#also ignore this lol

[haryuusart]

(rant, you can ignore)

I believe I'll never be truly part of a fandom in the way I've always wanted

It's a piece I've been missing since little me had access to internet: to be part of something. Which is absolutely silly and not that important, I know, but- y'know, most people, in the back of their mind, always hope that something apparently unrealistic will happen in some way, I think

So I've tried countless times to fit into fandoms of things I love but it just- never sticks (in the way I wish it would, that is). It's like goldilocks, too much, too little, but never just right

I write and a few people like it- but maybe it's too poetic, too long, simply not enough to attract

I draw and a few people like it; but perhaps it's not aesthetic enough, too stiff, not creative enough, too boring

I try engaging with people, share ideas, try to make mutuals, with artists and non artists- but maybe I'm too much, too boring, people simply don't like me and... end up ignoring me

When the genuine naïve passion was still there, not corrupted yet, I would have created anything my mind imagined, with no boundaries dictated by social medias or people. I would not care. That was my purpose in life; to be an artist.

But then my mental health progressively decayed, unstoppable and violent. I would still have the spark to create, the desire to be an artist, but I didn't have the time nor the strength to. I was too tired and busy and undiagnosed and sad and.... Everything else.

Now I'm- I wouldn't say too old, I know there are no age restrictions, but I still feel like I'm running out of time. Not because someone else necessarily set a timer for me, saying that I have to be successful in this if I want to continue being part of fandoms- maybe I set my own timer and expected to be able to meet my (probably unreasonable) expectations.

I now have more time to draw and write and create, and sometimes I do. I just feel like I've already used so much of my creativity and inspiration and... love for art, that I've almost used it all. It's like the battery is almost dead but I don't even know if I want to recharge it. Would it be worth it?

Truth is, I think there's like a 0,2% probability that I'll get what I've always wanted, and that's fair I guess. You can't have everything, right? It's just.... sad. I know 16yo me really hoped I would make it. I know 18yo me had less hopes, but still dreamt of making it somehow, by some miracle. I know 21yo had absolutely lost any hope left and swore she'd never come back and try, and I get her. I know 24yo me, when she tried creating again, felt that exhilarating spark for a moment and clinged to it for dear life.

I don't know what 26yo me feels. The spark is somewhere in the back of my mind, pushing me to try again, to not let go of this. But I don't know. I don't know if that's enough.

[hoshizoralone]

reflection

[gingermintpepper]

I think, perhaps one of the funniest things to come from EPIC popularising the Odyssey is that now a ton of people think Poseidon wanted to kill Odysseus.

In the Odyssey, Poseidon has no intention of killing Odysseus. In fact, part of the whole reason Zeus lets Poseidon do whatever he wants even though he thinks Odysseus is rad and should get to kiss his wife is explicitly because Poseidon had no intentions of killing Odysseus. Poseidon wanted to pay back the suffering/inconvenience blinding Polyphemus would have caused. It's a really abstract thing tbh. How do you pay back someone permanently disabling your son? Poseidon's solution was just to amputate Odysseus from his other half; i.e. Penelope. The end game was never murder, it was always an endurance race.

(Od. Book 1: Zeus reassuring Athena that he is not, in fact, a part of Odysseus Hater-Nation. Trans. Robert Fagles)

Also, for those wondering if there's any sort of in text reason for why Poseidon wasn't around in God Games - at the time in the Odyssey when Athena petitions Zeus to let Odysseus leave Calypso's island, Poseidon was -checks notes- on vacation in Ethiopia. Yep. He left to Ethiopia for a festival and thusly was very much absent for Athena's whole "please let Ody go? Please? 🥺" request.

(Od. Book 1: While Odysseus was suffering, Poseidon went to party in the east)

I am begging y'all to read the Odyssey. It's a comedy for everyone except Odysseus and Penelope who are, in fact, suffering 24/7 365.

[squidwithelbows]

Screenshot of the exact moment i knew i was going to be obsessed with jeremy knox

[drawerbread]

truly my comfort ship

no skull paint ver:

[knowmypower]

please understand my vision of meta knight and bayonetta (brawl and wiiu champs) being doubles partners now

original

[ficwip]

A slightly revised version of last year's questions! Two ways to play: Reblog and have your followers send you numbers, or answer the whole list!

How many fics have you worked on since January?

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year?

What piece of media inspired you the most? (This can be the fandom you wrote the most for, the one that spawned the most ideas, the one you thought about the most, etc.)

How many fandoms did you write for this year?

What ships captured your heart?

What characters captured your heart?

Did you write for any new fandoms or ships this year?

What fic meant the most to you to write?

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

What fic was the most difficult to write?

What fic was the easiest to write?

What were your shortest and longest fics posted this year?

What were your go-to writing songs?

What was the hardest fic to title?

What's your favorite title of the year?

Share your favorite opening line

Share your favorite ending line

Share your favorite piece of dialogue

Share your funniest line

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

What writing programs did you use? Did you write by hand?

If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

How did you recharge between fics?

Did you create fanworks other than fic?

How many events did you take part in? (bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, zines, prompt memes, they all count!)

If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

What's left on your to-do list for 2024?

What would you like to write next year?

[colourmornings]

Quick note on Charles's speech for fic writers or anyone interested, really.

Charles uses tag questions, where he ends a sentence with a question, doesn't he? I see a lot of "innit" thrown at the end of sentences, which is right, sometimes.

There is unfortunately grammar. First off, if the main verb is negative, the tag will be positive, and vice versa.

When the main verbs in the sentence is a form of "be" or a modal verb (must, could, would, have, will, can, do etc), he's going to repeat that same form at the end of the sentence. An exception to this is a positive main verb of "I am" in which case the tag will be "aren't I?"

"[You're] Not going back to hell, are you?"

"I wouldn't wanna be dead with anyone else, would I?"

"No, we're not going anywhere, are we?"

"Well, I can't see where you're pointing to, can I?"

"We don't want a repeat of the infamous puppy debacle of '94, do we?"

He uses "innit" a lot less than people think, I think. It took me a while to find examples of him saying this, I ended up having to search a transcript. It follows the same rules as above, except the subject is always a thing, or the pronoun "it," and the main sentence is positive, so that the tag can be the negative "innit" (isn't it). *Edit* "innit" is not used as a question! It's mainly used to reinforce a talking point! (Thank you @elizabear). While the other tags are like rhetorical questions, this one is flat tonally and can end with a period, too.

"Boxing's a gentleman's sport, innit?"

"Magical void, innit?"

"That's the injustice we fight, innit?"

When the verb is not one of those above" he uses a form of "do."

"Well, that sounds a lot like you, doesn't it?"

"Wanna keep things professional, don't I?"

Charles also ends a lot of sentences with just the word "yeah."

"Psychic thing makes case work go a lot faster, yeah?"

I am usamerican, but I have a masters in Linguistics. People who actually use tag questions, though, please add on or correct me!

[bookalicent]

yeah so this was insane

[magic-worms]

two primates

finally drew the tf2 baboon!! + some doodles i wanted to feature mostly heavy in since i haven’t seen nearly enough art of them together. i think he is a proud and loving dad. more under the cut

[one-chaotic-neautral]

Arcane ships ranked, for fun

The main ships and some rarepairs I've found, I like pretty much everything in the first 4 rows. I probably missed some but idk what they are and I'm too lazy to add more rn.

feel free to add your thoughts or ships but again its just for funsies :)

[ahhrenata]

Steve tries to stay quiet while he gets ready for work, but Eddie hears him. He keeps his eyes closed and just listens- to Steve grumbling to himself when his hair doesn’t sit quite right, who starts to hum and whisper some catchy song. Eddie turns his sleepy gaze onto Steve as he shuffles around their room- watching quietly as he slips on his clothes, his shoes, a simple chain with Eddie’s ring around his neck. A warm, affectionate smile breaks across his face. Before he leaves, Steve glances at what he expects to be a sleeping Eddie, but instead, he’s met with a rasped, ‘Hey.’ Eddie sits himself up, stretches his arm across Steve’s side of the bed, and reaches, fingers wiggling. Steve crosses the room to cradle his face.

Their foreheads press, noses bump, and Steve brushes his fingers across scars and dimples.

He breathes a quiet,

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.’

Eddie huffs a tired laugh,

‘You know I never mind.’

Because, yeah.

Every morning Steve tries to stay quiet while he gets ready for work, but Eddie always hears him.

( another one from the poll | WIP )

[riddlerosehearts]

and the universe said, i love you because you are love

[azriaann]

nalu doodle while i study for finals☝️ yes the bottom was necessary

[ilonacho]

Sad book club📚

[wizardhex]

From "I Spy Christmas: A Book of Picture Riddles", Walter Wick