"Don't worry about what others think, or about social media. Don compare yourself to other people. Draw for yourself."

You've seen this sentiment before. You probably nod and agree - a lot of people seem to. And... this is a nice sentiment!

But I don't think everyone can follow it. I sure can't.

I really hate the process of art. I feel terrible doing it, I mentally beat myself up for it, and, if I'm not on stream, good lord the cursing I do.
And on the days of getting zero likes on a piece once I put it up? God was that ever painful.
I mostly do art because I have an idea in my head and I need to get it out of my head or else I will stew on it forever and get a headache.

Lately, I've been alright with the results, even happy sometimes?? At least I don't have to always attack myself once I'm done. It feels unsettling. But I'm still in a place where, without an external reward? Without any sort of praise? I feel like trash. I feel like I don't even deserve to draw or sculpt or whatever.

And I think when people say "do art for yourself," they don't understand that. I can't be the only one out there who feels the way I do.
Art will never not be somewhat sad for me, because I'll never be where I want to be, that idea in my head will never truly come out through my hands, and I'm surrounded by people with skills I will never, ever have: a golden ring I will never reach. And that's nice that that's not painful to others, but it's absolutely gutting to me.

I know part of the problem is we can't look at ourselves the way other people see us. And the other is that, I don't know where I'm going with this. I have a PhD in molecular genetics, and I'm stuck in the career path I've chosen until my debts are paid off. And... I might want to go to law school later. Neither of these leave room for art in a productive capitalistic way, leading into a lot of WhatsThePointism. I'm gaining a skillsets but still spinning my wheels.

But at the end of the day, I don't think "draw for yourself" is something everyone is able to do.

In the Eternal Spiral Galaxy, where this purple dragon's control resides, any civilization advanced enough to detect 'faster than light energy waves' will be able to tune in to their streams, and watch it run around exploring the galaxy. Many discover these broadcasts by accident.

Though that means most will be able to view it's streams, only the most advanced species will be able to send a response fast enough to chat in real time.

Rarity is NOT a pony you want to owe favors to...

For janusw

Mini are about the size of a flip phone, sometimes a little smaller. They appear to wear cloaks with different shaped hoods and end in a jagged cut at the bottom. They have expressive white eyes, but no other visible facial features in the dark shadow of their hood. Only their legs are visible and they're as pitch black as the shadow on their face.

Mini seemed to be very tiny droplets of Void left behind by defeated Void born enemies. Having found some safety in the shade, eventually the little droplets gain sentience and its believed the cloak is merely the first bit of light they see and it wraps around them to protect them. No one really know if that's true, though

Mini are very hardy and sturdy, but they don't seem to have any way to attack. However, their small size and tendency to group up makes hitting an individual one difficult. It's because of this that some people call them “many” which sounds similar to “mini.”