#this is not a failure but a part of the process

[cupcakeslushie]

Any advice for someone who's going through art block?

Art block is so difficult, because I really think it’s down to each individual person finding what helps for them.

For me, I more often just try to power through. Because if I do stop to take a break, there’s a danger, where I know I’ll get stuck for weeks, just lazing about, not getting anything done. Then it’s really hard to get back in the swing of things. But this method of being stubborn, might be horrible advice for someone whose mental health really suffers from staying in that mindset of “failing, failing, failing”. Because that’s what it can feel like, when you’re not seeing the results you want. It can be very frustrating, and it either causes you to grow even more stuck, or it lights a fire in your ass to keep you going until you’ve forced it.

Both of these methods aren’t necessarily unhealthy or bad, but they simply work for you, or they don’t. And what helps, can often change based on your mindset and energy levels.

If powering through ever does fail me, (like it kinda has recently lol). Then, I’ll throw up my hands and accept that life is telling me to take a freaking break. In a week or two, I can come back when I’m rested and inspiration hits again. Because even I have points where I just have to listen to what my brain is telling me—despite the fact that all I want to do is be drawing nonstop lol.

Ill watch some tv, listen to some music, read, cook. Whatever is relaxing. And most of these things will provide me with enough chill vibes that I can jump back in when I’m ready!

It’s all about listening to yourself and knowing when to actually give your mind and body a break.

But, If you’re coming in well rested and bright-eyed, and the art block is still popping up, maybe it’s less art block, and more just your brain being slow to switch tasks. Do some warm up sketch exercises, get up and jump around to get your blood pumping. Browse your feeds for inspiration, but set an alarm to give yourself a certain amount of time so you don’t fall down the rabbit hole. Play some banging music to get your energy up. Staring at a blank, white canvas is hardly the proper kind of stimulating activity lol. You’ll rarely find any ideas that way.

There’s plenty of methods to handling art block. The real killer of it, is more when you let it pull you into this loop of self deprecation/sabotage that only gets worse the longer you sit in it. Art block isn’t failure on your part, it doesn’t need to be punished, or mean you’re lacking as an artist.

It’s an unavoidable part of the creative process, you learn how to handle it, and how to sail through it when it hits.

It’ll either blow over when it’s ready, or when you’ve developed a good strategy to hurry it along.

[qiu-yan]

3 6 7 11 16 20 25

bro is trying to get me killed lmao /s

choose violence ask game

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr:

this shit

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

gonna be honest here, the single most annoying part of the MDZS fandom is that one hyperspecific sort of wang and xian stan who insists on shitting on not only the other characters, but also other wang and xian fans who ship the characters in ways they don't approve of. this kind of stan can not only be relied on to have the worst possible takes on everyone ranging from jin guangyao to jiang cheng, they can also be relied on to harass other wang and xian fans simply for putting wang on the bottom. fun times.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

surprisingly, no one yet. sometimes i feel the hater urge to dunk on the morally-pure version of wei wuxian that the diehard wei wuxian stannies have collectively hallucinated, but i still find the wei wuxian from canon to be quite compelling.

11. number of fandom-related words you've filtered

the "canon jiang cheng" and "canon jc" tags. everyone stfu

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

"morally pure wei wuxian who did nothing wrong ever." to me, wei wuxian's hubris, his unique capability for inventing new kinds of cruelty, his failure to think of the consequences of his actions, his tendencies to run away from negative feelings, and his ultimate failure to protect the people he was trying to protect, are what make him a compelling character to me. these flaws in parallel with his courage, kindness, stalwart moral compass, and genuine love make him interesting to me. so i don't quite understand fans who instead insist on erasing all the morally grey and highly interesting stuff he did in favor of insisting he did nothing wrong ever.

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

not quite what the question is asking, but i found the actual wang and xian romance in the original novel to be a bit lacking. mainly because (as other people have said already) a lot of the romantic development happened when lan wangji was drunk. at the very least, i wanted to see lan wangji's reactions to his various drunken adventures once he sobered up the next day, and i'm rather disappointed we never got to see that.

furthermore, on wei wuxian's end, it did kind of feel like wei wuxian was using this exciting new romance to distract himself from his past problems, even though it also seemed like he didn't actually know all that much about lan wangji. the only version of the romance that makes sense to me is the one where wei wuxian was already into lan wangji (subconsciously or consciously) in his first life; otherwise, wei wuxian falling in love with lan wangji during his second life, when he's yet to process any of the shit that happened in his first life, feels too much like him running away from his problems with a guy he believes will validate all his decisions. meanwhile, on lan wangji's end, i feel like the novel just did not give us a lot to work with in regards to his character. so it feels like, if you want to be a fan of lan wangji, you have to do a lot of the legwork of building up his personality yourself.

what also disappointed me a bit about wang and xian, as well as lan wangji's character arc itself, is that lan wangji is never really challenged on a moral-dilemma level in the same way that many other characters are challenged by the story. how do i explain this...alright, i'll put it this way. i've been brainrotted about madohomu (madoka magica) since i was in middle school. and that's partially because i know for a fact that, if homura was put in the trolley problem and had to choose between [killing 5 strangers] and [allowing madoka to die], she would choose to kill those 5 strangers to save madoka. but after reading MDZS, i realized i legitimately did not know what lan wangji would do in such a moral dilemma. because MDZS equates [being morally righteous] with [supporting wei wuxian], lan wangji is never placed in a dilemma where he has to choose between sacrificing wei ying and doing something the audience would think of as unforgivable.

these are just my own hyperspecific tastes, though.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

gonna put my hater hat on for a second, but i kind of roll my eyes at the jiang cheng haters complaining about how jiang cheng stans keep posting in the "canon jiang cheng" tag. dude, if it bothers you that much, just block the jiang cheng stans. then things will be peaceful in your favorite tag again.

[4dkellysworld]

Signs of Progress

The below is the result of a conversation I had with ChatGPT which I edited a bit. I thought it was great and might be useful to some so wanted to share it here. These are some signs that you've made progress on this path (it expands on what Lester talks about). I think it paints a pretty good picture of what it looks like when one has progressed on this path and can be helpful to check in with yourself and your practices (although do this from a place of peace and freedom, not from ego!).

Detachment from Ego and Self-Identification

Dissolving of Personal Story: The story of “me” becomes less dominant in your thoughts. You stop identifying with past experiences, achievements, or failures, and see them as events that happened to the body-mind but not to your true self. The constant narrative of “who you are” loses its significance.

Decreased Ego Involvement: Ego-driven thoughts like “I need to prove myself” or “I must protect my image” become rare. You no longer feel the need to build an identity through actions, achievements, or relationships. When ego-driven desires arise, you notice them and let them pass without identifying with them.

Ongoing Release of Ego Concepts: You have let go of many ego-driven thoughts, beliefs, and past conditioning, recognizing them as not truly you. You can recognize when egoic thoughts or reactions arise, but instead of getting pulled into them, you watch them like passing clouds. As ego concepts arise, you continue to observe them without attachment, understanding that these are just passing mental phenomena rather than aspects of your true self. There’s a growing distance between these thoughts and your awareness, which makes it easier to remain non-identified. This ongoing process of recognizing and releasing these patterns helps you stay detached from the ego and reinforces your non-identification with it.

Not Labelling or Adding Meaning: You no longer define, label or attach significance, meaning, stories or judgments to life and its experiences—everything is seen as simply neutral. You perceive events and sensations without categorizing them as good or bad, right or wrong, this or that. This allows you to maintain a neutral and clear awareness, and engage with life directly and openly, free from the distortions of personal judgments and biases. By not attaching any meaning, you allow each moment to be experienced in its pure form.

Indifference and Non-Resistance

Emotional Detachment: You find yourself emotionally neutral, regardless of circumstances. Feelings may arise, but they pass through without sticking to you, without your involvement. This doesn’t mean apathy, but rather that you aren’t emotionally swayed by external events or your own thoughts. There’s an inner stability that isn’t disrupted by the ups and downs of life.

Consistent Indifference to Externals: You are consistently indifferent to the world’s events. This doesn’t mean you don’t care, but that the happenings of the external world don’t disturb your inner peace regardless of what happens. You watch them with detachment, knowing that they don’t define you.

Non-Resistance to Pain or Discomfort: Physical or emotional discomfort is less likely to throw you into resistance or avoidance. You recognize that pain is a passing experience, not something to be attached to or defined by, allowing you to experience it without adding suffering through mental resistance.

Presence and Flow

Living in the Now: You spend far less time in your mind thinking about the past or future. Being present in the moment becomes your default state. The mind quiets down, and you’re more present in the here and now, with fewer distractions pulling you away from the present. You find a natural ease in maintaining a calm, unobtrusive mental state.

Openness to Life’s Flow: You stop resisting life’s natural rhythm. There’s an acceptance that whatever happens is part of a greater unfolding. You trust the process, even when it doesn’t align with your preferences. You are open and allow whatever may happen, even when it brings discomfort, because you’re no longer attached to how things “should” be.

Effortlessness in Action: There’s a shift where actions become more effortless, as though life is flowing through you rather than you trying to push or force things to happen. You no longer feel the pressure of “making things happen” but instead act naturally in each moment as needed, without the stress of outcome-based thinking.

Fresh Innocence and Curiosity: You approach life with a child-like sense of curiosity, exploring experiences with wonder and without preconceived judgments. You see life with a sense of innocence and an open and fresh perspective, allowing experiences to unfold without attaching meaning or being affected by past beliefs, feelings or experiences. This allows you to experience each moment as it is—fresh and unfiltered. You engage with the world playfully and openly, treating each moment as a fresh discovery rather than through the lens of past conditioning.

Freedom without Expectations

Freedom from Expectations: You let go of expectations, both from yourself and others. Instead of being driven by future outcomes or the desire for things to go a certain way, you’re more focused on simply being and allowing life to unfold. "Your" actions are more about allowing the flow of life to happen as it does rather than controlling or predicting it.

A Growing Sense of Freedom: There’s an expanding sense of freedom, not tied to circumstances, but coming from the inner realization that you are not bound by the mind, ego, or external world. This freedom is quiet but profound, where life’s pressures and demands lose their hold over you.

Acceptance of Impermanence: You come to deeply understand that everything in the external world is transient. Rather than clinging to experiences, objects, or people, you accept that everything is in constant change. You stop resisting this fact, which results in less struggle and more inner peace.

Joy and Connection

Spontaneous Joy or Contentment: As identification decreases, you might notice a natural sense of joy, peace, or contentment arising, not because of any external reason, but simply because you’re no longer entangled with ego. This joy is subtle and doesn’t depend on outer conditions; it’s a result of being at ease with what is.

Deeper Connection to Others and Nature: As ego identification fades, you may feel a deeper sense of connection to others, not from needing validation, but from genuine compassion and empathy. You might also feel more connected to nature as the boundaries between "you" and the world soften.

Synchronicity and Harmony

Synchronicity and Flow: As you detach from controlling life and the mind, you may notice an increase in synchronicities—meaningful coincidences that feel as though life is guiding you. Life unfolds in a way that feels more harmonious, and things “just happen” without you trying to force them.

[anarchy-and-piglins]

Care for an AU idea?

Missing Hearts AU, with dark SBI and fantasy/sci-fi setting. (Dark themes, death, mind control, magic, coercion, graphic descriptions. Really I'm just throwing all possible warnings in there just in case.)

Technoblade is a soldier---one of many---who is completely loyal to the Federation's cause. He has no choice.

The Federation, once a loose association of various planets, now a military complex held together by fear mongering and nepotism, has been at war with the Empire long enough to completely restructure the government, long enough that Technoblade cannot recall a time without war or find its start, and long enough to develop some less than savory tactics.

Heartless, they are called, by civilians, by the enemy, and by the heartless themselves. Completely loyal, ruthless, deadly, precise, nearly impossible for an enemy to kill and stronger than any mundane soldier. The Heartless are feared across the Federation and Empire alike. The only group who doesn't use the name are the officials, the Oligarchy at the head of the Federation and their commanders. After all, they know full well where the soldiers hearts are. They're the ones who keep them, after all. Weaving spell after spell to keep the hearts beating, to stifle unwanted generosity, to take their fear, to bind their loyalty, to keep them strong. To kill when a soldier gets out of hand.

Technoblade only saw it once. For the most part, the heartless are kept in check by their fear and the magic beating their hearts. There's no real chance for rebellion, loyalty tied so tightly to their being that it's nearly suffocating. There is failure, though. Any heartless deemed a regular enough failure, a waste of resources, is immediately terminated.

They'd just gotten off a mission. Botched, sure, but they'd pulled off most of it and gotten out almost unscathed. Injuries hurt, despite the healing coursing through their veins, and they could damage a mission. The only thing they wouldn't do was make a heartless die.

They were in the shuttle heading back when the man responsible for the main failure collapsed, clutching his chest. Technoblade, only sixteen, watched in horror as the man choked, the rest of the ship going on like nothing was wrong. The man died, terminated for failure, one too many as he'd find out. Technoblade hadn't had his heart in years, but he almost thought he could feel it seizing in his chest, the gaping void turning hungry and tearing him to nothing. The same blank in the man's eyes.

He went to bed haunted. He woke up to the same apathy as ever, emotions gone now the Federation had given their warning. The memory remained.

(Technoblade himself had his heart removed when he was seven, when he started showing potential for the army. Strength, speed, an interest in strategy. He doesn't remember much of the process. Just the screams, and an angry tearing feeling grown muted with age. He doesn't even remember what it was like to have a heart. He lost his family in the same moment, shut into private training and missions not long after.)

It was after another mission that things changed. The operation had been a large one, with multiple units working in tandem to do... something. The higher ups didn't give much information as to the what or why of a situation unless directly relevant to the soldiers role in the mission. It's only afterward that Technoblade finds it was a raid. Countless empire citizens are taken, one of which is claimed to be the emperor's youngest son. A blond kid joins Technoblade's squad, spitting and angry and with his heart newly gone. He's from the Empire, though no one goes directly out and says it. He's trained, they say. But wrong, differently from Federation tactics, and it's obvious.

Technoblade is assigned to watch him, this kid who yells and jokes and still puts too much emphasis on names when no one there counts as a person, Tommy, his name is, as he insists, growing louder with each repetition until Technoblade caves. "Tommy, then."

Tommy isn't going to mention that using the name will lead his brother and father right to them. He's furious, stuck, and glad to see it all burn. Except, well. They don't get there right away. And as he learns more about the gaping wound in his chest (not as bad as the rest, though he doesn't know that, not as smothered in magic and death), he realizes how little freedom they have, how little personality they're allowed, how little emotion. But Technoblade is funny. In a dry, sarcastic way, like he's afraid if he sounds too real then they're going to off him. And as scary as Technoblade is, he never hurts Tommy. And Tommy isn't silly enough to believe that's because he can't. He doesn't. He's only scary when either Tommy or the mission is at risk. Technoblade cares, and Tommy, still full of rage, is going to steal him. He's going to give him a family. He's going to make sure that every bit of his humor and genius and kindness belongs to the empire, to them, to his family. Technoblade is theirs, and he doesn't even know who he's got.

The Emperor, as it turns out, is not happy with the alleged capture of his youngest, an age still technically older than Technoblade, though perhaps not in looks or maturity. The Empire doesn't have heartless, but they do have their own magic, and it's rumored to include immortality.

They strike hard and fast, capturing or killing a many forces as they can as they push towards the Federation's center, their heart. The Federation is in shambles, scrambling to adjust to the change in tactics resulting from a move they thought would lead to surrender. Or negotiations, at the very least. No. The Empire is out to kill, heedless of their own losses in the rampage to get their prince back. Someone is leaking information (the Empire doesn't have heartless, had no information on the nature of their existence, but Tommy has intimate experience with what it's like to be one, knows their triggers and controls and where the hearts are kept).

Tommy is pulled off of Technoblade's force and vanishes. Technoblade himself is called back to the capital, still with aching wounds from battle after battle as the Empire mounts their assault.

Everything is fine. Everything is within their calculations, the heartless can't die, they can't die, he can't die, all they need to do is stop this- and his men start falling. The facility is a maze, a labyrinth, meant to be entirely secure. The heartless have never known where their hearts are kept within the compound, secrets and lies another barrier to their escape, but they found it and Technoblade gets the call to head to the secret room at the center of the building. The hearts can carry information, the magic a link between the heart's enchanter and the weapon they control.

Maybe there's a fleeting thought that he can take his heart, grab it and go, escape the chaos and save his men. Or maybe he feels nothing at all, winding through halls of fallen heartless.

The doors open whooshing back to reveal the emperor and his eldest son. Smashed containers line the walls, broken hearts left to bleed.

And Technoblade feels a throb of fear. Distant, echoing out from the hearts place in the Emperor's hands. "Hello Technoblade." The Emperor smiles, and Technoblade is frozen in place. The empire didn't know about the hearts, once, but they learn fast and the stiffness of his limbs is more than fear. He tries to speak, but even words die in his throat. "We've been waiting for you."

The heart is tossed from one tyrant to the next, and Technoblade tries to breathe as the Emperor takes him by the arm. He's still smiling as he leads Technoblade out, through desolate halls filled with corpses of his men, all while false affection pumps through his veins at the direction of the hands that hold his heart.

"All for your own good," they say. "Not all the heartless were slain," they explain, talking about rehabilitation, good lives waiting for the heartless soldiers. "We'll give you everything," they promise him, draping him in medals, offering food and riches and blankets and clothing the likes of which he's never seen. "You're one of us," they swear, as another prince to the empire is crowned.

But they never give his heart back, not like they do Tommy who is whole the instant all of him is found. They never let him hold it, rarely let him see it, keep it as a prize. Never let him wander, or flee the prison of gold. And maybe it's because they worry he won't stay without the hands on his heart, feeding him devotion, binding him carefully with loyalty and fear. Maybe they worry who he would be without their touch, with emotions completely his own again. Technoblade wonders too. He'll never know.

Technoblade is a prince---one of few---who is completely devoted to the Empire.

He has no choice.

Congrats on getting the Lenn treatment because I kinda took this ask hostage for a month like I do with their AUs lol. Just a testament to me enjoying them, thank you for the tasty treat Anon.

[questforgalas]

Constantly reminding myself that healing and recovery are not linear, that they’re filled with rolling highs and steep tumbling downs, and sometimes the downs feel like falling into a cavern that I’m cursed to lay on the floor of for eternity, but even the small act of simply sitting up from the floor is a step up. Standing from the floor is a step up. Stepping towards the wall is a step up. And soon I’ll find the hand holds and the foot holds and will start climbing again. And sometimes during that climb, I might slip. I might fall. But I’ll grab on again and climb again. Little by little. And eventually, in hours, days, weeks, months, or maybe even a year, I’ll reach the flat surface on the other side of that cavern, and pull myself up. And I’ll walk straight for a bit, maybe walk up a hill, maybe stumble here and there. And maybe I’ll meet another cavern in the future, but it’ll be ok. Because just sitting up from the cavern floor is a step up.

[muirmarie]

I got the screenshot right before I went to sleep last night =)

I know this will seem like a lot to some people and very little to some others haha, but! It's silly to compare it to anyone else, since we all write in different fandoms over the years and write different types and lengths and amounts of fics.

So this is really just me thinking about the number itself, and like. Kinda wild that 30,000 times someone had pushed a little button to say they liked one of my fics!

Kissing all your faces xoxoxo

[kausijuoppo]

Final experiment

[blueminuet]

Apparently you can’t put two videos in one post on this godforsaken webbed site, here’s the blooper reel for the other post I just made.

Anyway, here is the main post.

[jvzebel-x]

🦋

[cartoon-skeleton]

im fucking fighting demons as if i didnt ACTIVELY CHOOSE to write and draw an entire comic, make a series of giant oil paintings, construct an elaborate idea for my senior project involving a human-size marionette and a live feed camera and an insane amount of portraits, take a class where i have to write a fucking play for the final, and take another class where i have to analyze 208083287 movies per week this semester. like how am i mad at anyone or anything other than myself LOL

[raplinesmoon]

i think the thing that no one tells you about being forced into being a high achieving child/teen is how much it comes to fuck you over later in life when you can’t do anything without holding yourself to an insane level of perfectionism and then you realize it’s basically leeched all the fun out of any hobbies you created for yourself and left you with a shell of a personality

[journey-to-the-attic]

We know what goes on between them in DDVD, but would Lucifer and Zhao ever take an interest in each other in mainline JTTA?

it's not an impossibility! if they're compatible in ddvd, they'd still be in jtta, since zhao is still very much the same person at his core - the main difference is that, in ddvd, zhao doesn't have the time to make the mistakes he does in jtta, since he ends up in the devildom. ultimately he is still the same pathetic little man who is full of love but never knows how to express it

it'd take a while for them to actually see each other in that light, though - it'd only really become viable once zhao is at least significantly on his way to making up for how lonely ik's home life has been. before that, lucifer's disdain in regards to it would stop him from entertaining the fact that he finds zhao kind of cute

also in ddvd, i'd say it's only after getting down to the devildom that zhao realises he also likes men, so zhao in baseline jtta is even MORE repressed about being bi - which is another hurdle he's gonna have to cross before he even thinks about the fact he might have an interest in that demon dude who's adopted his kid

(also if we want to be sappy perhaps it's just a matter of zhaolu finding each other in every reality )!

[brown-little-robin]

.

[the-cat-at-the-theatre-door]

Thinking about Deuteronomy again, being that first point of contact for most cats in being welcomed into their family, newborns and new additions alike, but I'm thinking specifically about cats who were perhaps born into their group, left, and *then* came back, and how those are usually situations where Deuteronomy can sort of...tell if they'll be back when they do leave. He can't say anything about it, but he knows. Cats who know him very well can almost catch the expression that indicates one way or the other when he's informed of their leaving if he believes they'll be back. And - outside of the occasional anomaly - he's usually right about it.

He remembers, distantly, holding a little grey queenkit in his arms during one of his visits years and years ago, fresh faced and lovely, thinking: "This one will do big things" - not great things, not even potentially successful things, but big things nonetheless. He remembers a whisper of her little voice filled with confidence fading suddenly into silence; remembers thinking he hoped she would eventually find whatever it was she couldn't here, that she would find her way back when it was time, carefully avoiding the even stare of her mother as he passed her back.

And when he holds that little grey queen in his arms decades later, just when he thought he'd been wrong, only a little bigger, the sharp curves of her bones jutting from her fur, face so much older now, he sees that little one again, and smiles. Murmurs: "Welcome home", before he passes her onto the stars, hoping she finds her way back again to make up for lost time.

[weirdlizard26]

im so genuinely devastated by the fact that i go back to class tomorrow its embarrassing dfkgjdd ive been completely out of it for. weeks????? i couldnt enjoy the second half of my break bc i never stopped thinking about having to go back to uni im just aughhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[garciapimienta]

Barcelona are young and exciting. But Barcelona are also still naive and inexperienced. Just like their coach. (Domagoj Kostanjsak)