#it's a balancing act for sure

[capricioussun]

don't feel bad about self reblogs, it's always awesome to see your art on my dash and I'm sure I'm not alone with this!

Awe, that's very sweet of you to say!

Tbth i have a really strange relationship with posting online – on one hand, I love just posting whatever and really really enjoy interacting with others, but on the other hand, I'm not sure if it's RSD or what, but i experience like. Social recoil? Where i tend to immediately regret and/or worry over the perception of stuff i post (way more than would be considered normal), especially with posts or reblogs that hardly really garner any interaction at all.

I know it's normal for artists of all kinds to be disheartened by things like that, and I don't necessarily create for others, but that is why i post it online- i mean...why else would you? I see that a lot, people feeling poorly about low interaction, and others trying to encourage them by telling them to make art for themselves and to not worry about it, but that's always come across a little odd to me. No, you probably shouldn't be doing something if you're only doing it for attention, but isn't interaction the point of sharing the things you make online?

Especially so in the case of people who really want to make a living being an artist in their chosen "field". To some degree, you do have to treat it like a business. You do have to sell yourself and try to "grow your audience" if you have any chance of making any sort of income at all, just like any self employment type of job. It feels condescending to see others tell artists who get frustrated with social media constantly doing things to make it harder to have any reach at all that they should care less about the algorithm or numbers when a lot of these people don't have a choice. It feels like hardly a day goes by I don't see posts on twitter or tumblr of someone taking emergency commissions just to cover rent or food for a few days.

Got a bit off topic there, but i sort of rest in a very strange place with my art in that, skill level wise, I'm very much an amateur, but due to Life Issues I won't get into, I can't hold a "normal" job, and I've been constantly kind of battling myself for a couple years now on how to approach trying to make Doing Art Online my career.

I need to put in the work to improve my art so i can not just post more frequently but hopefully get more commission work (which i would honestly also enjoy, I love making things for others, it's one of my favorite things about being able to post online), but i also want to improve my skill level so i can make the things I want to as well (I'm also unfortunately plagued by the Kind Of Wants To Do Everything desires and also want to make plush, music, 3D and live 2D models, and I'd love to get into streaming proper at some point).

So aaallllll of this to say, self reblogging is a big thing for artists on tumblr these days, esp as i see more and more talk about how low interactions gotten on here in the past few years, it's rough! But i also feel like im not...skilled(?) enough to do Proper Online Artist things. I guess. Which is dumb but ah I do not control the chokehold whichever mental issue has on me

[basil--and--sage]

I'm writing a fic about Fíli's and Kíli's childhood and at least 75% of it is them just getting cuddled by Thorin.

Man, I wish we had more uncle nephew quality time in the movies.

give me some caring and affectionate uncle Thorin right now

[grapecaseschoices]

so i'm leaning toward briala-celene [ugh] or public truce*. but i wanted to know ...

*I've been reading posts/articles that state that public truce isn't best long run ... but it isn't like the inquisitor would KNOW that.

[ruthlesslistener]

wl/pk have the kingsoul, what might lurien/pk have?

Nothing quite as tangible as a charm linking their souls together; 'just' a bond forged between a god and his chosen, and the many years they have working together! The main reason for this is because the nature of how PK interacts with WL and how PK interacts with Lurien is very very different, and thus results in different evidence of their bond between the two

The link between a god and their chosen is something special, and cannot really ever be replicated with another Higher Being. Another Higher Being will always be competition, no matter how close the two are; a god and their chosen, however, is more of a bond where the mortal becomes an extension of their deity, and represents their ideals/what they represent in the nuance of living flesh. This manifests in vastly different ways between people and gods, ofc, but in the case of Lurien and PK- where Lurien retains his personhood to the fullest and PK interacts with him as a peer and a lover- this is closer to being 'drift compatible' (as I understand it- I've never watched Pacific Rim) than anything else. Lurien can reach out to PK and draw strength from his endless reserves of Soul/touch his mind without fear because he is mentally strong enough and wise enough that he can merge minds with a god without losing himself, and PK can enter Lurien's mind, share his soul, and commune with him without fear of obliterating his individuality or turning him into a pile of goo as a result. It's based on genuine inherent compatibility, but they've also worked on this bond over centuries and have the skills to show for it. There's an inherent power imbalance between them, but they've found a way to equalize it as best they can, and that's what they have to show for it

PK and WL, however, are two Higher Beings, and their nature is inherently based on seeing the other as competition despite the fact that they occupy two different niches entirely and have no desire to try to lord their power over the other. The nature of their bond, as a result, is not so much finding equal footing as it is determining a mutually agreeable pact where each sacrifices a part of themselves in order to better fit the other's needs. In this case, I interpreted it as PK yielding to WL by very literally giving her half of his soul; he took the more submissive role by carving away a part of himself to give to her, and made his palace a place where she could comfortably establish herself and do what she wished to make it better suit her needs despite it being in the very heart of his territory. In return, WL decorated her territory with effigies of him, and carved herself down to match his state of mimicking the bugs around him, even if she had no real need nor desire to mingle so closely with the mortals as he did. Their bond with each other is impossibly close, but it was one that was made by mutually deciding to whittle each other down to better fit against the other than one based on inherent compatibility, and they have the Kingsoul as physical evidence of this pact

[heavenbarnes]

I just offered to clean my crush’s kitchen for him because his whole apartment is a rancid mess from depression and I want to take some of that weight off him

My friends think I’m being a huge people pleaser and he’s going to walk all over me and take advantage of that :(

What do you think?

i mean, if it’s caused by mental illness and he needs some help to get things back on track- then i think that’s a really kind thing to do for someone

you have to give people the benefit of the doubt, assume the best in him that he’s going to appreciate this and that it will help him be better able to manage things in the future

sometimes people who aren’t accustomed to helping people without getting anything in return just don’t understand how that can happen- you can show your friends

[rimouskis]

I know everyone talks about it, but I've still been really, really alarmed by how fast time moves these days. I'd like to do some serious, intentional thinking about what steps I could reasonably take to "slow down" my life and to give more meaning to my days. the churn of the work week has such a chokehold on the imagination.

[justarandomhelluvablog]

oh yeah something else I wanted to mention

I bet Blitz would have been a perfect performer if he was doing the right thing. He was trying to be a clown and make people laugh but honestly, with the moves he pulls out on his missions, and when he went to save Fizz-

he should have been a trapeze artist.

Or at least highwire, or daredevil act. This man's got moves. And also his acrobatics is on POINT, he should never have tried being a clown.

I mean. Just look at this-

he took a running star AND landed it perfectly-

rode it over this mess without eating mud, AND EVEN did a mid-ride jump-

-and rode it up a ramp and was able to leap off of it with enough force to grab onto the conveniently-trapeze-grip-shaped... street lights? I think??

Anyway bottom line Blitz should have focused on trapeze and not clownery-

[devourcr]

humans + armand headcanons

armand does sometimes treat humans like playthings. like an ethologist?? but with humans and he's a vampire. he loves seeing how things tick, how they work, and sometimes, that extends to people.

can armand fall in love with humans? yes. and canonically he does. but even when love is involved, armand has a selfish disposition where he chases what makes him feel good. if the human vibes with it, it's good. match made in hell. likewise, for those he loves, he'll fiercely protect, but i think it's important to reinforce that armand is very detached from humanity and human morality.

he can enjoy the company of humans, but he's always going to be a monster capable of killing, especially if they are just acquaintances.

this changes when he loves someone. when he loves them, he won't kill them. he will try everything he can to keep them from dying. but does he treat them with full agency? not really. and not always. there are always exceptions to the rule, but i think it's important to note that armand doesn't respect human life ( or vampire life in some cases ) all that much, unless it's someone who means something to him.

[bittersweetresilience]

and now that i've posted fluff and romance, it's time to get back to gore and character death

[thresholdbb]

Janeway, lost and alone in the Delta quadrant during her first mission as a captain, picks the most stressful holonovel imaginable. It’s got:

A formal wardrobe

A distant, stuffy love interest

Two bratty kids she’s supposed to take care of

A (possibly murderous but definitely judgmental) coworker

A weird mystery about a dead wife/ghost(?) we never actually get any resolution on. Maybe she’s not dead?

A formal wardrobe

Her name is Lucie like why

Janeway looks over the description of this holonovel and says, “Yes, this is the one for me!”

And then the Doctor sends her there to relax

[8cfc00]

this one is just for the cool people on this account. here is a normal comforting hermie. thats it

[blujayonthewing]

so in juniper's campaign we've just found ourselves in a high-stakes situation that I as a player do frankly find stressful and am anxious about, but hey hi also the DM was like 'okay here are the exact mechanics of how this is going to work because I don't want to surprise you with serious repercussions, also here are all the options you will have to try to do something about the situation-- [affected player] what do you think? honest feedback, I don't want it to feel unfair, I want to be clear that I am not just trying to kill your character, and if it ends up being badly balanced we can revisit it down the road' and oh my god I could COLLAPSE and WEEP with gratitude

[alarming-prism]

coming out of the pharmacy having paid almost $200 in copays and still not having the medication that will stop me having withdrawals... i hate the american healthcare system

[pokeymonhearts]

[darkvoid-sun]

Vanta: "I want to tell you to not be afraid, but you should be. Fear keeps you safe from dangers, and I am a danger to you. The danger I serve is, however, not an immediate danger. It will take more than a day being here for my nature to have a serious effect, but that does not mean it won't still be unpleasant."

Vanta: "This entire island is within range of my ability. You will need to sleep eventually and, if it is here, you will have the worst nightmare of your life. The longer you stay, the more times you sleep, the worse it will get. The longer the nightmare will last. Eventually, you won't wake up. I cannot stop this. I cannot fix it."

Vanta: "I should not be a presence you feel safe resting around. Allowing you all to stay here is lulling you into a false sense of security and if you feel safe, you will not take my warnings seriously. I am being selfish by letting you remain. I won't allow myself to indulge beyond dusk."

[ @ask-team-searchlights @blueespeon ]

[voidfishing]

being so normal abt him