AO3 Etiquette

It would seem a whole new kind of AO3 reader/writer is emerging and it is becoming clear not everyone quite understands how the website community works. Here is some basic guidance on how most people expect you to go about using AO3 to keep this a fun community archive that funtions correctly:

I KNOW there's plenty more I missed but I'm trying to cover most of the basics that people seem to be struggling with.

I invite anyone to add to this, but please explain, don't berate.

People are so entitled in the comments damn like no you writer don’t have to put up with you being rude they wrote you entertainment for free

To the people in the notes who are insisting that they have the right to leave negative feedback on AO3:

What you’re not understanding is that fandom is not a service, it’s a community. I saw someone compare leaving a comment on AO3 to reviewing a product on Amazon - if you didn’t like the product, you’re going to say so. But fanworks are not products and you didn’t pay money for them. They were shared with you.

Leaving un-asked-for criticism in AO3 comments isn’t like reviewing a product you were disappointed with. It’s like going to a friend’s house when they’ve cooked a meal and telling them all the things that are wrong with the food. Sure, you can do it, but it’s rude as hell and they are probably not going to invite you to dinner again.

("Can you leave crit in comments” has been a debate as long as I’ve been in fandom, but 20 years ago the argument was “I’m helping the writer improve!” and not “I am a consumer with a right to complain.” Fandom has gotten more creepily capitalistic over the decades but jerks are evergreen, I guess.)

DUUUUUUDE! Get it South Korea!

That's the article directly. Please give it a read.

If South Korean actors and writers strike against Netflix, Netflix would be COMPLETELY fucked.

If this spreads to animators it would halt the entire anime industry and severely affect the Korean and Japanese economies.

So let's get this ball rolling and fix some wage theft.

This map is the most up to date version as of 3-4-2023 and takes into account all recent movement on anti-trans legislation

Yeah, I am going to signal boost this rq

This map has since been updated, as of 26-8-2023 this is the most current version

Each Intro (in order listed on the poll) beneathe the cute ^_^

⚠️ this blog does not support works created by AI software ⚠️

25 years of ads peeled away

The day has come. This is the only day of the year you can post this

being a self-taught artist with no formal training is having done art seriously since you were a young teenager and only finding out that you’re supposed to do warm up sketches every time you’re about to work on serious art when you’re fuckin twenty-five

someone: oh yeah, do this exercise during your warm ups! it’ll help

me: my what

What’s up I have an actual college degree in art and I was never ONCE taught to do warm ups.

when i was in undergrad, it was kind of mentioned in and offhand way that we should do warmups, but we were never shown what that meant. And, y’know, we were young so it didn’t matter so much. 

Being older now and having an art job it’s…kind of essential. 

So: a quick primer for those of you who are like ‘ok but how do i actually go about doing this warmup thing.’ 

1) you may be tempted to do ‘a warmup drawing’ which is just a drawing that will take longer than it needed to and probably be frustrating and kind of bad because you didn’t warm up first. It’s tempting but always a trick your brain is playing on you! Do not trust! 

2) warmups will vary based on what feels good to you/what task you’re about to do/what motor skills you want to practice. That being said, some good standbys:

a) circles. Just a whole page of circles on whatever drawing surface you’re going to be using, whether that’s your tablet or your sketchbook or a drawing pad on an easel. For these circles you should make sure that you’re drawing from your shoulder and not your wrist. In fact, you want to be drawing from your shoulder rather than your wrist most of the time! forever! your wrist is delicate please preserve it! 

In order to ensure that you’re drawing from your shoulder, when you’re holding your pencil or whatever drawing tool you’re using, the only part of your hand that should be touching the drawing surface is part of the last two fingers–some people prefer the finger tips, but I tend to favor the first knuckles. Either way, the fingers should really be ghosting over the surface, providing guidance rather than support. 

I usually start with big circles and then go to smaller circles and lines of ellipses, and then try to fit circles and ellipses inside other shapes i’ve already drawn as a precision exercise, but i don’t do that unless i’m feeling loose

b) spirals! i don’t always do spirals, but if i’m stiff and the circles just aren’t cutting it, spirals are a good fall back. I start from the center and work outward, going both clockwise and counterclockwise until i feel comfortable with the whole range of motion. Some people really care about getting perfect spirals but for me it’s all about making sure i’m comfortable with how i’m moving so who really even cares about how the spirals look. Not me! 

c) lines! straight lines! in parallel! i do a mix of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. These are often more from the elbow than the shoulder, especially if I’m working on a smaller surface. For this exercise, I recommend holding the drawing tool perpendicular with the surface

d) connect the dots. This is a precision and accuracy exercise and takes two forms. The first is to draw two dots and then draw a straight line between them. The second is to draw three dots and draw the curve that connects them. This sounds a lot simpler than it is in practice. Take time to ghost over the line you plan to draw before actually committing to your line. (I don’t always remember where I picked up my warm up exercises, but I’m pretty sure I got this one from Scott Robertson. His how to draw and how to render books are very technical but also accessible and worth checking out)

e) cubes, spheres, cones, and cylinders. These help get your brain into a more volumetric space. I draw multiples of each, rotating the forms around, and I’ll often take the time to do some rough shading on at least a few of them

f) spidermans! This one is really good if you’re going to be storyboarding or working on dynamic poses. Just fill a page full of spidermans doing all sorts of acrobatics. 

g) beans. I don’t do beans too much anymore, but I know a lot of people like it so I’m mentioning it here. Fill an area with different size bean shapes without lifting your pencil off the paper. 

h) short medium and long line repetition. draw a short, medium, and long line on your page, and then draw directly on top of them 8 to 12 times, doing your best to exactly trace what you’ve already drawing. Repeat with a wavy line. I’m bad at this one, which means I probably need to do it more. 

And there are lots more options too! Hit up youtube to see what other people recommend, put together your own go-to list, mix it up when you’re getting bored, etc. 

This is a long list, I know, but I usually don’t take more than 10 to 15 minutes to warm up, and I can warm up one handed while I’m drinking coffee, so, multitasking hurrah. 

Sometimes I’ll advance to a precision warmup and find that I haven’t loosened up enough yet; it’s totally ok to go back to an earlier exercise! Also, all of this has the added benefit of kind of ritualistically getting you into the drawing mode so even if I’m not feeling it before I start, by the time I’ve gotten to the end I’m usually Ready For Drawin’. Brain hacks. 

so, yeah! that’s a lot of words, but! Warmups are important! Save your joints, take less advil, do better drawings! 

How on earth are you supposed to draw from a sholder? might as well tell me to draw from the foot. It makes no sense

https://youtu.be/pMC0Cx3Uk84

https://youtu.be/NBE-RTFkXDk

:3

Reblogging to save a wrist

i don’t know why i love this so much but i do

вопросик?!

Ok wait I'm an animator but the idea of referring to a real life human's gait as a walk cycle is sending me

ive never seen anyone capture the feeling of meeting older dykes as well as this

I hope when I see older dykes and butch women and obviously queer people and I start grinning, I hope they can see thwt they've lit me up like a bonfire of joy and not think I'm laughing at them.

*blinking crusty eyes like a newborn animal* jul y ???

fuckihg SEPYEMBER?

GAMES MADE BY PEOPLE WHO ARE PAID MORE TO WORK LESS

the great thing about the kungfu setting is the hero can be fighting three strapping young men simultaneously and you know he's not going to have any problem ripping them to shreds but then a portly octogenarian shows up and you think oh fuck this guy looks like bad news!!!

and after the geezer fuckin’ obliterates everyone on the scene with psychic energy blasts of incredible cosmic power he has to be helped into a chair because after all he is exceedingly ancient and those knees don’t bend like they used to.

you get it!

Oddly specific. Got a deposit for 6,837 today

fuck it, i never ever do those “reblog for X, this one really works!” posts, but this one doesn’t have any of that BS, this is just straight up wishing us good things; and then the comment doesn’t even say any of that either. Zero claims on this post, all positive vibes

May you end this week feeling ever more certain of a future you’ll love

Wait hold on Tumblr girlies have been carrying that show on netflix for well over 10 years now and the guy responsible for it hasn’t gotten a GOD DAMN DIME?????

Nor the actors, writers, set people, tech folks, and anyone else involved that made it happen. This - this is why they’re angry. This is why they deserve a new contract!

xiaoyangbure

That “blank look” in my blind eyes? (Please stop saying this)

Hey quick question sighted people- What is this “blank look” that blind people have? I’ve never seen it  in person myself and every time I read a character realizing another character is blind based on “the blank look in their eyes” I just sigh. 

Eyes are rarely blank. If ever. Even someone with zero eyesight doesn’t have blank eyes. Like look at Molly Burke, she only sees light and shadow but her eyes are just as full of emotion as a sighted person’s. Granted, she had 14 years of some vision (though never sighted) and took acting classes, which helps her seem more sighted than she is, so…

What about someone who is born blind and has no idea of what “normal facial expression is”? Well, also not true. Blind babies still know how to smile and show all six of the basic universal facial expressions. It’s innate, instinctual. And maybe their eyes don’t focus on something specific, but I couldn’t describe it as blank. It’s not blank.

What about blind people who have obvious, visible problems with their eyes. Like eyes that are cloudy or misshapen or point in separate directions. I mean, those people are more obviously blind, but saying their gaze is blank is kind of weird, kind of insulting.

And I’m sorry, but sighted people aren’t really observant enough to just “realize a stranger is blind by the way they act and move” like, that doesn’t happen. I have people look at my cane and sunglasses and not realize that means I’m blind, or people who have been told I’m blind but regularly forget because I don’t seem blind. 

Blindness is a visible disability, but it’s also equally invisible. Take away my cane and my sunglasses, put me in a room full of strangers with average lighting, and let’s count down how long it takes people to realize I’m blind, even with hinting and obvious self deprecating blind jokes.

Anyway, I’m sorry. I know “she realized the boy was blind by the blank look in his eye” doesn’t fly because eyes can’t be blank. Sorry, you either got to have someone mention the character is blind (preferably having the blind character introduce themselves and talk like a normal person) or you’re just gonna have to deal with the fact your character can’t tell a sighted person and a blind person apart.

I mean, does your character have the cane? Or a guide dog? I hope that’s sufficient to tell your character that person’s blind, but if they really need to lean into the blind person’s personal space and thoroughly examine that so called blank look in their eye, by all means, go ahead *sarcasm*

I love opening up this website first thing like the morning paper and immediately seeing multiple posts like "how to get rid of the evil clown on the dashboard". like oh is this what we're doing today

I'm gonna start adding this to every post I see about this advertising bs that tumblr are pulling

not only is it annoying, and in some countries probably illegal for not declaring a paid partnership

TUMBLR IS CROSSING THE PICKET LINE

They are taking money from Netflix to promote a show.

Actors and writers are unable to promote work because of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Netflix is under the AMPTP, so it is a struck company, making One Piece a struck work.

So they are using alternate ways of promoting their products, including paying companies like tumblr.

Both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have made statements saying that they consider anyone or company taking payment to promote struck work as crossing the picket line.

Tumblr is spitting in the face of struggling actors and writers to make a quick buck from Netflix

tumblr is not "crossing the picket line" by advertising for Netflix because tumblr is not a member of SAG-AFTRA or the WGA. Striking talent has stated outright that they want people to watch and engage with the work they've done and the series they've worked on, PARTICULARLY during the strike. The AMPTP needs to know that the things they make have VALUE to the common viewer.

They've encouraged film and television reviewers to continue reviewing. They've encouraged people to go watch the things they've worked on. Guild members can't advertise their work, so NON-GUILD PEOPLE HAVE TO IN ORDER TO PROVE THAT PEOPLE WANT WHAT STRIKING WORKERS CREATE.

This ad campaign fucking sucks, but this is absolutely not what you're posing it as. tumblr can't engage in "scab behavior" because TUMBLR IS NOT A MEMBER OF ANY STRIKING GUILD.

I submit to you that the most iconic feature of any animal is either unlikely or impossible to fossilize.

If all we had of wolves were their bones we would never guess that they howl.

If all we had of elephants were fossils with no living related species, we might infer some kind of proboscis but we’d never come up with those ears.

If all we had of chickens were bones, we wouldn’t know about their combs and wattles, or that roosters crow.

We wouldn’t know that lions have manes, or that zebras have stripes, or that peacocks have trains, that howler monkeys yell, that cats purr, that deer shed the velvet from their antlers, that caterpillars become butterflies, that spiders make webs, that chickadees say their name, that Canada geese are assholes, that orangutans are ginger, that dolphins echolocate, or that squid even existed.

My point here is that we don’t know anything about dinosaurs. If we saw one we would not recognize it. As my evidence I submit the above, along with the fact that it took us two centuries to realize they’d been all around us the whole time.

XKCD

So that people don’t need to go through the notes:

- We have fossils of spider webs

- Paleontologists have reconstructed the larynx (voice box) of extinct animals and we have a pretty good idea what vocalizations they were capable of

- Fossilized pigments have been found in a variety of taxa

- Soft tissues fossilize more often than you think; we have skin impressions for like 90% of Tyrannosaurus rex’s full body (shoulder blades and neck are the only bits missing)

If pop culture is your only window into extinct animals, then you do not remotely understand how much we know.

We know the entire lifecycle of a tyrannosaurus. We know from the sheer amount of remains we have, from every stange.

We know exactly how other dinosaurs look, down to colors and patterns, because bones are not the only information that is preserved.

The Sinosauropteryx is one such dinosaur. Because pigmentation molecules were preserved in the feather impressions, we know it’s colors, and it’s tail rings (which one would argue would be it’s “iconic feature.”

(Art credit Julio Lacerda)

Microraptor is another! We know from feather impressions that it had four wings. We know from pigmentation that it was an iredecent black, like a raven.

(Art credit Vitor Silva)

This is not limited to dinosaurs, or feathers. We’ve found pigmentation in scales and skin. We’ve completely reconstructed two extinct penguins, colors and all. We’ve figured out the colors of some non-avian and non-feathered dinosaurs. We can identify evidence of feathers existing on animals without feather impressions.

We have feathered dinosaurs preserved in amber.

We can defer likely behavioral patterns through adaptations we see in bones, and from the environments they were found in. We can see how certain movements evolved through musculature attachments (yes, how muscles attached is often preserved). We know avian flight likely evolved by “accident” by the way early raptorforms moved their arms to strike at their prey.

We also understand behavior in extant animals and can easily speculate likely behaviors in extinct animals. (A predator running for it’s life is not going to exhibit hunting behaviors)

We learn and understand way more from “rocks” than paleontologists are given credit for. And if you watch a movie like Jurassic World, which has no interest in portraying anything with any sort of accuracy, and your take away is “We can’t possibly know anything about these animals,” then you don’t understand science.

As for shrinkwrapped reconstructions, we understand how muscles attach, and how fat works. Artists who lean into shrinkwrapping are are not generally concerned with scientific accuracy, or biology. They’re only concerned with Awesombro.

If true paleoartists tried to reconstruct a hippo, while they naturally would not get every bit correct, it would certainly look like a real animal, and not that alien monster that tumblr is so fond of using as “proof” that paleontologists don’t know anything (an art piece that itself was extreme and satirical, and a condemnation of the particular subset of paleoartists I mentioned earlier)

Every time paleoblr tries to show you how extinct animals actually looked, all we get is a chorus of “thanks i hate it” and “stop ruining dinosaurs!”

Loosing my shit at the knowledge that T-rexes nursed their loved ones back to health

@lusus–naturae​

@crystallinethoughts

You can find some fairly decent dinosaur sound reconstructions on YouTube. Based on how a Tyrannosaurus voice box and hearing worked, we can infer that it would have made low rumbling sounds instead of the iconic roars from the Jurassic Park franchise.

Something between the boom of a crocodile and the roll of thunder. It was a sound you would likely be able to feel, perhaps even before it was able to be heard. Far off thunder on a sunny day then the earth begins to shake and the thunder grows loud enough you can feel it in your stomach. That’s what it may have sounded like to be hunted by a T. rex.

WE HAVE DINOSAUR FEATHERS PRESERVED IN AMBER!!!!!!!!!

I know many of you out there are feeling a bit down. Have a crow to Wouldn’t it be Nice by the Beach Boys to lift your mood.

He stops and looks both ways?!?

You wanna know what makes this better?

Crows normally walk. This one seems to have both legs working, so he’s not hopping out of necessity, he’s doing it for fun. Corvids can sometimes be seen doing things like this for no evident reason other than enjoyment.

This is my new favorite post

I can’t ever not reblog.

Have some happy crow vibes