francis kernell!! but not here

I’m completely neutral on it. I don’t hate it, I don’t mind seeing it, but I also don’t actively ship it (although this is mostly because I like the idea of Zim being aroace and not because I dislike the ship itself). And here’s why.

DISCLAIMER! VERY BIG DISCLAIMER!

I am not a proshiper. If you ship pedophilic or incestuous shit, you will get no defence here. Get lost and don’t come back. I’ve seen enough shit in other fandoms already.

I’m saying this because ZADR is believed by many to be a proship, which is why many people dislike it. When in reality, ZADR isn’t a proship and I explain why in this post.

I just wanted to say this to reiterate that I am not a proshiper, nor do I condone proshiping. I’m constantly paranoid about people getting the wrong idea or misinterpreting me and really want to avoid that. I’m not looking for drama or a fight. That being said, if you ship pedophilic stuff, incestuous stuff, beastiality or any of that horrible stuff, get the fuck off my blog. You aren’t welcome here.

DISCLAIMER OVER!

Now onto why ZADR (and other ships involving irkens) isn’t a proship or anything really worth throwing a fit over.

Dib is canonically 12 years old. That’s a fact. But the thing is, while Dib has a canonical age, Zim doesn’t, and never will. Zim’s age is up to viewer interpretation.

Zim’s age, despite what many people believe, isn’t set in stone.

Zim’s age was never mentioned in canon. In fact, not a single irken has ever had their age revealed.

The wiki seems to have pulled the “Zim is 160 in human years and 16 in irken years” fact out of its ass because I can’t find a source for it anywhere, plus the wiki has a tendency to make stuff up and present it as fact with no evidence. So it isn’t a reliable source of information in any way.

Jhonen has stated Zim’s age three different times (that I know of), and he’s changed his answer every time, calling Zim a child, an adult and a teenager. So he obviously doesn’t have a clue of what Zim’s age is and most likely never really meant to give Zim a canonical age in the first place when he created the show. So not even the creator of the show himself is a reliable source of information when it comes to Zim’s age.

Although Zim’s age is never explicitly mentioned, we get some possible small hints in canon. HOWEVER, these hints all contradict each other and can go either way in proving that Zim is a child or an adult.

Zim could be an adult because he has a high ranking military job that seems impossible for a child to achieve (an invader, at least before his first banishment) plus he worked as a scientist before, so he’s held multiple adult jobs. He also seems to be the same height as other (presumably) adult irkens. He also has a long history involving his scientist job, his joining of the military and his entire work up the military hierarchy to become an invader, plus his banishment to Foodcourtia, which probably all happened over a long course of time. He’s also allowed to pilot a ship and other various vehicles, which, assuming that irkens follow the same sort of rules for ships as we do for cars, shouldn’t be given to children. It’s also revealed in The Trial that irkens can live for several centuries.

But on the other hand, Zim could very easily be a child or a teenager because the empire may use child soldiers, which does have some possible evidence like Smeets graduating at the age of 10, irken military equipment seeming similar to video games and the fact that the irken empire is a power hungry dictatorship. It would also explain why Zim chose to infiltrate Earth by posing as a human child attending a human school, along with the immaturity and pettiness that Zim shows throughout the series. Not to mention the fact that Zim is directly implied to be particularly young by irken standards, with the Tallest mentioning in The Trial that Zim is supposed to have a trial in several centuries, but they chose to force it to happen now, implying that Zim hasn’t hit the age where a trial usually happens, which is presumably adulthood or later. Zim being a child or a teenager also explains why the Tallest are so immature, as they are the same age as Zim, so if he’s not an adult but is instead a child/teenager, the Tallest are as well.

So the evidence goes both ways. Zim’s age is entirely up to viewer interpretation. If you believe that Zim is an adult, he’s an adult. If you believe that he’s a child, he’s a child. If you believe that he’s a teenager, he’s a teenager. Zim’s age is a literal question mark, and unless new, official content is released that explicitly confirms Zim’s age, that’s not going to change. As mentioned before, Jhonen Vazquez, despite being the creator of the show, isn’t a reliable source because he’s contradicted himself at least three times now and doesn’t seem to have given Zim (or any irken for that matter) a canonical age in the first place.

And going by those rules when you look at ZADR, you quickly realize that the entire dynamic of ZADR and every other ship involving irkens in any way also depends entirely on viewer interpretation. If you interpret Zim as being a child that’s a similar age to Dib, he’s a child that’s a similar age to Dib. If you interpret Zim as being an adult, he’s an adult. Zim’s age is a blank space that you can fill out however you want.

ZADR is only a pedophilic proship between a child and an adult if you believe that it is a ship between a child and an adult and/or you actively make it that way when making the content, because Zim’s age is whatever you say it is. A random number generator could be used to decide Zim’s age and it would be equally canon as everyone else’s opinions regarding Zim’s age, including the words of Jhonen himself.

RIGHT.... I see people making fun of that arc and Ritsu so much, and I know it's probably supposed to be all in good fun, but the results of that poll and general lack of understanding I see of that arc don't help my feelings on this..... like. I know people are allowed to not share my opinions and not like things but 😭

Like. Yes, Ritsu is dramatic in that arc. Yes, he breaks down over relatively small things. Yes, he beats people up seemingly out of nowhere. And yes, taken out of context.... I see how that's funny to talk about. But... it just saddens me. That that's most of the discussion I see of that arc. Just about how feral Ritsu was, how violent, how nonsensical, how funny it all is..... where's all the actual metas about it huh??? I wanna talk about it.

I wanna talk about how fucking stressed Ritsu was, even up until that point. About how it wasn't just framing those kids that broke him. He's been bottling all his feelings up for years. He's been maintaining that perfect image for years. He didn't even have anyone to talk to about it, like mob had Reigen - he had noone. He was simply the good kid, the smart kid, the helpful, kind brother, the one who never caused any trouble. Do you know how much fucking pressure that is? Do you know how lonely he must have felt? Not to even mention the added deathly fear of Mob, who he had to prepare for exploding every single day. Who he never knew when he could hurt him again. His big brother, who he loved so dearly. Who almost killed him. Who he had to develop placating tactics to try not to aggravate further. This kid is legit traumatized. He has issues. He had noone to help him with it. He was fucking alone. I don't actually think it's that extreme or nonsensical that he snapped.... I really don't.

As for the beating people up while monolouging thing.... I've mentioned it before, but I've never really went in depth with it I think - but I really fucking love how Ritsu kind of.... leans into this role of the villain once he realizes he's escaped the image of the good kid. He's never really had the chance to develop morality and ethics on a more realistic scale - cause he never really had true relationships to develop those senses. He simply... doesn't do well at people stuff. At being a normal kid. He can only emulate what he thinks people expect him to be - what will lead him to being the safest he can be. For a long time, that was the good, smart brother status. It kept his parents happy. It kept his brother happy. It kept his teachers happy. But what happens when he's suddenly not that? What happens when he has a chance to be something else? He can't just become himself. He doesn't know who he is. All he knows is that he's suddenly doing bad things, for seemingly no reason. He doesn't fully understand those reasons himself. "Even I..." he says. He says as he contemplates how even as someone as smart as him can be so petty, how even someone as weak as him can suddenly become powerful, how even someone so messed up as him can be forgiven.

That mask of a villain is what he puts on because he thinks it will finally give him what he has sought after all this time - power. Power to protect himself. Power to not be so afraid anymore. But also.... that shedding those concepts of social norms, of bonds, of caring about others, will give him the freedom that he so sorely lacks. That's what he's felt the most of all - this.... stifling sense of responsibility. This responsibility that he has put on to please others, to not be hurt. So what if he just.... doesn't care about it anymore? Did he ever even care? What if he never cared about others at all, what if he never cared about his brother at all? What if it was all just... fear? Fear that he can shed now, now that he can protect himself? He wants to be free. He so badly wants to not be scared anymore.

And he thinks he achieved that. He finally achieved 'loss'. He can do what he pleases now. Noone can tell him what to do anymore.

....hey. Don't you think that kind of sounds like someone? Someone... made of shadows, white eyes, someone who's felt that same suppression for the same amount of years? :)

I really, really think Ritsu and Mob aren't that different. It's just that their power levels are different, and... Ritsu kind of came to that breaking point a lot sooner than Mob, on virtue of having noone to rely on. Of course, they are still vastly different people, but.... it's not a coincidence, that Ritsu was the first to understand who ???% is.

So I just think it's kinda weird, how many people just. Seem to not understand Ritsu? Or take Mob seriously, while only ever making fun of Ritsu? Of course not all people do that, and I know a lot of people poke fun at him out of love (me also, sometimes), but I've heard so many people admit that they don't understand the big clean up arc, or Ritsu's character, or simply don't care to look too deep into it. When I look up mp100 essays on youtube, that arc and Ritsu's character, is the one most often grossly misinterpreted. And I just find that sad. And it's part of the reason for my strong feelings for this, I guess.

In the end, Ritsu is just a young, confused kid, one who's lived in fear for so long he forgot what life looks outside of it, one who stifled himself for years, one who felt the need to put himself into boxes because everything was just suddenly so bad and so complicated and he couldn't make sense of it on his own. What 13 year old could? What traumatized 13 year old honors student wouldn't act irrationally when presented with otherwordly powers? Is there even a healthy way one could be expected to react to all of this?

I could go on... I could talk about how he develops past that, about his words to Shimazaki during the world domination arc on what he wants is a 'fun life', about his relationship to Shou, about how I think Ritsu will struggle to choose his future, about how he and Mob grow beyond the series... but this was supposed to be about the big clean up arc, so I'll end it at that. I don't think I explained my thoughts the best I could, Ritsu is just a little bug in my brain that buzzes and buzzes and never quite leaves and idk how to put it all into coherence, but... yes. That's my answer to this ask, I guess lmao. I have to go load the dishwasher now o7

Character: Matthew Patel

Series: Scott Pilgrim VS. The World

I redid this list because broken links 💀

General Tips

Stretch your fingers and hands

Art is for fun

Never too late to start/improve

Tumblr radar! Submit your work!?

Using a tablet

Editing software: pictures & video

Moodboard resources

Comic pacing

Storyboarding techniques

Watercolor

Coloring

Color Theory (not children's hospital)

Resources: coloring things a different color

Gold

Dark Skin undertones

Dark Skin in pastel art

POC Blush tones

Eyes colors

Cohesive Color Palette

Lights and Colors

Human Anatomy

POSE REFERENCES

Eyes: pupil shape, direction

Wizard Battle poses

Romance poses

Shoulders

Tips for practicing anatomy

Proportional Limbs

Skeletons

Hair Directions

Afro, 4C hair

Cane use

Clothing

Long skirts

Traditional Chinese Hanfu (clothing reference)

CLOTHING REFERENCE

Sewing information

Animals

Horse -> Dragon

Snouts: dogs, cats, wolves, fox

Foot, paw, hoof

More

Drawing references sources

Art tutorial Masterlist

Another art tutorial Masterlist

Inspiration: father recreates son's art

Inspiration: Lights

ART BOOKS

Plants/flowers: North America, Hawaii, Patagonia

Leshawna, you're like fire: Beautiful but deadly.

•Technically since Owen is attracted to Justin and Izzy even though it’s treated as a joke, he could be considered the first bisexual character to appear on a show on the Cartoon Network, excluding Daniel Stopframe from Moral Orel in 2005 who was actually only featured on the Adult Swim block.

•Svetlana’s status as a transgender woman has been debated as not all alters in a system whose gender does not align with the body’s biological sex are technically trans if they don’t identify as such due to reasons such as always identifying with the same gender in their headspace— however, since Svetlana has the same body in the headspace as Mike who is either a cis man or just had like scarless top surgery at 16 (doubtful even though I personally believe in trans Mike supremacy), Svetlana could technically count as one of the first trans girl characters on Cartoon Network (next to Alice from Superjail and Anita from The Oblongs, who were also only on adult swim; she would be the second overall canon trans character to appear on the children’s programming network next to the Dad from Cow and Chicken, and the first trans woman as Dad is a trans man).

•While less concrete, the visual of Shawn in what looks incredibly like a binder could also be hinting at him being a trans man, which would make him the second trans man on the network

•Jo’s voice actor Laurie Elliott has said she believes Jo is a lesbian. This is debatable since she never showed attraction to women in the show, also some people are uncomfortable with it considering that she fits some maligned stereotypes (ex: “only masculine female character is a lesbian” trope, the mean lesbian trope); however, this would make Jo TD’s first lesbian by some standards and perhaps the fourth/fifth (excluding the many minor lesbians from Cow and Chicken) lesbian on the network by others, and the second or third on the children’s only block on CN (only possibly beat by Velma Dinkley from the Scooby Doo franchise [though her sexuality was confirmed later and only in a few pieces of Scooby Doo media] and Hotdog Water/Marcie Fleach on Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated who was also kind of iffy).

•Tom was allegedly confirmed gay by Tom McGillis, I can’t find sources bc doing Total Drama research is a literal nightmare especially now that all the shit has been taken down and only archived on the wiki or in the sketchiest places imaginable, but, yeah that makes sense. He was purportedly based on a gay fashion designer. This would make Tom the first confirmed gay character on the show, even though he doesn’t show attraction to men (though does have characteristics that lead into gay stereotypes). I think Jacques was also headcanoned as gay by a writer but this is even more tenuous.

•Noah kissing Cody’s ear in The Big Sleep could be considered the first gay kiss on Cartoon Network, even though it’s one sided and unconscious and also a joke.

•Noah is considered by many to be gay coded, or at least be coded in a way that alludes to him being some variety of queer. User u/Rosepink29 on libreddit has a pretty good essay on this: https://libredd.it/r/Totaldrama/comments/ptkjdh/an_essay_on_noahs_sexuality/ . It’s thought the introduction of Emma as a love interest in Ridonculous Race was meant to disperse these rumors but that’s not confirmed and there’s really no proof, it’s just circumstantial.

•Lightning has openly said he “doesn’t judge” gay men after Jo, who he thought was a man, said “I’ve never even kissed a guy”. In his biography, Lightning also broke up with his friend, Thunderbolt, because people yelled lyrics from the band Queen at them (Queen’s lead singer was attracted to men). He also has various moments that might imply him to be attracted to men, such as biting his lip when Sam brings up Scott kissing a gentleman. This could count as gay coding, though some people also argue Lightning is on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrum because he expresses he’s never kissed a Super Bowl ring over a person in A Mine Is a Terrible Thing To Waste, and because he’s never had a love interest or fallen into the womanizing stereotype most jocks do on television.

•Many of the contestants in Hawaiian Honeyruin have to do the Hawaiian wedding challenge with someone of the same gender— though the idea of this being romantic is mostly based on individual reactions rather than the premise of the challenge itself considering many participants in this challenge are family, such as the Sisters, Adversity Twins, Father and Son, and Mother and Daughter.

•B’s revealed to have a dead name they no longer use, which could imply them to be trans. They also have many autistic-coded mannerisms like stimming and selective mutism, which isn’t inherently queer but still cool

•In I Love You, I Love You Knots, when Chris tells Dave he has to kiss a person next to him, he looks at Shawn instead of Sky first. This is mostly a gag but still interesting. It’s also worth noting Shawn didn’t want to not kiss Dave because he was a guy, but rather because he was afraid Dave was a zombie.

•When Alejandro helps Tyler and Ezekiel up in part one of Walk Like an Egyptian, they both appear flustered and Tyler says, “I like girls” unprompted, which may imply they are both attracted to him. In Tyler’s case this would put him on the bisexual spectrum considering his relationship with Lindsay, in Ezekiel’s case it’s unclear if he’s ever been attracted to women but it’s likely he is considering he seems to be attracted to Bridgette in one of his bios, which would also put him on that spectrum.

•Courtney and Gwen’s interactions in All Stars may come across as romantic to some viewers, namely their team up in You Regatta be Kidding Me and in Suckers Punched when Courtney says “I never missed Duncan, but I really missed you”

•Duncan calls Chef a “Transgender troll” in The Princess Pride. It’s as an insult so this makes Duncan the first transphobic character on TD? I guess?

•Several characters such as DJ, Kitty, Mal, Brick (unless you see that one interaction with Dawn as romantic), Lightning, Staci, Beardo, Leonard, Sugar, Amy, Scarlett, Max, and more never display romantic attraction in the show. It’s highly unlikely all of them are aromantic but this lends credibility to the idea that some of them could be.

Edits post-TDIR release (spoilers):

•Raj and Bowie have both been confirmed to be gay men within the show

tw death 🤧

duncan

GOD why did my thick gf have to die *makes a sadboy simpsons edit about it* *abandons the baby*

alejandro

eck...that did not sound like despacito at all...*duncan kills him for saying a dead meme*

harold

how is a nice guy like me going to find a girlfriend now 🤮🤮

tyler

*he was not there. he was ata home watching a sports game.*

dj

oh no !!! *accidently kills an animal*

justin

*kisses his abs* oh no. *im too sexy for my shirt plays in the background* i hope the baby has my dna or whateva so it’s hot when it growes up ahha 😂😂

geoff

*unplugs ur life support* YOLO SWAG.. *looks at the baby* lmao where the like button on this bitch🤣🤣

noah

tahts so heterosexual ... why is the baby crying 🙄 it happened ur mom died get OVER it

owen

*bruh sound effect* AWWW MAN ! worst day EVER ! i am now homeless and in DEBT ! *commits tax fraud to support the baby*

cody