#off-topic post

While the blog's on slow mode for AF, I thought that this year, it might be nice to post the art I've been doing over on AF for those who mightn't have an account to follow there. :3

So without further ado~

Week One~!

In order of completion, we haveeeee....

Pic 1: 'Salesman Supreme' - Link Here Pic 2: 'Koi Kitty' - Link here

Pic 3: 'Pastel Moonlight' - Link here Pic 4: 'Eyes on You' - Link here

Pic 5: 'Pony Sticker Sheet' - Link here Pic 6: 'Ocean Goddess' - Link here

Pic 7: 'Angel Face' - Link here

All links are directed to the matching post on AF, which contains the correct links and credits for the OCs drawn in the info section under each pic. <3

So I just watched the “The First Slam Dunk” movie in the theater, and I cried at least five times during the movie. T w T

I really, really, really loved it.

If you’re a Slam Dunk fan, and especially if you’re a Miyagi fan, I can’t recommend seeing it in theaters enough. This is the animated finale we deserve after over 25 years of waiting. It’s also a beautiful gift to those who’ve kept up with all the post-manga supplementary stories that Inoue’s released in the past three decades, particularly the one-shot Piercing.

Fun Fact: I actually did a rough fan-translation of Piercing back in the 2000s as a teenager, because the one-shot had only been officially translated into Spanish and Italian at the time. I literally got a Spanish-to-English dictionary and spent hours figuring out the text as best as I could. I used MS Paint to add my translations into the little speech bubbles and shared the one-shot everywhere I could think of (DeviantArt, 4Chan, random anime forums, etc).

Hello, ATLAculture here! Long post ahead...

I normally don’t post about my personal life, but I need an outlet and this is the only form of social media I really have.

In case you weren’t already aware, I’m a little bit older than the average Tumblr user: 30 years old. So if you’re wondering why I won’t join your discord or can be a bit aloof over chat, it’s not that I dislike you, it’s just... well, I’m 30 and certain boundaries need to be maintained.

Anyways, I started ATLAculture in August 2020. This was a very stressful time in my life, as I went from working administration at a school to... a correctional officer. Which is just a fancy name for a prison guard.

COVID-19 shook up my life real good.

While this isn’t where I imagined my life going, I’m definitely more fortunate than most to have found steady employment during these very trying times. Nonetheless, it’s not an easy job. I’ve encountered awful, unspeakable things from both inmates and my own co-workers. Things that have spiritually and physically grinded me down. I won’t get into the details for legal reasons, on the off chance that someone from work connects my Tumblr self with my real self. I will say that for someone as unworldly and bookish as myself, it feels like a chunk of my innocence has been permanently lost.

So why do I bring all this up on a blog about a nearly 15-year-old children’s cartoon? Well, as absolutely ridiculous as it sounds, my job is why this blog exists. After a long day of dealing with a deeply unfair world, I like to watch shows where good people ultimately triumph. I also like to read books about history and look at pictures of happy people in garbs from a time I’ll never know. And the culmination of all these interests is ATLAculture.

It has honestly kept me sane.

My occupation has some of the highest rates of alcoholism and suicide in the United States. I have so many co-workers who’ve given in to infidelity, drug abuse, and all manner of corruption thanks to this job. Me? The worst thing that can be said about my personal life is that I always look mildly embarrassed when people ask me how I spend my free time. (The answer to that question is usually a mumbled “uh...you know...just...reading, I guess...” followed by avoiding eye contact.)

If you frequent Tumblr, chances are that you’re probably a little socially awkward like myself. I don’t know if the younger generations need to be told this, but I’m going to say it anyways: