Creatrs—from Tumblr

A Campaign Showcase

[netflix]

DID YOU KNOW the characters in @Netflix’s western revenge tale #TheHarderTheyFall were based on actual figures from the old west? 🤠 👆 Check out this original art by Tumblr Creatr Brianna Pippens based on the IRL Cuffee! The Harder They Fall’s Cuffee wasn’t a real person, but she’s based on the very real, very badass, Cathay Williams. After being forced to serve as an Army cook and washerwoman during the Civil War, she posed as a man named William Cathay and enlisted in 1866, making her the first woman in the U.S. Army. She later said, “I wanted to make my own living.” A smallpox infection and subsequent hospitalizations revealed her gender and she was discharged. But that didn’t stop her from joining second 38th U.S. Infantry, one of six all-Black regiments in the Regular Army created following the war, cementing her as the first—and only—female Buffalo Soldier. (1844–1893) 🎥 Watch The Harder They Fall, playing in select theaters on October 22 and on Netflix globally on November 3.

[netflix]

DID YOU KNOW the characters in @Netflix’s western revenge tale #TheHarderTheyFall were based on actual figures from the old west? 🤠 👆 Check out this original art by Tumblr Creatr Brianna Pippens based on the IRL Trudy Smith! In The Harder They Fall, Trudy Smith is the treacherous, down for anything right-hand woman of outlaw Rufus Buck. In real life, Gertrude Smith was a legendary thief. But guns weren’t part of her MO; she preferred to help herself to the pockets of those around her. Based in San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, a red light district that was home to brothels, dance halls and concert saloons, she often partnered with the equally duplicitous Dolly Mickey. The pair eventually found themselves locked in the county jail for six months and fled the city after their release in 1906. (unknown) 🎥 Watch The Harder They Fall, playing in select theaters on October 22 and on Netflix globally on November 3.

[netflix]

DID YOU KNOW the characters in @Netflix’s western revenge tale #TheHarderTheyFall were based on actual figures from the old west? 🤠 👆 Check out this original art by Tumblr Creatr Nyanza D. based on the IRL Nat Love! Nat Love is a vengeance seeking outlaw with a killer shot in The Harder They Fall, but the real life “Deadwood Dick” was just as famous for his roping and riding skills as for his steady shooting hand. Born to enslaved parents in Davidson County, Tennessee, Nat headed west after the Civil War to pursue his dreams of becoming a cowboy. He quickly succeeded in Dodge City, Kansas, where he was hired by a Texas-based cowboy outfit to herd horses and cattle. He became famous for his rodeo expertise, and his career was only bested by the advent of railroads; he spent his final days working as a Pullman Porter. (1854–1921) 🎥 Watch The Harder They Fall, playing in select theaters on October 22 and on Netflix globally on November 3.

[netflix]

DID YOU KNOW the characters in @Netflix’s western revenge tale #TheHarderTheyFall were based on actual figures from the old west? 🤠 👆 Check out this original art by Tumblr Creatr Nyanza D. based on the IRL Rufus Buck! Rufus Buck, the son of a Black woman and a Muscogee (Creek Indian) man, wasted no time jumping into his vocation as an outlaw. He was just 18 when he led his five-person gang of young Black and Indigenous gunslingers on a 13-day violent crime spree. His goal was to trigger an uprising and reclaim the parts of Indian Territory that later became Oklahoma and Arkansas for the native people who had lived there for centuries. Ultimately unsuccessful and arrested for his crimes on 1895, the young outlaw was hanged a year later at Fort Smith in Arkansas. (1877–1896) 🎥 Watch The Harder They Fall, playing in select theaters on October 22 and on Netflix globally on November 3.

[netflix]

DID YOU KNOW the characters in @Netflix’s western revenge tale #TheHarderTheyFall were based on actual figures from the old west? 🤠 👆 Check out this original art by Tumblr Creatr Patience Lekien based on the IRL Bass Reeves! Born into slavery in Arkansas, Bass Reeves escaped to Indian Territory after being forced to assist his enslaver during the Civil War. Officially freed by the 13th Amendment, he became one of the first U.S. deputy marshals west of the Mississippi River in 1875. For 32 years, he hunted down 3,000+ criminals—including white men charged with crimes against Black people, and once, his own son. A fearsome quick draw artist, Reeves routinely rounded up dozens of outlaws at a time. Many think he was the inspiration for the fictional Lone Ranger. Reeves was relieved of his duty in 1907, when the newly minted state of Oklahoma’s law made it illegal for Black men to serve. (1838–1910) 🎥 Watch The Harder They Fall, playing in select theaters on October 22 and on Netflix globally on November 3.

[netflix]

DID YOU KNOW the characters in @Netflix’s western revenge tale #TheHarderTheyFall were based on actual figures from the old west? 🤠 👆 Check out this original art by Tumblr Creatr Patience Lekien based on the IRL Wylie Escoe! While Wiley Escoe is the mayor of the all-Black settlement Douglastown in The Harder They Fall, in real life, he was one of several Black deputy U.S. marshals serving in the west following the Civil War. The nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency, the U.S. Marshals Service was created in 1789. As the U.S. expanded westward, deputy marshals were appointed to serve the needs of the federal government. Then—and now—they were charged with protecting the federal judiciary, tracking and apprehending fugitives and managing seized assets. In fact, it was a Black marshal, Ike Rogers, who ultimately arrested Cherokee Bill in 1895. (unknown) 🎥 Watch The Harder They Fall, playing in select theaters on October 22 and on Netflix globally on November 3.

[creatrsnetworkshowcase]

[visiting-naturalist]

Originalus giffii The Gifmaker

EYES - Keen color and movement sensitivity allows for identification of the best clips for their gif bouquets.

TOOLS - A vast array of tools to assist in snipping, cropping, and arranging.

BADGES - Bedecked with identifying accessories and jewelry to show off their skills and taste.

BAG - Full of filters and fonts to transform dark ugly images into bright, captioned masterpieces.

SHOES - Going the distance to provide original content for the consumption of other species.

Genus: Originalus

While this genus boasts only a handful of extant species, they are one of the oldest known groups of Tumblr inhabitants. The creators of OC, as it is known, are long-established in the ancient regions, forming a stable bedrock of creative activity.

Species: Giffii

The giffers, also known as gifmakers, have established themselves solidly in an ecological niche, ever since the gif was introduced to Tumblr. Like peddlers or roving traders, they tend to specialize in specific shows or genres, and provide bouquets of original gif sets to the voracious consumers and rebloggers of looping images that live along their trade routes. While lone reaction gifs are used less commonly on Tumblr in the current era, the artistic and aesthetic practice of gif set creation remains as essential as it ever was.

Behaviors:

Each member of the giffii species has their own specialized approach and aesthetic to creation; a pattern that identifies their work versus others’.

The earliest generation of gifmakers’ efforts seeded the tags long ago, in Tumblr’s first aeon. Today some of those same early gifs can be seen to have spread across the web, to far-flung platforms where they are passed around, uncredited and unknown.

Gifmakers have been blessed with an increase in file-size limitations, allowing their works to become more complex and expansive.

Recognition of the giffii for their hard work has been more widespread lately, after successful campaigns by their brethren to spread awareness of what goes into the making of a gif set.

[visiting-naturalist]

Humora cuniendis "The Shitposter"

MOUTH - Unleashing wholly unexpected sentences.

EYES - Multifaceted lenses allows perception of the universe. Filtration highlights potential for hilarity.

LUNGS - Powerful lungs to achieve long, extended sounds of laughter.

HANDS - Fingerprints distinguish their work from other members of the species.

FEET - Absurdity and muck plastered up over the ankles.

Genus: Humora

Extant species of the Humora genus can be found in many different habitats across Tumblr. Some are primarily visual communicators, while others are characterized by their constant flow of speech. The isolated nature of Tumblr has engendered the dynamic evolution of this genus in particular, and it is their abundantly mirthful products which form, as a collective, a central property of the landscape as a whole.

Species: Cuniendis

Known colloquially as the “shitposter,” members of the Cuniendis species frequently maintain blogs devoted solely to original posts of the joke variety. The shitposters are a species essential to the functioning of the larger Tumblr ecosystem. One can easily observe how their posts cross the boundaries of disparate habitats, becoming the essential linkage between areas with little else in common: an individual shitpost is just as likely to be reblogged by a fandom Tumblr as it is an aesthetic blog. And it is their posts too that frequently make their way outside of Tumblr to far-off lands, to bring joy and entertainment to those who know nothing of where they come from.

Behaviors:

Each Humora cuniendis specimen has a different voice, a unique tone that sets them apart from their peers.

They can be aggressive on occasion, defending their individual territories; equally, they can be helpful and supportive, using their popularity to boost and circulate important information as well as the posts of newer specimens.

They depend heavily on the text post function, and are frequently prolific.

Many a well-known meme, now part of the collective lexicon, first emerged from the cultivated madness of a shitposter’s habitat.

[visiting-naturalist]

Poster Reposteris

"The Reblogger"

MOUTH - Not very vocal. Whispers truths of their special interests.

BODY - Strong exoskeleton prevents illness when exploring the tags.

CHEST - Vascular and warm-blooded to sustain long-term passion.

HANDS - Vestigial digits devoted to tireless creation. Larger digits are strong, and devoted to curation.

LEGS - Limber and sprightly. Frequently crosses fertile areas of output.

Genus: Poster

The Poster genus is an incredibly diverse one, encompassing a healthy proportion of Tumblr’s extant fauna. They populate the undergrowth and the overstory, the tagged regions and presumably the untagged as well.

Species: Reposteris

Tumblr’s reblog feature affords this hugely populous species its means of subsistence. Indiscriminate omnivores, the Reblogger spends its time seeking out posts to reblog. Gif sets, text posts, graphics, videos, memes—anything and everything is fair game. They are an essential part of the ecosystem, forming the bulk of the notes on any healthy post. Glimpsing a Reblogger’s home territory is like seeing the landscape of Tumblr in miniature.

Behaviors:

Poster reposteris moves quickly, jumping eagerly from interest to interest. Their blog may not be the same today as it is tomorrow.

They are not very vocal; rarely will they add extensive comments in captions or tags.

They delight in volume: when they reblog, they reblog A LOT.

Their home blog is a comfortable nest, built up through years of effort, layering post over post.

[visiting-naturalist]

With so many diverse flora and fauna to choose from across Tumblr's vast territory, it was difficult choosing which species to choose for my first illustration. But in the end I decided this species in particular exemplified my reasons for coming here, and would make a perfect initial spotlight.

Without further ado, I present to you:

Aesthetica graphyliterus "The Collagemaker"

MIND - A poetic mind with a large semantic center.

EYES - Perceives the living connection between all objects and beings.

GUT - Instinctively depicts the perfect combination of imagery and text.

HANDS - Quick and agile assembly makes a cohesive whole.

FINGERS - Ancient tools and magic cultivate symbiotic images, memes, and aesthetic moods.

FEET - Firmly rooted into the soil of the collective unconscious.

Genus: Aesthetica

These Tumblrites cultivate the artistic and the appealing. All of culture and creation is theirs for the taking.

Species: Graphyliterus

This species, native to Tumblr and found nowhere else on the web, is identifiable via their practice of assembling extensive collages of text and images. They are able to easily evoke moods, spread memes, and propagate their ideas through the simple magic of comparison. Their symbiotic, harmonious relationship with Tumblr’s photoset tools makes them a perfect representation of the site’s unique ecosystem.

They can most frequently be found in the more purely aesthetic and literary habitats, many of which overlap with the fertile fandom habitats. That crossover offers the opportunity to draw from disparate media, both high-brow and low-brow, for their sustenance.

Behaviors:

Graphyliterus spends hours collecting and curating screenshots and images for their collages.

They are a social species, interacting with and supporting the creative activities of their neighbors.

A new collage might be inspired by a single theme, or centered on a particular show or character.

They can make poetry out of anything.

[creatrsnetworkshowcase]

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