#and while i dont do legos anymore i was the same with that too. we got a kit once and my sister loved following each step

[milkweedman]

Knitting a freehand bag and started wondering how often people even use patterns, anyway. So--how often do you use a pattern when you make things ? This include knitting/crochet/sewing/weaving/nalbinding/bobbin lace/tatting/etc but also things like woodworking, cooking, and baking. If you want to just pick the thing you do most often that's fine.

I personally do not use patterns as I find them far more confusing than just figuring out the construction of an item and simply making it. I do very occasionally browse ravelry for inspiration but have downloaded maybe 2. In the 5 or so years since I joined. And have followed exactly 1, which I modified every single aspect of. In my defense, dyslexia.

[octoariadneeeeexoxo]

[redoing my intro post!!]

౨ৎ⋆ ˚｡⋆[ 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠! ] ౨ৎ⋆ ˚｡⋆

“ heyo! its me, ariadne! im sooo glad you guys came to check on my page! now, lets start by getting to know me ! “

basic info;

- my pronouns are she/her (mainly), but you can call me whatever you like! you can even call me dookie!! .. NEVER CALL ME DOOKIE!/ref

- im a minor!! so if your being creepy im gonna block you<33

- im a filipino:0

- im a hellenic polytheist (hail hestia and aphrodite<3)

“ now that you know all of that, its time for me to tell you the fandoms im currently in! “

- LMK (lego monkie kid)

- murder drones

- kids show fandoms! (disney jr, nick jr, etc!! oh and i also do korean kids shows)

“ fandoms are not your thing? dont worry!! thats not just all i focus on! here are some of my favourite music artist, and my fav songs from them! “

(psst! i may or may not post about them:0

“ getting bored? well, here are more facts about me!” (thatll probably convice you that i am a cool person and that u shld follow me/j)

- im an artist!

- i also write, just not so often;))

(wattpad is; Liii_Cheryll

(ao3 is; ririadnee_xoxo

- im working on my own oc story!! (itll be called the guardian of constellations!! ill be linking the side blog here once im done with the first pages)

[both my ao3 and wattpad are inactive atm]

- im a HUUGE [not]mayor fan, and i will never shut up about him if you bring him up

- the ceo of making nextgen ocs

- im also on tiktok! (@meiandmayorkisser) <- inactive ;(

- and ive got an art insta!! (@/ririadnee_xoxo, yes its the same as my ao3 user but we dont talk about that)

“ i feel like ive said too much … anyway! before you move on, here are some things i highly encourage you to do while on here! “

- honestly i dont really care if im being made fun of anymore, but it is a lot more nicer to be kind

- no being creepy! pls! especially if your over the age of 18!

- personally, i have no age limit on my blog:) anyone can interact!

- no venting/ranting about serious stuff on my page, my dms and my discord (nottraveller.melo) is always free if you wanna talk!

- read the room people, dont talk about serious things on a lighthearted post, youre free to discuss any politic/serious topic on a post related to that:)

- absolutely NO discrimination on my blog, please! this is a positive space!!

“ and thats all guys! i hope that you guys enjoy my content!” (i only post once in a blue moon, or when i remember that i have tumblr downloaded on my phone..)

(tags below are unrelated, just used to find my audience<3)

[ask-serendipity-sky]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is how JK has always been but people just assumed and put JK in a box of what they "thought" he was. This anon is taking JK's words quite literally. I think he's referring to being bored of his life and being seen as someone he's not.

So to answer op, I Just repeated what JK said. I hope YOU understood Sky. What he said was clear, that he changes as years go by and is not the same person like before. He clearly said he easily gets bored of something so he tries out many things. If JK himself says he changed and we also see the same then idk why this person is saying don't take his words literally lol. He, nor I meant JK we saw last year is not the same anymore lol.. change is a drastic process.. NO ONE WILL CONVINCE ANYONE SAYING 2016 JK BEHAVED SAME AS 2021. He indeed changed a lot. Also idk why this person immediately thought to tattoos and smoking when I didn't even mentioned that. Like if Jimin had problems he will say it to him and as of now, Jimin doesn't look so bothered by anything JK does 🤷‍♀️.

And, what you said makes sense. I dont think Jimin is 'secretly' like JK because his thoughts and how he approaches things has been pretty much the same over the years. He's one of the members who's so stable, he's happy as long as he gets to do the things he likes for a long time in best way possible. Simple. I think he likes the craziness, chaos and energy JK brings in. It's like fitting 2 lego pieces perfectly lol. Maybe it's JK who fills that missing piece in Jimin's life. And for JK, chaotic, experimental, ever changing JK he needs someone stable in his life who he can go back to, every time. Someone who feels like home and loves him no matter what. It's like Jimin is the anchor of ship JK, who navigates/prefers through stormy sea.

Hello again,

Yes, I understood what you meant. I got it like "why is the changing of Jk not affecting jikook?"

And yeah, I think that it has taken Jimin a while to get to the place he is at now. He's also changed a lot from 2016. From wanting to be all tough guy and flirty guy, to growing pains to got him to write Promise, to the stuff that took him to writing FACE, and what helped him overcome that, and even what he explain in his last live. It has taken him years to reach the stability he shows us now.

I think that Jimin's thought process is definitely different than Jungkook's.

And I agree with the rest of your ask too.

"Someone who feels like home and loves him no matter what."

They are that to each other.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[loyalestmunch]

11.19.23

actually the loneliest ive ever felt. i dont have a best friend. the two friends that i do have both have boyfriends n are preoccupied with them. im always in my room. im always in my four walls. i dont have a life outside of here. and i hate it so much.

i dont have someone i can spontaneously visit whenever i want anymore. i dont have a safe person that will always make time for me. if im sad, i dont have someone to go to. and it fuckiing sucks.

what sucks even more is when i sleep until 5 pm and check my phone to zero notifications. ts makes me go right the fuck back to sleep

i made an editing acc on tt. its cool its got like 70 smth followers so far. i really fucking hope i can make friends on there. but like. everyone in the editing community is like. 15 or 16. it just sux i used to edit at those ages too but now here i am at 18 (almost 19!) crawling back to the editing community to maybe find even a small glimpse of the happiness it gave me when i was younger. but nothing beat the feeling of dreaming of an edit in ur head all day.... waiting till school got out... running (literally) home to whip ts up on video star before i forgot it and then uploaded it and shared it amongst my little editing friends. and then i'd stay up late until 2 am or so watching and saving other edits i thought were cool. even in quarantine, i found joy in editing. november 2020 was actually the worst year of my life but also the best i miss it so much i miss the plethora of friends i used to have fuck. i miss playing identity v otp all night long with ray, i miss playing genshin in vc and doing stupid shit and farming for artifacts for hours on end with jazzy and tason and ray and gabby. my poor ipad wld overheat and my fingerprints would burn from dragging them across the hot screen but i didnt care . it was fun.

edit im not done i have more things i want to reminisce about .

ive been rewatching rick and morty and keeping up with the new seasons in the same sense that i watched it in middle school and now im crawling back to see if it brings me the same joy. and it does !. for the most part. but since justin got fired rip there's new voice actors. and it's fine honestly i dont care that much im still gna watch it but i hate how everythings changing. 13 year old me cldnt begin to fathom rick and morty losing (one of its) most renowned creator(s). like fuck. he voiced RICK AND MORTY. BOTH. like holy fuck. but its fine i guess the writings still kinda the same and the show is funny and makes me happy. i wish i had someone i cld take with me everywhere like my own little morty . i need friends.

i also miss the essence of boxed fettuchine(???) alfredo while watching r/m or camp camp at gammys house. ts was fire

i miss the roblox theme park tycoon and the chocolate cake we made that day and ate. it was so good.

i miss the lego game my cousin and i wld play. we didnt even do anything my mind just couldnt believe an open map game i haad so much fun just walking around and looking and doing absolutely nothing. and eating reheated pizzahut. and mcdonalds cookies. and funfetti boxed cake.

i miss when i had my phone taken when mom and i stayed at gammys when parents almst got divorced and i used her old iphone 5 she forgot she gave me and i had my little fandom acc on insta with my little mooties and friends and the warmth of gammys house in november fuck i miss it all i miss growing up so much i hate being an adult. i cant fucking have fun sober i dont have friends im alone nearly every single day i dont have friends in college i dont ta\lk to anyone i fucking just show up and leave without removing my earbuds.

and i know its my fsult. i know im the reason why i dont have friends. im the only reason why im like this. i only do it to myself.

im so alone and i just keep fucking regressing to find happiness because there's none here in present day thats for sure !

[pbandjesse]

Today was another excellent day. But I am way tireder then I was last night. Like it is a little hard to sit up and write this but I will power through. 

I did sleep alright last night but before bed I had another really bad nose bleed except this time I was alone, as James was asleep, and I only had 3 tissues. So I was a little upset and scared. But it was alright in the end. And I have a new tissue box now so hopefully I wont feel so stranded. 

I woke up around 8 but I stayed in bed until 830. I really wanted to keep sleeping but I knew Jess was up and I didnt want to be rude. And of course she was already dressed and looking cute. But she was doing work for her WFH job so she wasnt to bothered. I got washed up and dressed. I felt cute again today but I mostly forgot to take my picture until way late in the day. But that was alright. We were just having to much fun. 

The big plan for the day was to go squishmallow hunting. But the mall we were going to search at didnt open until 11. So we had some time to hang out. So after breakfast we started rinsing our tye dye projects. I decided Jess should go first because her's is so much lighter and I didnt want to stain her's with all my dark dye. And it was so funny hers didnt run any dye at almost at all?? Absolutely bizarre. We were using the coldest water and really trying to get in there but no dye came out. So we hung it to dry and got into mine. 

Mine was a different story. As soon as I unwrapped it from the plastic is was dripping black dye. So I pulled off the rubber bands and got to work rinsing it. It took a good ten minutes of rinsing but it honestly looked great. As it dried throughout the day the black would fade to a lovely almost grey purple. But the actual tye dyed scrunchy parts look so cool. I am super excited to share it tomorrow when we take pictures. It was a lot of fun to do and while I dont think I will like. Tye dye my whole life. It was a lot of fun to experiment with. And for our first go it was really successful. 

Once we were done that and everything was drying in the bathroom we got ready to leave. I wasnt super excited to drive, as I still felt really tired, but it was alright. Though when we got to the car I found we barely had any gas and I was annoyed about that because I hate putting gas in the car but I would do it. Even though I hate it. 

We drove out to the mall and it felt so weird to be in a mall. But there werent a lot of people. It was mostly just quiet. But it for sure felt like a blast from the past. We walked the whole mall. Talked about being mall rat teens. What we would do and play and just the culture of that time in our lives. And hoenstly it was just a good time. It was nice to walk around inside and not be cold and because we were on this funny hunt for squishes there was an element of activity and goal. 

We didnt have great luck. The claires had nothing. The hallmark had nothing. We did find some at Hot Topic though. I ended up getting a blind box one. And Jess got a couple little things. We also got a matching set of lollypop earrings I am very excited about. We got lunch in the food court. Felt very weird eating inside. I got pretzel bites. It was just. A good time at the mall. 

We were there about an hour, making our last stop at Hot Topic for the second time to make our actual purchases. And then we went to the strip mall across the road to go to starbucks. Everyone was driving stupid so I was really glad to be out of there. 

We started to head towards the closes Marshalls. And they only had a cuddler squish there. And a way to long line, so I did not buy the face wash I was going to get. We instead went to Target. We made a stop to get gas. Which was terrible only because the same thing happened as last time and the machine kept saying my zipcode was wrong and I had to go talk to the man at the counter and it was a whole thing. I hate pumping gas. But it was handled. 

Next we went to the CVS and the Walgreens to check and finding nothing good we continued on to Target. 

Target was mostly a bust. No easter friends. But we ended up finding a beautiful greyscale bunny that Jess really liked. And we decided we were done. I wanted to make one more loop around toys just and in case and while we did I remembered to stop to look in the legos to see if they had the botanical one me and James have been trying to get but keeps getting scalped for 3xs the real price. And I was so excited to find that they had it!! The bouquet of flowers!! I was so jazzed. I cant wait to build this with them and its going to be great and look so cool in our house. 

We were both a little beat by this point though. So it was time for home. 

It was a nice drive back. The sun started coming out after a really grey day. And I was happy to be home. 

We would chill for a little bit but then there were more things we wanted to do. We opened our blind boxes. I got a dragon that we think was meant to be scented like minit chocolate but just smelt. Bad. But whatever. Still cute. I like the dragons. And then we got to work on my clothes. 

I wanted to do another big purge and having moral support to talk things out was exactly what I needed. So Jess helped me make piles of everything I own and make hard calls for each piece. I was a little more brutal then I expected but honestly I had purged my clothes in december and I sort of knew what ones that if I didnt wear in the last 2 months were going to get the axe. So it was only hard at some points. And I was really excited that everything I wanted to fit in the trunk for seasonal pieces and my closet isnt to full anymore. Two bags of clothes to donate and Im just really happy about that. And before that Jess tried on some that she liked from the get rid of pile and took some and that made me feel really happy too. Im glad they will get a second life. 

We would spend more time in my room trying on ren fair costume stuff. And spent way to long trying to relace a corset thats a little to big for me. But it was honestly a lot of fun. We were just very tired at the end. 

James had a performance review during that time that we got to hear and I got to be all proud about how well they are doing. And then James would go on a bike ride after work before picking us all up dinner. Because I have the best partner. 

While James was gone me and Jess would be on the couch playing a little animal crossing. Being sleepy. When food did come I was really upset that both our orders were missing pieces and I was trying very hard not to have a breakdown over something stupid. But Jess gave me some of hers that I was missing and we made due. I was just a little sad. 

Dinner was nice though. And we all just sat together doing little crafts and enjoying the company. 

And we still have tomorrow. The plan is to do some photoshoots and make a little painting project together. I hope to sleep better tonight though. Im going to go take a shower and get cozy and try to get to bed earlier. Wish me luck. Goodnight everyone! Wash your hands!

[life-of-ice]

Apparently I'm an even bigger sucker for AJR then even I thought I was. Ya boi wrote down my interpretation of the stories of as many AJR songs as I could get a hold of.

(Not gonna lie, some of these made me cry.)

AJR Analysis : Living Room

Overture- Is good songs smushed together

Infinity- This is kind of one of the only love songs they will ever write. In this he is kind of asking if it was all in his head and that she was kind of perfect to him and all his troubles fell away when she was there and it's just a really sweet song.

I’m Ready- This is when they are really confident and happy, and excited for their first album to come out. They also want to make other people happy

My Calling- He is finding his calling, which is represented by ‘ I'm sailing the clouds”, and he's pretty confident it is his calling as said by teh “It might be my calling”.I think the “A heartbreak and hundred red balloons, now i'm off the floor” means he found his calling when he broke up with his significant other, and finding his purpose made him happy, or euphoric. He kinda thinks that he's going to put himself into this completely, and there's no going back, so he’ll let you know when he succeeds.

Thirsty- This is a silly party song about drunk people being really intense and excited.

Pitchfork Kids- This is literally one of the most intense song in the album and it is so hard to analyze in the beginning. He’s saying if he should spend time running for his life and that the “Pitchfork kids” are coming for him, orlike peer pressure and popular kids and people and if he gets away he’ll still be singing his. 

Livin’ on Love- This is about a guy who has a crush on someone, and that someone makes the first move. He explains he likes to take it slow, and he doesn't want this relationship to end, and looks like it'll be smooth sailing from there.

Big White Bed- He's thinking about his future with someone he lives. He would imagine living with his significant other for the rest of his life.

The World is A Marble Heart- He feels betrayed that his ex left him because of promises his ex made him when they first started dating. He's just kinda bitter.

The Green and the Town-The Giants they refer to are adults. They know they're  growing up, and they hope they can keep their youthful tendencies. He wants to be able to come back home someday, and relive his younger days.

Big Idea- They are really confident after a big success. And while they might be a small fry in the world of music, they are taking what they can get. They feel like you can do anything you put your mind to. But for now they are going to celebrate.

Growing Old on Bleecker Street- He's kind of saying it's kind of pointless to dream alone and that he is going to take his and wait for someone for him to make him happy. And that time may wash away his memories but him and the person in the song and him will still cry together. This song is really hard to put into words but i think the music and the lyrics are really beautiful. The music really complements the words too. It's a beautiful ending to a beautiful album.

AJR Analysis : The Click - Deluxe( https://youtu.be/PZz1Gxdb_tA )

Overture- Unfortunately, this is just a very well put together mashup of the other songs.

The Good Part- He's not sure he's made it yet and he doesn't know what or where it is but still really wants to be there but he doesn't want to go through all of the hard parts in the middle and, this is just stealing the name but, just wants to skip to the good part.

Weak- He wants to be stronger and resist those who want to get him in trouble, despite how he knows that trouble he gets himself into is fun for him. He keeps refusing, his past keeps interfering as though he had an addiction in the past.” One hit” almost certainly refers to that.

Sober Up- He doesn't want to be left behind by the few people he wants to trust but they keep losing touch and his new friends are kinda bad (reference to drama) and i think this kind of touches on the three of their relationship as brothers that dont hate each other.

Drama- He is outgrowing his friends, and notices that they aren't exactly the best influence on him. His so called friends have overblown problems that really aren't necessary, and they are pretty as shown in the “Recently, he said that she said some shret that you wouldn't believe.”

Turning Out- He realizes he has really high expectations for a relationship, needs to reevaluate how he would like a relationship. He also needs to work on his maturity. He realizes he needs to know how to make a friendship before he does anything else.

No Grass Today- He refers to smoking when he talks about “grass”. It seems like he used to smoke, but stopped after he started performing. He doesn'to anymore, but is cool if you smoke because he understands that it has a kind of euphoria. He replaced his addiction with music, because it feels the same to him. As it is, his whole attitude is  you do you, I'll do me.

Three Thirty- He wants to get his work out to the public, but no one has yet to accept his work. He knows he needs more attention, and he wonders whether if he would get the success he wants by becoming more mainstream, like Ed Sheeran. He also wonders whether he can get success before he gives up.

Call My Dad- Something bad happened to him when he went to a party and hung out with a girl. He wants to be comforted and go home,which is why he wants to call his dad, as his dad represents home and safety to him.

I'm Not Famous- He's not famous and he embraces it. He embraces it because his problems are kinda embarrassing, and he doesn't really want to show everyone and lose all privacy in his life.

Netflix Trip- It goes through his life and some of his most influential moments in his life that this show had gotten him through. Also the show is the office, with Dwight, Michael, and Jim and head of sales. I also fit with times of when the seasons originally came out. It also talks about the show being over and he’s going through netflix looking for a new show to help him get through the times that are harder for him to get through himself.

Bud like You- Two really good friends being like why are people taking everything so seriously. And also like why is everything so expensive

Come Hang Out- He is always leaving himself out on gatherings with friends and people because he wants to keep working on his musical career. In the bridge he says “should i go for more clicks this year, or should i follow the click in my ear.” I think that's one of the more powerful lines in this song, because he's saying that he is comparing his popularity on the internet to the “click” or clique that keeps asking him to drop it for once and hang out.

Burn the House down- He used to be innocent and foolish wondering about how he looked and walked and now he isn't as innocent and now he wonders if he should keep his songs innocent even though he isn’t and everyone is now deceiving and stoof and he wonders if he should expose them with strangers on Twitter of bite his tongue. Lets just say he chooses to expose the crap outta them.

Role Models- He's saying that people are famous for all of the wrong reasons. I think this song really connects to their later song in neotheater, beats, because i think he is kind of worrying about losing all the best parts of himself and become what some of the more famous people are.

Normal- The background music sounds like a playground, which I think represents his childhood. He doesn't feel normal as people think it's weird he's spending time by himself. He wants to give up and stop trying since people think he's so weird. “My friends have all new friends” means that he doesn't want to be left behind, and he made something to make him popular, and that makes him sad.

Pretender- I honestly love the acoustic version. This song is, i think, sort of about the sang like if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you. He is basically saying that he has problems and insecurities but he hides them to be like everyone and he thinks hes right about the fact that he has to be exactly like everyone else. Also it makes an amazing mash up with next up forever.

Ajr Analysis: Neotheather (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvfyCBJfPPRukUpv-xRE6EWuHZeAosLJ) 

Next Up Forever- The perspective is very nervous, and people are encouraging him to get better and better. He is both hopeful for his success, and scared of it.

Birthday Party- This is the perspective of an innocent person. He describes all of the world's problems, like “ I bet my ignorance is always Bliss, except ignoring pigment in our skin, I bet my countries nice to immigrants”. He is throwing shade at our problems with racism and ignoring the other problems we have, like global warming and discrimination of the minority.  

100 Bad Days- This is from the perspective of someone who is trying to ignore his problems, and brush it off for tomorrow as his way of coping. Like for example, when his girlfriend breaks up with him.

Don't Throw Out my Legos- The perspective is from a person graduating from perhaps high school, and is moving out. He doesn't want to leave his childhood behind him completely.

Break My Face- He's like Eff you, I'm fine, you don't have to worry about anyone but yourself, because you're kinda a jerk. If you only care about my looks, you have a lot more than me to fix.

Turning Out Pt.ii- He was a sad lonely person, and clung to the first person who would accept him. He realizes that that's what he did, and doesn't to want to burden her with himself anymore. He also realizes his decision might hurt her, and knows he needs to mature.

The Entertainment's here- He wants to distract himself from his reality so he doesn't have to think about his existence, like when he says “But I don't want to to think about my purpose on Earth” He is feeling numb as he has done the same thing over and over again. We think the school bell sound in the chorus is supposed to represent that as the school system is so rigid and uniform, but also rather boring.

Karma- A person is with a psychologist and is asking why he is so depressed as shown by his words of Doc or Doctor. The perspective feels like he has done everything he would to get better, but nothing is working, so it's a vicious cycle of being depressed, then getting depressed because he is depressed

Beats- The past line influences this a lot, but I think it's kind of like is he willing to throw away his dignity and creativity for the popular and expensive things that more popular writers and musicians say and make people think is popular. I think

Wow, I'm not Crazy- It's sort of touching on the fact of being the same in society but also being different. I think it sounds like he's convincing himself he's not crazy it's sort of just a social construct.

Dear Winter- I feel like this is a really nice and wholesome song compared to the rest of the songs. I feel like he is saying he is already proud and happy with Winter even though he hasn't even met their mother yet. I think it's a song where they is saying what he may not be able to say to them when they're older and won't listen to him. And he still has a lot to learn about being a good person and everything but he will still be proud and want to hang out with them. He wants to try really hard to be a good parent. #cool parent😋

Finale(Can't wait to see what you do next)- The perspective is like “ you have really high expectations, and I don't feel like I or anyone else can live up to them. So i'm going to do whatever I want because I don't feel like I have to deal with your expectations anymore. It's also like, I tried really dang hard, and there haven't been any results, as from the “You went hard, and you did fine."

No Album name yet

BANG!!- This songs begins with reminiscing about being a little kid who is allowed to fool around and be silly. He than has to "grow up" and is trying to pretend to adult, by doing adulty things like buying quinoa or other things ings like that."I'm way too young to lie here forever I'm way too old to try, so whatever Come hang, let's go out with a bang "those lines are talking about being at that weird age where you're definitely not feeling comfortable as an adult, or you're just really lost, you don't have to be at a certain age. He just goes fuck it, I'm learning to adult along the way, I'm sorta not succeeding, but that's ok.

[comicteaparty]

July 22nd-July 28th, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from July 22nd, 2020 to July 28th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

How have your reading tastes for webcomics changed over the years?

carcarchu

i think i used to read exclusively romance webcomics but now i'm really into the historical stuff. also i'm not so into the strictly straightforward stuff anymore, i need a really strong hook or something that makes it different enough to be enjoyable because i'm really tired of reading something that is indistinguishable from other similar webcomics. also i think i've gotten pickier when it comes to the quality of art and writing. there's just so much stuff to pick from now that i want to dedicate my time only to stuff that i really enjoy. i just don't have enough time to read every single webcomic i come across anymore

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

in the past I used to read a bunch of comedic absurdist humor comics (I still do) but it's been buffed out by romance . Same vein like Cara said, I'm just picking and choosing which comics I spend my time on but I do want to try to read as much as I can tho!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I feel like I used to read LEGO comics a lot lol... I'm not sure how many of them still hold up. In terms of genre, the only comics I struggle to read are ones that are more realistic, or darker. Historical comics often fall into this, as do most horror comics.(edited)

RebelVampire

For me, my tastes haven't necessarily changed in terms of the what I like. What has changed is what I dislike. As the years have gone by, I've really been more open to at least giving comics a try before deciding they aren't for me, especially in the genres I consistently don't like like comedy. So I've gradually disliked less comics. Not to say I like them either or they're for me, but it's a step up from dislike since now I can appreciate what the comics are trying to do more. I think the bigger change for me was art styles though. While I still do have a specific sort of art preference, I've also been more open to giving certain art styles I don't normally like more of a try as well and I've found the styles I dislike (personally, not objectively in terms of talent) to be a much smaller pool than it was before.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh man, I'm the opposite. I feel like I've gotten pickier

varethane

I can't tell if I've gotten pickier or if the bar has just gotten high enough now that if I only have the bandwidth to read X number of webcomics (let's say 20 as a random example), and I'll be picking from among those which stand out to me, those 20 comics will be on a totally different level than the 20 I might have found 10 years ago

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I think I've also gotten pickier

The biggest change, I think, is that I've gotten way pickier about storytelling

While I used to be able to read a comic with subpar storytelling. I drop comics in an instant these days if the story doesn't speak to me pretty quickly(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I think it's because when I started reading comics, everything was new and novel. Now there're more tropes I recognize? And more problematic things that bother me, when before I would not have noticed

Deo101 [Millennium]

I dont think I've gotten pickier, per se, I think I just have very specific tastes and many things dont fit them which feels picky? but i can enjoy all kinds of genres, I kind of go into something 1: not wanting to think 2: not wanting to be offended and 3: wanting to laugh a bit? which isnt exactly a high bar to pass, but not many things will do that for me, which isnt because I'm a picky person, its jsut cause a lot of things arent made for peope like me?

varethane

I'm not consciously looking for 'only the best quality' by any means-- if there's anything I'm really looking for, it's a sense of passion and uniqueness, that feeling that the author is having a blast with the thing they're doing. But I feel like it's gotten harder to draw my attention (and readers' attention in general) without having a certain level of skill involved

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh, same. As my art gets better so does my eye for it

varethane

....and, yeah, I guess I've also gotten tired of certain tropes. Once I read 2 or 3 webcomics that do kinda the same thing, I'm less likely to pick up a fourth with the same general premise, even if it looks like it's well-made.

(sorry isekai....)

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I just absorb a lot of storytelling in many forms, so if the story doesn't grab me right away, I feel like I'm wasting time reading something, where I could be fulfilling my desire for more worthwhile storytelling elsewhere

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh true, there are so so many comics out there now

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Art quality plays into it a bit for me, but it's honestly primarily the storytelling

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Everything I read I could be reading 100 others of similar quality Really, why does anyone read my comic at all?

varethane

"good art will get readers to take a first look, good writing is what makes them stay"

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Art quality is very important to me but I've still read and loved a few stories will amateurish art

varethane

for me personally, the art's just gotta be good enough for me to not be distracted by it while I read

Deo101 [Millennium]

idk I think a lot of people stay through bad writing even if something looks good

also yeah i feel the same, about not wanting to be distracted

"does the art serve the story?" is all I really care about

varethane

art serving the story is the most important part. Art can LOOK amazing, but if the body language or expressions don't fit the story being told, it can make the writing seem worse lol

a friend of mine once referred to it as, like watching a well-written screenplay but with terrible miscast actors

Deo101 [Millennium]

mhm, cause the only words we get are dialogue, the art has to be all the descriptive language. so if theyre not describing well, a lot is missing.

varethane

yeah

Deo101 [Millennium]

or I guess some comics have narration, too

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Narration can't do ALL of the work

varethane

yeah haha

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah, one of my professors said that a rule of thumb of his about comics is "if you can read me the words and I know whats going on, it's not good comics."

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

The art definitely serves the story (or is supposed to), but if the story is bad from the beginning, I don't care how good the art is.

varethane

I have complicated feelings on that one, because I feel like it's actually pretty rare for me to consider a 'story' bad (at least insofar as we're talking about the core ideas of the plot). Most premises (if they're not actively offensive/poorly thought through), if written out as just a skeletal outline, could work just fine. IMO bad writing is a problem of execution, most of the time, rather than concept. (hedging my language here because there's always exceptions lol)

Deo101 [Millennium]

I would say I agree with you. I think writing and story are different concepts. There is also sort of a macro/micro element to writing, as well, and either one can be messed up

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yeah, I misspoke, what I mean by "bad story" is more "bad storytelling/writing"

but yes

carcarchu

a friend of mine once referred to it as, like watching a well-written screenplay but with terrible miscast actors

@varethane oh i have read stuff like this. like the art was INCREDIBLE really detailed renders, very consistent and technically fantastic art but so often it just devolved into shot / reverse shot talking heads and the characters didn't really emote beyond changing the position of their eyebrows so it kinda felt like watching dolls interact with each other

RebelVampire

I mulled over the fact I took the opposite route as everyone else. XD For me I think it's three factors. First, I was actually ungodly picky in my youth across the board with everything, not just comics. As such, I've missed out on a lot of things other people love. Second, with each passing year, I've come to appreciate more the work people put into their indie projects. And for me its like a show of respect in a way to acknowledge that hey, you worked on this thing I may not like, but I'll try it because you clearly love what you created (or I hope you love it). Third, and probably the bigger factor, I stuck myself in a positive feedback loop. The more I opened myself up to things and learned to not initially dislike things or be as harsh, the more I ended up finding a gem I really loved. In fact, while this is across diff industries, I'd say this has been the biggest influence for me with webcomics because so many webcomics I was like "Well I'll try it gotta be open and not just dislike it," and then I came away going "Wow this is a diamond in the rough!"

[thisisasupergoodidea]

ideas i enjoy but am too sad, unmotivated, or intimidated to write:

• critical role/magnus archives crossover: one of the entities of fear is threatening the destruction of both universes by manipulating them to slowly crash into each other. the normally absent god of the story/narrative decides to personally intervene and send the m9 to the epicenter of the narrative over in the other universe to act as representatives and figure out who or what is causing this untold destruction. but their arrival does not escape the notice of the ceaseless watcher or any of the other entities, and all at once the m9 are pursued from every angle while they struggle to figure out the new ways their abilities are manifesting themselves in a reality with totally different rules. over at the magnus institute, jon sims and his group begin receiving big vibes from the watcher strongly insisting that they find and retrieve these visitors before anyone else can

• any magnus archives content at all, tbh

• critical role as a vague kind of spies are forever AU, based solely on my attempt to rewrite the lyrics of prisoner of my past to fit caleb’s backstory. and he’s singing it to beau and also doing this is now about caleb and beau awkwardly becoming friends (not romantic at all but theyre like ‘are we... friends? this is happening? or are you a dirty liar?’ which becomes more contentious but at the end they decide not to fight). i have not thought it through in the slightest beyond that

• a random little musical project i dont know how to progress with, which is about isolation and voices in the dark. my idea was to have the whole set and cast be nothing more than shadows to the audience until the very end, when a real connection is attempted. it takes place in a cave where the main character lives alone, but then a group of people visit much too close to their dwelling so they retreat further into the tunnels. theyre equal parts relieved and unsettled by the new position they find themselves in. and then someone falls into their cavern from above and disrupts their whole world. at the end the MC realizes they dont want to live as they have been anymore and accepts the intruders offer to meet the rest of the group from before, making the choice to come out of that comfort zone

• listen. i dont know what the hell my brain is doing anymore. i just had the thought ‘what if the 15 fears from the magnus archives had fursonas that you could befriend in animal crossing’ and i will never know peace again. im just mashing this shit together hoping that something interesting will happen. its mad science i tell you

• if you really think about it reigen from mob psycho 100 and shawn from psych are the same person. is that anything? my thoughts are just legos and i am merely 8 years old constructing intricate nonsense for my army of small lego men to wage war upon

[julianthebeautifulunicorn]

ID a digital drawing of many assorted objects all overlapping each other and each in a different color. end ID

apparently i can only draw out of spite now. this one is aimed at my art teacher because she hated it when i sketched like this, all overlapped and stuff, but it was fun and i never have to see her again hopefully so i can do what i want.

a sketch collection of cool stuff on and around my desk I drew while waiting for the thunder and lightning to stop. including, but not limited to (because there’s so much here, I can’t even tell anymore):

two drawings of one of my cats because he was asleep on my desk and laptop and at one point he attacked my hand, so i just kinda held his hand when he fell back asleep for like 20 minutes and it was really cute

a plastic margarita cup that I’m taking to college with me and I have three other matching ones

a tiny brick I keep sticky notes under such as the one with minecraft coordinates on it so i don’t get too lost

a World’s Best Cat Mom mug my sister sent me that’s really paint splattered and full of pens i didnt feel like drawing

the hilt of a bitchin letter opener that looks like a sabre but its misproportioned so it works as a letter opener but it actually bothers me a lot 

a very small pink knife i bought online while getting some pants and found on the website by accident

one of a few small bells that I have already used two to make earrings one time at 11 pm because i got bored

a bottle of liquid glue i keep on my desk so i know when my cats are up there because they always knock it off

a small pink toy car that i kept in the pocket of my denim jacket for almost a year

a collection of blue glass pebble things i bought for a craft last year but only used one of them so now I just have this bag if pebbles, but the bag broke, so now i just have a lot of loose blue pebbles just kinda dispersed throughout my room

a small shovel that is actually a spoon that i Did spend too much money on but it was totally worth it

a cool button that originally i had on a book i made, but removed it 

two of those keycard holder things that attach to your belt because in middle school we had to keep our ids on us and i broke the holder by running into stuff all the time so i collected a lot of the holders

a plastic broom handle cap from the time i stole all the broom handles (and Only the handles, which i still just kinda have all of them) from the auditorium, backstage, and the prop closet at my school 

two fencing medals that i still have hanging up because fencing was a bigger part of my life than i like to admit

a foam bar tap, the first prop i ever made and keep displayed with playbills and cast/crew photos, one of which im not even in because i got a concussion cause a deer head fell on me on the first day if tech week and i was only allowed to leave the house on the day of the last performance, which wasnt even a regularly scheduled show, so im very glad i got to see some part of it and when i was at the show i made friends with someone because we were both wearing khakis

 a clock i have on my desk because I moved the one that used to be there and is actually the only clock on my desk which is surprising considering the state of the rest of my room (covered in clocks)

a bottle of bright yellow nail polish that i made a beeline for once i saw it in a store so i could have a whole rainbow of nail polish

a plastic cup with a built in straw that i will also be taking to college because they look like the ones i used when i was a kid, but these specific ones i bought for my brother when he went to college because of the above reason 

a single red 2x2 lego brick that i honestly dont know how it got in here

a small wooden box I keep quarters in that i want to paint but havent and probably wont

a small blue carabiner i took from my friends lunchbox a few years ago and is one of the three things I have stolen that I have actually kept (I keep track of them because I almost always give everything back and feel very guilty for these outliers, but i’ll probably never see those people again, so rip i guess) (the other two things are a black wooden pencil i took from a friend in 9th grade gym class and a blue and orange mechanical pencil i took from the same person as the carabiner) oh, i have two other things, i guess, but one i just kept taking and eventually i was allowed to keep it and the other is nearly identical and was given willingly to continue to joke i think and/or out of habit

…i may have actually gotten it all (plus a bunch of other stuff)

this is what happens when im tired and have internet access. i overshare. this is all youll ever need to know about me.

btw this is me substituting bringing someone into my room and telling them the stories behind all my tchotchkes because i Love to talk and tell stories but physically talking is hard

[unproduciblesmackdown]

sometimes the wild thing with depression is looking back and trying to figure out when it started and never really being able to draw a line for anything like "this was the earliest age it All Began(tm)," probably because there's not generally such an On-Off Switch type process to it. i know usually circa ten yrs old or later in the teens is usually what people point to but sometimes more of a period of exacerbation rather than origin, and who can say it's not also having the emotional and psychological capabilities and capacities that young children don't that bring a greater sense of perspective and awareness, idk anyways so i'm not sure if i was ever not-depressed or anything....i know i was always uncomfortable outside what was familiar and "shy" and i know that as soon as i was around other kids in a way more socially organized than running around together, namely preschool at 4 yrs old, i was aware of not feeling like i fit in and noticing i couldnt make friends like other people could. ive been good at bs-ing school from the start and happen to pick up things very quickly so even though i probably had the same habits as kids with the worst grades and had no particular ambitions re: academia (beyond avoiding parental wrath and later maintaining the identity that kinda protected me a bit in school) since i got really good grades and was quiet and pretty much just read in a corner when left to myself from kindergarten through middle school, i was probably considered a usually ideal student. i remember a couple of people who i felt i was genuinely friends with, a kid named michael who i think went to a different school after a couple of grades, and a kid named jacqueline in 2nd grade who was like me so quiet in retrospect i'm not sure if she knew much english but we played legos together and stuff but then we got in trouble for not paying attention during not even a lesson but i had to move seats b/c arbitrary Making An Example and since we were both so quiet we just didnt interact much anymore to avoid further attention. i made other friends technically but generally it took a long time to be comfortable with them and we were never close and in the meantime i dont think i ever much liked school. i remember one random sunday evening just getting upset about not wanting to go back the next day just because it was boring and meantime at home of course it sucked but i didnt quite realize it til i was older and it helped of course being young enough to be able to go outside for hours and be perfectly entertained playing in the dirt and trees and stuff. i read a lot at home too i remember having pretty skeptical thoughts about Life from earlyish on but, besides spending a crap ton of time just in my own head (reading, playing in dirt) i think i had ideas that life and the world was pretty amazing. like earlier on of course it was like "is magic real??" but then later its just stuff like reading in books about how kids had good friends and families and got to pursue their interests and do things and work out drama and have nice endings with a lot of hope for the future. for all i could tell the only thing keeping that from being my life was that i wasnt old enough, or probably i hoped that it was just a matter of time. it was less like i was extrapolating from my own limited observations of the worse aspects of life that life must be great and more like i was already noticing that my world was lacking and just hoping that it would grow out of it; not to mention being given the hint that stuff like abuse was my own fault and shortcomings i started getting more aware of being fed up with things / that they weren't inherently going to change around like late elementary school / middle school but it would take another year or two to really get the extent of it, and in the meantime by 14 or 15 at the latest i was consciously suicidal so like, moving fast there. i probably by that point had already caught on to the fact that my world had just been kind of shitty and that it wasnt going to change or seem better after a certain amount of time like i'd thought it would. and then add also having a better understanding of the rest of the world just by being older and getting more experience and realizing that its a lot more chaotic than initially taught to you and that being depressed and having developed few interests and zero ambitions and having antagonistic parents and very few friends doesnt do much to give you as much a cushion from that chaos as it could tangent: honestly i like programs that teach instructors how to recognize things that look like Behavior Issues as maybe more being signs of external issues. i wasnt the best at paying attention and i was often quiet in school whether in class or not and it mightve been a problem if i didnt get good grades but since i did i could just be in the background. i don't particularly resent this or anything because i know how teaching is and i myself didnt really understand i had serious problems at home until much later, but in retrospect i think i always had signs. i remember one particular incident when i was about 8 really shouldve been a bit of a warning sign. i know nobody can really do anything even if they know things are bad but considering i had to learn what abuse looked like by myself and i didnt feel supported by any adult and even when i knew what was going on when i was much older i still just didnt tell anyone in any position of authority because i had learned i had to protect myself by keeping personal things totally confidential and that if i exhibited any signs of struggling i would be blamed and chastised for it. wouldve been nice to at least be informed what was going on at an earlier time and maybe given some sense of confidence or at least a sense it wasn't completely my fault. turns out what gave me any ounce of confidence at all was being like 19 and being so blamed and maligned that it backfired and i started feeling like if i was as awful as i was made out to be then surely i didnt need to feel ashamed and responsible for everything that was being done to me. if i already deserved to be dead then what more could i bring on myself by daring to be so terrible as to feel i shouldnt be treated like i was! checkmate atheists anyhow, i feel like my Good Concepts About The World kind of evolved from "later on everyone has adventures" to "later on everyone goes to middle school / high school and makes friends and bonds with their family and follows their dreams" to something just more vaguely escapist with abstracted ideas about simply feeling comfortable and nice, with maybe general imagery, usually like summer sunsets or just some nice stars or something. i thought about it once and it made a lot of sense, thinking about stuff in terms of the concept of feeling ok and good things existing in the world and being able to sense it despite it also being at a distance or otherwise removed like dont get me wrong just because i wanna be dead i dont have some kind of notion that everyone else's experience of life is the same as mine i.e. that life and/or the world is inherently shit, i know its no more objectively bad than it is objectively good. i still like to think about the good side of all of it. i think its a total mistake to have the idea that if someone is suicidal or even just depressed that it necessarily has anything to do with what they think of the philosophy of the concept of Life, its more personal and immediate than that. honestly i hate all the advice about how you need to write a poem for your suicidal friend to teach them the magic of life or do some otherwise melodramatic bad y.a. novel shit that'll give them a New Perspective on the wonders of life literally overnight. not only is it always disgustingly patronizing and often counterproductively Tough Love-esque but also totally like unrelated to the root of the problem of "what if i'm worried about a friend making a suicide attempt." if you're personally wanting to do something i s2g literally just provide a distraction. talk about random shit or play online scrabble or go over and make midnight snacks, not like set a flower on fire while dropping a porcelain teapot on the floor and lecturing them about how this Doesnt Solve Any Problems or is a permanent solution to a temporary problem like no. just be a distraction jfc and dont insult anyone by generalizing their experience and guessing at what's probably an extremely complex and personal matter and turning it into empty clichés anyways: this was the longest way to get to the idea that isnt it wild when, like how you can Hear a sound in your head and despite recreating it decently its different from actually hearing it externally, you can sometimes remember what it was like to feel nice about the concept of life? i cant really summon earlier things but sometimes i can remember flashes of having those later sad-person-in-their-own-head moments of thinking of distant abstract concepts like seeing the sky as a medium for connection to the infinite experiences of humanity, and i can get like the equivalent of a visual image of a recreated feeling from back when i still had a few lingering overly-optimistic notions that things would be good soon. don't get me wrong, again im still aware of the good things in life and i still have good experiences and still feel good feelings. but i dont harbor expectations that the course of life must and will average itself out or lean towards improvement for any reason, like knowing that good things happening to you out of the blue is the same as how terrible things can happen for exactly the same reason—namely no reason at all. so i just dont have the same feelings i used to about my own personal life, and i dont feel the things i used to when i hoped it still could be Only A Matter Of Time. so its wild when for some reason i mentally stumble on the memory of having those feelings and theyre still recent enough that i get a moment of recreating the feeling like i do when i can picture something in my head, and its totally different and dissonant than what's currently true for me. it wasn't a more accurate perspective to think that life being bad meant it had to improve, but its obviously a nicer feeling. and it sounds like overused to the point of meaningless comparison but its like getting your head above water for a second in terms of the momentary contrast of sensation tldr its wild when you depressioning 24/7 and dead inside and have an instant of remembering What It Was Like To Feel Things

[viralhottopics]

What Legos Taught Me About Love, Life, And My Marriage

A few months ago my daughter and I were playing with Legos. We were talking and laughing, building towers and castles and flying airships, when suddenly the mood shifted. Scratch that, my daughters mood shifted because her structure was a bit too top-heavy. She had pushed on a purple block a bit too hard and broken her tower. Immediately, she became angry. She threw a handful of pieces. She pushed through her castles wall.

Hey, hey, hey, I said. Whats wrong? Whats going on?

Of course, I knew the answer. I was sitting right beside her. I saw the whole incident unfold, but I waited to hear her words. I wanted her to speak.

It no working, she whined. It broken! She stomped her little feet in frustration. She went to push the rest of her tower over.

Sweetie, its OK. Dont get upset. I grabbed her hand and a block. Look, we can fix it, I paused, or we can make something totally new. It doesnt have to be the same.

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After a few moments, she settled down and seemingly agreed, as she went to work on a new building. But as I looked at the pile of blocks scattered across our kitchen floor, the power of my words struck me, and the power of the moment struck me. You see, in an instant, my daughter was able to move on.

She was able to accept the fact that sometimes things fail, sometimes things break, and sometimes things fall apart. And then she was able to move on. She was able to pick up the pieces and embrace the unknown, and if that wasnt a metaphor for my own life, I dont know what was.

How so?

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Well, the days, months, and weeks leading up to this moment had been unstable at best. Personally and professionally I was doing great. I was healthy and happy(ish), and my heart was soaring. But my relationship was struggling. My marriage was on the rocks, and my husband and I were contemplating divorce. Heck, we were talking about it. I was making plans. And while we had begun marriage counseling, I was still guarded. I was still on edge.

I was still certain things couldnt work we wouldnt work because there were too many mistakes. We were too damaged, and we werent the same. Our love and relationship wasnt the same, and I honestly didnt know if I wanted to fix it anymore. I was so despondent and downtrodden I honestly didnt care.

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But the second I said these words to my daughter these simple, silly words something changed. Something clicked. And while playing with Legos with my daughter, I realized things didnt have to be the same. We didnt have to be the same. Sure, we could fix us I mean, there were many, many things we had to fix but we also had a chance to make something new, and to rebuild our relationship from the ground up.

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The thing is, love is hard. Relationships are hard. Marriage is hard. Damn hard. And it isnt for the faint of heart. Sure, marriages can and should be celebrations of life, love, happiness, and joy, but with the good comes the bad. (Sorry, this is just a life fact.) And it is then in those dark, trying moments that you will be tested. Your relationship will be tested and the strength of your marriage will be tried.

Marriage takes constant work and compromise. It takes humility, sacrifice, and more than a few Im sorrys. However, even then things arent perfect. Even then, one of you will screw up and even with the most open and understanding heart and the grace of a saint you will fight.

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The pot will boil over and someone will get burned.

But that doesnt mean your relationship cant work, and it doesnt mean your marriage is failing. Even the strongest have to fight for it. Even the strongest couples have to work at it, and sometimes that work simply involves being malleable. Sometimes that work is simply to accept the way things are and not lament the way things used to be.

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So thanks, Legos. Thanks for reminding me that while things in my life may falter, fail, and break, they are things I can handle. I just have to be open to newness. To change. And to the fact that things will not and cannot stay the same.

No matter how much we wish, hope, or will them to.

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from What Legos Taught Me About Love, Life, And My Marriage