#gottaknow

[upagainstthesunset]

Question for artists that I'm very curious about. Please share, I'd love for this to break containment outside my immediate friends.

When you draw, how do you use references?

For tracing at least some aspect of it

For eyeballing at least some aspect of it

For vibes, but not to reproduce any of the actual image

I don't really use references

I am not an artist

Voting ended onMar 5, 2025

Pick whichever is most common for you, or that you feel best describes your workflow for art you share with others.

This is judgment free. I'd like to know to help inform my own growth as an artist and get a sense for what's common.

[upagainstthesunset]

Wally: "Would you still love me if I was a worm?" Linda:

"Yes"

"No"

"I don't know"

Voting ended onFeb 23, 2023

This poll is entirely inspired by @goat-a-go-fast bc i havent stopped thinking about it

[upagainstthesunset]

New poll because something isn't adding up and it's been a topic lately. Maybe we can get to the bottom of it.

Do you feel Clark should be/act like Kon's dad in comics canon?

Yes. I'm basing this off of comics

Yes. I'm basing this off of official media that isn't comics

Yes. I'm basing this off my personal preference, not any particular media

No for comics canon, but yes for other official media

No for comics canon or other official media, but yes for fan works

No for any media including fan works

I know these characters but literally do not care either way

I don't know enough about these characters to say

Voting ended onMay 5, 2024

Clarification because I should've worded differently: "Yes" means you are fine and 100% okay with it.

So the option 'no for comics yes for fanon', is like saying fanon can do whatever im cool with it. Its not saying fanon MUST be that way.

[upagainstthesunset]

Three fandom polls because I'm curious

On average, how many hours per day do you spend on fan stuff? Choose the highest you fit into.

up to 1 hour

up to 3 hours

up to 6 hours

up to 9 hours

up to 12 hours

up to 15 hours

up to 18 hours

up to 21 hours

up to 24 hours

Voting ended onMar 21, 2025

Consider "fan stuff" to be engaging with the material you're a fan of, interacting with other fans, creating things related to the material, lurking in fan spaces or looking at other fans' creations, etc.

Next poll in a reblog!

[upagainstthesunset]

Quick question for those outside the US. If you buy a physical zine in a booklet form on nice paper, how much would you expect to pay in shipping on top of the cost of the zine itself? The best I'm seeing is $20 but I want to know if that's normal or not. Feel free to add any nuance in the notes.

For a nicely printed small zine I would expect international shipping to be

$15 or under

$15 to 25

$25 to $35

$35+

I dont have experience with this

Voting ended onAug 16, 2025

[upagainstthesunset]

comics fans, do you own floppies and do you display them?

yes and i display them

yes but not displayed

no i dont own any

not a comics fan

Voting ended onJan 4, 2025

(yes display them = display at least some of them)

PLEASE if you do display them, tell me how. I'd love to know.

Or how do you store them? Long box? Short box? Pile under your bed?

Ive got mine up on some really shallow clear floating shelves. I know, i know, sunlight degrades comics. But guess what, I cant enjoy their wonderful cover art if theyre in a box and life is too short, plus not all comics are going to live on to become collector's items.

[upagainstthesunset]

how many discords are you in?

none

1-5

6-12

13-25

26-50

50-100

101-200

Voting ended onNov 16, 2025

Oh oops shouldve been 51-100

[upagainstthesunset]

Adoption in Comics

Found family and adoption are big themes in comics. i see a lot of talk about found family, as i think that really hits home for a lot of the tumblr comics fandom and rightly so. So for this post im focusing on adoption, legal or otherwise. A guarding and ward relationship, which can be parent and child or looser terms.

Many of the most well known and beloved heroes were adopted or have adopted children of their own. It invites discussion of nature vs nurture, of dsymorphia, of choice. It can be a situation that's terrible, or it can be a salvation. It can be done for all the wrong reasons and lead to a disconnect of expectation vs reality. It can be full of love but still lead to missteps.

But before i go any further, a poll. Id like to get some background on the fandom here, so please consider reblogging.

Note for the poll: "Strangers" meaning someone who did not know your birth family prior to the adoption

Comics fans, are you adopted?

Yes legally adopted by strangers. I don't know my birth family.

Yes legally adopted by strangers. I do know my birth family.

Yes legally adopted by other family

Yes legally adopted by non-family that I or my family already knew

Yes adopted, but not on paper, by strangers. I don't know my birth family.

Yes adopted, but not on paper, by strangers. I do know my birth family.

Yes adopted, but not on paper, by other family.

Yes adopted, but not on paper, by non-family that I or my family already knew

Yes adopted but not a comics fan

Not adopted

Voting ended onApr 28, 2024

I wish there were more poll options to also ask the adopted part of the fanbase if they are a different ethnicity from their adoptive family, as that usually has a huge impact on their experiences. For example, I'm Korean but my parents are white US Americans. I grew up in an area of some diversity but not a lot, in that all my closest friends were white and all of my extended family was white. And because of that, my ethnic heritage was something ive had to actively seek out and choose to make part of my identity. It also meant that i just plain did not look like my family or peers, and so stereotypes and assumptions (good and bad) have been put on me at times.

Economic status also plays a role. Im mostly pulling from past knowledge of adoption agencies, but it's not exactly inexpensive, and of course financial stability is one of the big things agencies look for. So it ends up being that a good chunk of adoptive parents are fairly well off, in the upper middle class range. And that in itself can be alienating. This wasnt my personal situation but I knew of others where it was.

I might need to make a series of posts about how all this pertains to comics. It could really be a Master's thesis topic. But for now I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on adoption in comics. What feelings do you have about it? Have you given it much thought? How do the socioeconomic statuses of the adoptive family inform the characters and their actions? Does race with respect to adopter/adoptee play a part in the dynamics of what's going on in the stories you read?

I of course have tons and tons of my own opinions on all this, but I genuinely would like to hear from others. This includes fans who arent adopted! Your readings and interpretations are valid on this subject too! Youre really the average reader, the main demographic. So it's interesting to hear opinions from that perspective as well. And if you are adopted and feel like sharing your thoughts on comics, please please do.

Oh! And one last thing, feel free to tag or list comics characters who are adopted or who have adopted someone. I'd be interested to see how many there really are!