moodthemeinayear | Entries tagged with discussion

Oh no, I missed Thursday 😱 Maybe I should skip ahead to Sympathetic...

This week's Minimum and Medium moods are: Nerdy, Okay, Sad

This week's Maximum moods are: Moody, Pissed off, Rushed

Pissed Off is pretty straightforward here! We've been working our way through the Angry derivatives, and while we're almost done, hopefully that means you've got a good handle on things and how you want to express Pissed Off. Rushed might be a little tricky, but I feel like it's nothing compared to Moody. Just how do you convey that visually, anyway? My Moody fancy rat is chewing on a mood ring, while my Moody pigeon is both tired and grumpy, but I skipped it entirely for my cloud moods on account of the difficulty 😅 Hopefully you'll have better luck!

What do you think, though? Do you have something already in mind for Moody, or do you need to think it over more? Maybe Rushed or Pissed Off is giving you more trouble? Or maybe this is an easy week for you? Let's talk about it!

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Jumping right in here...

This week's Minimum and Medium moods are: Enthralled, Happy, Indescribable

This week's Maximum moods are: Infuriated, Irate, Irritated

And here we are with Infuriated, the "How exactly do I differentiate this?" companion to last week's Enraged! Not helping things at all are the other two moods, Irate and Irritated.

If I had to differentiate between Irate and Irritated, I would suggest that Irritated is more likely to have something actively happening than Irate is, whereas Irate can have more of a "got up on the wrong side of the bed" quality; you can just be Irate for almost no reason, but if you're Irritated, something caused it, and may even still be causing it, even if that thing is no bigger than a mosquito.

What are your thoughts on this week's moods? Any ideas jumping immediately to mind, or do you need to work at them some more? Maybe you have a backup idea from Enraged you can recycle for Infuriated, or you've got a tossup between Irate and Irritated you'd like some input on? Or maybe you're coasting right along? However it's going, let's talk about it!

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This week's Minimum and Medium moods are: Determined, Devious, Energetic

This week's Maximum moods are: Enraged, Frustrated, Grumpy

Differentiating Enraged from the upcoming Infuriated has always been a bit difficult for me; they're both pretty extreme forms of anger, but which one is more, and how do I express that? I've tended to aim for more subtle differences when I make big enough mood themes, with Enraged in my Fancy Rats being a mirror of Infuriated with a flaming background, and I'm planning something similar for my pigeon mood theme. The cloud mood theme, meanwhile, has a tornado for Enraged and a flaming tornado for Infuriated!

Frustrated, on the other hand, I feel has some pretty easy-to-grasp energy. If you're working with a fandom mood theme, there's probably at least one scene you can think of where your characters are frustrated by something! Finding something to pull for an original theme can be a bit trickier, but there's options out there. Frustrated is one of the few moods I skipped for the clouds, but the Frustrated fancy rat is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, and the Frustrated pigeon is dealing with anti-bird spikes!

Finally, we've got Grumpy, another one with last week's Cranky that reminds me of uninterrupted naps. I keep on wishing it were Grouchy, so I could make Oscar the Grouch references 😂 That said, as with Annoyed feeling more "active" than Aggravated, Grouchy feels a little bit more mature than Cranky for me, or at least a little bit older and better able to use words.

Still, those are only my thoughts and impressions! What do these moods make you think of, and how do you plan to approach them with your own mood themes? Do you have an approach in mind for them? And what do you think the differences are between some of the more similar moods we've had these past few weeks? Let's talk about it!

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It's the beginning of Part 3, and I'm behind on so many things, but so help me, updating this community will not be one of them!

This week's Minimum and Medium moods are: Angry, Awake, Confused

This week's Maximum moods are: Bitchy, Cranky, Cynical

And we're off with more derivatives of Angry! I tend to rely on word bubbles with cartoon symbols and other methods of expressing "This entity is complaining loudly" for Bitchy. Cranky, meanwhile, reminds me of toddlers who didn't get their afternoon nap 😅 So heavy bags under frowny eyes works pretty well for me! Cynical, I think, is probably the hardest to depict of this particular trio. For my fancy rats, I made it a companion to Optimistic and Pessimistic, with the rat pushing over the half full/half empty glass; my pigeon is rolling its eyes. My cloud, meanwhile, has an expression of just being Done With Everything. So those are some potential options for you, and if none of them fit, hopefully one sparks some inspiration for you!

What about you? How do you think you'll approach this week's moods? Are ideas coming easily to you, or do you need a bit more help? Some of each? And did you have a good break week? Let's talk about it!

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Aaaaaaahhh, we're in the last week of Part 2, aaaaaahhhh!

This week's Minimum moods are: Relaxed, Silly, Uncomfortable

This week's Medium and Maximum moods are: Tired, Aggravated, Annoyed

As a reminder, if you only want to do branching moods, the final higher-level mood here is Tired. After that, it's all bottom-level/leaf moods, so if you're aiming for a whole 36 moods to get some Dreamwidth points, you can go with Aggravated and Annoyed, as listed here, or you can pick any random two from the remaining moods in Parts 3 through 8! Next week will be a break week, and then Minimum and Medium moods will be synched up again for a while.

As far as this week's moods go, Tired is going to take care of most of the rest of the sleepy moods; but there's still one left to go if you find two images that would work perfectly and can't pick which one you'd rather use! Aggravated and Annoyed are bringing us solidly into the Angry derivatives with two we have to find subtle differences; I feel like Aggravated might be a bit more, hmm, active than Annoyed, myself? For me, Annoyed is something that can be passive, but Aggravated means that either something is being done on purpose, or something's about to be done on purpose. Does that make sense?

But maybe you feel otherwise! What are the differences between Aggravated and Annoyed to you? How do you plan to differentiate between them in your mood theme? Or are you fine on those two moods, and Tired is the one that's kicking your butt? Let's talk about it!

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Here we are at Week 5! Only one more week to go of our first full Medium Track run 👀

This week's Minimum moods are: Scared, Thoughtful, Working

This week's Medium and Maximum moods are: Exhausted, Sick, Content

Once again, for anyone looking for a stopping point, Working in the Minimum track and Sick in the Medium track both work: Working is the last mandatory mood, while Sick is the final tertiary mood. There are only two moods that branch off after Sick, and one of them is this week's Content, while the final branching mood is next week's Tired. After that, it's all minutiae.

As for this week's moods, what are your thoughts on them? Content seems like another one that's a little hard to get a bead on, especially when contrasting with last week's Satisfied. Sick and Exhausted should be at least a little easier to suss out, but not necessarily easier to find material for! What on earth are you going to do if your chosen media never had a "so-and-so gets sick" episode? Do you find something you think might work, or skip that mood entirely, since it's not mandatory? If you're going for the full Maximum track, then Nauseated down the line is what is inherited from Sick; do you wait and use the perfect image later, or do you use a more Nauseated mood for Sick and buy yourself time to find something better when Nauseated comes through the line naturally? Let's talk about it! (Though if you want to skip talking about either of those last two moods I've been going on about, I wouldn't blame you!)

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Ack, it's Thursday! Thank goodness I noticed only half an hour past when I usually try to post 🤦‍♀️

This week's Minimum moods are: Nerdy, Okay, Sad

This week's Medium and Maximum moods are: Satisfied, Mischievous, Exanimate

Exanimate is a weird one! Honestly, I think it's one of the weirder moods in the entire list. It basically means you're not (capable of?) moving anymore. Which, if you're doing an animated mood theme, might be the perfect time to pull a prank with a single non-animated mood 😂 It might be a little harder to work with otherwise! I like to go with my subjects playing dead for the most part, but I'm sure it's not the only option. Satisfied, on the other hand, seems extremely difficult to depict. If you're working with an established fandom, you can probably find something from context that works, but I feel like it can be a little trickier to nail down when you're making original art! Mischievous, on the other hand, seems like just plain fun. Time for your mood theme's subject to go torment another of your mood theme's subjects!

What do you think? Are your feelings on these moods the opposite of mine, or do you think you'll have the same problems? Do you need to brainstorm any at all? Let's talk about it!

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Time to get our moods on!

This week's Minimum moods are: Enthralled, Happy, Indescribable

This week's Medium and Maximum moods are: Discontent, Gloomy, Anxious

Gloomy is such a great mood for this, IMO! It has a very visual feeling to it, all overcast skies and melodrama. Discontent, on the other hand, is a little harder to narrow down. It's a bit of a cousin to Anxious here, shifting on its feet and frowning a bit, but not necessarily able to put a finger on it or vocalize why exactly. It's not quite uncomfortable, but it's not not uncomfortable, you know? Anxious, of course, is vibrating nervous energy, afraid to put a line out of place and worried about what's going on.

What are your thoughts on this week's moods? Do you have a different take on them? And do you think you'll have an easy time with them, or will they be more difficult? Some of each? Let's talk about it!

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More moods for your themes!

This week's Minimum moods are: Determined, Devious, Energetic

This week's Medium and Maximum moods are: Refreshed, Surprised, Lazy

It would be a Refreshing Surprise if I could be Lazy today 😛

Okay, okay, I kid! (Well, sorta.) Back on topic, how do you feel about these moods? Surprised seems like a pretty easy grab compared to the other two; I've had a fair amount of trouble with Lazy and especially Refreshed in the past. So far with Lazy, I've made a rat laying on a block of cheese while eating it, a pigeon sitting in a seed tray, a jellyfish snoozing happily, and a very chilled out cloud. For Refreshed, the rat and the cloud both have "refreshing" sparkles, the jellyfish is sighing contentedly with its eyes closed, and the pigeon is splashing in a bird bath.

What are your plans for these moods? Do you have something in mind for them already, or do you need to work at it more? Need help brainstorming on any of them? Let's talk about it!

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Welcome aboard for Part 2 of Mood Theme in a Year! I hope you had a good break, because we're about to break into some new moods 👍

Starting now, the Maximum and Medium Tracks diverge from the Minimum track; in Part 3, Medium and Minimum will be unified again, but Maximum will be striking out on its own for the rest of the year. Pretty exciting!

This week's Minimum moods are: Angry, Awake, Confused

This week's Medium and Maximum moods are: Stressed, Excited, Optimistic

And what a combination of moods we have to start out with here! Pretty neat that you can be Stressed, Excited, and Optimistic all at the same time. Or maybe I mean "exhausting" rather than neat 😅 Still, they're new moods to work with, and it can be fun to compare and contrast. If you're sticking around on the Maximum Track, it'll be good practice for when we get into runs of similar moods. How do Excited and Optimistic differ? How would you differentiate the two moods? How about Excited versus Stressed? Those both have the potential to be pretty high energy moods, even if they're on different ends of whether you're happy about something. Stressed and Optimistic? It doesn't really seem like they have a lot in common on the surface, but if you've been working really hard on something you still feel good about succeeding, you might just feel both of those at the same time.

What do you think? Are you ready to jump in on this week's moods, or do you wish the break had lasted a little longer? Do you expect to have any trouble with any of them, or need some inspiration? Let's talk about it!

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Here we are, the final week of Part 1!

This week's Minimum, Medium, and Maximum moods are: Relaxed, Silly, Uncomfortable

These three moods help diversify your mood theme; if you want maximum different images with the fewest possible graphics, these are good to include.

But what do you think about the moods themselves? Relaxed and Uncomfortable are almost polar opposites here! Hopefully, once you figure out the one, the other will come easily. Silly is always kinda fun, IMO, but if you're working with a serious character, you might have a bit of trouble with it. Do you put them in clown makeup, or a funny hat? Or maybe there's a scene where their drama is being crashed by a much more unserious character that you can draw from? Let's talk about it!

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Another week down with three new moods!

This week's Minimum, Medium, and Maximum moods are: Nerdy, Okay, Sad

Some more straightforward moods after last week's Indescribable! (Belatedly, if you're still having trouble with that one—valid, TBH—taking a look at what site supported mood themes have done with it might be helpful; a lot of them look pretty similar to the later-occurring Blank, though the Jellyfish have also been turned upside-down in contrast.) Hopefully everyone here is already acquainted with Nerdy 😉 If you're doing your own art, slapping a pair of nerdy glasses on is a quick way to convey the mood, but my upcoming pigeon mood has the bird incubating some polyhedral dice! Okay can be a little difficult to contrast with Good, but Sad is pretty cut-and-dry (or cut-and-wet, if we're including tears).

What are your thoughts on this week's moods? Do you have ideas for some of them already, or do you need to do more thinking/searching? Want to discuss any of them to get a better idea of what to do? Let's talk about it!

(Side note, sorry for my lack of response last week! I think I may have just gotten a tiny bit overwhelmed by how many people are participating 💖 I'm going to try and catch up after my evening shows tonight.)

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Going strong with the third week of Part 1! This is the half-way point of the first Part, which also means it's half-way through the Minimum Mood Track; if you're only in the game to make something small but mighty, you could be half way there this week!

This week's Minimum, Medium, and Maximum moods are: Enthralled, Happy, Indescribable

Some nicer moods this week, along with one that's a little more difficult to depict. Enthralled and Happy are straightforward enough, but what do you do for Indescribable? Do you have any thoughts on the subject? If you've made a mood theme before, what have you used for this mood? Need any help brainstorming? Or maybe you're working from the worlds angstiest fandom and actually need help with Happy and/or Enthralled? Let's talk about it!

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Here we are at the second week of Part 1, with three new moods!

This week's Minimum, Medium, and Maximum moods are: Determined, Devious, Energetic

What are your thoughts on this week's moods? Do you think they'll come easily, or do you anticipate more of a struggle? Maybe you could stand to rubber duck it a bit with your fellow participants or any of our cheerleaders? Let's talk about it!

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And we're back: Welcome to Mood Theme in a Year 2026! Whether you're here for the Maximum Track, the Medium Track, the Minimum Track, or just to watch and cheer along, I'm glad you're here ♥ I hope you have a good time!

This week's moods are: Angry, Awake, Confused

The next six weeks are the only ones where the moods are the same for all three tracks, so it's pretty special! I hope everyone has fun with it.

Anyway! What are you working on? Are you making a mood theme of any size, working on a different art project, or just here to follow the fun? What medium are you working in? Is there anything you're looking forward to? Let's talk about it!

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Here we are; we've finally made it: The last two moods in the Maximum Track mood theme!

This week's Maximum moods are: Creative, Productive

So, what do you think? Are you ready to knock this out of the park, or do you need a little encouragement to keep going? Are you still seeking inspiration, or do you have the perfect idea for both of them already? And what are you going to do with your time when this project is finally over? Let's talk about it!

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Looks like I'm going through with scheduling the rest of the year after all 😂 Gotta ride that productivity train all the way to the end when you can! (At least when it's not dangerous to do so, of course.)

Anyway, there's only two weeks of moods left, which isn't quite enough time for either a Medium or even a Minimum run—unless you want to try and get a Bingo Blackout before the end of the year. As such, I'll only be posting moods from the Maximum Track.

This week's Maximum moods are: Accomplished, Artistic, Busy

Some fitting moods for this community, if you ask me! But maybe you feel differently? And how do you think you'll do on this week's moods in general? Are you expecting them to come easily, or are you going to have to put your nose to the proverbial grindstone? Do you need any help? And is this a welcome distraction from the end of the year? Remember, the community schedule is technically just a suggested schedule; if you need to take a break early and come back for the last few moods later, that's perfectly fine! What do you think? Let's talk about it!

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We've made it to the final week of Part 7! As a reminder, next week is a break week. Or, if you've been keeping up with the bonus moods (and want to go for the full Maximum track), this may be your final week of work! So let's get to it!

This week's Minimum moods are: Relaxed, Silly, Uncomfortable

This week's Maximum moods are: Contemplative, Nostalgic, Pensive

This Part's bonus mood is: Productive

How are you feeling about this week's moods? Confident? Anxious? Do you need some help figuring out what you want to do with them, or are you raring to go with plenty of ideas? No need to be shy; we're here to help! However you're feeling about your mood theme, let's talk about it!

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Honestly, I'm setting all of these up at once, so hopefully this is already going well! If not, I'll have some emails to cancel.

This week's Minimum moods are: Scared, Thoughtful, Working

This week's Maximum moods are: Embarrassed, Intimidated, Nervous

So, any thoughts on this week's moods? Do you already have ideas in mind, or do you need some time to figure them out? Or maybe you could stand to rubber duck some possibilities with other commenters? Let's talk about it!

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We're getting into crunch time for me at both school and work, so I'm going to try and schedule the posts at least through the end of the month—maybe even the end of the year. There shouldn't be any change on your end, and if all goes well, I might even try to set this up for next year...

Anyway! On to business!

This week's Minimum moods are: Nerdy, Okay, Sad

This week's Maximum moods are: Thirsty, Worried, Distressed

We've got a couple of stress-y moods here, and one that can go either way. Luckily, Thirsty, the one that can go either way? You can also have a bit of fun with! If your subject is metaphorically thirsty, you might be able to riff off of Horny from earlier in the year. That said, it's also perfectly fine to stick with the more traditional definition of Thirsty, and go with your subject being absolutely parched. Maybe stuck in a desert somewhere? Honestly, that would leave me Worried and Distressed, if I wasn't sure I could get out safely...

What about you? Do you have any thoughts on this week's moods? Do you expect to have a rough time of it, or do you think it'll be easy? Some of each? Let's talk about it!

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A Custom Mood Theme in a Year

May 2026

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A Custom Mood Theme in a Year

Entries tagged with discussion

Part 3, Week 4

Part 3, Week 3

Part 3, Week 2

Part 3, Week 1

Part 2, Week 6

Part 2, Week 5

Part 2, Week 4

Part 2, Week 3

Part 2, Week 2

Part 2, Week 1

Part 1, Week 6

Part 1, Week 4

Part 1, Week 3

Part 1, Week 2

Part 1, Week 1

Part 8, Week 2

Part 8, Week 1

Part 7, Week 6

Part 7, Week 5

Part 7, Week 4

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May 2026

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