Latest Posts by anazen333 - Page 4

Got tagged by @a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city . And I suppose I kinda look like the end result... if I had been born Asian instead of Latinx! 😂

Picrew

djarn's character maker｜Picrew

eng. below djarnのキャラメーカー 個人利用のみでお願いします。 私のPicrewへようこそ！ イラストを...

https://forest-mt.seekrtech.com/

forest-mt.seekrtech.com

Planta tu flor personal

Prueba tu concentración Tipo X, encuentra tu flor personal

Was tagged by @a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city .

And sadly I have to admit getting this result didn’t happen on the first try. But in my defense, a lot of the questions had multiple answers I would have chosen. Thus, I kept getting results that didn’t sound like me at all (the first one I got said I was a born leader. HA! Anyone who knows me well is aware of how much I hate taking charge)

But I didn’t finally get one that sounded the most like me; and it has my favorite flower to boot!

“...I never yielded. And as you can see, I am not dead!” - Black Panther (2018)

Thank you Chadwick, for being an inspiration that will last for years to come.

Rest In Peace.

Who wouldn’t want to get married in one of these? 😍

sailor moon wedding dress collection supervised  by naoko

tapas.io

Comics Cats Cocoa :: Butterflies vs Moths | Tapas

Comics Cats Cocoa :: Butterflies vs Moths | Tapas

@a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city Saw this and thought of you :3

Let’s save Rottmnt!!!

Denial Stage 1: Comatose

Denial Stage 2: “you’ll have to break the fingers off my cold dead hands to pry them away from me”

After crawling out of my Denial Coma, i’ve got fists and words to throw nick’s way

SO

Send your thoughts and feelings regarding the cancellation to @Nickelodeon with their feedback email feedback@nick.com 

tell them about how disappointed and frustrated the cancellation is, and about how difficult the treatment they put the show was, but be respectful. Throwing threats and rude comments is just going to invalidate any good points you make, and will likely lead them to just not read them

SECOND - request Rise on Netflix’s Request form every day 

https://help.netflix.com/en/titlerequest

The more requests they get, the more likely they are to try and acquire the license to stream Rise, and it would be even easier since the show is getting the Movie put on netflix. Bring that up too! How having the show alongside the movie on Netfix would be VERY beneficial.

and 3RD - don’t stop talking about Rise, keep it up. #SaveRottmnt or Nick has legitimately lost any and all respect i could have ever had for the company

i love you all and stay happy folks, the fight ain’t over - the crew wants to tell the rest of the story as much as we want to see

@nickanimation @netflix @nickelodeon

Was challenged by @a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city . Most of mine are actually a little off because I tend to insert OCs in my fanfics 😅

The Stories that Heavily Impacted My Views and the Lessons they Taught Me

I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts and videos that have been talking about how stories, whether they be in film or literary media (or even video games!), have made huge impacts that stay with people for the rest of their lives.

So it got me wondering; what stories did that for me?

Now understand, for me, these aren’t the stories that I would consider my all time favorites, though I would rank them in the top tiers. These aren’t the stories that I go to in order to have a good time and escape from the world. Rather, these are the fictional stories that have helped me grasp lessons that I probably wouldn’t have learned had someone just tried to shove them down my throat. And because of that, they give me a personal goal to aspire to as someone who wants to be a teller of impacting stories. 

(As you can see, I couldn’t pick just one form of media.)

Novel - A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Lesson: That there is great power in kindness, empathy, and imagination. The world around us can be cruel and unforgiving, but that does not mean you should bend with it. To be a better person is difficult, especially when life gets hard, but there are those that have it worse and one is never too destitute to help someone else. And all it takes is a little imagination.

Graphic Novel - The Courtney Crumrin series by Ted Naifeh 

Lesson: That our desires, needs, and even well meaning actions, have consequences. In fact, everything that involves choice has consequences. Some are good, some are bad, but you can’t escape right now or years down the road that they will shape life in ways that cannot be changed. But we don’t have to be in this chaotic mess alone. We can choose to find and keep people close to us to help make facing the consequences a little easier.

Film - Laputa: Castle in the Sky by Studio Ghibli

Lesson: That there is nothing wrong with having dreams so wildly out there they could be considered fantasy. Dreaming big is what has pushed humanity to the point where it is now and it will continue to traverse boundaries. That being said, we should not let those dreams become so all encompassing that we forget what it means to be human; to be able to love and see the beauty around us. Yes, it is good to dream of impossibilities that stretch beyond the sky, but it is also equally important to plant roots in the ground we stand on.

Judging fictions as good or bad

I still am not a fan of the Twilight franchise, but the creator of this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O06tMbIKh0), Lindsay Ellis, does make some valid arguments that really got me thinking:

Why are we so concerned about presenting good role models in media for teenage girls and setting fire to anything that is essentially fluffy cheese, and yet, there are plenty of very stupid action franchises aimed at boys that are never ridiculed for having little plot, sexist themes, and poor role models? 

And there are two arguments for this, I know. People, and especially kids, can be heavily influenced by the media they consume, so it is important to monitor what we take in. 

But we should also remember that a lot of media is for entertainment, and thus, shouldn't be overly criticized because at the end of the day it is FICTION, not gospel; and there's nothing wrong with wanting to escape into fiction for fun and relaxation.

Also felt a little guilty when Lindsay pointed out that a lot of stuff geared towards teenage girls is often snubbed at; I know I was one of those girls who didn't let myself like what was 'in' with most girls, on the grounds that I wanted to be thought of as having 'taste'. But I secretly did like a lot of that stuff because I was a teenage girl! And by denying myself those things, I wasn't doing anything buy keeping myself from enjoying more stuff out there. 

Just because something is in or out of style shouldn't determine whether you like/enjoy it or not. 

This flag is not racist.

This flag represents the “Thin Blue Line”.  

The blue line represents law enforcement standing between the people and anarchy, criminals, and violence.

It does not stand for anything hateful, racist, discriminatory, homophobic, sexist, or anything other _ist, _ism, _phobia, or _ation you can think of.

Those who utilize this flag or symbol and derivatives of do so because they are expressing solidarity with law enforcement other first responders, respect, gratitude, and simply support to the men and women who come from all varieties of creeds, races, and beliefs. It is also not uncommon to use it to express mourning over the death or murder of someone in law enforcement. 

Before the flag, the symbol was simply this:

And it would later expand to include other aspects of law enforcement and first responders.  Red for Firefighters, Silver for Corrections Officers, Gold for Dispatchers/Communications Officers, White for EMS, and Orange for Search and Rescue.

There are versions which include many “Thin Lines” to show respect for multiple agencies.  I for one have this one on the back of my car.

Before all this PC nonsense, people used these symbols as a means of support, respect, and encouragement.  “We see you, we appreciate you, we are thankful to you.”  It never had anything to do with race, hate, power, control, or anything negative. 

 These symbols have existed long before the mobs called them racist or symbols of ‘white power’ and no matter how you attempt to make them represent something evil, it will not work or change what it stands for:

Family. Brotherhood. Sisterhood. Family.

If you ever work as a first responder or in that community, be it law enforcement, EMS, firefighting, SAR, dispatch..you see hell, sometimes daily. You see your own hell, the hell of others. You see blood, death, torture, cruelty and evil. Lives are risked. Lives are lost - sometimes it could be your own, or someone you were tasked with protecting. Someone you worked side by side with. It’s a calling, and it’s both heaven and hell for those involved.  All of us are a family, and this is how we reach out to each other to tell each other something simple:

“Brother or Sister, I have your back.”

If you choose to see that as racist, demeaning, hateful, or anything else negative, especially after being explained otherwise, then there is no helping you - unless it’s someone from our community.

Regardless of what you think of us, how you hate or love us, we will always come to help you even if it means getting hurt to do so, or even killed.

That’s our family, and this is our symbol. It will never mean hatred.

For those who still think otherwise and believe yourself good and honest people, I have a challenge for you.  The next time you see someone, be they IRL or online and they’re sporting the thin blue line, ask them calmly to tell you what it means to them.  Why it’s important to them. What they think of it.

I think you’ll live happier knowing that something you believed was hateful is actually out to do good.

Meme tag thing!

Tagged by @a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city, because someone knows I love doing these things so much xD (that’s not sarcasm, I truly enjoy these random ‘tag list meme’ things)

Rules: Tag people you’d like to get to know better/catch up with

Three Ships in any order: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Tsukimi/Shū (Princess Jellyfish), Barbra/Strickler (Troll Hunters) - I fan-girl squee so hard whenever I see any of these couples together >w<

Last Song:  Bad Romance (Medieval Style Cover by Hildegard von Blingin') - This randomly popped up in my YouTube feed suggestions and now I’m in love with this cover xD

Last Movie: Treasure Planet - Because I’ve realized there are a lot of Disney animated movies that I enjoy as an adult way more than I ever did as a kid, mainly the ones that weren’t as popular when they came out. Now I feel bad for not liking them when I was younger.

Currently reading: ..... O////O, not sure if I have the guts to share that on the Internet. It’s nothing scandalous but since it’s one of my guilty pleasures I feel, well, a little guilty and more than a little mortified at the thought of anyone finding out. 

Currently watching:  Wars of the Roses Documentary by Timeline - Since working at home, I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries in the background while I work, because I’ve been assigned projects that is so mind numbing I can do it and learn about how monarchies were seriously messed up in the sense that a lot of them came and/or stayed in power because of brutal decapitations.

Currently consuming: Toaster oven s’mores - Not quite as good as the real thing, but they’ll do in a pinch. I should also mention that instead of chocolate bars, I’m using baking chocolate chips (milk chocolate) because they were way cheaper.

Food I’m craving right now: My papi’s carne asada - My neighbors are Hispanic and have been barbecuing for the past week and it’s making me miss my family so much because it smells like home! :( 

Tagged: @spectrumelf @spirogs-blog @acrinn45

Astro Ducktales

I just watched the most Anime-esq episode of Ducktales and I loved every minute of it! Granted, the only reason I loved it so much is because it’s a total ripoff of the original AstroBoy (a much beloved franchise of mine). But still; it was so fun to spot all the little Anime nods and see the animation direction made to emulate classic Anime cinematography. I really hope the Ducktales team had as much fun making this episode as much as I did watching it :3

Was tagged by @a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city to do the recreate yourself in this image maker: https://picrew.me/image_maker/197122

So here I am: dark hair and pasty skin = basically a fairy vampire xD

There didn’t seem to be an all imcohmpassing comparison for Ahsoka’s face transitions, so I decided to make one myself :3

Ahsoka belongs to Disney

Some of my favorite posts here on Tumblr:

Dear Creators of Female Protagonists

I have a favor to ask, especially those of you who create historical fiction and fantasies that take place in worlds that are based on pre-modern time periods…

Stop making your girls slim, skinny, waifish, lanky, lean, scrawny, angular, gangly, thin, and then have them complain about it.

I appreciate the fact you are acknowledging that in older times, being thin was not desired to the point it is now. That in those times, women with curves, ample chests, and round bottoms were more highly sought after and being thin meant you were malnutritioned and thus, not as desirable. 

I get that you want the girls to be relatable, and who hasn’t lamented over their body not being the current ideal of beauty. 

But for girls like me, who have lots of curves, ample chests, and round bottoms, when your female protagonist is thin and she complains about it, it’s like a slap in the face for me. 

Because it feels like the toxic message of being skin and bones thin has permeated even the worlds where I go to escape negative body image themes. That even there, with the female protagonist I’m supposed to relate to and go on this journey with, has something I’ve been brainwashed into desiring but can never attain, and she has the nerve to whine about it - it drives me insane.

So do me a favor and make a female protagonist who is full of curves and have her be proud of it. Have someone - herself or other characters in the story - note her ample assets and remark how attractive she is. Put her flaws and insecurities in some other part of herself. Make her curvy figure something she is confident about.

In fact, make it a point to create girls with all sorts of body types.

Make them with small chests and wide hips. Make their bosom ample and the rest of the figure straight. Make them tall and built like bricks. Make them petite with very round bottoms.

Make them a unique individual.

If we are ever going to make any strides in teaching girls to love the bodies they were born with, then we need to start with worlds they visit to escape reality. Because if the majority of fictional girls are portrayed as having one body type, then what’s the point of fantasy?

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I’M SO HAPPY I COULD DIE!!!!!

PRAISE THE ALIEN LORDS SHE HAS RETURNED!!

And you know what that means……

RAZAYA REUNION!!!

Tagged 10 Musics

Got tagged by the awesome @a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city to post the 10 songs I’ve been listening to constantly as of late (in no particular order):

1. “Chant” by Hadestown Original Broadway Cast Recording

2. “Say My Name” by Beetlejuice Original Broadway Cast Recording

3. “Ex-Wives” by SIX Studio Cast Recording

4. “Starlight Brigade (feat. Dan Avidan)” by TWRP

5. “everything i wanted” by Billie Eilish

6. “Light & Shadow (feat. Gemie)” by Hiroyuki Sawano/League of Legends

7. “Istanbul” by They Might be Giants

8. “Music Box” by MALINDA

9. “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest

10. “Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer

So, basically, 30% Musicals, random Alternative Rock, and some random I don’t know what to call it xD

Tag to anyone who wants to participate :)

What needs to happen in She-Ra before it ends...

...in my opinion. 

What I’d really like, more than anything, is for these two to be cannon and get a happy, non tragic ending.

BECAUSE I SHIP THESE TWO SO HARD! THEY’RE JUST SO ADORABLE!!!!

So what I want is for She-Ra to heal Hordak. Because if she can save Shadow Weaver from near death, SURELY she can cure Hordak of some clone imperfection thing and then these two can live happily ever after! I DO NOT want them ending up like Komugi and Meruem (HunterxHunter). 

THEY’RE TOO CUTE TO DIE TRAGICALLY!

Darkwing Duck Future in 2017 Ducktales Thoughts

Firstly, the ending of ‘The Duck Knight Returns!’ was my all time favorite ending to a Ducktales episode to date! All those little pieces coming together that paid homage to the original Darkwing Duck and weaving it into the most original superhero origin story I’ve across; I’m still freaking out! All that potential for angst and deep stories! Whoever wrote that is a genius!

I’m really hoping, now that we’ve had that fabulous ending and all that promise, that we’ll get to see more of Darkwing. We’ve gotten a good amount of Gizmoduck, so I’m optimistic on seeing some Darkwing centered episodes in the new Ducktales.

I’ve been loving how the creative team on the 2017 Ducktales has been including content from the original source material (Della’s disappearance with the starship and Flinthart actually being South African - all things found in the original comics). 

And with the team weaving in Launchpad as Darkwing’s sidekick in the episode, just like in the show, it got me thinking:

Now that we’ve got a more solid backstory established for Darkwing/Drake Mallard, does this mean we’ll see Gosalyn?

While she wasn’t my favorite character in the original show (I applaud her voice actor, it’s such a recognizable voice - but for me, it was a little grating on my ears), I really liked the idea of her being around, and the story of an orphan being adopted is always touching.

But for the new version, I’d like to make a suggestion:

Don’t have the new DW/Drake adopt her. 

Now before anyone gets mad: hear me out.

I’m just suggesting a different candidate. I still want him to adopt a plucky girl that will keep him grounded; one that I think really deserves to have a family after all she’s gone through.

That’s right, I’m talking about:

LENA!!!!

Now that we’ve got this girl back, I suggest that instead of bringing in Gosalyn, that DW/Drake should come across this (at this moment, assumedly homeless) plucky orphan and adopt her. 

Lena’s got the ‘keeping it real’ attitude, she’s already rocking the casual tee shirt shirt we saw on Gosalyn, and it would give the writers more ways to feature her in future episodes!

Okay, I might be a little bias because I love this character so much, but I’m still saying her as DW/Drake’s adopted daughter still works!

Ducktales staff, you should do this. Please.

Link to FREE pack! https://www.neonmob.com/redeem/ANAZENART18671

One of my friends and I are divided because of Obi-Wan and Maul.

Our rivalry over who is the superior of the two is as strong as Obi-Wan and Maul’s own rivalry.

“The trailer might be divisive”

No shit. My friend name me one (1) thing that hasn’t divided Star Wars fans.

Answer 21, Tag 21

Tagged by the wonderful @a-lighthouse-a-man-a-city

2. Zodiac Sign: Leo (Greek), Horse (Chinese)

1. Nicknames: Ana, Princess Leia (back in the day when I had hair long enough to do her cinnamon roll buns for real)

3. Height: 5′5 and 3/4

4. Hogwarts: Hufflepuff

5. The Last Thing I googled: Star Wars summer outfit (anyone ever notice no one in Star Wars wears shorts?)

6. Favorite Musicians: Within Temptation, Imagine Dragons, Lindsey Sterling, anything written by Joe Hisashi

7. Song Stuck in My Head: Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

8. Following Now: Depends on the site (I have a lot of art sites)

9. Followers: Same answer as before 

10. Do I Get Asks?:  Not recently T^T

11. Amount of sleep?: 8-9 hours

12. Lucky Number: 3 or 9

13. What I’m Wearing: My white Chinese flats with blue embroidery and ankle frog ties, dark forest green jeans, a white tank top with porcelain teapot pattern (delicate vintage florals), an electric blue cardigan/throw with matching lace decal down the back, and silver jewelry (dangling drop earrings, a white gold necklace depicting the Children of Leer from Ireland, a lotus and Ankh ring from the King Tut tour, and a ring that says ‘We’re All Mad Here’)

14. Dream Job: Writing YA novels full time

15. Dream Trip: A river cruise down the Nile in Egypt

16. Favorite Foods: Chocolate hazelnut anything, Chicago pizza, and Japanese Royal Milk tea

17. Instruments: Piano, voice (that so counts as an instrument - I had voice lessons)

18. Languages: English, Spanish, a little Japanese, working on Ancient Egyptian

19. Favorite Song: No Light, No Light by Florence + The Machine

20. Random Fact: I have petted a manatee in the wild (which is illegal, but I didn’t know that at the time!)

21. Aesthetic: Asian, Art Deco, and Art Nouveau inspired patterns and designs set on white backgrounds. English cottage decor with dark woods, butterflies/bees/dragonflies, roses, and skeleton keys. Vintage 1940-50s dresses paired with ballet flats in jewel tones or iced pastels.

(Sadly, I don’t have 21 people to tag, so I’m just going to skip that step ;P )

STORY TIME:

I work in a decent sized, local, indie bookstore. It’s a great job 99% of the time and a lot of our customers are pretty neat people. Any who, middle of the day this little old lady comes up. She’s lovably kooky. She effuses how much she loves the store and how she wishes she could spend more time in it but her husband is waiting in the car (OH! I BETTER BUY HIM SOME CHOCOLATE!), she piles a bunch of art supplies on the counter and then stops and tells me how my bangs are beautiful and remind her of the ocean (“Wooooosh” she says, making a wave gesture with her hand)

Ok. I think to myself. Awesomely happy, weird little old ladies are my favorite kind of customer. They’re thrilled about everything and they’re comfortably bananas. I can have a good time with this one. So we chat and it’s nice.

Then this kid, who’s been up my counter a few times to gather his school textbooks, comes up in line behind her (we’re connected to a major university in the city so we have a lot of harried students pass through). She turns around to him and, out of nowhere, demands that he put his textbooks on the counter. He’s confused but she explains that she’s going to buy his textbooks.

He goes sheetrock white. He refuses and adamantly insists that she can’t do that. It’s like, $400 worth of textbooks. She, this tiny old woman, bodily takes them out of her hands, throws them on the counter and turns to me with a intense stare and tells me to put them on her bill. The kid at this point is practically in tears. He’s confused and shocked and grateful. Then she turns to him and says “you need chocolate.” She starts grabbing handfuls of chocolates and putting them in her pile.

He keeps asking her “why are you doing this?” She responds “Do you like Harry Potter?“ and throws a copy of the new Cursed Child on the pile too.

Finally she’s done and I ring her up for a crazy amount of money. She pays and asks me to please give the kid a few bags for his stuff. While I’m bagging up her merchandise the kid hugs her. We’re both telling her how amazing she is and what an awesome thing she’s done. She turns to both of us and says probably one of the most profound, unscripted things I’ve ever had someone say:

"It’s important to be kind. You can’t know all the times that you’ve hurt people in tiny, significant ways. It’s easy to be cruel without meaning to be. There’s nothing you can do about that. But you can choose to be kind. Be kind.”

The kid thanks her again and leaves. I tell her again how awesome she is. She’s staring out the door after him and says to me: “My son is a homeless meth addict. I don’t know what I did. I see that boy and I see the man my son could have been if someone had chosen to be kind to him at just the right time.”

I’ve bagged up all her stuff and at this point am super awkward and feel like I should say something but I don’t know what. Then she turns to me and says: I wish I could have bangs like that but my darn hair is just too curly.“ And leaves.

And that is the story of the best customer I’ve ever had. Be kind to somebody today.

I support this statement 100%

...Well, maybe 90% (taking off ten for possible NSFW stuff ;3 )

“May I please draw your OC?”

Reblog this message if you encourage anyone that wants to draw your OC to do so.  No need to ask for permission in advance.

Go for it.  Draw my OC.  If you want, I’ll even give you reference posts.  Go to town on it.

You are welcome to draw my OC and surprise me with the result.  Seriously.  In fact, I encourage it.  I will proudly display whatever it is you submit to me regarding my OC.  There is a chance that I will squeal about it for several days.

Even if you feel you aren’t good at whatever artistic adventure it is you do, please feel free to submit it to me.  I want to see what you have done.

I really wish there was a way for me to just have access to all of Starcream’s sassy moments in the IDW comics xD

What part of...

... “I don’t want kids,” does no one understand?

Seriously, I am getting so sick of having to reiterate myself to people when I tell them I don’t want kids and they insist I’ll change my mind. 

I especially find it strange that they never ask about whether I want to get married (and they most certainly never think of the implications if I were to marry a woman - which for the record, I am straight, but I’m assuming that they’re assuming that even if I was gay I would find a way to have kids anyway).

It just makes me wonder if men ever have to deal with this or if it’s purely sexual stereotyping on women, even though we are in the 21st century.

So let me make it clear: just because I am a woman and I do want to get married someday does not mean I want to have kids.

Nor, in this advanced and liberated and non-apocalyptic (meaning there’s not a shortage of human beings populating the Earth) should it still be assumed/encouraged/pressured upon by women to have kids at all! In an age of casual sex, pro-choice, and lack of a zombie breakout, why is it that people assume that all women will want to have kids? (apparently regardless of whether or not they state they want to get married or what their sexual orientation is, as I mentioned earlier).

Personally, I don’t want kids. And to be clear, it’s not because I hate them. 

I actually do like kids and in my chosen field of work, I interact with a lot of them on a daily basis. But just because I like kids and I’m good with them shouldn’t mean that I automatically want any of my own.

For me, having kids would mean giving up all of my dreams. I have plans and goals and aspirations: for my art, my writing, and my career. 

I know myself well enough to understand that I put 200% of my energy into the things that matter to me. Which means for me, if I were to have kids, I would be devoting all of my time to them, leaving no room for my art, my writing, or my career.

And I don’t want that.

Which might sound selfish, but am I really being selfish to hypothetical kids that don’t even exist?

Yes, I want to create art and literature and environments where children can learn, grow, and be inspired by, but that shouldn’t mean that I need to have any of my own.

Somehow, it seems that declaring you don’t want kids is something that must be rectified by those around you (and yet, declaring you never want to get married isn’t as looked down upon).

Now, to be fair, most of the interactions I’ve had that inspired this was with generations older than me and primarily those people were from... certain areas of the country. But I’ve still had people from all over tell me I’ll change my mind and that just irks me to no end.

In conclusion...

I DON’T WANT KIDS AND IT’S WRONG OF PEOPLE TO TRY AND PRESSURE ME INTO CHANGING MY MIND!

So am I the only one who’s had this problem or are there other people out there that are just as fed up as I am?

Good things to keep in mind everyone!

Scammer Targeting Tumblr Artists

The title says it all really. So if nothing else, please share and reblog this post to raise awareness for those that might be caught out - both artists and followers. For a TL:DR, please look at the bottom of the post

What is happening?

Right now, there is at least one person actively impersonating multiple artists across tumblr in an effort to scam their followers into paying for fake ‘cheap commissions’. The scammer will clone a tumblr, usually using a slight change to the url/account name to look like the real deal. They will then message people directly through Tumblr with messages along the lines of “Hey, i’m doing cheap commissions right now. DM me to get one”. Naturally, this is ends up just being a way to take their money without giving anything back in return.

Who does this affect?

Everyone. Simple as that. As long as the scammer in question works unopposed, they are free to spread their influence and continue to scam more people. Even if you haven’t been targeted yet, it does not mean you are safe or immune. Several artists have already fallen victim to this scammer, and I encourage any artists that have to reblog this post with the details of their affected account(s) and the ones the scammer has set up.

How can we stop this?

Tumblr, like many other social media platforms, seems to care very little about ‘minor’ occurences like this one, and despite reaching out directly to them over a week ago through multiple avenues of contact - they have refused to comment on the situation, provide a recommended response for users, or take action on behalf of those already affected. Despite this, there are still tools at our disposal that we can use to make this scam more difficult, and to increase its visibility to those within Tumblr staff that are required by policy to take action. Tumblr has the following to say on the topic of impersonation: Confusion or Impersonation. Don’t do things that would cause confusion between you or your blog and a person or company, like registering a deliberately confusing URL. Don’t impersonate anyone. While you’re free to ridicule, parody, or marvel at the alien beauty of Benedict Cumberbatch, you can’t pretend to actually be Benedict Cumberbatch. They then provide a link to this online form that you can fill out if you suspect someone’s identity is being confused. Unfortunately, this can only be filled out if you are the victim of impersonation. In other words, only the artists can fill this out legitimately. So, what about the followers and users of tumblr whom aren’t being impersonated? Our most valuable tool in this online platform is the platform itself. It enables us to spread our word near-virally across all the many sub-communities on Tumblr with remarkable efficiency for a user-driven system. We can take advantage of that effect to increase awareness of the situation. Even if you - the one reading this right now - aren’t an artist or don’t know an artist, the act of reblogging this post or sharing it directly with friends improves it’s 'ranking’ in popularity increasing its chances to be seen by more people. We don’t need everyone on Tumblr to see the post for it to be effective, just like we don’t need the entirety of the human population of the world to be immune to a disease for that disease to be rendered ineffective or eradicated. If enough people are aware, the likelihood of pulling off a successful scam increases dramatically reducing efficiency to a point that it no longer becomes profitable to continue.

Why should I care?

It disheartens me to say this, but of the many artists I contacted directly over the past week to warn about this issue many of them refused to listen or dodged the responsibility with lines like;

“I’m not being impersonated, so it doesn’t affect me”

“I’m just one person. I can’t make an impact”

“I need to take care of my community. Other people can look after theirs”

This is honestly disappointing that so many artists or art-rebloggers care so little as to intentionally wave the responsibility of keeping their followers and fellow artists safe from this, that they cannot spare 10 seconds of their time to share an informative post. I’m not here to bash artists, but it is time that everyone takes responsibility for their own communities, and of those around them. Artists: You have a responsibility to ensure that your followers and fans aren’t being abused by someone who may impersonate you. If they succeed, your reputation will be damaged, and your followers will resent you. Your followers are also almost guaranteed to be following other artists meaning your efforts can spread beyond your own circle of influence, so don’t be naive when you think you have little effect. Followers: You have just as much responsibility to be aware of those that might try to scam you or your fellow followers. Don’t just sit in silence when you see something wrong: Ignoring the issue only makes it more resilient to our efforts to stop it. You are the vocal majority if you just use your voices to be heard!

TL:DR

A scammer is impersonating artists and scamming money from their followers under the guise of 'cheap commissions’. If we ignore the issue, it will get worse. Every single person that reads this can afford to spend just 10 seconds to reblog and share this post. Those 10 seconds can save others from being scammed for hundreds of dollars. Reblog & Share

Black Panther: Pride

“So this is the blacks’ Coco.”

That was the first thing my papi said when I asked him what he thought of the movie. He’s not the best when it comes to being sensitive (he tends to say all the politically incorrect terms just for the fun of it, actually). So when I got past the bluntness of his statement, I realized what he actually meant.

Pixar’s Coco is a movie that is very dear to me because I am a Mexican-American. My papi immigrated to the U.S. and thus my family grew up with a different set of culture values and traditions; I grew up as part of a minority. 

So when Pixar came out with Coco, I was one of the first to see it. And what pleased me more than the homages to Mexican culture was the reaction it received worldwide. It became a source of pride for me that people loved a film that was based on my culture; a minority culture.

And what my papi had said summed up Black Panther: it is a movie based on a minority culture and people love it, they praise it because it is different and captivating.

I don’t wish to presume, but as a fellow member of a minority, I think it’s wonderful that those of African heritage (wherever they are from now), can look at Black Panther, see how much others love it, and take it as a point of Pride.

Glaciator Ice Creams

I found it so interesting in S2EP9 of Miraculous Ladybug, the ice creams Andre chose for Adrian and Marinette. 

Marinette’s ice cream had a red cherry (for his lips), mint ice cream (for his eyes), and some unnamed base (which I’m guessing is supposed to represent his hair - so maybe homemade vanilla? Or pineapple or banana or lemon... Though I’d like to think it’s honey :3 ).

Adrian’s ice cream had strawberry with chips of dark chocolate ice cream (for her costume), blackberry ice cream (for her hair) and blueberry ice cream (for her eyes), and topped with a red cherry that apparently has no significance.

What I found so interesting it that Andre chose combinations that represented the version our two lovebirds are infatuated with.

Marinette is in love with the non superhero version - Adrian. So her ice cream represents the object of her affection that she perceives (AKA, not Chat Noir, so there’s no black).

With Adrian, he’s in love with Ladybug - the superhero. His ice cream flavors are meant to reflect Ladybug’s appearance, not Marinette’s (otherwise I think that bottom layer would be pink instead of red).

Though ultimately, which side is the true version of each protagonist? And are they each falling in love with the person at their core, or just the facade? Just some things I wonder about :3