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The fallen angel and the son of God

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The last drawing was sooooo blasted on twitter, I got called every name that would get me suspended, got told I'll burn in hell, that people like me are why some should get burn at the stake, mild death threats. Strangely, got told that it was a very ''tumblr'' intrepretation so I'm genuinely curious how people on tumblr will react...

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Single Mages are dying to meet you!

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"curiosity"

(quick art with both of them set in some kind of whimsy fantasy setting)

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your stitches are good, but not the best - your hands are twitching to the beat of your heart. but they're going to be perfect soon, whether you want them to be or not.

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re: the debate over whether or not gale is self aggrandizing because he's insecure, or whether or not he's actually that good of a wizard . . . it's both babes. he's a genuinely talented wizard and he talks it about it all the time because he feels like it's the only thing he has to offer. it's what drew mystra to take an interest in him in the first place, it's what his whole adult life has revolved around, it's all anyone knows him for in waterdeep. if you manage to roll a 30 in balthazar's secret chamber to make the pixie lamp yourself he basically says "i guess you don't need me at all, why am i even here" and sounds like he's going to burst into tears. it's why he says "you love me for the man i am, not my magic" if you romance him; he's not used to being appreciated for anything other than his wizardry. if you pay attention to his dialogue, you'll notice every time he brags about himself it's about his magic/intellect, and if you criticize any other aspect of him, his response is just "you're right 😞" obsessively reminding people of the traits he assumes they'll find valuable because he's insecure about his worth does not mean he isn't genuinely skilled at those things. thanks for coming to my ted talk.

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Creator Abigail Thorn recommends deciding upon personal metrics for a project's success that are independent of audience response. For example, hers are:

Did I make the work out of curiosity, not ambition?

Is it something that no one else could have made?

Did I create it out of compassion for myself and others?

If those three criteria are met, she considers the project a success regardless of audience feedback. Of course, she might have notes about how she could've marketed it, or how she could improve on future projects. But she sets her own goals for success before the project and doesn't change the goalposts.

Also—join a fandom discord or another fandom spaces and/or get a beta reader. Having a few people to root you on while you're making the work and leave in-depth comments is 100× more fulfilling than seeing 10 kudos in an inbox.

Another thing that is helpful to me is knowing I'll be influenced by kudos, hits, comments, bookmarks, etc. That way, when I feel down about a fic, I can say 'oh. It's not the fic itself or me as a person, it's just the kudos and humans' ravenous desire for attention and praise.' then move on.

Hi! Do you have any advice on how to stop caring about likes and kudos? Even though I primarily write out of love and I've been writing for just myself long before I'd posted anything publicly, now that I have I find it really difficult not to let likes and kudos influence me, whether it's feeling discouraged from writing when fics don't do well or finding myself focusing more on what people want to read than what I want to write

some tricks I personally use. I can't guarantee that it will work for everybody, but I hope at least some of them helps.

try posting before you go to bed at night. this way, you don't constantly check for kudos or comments throughout the day, until the next morning. and if you find it hard to sleep because your mind keeps thinking about whether or not people have been giving kudos to your works, try and trick your mind into thinking that "it's done. I posted it. it's out of my hands now, now it's time for me to get some rest".

this can also apply to when you're not trying to sleep. personally, I find it helping when I tell myself "I did it. it's out of my hands. it's not my responsibility anymore. if people love it, that's great. but if they don't, well, I did it for me anyway."

try looking at the numbers of hits, kudos and comments as actual people and not just "digital numbers" — five kudos may not be a lot to some people if you're looking at those kudos as "just a number", but the truth is that those five kudos are actually five human beings.

personally, I would feel pretty proud of myself if my work had five different people walking up to me in real life and saying to my face that "I did well" and that they "enjoyed my work".

because that's actually the case for your fic. it may look like "just a number" when you're looking at your screen, but the truth is that that's actually human beings who read and appreciate your work.

30 hits may not be a lot to some writers when they're only seeing "digital number" on their screen. but it's actually quite impressive when you imagine a room with 30 people in there, and all of them are reading your work.

or if your work doesn't get hits / kudos or likes, that still doesn't mean "it's bad" either. maybe the right people who will love it just haven't had the chance to find it yet, and that's okay, that's fine.

think of your work as a treasure, a hidden gem. just because only few people find it doesn't mean it's not valuable.

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Some idiot: "Why are you reading your own fic, that's shallow and stupid"

All fanfic writers and writers everywhere: "Who the fuck do you think I wrote it for?!"

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Karlach…that’s not-

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1,000,000 terrible words, dear. 1,000,000 terrible, terrible words.

*reads fanfiction with the most incredible description, most incredible inner monologue, most incredible dialog, most incredible pacing, most incredible world building, and just most incredible writing*

*looks at my own shrimpy writing skills*

*looks back at incredible fanfiction*

*blinks*

*shakes it with unyielding force*

"HOW DO I DO THAT?!?!?!??!?!!?"

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stealth expert over here

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One of those fandom things that I love is when there’s new characters around and, with the unwavering confidence of an old farmer appraising cattle, fanfic authors take one good look at them, tilt their imaginary hat, and go “Aye. Praise kink, that one. Mighty case of praise kink if I ever saw one.” And everyone else just “aye.”

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This ao3 censorship discourse is crazy bc you're meaning to tell me NONE of you have ever read something objectively insane out of morbid curiosity and ended up freaking yourself the fuck out to the point where you still think about it sometimes and shudder?

Damn.

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Drew Astarion in the wavemother's robe as practice for another illustration and decided to color it. Astarion is the best mermaid. 🌊

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“You don’t owe the gods anything, not now”

My thoughts for this piece under the break

I fucking love the idea of Astarion helping Gale realize how incredibly fucked Mystra is. Cause of all people, the spawn shunned by the gods despite his desperate prayers, would understand the pain that comes with a goddess you thought you could trust turning her back on you. Cause what Mystra asks if Gale under the guise of “forgiveness” is insane and really shows how she doesn’t love Gale the way he so clearly loved her. Just two traumatized boys finding love and growth with each other <3

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Gale's Room in Waterdeep Reference

A few notes:

Is that a statue of Mystra on his desk?

His bench looks pretty old

Quite a lot of statues and paintings around his room

Empty display case in back

His book is called "The Art of the Night"

Let me know if you'd like a closer view of anything in this room.

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Bloodweave nation WAKE UP. I've been mentally ill again <33

I need tender bloodweave injected into my veins NOW please and thank you <3