have you ever like. wondered what ao3 is doing with that money. every few months they ask for donations and get double that and yet the site is still exactly the same as it's been for Years, it's still in beta and like. they're not doing anything to get rid of the racist shit on there.
The OTW has its financial records public and easily accessible you can actually go and see what they are doing with that money. It's not like. Some super well kept secret you actually literally can see where the money is going. Keeping servers up takes money, having legal aid takes money, ao3 is a massive site with more content on it than most educational sites and libraries like jstor and stuff and they have dismal budget compared to those sites. This is all information you can find easily, like. Probably even just on the ao3 tag on this same site. Probably in some slightly older reblog tagged ao3 in my own blog. That money isn't as much as people seem to believe it is, for maintaining a site of that scale.
And ao3 is not going to get rid of things, that's the point of an archive. Ao3 isn't removing racist fic for the same reason that your local library isn't removing racist homophobic misogynistic classics. An archive cannot afford to censor anything because it will always put the power of deciding what gets censored in the hands of a governing body and no individual or state can be given that right. That being said, this is exactly why ao3 is working to provide an option to block users. I don't want to be reading racist ableist misogynistic fic any more than you do m8, but i understand that a volunteer run site where no one gets paid and they scrape by on a small budget to maintain the servers will have limitations to how quickly new stuff can be added to the site. A block function would enable readers to be able to filter out users who write fic objectionable to them and allow writers to block people saying objectionable shit to them directly. Like the op of the post I reblogged earlier today said, it should still not be something that enables writers to block out readers from reading fic completely because the option to warn people in the bookmarks about racist fic needs to be there.
I really think what people cannot understand despite so many discussions on it is that ao3 serves the same purpose as the libraries in your towns, your schools, your universities, and it has social features on top. Ao3 cannot censor stuff for the same reasons that these libraries can't. And as much as I hate some literature considered 'classics' that have violent misogyny and racism in it, i would also stand against libraries banning them or the government insisting that libraries get rid of them. I will always stand against censorship and that's the mission OTW has too. You cannot speak for me and possibly know how much rage some of those books or fics fill me with to the point that they do spoil my entire day and are often horribly triggering because racism/ableism doesn't get tagged when someone is just being a bigot and is probably not expected even of dead dove content oftentimes. I still cannot stand for censorship in any way. No one should have that power. The way ahead is clearly a blocking feature + putting the warning you need/think might help others in your bookmarks. Much like how in literary circles we warn our friends when there's triggering content or bigotry in books that we have to read for our course or that we otherwise decide to engage with and discuss. That's what I do with racist classics instead of hoping they'll get banned.
I love to imagine a world where everything that hurts me simply ceases to exist! I love to imagine never having to see a film playing somewhere with misogynistic shit in it!
But i do not agree with actual censorship of it. As a matter of my political beliefs. This is one of the foundational principles of my leftist thought for me and if it isn't for you then what we have here is not a disagreement about ao3 but one of a political nature. You are entitled to especially curated spaces that do ban certain kinds of content, but an archive is not that, and I don't go to sites that do ban works because I disagree with that on a political level.
Ao3 introducing a block feature will help this along but I refuse to demand any works being taken down. There is always going to be room for improvement, but there are also limitations to volunteer run organizations and I'm too old to be putting the onus of perfection on people working for free. The financial records aren't a boogeyman. This isn't a conspiracy of "oh but did you ever think what actually happens behind the curtains?? I shudder to think the horrors, what must be happening there??" This isn't that because anyone who wants to know can know what OTW does with every penny of that money and you would know it too if you spent more time actually looking for answers to the questions you have instead of fearmongering about hypothetical scams. Volunteers are more overworked than people assume and shit costs more to run than people assume. There's an accountant who did a breakdown of the financial records of OTW as well if you want, idk, search OTW on my oh and scroll down or something. Clearly you are very very worried about these financial records, I'm sure such an effort will be well worth your time for how it will put your mind to rest.
And for fuck's sake do not ever think you can use my identity as a queer disabled poc to somehow push me enough with emotionally charged arguments to ever politically agree with censorship of any kind. When you stand up for everyone to have rights you end up defending the rights of bigots as well and that sucks and i hate it and it sucks enough without fellow "leftists" trying to guilt me into agreeing with ceding ground to right wing rhetorics and practices. Because that's also what the OTW is putting up with. In defending against censorship you end up defending works and authors who are absolutely despicable and that's still better than ceding ground to an ideology where a special select group of people get to decide what stays and what goes.
Good fucking day to you
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2023
My first year on tumblr. I signed up in March or April, and I was like "woah" as soon as I read my first fics. Some of them are printed in me.
raider series - @toxicanonymity I was hooked from the first chapter, and now, what can I say... This universe is amazing, and the analyzes never cease to make me emotional. I love your fics so much and their particular atmosphere, I was going to mention Slasher and Night walks, but honestly I could put the link to your masterlist it would be more representative.
Toxic, thank you so much. I love you and I'm so grateful to know you 🖤🫶🫂
Han @swiftispunk, you are one of the very first accounts I followed, and this famous “woah” effect started with Let me and Use me. Then there was In my hometown, and how could I not mention Your summer dream. You are also one of the nicest people in here, and reading your responses to requests is always a pleasure.
Katy, @atticrissfinch I'm a huge fan of your dom/brat tamer series, since day one. The dom/sub dynamic is perfect. Since then I've been reading your fics like a starving person, I'm crazy about Meet me in the back like a lot of people, little bee is amazing, and honestly your masterlist is dope. Also you are SO funny and I couldn't say how many times you made me giggle.
Aly, @iamasaddie am I gonna talk about Lost in the Dark for the 50th time? Absolutely. A hugnry dog on a very short leash is one of the fics that had the most impact on me. When someone writes down the most raw, primal emotions you've ever felt, it creates a special bound. Aly, I love you, you are one of the funniest people I know, you're like an alternative version of me and I love that 💛
Kat @pascalsbby I've said it a million times, but your Carnal series... ❤️😍 Birdie means a lot to me, to the point that I add one of your quote on my PP. Your Joel is incredible, the feelings when I read this series are amazing. Thank you
Emma @walkintotheriveranddisappear I can ben your pretty girl is an amazing series, I have lost count of the number of times I have read it. The last parts with Tommy made me turn a total fangirl. And I can't thank you enough for your september fics
Rad @bonezone44 You gave us one of the most depraved fics I've read this year, and I read a lot of them 😁 Too depraved 4 tv is a fn masterpiece, and I love you ❤️
Lo @covetyou when we read the first part of Something wretched about this with some of my mutuals, we went in feral mod instantly. I love, love, love, this series. You have no idea how much I couldn't wait for the next Tuesday. Thank you.
I can't list all the fics that I liked because there were so many, if you're interested I have fics recs.
Tumblr didn't only offer me fics. I can't talk about 2023 without talking about you, Kate, @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog. You are a gem, and I am so grateful to have you in my life. Thank you for all the time you spend correcting my fics, and my shitty grammar. Writing fics with you is awesome. I love you, my twin 💕
Also, I can't forget the emotions I felt while reading A villain's monologue.
Finally, I started writing my little fics, and some people always take the time to comment and rb. Thank you so much, it means the world to me.
@casa-boiardi @survivingandenduring @sheepdogchick3 @axshadows @quaritchscupquake @corazondebeskar-reads
Sorry for the people I forgot, for the probably bad english, I drank too much last night and I have a horrible headache 😭
Cheers to 2024!
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ES21 japanese volumes part 2/??
<< part 1
Thanks for the warm reception on part 1! Honestly wasn't expecting anyone other than me and maybe a couple of friends to read, so it's nice to know that people enjoyed it! Also @blaka-smoko provided me with a link to scans of the VIS translation here-- it has up to volume 29 I believe for anyone interested (you'll have to make an account on the site to borrow the volumes though! but it's all free)
Now, to pick up where we left off--
Sena has just managed to escape the bullies, but they're in pursuit. He ends up running into a busy shopping street, where Hiruma, Sena's demonic upperclassman, happens to witness the following...
(First page -> Kuroki: "Alright! I caught...")
I love these pages sm, they're SO silly. This is the beginning of 'these kids might as well have superpowers', and I love that for them. And to be perfectly honest, I think the extra dramatic action scenes make for a really engaging sports manga, which is a genre where I tend get very bored of the whole, you know, Sports™ of it all. But ES21 always keeps me really engaged during the matches, and the super dynamic art is definitely one of the reasons.
Putting the rest under a cut!
I think I'm just gonna go ahead and post the next few pages because I love this bit lol
(Panel 3 -> Juumonji: "Shit-!" Kuroki: "I SAID MOVE!!!" Old Man: "That hurts you BRAT"
Panel 4 -> Hiruma: "That cut...." (note that the kanji here is 走り方 which is pronounced ha-shi-ri-ka-ta and means 'way of running' or 'running style', but the romaji says カット (ka-tto) which is just the English 'cut' as a loanword. I told you Hiruma does this a lot!))
Love how they somehow make Sena navigating a crowd really well into something so cool lol. But I love this entire segment.
(Panel 2 -> Togano: "Aaallright, now sto--"
Panel 4 -> Togano: "--p??"
Panel 5 -> Hiruma: "Whoa, a spin!"
Panel 6 -> The Bullies: *sounds of struggle and pain*)
(Panel 1 -> Sena: "Hiieeee-- (this is just a sound of anxiety he makes a lot) It's no good--!!"
Panel 2 -> Hiruma: "No, you can make it"
Panel 4 -> Hiruma: "With your legs, you can make it!"
Panel 6 -> Hiruma: "FLY!" (also means 'jump', but fly feels more apt))
TOUCHDOWN!!! (of getting on the train yayyy!)
I just love this whole segment-- how good the art is, how intense and dynamic and fun they managed to make a simple chase scene, how it works so well with the football visuals that Hiruma is laying over Sena's movements in his mind, Hiruma's weird omniscient presence cementing itself into the narrative lol. Properly introducing the One Thing™ that Sena is crazy good at to the audience, and that is running (usually away from something lmao).
(Panel 2 -> Juumonji: "GUHO!?" (sound of surprised pain)
Panel 3 -> Hiruma: "Toooouchdooooown! Ya-ha--!")
I love him your honor.
ANYWAY onto the next day!
(Panel 1 & 2 -> Kurita: "Oh that's right! Yesterday, a new member joined the club!" Hiruma: "Ooohhh, I actually found someone too."
Panel 3 -> Hiruma: "Truly a golden-legged Running Back. He was so full of spirit that he approached me directly, saying that he wanted to join."
Panel 4 -> Kurita: "Wow-- amazing! Good job finding him, Hiruma!"
Panel 5 -> Hiruma: "He should be here already"
Panel 6 -> Hiruma: "K, now fill out the application form~" Kurita: "S-SENA-KUN!!?")
The audacity of Hiruma casually and blatantly lying that Sena joined of his own volition lol. He just lies because it's fun, why not? 😂 Also, when Hiruma says 'running back', it just says "RB" with furigana that says ランニングバック, which is 'running back' as a loan word lol.
(2nd pic -> Kurita: "Whoa number 21! The eyeshield is so cool!" Hiruma: "If we don't hide his face like this during matches, it'll start an all-out-war among the other sports teams.")
Lol I love how shrimpy Sena is <3 In the fan-scans, the idea that the other sports clubs would try to get at Sena wasn't really mentioned until the Cupids match, so I figured I'd include it. Also Hiruma looks SO NORMAL in the first couple of chapters lol, he just increasingly gets more spiky and demonic as the story progresses, and I love that for him, but seeing little babyfaced Hiruma is fun too.
(Panel 1 -> Sena: "But I'm the manager~~!!" Hiruma: "Then, player-and-manager. do both"
Panel 2 -> the posters say: "Stay away from him -- Or the mosaic comes off")
Mosaic meaning the blurred out bits, obv. I feel like there's certain lines from Hiruma where the translation doens't quite capture the like... cavalier command with implicit threat he has in Japanese lol.
Also I get this slight vibe from his Japanese dialogue that Hiruma is like, funny lol. There's more of a deliberate sense of set up and pay off when he talks, which I get a kick out of.
Finally, end of chapter one 😂 the fuck is brevity?
Bit of an aside, but something I never noticed before about this pic of Sena's room is that he seems to collect figures of some kind? And he has a lot of games (or possibly anime) in the tv cabinet. I know in the pilot chapter (which I might post about separately sometime), Sena was characterized as A Gamer™, but that seems to have largely been abandoned in the actual series. It's fun to see the lingering remnants of that aspect of Past-Sena lol.
Moving on to chapter 2!
(Mamori: "The American Football Club!?")
(Panel 1 -> Mamori: "But American Football is... You shouldn't pick something so dangerous!")
Regarding panel 2, there isn't a mistranslation really, but I wanted to point out-- because it's fucking hilarious-- that Mamori uses four separate words that all essentially mean weak and feeble to describe Sena 😭 She's like "--because Sena is (physically) weak, insubstantial, fragile, and The Weakest™!"
Sena: "Y, you don't have to go that far...."
She really didn't 😔 how's a bitch supposed to come back from that...
Then of course Sena reassures her that he's just the shumu/manager (whatever), and won't actually be playing in matches, which she is very relieved to hear.
(Mamori: "Huh? But then why are you here so early in the morning?
Sena: "A meeting about club management!!")
Oh Sena :')
Cut to:
(Hiruma: "Come now, it's morning practice!!!"
Sena: "ALL LIES~~!!")
Soon, soon Sena, you will learn. But man look at the unbridled joy on our demon spawn captain's face <3 we love a chaotic gremlin.
Just wanted to gush a little about how much I love Murata's establishing shots, especially this one. Gives such an excellent vibe of early morning at a school before most students are present-- plus over the course of the series you end up getting such a good sense of the overall layout of the school!
(Panel 1 -> Kurita: "Well-- you know how we haven't had three people since the formation of the club? I was just so happy that I had to wake up early"
Panel 2 -> Kurita: "I was so amped up that I've been at it since 2am!" Hiruma: "An idiot, there's an idiot here.")
All told basically the same as the fan-scans, but I think the Japanese version slyly implies the existence of Musashi a little better. I always wonder with these things just how much of the back stories were hashed out-- like was Musashi's design already established? When we see him for the first time later (unbeknownst to us) did the creators already know That Guy was Musashi? Questions, questions...
(Panel 1 -> Sena: "That was close! I was about to join in on practice without realizing!" Hiruma: "Right, guess we should go through everything once, starting with the ladder."
Panel 2 -> Hiruma: "Since we've got newbies present and all." Sena: "Hiiieeeee!" (he's like a small dog, he whimpers when he's scared)
Panel 3 -> Kurita: "Ah wait. Actually my neck kind of hurts. I think I might call it quits after doing a 40 yard dash or something."
Panel 4 -> Hiruma: "40 yard dash, huh? It's been a while. Alright, let's measure our times.")
K-Kurita.... your head looks like it's gonna pop off.....
(Panel 2 -> Hiruma: "Time?"
Panel 3 -> "Kurita Ryokan: 40 yard run: 6.5 seconds"
Panel 5 -> Hiruma: "This fucking fatty!! What morning practice, you've gotten slower than before!!" Kurita: "I can't help it, I'm already tired--!!")
@blaka-smoko mentioned this in their reblog on the last post, but Hiruma preludes all his nicknames with 糞 (ku-so) which means like, shitty, but the furigana says ファッキン which is just "fucking" as a loan word lol. So all his nicknames canonically and literally start with the English word "fucking". Fucking chibi, Fucking monkey, Fucking manager, etc, etc. The official VIS version changed this to 'damn', which is nothing but a damn shame lol. Let Hiruma say fuck!! He's literally already saying it!!
(Panel 1 -> Hiruma: "Alright, watch how it's done!" Sena: "!? So fast!!"
Panel 4 -> "Hiruma Yoichi: 40 yard run: 5.1 seconds"
Panel 5 -> Hiruma: "Ya-ha-! That's my best time!!" Sena & Kurita: "Whoa--!!")
He's so fucking spiky!! And I love how expressive their physical movements are, like Hiruma's little twist in the last panel is so fun.
The first three panels are basically accurate, (though in panel two, Hiruma is like "What's that? You want to run so bad you can barely contain it?" which made me chuckle) but panels 4 & 5 are different.
(Panel 4 -> Kurita: "But, isn't it weird? If he's that fast (and he uses 爆速 (ba-ku-so-ku) which means like, explosive speed) I think he would have been famous in middle school."
Panel 5 -> Hiruma: "Hmm... now that you mention it.... Well, we'll know for sure once we measure his time.")
I like that Kurita points out something to Hiruma that he didn't consider! These early chapters gives a bit more of a feel of Hiruma and Kurita's friendship imo, before there's more characters that the story needs to focus on, and the two of them solidly enter the Senpai™ realm among their teammates.
Of course, then Sena runs and gets 5.0 seconds, which is already fastest on their little team! But Hiruma isn't satisfied with that....
The fan-scans are aaaalmost right? But confused. It makes it sound like Hiruma is quoting something Sena said/wrote down in the past (that he somehow aquired as Hiruma is wont to do), and then the line in panel 3 just doesn't make sense. In Japanese, it comes across more as like, Hiruma looks up some records of Sena on his laptop, and the rest is him putting together an analysis based off of that.
(Panel 1 -> Hiruma: "In Kobayakawa Sena's middle school physical endurance records-- he came first only in Repetitive Sideways Hopping."
Panel 2 -> Hiruma: "Must be due to the explosive power that you built through your gopher-ing... which is how you have that rocket-start. But you immediately lose speed, which is why you never make any records in a footrace.
Panel 3 -> Hiruma: "So all we have to do is make sure you don't lose speed."
Panel 5 -> Hiruma: "CERBERUS!!!")
BEST BOY BEST BOY BEST BOY!!!
This is basically correct, so I used the scans for visual clarity because taking good pics of a double page spread is hard :')
anyway RUN BOY RUN!! Also love Hiruma's little fist pump in the last panel. Murata being awesome with gestures as usual.
(Panel 1 -> Hiruma: "This is beyond high school records! It's the top speed in the NFL! Nobody can stop this!"
Panel 2 -> "The Golden Legs!!")
I don't know if it's true that 4.2 sec is the NFL record (at least at the time) or not, and frankly I don't care. Within the context of this series, 4.2 secs is the speed of light, and Sena's got it!
I've always liked that Sena's got this glass canon thing going on-- OP in terms of speed only, extremely weak in every other regard. It's funny and unexpected in a shounen protagonist, and it makes for a very satifying arc, even if there aren't any surprises. I actually in part got into B.N.H.A . waaay back in 2014 because Deku reminded me of Sena (well, I got into it because I'd read the artist's previous manga and was curious, but Deku reminding me of Sena is what made me stay (well, until I left again a couple years later lol)). Point is, I'm very fond of Sena, I think he's fun!
Oof I wanted to squeeze in one more pic but I'm at the limit already lol. But chapter 2 ends with excitement all around-- and Hiruma says that they'll be winning the Spring Tournament. (Sena imagines himself as the manager and boy, after all that you still think you're just gonna be the manager? 😭)
Of course this is when Hiruma informs them that the first match is tomorrow lol. A team with 3 players. Good luck!
That's all for part 2-- hope y'all enjoy my ramblings!
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📌
hi tumblr my name is meruz im a bg artist who works in animation. i do comic projects and fanart in my free time. my art tag is #meruzart
portfolio / digital store / print store / misc. links (linktr.ee)
📝 FAQ below!
Can I use your art as ______?
8Tracks and Spotify Playlists: Go ahead! please credit me either meruz.tumblr.com twitter@automeruz or ig@automeruz - AND SEND ME THE PLAYLIST this is not a requirement really but I would love to listen to it.
Social Media Layouts/Icons/Headers: Good by me! but again PLEASE credit me somewhere VISIBLE on the layout. If it’s a twitter or insta header/icon credit my twitter/insta @automeruz and if its tumblr credit my tumblr @meruz
Phone BGs, Desktop Wallpapers: definitely ok!! Any personal and non-commercial use of this nature, I’m cool with. If you ask me, I may even send you a hi-res version of the file but you have to promise to not scam me and sell it lol…
Instagram Reposts: A lot of artists would say no but I’m gonna say go ahead as long as you credit and tag me in the post, again my ig is @automeruz - if you don’t, and I find it, I will bug you about it in the comments and possibly even report you. Nothing personal, its just standard procedure.
Twitter/Tumblr Re-posts: Don’t?? Just RT or RB it from me?? whats wrong with you? I will report this.
Other site re-posts: I’ll probably say yes but again please credit and for this one PLEASE ask me first. It’s nothing personal really, I just want to know where my work shows up.
Video edits/fancams/comic dubs: Yes! Absolutely go ahead! Credit would be much appreciated but moreover please send me a link I especially love to see this stuff!!
I also reserve all rights to have you take it down if I do not agree with the usage or context, especially association with politics on the webpage/app/etc.
What do you use to draw?
I have a surface pro 8 at home and I use a 22in cintiq at work. Occasionally… I do personal art at work LOL. I use Photoshop CC almost exclusively except the occasional phone drawing which I’ll do on HeavyPaint or Autodesk Sketchbook (but mostly Heavypaint).
What brushes do you use?
For painting I use the same horrible brushes I downloaded from deviantart like 14 years ago and I cobbled them together for download here. And for lines ive been using shiyoon kim’s brushes which you can grab here.
What do you use for plein air paintings?
If it’s digital, almost exclusively Heavypaint. Traditional, I use gouache. A mix of Holbein acryla and normal gouache either windsor newton or m. graham.
What kind of sketchbook do you use?
I use moleskine cahier XXL sketchbooks! I’ve been using moleskine cahiers for probably over 10 yrs now? they come in packs of 3 for like 30USD (the price went up recently booo but $10 per book is still not bad) for the largest size. I think a lot of people associate moleskine with intimidatingly fancy covers & paper but the cahiers are rly lightweight and flexible. you can bend the xxl into a roll like a newspaper and the covers are a light cardboard so you can draw all over them. I always have trouble with spiral sketchbooks getting fucked up in my backpack because I really throw my stuff around a lot but the binding on the cahiers can take a beating and have never fallen apart on me.
Do you take commissions?
Yes, occasionally. But it changes depending on my workload - please e-mail me at
[email protected] for any inquiries!
Do you have a store?
I have a itch.io here for mostly digital goods.
and I have an INPRNT store here which is print on demand so if there’s anything you’d like to see on there that isn’t just ask and I can generally put it up!
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(not having easy access to my own tag links was stressing me out so here have an introduction post)
'bout me:
my names zach! or scatterbot if u’d prefer!
im a trans guy and use he/him pronouns
im over 21 but dont intend to post any mature/nsfw stuff here (the only potential exception being maybe some light gore, but ill be sure to put content warnings if i do)
i love writing long rambling analysis in the tags (did u know tumblr has limit of 140 characters per tag, 30 tags per post? it reminds me of this fact. often.)
i write how i think, which is to say, with lots of run-on sentences and at least six thoughts at a time
ive done art for a long time, but am relatively new to working digitally (like about a year?) so im still learning a lot on that front!
i am very slow with responses, and even slower with posting — apologies in advance!
also, this blog is definitely gonna be almost entirely tmnt for the foreseeable future. rise and 03 are my absolute favorites <3
im still catching up with other variations!
tags i use:
#my art - for art i made!
#ask reply - replies to asks
#fandom friends - interactions w mutuals and other folks of the fandom! often involves sona shenanigans
#rb - reblogs and such!
Rat Sons AU: (official title pending lol)
my own tmnt au/iteration, in which Master Splinter is a wise and silly old tortoise, with four skittering, chaotic, ninja rat children. based on a background moment of the 03 series. 🐢🐀🐀🐀🐀
#Rat Sons - general tag for all rat sons content!!
#Rat Sons Fanart - YALL LOOK AT ALL THIS AMAZING ART FOLKS HAVE MADE OF MY SILLY RAT BOYS IM GENUINELY SO EMOTIONAL THAT I GET TO HAVE THIS TAG ILY GUYS <333
Lore/World Building -
The Last Human Hamatos, Splinter Lore (pending),
Character Intro Sheets -
Hamato Sho, Hamato Tang Shen, Hamato Miko (coming soon!), Splinter (pending), Leonardo (pending), Raphael (pending), Donatello (pending), Michelangelo (pending)
[apologies in advance, this is gonna be so chaotic. idk what im doing, all i know is that these rat babies have eaten up my entire brain. look at them go.]
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