#i used to be anxious about this too

[idontmindifuforgetme]

Hi!! You mentioned in a post with a summary of what you’ve achieved in 2023 that you expanded your friend circle by making more friends. How did you do that? 🥲 I’m working and although my colleagues are nice, I keep them at arm’s length and most of my friends from school and college are in different parts of the country. I’ve always been introverted with a small circle of friends so loneliness hits me hard sometimes

thank you!!

Speaking as someone who was on both extremes of the spectrum (having no friends and lots of friends)—it’s genuinely about putting yourself out there. The moment I stopped thinking it was hard to make friends, making friends became so much easier to do. Aside from my uni friends, I’ve made friends in so many other places. Once I was studying at the library and a girl approached me. We exchanged numbers and are getting coffee soon. Made friends w the barista at my favorite boba place. Made friends w the girl who does my eyebrows (she’s my age and is also a stem major). I’ve made friends through other friends. It really is that easy if you’re okay w the possibility of rejection, and don’t allow your ego to stop you from approaching people in the appropriate context.

There will be bad eggs. That is completely natural. We move on. There is an infinite number of opportunities to make other friends. Internalizing this has saved me so much unnecessary stress.

Join a book club. Volunteer for a cause you’re passionate about. Join a class at your gym. These are all such easy ways to make friends, bc you already know you have at least one interest in common w the people present. Better yet!! You also get something from it, bc even if you don’t socialize that well, at least you’re working out or volunteering or engaging in an activity you’re passionate about. It’s a win-win. Just don’t operate from a place of “I NEED to make friends here or else it’s a failure,” bc you’ll end up taking things too seriously and not enjoying yourself. Enjoying yourself is the whole point. There are 8 billion people on this planet. Rest easy knowing friends are guaranteed if you’re willing to look for them, however long it may take.

Also!! An important thing I learned is it’s okay to compartmentalize friends. I have friends I pretty much exclusively party w, friends I only work out w, friends I only go on study dates w… and then I also have a core unit of close friends who go beyond just being friends for enjoyment. It’s fine if you don’t immediately make friends who are essentially your friends for life. That’s extremely rare, so just be patient. Don’t write off people you don’t have this cerebral connection with. Maybe I’m going against the grain here, but I think casual friendships serve a purpose in our lives too. Don’t force connection trying to break past the superficial stages of a friendship—deep bonds like this only form organically. Just relax, put yourself out there, and have fun doing it <3

[shalom-iamcominghome]

My jewish community, friends, rabbi, and educators: We are very invested in helping you be jewish. Do you want to help read the haftarah? Here's a chanukiah! You can have it!! Borrow these books! Here's some books! You need more books... Come to pesach! Come to the chanukah party! When are your classes done? We need a minyan for once!

Me and my 50000 IQ: What if I am Secretly Appropriating judaism? What if I am doing a Cultural Appropriation........

[bumfuzzled-bee]

Pat pat.

[walkingstackofbooks]

"He's a very gifted young man. I hope you're putting all his talents to good use, Captain."

"We try."

"Well, sometimes you have to push him a little. It took quite a while to talk him into taking up medicine, but he did."

"Yes, and threatening to kick me out did wonders for my anxiety, didn't it?"

The biting sarcasm was out of Julian's mouth before he had a chance to think about what he was saying. So much for Rule Number Two: Never badmouth your father in public. Clearly, he was out of practice at playing happy families.

His words had startled the office into silence; the smiles of just a few seconds ago were now conspicuously absent.

"I'm sorry, Captain, I-I shouldn't have--" he started - though, what he was apologising for, he wasn't quite sure. Being a nuisance, perhaps, for airing his teenage angst rather unprofessionally?

Sisko was grim, tight-lipped as he turned to Jadzia.

"Lieutenant, would you mind finding quarters for our guests? Doctor Bashir hadn't finished going through his argonite report, and I'm eager to get back to it."

It was a thin excuse - thin enough that even Richard Bashir ought to have been able to see through it - but to Julian's surprise, his father made no protest. Nor did his mother, although she stared accusingly at Julian, clutching Richard tightly as they made their exit. It seemed they were just as surprised at the turn of events as Julian himself was.

"Sit down, Doctor," Sisko said kindly, and Julian felt his body move to obey.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Okay challenge mode. You are a therapist and Eridan Ampora from Homestuck has just walked right out of his intro page into your office. How do you fix him?

put him and karkat in a room with a pile of stuff and tell them they can't leave until they've jumped into it and talked about their feelings

[yarnyarnbinks]

alritghy, looking at politics is making me scared again, so it's time to round up some good news from here and around the world:

- same sex couples in thailand will be able to legally register their marriages on thursday, 01/21/2025 !

- 15 wolves were released into colorado to help reintroduce predators into the state (and presumably help restore the natural ecology of the area). YIPPEE !!

- similarly, efforts to revitalize the deer population in alaska are underway !

- thermal drone helps a family find their dog, who had been missing for 1 week

feel free to add more ♡♡

[unexpectedbrickattack]

panel from a comic i am NOT going to finish u.u

Bonus close up of Peppino (bc i love how he came out heehee) and a face from another scrapped panel ^^

[danwhobrowses]

So there was a Callowmoore question on 4SD which has got people talking and since nobody will ask me about it I'm gonna get it out of my brain anyway.

For someone on 4SD as frequently as Taliesin, Callowmoore questions are rare and I think that partly comes from us fans not wanting to try and steer him but also because his answers tend to be complicated. He's quite plain with other stuff, but a lot also gets offered into interpretation when it comes to Ashton and Fearne.

And granted, we Callowmoores would love for him to pull a Liam and just up and say Ashton has feelings for her, but I think we all know that's not Tal's way; aside from the nuggets of wisdom, killer one-liners and unique homebrews, we tend to love Tal's characters for their actions and expressions, some of which subtle and rewarding to those paying attention. For this reason I have had to mull over this one minute answer for most of my day and figure out what I think he means by it, like blue curtains in a book.

To note though, 'I think' is the operative term, but I also don't believe that Tal has left Callowmoore better or worse by his response.

One of the interesting things I want to point out is that my interpretations are observing the divide between Taliesin's words and his roleplaying; it is not to say that Tal is being dishonest in his answers, but I also see it as the answers are what Ashton thinks and his roleplay is how they feel.

So no, Ashton isn't 'precious' about Fearne wandering off when sleeping beside each other, if she said no or came back safely it wouldn't have bothered them, and it's fair for Ashton to have preferred Fearne to have woke them up. And yet that doesn't deny the reaction Ashton had waking up to find her gone and fearing that she's in danger, and not there to help her; the panic, the anger, the impatience are all clear and instinctive reactions Ashton is having that imply that her being with them is important. They're not precious about Fearne waking up and leaving the bed before they wake, and yet they'll still smile upon waking and finding that she's still there.

The 'Adventurers with Benefits' is one of two comments I can see being used maliciously against shippers, but it's worth reminding that on the last Callowmoore question Tal was asked, he mentioned that Ashton doesn't believe that someone would love them. Ashton feels unlovable, and yet they still ask for intimacy with Fearne, leaning further into their connection but also not pressuring her into commitment. It's also worth pointing out that this is still a slow burn, even Jester questioned whether her feelings for Fjord were legitimate or a romanticized fantasy at one point, and Ashton is not privy to Fearne's feelings for them. Ashton frames it as Adventurers with Benefits because they don't allow themselves to entertain the idea of Fearne reciprocating feelings for them, and yet their impulse to kiss her before absorbing the shard, to frequently engage in physical contact at a growing rate, to playfully steal and share each other's clothing, the desire to defend her from harm or anyone that might have ulterior motives, and to willingly do anything and everything just for her to smile in their direction again, that paints more of a picture than just benefits.

Which finally gets us to Ashton's theory of love. Tal mentions that Ashton believes that love is 'wanting to trust somebody, but not trusting them'. Immediately: No, haters, I don't think this means Ashton doesn't trust Fearne, nor do I think it means that Ashton trusts Fearne so they don't love her. Ashton trusts all the Hells (well, maybe not Braius since they just met), but Fearne is special to them in a different way, they've already platonically said that they loved her when they first were using their titan forms. In addition, this could be an elaboration of the last time Tal brought up Ashton's opinion of Love on the post-shard Callowmoore question: 'love is ignorance and adorableness'. This is another thing that can develop, elaborate and/or change over time, but at the current moment Ashton's interpretation of love can come from environment; Imogen wants to trust Laudna but can't wholly trust her given Delilah, but even Ashton can see that they love each other. Tal also mentioned that Ashton is not very experienced in relationships - which kinda plays into my belief that Ashton and Fearne, while have had relationships, haven't had deep romantic feelings or proper intimacy before, which makes them discovering it with each other more special - so their understanding of love can only exist on what they assume it's like.

And yet what if you reworded the phrase in the same spirit? 'Love is trusting someone wholeheartedly even with nothing to reassure it', there have been many a time something looked to go south and faith was put in another anyway; the shard may be a bad example because it did go wrong but even though the red flags were there Ashton upon completing the process said 'thank you for trusting me', when Fearne took the shard Ashton was a bag full of panic their experience meant they couldn't trust that the shard wouldn't be just as bad for Fearne, and yet they still wanted to trust that Fearne would succeed. Ashton couldn't trust that whenever Fearne was wild shaped, cornered by Otohan, or taken away by Ira on Ruidus that she'd come back safe, and yet still wanted to trust that she would, Ashton couldn't confirm that Fearne wasn't a Doppelganger in Nanna Mori's trust trial - even when FCG and Imogen suspected it was her - and yet they still wanted to trust that it was her. Ashton's view on love may not be entirely right but it's not entirely wrong either, what is blind faith if not ignorant and adorable? Even with their interpretation, Ashton has put plenty of faith in Fearne even when the risk was high.

In conclusion, Ashton's behaviour towards Fearne do often imply a complexity rather than a discrepancy to Tal's 4SD statements, that maybe Ashton's emotions and subconscious are not in sync with their self-doubt driven thoughts, perhaps it is the way Ashton tempers their feelings to try and not get hurt by them or cause Fearne to get hurt by them again. Ashton's apology to her post-shard made a point of noting how she means a lot to them, and how hurting her was one of the worst things they have done, and as they work towards self-improvement and self-discovery, there will likely be a point where self-realisation comes into play too, and they can understand why what they're thinking differs to how they're feeling.

Again, this is all interpretation, speculation and observation, one that like the core statements doesn't add or subtract but fills in some gaps either way. Ashton's feelings are a complicated matter, which is likely why Tal entices and creates such speculation with a complicated answer. Right now Ashton clearly does care for Fearne and share a special relationship that's regrowing after suffering tension, loss and fear, blooming back into trust, joy and comfort, but save 5 Disney Greek Muses backing him up in a Gospel song they're not just gonna out and say they're in love

And Yet...

[spacebugarts]

I wasn't gonna make an Indigo Park oc but then I started thinking about the theme park I went to as a kid and I got the idea of a beaver running a ride based on water flumes like Logger's Run or Splash Mountain :3

They're also based on wildlife education characters like Smokey the Bear and Ranger Rick!

[missjashin]

Steve spending the night at Eddie’s because his parents are home and they’ve been arguing so he doesn’t really wanna be at home. Didn’t go to Robin because her parents might not let him stay the night and also Robin has work tomorrow and Steve doesn’t. The odd case of them not having shift together.

So he ends up with Eddie and in the morning he is having breakfast with Eddie and Wayne and they discuss their plans for the day. Eddie and Wayne have some plans for the day. You know, to spend some quality family time maybe? Or maybe they have just some errands to run, stuff to figure out because of all the shit that went down during spring break.. Whatever, they have plans for the day and Steve.. doesn’t want to intrude any more than he already is so he is not going with them. Even when they say he can come too.

And it’s summer time so the kids are busy with whatever the teens are busy with. And Steve loves them dearly and loves spending time with them but he tries to give them space and not smother them with his worrying so yeah he can’t spend the day with them either. They’ll come to him if they need him.. He could always go bother Robin at work but going to your work place on your free day because you have nothing better to do sounds a little sad.. So maybe he’ll just have to suck it up and go back home then.

But then Eddie offers that he could stay. You know he doesn’t have to leave just because Wayne and Eddie do. Like he could stay, it’s fine. They’ll be back by 6 or so and they could have dinner together then? And since Steve really really really doesn’t want to go home right now he accepts (after asking about thousand times if it’s really okay tho).

So soon he is left alone with a “Feel free to educate yourself with my music collection while we’re gone” and see you laters. Steve didn’t really have any plans for today and he kinda left in a hurry too so he didn’t bring much stuff with him but oh well he’ll figure something out.

He starts collecting the breakfast dishes and well he could wash them. He has the time and it would be just nice little gesture since the Munsons let him stay and all. And then it just makes sense to wipe the counters and the table after that. Like who would wash the dishes and then just leave crumbs all over the place? Oh. And I guess he just got some of those crumbs to the floor now. Well it’s just a quick little sweep. Could vacuum the whole place now too since he started. But first he needs to declutter a bit because goddamn Eddie why are your clothes and books just everywhere. Might as well do some laundry while he’s at it.

When Eddie and Wayne come back home around 6pm the place they’re in for a quite a shock. Not only is the place spotless but they’re greeted with the smell of food as well. “Oh you’re back! I’m making dinner, it’s just about done” Steve welcomes them enthusiastically but start to doubt himself a little after seeing the surprised faces. “I.. hope that’s okay”

Only then Steve realizes he may have got little carried away with his cleaning spree. Like maybe cleaning the windows was a tad bit too much.. Ugh he so hopes they’re not too weirded out.. Honestly he didn’t even realize he basically spent all day doing household chores that and it’s not even his own house. He glad the Munsons don’t comment on it too much tho, other than “you didn’t have to” and slightly awkward thank yous.

They start eating and now they drown Steve in compliments. (“Wow this is so good, what brand is this?” “Uhm.. it’s not a-.. I made it” “…Like from scratch?!” “Yeah..” “Holy shit dude this is seriously so fucking delicious” “Language. But he is right son, this is fucking delicious”)

At some point during dinner Wayne makes a comment about it starting to rain and Steve lets out a shocked gasp “my laundry!” and rushes out to collect it from outside where he hung it to dry. Wayne asks amusedly if Steve is a housewife or something, just ready to crack little jokes there but then spots the dopey smile on his nephew’s face, gaze still lingering in the doorway where Steve run off to. He smiles knowingly at Eddie when he finally looks back at him, now starting to blush and trying to stammer some sort of reply.

Steve comes back in and they finish dinner and hang out a bit together until Steve and Eddie go to Eddie’s room. Steve again apologizes because he got so carried away and hope he didn’t cross any lines. Eddie little amusedly asks if Steve really thinks they’d be mad at him for tidying up the place? Just helping them out a little so they can relax? Like in all seriousness, after all that shit show that happened during spring, Wayne could use a little break and just relax.

(“And you couldn’t?” “Well sure I could, but in this case he needs it more. If you haven’t noticed I’m not much of help in the cleaning department” “Oh yeah, I’ve noticed” “Hey!” “What? You asked!”)

Eddie then asks if Steve “educated himself” with the music. Steve tells to educate him himself. Eddie takes that as a challenge.

Steve spends the other night.

[izzypaw]

after i made the undertale ones i knew i couldn't NOT make matching icons of these 2 aswell...

[thirsty-shaman]

my friend's birthday is ONLY 3 MONTHS AWAY so i'm already working on something for her because she deserves the best.

she LOVES grell (and she really wants the artfx figure but no. i can't afford that) so i was thinking about a keychain? or a print? something along those lines

[shikai-the-storyteller]

AWH... I'm skipping through Roier's QSMP Day 1 VOD because I'm looking for a specific thing, and I just noticed that when Jaiden stands in front of the group to do her introduction and her mic isn't working, Mariana laughs (not in a mean way, I laughed too) and Roier immediately smacks him and tells him off for laughing.

[Timestamp ~36m 50s, volume warning for Quackity's awful mic]

It's such a little thing, but I think it's really sweet in retrospect, especially considering how Roier and Jaiden have become such good friends in recent weeks :')

[bookwormcosplays]

Louis De Pointe Du Lac IWTV Cosplay

Do not repost.

[ode-on-a-grecian-butt]

OH I forgot to share this. Rosie graduated from puppy school

[gomzdrawfr]

Does Raven and Jelly have MANY interactions with other OCs? (Like one of your friends OCs) I’m curious

Hey there! To date, Jelly have zero, Raven have about 6 only, 3 were within close friends, 3 as a gift for fellow cod artists

I do want to share why xD know that this isn't meant to be harsh or dismissive, just an explanation of where I'm coming from.

Although I am pretty much okay with most thing in COD, I'm however extremely picky about how I portray Raven because of past experiences where her character had been invalidated, misinterpret or forced into dynamics that just don't align with her personality or backstory (eg. being best friends with medic OCs, shoehorn with a group of Shadow company OCs or drawn with set of clothes that's just...well that's just not Raven).

Part of this is of course, on myself. I've developed a specific way I write her but I struggle to fully explain how she works xD I think unlike most COD OCs, the way I've wrote her background made it so she's not really suited to being casually thrown in every situation (like of the primary reason was how she grew up from a highly individualistic PMC so socializing is a whole other shebang to deal with) Her relationship with Price is an exception (because I said so LMAO)

That being said tho, this isn't me saying "hey dont put Raven with your own OC, like ever". OC creation is meant to be fun and one of the best part of having them is to mash it with another, and I welcome any fanarts of her (like wdym you drew my bbg let's get married rn-) hence the Raven fanbox post. I think if anyone have an idea or would like to collaborate about placing Raven with their own OC, I'm more than happy to discuss it, just shoot me an ask first :]

Now Jelly is different to Raven, since I've made her from a more casual background and actually wanted her to be more of a character that more people can relate to, anyone's free to draw her with their OC if they want to :3 she's just a sillay gurl, maybe a bit shy and skiddish but she's bubbly to be around with!

On a lighter note, check out these Raven collab doodles I have :3 (the baby one is my friend's oc's baby)