The tumblr for the *After Daylight* vampire comedy webcomic (http://www.afterdaylight.com - updates Wednesdays)! Musings, teaser tidbits, and God knows what else.
“A collection of common glyphs of the poorly understood Memeorite civilization of the Second Silicon Age. Memeorite glyphs possess multiple conflicting interpretations and a complexity of meaning impossible to capture in a few short words. These are rough translations only.”
Source: https://twitter.com/beach_fox/status/1325668490431246336 (which include more “memeorite glyphs”
i think “video games aren’t really the violent child-corrupting threat some parents worry they are” and “certain circles of gamer culture are incredibly toxic and can lead people down dangerous/hateful ideological rabbit holes” are ideas that can absolutely coexist
I think the difference is diagnosable less by what kind of games or how often they play or even necessary whether a clinical addiction is in place. While most people in the hobby enjoy the aspect of feeling actually in control over a life (even if it's just their toon's life) lived in a setting where, in stark contrast to the real world, competence can be gradually learned and practiced and used to reliably advance oneself in status and power. The sexy superpowered characters to identify aren't bad either, and definitely there are times you just like to explode pixelated heads to keep yourself serene enough to not wanna act out against real people. And sometimes you find good friends or guildmates and a truly warmhearted, welcoming game . Those are all normal motivations.
But IMHO Steve Bannon, who is a nazi dick but does understand what makes gamer nazi dicks tick ever since he made his early fortune running a Chinese WoW gold-farming operation, is right about gamer nazis' motivation -- that they truly become identified with their 'hero' identity because their real self and life path so far is just so dispiriting...nothing like the special, visibly 'successful' and 'important' life they were taught they'd be destined for by birthright or their basic nature. That is a recipe for the kind of bitter, rageful, eternal victimhood that nazi recruiters specifically look for in new recruits.
We also know some nazi recruiters even deliberately target younger gamers -_- , including younger players with special needs or neurodifferences or other kinds of obvious differences that have made it harder for them to find the kind of welcoming, validating social community they yearn for.
And finally, we also know how many easy-to-slip-into gateway drugs there are to run across among gamer and geek communities, from Gamergate, Sad Puppies, MRA, pickup culture, misogynist red-pilling, Qanon and other fun scavenger-hunt-puzzle conspiracy theories, to stuff that runs closes even closer to the wellspring like straight-up MAGA and openly-fascist groups as well as the 'just asking questionscryptofascists and Red-Brown pitchmen, armed militias and gangs.
As OP stated, all these things absolutely can co-exist and need to be very clearly distinguished from each other. You might also have noticed by now that few of these issues are actually related specifically to the nature of video games, of whatever genre, on whatever platform. They have more to do with the meta-goals of gamers, the really very universal personal and social needs that all people must find a way to get met. All the following is again imho -- but I believe it's as much their own right or wrong *interpretation* of the lacks they feel in their souls that lead gamers, especially young ones, to either benevolent or malevolent social paths.
Finally to the last day of GraGoh week 2021, to the long awaited unity. Based on @mystics-and-chill 's headcanon (Thanx for making me cry ugly tears😭) about Skekgra and Urgoh living out the last of their days with one another, and might have passed before Jen's journey. While they may not have been able to achieve their goal of becoming one being, I would like to think they left the world in peace, knowing that in the life beyond the flesh, they will become one in spirit. Thanx again for the opportunity @mystics-and-chill , and hope you guys enjoyed this small Journey with me into nostalgia.
Yep. Well, my own biggest personal proverb has always been “The only perfect novel is the one you never wrote.”
(The next biggest is “Of *course* this is really hard! If writing were *easy,* a hell of a lot more people would be doing it!” #selfpeptalks)
But yeah, you gotta put down that phone, stare down that white page and just vomit out some stuff, and I advise assuming that it’s going to start out on the Embarrassingly Ugly side because that’s just how it usually works. And *that’s okay*, because you don’t have to show it to *anyone* till you want to. In the earliest stages you’re performing for no one, not even yourself. I’ve only known a few people in my whole life as a violinist who really liked to listen to a full practice session. Most people prefer to skip the screeches and blorps and warmups and scales and the forty repetitions of that ONE. FUCKING. BAR, and just catch me at the finished product.
And that’s a bit bittersweet, but it’s also normal, right? You’re the only person who *must* view every fugly draft (though of course you can also choose to bring in a beta or sounding board, whenever you find it helps). Nobody else really gives a fuck exactly how your thing gets made, and right now the less you can care the better. Because this is not Art yet. You’re just literally clunking a blob of clay down on the wheel. Clunk it down and then immediately congratulate yourself for getting *90% further than most people who say they want to write something*. Because you’re doing the thing. You broke the white-paper barrier. That’s real.
(THIRD proverb: It’s not “well begun is half done,” it’s “begun in *any way at all* is half done.” Occasionally stars align, the muse smiles and something will feel well-begun right away...but don’t count on it.)
Anyways, don’t worry about whether it’s good, or what the fuck it even is -- it’s not supposed to really be anything yet, so that doesn't matter.
So next you read your vomited blob. You behold it in all its glorious ugliness -- don’t flinch away, just read, trust the process...and then, you start letting IT tell YOU what sucks about it, and what it needs to be better. The more blob you can get down early on, the faster you’ll get an idea of what’s not working, which is what eventually leads you to what DOES work. The draft will start to talk back to you. It won’t always be polite about it.
BTW, you may find yourself at a point where characters start getting stroppy with you too, like almost literally asking to Speak to the Manager (i.e. you, behind that fourth wall) so they can demand a bigger part. Or insisting that they’d simply never do something *you* needed them to do for plot purposes, sooo if you could just revise the whole third act please. It can be annoying, but it’s a good sign. ^^ It means their personalities are cohering and separating from you and each other. You usually want to obey their wishes if you can -- characters can be conflicted or not totally self-consistent, real people certainly are, but generally they should have at least a solid describable personality base, and when they do break character, it’s usually going to be for a Reason and you, the author, had better know why.
(FOURTH proverb: If a character is main cast -- including and especially antagonists -- or even just strong supporting cast/ensemble, then you should be able to retell *every scene they’re in* from their POV if you had to.
Yes, really. If you can’t do that, then the character’s not robust enough for that big a role yet. Pin ‘em down, ignore their yelling and inquisit them till they fess up just WTF they were thinking. This is THE best way to make sure you don’t end up with stupidass C-movie handrubbing villains or cardboard stoic Marty Stus. Even terrible people have some narrative of themselves that makes sense to them, and that narrative *usually* has *them* cast as the hero. Or at least the antihero. So get those goods. I’ve been known to interview mine in like a talk-show format? ^^ ......I also sometimes write scenes in play form to get the basics down quickly and then go back to develop them into prose -- the only scenes that don’t really fit that method are combats and long internal narrations -- but that’s a whole other discussion.)
And about the larger structure and meaning of the thing: yeah, sometimes you’ll start out with a fully-formed, top-level, elevator-pitch idea of why you’re writing whatever it is you’re writing. What you want people to hear and understand, how you want them to feel, etc. OTOH sometimes you won’t have two clues to rub together going in, but as you revise, your subconscious starts to piece it together. You might be through a number of drafts before you suddenly go “Oh hey! THAT'S what I meant with all this! -- Good to know!” And then you might be like “Oh shit, [Character] was right. I totally *do* have to go back and rewrite that third act to match up with the plan I didn’t know I had.” And *that’s okay*. It’ll be a better third act for it. ^^ Nobody has to know you finished 3/4-4/4 of your draft before you had any idea WTF you were doing. Shhhh
(LAST proverb: It also doesn’t really matter which direction you did anything in. Nobody gives a fuck about that either. They’re just there for results, so you have a 100% free hand in your order of business, which pro tip, does NOT have to obey the linear time of the plot. :-) )
Writers are lucky compared to musicians on this point. Musicians can practice a piece out of order -- and often do, if they’re well-trained -- but when they present it, it has to go like it goes. Beginning-middle-end. But with fiction, literally nobody knows or cares whether you started with characters in your head and then made plot to match, or vice versa, or maybe you did the world-building first, or maybe it was last. Maybe you had a climax in mind that was *the reason* you wrote the story, but no idea how it would begin or end! Maybe you started out with some funny dialogue in your head and created a Sweeping Fantasy Epic just so you could have a proper context to write that ONE funny scene, and everything else just sorta...happened along the way. *That too is okay.*
I often write my draft story scenes in the most self-indulgent possible order of “most important or interesting to me RN -> least important or interesting to me RN.” I’ll put up the big tent poles for what I already know I really want to be in the story, and then I'll start making the interstitial workaday shit like how X and Y actualy got to Z town, or whatever...which again, all gets easier to figure out as the major sections get fitted into place. But If I’m stuck on a scene (even an important one), I’ll blithely jump around forward or backward to a scene I’m not as stuck for a while (even a super trivial one). *Usually* by the time I finish that other scene, my subconscious is finally starting to cook up *something* like a plan of action at my mental bottleneck. Yeah, your draft’ll wind up with some holes or inconsistencies you’ll have to fix in revision, but since that’s every draft ever and that’s exactly what revisions are *for*...no worries. ^^
Wow okay, that turned into a much longer post than I thought, but yeah, I guess the big take-home is that, as with so many things -- you only have to get through it; it doesn't have to be Pretty. You don't have to put the process on TikTok or your fridge door or read it to your dog, though if any of that helps, *psst there's no law against that either*. I can guarantee that for almost any story you love, there were some serious ugly-duckling "this shit will never come together" days that most of us are quite happily way too chickenshit to show the world, and the world is quite happily none the wiser. You get to have all of that too. (Lucky you! <3 ) So yep, go. Put down the phone and do.
Sketched some Skeksis a little while back. It’s 2015, and I just recently discovered the Dark Crystal, haha. Better late than never! :)
It’s been a good holiday. I’m a bit anxious about entering my last semester of school. I’m sure it will be fine though. It’s a new year, and I’m remaining optimistic, levelheaded, and kind to myself as much as possible! :) Hopefully this year will be better for being creative, active, and efficient in my work, as well as in other areas of life. Wishing you all the best as always!
Working on creating a CSP brush that mimics the brushes of Tonko House. Here’s a quick brush test copy of Pig the Damkeeper!
*Notes: Texture needs to be more prominent
And excuse my sloppy copy ^^;
I’ll continue to adjust the settings for the brushes until I get it even close enough. Not too bad for a first attempt.
Program: Clip Studio Paint
Brushes used: Custom “Tonko House” mimic brushes
Time: ~ 2- 4 hours? (I was also adjusting brush settings in-between)
Original image: Tonko House
EDIT: I received a message requesting the file, but I couldn’t find it! Anyway here’s the link to download the brushes. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g_mRU7xAlbIxM_DbUQxYixSQPjxDRzwE/view?usp=sharing These are brushes I made to sorta mimic the brushes Tonko House uses. Please do not claim them as your own, etc.
From a historical website about the history of Saris, from a person WHO MAKES THEM FOR A LIVING
“Visitors seduced by the vibrancy and mythology of saris can shop for one to take home. Unlike other traditional garments in some cultures, the sari isn’t reserved for people of one nationality or set of beliefs. “I don’t think it’s disrespectful for Westerners to wear a sari,” says Chishti. “It’s more of an honor.” There is nothing wrong with sewing a dazzling one into a skirt or displaying it like art on a wall, says Sethi.“
Website 2 - a website dedicated to asking “is wearing them disrepectful?”
Is it disrespectful to wear a sari? No, not at all. Based on any occasion, as a daily wear, when you are not Indian and irrespective of religion, it is never disrespectful to wear a sari. In fact, it enhances the situation particularly if you are attending an Indian wedding. In cases where a theme is already set and hosts do expect certain culture, check with hosts before wearing.
Website 3 - Google’s Arts and Culture website, dedicate to educating people about different things around the globe concerning art and culture
5. The sari is easy to wear – and can be worn by anyone
Wearing a sari is more akin to making a sandwich or sending an email than making a soufflé or launching a rocket. It has the appearance and reputation of being difficult to wear, but ask any one of the millions of women who wear one every day – it’s not. The sari transcends socio-economic divisions and is seen as an egalitarian garment...It can’t speak on behalf of all India but 95% of our survey suggested that {people from India} are open to anyone wearing saris.
(sari vs saree for reference sake is just a matter of preference for spelling).
Literally the only people fake outraged by this (I call it fake outrage because people only get “mad” about it when they see people online but totally forget aobut it in everyday life otherwise) are white girls on twitter, tumblr, and other social medias believing they are “coming in and saving the day on behalf of people from India”. STOP THE WHITE KNIGHTING.
For starters, Saris have over 100 different ways to wear them. To buy them traditionally tends to be very rare and expensive because of how hard it is to make these garments. Second, they’re becoming more common in areas close to India, like Sri Lanka.
Also, also, according to Hinduism reincarnation beliefs, we have the ability to reincarnate into any person on this Earth, so any skin color. Some people wear them to show their pride in Hinduism. Some wear it to honor India ancestors. Some wear it just because it is a beautiful piece of fabric.
Like anything, wear it with respect. Wear it with pride.
Reminding people again that you cannot steal what is freely given. It's not appropriation if someone within the culture is like "here ya go, try this!". I get that wearing stuff like a sari feels like you're an impostor but the way to deal with that is to just do the thing that makes you uncomfortable.
I used to live in a city with a large Desi population, and loved going into the local shops to see the gorgeous clothing (and to buy silk fabric and ready-made trim!). I showed interest in a lehenga choli set and the ladies working there were. Thrilled. I ended up spending well over an hour trying on different ones because they were just bringing them over one after another, narrowing down the style and colors that would be flattering on me, showing me how to wear it properly.
I wore the one I chose to a convention, and encountered an Indian woman running a henna booth and selling some jewelry. At first I felt kind of embarrassed, like an imposter. (Should I (Latinx) be wearing this?) But she was also thrilled to see someone wearing clothing from her culture, and just... gave me a maang tikka, because it went so well with the outfit. (I ended up purchasing the necklace that went with it, so maybe it was a shrewd business move, ahaha)
It’s the same with kimono, people from Japan are so excited to see an American properly wearing one, even ‘just’ a yukata.
Appropriation is stealing cultural designs and motifs for your mass-produced fast fashion, taking money away from their artisans and devaluing their product. Appropriation is trying to divorce clothing from its cultural roots.
So long as it is common clothing (not sacred or having a special meaning), and as long as it is worn with respect (preferably sourced directly from the culture it comes from), we should be enjoying the beauty of other cultures by wearing it on our bodies. Sharing is not appropriation!
I am once again asking people to remember that cultural appropriation is not simply "enjoying a thing from another culture," it is "non-marginalized culture turning marginalized culture into a profit mill while punishing marginalized people who try to display or engage with their heritage."
Wearing a sari, especially since there are very few if any rich white folks making and selling them, does not turn other people's culture into a profit mill for white people.
I know it's tricky in practice, but it's important not to let your anti-racist activism get warped into calls for segregation.
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