#but then again this is my hobby blog and no one is paying me for squat so I could totally go back to Mario for a bit if I wanted to-

[factual-fantasy]

I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVE THAT ONE SIDE PROFILE OF THE MARIO BROS NOR CAN I TELL YOU WHY

I DONT KNOW WHY OUT OF ALL OF THOSE DRAWINGS THATS THE ONE I LIKE THE MOST BUT IT’S ALL GREAT WORK FACTUAL

YOU’RE GETTING ME THROUGH FINALS👍👍👍

(Post in question)

STAAAAHP you're gonna make me fall back into my Mario phase!!1! XDD

(FR THO THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DD I'm glad you liked that doodle! I was rather proud of how it came out😊!!)

[beegalactica]

The real 'glow-up' is all mental.

With it being the prime season for the 'how to glow up' guides to make their rounds in the media we consume, it is always worth reminding yourself that the only way you are going to 'glow up' on the outside is if you 'glow up' on the inside.

I personally get annoyed with the whole glowing-up phenomenon because it perpetuates this idea that there is some kind of 'end goal' in life and once you reach it, everything will be perfect. In a world where the idea of what it means to be attractive, intelligent, successful, or desirable in any way is constantly changing, there is only one constant: YOU.

You are a lifelong investment, and you are worth every penny, second, and ounce of effort you put into yourself.

Let's go over some of my glow-up tips and habits for you this year and examine how much of your levelling-up will really need to take place in your head.

Invest in your hygiene. This doesn't mean buying the most expensive skincare and having a 30-step routine, this means brushing your teeth every day, taking showers regularly and looking after your hair. Of course, we all want to achieve that 'clean girl aesthetic' but to me, simple hygiene is the best way to send a message to your body and mind that you care. Nothing says "I love you just the way you are" to your body like taking the time to clean it, care for it and pay attention to what it needs.

Invest in your surroundings. Now I know, making your bed every morning can be an unnecessary waste of time, especially if you're just going to end up getting back into it at night, but I like to think that my surroundings reflect my mental state, so if my room is a mess, best believe my mind is a mess too.

Invest in your interests. Start a hobby, pick up a new skill, try to find a book that interests you, or even start a Tumblr blog 😉😉! This year, I am focusing on really cultivating myself and becoming an interesting person who has things to talk about with people, instead of mindless gossip or resulting in self-deprecation to entertain others.

Invest in your happiness. Do what makes you happy. Distance yourself from those who seek to pull you down, to prop themselves up. You are worth so much more than that. Sometimes, those people are in our households, and the only way to cope is to know what makes us feel good and chase that happiness. Know that whatever issue you are facing shall pass and you will feel good again.

There is a common belief among people who may struggle with their self-image that once they fix this, or change that, everything will be perfect, but as someone who has had that mentality, it won't. If you want to lose 10kg for example, but hate your current body, waking up skinny tomorrow won't fix that voice in your head that tells you that you're still not good enough. If you love yourself as you are, and acknowledge that exercising is a form of self-love, and it doesn't take away from it, that mental glow-up will begin to manifest itself physically.

What's the point of others complimenting you daily if you don't believe it or can't accept it because you don't think of yourself the way that they do?

Trust me when I say this, my biggest milestone on my 'glow up journey' was not losing x amount of weight, but looking at myself in the mirror, first thing in the morning with no make-up or styling, and still being able to say "Damn, I'm so beautiful." And I can confidently tell you that to reach this point, I didn't set the intention of losing weight and trying to become more beautiful, I set the intention of loving and accepting myself the way that I am and all the actions that followed after stemmed from this love that I have. I didn't feel the need to exercise because I wanted to be skinny, but because I knew that it was what my body needed, and I loved my body so much that I was willing to do that for her.

It's easy to get wrapped up in so many things and lose sight of yourself, but when that phone is off and you're all alone, disconnected from the rest of the world, what do you say to yourself?

P.S. If you're reading this thank you all for the love on my first post! Opening Tumblr every day to new notifications has created this sort of excitement and extreme joy that I didn't even know was possible! Stay safe and take care of yourself 💗💓

[astroismypassion]

What does it mean when we repetitively attract into our life a certain Moon sign? 🌙 🌗🌘

Credit goes to my blog @astroismypassion

The lovely and kind @bthechangeuwant2cintheworld asked me about if I could do a post on when we attract certain moon signs and what does it mean? Let's dive deep into the topic.

So what does it mean FOR YOU when you attract the following Moon sign in your life?

ARIES MOON

You are likely not courageous enough, need to learn how to be more bold, stand out from the crowd. You might also be a bit too selfish or self-focused. You need to work out more and steam off your feelings through work outs, physical activity and chores or cleaning, being more active and present in your home. Also, you might likely not do enough. You might be just working on one single particular thing, such as just your studies, your job, but completely neglect other fields, aspects of your life. Could have a hard time juggling many things at once or struggle with multitasking.

TAURUS MOON

You might be too passive, lazy or indulgent in your habits or even on a daily basis or in your own home. You might be a bit too love obsessed, wanting a partnership at any cost or even pressuring someone to like you back or enter a partnership with you. You might idealize the idea of a partner, being a part of the team. You might need to transform your values or understand what those are. You likely lack self-love and need more self-care too. You are either too materialistic or not enough. Also, maybe dress up more often.

GEMINI MOON

You are likely not social enough, you spend too much time on your own alone or you are too much in your head, but not grounded enough. Could have difficulties with control, like trying to control your surroundings, immediate family members, close friends, even people you talk to online/social media/instant messaging. You might be too anxious or nervous when talking. You might either need to take a social media break or talk to people online more.

CANCER MOON

Check in with how you treat your mother. Do more chores in your home, help out with laundry, doing dishes, organize your home more, clean it more often. Learn how to cook, bake more. You are likely bottling up your emotions or suppressing your innermost feelings, even needs. Learn what your needs are, especially what you require from your loved ones, family members, your partner. Vent, cry out your tears, embrace the flow of the good and the bad sides of emotion. Try to provide for your family more.

LEO MOON

You might too dramatic or not dramatic enough and too nonchalant. You might need to share more of your emotions. You might be self-centered emotionally, so selfish with your feelings. But at the same time, you might make too rash decisions or jump to conclusions in the early stages of dating. You need to become more jovial, happy and bright. You need to focus more on hanging with your close friends since you are likely neglecting them a bit or spending too much time on your own. You need to figure out more on what your hobbies are and if you can pick a new one as well. You might need to welcome more romance in your life, maybe by accepting an invitation to go out on a date, listening to romantic songs, watching romantic movies.

VIRGO MOON

You might need to take better care of your personal hygene, live more in the present moment and establish better daily routine and habits. You need to be more present and focused during conversation. You need to go out more and do your own grocery shopping, run errands and focus more on paying your phone, electricity bill etc. You need to declutter your home and organize your space. Try to find time for little self-care rituals in the day.

LIBRA MOON

If you end up attracting a Libra Moon again and again you are likely taking care of too many other people and not enough taking care of yourself. You need to learn how to share but with boundaries. You learn how to balance giving and taking. You need to learn how to accept help and how to delegate tasks off your shoulder more. You also need to socialize more, meaning that learn how to be okay with chit chat and even more superficial conversations, they still teach you how to connect and relate to those around you more.

SCORPIO MOON

Scorpio Moon is tricky, because it's one of those either or type of Moons, it can go either way. So you might have an escapistic issue, I'm not saying downright addictive behaviours, but you might overuse something. Such as you feel a bit too lonely and use food as a buffer or coffee, alcohol, sweets, sugar etc. You might not have only one cup of coffee, but 2, 3 too many per day. I'm not saying this is your case in particular, I'm trying to illustrate the case. You might also be too materialistic or not enough. Like too power hungry, money driven or not enough. You could have certain subconscious thoughts, triggers that you don't want to address. You might jump to final conclusions too quickly, without knowing the full story or context or information. You might need to let go of certain old habits, coping mechanisms that don't serve you anymore or sometimes this means even people, old friends or partners. You might not live fully authentic in your present life. You might also be scared of being truly raw, vulnerable and you could have a fear of being exposed, exposed as in having any trait that you don't like to admit you have or don't want many other people to know. Or you can also act a bit too fanatic in your behaviour, again it can go either or, you might perhaps need your jealousy, envy, possessivness in check.

SAGITTARIUS MOON

You are too uptight, need to let loose. Attend a party or two with your group of trusted friends, go to that club and dance, even if you don't completely like the idea of it initially. Also, you might be too hedonistic in one department of your life. Either you indulge in too many desserts after a meal, eat too much in one setting. Stop saying yes to everything and everyone just so you please others and that they stay happy. You need to get more organized, buy a planner, plan your days more and prioritize, you might be all over the place. Again, certain eating habits might represent a bit of a problem for you. Try expanding your mindset about food, by trying out alternative regimes, introducing more whole foods, leafy greens and such. Don't be a picky eater, give certain foreign foods/those you are not used to at least a one time try.

CAPRICORN MOON

Now, this is one of those major, life changing, big life decision ones. If you attract Capricorn Moon in your life again and again, you need to make a turning point in your life. You need to make a big life change. Likely, your job, career is not where it should be at this point. Or it's not fulfilling you and a change is to be made. Either going back to school, finding another job, career field etc. You need to revisit this part of your life: your career, long-term goals, aspirations, social status, reputation and your relationship with parents. The last one might be big as well, ask yourself if this is the best way to treat your parents? Likely, you could do a bit better. Also, you are likely spending too much time at home or isolating yourself.

AQUARIUS MOON

You are afraid to embrace your own unique self and being original, mostly out of fear of not being accepted or judged. You might also need to dream more, set your dreams big and start going after them. You might also replicate other people's ideas, try coming up with original thought and your own creative ideas more, even if they are weird, unique, eccentric or odd at a first glance or even if you feel uncomfortable expressing them. Go out more and socialize more.

PISCES MOON

You are too giving, humanitarian, charitable, selfless or not enough. You might take care or help out every close friend, acquintances or stranger, but NOT your own family members, loved ones or your partner. So try to put that in check. You might be undereating or eat foods that don't nourish your body. Again, substance overuse can be present in subtle ways, such as drinking too much coffee in the day.

Credit goes to my blog @astroismypassion

[sehodreams]

they agreed (more like he demanded) that he's the breadwinner while she stays home. but she gets bored and wants to make some money on the side (such as selling the honey that she cultivates in their garden, or selling flowers from her garden). conservative toxic riize reaction? u dont have to do all mmbrs btw 💣

Ahhhh my sweet little 💣, always bringing balance to my blog 💘

TW and Tags: toxic!conservative!riize, use of violence and gaslighting.

I think the only one who would hate that is Eunseok, the others don't mind that you have a job, or if you were doing those little works, they wouldn't give them too much importance, after all, for them they are insignificant little things in your life that at the end don't take too much of your time, and you would still be pretty much focused on them, so they would even laugh telling his friends and calling it "my wife's little hobby".

Eunseok is the only one who would burn inside, and would lose himself for a second. If you sold some of your pretty flowers to your neighbors or friends, he would say something like, "what do you need more money for? What I give you is not enough? Are you trying to tell me that what I earn from my hard work, even if it pays all our bills and keeps you well fed and dressed, is nothing to you?". Feeling like you're disrespecting him, he'd show you that side you never liked to see and that always pushed you to do your best to satisfy him. However, cleaning, looking pretty and giving him your sole focus when he was at home was not enough, he wants to control your every thought and action so you never act out and always behave like a real married woman should.

Sure you'd shake your head denying his words, telling him that you were only bored and wanted to do something on your own to keep yourself busy when he wasn't around, but doesn't matter how much you try to explain yourself to make him understand, he'll never do it, getting more angry with every word that comes out of your mouth since you're treating him like an idiot and talking back when you should've just nodded and immediately stop with his word.

Nothing would be enough to calm him after that, he'd destroy your garden, containing himself to not burn it down, he'd tell you to forget about flowers ever again, smashing the pots that decorated it one by one in front of your crying face, taking away the only place that made you feel some sort of happiness without him. Also, just to prove even more his point, he'd fuck you in front of it, and pushing your naked chest to the cristal of the sliding door, he'd order you to look at it. If you closed your eyes, simply with his hand pressing on your jaw or throat, like instinct your body would comply his wish, making you see with blurry eyes all your pretty creations scattered around like garbage, saying with a soft but firm voice, "I love you honey, but I can't let you disrespect me like that, you understand that I do what I do for your own good, right?", smiling when you nodded, because just like he wanted, since you two started, you had convinced yourself he did everything out of love.

[katsu28]

kait's book corner & cafe

update: this celebration is now closed!

note from me to you: hello friends! the time has come again where i must be sappy. i know, i know, just bear with me, okay? i truly cannot comprehend that there are over two thousand of you lovely souls here now. i appreciate every single one of you who have taken time out of your own lives to join me in my delusions, more than you'll ever know. every like, every comment, every reblog with an indecipherable keysmash—i cherish them all. you all are what push me to grow as a writer, and to keep writing. thank you, thank you, thank you <3

navigation, characters, guidelines

rules:

you don't have to be following me to send something in! this celebration is open to anyone and everyone!

you can send in as many celebration asks as you want, but please only send one request per ask.

as always, please pay attention to my writing guidelines, and please be patient with me!

for one shots, please stick only to characters on the list of ones i write for. please also include the actual prompt and which list it's from, not just the number. this makes things much easier for me!

this celebration will last until halloween—so today, october 15 to tuesday, october 31 at 11:59pm pst.

so without further ado, welcome to my cozy little bookshop. pick a book, settle in, and enjoy 📚

feeling hungry? thirsty? i know i always need a little beverage when i read. we've got something for everyone. come on over to our cafe counter, take a look at our menu!

send ☕ along with a prompt from any one of the lists below and a character of your choosing, and i'll write you a one shot to satisfy your craving!

✤ list a ✤ list b ✤ list c ✤ list d ✤ list e ✤ list f

we all know it, we all love it, it's the reason why many of us are here on tumblr to begin with. welcome to the fictional section, home to blorbos and brainrots. if you've ever wanted to know more about a character, here's your chance!

send ✏️ along with a character of your choosing for my headcanons for them. these can include characters i don't write for, but you think i might know.

send 🖊️ along with a character + a concept/thought about them and i'll expand on it. (nsfw thoughts are allowed, but please be 18+ if you do send one in)

wander on over here to the nonfiction section next, friend! here you can read about anyone's life story.

send 📝 along with a short description of yourself (appearance, hobbies, things you enjoy, etc.) and your fandom of choice from this list, and i'll pair you with a character and tell you why!

come along right this way to the romance section! this one's my favorite because it allows me to spread love and appreciation for the people on this lovely site.

send 💌 along with any fics, blogs, or folks you want to give a little extra love to today!

maybe you're more into a little bit of mystery and adventure in your stories? well you're in luck, because we've also got a section for those too!

send 🔎 along with any ask game you can think of (ama, cym, fmk, this or that, would you rather, etc.) and i'll gladly give you the answers you seek.

oh look, you found the bookstore cat nestled in the stacks! murphy only lets a few lucky souls pet him, so here's your chance! (moots only please!)

send 🐈 for a handwritten love letter from yours truly and a song that reminds me of you <3

tagging some lovely moots (signal boost if you'd like, but absolutely no pressure <3): @inkluvs @starryeyedstories @sunlitide @roosterbruiser @headkiss @familyvideostevie @stevebabey @maddipoof @yellowjaxxx @bradleybeachbabe @buckysprettybaby @spideystevie @sokkigarden @alwritey-aphrodite @sunshinesteviee @witchwyfe @astermath @brettsgoldstein @fanboyswhore9 @crappymixtape @annab-nana @boneblushed

[shadowfoxsilver]

A new laptop

Hi! I’m Jess/Key and I’m a digital artist who draws by using a computer mouse and a drawing tablet. Unfortunately yesterday (June 28th as of this post) my laptop decided to cease working properly and the screen it has now isn’t really useable for my hobby of digital artwork. Thankfully I still have a phone so I can still use tumblr. But sadly, I can’t do digital artwork.

Updates can be seen here.

While also needing a new laptop, there are other things that are of importance that my house is needing as well. (Groceries;Cat food)

However! That is a lot of stuff that’s happened near the end of week and I’m still not back at work nor getting payed regularly again but I’m sure everything will settle back down eventually.

In the meantime, check out the links below! One of them is my ko-fi. The others lead to other places you can find me at and my art blog and my blog where I post info on how to spot scams. You are free to share this post if you want to; Just explaining the current situation I have at the moment.

Ko-Fi | deviantART | toyhouse | ArtFight | Art Blog | Scam archiving blog | PVP posts

[homochadensistm]

Hi,

My apologies if you've answered this before (yay tumblr search), but I'm curious about an aspect of your job.

I've always heard that it's incredibly difficult to get a job in archaeology because pretty much the only employers are universities and the government, and that actual fieldwork positions are insanely rare. I (embarrassingly) honestly thought jobs like yours had died out (the walking around & trying to find historical sites).

So my question is - are you employed by a private company or sth government funded/in academia? I imagine there's few better regions for archaeology than the levant, but does that make it a profitable industry?

(Love your blog btw, ur one of my favourite people on here bc your vibes are just off-the-charts based)

The answer highly depends on which country you're talking about! Everything I saw here applies to israel.

Generally speaking, in most countries (to my knowledge), employment in archaeology is either through the government, private companies, or the university, the uni being what we like to call "couch archaeology" (barely any fieldwork, writing papers). In Israel the law states that you cannot build anything that requires digging without the presence of an archaeologist and a permit from the government, which is why the vast majority of archaeological work is done by the Antiquities Authority, which is also the supervisory body of said work. Private companies can compete for projects that the Authority outsources, but the work they offer is seasonal, while the Authority provides work all year round. Universities also dig but they dig sites that "belong" to the uni and excavations are usually very short (1 month seasons usually).

The most varied type of work is done in the Authority because of its status as an official govt body that is in charge of all things archaeology. Work ranges from managing excavations, surveying, overseeing real estate projects, investigating and preventing antiquity theft and black market stuff, and ofc writing and publishing articles (the law also states you must publish everything you excavate). Unis and private companies also do that to a degree (minus the stuff requiring legal authority like overseeing real estate stuff and robbery investigation) but again, minimally and seasonally. Not gonna say where I specifically work but I'm sure u can figure it out :^)

Getting a job in uni is extremely difficult because tenure track positions are scarce abd competition is fierce. Getting a job in a private company is easy because they're seasonal. Getting a job in the Authority is also relatively easy because there's A LOT of work to do and not enough ppl to do it. Finding work as an archaeologist in Israel is really not very difficult and I personally know a double digit number of foreigners who came to israel to work as archaeologists. Now, is it profitable? Eh. Neither uni nor the govt/private companies pay super well, but it's enough for me to stay alive, have hobbies and travel abroad once in a while. Actually, i think the biggest lifehack of this type of work is traveling abroad for free for conferences tbh (both uni and the govt will send u on those) because b4 the war I'd go abroad at least twice a year to give lectures on someone else's dime lmao.

Hope this helps!

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Hello, Anon, this is your Oldie Chinese Diaspora Anon™️. I agree that these are legitimate questions and I would like to thank you for posting them. But I can’t quite shake the feeling that there was something suspicious with the background preamble. Please do not consider this as me doubting your goodwill. Please consider this my attempt to repeat the information that I have come to understand.

I collect Nendöröids. My understanding is that they are made-to-order and they require the handiwork of actual human workers. There are prototyped (and some of them are made) in Tottori, Japan. And the rest are outsourced to qualified factories in China. (More details here:

). Any figure not made in these two factories are considered counterfeits, and there have been multiple PSAs from Good Smile asking people not to buy counterfeits. As far as I know, when it comes to customising Nendös, most artists either use pre-existing, legitimate parts or sculpt their own parts. I have personally seen legit parts for sale on the aftermarket in different countries and I do not see modders who publicly announce that they use bootleg parts. One thing that I do see, however, is that there are legions of collectors – across the world – who advocate against buying bootlegs.

In fact, the most common admonition for Nendö customizers is to not buy the Chinese YMY body because they were bootlegs of the Japanese Piccadö body. (This is a lawsuit that was recently concluded. The company that produced YMY was fined over the V1 body, which was proven to be a counterfeit.)

I don’t doubt that there are unscrupulous customizers who will buy counterfeit parts as a basis for their modded pieces. After all, if these pieces are going to be modded to an inch of their lives, few care (or will be able to know) where the original base came from. But if I was a consumer and commission a modder, I think I -would- want to know where the bases came from. I would feel extremely cheated if the modder charged me for parts and quoted legit prices and sold me bootleg parts. Similarly, since we do not know the composition of the bootleg material, I would also like to remind everyone that the plastics are not the same between the original and the bootleg (which is why the bootlegs tend to be shinier than the more matte finish than the originals). If even the original will bleed plasticizer over the years, I personally do not want know what kind of things the bootlegs will leak into the air around me.

Finally, since you’ve asked in good faith, I think it’s only fair that your questions are answered. Once again, this is just to the best of my ability. Your actual mileage may vary.

One: The “ban hammer” at DoA tend to be rather arbitrary; but they are – on paper at least – very recast-aversive. I do not personally know if you are at risk under the very specific scenario that you’ve set up, but the risk is never zero. You also run the potential risk of people not wanting to sell you their second-hand dolls if you are, at any time, been suspected of owning a recast. It’s a very small hobby, after all; words travel.

Two: This is a very person-specific question – some folks weigh their personal friendships heavier than general morality; others the exact opposite. We have had this kind of conversations in this blog multiple times over the years and there’s no real answer. Perhaps the better question is to ask yourself “why am I asking this question in the first place?” “Why am I afraid of this?”

Three: Yes! Bootlegs of any figure/model/doll/jointed doll seriously hurt the original creator. Honestly, nobody tells it quite like Mr. Savage:

Four: If you buy a full set but only use one part, please consider selling the rest to a legitimate-only after-market business so they can pay you a fair price for it and the rest of the pieces that you do not use can also be sold to folks who need them. What you don’t need might be something very useful to someone else!

~Anonymous

[artsekey]

When I was first getting started as an artist, one piece of advice cropped up again and again:

“Draw what makes you happy, and your audience will find you.”

At the time, I was a young teen who craved the validation of seeing my follower count go up. It made me feel like my work had value, and it gave me the confidence to keep posting. I started paying attention to which of my posts were getting the most interactions, and I focused most of my effort towards making more of that content even if I didn’t really like it. For the most part, this worked as expected; I would make niche art for niche fandoms, and people who enjoyed those fandoms would follow me because I reliably posted that kind of content.

This eventually became a nasty ouroboros where my self worth, desire to create, and confidence were directly linked to how well a post preformed. For about four years, that was my live on social media. I didn’t really care about much else, and I felt that the audience I was building— 300 followers, then 500, then the big 1,000– meant that I was better than other people. I was prideful about it— humble in front of others, but if I knew I had more followers than someone else did? It gave me this nasty, secret sense of satisfaction.

I didn’t understand it at the time, but growing my follower count and creating art for the sole purpose of generating high engagement was a tool to fend off monstrous insecurity. I had no self-driven confidence in my art. I didn’t really know if what I was creating was good, or bad, or worthwhile, so seeing the Court of Public Opinion validate my art was everything to me.

Now, you might be wondering what this has to do with the advice I mentioned earlier. The whole “draw what makes you happy” thing.

I thought it was bullshit. After all, I had my method: if a post did well, I’d make more like it. A litany of similar posts generated more interaction and gained me more followers. I was trying to grow my audience by playing into data, and it was working! It wasn’t long that I had nearly 2,000 followers on this blog, and I was only 16 at the time. Every day I would sit down and focus all of my time and effort into making a piece that would hit hard. What’s the newest event in the fandom? What character was just revealed? What game is everyone getting into? What will sell at this con?

Don’t get me wrong, even through all of this, I was making art for myself. When there was time, or I felt really passionate about an idea, I’d make and post something original. The problem with this was that even though it made my happy to create, it never did well online. Knowing that I associated an art’s value with how well it preformed, you can imagine that this was crushing.

What were these professional artists talking about? Drawing what makes you happy to build an audience? Whenever I drew what made me happy, it would just be pushed to the wayside and ignored in favor of all the fan-art I was posting. Why bother making something when it doesn’t help extend your reach?

It wasn’t until I was a sophomore in college that I came to terms with how corporate my relationship with art had become. There wasn’t any joy in it anymore. My audience started to have expectations of me— and why wouldn’t they? I was a streamlined content curator, constantly making exactly what the internet wanted to consume.

So, I stepped away. I focused on building relationships with friends, finding new hobbies, enjoying college… I still focused on art (I ended up swapping into a B.F.A. Degree, even!), but I escaped the feedback loop of social media. It took me until I was a senior in college to stop obsessively checking my follower count on here, and it wasn’t because I consciously made the choice to cut myself off. It was because that while I was with my friends and focusing on college, I had to start making art for myself again. My peers and professors taught me to have confidence in the art that I put into the world; they taught me to look critically, see other’s art as a learning tool and inspiration instead of competition, and I finally started to find my own artistic voice.

So, here’s the thing about that bit of advice— the whole “draw what makes you happy and your audience will find you” thing:

It’s really, really easy for a professional to toss that bit of wisdom to eager burgeoning artists. They have their audience already; they’ve cultivated it through years of hard work and networking. The hunger a new artist might have to be seen doesn’t drive them anymore (though it must have, once), and they’ve learned the lesson that I’ve finally, finally learned:

Your drive to create cannot come from others. It cannot come from your follower count, or the number of notes on a post. While it may for a while, it will eventually hollow you out.

If you create for yourself, you are guaranteed a long-lasting career in the arts. It doesn’t guarantee you the platform you want, especially not right away, but if you create for yourself you will stay consistent and you’ll develop a voice that your audience will find.

It took me ten years to figure this out, guys. Ten years!

All of this to say that if you’re an artist who’s just starting out, don’t panic. Draw what you want. Be bad at art! Interact with the people who want to learn from, and see the internet as a community instead of a competition. Don’t let your follower count determine your self worth.

[archiveikemen]

Ikemen Villains Prologue: Chapter 2

I do not own any of the Ikemen Series content being uploaded on this blog, everything belongs to CYBIRD. Please support them by downloading and playing their games.

read this before interacting with my posts

???: Wait!!

(...!)

An angry man and a young lady suddenly sprang out before my eyes, they seemed to be having a conflict.

Young Lady: That hurts!

The necklace in the young lady’s hand was shaking and glimmering.

(A thief—?)

Man: I’ll make sure you can never use this hand again!

The man raised the fire poker in his hand.

(Her bones will break for sure if he hits her with that—!)

In the spur of the moment—

Kate: Wait.

— I reflexively called out to them.

Man: Hah!? Whaddya want?

(I shouldn't be interfering, but…!)

Kate: P-Please return the item you stole. I’ll listen to what you have to say afterwards.

Young Lady: Ggh!

Man: Ouch!

(Huh!?)

The young lady kicked the man’s arm and vanished into the crowd.

Man: Stop right there, you thief—! Damn it. Look what you’ve done!

Kate: I- I’m sorry…

(I didn’t expect her to kick him and escape.)

I regretted ever interfering with their business.

Man: That necklace she stole was expensive! Are you going to pay for it!?

Kate: Yes, I will!

I tearfully took my purse out.

…

Black Haired Man: … I see. A fine little robin, indeed.

…

Kate: Ahh… I really messed up this time.

(To that jeweler, the young lady is a bad person for stealing from him, but I didn't think it was fair to fully blame her for stealing. She might've had her own reasons for doing so and was desperate.)

Everyone knew that there were many people living in poverty here in the east side of London.

(I couldn't possibly watch and do nothing about her getting hurt, without finding out why she had to steal.)

(And yet, the jeweler was the one who suffered a loss and that young lady got away with it.)

Kate: … I don't know if what I did was considered good or evil.

Kate: But one thing's for sure is that now I don't have enough money to watch this month’s play.

It was a small hobby of mine to watch a play once every few months with my savings.

(I was supposed to have enough after making today’s deliveries… but I guess I won't be catching the play this month.)

Kate: Oh well, crying about it won't solve anything. I’ll just have to earn that money back.

…

Kate: I’m back.

Chief: Kate! Perfect timing… wait no, the streets can get dangerous at night…

Kate: Is something the matter?

Co-Worker: You see, we’re a little short staffed at the moment, so there's no one to do the night deliveries.

(Night deliveries… that’s it!)

Kate: Please let me handle them.

Chief: Oh? I appreciate your offer to help.

Chief: The delivery area is in a relatively safe neighborhood full of townhouses, just don’t wander around unnecessarily.

Kate: Okay!

(Thank goodness, this means that I can make up for the money I lost!)

(It’s my first time doing deliveries at night in this neighborhood… I guess it should be fine, as long as I’m careful.)

…

Black Haired Man: Well then— are you ready, gentlemen?

Cat-Like Man: Of course, Victor. It's been a long time since we last went on a mission together. How exciting.

Aloof Man: Calm down a little. Getting too carried away will only result in you being hurt.

Man Carrying A Shotgun: I mean, I can patch you up if it's not a serious injury. But if you die, that just means I have one less person to help me with my research.

Cat-Like Man: Thanks, Roger. As expected of a former doctor.

Blond Man with Blue Eyes: … Al. Do I really have to take part in this?

Gentlemanly Man: Yes, seeing how it's such a lovely evening. There might also be something you'll like at the target's mansion.

Blond Man with Blue Eyes: Really...? Fine.

Sinister-Looking Man: Then can we get going already? Unlike you nobles, I don't have a lot of free time on my hands.

Tall Young Man: But you don't have any business meetings scheduled for tonight.

Sinister-Looking Man: Tch... will it kill you to be less honest? Shut it.

Red Eyed Man: — Looks like 'Crown' is ready, Victor.

Black Haired Man: Ahaha! Good. You lot are so carefree and wonderful as always. Well then, shall we begin?

Black Haired Man: Tonight — we give in to the evil in our wicked hearts.

[holyshit]

Care to spare some advice on how to not be so affected by things without stepping back from fandom for multiple years lmao? It seems like for so many people, the longer they have been here, the easier it is for them. For me it's the opposite. The longer I'm in fandom the sadder and more frustrated I get that hl's situations are what they are 12 years on. And then I get frustrated with people who act like where they're at now is no big deal or sooo much better than before. It's a cycle lol.

hmm, i think it's tough because a lot of the things that helped me are most easily achieved by distancing yourself because that's the easiest way to gain perspective about the situation. when you’re actively in it, it’s much harder to break out of patterns you’re accustomed to. but i think the main "lessons" i learned from being away were essentially:

1) recognizing my own powerlessness in their situation. being away made it especially clear that my presence in the fandom does not affect anything. i am not able to change anything about their situation. if i continued being in fandom for those 4-ish years that i was away from fandom, the situation would still be exactly the same as it is now for them. i cannot give up my own happiness for something i cannot change.

2) similarly, the need to dismantle the parasocial relationship i had with them. it’s one thing to feel compassion for human beings you don’t personally know- that is a wonderful trait and important for the world! but, it’s another thing to feel like you “owe” anything to a celebrity you do not know personally and who does not even know you exist. sometimes, when you’re in deep, it almost feels like you would be “failing” them by not being angry enough or invested enough. that’s where it gets unhealthy, because the relationship of a fan and a celebrity is one-sided, and therefore, again, it comes down to the fact that you can’t give up your own happiness for something you cannot control in the life of a celebrity you do not personally know. no one owes a celebrity they like their mental well-being, no matter how much you feel compassion for them.

3) the recognition that fandom is supposed to be fun. it’s obvious, but sometimes it becomes less clear the deeper you get that some of the things you think you’re doing for fun aren’t actually that fun to you anymore lol. obviously nearly any interest is gonna make you angry or sad occasionally (your sports team loses, your fave character gets killed off in your favourite show, etc), but if your resting state is anger or sadness, it’s maybe not in your best interest to continue, or you need to change the way you interact with said hobby. your hobby shouldn’t be making you miserable, as that is just gonna bleed into the rest of your life.

SO, for actual advice that doesn’t involve leaving for years:

taking short breaks! you don’t have to take years away to still give yourself some space from the fandom. it can be a day, a week, a month, or even just cutting down on the amount of time you spend on tumblr (or social media of choice) in general for a while without leaving completely. when i feel like something is getting me riled up a bit more than usual, i usually step away for even just a day, and even just that calms me down and gives me perspective. if you want to take a break but still want to know what’s going on, you can also just pick one or two blogs that you know don’t post much drama and solely pay attention to those blogs while you’re away.

enriching your other hobbies. take some of the time you would normally spend reading shit in this fandom, and use it to do something else you enjoy. the more time you spend “away”, even if you still are in the fandom, the less critically important everything will eventually feel in your brain and it will often be easier to detach emotionally. when you’re unhappy in other parts of your life, it’s much easier to let one thing “take over”, and it’s important to make room for other things in your life.

if you feel like you need a hyperfixation of sorts, i’d say try out different fandoms. watch that show your friend told you they know you’ll love and then try to make a sideblog or something and join the fandom. join a fandom of a piece of media you already love but never was involved in fandom for. again, it can help you distance yourself emotionally a bit without leaving entirely

figure out what parts you ACTUALLY enjoy in this fandom, and figure out what parts you may think you enjoy but are actually making you more anxious/obsessive/angry/upset than anything. as a personal example, i used to be heavily into theorizing back in 2015-2016, especially during babygate. i would be obsessed with reading up on everyone’s theories about when babygate would end, how it might end, etc, and would spend a lot of time reading about it. i thought i enjoyed it at the time, but in reality it was more of an obsession that made me much more upset than i had to be. reading up on theories, getting my hopes up, and then have them not happening was miserable and not worth it and ultimately lead me to leave the fandom

similarly, try to break some of your fandom habits and see if you’re happier without them. as another personal example, i used to pay extreme attention to stunt stuff and wanted to be 100% caught up on everything at all times. as a byproduct of that, i would keep up with every post a couple blogs that talked about stunts would make. when i got super busy with a work project, it forced me to take a break from this because i didn’t have the time to keep up with everything, and breaking that habit of needing to know EVERYTHING and be totally caught up made me snap out of the habit and recognize i didn’t need that to enjoy my time in fandom, and in fact it took a weight off my shoulder and made me realize it wasn’t actually making me happy.

unfollow blogs that make you upset!!! even if you like the person, if they talk about things that get you riled up or upset often, it’s likely not worth it. if you hate-follow people to keep up with their opinions that piss you off, unfollow! if you’re stewing in anger all the time, it’s easier to stay unhealthily invested to your happiness’ detriment.

focus on things you CAN control. you can control your fandom experience. you can contribute to fan projects that make the fandom a better place and in some cases can positively contribute to l’s or h’s experiences (like the rainbow lights projects, for example). you can control how you interact with your fellow fans. don’t give all your energy to things that you cannot control.

lol this was an essay, but i think it’s an interesting topic and i hope it can help even a little bit!

[sailorgundam308]

Despite enjoying sharing my drawings and getting feedback for them and all that, this is my personal hobby-ish little blog. That means I come here to unwind and look at nice drawings, fun headcanons and other content related to my hyperfixation atm (BG3, Karlach x Astarion).

When I come across content I don’t particularly like, or that makes me feel down somehow, I usually ignore it. But if it shows up again in my feed, and escapes my filtered content, I (very quietly) block the op.

(Now, pay attention: because I - me personally - don’t care for certain content, doesn’t mean the value of the content itself is bad. It just means what I said: I don’t like it, doesn’t make me feel good, and I don’t wanna se it. Me. Personally. I have the right to not wanna be exposed or engage in certain stuff due to a personal judgement of taste. - sorry for the spelling out for the 5yos in the back, but there are some tumblr users here who love to misinterpret what I say.)

So if someone suddenly can’t see my content anymore, it’s probably just that. Nothing personal. I just curate my tumblr experience cause I come here to have a cozy time. I also try to filter tags so I don’t have to blatantly block people, but sometimes I end up having to.

Works wonders, highly recommend and so far I heard of no one I blocked for this reason to miss me very much 😂

[zedtiae]

hiii its me again w my crappy confidence building exercises lol

sure as hell wasn't tagged but I'm taking the general invite floating around from a few blogs to give this a go. In return, I invoke @lunecycle to rise from the dead and post their characters again, as well as all the other lurkers out there wishing someone called them out to post. This is your sign fren :3c

now for the Zontliposting…

-- B A S I C S

name: Zontli of the Michoan Marsh

nicknames: when someone doesn't know her name anything goes. Once she gets closer in a relationship, however, Zontli is preferred

birthday: 74 of zephyr, 1284 AE (officially. She doesn't rember )

race: Asura

gender: cis female

orientation: bi and proud

profession: (master) alchemist and necromancer

-- P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

hair: gray

eyes: pale blue

skin: mainly pale white, freckled. Has pitch black markings around her eyes, ears, and down past her neck along the backside of her torso

tattoos/scars: arms, legs and torso all contain heavy scarring from self-experimentation. The biggest and most recent is a chunk missing from her left forearm that's just healed over, as well as two gnarly chunks missing around both knees

-- F A M I L Y

parents: had a golem pilot dad (who she loved) and a golemancy kreweleader mom (who she hated). Lost them both when she was an older progeny nearing adulthood

siblings: none

grandparents: had one (1) swamp witch grandma (who she adored)! Learned most about life from her / eventually came to treat her as her surrogate mother

in laws and others: has 2 ex-in-laws (who she hates). they banned her from rata sum over the marriage contract (though she's fairly grateful for the excuse not to go lol). Also has a rat bastard uncle acting as the current golemancy kreweleader after her progenitor kicked it (and she's fairly grateful for that too, all things considered)

pets: do wacky old golems count?

-- S K I L L S

abilities: utilizes a gloopy, corrosive shroud that embodies her hunger (and some subconscious) to carry out her intent. Masterfully skilled in rune, sigil and ward work. Masterfully skilled in all aspects of potion brewing. Adeptly skilled in fighting with daggers both in close quarters and as a projectile. Still learning how to adeptly wield a gun

hobbies: dancing (which she incorporates as she crafts), socially drinking and smoking, reading romance novels (especially paranormal and/or noble related ones), journaling, meditating

-- T R A I T S

most positive trait: generally does her best to keep an equal share (i.e. paying fairly, bartering with low income customers) and uplift those in need (i.e. giving free food to the hungry, selling potions in hard to reach areas). Is also very good with children

most negative trait: being an otherwise cold, distant and judgemental bitch who operates solely on her (very high) standards without ever conforming to what others want. Can also be terribly reckless when enabled

-- L I K E S

colors: blue ; sky blue

smells: can't really smell in a traditional sense anymore (thanks necromancy!) but does like the 'smell' of people she knows

textures: liquids, squishy stuff in general (i.e. mud, visera)

drinks: black coffee in the morning, whisky straight from the bottle in the evening!

-- O T H E R D E T A I L S

smokes: not anymore, lungs are too shitty for it now

drinks: too much. She's cutting down

drugs: occasionaly. She's cut down here too

been arrested: definitely (trespassing as an exile in Rata Sum, and the occasional illegal reagent / unpatented concoction trafficking bust in Desider Atum)

[queerofthedagger]

Why did you do so little to promote fics or, really, the whole Sandman big bang that you ran? You kept promoting Merlin fic fest while Sandman big bang was running. And yet you barely did anything for it! If you lost interest, why not relegate it to somebody else? There are a number of wonderful fic writers and fanartists who did not get even a fraction of the recognition they deserve because of your own shoddy organisation. And yes, I do know we all do this in all our free time blah blah, but you created this event, and promptly ditched it in favour of another fandom. This is bad fandom ethics, and I think you need to know it.

oh careful babe don't choke on that bitterness you're gurgling there.

real talk for a second because usually I don't answer this kind of shit but let's go there for a moment:

I did reblog SO much sandman bang promo, the round up posts, the masterlist several times even. I did not reblog every individual fic because, and this might be shocking to your sense of entitlement, but even as a mod, I do not read every single fic. i'm not obligated to; you can start paying me if you want to, then we can come back to that point and I'll read whatever you put in front of me. until then, I will keep my preferences while doing my hobby, thank you very much.

The Rare Pair Fest only started up during, like, the last week of the Bang. I've been running that bang for half a year. And i don't know what makes you think that one fest's promo would take away from another fandom's fest posting but ????? it does not. Also people can be multifandon. I get that might be complicated to integrate in such a narrow perspective on fandom, but idk how to explain to you that people can have multiple interest beyond like. touch some grass honey?

Lastly, we did, in fact, promote every single collaboration on the blog and in the server. Individually, again in round up posts, and again in a masterlist. I don't know where you get the idea that we didn't. I don't know where you get the idea that we lost interest, or organized things shoddily. Bangs, and fests in general, don't guarantee you recognition. No one fucking owes you recognition, in fact, not me, not a fandom, no one. And whenever you manage to take a moment away from being an irritating fucking nuisance in other people's inbox, maybe you should rethink your approach to fandom as a whole because you're clearly having issues, and I don't mean this as a burn but as a genuine "this clearly does not bring you joy and maybe you should find things that make you happy instead." You're welcome.

And yes, I do in fact do these things in my free time. Meanwhile you don't even have the courage to put your name to your lil bitch fit. Get better soon.

[yooniesim]

I think one of the things that makes it so hard to find new creators (that are free) is how insular paywall/early access cc creators are. I literally can't remember the last time any of them used their massive platforms to support newer creators and they only seem to reblog content that features their own stuff or other creators they're close with. They are literally only concerned about their "brand" instead of actually participating in the community that provides them with their livelihoods. If you're looking for content, you're going directly to these creators first and maybe you'll look through finds blogs if you're more invested. To a point, I understand that's how popularity works, but they could be doing so much more.

Plus, since the early access model is so popular, I do think there's a push for new creators to switch to that. You get an initial burst of engagement when you first post and then another when your content is free, instead of just posting once and getting what you get. Also, I do think there's an unspoken rule that "early access creator" = "professional". So, if you want to be taken seriously, you'll imitate what the "professionals" are doing.

I'm sorry you're discouraged trying to find new creators. It's actually insane how much damage the popularity of paywalling has done to this community.

Hey nonny, thanks for sending this and also for your sympathy! I agree with everything you said, and I'm just gonna ramble a bit in a semi related way.

I think the point you made about professionalism is especially poignant. Creating cc is less a hobby now and more a setup for your own "business". But in this marketplace, there are no standards or regulation whatsoever- and many people here are just bad at what they do in various ways. It seems as if they either have the aesthetic & business model down, but are terrible to their customers and/or make terrible product, or they make a good product but can't quite grasp how to play the "game" to work the system to its full advantage. Sometimes you get people bad at all of it, yet they still charge. Because the only consistent thing about this community at the moment is that everything absolutely has to have a price, no matter how shitty it is. And there's absolutely zero consequence for being a gigantic douche nozzle.

This is a mostly disconnected side note, but when I think about these creators, it's just unbelievably depressing. I have thought about what it would be like to try early access a few times over the years, and honestly even the thought gave me such a burst of anxiety I immediately dismissed it. Just releasing cc for free is sometimes an anxious feeling for me, I just can't imagine having to base a business around it. The thought of possibly disappointing people and not consistently providing a quality product that is worth their money is a shameful thought for me. I have gotten a few $1 donations to my patreon over the years and even then i feel bad for not being able to create cc for a while because of my mental health, and not being better at cc making in general. And yet there's people that provide the most lazy, shit items I've ever seen without blinking. Stuff they never tested that doesn't work in game, two second conversions, no hat chops, no lods, gigantic poly, etc. They don't even know how to make cc and admit to that but still charge. I think I would die of shame. I'm sitting here thinking about, do they feel guilt over it, in the back of their mind? Does the stress and the anxiety gnaw at them like it does me? Even just uploading to curseforge for me, causes a bit of anxiety, even though no one pays for it directly. But CF is just another tool to be used to most- now people use patreon, but once its unlocked, the download link leads to CF so they can double dip. So it must not be bothersome to them at all. It's difficult for me to wrap my head around.

...I've gotten so far off track, again. Here's the part where I re-read your ask and try to get back on topic lol. Sorry, my mind runs a lot these days.

I'm glad you mentioned the part about how insular paywallers are. But I think there's even more to this than just popularity. They do not break from their circle, except in the very rare case someone new becomes very popular and they want to do a boring collab with them, and even then it seems limited. I'm pretty sure they have a server (or multiple) where they share people's urls for the purposes of chain blocking them. They also, without a doubt, share people's personal info to one another in order to ban their accounts from their patreons (at the very least). I have witnessed this multiple times. There are several doxxing rings besides the ones that were exposed, at least one exclusive to early access creators. They don't allow new people in/trust others easily because of this. This is why I don't trust paywallers as a rule; not because I think custom content should never be monetized under any circumstances, but because the lack of standardization and consequences for privacy violations makes it unsafe.

I've read through your ask again, and it made me think of something else, so bear with me haha. But the point about how you find newer creators, and how some will go to finds blogs. The fact of the matter is that popular finds blogs have the potential to be compromised as well. I have been blocked by mmccworld ever since EA temporarily banned paywalling and I reblogged a post that had a list of people intending to continue paywalling after that, and they happened to be on that list. They were one of the more popular finds blogs in the community, but I obviously won't be reblogged by them like I was in the past. Now, this isn't that relevant anymore since they're definitely not as highly regarded as they once were, but think about tumblr's lack of algorithm & what you said about how people find newer creators. If you aren't reblogged, you aren't found. And it makes me wonder how many other creators are blocked at a finds blog's discretion. I mean, this isn't necessarily a bad thing; you can filter people how you like, for example I don't reblog from paywallers on mine, or known bigots etc. But it's something to think about, and I think is a smaller example of how simblr works. If you don't play the game and fall in line, if you question the wrong person, you won't get exposure. And to most, in our current system, exposure equals money. Of course you're going to toe the line- no one wants to be publicly shamed, or worse, have a drop in potential income.

This has gone on far, far too long, so let me stop lol. But thanks again for sending this and allowing me to ramble in response, nonny... not that you had a choice 🤣

[romanovsonelastdance]

I think very hard about your blog sometimes.

I don't think you realize just how very cool I think you are /gen /p

I would always love to hear more about your little hobby (I'm assuming it is a hobby and not a job, but regardless, it's very cool)

Like how did you get started in collecting? How long have you been doing it? How do you store everything? Do you scan/photograph everything yourself? If you had to choose what are some of your favourite pieces?

Thanks so much! I'm really glad people enjoy this blog; no one in my off-line life is all that interested in my postcards so it's a lot of fun for me to share them with people who DO enjoy them and understand why I get excited about, say, an OTMA 1916 postcard or whatever!

I've been interested in the Romanovs since I was a teenager, and I used to check eBay regularly for 'new pics,' but I didn't really have the money to BUY any of them back then. Likewise in college I didn't have any money to spare, either! I only bought a few things here and there that were cheap. I probably had like, maybe 10 items total from that era.

But a few years ago I moved in with my brother to help with childcare for his new baby, and part of the deal was that I didn't have to pay rent since I was helping take care of the baby. So suddenly I had money and I started to buy some of the postcards I found of my history people.

At first I intentionally avoided NAOTMAA because I a) understood they were more expensive and b) I knew myself well enough to know that I would get REALLY invested in it. But then I bought an OTM 1901 card because "well it's really cheap." And THEN I found a Maria and Anastasia 1914 card. I had seen the pic before in books and online, but when I got the card in hand I was shocked how CLEAR the postcard was and that was the end of of my resistance! It's SO COOL to have nice, clear images of these pictures I was used to seeing as pixelated jpegs on the internet. That was about six or seven or seven years ago?

Now I have FIVE binders full of postcards. I recently had to divide my NAOTMAA stuff into two of them, and then one for Other Romanovs, one for the Greek Royal Family and one for Other Royals (mostly British, Romanian, and Belgian, with a decent handful of Italian and Swedish).

I moved out of my brother's place awhile ago because 'the baby' is now old enough to go to school and they don't need me to babysit as much, but I also got promoted at work (I'm a librarian, FYI), so I still have some money to spend on my little hobby. I hadn't been buying as many things because I already have so many so that it's harder to find ones I don't already have. . .

. . . until a seller on eBay started selling off a mainly OTMA collection, and now I'm buying too much a lot again!