderland #twst #treyjade #trey clover #jade leech #fanart #they gave me good laugh everytime fshd #that one strip when floyd goes huhu TT TT trey be like oh no what's wrong (actually caring) #and when jade goes huhu TT TT trey be lik e what is i t this time ? ? (ABSOLUTELY WON'T FALL ON HIS CROCODILE TEARS FSHDHSDFSHDSH) #HE KNOWS THEM TOO WELL (yes we know azul gave him hints already fhsdh) #this is why all jades who get to go out with trey are so HAPPY #THEY PASS HIS TRUST TEST FSHDSHDSH #BIG WALL RIGHT THERE

[snek-eyes]

Queen instrumentals playing in Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death

(instrumentals arranged by Eos Counsell)

(insp. / template / BoRhap breakdown)

#good omens #good omens 2 #goodomensedit #nina good omens #maggie good omens #metatron #maggie x nina #nina x maggie #v watches good omens #v posts things #this delights me #we spent so much less time with Crowley in the Bentley this season but they still found a spot for Queen #ngl i did not recognize them all on my own so if the xray feature thing is wrong. well #BoRhap is the only one i know/could hear well enough to recognize the specific part of the song #so the rest i just chose applicable lyrics #metatron one despite everything might be my fave as both wizard of oz and omelas reference #also radio ga ga supporting Nina #there are some shorter scenes where you can hear it playing but it seemed less relevant #it's always the same song for the whole episode (day?) except ep 1 #also just discovered you can accidentally drag an image into the tags. this sure is a webbed site heh

[jbsrainbowstrap]

^ Lucy squeezing Julien’s wrist so she’d hold her hand ^

Letting yourself be tender / how did you make me do it?

Thinking about how brave Julien was to let herself be so publicly tender throughout the Grammys and all the moments you can see how conscious and proud of her Phoebe and Lucy were and the subtle ways they shielded her and lent her their strength.

#that’s how they made her do it #i love the record so much it’s a complete beautiful love story with so much character growth #i’m so damn glad they chose to share so we could be a part of it #may we all be so lucky #boygenius #julien baker #lucy dacus #phoebe bridgers

[front-facing-pokemon]

#scorbunny #YEEEEAAAAAAAH WOOOOOOOOOOOO BABY BUNNYYYYYYY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HRSGRHSGSHAGGRAHRAGRAGH #oh sorry. am i cheering way more for scorbunny than i did for grookey? am i showing my bias toward the bnuuy more than the monky? #i don't care 'cause it's SCORBUNNY TIIIIIME YAAAAAAAAY BABY WITH A KRAFT SINGLE ON ITS FACE WOOOOOOOOOO #this isn't even the starter i chose personally in my swsh playthrough. i kinda went into swsh blind and i didn't know what the #final evos were gonna look like. if i'd known about cinderace in advance i would've chosen this thing. i am a furry. we all are #and this thing's final evolution gets a whole paw-shot animation on its signature move are you KIDDING me. are you KIDDING #but in my first run-through (technically the run that got me back into pokémon as a hyperfixation/special interest) i chose sobble #so i have a soft spot for inteleon too #but SCORBUNNYYYYYY WO

[inkedhntr]

bold move there, mate

does this count as a birthday present for this fictional character called Obito?

Imagine how embarassing it must be to give your special eye as a dying gift to someone you finally got along with and then turned out to be completely fine after. “Thanks for the eye, I kinda needed it!” “Haha, yeah I wish that rock crushed me completely.”

#naruto #naruto fanart #naruto shippuden #kakashi #kakashi hatake #hatake kakashi #kakashi fanart #obito #obito uchiha #uchiha obito #uchiha #obito fanart #mfw obitos birthday is the same as izunas #we all know why madara chose this cringey teenager #comic #comics #art #naruto comic #kkob #obkk

[pokimoko]

The fact that Main-verse Ooo is as good and as kind as it is (relative to the other universes shown so far, at least, it's obviously not perfect) all because of the same character that starts off as the OG series' antagonist, the person we were made to see as the bad guy (albeit an often ineffectual one) for several seasons, is making me lose my mind.

Imagine finding out the guy you spent your childhood beating up and saving princesses from is in fact a driving catalyst behind you being able to exist, and not only exist but also live in a world that knows what kindness is. All because that man, the same man who you've witnessed do terrible things, once met a little girl and taught her how to be good.

Simon's story really shows us that even if you lose your way and forget how it is to be good yourself, the world keeps the memory for you. That act of love Simon showed Marcy by protecting her and seeing her as more than the monster she thought herself to be created ripples upon ripples, small at first but eventually enough to help give their wreckage of a world—a world that easily could have been forsaken, its goodness overlooked because of its inhospitable remains—a chance to grow into something beautiful. Because of those very same ripples Simon created, the people of Ooo grew up in a world where they know enough about kindness that they were able and willing to spare the 'bad guy' some, to see beyond the wreckage and allow him to grow too.

In saving Marceline, Simon helped to not only to save the world, but also himself.

#fionna and cake #fionna and cake spoilers #adventure time #simon petrikov #ice king #marceline abadeer #simon and marcy #meta #this was just a phone note to get thoughts out of my system but then it came out semi-coherent #so welp guess i'm writing meta now. i'm really in the deep end now. but yeah...Ice King and Simon's story being about the power of kindness #A cruel world requires constant cruelty to be maintained. But kindness? That reaches across time. one act of kindness sparks another #'I need to save you but whose going to save me?' That act of love and compassion is gonna save you ya dingus....eventually #In a less kind world finn and Jake could have watched those tapes about Simon and still decided IK was a hopeless cause. #That he was too far gone to be saved. But they didn't. They chose to treat him nicer and actually be friends with him. #One thing i always loved about IK's story is that he didn't have to completely change himself for people around him to treat him better #They changed their perspective and were kind to him and it was THAT that helped him change. to grow beyond the 'antagonist' role #to quote my go to and all time favourite good place quote: #'the point is people improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold that against them when they don't?' #Arrgh sorry I just always loved Ice King's arc in the show. From pesky antagonist to the person Finn dived into a chaos god to save #(the world's new beginning and its near ending being all because of simon. he has such main character energy and boy does he not want it) #And now we're getting Simon stuff and I'm so normal I'm so normal I'm so normal (<- has never been normal about this character) #(i...i have many MANY drawings of ice king and simon from 2015 and the years after. i was doomed from the start. F&C was the final straw) #(as was reading marcy's secret scrapbook recently...and here i thought i'd truly reached the capacity of hurt i can feel about these two) #Going insane over these last two episodes. 'she didn't have a me'. Fionna and Simon bonding. Gumlee kiss. PETRIGROF BACKSTORY #and the implication that Simon isn't remembering it accurately? Their sweet sounding love song actually foreshadowing their issues? #I am clawing at the walls. thank you AT crew you are enriching the enclosure that is my brain

[royalarchivist]

I love all the lullabies Baghera ever sang to Pomme, but this will always be my favorite one. :')

Tu vas nous manquer Pomme, notre Manzanita. 🍎💙

#Baghera Jones #Pomme #QSMP #Baghera #June 19 2023 #I'll try and stagger-post all the lullabies she's sung over the next few days #I was watching this a few times just now to make sure that the clip upload was fine #and I very abruptly started tearing up unexpectedly #man... :( #I wish Pomme's admin the best but I'll miss them #and all the other admins who chose to step away from the project #I'm willing to wait for the restructuring and see where things go from there #but I do feel very bad for a lot of the French fans who've lost their favorite Egg #Yes patience is necessary but I think we need to have more empathy for the French fans