Elemental Adventurer

Hey there, geeky fangirl here! I post little bits of everything, depending on what my current craze is! Enjoy! 38/F/married/asexual

[heathyr]

i saw a post on twitter by a european saying americans are fake for their random compliments to strangers and their general cheery demeanor and like no. no no no you don’t understand. if you get a random compliment from an american on the street about your outfit or whatever, that is 100% genuine. we mean it. we aren’t lying we are making a small but fleeting connection with you because our lives are shitty but the human condition is enduring. oh god i’m clutching my chest

[distractedbyshinyobjects]

If you get a compliment from a random American on the street, know that they tried their best to keep from saying a peep to you but they literally could not hold it in. They HAD to say something.

[fremedon]

The other day a tiny gay man in a hurry bumped me on the Metro escalator and said "Sorry, great dress by the way" and then he stopped at the top of the escalator and turned around and said "AND a great hat. THAT is how we do summer!" and SPRINTED for his bus and I coasted on that for the rest of the day.

[unreconstructedfangirl]

Love this post!

When I first moved to Prague I had a colleague who had such great style, and I always complimented her because I thought she was hot and cool. Years later when we were friends, she told me that she always suspected me of trying to manipulate her somehow because that is not how Czechs roll, and it was really inconceivable to her that I was simply complimenting her with no ulterior motive, but that's culturally normal to me?

Also, I am married to a British person, and his mother is an artist -- she's a collograph print-maker, and she told me that whenever she wants a pick me up, she sends photos of her latest prints to me, because I can be counted upon to say something nice. What can I say? I love her work? Her prints are beautiful, so...not faking?

Americans have a lot of blind spots and issues, but saying the nice thing in their brains to other people is fine? Like? A little more kindness and connection isn't hurting anyone?

[aprillikesthings]

There was a post on r/askanamerican just the other day, by a guy living in Eastern Europe who has a fun backpack (it looks like a reeses cup package with a bite taken out of it!) and said he constantly got compliments on it from American tourists

And he was like...are all of you like that? You say nice things to total strangers as if you're life-long friends??

And the entire comment section was like: Yup. Absolutely. This is 100% a thing we do.

And someone looked up a picture of the backpack and shared it and we were all like OMG THAT IS AN AMAZING BACKPACK yeah if I saw someone in any city on earth wearing that thing I would in fact say something.

Sometimes posts on that subreddit are a trash fire, but we were all so happy to talk about times we've told strangers compliments or been complimented by strangers.

And genuinely, it's one of the few things that makes me proud to be American. Like. We have a reputation for telling total strangers when we like something they're wearing/doing. And we mean it, every single time!

[gentlewordsdaily]

There is a very specific kind of sadness in realizing your parents loved you, and still did not always know how to meet your emotional needs.

Because it is confusing. It would almost feel easier if there was no love there at all. But sometimes there was love. In the way they tried to protect you. In the sacrifices they made. In the ways they worried about you, cared for you, wanted a good life for you.

And at the same time, there were still things missing.

Maybe comfort did not come in the way you needed it to. Maybe your feelings were not always understood, or noticed, or handled gently. Maybe you learned to keep certain parts of yourself quiet because it felt easier than trying to explain them.

That kind of hurt is difficult because it does not always come from cruelty. Sometimes it comes from people who loved you deeply, but did not know how to emotionally connect in the ways you needed. People carrying their own wounds, limitations, fears, or ways of surviving.

And you are allowed to acknowledge both truths at once.

You are allowed to recognize their love and still grieve what you needed but did not receive. Those things do not cancel each other out.

Forgiveness, for a lot of people, is not pretending nothing hurt you. It is slowly accepting that someone can love you and still fall short of understanding you completely.

That does not make your pain dramatic. It does not make them monsters either. Sometimes it just means everyone was trying with the emotional tools they had, and some of those tools were not enough.

And I think many people quietly carry guilt for still feeling hurt by parents they know tried their best. But being loved imperfectly can still leave wounds. It makes sense that it affected you.

At the same time, you do not have to stay trapped only in anger forever either. Sometimes healing looks like understanding that your parents were human before they were parents. People shaped by their own experiences, their own upbringing, their own emotional gaps.

That understanding does not erase your feelings. It just softens the sharp edges around them a little.

You deserved emotional safety. You deserved gentleness. You deserved to feel understood, comforted, and emotionally close to the people raising you.

And if they could not fully give that to you, it is okay to mourn it.

But I hope you also know this: the love you needed is still something you can experience in your life. Through other people. Through chosen family. Through the way you learn to treat yourself now.

The story does not end at what you did or did not receive growing up.

You are still allowed softness after all of it 🤍

[dailycatsblog]

[mandarinaart]

I wanted to make a Legolas illustration for forever, so for my first one I went more classic style, and added his horsie on the background.

Also I wanted to announce that I have opened a patreon, I have been thinking for a while to open one and the times have come. I am excited of what I could create with more freedom (nsfw will come very soon 👀)

[theseventhcrow55]

i get so emotional every time i think about fanfic culture. it's just so beautiful that people are writing and anonymously posting these thousand-word stories about characters we all love and not even getting any money or public fame from it. it's literally just for the love of the game.

shout out to everyone who participates in fanfic culture, be it reading or writing fanfics. you are contributing to such a lovely thing <3

[podcastwizard]

you don’t realize how important lunch is until you’re wandering around thinking about how unloveable and untalented and uniquely cursed you are and then it’s 4pm and you finally eat lunch and you go Oh. oh right.

[fxtalisor]

Ahem-

I kinda wanna yap about something I think is important to the audio roleplay community because I have witnessed it yet again, though this can also go out to any artist out there as well, specifically regarding fanart/artist side of things…

POST YOUR BEAUTIFUL ART!!!

I just read a post about someone's biggest fear is doing fanart because of the fear of people's opinions. Don't get it twisted that apprehension is totally valid, as it's kinda a vulnerable thing to put out there at times because of how much you cherish your art; however, the issue was in regard to canon designs. Now, if I understood correctly, it's due to the fear of getting "jumped" in a certain community (iykyk) and due to the fear of creator judgment. Those should not be reasons to hold yourself back from sharing art you want to share!

I'm going to keep this part brief because there are plenty of posts out there surrounding this topic, but in regard to that particular community, it's honestly so upsetting, given the recurring drama that revolves around fanart, because I have never seen anything like that in any other audio roleplay fandom until this one. People should feel welcome to share their thoughts, opinions, and ideas when it comes to character and listener designs... There should not be fear in wanting to share something with a person who supposedly has similar interests.

In regard to creators, who cares if the creator sees it or not? I mean, it's always a bonus if they do, but it shouldn't be the reason that stops you from sharing something you are itching to show off because you're proud of it. I'm just going to use Escaped Audios as an example, but other creators such as Zsakuva, GoodBoyAudios, Scythe Audios, etc, also recognize and strongly encourage fanart. Escaped is pretty active in the community and basically reposts any fanart he finds, mainly because he loves to see them and share them with the community, regardless of how "small" his fandom is, enjoying the fact that there are people who enjoy his content so much that they make silly doodles to full-blown works revolving around his series. It is such an honor for him or rather gives him pride. It doesn't have to be "canon" to be good and appreciated. He has voiced multiple times that he honestly doesn't give a fuck about what people want to draw, it's not his art, and he cannot stop your creative liberty. Whether he likes it or not, it shouldn't matter; he just wants you to make the thing and feel good about it. Even if you were still worried about making sure the character designs are canon, he has been very willing to describe their appearances and pull references from commissioned work, images, and resembling fanart (even going as far as making some fanart designs canon). Don't limit yourself to what the creator could think... and don't think your art is not worthy enough for the creator because they should feel privileged you put the thought in it all!

Anywho, on to the bigger picture.

This isn't the first time to see something like this, as many artists across multiple communities outside of audio roleplay struggle with sharing their art, but let's just focus on this community for now because I'm sure this message still speaks true to many audiences.

I have seen so much asking for permission, hesitation, or even harsh self-criticism in this community regarding posting art. I get it, I was once in that mindset as well, because it is scary to put yourself out there, because art can say so much about you. HOWEVER, it is so liberating when you do it. Don’t put these invisible barriers for yourself, such as: “oh, well, what if no one likes it?” or “what if it's not good enough to post?” and GOD HELP ME IF YOU SAY “But it isn't as good as ‘so-and-so’s' art.” I WILL HARM YOU IF YOU SAY THAT!!!! As someone who has spent literal years developing a personalized art style (as many other artists have), every step is a milestone to be proud of! If you’re proud of it and/or willing to continue to develop it, that is all that matters! Your style is your own, and that is what makes it so unique and beautiful. There is a statement I like to tell myself and will stand by it for the rest of my life, in and out of art– you will always be your worst critic.

It's easy to get in your own head when it comes to sharing your art, but it takes effort to put yourself out there– if you’re one of the people hesitating to hit that post button or just have it sitting in your drafts, POST IT! You truly have nothing to lose because no one else’s opinion but yours should matter! Even if someone does say something shitty instead of something constructive, screw them, who gives a flying shit what they think. It's yours, and you should be proud of it!

Yap sesh over!

[magebunkshelf]

Strongly strongly this. Headcanon, OCs; that's the spice of community spaces

[shaymelessaudios]

As I haven't stated it on this blog. All fanworks of my content are welcome, and all my audios I consider to be under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license. I love seeing fanart whenever it's made, and will happily reblog it and look at it with my eyeballs. I love hearing fan theories, or people talking about their listener OCs. I'd read every fanfic of my settings that's out there, if anyone actually was brave enough to post theirs. Make no mistake, creatives like myself (and im sure many others like myself) thrive off of co-creation, and in the medium of audio roleplay especially, the listener character has been placed there PRECISELY for you to fill in with your own designs and headcanons. Even if it diverges from canon design, i wanna see your art. Even if it ignores part of of the story's lore for convenience sake, I wanna read your fanfics. Even if you completely change the race, gender, appearance or identity of any of the characters simply because you felt it strongly resonated with you and you could immerse yourself in the story easier that way, please please PLEASE go ahead and MAKE ART ABOUT IT!!! Nothing makes me happier than seeing my work inspire that of other creatives. Nothing is more sacred than the infinite positive feedback loop of inspiration that is fan content. Community thrives off of your creativity, do not deprive it of all you have to offer <3

[kimuracarter]

I love all fanart of my stuff!

[my-flying-sister]

I love rebloging. It’s the adult equivalent of showing everyone the cool rock I just found.

[the-dandy-liar]

[crazycookiemaniac]

⚠️SAVE ME LMAO⚠️

I urgently need money to pay for bills so I'm opening these super cheap commissions to help!

I also have regular commissions so if you're interested, please do contact me for info!

If you'd just like to help, I gratefully accept donations via www.ko-fi.com/crazycookiemaniac

Please share if you can! Thank you!!

[oldbutchdanielmolloy]

i do appreciate the way that we tumblr users have evolved our language to discuss our feelings related to The Character/The Guy. you used to have to just say he was hot or he was making your ovaries explode or he was a precious cinnamon roll even if he looked bad or was just kind of standing there or whatever. now you can say things like “the creature” or “he looks so sopping wet here” or “i want to chain him to my radiator” like it’s just more inclusive and adaptable to the situation

[twobeesornottwobees]

as someone on the asexual spectrum, this shift in language genuinely made me feel more comfortable and happy in fandom spaces. i've never once wanted to lick a man's abs. i HAVE wanted to chain a man to my radiator. and that's beautiful.

[twiststreet]

She got the idea for the study while walking with her advisor at Stanford to discuss her thesis topic, and the paper she eventually published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in 2014 is sharp enough that it should have ended the seated meeting on the day it came out.

She ran 4 experiments on 176 people. Same person tested twice. Once sitting, once walking. The creativity tasks were the standard ones psychologists have used for decades to measure how good a brain is at generating novel useful ideas.

81% of participants in the first experiment produced more creative ideas while walking than while sitting. In the second experiment, 88%. In the third, 100%. Every single person walked into a more creative version of themselves. On average, people generated 60% more novel useful ideas the moment their legs started moving.

The skeptical question is the obvious one. Maybe it was the fresh air. Maybe it was the scenery passing by. Maybe it was the change of environment doing the work, not the walking itself.

Oppezzo killed every one of those explanations with one experimental decision. She put people on a treadmill facing a blank wall. No scenery. No fresh air. No environmental change. Just legs moving in place while staring at white drywall. The 60% boost held.

Then she ran the experiment that closed the case completely. She took participants outside in two conditions. Half of them walked through a Stanford courtyard. The other half were pushed through the exact same courtyard in a wheelchair. Same outdoor stimulation. Same scenery passing at the same speed. The only difference was whether the legs were moving.

The walkers produced dramatically more novel high-quality ideas than the wheelchair group. The outdoors did almost nothing on its own. The walking did everything.

She also tested the opposite kind of thinking. Convergent thinking. The kind where there is one right answer and you have to narrow down to it. Word puzzles where 3 words share a hidden fourth word that connects them. The seated participants did slightly better on these. Walkers got slightly worse.

Walking is not a general intelligence enhancer. It does one specific thing. It opens up the divergent search inside your brain. The part that generates options. The part that produces unexpected connections. The part that takes a problem and finds five ways into it instead of one.

When you need to converge on the single right answer, sit down. When you need to find the answer in the first place, get up.

The mechanism is now well understood. Walking selectively activates what neuroscientists call the default mode network, the system inside your brain that runs when you are not consciously focused on anything. The DMN is where mind-wandering happens. Where memories cross-reference each other. Where ideas that have been sitting in separate folders inside your head finally bump into each other.

When you sit at a desk and force yourself to concentrate, you suppress the DMN. When you walk at a natural pace, the executive part of your brain gets just busy enough handling the walking that the DMN comes online and starts doing the work that focus was blocking.

The most useful finding in the entire paper is the one almost nobody quotes. The boost did not turn off the moment people stopped walking. Participants who walked first and then sat back down stayed elevated. Their next round of seated creativity work was still significantly better than people who had been sitting the whole time. The rest lingered for at least several minutes after the legs stopped moving.

You do not need to do creative work while walking. You need to walk before the creative work. The brain holds the state.

Edited down a long tweet. (x)

[magebunkshelf]

I KNEW IT!

[depsidase]

[thegaymertrainer]

Ribbon dancing I was not aware of your evolution 🤯

[catasters]

[dduane]

The Star Trek title card generator is over here:

Star Trek Title Card Generator

Make your own era-accurate Star Trek episode title cards in seconds. Boldly go!

The sitemaker (Josh Mayfield at https://bsky.app/profile/bean525.bsky.social) has asked for people to come in and kick its tires so he can work out any bugs they turn up. So do give him a hand, if you feel inclined. :)

(also, deeply amused by this one...)

[cowboyspones]

women were not banging out spirk fanfiction in the 60s for you to be AI generating your fic

[vexheart]