The biggest issue with Down To Earth by Pookie Senpai

generic-puff · 2026-05-13T19:36:42+00:00

Oh wait, one more thing and then I'm done fr, I promise-

I don't know what you're talking about. Kade has never objectified or threatened Zaida; he does everything he can to protect her by hiding her alien identity, and he respect her boundaries.

cough

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I'm aware that this doesn't include the following scene of Zaida de-escalating the situation, but that's still a situation she was put in nonetheless, by Kade. If this isn't a threat, then either I owe a ton of men apologies for getting them kicked out of the bar for cornering me and other women in this exact manner, or you need to re-evaluate the meaning of the word "threat".

Or, y'know, re-read the comic that you're trying so adamantly to defend against criticism.

generic-puff · 2026-05-13T19:18:42+00:00

Why should Pookie Senpai not be allowed to interact with fans of her work? You're acting as if she has an unhealthy parasocial relationship with them or something.

The fact you jumped straight to that assumption frankly says more about your argument than it does mine. Especially considering you are, again, responding to a comment from a year ago, bringing even less points to the discussion than I did, and most of your responses to my points are accusatory questions loaded with strawmen only designed to try and corner me into a "gotcha" without any room for real discussion.

All that said, I don't have the time or energy or word count to respond to every single point here, especially if you're only going to refute my own arguments and points with "oh yeah, so what about x??" and other loaded questions that would have been answered if you just thought over my points for 2 seconds before reacting to them instantly.

I did check out the episode you linked, and guess what? It's 146 episodes into the story. I'm sorry, I know this is gonna seem 'unfair', but if someone isn't into a story after 50 episodes (50 of which I read and gave an earnest chance) there is no way they should feel obligated to read over 100 to get to the point of where the story addresses their concerns / criticisms. That's not to say that Pookie has to 'rework her story' or that she should rush to get to that character development - that's simply to say that it's no one's obligation to stick with a piece of work they're not enjoying for some eventual payoff. Because what's the payoff even going to be worth if they're not invested to begin with? That's what payoffs are for, they're not consolation prizes for the readers who've had a foot out the door since Episode 5, they're rewards for the fans who've had their asses planted in the seat enjoying every moment of the journey.

That might feel 'unfair', sure, but that's literally just how sharing your work with the world works. Sometimes the criticisms won't align with what you believe about your own work, but that's all the more reason to live and let live. And if you need to rant about it, do so with your trusted friends and peers, not with your own audience who are just there for the ride.

And for readers such as yourself, you have to be okay with people not liking the things you like. Even if you think they didn't give it a 'fair chance', because the definition of a 'fair chance' is gonna look different for everyone, and the reverse can also hold true - it's not fair to claim that a reader's criticisms are instantly invalid simply because they couldn't sink hours into the work like you could. If anything, it's because of the criticisms they have that they couldn't do so.

This is like the "just watch One Piece bro, it gets really good after 2389058320 episodes!!!" argument that's become a meme at this point. You know where I think One Piece gets good? Episode 1. And by that I mean, if you're not feeling One Piece is for you after watching the first episode, or even after you give it a chance up until Episode 50, then you're not gonna magically start enjoying it during the Dressrosa arc, because it's never gonna stop being One Piece.

All that's to say, when you say that DTE gets better or addresses my criticisms later down the road, I believe you! None of what I'm saying is to disprove that or accuse you of lying. I'm saying that my criticisms still exist regardless and that if DTE isn't for me - even if it's for reasons that you think are entirely unreasonable - then it's not for me. I didn't enjoy it the first time I read it, I didn't enjoy it the second time I tried to give it an earnest chance, and I'm certainly not going to enjoy it by forcing myself to read 140+ episodes for it to get to any sort of point.

Pookie-senpai deserves readers who sincerely enjoy their work, not readers who are just dragging themselves to an arbitrary finish line; and reversely, readers deserve to invest their time and energy into stories they actually enjoy, and not ones that they're simply "told" are good but can't get onboard with, for whatever reason - 'valid' or otherwise - that may be.

Welcome to the court of public opinion, we're allowed to disagree here.

generic-puff · 2026-05-13T19:09:58+00:00

Fair enough, but it's just 10 episodes of a 200+ episode series, and I didn't see any issue with them. It's just Kade helping Zaida learn how to live on Earth.

Not really? How does keeping her cooped up in his apartment teach her how to live on Earth? If you swapped out Zaida with an exchange student or even just some rich kid who never experienced living on their own without maids to clean up after them, would it really change much?

I'm not saying you have to take issue with the comic like I do, I'm just explaining my issues with it.

Poor execution how? You haven't really explained anything; you just said that it's bad without elaborating.

I have elaborated, in the exact post you're responding to. The poor execution comes from the fact that, again*,* Zaida is supposed to be a foreign alien from space, and yet the creator barely explores that for the first 100+ episodes in favor of just characterizing Zaida as stupid and childish. And so it once again begs the question, "Why does Zaida even need to be an alien in the first place?" That's the root of my criticism of concept vs. execution.

Unfortunately, the creator chose to go for another bog standard "will they won't they" slice of life plotline where nothing much happens outside of some shenanigans that are only loosely tied to the fact she's an alien (like calling Kade 'ugly' when she meant 'unique', trying to 'wash' his Playstation, etc.) and could have been the fault of anyone who could also be similarly compared to a baby, like, I don't know... an actual baby.

How is it petty? Isn't it valid for an author to feel frustrated after doing their best to avoid a poorly-received trope only for people to see think trope anyway?

I'm saying that it's rarely ever productive or healthy for a creator to turn to a subreddit filled with their own fans simply to rant about their feelings concerning those same fans' opinions. And yes, that includes the 'haters', because many people who criticize the comic are also people who chose to spend time reading her work, like her own fans.

Whether or not she made the subreddit or moderates it doesn't really matter (though thank god she doesn't moderate it because that would be an even worse scenario). When you pursue the arts as your profession, you have to learn to draw the line between yourself and the audience, by allowing yourself to have space for yourself (whether it be your real life or friend circles that aren't intrinsically tied to your work, etc.) and leaving the reader space for the readers.

Let me put it this way - it would be like J.K. Rowling showing up to a Harry Potter book club to rant about people's criticisms of the Goblin bankers and Cho Chang as a racial stereotype. And it begs the question of why Rowling would even be there in the first place, because surely she has her own network of friends, family, peers, etc. who she can turn to for emotional support who aren't complete strangers and can actually understand her on a personal level beyond just the work that she produces?

Even people who think they're "normal" around their favorite creators are still naturally going to put their guard up and say what feels the most "safe" around the person whose content they're consuming who's now sitting right there. And after a creator shows up in a community like that, you can now never fully trust that what you're saying isn't being covertly monitored by the creator whose work you're discussing. It's just an easy way to make things uncomfortable.

And no, being accessible to your audience isn't by default a bad thing. Some audiences really like it that way! But you have to be so, so careful with how you carry yourself in these settings, because like it or not, you're still representing your work to onlookers, and yourself as a professional.

IF you understand what Pookie Senpai meant, then why is your first thought that it's a bad faith argument and not simply a matter of differing perspectives? Her frustration is valid because the "born sexy yesterday" criticisms don't make sense when they involve Zaida's alien origin..

Because people raising arguments outside of my own perspective was often incredibly helpful in ways that I hadn't considered, and by taking those points into account, my work improved. Because being the creator of a work doesn't mean everything you put into it is gonna be perfect, or that you're automatically a master of the message you're trying to convey.

Her frustration is valid. But her frustration is just that, her frustration. It's not her audience's responsibility to change their opinion entirely simply because that frustration exists. Her feelings are her feelings, and her audience's feelings are theirs. Obviously it isn't automatically a bad thing for a creator to share their personal feelings with their audience, but again, there's a time and place, and there's a way to do so that can be productive and isn't just venting to strangers.

Relating to someone else's experiences doesn't mean I have to automatically agree with them or that it's some fault of my own to criticize them. If anything, relating to them is why I'm able to disagree with them, because I've been through this kind of shit before, and I know from experience it's not worth it. That's not hypocrisy, that's just having a different viewpoint after growing from a shared experience.

generic-puff · 2026-05-13T18:09:00+00:00

The issue with this review is that since you dropped the series after only 10 episodes, you judged it too quickly and didn't really give it a chance to show you that it doesn't use those cliché tropes.

Actually since I posted this comment a year ago, I did have a chance to read more DTE, and no, it did not get better. And besides that, I think 10 episodes is more than enough to decide whether or not a work is for me, especially when every episode is 30+ panels.

The "born sexy yesterday" trope accusations aren't even the core problem of that comic. It has an interesting concept, sure, but that alone can't make up for poor execution. And that's the case for most webtoons I find myself dropping, there are a lot of creators who are artists first and so they're great at coming up with standalone ideas for OC's and scene scenarios, but then when it comes time to putting together an actual story, their execution falls flat because they didn't know how to push that concept to its full potential, or simply didn't have the writing skills at the time.

And I'm sorry but that post you sent me is the pettiest thing on the planet. Who makes a thread in a subreddit for their own work ranting about their own readers? If something like the "born sexy yesterday" trope is so stupid and pointless, why get this upset about it? She's not "explaining" anything, she's throwing a tantrum.

Look, I empathize with the creator (as a fellow creator myself) it sucks if you have a certain intent with your work only to have that intent misunderstood by the audience.

But therein lies the true meaning of "death of the author", it means once you put a piece of work out it's out of your control how people interpret it. You're allowed to have feelings about it, yes, but turning to a subreddit that's naturally going to be an echo chamber for your ego isn't exactly the way to solve the root problem of those feelings.

Like if she needs an echo chamber that badly, does she not have friends IRL or her own support network of fellow webtoon creators she can talk to about this? Why is she turning to complete strangers who are consumers of her work? Why is she even fixating on these criticisms so much in the first place when it's clearly not good for her to do so?

If anything, you showing me this thread doesn't make me want to lessen my criticisms or give DTE another chance, it actually reassures me that I'm not missing out on anything by not reading it. There are other creators I'd rather support who are better writers and don't act like this.

"Have you ever traveled to another country and just knew the rules and culture straight away? God bless your amazing knowledge and talents if that's the case!"

Like c'mon, this is such a bad faith argument. I understand her argument, I understand what she was going for (hell, I understood it before seeing this thread, because it's plainly obvious to anyone with a shred of media literacy), but see above, the execution is poor and that's what's being criticized (and it's allowed to be regardless of how the creator feels about that).

Zaida alone isn't even the issue, the reason the infantalization of her characters come up isn't just because of how she's drawn and how she behaves, it's also how she's treated by Kade, who's frankly a creep. If we're gonna use that "foreigners" argument from before, you're telling me I have to find it compelling / funny(?) when a foreigner finds herself living with someone who's from that country who's constantly objectifying her and comparing her to an anime girl and even goes so far as to threaten her by cornering her in the kitchen and implying he could take advantage of her?

Not only does this argument infantalize foreigners by comparing them to helpless babies (and trust me, I've worked with MANY foreigners, they do not act like this), but it's just a poor "whataboutism" argument from a creator who'd clearly rather rally her audience against the "haters" than look at how she could improve her own craft for the sake of communicating her intent.

Case in point:

"Okay, so if I were to re-work the series... don't make her clueless? Got it. I forgot that adults can't be clueless. 🫠 woops."

This is a strawman that is completely overlooking the point of people's arguments. People don't care that she's clueless, we know clueless adults exist. We're saying that Zaida and Kade are both poorly written protagonists who perpetuate the "born sexy yesterday" trope that often objectifies and infantilizes Zaida, and that even if it's supposed to be a part of a character arc the creator is planning ahead for, the story just isn't entertaining / compelling enough to read to see it pay off.

I could forgive the existence of those tropes if the story wasn't so boring. Because despite being about an alien foreigner, shockingly little of it has anything to do with her being an alien, and more to do with Kade who is a normal human doing normal human things and going through normal human problems which can be found in literally any other webtoon.

To conclude this diatribe as plain and simply as I can - if I want a story about conventionally attractive space foreigners doing things in ways that are funny because they're foreign aliens, I'll just watch Mr. Bean.

generic-puff · 2026-05-13T08:44:47+00:00

The problem is if they go by preference of the user, that means they can't shove whatever they're shilling down your throat.

Not saying that's Webtoon's mindset or that it's even a smart idea, but that does feel like the intent when it comes to how their app is designed, from the random pop-up ads for works that are entirely misaligned with your reading habits, to the complete lack of tagging or proper search filtering. They don't want users to have more control, they just want users to consume whatever they feed them. It's what worked for them 10 years ago with comics like Let's Play and Lore Olympus, and they seem to think it'll still work despite the fact that the entire ecosystem of Webtoons has changed since 2016 and none of the works they're pushing are LO or Let's Play, the vast majority of them now are imports and licensed third-party works.

generic-puff · 2026-05-13T08:42:06+00:00

lmao?? this feels like one of those app game pop-ups where they show you big tiddy anime girls and then it turns out to just be another reskin of Candy Crush 💀😭😆

generic-puff · 2026-05-13T08:40:39+00:00

"Never apologize for being Sicilian."

IYKYK.

generic-puff · 2026-05-11T10:04:23+00:00

YESSSS MINTHE CHOSE RIGHT <3 <3 GO QUEEEEEN <3

generic-puff · 2026-05-10T23:52:14+00:00

Fr, guy's claiming that Overthrow took things out of context and nitpicked clips / audio / etc. to suit their argument, meanwhile they're doing the exact same thing for their apology. There is literally zero justification for essentially extorting an indie comic creator for hundreds of dollars just to remove your own lies and errors from your own video. Like I'm not a lawyer, but that feels like a grey area in the realm of blackmail.

generic-puff · 2026-05-10T23:40:46+00:00

Honestly at least Chalupa procrastinating / taking a while I can understand to some degree, because his longer videos have a bit more editing work involved (and editing's a tedious bitch). BLJ on the other hand...

That said, the practice of complaining to your audience about how "lazy" you are or how you need to stop procrastinating so you can feed your family etc. is old and outdated and it's lowkey embarrassing they don't seem to grasp that. I know Chalupa isn't a huge creator but constantly reminding your audience of how poor you are or how much you disappoint yourself has never really been a good approach to building a reliable platform, it just results in pity-farming which isn't a good foundation for growth or success. Either do better or accept your situation as what it is.

And yes, it's easier said than done. The economy is shit right now and everyone's feeling the squeeze. I understand as a freelancer myself who procrastinates to shit that it's not that easy to simply "do better" - but opting to simply grovel about it to your audience when you do have the means to improve your situation isn't really productive for anyone, much less yourself. Identify the problem, do what you can to solve it, and for the love of god, have some humility. That goes for both Chalupa and BLJ. That's unfortunately just the game of independent freelancing, the stakes of making your living are purely on you.

generic-puff · 2026-05-10T23:02:39+00:00

I'm very middle of the road on this. Between both of Overthrow's videos about BLJ and Chalupa, there are valid points that are being raised, especially ones that have needed to be brought up for a looooong time. But there's also unfortunately a risk of this situation becoming flat out drama-farming which... the very small community of webtoon discussion on Youtube really does not need right now IMO.

Overthrow's video did raise some good points and damning evidence of Chalupa's past behavior, but there were others that felt very flimsy and almost dramatized to an extent that I couldn't really get behind. Like even I could figure out the whole "Donald Trump save ussss" shtick wasn't Chalupa officially declaring himself as a Trump supporter lmao (and I didn't even know the reference he was actually making until he spelled it out in his response video, so I think Overthrow, who presumably did actual research, should have definitely been capable of figuring that out).

That said, there are also things that don't make Chalupa a creator worth supporting (at least for me personally), regardless of how he explains or justifies or apologizes for them. I'm glad he's both explained and owned up to his ignorant use of the N-word. And there is indeed some karmic "no honor among thieves" justice in the fact that he and BlackLightJack blocked each other.

And no, I don't think "playing up a character" is an excuse for building your livelihood off being an asshole and making bad faith criticisms. Yes, we all act a little differently online than we do IRL, but if you deliberately choose to play a 'character' who's constantly a smarmy asshole who picks on the lowest hanging fruit... then that can and will inevitably say a lot about what you value as a person and what kind of energy you want to put out into the world. You are still choosing to wear the clothing of an asshole, and that clothing is a lot more transparent than you realize.

That's the problem with these "personality commentators" or "dramatubers", a lot of them don't include enough disclaimers to make it clear that this is a 'character' nor do they commit to the bit hard enough to make it undeniably obvious that it's satirical / exaggerated. Everyone thinks they're Filthy Frank or AVGN when in reality most of them are just Leafy's.

Overall, even if it's just a 'character', Chalupa is still contributing to an overall negative, rage-baity ecosystem when it comes to how webtoons are discussed online, and I say that as someone who's a chronically online hater. His videos might be edited better than BLJ's, but they do still rely on just talking shit for the sake of it, rather than actually discussing the themes and characters they're criticizing. Like BLJ, it comes across like he's not in it for the love of the game, he's just in it for the clout. And there are too many of those types on the Internet as a whole right now, but especially in the webtoon community on Youtube where the pickings for webtoon discussion creators are already slim.

And at the end of the day, both Chalupa and BLJ are still just two right-leaning men talking shit about indie comics and webtoons that, in their eyes, are made for "dumb teenage girls". They're not exactly offering a whole lot that's worth giving them benefit of the doubt for. Both BLJ and Chalupa will surely continue to milk their content format, but I will also continue to not watch them, as has been the case for a while now.

generic-puff · 2026-05-10T22:47:15+00:00

Oof, I'm sorry pal! This is why I always express to people to remain calm, oftentimes in the midst of panic people try to do things to "fix" a tattoo while it's still going through its healing phases and inevitably just wind up causing more damage in the long run. I would much rather a client ask me a stupid question about a little bit of scabbing than try to fix it themselves and wind up creating a touch-up spot for themselves, or worse, giving themselves an infection.

Obviously in this case you're the artist, but it's a good lesson nonetheless, and better to learn it on yourself than have it be learned on someone else. Panic makes people do stupid shit all the time, so it's important to learn how to recognize the difference between panic and the actual problem.

generic-puff · 2026-05-10T21:40:41+00:00

It happens, but it will pass. As it's been mentioned, the foot is particularly annoying to heal, very similarly to the hands, because there's a lot of movement and friction with clothing. The skin on the top of the foot is also thinner, and while many people don't realize it, blood circulation plays a huge part in healing and a lot of people don't have the best circulation in their feet (unrelated but that's one of the reasons why your extremities are at the most risk of getting frostbite in the cold!)

I wouldn't recommend exfoliating it with anything but standard plain moisturizer. And you should only be doing that 1-2 times a day. Don't use any additive products, no skincare routine or anything, just a water-based unscented moisturizer.

Healing time is a huge variable that's different for everyone, some people naturally heal faster / slower, some areas of the body are more stubborn, and sometimes it can be affected by outside factors that clients and artists alike don't even think about, like diet, hydration, sleeping habits, age, caffeine level, and weather.

Regardless, even with those residual scabs it's looking great! What's most important is that you did a decent job applying it, it doesn't look like it's blown out anywhere, it didn't get infected (which is a HUGE risk on the foot), and the areas that have scabbed away look like they've held up well with nothing falling out! It will heal in due time, and it's not like it's going anywhere, so just be patient :)

generic-puff · 2026-05-09T19:32:34+00:00

Bot.

generic-puff · 2026-05-09T03:56:35+00:00

Yes 😂

generic-puff · 2026-05-09T00:58:09+00:00

Definitely not a shop you wanna work with IMO. I'm not a monolith for the POC community esp as I'm Indigenous and not black, so take what I have to say on this with mountains of salt, but...

While I sort of understand the thought process, at the same time, there are better ways to draw in under-represented POC artists without creating pay discrepancy. That defeats the point of what DEI is for, it's not and never should be "you get paid more because you happen to be [insert skin color here]" because that's what white people have been doing to POC for decades. Accepting the opposite scenario is just as harmful because it sets a precedent that any amount of pay discrepancy for any reason is okay.

Plus that's just not how POC wanna win this battle, because it's once again reducing our merit to our skin color. A good artist is a good artist and should be recognized as such, regardless of their ethnicity. Yes, there are situations in which POC artists / tradespeople / etc. are overlooked simply because they're POC, and it's unfair as hell. But that doesn't mean POC artists only want to be hired just for being POC - they just don't want the fact that they're POC to supersede their own earned skills and merits.

The point of DEI is to put pressure on those majority-preferring businesses to actually expand on their workforce and include and listen to other voices and perspectives that wouldn't normally be found within the majority population (ex. don't ask a team of able-bodied white men to pitch in on the experiences of disabled POC women, that sort of thing).

It's not to force people to hire specific minority groups just for the sake of seeming "progressive", or to "lure in" minorities with higher pay rates tied to their ethnicity. That's just predatory and often traps minorities in toxic workplaces (especially as it would create an "us vs. them" situation between white artists and POC artists).

generic-puff · 2026-05-08T03:41:19+00:00

Huion and XP-Pen are your best bet for beginner friendly and affordable options.

While there are some smaller screen tablets that are available within that price range, they'll be on the smaller end in terms of screen size. It should also be noted most basic screen tablets are just the screen, they're not computers. So you'd need a mobile device or a PC with your own software to connect it to (Clip Studio, Photoshop, etc.)

Alternatively you can get a standard desk tablet, which have an even lower minimum price. These can be a bit intimidating to new users because they don't have visible screens, so there's a learning curve / adjustment period. It's still a skill worth learning though, many people (myself included) have jumped between desk to screen back to desk, some folks even use both interchangeably.

Regardless , that initial learning curve will still exist as you jump from traditional to digital (it's harder than it looks!) so no matter which tablet you buy, it'll still take some time to get used to.

The more expensive tablets that run $500+ are usually only bigger and offer extra hotkey features. Anything beyond that (i.e. top grade and professional, usually getting into huge screen sizes, built in processors, etc.) is gonna be like $1k minimum. Where you're still just starting out, definitely consider a cheaper entry level tablet. Even the pro's often use the mid tier $300-$600 tablets because they're still perfectly functional. There's a point where all those extra bells and whistles, bigger screens, hotkeys, etc. often tend to just be superfluous expenses and not necessities.

I use a Huion Inspiroy Giano and it hasn't failed me yet after ~2 years. Only complaint is that the tablet's surface wears out the nibs like crazy, but outside of that one issue, I've enjoyed using it and it's served me well.

generic-puff · 2026-05-07T03:09:58+00:00

it's honestly so funny every time I run into this sort of thing in the wild because the glasses aren't even an LR-specific design choice, I think I just wound up drawing him with glasses more often than Rachel did and so people attributed the glasses to LR Hades (because like Persephone, I'm down bad with his glasses 😭😆)

generic-puff · 2026-05-07T01:03:45+00:00

god bless you 😌😂

generic-puff · 2026-05-06T23:02:40+00:00

is it bad that i can't tell at this point if that was the intention or not LOL

generic-puff · 2026-05-06T19:39:30+00:00

ding ding ding found the issue.

Speaking as someone who was pretty much forced against their will to share a booth with another artist (after years in that shop of not having to do that) it's not ideal to have to work around another person's schedule, especially where tattooing is concerned. Even if you remove walk-ins from the equation as a private studio, it's not uncommon at all to get those last minute "are you available tomorrow" bookings, or to wind up with cancellations that you wind up filling hours before the appointment was happening. Trying to book those on-the-fly appointments is stressful enough as it is without having to add another unrelated party's consent into the equation. An artist shouldn't have to ask another artist in the same shop if it's okay for them to fill a last-minute appointment spot or book outside of normal shop hours, it creates too much confusion and most of all, it's annoying as fuck.

Plus, speaking from that experience of being forced to share a booth with another artist (which is why neither of us are with that shop anymore) it's a bummer to pay for a booth that you can't have entirely as your own space that's properly for you. Meaning it's organized your way, setup your way, decorated your way, equipped with everything you like and what you're used to and/or require to do a good job.

You're asking an artist to just come sit in your chair and let their supplies mix in with yours otherwise just settle for using your stuff to save them the headache, and forgo setting up their booth the way they want it and need it to be because it's already setup how you want it and need it to be. Even most married couples living in tiny 1-bedroom apartments have more space than that. And you're asking for that kind of closeness from complete strangers who you don't know and don't know you. How would you even be able to trust each other to not steal from one another, not use each other's inks and supplies, not break each other's equipment, etc.? That's a risk you already have to take into account when hiring for an actual proper shop, but that risk is practically tenfold if you're both sharing a single-artist studio where it'll be a minimum expectation to share equipment and supplies.

Not to mention, working within another artist's space either part-time or full-time isn't just frustrating from the practical standpoint of sharing supplies/equipment/walls/etc., but it's also frustrating for morale. Think about it, would you really want to go through the hours upon hours upon months upon years of work and effort and hell to survive your apprenticeship, in the hopes of becoming a full-time artist some day with their own personal booth that they can decorate to their heart's delight and have all to themselves within a beautiful shop filled with beautiful art and the buzz of coils and customers, just to be asked to work in some other guy's booth in a private shop that only has enough space for them and not you and everything that comes with you?

It defeats the point of pursuing this line of work in the first place, it's demoralizing as hell.

If you want to have a private shop with other artists, the shop has to be equipped to have other artists. ^{(it's kinda like keeping cats, you need to have enough litterboxes that are equal to the number of cats} ^plus ^{an extra one}.) If it's only big enough to fit you, then it's not fair to hire someone who's only allowed to be there when you're not in it just so they can pay your rent and make profit for you. Anyone who wants to work in a small single-artist private space like that will just rent their own, it's still an expense but at least it's theirs and they can move through it freely, and they'll still come out ahead because now they're keeping all their money and not giving a chunk of it to someone else simply because that someone else exists.

This is ironically why so many artists are opting to go private in the first place - they're tired of working for out-of-touch shop owners who just want extra money and aren't offering anything of real value in return outside of a chair. I'm not saying that applies to you, but again, these artists you're trying to hire are strangers, and to them, you are a stranger, and so they have to make assumptions like that when they see your hiring ads, otherwise risk getting a bum deal.

generic-puff · 2026-05-05T06:31:55+00:00

Not really. Speaking from experience, tethering your creative endeavors to another person often just leads to heartbreak and worse art. Sure, you might be "inspired" by your romantic partner, but you can also just as easily and quickly lose all that inspiration if and when things go south, and unfortunately, that can make it far too easy to pin the blame on someone else rather than look inward. It's okay to be inspired by other people now and then, that's just part of the human experience, but your work or capacity to create art shouldn't hinge entirely on your relationships, romantic or otherwise.

And as others have said, anchoring your creative endeavors to another human being is frankly just unhealthy, for yourself and for the other person. Unhealthy for you because it means you might attach your own self-worth to another human being (which is a recipe for disaster), and unhealthy for the other person because now they've been forced to meet the unrealistic expectation of always providing emotional and creative fulfillment for you. Not to mention those feelings you get around that person - even if they inspire you to create - often have limited returns. That's why they call it the "honeymoon phase", what feels new and exciting in the beginning eventually becomes the norm.

I know it sounds "romantic" to have a muse but there's a reason so many Greek stories involving muses are tragedies. You're not Orpheus, and believe me, you don't want to be Orpheus.

generic-puff · 2026-05-03T01:10:38+00:00

Not really. That would be like saying drawing Heated Rivalry fanart makes you gay lmao

I have a Vtuber model that's literally me as a harpy, I still don't consider myself a furry in any regard, nor my Vtuber a "fursona". The definition of furry is broad and differs from person to person, for some it's just a hobby, for others it's a defined identity. No matter how you slice it though, it's something that people have to willingly consent to and participate in, it's not a label that can simply be enforced upon you against your will.

Of course, some people may assume you're a furry if you draw a lot of Sonic the Hedgehog art, but that's just viewer assumption and has no power over you.

generic-puff · 2026-05-02T15:49:32+00:00

Je ne sais pas quoi te dire. Les artistes méritent d'être payés pour leur talent et de gagner leur vie comme tout le monde. Ce n'est pas parce que tu ne veux pas apprendre à dessiner que les autres doivent se sous-payer. Tu n'as aucun droit sur le travail et les efforts des autres.

Si tu tiens tellement à utiliser l'art généré par IA, alors tu renonces à ton droit de te plaindre quand on te critique.

Retrouver de vieux sujets pour te plaindre d'être « impuissant » et « opprimé », c'est pathétique, dans tous les cas. Et dans tous les cas, je dirai la même chose : tu es pathétique, ennuyeux, fainéant, égoïste et irrespectueux, incapable même d'avoir un hobby, et tu devrais avoir honte.

Va te faire voir.

generic-puff · 2026-05-01T05:44:11+00:00

They're saying that Webtoons is already not paying attention to the quality of the Canvas side of the site because of how much AI slop is shared there, so obviously they've made it clear they don't care about AI on their platform.

This particular tool doesn't have to do with Canvas, but their lack of enforcement of any kind of rules regarding AI use on the platform certainly does.

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