#and I'm grateful every day for it

[melodyofthevoid]

Writing Wrap Up 2022

So... this year I want to take a bit of a different approach. The last 2 years I’ve wrapped up my writing by posting one from each month and thanking y’all for reading, which I thought about but then... it hit me. 

I haven’t really posted anywhere near half of what I’ve written this year. 

It’s a little insane to me, I’ve posted a shit ton these last 2 years, racked up an impressive word count for sure, but this year was. Different. For a few reasons. 

So this is just going to be me contemplating and examining how my writing has changed this year, if you’ll indulge me. 

Talking with a friend, the year itself stuck out to me. 2022. 3 years since I started writing at all. To keep the story brief, I wrote my first work on winter break back in 2019 at the behest of my bestie @/freshfruitforrottingvegetables (I’ve @’d them enough times crediting them for this) and posted it on ao3. I’ve pretty much been writing non-stop since. Invader Zim got me into writing, and the community I found there boosted me and gave me an absolutely incredible support system. 

But, other than the occasional reblog, this isn’t really a Zim blog anymore. I certainly don’t write about it as much, if ever. Now there’s a few reasons for that, not the least of which being almost 3 years is the longest I’ve had a fixation in a while. I’m amazed it held on as long as it did. Second was... I finished the royalty au. It’s almost hard to remember the beginning of this year but back in March, I posted the last chapter of “Isn’t it A Trial”, wrapping up the project I’d spent nearly two years trying to complete. My first big project. 

And it was done. 

There were a few other behind the scenes things that led to distancing from IZ from a writing standpoint but those aren’t really the point of this. 

For the first time since starting this journey, I was... on my own, so to speak. It was weird, scary at times even. Hell, I’m still very much adjusting to doing entirely OC work. The circle of people I’m posting to isn’t a huge thriving fandom, it’s just my mutuals, and those who’ve come to love the Ocean Idiots crew. I throw in some of my (and @/shmunter’s) ocs in as well, but that’s what I’ve been writing from y’all’s perspective. 

As I said, that’s not even a fraction of the stuff I’ve written in my own time that I don't post. Before, I was writing for an audience on some level. They were always stories I wanted to tell, but there was also the excitement of putting them in a pool of collaboration and community. That there were others. Now, these are my stories almost (really key word of almost, I’m not claiming sole ownership of anything) entirely. 

So I’ve had to adjust. I’m still adjusting. I’ve had a lot of days where writing had been a real uphill battle for me and I questioned the quality of my work. What does it mean now that I’m writing for a more narrow group? Is there a point to it? Am I less inspired now? How can I tell I’m growing or not? Can I tackle the scope of project I want to tackle next? Each time I think about it, it gets more and more daunting, overwhelming even. 

That one post about “Aww did you scare yourself out of doing a project” plays often in my mind. Very often. 

It’s going to be a weird year, even few years going forward. Graduation is on the horizon, with the prospect of maybe moving out and making it on my own from here on. I might move away, I might stay home. There’s a lot of unknowns and within that is what I’m going to do with my writing as well. It’s a part of me now without question, but what form will it take? Will I take? 

Much to consider.

So for this moment, I’m choosing to focus on celebrating the changes that have happened, the work I’ve done this year. The ways I’ve improved, the small leaps into different original ideas that I’ve had. I’ve had a ton of fun with making aus for just myself and like- one other person. I had a blast writing for my old DND characters too! There’s a lot to be proud of, and that’s what matters. 

I want to see what I can do, and I think sticking to some short stories while I shore up and figure out what to do with my bigger concepts might be where I go. Maybe not. Who knows. But at the end of the day, we’ll find out when we get there. Thank you, all of you, for your support, your comments, and your encouragement this year. It’s been a good one, for all its ups and downs. 

[gentlebeard]

If I could hold you for a minute, Darling, I’d go through it again

For @edsbacktattoo & @stedesearring 💕 Show: Our Flag Means Death - Season 1 & 2 Music: Francesca by Hozier YouTube

[spaceratprodigy]

Ooh palettes 🥰 Jasper and Faith in either Malabar squirrel or cherry pie?

@darkfire1177 — [ palette prompts ]

✨ The Unplanned Variables ✨

[crescentfool]

the persona 3 protagonist 25th anniversary nui in food appliances!

[remyfire]

Much as it pains me to do, I must ask once more for a little bit of help to pay for Peach's medical care for this month.

Peach is my wonderful, beautiful, perfect, sassy, cuddly, loving cat. She's 12 years old, and a few months ago we found out that she is diabetic. I love her so, so much and I will do anything I can to keep her healthy and give her a wonderful life as she enters her senior years, but unfortunately the costs of caring for a diabetic cat are more than I can afford right now.

Thanks to the AI boom, the transcription industry is drying up because if there's one thing these things are good at, it's transcribing audio files. Work has been increasingly difficult to come by—I have yet to receive any for this week—and while I've been fortunate enough to have a handful of job interviews recently, I might not hear back about if I got a position until the end of September. And wouldn't you know it, but my credit card is just a hair away from maxing out.

Here's the current damage, which includes Peach's prescription food ($67), syringes ($19), and a fresh bottle of insulin ($133). Cats can have their diabetes go into remission, and if that happened then we would only need to maintain her diet, but in order to make that a possibility, I need to be meticulous about her care.

I've set up a Kofi goal here ($230 in order to cover PayPal fees) so you can see how much I still need for her cost of care. I know that this is a miserable time to ask for donations and that we are so fatigued on giving already, but I legitimately have no choice. Until I can find work somewhere, I desperately need help.

Reblogs are appreciated. And here's a video of her playing with a shoelace as thanks for taking the time to read this post!!

[rad-roche]

working on my perspective and foreshortening. here's a celebratory hog

[ghostlyheart]

Coffee and you

Maggie and Nina in Good Omens Season 2

[thedupshadove]

Superman would not snap and go kill-mode because of a loved one dying, or seeing himself as above us, or any of the other reasons comic-makers always say.

Superman would snap and go kill-mode because living your life with super-hearing on planet Earth would drive anybody right over the edge.

[2aceofspades]

4 more pages left..

I think exaggerating expressions, more dynamic and weighted poses, and line variation will be my focus for my next sketchbook. I also want to get over my lil fear of overlapping sketches cuz I actually really like that look. For any of y'all that were maybe even possibly curious teehee~

[yujeong]

I didn't have a Tumblr account when the scandal started. I actually created one around the end of May 2023, a little before Build had his comeback concert. However, I had a Twitter account, which means I saw everything: I saw Build crying at the sponsored event he had with Bible, I saw the confusing translations, I saw the official announcements, I saw all the hate and vitriol, I saw Poi's unhinged behavior, I saw it all. Those were some of the worst months of my life. Build's story felt personal. Not only because Pete became so important to me, not only because KinnPorsche the Series became a second home, but also because his story was similar to what I'd been through. I was experiencing my previous relationship that finished a mere few months before the scandal started all over again, and it fucking hurt. It hurt seeing him get so much hate. It hurt seeing people celebrate him leaving BOC. It hurt seeing him at the verge of tears outside the court house and it hurt not knowing if he was ever going to come back to acting or to the public eye at all. It still hurts. It's something that is never going to stop hurting. To me, this story has been over since last year. I knew he was innocent already, I didn't need the court decision to tell me that. But what happened today reminded me of something I'd always known but temporarily forgot: it was never over for Build. It will never be truly over for him. Today was a much needed victory, one he deserved a long time ago, but the scars this whole thing has left on him will remain there. And that's also something that hurts me and will never stop hurting me. I'm glad, too, Build. I'm glad you're still here and that you have your fans to support you. And since I'll probably never be able to tell you this up close, Thank you for giving me Pete. Thank you for everything.

[cookinguptales]

*stares at the camera in ehlers-danlos syndrome*

[softpine]

oh and guys i went to the grocery store today :3 anxiety is being evicted from this body i tell you what

[ishikawayukis]

welcome back kang younghyun 💕

[lamortwrites]

Hit a nice round scary big number of kudos on ao3 so I'm gonna be sappy for a min. I fucking loved writing as a kid -- I wanted to be an author, bc ofc I did -- and I wrote ceaselessly, hundreds of thousands of words, both fanfic and original stuff. I would cram folded bits of plain paper in my pockets and write in tiny tiny handwriting on each side (bc you can fit so much more on the available space that way!) and I'd type in the shitty notes app of my cheap shitty smartphone once I got one and I went through countless notebooks and refill pads and what have you. Sixth form was very bad for me mental health wise and I burnt out really hard, and for a very very long time after I thought that was it. I couldn't get more than a handful of paragraphs done on something, at best, and I wasn't really happy with anything I was doing.

And then I played through a video game as a murderous demigod overflowing with religious guilt and, well, here we are. According to ao3 I have published 37.2k words in the past eight months -- not a whole lot, esp by other people's standards, but for me that is a staggering amount, esp for someone who has struggled a lot w writing anything at all for the past eight years.

I've never really been active in a fandom before (not that I really am now, I stay in my lil corner and you cannot make me leave) but I have made so many incredible friends over the past few months and I am so, so grateful to know you all.

To everyone who has liked my fics, thank you. To everyone who has commented, thank you. To everyone who has talked to me about my writing, about Labrys, about anything...I really cannot thank you enough. Things are still not great for me, honestly. But knowing that there people out there who enjoy my writing is wild, and I am so, so grateful to all of you. <3

[periwinkla]

Started the left-handed nrmt smooch altho I don't know if I'll be able to finish it today (kinda resting every 15 mins or so bc back aches ow) but just so you know I decided to add hands to the mix so yes I have officially lost it. Also it's 7y gap. Predict bad puns on my part.

[itookyoudown]

you would be cancelled for being into a ship with an age gap 💀 or… cancelled for “not understanding how the world works…” or some shit even though those people are the ones to live obliviously while you’re smart and realistic. am i making sense?? in short, you’re very smart and people on twitter would HATE you for it lol

dksjkgd it's so true. in the bad place version of the justified fandom on twitter i would be canceled for not only shipping givenson but also how i ship givenson.

the raylanboyd girlies would cancel me for shipping tim and raylan by saying it's morally wrong because of the age gap and that there's an inappropriate power imbalance with raylan having seniority over tim at work or they'd accuse me of queer erasure because of some wildly popular asexual tim headcanon. AND the givenson gang would likewise cancel me for being problematic by writing about raylan and tim as closeted gay men and they'd skewer me for my dark fic. somehow i would be called homophobic for writing raylan as a top.

abuse apologist accusations from both sides of the aisle because of how i write two fictional grown men fucking and sucking 💀💀💀

(cancel me)