sk8echo

Latest Posts by sk8echo

Art is beautiful because it exists.

Art is a process of decisions. Color choices, medium, subject, style, basically everything in art is a choice. And that's what makes it so beautiful. Being able to look at a piece of art and go "I wonder why they chose to use such a bright green here?"

That green could represent so many things. It could be the color of the grass outside that day. The color of their favorite toy. The color of their friend's hair. The color of the trees. Their favorite color. Their most hated color.

Maybe its about a message. Some part of their identity. It could be an injustice they experienced. Something unfair they saw. A victory they claimed. A fight they had. Joy they once felt or still feel. A protest piece. An important act. A source of motivation.

Or maybe there is no reason. Maybe they just felt like using it that day.

Even if art is not made to have a particular meaning, you can still look at it and see every stroke. Every line. Every intention. There was love put into this. A soul was mirrored. A little piece of that artist wound into the picture.

There is nothing there in generative AI images. It is a machine. It does not decide, it does not represent. It makes a collage of images fed to it from a database.

It does not make art. It makes images. Sure, a human prompted it. It told it what to do. But they did not make that art. If I told an artist "draw me a tree" and they did so, would I claim it as my art? I gave the prompt, but the artist created the art. Someone gave the prompt, but the machine generated the image.

There is one benefit: it has made me appreciate art far more. I wonder more when I see art just what the artist was thinking about. I like to think about each choice they made when they created it. I think about what I do in my own art.

I think I'm going to use green today.

Hey, massively important!!! I know shit feels terrifying right now, but being loud is having an impact

Block him. These guys are just thiefs who don't want to learn actual art

I don't normally out people but since I literally have no other recourse when people make AI generated versions of my work without my consent, this is my only option. Block this guy in particular if you want to avoid him making AI versions of your work. Please don't harass him though.

To my uk trans people and allies out there.

FUCK YOU SILKSONG IS REAL!!!! 2025 LETS GO!!!!!

We don't need to look like other social media sites. STOP.

This is the equivalent of going into your own house and someone has moved all the furniture to the ceiling.

The aroace book experience

"I want to read some books! I really like sci-fi or fantasy stuff." Basically every book has a sexual love plot in it

"Oh... maybe I'll search up 'romance free books?'"

They're all historical books or books from literature classes

"Well... let me check out these lists people put out that allows anyone to add books!"

First list has several romance books listed despite saying no romance

"Huh... what about this one?"

Person running the list has a note about needing to ban child protag books because they got flooded with them

I just want a fun sci-fi or fantasy adventure that doesn't have sex or romance. Why is this seen as childish? Why are adult books seemingly required to have these? I was an avid reader as a kid but stopped when I hit high school, and this is why. I was sick of the relationships.

As someone who's aroace, I am begging asexuals to stop derailing aromantic posts. If you're questioning whether or not you're asexual, do it in an asexual space. Her entire blog is solely about being aromantic. The post is clearly about being aromantic.

Learn what aromantic means.

more heterosexual girls need to get aromantic asap. you don't want a wedding you don't want kids you don't want marriage you don't want roses or chocolate or romantic date nights. you WANT a boytoy that gives you good weed and good dick. and by god i will fight for your right to have that

fuck romance, unhappy valentines day to all my aro friends 🔥🔥💚🤍🩶🖤

DO NOT TAG AS VALENTINES WERE GETTING AROMANTIC TRENDING

I have a doll from Budsies. They make some genuinely good stuff. I'm so happy to see them doing this

The company budsies, which specializes in making custom stuffed animals and making duplicates of old or lost plushies, is currently offering to recreate the beloved stuffed animal of any kid who lost theirs in the LA wildfire, free of charge.

Their instagram post said to share this, so please spread this around so that families who've lost everything can receive just a little bit more hope in their lives 🥺

okay, i've gotten sick of this shit. please reblog and like and share and stuff so tumblr can know this is a problem.

i keep getting communities suggested to me on tumblr. this wouldnt be a problem... if it wasnt communities i do not care about at all. there are some fandoms i want to genuinely avoid, seeing as i have no interest in the content and honestly am potentially triggered by it.

speaking of the getting triggered part. it gets worse and genuinely very important.

there are certain nsfw communities that get randomly reccomended to me, and some of these topics can be genuinely triggering, such as r@pe f3tishes (yes, i genuinely got a post from an nsfw community featuring that recommended to me) and other VERY potentially triggering things.

though i think it's important for people to have safe spaces for that kind of stuff (such as the nsfw one, like it is not my place to kinkshame, but to people who have not shown interest in it it can be harmful), there should be ways to avoid these

my solution? the ability to block communities. not just say "not interested" (because we all know that hardly ever works)

if anyone knows any other solutions, please let me know. this is starting to genuinely bother me and make tumblr not very fun to use, which sucks.

Tested out my new sketchbook today! This one has thicker pages, and the markers bleed way less than my previous one. It's also smaller, which I like a lot

Stop acting like the Minecraft movie is redeemed

I feel like Im going insane. Why are we suddenly acting like the Minecraft movie will be great? In what way did the second trailer redeem it besides doing some of the bare minimum stuff?

"Guys they used C418's music!" This was the literal basic standard for the movie's sound track. I would be more surprised if they didn't use it.

"It looks better!" In what way? The iron golem looked great ngl, but everything else was mid or just awful. Go look at the villagers and tell me anything has improved.

"Haha the mines joke was funny!" Its a megacorporation trying to sound like they're in touch.

This is still another live action cash grab, and unfortunately it'll probably work. It pisses me off knowing what we could've gotten instead of this. I have seen so many fantastic ideas from people over here. You can go see the movie if you want, but stop praising it like they've done something good. They haven't.

Two more pages from my doodle book

You can spam boop me!

reblog if you let people spam boop you

Page from my doodle book

Nintendo fans: "Please... we need news about the Switch 2..."

Nintendo: "C L O C K"

Clearly Unpopular Asexual Opinion but: Trying to rebrand the asexual community as people who enjoy, obsess over, and participate in sex the socially expected amount while calling non-partnering and sex-repulsed aces "stereotypes" is not actually helping aces or the asexual community.

Watching a video on aphobic memes reminded me of something...

It was basically like "Asexual and aromantic people don't face systemic oppression!"

And... we do. Take a look around at how much value society places on sex and romance. Many systems rely on the expectation you will fall in love and get married. We've all heard the meme about getting married for tax reasons. Romance is even used as a measure of happiness. I'm in therapy, and my therapist will sometimes have to use certain charts and templates with me. A good chunk of them always involve discussing romantic life. I'm blessed that she is perfectly accepting of me being aroace, and we've even discussed how harmful it is that there's so much pressure. I've heard of other people in the community who had their asexuality/aromanticism treated like a problem in therapy.

Or, in the medical industry: I was having severe abdominal pains and went to the ER. The nurses were absolutely convinced it was an STD, despite me swearing I'm not sexually active. They only focused on the idea of an STD. It later ended up being an intestinal issue. They pressured me into doing a pelvic exam, then used the wrong size instrument so I was screaming in pain the whole time. All because they couldn't believe there was a patient who did NOT have sex. Who was NOT in a relationship. The expectation was that teenager = sex.

We are continuously taught this idea that everyone has sex and falls in love. All of our systems are built around it. Our whole society expects it. If you are not in any relationship, you are stereotyped as lonely and/or crazy. If you are in a purely sexual relationship, you are stereotyped as being vain and sex-crazed. If you are in a purely romantic relationship, you are stereotyped as leading your partner on and incompatible with others.

I'm fortunate enough to have grown up surrounded by people who loved and supported me for my identity. I love myself for my identity. But even I have still faced discrimination and harm as a result of it. I still get anxious when a doctor touches me. I still feel left behind when I see my friends getting into relationships. But I don't want to change myself.

I want to change the world around me. We deserve better.

Im curious because this happens to me. By repeat dreams, I mean you've dreamed multiple times of the same place. It doesn't need to be real place, and different things can happen each time. Only the location matters.

End-of-Splatoon thoughts.

Thinking about finding human-made music discs buried underground for thousands of years, and a grand finale music festival. About those human handprints etched into concrete in Alterna. Did those human artists know it would end like this? First a fiery death and then, eventually, a worldwide celebration of music to represent our shared past, present, and future. Did they know that their songs, insignificant in the face of extinction, would one day become the solution that will save the next dominant life-form from the same fate?

Thinking about how since the very start, Splatoon has had a feature where players can draw and post artwork and spot them as graffiti on walls or billboards. Or how the weapons have always been paint brushes and rollers and ballpoint pens. Since its inception, Splatoon has been dedicated to engaging its players with the act of creation and creative expression, showing them how their art can build communities and (literally) change the world.

Thinking about how art and music and punk culture and rock & roll and friendly competition and petty arguments and water guns aren’t uniquely human concepts, but the fundamental qualities of intelligent life. An inheritable spirit that can cross evolutionary bounds.

Thinking about how eerily similar the Octarian domes are to Alterna. About how close Inklings and Octolings were to repeating the same mistakes as humans. But their doomed fates were undone not by some miracle technology or military power or a rocket, but by music.

Thinking about how humans wiped themselves out with war, and our parting gifts were liquid crystals that somehow paired with the DNA of primeval inklings and somehow infused them with our memories and culture and a Song. And 12,000 years in the future, that same Song will end a war.

Thinking about the theme of Splatoon, that art and music and fun will not die with the human race. That every piece of art we create is a seed we sow for future generations to reap. That our legacy is ingrained into the crust of the earth. That long after we’re gone, the oceans will remember, and they’ll pick up where we left off.

Thinking about how Splatoon says that the essence of humanity –– the thing that will outlive us –– isn't war or prejudice or destruction or greed, it's a song.

Splatoon has so much heart

Really. Seeing the whole grand fest and Nintendo's wrap up video for all the splatfests just... oh my heart. Its so clear to me the team behind Splatoon loves this game. I had an absolute blast. I spent so much time playing the grand fest, I even called my mom about it. I rambled to her about the idols, how cool the tricolor stage was, I didn't even care who won I just enjoyed every moment of it.

She told me that was the happiest she'd heard me in a while.

Splatoon has so much lore, so many little details... I just love how much care was put into the series as a whole. It really beat the odds, too. It came out on the Wii U, and iirc Nintendo didn't expect it to grow that much. But it blew up into an amazing game series. Its one of my favorites of all time. And it just makes me so happy to see how deeply the Splatoon team and Nintendo care about it. I'm so happy I got to experience all of it.

Actual footage of Splatoon players sharing a single braincell

Stop saying the Minecraft movie is just for kids. Kids deserve better.

I am genuinely infuriated at the amount of people defending the Minecraft movie with "well, its made for kids." That's not an excuse!!! Ever!!! Do you all think kids aren't capable of understanding deeper themes? They can't understand emotions? Do you really want to teach a kid they deserve only garbage media until they're older?

"Well, my kid liked it" ok cool. That's not actually my point. People can like what they want. My point is that kids deserve better. Every time some low effort slop gets released, people dismiss it with "its for kids." Its the inherent idea that kids deserve less that bothers me. Why don't kids deserve more? Why is making garbage for kids ok, but not for adults? Is it because... maybe... you value kids minds less? A stupid little kid could never understand the deeper meanings of Minecraft like creativity, valuing the world around you, and realizing how you have the power to shape yourself.

Because that's what Minecraft is about. Its not some goofy ass Jumanji rip off. You make your experience in Minecraft. You can become a miner, a builder, an explorer, a redstone engineer... its your world. I loved finding new things in Minecraft. The awe of seeing my first pink sheep. The fear of the deep dark. The wonder of a massive ravine. The accomplishment of crossing a whole sea. That's what Minecraft is about.

And it breaks my heart we got this instead. Plenty of adults play Minecraft, too. But in a big company's eyes, video games are for dumb children who don't know garbage from gold. Minecraft deserved better than this. I know the movie isn't out yet, but the trailer said enough.

Plaza post: "I woke up today, and it was at 999,999,999"

Me: "Haha there's no way its-

...

WHAT THE-"

Guys are you all OK 😭

My brain randomly spun the "fixate on this OC" wheel, so here's Eli! His full name is Elias. I posted some old art of him, but decided to tweak his design a little. He has powers with electricity, which he has pretty good control over. He's not perfect, though.

If you don't want a QPR, then that's okay. I see you, too.

You might be aqueerplatonic, aka aquaplatonic. I think a lot of aspec discussion is on QPRs, which is fine. But I also think we need to acknowledge it can create a certain pressure. I saw so many posts about QPRs that I felt like I was supposed to have one. People talk about them like its something everyone who's aspec experiences.

But not every aspec will experience it! And that should be seen as okay! When I learned aquaplatonic was a label, it made me feel better about myself. You don't need to have a special someone, regardless of romance or not. If you just have friends, that's okay. If you don't even want friends, that's okay. Don't force yourself into a type of relationship you don't want to have!

(This is not an attack on QPRs or the community in general. This is something I just feel like needs to be said and isn't talked about much.)