when your son is the hero of olympus but also still a teenaged dork

when I was like 14 I used to reblog these posts on here that were like "YOUR 20S ARE NOT AN IMAGINARY RACE YOURE DOING JUST FINE!!" just to be positive towards my older mutuals even though i didn't really get what they were abour and I'd be in the tags like "#so true!! #everyone does things at their own pace!!" and now im 24 I'm thinking back to it and it's like Oh of course the imaginary race. Which I'm losing

boys will be boys

HEATED RIVALRY ⏤ 1x02 -> 1x05

but it isnt too late to start tho! if you suddenly wake up and realize the years have slipped by you can start actively living again!

and you know what im not done i think that its actually a very normal and healthy ebb and flow of life

its okay to have stagnant periods, all life has periods of time in its life cycle just to exist and conserve energy and its okay for people to do that too.

but its also very important not to stay in that stagnant period forever!

I understand why "make bad art" can be an effective rallying cry for some, but for me personally it has never worked; my entire perfectionist being locks up at the idea of making something bad. For me, it just feels like if something is really and truly bad then what was the point of doing it at all? Personally, I don't find it motivational or encouraging.

The two things I have found that actually do help me are a combination of "I'll fix it in post" (the first version doesn't have to be good, it can be polished up later) and "not everything I make has to be my best work."

don't get me wrong I'm still very bad at accepting either of these things, but I've personally found them more practicable than trying to tell myself it's okay to "make bad art."

'#one thing that helped break a friend of his perfectionist tendencies#was a friend of his saying 'oh so the rest of us need to be like this too?'#and him going no i have to be perfect to make up for me you don't need to#and his friend just laughing and going: man. what's so special about you?'

remember to cry for help without guilt-tripping. i know it feels like you’ve been abandoned and betrayed, but it’s probably not true, and it’s not okay to accuse the people around you of something they might not have done.

“i guess none of you like me” could be better phrased as “i feel unloved right now”

“but nobody cares anyway” could be better phrased as “i feel insignificant and i need reassurance”

rather than assuming others’ feelings, give them time to explain them. you’ll usually get a much better answer.

This is really important for future predictions, too. “You’re eventually going to leave me” is impossible for someone else to disprove without just sticking around forever, but no one wants to stick around when they’re being constantly accused of future abandonment. Giving someone no choice but to either stay with you forever in order to prove you wrong or leave you and prove you right is incredibly emotionally manipulative, whether you mean it to be or not.

“I get scared sometimes because I’m afraid of being alone again” is easier to address and doesn’t leave your partner(s)/friend(s) feeling as though they’re being preemptively accused of something.  

Blue Bell Hill, Kent, England, June 2025.

Friends with benefits. And those benefits? Long insightful conversations about The Characters™️

reblog and put in the tags the most self-indulgent wip or fic you’ve ever written

The ‘Dance of the Wilis’ Giselle by Ran Chilipye