"Art Community"?

Really?

...

Really?

who took my April Fools joke Journal seriously. Go laugh in his general direction.

Hey Din, now we're even for you calling me "Derwood" all the time. Haha!

I've fucking had it.

Seriously. I've just fucking had it with this site. I'm gone.

You all got 7 days to download my shit so you can fap to it all you want. After that it's gone for good.

Peace.

One is enough, people.

You know when someone gives you a favorite, then you check their page and they already have a bunch of other favorites they added since they added yours?

Like, 30 seconds after they added yours?

That pisses me off for some reason.

Lack of balls.

Figurative ones, that is. Not the kind that end up infesting my Message Center every time I log on.

What I mean is this: if you believe something, stand up for it. If you have an opinion, say it. If you feel something is not right, let someone know. Put your foot down. Add more cliche sayings here, if you'd like, but you get the picture. When I talk about "community involvement", that is part of what I think about. Bringing my beliefs and ideals to the table, and standing up for them.

Here, though, it's like some things are "hush hush". Like the mere thought that someone's work isn't absolutely perfect.

I think I've already gone over my whole gripe with how the vast majority of artists here cannot accept any sort of outside feedback that isn't laced with "murr" or "hot" or that obnoxious :love: emote. And my gripe extends to the fact that people here cannot accept my view that this site's attitude towards constructive criticism leads to artistic stagnation: "SOS - Same Old $#!+."

Just once I would like to make a comment to an artist here and have him or her rebuff me in an intelligent, cohesive manner. I want someone to defend their work without resorting to pathetic excuses like "it's my style!" or "I thought it would be more yiffy hawt that way!". I'm holding out more hope for something like that than someone actually reading what I have to say, taking it at face value, and considering it thoroughly.

I know I step on a lot of toes, but honestly I feel it needs to be said that some people here have egos too big for their skill sets. On DA, more times than not, those people usually get taken down a notch sooner or later. Here, though, pointing out what should be obvious is almost taboo; frowned upon and scolded all in the name of "acceptance". I could call out the mediocre artist with dreadful anatomy, composition, and retreaded concepts who charges $50 per sketch and hasn't improved a lick since 2003, but people would get mad at me. Or that other artist who has attained almost godlike status among the muscle-fur community who charges $100 per commission but whose composition and concept skills have actually regressed since 2003. Or that artist who charges $60 for playdoh with penises attached, who casts judgment left and right but can't take an honest criticism of his own artwork.

Or maybe I'd become like thewielder and get high-fives for being a troll. I just love how 95% of FA users can't tell a troll when they see one.

Bottom line: if you think something, say it. Tactfully, of course, but say it nonetheless. It actually cuts down on drama and gossip and stuff that quite frankly was better off left in 7th grade. Just grow a pair. It's not that hard. Stop thinking your feelings are so fragile and you're entitled to have everybody agree with your thinking that your work is immaculate. It'll make things a lot easier for everyone.

TMI.

It stands for "Too Much Information".

How many times have I clicked on someone's Journal and suddenly I wish I hadn't? Someone decided to post too much information about themselves and their personal lives for everyone to see. It's not that sharing information about one's personal life is a bad thing, but when it starts to become a dramatic diary or a sackcloth-and-ashes fishing-for-compliments please-kiss-my-ass extravaganza, it starts to border on TMI.

What's worse than TMI? TMAL. "Too Much Ass Licking".

TMAL happens in response to TMI. Someone engages in TMI, and his watchers respond with a gratuitous amount of "consolation". Say someone feels down about their artwork (which seems to happen an awful lot around here, but I can't complain since I've been guilty of doing that in the past). That person will post a Journal about it complaining that he doesn't like his work or he has no motivation to draw (something to do with "style"... it's always "style", never things like anatomy or proportions or composition). He'll get flooded with responses from overly sympathetic watchers. Not just "It'll be alright, hang in there" or "I'm sure things will turn around for you", or even "I hope you feel better soon", but "i <333 ur work *blushes* i wish i was half as good as u ur so good ur characters are so hawt i wish i could go to bed with all of them X3"

Well then, problem solved. Said person now knows someone wants to go to bed with all of his characters. He will now resume drawing for more comments and faves and watches, oblivious to the fundamental problems surrounding his artwork.

TMI can also generate an unintended response, known as STFU. You should already know what STFU the acronym stands for, but it's basically a reply that tells Mr. TMI that he needs to get his ass in gear and stop making excuses as to why he can't accept the fact that the world is not going to stop just for him. STFU responses usually don't get any replies to them but they do have a habit of prompting Mr. TMI to delete said TMI journal in a pathetic attempt to save face while he explains why he had to write the TMI journal in the first place in another journal.

This is incredibly annoying. It's not like people forget what they read, like deleting a Journal can make things right just by removing the text from the archive. If someone says something, he should own up to it. If he needs to make a retraction, then make the retraction. But seriously, don't go TMI-ing for compliments and TMAL if you can't face the music when someone tells you to STFU.

I want to start a directory of real muscle furs who work out and fit my subjective, elitist opinion of whether they are "buff" enough in real life to wear the label. Guys whose fursonas are buff and they are buff too but, you know, since it's a furry fandom and IRL doesn't matter, it's kind of pointless. But hey, I make the rules. I only want guys who are really buff IRL. I know I keep saying that IRL doesn't matter at all and that fursonas are what count, but I feel like making an exclusive clique out of the already exclusive clique that I belong to.

Do you see the hypocrisy and arrogance behind this? If not, you might just fit right on into that directory I'm starting. So be sure to send pics and stuff of yourself... and your fursona. Because if you don't fit that narrow definition of what I define, you simply aren't worth talking to.

Oh, by the way, I still don't take critique from furries who are "lesser artists" than I am. Or skinny guys IRL. Because, you know, you have to be totally ripped in person in order to know the basics of composition, anatomy, and perspective.

but it's sillly.

I was gonna start a FA bracket pool.

Then I realized the only ones who would participate half-way seriously are  hysterium and  radrab.

And  radrab would pick Temple to win the whole thing. Cause he's a giant homer.

So yeah. I hate FA. Not enough people who are into sports.

Your mascot scares the snot out of me.

http://www.sportslogos.net/logo_com.....1xmfgeerrqiru1

AAAAAAAAH

Now I'm going to have nightmares about that thing for the rest of the year.

Is a no-go.

Sorry, folks.

Well,  radrab is a man of his word.

Self-explanatory, I think.

GO RAMS GO! BEAT ODU!

The question is, how the dickens does someone on a furry art site grow an ego so big he can't accept critique from anyone who he deems to be a lesser artist than he is? His answer to that question was that he takes everything personally, and I suppose following that logic, getting a "scathing" remark like "your work is pretty good, but it would be better if the ankles were in the right place and your characters' legs were thicker" from a "professional" doesn't hurt at all, but getting one from someone who's in the process of becoming a professional makes the comment a personal attack and completely unacceptable.

Good to know I'm second-tier in the world of furry artists. Did he check my gallery and deem me to be "unworthy" or something? I suppose I should seek out these furry "professionals" and have them copy-pasta my remarks so that this person will read and understand them, and thus he may be enlightened by the wisdom of those "professionals" without the insult of having a "lesser artist" dare to speak of his work as though it was not a triumph of mankind. Or furrykind, I guess.

Well, my answer to the question is that this site is a breeding ground for ego-swelling hypocrisy. Artistic ability is measured by the ability of one's art to generate a boner. "Commentary" is limited to "compliments" like this one, or a bucketload of capital letters followed by gratuitous use of the :love: emote. Superficial flattery is, of course, the obvious goal of doing artwork. Mission accomplished.

It just seems very unfortunate because I have been following this artist from DA to here, and I actually used to respect him as an individual and as an artist before this side of him showed up. The "spoiled brat" side, who can't have his precious oversized ego bumped or bruised or even looked at the wrong way. The side that takes everything as a personal attack unless it comes from a furry "professional" or someone in his clique. Over the past four months I have grown increasingly disenchanted with the fandom as a whole, but I think this incident might just take the cake (and then take a huge steaming dump on it while it's at it). And to top it off, he felt the need to fake apologize for ignoring the time and effort I put into trying to help him (when he clearly asked for it in the piece he submitted). As far as I can tell I was the only one who went so far as to do something like that. But no, all it got me was a snide reply and a hearty serving of reality.

I guess ignorance really is bliss.

Only on FA will you find a "penis meme". What the fuck kind of "art community" is this?

After  juano posted this journal here:

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1243458/

I felt I needed to get this off my chest.

I wondered, really, why do I even bother? I don't even wait to see the icon, I just give comprehensive critique here and there when it seems like people want feedback. And believe me when I say "comprehensive". One of those takes about 7-10 minutes to write, carefully observing a piece and taking note of strengths and areas that could be improved upon. Most of the time they don't say a word. Nobody does. It either goes unnoticed or gets ignored. I've lost all hope that it gets read and genuinely considered.

Critique is not judgment. It is meant for the sole purpose of helping people improve their work. I've said time and time again about various fetishes and "kinks", I don't care what someone draws, as long as it is drawn as well as it can be drawn. I know I haven't made a whole lot of friends with my approach, but at the end of the day I feel what I try to contribute is worth more to someone than constant ego-stroking, unintelligible comments and insincere flattery. My critiques have substance to them. They are what I genuinely see. I take time out of my life to put my two cents in so that the artist can hopefully gain some insight from my point of view. "The elbow is off, his arm looks like it's broken when the forearm bends that way. The masses of the forearm muscle are placed incorrectly, they should turn the other way" is worth more than "Murrrr I want to go to bed with him :3".

When a friend of me suggested that I "try to lighten up", I scratched my head at the comment. "Lighten up"? What the dickens does that mean? It's not like I'm going around "snarking" on people's work (and heaven knows I have plenty to "snark" on!), trolling people's pages or attacking artists. If I said what I really felt even half the time, I suspect people would be in tears. Ever since I arrived here three and a half years ago, I've tried "softening the blow", and what have I gotten? Apparently, a reputation as a "prude" and a "furry hater". (Whoops, maybe I should have just spammed that heart emote on every piece that comes through my inbox.) Even when an artist writes in his comments "I wish I could do _______", and I know what the issue is. I say it, but nothing happens.

So yeah, whatever. Go ahead and stagnate, FA. Keep doing the same derivative shit you've been doing for the past eight years. Get your murrs and purrs and "omg I came!"s, then ask for critique like you're actually making an effort. Or whine and bitch and moan about how you don't know how to draw something. Then when someone makes a genuine effort to help you through your issues, ignore them. Or get defensive. Hell, it's what FA has been doing since I got here, and probably longer. So why bother? Why do I try to contribute something to a community that values mindless ass-worship over constructive feedback?

I don't know. Maybe that's just who I am. Someone who cares too much and doesn't know how or when to let go.

For future reference, if you want feedback from me, ask me on DA or ask me on messenger (they're listed on my page). Don't waste my time here.

I've heard a few people say they wanted to see a comic from me. Well, I have one. Most of one, anyway.

It's called "Hoodwink", and it follows Witt and Hagler around on their comic misadventures. It's drawn and inked on full-size comic boards, though (11"x17") and a couple pages have yet to be inked ('cause I'm lazy), so getting it posted on here might be an issue.

Once I can get them on a digital format I'll post them for your enjoyment. It's more of a short one-time storyline, but it can be expanded to future episodes.

Alright I'm looking at the final character list for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (the fact that they had to put "Sonic" in the name makes me rage. They didn't put his name in Sega Superstars Tennis and that came out just fine, eh?), and I have a few problems with it.

1. Did we really need seven characters from the Sonic franchise? seven?! How did seven get in? Sonic is a given, and Dr. Eggman needed to be in there too, and sure let's throw Shadow in because kids will whine if he isn't ("ZOMG WHERE'S SHADOW?!?!?! HE'S SO COOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!1") But Tails and Amy? My rant behind them making it into Sega Superstars Tennis was "Heck, beyond Sonic and Eggman, how do you determine who makes it in these games and who doesn't? Why Amy and not, say, Knuckles? While we're on it, why not Big the Cat?"

And then they put Knuckles and Big the Cat in.

Yes. Really.

Next thing you know, they'll be throwing Rogue the Bat and all those other no-namers from failed 3D Sonic games made after 2000. Hell, if they wanted to pack the roster with Sonic characters, they should have put in some of the obscure ones from the Freedom Fighters comics or those god-awful 90s spin-offs (Fang the Sniper and Espio the Chameleon... *shudder*). Scratch and Grounder from the 90s animated cartoon. But really, Big the Cat is a travesty and Knuckles was in 1993 what Shadow is now, except Shadow carries a gun like a loser.

Sonic, Eggman, and for kicks, some obscure scrub from the 90s like D.B. Platypus. That's all I want to see in a Sega compilation game. Ever.

2. WHERE THE HELL IS GILIUS?! He was playable in Sega Superstars Tennis (though he looked fat and had a dopey voice). Steve Lycett kept mentioning him in the Developer Diary. He was shown riding one of those giant chickens from Golden Axe. That would have been flipping AWESOME! Hell, I would have settled for Tirias or Axbattler, but nope. None of them are there. I guess they were too busy making room for BIG THE CAT. Because, you know, we can never have enough characters from Sonic Adventure.

3. ToeJam and Earl on their spaceship was supposed to be a playable option. Apparently TJ&E Productions couldn't get a deal done with Sega to include the characters in the game (but somehow Alex Kidd's proprieters were. WTF are you smoking, Greg Johnson?!) I'd have bought the game just for them. I guess their spot got taken up by... Big the Cat.

Ugh.

4. Segata Senshiro riding a Sega Saturn would have also been a no-brainer reason for me to buy the game. Wait, you don't know who Segata Senshiro is? Watch it. Most epic mascot ever.

5. PS3 players get NOTHING. Wii users can play as their Mii, X360 users can play as their avatar and Banjo-Kazooie (almost a reason for me to buy the game; I loved B-K N&B), but PS3 players well... they can play Uncharted 2 instead.

Yeah, I really wanted to buy this game because I played Sega Superstars Tennis and have a soft spot for crazy racing games (MAD DASH!), but I'm sorely disappointed in the character list. Moar Gilius, less Sonic B-listers, kthx.

Hold on, now I'm real happy for you, and I'ma let you finish but...

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF GRABBED BY AN OGRE!

Oghren use Critical Strike on that bitch!

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF OGHREN RAN OFF TO GO FIGHT SOMEONE HALF A MILE AWAY

Now everyone's dead. STUPID DRAWF!

So that's what the problem has been all along. I care too much.

Fuck it. I'm out.

EDIT: I'M NOT LEAVING. I'm just "out". You know, like "disconnected"? Yeah, like that. I need to get away from the drama and the butthurt and people complaining about my opinions. It gives me a headache, and when you add that to school and life in general giving me a headache, it becomes a double-headache. Double-headaches are bad. Really, really bad.

So yeah. That's it.

Because it seems invoking his name generates a crapload of comments on one's journal (and probably some trickle-down to one's art?)

THEWIELDER

 thewielder

Um, yeah.

Seriously, this place is far too easy to troll. I know for a fact from my days as an admin on DA that the furry fandom is a gigantic moving target for trolls and flamers and spammers, and yet it continues to lie around and play the victim, giving an unreasonable response to anything and everything. Hell, my journals are proof positive. I'm not trolling or flaming or taking shots at anyone, but it seems if I'm not kissing ass or playing nice or trying to be friends with everyone, people take issue with it.

On the subject of THEWIELDER's journals, I have nothing to say. They are what they are. I just wish everyone would stop making such a gigantic deal about them, whether they agree with what he says or not.

Since when was "working" a mood? Industrious, perhaps, but working is a state of being, not a mood.

Um... yeah.

Because "eou" makes  metassus sad.

Profile will be updated accordingly... when I feel like it.

So yeah, one day (i.e. yesterday) I was thinking to myself about Mr. Farnsworth-Zellwinkel's backstory; how he got into wrestling and how he went from a chubby kid to a barrel-chested bruiser, and what all that would involve. I already established that a good-hearted fellow by the name of Mr. Hanrahan, a local gym owner, took an interest in the young walrus's development and invited him to train at his gym, but Shameous wouldn't know the first thing about wrestling or boxing - or anything, really.

So I thought, what if I had a third character? Shameous's trainer and wrestling coach? Someone who would show him the ropes the hard way (because when it's done the hard way, it sticks). I came up with Dick M. Pemberton (since I'm a complete sucker for three-syllable names that end with the letter "n"), a good friend of Mr. Hanrahan's and a former heavyweight wrestler himself. He'd be sort of like Shameous's big brother.

Wait, why am I writing all of this?

...

I don't know. It's late and I'm tired.

VCU! GO RAMS GO!

PLUUUUUUTO PLANET POWER...

Oh wait.

I hate Valentine's Day.

Just sayin'.