Wow
so I just finished reading all of these posts. took me a little longer than an hour and a half. my excitement of contributing is overwhelming, because I feel like this might be the time that a symbol is created and produced. I feel lucky, after all my time in the tickling community (much of it spent not contributing) to be part of this shared endeavor. I will try to keep my opinions and observations short, because I understand it gets tough to examine someone's argument if the post goes on for a while. please, bear with me, and thanks for reading.
I like Hari's Neuron Tree. I also like EcEu's 2nd work (and also the tribal). Both of these look great to me.
I think Hari's explanation of meaning/symbolism is right on... I agree with it. or I should say subtle_feather's original idea.
EcEu's 2nd piece with the feathers, the triskelion based, seems to also be appealing to others, with a feather being a symbol some people equate with tickling. Since many people agree with the feather concept, it would seem to be representative of many.
BUT... people also like the Neuron Tree, as do I. I think the Neuron idea is deeper, at a microscopic level (no pun intended wokka wokka), something deep inside all of us.
The tree is also simpler, and NOT like a triskelion. here's where I become a little biased: I would rather our symbol/emblem not be like the BDSM emblem, because "tickle fetish" does not equate to "bdsm" for me. Many people here believe that this fetish got its start in BDSM, and maybe for some people it did, but not for me, and I'm sure not for many others as well. If people discover the meaning of the symbol, and notice that it is like the triskelion of the BDSM emblem, then they may relate us to them, and if that's the case, then why would we need our own unique symbol?
The Tree is nothing like what I expected, which is awesome. It is aesthetically beautiful, and SIMPLE. When Euphoricy said that it did not elicit in her the feeling/concept of tickling, I sort of agreed with her. I tried to determine something to add to imply tickling, and the main thing I thought of was if the base of the tree was a feather, making the tree and the feather idea come together. I didn't draw it, but I may, or someone else might. This is just one possibility of change, though I still say that the original tree is amazing as it is.
Another thing that has been thrown around during this post, is the dots, for eyes, creating a smiley face. it seemed silly, but some of the ideas looked good. if it was a bit cartoonish, I then thought, what about the concept of "smiling eyes"? Not dots, like the Have a Nice Day smiley face, but happy eyes, like the bottom two images in ticklishmikey's post (page 3, #38). I can't agree with myself about where they would go, but it seems less cartoonish and the eyes would be conveying pleasure.
This is the crux of that particular addition. Pleasure is a big part of tickling. for the 'ler or for the 'lee. Laughter can come from pleasure. The act of tickling another is pleasurable. Even a sadist or a masochist delivers pain, humiliation, and whatever else because it gives that person some sort of satisfaction. Pleasure is key (hint at skip's idea, I didn't even mean to!), like comfort, in this fetish. and I believe that the smiling eyes would add pleasure to this emblem, as long as they do not replace the circle in the middle of the Tree. They could be on top, like the dots. Whatever the artist wants, whoever may pick up my idea.
Also, with the tree idea, this is another quality of it that requires no addition, but I think is unique about it. If we thought of the circle in the middle as the center, and rotated the emblem around, where the "base" of the tree was now pointing towards 7:30 instead of 6:00, perhaps the person sporting that emblem would feel different about tickling than someone who had the base facing down. Someone could rotate the tree around to where the stem pointed up and to the right, at 1:30, so that it resembled the "male symbol" or Mars' symbol, if that person was very masculine. Every different rotation could mean that the individual felt different about tickling "I love it" "I hate it" "it turns me on" "I feel in control" or "this is just foreplay". It doesn't matter. It is all up to you.
Here's something else interesting: this thread has had contributions from every type of TMF member: legends, newbies, lurkers, silly folk, young, old, dark, perky. you name it and they have contributed. This must be the place to decide.
I have typed quite a bit, and I would love to hear some sort of feedback on this. Once again, my top choice is the neuron tree, but what is important is that we all can relate to it somehow, as this emblem will bring us all together. artists, draw away. I look forward to the creation of this emblem, and for the unification of our community around it.
-Mel
