recently been thinking about a post I saw pointing out that the primary theme of the nightmare is neglect. she's been left alone down there and told she's a monster and can do nothing but internalize that.
but anyways it's interesting how the two ways to get the moment of clarity are by either running or staying with her.
In running, you come face to face with the damage you have done, and in rejection or denial of your culpability you turn tail and refuse to reap what you sown. It makes her lash out and you are swallowed by her pain for refusing to acknowledge it or your responsibility in it as you reinforce once again that she is a thing to be escaped from.
In staying, however, you recognize what you have done. You see that you hurt her, and seek to remedy it by remaining down here to keep her company- but in your attempt to heal her, you miscalculate just exactly how great her suffering was, and in thinking that it was a thing that you could fix or even bear, you unknowingly dove into the depths with her. You thought her sadness was a shallow creek, and jumped into an ocean of her loneliness and drowned in it.
Either way, you are mocked for your misunderstanding of what it means to be abandoned and to ache as the princess does, and you are forced to realize the entirety of your transgressions the hard way.
Gee thanks for the help dude, This is my online income and you took that advantage...I'm no longer filtering your excuses at this point, you clearly such an opportunist
“The thing was, Ronan knew what a face looked like, just before it was about to break. He’d seen it in the mirror often enough. Adam had fracture lines all over him.”
The ninety-seventh free, unedited chapter of my upcoming book, “The Heist at Cordia Aquarium” is now available on its website (or click https://www.kitfisto.gay/chapters/thea to read from the beginning).
An hour passes; the sun is gone. Only the moon and flickering street lamps cast away shadow. Though, the shop's flood light joins in when a large enough insect flies by. Thea and Frank crack open another beer, their firsts empty and mingling with their seconds on the gravel between them.
Bamboo bats at one of the empty bottles. It topples and rolls, glass surface tinkling like a windchime. She darts into the darkness after it.
Letting thoughts go where they will, Thea watches the cat's silhouette prance and pounce about the lot. It was just a coincidence that she was Elia's, right? What about the aquarium? Me getting out unscathed: that couldn't be coincidence, too, could it?
She shakes the thoughts away. Of course it could be. Why bother looking out for me? What would He get? Too much planning to end up with me here, still questioning everything.
"You're being awfully quiet." Frank says.
"Hmm?"
There is no intent behind the noise: just something instinctive while her thoughts drag her on. That is, until something shifts at the edge of her vision and breaks her concentration. She cocks her head to catch it.
Leaning over the arm of his chair, Frank stares at her. "You're quiet."
Same anon from earlier but if ur rly feeling unconfident i recommend also giving a pill a try bc I see a lot of artists feel way better after doing a pricing poll (like “how much would u pay for a piece in this style (full color/bust/lineart/whatever) and then having a few different prices for the poll options)
Srsly it helps and if ur doing commissions because u need money fast u want to at least be able to reach ur goal without burning out before then plssss I love ur art SOO much but even just as a fellow artist PLS don’t let ur self sell heinously low bc u will wish u picked sth higher later 😭
Wait actually now this is an idea everyone look at this old art of mine (waist or 3/4 length fully coloured art in my style)