GH Litter Discussion 2022

[Aurora Storm]

As much as I enjoyed the ice cream kitty, it's great to see Oozrook fully grown in all their gooey glory!
I'm also obsessed with Cel's pixel art in your signature aaaah ♡

[Oddity-Lad]

Ahh! Oozrook is based off Reuniclus, I love that so much! One of my favorite psychic types, i’m so happy I got this guy right.

When designing Oozrook, what was the most challenging part of figuring out their design? And whats your favorite part of their design?

Most difficult part would've been the number of layers I needed to use and managing them lol. Oozrook is "transparent" able to see into them but not through them. So I needed to have "front" and "back" versions of my lineart, urn, goo, and spot layers in order to create the depth I was going for. Favourite part would be the heads! It's a full grown adult and teen head smooshed together (part of the reason why I didn't have a teen stage) but it was really fun to see it come together.

As much as I enjoyed the ice cream kitty, it's great to see Oozrook fully grown in all their gooey glory!
I'm also obsessed with Cel's pixel art in your signature aaaah ♡

Yes!!! Mint chocolate chip will live on forever in my mind!

I've wanted art from Celozon for a long time and their commissions just so happened to open up for part of this month. I absolutely took it as a sign to commission a piece. It was kinda sneaky working together behind the scenes but now that they're claimed I couldn't wait any longer to pop them in my signature.

[Harrow]

While it's really cool that the ice cream cat is so deeply personal and meaningful to the artist, I actually really struggle with looking at it because to my brain it is essentially body horror.

Recently there's been a surge in the popularity of AI generated imagery and art, much of which inadvertently features messed up faces as part of it. I find that really disturbing, to the point that I've done my utmost to block any and all chances for it to appear in the places that I frequent. The splitting off of the second face in that particular outcome is extremely disturbing to me, and while I absolutely respect and admire the amount of thought and work that went into the execution, I really think it needs to be brought up that the outcome not only can, but is disturbing to some people who use the site; in my case I had to immediately trade that outcome away because I'm uncomfortable with the idea of running across it while going through my groups and I'm not able to otherwise censor or block pet images.

I don't mean to be a downer, but I do think that this is a point that needs to be raised for discussion: while I understand and respect how much it means tot he artist, that outcome in particular is going to be disturbing or potentially triggering for members of the CS user base.

[rileypillow]

While it's really cool that the ice cream cat is so deeply personal and meaningful to the artist, I actually really struggle with looking at it because to my brain it is essentially body horror.

If you find an outcome disturbing, you can use Adblocker, right click the image, and block in the same manner that you’d block an ad. There are several other pets on the site that could be classed as triggering/body horror/etc., but that’s another topic altogether.

[Oddity-Lad]

I do appreciate this being brought up. I did however thoroughly confirm with admin that Oozrook didn't break any CS art rules in regards to body horror and just generally being frightening and they did pass every time.

For me personally they fall into a category of natural deformities much like the two faced cow or any animal or even human with extra limbs. Which though can be frightening, largely comes from a place of being uncomfortable over something we don't understand and isn't really body horror. I can imagine a person with six fingers being classified as body horror would be rather upsetting to that person. I remember seeing a kitten with four ears on Instagram that was probably the cutest cat I've ever seen. They are also heavily inspired by cells splitting which is a constantly occurring within our own bodies, perhaps They're just splitting in two? I will also add that Oozrook has no body, no bones, no muscles, and can therefore take on whatever shape they wish, a cat with ten legs, sure. A biblically accurate cat that's just a mass of eyes and wings, not out of the realm of possibility.

As a queer man I have also grown up knowing my very existence disturbs people and makes them uncomfortable so I do try to be wholly myself whenever I can and introducing my first pet to Chicken Smoothie is such a symbolic point in my life I really didn't want to do what I thought people would find comfortable, I wanted to do something that would show people who I am, and I do apologize if that isn't palettable.

[codexia]

Wow, I really adore Oozrook and all the backstory! I can't wait to see any future pets you design! <3

[Harrow]

If you find an outcome disturbing, you can use Adblocker, right click the image, and block in the same manner that you’d block an ad. There are several other pets on the site that could be classed as triggering/body horror/etc., but that’s another topic altogether.

Thanks for bringing that option up! It's going to be helpful for at least avoiding that outcome generally -- but what about dress-ups of it? Am I going to be getting blindsided every time someone has one of them in their sig with some kind of item attached because the adblocker doesn't recognize the base element as the one I've blocked?

I do appreciate this being brought up. I did however thoroughly confirm with admin that Oozrook didn't break any CS art rules in regards to body horror and just generally being frightening and they did pass every time.

While that's perfectly fine, Staff is by no means the end-all-be-all of what's going to be triggering or disturbing for people. I think it's impossible for a small group to be able to accurately judge what's going to be a potential issue. It doesn't break rules, but the fact remains that it is disturbing to some users, and I feel that should be taken into account.

For me personally they fall into a category of natural deformities much like the two faced cow or any animal or even human with extra limbs. Which though can be frightening, largely comes from a place of being uncomfortable over something we don't understand and isn't really body horror.

This is a false equivalency. We are not discussing natural deformities, nor people with extra limbs: we are discussing a piece of art that verges on body horror, most specifically eye horror/trauma (which is something that I have significant problems with generally, and which this particular piece of art sets off). I have no issues with natural deformities or animal or human mutations -- in point of fact, I'd be delighted to own a polydactyl cat someday (I love their mittens): I have issues coming across a piece of art with no warning that sets off my eye trauma discomfort.

I will also add that Oozrook has no body, no bones, no muscles, and can therefore take on whatever shape they wish, a cat with ten legs, sure. A biblically accurate cat that's just a mass of eyes and wings, not out of the realm of possibility.

Again, this is not the issue being discussed. The issue is that the image presently on CS utilized for this specific pet outcome sets off the eye trauma/horror discomfort response for some users, including myself. If Oozrook were a biblically accurate cat that's just a mass of wings and eyes, we could discuss that -- but it's not.

As a queer man I have also grown up knowing my very existence disturbs people and makes them uncomfortable so I do try to be wholly myself whenever I can and introducing my first pet to Chicken Smoothie is such a symbolic point in my life I really didn't want to do what I thought people would find comfortable, I wanted to do something that would show people who I am, and I do apologize if that isn't palettable.

Queer people are not a monolith. I myself am a queer non-binary person, and I find the image of this cat disturbing not because of what it represents, but because of a very specific aspect of the art in the eye where the faces split. It isn't about being "palatable," it's about being courteous to people with triggers or major discomforts surrounding body horror with eye trauma, which is an extremely common trigger.

My intention is not to be confrontational, and I by no means intend to invalidate, dismiss, or minimize Oozrook's importance to you as the artist -- I absolutely respect how much care and thought and effort went into its creation! But my concern is that eye horror is a common trigger for people -- myself included -- and this is a public site widely used by kids and teenagers which does not currently support an option to filter out pets that they find disturbing: if they're triggered by the eye horror aspect of this outcome, they have no recourse except to leave the site.

[depressedanonymous,]

I’d just like to pop in and say that if there was a concern with the cats design, staff would have asked Oddity to change it to be less “graphic”. The #1 role of staff is to enforce rules that are meant to keep minors & young players safe, and if they thought there could be a slight issue with the cats design, it would not exist.

I dont think its fair (and even a bit insulting) to Oddity to single out his first and only pet designed by himself, as there are numerous pets on this site that could be potentially triggering for the same reason his cat could be, such as the 2013 staff dog with arms growing out of its back, or the spider-dog hybrids from Halloween 2021 with multiple limbs growing out of its body, and not to mention the countless Halloween pets that depict death & slight gore. I’d argue that this cat is pretty tame, and as Oddity has said above that the cat is meant to be made of a sort of sludge and can take on any form, and it just chooses to have a second head. Why is just his cat a problem?

Unfortunately nothing can be done about the pet other than block the image like a user above suggested. If you feel you need to leave the site over this, go ahead! That’s completely your decision and i’m sure everyone will support you choosing your own safety over a virtual game. The internet will never be a safe space, and you cant always avoid things like these, so maybe consider just taking a break for a bit!

Oddity - I see absolutely nothing wrong with the cats design and love it quite a lot, and I can imagine you’re very excited to finally have your own pet on the site, I know I would!

[Alyssa99]

I mean it’s not like staff pet designs haven’t given me an icky feeling before, and I admit my first thought has been “ugh, ew” on a couple of them in particular upon their adult growths, but it’s the staff member’s choice to create how they want as long as there’s nothing profane or gory.

[Omiyage]

I really really like the mitosis cat. It looks like a cell splitting which is rad for me. And it's gooey!

I posted yesterday but I just wanna post again how this cat is my favorite of all this month!