BLOOCHIKIN

Idk if I ever said this out loud, but I’m from Maryland (well the DMV) and a chunk of my childhood was spent in the suburbs of Maryland. I remember seeing the cicadas episode of COTC for the first time and it felt like I was going back in time to when I was a kid.

Although my childhood was very different from a lot of kids in the show, I think it’s one of the few shows where I feel like I truly see myself in it. Especially as a black girl and I know that if I was still a kid I would still love it as much as I do now.

So yea…seeing this Warner Bros. situation really fuckin hurts to see.

Like idk how else to put it. It’s just heartbreaking. I hate seeing people lose their jobs, their shows, their fuckin work, for some dudes at the top to make a quick buck. It absolutely enrages me and it’s something I’ve ranted and cried about to my sister. And I’ve seen many people around my age and younger say that they might step away from the animation industry for something more stable. And sometimes I wonder myself if I’m going the right path, and if pursuing the animation industry is worth the risk. And y’know what…I do think it’s worth the risk. Art and more specifically animation is quite frankly the love of my life. It’s helped me get through life in so many ways and I just don’t know where the hell I’d be if I didn’t have it. There’s so much love put into these shows and shorts and movies. From writing to concepts and characters, to sound design and effects, like I love it all, and it’s my dream to be a part of it all, no matter how small the role is. My sister told me that moments like this (where corporations try to fuck over craftsmen and they care more about a product than people) never end well for those mfs, especially in art, because artist won’t take that shit sitting down. And I’d like to think she’s right. That we won’t take this shit sitting down, that whether your a causal viewer or someone who wants to make a career in animation, we’re gonna be like “man fuck this shit you gonna respect me” and actually square up with these companies that think they can just throw ppl away and fuck people over. Animation isn’t nothing, creators aren’t nothing. I know it’s a hard fight to go up against but I don’t think it’s impossible to fight, and it’s something I wanna help fight in. I think the animation industry and the workers involved are worth fighting for and I know I’m definitely not alone in this thought.

I don’t know of any of this makin any sense but honestly I just wanted to speak from the heart.

If you’re reading this and you worked on Craig of the Creek or were a part of the creative teams under Warner Bros. or Netflix or whichever big animation studio (miraculously lol but you never know whos reading i guess) and you were laid off, from the bottom of my fuckin heart, thank you and I’m sorry. Y’all put so much hard work and creativity and love and dedication into the shows you worked on and I have so much respect for y’all for doin what you do. Y’all aren’t nothing, y’all aren’t garbage to be tossed away and you shouldn’t be treated as such. And I know y’all have a big and bright future ahead.

Keep supporting animation

Keep watching and loving animation

Continued under the cut!

You never feel as young as you are, because you’re always the oldest you’ve been. You can only look back and equate childhood with ignorance and silliness, because there were things you didn’t know then. But there are things you don’t know now, too, that someone older is looking down at you for.

I promised myself I would never forget that, growing up. I put it in a time capsule when I was nine because I wanted to be certain. And sometimes it slips away, and I catch myself scoffing at people younger than me, but you have to fight that. You have to hold on. You have to keep a little bit of your younger mind inside you, so you don’t forget.

I think that’s important.