my top bit of advice going into the new year: compliment people. especially strangers. literally everyone you interact with if you can. when you buy coffee in the morning compliment the barista's tattoos. when you're chatting with a coworker tell them that by the way you like their outfit. always find something they've chosen to do on purpose. nail polish, jewellery, tattoos, hair colour/style, statement accessory, outfit, etc are all good bets. things people hope will be noticed. things that aren't too personal so it doesn't make them uncomfortable (eg probably not their physical features). i've gotten into the habit of scanning everyone i talk to for something about them that i think is cool so i can tell them. it's a great habit because it makes me notice people and realise just how many neat little details there are in people's presentation of themselves that might pass me by if i wasn't paying attention. and it brings out so much joy. you'd be surprised how much it disarms people to receive an unexpected compliment from someone they don't know. it is the most sincere smile you will see all day long. it feels nice to make people happy but it also means you win the social interaction. establish dominance by complimenting a stranger's earrings and disappearing into the fog
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anyone can make a zine, regardless of skill level or access to materials or design programs. all you need is paper, scissors and drawing utensils (although many people enjoy collaging!) web search "8 page 1 sheet zine how to".
everyone SHOULD make a zine too, you will feel so good about it ♡ it's about putting the power of production into the hands of the people! also you don't have to sell it or anything, you can just make one for yourself or trade/give some to friends!
i really love julia grofrer's guide to analogue self publishing aka making zines on 8.5x11 paper
and jaydragon/jdragsky's thread on staple's self serve print centres (if you're area does not have a local print shop, they probably have a staples or fedex print centre)
if you can't draw, here is twitter thread for public domain art and also a mini summary of when thing enter creative commons (generally 70 years after artist death in the US and CAD)
i also have a DIY zine page on my art blog that i am dedicated to updating as i find more resources! (not accessible through tumblr mobile app, mobile friendly, just open the link in a browser)
go make some zines!!!
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it mattered because when my brother asked me what if this is the happiest you'll ever be? the best you'll ever get? the thing i felt was fear, not peace. everybody thought you were so perfect for me. even i thought you were "helping me grow". i had to challenge every internal clock. make myself more thoughtful, more kind, more beautiful.
i told my therapist it was good because i like the changes i made and there's something so strong about saying i did that. the problem is that i can like the difference all i want, but i changed for you. something akin to getting your name tattooed, all my progress is stamped with fuck you.
it was the happiest i'd ever been and also the best i'd ever gotten. i would still get in the car and think what the fuck just happened.
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Ok, I’m curious because this is something I’ve been wrestling with lately. So tell me,
Pls reblog for sample size!
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hm. the final two being scott and cleo. at some point i need to like, properly write an analysis post about scott and cleo and the ways that they like... so the thing is that even since third life the two of them have always kind of fallen back and leaned on each other. widow's alliance to gaslight gatekeep girlboss to chosen soulmates to technically being on different teams from then on but were they really. to "we can't team up again we're too good" in secret life to "he's kind of like your bdubs" in that same series when cleo just sort of assumed they were on the same side anyway (by the way STILL an insane way to put that etho). to teaming up again this time to being the final two to laughing and having fun until the end until a zombie kills scott (like a zombie helped scott kill ren) until cleo doesn't have to be the one to make the final blow. to the "we always do this we always gravitate to each other".
the thing is that it's not so much that they're soulmates, exactly (it's kind of a defining thing about them that they aren't), or that they're one of those star-crossed pairs the life series keeps producing (they don't shape each other, not really). it's that they're both, in the end, always there. a stable pair, a lighthouse and a ship in a storm. the thing that makes them different from so many duos is that there isn't really conflict, not really; they know the shape of one another. their first alliance will often be someone else; their first alliance is also to each other, no matter what they say.
so of course they laughed as they fought in the end.
it was them. it was never really a fight in the first place.
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The thing that really gets me about xiyao. that will never NOT get me about xiyao. Is that they met in circumstances where for just a moment their respective stations in society didn't matter. Not to each other. Their relationship started outside of social conventions. And they spend the next 17 years trying to preserve that time, that relationship outside of society. And society crept in anyway.
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