🐊

Do the Blue Badger! - one page comic I did for the @rftazine

yeah this is something i've really come around on just in the last few years. unfortunately it's just something that's incredibly easy to not think about too hard, especially when you're really in deep in those kind of artist spaces where like. the prevailing belief system underpinning the standard practices is that the deck is so far stacked against independent artists trying to make a living that anything you do to bring up your bottom line is justified, insofar as it is being done with your own artwork. and nothing about the difficulty and insecurity of being a working artist is exaggerated either! so the kneejerk response to be defensive to critiques of your business practices is one i understand even if i am no longer sympathetic towards it.

for me a big part of how i think about these sorts of things is. i know i'm never going to be any kind of political activist. i'm just not really a stable, confident, or educated enough person to functionally be in that position and don't see that changing any time in the near future. choosing where my money goes is pretty much one of the only avenues i have to actually live by the principles i claim to hold. so if i am going to genuinely believe that it's wrong to profit off of the underpaid labor of foreign workers in unsafe conditions, then i need to not use my money to have foreign workers in unsafe conditions do underpaid labor for me. that is the bare minimum.

you would hope that all of the labor concerns artists and other creative workers are currently experiencing regarding AI would result in them trying to develop solidarity with other groups' pre-existing labor concerns, but it seems for the most part that that's not the case. instead, it seems as if the most vocal and prevalent cohort of independent artists is closing rank, becoming even less receptive to scrutiny of their practices now that they feel the very essence of art itself is on the line. everything has been retroactively legitimized by the introduction of an existential threat to their way of life.

i think its not likely artist alleys themselves will improve, but i think instead we're going to see a split between the people who are okay staying the course on artist as Small Business Owner with all the baggage that entails, and those who find we can not maintain the cognitive dissonance necessary for that. It feels like the covid years signed the death warrant for Fandom as subculture and now it's just the culture. which means it's about time for the new subculture to splinter off. i think the divide between people who enjoy the legitimacy that comes from the mainstream commercialization of these previously niche transformative spaces and those who are detested by it instead is where that splintering will originate from.

Our leftover shop is now open until the 29th! Stock is limited, so don't miss your chance!

Feat. @haunterclere’s Adair

PART 2 PART 3

Set a little while after SL-9.

USA leftover sales for The SL-9 Files open on August 15th!

did this on the plane :)

had to explain to new housemate that:

Banana Jim lives on the microwave

microwave vibrations cause BJ to rotate

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-BJ-J is to be kept on top of the microwave in the Site-19 break room. Any bananas found on top of the microwave are to be removed and placed in the fruit bowl nearby. All personnel onsite are to rotate SCP-BJ-J to face away from the wall after every use of the microwave. SCP-BJ-J is not to be removed from its place on top of the microwave, unless it os being used to perform tests. If SCP-BJ-J is found to be completely facing the wall, on-site security is to be notified, and SCP-BJ-J is to be moved to a new building temporarily.

Description: SCP-BJ-J is a small wooden figure of a cat, recovered from a house in █████. When placed on top of a standard microwave oven, it will rotate slightly every time the microwave is operated, turning slowly to face the wall behind the microwave. If it is allowed to rotate this far, the building it is in will begin to experience SCP-BJ-J’s anomalous effect, in which foods inside of the affected building (now designated SCP-BJ-J-1) will spoil remarkably quickly, at roughly the same speed as a common banana, regardless of ingredients or chemical composure. If SCP-BJ-J is allowed to face the wall for approximately two consecutive days, the effect on SCP-BJ-J-1 will begin to worsen, with the accelerated deterioration beginning to apply to non-edible objects, including parts of the building itself. If SCP-BJ-J is not placed on top of a microwave for a period exceeding twenty-four hours, its anomalous effect will immediately activate on the building or container it is in. Additionally, if SCP-BJ-J is successfully kept from facing the wall, it will seem to spontaneously generate perfectly ripe bananas on top of the microwave with it when it is not being observed.