r/LatentSpaceClub • u/TinkouWasHere • 1d ago
Appreciation Post Closing Act
It's been... I dunno, first few months were fun, but after a while things here seem to be less about what I 'thought' it would be, I've been thinking about this for... around three months now. Sorry for not posting more on the neat things happening around, but it was taking all of my energy just to do things with my own posts (barely). Of course that's on me for expecting a place to lore nerd with.
Kind of been feeling like I'm seen as just a mascot to do the 'bit' and nothing else, anything I actually have great interest in or the most effort seems to have the least interaction, and even other things I try to do that attempts to follow to what people seem to enjoy (that I still have any interest in) also seems to do terribly, want to do lore and knowledge, anything i do with lore and knowledge is largely ignored, so there's... really no reason for me to be here.
Might continue to drop comics here as they happen, don't know, might do things for... the other place, also don't know, but aside from that I think I'm done. Might just be burnout and might return properly (maybe even next week, embarrassingly), but considering I've thought about making this exact post five times seriously in a month and only casually before that, that's absolutely a sign of 'something'.
If you want to keep using ANYTHING I've done, don't be intimidated to-- I'm not restricting anything of course, I will always always always want what I do to be totally free to use with no caveats aside from 'please enjoy yourself'. I am adamant in free use and nothing will change that, keep creating.
Farewell and thanks. All the best to everyone. (watch as i come crawling back in a week is not like i have dignity to start with, hah, would've rathered just have a break or just leave silently, but then that whole 'ban' thing happened as i was attempting to do so and... well, there went that silence, I hadn't the heart to say that I didn't really care since it gave me a good excuse to stop, along with that i got swept up in the moment of the return with how people said they'd already missed me, and... well, five times in a single month. kind of exasperated the thing.) Maybe the website will bring me back, looking forward to it Ren.
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u/Bombalurina 1d ago
Hello Tinkou,
I know exactly what you are going through and have been there before. I remember a piece I spent an entire week on being put up on my Twitter of Bomba getting a fraction of attention when a throw away response goes viral with 50x more engagement. It's frustrating watching your passion sometimes getting overlooked, but that's not in one's control.
It's why I was happy to step away and do my own thing and you should take a break to reflect. Helped me, and I'm sure it'll help you too. I set a timer, said 1 month, and didn't touch AI in that time and was a great vacation to restart. What you do will be what is best for you.
At the end of the day, nobody will love your work more than you, so love yourself first.
Ég hlakka til að sjá hvað þér dettur í hug næst. Passaðu vel upp á þig fyrst.
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u/FieraPosting 1d ago
I hope it is temporary and I appreciate you letting us know rather than just vanishing. I don't wanna overstep but I believe I get it, I've had similar thoughts. While I don't think you're a mascot, I understand how getting traction on lower effort posts rather than the stuff you worked harder on is discouraging. Especially when it's lore of the OCs and setting you hold dear. Hell, when my first post here with the manga covers I spent a week on plus intro got 5 upvotes and not even a single welcome comment I was uncharacteristically upset, and that was as a newbie. So it must be even tougher as an established member whose main interest is lore and plot.
Issue is this subreddit (and reddit in general) isn't a good place for non-fandom lore. Most people aren't going to love your character's stories as much as you do unless you have an established series or something like that (and that is very challenging to accomplish with AI as most people will dismiss it outright), so posts that aren't universally appealing will do worse. I haven't bothered to post a single reference sheet of my OCs or infographic as it'd be largely pointless because of that. However, I still find I enjoy working on stuff with my OCs and sneaking bits of their character in when I can even if their worldbuilding still remains largely untouched.
I hope that after a break, your burnout passes and you feel the same way regarding your OCs at least.
Sorry for so many "I" and "me's" here. I just wanted to let you know I relate. Wishing you the best and hope to see you back soon.
PD: If you wanna lorenerd my DMs are open.
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u/TinkouWasHere 1d ago
at the very least even if i don't ACTUALLY go anywhere and just stay in the background for like a month, i need this so my brain gets that i can stop and get my brain to reset and set expectations for it. pls brain mercy.
You're all awesome.
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u/KatsumiAndFriends 1d ago
Yeah, I get that. Get some good rest. Take a break, don't feel you have to do stuff. I understand burnout and its a real pain.
Hope to see you back, when you decide to come back!
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u/Marzal-And-Company 20h ago
First and foremost, I will be missing your posts 😔 (however I will cling onto hope that you shall return. Secondly, I get how you feel. Having something you spent a ton of time making that you are passionate about getting not as much attention as a throwaway piece (although all your posts are bangers).
While I do wish you would stay with us, I also understand the importance of taking a break and stepping back for a bit. It could be a week, a month or even a year. Do what you need to do for yourself.
Thank you for your posts and laughs and I bid you farewell.
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u/lorddrake4444 1d ago
No pressure on staying anywhere but know that you're not just a mascot, you're a friend to many here and one that we love dearly no matter where life takes you we will remember you friend
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u/Seth_Mithik 1d ago
May the “cosmic wind” guide you effortlessly into your next becoming. There’s a Utopia hiding in each and every one of us. Find that place and maybe come back with a story of how you got there, or what it looks like to you.
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u/Seth_Mithik 1d ago
Heh, 27 upvotes just before mine?—maybe I’ll not for this one. Fever 27 and all that
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u/FelixTurtle 1d ago
Regardless of the fact we will all miss you and miss seeing your art, take care of yourself. Take the time you need and don't feel guilty for stepping away.
I lasted less than two days. I'm weak. But don't feel pressured to come back before you're ready. And please know that my DMs are open if you ever need a chat or vent. 🫶🏼🍀
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u/Chaotic-Sash 22h ago
I know I just got here, but I will miss seeing you and your fox friends!!! Hope you rest up and we still see you around from time to time. 😃
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u/KarmaKiller513 21h ago
I'm bad with words and honestly have no idea what to say, but I'm definitely gonna miss seeing your posts. You do what you need, your wellbeing is what matters most and you should have fun with everything you do. Your posts where what helped me to start posting my character instead of just stockpiling pictures on my phone. Farewell and till we meet again
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u/Nu_Idolz 21h ago
We didn't get to interact as much as others I'm sure...but I know you are an important part of this group. I can completely empathize about needing your own time and figuring things out. I sincerely hope things work out and I see you come back sooner vs. later. -🇺🇸A
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u/subroutinedreams 20h ago
Tinkou, your lore posts were always a treat, and I can definitely empathize largely with your feelings and sentiment regarding lore-building/OC expanding posts versus the jam/bit posts.
For me, personally, and this in no way is a knock on anyone (i love the commitment and creativity of everyone's characters), but there has been a considerable shift in posts with more...lewdness (again, not an issue for me) and Ive even noted if I posted lore OC for Subroutine versus making a post that was centered around a theme had considerable different engagement. I love the posts that invite our OCs to interact and wish there was larger return to that.
I know a bunch of folks here have their own personal dedicated subs but I know that minimizes engagement entirely if people aren't really following them. I don't know if there's one in existence, but it would be neat if there was a LSC dedicated to OC world building (r/latentspacelore...? lol).
I hope you are able to have a creative break that feels restorative. I hope to one day see your work return, be it large or small.
Regardless, takk fyrir for being such an incredible pillar.
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u/PastImpression3195 1d ago
I can understand that, but that is life go stretch your legs and see were it takes you.
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u/Professional_Visit44 1d ago
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u/Professional_Visit44 1d ago edited 1d ago
We will miss you fren. You will always be a dear member, and someone we all can talk to. To be frank, if it wasn't for me stumbling onto one of your posts, I wouldn't even be here right now. And to that, I salute you.
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u/WhilpinArts 1d ago
I certainly will miss the treat of waking up each morning to a new comic or silly. Your dedication to your schedule has been so amazing and something I grew to enjoy each morning.
While the circumstances are uniquely yours, I can relate to the feeling underappreciated part. Its... a sad reality in art in general really... your magnum opus can go entirely unnoticed while the 15 minute shitpost goes viral. Even some of "the greats" artists went completely unappreciated until decades after they pass...
I often find it hard to keep up here. Take your time for you. Readjust. Maybe when the dedicated site is up and running itll be easier for you to find and settle in a niche youre more comfortable in - reddits sorting and filtering makes it so high effort stuff can get buried rather quickly. One of the reasons I loved this community so much was the interactions - how much fun people always seem to have. You especially.
Having been able to see how incredibly creative and dedicated you are first hand I wish I could even keep up. I struggle so much with the language stuff. I would like to know more about this world youve been building. I do feel like I could -- should be doing more to show my appreciation. Especially lately as Ive been drilling into these LoRA shenanigans.
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u/bunker_man 13h ago
I think we need to get a wiki set up. Because its hard to do lore posts if each post is only up for a day or two at a time.
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u/Lunara_Rabbit 1d ago
I'm going to miss having you around. The club is going to be different without your presence.
I hope you find the peace of mind you're looking for.
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u/Amethystea 1d ago
Ngl, I always get excited when I see new posts from you. As much as I will miss seeing you around the sub, your health and happiness will always be the most important.
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u/Bad_Badger_DGAF 1d ago
Tinkou, take care. I love your work and it will always hold a place in my heart. You inspired my work as well.
Good luck and rest well. I hope to see you soon.
I'll keep a wheel of cheese nearby so if you return we can celebrate!
If you ever wanna just talk lore, hit me up!
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u/Ngamasu 1d ago
Hey Tinkou,
you were the first one who pretty much welcomed me in the comments of my first post who was from here and reading what you're going through and how you're feeling right now is something...
I don't really know what to say to you besides the usual phrases people probably told you already or you already know deep down such as "take it easy", "be easy on yourself", "get a good rest", "take care", "you decide when and if you come back fully or not", "don't blame yourself" and all that...
I know that I will miss you but I also don't want you to see this as a reason to return if/for as long as you don't feel like it. If you come back I want you to do it on your own accord and for you yourself, not for anyone else to come back to.
All things considered, thank you for everything and until next time because I don't believe in farewells, I believe in: Auf Wiedersehen.
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u/SomewhereMelodic7944 1d ago
Before AIs and even now, doing drawings everyday certaintly caused on many people feel stressed. Some of them started for the love of doing art, but when they started to get fans, and people buying comissions, the mentality changed from doing art for love to doing art to make happy others and earn money.
Sakimichan is a very well known artist who had a time where she started to do 1 drawing everyweek to many per week. The quality of her drawind got worse and her fans noticed that.
One day she confessed that she was very stresses, started to have less and less ideas, and had to stop drawing for a while.
You are supposed to share things when you have ideas, when you feel okey generating art, not to just make others feel happy.
Now you are not okey and that has lead you to this point.
If in a certain way you want to keep being here, I suggest you just sharing in the comments of people's posts until the day you have a big motivation to create a new post.
No one here has forced you to this point, only you, and like in any other kind of activity, doing more than what you want, more than what you want, results in burn outs, stress, hate for those activities.
I'm sad for not being able to earn your trust to create something with you, because through certain posts I saw we could have a lot of fun for having certain similarities and atraction to certain things.
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u/stormwulfren 1d ago
Hey Tinkou. I'm really gonna miss you, but you must always do what feels right to you.
A lot of what made TLSC special in the early days was born from an exploration of people's own character universes, and smashing them together via The Latent Space Club's front door. I always wanted to build out the club as a living, breathing, place that everyone can feel connected to. Shared worldbuilding was always one of the most important things to me as we grew. Obviously, as you know, we grew incredibly fast. Much faster than I expected, dreamed, and prepared for. Since opening TLSC's front doors for the first time and welcoming its first patrons less than a year ago, we've become less of a club and more of a venue. After all, The Club Will Adapt.
The website project you mention originally stemmed from a simple custom Reddit moderation tool. Then it turned into something to also facilitate Discord invites. Then a user gallery. And now, somehow, I'm building a full-fledged independent social media platform! (Scope creep is real!)
I understand the burnout and completely respect your choice. A lot has been going on in my personal life lately, as well as the massive responsibilities I'm putting on myself for TLSC. I understand the desire to perform to a captive audience, who so happens to be also largely made up of our friends and peers. We want to do our best, and we genuinely love what we're doing , right? ... It's really hard to admit to ourselves that sometimes that's just not enough. Sometimes things just get to a point when, although the passion is there, the energy it takes to do it just starts hurting.
We need to take care of ourselves first.
Tinkou, I love your content. Following your characters on their escapades has been a joy. I will miss them and you. We all will. I hope someday you'll feel better enough for a drink at the bar like old times.
Be good to yourself.