#but it is a project that i created for myself and i do hate the way i just left it unfinished

[sheliesshattered]

somehow, I don't know how, but somehow sewing machines always know when you're nearly done with a project and pick that exact moment to throw a hissy fit

[practicalsolutions]

"Your project was not only our biggest business priority, but the rapid development process utilized here will be used as a benchmark for future projects company-wide. You are doing in record speed what previously took us years just for an initial release. Btw, buckle up for stage 2."

Oops.

I think I fucked up, guys.

[lwoorl]

I'll say it: "Oh all AI artists do is write a stupid description and immediately get an image with no effort, there's no art in that" is the new "Digital painting doesn't count as art because it takes no effort"

[milo-is-rambling]

Omg yesterday at my moms therapy I said how well I had been doing and feeling like I can actually handle life and my mom was immediately like “that’s because you’ve been taking your meds regularly again” and like completely brushed off any progress I had actually made and I had to be like yeah totally that’s it that’s why exactly when I haven’t taken my meds for a week straight in idk how long

[nakimushinoai]

So I finally realized I’m constantly wanting to pour love into somebody else because it’s easier than loving myself. I haven’t slept all night because of this thought. 

[terpia]

I think I may finally be ready to read Assassin's Fate. Reading The Left Hand of Darkness made my ROTE brainworms return something fierce, and as a result I started re-reading all my fav parts of all the Fitz books, as happens periodically. However this time, I'm mentally set to find out how his adventure ends (I mean do already have a general idea of how it ends because I've never been that careful about avoiding spoilers, but I don't know that much about specifics).

The only issue with that is a self-imposed one. I created the foolinandfitzin sideblog to document my way through re-reading the first eight Fitz books in the series before getting to the final one (as well as the Rain Wild Chronicles, which I also still haven't read - more on this in a sec). However, my liveblog abruptly stopped in the middle of book 3 - I tried picking it up again, however I decided I won't publish more posts until I'm fully done with the book and can be sure I will actually finish the liveblog this time.

I don't want that to stop me from reading Assassin's Fate, however I still would like to liveblog at least some of my experience of reading it for the first time. So my plan is this - I will read Assassin's Fate now and make posts as I go along (although you probs won't see them until I'm mostly/fully done with the book anyway). This will satisfy my current itch, but will not be a fully complete experience - since I haven't read the Rain Wild Chronicles yet, I expect I will be quite confused/lost by some of the things going on with the characters related to that series. THEN, after I finished Assassin's Fate, I will go back to the other books in the series, including the Chronicles, so that when I get to the Assassin's Fate again I can do a re-read with the full context of what happened in the Rain Wild books.

At least that's my plan for now - I definitely still want to finish my book 3 liveblog since I don't like leaving it unfinished, but may very well decide that I'm done with liveblogging the books after that, at least for a while.

[binch-i-might-be]

When are you posting your Washingdad and Hamilson fics? We miss them!

haha,,,, yeah,,,, so

glad you miss my content but I'm not really working on anything set in any of my established AUs right now? got a couple things started but the only thing I'm actively writing aside from my novel is an unrelated project

writing hasn't been going well! sorry :/

[frecht]

things are going well it is currently four forty-seven a.m. (i woke up at three in a fit of worry over my anthropology project, spent a half hour on my phone trying to make myself feel better about it, spent almost an hour trying to fall back asleep while feeling vaguely ill, then decided i wouldn't be successful and got out my computer to do more work on the project)

[kaserollymoved]

Shit I remembered the exams sessions are getting closer and closer hhhghgcgf I'm not emotionally prepared for this 🥲

[queeriboh]

yesterday I thought a little bit about like huh maybe I should make a Patreon but like lol it's so hard for me to enjoy drawing. I'm not confident I'd be able to produce anything of quality that regularly, and no one's going to pay to see shitty pencil doodles

[hecksupremechips]

My biggest fear is that I’ll spend so much time beating myself up for not being good at writing that by the time I get the words down, all my passion will have run out and my ideas will have been long expired and I’ll have disappointed everyone by failing yet again to keep my promises

[neverendingford]

.

[mars-ipan]

i think it’s funny that the WIP of that gas mask thingy just like immediately got notes. huh. why

[spacelazarwolf]

apparently a bunch of ppl on social media are trying to call for a boycott of rick riordan because of this statement in a blog post:

Becky and I are just back from a busy weekend with events at the Boston Book Festival and New York Comic-Con.

Before I get into that, however, some words to acknowledge the ongoing horrors in Israel and Gaza. As many of you may know, I am no longer on social media. My accounts post only updates on my books and related projects. I do not read posts, reply to posts, or share my thoughts about world events on those forums. That doesn’t mean I don’t have strong feelings and reactions. It means I am offline as completely as possible, except for the occasional blog post like this one.

I will say this: Over the last eighteen years, I have received many fan letters from young readers, both Israeli and Palestinian, who often told me that my books helped them escape the fear, grief and anxiety they were dealing with at the time. Some had lost family members to violence. Some were writing while in the distance they could hear explosions, gunfire, and the launching of rockets. They used my books as a way to escape into another world, where the monsters were fictional, and where demigods usually saved the day. While I am always glad that my books can help young readers find joy during difficult times, my heart breaks every time I hear about the things they have to deal with. I am grief-stricken by the horrific events now unfolding, especially because I know that they are part of a long historic pattern that has been robbing too many children of their childhood and perpetuating hatred for far too long.

I am also quite aware that when anyone, myself included, tries to speak about this issue, the reader is waiting to pounce, thinking, “Yes, but whose side are you on?” That is exactly the wrong question. If there are two sides to this issue, those sides are not Palestinian/Israeli or Muslim/Jewish. The two sides are humanitarian and dehumanizing. Dehumanizing has a long evil history. It is appealing and easy to buy into, because humans are tribal animals. We are hardwired to think in terms of ‘us’ versus ‘them.’ We are the real humans, the good guys, the ones with God on our side. Those other people are evil monsters who don’t deserve empathy. Hate mongers have thrived on dehumanizing for as long as there have been humans. It provides them with a purpose, a way to rally support, power, and scapegoats. It is easy to point to atrocities committed by our enemies, while justifying or minimizing the atrocities committed by ourselves or our allies.

Humanitarianism is a much harder sell. It requires us to empathize, to see other groups of people as equally deserving of dignity and quality of life. It requires not always putting ourselves and our needs first. But in the long run, humanitarianism is our only hope. If violence could end violence, if we could put an end to “those other people” once and for all, human history would read very differently than it does.

So yes, I am appalled by the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians. I am appalled by the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Both things can be true. Both things must be true. My thoughts are with all the people who have died, who have lost loved ones, who have had their worlds and their lives shattered, especially the children. More death and violence will not break this cycle, which has been going on for generations. There is no military solution. Even since I first wrote the post, only twenty-four hours ago, the Israeli government’s brutal retaliation against the entire population of Gaza has reached genocidal proportions. This is not only an atrocity. It is folly. Answering misery with misery only creates more fertile ground for extremism, dehumanizing the “other side,” letting hate mongers thrive, stay in power, and reduce us all to our most monstrous impulses. The only real solution is treating each other like equally worthy human beings, and negotiating a peace that allows all parties a chance to live in security and dignity, with hopes for a future that does not include bombs and rockets and gunfire. This means security and support for Israel, yes. It also means a secure Palestine which is allowed to get the international aid and recognition it needs to build a viable state.

Do I think that will happen? Unfortunately, no. Humans are simply too selfish, too ready to blame “the other” for all their problems, too ready to dehumanize, though I also believe, perhaps paradoxically, that most people just want to live their lives in peace and have a chance for their children to have a brighter future. The problem is when we don’t allow other people to have those same hopes and dreams — when it becomes a false choice of us versus them.

What can I do? I will continue to write books that I hope will give young readers some joy. I will resist the urge to demonize entire groups of people. I will call for less violence, not more violence. And when asked whose side I am on, I will tell you I am on the side of humanitarianism.

So with that said, I return to the world of books . . .

honestly, if you have a problem with this statement, it’s probably because he’s talking about you. this is exactly what legitimate activists (as in not just random westerners who share social media posts but on-the-ground activists who are doing real work) have been saying for decades. and i think all this really speaks to just how disconnected a lot of westerners who claim to be pro palestinian are from those activists.

if you can’t read a statement that says “i am on the side of humanitarianism and less violence” without immediately jumping to cancel them, you are the problem being discussed in the above statement.

[miniyunart]

My piece I did for @turtlestogetherzine !

I truly cannot explain just how much this project means to me, and how PROUD I am of every single contributor!! Everyone did so amazing, seeing all the love and passion everyone had for the TMNT series was seriously so awe inspiring.

The amount of people who supported the zine, first with preorders then with Leftovers (sold out in ONE DAY! Crazy!) and those getting the digital zine still, you all are incredible and I genuinely hope you love this project!

This piece is so special, I went in thinking I'd do something Raph focused (my technically favorite turtle) or even something Rise focused (my fav version so far) but no, I went to the drawing board wanting to represent as many iterations I could with Leo!

My history with Leonardo is such a funny one, when I watched 2003 (my first iteration) growing up, I HAAAAATED Leo LMAO! I hated how boring he was and how much of a rule stickler he was, and I grew up with just this innate dislike of him for every following iteration, till I watched ROTTMNT. I went into Rise expecting to dislike Leo, but they did a complete flip on his character, and I loved it! It was so fresh and it was so fun seeing him be a goof.

So when I went back to watch 2012 for the first time, I found myself loving Leo and his traits there, and then when I went back to watch 2003, the appreciation for Leo grew TENFOLD and I just became smitten with this character!

Mutant Mayhem wasn't out yet at the time, so I wanted to create something that celebrated Leo, the series and the passing of the torch to the newer younger Leo! (WHOM I ADORE!!)

Sorry this was so long, but this project came out better then I could have DREAMED!! So thank you to all who helped bring it to life!

COWABUNGA!

[tswiftupdatess]

Taylor Swift talking about working on The Eras Tour, re-recording, performing with a broken heart and the joy and safety the Tour brings to fans at The Eras Tour Book:

“I'll never forget the call when I explained my idea of the concept for The Eras Tour to my team. At the time, I was working on the Midnights album and if we were to do what I've always done, I would've embarked on planning The Midnights Tour. But there's nothing I hate more than doing what I've always done.

“We're going to call it The Eras Tour and each album will have its own chapter, it's own world.” I told them that I want to fully commit to each era, musically, stylistically and aesthetically. They should feel like time capsules. If we do this right, I said, we can celebrate and honor both new fans and fans who have been here from day one.

It had been 6 years sice I'd toured. In those 6 years, a lot had transpired for me creatively. I release Lover, folklore, evermore, and eventually Midnights. In another real of my priorities was my passion project: re-recording my first 6 albums that were sold away from me by my former record label. Reclaiming my past made me fall back in love with it. Revisiting that past work made me want to honor it and honor what the fans had done for me with the Taylor's Version albums. And so the new albums and my re-records left me with the dilemma: HOW on Earth are we going to play all of this music live? I decided to create the longest, most ambitious show I'd ever even attempted. Averaging at 3 hours and 15 minutes, with 45 songs played. My goal was for every fan to leave that show knowing I gave them absolutely everything I had. I made a promise to myself to be physically and mentally tougher than I ever had been before. To be more disciplined and commited to my health, fitness, and stamina. Thankfully, I'm surrounded by my incredible crew, band, singers, and dancers who all matched my dedication to the massive scale and challenges of this show. We would go on to play this show in the pouring rain, in the blazing heat, in the thickest humidity, in the wildest winds, and in the bitter cold. We would do it if we were sick or exhausted or injured. We would do it with a broken heart. We do this because we love having the rare opportunity to create happiness and wonder up on that stage. We do it because we know it takes time and effort and money and energy to plan out coming to a concert. We do it because every friendship bracelet traded has the potential to become a new friend, and you never know what dreams can be sparked if we succeed in painting a dreamscape in every city we visit. We do it because people need an escape from how brutal life can be, and it is the honor of a lifetime to be that for them, if only for a night. And although we are all on our own in this big scary life, somehow it doesn't feel that way when we're singing the same words as 80,000 other people wearing glittery face paint. We do it because life comes in waves, in phases, in brilliant flurries of magical moments, and all of these things come together to create…Eras.

Here is the official retrospective of the most wondrouds tour of my life, my beloved Eras Tour.

See you next era..”

(November 29, 2024)