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For A Dreamer, Night's The Only Time Of Day

@agentsofoakenshiield / agentsofoakenshiield.tumblr.com

lai, 22, she/her, multifandom and sporadic mess fallingthroughspacex on ao3; trustbeilamy on twitter.
current fixation: 9-1-1, rwrb, a bit of everything
permanent fixations: mcu (including agents of shield), pjo, ya fiction (esp fantasy), the 100, julie & the phantoms, les mis, hp, covert affairs, doctor who, trc, the magicians, dc comics/batfam, knives out franchise, gallagher girls, james bond (specifically the craig films), top gun movies, grishaverse, Star Wars
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dovesndecay

People talk about the surprise albums from people like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé that drop with zero warning but I have just been existing in this world where every album I've ever heard in my life has been a surprise album because I didn't know that musicians had schedules that we could see

Everything is a surprise when you don't pay attention

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bethfuller

this card’s appearance on your dash tells you what you already know. you’ve shown tremendous inner strength and fortitude, and you know you have the inner resilience to get through anything. rather than trying to force anything to happen, you sit in the knowledge that your influence can make it happen. you flow like water, able to move around any obstacle, and there is nothing you cannot survive.

Strength. Art by Beth Fuller.

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Let's take a moment to appreciate just how amazing the title cards were for Batman the Animated Series.

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forgotn1

Oh! I actually know what made these look so iconic!

The backgrounds for the entire series were done on black paper, a first for any animated show. It's Batman, which means everything is at night and incredibly dark. So, the majority of the backgrounds were going to be black anyways and using black paper would cut down on the time it took to create all of the backgrounds. Adding color over the black paper instead of the traditional method gave it a much more stylized look that helped make it iconic.

It also forced some other creative choices, such as using an airbrush to do all of the background art. During the early testing, they found that using an airbrush was easier to apply paint with than a paintbrush and that it looked better. Airbrushing let them be more experimental with painting techniques, such as the spattery fades you can see in the "Bane" and "Deep Freeze" title cards above or the soft, deeply shadowed face on "the Last Laugh." The overall effect of airbrushing on a black background is a much darker, moodier vibe than could be achieved with a traditional approach.

They cared very deeply about the art of the show and how they were going to create it. It wasn't just about the story or the character. In the words of co-creator Eric Radomski: "As opposed to making shows just to sell toys, we've made quality films."

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haykhighland

[left: Palestinian woman holding key to home now under Isr*eli occupation]

[right: Keys hang from a tapestry at a school in Aralez, Armenia, representing the keys to homes left behind by the survivors of the Armenian Genocide]

we will return.

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I see a lot of people who tell young people–especially young people who are heading into college–that they should “do what they love.” And they’re right. You should do what you love.

But there’s a world of difference between doing what you love for you, and doing what you love for a paycheck. 

I went to undergrad for graphic design and 3-D design–art and more art, I usually say–and I loved it. You know what I didn’t love? Trying to collect my fees from clients. Trying to meet unrealistic, over-simplified or over-specific briefs from people who didn’t know what they were talking about. Coming home, having worked creatively all day, with no creative juice left for the things I wanted to do.

You know what I would tell you instead? Do something that you can be interested in, with people you like.

You don’t have to love it. Loving your work can be a lot, and it often means you have to live in your job 24/7. Some people can do that. Not everyone can, or should.  But if you can find work that’s interesting enough that it doesn’t feel tedious, and people you can enjoy spending your 9-5 with, and you can make money, that’s great! It means you can do the things you love for you.

I’m in law school now. It’s interesting work, and difficult, and I like doing it. I like how complicated it gets, and I like the stories it tells. But I don’t come home and read law journals for fun. I come home, and I sculpt, and I draw, and I paint, and I read. I do these things for me.

And I love it. 

This is still circulating and it’s been a few years, so let me update. I’m officially a lawyer now, and still not a single regret about this choice. Settling into a stable job is such a gift and a privilege in ways I didn’t expect. I’m not going to repeat the advice given above, but I want to make it clear that having passed through my student years and into my career proper, I stand by this in every respect. 

I chose to take a job that was not the most high-paying option available to me, because it wouldn’t require me to bill my time, I would have a better work-life balance, I found the work more engaging, and I really loved the office. It has paid off so much.

I get to walk to work, and most days I leave my laptop behind when I walk home at five. I have a little house with a little garden and a bunch of seedlings sprouting too early for spring. I have two stupid cats and two stupider doves and they make me happy. I put a little money into food and shelter for the neighborhood strays and name all my visiting opossums Harold. My art gets done when I feel inspiration striking, sometimes in the middle of the night, and I let my hobby fund itself without the pressure of deadlines. There is so much joy in making only what I want to. My sleep schedule has stabilized. For the first time in my life, I know the shape my days will take weeks and months away, because my routine is consistent, and I never knew what a peace that was. My job is predictable but never boring, interesting but not consuming, and it’s just a job. 

There are people who will tell you–people who have told me–that turning my back on an artistic career or a career you have “potential” in is selling out, or settling. 

Let me tell you, friends, I have never felt so settled. 

Tags from galwednesday:                                                                                                                                                                                                             financial stability improves your quality of life in SO many ways   and there’s a lot of middle ground between “your artistic passion” and “soul-sucking job you hate”   and many of those jobs in the middle ground have health insurance and paid vacation time

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the iof shut down al jazeera this morning and closed the border to trap all the people sheltering in rafah. now the ground invasion of rafah has begun. rafah is being bombed right now and all these people who had been told they had evacuated to a safe zone are going to be massacred by the apartheid entity's weapons. i am so deeply sorry to everyone we have failed. i hate this world.

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daydreamdiaz

Thinking about how Eddie is a deeply silly man who has been forced into always being the responsible one. Thinking about How Buck is someone who longs to be taken seriously but is always treated like he's immature or irresponsible. Thinking about how Buck gives Eddie the freedom to be his most ridiculous and how Eddie trusts Buck with his most serious responsibilities and problems.

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