#the funny thing is

[o5-25]

This feels awfully familiar somehow.

(Originals under the cut)

[fiery-cook]

The misadventures of Grasshead and Dartboard: Directions unclear.

[shewhotellsstories]

Theo, Cressida, and Benedict being the only people who really listen to Eloise is something that makes me so emotional.

[coquettemouse]

I love this song UGH it's so sweet

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Do you ever struggle not sharing details of your story / spoiling people? It's one of the hardest parts of writing for me! I always want to just divulge all of my ideas immediately!

The answer, weirdly enough... is no!

And a part of that is definitely due to me being a giant, secret-hoarding dragon in disguise. But another part of that is the fact that I largely suspect that...

Keeping secrets and avoiding spoilers is the reason this comic is still alive and updating.

Now, that may sound odd. Why would keeping secrets help me post? Sharing work is kind of the life-blood of a lot of creative endeavors. Storytelling is an inherently social activity. All humans, even the most introverted ones, thrive on peer recognition and feedback.

But over the years, I've come to realize something about myself. And this realization may be mostly stemming from me, but I suspect it's actually a pretty common factor for other creatives as well. So maybe I should talk about it (again).

Let me introduce you to something I call...

The Emperor's New Accomplishment.

Here's the thing. I'm an extremely introverted, non-social person. I can go for months without talking to friends easily, even if I love them a whole lot. That all being said, I'm still a human being, and my brain derives happy-social-animal chemicals from being recognized as A Person With Traits. Humans are built that way! We can't avoid it.

So what you gotta understand is - at all times, our brain is seeking social/peer recognition like it seeks out high-calorie foods. And it (largely) does not care what we have to do to get it.

Herein lies the problem.

Usually, creating stuff and thinking about stories and then sharing what we wrote with friends is a great way to get that happy chemical.

But it's time consuming. And difficult. And there's a shortcut.

What we seek when we create Scenarios and Characters and Conflicts is not hard work toiling away writing/drawing/constructing stuff. Many artists actively enjoy this process, but it's grueling.

And just telling our friends about our ideas actually accomplishes the end goal, as far as our brain is concerned! We made up ideas! We told people about it! We got the Good Feelings!

So when I tell people about my Plans to Write A Comic or Ideas To Make a Story, what I'm actually doing is tricking my brain into thinking 'wow, this feels great! We have accomplished the task we set out to do! No more effort necessary!'

And that motivation to actually draw/write/create?

It goes directly into the trashcan.

Now I'm not saying this to suggest people who do this/fall prey to this are lazy. They're not!

But our brains are. They're lazy, and they want to save energy. And they don't care if you WANTED to actually make the story. They will gladly rip the Motivation energy out of our grubby little hands when they no longer deem it necessary to the process.

So - why do I keep so many secrets? How do I stop myself from talking about what happens next in the story?

I'm doing it to keep my actual comic alive.

Disclaimer: Not everyone functions like this, obviously. Everyone has a different creative process. But this is how I've realized MY brain works, so I now take steps to trick my brain back into working. Ha! Take that, brain! Two can play at this--waitaminute.

[brainrotcharacters]

"You don't want this" babygirl you're not my Dom yet don't presume you know what I want

[versatancore]

evan *angrily* : none of you can tell me what to do!

barty : okay?

evan : not you babe. i would literally die for you.

[thesulkycroissant]

Lately, I've been thinking about the portion of the Death of Superman arc where Clark’s parents have to just watch the world mourn for Superman and treat him like an oddity / not a real person, while they're simultaneously not able to openly mourn because as far as everyone else knows, Clark Kent is just MIA. Just the sheer torment of that. Keep thinking about Martha watching the television while they treat Superman's death like a spectacle and crying, "He's our son!"

Anyway, I'm writing a fic about Martha and Bruce talking right now, and I think they would really bond over their feeling that Clark needs and deserves to be protected, too.

[littlefoxgirlhere]

I really miss writing, like, I used to write about anything. literally anything. poetry, movies, about characters, things that made me cry or made me happy, people on my life, songs, things for school like essays, but now I barely can write texts for friends

like I can't write a letter to give a happy birthday to my friend, I literally can't put my words into the paper and it's so weird and make me so frustrated

I used to put my earphones, sit in my bed, chose a good playlist and write until I couldn't keep my eyes open. now that never happens. i tried and I don't know why but it's not happening. I feel like I have lost myself, like i lost the only thing that made me special or barely talented idk

[lumiilys]

Ed and Stede have gone on holiday and Ed forgot his eczema cream at home and of fucking course it’s a beach holiday so the sand, salt and sun cream is really irritating his skin, but the fucking cream is the kind that you can only get on prescription so he can’t just go out an buy a new one for the holiday. So they gotta make do with over the counter stuff. And Stede always helps Ed to rinse off properly at the end of the day (getting to all the things places Ed can’t quite reach himself) so there’s no more salt on his skin and helps distract him when it gets particularly sore and itchy so that he doesn’t scratch his skin off. And in the end they do end up having a lovely holiday despite it all and idk where I was going with this I just like talking about Ed and eczema

[corrodxdcoffin]

If Chris Manawa was white, he'd be a fan favorite.

[cursed-dreamers-dream]

He’s so shapely

[cellsshapedlikestars]

Can’t help wondering if Sansa will mis-interpret Jon showing up with a pregnant woman??? 👀 😂 I know it’s not a comedy but it seems possible there could be a few awkward moments!

:)

[starkholme]

Not arguing with a tall blonde lady whose name starts with K, whatever you say beautiful

[oifaaa]

OIFAAA ONE PIECE ZORO AND SANJI ART IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2024?????? HOLY SHIT THIS IS GREAT

Well gotta keep everyone on their toes somehow honestly tho was originally gonna just use Bruce and Clark for the meme but then I thought it might be a good opportunity for my first one piece art post and just went with that