Venus Orion

they/it yo i lowkey am ditching this acc for anxiety reasons

[remy]

Trans woman in need of $1300 to meet a gofundme goal for stable housing. Donate and share so she doesnt have to live out on the street

[complexwish]

A little color experiment. Painted everything on one layer haha.

[galvanisticyoungman]

for the LAST GOD DAMN TIME! I AM NOT GAY! I JUST THINK IT’S KINDA CUTE THAT I DIED RIGHT INSIDE YOUR ARMS TONIGHT! AND THAT I’M FINE!!!! EVEN AFTER I HAVE DIED!!!!!!!!!!!! BECAUSE IT WAS IN YOUR ARMS I DIED!!!!!!!!

[geodebiome]

@jade-week YEah another one for today. sad this time. also didnt finish it at all i have so much more art to do! but i like the sketch :)

i wanted to make a full amv of this song a while back but i kinda dropped it might pick it up again tho!

[gayboyadvance-deactivated202202]

there’s a big difference between “this show contains things that are morally wrong” and “this show contains things that are morally wrong and frames them in a positive and harmless light and/or shows an amount of [insert x morally wrong thing] to the audience that feels unnecessary, gratuitous, and/or fetishistic” and it’s very very important to remember that distinction when criticizing media

[1eos]

so ariana had that whole phase where she was gaybaiting nd it's wooooo girl power but megan thee stallion says over nd over she likes girls nd somehow that's not authentic? a white girl says a woman smells nice nd y'all say all gays need to stan but still no mention of megan or victoria monet as gay music? hmmmmm it's almost like 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 the lgbt scene is purposefully excluding black women nd refusing to take their sexuality seriously

[yungbicon]

friendly reminder: doja cat, megan thee stallion, rico nasty, and cardi b are all bisexual and white people need to stop ignoring Black women

[minnuet-archive]

what if we could connect our spotifys to tumblr like we can to discord. i could see what my mutuals are listening to. wouldn’t that be absolutely fucking terrible. worst idea ever.

[what-even-is-thiss]

What and who is included in the lgbt/queer/gay(general) communities aren’t always super clear cut actually and like... that’s fine.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Like a cishet man that likes doing drag likely doesn’t consider himself queer and neither would any of his queer/lgbt friends but he might still be super active in the community and mostly hang out with gay guys and bring his girlfriend to pride and maybe even perform at pride. And maybe the queer community is where he feels most at home because he’s kind of feminine, and doing drag is a big part of his life.

Irl probably almost nobody would kick this guy out. A lot of internet discourse would. But that kind of makes no sense.

I grew up in the theatre community, and after I learned what being gay was I discovered that gay people were everywhere in theatre. But so were straight people that just kind of fell outside of societal norms a bit. Straight people that often just felt more comfortable around gay people because they could just be themselves.

And yeah that’s an obvious example of people that aren’t queer hanging out in queer spaces but there’s also a ton of gray area. Straight polyamorous people for example. People that identify as cis that “crossdress” or even do some things that might be considered to be part of “transitioning”. Or some intersex people that don’t id with the lgbt community. Or people that id as non binary but not as trans.

At some point you need to stop trying to figure out who definitively belongs in the club because like... there is no club. Irl queer spaces tend to cover huge swaths of people. There’s a lot of gray area. And also you’ll also tend to find a lot of cishet gender conforming people in these spaces too. Because their significant other or a family member or a good friend is lgbt+ or because they’re poly or because they just feel more comfortable around queer people or they just feel like fighting for gay rights is something that they’re supposed to be doing. And if they’re respectful and the space isn’t explicitly “no cishet right now” then like, them being there isn’t that much of an issue usually.

All of this internet discourse that tries to exclude or bully people just isn’t grounded in reality.

[sandersstudies]

And if you enter an queer space, like a university LGBT+ center, a pride event, or a gay bar, not everybody there is wearing a little pin like “Aaron, he/him, certified homosexual” or “Jessica, she/they, verified transgender woman.”

Anybody in that space who is being respectful of others and not disruptive is probably just hanging out and living their life without question. Meanwhile anybody trying to “find” the “infiltrating cishets” (by whatever definition) is probably being much more disruptive and disrespectful.

So yeah. Whoever you think does or doesn’t belong in the community - they are probably already there, assuming they themselves aren’t harmful to the community.

[venusori]

i think it’s really important to understand that online does NOT represent irl at all. like, online? people are so ready to kick anyone out of communities. but irl, that’s just not the case. there is no defining line- those defining lines are what hurt us more in the end.

when we say “no, you aren’t queer enough for this space”... that’s where problems begin. if you are going to have a queer space, you need to include anyone who identifies as such. quit belittling other people in the community for not being your standard of queer.

the focus is so different from online vs irl, and it’s so painful to see. any queer space irl that i’ve been in is focused on very important things, like how to reduce homophobia/transphobia/phobes in general or how to make people feel more welcome in certain spaces. online, the focus seems to be less about solving problems and having a safe space, and instead focuses more on who meets this stupid standard of who is gay enough to hang with you.

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

Your power is out but I guide you down the hallway with my sickass light-up shoes

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

Stop

[sxpernovasblog]

floating away

this is kinda still a work in progress but i’m gonna submit it for now. concept is the idea of drowning in one’s thoughts, etc. so i took it literally and took some photos in the bath then overlayed the sky over the water to kinda convey the idea of being ‘lost’ in thought. the multiple face overlays are supposed to be like hyperactivity in thought and the multiple things running through my brain all at once. i’m messing around with colors still and i feel like the composite is messy but yeah this is what i’ve got for this week.

[anotherpapercut]

so my name's orion right and when I tell people that they usually say something along the lines of "haha I've seen ur belt" but the thing is I don't actually own any belts so the question is do I buy a belt so I can make Orion's belt jokes, or do I keep deliberately not owning belts for the irony and the opportunity to say "I'm a beltless Orion" and other such things

[anotherpapercut]

oh this is solid. thank you for this

[anotherpapercut]

you've all given me a lot to think about

[detectgoodorevil]

Judgement:

No other belt shall ever compare to the one that you are force to be apart from

[anotherpapercut]

thank you for this wisdom

[b4bysitter-deactivated20210208]

shout out to ace and aro kids who are constantly bombarded with the opinion that sex and romantic love are directly connected to living a happy life.

[b4bysitter-deactivated20210208]

Y’all are just reblogging this at the speed of sound tonight

[beaniebaneenie]

Since it’s almost valentines day, and this message is about to get hammered in even more, reblogging this again.

[adams-selfships]

@vacillatingcreator

[questionablespecies]

If y'all like Stardew Valley, then please back Coral Island if you can! It looks super promising 💕

[dankmemesreasonforliving]

[harriyanna-deactivated20221223]

here’s some fun black history for you guys!

[leescoresbies]

so in case you’re about to watch a cw television show based in the southwest that’s featuring an episode based on some supposed reservation – or you’ve read anything about the situation on the navajo nation recently – i wanted to share some ways that we all can help the diné (navajo) community beyond kind-of depicting them on television. 

today the navajo nation surpassed new york state and new jersey for the highest per-capita coronavirus infection rate in the country. that’s 2,304 cases per 100,000 people. 173,600 people live on the navajo nation, roughly. below are a number of organizations & community groups raising money & resources. it would mean so much to me if you’d consider supporting these communities right now - & continue to think about how you can support the indigenous communities near you, & understand the indigenous land you might currently occupy. 

the navajo water project helps bring running water to navajo families without, and also helps families pay their water & electricity bills 

the adopt an elder project helps feed navajo elders during the pandemic

the navajo health command operations center is the navajo nation’s only official fundraising and donation effort

rez rising is a database of native american small businesses across the southwest

the kinlani mutual aid group is a flagstaff, az based volunteer group collecting supplies

the native american relief fund operated by the native american community foundation provides emergency grants to communities for supplies & more

and a number of community-run fundraising efforts:

northern diné covid relief effort

navajo & hopi families relief fund

native student emergency fund

bluff area mutual aid - supply delivery in utah

navajo nation relief project

if you’re aware of any other legitimate fundraising efforts to help these communities, or the indigenous communities near you, please add them. 

[nereb-and-dungalef]

the Navajo Water Project also sells blankets and jewelry, and the Adopt an Elder Project sells rugs hand made by Navajo Elders if that appeals to any of you!

[artmagine]

Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators

Hello there!

Yes, we haven’t done this in a while… but our inbox and chat are swamped with questions on the subject, so this article was very much needed.

it’s a simple list of art apps, but we know you love those :D

Enough with the intro, here it is, a list of twelve art apps you may want to check out.

ArtRage is an art program for beginners and professionals. With its minimal interface, it’s easy to keep the essential tools at hand without stealing space from the canvas. Panels can be moved around and tools can be customised. We all know how important it is for digital artists to be able to modify brushes!

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; essential tools from professional apps available; available for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac

Cons: it may get sluggish with big files and when using big brushes, but performances also depend on the running machine; limited selection of editing tools if compared to Photoshop - ArtRage is more of a painting program rather than an editing one.

Paid

ArtRage Lite is a different version at a cheaper price, mostly for beginners, but also for professionals if they need the essential.

Now free, Sketchbook is the famous app created by Autodesk for various platforms.

Pros: clean, friendly interface; easy to use; professional features; autosave feature

Cons: lack of official tutorials; doesn’t offer as many tools as other apps (it’s down to the essential); paid subscription in Adobe style for Enterprise License

Free and paid

Black Ink is a powerful little program few actually know, but there’s a reason: this isn’t your classing drawing app. What’s cool about it is the vast selection of special brushes, completely non-realistic, and definitely able to boost your creativity.

Pros: vast selection of customisable brushes; excellent performance

Cons: not very easy to use; non-intuitive interface

Paid

This is probably the most complete software for painting, drawing and animation. It was originally known as Manga Studio, but with its updates and addition of features, it became Clip Studio Paint. 

This doesn’t say much about the quality of the features themselves considering the affordable price (if you haven’t used the app yet, that is), but among graphic apps, this one is the top seller.

Pros: professional features for illustrators; layout tools for comic/manga artists; 3D reference models; customisable tools; various sales with special prices

Cons: the interface may not appear intuitive at first; the program may lag (again, performance also depends on the running machine)

Paid

GIMP is the famous open source image editor originally created for GNU/Linux and available for OS X and Windows. 

Best known as Photoshop’s main competition, this is a manipulation program for both beginners and professionals who love design.

It offers many professional features, making the program a powerful tool.

Pros: professional editing tools; supports different formats; supported by different platforms; active community

Cons: in spite of the simple design, many options are hidden and it takes time to discover all the features; slow startup

Free

Krita is an open source painting app created by artists for artists.

Pros: easy to use; intuitive interface; great brush workflow; brush stabilizer; customisable brushes; general good performance; very enthusiastic, although small, community

Cons: it may be slow or even crash depending on the running computer and the app’s version; very few editing tools compared to Photoshop

Free

MediBang Paint is a free and light app for drawing and painting, perfect for manga and comic creation.

Pros: vast selection of brushes; cloud sharing; friendly, minimal interface (non-desktop app); also available for iPad, iPhone and Android

Cons: requires an account to use all features; non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Free

Mischief is a sketching app with essential tools, useful for brainstorming and ideation.

Pros: infinite drawing canvas; friendly interface; easy to use; cheap pro version

Cons: few updates; offers only the essential (but that’s the point); no editing/adjustment tools

Free and paid

Corel’s jewel, Painter is the most famous software that offers digital tools able to give a traditional feel to brushes and canvas.

Pros: different selection of media; many professional features; PS-friendly

Cons: certain brushes may work slow; not easy to use at first; the software may crash (this is the most common report); pricey

Paid

Paintstorm Studio is a professional software for digital painting. It’s focused on the use of brushes and blending, which makes the software a little gem in the digital painting field.

Pros: good brush workflow; brush stabilizer; “close gap” feature; customisable interface and tools; professional features; affordable price

Cons: non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Paid

Procreate is the powerful drawing app for iOS. 

With the very sensitive Apple Pencil, Procreate is so easy to use that many artists chose the iPad over the most famous graphic tablets.

Pros: friendly interface; makes it easy to organise files; excellent brush workflow; customisable brushes; video recording; affordable price

Cons: hidden features; only available for iPad

Paid

SAI is a simple app for artists who want to focus on painting and drawing. 

It’s well known for its good pressure support and its essential tools for manga artists, but SAI can be used by any kind of artist who wants to paint.

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; light software; customisable brushes; tons of (non-official) tutorials

Cons: limited selection of tools, even basic ones; limited canvas sizes and uses; it might crash from intensive work, especially with big canvases and brushes; supports only RGB colour mode; lack of support

Paid

HONOURABLE MENTION

Many call this app an advanced PaintTool SAI, and for a reason. FireAlpaca offers almost everything PTS has and more.

Pros: friendly interface; brush stabilizer; lineart selection; customisable brushes

Cons: no colour slider; limited brush control; although more advanced compared to PTS, the features are quite basic.

Free

We hope you’ll find this list useful. 

If you think there are other apps that should have made this list, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Thank you and peace out,

G&M

Other articles:

10 inspiring and helpful YouTube channels for digital artists

6 inspiring Art Podcasts for digital artists

7 amazing Photoshop extensions and tools for digital artists