#( There's no shame in 'not being productive' in a hobby )

[ofsavior]

one thing I want to do is challenge the dash to normalize not doing anything ‘noteworthy’ and just having fun.

[gh-0-stcup]

They could have made the nectar making a little more complex.

[avocad1s]

this is a weird thought but I definitely know that in sagau theres some mfs making fanfiction about the creator. Like imagine the creator visiting whatever nation they go to and they just see a self insert book about them. I know some acolytes religiously read them before bed every night (cough yae miko cough)

Note: Not weird at all Anon! I enjoyed this a bit more than I should’ve.

Mostly a crackfic just the acolytes being delulu

Without a doubt there are TONS of books about you all throughout Teyvat. No matter what nation you are in, you will always find what you’re looking for if it’s related to the Creator.

People have wrote books about how you created Teyvat, their speculations on how Visions were made, and even your relationship with all of the Archons. Of course there’s no telling which books are true or not, but it’s about you and they’ll consume anything that has your name in it.

That of course includes fanfics.

The fanfics aren’t openly talked about, many people feel embarrassed and don’t want to be judged by their peers for consuming that content. People who write such content always use a pen name, not wanting to attach their work to their true self.

Despite the embarrassment, these books are quite popular in all seven nations.

The Sages in Sumeru tried to ban them for being exported to their city claiming that are extremely disrespectful and sully the image of you. But that doesn’t stop the books from being smuggled in, many people, even scholars within the Akademiya, own at least one fanfic.

Inazuma is of course the main producer of these novels. Under the guidance of Yae Miko, many people have the chance to have their work published. (Yae has no shame whatsoever 💀) The Kitsune proofreads them all personally and critiques them harshly. Only the absolute best will be coming out of her publishing house.

Liyue, the place where all goods come to be traded and sold, are the ones who get the most exports of these products. Of course they’ll say they are simply for profit, which some of them are, but lots of them are for the Liyue citizens themselves. Even the Adepti read these novels but they always comment how odd mortals are to want Their Grace in such a way. (Yeah they projecting cuz they want you too 😩🙏)

Imagine all the arguments people have had debating whether a fanfic characterized you properly or not. Lmao.

Once you’re in Teyvat the fanfics don’t stop, actually they increase.

Now people have the chance to watch you from afar and come up with even more scenarios they’d like to imagine you in.

You mention your favorite food? They’re gonna write fics about taking you on a date to get that food.

You mention your favorite hobby? Yeah, you get the idea…

Of course they never expect you to find out about these books but it’s not like they’re hiding it. Just imagine how awkward that would be to see a self-insert book about yourself.💀

Now no one is reading these books publicly, that’s way too embarrassing for them, but once the sun is down and everyone is going home to rest once again, that’s when the books come out.

You know how some people need the perfect fake scenario before they fall asleep? Yeah that’s them with these books.

They’ll read to their heart’s content and eventually fall asleep having dreams about you hoping that one day they can meet you and make the fanfic a reality. They’re a bit delusional and the fics aren’t helping 💀

-

© avocad1s 2023

[teratosfavouritesnack]

| Masterlist |

First of all let me introduce myself and my blog.

Hiii, fellow monster lovers and welcome! I'm Näckros and this is my monster friendly (too friendly) side blog where I post any cute or filthy thought that crosses my mind. English is not my first language so if I make any mistakes please tell me so I can improve. I'm a porn with plot type of gal, which means that I tend to set the mood of the story before I get into the smut stuff, so (were)bear that in mind! And on that note, THIS IS A 18+ BLOG SO MINORS, BEGONE 💋

This blog is a safe space for all the weirdos and the delulus who think that they could get railed by werebeasts, minotaurs, orcs, dragons, weird aliens, giants even, and not be ripped in two. The fictional world is amazing precisely because we can do whatever the hell we want in it so let's forget the realistic technicalities while we're here, yeah? Let's allow our imagination to run free and enjoy what it comes up with. Let's be degenerates together. <3

My ask box is always open - you can send questions or open discussions about any theme regarding monsters; you can send requests of monsters you'd like to read a story about; you can send suggestions, share your own fantasies, recommending books, movies, videogames, other blogs; you can also send me feedback on things I've written (it's always highly appreciated and motivating). I do not put any limits - If I don't like something, I will simply not answer.

My DMs are also always open for anyone who wants to chat and become mutuals, but please be patient with me if I'm late to answer. I swear I'm not ignoring you, I'm just anxious + lazy + unable to manage time but also always doing something, which could be either writing stories for this blog, or fanfictions for my main blog or making digital art for my art side blog. So yeah, I won't always be avaliable, nor will I post daily on here.

I have a Ko-fi where you can leave tips if you like what I write and you want (but mostly, can) support me. I write for my own enjoyment of course but I'm a jobless student and money unfortunately is scarse. So even just a small tip as a 'thank you' can help me.

What else can I add?

BE RESPECTFUL - DO NOT SHAME ANYONE FOR THEIR KINKS - DO NOT BE RUDE - DO NOT COPY OR REPOST OR TRANSLATE OR MODIFY MY STORIES IN ANY WAY

That being said, enjoy your stay and thank you for following this weirdo here and enjoying the products of her weird mind 💜

SFW | scenarios - imagines - fics

Cold Hands -> vampire boyfriend x afab!human

Nighttime Muse -> vampire boyfriend x human

Meet Cute -> minotaur x human - more about this

Accidental Summoning -> demon-like creature x afab!human

Bouncer in Love -> [part 2] - [part 3 coming soon] werebear bouncer x afab!human

Death in Childbirth -> dragon husband x afab!human

Cat and Mouse -> werepanther biker x afab!human

NSFW | scenarios - imagines - fics

Period Tracker -> werewolf boyfriend x afab!human

The Lover -> [part.2 coming soon] unknown monster x afab!human

First Date with BFF -> werewolf x human

Ready For His Cock -> minotaur boyfriend x afab!human

Big Bad Wolf -> werewolf boyfriend x human

Well-Fed Cat -> cat hybrid boyfriend x afab!human

Tests Subjects -> werebear x human [longer fic coming soon]

Prankster -> [part 2] ghost x afab!human

Pouncing Panther -> werepanther husband x human

Dirty Hobby -> roommate!werewolf x afab!human

Wet for the Doctor -> gyno!lizard man x afab!human [longer fic]

Tavern Orgy -> multiple monsters x fem!human

Companionship in the Labyrinth -> minotaur x afab!human

Cow Dreams -> alien x afab!human

Helping Hand -> centaur x human

Ishtà-kurme -> husband!orc x chubby!fem!human x husband's sons

_

Jack of all Trades -> robot x afab!human

Full of Eggs -> mothman x afab!reader

Search #teratosnack's poll for all the polls I made

Search #monster art or #terato art for the beautiful art I reblog

Search #teratosnack for all my stories

Search #snack answered; for my answers to your asks

Credits to @ anitalenia for all the dividers I use for my posts 🫶🏻

[jiraisupportgroup]

First of all - I'd like to note that this post is not intended to pressure anyone to change or to make people feel ashamed for the position they are in in life. I feel like a lot of people don't understand that being in this position is not often a choice. A majority of the time there are mental illnesses or chronic physical illnesses which lead someone to this point. It isn't like they're just hanging out at home all day having a blast - it is emotionally and physically taxing to be in this position, and it can be incredibly hard to break out. Not impossible!! Just very hard.

It is not as simple as "just go outside" "just get a job" etc; that kind of advice is not helpful. This post is mostly aimed at people who want to make some sort of change in their routine. Again, if you don't want to change or don't feel a need to - I'm not here to pressure you into changing your life or to tell you you are wrong for living this way - you're not, you're okay I promise. More so this is for people who are thinking about changing things up or adding a little more structure to their life.

Keep in mind - there is no shame in this. If you're looking at your daily log of activities and it isn't what you want it to be that is okay! Don't beat yourself up or be down on yourself for not being perfect or not being where you want to be. This is just so we can identify trends in our behaviours and more clearly see the things we want to cut back on or the things we want to add to our daily / weekly routines.

Try to keep this in a place where it is easy to keep track of. I typically recommend something digital like a notes app on the phone or a google document since you can access that from a computer or your phone - that way it's much easier to just pop in and write a simple note like "10am - had a bagel for breakfast", or a little pocket notebook that you can keep on your person. Make it as easy for yourself as possible.

It can also help to add little notes about how certain activities make you feel or your general mood throughout the day. This doesn't have to be extensive, but something like "Took a shower, feel refreshed but exhausted", or "2-4pm scrolling TikTok, I don't feel anything, I'm a little irritated". Keeping in mind how certain activities make you feel is a good step in identifying how different things affect your mental health and overall energy / stress levels. This can also help us start to see some of the underlying reasons for some of your behaviours. If you start to see why you do or don't like doing certain things, you can have a better understanding of yourself and how you can go about changing certain habits.

For example if you absolutely 100% detest doing the dishes, the feeling, the smell, how long it takes, etc, it isn't going to be very helpful to have a "just do it" approach to building the habit. It will become much easier if we also adopt other things into this such as having a dish-washing chair, a special soap, or gloves to make the process more bearable before throwing yourself head-first into it.

Some goals are easier to identify than others. For example "I want to brush my teeth every night" is a pretty identifiable goal and the steps you need to take to achieve that goal are pretty straightforward. Other goals like "I want to feel more productive" or "I want to have more energy" are vague and difficult to achieve in themsevles, so we need to break them down.

What does each goal mean to you? What does "being more productive" mean? Does it mean keeping your room clean? Creating a physical product or hobby? Achieving smaller goals throughout the day? Exercising more? Trading social media for something like a book? Learning something new? What smaller aspect of this larger idea stands out to you? Once it is broken into parts it's much easier to work on one aspect at a time instead of just trying to change everything overnight.

Other goals seem like too much, like "I want to be able to go to the grocery store by myself". That's an easily identifiable goal, but it's a BIG goal. There are likely steps you'll have to take to work up to this goal, and those steps are heavily tied to the reasons why you don't like going to the grocery store in the first place. If the crowds make you anxious - going out with friends or family to less crowded places, or going to the grocery store at less busy times of day could help. If the food items stress you out - going out to places like office supply stores that don't carry food items or going to the store without the intent of buying anything just to walk around and get used to it might be helpful. Some stores like Kroger, Ingles, or Target often have little coffee shops in them - maybe going to one of these with friends just to get a snack and hang out can help expose you to the idea of the store itself without the pressure of having to pick out what you're buying or the pressure of interacting with the cashier so you don't have to tackle it all at once. Or if you typically get groceries delivered to your house, maybe you could do a purchase online pick up in-store thing one day - you don't have to spend much time in the actual store, and you don't have to pick items out while you're there, but it'll get you to the actual store and then you can just go home right afterwards. Try to find ways to get slowly closer and closer to your final goal without throwing yourself headfirst into it. (One thing I will say specifically about going to the grocery store is try to avoid planning out exactly what you're going to purchase beforehand - I used to do this and I would end up crying in the middle of the store if they didn't have the exact bread they wanted, it backfired on me more than once T-T so do that at your own risk).

Write out as many or as few goals as you can think of. These are long-term goals, so if your list feels really long don't worry! You don't have to do all of this at once! In fact, I implore you not to try and do too many of these things at once! Try not to get overwhelmed if it feels like a lot - you've got time, this is not a once-and-done kind of thing, we're going to take it slow and try to be reasonable with ourselves and our expectations of ourselves.

But how do you pick a goal? There's a lot of ways you could do this. Some people like to try and go for the one that seems the hardest first - I've never really had luck with this I usually just give up when I feel like it's too hard. Some people try to pick the one that seems the easiest to ease themselves into it - this is always nice because it can help you feel like you're actually making progress and changing things. Some people pick ones that overlap. Like if you want to spend less time on social media and more time doing a hobby like knitting - you can combine those two goals into "trade social media time for knitting" to kind of tackle two things at once. Try not to combine too many things together - we do still want these goals to be small and separate from each other - but smaller ones like that it is okay to and makes sense to combine together.

So! You've picked a goal to work towards! Yay! How do we do that? It depends on the goal you've picked. If it's something physical like showering, brushing your teeth, vacuuming, doing the dishes, going for a walk, or cooking dinner, it's a little easier to track. Setting reminders or keeping a log of when you do these things can help, some people like having weekly or daily checklists to keep track of what has been done and when. Try to avoid putting too many things on the checklist - we don't want to overwhelm ourselves, remember we're just working on one thing right now.

For others, picking a certain day of the week or time of day to do these things can help as well. Having a set time or day for certain activities can help set the routine of doing them, and also makes it a little easier to keep track of when they are done. If you miss these days or times don't beat yourself up! Try to avoid the feeling of "oh well I was supposed to shower at 7pm and now it's 10pm so I missed my opportunity" you can deviate from the timeframes you set for yourself they're just a guide. But over time if you decide you're going to brush your teeth at 9pm every night, after a month or two you'll start being like "oh it's 9pm I'm going to go brush my teeth" it becomes a second-hand habit that you don't have to think about too hard after a few months.

If it is a more nebulous or vague goal, we might want to make a roadmap. Like if your end goal is "I want to be able to keep my room clean consistently" there's a lot that goes into that. Often that includes dishes, taking the trash out, doing laundry, folding the laundry, vacuuming, etc. Trying to take all of that on at once can be really overwhelming! Start small. Let's say, maybe every other night you want to take the dishes from your room to the kitchen. Just focus on that. Or maybe you want to make your bed every day. Or maybe you want to do your laundry once a week. Pick one aspect to focus on for a while, and slowly build on that. After about 2 weeks of taking your dishes to the kitchen every other night, maybe you can add washing them into that. Or after doing your laundry once a week for about a month, you can add folding it into that. If you ease yourself into it, it gets much easier to actually build these habits and not super overwhelm yourself right off the bat. And if you miss a day, that's okay! I'm not expecting you to set a goal and then immediately be able to do it all the time, and you shouldn't expect that of yourself either. Go easy on yourself. Slow progress is still progress. Maybe you're not making your bed every day, but making it once or twice a week is still progress! And over time that once or twice a week will evolve into three or four times a week. And it'll just keep going from there.

On the other hand, if you're trying to STOP doing something as much - the approach is often a little different. Some people like to use timers or notes to show when they last did something so they can see how long it's been or notice changes in whether they're doing it more or less frequently. If it's something like trying to cut back on social media you can set time limits on your phone for how long you're allowed to use each app. These are easy enough to bypass but often times having that reminder of "Hey it's been 15 minutes your time limit is up" can be a reminder to yourself that you want to be more mindful of how long you're spending on these apps, even if you just extend the time limit when it pops up.

Set up alternatives for yourself! It's really hard to say "oh I just won't do that anymore", give yourself something else to do instead. If you want to spend less time on social media, you might instead spend more time reading, drawing, or even playing video games. (Trading social media for video games is a healthy trade I will die on this hill - I don't care how many articles you've seen saying they're just as bad as each other I promise you Persona 5 is not as bad as Twitter for your mental health). If you want to stop smoking, instead have gums, lollipops or a drink you enjoy; or practice breathing techniques when you want to smoke; or if you vape try switching to a lower concentration juice (I'm also trying to stop smoking so I feel you on this it's a tough one). If you're trying to stop SH, have other things like ice cubes, rubber bands, pens, or something that will give you a physical sensation without causing harm (or as much harm). Work with yourself, identify what you're getting from each of these things, and try to make a trade for something that is a little better for you but still gives you some of that thing that you want. Don't beat yourself up if you do still engage in these habits, it is hard to stop. Instead of punishing yourself for still doing these things, praise yourself for doing them less often. (And if you're not doing them less often, praise yourself for being aware of your habits in the first place).

The hardest thing about this whole process is getting the motivation to start. Once you get started it's much easier to keep it going, but that first push to get the ball rolling is the hardest part. For a lot of things you can't wait until you feel like doing it - often that won't come. There are different ways people motivate themselves to do things they don't want to do. Ease yourself into it, don't do everything at once do the first step of the process and then take a little break. For example, if you're folding the laundry, separate it into categories then take a little break. When you come back fold one category, then take a break. Then do the next category. Over time the laundry will be all folded! Set a timer, think about how much time you could reasonably spend doing something. Let's say 10 minutes. Set a timer for 10 minutes, then start whatever task it is you want to do. If you want to clean your room maybe set a timer for 10 minutes and spend that time picking up trash. After those 10 minutes are up you're done. You can come back to more of it later. Often times you'll find that you're able to finish a lot of tasks faster than you thought you'd be able to, and if they're not finished oftentimes times you're more inclined to keep going once those 10 minutes are up since you've already started the ball rolling. Some people use a sort of "rip the bandaid off" technique where they set an alarm to go do something and as soon as that alarm goes off they just force themselves do it. This is hard at first but it does become easier. Think of it like you're jumping into a pool. 3...2...1... GO! Often that initial push to just start walking to go to the thing you want to do is the hardest, and once you're moving it becomes easier.

Tell a friend you're going to do it. Sometimes this helps you feel more motivated to do it since you're giving yourself a little bit of outside pressure to complete the task. On this note, weirdly enough, stretching can help you get motivated to do harder tasks. Like if you want to take the trash out but you're laying in bed, stretching in bed just to get your blood moving can sometimes help you get that initial push to get up and take the trash out.

Work with yourself. Try different approaches, and celebrate your successes no matter how small they may seem. Over time you will find things do get easier, and after tackling one small goal for a month or two, you can add another small goal into the mix.

Some popular app recommendations (I'm so sorry this list is so short - hoping to add to it in the future)

IAmSober - Andriod and IOS - allows you to set multiple goals of things you want to stop doing and shows you timers for how long it's been since you last engaged in that habit.

Flora - Google Play, IOS, and Chrome Extension - sets a timer for how long you don't want to use your phone or computer, once you finish this timer without using your device it grows a tree, and adds that tree to your garden. I used to use this for studying back in college and I quite enjoyed it.

HabitShare - Android, Google Play, and IOS - set habits and keep track of when you've completed them, you can also link with friends to see each other's habits too (although, this is optional you can also keep it private).

These are the best-rated free apps I could find for this kind of thing, if there are others that you use or have used in the past please feel free to comment or rb I would love to be able to add to this list.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope this can be at least a little helpful and I hope it doesn't come off as a "just do it" kind of vibe. I know getting the motivation to start building new or breaking old habits is realllllly hard so hopefully, this is at least a bit helpful T-T

As always, I love you guys and I'm proud of you for being here and doing what you can ˗ˋˏ ��� ˎˊ˗ please feel free to comment or send in any questions, comments, concerns, additions, or anything of that sort ~ ♡

[ardranaline]

new moon in ♒ Pick a pile

it's a current energy check In and advice for few. if you want a personal reading for the new moon dm!

everything has come to a halt .things just don’t feel right , you don’t feel alright. there’s energies of uncertainty, it’s like your sick but there’s no physical wounds. the hobbies, the job you do, don’t give you that satisfaction and it just feels so heavy to them. you feel drained there’s this feeling in your heart, a fear, something is wrong, you feel out of place and lost . even trying to achieve your dreams , goals doesn’t seem worth it now. Foods or music that used to be your favorite has no more appeal .you may even wonder if your a good person , good enough as you thought . In a sense you could have been lying and faking to your own self .you have doubts in everything you do. some of you may even feel empty and worthless .this all seems to stem from a place where you’re not validating yourself, you’ve belittled yourself, thinking others have have done more ,they’re more skilled. you don’t place any value or worth on yourself and things that you do. for some it can be due to the situations they’re placed in childhood. any achievements got any praise . and the next achievement had to be greater than the last one .constant progress or failing even once was looked down & shamed.

you guys have been thinking and wondering about your support system ,where you find comfort ,what makes you happy ,you’ve taken a step to notice what’s doing you right and what’s doing you wrong .you’ve been reflecting and understanding yourself and trying to improve what you’re doing in a personal & professional sense. you’ve been planning a lot , comparing pros and cons to some it can be academics & reflecting for which skill/ career is good for you . few of you could be traveling or doing a lot of research basically exploring to find the right path and improve yourself . this pile gives vibes of growth , you’re making the blueprint for success . facing a bit of diet issues, meals that you want to have not being available. some choosing their health & not consuming processed food or take outs .some not choosing to take advice or labels that others throw at you . along with improving you are also cutting out old habits , mindset . Some are overcoming their social media or other addiction / procrastination slump and engaging + improving your life . some of you would have been denying yourself a thing , doing that will give you a lot of relief . by denying you’re suffocating yourself

trying to make ends meet, dealing with deadlines being very overworked ,there’s a lack of care and nourishment of self .keeping yourself busy so you won’t have to deal with some things or feeling unworthy of rest , being cared , gentle love . doing others labor ,people pleasing , not taking up space because you feel you’ll be a burden. being afraid to take up space, to demand , to be content so you in the name of adjusting stay ,unsatisfied ,sad ,insecure ,unloved . due to the fear that if you take up space , ask for what you want , you’ll be viewed as asking too much and you could lose people ,opportunities or titles just because you ask or what you want. it’s advised you stop doing others work ,take rest, nourish your body and let yourself be loved and cared for by yourself before you let others care for you . even if you rest, you don’t rest properly. you keep thinking about what to do ,you haven’t slept well in days , you’re not giving yourself the break you deserve.

you have been putting in a lot of work in yourself ,you try to keep your head high , everyday you’ve been gentle and pushing yourself to heal and be productive and its visible how much you’ve improved since day one .all those small steps have given you big results , you’ve improved your self concept, self esteem a lot of healing and learning about yourself & you’re life . you have come a long way but still sometimes you stress over the smallest of things . overall you’ve been building yourself up ,a lot progress but in your head you still have doubts & confusion. you’re on the right path ,there’s just a bit more of balancing & managing the situation & routines so you don’t suffocate yourself. for some it may stem because they fell trapped by the routine and need to do and improve. some are doing all this to avoid emotions, confronting a situation and making yourself very busy.. you are overworking yourself and also avoiding the stress of the main problem and taking it out on small things because you don’t know how to feel about something ,how to overcome it and get back to your life like nothing happened.

[percheduphere]

Okay. First post trying to use gifs properly. I've switched out improper gifs for these type for my last 3-4 posts. Gonna work on some more corrections tomorrow when I have time. Please let me know if I'm misstepping anywhere. Thanks for your patience! That said...

LET'S TALK ABOUT SYLVIE💕, INTERSECTIONAL FEMINISM (SYLVIE & LOKI)✊🏽, AND QUEER REPRESENTATION (LOKIUS)🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️!

SYLVIE

I'm rooting for Lokius, AND I also love how much Sylvie has forged a life for herself in S2. A lot of her development is implied, so I think it's worth looking at her growth outside the context of Loki himself: She found a job, locals know her by name, she has friends and acquaintances, she has hobbies!

People call her by name in her timeline on 4 occasions:

1. When the McDonald's shift manager (John) checks in on her after work. See the kid with the tie in the image below. I couldn't find any gifs of him visiting Sylvie at her truck. She asked him if his mom was gonna pick him up to make sure he was gonna be okay late at night. 🥹

2. When a customer picks up their McDonald's order and thanks her (cheerfully). Also note how many employee stars she had on her badge! Queen.

3. Lyle at the record store. They seem like really good friends, and I got the "beginnings of an attraction" vibe between the two of them. Unfortunately, the gifs below are the only ones I could find of him and I'm still searching for the source. His interaction with Sylvie before spaghetti-trauma was so sincere. He could tell she was down and offered her Velvet Underground. Come on, that's a solid move.

4. Eric at the bar, who comments 2 shots of bourbon is a good choice. Let me tell you, finding a gif of Eric was like finding a needle in a haystack, but here he is leaning close to Sylvie. Thank you, @zehiiro!

I tried to find more gifs of all the people Sylvie has in her life but couldn't find any, which is a darn shame because there are so many subtle cues she's built a support system on her own and she's thriving.

She's a regular at many places in her timeline, and when people greet her, they do so with a smile. She loves music, a hard drink, and punk fashion.

When she engages with Loki, she may come across as cold, but I honestly think she's being firm with her boundaries and true to her beliefs. The TVA threatened her life for centuries. I don't doubt setting foot in the building is traumatic for her, which may explain why she was more harsh than usually in S2E4. Her psychological defenses were all on overdrive. Yet when Sylvie's in her own timeline, far away from the TVA, she can be her real self. Turns out, her real self is pretty well-liked! (I'll talk about how this is mirrored in Loki soon).

INTERSECTIONAL FEMINISM

Sylvie's an unapologetically "selfish" woman who knows what she wants, wants it on her own, is doing it on her own, and isn't afraid to put her foot down when it comes to her personal boundaries. We should be applauding all of that!

This is exactly the kind of female representation we need, but the show did Sylvie a disservice in S1 by coming at her character as a love interest first (look at all the media promos classifying her as such) instead of more thoughtfully showing how badly she has been affected by the TVA and planting what her desires are throughout. If they had done this with more intention and finesse, her position in S2 wouldn't come off as completely irresponsible.

As a result of this apparent marketing and pre-production development decision, her perception as a character (by both lokius and sylki shippers) is muddled by the question of her relationship status with Loki. This truly isn't fair, most especially to Sophia Di Martino.

Of course, Sylvie isn't perfect. No well-written character should be. I just think she's cooler than she gets credit for precisely because her character arc doesn't require the fulfillment of a romance. She will be fine whether or not she ends up with Loki. It's very feminist!

Loki, in turn, found safety, belonging, and love at the TVA. All the things that are the complete opposite of Sylvie's lived experience. I often see fans complaining about how Loki is ooc in his own series.

The thing is, and Loki admits this himself: it's all part of an illusion.

This illusion started far before the first Thor movie. He comes from a hyper-masculine (dare I say toxic-masculine) warrior society. His true nature doesn't conform with this, so he has to overcompensate with some (genuinely awesome) bad assery.

BUT he doesn't like it.

As a comparison to a far lesser but more relatable degree: imagine putting on a customer service persona 24/7. UGH. It's just not sustainable without becoming increasingly angry and bitter, which is what Sacred Timeline Loki becomes. Mobius gets ahead of this.

In the series, Loki can finally TURN OFF that persona, and TURN IT ON again when it's needed (and fun!).

He also now has the freedom to be silly, expressive, and magical (unapologetically queer!) without anyone making fun of him for it.

The end result is a much calmer, happier, likable person (like Sylvie in her timeline, his defenses are no longer on overdrive!). Who shows him this is possible?

Here's the receipt:

QUEER REPRESENTATION

Sociopoliticaly, Loki and Mobius come from a different angle. A lot of men (cis, fluid, trans, or otherwise) struggle with the social expectation of burying feelings and never ever showing vulnerability, especially to another men. Now, some might argue that shipping men together perpetuates this construct. There's some truth to this, but only through the lens that it is shameful to be gay. In order to get to a point in society where there's no shame in being mistaken as gay (or queer, generally) when being affectionate with another man, there must be continuous positive representation of homosexual relationships in which the characters are not stereotypes. Loki and Mobius are exactly this, especially Mobius.

Whereas Loki, on Asgard, represents the openly queer oppressed (i.e. magic and cunning, qualities historically tied to witches or "immoral women" instead of brute strength), Mobius can represent the closeted repressed.

In S1, Mobius was much more uptight, rule-abiding, and just shy of holier-than-thou. The power structure in which he existed perpetuated this, until Loki reveals to him it was all a lie (an illusion).

In S2, he becomes more flexible, more fun-loving, and more expressive in his affection. In S1, most of his support of Loki manifested as words of affirmation. In S2, his support extended to physical touch and bonding. Mobius, if seen through the lens of a closeted man allegory, finds the courage (and partner) to slowly come out.

[graneymar]

Hiì, can you do a Neymar X fem!reader when she is an actress and she was nominated for an Oscar

(they are like 26-27, davi in this is reader's son so they have been together since they were teenagers and she gave birth when she was 17.

And they have a daughter too)

you could describe how the night goes, how everyone are loving them, and then at the end she wins too.

Him being super supportive, everyone loves them, they meet other celebrities..

add what you feel it's right!!!

thank you if you’ll do it!!❤️❤️And also, l'm sorry if something it's not very clear, but l'm not a native speaker!!

#4. NEYMAR: THE OSCARS [requested]

SUMMARY: above

WARNINGS: angst (a little)

PAIRINGS: Neymar x female reader

I was nervous as hell. Being nominated for an Oscar for my first big role after pausing my career for my husband and kids for almost ten years, I had a feeling this event wouldn’t go too well for me. Neymar, sitting next to me in the limousine, noticed how anxious I got and intertwined his hand with mine. Before looking up at him, I watched him hold my hand for a second. The moment our eyes met I let out a loud sigh. He smiled at me softly, "Don't worry amorzinha, no matter what happens tonight, you wouldn’t even be nominated if you haven’t done this good [sweetheart]." I nodded, knowing he was right. I bit my bottom lip as I was getting flashbacks. "I just don’t want to disappoint or even embarrass myself being too hopeful. Last time I checked everyone hated on me."

In fact, I was born to be in front of the camera. Since I was a little child, I got booked for commercials and roles in movies. When I was 14 years old, I even had my own show and became a rolemodel for many younger girls. Eventually, everything changed when I met Neymar. We were filming a commercial together and fell in love. I was only 16 years old when I found out I was pregnant. Neymar, who was my first boyfriend – now being my boyfriend for over a decade –, and I already had a hard time dealing with personal issues, but the media interfering as soon as they found about me carrying his child, made it a lot harder. I lost all my jobs. The reason? I got slutshamed, I simply was a shame. I should’ve been a better rolemodel to my younger fans, they wanted me to take responsibility. But how was I supposed to do this when I still was a kid myself. Neymar, on the other side, got praised for being such a good father to our son, Davi, who I gave birth to at the age of 17. They respected him for continuing his career as a football player and still being able to take care of his little family. How ironic.

Since I had to raise our son, follow Neymar around the world and no one wanted to work with me anyway thanks to my bad image, I fully gave up on my acting career and decided I would just dedicate my life to my son and boyfriend. And honestly, I never regretted it, not even for a second.

On Davis fourth birthday I found out I was pregnant again. God blessed us with another angel, our babygirl Luana. Neymar and I couldn’t be happier. We had each other, we had our children and enjoyed every moment we were able to share with one another. On the other side though, Neymar always felt guilty for 'ruining' my career. That was the reason he tried to motivate me to apply for some roles when the kids were old enough. I couldn’t even imagine myself acting again, I wasn’t that confident and sure of myself anymore. But being Neymars girlfriend, I got a lot of offers for promoting products on social media or filming basic commercials. I had a hard time realising Davi and Luana were growing up, going to private school and following their hobbies instead of their mother taking care of and playing with them all day, so at some point, I decided to agree on filming a commercial - and the unexpected happened. I got booked for small roles in shows and movies, until I got the main role in a movie I felt like would be very big and popular, and I was right about that. It seemed like almost everyone forgot about my past and started loving and respecting me again after seeing me in the movie, which led to me being nominated for an Oscar as the best actress. It still felt unreal to me. I never would’ve imagined I'd be able to act again, let alone being nominated for a fucking Oscar.

"Meu amor, all this happened over ten years ago [my love]. Trust me, the respect towards you for being such an amazing mother to two children at a young age and still having such a comeback must be immense." If he only knew how much I loved him.

We arrived and I checked myself out in the selfie camera for the last time before getting out of the limousine, Neymar following closely behind me. All cameras were directed as us, the flash lights not stopping for a second. Neymar grabbed me by the waist and pulled me closer to him, posing for some photos. Instead of giving my attention to the cameras that were shoved right into our faces, I couldn’t help but stare at Neymar and smile widely as I repeatingly thought about how lucky I was to have him by my side. After me watching him for a few seconds, he looked down at me. His lips formed a big grin. "Eu te amo [I love you]", he whispered before giving me a short kiss, causing me to blush and chuckle a little. The second his lips touched mine, we heard everyone cheering and "aww"-ing.

The moment the nominees for the best actress got called out I swallowed hard. I breathed in and out heavily when I heard my name. Neymar picked up my hand, kissing the back of it. I appreciated him putting in effort to help me calm down, but I felt the tears forming in my eyes as I got more nervous with every passing second. "I just want this to finally end and go home", I whispered to him, taking another deep breath. He was trying to stay positive for me, but looking into his eyes, his nervousness and worries were obvious and clear to me. My heart was racing, I swear I could even hear it’s beating. The winner would get announced now. My eyes shut down, I faced the ground. I didn’t want the cameras to catch my disappointed crying face. Why would I be sad anyway? Getting an Oscar never was anything I expected. Suddenly, I heard applause and inaudible cheering around me. Did she just say my name? I quickly looked up but was unable to realise what was going on. Neymar jumped up, hands clapping, tears of joy were visible in his hazel eyes. My mouth fell open. This had to be a joke. Impossible. "Parabéns bebê, I'm so proud of you [congratulations baby]", Neymar dragged me up from my seat and hugged me tightly, kissing my cheek. I felt hot tears streaming down my face. The speech I held was absolute chaos, crying and stuttering, but still expressing how grateful I was.

"Oh. My. God", Neymar stuttered. We were at the after party enjoying ourselves. His favorite actor of all time, Will Smith, walked up to us. "Ney, Y/N", he greeted and hugged us, "Congratulations! I was so relieved the second your name was called. Your acting was just… wow! You really deserve it." I had to hold myself back from fangirling and squeaking, getting such a compliment from Will fucking Smith himself. We did some small talk and continued meeting some more of our idols throughout the whole night.

Yes, I won an Oscar that night, but the real win was the man I had by my side - always supporting me, motivating and inspiring me to do what’s best for me and loving me unconditionally.

[audioroleplayconfessions]

Small/niche YouTube VA here. The activism quota police coming for VAs for not doing "enough" for Palestine need to chill. I myself have been on the receiving end of it and I'm not even a big VA. I make niche content for my small audience of about 1,000 subscribers. I have a lot to say about this. I'm just going to make a list.

YouTube audio roleplay VAs are not public figures. They don't have political influence. They aren't celebrities.

VAs aren't supposed to be "educating" people about fucking war crimes. That's not their job. Most VAs (myself included) just do it as one of their hobbies. Suddenly foisting the burden of educating the public about geopolitics and the history of genocide on them because they made some boyfriend roleplays is INSANE.

If you want to be a pro-Palestine activist, GREAT! You can do that! Whether you're a VA or just in the fandom, you can do that and that's cool! What's not cool is opening every supposed activist or educational statement by shaming other people for not doing "enough", or even outright accusing them of supporting genocidal actions because "their silence is deafening". You accomplish nothing by doing this.

People have lives outside of their fucking YouTube channel and their fandom accounts. I've gotten accused of being a zionist because I took issue with the whole "your silence is deafening" rhetoric. I do support Palestine in my actual real life, it's just that my version of activism involves engaging people in real life and on my personal Twitter/Facebook in debate. I actually call out and try to change the minds of people who support Israel's military, dispel myths and falsehoods when I see people spreading misinformation. I've donated multiple times but I just never advertised it on my YouTube channel and social media because why the fuck would I? People acting like this has no impact and is less important than a YouTuber sharing a charity link that they themselves didn't even donate to is actually fucked up.

Harassing someone who is ALREADY ACTIVELY PRO PALESTINE for not doing "enough" (enough being narrowly defined as lip service on social media related to their YouTube channel) DOES NOT HELP. Harassing people and telling them that they support genocide because they did some mundane thing like getting a Starbucks DOES NOT HELP. Be so fucking real. People will harass people that could easily be won over to their cause over nothing, but wont actually engage with the open Zionists or talk directly people who are duped into believing Zionist propaganda.

I know some people are going to disagree but I mean this. This shit is so counter productive and honestly messed up.

.

[csuitebitches]

I really enjoy your blog and was wondering if you have advice on one of my biggest mental blocks. I'm 23 but struggle to feel like an adult and being independent deeply scares me even through I want to be "chasing my dreams". I've lived with my close knit family my whole life and still spend a lot of time with my parents. I'm almost going to move away(in the next year) and so I've began the process of getting a car/saving money, etc. But then I find myself subtly sabotaging these efforts because the idea of being alone/moving away also terrifies me. I really want to experience moving to a city and working and traveling and doing things I want and at this point I'm finding it draining being my parents "stay-at-home-daughter". But I also get anxiously sick when I try a push myself for more independence. I've put so much on hold going through school and then living in my home town w. parents and it's kind of scary to imagine dating (never prioritized men + parents didn't let me date in highschool= never had a bf or anything) or living alone even though I'd love to have the experience. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Basically I still feel like a 15 year old when it comes to my personal life and that feels a bit shameful.

I want to tell you that we all feel what you feel. You’ll only ever feel like an adult when you’ve exposed yourself to the outside world, regardless of whether you can handle it or not.

independence scares you because it’s unfamiliar territory. Often when we look at people who are independent and on their own two feet, they seem to have a sense of self identity, purpose and responsibilities to handle.

I’m always in favour of people moving out of their parents homes for a couple of years at least (the culture where I come from also emphasises on the whole family living together and there’s no move out at the age of 18 concept) because I see the pros and cons of both situations of living in/ out of your parents home.

No book, YouTube video, friends’ experiences will teach you about being an adult. You have to step out and experience it yourself.

Start doing exposure therapy. Basically, slowly, bit by bit, immerse yourself into the traditional adult experiences.

I’ll give you examples. Understand fully how your insurance works. Keep all your medical records in both a physical and a digital file.

Understand how your car functions as a product - which means guarantees, warranties, insurance, emergency numbers, mechanics nearby, etc.

Start tracking all your spending expenses, even if you’re using your parents money at the moment. The earlier you start this habit, the better. Create a monthly budget for yourself and stick to it.

Start doing your own laundry in the house and learn that not all clothes go in the washing machine, some go for dry cleaning etc.

Make it a goal to learn to cook at least 5 dishes properly before you leave. If your parents are good cooks, ask them to teach you or go to every introvert’s favourite site, YouTube.

Pretend that your room is a mini apartment and try to keep it clean at all times.

Start socialising more. Not just with known friends. Sign up for a random hobby class like a book club or a running club where you can meet more people. Yes it’ll be difficult, yes you’ll have moments of awkwardness but don’t give up after just one meeting - go and meet new people to get used to the idea of interacting with strangers.

You can’t rush into feeling like an adult. It takes time. Exposure therapy is the best way to get into it. The more responsibility you can healthily shoulder, even if you fail at times, you’ll still start feeling more confident.

We weren’t born with the knowledge of car tire changing mechanics, insurance, cooking or tidying up. We had to learn them as we grew up. It’s perfectly alright to not know how to do something. The beauty of living in today’s world is that the answer to nearly every question is one google search away.

[meanbossart]

Some art-advice asks I've been meaning to reply to!

I use Clip Studio Paint Pro, though I'm not sure what tips I could give just in general. Just experiment with new things often, draw as much as your lifestyle allows, watch how other people do their work but try to avoid "Dont do THIS thing ever" type lessons and tutorials. Use as much reference as you'd like and take your time! To this day a simple sketch can still take me several hours to do depending on what it is.

Thank you so much!!! I didn't do any kind of formal art schooling but I've always been inclined towards arts and crafts, and started taking drawing semi seriously when I was about 17 (I'm 27 now). I draw a lot of inspiration from western comics and my favorite artists are jason shawn alexander and sean murphy.

Oh I'm so flattered to hear my stuff's inspired you to take up drawing again, I have a bunch of little crafty hobbies but art is by far the most fulfilling one to me - largely because you're constantly learning and improving.

You're definitely onto something already, I am constantly looking at other people's art (even If it isn't a style I would want to emulate) and analyzing how the pieces come together to create the final product. In my opinion this is pretty much the best way you can go about learning besides real-life reference drawing. You can even take something into your software of choice/print it out and trace it (just to yourself, of course) to get a sense of hand-motion and line use.

As a beginner I think there's no shame at all in taking heavy inspiration from your favorite artists, as long as you aren't straight up copying things and calling them your own. Your personal style Is likely to come out naturally, with time. That's very much how I started myself!

Also, just be patient with yourself, try to have realistic goals for your skill level while simultaneously being proud of everything you do. Even if you absolutely despise a drawing, you still drew something! And even if it doesn't feel that way you most definitely learned from it. Use learning tools and tutorials to whatever point you feel comfortable with but don't get stuck on people's arbitrary rules - unless we're talking about something tangible like real-life application of traditional art tools, things like anatomy, perspective and light are to be referenced from - but It's not the goal to emulate them 100% unless you ARE going for hyperrealism. As someone who uses a ton of reference these days, I can tell you first-hand that I often find myself straying from it on purpose to make a piece look more interesting.

Lastly, draw things you enjoy! Don't let anyone else dictate what you SHOULD be doing and don't fall into the trappings of wanting to stick to one specific style, process, or subject matter.

Good luck!!!

LOL thank you so much for your very evocative compliments! I haven't ever done a timelapse, not that I remember at least. I'm not sure how they work but I do so much of "I'm gonna try this thing 5 different ways and then decide what I like" that I'm not sure how comprehensive that would be LOL

I could put together a process showcase or something though, I feel like that might be better even, since I get to explain a little of what I'm doing through text and display how I use reference. Something to consider!

[sketch-guardian]

4. Mc being bored and embroidering flowers onto any of the RAD classmates clothes

5. Mc making fake horns to match with them (I don’t remember if I asked this before already)

6. Mc putting wigs on odon to do hair style’s on him because they’re worried they might move his bangs and make him uncomfortable

I'm trying my best to reply on time and in a decent way, but I'm slow as hell and I write way too much🙈plus I need a break every now and then from writing😭anyway, since the new exchange students were not mentioned, I assumed you meant only the RAD classmates, so I hope these headcanons are okay✨:

"RAD CLASSMATES WITH A MC WHO EMBROIDERS FLOWERS ON THEIR CLOTHES WHEN BORED"

DEMYA

Demya might find MC's habit peculiar, but who is she to judge, considering that when she gets bored, she eats or munches on a few bones from her most recent meal. Furthermore, in Demya's slightly feral mind, she would see such act as a sign of the fact that she and MC are mates, therefore she would carry those decorations with pride and without shames, to make other people (the demon brothers-) jealous. Demya in turn would also "mark the territory" in her own way, so MC should prepare to be scented like never before or to let her give them hickeys and bites on body parts that can be seen.

DOMNRA/MOBIM

Flowers aren't really Domnra's style, so at first he would be quite pissed by such a habit on MC's part, after all the most he does when he's bored is listening to music, but MC shouldn't fear, because a well-aimed pout and puppy eyes would do the trick, making Domnra grumble and reluctantly go out with those modified clothes, due to being a tsundere however, he would shout at anyone who asks too many questions about the flowers. Domnra's way of returning the gesture would be to offer MC his jacket or hat that he wears every now and then when needed. Mobim, not wearing clothes and not owning any, would be happy to wear whatever MC decides to create and gift it

AZUL

Azul would immediately find MC's trait adorable and would make sure to show off their creative embroideries everywhere and to anyone in Devildom, even to those who don't care, because he's just a proud drama queen showing his genuine appreciation for MC's artwork, he might even commission some requests, such as adding butterflies on the floral designs. Azul's would return the gesture by drawing random stars with a marker on MC's clothes, so they better expect to see some of them looking starry. When Azul is bored, he isn't as productive, he merely floats and sulks around

ZURI

Although embroidering is one of her pastimes and therefore she can understand MC's little hobby first hand, Zuri would prefer to be warned in advance about which clothes MC intends to work on, because being surprised with one of her fine dresses covered in flowers without notice would irritate her quite a bit, so as long as such boundary is respected, Zuri would find the gesture amusing, almost cute. Zuri would return MC's gesture by embroidering smaller designs on their clothes, such as small hearts or messages, even their favorite flower, alternatively Zuri would spray her perfume on their clothes to avoid modifying or damaging them, consent is important after all

ODON

When Odon gets bored, they read tomes or drink a cup of green tea while watching people pass outside through a window, so seeing MC embroidering flowers on their clothes would be something new, but not unwelcome, in a certain sense it would remind Odon of Zuri. Odon would have no problem taking a stroll around Devildom with MC's embroidered flowers on them, no one would dare making fun of them either way and if anyone asked them questions about the embroidery, Odon would explain with a grin how those flowers ended up on their clothes and being very cultured, they would also explain their meaning according to flower language. In return, Odon would let MC be accompanied by their eye-like creatures, since they seem fond of them

"RAD CLASSMATES WITH A MC MAKING FAKE HORNS TO MATCH WITH THEM"

DEMYA

Considering that Demya has a set of small horns, sharp and resistant like the kind of teeth which tear through meat, it would be a bit difficult for MC to recreate them and find a way to get them to stay still on their head, so Demya would appreciate the effort of trying to match with her. That set of multiple horns is also a specific characteristic of her demonic race (faexsaeva), so considering that Demya is its last remaining living specimen, she might get slightly moved by past memories and MC could easily convince Demya to share more details of her old tribe's customs, at their own risk, considering it was made up of quite bloodthirsty demons. Sentimentality aside, Demya would really like to match with MC and would show her enthusiasm by trying to also match in other ways, such as with her tail or more simply with her clothes.

DOMNRA/MOBIM

Domnra's and Mobim's horns aren't too different except in size and consistency, for example Mobim's horns are smoother and blunter, while Domnra's ones are rougher and pointed, but essentially Domnra and Mobim are the same soul splitted in two halves, so they have more in common than it seems and they merge into one being when Domnra transforms into his demon form, which explains his Mobim-like tail. Domnra wouldn't understand the reason behind MC's gesture, but he would find MC's desire to match cool and would comment in passing that they look badass with a pair of horns, especially his own. Domnra would also find it cute, although he wouldn't admit so, to see MC with Mobim's smaller horns, the little curse would agree as well, looking at MC in awe and trying to touch the fake horns

AZUL

Azul's horns and wings are made of will-o'-the-wisp that changes color based on his mood, so MC's work would result more complicated than expected. To try creating something that resembles Azul's horns, perhaps MC could use some light bulbs or neon lights to make them shine bright, whatever the outcome is however, Azul would be impressed by MC's craft and effort in faithfully reproducing his horns. After showering MC's craft with praises and them with affection for the matching horns idea, Azul would point out the fact that with magic, he could have given them a pair of his own identical horns without problem and merely with a snap. MC also wouldn't have to worry about catching fire

ZURI

Zuri's horns are smooth, long and quite shiny, they appear elegant, so recreating them would require precise work, although not excessively elaborate. Zuri, despite being unaware of the motivation behind MC's gesture, would appreciate their craft, impressed, proud even, and would also offer to help them improve the fake horns. If MC's intent is to match, Zuri, in addition to suggesting matching clothes, would also propose wearing horn jewelry together, especially during important events, where MC could show off their abilities, if they feel like it

ODON

Odon's horns are two, joined in a point at the center, sometimes described by others as a small green sun or a ring with studs, in any case they are firm and quite heavy, so when reproducing them, MC should pay attention to the stability of the structure. Odon would find the sight of MC with their horns endearing and would curiously observe their attempt to match, assisting MC in adjusting the fake horns if necessary. Odon would also try to help MC mimic the other arms they have in demon form if they wanted to try

"ODON WITH A MC WHO PUTS WIGS ON THEM TO HAIRSTYLE THEIR HAIR IN A SAFE WAY"

Not gonna lie, Odon would be puzzled as to why MC insists on messing with their hair so much, even going so far as to use wigs to make them feel comfortable, still, as usual, Odon would remain docile and let MC play with their hair or the wigs without any complaints. With their natural hair, the only possible hairstyle for Odon would be pigtails, but MC could take advantage of the fact that Odon, as an eldritch being, is also a shape-shifter and therefore ask them to lengthen their hair to style them with more ease, something that Odon happened to do in the past, during the Middle Ages for example. In general Odon would find MC's caresses soothing, being touchstarved, and would appreciate their attempt to not make them uncomfortable, by taking into consideration their bangs. Odon could return the favor if possible and if MC taught them

[lemonthepotato]

Narratives Schools Teach Us About Language Learning That I Dislike

Maybe this is rich for a monolingual to say, but I hate this narrative we’re told growing up that English speakers are just “lazy” when it comes to learning other languages. It’s a lie, and honestly, I think it just blatantly ignores the reasoning why English is so widely learned… cough, colonialism. The school system? Not wanting to teach us things that might us uncomfortable or break the historical narratives? Never heard of that before. Sarcasm.

No, other countries aren’t just super intelligent compared to English natives (I find intelligence narratives in general rooted in… many things). The reason why someone living in Wales might not speak fluent Italian is the same reason why someone living in Japan probably doesn’t speak fluent English, why would they? Well, also the fact English education in Japan is the equivalent of Spanish education in American classrooms… not very good, but mainly the lack of a need to speak it.

And that’s not laziness, it’s that the human brain is wired to go with the more practical options, the ‘easy’ ways. This is why I believe motivation to be a myth, something I have been reminding myself recently as I go through a pretty fucking difficult time in my life. Motivation isn’t something you strive for in order to be productive, it’s something that makes you want to be productive. Does that make sense? Motivation is the reason we do things, it can’t be forced.

It’s not lazy for someone living in America to not know fluent French… because they don’t live in France, so the chances that they’ll need to speak French, unless they’re living in certain parts of Maine or Vermont or something, are low. The same is true for other countries.

I don’t think language learning should be shamed into people. From a young age, it’s driven into us that the lack of proficiency is our fault, not the system’s, based on a lack of discipline. My high school forced us to take two language courses, and sometimes you wouldn’t even end up where you wanted regarding that.

I feel like this narrative just further discourages people from learning other languages- you’re not “skilled” enough. If you don’t have the time to learn it, you’re just not “motivated” enough. Let’s ignore the fact that unless your only hobby is being a polyglot (based tho) you have other shit to attend to- you’re just “lazy.”

I think the easiest language for someone to learn is the one you can immerse yourself in easiest. After putting myself through two weeks of nothing but Japanese content with minimal grammar study, I also think ‘immersion’ is overhyped. I think “you’re not immersing enough” is the new form of shaming, honestly. But I’ve learned from my mistakes, so I’m learning about Spanish grammar before I immerse. Spanish? Yes, I’ve switched to Spanish. Why? Well, growing up I tried learning many languages, and ended up giving up and throwing 5 years into lazily ‘learning’ Esperanto. Didn’t really work, I could form sentences but vocabulary was lacking and relied on google translate. I truly believe duolingo doesn’t work, even for ‘easy’ languages.

But, anyway, I felt shame for the fact I couldn’t learn a ‘harder’ language. But you know what? Don’t let anyone shame you out of learning an “easy” language. I wanted to learn Japanese and French too because I felt like I would’ve been too lazy or basic learning Spanish, but let me tell you, there is nothing wrong with learning an “easy” language. I don’t even believe there are languages “easy” for English speakers based on objective difficulty.

I think it’s about how much you can expose yourself to the language more so, though, yeah, obviously an English speaker will struggle more with learning Mandarin Chinese than French. But like. I think having a “beginner” language that you learn is perfectly fine. You’re learning a language and that’s okay. And also, don’t let people do the opposite either, and shame you out of learning a “harder” or even more obscure language. Just do what works for you.

I’m focusing more on Spanish because it’s easier to expose myself to; that’s all. Sure, learning Japanese sounds like fun, but it’s not practical. I think it’s okay to look at a language, study it a bit, but not aim for total fluency. I think you can appreciate a language without focusing so much on the end goal. Yeah, sure, if you want to learn Frisian (a language pretty close to English, so probably ‘easier’) but you think you’ll get more coolness points for learning Korean… you can do that. But you don’t have to start now. You can look at a language and think “I like this. I’ll study this from time to time. I appreciate this language” without feeling like a failure for not understanding it.

This goes for non-native English speakers, by the way, or people who speak very different languages than English. You’re not a failure for not understanding it. I also think there’s a discussion to be had about the opposite; shaming people for NOT speaking English. I’ve actually heard stories of people going to Japan and being upset that they can’t communicate with Japanese people. Yeah, uh, you’re in JAPAN? What are you expecting?

So, fuck it, I don’t care if learning Spanish will make me “basic.” Not everyone has to be a hyperpolyglot and there seems to be a weird internet measuring contest of who can learn the most languages. Also, I find it really funny when people assume I can speak Irish because I’m Irish. It’s actually very hard to learn Irish unless you live in very specific parts of Ireland, trust me.

What the fuck was I even talking about again? I went on a tangent about how I was basically like a weeb but for American culture growing up and then deleted it. Try growing up on the internet and not developing a half-American half-Irish accent. Btw despite people telling me that, I was never really aware I had an Irish accent. I used to not really care about my culture growing up, honestly, especially since I’m detached from it, but I kinda like being Irish, now. Will I ever learn Irish, though? PFFT. No. Irish class in high school KILLED my motivation because not only did I want to learn Spanish & French but got stuck in the Spanish & Irish classes, but I’m convinced that language teachers don’t even know or care about the languages they’re teaching.

Anyway, I swear I had a point with this post… see, sometimes I want to make well-structured essays on this app, but I’m just too incoherent, man. Oh, speaking of languages, considering Co09 the flip side came out and sucked, it made me curious if there was any Spanish fandubs of the original games. And you know what? There was a trailer for one a year ago, but it has like, 1,000 views, which sucks! Oh, yeah, another reason why I want to focus on Spanish > Japanese is that a lot more media I like is available in Spanish than Japanese. Also, Spanish has, like, an easier barrier of entry? Japanese has kanji.

You know, a lot of people shit on kanji, but I think I can acknowledge “it makes things 10x harder for me, but that’s okay.” Like, for me, the thing with kanji isn’t even the amount of kanji, it’s how many strokes some kanji have! I have poor eyesight 😭 at the same time, though, removing kanji from Japanese is like… I think it would get confusing fast because from what I’ve heard, it’s like, uh, okay, what’s a metaphor I can use? Imagine removing contractions from English but if 80% of English was contracted. Actually, avoiding using contractions was something I did as a young teen… for some reason. I just felt a need to speak “proper” or else I was bad or improper. But it’s just awkward. Sorry, “it is” just awkward.

Another thing- I’ve kinda grown to hate Esperanto. It’s really hard to immerse yourself in a conlang, and honestly, I should’ve just spent those 5 years learning Spanish instead of losing confidence. If you’re going to learn a language that’s very similar to English, kinda easier for an English speaker, why not learn the one that’s actually practical? Also, I know I said language learning shouldn’t be about impressing people, but I just- I don’t even like Esperanto anymore! I’m kinda embarrassed about it, frankly. It’s not even a good auxlang. Though, I will say, people who say Toki Pona is better as an auxlang are kinda funny. Imagine you’re in a burning building and trying to communicate with your Spanish friend in Toki Pona. You’d spend more time thinking about how to say “fire!” than running out the building. So, honestly, I think Esperanto is better in that regard, but I think Toki Pona is a better language because it accomplished its goal. To be fair, though, I think Esperanto kinda gets an unfair rep. Like, yeah, it didn’t age the best, but back then, there wasn’t really any social media, Zamenhof was polish, so it’s not like he could make the perfect auxlang with all languages considered. Nowadays, if you want to know more about a language, you can just use google. Back then, Wikipedia didn’t really exist.

Also, really depressing fact about Esperanto is that people were killed in WW2 for speaking Esperanto. I wonder how much of Esperanto’s lack of success has to do with the historical repression/censorship of the language. To be honest, I don’t even know if it’s possible to make a “good” universal auxlang.

But honestly, I find the fact English is such a widely spoken language more depressing than anything. So many non-natives learn English because it’s inescapable.

The moral of the story is that if you speak another language and want me to learn it, just refuse to speak English to me. The social pressure will be too embarrassing and I will buy 10 Swedish textbooks or Bengali or Serbian. Okay, I have no idea why those were the first three languages I thought of.

Anyway, I hope nothing in this post comes off the wrong way. Overall, I think that people being colonised into learning English, and then the education system putting individual blame onto English young children for not being “smart” or “motivated” enough to learn a foreign language, is, er… definitely problematic. I also think it’s bullshit to get mad at foreign people for not knowing English, too, obviously. Just like, be chill, god damn. Language learning should be done out of a genuine desire to learn a language.

[caffstrink]

do you have any tips on how to live off as artist professionally?

First of all art isn't always a viable option depending where you live. The only reason ive been able to live off art is because the american dollar is worth 5x more than the brazilian real so even if i didn't get many comms i could still get by with the few i had. and if that wasn't the case I'd pretty much be eating breadcrumbs off the floor like a pigeon.

1. Whore yourself out and draw fanart of every popular or trending thing to gather attention to youe art

2. Learn your platforms: learn how each websites algorithm works, learn what are the best hours to post, etc

3. I cannot stress enough how important it is to find your niche

4. Everyone is fake no one wants to be your friend, other popular artists will start following you the moment your following becomes good enough. They'll start to interact with you too and want to become mutuals in order to share followings/traction. If you can play into that you can get them to share your stuff as well, but honestly don't fall for it bc most of them shittalk other artists on their privs or personal servers and the stress isnt worth it

5. Draw nsfw if possible/if you're comfortable with. People who commission porn pay well and they often have very few options when commissioning stuff bc most artists don't accept porn commissions.

6. Accept being an artist is a hard job that doesn't pay really well. If you're freelancing on comms life's always going to be a tightrope, so i suggest trying to do professional work once in a while so you can at least have the security of a salary. Draw backgrounds, gestures, scenes, studies, and the likes, bc those are what companies will want in your portfolio

7. Depending where you live it's extremely hard to live off as an artist, and being an artist is often means a very difficult struggle with finances. It's a job that requires passion, and more often than not turning art in a job causes creative burnout and complete loss of spark for it. Ask yourself: why do you want to be a professional artist? Isn't it better to keep it as a hobby? Maybe a side gig if you need money? You can still pursue art even if you don't do it to earn money, and it doesn't make you any less of an artist. It's a difficult job, and you need to understand its not going to be viable at all times and sometimes you'll have to throw in the towel and do something else to survive and there's 0 shame in that.

8. Be professional and courteous with your clients. Don't be a doormat, but don't go around ghosting people or being passive aggressive or taking them for granted and never deliver any product. Doing art for money is a JOB. Treat it like such. Inform your clients about delays, or any issues that may come up.

9. Take care of yourself and by that i mean eat decent food, exercise your arms, get 8 hours of sleep and get some sun (or take vitamin D periodically if youre a basement dweller). This isn't some self care uwu shit, it's actual science that your body is a machine and not providing what it needs to function leads to issues, and some of those issues include affecting your mental health, and mental health issues include and are not limited to: anxiety, depression, burnout, loneliness, feeling like your art sucks, feeling unmotivated, feeling like you're a failure, etc. Same with physical: for the love of GOD you DON'T want wrist issues. You dont want carpal or ulnar nerve entrapment. Don't draw 24/7. Don't push yourself either. If youre feeling shitty its time to STOP. Just picture a shitty graphics card trying to run minecraft with 5 shaders and 10 mods at once on fullscreen with 60 fps. Thats you. Youre the graphics card

10. Don't be a bitch, don't get involved with drama. Can't be an internet artist if you get cancelled so don't try to start shit at any point in time. Don't be a shit person.

And from the top of my head thats it, hope you like eating plain bread 🍞

[expulence]

Your fear of looking stupid is holding you back💔

... well, at least among other fears of course. However, the point is that a lot of what is holding you back from achieving that which you most deeply yearn for is in your mind.

We are products of our environments and as such, are  (more often than not) walking embodiments of the our circumstances. How we perceive ourselves is greatly influenced by how the world around us perceives us, and depending on how positively or negatively we are perceived is how positively or negatively we perceive ourselves.

Enter Imposter Syndrome, Self-doubt and Self-consciousness with the sole purpose of keeping us small and stagnant if not regressed all together.💔

The constant second-guessing and low self-esteem has done a number on your belief in yourself and continues to lead to immense self-sabotage. So, here are some simple ways to overcome that.

Change your environment

Practice self-awareness

Be defiant

Reduce your expectations

ASK FOR HELP!!

1. Change your environment 💎

As we've established before, we are products of our environment, which makes it extremely difficult to become anything contrary to it. Ideally, the best way to change you environment is to relocate to an environment where the lifestyle you wish to emulate is the norm. However, that is not always possible for a number of reasons, so these strategies should keep you going until you can afford to take the plunge.

Listen ONLY to music that serves you and your aspirations (i.e. motivational, goal-oriented, peace music)

Engage with content that edifies, reassures and motivates you (i.e. podcasts, YouTube videos, blogs etc)

Adorn your environment with inspirational and aspirational images (i.e. a vision board)

Connect with people with shared goals via in-person interactions and/or online communities

2. Practice self-awareness 💎

Strong negative feelings such as fear and shame can severely distort our perception of ourselves & the world, our relationship with our memories and impact how we make decisions. This is why the importance of self-awareness cannot be overstated. Have a comprehensive understanding of who you are can provide you with a greater deal of perspective. This is how you can practice self-awareness.

Write and routinely review a list of BOTH your strengths and weaknesses. Seek help for the weaknesses and celebrate the strengths.

Embrace and trust you intuition so that you can build self-trust

Acknowledge your emotional triggers and investigate their origins.

Ask for feedback from your trusted and supportive circle of influence.

3. Be Defiant 💎

The insidious thing about being the product of an unsavoury environment is that at some point after continuous exposure, your mind does the discouragement itself. This means that it's tough to shake the culture, mindset and self-worth (or lack there of) that the environment has instilled within you even once you've removed yourself from said environment. This often pervades your thoughts in the form of negative self-talk, and you can obfuscate all of this negativity with a little bit of defiance in the form of positive self-talk.

Work with a professional who can present a level-headed perspective on your negative self-talk.

Do daily positive affirmations in order to regularly challange and silence the negative thoughts.

Engage with media the encourages positive thinking such as music, literature and social media content.

Surround yourself with people who make you feel good so that they can be the voice of reason when the negative self-talk creeps back.

Make your favourite interest a hobby to give you a sense of excitement and purpose, which may make you feel worthy.

4. Reduce your expectations 💎

Jumping the gun as far as our expectations are concerned is one of the things that can exacerbate our fear of success (and similarly, failure). We often imagine ourselves achieving the most magnificent versions of what our imaginations conjure up and as much as that can be inspirational and motivational, it can just as easily be overwhelming if you already think poorly of your capabilities. The anxiety that working to achieve the life you desire as well as the fear of not being able to handle success when it comes can lead to crippling depression and feelings of inadequacy. This can be combated by reducing your expectations for what you can achieve within a certain period of time. Here's how.

Be clear about what you wish to achieve and work backwards to figure out what steps you have to take.

Adopt the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen - the adoption of micro-habits in order to have continuous improvements in a way that is non-threatening to your nervous system and is thus sustainable.

Review your aspirations and evaluate how much of them are actually yours. Doing this will help you silence the noise and remove the weight of other people's projections.

5. Ask For Help!! 💎

"Humans are social creatures" is a phrase that is thrown around frequently, but most do not understand what it means beyond the surface level. A lack of human connection and social interaction can have dire long-lasting ramifications on your health. Such ramifications may include depression, poor sleep quality, impaired executive function, accelerated cognitive decline, poor heart function as well as compromised immunity. This goes to show how incredibly vital having a steady and supportive social structure is for human survival let alone improving one's health. Thus it pivotal to seek help with your fears and anxiety about failure and success. This helping hand could be a professional, a mentor, friends, close family or an ambitious online community.

You owe it to yourself to overcome the fears you have. The highest version of yourself is counting on you. 💫

[moonsaver]

Worth pointing out that Herta also only is nice to people who are *useful* to her. And "nice" is kind of pushing it. She's a very absentee friend/boss and a lot of her accomplishments might also only be possible because she keeps recruiting other people to do the actual labor for her? There's a statement about academia in there somewhere for sure for sure. So her not paying attention to Ratio could also be seen as a compliment. He's not someone she can take advantage of.

He might not see it that way though >> I got the impression that his "extra-ness" was a sign of deep self-esteem issues. In academia, getting multiple PhDs is not actually considered a good thing. (It's not "hard" to do, it's just time consuming and expensive.) It's considered a red flag that someone is not able to commit to a singular field.

Hello anon, yes, you're very right in my opinion.

Herta isn't really as much of a "friend" as she is mutually interested in your capacity to work for her. I don't play the game nor look too much into the gameplays, but you can kind of understand that vibe from her. I think somewhere it was mentioned she's kind of like the face of the genius society with a few others.. maybe it was dialogue or just another analysis comment i read somewhere. As for her not paying attention to Dr. Ratio for that reason.. it makes sense. But also because I doubt he's really available for such things, haha, i dont think a lot of people in the main storyline really even know where he is most of the time. Herta's probably never come face to face with him before, and I don't think either of them will really make an effort to talk to each other directly. I think Dr. Ratio will only appreciate her achievements from a reasonable stance and leave it at that.

As for his self-esteem issues and extra-ness, the reason seems plausible, but also because I think it's a by-product of just reading that many books. He's constantly immersing himself into books as his hobby, so I imagine the strange vocabulary also came along as an extra feature, not to mention he studies these fields thoroughly from an almost argumentative point of view (in his quest, Crown of Mundane and Divine, he admits something similar as a point of skepticism).

As for not being able to commit to one field.. that's plausible in the eyes of many, probably prideful researchers. Generally however, it makes sense to be able to accomplish much in a lot of other fields, considering these all are happening constantly in harmony with each other in our lives, intersecting and overlapping in principle. It would only make sense that someone would be able to gain so many PhDs by having such a deep understanding of that interconnection. It's a shame.

Veritas Ratio is definitely an intelligent man in my opinion, and so far, he seems to be the only one who's actually shown to be smart in practice, other than the Geniuses from the Genius Society who are constantly skittish and eager to go back into their molehill the moment they're done interacting with the outside world for half a minute.