Of Writing, Reading, and other Arts

PHASE TWO

is enjoying our fun and harmless fan content and not letting a guy in his mid 40s feel good about mocking who are just having a good time. Like, how embarrassing lmao.

Especially if there’s a new wave of younger ZiM fans coming in from the comics and the movie. Don’t let grown ass men bully kids just because they’re popular content creators.

You know how long it took me to get back into this fandom? 7 years! I used to be obsessed with Invader Zim, it was all a cared about. Then as I got older I grew out of it and the very thought of IZ would have me shrivel up like a raisin. I avoided anything Zim related, every Zim memories I had like the plague, thinking I was better than that. And it seemed my family thought that too. “Oh, Erin honey, I’m so glad you got out of that weird Zim phase. It was so embarrassing.” I always tried to be a people pleaser, always doing what other people wanted but I never stopped to consider what I wanted. Took me a long time to realize that. Now, fast forward to 2023, here I am, 22 years old working at a damn lil Debbie factory bored as hell when BOOM, I suddenly have the creative urge to make an Invader Zim AU. Was I appalled by it? Yes. Did it stop me? Nope. When I got back into IZ, I had thought that everyone grew out of it too. I mean, I figured there would be a small amount left after the movie released but no big thriving fandoms like SU or Undertale.

BOY WAS I WRONG.

To this DAY, there is a huge amount of people who love Invader Zim, talking about it, speculating it, even making AU’s about it!! When I first showed my AU to the public I was scared because I thought people were gonna make fun of me. You know what I got instead? Praise. Pure, genuine praise. I, in my 22 years of living in this rotten rock of a celestial body have never felt so much love and praise about anything that I make, at least, not enough. From complete strangers no less!

Hello, everyone! It’s @classpectanon here, the Semi-New Person Behind Paradox Space ^2 since rads passed ownership over.

We’re always looking for new artists and writers to join our team - if you’re interested, you can apply here - just post examples of your work in #work-examples!

Hello, everybody! Toxie here! Today, we will be looking at examples of Kismesissitude from the Homestuck story (And even pop-culture!) and examining them to point out the qualities of healthy and unhealthy pitch relationships! As Kismesissitude is outside the human spectrum of romance, it is often done incorrectly when intended to be a healthy relationship built on hate. Keep reading to learn more about about healthy hate!

used a reference for everything

thinner line art (you think thats thin? go thinner….)

sketch, then do a cleaner sketch, THEN start finalizing

THUMBNAILS

color research, picking a set palette or light/dark for each work

you like that pose? redo it one more time

USE A DAMN REFERENCE

do not rely on stylization as an excuse for anatomy

draw the goddamn background you coward

just draw the hand- a bad hand is better than a hidden hand

the rule of thirds WORKS

take a considerable break between sketch and lines/paint

know that art takes longer as you get better at it

draw the seams on clothes

stop aiming for accuracy and focus on fluidity and motion, accuracy will come with practice of those two concepts

just…do the chiaroscuro. just DO IT. no excuses it always works

stop making excuses, make yourself an art schedule/set weekly(or daily) art goals and just DO IT.

The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands is a micronation near Australia.  This is their flag:

The Gay Kingdom (as it is colloquially known) was founded in 2004 in protest against Australia’s legal stance against same-sex marriage.

Here are some of their stamps:

They are currently ruled by Emperor Dale I, and their currency is the Pink Dollar.

they have a declaration of independence that talks a bit about gay rights and then just flat out copies the “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness” part from the american declaration of independence. and here’s the best part: the founding group actually elected their emperor. he was originally going to be called the “administrator” of a republic. their website, however, says that “upon legal advice, his title was changed to that of Sovereign on the grounds that under Australian law a defacto prince trying to claim his crown cannot be charged with treason”. so they made it a kingdom and he now claims to be a descendent of edward ii.

everything about this is glorious and everyone should know about it.

Some highlights:

- Game-playing agent accrues points by falsely inserting its name as the author of high-value items

- Creatures bred for speed grow really tall and generate high velocities by falling over

- In an artificial life simulation where survival required energy but giving birth had no energy cost, one species evolved a sedentary lifestyle that consisted mostly of mating in order to produce new children which could be eaten (or used as mates to produce more edible children).

More realistically: go take a shower because it’s been three days. Wash the dishes that have been in the sink since last Friday that you can smell as soon as you open your door because rotting food stinks. Pick all your clothes off the floor because that’s where your entire wardrobe is and you’ve already cried today because you tripped over a sweater and realized the cat puked on it. Call someone who can give you enough courage to pay that bill you’ve been ignoring. Put away the crackers because that’s all you’ve eaten for two days straight. Apologize to the friends who are worried sick about you, and if you can’t at least let them know you are ok and need space. 

One of the most empowering types of self-care is responsibility, but tumblr just wants to sit in a closet strung with fairy lights and read their favorite fic.