fallingshrike

[fallingshrike]

Writing is hard sometimes. 

It’s just words on a page. How hard can it be? 

But the page itself remains blank, and the words you want aren’t magically filling up the empty spaces. 

Standards and expectations paralyze you. Your capabilities and imagination crumble into doubt. Where is the story going? Does this scene make sense? This description doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. How come the words aren’t right? 

And the expectations— oh, the expectations. The fears ambush you in a preemptive strike. Can you finish the chapter? Will the update be received well? What if nobody responds? Or even reads it at all? 

…You might as well be screaming into the void. 

You do not expect to be heard, much less acknowledged. Attention is a scarce, fickle thing. And if you assume you won’t be noticed anyway, whether or not you’ll ever finish your story… 

Then the expectations no longer bind you. 

You’re free to write what you want. Seeing the words form before you is reward enough, how the unspoken thoughts take shape in your internal voice. It doesn’t matter if it’s disjointed, it doesn’t matter if it rambles on, it doesn’t matter if it makes no sense— 

All that matters is that you’re writing right now, you’re throwing the words onto the page like plates of spaghetti against the wall, they’re stuck on the wall now and the noodles are sliding down and the mess keeps piling up below nonstop, and the mess can be cleaned up later, the formatting’s taking the backseat, but right now you’re making it happen.

…Look. 

You’ve got words now. It’s all over the place. It doesn’t look pretty. Some of the tomato sauce has spurted up onto the ceiling. It kinda looks like a murder scene. 

But you’ve got words now. 

You can work with the words you can see before you. You can see it somewhere in the sauce where the meatballs had tracked across the floor from the impact. Sure, you’ll definitely have to clean this mess up, or you might end up cutting your feet on the ceramic shards, and there might be maggots later, but hey, you’ve got words now.

And that’s pretty fucking alright. 

[fallingshrike]

@ancha-aus had a silly thought and I had to illustrate it because it is so funny and so so true

Context:

[fallingshrike]

i am a firm believer that ocs are a reflection of the self in the way that every character you create has to hold some piece of you to really feel alive. sometimes this is why all your ocs have certain traits, sometimes this is why you can track your various issues and traumas all the way from middleschool to now based on what your ocs are like. this is a feature not a bug

[fallingshrike]

do you all see my vision here

[fallingshrike]

maybe your fanfic doesn’t have to change someone’s life maybe it can just brighten someone’s day for a bit

[fallingshrike]

Me: *writes an amazing chapter*

Me: Ah yes. That is amazing. Can't wait to begin the next one. So many possibilities!

Me: *turns off my laptop and goes into a month-long depression*

[fallingshrike]

getting you getting you getting yu getting you getting yuo getting you getting u

[fallingshrike]

Ehe

Original post by ZeFanatic14 on YouTube

[fallingshrike]

Here, Today

I am so, so tired.

And the trees tire, too, their leaves drooping from their branches

Patterned in burnished bronze and scarlet, how the trees glow gold in the sunlight.

And the shadows of today are sharp against the grasses clinging to their color

Littering the ground in yesterday's summer.

There is still some time left in this now and here

Until the greenery burns out

And the leaves scatter in ashes to the wind

As the warmth of today's world fades for the last time.

[fallingshrike]

Something small, simple and wholesome :)

Happy late 9th anniversary

(yes reupload cos I noticed I uploaded the wrong formated vid)

[fallingshrike]

''what if my writing isn't good eno--'' what if it's a reflection of your soul. what if it has a place in this world. what if you write it anyway

[fallingshrike]

Drawing tablet studies and drawing tablet issues.

Single layer test sketch.

I... cannot believe how easy it was to draw using a screen tablet, holy shit.

It had always taken me more effort to do digital drawing compared to traditional drawing. I just thought I wasn't skilled enough-- I just needed to use the drawing tablet more frequently, get good at navigating the drawing program.

All I did was try out a drawing tablet with a screen for an hour.

Digital drawing had never felt so easy until now. It felt ridiculously freeing, because I could actually sketch in the drawing program the same way I would sketch with pen and paper. Because I could actually put down the lineart where I wanted it, and not have to put in so much effort doing hand-eye coordination between the pen and the cursor. Because I can actually draw long, flowing hair now.

I don't know what to think anymore.

[fallingshrike]

Art to accompany my original work on ao3 "Devout".

Devout - fallingshrike - Original Work [Archive of Our Own]

[fallingshrike]

god i love toby concept art

[fallingshrike]

A quick sketch of Jen Rosotto.

When you’ve got the eyes of a hawk and too much common sense, of course you’ll look like a pissed off schoolgirl.

(Smiles are reserved for friends and family only.)

[fallingshrike]

The beginning and end of the world.

Opening and ending art to accompany the first chapter of my fanfic on ao3 "Upon the Eternal Wind".

Upon the Eternal Wind - Chapter 1 - fallingshrike - Undertale (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

(Reveal ending art below.)

[fallingshrike]

Sundown and Nightfall, round 6.

Art to accompany the sixth chapter of my fanfic on ao3 "Arborists of the Wishing Tree".

Arborists of the Wishing Tree - Chapter 6 - fallingshrike - Undertale (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]