ms-qualia:

youngblackandvegan:

dating is supposed to be empowering. it’s supposed to make you feel good. it should be about two people, enthusiastically wanting to get to know each other and spend time together. it’s supposed to make you feel good and add joy and fun to your life

if talking to/dealing with/dating/getting to know a person isn’t like that, it’s probably a waste of time

YES.  Lovelies, do not, do not, do not spend time with people who don’t make you feel good.  I don’t mean they kiss your ass.  I mean, you shouldn’t come away from interactions feeling tired, or less-than, or boring, or embarrassing.  Relationships are food for your soul, not a drain on it.

sheepskeleton:

-draws vampires at work, waiting for a client to send feedback-

movie director passing by behind me, glancing at the screen: hey I like that! Would you like to draw some concpet art for me?

Listen kids, the moral is, keep doing your silly fandom shit. You never know, it can get you a job. 

#PREACH

//Dear future me,

vagabonddaniel-recordedarchives:

Dear Future Daniel,

I hope you’re alive and well. Actually, undead and well, but you know what I fucking mean. I hope you’re keeping the shadows at bay and the impulse to drown in your madness in check. Remember that no matter how dark and cold the world gets, you can endure. Darkness and cold are your companions in immortality even when nothing else is. But the madness, however inviting or enticing, is not your friend. 

And since I’m being extremely fucking optimistic, I hope you’re learning to forgive him more quickly. To stop clinging your stubbornness and pick up the goddamn phone. Or hell, make the trip. Make him face you and see if he can hold onto the anger when you’re right in front of him. (Spoiler alert: he can’t.) 

Whatever the future holds, don’t extinguish your burning need to learn, to explore, to study, to ask, to know. That is what will get you through the centuries. Well, that and him. So cut him a little fucking slack and learn to say I’m sorry more often. And while you’re at it, cut yourself a little slack, too. 

Women are socialized to make men feel good. We’re socialized to “let you down easy.” We’re not socialized to say a clear and direct “no.” We’re socialized to speak in hints and boost egos and let people save face. People who don’t respect the social contract (rapists, predators, assholes, pickup artists) are good at taking advantage of this. “No” is something we have to learn. “No” is something we have to earn. In fact, I’d argue that the ability to just say “no” to something, without further comment, apology, explanation, guilt, or thinking about it is one of the great rites of passage in growing up, and when you start saying it and saying it regularly the world often pushes back. And calls you names.

Gallery

“If you feel safe in the area that you are working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you are capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you are just about in the right place to do something exciting.” – David Bowie [Source]

Re: Tale of the Body Thief

thelionscrimsonclaws:

Lestat, an anonymous person recently asked me:

“Oh man, I was disappointed in Lestat the first time I read the body thief also, but mostly bc he came across as a lot less intelligent than I had thought and that was a huge turnoff”

And I answered, basically, that there were a lot of extenuating circumstances, and pressure, you were under in that story… so I don’t really think it was a lack of intelligence on your part and I don’t think it’s your job to try to “turn-on” your readers/audiences with every story.

But how would you have handled that question?


It’s actually my favorite misadventure….mainly because it is really the first modern tale where it’s just myself telling the story. There is plenty of cast support, so to speak, but it’s all from my viewpoint.

I know I’ve expressed before, that every vampire is a frozen drop in an icy sea of time indefinite. I’m no exception to that rule. You bet, I love modern excess and read constantly but any self-proclaimed exclamation of genius is pure vanity.

I’m clever, that is to be certain….wily like a fox and I learn quickly but how best does anyone learn? Mistakes. I may have the body and visage of a god but like all deities in mythology, I’m fallible, baby!

I started out my life as an illiterate bumpkin! I was talented in four areas; hunting, fucking, drinking, and acting. Hardly the stuff of Hawking, Jobs, Tyson or any other modern mega-mind!

It took the Dark Gift to expand my capacity for thought and to retain knowledge. I’m a great mimic. Up until my time as a rock star, I couldn’t compose Chop Sticks if you paid me. I had no time for that, man! I was a bit busy….

Imagine now, that you take this demigod, frozen in time, suffering from post-traumatic stress due to the biggest let down of his life and set down before him, a large ‘Do Over’ button. It’s bright red and glowing in the center of the hole in his life and it says, “DO NOT PRESS THIS EVER!”

Who am I? What am I famed for? The neon signs came out, lit up like Christmas in Las Vegas telling me to do ANYTHING other than press that precise button!
So of course, I smashed my fist into that son-of-a-bitch because I wanted to know! I wanted to remember what it was like! I’d tried Death and she threw me back! So how about life?

And ahh I thought I knew and remembered what it was like! I thought everything I lifted from every meal I engorged myself with made me an expert in the human condition! I was so horribly naive.

And I described how dreadful it all was! The eating, the drinking, the shitting, the paltry sex, the illness, the fragility! I could barely see! I could barely move or think clearly enough to qualify as much more than some en vogue, hunky, runway model…..no brain, all body, probably a dreadful accent! Best ogled, not heard! What was I to do with all that? I was almost that country pauper again.

I needed help and I was grateful for Gretchen, for David! Without them, I would have died…in one of the most wretchedly, abysmally common mortal ways.

This mind of mine combined with the Blood and this body is a complete package that works! Raglan didn’t do so hot inside it, if you recall?

I could describe my many attributes again but to sum it all up, I’m smarter than the average bear and I love telling a good tale but don’t let the golden fleece fall over your eyes, darling! This was an extraordinary event that happened to an otherwise ordinary guy. 

*winks*

Afterword: If that disappointed you or broke your heart, then might I suggest developing a crush on my brainy squeeze, David! Or Louis? I surround myself with genius to put me in a brighter spotlight. Just don’t be in their beds when I want in. I have the jealousy of a bull in the midst of puberty.

#damn you and your perfect headcanon perfection #PERFECT JUST PERFECT #tldr  #tldr i know #but seriously plz read this it is #perfection

Also, look how generous he is about sharing his toys people! “Just don’t be in their beds when I want in.” <- NOTE TAKEN.

Be kind to yourself in the year ahead.

Remember to forgive yourself, and to forgive others. It’s too easy to be outraged these days, so much harder to change things, to reach out, to understand.

Try to make your time matter: minutes and hours and days and weeks can blow away like dead leaves, with nothing to show but time you spent not quite ever doing things, or time you spent waiting to begin.

Meet new people and talk to them. Make new things and show them to people who might enjoy them.

Hug too much. Smile too much. And, when you can, love.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2014/12/new-years-wishes-and-gifts.html

This is from Last Year. It’s the one that doesn’t get passed around as much.

(via neil-gaiman)