#focus on your own personal goals for art and think about why you create it idk

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @chaaistheanswer

Hi everyone! I am Clara, but you can also call me chaa! I am a digital artist based in Auckland, New Zealand, with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Media Production. After graduating from uni, I moved out to pursue my art career and I’ve been a freelance digital artist ever since. I love concept art, especially character design! Creating characters influenced by my love for fantasy is what I live for. Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed my art! And thank you, Tumblr, for this opportunity!

Check out our interview with Clara below!

Did you originally have a background in art? If not, how did you start?

I specialized in art in high school and have a bachelor’s degree in Creative Media Production from Massey University with an animation pathway. For our thesis film, which I worked on with several of my classmates, I took on the role of producer, art director, and concept artist. Our short film was featured in the Wellington Film Festival Terror-Fi in 2020. After graduating, I went on to become a freelance artist, but my goal is to work for the gaming industry as a character concept artist. Ever since I first picked up a pencil, I knew I wanted to become an artist!

Have you ever had an art block? If so, how did you overcome it?

Art block is quite common among artists, and unfortunately, I too have fallen prey to the affliction. I have several ways of overcoming art block: watching movies, playing games, reading, or going out for a drive with my sister. These are just a few things I love to do to help keep my creative juices flowing!

What is one habit you find yourself doing a lot as an artist?

I tend to obsessively research about completely unrelated topics while I draw. I find learning new things helps improve my concept designs, especially in creating backgrounds for my characters.

Over the years as an artist, what were your biggest inspirations behind your creativity?

Video games and anime were my biggest inspirations! Anything with a captivating story that’ll send me to the edge of my seat, and loveable characters. I’m particularly drawn to high and dark fantasy.

How has technology changed the way you approach your work?

Technology has made a huge impact on us artists over the last few years. I used to draw a lot on paper, but since getting a tablet, I find myself searching for the undo and redo buttons and even trying to zoom constantly while I draw on paper. I used to only draw for myself as well, but after posting my art online, I now have an audience to whom I can share my art. Because of this, I am able to earn a living doing what I love by creating illustrations for clients.

What is a recent creative project that you are proud of?

I am very proud of this recent commission I’ve done for a client! Fortunately, the piece turned out exactly how I wanted it to look, and my client was very happy with the result. I am also in the process of working on a Webtoon, which is going as smoothly as I hoped it would be before its re-release!

What advice would you give to younger you about making art that's personal or truthful to your own experiences?

The best advice I would give my younger self is to never hold back! Try not to think about the negatives of creating and sharing art that you believe in. Embrace vulnerability, and don’t be afraid to dig deep into your own emotions and experiences. Always explore, and don’t limit yourself to your own bubble. And most important of all, stay true to yourself! Stay true to your values and beliefs, and never compromise your own authenticity for the sake of pleasing others. Your art is a reflection of you as a person.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

@yuumei-art has been an inspiration to me since my early Deviantart days. I admire how she uses her skills to focus on environmentalism and cyber activism. @nipuni is another inspiration of mine. I found her when I was in the process of recovering from Dragon Age Solavellan hell. I admire how she manages to capture faces well while also sticking to her style. Her paintings are so beautiful and very pleasing to my eyes!

Thanks for stopping by, Clara! If you haven't seen her Meet the Artist piece, be sure to check it out here. For more of Clara's work, follow her Tumblr, @chaaistheanswer!

[lotusmi]

healing your journey in 23 steps

⭒ Edward Art series in a nutshell! 💌 As you probably know, I summarized all 23 posts from Edward Art series! You can read all those posts fully here. This post is the collection of my fav quotes from every single part! » Edward teaches the law based in Neville books and lectures. His posts made my journey lighter and more simple, so I hope you can feel lighter reading it too! I really recommend you to read it :) If those quotes don't align with your personal beliefs, just ignore it ♡

💬 may u have a lovely read... ♡

1: No one or nothing to change but Self

Remove having to get things. Remove stress. Simply imagine what you want with the feeling of actual freedom to do so.

fulfill it mentally (your desire). Remove rules. Remove consequences. Remove the outer-world when you imagine. Remove all ideas of what you "should do" or "have to do." Do what you want (within).

do not care about how it will happen or when, or even if it is possible.

★ Do not stress yourself trying to change the mirror, but focus on changing self. Go within and fulfill your desires in imagination.

2: Let go of control, and control Self

There is no objective reality.

"Never blame, only resolve." - Neville

let go to the HOW. let go of controlling your outer-world and control yourself. The world is reflecting self. And "Self" is everything you think you HAVE and ARE.

do anything you wish in your mind. You are so powerful in your mind that NOBODY can imprison you. It is entirely up to you, to be what you desire to be in your mind.

3: He who will not live by love must be subdued by fear

You can remove ALL your fears if you do what you want in your mind.

the goal is to NOT change each and every fearful thought. It is not to argue and contemplate on the fear.

NEVER BLAME YOURSELF FOR FEARFUL THOUGHTS. Never blame, only resolve them within. You have the power to resolve to what you want. Don't waste that power on blaming yourself.

you are ALWAYS GREATER than what you are creating in your mind.

We are NOT trying to manipulate reality or force some change upon this physical world. That will happen NATURALLY. Why? Because your world is REFLECTING SELF.

CHANGE SELF BY DOING AND HAVING WHAT YOU WANT IN YOUR MIND.

Do you not realize you only get what you want when you give it to yourself?

4: Inner self must be exalted

It comes down to who you think you are. Who you are identifying yourself with. In order to feel completely free, you must identify yourself with the one within you.

When Neville says "Leave the world just as it is and change self. No one to change but self," he means the self that is within, the only self there is. Why leave the world alone? Because it is only an expression of "SELF!" Why does he say to change that and that alone? Because "SELF MUST BE EXPRESSED," that is the Law. You don't have to doubt "is my imaginal act going to come to pass?" Who is doubting? "SELF!" Who is worrying? "SELF!" What gets expressed? "SELF!" YOU CAN ALWAYS TRUST THAT SELF WILL BE EXPRESSED!

Discard the outer-world and that includes your identification with this body. This is ALL an EXPRESSION OF THAT "SELF."

identify yourself from within and you will grant your every wish from within.

since you identify yourself with outer-world and outer-self instead of your True Self and inner-world where everything is possible, you remain stuck.

identify yourself, not with this world, but with the one within, the one who is truly desiring.

5: Imagining is FUN

Thoughts come FROM your FEELING.

thought HAS NO POWER OF ITS OWN. That means the thought HAS NO TRUTH IN ITSELF.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY IF YOU ARE HAVING THE "RIGHT" THOUGHTS OR IF YOU SAYING THE "RIGHT" THINGS IN YOUR MIND. NO MORE TRYING TO THINK PERFECTLY.

You create the feeling you want and from that thoughts come. That is a STATE [!!!]. Remove this idea that beliefs are hard to change and they are blockages in your subconscious.

bring yourself back to the Creator. Stop identifying yourself with the thoughts and understand they are coming FROM the FEELING.

FEEL what you have ALWAYS WANTED to feel, you will NATURALLY THINK-FROM that position. THAT IS A STATE. THAT IS LIVING IN THE END.

FREE YOURSELF IN YOUR MIND ENTIRELY. Stop caring if it will happen or what will happen, REALITY IS YOUR MIND. IT REFLECTS "SELF."

6: Honey

REMOVE ALL RULES!

"Should I? I Must! I Have To!"

These are rules we create in the Mind. Why do we do it? We do for the simple reason that we are trying to control the world. With our physical actions we are trying to control it.

(People who create rules) think the world is outside of them so they create all these rules to control it.

Start with the feeling that, "I can have and feel whatever I want in my mind."

★ free yourself of the rules you (or others) created. Free yourself in your mind. Fulfill your desires within as you want to.

7: I Am not going to tell you "You are Crazy"

we should do everything we want in our minds with no fear. Doing what we want, which is so simple, frees us.

The moment I have any desire in me, I fulfill it. I don't care what it is, how "big" or "small"! I DO NOT CONDITION IT OR WONDER IF IS POSSIBLE ANYMORE OR "GOING TO WORK".

If you really see your mind as the reality, and you fulfill your desires within, you will see how stupid it all is.

the greatest Self-Concepts, the greatest Feelings, the greatest Thoughts are the ones you WANT to have.

start with changing self radically. See yourself entirely different by feeling what you want to be.

When the feeling or desire comes upon you, THAT is the time to ACCEPT IN FULLNESS! Do not wait, do not put it off. Accept in fullness. That is truly what you want to do!

8: Feeling & SELF

Studying [the law] is one thing, actually accepting it another.

EVERYTHING is an assumption. All those thoughts you are thinking are assumptions, and THE MIND DOES NOT CARE WHAT YOU THINK.

how does one feel? The word is ACCEPTANCE. ACCEPT (your desire) ANYWAYS, ENTIRELY ACCEPT IT IN THE MIND!

Create this wonderful habit of accepting every wonderful desire that comes to you. Then you will become normal.

I thought we were suppose to manipulate and control the world. I thought we were suppose to imagine a scene and repeat over and over until it happened. I was wrong. "NO ONE OR NOTHING TO CHANGE BUT SELF!"

when you are panicking about so-so or what might happen or this or that, remember ONLY CHANGE SELF! There is nothing else to change, or nobody else you must change!

SELF is the way to control and manipulate the world. SELF is who you think you are and what you think you have WITHIN! This is a feeling.

9: If I Am then I will Be

"Nothing to change but SELF", "Feeling is the secret." Well, if there is nothing to change but self, how is feeling the secret? In order to change self, it changes through FEELING. This is so important because so many times, I have and others repeated countless affirmations to see little if any results. We repeat it 1000 times, hope it "sticks in the subconscious." Then we hear about feeling so we force feeling into it, and it changes us for a bit but then it becomes exhausting. It becomes exhausting because we feel that we HAVE TO feel this specific feeling or else.

There is no HAVE TO, but WANT TO. FEEL what you WANT to Feel. You discover what you want to feel by asking SELF inside. FEEL that. It does not matter what it is, just something you have always wanted to feel. This is what changes us.

Forcing affirmations, forcing feelings is not what you want. If you just changed the intention to feeling it because you want to feel it, because you want to fulfill all your desires within yourself with feeling, then you would be far happier.

SELF cannot fail at expressing. And SELF is ALL that you FEEL to BE and HAVE in your MIND! Allow yourself the freedom of FEELING what you want with no worry.

So SELF or yourself cannot fail you. You always express what you FEEL to be and FEEL to have. There is NO OTHER CREATOR IN YOUR MIND. None. You are doing it ALL in your mind. You give or you take. There is no other God in the Mind but you.

We are what we feel to be and have in Imagination and this dream world shapes to US.

10: Fearful Of Magnificence?

We should go beyond just granting wishes and start seeing ourselves highly in our minds.

You learn to stop fearing the wonderful feelings by seeing it is YOU who is holding yourself back.

Once you break through your own fear of wonderful feelings, you will see it was you all along. All fear are mental imaginings that you are creating within yourself. Knowing, you bring the power of CREATION BACK TO YOURSELF.

11: Self Identification

How can I BE what I want?

It lies in your IDENTIFICATION OF SELF. Do not be afraid but IDENTIFY yourself FULLY with the INNER MAN. The immortal you. The one that can do ANYTHING it wants. The one who owns the world and all that is in it. If you identify yourself with the inner man, you will be free.

The outer man see's nothing but limitations. He lives in desire. Too many of us have identified ourselves with what the outer-man HAS and IS, not seeing it is a reflection of the INNER MAN.

See what you HAVE and what you claiming yourself to BE WITHIN. THAT is what is reflected always.

You do not have to persuade others to help you [!!!]; all you need do is believe you are what you want to be and then let the world (which is nothing more than yourself pushed out) go to work to make your assumption possible. - Neville

How can you "believe you are what you want to be" when you the world is showing you otherwise? Again it comes down to "SELF" IDENTIFICATION. Conceptions of ourselves are what WE FEEL OURSELVES, OUR INNER MAN TO BE. The Inner Man has all the freedom to see and feel what it wants to be.

To the Inner Man EVERYTHING ALREADY IS TRUE, not to the outer. IT ALREADY IS SO, to the Inner Man. There is no convincing necessary, no 1,000 affirmations, no repeating over and over hoping it works, IF YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF WITH THE INNER MAN.

You did not imagine "How" to get there, you are already there in imagination. Your issue is NOT in imagining the end, your issue lies in who you are identifying yourself with. If you imagine yourself in the end, which is easy, but then you identify yourself with the outer-man, you will breed nothing but frustrations.

"Disregard appearances, conditions, in fact all evidence of your senses that deny the fulfillment of your desire. Rest in the assumption that you are already what you want to be" - Neville

Leave the world as it is, with all of its denials and change yourself within and see how it is yourself pushed out.

So discard all beliefs of what you think you are, or what you have been called etc, and Identify yourself with the One Within and you will be free.

12: Personal Reality

stop thinking about the outer-world. You get rid of this 3D reality. You then FEEL that your inner world is YOUR reality. Your own PERSONAL reality, where you can do, have, and be what you want.

We are not trying to "make something happen" or "hope it manifests," rid yourself of these feelings. They will do nothing but block the wonderful feelings and experiences you want to have within. This is your own personal reality.

Once you create this personal reality where everything seems to go lovely, you will see that there is no one to blame for what you were previously imagining. Taking all responsibility for what happens WITHIN us, we can then use that power to change what we want WITHIN us.

13: No Permission Needed

Remember the outer-world is a reflection of what the INNER MAN has, is and does in their own Personal Inner Reality. That is you.

if we wish to have radical change, let's radically change the INNER MAN. Give the INNER MAN what they want. That is, radically change your own Personal Inner Reality.

"DARE to assume" DARE to FEEL (accept) what you want. Without doing that, you remain as you are.

THE INNER MAN NEEDS NO PERMISSION! THE INNER MAN DOES NOT CARE WHETHER OR NOT IT IS POSSIBLE! So in your Personal Reality, your Mind, understand you need no permission to FEEL what you want to feel. No permission whether not it is "possible". Identify yourself with the INNER MAN who is FREE to do, feel and be what they want!

Your Personal Inner Reality is not bound by the facts of this life. In the Reality Within, you can go back in memory and change what you want. It is YOURS to change!

Your Personal Inner Reality is not bound by the facts of this life. In the Reality Within, you can go back in memory and change what you want. It is YOURS to change!

Daily FEEL what you want to feel and experience what you want in Imagination which is your true SELF, the SELF that is reflected in front of you.

14: The God Of The World Of Imagination!

There is this world, the World of the Senses, and there is another world, the World of Imagination. There is a Man who experiences the World of the Senses, which we call the Outer-Man. Then there is another Man who experiences the World of Imagination. We call that Man the INNER MAN.

The Outer-Man sees the limitations and restrictions in the World of the Senses. The Outer-Man feels he is limited and confined to the ‘facts’ of life. The Outer-Man goes through life fully convinced that this World of the Senses is happening to him not from him. He uses only his five senses to move in this World. So naturally he feels like a victim and desires to control this world through the means of force, manipulation etc. The Outer-Man feels fear that life can throw at him things that he is not prepared for. Situations he does not want to encounter but since he feels powerless, he fears the future. Since he cannot change the past, he guilt himself over it. This is how he is limited.

Then there is the Inner-Man who lives in the World of Imagination. In this World, he is unlimited and can create what he wishes. He is free beyond measure and everything that he can be conceive of is his. Everything. Not one thing is not his because he is the Creator of it!

THERE IS NO OBJECTIVE OUTER-MAN. The Outer-Man is simply an expression of the Inner Man. The only Man that exists is the Inner Man. There is NO OBJECTIVE WORLD OF THE SENSES. The World of the Senses, is but the expression of the World of Imagination.

The Inner Man can convince himself that he is this Outer-Body living in this dangerous world but he is still the Inner Man fooling himself into that!

PART 15: Awakening

What the Inner Man FEELS himself to BE and FEELS himself to HAVE in the World of Imagination is what will be EXPRESSED in this World of the Senses.

you are an INNER individual living in the World Of Imagination. In this World, you are God. You can imagine anything. All things are possible here in this world, INCLUDING the FULFILLMENT of your desire. You can change SELF to what you want. And SELF is what you THINK you HAVE and what you THINK you ARE in this World of Imagination. Read that sentence again. And SELF, THAT SELF, is what is EXPRESSED.

As you read this, you are living in this 3D world. You own things within it, you HAVE things. Based on what you HAVE in this 3D world, you create identities for yourself. Remember, we CLAIM we ARE things BASED on what we THINK WE "HAVE."

stop identifying yourself with this 3D world, which is simply an expression of INNER SELF, if you stop identifying yourself with what this 3D person "HAS," and start identifying yourself with the INNER MAN, you will see the freedom.

in this 3D world, we give ourselves identities based on what we THINK (FEEL) we HAVE. So if we can identify ourselves with the INNER MAN, and in that world we HAVE the things we want, we can then give ourselves a new identity.

stop thinking you are "only imagining" this. I want you to stop thinking what you are seeing in your mind is "fake." I want you to stop reacting to what you do not want to react to you. I want you to stop FEELING limited by this World of the Senses. I want you to stop worrying about HOW or WHEN it is going to happen and instead FEEL secure KNOWING this 3D world reflects what your INNER SELF HAS AND IS WITHIN. I want you to FEEL you are limitless within because you are! You do not have to bow down to this world and accept what you THINK it says about you. I want you to FEEL yourself to be the creator of everything within you.

Can you accept that you HAVE what you want because you see yourself (INNER SELF) with it, and everything in this World of Imagination is yours and is real?

PART 16: "What Else?"

How I enter into a New State of Consciousness? Death. Death is the only way. How does one die to a State of Consciousness? By surrendering to the New State. You cannot enter into a New State taking with you all the limitations, questions, and worries of the Old State. The Inner Self must be exalted but it cannot be exalted by holding 2 contradictory States.

When you imagine having exactly what you want in your mind, you do not question anything, you do not worry, you do not wonder "what if," you do not entertain the Old State and its limitations for one second. You die to it entirely.

You cannot bring your current limitations, worries, questions and FEELINGS with you to your New State.

The States or Concepts you hold in the Imagination are nothing but things you "hold." That is it. You think because the concept you are holding is reflecting in your world somehow makes it more "real?" I assure you it is not. It does not really matter if it is being reflected.

PART 17: Dream The Dream

remove the outer-world and remove the idea of "trying to manifest" and simply have the attitude of changing your INNER WORLD to your liking. Here is nothing to do, nothing to force on the outside. You change it, you mold it, you feel it and you do it all within you. You create a new dream, a perfect dream within you.

To "try to manifest," is a feeling. "Trying to get, trying to resolve, trying to make something happen," are FEELINGS you take with you before you imagine. These feelings are what disrupt you from actually FEELING what you want to feel. Instead FEEL that you are solely going to re-imagine, or re-dream a new dream WITHIN YOU and you will change you FEELING how you feel within. These changes is what expresses itself in the world. So if you wish to change the outer-world, leave it alone. Leave it alone and go within and change THAT WORLD, the world WITHIN. Change who you are THERE, change what you have THERE, change how you are treated THERE. Dream up a new World Within!

PART 18: Expansion

what you are seeing in your mind is not fake. And not only is it NOT fake, you can shape it PRECISELY how you want to shape it.

In order to actually lose yourself in the imaginal act, one must accept it is real and let go entirely of the outer-world. One must suspend rational thinking, and just accept it is real.

In order to access this feeling you must not be afraid to assume it is Real. If you are not FEELING it then that means you are still bound by your senses and this outer-world. You need to allow yourself the Freedom to Expand BEYOND the rational mind that is keeping you from experiencing your Wish being granted. You cannot be afraid anymore to feel and imagine what you want.

PART 19: Boldness

Your Mind is your own Personal Reality and you have the power to shape it PRECISELY, and FEEL what you want in it!

This is about giving the Inner Self what you want.

PART 20: Receptivity

Now we come to Denying. That is to say that we must truly let go of what the Outer World is showing us. True Denial is not looking at your World and merely repeating, "It does not exist," but is actually ACCEPTING the new reality within you. You do not deny being unwanted, by stating your are not unwanted. You deny unwantedness with the ACCEPTANCE of being wanted. It is our ACCEPTANCE of our Imagination which is our DENIAL of the senses. So Denying is not something you do, it is the implication of your ACCEPTANCE of the Imaginal Scene.

To stress yourself on whether you are "denying" the evidence of your senses enough is an unnecessary stressor. You do not fight against your senses for they only reflect you. Because "True Denial" as Neville says is "total indifference." But to be totally indifferent about your senses, you must ACCEPT your Imagination as the Reality. To become "indifferent" is an emerging consequence of accepting Imagination as the One and Only Reality.

You cannot wait for the world to change to what you want. You must change what you are and have in Imagination. If you are tired of what your world is reflecting, you can be confident it will keep reflecting that until you change YOU inside your Consciousness. This calls for radically giving yourself what you desire IN Consciousness.

PART 21: Irrationality 

Chances are you truly are NOT giving yourself what you want because you feel some impossibly in it. Forget that. All things are possible in the Imagination. Do it anyway. Just do it. Do what? What you deeply want. Do you for only you, you Inner Self.

PART 22: The Dreamer

Never seeing he is the Creator, the Cause he always fails. The idea that he does not have to do anything, he does not have to work his way out - this idea is lunacy to the Outer-Man. He thinks, "No, there must be a way that I just have not figured out yet." So he goes on seeking outside of himself, yet he himself is a desiring self, and only seeing his reflection, he only see's his desires. Never obtaining them, always seeking them, frustrations, rage, jealousy all stir up within him. Hating his world, hating what he see's, hating his own reflection he wants to destroy it. He cannot win because he lives in a position of fear and failure, and what is within will be without because Man can only give what is within himself.

If only he were to stop hating his reflection, and saw that the mirror only reflects what he is doing, he would be free. If only he were to see the mirror is stationary and does not judge but simply reflects. If only he were to see himself in the mirror and see he is the Creator, he would be free.

He does not have to cope with his limitations, he does not have to fight his way out. He will stop feeling after his fears and become indifferent about them for they are his Creation and has no power over him.

The Dreamer abandons limitations and turns towards his desires and gives it to himself fully. The Dreamer will always dream beyond what his limitations dictate.

PART 23: Unconditional Thinking

To truly grasp the freedom that is attainable within you, you must understand the concept of States. A State is a belief about the yourself or what you believe you will experience, an attitude towards life. There are infinite statues (states) that lie dormant within you. They do not disappear, for nothing can disappear in Imagination. The acceptance that you are the State now, is what brings life to these dormant statues.

If entering into a New State within you is challenging it is because you have not accepted who you are within. You are not a State, but is God. As God within, whose permission are you asking for? To whom do you answer to? If there is only One Being within you, then who can stop you?

If you wish to rise as something New in Imagination, you have to give up entirely your currently thoughts/feelings, questions, worries, what you think of the world, what you think is possible, if you think you are worthy or not, if you deserve the New State etc.

"Don't tell me anything!" That is the secret. Total self-abandonment to the current State is the way to bring life towards the New State.

You have to die to what you do not want to express entirely, a true act of surrender. You can do it.

leave the world alone and go within and die to what you want to stop expressing and allow yourself to be what you want. Imagination is the evidence you are seeking for it is the only reality.

Assume all works in your favor to express your States. This is how the Imagination works. Everything within you is yourself for the taking. Think unconditionally.

💬 may u had a lovely read... ♡ i see u next post!

[eamour]

thoughts come from feeling.

you may know this or not, but your thoughts do not actually exist individually or on their own. they aren’t the root of your manifestations. your thoughts, if you like it or not, come from one thing: feeling.

a thought's origin.

all of your thoughts come from your feeling. now, you could replace the word "feeling" with "belief" or "state" because every feeling, everything you deem as either true or false represents a state aka an underlying belief.

thoughts of fear, thoughts of exhaustion, thoughts of confusion, thoughts of disappointment — they all come from their associated state. feelings of fear generate thoughts of fear, and so on.

creating, feeling and thinking.

this is how edward summarises it. you create by creating a feeling you would like to feel. then, you feel it. you feel it to be true, to be correct, to be real. and last but not least, thoughts based on that feeling will rise up. the last part is something you don’t even have to control as it happens naturally.

feel first, think later.

it’s never a thought that happens first. this might be a bit difficult to recognise but your feeling happens to occur BEFORE the thoughts you start to think. why is this important? it’s important because this simply means that the thoughts you are thinking have no creative power on their own. they hold no truth as they are what's being created. your thoughts are a creation of FEELING. and you can use that to your advantage!

if your feeling generates thoughts and if your thoughts give evidence to your feeling / state, your thoughts will have to change accordingly if you change your feeling. consequently, once you change your feeling, all thoughts linked to that feeling already exist as well.

thoughts don't matter.

what i'm trying to say is: your thoughts aren’t the ones that manifest. it’s your state, your feeling, your belief, what you know and accept to be true — not what you simply "think" to be true. when you assume, accept, know, believe or feel something to be true, in the end, it’s still a "thought" but a thought you think with conviction.

a change of feeling.

so, how do we change our feeling? we know that it’s not our single thoughts that we need to change but our feeling. how do we do that? we do it by simply feeling what we would want to feel. it sounds too easy but that’s basically everything we need to do. since your thoughts can tell you which state you are in at this given moment and since we think from our feelings, all we can do is to change our feeling.

feel yourself to be who you would want to be. feel yourself to have what you would want to have. bask yourself in the feeling. experience and enjoy feelings of richness, love, peace, success, and more! the moment you focus on feeling what you would want to feel, the moment you make it your goal to aim for the end, that’s when you will naturally generate your desired thoughts.

your mind, your feelings.

again and again, it’s your mind. not mine, only yours. and that’s where the magic happens. you are allowed to feel anything you'd like because your mind is YOUR safe space. no one can harm you there. no one can judge you. truly, try to relax in there. in your mind, it's secure. and it is up to you to what extent you would like to feel confident, happy, beautiful and more.

JUST FEEL IT, DON'T QUESTION OR REASON OR THINK, JUST FEEL. — edward art.

you don’t have to identify with anything you dislike. you can stop being a servant to unfavourable thoughts and no longer serve them. you can shift your feeling and start to feel good about yourself, your reality — everything! you can do it. you don't have to live a fearful, unfulfilling and limiting life.

desirable feelings.

this is probably by far the most important point in this post, also due to personal experience. dear reader, you cannot force yourself to do something you don’t want to do. you cannot commit to something you don’t love. that being said, you cannot feel what you don’t wish to feel.

if you truly want to change self and shift your state, you must find a feeling you deeply desire to feel. a feeling you cannot get tired of easily. a feeling that won’t bore you too quickly. let it be something your wholeheartedly wish to experience in imagination. not just something you kinda wanna feel. that won’t move you, that won’t change you. let it be a feeling you have been craving and longing for.

a new feeling.

once you genuinely start to feel feelings you have always, maybe even desperately wanted to feel, you will start to realise how amazing it is. you will want to do it more. you will naturally want to engage with these feelings and the same way you will naturally start to think desirable thoughts.

with love, ella.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What do you think of Watari? Do you think he read too many comics of Batman as a child and that's why he is willing to go that far for L? Is he just that eccentric that he dedicated his life to create the perfect detective and then created a fabric orphanage that raises more perfect detectives? Or is he another bored genius with too much money? And what do you think L thinks of him?

“I just never thought I’d meet anyone who legitimately thought he was Batman.” Naomi pointed out, “I mean, that stuff just doesn’t happen to other people, but somehow I just managed to find the one guy and…” “I don’t think I’m Batman.” L said in slight confusion as if wondering how that point even had come up. “Oh come on, now you’re just delusional.” Naomi said, “Do I really need to point this out for you?” “There’s a ninety nine percent chance that there is nothing legitimate to your argument.” “Hey, assholes, I’m right here!” Mello said trying to become the focus of the conversation once again. Naomi and L spared him a dull glance before returning to glaring at each other and continuing to pretend that Mello didn’t actually exist. “Wrong. There are many reasons why you think you’re Batman. Let’s start with Watari, tell me, doesn’t he seem an awful lot like Alfred?” Naomi placed her hands on her hips ignoring Mello’s pacing back in forth in the room like a neglected and angry puppy. “That’s rather irrelevant and somewhat racist, not all British elderly men are Alfred…” Naomi continued counting off the reasons on her fingers, “You work with the police but you never show them your face. You learned martial arts and I’m sure that if you didn’t already know that it wasn’t practical you would beat your enemies up in an elaborate costume for the good of the world. You have at least three secret identities just in case someone finds out who you really are. You built a giant building with a helicopter pad just so that you could catch one man who is you’re arch nemesis. You have your own symbol which you display to show your presence in the world. How do you not think you’re Batman?” L blinked and said, “Those were all completely necessary.”

All You Need is Love, by me, circa 2010

I'm sure other people have said as much, but I feel like you're quoting me to me, anon...

I've already given my two cents on Wammy's, the long and short of it being that it's a toxic and terrible idea that is not for the good of the children, the world, or anybody.

So... honestly, yeah, Watari's clearly really attached to this idea of the world's greatest anonymous detective to the point where he built this orphanage that destroys several children's lives while actively destroying L's life (as we have enough flashbacks to reveal that L started this when he was very young). Watari clearly does care for L, we do see signs of that, but it doesn't mean this isn't all very fucked up and that Watari--clearly is chasing a goal in this and feels this is a good turn of events.

The thing is it's not about training people to become competent detectives, even if they were adults rather than children, it's instead making these children compete so they can get a single title for a man who isn't even dead yet to ensure that this legacy of an anonymous super detective continues when... why? L can die, anyone can die, any name can die. Why not let the title of L die and let other detectives step up to fill in the gaps? Why not have the children pursue their own titles rather than L's? Why have them pursue L's title at all from a very young age when this probably won't be what they want to do with their lives when they're adults?

Why this obsession?

It's not a natural thing that Watari's set up, not in any way, and the amount of dedication involved (including personally as he's the living assistant twenty-four-seven to L) speaks to something a lot more than a bored genius.

I think Watari believes in L, the idea of L, more than L himself ever did.

As for L's thoughts on Watari (here his thoughts on Near and Mello), it's hard to say. He treats Watari like shit, but he treats everyone like shit, and we do see him have... a few moments with Watari and no more friction with the man than he does anyone else.

However, we do see things such as L more or less refusing to go along with the Wammy's scheme, despite Watari being very into it. L and Watari always interact in the roles of detective and assistant, we never see them break character despite knowing each other since L was a child. In fact, we see Watari... plying him with sweets twenty-four-seven which really begs the question of whether Watari has ever, in L's life, helped him adult in any capacity. Did you even fucking try, Watari? Or did you just feed this boy hostess snacks for twenty years?

We also see L have a much more... nuanced and passionate interaction with Light than he ever does Watari. It could be Watari's comfortable, the closest thing L has to a father, while Light is exciting and a brilliant murderer and the highlight of his career, and we do see L be even worse with the likes of Matsuda, the rest of the task force, Misa, even people he hires like Wedy, but it really does feel like L means it when he says Light is his only friend.

He clearly has an emotional attachment to Watari but... honestly, it doesn't feel like as much as he has to Light, which is a bad sign when Watari's been around since L was a child.

Basically, I land on "looks complicated, but Watari was a pretty shit father, and L doesn't seem to regard him as one". I don't think L resents him, he clearly enjoys his position and toys too much, but I do think L... thinks of him and treats him as "assistant and butler" and that's the box Watari gets to live in in L's brain.

[stromuprisahat]

"I didn’t know whether to laugh or scream."

Siege and Storm- Chapter 15

Oh nein! Mal has issues! With consequences of his actions he should be grateful for, and his girl not sharing every waking thought with him, when her worst worries spring from his most hated topics- the Darkling and her role in politics.

And Alina once again feels responsible for his feelings.

Yeah, this would have a bit more weight, if Alina didn't do it only for appearances' sake. Or if she granted the position due to merit, not random pick of what she views as the lowest low. Or if she didn't continue speaking as if she were a narrator of wildlife documentary, describing a new species of animal that just appeared.

Not necessarily, but it's one of Alina's less far-fetched deductions.

Aleksander could've been aware of David's fascination with Morozova's work. He could've picked the most skilled in bonework or the one most experienced in forging amplifiers- they're supposed to be rare, so not many Fabricators will have that.

*mumbles* And somehow we're to believe this pragmatic man chose to follow Alina, because... ? She's the good one, or whatever?!

*chants* Double agent Kaminsky, double agent Kaminsky!

Alina: Why would you want to kill this man! How horrible! At least question him first!

She would make a delightful morally flexible character, if she were acknowledged as such, and embracing that quality.

Says who? Zoya?

He KeEpS mE So BuSy!

Saints, Alina, you can't believe everything people say about themselves!

Alina: I'm not sure my three months of training are enough, but I can do like two things with my powers, so let's focus on increasing them further AND on the mythical forbidden art that created my goal no. 1 in the first place. I bet nothing can go wrong...

Only signing? Not reading to get into picture? And who prepares them?!

Bureaucracy, baby!

Welcome to responsibility!

I would sympathize with Alina much more, if she showed genuine interest in those she doesn't know. If her motivation weren't merely "Do the opposite of (what I think) the Darkling did". I she truly believed in her own philosophy.

Shocking!

People forced to sit next to half-strangers they're not used to interact with, create unpleasant atmosphere!

My work experience considered- you're lucky there's no visible enmity- you could've made the wrong people sit next to each other and tableware could've ended up in wrong bodyparts.

Also: How is Nadia sitting next to Marie? I thought breaking up already existing friend groups was a point of this whole exercise.

They're not gifts, Nikolai. They're just your father's property, but let's remember the Darkling didn't wait for the Queen to request a specific one's service, and turned it into a gesture of his own thoughtfulness. Fuck his strategems!

Alina's misplaced sensibilities are incredibly frustrating.

She wants to lead Second Army, but not order them, not assign them tasks directly, because that would somehow make her a bad person, instead of efficient leader.

What if no one will volunteer? What if weak, incompetent Squallers will? You don't look at special assignment and think- Yeah, whoever wants to do it... You PICK the most capable person with both sufficient skills AND suitable personality.

Awwww!

Poor granny deserves an Oscar!

[evelmiina]

Hi Eva,

I have a fee questions regarding your wonderful work. I'm currently working on my visdev portfolio, but going a bit insane thinking about keeping my artstyle consistent if i'd ever be hired. I just looked through your background paintings and wondered how you keep your backgrounds in a consistent style. I love your nature studies too, and they look so different from your work pieces... More free and explorational. Is it difficult to keep up the habit of learning new techniques and exploring styles once you're on a job? I'm so full of ideas and feel like sometimes the idea would require a certain style/technique to be pulled off in the best way. Do you feel that too sometimes and is it restricting in a way to then keep the style of the paintings the same.

Would love to hear your thoughts on that!! :)

Hi Eekonis!

First off: don't worry! I don't think consistency is an issue... I feel like any artist no matter the level, feels like their work is all over the place. I think of consistency more like per project, rather than overall my work. 

If you're interested in vis dev, a good way to showcase your work in a portfolio and not feel overwhelmed and all over the place, is to create just one project. I saw in your portfolio the bat story exploration, that's great! Just pick one of the ideas you have. Truth is we never feel ready to do something and we postpone and ruminate, but you have to start somewhere. My friend always says, "vain tee se" (just do it) and that's really all there is. Imagine your story as a film/TV (or game, or comic, but you have to choose one), and make designs and paintings of how you imagine it. You can try searching for visual development portfolios and see what other professional artists have included in theirs, there's so many ways to go about it. From the top of my head I'm thinking Aurelien Predal, Marie Thorhauge, Scott Watanabe, Kevin Roualland, Sylvain Marc. Also art books of movies or shows you like are really useful. There's a lot of art of movies and artists, tutorials etc collected in character design references website, from all around the world.

If your own idea feels too vague or the story is not set and you get stuck on it, you could also choose an existing story like a fairytale or a novel. Try to be intentional with your pictures - you want to be clear and tell a story after all, you want people to feel like they get to know the characters and the world from just one picture, and they really want to know the full story. In your portfolio, I like your bat story explorations and it seems cool, but it's currently missing some characterization and story. It would be a good idea to illustrate story moments or character design that really shows the personality, gesture, acting. And when you create environments, make them feel lived and inhabited, give them just as strong mood and character as you would to characters. 

Consistency within a project is just about setting rules and limitations, some of them come from the ability and skill. Others are more like, what brushes to use, what are the visual goals, influences and references. You can go pretty far in breaking down how pictures are made and what makes a style. For example, why do Ghibli movies look like Ghibli? What kind of color palettes, compositions, camera angles, tools were used? How realistic/cartoony is it? There’s internal logic to everything designed, and with practise it becomes more visible.

I don't know if I intentionally try to learn new styles all the time. I'm generally just motivated by doing what I think is fun or what I want some piece to say about story, character or my own feelings and trying to do it best I can. It sounds simple but... if the goal is to do something really well, then I just do my best to learn it. There are some styles that I really love and think are amazing, but would probably take decades to pull off and I just accept that I don't really want to go that way, and I focus on things that I really want to keep at. It's always possible to switch directions, but to get good at something you have to commit to one thing at a time. 

So yes, I face my limitations all the time. I'm very familiar with feeling like, so and so would do better job, someone is always better than me for sure. Sometimes it is painful to not be able to draw or paint in a way I want. I think this probably never changes, it's just human nature. But I dunno, some people get satisfaction from making AI do their project in the style they want, but if I was able to do something in a snap of fingers, like just get the perfect style for my project, it wouldn't feel good to me. I guess I want the full experience of suffering and joy of figuring things out myself. Sometimes it will suck and hurt, but you learn more about yourself and it'll get easier to recognize what you really want to make. Then, you can always do a little bit better next time.

[genericpuff]

I have a fandom I'm into where the world building and writing in general is kind of terrible, and I keep going "Maybe ill make a comic retelling" but then I remember I haven't even gotten my personal comic started and think about how much effort you put in to this retellkng and go "No. I actually don't want to do that."

hey, whatever you do decide to do, it'll keep you creating! Rekindled is a side project that's helped me heal through a personal project that I'm currently recovering from burnout on, I didn't really think too hard about doing it, I just went where my interests were and it's gone through a lot of evolution since then. Don't feel like anyone else's work existing should keep you from creating, that's not why other work exists and ultimately the only one stopping you from doing what inspires you (or what you're inspired by) is you (•̀ᴗ•́)و

That said (big edit ahead because I realized I had more things to say on this LOL), I think it also depends on what you're retelling and why. I feel the reason why LO is so ripe for retellings is because it, in and of itself, is a retelling. Whereas original stories that aren't based on any sort of pre-existing source material aren't really able to be 'retold' in that same way because they're telling exactly the story they intend to tell from the beginning, vs. LO which is poorly adapting original source material that pre-exists it by hundreds of years. Case in point, I wouldn't feel compelled at all to "redo" a comic like Let's Play or The Kiss Bet because neither of those are attempting to retell specific stories, they are the story and so to put them in any other form wouldn't be the The Kiss Bet or Let's Play anymore, thus defeating the point lmao In that regard, Rekindled isn't exactly LO, it's as much a retelling of LO as LO is a retelling of Greek myth. But because it does have that original source material that predates it, it makes people feel more compelled to retell it with the foundation that LO laid (with its vibrant bright colors and modern setting) but tweaking things to make them more accurate - or at least respectful - towards the original myths.

So I think you do have to ask yourself what it is you're attempting to re-interpret and what the goal is in doing so. Remember that it's all still fanfiction at the end of the day so don't be doing anything risky that might implicate yourself of copyright infringement lmao (do your own research and well-testing to see if it's something that would be worth it for you in the long run).

There are definitely times I'll encourage people to focus on their own projects rather than try to polish someone else's turd if it's in the pursuit of "fixing" things, art can and should be allowed to exist regardless of whether or not it's perfect and LO isn't an exception to that. I'm not gonna try and defend Rekindled as an exception to those times I'd suggest people to work on their own thing, I could - and should - be working on my personal original projects rather than what Rachel brought into the world. But that's also why I give it such an original spin because I also want to tell my own story, simply through the lens of recreating a comic that I loved for so many years and was retelling myths that I have a close connection to. All in all, that's why I tell people to take my experience and advice and rants with mountains of salt. I'm not a one-stop-shop for all-encompassing advice or guidance on what you should or shouldn't do. And my work definitely doesn't exist as a metric for what should be done by others lol Focus on you and your pursuits! <3

[j0kers-light]

Hii! If requests are open could I request Heath ledger’s joker with a digital artist s/o? They’re constantly ranting about their OCs and showing him drawings/animations of them, etc?

Hey hi anon 🖤✨

Mad respect to digital artists!! I love you each and every one of you and the work you share with the world!! Keep on keeping on!

As someone who can’t draw a straight line I be envious but I’ll stick to what I love. Which is why you’re here 🤭Let’s get into it! Please enjoy to your hearts content!

Joker is used to you bent over your drawing pad, stylus in hand (wrist brace on; carpal tunnel ain’t no joke! I know from experience 👀) that the visual of you is second nature to him when he walks through the door

He knows when you have your headphones on and your tongue is sticking a bit out of your mouth, that it’s drawing time.

Joker leaves you be until you come to him to ask for constructive criticism. J is always honest and tells you things no matter if it hurts

You shove the pad into his face and begin rambling about if the shading is off, are the lines too harsh? What about the anatomy because you HATE drawing (insert) maybe you should focus attention away from that by drawing a secondary figure?

“I could add more to the background or maybe soften the edges? What do you think? Should I just start over?”

Joker knows you’re the toughest critic regarding your own work so he genuinely tells you it’s great.

The shading is amazing and he personally likes the outline still visible through your signature style. It makes the whole piece feel more natural that way than full on illustrated (he’d hate for you to be called out for using AI) 🙄🙄 he’d probably kill someone for flaming you.

He subtly reminds you to add your watermark signature to the artwork in a unique way because you forget to when you critique your work so much.

You are constantly on your drawing pad day in and day out and it’s not the latest tech so… you run into a problem early on: it breaks.

You don’t tell Joker since you’re been saving up for a new one for a while now but…. you’re not quite at your goal. It’s all good, you take a break from drawing and focus on another skill

Rest assured Joker instantly notices you’re not drawing (how dare you; he adores your work!) and goes out and buys steals the most state of the art equipment for his bunny.

I’m talking a rig that the professionals use with all the bells and whistles. It’s already set up at your workstation the following morning and your head over heels thanking Joker with hugs and kisses

Joker fully supports your craft and knows it’s your source of income sooo he uses different accounts to commission you for the most random artwork so you stay getting paid and he helps you draw out of your comfort zone while ultimately improving as an artist

You are none the wiser and people start to notice your work with the endless flow of commissions Joker asks for.

He may or may not leave your username/digital card in the most random places across Gotham. It’s free exposure at this point.

Joker doesn’t get tired of listening to lore about your OCs and their world.

He knows so much about each character that Frost, Mac, and Neo are fully convinced they’re real people with how much J talks about them.

“OC’s name went viral the other day. I think it’s because of the new uhh, underwater.. ani-mation Y/n made. Very err crisp.”

“Is you talking about Y/n’s drawings?” Mac asked.

“It’s noT just a drAwINg!” Joker quickly defends your work.

Mac’s dumb comment prompted J to threaten ask them to pull out their phone and subscribe to your Pateron account. And it better be the highest tier or risk J’s wrath.

He pays them enough to afford a monthly subscription and it’s worth every penny

The four of them spend the rest of the night scrolling through your online portfolio. They oo and ahh over the hard work you created. You are beyond talented.

A low level goon knocked on the door and got their attention but was floored by the illustration shown up on the projector. It looked like a literal masterpiece. It was so detailed and some elements were animated, he asked for the artist’s link.

Joker was forever grateful you used a pseudonym for your work so he had no issues of your identity being compromised by association

Neo provided them your username, lith0useart, on all platforms and told them to get back to work. They did while spreading your work like wildfire amongst the others.

That same night you called J screaming in joy to tell him about all the new Paterons and commissions you got! You were on your way to being an artist full time and Joker couldn’t be more proud.

[parkminijiminie]

Jk has been pushing the heterosexual fuck boy narrative since chapter 2 started. He's been seen out with women or possibly just 1 particular woman in his personal time since last year. People tried to write it off as a staff member but he wouldn't be with staff in his personal time when he's not working which he obviously wasn't. Jk didn't start working until bh sent him to the states after Like Crazy charted #1 on hot100 bc they wanted that for him and not jm. I wonder will jk use this video to his advantage to further push the heterosexual fuck boy narrative or will he do some grand gesture towards jm to try to soothe things over. If they were broken up at the time it wouldn't be cheating but it's only natural for jm to get upset about the situation if he is. Jm had to deal with the exact situation with jk and the tattoo artist back in 2019 and I would assume he's not happy about dealing with it yet again.

Let's not assume too much, dear. Neither of us are Jimin nor JK. We don't know if they ever were together, let alone at the time of 2019 issue, moreover right now. Jimin is a strong, smart individual and I trust he knows what he's doing. If he supports JK going forward , just as he's always done, and assume always will, then your theory goes to to the bin.

I don't think JK being possibly filmed in his home is a PR move and I seriously doubt it will be used as one if it wasn't, because JK really hates his privacy being invaded. I don't know who he's been seen with in his private time, since, well it's his private time and I don't follow sasaengs, and I suggest you stop doing too. Other than the main reason that stalking someone is illegal and immoral, they are also very often very unreliable and complete liars, sometimes craving attention and other times wanting to "punish" the people they stalk. Even if JK was filmed with girls, it isn't a crime to have people from the opposite genger in your life. For sure, JM has women in his life too , we just don't know it. Context matters. And if JK had girlfriends in the least year, so be it. He said he's a grown man and he is. Even if some people don't like it, he doesn't care.

Lastly, yeah he did start working after JM's promotion ended. Both of his singles were offered to him and he took them, that's no secret. I do believe the company wanted him to the most successful member of BTS , hence why they maybe rushed his release and the extensive promotions, but I think he also wants to be super famous and as big as possible, as well, so their goals align.

As I said, I have some mixed feelings about JK right now, mainly the direction he's taking his career in and the means he uses. It seems to me his main focus right now is to be "a global pop star" (which he already is being a part of BTS, but I guess he wants his OWN name to be as known as possible). More than global, it looks like the company and Scooter are focused on making him the next "American pop star" which JK seems to want as well. He's always admired JB and the likes, so it's no surprise if you've been paying attention to what JK's been saying all those years.

Another aspect in JK's career so far is his desire to be more "mature". The whole fuckboy thing is partly him trying to break the mold of the Maknae, the company using the oldest trick for creating pop stars (using sex) and maybe his own life experiences, who knows. I'm not sure why he automatically equates maturity to just having lots of sex, when maturity is so much more, but let's just wait for his album and see. As of right now, he isn't trying to make meaningful art , he's just doing songs that he feels like in the moment and trying to become as famous as possible. That's all there really all is to his solo music so far, but there's still time for me to be wrong.

His whole approach to the solo career is definitely different than what I thought, but who am I to judge. He doesn't really care for people disliking his music, so clearly there's no point in mulling over it. Strangely, I thought Chapter 2 will be about getting to know the members better and becoming closer to them, yet for me it's been the opposite when it comes to him.

[16woodsequ]

Hi! I’ve been following your Steve fics for a while and just wanted to say I really really love everything you’ve written, especially the Alternatively series.

Idk if you give writing advice and sorry if this comes out of the blue, but do you ever struggle comparing yourself to other writers on Ao3? I’ve been posting on and off lately but get so discouraged when I see fics with hundreds of thousands of hits and thousands of kudos and comments. I just don’t feel like I’ll ever compete with that, you know?

Hello! Thank you for your kind words! It always lifts me up to hear things like that :D

I've been thinking about this ask a lot to think of how I handle that feeling. Because it might surprise you considering how many people read my fics, but I also feel discouraged sometimes when fics don't get the engagement I'd love sometimes.

Here's some things I've done to help myself:

First, I added a skin to my AO3 to turn off numbers on fics. This blocks comment numbers, hit counts, kudos, that sort of thing. @ao3commentoftheday has good tutorials for ao3 skins. I made a google docs with the coding for the skins I use if you're interested.

I find hiding the numbers really helps me, because I found I was beginning to focus a lot on the numbers of my fics. These skins block the numbers on your fics and other people's. Doing this helps me not fixate on the numbers and take more happiness in the fics themselves.

When I first changed my ao3 skin I didn't turn it off for several weeks, to wean myself off of it, but now I turn it off on Sundays and give myself the day to enjoy looking at the bookmark numbers and stuff like that, because now it sparks joy more than discouragement, which is the goal.

Second, I try to treasure the good stuff. When creating things I find it very very important to remind yourself of the good things. Our brains are kind of wired to forget the positive reception we've gotten for things and we keep chasing more, which can leave us discouraged.

So find ways to treasure whatever happy things you've gotten from your fics or fandom experience online.

For example, I have a personal discord serve with just me where I save screenshots of amazing comments, touching notes, tags, bookmarks, asks etc that people have left on my fics and posts. This way I can go back and look at them anytime.

I also save my favourite comments in my ao3 inbox instead of deleting them.

And I've also started a scrapbook with my favourite comments so I can hopefully really remember them and imprint them into my brain.

Train yourself to truly appreciate the interactions you get. That's a whole person there! And that's pretty amazing.

Third, often what fandom people are truly looking for is community. That's why we want people to comment on our fics and art because we want to share this amazing idea we had and we want to talk about this thing we love!

So find a community that will listen to you. On tumblr or on discord or with a mutual. Find people who will be excited when you share a headcanon with them or a meme or an in depth analysis of a character.

I find that helps me feel appreciated and excited for what I'm working on and that really really helps.

Fourth, Don't compare your fics to someone's fics that have been posted for a year of more!! This is really easy to do, I do it with my own fics all the time.

But we forget that numbers accumulate over time! Of course your new fic doesn't have as many hits or kudos or whatever as a fic you posted three years ago!

Comparing the two is like getting to the party, putting your cake down and feeling bad because no one's taken a bite, while Brenda's cake, which has been here for two hours is mostly crumbs. These things take time sometimes!

Anyways, I hope this helps. Thanks for the ask!

[inkabelledesigns]

Can't believe it's almost the end of July. I still have a small number of pieces I want to do before art fight is over, and we will hopefully get there. But even if not, can I just say, I'm really proud of myself? I've never done art fight before this year, and I have improved as not just an artist, but as a person. My goal was to get better at doing traditional line art, and mission accomplished! I've gotten so many kind words about my line weights looking great, and that means a lot.

But also, I've started to untangle some of my complicated feelings about drawing for others. I've been in so many groups over the years where art (and the people who make it) was something transactional, where if you had something made for you, you were expected to make something back, at the same quality or higher, and it was this huge obligation. Alternatively, if you drew for one person, you were expected to draw for everyone you were friends with, and that weighed on me a lot. None of that is healthy. I don't like feeling like I owe people, in art or in any other circumstance. I've discovered over the years that I barely have the energy to create for myself sometimes, and I just, can't make stuff for everyone, not enough hours in the day. So it was easier to never draw for anyone ever, even when I wanted to, that way no one could be disappointed, but even that's fruitless and untrue. There has always been someone that's felt entitled to my art and time, even when I didn't give that part of myself to anyone.

The reason I could do as much for this month as I did is because I put down some very reasonable guidelines for myself: only line art so I didn't burn myself out, not working on other art forms so my focus was in one place (save for voice acting because I owed people lines), all traditional because I was gonna be traveling, grabbing references beforehand so I had a clear idea of everything I wanted to draw. I was prepared, I was kind to myself, and it was good. And I've let myself draw what I want to draw, that was the big one. This was a gift that I was allowed to give freely, on my terms. And ultimately, that's what's made it rewarding. The people I've chosen to draw for have been so excited over what I've made for them, and it's left me feeling like I did a good job. I MISSED the feeling of bringing someone joy over something unexpected. It's why I purposely told no one I was making something for them, so it could be a pleasant surprise. It leaves me feeling really good, and I get the sense it's the same on the other side too. And the amount of feelings I've gotten over the art I've received are through the roof. I read every description, thank you for saying such nice things about my character designs, it makes me so warm and fuzzy to know that you enjoy what I've made enough to want to play with it on your own, that is a massive compliment! I spent a lot of my life never being told that I did a good job with my art or characters, so getting to hear it a lot this month has made me happy. Everyone's pieces have been rotated in and out as my backgrounds on my phone and laptop all month, I love turning them on and seeing all the love that went into this art. Everything is so beautiful!

It's not about the points or who wins, I'm here for seeing people light up. I'm here for celebrating fun character designs. And I'm so glad I did this. I'm crying because I didn't think I'd ever be ABLE to do this. But I was, and it's been great. Now -twirls pencil- we have some work to do!

[creation-help]

Hiya! I’m here because I’m conflicted about pursuing an idea for a creative project that’s been popping into my brain a lot lately.

I’ve been convincing myself to stick to simpler and more light hearted stories because I don’t think I have what it takes to follow such an ambitious goal.

I do really want to end up making something out of it, but my current drawing skill level and my certainty that it’ll just be lost in the sea of other better stories and never get any attention is really turning me away from it.

I’m not sure of what to do anymore. Sorry if your not currently answering asks, your under no pressure to respond to me

Dear fuzzyman, I understand wanting to limit what you do to avoid unneeded stress and keep things casual, in order to keep it more fun. But I strongly recommend you don't limit yourself in what you want to do, just bc you think it wouldn't turn out good enough! I understand that feeling too, I have many things like that for myself, and I've been through the crushing ordeal, of putting alot of passion into an ambitious project only for it to crash or sizzle away slowly and painfully (the reason this blog exists, actually, fun fact). I've talked about it fairly often on this blog by now, but social media really is ruining artists on a large scale. Getting engagement feels rewarding, and it's natural to want recognition for what you do and to be seen by other people, bc heck we put alot of effort and just, alot, emotionally speaking, into our art. The way social media has become a fast consumption, blow up now or remain a nobody forever -kind of landscape really abuses that. Unfortunately alot of it is done intentionally to benefit businesses, not people. Anyhow.

I wanted to say all that to acknowledge that your fears are founded, and valid, but despite all that I also want to say all this that follows.

Your drawing level doesn't dictate how well you make things. It doesn't dictate what you should or shouldn't try. You do. If you truly want to make something even though it would be challenging, then you do that! If you want to wait on it and gather fuel for the fire slowly then you do that! I know it's easier said than done but prioritize yourself as an artist over the final product. Why do you create? I know some create just to share, and some just to get recognition, and while both have their own negative sides (and I wouldn't recommend the latter to anyone), they're still legit reasons to create. I'm not gonna tell people why they should or shouldn't make art. If they have the want and drive to make it, that's about it. Art in itself is just about making things to express or vent out some feeling or idea.

However you did say yourself that you really want to make something out of it. So while I wanted to acknowledge the complexity of these things, if you're here to just get that push to finally do it, I'm doing that to you now! I'm pushing you (gently). Do it even if it would only be seen by some few people, do it even if you're afraid of it not reaching up to your standards, bc guess what that's okay! Nothing can be perfect and art is never done. You'll continue to learn and improve over time if you work on these things and look into it, bc storytelling is also something that can require alot of learning and effort. Don't let that intimidate you, bc you aren't one of those other artists who, in your eyes, does it better, and you're also not the person who has already failed. You're a person who has an idea they want to pursue. You're the artist that can do exactly what you can do, and that is unique to yourself. And that is enough. Focus on that. And I do promise, every other artist has these same doubts, and the people you look up to have their own struggles. And that you can and will improve in these things as you go along. I really really encourage you to ignore the numbers and make bc of what you want to make, and out of the passion for what you do. It can be very hard, I know, but I promise it's better for you in the long run.

And like I've said before, it's not "That cake is way better than mine", it's "Yay more cakes!".

However if you don't feel ready to tackle this project yet that's fine. Neither you nor your story is a failure for not existing, or being left incomplete. Every creation is just it's own experience. That said you can come here to share your story and I can boost the stuff you make! All the best, fuzzyman

[aemiron-main]

I adore your artstyle. I feel like I'm never happy with my own cause it looks so boring and unstylized. Got any good tips?

AHHH THANK YOU ANON!! <<333

And believe me, I’ve been in your shoes. Seriously. Even now, I still have 26474885 new things I want to try with my art and things I want to change. But I DO have some tips for you- hopefully theyre good tips!

So, I think one of the key things is looking at other artists and pulling their art apart.

Practice and spending the time actually creating art is important, but I’d argue that spending time analyzing art is equally important. I spend a lot of time looking at art, and then instead of just staring at it, I try and figure out what EXACT elements of it that I want to incorporate into my own work. For example, if I like the way somebody does lineart, and the way another person does their rendering, I’ll try and figure out how they did it & why I like it & try to combine it with the way another artist does rendering or lines/the way I want to do them. I spend a LOT of time pulling at apart, seriously. I send various pieces to my own private discord server channel & literally talk to myself about them and what exactly I like about them and how EXACTLY I want to change my own work. I do probably as much typing as I do drawing when it comes to art.

Also, a good question to ask yourself when you see a piece of art you like is “I like this art, BUT- do I want my art to look like this?”. There’s artists whose styles I ADORE, but I don’t want my art to look like theirs- for example, I love looking at people with super heavily stylized art with only flat colouring & no rendering, but it’s not how I want my art to look & isn’t the type of art that I enjoy creating.

So, being able to pull apart various pieces and go “okay, WHY do I like this piece and DO i want MY art to look like this?” is something that’s definitely helped me.

I also think it’s super important to set actual, solid goals and figure out what you want your art to do.

What I mean when I say “figure out what you want your art to do,” is in terms of “okay, well, do you want everything more flat and visible with less rendering and less volume? or more rendering and more volume? Do you want to focus on design/concept work? Do you want to be able to do complex poses or complex lighting or both? What matters more to you- having a painting with dramatic, heavily contrasting lighting, or having a style where everything is easily visible & not obscured by shadow, or some combination of the two? Do you want to be good at drawing couples? Complex backgrounds? Both? HOW do you want to draw those couples and complex backgrounds? Lots of volume? Minimal volume? Focus on lighting? Focus on lines? Somewhere in between? tc"

Personally, I try and visualize it as a give and take situation/a sliding scale with tradeoffs when it comes to stylization. On one side of my scale, I’ve got super linework-focused, flat colours art that’s more focused on shape and less focused on volume and minimal lighting. On the opposite side, I’ve got super rendered, painterly art with complex lighting. And I’ve been trying to find an ideal combination of the two, and that’s where the tradeoffs I mentioned come in.

My work used to be even MORE linework heavy than it is now/flatter (which is great, just not the direction I wanted to personally keep going), and I had SO much trouble doing painting/rendering and it frustrated me and I couldnt figure out why. But then, I realized I had to make a tradeoff- my complex linework didn’t work well for heavily rendered styles, because the sketches/drawings/lines for paintings on that “super rendered basically no visible linework” side of the art scale are generally meant to be more for function rather than form.

My lines weren’t serving the function they needed to, they weren’t doing the heavy lifting that they needed to, so the rest of the painting would collapse & wouldn’t work and I would get frustrated as all hell when trying to paint.

What I mean when I talk about the lines doing heavy lifting is what I said earlier with the sketches in painterly styles generally being more function over form. I needed to think of my lines as supporting the painting and acting more as a *map* for things like the lighting (see: shadow mapping) & as using fewer lines to make room for more volume (the tradeoff). My lines weren't doing that, I wasn't really thinking about where I was putting them/how I was using them/how they interacted with other elements of the piece (such as the lighting & how that affects the way I do lines).

I also highly highly highly recommend the book/resource "anatomy for sculptors"- you can find a bunch of excerpts from it on pinterest/all over the internet, but it really is a phenomenal resource and a unique resource IMO because it does a really great job of demonstrating the link between the anatomy vs the planes of the face/shapes that make up that anatomy, and bridging the gap between 2D shapes and 3D forms.

Also, just some basic tips that help me in general: -Your areas of detail should also be your areas of high contrast. This sounds more complicated than it actually is, but basically, it doesn't matter how much detail you put in a low-contrast area of a painting, because it won't show up (because it's low contrast). So, keeping your high contrast areas as your detail areas is a good thing to keep in mind, esp when working on more complex paintings. -General proportion "rules". I try and keep in mind some general rough tips like "the eyes should have the width of one eye between them," and "the face should be roughly the sized of a splayed out hand".

-Straights vs curves. I think about the straight lines vs the curved lines a LOT in my art.

-What works for me may not work for you. Different people think differently. What works for other artists may not work for either or us. What works for other artists may work great for you but not for me.

Also, experiment with different brushes. They DO make a difference. No brush will fix a lack of understanding of the fundamentals, but a brush that works for you will make those fundamentals easier to learn/apply. Personally, I draw with a combination of the default photoshop pressure opacity tapered airbrush and one of Ruan Jia's free textured square brushes.

And also, experiment with overlay layers/all those different types of layer. Seriously, that was a gamechanger for me, especially in terms of stylization and giving more of my art that warm feeling/look that it has. My art actually usually starts out very cool toned and I slowly warm it up via colour changes and various yellow (or other colours) overlay/soft light etc layers.

And I don’t say any of this to box you in/overwhelm you, just to give you a list of things I wish I knew sooner.

Also, I think people focus too much on having one consistent style. I 10000% understand needing to have a consistent style for commission purposes, but as far as just developing your art goes. just experiment and figure out what you like and what works best and the style WILL come.

ANYWAY! Hope this helped, I'm like half awake rn so it's not as coherent as I'd like it to be.

[viviannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn]

Week 12 Compulsory Question 2

For week 10, I wrote my vision statement. I wrote down the answer to question 4 because it was funny. The comments from classmates were all encouraging, and I was deeply inspired by a comment about having a goal. Setting goals helps you improve both your personal and professional life. Think of it like a beacon: It helps guide you toward the best version of yourself. For example, improving your self-motivation through goal setting could make it easier to focus at work and help you land that promotion you’ve had your eye on. This comment made me reflect on my own goals and how I approach my future.

One of my main goals is to become a graphic designer at a large company, a goal I plan to achieve within five years after graduation. During this time, I aim to deepen my skills, understand industry operations, and gain real-world experience. Working in a large company will allow me to learn from professionals and establish a solid foundation for my career. However, I don’t plan to stay in this role forever. I value personal freedom and want to eventually start my own company, especially in packaging or the food industry. I believe owning a business will not only give me more autonomy but also provide greater financial freedom.

While thinking about my goals, an experience I had recently came to mind. A classmate and I were shopping at Paris Baguette and noticed the beautifully designed packaging of a floral tea. We bought the product simply because of its appealing design. This made me realize my strong interest in packaging design, especially food packaging and promotional posters. I find joy in food’s aesthetic appeal, and combining that passion with design excites me. I want to create packaging that not only looks beautiful but also tells a story and enhances the product's appeal.

Currently, I’m preparing to transfer schools. During my gap year, I want to make sure I use my time productively. I plan to gain hands-on experience through internships, ideally with a food company or in any field related to packaging design or marketing. This will help me understand industry trends and move closer to my career aspirations. I’ve also noticed that my art lacks depth, and I want to improve my thick painting technique to add shading and texture to my work.

My illustration work:

I want to learn:

Looking ahead, I also want to improve my proficiency with various design software. I plan to dedicate time to mastering tools that will make my work more polished. My current courses are focused on packaging and brand design, and I’m excited to continue refining my abilities. Through consistent effort, I believe I will achieve my professional goals and contribute creatively to the design world.

492 words

Seboldt, Tara. “Why Is Goal Setting Important? Benefits of Setting Goals and How to Reach Them.” SUCCESS, 4 Jan. 2024, www.success.com/why-is-goal-setting-important.

[bg3-game-analysis]

Game Design and Elements 👩🏼‍💻

The genres of Baldur’s Gate 3

When discussing BG3’s genre, there are two categories to consider: story genre and game genre.

Story genre is basically what you would also label a book or a movie. Is it action, fantasy, historical fiction? It is the, “type of story” (Rogers 16). Considering that there are vampires, devils, aliens, and magic within the world of Baldur’s Gate 3, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it is a fantasy story with a little splash of sci-fi.

Game genre is a bit different from story genre because instead of labeling the story, we are labeling the gameplay. A good way to think of this is to think about how movies can have different types. A documentary will be filmed and created in a different way than an art film will be (Rogers 16). The most prominent gameplay genre for BG3 to me is adventure. Rogers describes the adventure genre as games that focus more on characters and story. It can also have players focus on inventory management and solving puzzles (16). Baldur’s Gate 3 is the game of characters. You meet so many people, you can become friends with so many of them, and you become invested in their stories and quests. It also requires a focus on inventory because if you carry too much you can become encumbered. It’s important to keep an eye on that because otherwise you’ll start walking really slowly without having any idea why. I’m definitely not… speaking from personal experience or anything… no not at all.

(Image source)

What does the game look like?

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a partially open world. It uses 3D animation so that the player and their companions are able to run around freely. You will find that there are some limits to where you can explore, most often because it is a part of the world that was simply not developed for us to travel through. However, on occasion you will try to access a certain area and the game will essentially ask, “Hey are you really sure you want to do this? You’re kind of not at a the right level for this area and if you continue, you might get your a** kicked.” You can totally continue on if you reallyyyyy want to, but the game did try and warn you.

(Image source)

For a better feel for what the game looks like and the tools that are used within the game, I highly recommend watching the video below. It also gives you a taste of what some of the fighting looks like. And don’t worry, the video is short and sweet (kind of like Halsin except that he’s tall.) Warning: the video does contain mild spoilers.

What exactly are the players are expected to do? What are the goals?

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a very story driven adventure game. You will never be without at least one quest that you need to complete. Those quests usually have smaller objectives that you need to achieve first in order to actually complete the quest. At the most basic level, the player is expected to explore the world and complete the goals they are given as they are doing said exploring.

(Image source)

Players are also expected to participate in turn-based fighting (unless you’re somehow really cool and can smooth talk your way out of most fights…or run away. Both of which are alternative options to fighting!). With the turn-based fighting, you are expected to control not only your own character, but the actions of your companions as well. This can make for either very strategic or stressful gameplay. Maybe even a little bit of both.

One of the other big expectations of the game is that you either pick or make your own character at the beginning. If you would like to go the more simple route you can choose between several NPCs. Whoever you don’t pick, you’ll see later on throughout the game. Creating your own character can be more stressful and time consuming, especially if you are new to the mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons, but it makes for a more personalized character. You feel like you are playing you rather than a premade person.

(Image source)

All of these expectations make for a rather emergent gameplay experience for you as the player. Emergent gameplay can be described as mechanics that allow the player to “create new strategies and utility beyond their original intent or utilization” (Brycer). The possibilities truly feel endless in BG3, and the player is able to use the fighting and character creation mechanics to kind of bend the rules and create new ways to play the game.

Work Cited

Brycer, Josh. “Examining Emergent Gameplay.” Game Developer, 16 Sept. 2015, https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/examining-emergent-gameplay

Rogers, Scott. Level Up: The Guide to Great Video Game Design. Wiley and Sons, 2014.

[shreeclassesiit]

Best Coaching Classes In Kamothe Sec 16

SHREE IIT: Illuminating Paths to Success in Kamothe, Sec 16

Introduction: Welcome to SHREE IIT, where dreams are nurtured and futures are shaped. Located in the heart of Kamothe, Sec 16, our coaching classes stand as beacons of academic excellence, guiding students towards success in their pursuit of competitive exams. In this unique blog post, we delve into what sets SHREE IIT apart as the premier coaching destination in Kamothe, Sec 16, and how our tailored approach empowers students to unlock their full potential.

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