I Think Richie's Design Is Finally Starting To Flesh Out A Little Bit. Oh, And I Added Another Info Tidbit

I think Richie's design is finally starting to flesh out a little bit. Oh, and I added another info tidbit about him: He has really bad memory!

Uhhhhhhhhhh, what does bat boy do in his spare time?

Before mutating, he liked to take apart electronics like microwaves or radios, then put them back together. Mostly to figure out how they worked. After he mutated though, he's basically got wings and thumbs, so he can't hold tools properly. So now he works at the mutant equivalent of a Radioshack in the hopes of learning from his customers, mostly by asking questions about what they're buying and stuff. But it's not really the same.

I bought a giant Donnie figure to add to my nerd shrine. He has no eyebrows or stripes, and both goggles lenses are blue, but I love him anyway.

I see where you're coming from, but here's my take. The first two screenshots, if I understand correctly, are talking about people with trauma romanticizing said trauma. First of all, this is only sometimes, not always, the case. Many times, people create this sort of content as a means to cope. By taking something awful and associating it with something positive, you attempt to lessen the negative impact it has on you. It's less romanticizing, and more of a defense mechanism. I have known people who do this. It's not healthy, and alternative solutions are usually better, but if it works, it works. Unless it's causing serious physical or mental harm to them or others, it's not really our business what goes on in someone else's head. Second, there's mention of this stuff being used to groom abuse victims. And you know what? Yeah. That does happen. But the thing with that is, the stuff being used to groom people is usually based in fiction, i.e. books, artwork, and television. And most people recognize fiction as just that: fiction. As such, it doesn't impact potential victims as often as the internet will lead you to believe. And in the event that someone is being groomed and it's working, there WILL be evidence somewhere of that happening. In these instances, you can usually pinpoint the perpetrator and take legal action against them, if need be. It's the people that are using the content to groom that are the monsters, not the people who made the content. You don't know why they made it, but "they're a pedo/rapist/abuser/etc." isn't the only explanation, and assuming so is incredibly rash and dangerous. The third screenshot is something I already addressed. Leslie was being rude and yes, joking in a sarcastic manner. A dumb move in any debate. But let's be honest: many of you reading this have probably been in situations that, to you, seemed ridiculous, or were just all-around frustrating. Many people respond with sarcasm, snide comments, dry humor, or passive-aggressive language. That doesn't make you guilty. That just makes you upset, and probably rude. But because this is a scenario with more dire subject content, we take it to be a sign of guilt. Leslie was getting hateful comments because she complimented a friend's drawing, a drawing she didn't know was depicting incest. Who wouldn't be annoyed by that? Now finally, on to the last screenshot. This bit of "evidence" mentions artwork and saved images with various problematic content. Were these photographs or videos, that would be incredibly troublesome. However, it seems to all exclusively be artwork. And personally, I avoid stuff like that like he plague. I get really unsettled and sometimes squicked out when I see stuff like that. BUT, let me just say this: it isn't real. It isn't real people in unsafe situations. No one real is being hurt in the images. Just because someone draws or shares something problematic doesn't mean that they condone it in real life. Drawing an adult and child kissing, for example (while super uncomfortable), does not make the artist or their fans a pedophile, no more than a crime show makes its producers or viewers murderers, or a whump story makes its writer or readers abusive. In real life all of this is horrible, but we need to recognize that, in these instances, it's fiction. We should be doing something about people we know are causing real harm, not the content creators on the internet where all we have is speculation. If you have reason to feel concern, as many people here do now, then it's possible to conduct investigations, or have authorities do it for you (though I advise against the latter unless you've seen some pretty undeniable evidence, such as someone you KNOW is an adult messaging someone in a sexual manner where they KNOW the person they're talking to is a minor). Because people make content like this for a variety of reasons other than being a sick maniac. Coping. Curiosity with character dynamics. Exploring a fetish. Raising awareness. Or, occasionally, just being tongue-in-cheek. Now not all of this is necessarily appropriate conduct, but understand that this does NOT mean the creator condones what is depicted in their art or writing in real life. To anyone reading this, if you would like to talk to me about this kind of issue, I would be happy to have a civil conversation or debate. I would appreciate the opportunity to understand things better, or to help someone else understand things better. But if you just want to gripe at me, please leave me alone.

Y'all need to calm down (not a rant post)

I didn’t want to get involved in this, but I’m getting a little fed up. I didn’t know what was going on beyond the crew APPARENTLY supporting incest art, but I saw no evidence here, so I looked into it myself. So the person in question is a Twitter user named Leslie Hung. A friend of hers drew incest art for another series, and she liked the drawing. She didn’t know it was incest because she was not familiar with the series. But people who did know about it started giving her flack for “helping make the drawing” and “supporting incest.” She got frustrated and snippy because people were in her business, but later apologized for her attitude while maintaining that she did NOT know about the incest. It seems like the “problematic” crew members were just supporting her because it sucks to be accused of something that isn’t true. So yeah, it was just a misunderstanding that got blown way out of proportion and put an innocent person under a lot of undue stress. So please, stop harassing the crew (if you’re someone who has been), and stop jumping to conclusions just because a few people cried wolf online. If you don’t believe what I’ve said here, feel free to go to her Twitter and see for yourself, but please leave her alone. It’s a done issue for her.

So I noticed the worm guy uses the... ...Warrenfinity Gauntlet.

Me making sure that enjoying rottmnt doesn't mean that I forget how to draw okko.