Commission Info!

I am opening commissions! I have some personal things to take care of, and having some “In Case of Emergency” money, is more and more important. See below the cut for art examples~ I’m also including the link to my Ko-Fi account, because the information can be found there as well. Please message me if you have questions!

https://ko-fi.com/ottabox

Single Character Info

Headshot- Flat Color: 5$ -With Shading: 8$ Halfbody- Flat Color: 10$ -With Shading: 16$ Fullbody- Flat Color: 15$ -With Shading: 25$

Character with Background Info

Fullbody- Simple Background- Flat Color: 20$ Fullbody- Simple Background- With Shading: 30$

Limited Palette Info

Limited Palette (4-5 color): flat rate 7$

Chubby Sketch Info

Chubby Sketch: Flat rate 5$ Chubbies are my version of chibi or super-deformed doodles. They’re just as detailed as fully sketched and lined art, but they’re sketchy by nature.

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honestly, why is the only language we have for sexual trauma that of rape and assault? there are so many kinds of sexual trauma that are done a genuine disservice by trying to grapple with them using the language of rape.

there's "i consented to this for self-destructive reasons," there's "i didn't know what i was consenting to because i didn't have enough experience to tell that i would be upset by this thing," there's "i initiated something that i now regret," there's dozens, even hundreds, of sexual situations that are traumatic and that need community support and care and some real trauma work to heal from, that just aren't accurately described by the language we have to discuss rape.

and like, trying to shoehorn them in under the umbrella of rape and assault often does a disservice to the victims trying to heal--trying to cast a sexual partner as a malicious perpetrator retroactively is often really psychologically damaging to someone who is experiencing a complex trauma around an experience they consented to, especially when the trauma victim themselves initiated the experience.

Learn to articulate how you're feeling without accusing anyone of having bad intentions. You can say "I'm afraid of being alone" without saying "you're just going to leave me like everyone else." You can say "I need some reassurance" without saying "you probably don't love me anymore." You can say "I'm afraid I've hurt your feelings and I'd like to talk it through" without saying "you don't even like me anymore." You can say "I want to spend more time with you" without saying "you've gotten tired of me." You can say "I feel misunderstood" without saying "you always judge me." Try not to let your emotions get the best of you. Have a conversation focused on finding solutions instead of escalating the conflict.

[PERSUASION] You need to stop fucking acting like this.

wolf & bunny: a love story

What’s your favorite drink to stay warm as the earth goes into rest mode?

holding my own face in my own hands and screaming “there is no connection without an open heart! you must be brave! you must be honest! you must be true!” in the mirror

Ok but hear me out...

What if I'm scared?

do it scared

– brianna wiest

i call this one “nobody likes you when youre 23”

uploaded this at 1 am thinking ‘oh no one is going to see this, whatever :)’ but reading your thoughts, your heartbreak and ultimately your hope made me feel like the world is one yknow what? We got this

– Glennon Doyle Melton, Love Warrior

why none of them got into The Good Place

What I love about this is its acknowledgment that Jason had no intentions at all

this is all 100% true but it always made me really mad that Chidi’s “crime” was having a severe anxiety disorder like he needed understanding and therapy, sending him to the Bad Place for something he had literally no control over was incredibly fucked up

I feel like a less-surface theme of the show is that they’re all in a situation where they have been forced into bad patterns by forces outside their control - Chidi has SEVERE anxiety; Eleanor was forced by abuse and neglect to adopt a self-centered attitude from early childhood and, like many people with traumatic pasts, responds by not dealing with difficult emotions; Jason was very overtly raised in an environment where he got no education and all his models for behaviour were criminal and/or self-destructive; and Tahani has been raised in an environment where everything is performative and she is shot down for any genuine expression of unhappiness or non-material want. Just as Michael and Janet are made one way but changed by their experiences, the moral of the story is that things outside your control shape you but you can move away from them. That could easily be really insulting, in a sort of ‘just get over it’ way, but the idea isn’t that they change solely because they decide to be better - all six of them change because their circumstances change and give them the OPPORTUNITY to be better, because they’re finally given the support system they lack.

I like The Good Place because the whole show has since day 1 been predicated on the idea that black and white moral judgements made in a vacuum are bullshit, and that moral choices are informed by things outside our control, whether that be education, behaviour modelling, unfair treatment or mental health issues. That doesn’t mean we aren’t responsible for our actions but it DOES mean we have to understand morality in the context of people’s varied experiences AND asks for the possibility that if their environment is improved, their ability to function as moral agents also improves.

“sending him to the Bad Place for something he had literally no control over was incredibly fucked up” yea it was fucked up that was the entire point they made in the show. thats why they spent multiple seasons fighting to change the system of the Good Place vs. the Bad Place.

Okay time for the PBS Kids essay

In 1968, before there was PBS Kids proper, there was Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. While it came several decades before the children’s block, it laid the foundation for the themes and values present in every facet of the network’s history.

Mr. Roger famously hated children’s programming at the time. To him, it all was droll and useless. But he didn’t dissuade the medium entirely— he saw potential. Potential that led to a few smaller television jobs, and eventually the creation of Mr. Roger’s neighborhood.

Rogers didn’t invent educational TV for children, but he did perfect it. He poured real heart and soul into probably the most sincere, heartfelt program in history.

Honestly, he could have his own essay. The more things you learn about the real man of Mr. Rogers, the more you’ll like him.

Anyway, the biggest thing that makes PBS different is the fact that it earns money through grants, fundraisers, and private donors— not through sponsorships and merchandise sales. This way, PBS Kids can push programming that it feels is important, rather than programming that merely sells well.

This also means PBS is less afraid of pushing social boundaries. Money doesn’t go away when their shows become subjects of debate— and Mr. Rogers took full advantage of this.

For context, this was 1969. The Jim Crow era had just barely, barely ended. Pool segregation was still very much legal.

Mr. Rogers sharing a pool and a towel with the Black Mr. Clemmons was a pretty big deal at the time— especially on a show made for children.

Rogers was far from the untouchable sacred cow of today. When he was alive, he had a large number of detractors. Let’s just say that scene didn’t fly nicely by everyone.

Just one year after the debut of Mr. Roger’s came Sesame Street.

While Mr. Roger’s was made for all children, Sesame Street had the explicit goal of supplementing the education of underserved communities— especially inner-city Black (and later Latino) children.

While it was made to be accessible to children of all races and income levels, they definitely went the extra mile to make it something special for inner-city Black and Brown kids. (Why do you think it it’s “Sesame Street” and not “Sesame Cul-de-Sac”?)

At the time, a wholesome, sweet show set in a brownstone street was practically unheard of.

Jon Stone, the casting director, deliberately sought to make the cast as rich with color as he possibly could, bringing on a huge amount of Black talent such as Loretta Long, Matt Robinson, and Kevin Clash, as well as featuring Black celebrities as guest stars. Later, the show would expand its horizons, bringing on actors from Latino, Asian, Native American, and many more backgrounds.

White actors were and still are a minority on show.

In addition to letters and numbers, the purpose of Sesame Street is clear: make kids of color know that they’re smart, beautiful, and loved.

It doesn’t get more explicit than this.

I want to point out this comment because it’s funny

You’re telling me this bitch isn’t Hispanic???

Anyway, these two were followed up by Reading Rainbow in 1983. And guess what?

That’s right. Non-white focus.

These three shows, (along with other, lesser-known programs like Lamb-Chops Play Along, Newton’s Apple, and Shining Times Station (who featured Ringo Starr himself?? seriously how did that happen and why does no one talk about it) and some other nostalgic favorites like Bill Nye the Science guy, The Magic Schoolbus, Arthur, and Thomas the Tank Engine) aired on the new PTV block, which evolved into PBS Kids in 1999, bringing along Between the Lions, Dragon Tales, and many more.

Arthur is another stand-out that I’d like to talk about— it doesn’t have the same racial focus of Sesame Street, but it does focus on different income levels. The characters have various housing situations, from apartments to mansions to no home at all.

It also takes cues from Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s in regards to talking about tough topics, though as Arthur has a slightly older target audience, it discusses things through stories rather than talking directly to the audience.

Cancer, religion, workplace discrimination, along with current (at the time) events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina are all discussed on the show.

Another big focus on Arthur is disability. For once, they don’t stick a character in a wheelchair and then pretend he’s not in a wheelchair. A striking number of major characters either develop or get diagnosed with physical disabilities and/or neurodivergences, such as asthma, severe food allergies, and dyslexia, and they deal with them in very realistic ways.

A handful of minor characters have more obvious disabilities, and THANK GOD they go beyond the trite messaging of “disabled people can do everything abled people can do! everyone clap now!”

One episode in particular has the awesome message of “holy shit stop trying to help me all the time— it’s patronizing as fuck. I can get around just fine without you stepping on eggshells and trying to be the hero all the fucking time”

There are sooo many other shows I could talk about, but I can’t write about them all. I’m definitely gonna point out some more standout ones, though.

Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat

Created by Chinese-American woman Amy Tang

Dragonfly TV

Features a multitude of female and non-white scientists to foster an interest in science with kids in those groups

Maya & Miguel

One of the network’s first Hispanic-led shows

SciGirls

I shouldn’t have to explain what the goal of this one was.

Molly of Denali

When was the last time you saw a show that treated Native Americans as people? Much less a children’s show? 90% of the cast is Athabascan, and the show revolves around Athabascan culture, not shying away from topics like boarding schools and modern-day racism. Most of the writers are also Athabascan, and the show even has an official Gwich’in dub!

It’s this commitment to real, authentic social justice that makes PBS Kids so much different from its predecessors. Could you imagine the Paw Patrol dog looking at the camera and earnestly discussing what happened to George Floyd? I don’t think so— but Arthur talked specifically about it, Sesame Street did an hour long special about race in general, and the network itself made a 30 minute special.

Disney Jr. could never. (Other than trying to teach colorblindness, of course.)

I’m gonna have to cut this into two parts, since I just hit the image limit

Oh, and here a few modern standouts. (Imagine how special Jelly, Ben, & Pogo must be to a Filipino kid? Filipinos never get anything. Or a Latina kid in The Bronx seeing Alma’s Way and going “holy shit that’s actually where I live”)

And PBS Kids isn’t just made up of its shows— that’s the main part of it, sure, but it’s also home to an extensive amount of parental recourses. Many of which, again, deal with race and activism.

And the real cherry on top is that a good portion of those recourses are specifically for nonwhite families!

(Yes, I, a grown-ass white man, am excited for a show made for Black preschoolers. It looks like this one is gonna focus more heavily on the modern-day impact of American chattel slavery, and it’s gonna be very candid and explicit with it while also being completely kid-friendly. Why the hell am I pumped for this.)

Sesame Street also has a few parent-site-exclusive episodes that deal with topics too specific and too heavy to be aired on TV or made available on their child-focused site. Things like having a parent with a drug addiction, having a parent in jail, being homeless, death of a close family member, and so on.

Honestly, you could spend hours browsing sesameworkshop.org and pbskids.org/parents. There’s just an incredible amount of left-leaning articles— it’s not a side of PBS Kids that gets discussed much, but it definitely makes their values much clearer.

So yeah. You could say I’m a fan of PBS Kids.

Just wanted to add, I watched a documentary about Mr. Rogers a while back, and one thing that struck me was after his death, (while relatively few in number), there were protestors at/near his service, who thought he qmwas a horrible man. I didn't see Mr Rogers Neighborhood when it came out (I'm not that old), but I watched it when it was a kid, and I remember thinking when I learned about those protestors "how could anyone have hated him?"

(the documentaries were "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" from 2018, and "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" from 2019)

Yep! Rogers was way more divisive at the time than people who weren’t there could imagine— he was still mostly beloved, of course, but plenty absolutely seethed at the idea of this man teaching white children to be genuinely kind to black kids.

conservatives really know how to make things sound awesome, don’t they?

PBSkids was the only TV we had access to for my childhood. When I was small enough to lay on my dad’s chest and not even cover the whole thing, we would watch the Magic School Bus for hours (literally). Wild Krats was a favorite of my sister and I. Clifford was my dad’s preferred program, and I think my whole family still knows at least some of Curious George by heart. PBSkids is a godsend.

While taking a nap today I dreamt there was a hazard sign called "never found" which was used to indicate a location where people disappeared never to be seen again

it looked like this

The imagery and vibes of this were so visceral I had to do art about it

(Grayscale version under cut)

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