#lessons I'm learning

[dksw0rld]

12 Things I’ve Learned In My Time Away

As I stated in my previous text post, I took an absolutely, and I mean absolutely, amazing break from Tumblr which, since I very rarely  use my Instagram and I don’t have TikTok or Twitter, is my only social media. Minus Pinterest, but I don’t count that as social media since I use it for inspiration. I can’t express to you how much my life has blossomed in my time away. 

During this time away I: 

- formed beautiful new friendships 

- have had absolutely amazing experiences (VIP concerts, PGA golf tournament in the VIP cabana, attending high tea, dancing the night away, day trips, road trips, trying new restaurants, etc.) 

- let my inner child run free, healing her in the process 

- broke my leasing cycle and financed a new car (that checked off EVERY single box on my car wish list - which I realized after the deal was done, so I wasn’t even thinking about it)

- met a soulmate who teaches me so much 

- let go of the need for control and learned to trust my intuition and God’s guidance (a work in progress but I’ve made huge progress in this)

- got crystal clear on my goals and have a clear plan laid out to achieve the rest of them 

- rediscovered my love for reading, writing and cooking 

- cleared my skin of the small fungal acne bumps I had 

- accidentally went vegetarian (don’t ask lol) and found it was the best non-decision decision I’ve ever made 

- grew my hair past my shoulder blades 

I wanted to share some things I’ve learned during this time in hopes it inspires / helps whoever needs it.

1. When you live in intense self love and trust of yourself, everything you desire seeks you or something better finds you. You won’t need to seek it.

2. You can love yourself deeply and know you have healing to do and trauma to work through.

3. Listen and observe who and what the Universe brings into your life. There is always a reason.

4. If you don’t find the beauty, love and romance within your life, you’re living in black and white when the world is full of color. Romanticize your life, find the beauty in everything. Vibrate with love and watch how much more love and beauty you attract.

5. Confidence in yourself, kindness, connections and putting yourself out there opens more doors than you know. 

6. Never pass up on an opportunity to experience something new.

7. Take pictures and videos. Keep mementos to remind you of that moment in time.

8. Do not let fear stop you. Be scared and do it anyways.

9. Move your body because you love yourself, not because you want to lose weight, tone, put on muscle, etc. Move your body to celebrate yourself and give thanks that you can. In whatever way that looks like for you. It’s not one size fits all.

10. Love yourself enough to take the best care of your body. You deserve it. Love yourself enough to take care of future you 50 years down the road. 

11. Honor and celebrate your sensual desires. Turn the lights off, light candles and move and feel your body. Stand in front of the mirror and admire yourself. Have a sexy photoshoot for your eyes only. Wear lingerie underneath your work clothes. Pleasure yourself. Your sexual desires are nothing to be ashamed of. Just honor them safely and with your best interest at the forefront. 

12. Private over public. Every time.

I encourage everyone reading this to take some time away from social media, from screens and from the noise of constantly being plugged in. Focus on you, your growth and your goals. Discover who you are outside of all the influences you’re bombarded with and watch how your life blossoms too.

[tippenfunkaport]

You know, it would be amazing if Hollywood learned the right lesson from the success of Nimona. Something like "Hey, maybe don't throw out a nearly done movie as a tax write off" or "people want queer stories" or even "don't be afraid to take some storytelling risks and be original" but you just know they're going to come away with some absolutely batshit takeaway like, "next time delete all the evidence and burn it to the ground so the gays can't make us look bad!"

[ooliecat]

[farannir]

folklore (2020) lyrics that made my jaw drop

[mydearchoso]

sukuna who's about to go insane after a long day, needing to feel you.

sukuna who start's taking off your lounge wear. shirt first, before leaning in to kiss you as his hands go to the hem on your waist.

sukuna who starts pulling your shorts down before they get stuck over your hips, groaning in frustration.

sukuna who is fighting every urge to rip them off as he asks, "how'd you get these damned things on, brat?"

sukuna who is about at his wits end as they finally slide down, underwear in tow.

sukuna who all but moans in relief as they do, relishing in the sight before him. of course only after he victoriously flings his now most hated pair of shorts across the house. never wishing to see them again.

[angelxd-3303]

Undertale? On my blog? In 2024? This is what happens when you have a depression episode and decide to watch random video game playthroughs to cheer yourself up. Jacksepticeye was so much louder back then, jeez.

I am not immune to fluffy goat creatures.

[laughhardrunfastbekindsblog]

It took 2 people to fully convince Crosshair to do a 180 on the Empire - but neither of those people were Bad Batch members.

They couldn't be. What would a squad of defective clones who had been disobeying orders since day 1 know about loyalty to an institution determined to establish order for the good of the galaxy? What would they know about finding purpose in being "good soldiers"?

Now, I DO think the seeds of Crosshair's eventual defection were planted by his brothers. Hunter pointing out that "Blind allegiance makes you a pawn" and then telling Crosshair "All you'll ever be to them is a number" are statements that are proven later to be true. But it takes Cody and Mayday to drive the lessons home.

Cody and Mayday share several characteristics that place them in unique positions to influence Crosshair:

Both are regs who accepted and befriended Crosshair - Cody says he specifically asked for Crosshair for the mission, and Mayday is upfront and friendly to Crosshair right from the start. (Contrast this to the other regs getting up to move tables when Crosshair sits to eat, or the other clone troopers who walk past Crosshair to get onto the shuttle without even sparing him a glance.)

Both are commanders. (I believe Crosshair ultimately respects authority for the most part: even when he was arguing with and challenging Hunter in "Aftermath," he still deferred to Hunter's orders until his inhibitor chip was intensified and he was then promoted to commander.)

Both are loyal soldiers who have served the Empire well - again, these regs are still commanders even under the new government. And we all know how important loyalty to the Empire is to Crosshair at this point.

Both save Crosshair's life during their missions.

In short, both are regs, but they are still soldiers Crosshair can quickly identify with and trust.

I think it's key that Crosshair encountered Cody before Mayday, though. And despite their similarities, both soldiers drive home different points.

CODY

Cody is one of the few regs we know Crosshair already respected - and still respects, given that Crosshair almost smiles when he recognizes him.

(Some proof in case it isn't apparent: Crosshair goes from frowny face...

...to relaxed almost-happy-if-you-squint-just-right face)

Anyway, while Cody does drop some hints early on that he has doubts about the Empire, he is willing to carry out the mission to rescue "Governor" Grotton, showing he will follow orders to a certain extent. However, he shows more restraint than Crosshair might have: he doesn't attack the civilians despite their obvious mistrust of the soldiers, he comes to an understanding with Tawni Ames, he's NOT willing to follow an order to execute her, and he is clearly dismayed and disappointed by her death.

And so, at the end of a "successful" mission, Cody more plainly reveals the depth of his dissatisfaction with following orders against one's own moral scruples:

Hunter had said "Blind allegiance makes you a pawn." And Cody, unwilling to blindly and unquestioningly be a pawn - or act like a battle droid - any longer, goes AWOL.

But that lesson alone isn't enough to make Crosshair turn on the Empire. Instead, he needs Mayday to give him the final push.

MAYDAY

First, Mayday indicates how appalled he is by the idea of anyone leaving their own behind - which we know is a sore spot for Crosshair. But most importantly, Mayday has demonstrated since he was first introduced that he strongly believes in soldiers being loyal to and looking out for each other (which is far different than just being loyal to the Empire).

Second, Mayday unknowingly challenges Crosshair's belief that serving the Empire provides meaningful purpose. (Remember that one of Crosshair's main arguments to his brothers about joining the Empire was so they could "find purpose again.")

Then, he unwittingly goes for the jugular and rips apart the motto Crosshair had adopted.

And then, in case Crosshair has any lingering doubts about the answer to Mayday's rhetorical question, Nolan decidedly answers the question for him.

Hunter had said "All you'll ever be to them is a number," and he is proven right in the most heartbreaking way.

Crosshair had accused his brothers of not being loyal to him; unfortunately, now he sees what true disloyalty looks like. And for Crosshair - severe and unyielding - realizing that he has misplaced his loyalty by giving it to an entity that mocks him and casts him AND those he cares about aside for doing so... this is the final straw.

Thankfully, Crosshair has now rediscovered the people who are worthy of his loyalty.

[egophiliac]

the new ride kamens character is jo, and he's... blood stark and night rogue? he's got the blood stark visor and color, but he's got bat wings which is definitely night rogue, not what i would've expected, i would've thought we'd get evol and kr rogue first as separate characters, but hey, dan kuroto and blood stark are some of my top faves of all time villains, so i'm not complaining

heck YES look at this steam-powered and yet somehow cyberpunky batman. he's awesome! 🦇 and honestly given that the popular guess for him was Night Rogue, I think it's pretty funny that he ended up being (mostly) the other Faust guy (I admit I usually associate him with the Evol form and...kind of forgot about Blood Stalk a little bit. :')

augh I am so BEHIND on drawing the Wisdom Thinks guys, hold on let me fix this

also I really hope they get way into the nitty-gritty of them running the lounge. nothing is funnier to me than Dramatic Action Superheroes having to take time out of their day to balance their business ledger and figure out the employee rotation for the week and stress about scheduling their upcoming food safety inspection. it's great.

[abovetherainandroses]

Pete & Patrick + Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy, through the years

2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2021 / 2022 / 2023

bonus: so much for (tour) dust staging ver. (2023)

(1) my video / (2) x

[lylahammar]

this fat liberation month I'm wishing for every british author to be visited by the ghosts of fatphobic characters they've written past present and future

[trashmallcw]

i'd die for them

(and i have)

(many many times)

[carmen-berzattos]

There's something at the tip of my tongue about the parallels between Jackie and Wilson and Who We Are

How the narrator of Jackie and Wilson wants to run away with a woman that he's carved out of his imagination based on a brief interaction. How they would try the world, but good god it wasn't for them. So they run away from it into a fantasy world where they live by their own rules.

And then comes the narrator of Who We Are, who dreamt his whole life of finding someone who would hold him like water or like a knife, only to find that running away from the world will only get them so far, since "the hardest part is who we are". And only to find out that the "phantom life" he's fantasized about is actually just that: a phantom. And its absence sharpens like a knife

[neosatsuma]

For the purposes of this, let's define "an anime" as an animated television series made in Japan. So no Ghibli (not a series) and no ATLA (not Japanese).

sorry the oldest age is last, it doesn't let you rearrange your options lmao

[mumblesplash]

more behind the scenes :D

so obviously my hgcz comic was a huge learning curve for me (i hadn't previously attempted a project this big EVER), and with this new and exciting experience came the opportunity to try something i'd never really done before: make actual character design refs!

i'm pretty happy with how they turned out, and more importantly they served several key purposes:

for one thing, both suits are specifically designed to make the character's poses as easy as possible to read--scar's leg braces especially don't allow for any visual misinterpretation of foreshortening or odd angles. the holster for grian's escrima sticks serves a similar function by giving a concrete sense of how his shoulders are positioned at a glance

also, crucially, they are both easy to draw. i was VERY aware that i was going to have to draw these guys dozens of times each, and i knew myself well enough to know i'd be adding in more than enough complexity with the posing and anatomy (and boy did i ever). i think i might have ended up with the least complex cuteguy design in the entire zine because of this, but in my defense he spends most of the comic pinned facedown on the floor. (this is also why i ended up simplifying his logo design in the final comic, if anyone was wondering)

more practical considerations included: hotguy's removable light-up vest, cuteguy wearing pants that could be rolled up so as to splint his broken leg, and his main weapon being escrima sticks so cleo had something to splint his leg with

i put arguably MORE effort into body language design (inasmuch as that's an actual thing, idk) but that's its own can of worms

of course, due to my nature the character design process deteriorated rapidly after i locked in my designs for hotguy and cuteguy. my design process for cleo was pretty much me drawing this sketch and going 'yeah that's what she looks like :)'

and my concept art for skizz was uh. this panel

i literally Just Drew Him. i was as surprised to discover what he looks like as you were.

looking back and comparing i can definitely see *some* benefits to designing character refs ahead of time, though to be more useful i think in the future i'd make sure the references include more closeup detail. or maybe i just refrain from things like putting an extremely distinct crack in a wraparound visor i have to draw over 100 times at every angle imaginable,,,

[wanderingsquirrelgirl]

"no lessons here"

go back and watch this entire conversation from this AP episode of mentopolis ep4. it's mandatory re-watching. Starts at 07:22.

[foolbehavior]

I love the little hat emoji people use to represent luffy, the android version has a pretty purple bow 👒