#I don't know if that advice is 'good' necessarily but it certainly works for me!

[saints-who-never-existed]

12, 17, and 26

12. What's some good advice you want to share?

Y'know that popular quote/saying "Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing"? It's the opposite of that, really! I'll not claim that it works for everyone but when it comes to self-improvement, I've found that less isn't more and more is actually better.

This year I made no less than eight New Year's Resolutions/Self-Improvement Goals and I've tracked them since in my bullet journal.

The key thing is that I don't force myself to do every single one of those eight things every single day, I just try to do as many as I can. I figure that even if I'm only doing a given thing 10% of the time then that's still a net positive, still an improvement on the 0% of the time I was doing the thing before. And there's no reason that 10% can't gradually become 20%, then 30% and so on.

When approached with that attitude, I've found that doing More Things actually takes a lot of the pressure off and can be a huge mood booster too. There have been many times already that I've had a really shite day for various reasons only to come home, look at my journal, and realise "Oh hey! I actually did, like, 7 of the 8 Things today without even realising! Go me!"

So that's my advice: half-assing multiple little things can be better than whole-assing one thing. You can spread yourself out wide without spreading yourself too thin. :)

17. Name three things that make you happy?

Climbing a mountain and eating a big bar of chocolate as a reward once I get to the top!

Making silly faces and waving at random friendly babies on the Tube!

The feeling of taking the train back home to Scotland and seeing the land around me start to rise right around Yorkshire from interminable flatness into proper lovely big rolling green hills. It just feels right, y'know?

26. Favourite colour and why?

I've answered this many times before, but I'll never get tired of shouting it from the rooftops - red, Red, RED!

It's bold and warm and joyful and vibrant and confident, and I suppose those are all things I strive to be in my everyday life. :)

[artemis-potnia-theron]

Any advice on strengthening ones relationship with Hekate?. Thank you kindly.

Hello 👋🫂

One of the amazing things about Lady Hekate Nyctipolus is how broad her domain is. She has so many forms and facets, so take everything I say with a grain of salt! She appears in unique ways for everyone.

Many of her followers associate her with witchcraft. I personally don't consider myself a witch, so I'm a little distanced from this aspect of her. But if you do practice some form of witchcraft, perhaps you can start dedicating your spell work to her.

If you engage in spirit work, ancestor work, death work, deity worship more broadly, etc, you might consider asking Lady Hekate to aid in that communication. And for her protection in her role as a death/underworld goddess. I know she acts as a guide for many of her followers (myself included!)

Communication is definitely key (pun intended) for many Hekate worshipers. Getting into a specific kind of divination (I personally prefer tarot, but there also pendulums, meditation, etc) can help strengthen that relationship. She is the patron of boundaries and thresholds after all! Find a way to breach that wall has been a personal favorite way of connecting for me.

For me, I think I sense Lady Hekate most clearly in those 'in-between places.' I love going out for nighttime drives and finding her at empty intersections, in abandoned buildings, in any space that feels liminal.

And, of course, go ahead and ask her! In my experience, Lady Hekate is one of the more 'receptive' or 'quick to answer' deities that I work with. That's not to say that she is at your beck and call, she definitely demands focus and commitment. But she's also very dedicated to her followers just like they're dedicated to her.

Ask her in your own way with whatever divination tool you prefer how to advance that relationship! Start offering antique keys or vintage things or flowers and see how she responds! I personally don't buy the whole 'you have to wait eagerly for a sign from Lady Hekate before you start working with her.'

She can be intimidating and intense certainly, but not necessarily in a frightening way. Just in a way that demands respect. So as long as your approach her with good intentions, I'm sure she'll be willing to listen.

Thanks for the ask!

🗝🔥🐕

[bettsfic]

Hi betts! Hope you're doing good! Do you have any advice on how to distance yourself from social media? I saw that you've done so with success and the older I get the more I feel a bit trapped by the internet.

social media certainly has benefits: keeping people connected, giving a voice to those who otherwise wouldn't have a platform, and it allows you to meet new people in the context of interest rather than location.

at least, these are the things social media set out to be, and over time those benefits, to me anyway, haven't been able to outweigh the drawbacks: compulsively checking apps, doomscrolling, content appearing by algorithm to attempt to cater to my interests, and just generally a lot of wasted time.

i don't necessarily believe that if you stop using social media, suddenly you'll be able to devote every minute of your day to a higher pursuit. the brain doesn't work like that. it always needs downtime. before phones, we had television. before television, we had radio. lacking glowing screens and people telling us things from far away, i think we'd all spend a lot of time looking at the things humans are built to look at: fire, water, mountains, sky. we'll listen to stories or read them or watch them.

during your mind's downtime, i don't think anything you decide to do is fundamentally better or worse than any other thing. but i do think social media is designed to manipulate our attention toward it during that downtime (and honestly, all other times) and that pisses me off. it also pisses me off that even though we impose cause-and-effect sequences to our interaction with social media, it doesn't often provide us with a narrative the way reading, watching tv, or listening to a podcast would. stories are a psychological necessity; without the mind's ability to perceive sequences of events and connect them, we wouldn't have memories. we would have no concept of time, of thinking into the past or casting our thoughts into the future. social media, in its drive to keep us scrolling, looking at posts with no narrative connection to one another, deprives us of the stories our minds seek during our downtime.

this got super long so i'm putting it under a cut. tl;dr you need to remove social media as a positive stimulus and build immediate positive stimuli into other aspects of your life. in other words, social media feels good immediately but neutral or bad over time; most other things like reading feel bad or neutral initially but good over time. so you have to find ways to make the latter feel good with the immediacy of the former.

i don't mean to be "old man shakes fist at cloud" about this. i'm a millennial. from facebook's widespread release through the beginning of the pandemic, i raced to every new social media platform. i was an early myspace adopter. my high school graduating class was the very first year people outside of college could use facebook, and so we're the first cohort to have all befriended each other before graduation and never lost touch, completely removing the appeal of a reunion. i joined twitter in 2008 but never used it, and i joined tumblr in 2012 and never stopped using it.

i remember the day i got a smartphone. i was a few years behind everyone else. it was 2010 and i'd just gotten my first office job and i was desperate to be able to look at social media, scroll through stuff or read something, when i was bored. it was an iPhone 4. and as soon as i got it out of the box, i sat and played on it for 10 straight hours.

for those of you who are too young to remember a time before smartphones, i can't emphasize enough how much they changed things. in my life, i went from waking up and eating breakfast and reading for a little bit, to waking up and eating breakfast and getting on my computer to look at facebook and read my daily webcomics, to waking up and reaching over to my nightstand and looking at my phone.

and i don't know, i just decided i didn't want that anymore. last fall i was at this artist residency with no cell service and barely any wifi. and one day the wifi went out. i had a visceral negative reaction to that, which made me step back and go, oh wow, i am way too tethered to the internet. that day, wandering around the property with nothing to do, i got this intense urge to read an old paperback novel. you know, the mass market paperbacks with the pulpy yellow paper and the misaligned typeface. and so i found a very old copy of fellowship of the ring, cracked it open, and read it all day.

the thing about getting away from social media is that it's slow. i don't think you can really go cold turkey. when i got home from the residency, i went on a long hiatus and had all these strict rules for myself about when i was allowed to look at my phone and when i wasn't, but that didn't really work for me. but i did delete all the social media apps from my phone, and on my computer i logged out of all of them and deleted my saved passwords, so if i wanted to check them, i had to go to that extra step of logging in and even typing in my password. and that doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're checking social media out of habit, muscle memory, something to attend to that might give you a brief blip of dopamine, having to type your password is just one step too far. the brief pleasure i would get from checking my notifications was less than the hassle of logging in.

and that's what it all comes down to: feeling good. in the moment, it feels good to check a social media app, to see that somebody has interacted with your content or maybe with you directly. it's that tiny subconscious exclamation point, the feeling we get when somebody politely smiles or waves at us, when a dog comes up to us wagging his tail, when a well-meaning stranger compliments your outfit. that's the social part of social media. but that's also the part that keeps us cycling through our apps out of habit and boredom.

so you have to take away that stimulus from yourself, and you have to create positive stimuli elsewhere. to take away the positive stimulus of social media, you have to stop posting content on it. content is the mind killer. when you tweet something, your impulse might be to check that someone has interacted with it. but if you step away from the great conversation of social media, nobody speaks back to you, and you develop more patience for the longer-term good feelings of reading a book.

of course, that's complicated. i guess the first step that i did a long time ago was losing interest in traffic and developing the internal validation skills that make interaction on social media a bonus, not a need. before that, though, i had a drive to be seen and listened to. i think i just grew out of that. regardless of the existence of the internet, all people throughout history have spent their lives developing their relationship with themselves, learning who they are and coming to accept it. i'm not sure there's a way to rush that inner journey along.

creating positive stimuli is a matter of adopting a kind of little-treat attitude toward things. you have to really pay attention to yourself. the day i picked up the fellowship of the ring, i remembered that paper is important to me. vitally important. i like to write on it. i like to read from it. and it's kind of weird to say "paper is my special interest," but it is. all tools of writing interest me. so acknowledging that, accepting it and choosing to accommodate it, was my first small goal of building immediate positive stimuli.

some of the connection we have to social media (and phones in general) is the physical habit that develops from it. when smokers quit smoking, their hands feel empty. they're used to having something between their fingers, and so they replace that with something like a pen or a straw.

for me, i replaced the physical habit of phone-checking with paper-holding, either in the form of a book, or a notebook and pen. i set about finding my perfect notebook: the one that feels best to hold, the one i'm eager to fill, the one whose paper is quality enough that i love to write on it. the one i found and that kind of changed my life was a Rhodia A4 spiral bound. i take it everywhere with me. in fact i went to the doctor earlier this week and because i was holding my notebook, it didn't even occur to me to look at my phone while i was waiting for the doctor to see me, even though it was in my pocket (and i did download tumblr again, and instagram to support my sister, who is kind of a local influencer). the positive stimulus of looking at it had become less than the positive stimulus of holding my notebook. the potential to easily write something or doodle felt better than the distraction of social media.

did my doctor probably think it was weird that i was taking notes? maybe. did i look weird sitting in the theater before seeing oppenheimer, brainstorming barbie fic ideas? definitely. but i just don't care anymore. sometimes making healthy choices for yourself in a world built to manipulate your attention makes you look weird.

my advice is to spend a week without social media apps on your phone, logged out of them on your computer, and pay very close attention to the things that make you happiest. find ways to interact with those things continuously, and see what happens.

[bloodofgrapes]

May I ask what your top tips for appearing more masc are prior to hrt? No matter how basic, I want to hear them (im desperate) (esp voice-wise)

Well anon, as with all things, your mileage will vary. Are you looking to be fully stealth/cis passing? Do you want to simply feel more masculine? Think about what you really and truly want, not what your friends or society or anything else may tell you, but what YOU specifically would enjoy doing. There is no one way to be masculine, and what works for me may not work for someone else.

With all of that out of the way though, here are a few things that helped me specifically. I'm stealth in real life, and I prefer to be... more or less conventionally masculine. My partner put it aptly: "you look like a boring office worker."

Take fashion advice from cis men/cis oriented groups. No offense to my fellow trans masc/trans men, but taking fashion advice from them is often a case of the blind leading the blind, at least if your goal is to be cis passing. You can dress well and look presentable (I certainly do), but don't put male fashion on a pedestal, because even the best dressed cis men don't--this is just what they're familiar with and they're going about their day the same way you are.

Clothes can get you a good portion of the way there, because I was functionally stealth even prior to starting testosterone (though I will confess a large amount of genetic luck), but if you dress and act with confidence, most people won't put much more thought to you than what is immediately apparent.

Your hair will also massively help you: men tend to favor fairly plain and boring cuts. A traditional cut will help you look more masculine than anything that requires a blow dryer and copious amounts of gel. I'm a boring (and lazy) person, so this suits me just fine, but I know this can get dull really quick to a lot of people, but that's just the way it is. That said, always, ALWAYS get your sideburns and nape squared off rather than tapered, I swear it's like the only irl cheat code for masculinity. The little details are usually what count the most.

On voice, you're in luck. Far too much emphasis is put on having a deep baritone that would put James Earl Jones to shame. You don't need a deep voice to sound like a man, but you do need to consciously keep your speech patterns and the way you speak in mind. Pay attention to the cis men around you, not what you see in media--most of them really don't have voices that are particularly deep. But you'll notice that they don't pitch their voices and inflect the way that women are typically taught to. This has nothing to do with genes, these are purely social skills, and while it's a pain, they can very much be learned by anybody who works at it. Cis men tend to speak much more flatly and bluntly, and use fewer words to get their meaning across (which is a good skill to have no matter your gender, in my opinion). When I put on my Woman Voice™, it's not so much that I speak in a higher pitch (though I do), but that I draw out my words and speak a little more theatrically. A simple "hey, how are you doing?" becomes "Hiiii, it's SO good to see you again, how have you been!"

That's a pretty stark difference! And again, this is just what works for me. I have not cut out any parts of my personality or toned down who I am, not least of all because I'm a pretty flat and monotone person to begin with, but I do restrain certain aspects of how I present myself, particularly with people I'm not close to.

I'm sorry that this is a long winded way to say "dress appropriately, get a decent haircut, and flatten down the way you speak", but I do try to be cognizant of the fact that you can feel and present masculinely in more ways than there are grains of sand on earth. All of the above are things that help me feel better and more comfortable in my own skin, and are not necessarily what I would prescribe other people to do to feel right in theirs. Only you can know what works best for you, which is why I prefaced this with advising you to think long and hard about what would make you happy and comfortable.

That said, if any of the above appeals to you, do a little research. I enjoy browsing Reddit's Male Fashion Advice sub, not least of all because you see an enormous range of fashion that goes beyond t shirts and jeans. Look for men that have face shapes similar to yours to see what kind of haircuts flatter them, and study the way that the men in your life speak, gesticulate, and generally act. Study them like they are animals in a zoo and it's your life mission to document them, and you'll pick up a lot. I hope this helps!

[aita-blorbos]

WIBTA for drinking my companion's blood expressly against his will?

I know it sounds bad. It, um, is, actually, pretty bad. I'm not sure there are any good options, and I would appreciate any advice, to be honest. This is the only thing I could think of in the time that I have.

I (21, M, vampire) have been traveling with and assisting a strange individual (M, human), for a while now. I wouldn't say he's my friend, and I don't agree with or understand most of his values, but I believe he is a good person and that he has his reasons for the things he does. I want to trust him and respect his wishes, and under regular circumstances, I completely would.

I've asked before, and he said no. More specifically, he said that I should never ask again, and if I ever made an attempt, he would kill me himself. (He is a good person, I swear! But this is pretty normal for him... He's kind of moody.)

The thing is that.... I am able to learn things about people, things that they don't necessarily want to share, if I drink their blood. And I would be lying if I said I weren't deeply curious about him. But he's clearly had a difficult life, and doesn't want to be known in that way by anyone, including me. I've been kind of careless with this ability in the past, and it's hurt people. So I wouldn't usually do this to anyone I'm not already very close with, and especially not without their consent. (Wait, how many negatives...? ...........The point is that I would ask!!)

The problem is that... Right now, my partner (23, F, vampire) is being threatened by someone (child?, M, human (I think)) who claims to be my companion's brother. Her life is in immediate danger and I cannot afford to lose her. Her assailant (who I will refer to from here on out as "M") said that he is doing this because he wants me to drink my companion's blood and uncover his secrets, and reveal the answer to a particular question to M. It seems like a pretty personal question, one that's reasonable to want to know the answer to, but I'm deeply uncomfortable with the idea, as my companion has already made it very clear that he does not want me to know anything that intimate about him.

When my companion showed up, I tried to explain the situation to him, to beg him to just tell M what he needed to know or otherwise come to a peaceful resolution, but all he was willing to do was try and kill M. Beyond just my own morality against killing, if M dies, my partner certainly will as well. My companion expressly stated that he doesn't care, and... said a few other hurtful things as well, including insulting my partner whose life is at stake.

If I'm being honest, I know I'm not in my right mind, I'm starting to panic and the situation is dire and increasingly urgent. I have been in a state of distress ever since M sent me that letter informing me that she was being held hostage here. And I know that. And I want a peaceful resolution, I want everything to work out, but it feels like the only thing I can do is to choose between my partner's life and my companion's wishes and privacy. And I know it's wrong, I know it's awful, but what else am I to do...?

[nyehilismwriting]

Hey! I wanted to ask for your advice. I was a minor part of the IF community, specifically the COG community, back in 2020. Mostly as a reader, but I dabbled in sharing some of my own writing too. For... reasons we are both well aware of, both in regards to COG, the larger IF community, and the start of COVID I eventually quietly left. Now, three years later, I've been quietly picking up writing IF again as a way to share my story with others. I was wondering if you think, in your opinion, it's worth officially re-joining the IF community on tumblr. On one hand, I feel like things have improved in that the larger community has matured (somewhat). I would like to make more friends, get advice, and maybe even share some more of my art. On the other hand, my project as it stands is... very non-traditional compared to a lot of other IFs (IE: No character customization, no romance, focus on a singular story with emphasis on worldbuilding, etc.). So I don't know if I would even be able to build a community around it even if I did officially rejoin.

I've followed your blog since 2020, including Project Hadea (although I think I originally started following you for your urban fantasy project, although I cannot for the life of me remember if that was you or another author!), and thought I'd come to you for your advice.

I chose to send this ask publicly so that you could choose to answer it privately, if you wished, since it is a longer ask. But I'm okay with you posting it publicly if you would like to! Additionally, no pressure or obligation to respond. Have a nice day!

hi there!! thank you for thinking of me - and welcome back! i'm glad to hear you've been writing again<3 it's such a good feeling, especially when you haven't been able to be creative for a while.

i think i'll start by addressing your game itself. personally, I think this community could do with some new blood in the form of games that are non-traditional; some of the best IFs I've played, ones that have really stuck with and inspired me, have been ones without romance, or cc, or otherwise outside of the typical format that gets popular on tumblr. honestly, i think we could all stand to get a little weirder with it. having said that, there is a very clear type of game that gets popular on tumblr (long-form, narrative-driven, usually with romance, usually with some kind of emphasis on character creation), so if you're a number-go-up kind of person (or someone who is susceptible to that mindset), I would be braced for your audience to remain small, particularly when you're just starting out.

that's not necessarily a bad thing. while I do agree with you that this community has grown and changed shape a lot since the late 2010s, and in a lot of ways for the better, it's definitely not perfect. I can't, in good conscience, say that this is the friendliest or most comfortable community: lots of people are absolutely lovely, and very very kind and enthusiastic; however, and this is absolutely not limited to IF but endemic to any online community, there are ongoing issues with Boundaries, and Respect, and the ways people interact with work and authors they're fans of. certainly, when you share your work you're giving up some control, but it's hard to predict exactly how that's going to go, and how the audience are going to react.

not saying this to put you off, but it's something I think everyone needs to be aware of before deciding to share. it's good to remember that you're not beholden to anyone. this is tumblr dot come, and you're quite free to start a blog, decide it's not for you, and delete; you're free to turn off anon, or asks altogether, or to never post anything save for updates; this is not a corporate space (and while there are considerations if you plan to open a patreon etc, but if we're just talking tumblr) and you are not obligated to do or provide anything you haven't promised.

my other bit of advice - and i think one of the ways to keep any interactions as pleasant as possible - is to be honest, and transparent, and manage expectations. if you make it clear what kind of game you're writing, you're less likely to get people who are disappointed that it's not what they were expecting and taking it out on you. likewise, setting boundaries is important.

i can't really tell you if it's 'worth' rejoining: i've definitely questioned if it's worth it, myself. i've seen some people, ostensibly in the same community as me, doing and saying things i find utterly reprehensible, and i've made some incredibly close friends who i adore and wouldn't give up for the world. and, after all, i am still here and answering asks, so i can't hate it that much. communities are made up of people, and like any group, there's gonna be people you can't stand and people you can. it's about finding your corner, and making it a bearable space for yourself.

i can't tell you if you'll have a positive or negative experience; I can't tell you how to control that. all i can say is that this is an online community, and ultimately you can control when and how interactions occur.

finally - again, i'm glad you're writing again! if you decide not to step back into the IF scene on tumblr, there's plenty of devs who keep purely to itch.io or the cog forums and seem to do fine; sharing your game does not necessarily mean sharing anything else. do what makes you most comfortable <3

[treasureplcnet]

do you have any drawing tips? i'm just starting out and your style inspires me to keep going fr!!

HIYA !!! thank you that is so kind of you, i would say to keep drawing with references and do studies!! typically art studies (in like art school lol) are of old masters (da vinci, etc) but doing studies of styles that you like, like trying to copy a certain artist you like, also helps you develop skills !!

for example, lots of people (especially fanartists lol) do studies of artists like leyendecker while making the models their favorite characters/ocs, so it helps to make studies fun. literally look up leyendecker study on tumblr dot com and you will see hundreds.

(gets a bit long and rambly so i've thrown it under the cut :')

style studies can be anything! above was done while watching wolfwalkers, just loose sketches that copied the style as the movie went along. i love the design and style in that film, wanted to incorporate it in my character design work, so i tried it out myself! it let me know the kinds of shapes used in the construction, the way it moves (wrt to animation) and silhouettes. by copying something, you learn how to do it on the way (so the kinds of colors used, what works best with shading, etc) it's like. reverse engineering

even very loosely copying something to identify what you like about the style helps! these were modelled after the way slimsense on ig paints (her work is 2nd + 4th examples below, my attempts at 'paint' 1st and 3rd lol), but doesn't really look like her work. i'm not necessarily trying to make perfect copies. i liked that her paint didn't blend perfectly, was blocky, and the additional lineart over the painting, so i brought that into my own art. i tried to create a painting style that was 'my own' off of lots of trial and error, and seeing what stuck!

also find brushes you like! adobe has a bunch on their page (if you have photoshop, but i know there's some for procreate and other programs) and if you want the adobe brush files, lmk. i will send a drive link to you LOL (sketches of the same characters, using different brushes below. the two i used the most often, one being a solid inker and the other being a paintbrush)

generally doing figure drawing is good too. i've heard advice about art where you can only start breaking the rules after you understand them, and a good grasp on anatomy, proportions, etc is definitely a good place to start! good sites to use for this are line of action for poses, and the morpho books (if you need pdfs of this let me know, though you should be able to find them if you look lol) !

i would also say learn perspective early on. i have no tips for you here i am so sorry. i didn't and now it bites me in the ass, but there has to be a youtube tutorial for this out there that can help you AND me. same goes for color theory. quickly dropping my favorite van gogh quote of all time:

(quote is from a letter to his brother) just everyone needs the fundamentals first. don't worry about a personal style: that just comes naturally as you develop as an artist, and i was certainly inspired by a lot of the things i watched/consumed and artists i admired which absolutely shows in my work i think (manet. western comics. fma. avatar. pjo fanart. there are tells. you know how it is.)

also flip your canvas !!! like see below ... frankly this marcille is so lopsided (her entire face should shift to the left) LOL !! flipping horizontally makes the anatomy mistakes obvious, and shows you you what you need to fix. i should never have posted this as is but sometimes it works for humor and an artist is lazy </3

AND ALWAYS USE REFERENCES WHEN YOU CAN!! i should use more references tbh!!! it helps with posing, getting anatomy correct, etc, and my friends use pinterest a lot, though i tend to just google when i need to LOLLL

also draw what you like. there is genuinely nothing that is better for your art than getting into something REALLY BAD and then non stop drawing it. time + practice will lead to improvement no matter what the subject is!

i hope this was not too much information all at once !!! and some of it is helpful!!! it's a lot of basic improvement tips that i try to practice and use when i can :) so sorry that this got so long!!!!

[petitelepus]

Hello! I would like a human match up if possible but anything is fine. I’m 20yo a female, 5’9 with long blonde hair and blue eyes. (This is kinda embarrassing to say but I’ve been told i have a really curvy nice body.)To people who I’m new with I’m a bit more stoic and reserved. But if you talk to me I’m very friendly. I get very invested in conversations and tend to talk a lot about the things other people are interested in when I engage them. I can be judgmental if you are rude to me, then it’s hard to gain back my good opinions once I’ve made a judgment. I love reading and drawing and I have been told I can read others like a book. Like I can see how people tick in ways they didn’t even know. I love those close to me fiercely and will go hours out of my way if they ever need me. I get very loud and joking when I’m comfortable, but I also need to recharge so sometimes I go radio silent. I always love having people around me though even when I’m quiet.

Thank you so much!

I match you with Giyu Tomioka!

Giyu is an extremely quiet and stoic person and reserved just like you, but unlike you, he doesn't warm up to people like you do.

He can tell that you are a beauty by the way he has heard other Slayers talk about you and your famous looks and he has two eyes that work, but he doesn't let your looks define you. You may have been pretty, but that didn't mean you were necessarily a good person.

But you were. You listen to others and offer advice and people start looking up to you, and for your advice and guidance.

You're a pleasure to talk to, and you quickly win over nearly every Hashira. Giyu accepts you but doesn't immediately develop feelings for you. That takes time, but when you gain his trust he starts to care for you on a deeper level.

You are both fiercely loyal and protect those who you love with your lives in line. Giyu doesn't say it, but he always worries when you head out without him on a mission. You're strong, but no one could tell for sure what you Slayers were facing when you went out on a mission.

When you return, he is there to greet you with a small nod, "You're back. That's good."

"I don't die that easily." You smiled, and he looked aside as he muttered, "I know... You aren't hurt, are you?"

"Just some scratches and sore muscles. Why, were you worried?"

"...It's good to know you aren't hurt." He would nod and leave the conversation at that, so it would be up to you to keep the conversation alive.

Giyu isn't much of a talker so when you guys talk it's usually you who does the talking and he listens. It's a nice change of pace since it's always you who is listening and offering advice to those who need them.

He is certainly the quiet one out of the two of you once you get comfortable enough to joke and openly laugh around him. He doesn't say it, but he likes to hear you laugh. It means you are happy and well.

But nothing is perfect or always goes as planned. If someone wrongs you, they must work extra hard to gain your trust back and probably beg for your forgiveness. Giyu doesn't try to offend you or such on purpose, but if he does so, you are quick to forgive him since you understand him better than others think.

The Water Hashira is impressed by your drawings, always seeing some of your experiences and past reflected on them. You always draw after your missions and he can see through them how those missions of yours usually went.

He can tell when you have overworked or burned yourself out and need a moment to rest and recharge yourself. He knows you value him and his company, so he keeps you some and the two of you just enjoy the silence and momentarily calmness for a while. Even in silence, the two of you understand each other.

[tokoyamisstuff]

Chemistry Ch. 1 - Franken Stein / Reader

Summary: Your first days as a new teacher in Death Academy doesn't exactly go as planned. Warnings: Injury, Blood

[Masterlist]

"Is that the true reason you called me back here?"

Since Master Death had informed you that all Death Scythes were to immediately return to Death Academy, it hasn't even been a full week - and yet, for him to drop a bomb like this before you even had a chance to settle in your new role as teacher...

"No no, my dear! You got it all wrong!" Death answered, frantically waving his hands. "...well, that was not the only reason, at least."

You clenched your fists at this sentence, feeling used and deceived to have been summoned here to serve a completely different purpose.

Becoming the weapon of the infamous Franken Stein? What a farce.

"Correct me if I'm wrong" you spoke with the utmost respect, giving it your best to not let your true sentiment shimmer through, "but isn't the professor perfectly capable of fighting on his own?"

While you've never personally met Dr. Stein, his reputation certainly preceded him...

...and the rumors you heard were more than enough for you to never involve yourself with this person any further.

"As always, you're right!" He snapped with his fingers and you instantly crossed your arms in defense.

"However, there have been a lot of concerning incidents lately - like the appearance of the Demon Sword, for example." Sometimes, Death's constant unnaturally cheerful tone creeped you out - especially when he was talking about a serious matter.

"This is the reason I decided for some precautions, and in case of a Kishin incident Stein needs to be at his peek."

You faced the ground, lip trembling as you desperately tried to ignore Spirit's pitying glare on you.

Ultimatively, your objections were meaningless compared with Death's wits and foresight...

...so you bowed down in acceptance of your fate.

"If you think this is necessary, I comply. I'd never refuse an order from you, Master Death."

___

"As you already know, Stein the most capable meister to ever graduate this academy" you repeated Death's lecture to calm down your nerves. "So though I'd personally prefer it, you don't necessarily need to share a bond with him in order to work together."

Nonetheless, you should at least introduce yourself if not getting to know him. It's the least you can do, right?

What kept you from doing so however was the image you had already painted of him in your head.

After all, even though he is basically able to wield any weapon instantly, Stein has been without partner for many years now - and for a reason at that.

As irritating as that douchebag Spirit could be, he had no reason to lie about his past with your soon-to-be partner...

...and the stores he had to offer sure were hard to stomach. Same goes for all the other teachers you desperately asked for advice.

They all had a very solidified opinion about the professor: Basically, while they acknowledged his incredible talent, they simultaneously feared his huge potential for evil.

"That man has no love in him" Naigus words had become a mental echo those past days, just as she hoped when she had hammered that warning into your head. "Be careful - one day he'll definetly succumb to madness."

What exactly was Death expecting of you? Observe him and interfere if necessary? But then he wouldn't have given you the option to ignore Stein for as long as you didn't have to fight.

There had to be a superior motive to this insane forced partnership! And from the way it sounds, becoming the moral support of a narcissistic maniac didn't really sound like a job you'd willingly take.

Not that you had a say in that matter, or any other option at all. Overthinking it would only torture yourself...

...it was better to just wait and see.

"Good morning" you cheered as you entered the medical ward, reminding yourself that there's other things to take care of which need your attention. "Sorry to interrupt, but...shit."

That last word accidentally slipped out loud when you saw not Dr. Medusa, but Stein of all people occupying the computer of the examination room.

"Mhh? Oh." Judging from the tone of his voice, the man was just as pleased to meet as you were - though you weren't sure if it was because of you or just his renowned misanthropy in general.

Maybe it was just your own nerves, but the air suddenly felt too thick to breathe properly. You clearly felt his eyes scanning you behind those glasses that would censor his intensions.

After a while of strained silence, the doc seemed to have enough of you disrupting his work. "Come on in, I won't bite."

It was embarassing, pityful, stupid that you still won't move - and yet your body just didn't listen to your command, being frozen still in the doorframe.

You had no clue whether it was repulsion or sheer fear, but whatever it was you needed to pull it together.

There was no reason to become so flustered by a man you knew from probably way too exaggerated tales only - you were a Death Scythe, damnnit!

A kick of his against the table brought you down to earth again, making you flinch. The momentum it created was enough for his rolling chair to move in your direction, to closer examine the wound on your wrist that had already bled through it's makeshift bandage.

"That's not good" he stated matter-of-factly, a neutral expression decorating his face. "Want me to take a look?"

"...why not" you spoke between gritted teeth, trying to avoid his gaze. "Only if I'm not bothering you, that is."

"Don't worry, that's also part of my job here" Stein shrugged if off, taking one last pull on his cigarette before throwing it away as you hesistantly took place on one of the cots.

"Actually, I've wondered when you'd finally come here." That statement shouldn't let your blood run cold, yet it did. "Didn't think you'd go this far just to have an excuse to meet me, though. A simple 'hello' would've sufficed."

"Not funny" you cut him off harshly, but at the same time couldn't help but laugh as Stein fell over with his stool, facepalming the floor. He didn't seem like the clumsy type at all, so maybe he did it on purpose to help you relax?

Anyway, you concluded this man didn't mean any harm - at least not currently. And in case he tried something funny, you were still in the academy, basically surrounded by three-star-meisters that could come to your aid at any time.

"Looks nasty" he said quite unempathetic, roughly moving your injured arm to proper assess the damage. "But I've seen worse. Can you move your fingers for me?"

"As I expected" the doctor explained as he saw you fail to close your fist, watching in sadistic awe at the way your wound was twitching painfully. "One of the main tendons of your carpus is severed, along with some muscles and blood vessles."

No matter what medical terms he was throwing at you all professional, the fact that he was not even trying to hide his obvious joy for the injury of others like that was certainly unsettling...

...however, if he excels at his craft like everyone says, you'd try and stay calm.

"Nothing I can't fix. There won't be any long-term damage."

"That's good, I guess?" you chuckled awkwardly, still feeling a little unsafe as Stein slipped into sterile gloves and poured disinfectant on the cut.

"So, how did it happen?" That question sure caught you off guard, for it did not fit his profile at all. Someone this self-centered couldn't possibly care about such inferior details, but whatever...anything to distract yourself from the pain. "Stupid accident. One of my students doesn't know how to control their strenght yet. I hope they don't blame themselves..."

"Huh, is that so?" His tone was eccentric and laced with amusement, a predatory glint sparkling in his otherwise cold, dampened green eyes. "If you like to volunteer as a test subject for others, I should invite you over to my laboratory some time."

"I have no clue if that counts as harassment or threat, or both" you spat angrily, that throbbing pain in your wrist being the only thing keeping you from slapping that douche right now. "But you should read the fucking room. Right now, I am your patient. So act accordingly."

"Yeah, yeah" he dismissed your scold with that shiteating grin, happy to already know what buttons to press with you. "But outside this room you're my new partner, am I wrong? Can't be all that bad to get a little familiar with each other."

Sadly, you had no sassy remark to return to this. It was inevitable that you'd have to get along with each other eventually, so you should use this opportunity to your advantage.

While the disinfectant would do it's deed and eventually dry off, Stein used those few seconds to assess the soul of the person in front of him.

Not that he ever gave a crap about soulmates - and honestly, he doubted to have one himself. A person meant to be with him either has to be just as deranged as he was, or they'd deserve all of his pity...

...what was more interesting though were the standarts Death had used to pick out a weapon for Stein, and why he chose you of all people as a fitting candidate to bear with him.

Ah, he sees.

A kind and amicable soul like yours was the most resistant to corruption, opposite to his own. He had felt that calming aura of yours as soon as you first stepped foot into the room, how your soulwaves silenced the madness lingering inside of him.

Good choice one could very well live with. If it came to him, he'd also choose you as an ideal partner.

What involuntarily caught his attention however were the messy-written letters 'F.S.' - almost as if carved into your soul. They were glowing in a menacing crimson red, standing out from your otherwise bright soul. A reliable soul type, linked to a person with raw power, passion and great urge for self-expression...

...yet also defiance, danger and pain.

"Hey!" Noticing his stare, you hugged yourself even if your arms in front of your chest did nothing to hide what's behind. "Stop staring into my soul! That's impolite!"

"Sorry" he halfheartedly apologized, offering you a glass of water and a painkiller to go with it. "It's not poisoned" he added, almost as if insulted by your wary expression.

"The painkiller won't suffice, though. I probably have to anesthesize you, otherwise stitching it would hurt too much-"

"Nope! You just wanna dissect me, don't you?!" you blurted out without thinking first, and immediately felt guilt wash over you when you saw Stein's puzzled expression.

There was no use in asking questions he already knew the answer for. Spirit probably told you what things he was capable of doing if you're defensless in his presence, so it was no wonder you wouldn't trust him.

"Honestly, I didn't plan to ruin that perfect skin of yours today, or any day, but whatever." Ouch, now you felt like an asshole for accusing him just like that. You've met your partner for the first time today, and were already fucking up that badly... "That sounded nasty, you pervert. I-I mean, can't you just numb out my arm or something?"

"It was meant as a compliment, but that's none of my fortes." It wasn't as if he particulary enjoyed the suffering of others - this was just something that went together with the satisfaction of stilling his bizarre interests. "Do you think you can endure the sight? Then hold still."

"Wai-" Before you could even object, you felt Stein's palm on your arm, gentle sparks of electricity spreading through your nerves.

You felt him with every fibre of your being as his soulwaves wandered within your body: They were oddly stoic and unwavering, nothing like you imagined an unstable sociopath's core to be like.

But maybe that's what one's soul is like if they're devoid of any emotion...

...and still, it made you feel content in a weird, inexplicable way.

"Wha-what was that for?"

"Just see" he mumbled and just like that, all of the severed ends of your wrist were connected through glowing threads. "Like this, everything that belongs together stays close while I stitch them with actual sutures. It's easier this way."

"You can make this out of your soul wavelenghts?!" A sole nod was his answer, deeply concentrated as he began to work. "That's just- wow."

"Seriously?" the doc quirked his brow as the greatest vessle had been conjoined again, effectively stopping the bleeding. "Yeah, it's amazing! How does that even work?"

"You actually want me to explain it to you?" Stein sounded unbelieving, doubting whether you were mocking him. "That's not what I usually hear."

"What else do people tell you, then?"

"Shut up."

Now it was your turn to break out into mischievous laughter, even while trying to not move around too much. "That's hilarious, even better medicine than the pills!"

You wiped a tear of joy out of your face, along with several others you had shed due to the pain. "Well, you're kind of an asshole. So no wonder they don't want to give you the satisfaction."

"I have every right to boast, don't you think? After all, I'm a doctor, just-"

"Unlicensed?"

"Better" he harshly corrected yourself, and you could've sworn to hear slight annoyance in his tone.

Seems like he's not the only one able to annoy the hell out of the other...

"By the way" Stein wouldn't look up from the wound, rather tinkering on getting a perfect end result. "What do you really think about being my partner? We're alone in here, so we can talk freely."

"I- uh..." he sure was good at randomly catching you by surprise, that much was sure. "If Death thinks it's needed, then I have nothing to say."

"Really? How boring."

Albeit it may be the truth in some way, this comment hurt your pride nonetheless. "Oh, and what about you? Sitting here in the academy, helping out whenever someone calls you."

"I'm a pretty opportunistic person" he retorted absentmindedly, a truly indifferent tone in his voice. "And being here is entertaining."

That didn't really answer your question, but you had a feeling that prying would be fruitless as well...

"Trying to see my soul, huh?" You were peering quite obvious, squinted eyes widening at being caught. "Wait, I need to step aside a little...you're standing inside of it."

Oh, you just knew he enjoyed himself way too much right now...

...and still, you couldn't keep your mouth from staying agape, shocked by such an intensely powerful human soul.

That man sure was a monster - in more way than one.

The letters imprinted on his soul reminded you of your own handwriting, even being the same as your first- and lastname. Not that it'd matter, though - seriously, how many people in the world had the same initials as you?

Each letter shimmered in a pretty lime green - a healer's soul, known to be calming to other agitated souls. People with that kind of souls were known for their selfless characters, mainly being associated with love, balance and growth.

How unfitting for someone like him, you thought...

...but on the other hand, not all that absurd to have a Soulmate that's the complete opposite of him, able to put his mind at ease.

"Di-idn't we just talk about how no one wants to see you bragging?" you stuttered, trying to keep it together at such an intimidating wavelenght. "Please, continue. I wanna go home already."

"Only if I'm allowed to join you." The tall man winked as he bowed down in front of you again, eagerly giving the wound dressing it's final touch. "For training purposes, of course."

"The only reason I leave that uncommented is that I owe you one, do you hear me?"

"If you want to file for sexual harassment, promise to go after Spirit first."

Just a few minutes and several sassy verbal exchanges later, Stein was done. He clicked his tongue, a bloodied hand turning the massive screw that was quite literally loose in his head. Not very hygienic - but hey, you're even less of a doctor than he was, so who were you to judge?

"Here, good as new."

You took a quick look at his handiwork, pleased that you were able to move all of your fingers smoothly again, without even so much as a dull pain remaining. "If you let it heal well, it won't even leave a scar. Come every second day for a new bandage."

"Thank you so much, Stein!" you exclaimed happily, taking both of his hands out of a whim. "And- I think I need to apologize."

"What for?" Hell, that man either really doesn't care or is to dull for his own good. You rubbed the back of your neck, shyly admitting "I had a lot of prejudices which clouded my judgement. That wasn't fair towards you."

"You'll never know, maybe I'm just being nice to lure you in." Although his words could still made you shudder, after today he didn't seem all that menacing to you anymore.

"Sure thing, tough guy." Feeling bold, you poked his shoulder, just to gently stroke his forearm as you went past him. "Next time, we'll meet at better preconditions, and then you teach me the technique with the soul strings. Deal?"

"Alright. If you insist, how could I possibly decline my new partner's wish?"

[archiveofkloss]

“a conversation with Karlie Kloss + Dr. Sumbul Desai”, a YouTube interview by Krystal Lora

KL: I have some questions for both of you. So, I'll start with something that I guess you can both answer. This is a fun one. We're gonna start fun.

KK: *laughs*

KL: Out of curiosity, what is a go-to app on your phone that you use every day?

KK: Honestly *to Dr.Desai* thank you - I use my Apple Health app all the time because I have - the one thing I always have on me, of course, is my iPhone, and so, I'm always checking how many steps. So that's like for sure every day I'm checking that. *to Dr. Desai* What about you? I'm actually so curious.

SD: It's a really good question. I do - and I'm not just saying it because l work there - do look at the Health app and the Fitness app pretty regularly. Actually for the same reason, but I do it on my watch.

KK: Ohhh, interesting.

SD: So, I do do it every day. I also look at Final Surge, which is an app that does our training plans, and because I run - not right now, but if I run, I always check for my training plans and like what I'm doing, and it kind of lays out... My running coach will like lay out my plans for the week, so I'll always try to get that in regularly too.

KL: Kode With Klossy: I love everything it stands for and I'm such a big fan of all of it. Not only just the program that it is, but the community that you've built and established with it. What is an important lesson you learned while learning how to code and immersing yourself further into the world of technology?

KK: Sure, thank you. Well, you know, it's hard to believe, but Kode With Klossy actually was founded almost a decade ago, and it kind of came out of my own curiosity of just wanting to understand what this thing called 'coding' was, which a decade ago was still quite abstract and yet, it was this secret kind of language that enabled so much creativity, so many incredible businesses to be built and you to experience. I really wanted to understand like, "What is it behind that? Who knows how to do it?", and I took a coding class and I was the only woman in the classroom, and it kind of made me more broadly understand that there's not necessarily enough access to these opportunities, and that was almost a decade ago - a lot has changed, but we now have a community of more than 10,000 young women and gender expansive teens across the country and around the world. We're gonna have 5,000 more scholarships this summer for individuals to be apart of our community, so we're super excited about just continuing to kind of provide access to these skills because there's so much you can do. I mean, here we are talking about health, and you know, medicine, and there's so many scholars that we have who are actually really interested in medicine, but also might not realize how actually coding skills can be so useful in solving problems at that intersection or certainly in creative spaces too.

KL: I can ask both of you, what's your favorite piece of advice to give to young women in tech?

KK: I mean, I would say, just you never know where life is gonna take you, and that's not just for young women in tech. I mean, I could've never imagined when I was starting Kode With Klossy that it would grow into something so big, you know? It started with 20 scholarships, and like I said, we now have thousands of amazing scholars who are in their own communities, and their schools, and their careers, going on to do amazing things, and the ripple effect of that is immeasurable. And so I would just say, don't underestimate yourself and be courageous to kind of be authentic to whatever it is that you're passionate about, no matter what the world is telling you, whether that's right or wrong.

KL: That truly speaks to me. I mean, starting my tech YouTube channel and I was one of the few women doing it at the time-and it's still such a small space-that I think it's so important to know like to not be afraid to take that leap. How about yourself? I'd love to know.

SD: I think one of the things that I, and it's true again for all women - not just women in tech, is 1. Just be comfortable being uncomfortable. When you are the only woman in the room-and then that'll lead to my second piece of advice that I just wanna squeeze in there—but you know, you have to be comfortable with the fact that, you know, you're gonna be in situations that are difficult, and you do have to have that voice, and find your voice to be able to speak up. You know, when I went to engineering school, the male-to-female ratio was like 8:1, and so you get very used to being that only voice. So that's a really important thing is like, realize that as you grow, you're gonna be in situations that are uncomfortable, but that's kind of where the growth comes from. And I think the second piece of advice that I just want to say, which is related to what Karlie mentioned, is being sure you're confident in finding your voice. Like the biggest piece of advice also is, from a young age, find your voice. I know with my two girls, like I'm very focused on, "How do they find their voice and speak up in math class, speak up in science class?" Just make sure class?" Just make sure you find your voice and be confident about it.

KL: I love that. It's amazing. This is for you, Karlie.

KK: Sure.

KL: What is a change that you would like to see that could be made possible with implementation of technology? This could be super open-ended, so whether that be in the world of fashion or just today's society in general.

KK: Oh, my goodness. I mean, so many things.

SD: *laughs*

KL: Great

KK: You know, to be honest, that's part of why l'm so passionate about Kode With Klossy. It's because it's... We hold this space to bring so many young individuals together to learn these skills, and what they go on to do with it is actually what's most inspiring to me. You know, I have my own interests: I would own interests; I would love to see more in fashion. I think there's so much untapped potential, but Kode With Klossy is so much bigger than me, and/or any one person. It's this kind of space that we hold for so many people to come together and learn these skills and tap into their own personal passions using technology to solve problems that they care about, and seeing just even a glimpse into what they care about, what they're thinking about, makes me hopeful for our future. I've always thought coding is this superpower. It's because one person with the right skills, the right idea, can actually solve a big, big problem. But me personally, I would love to see more in fashion.

KL: Was there anyone that you consider a role model or mentor that inspired your career path in technology?

KK: Dr. Fei-Fei Li, who's actually a professor here at Stanford, and just a prolific voice and has been for many many years in Al and advocating for access to skills and also safety with Al. She is somebody who I deeply admire.

KL: Amazing

KK: Yeah

SD: I think the first is— always have two because I can't narrow it down-so, 1. Indra Nooyi who is the former PepsiCo CEO. I just think watching her journey and navigating some of the things she's navigated over her career, especially being a minority CEO and the head of a big company, and really making positive change in that command. She's just brilliant. So, I think that's one of the ones I look up to as a role model. But I will also say that one of the things I got from my mom is that she was a constant learner, and I went back to school later in life, and I learned that from her. She was a teacher initially and came to the States and became a nurse, and then went back to school to go into finance, and so she was never afraid to stop learning, and I think the courage that I had to be able to go back to medical school later in life, that came from her. I would not have- I don't think I would be sitting here today if I didn't have a lot of people's support, but also just kind of that as an inspiration.

KL: One last question. Can we take a selfie together?

KK: Yes!

KL & SD: *laughs*

KK: Of course!

[fairy-switchblade]

hello, dear femme mentor <3

so, i'm in a new relationship with a lovely butch who i really want to get things right with, but i'm finding that i'm having trouble initiating - kisses, casual touching, sex - bc i've only ever been with someone who was both very dominant & saw my femmeness as my being passive, so never let me initiate. i've told my partner as much, & that i want to initiate, but that leads me to the fact that i don't really know how ? i think it's a matter of both shyness & lack of practice but i do really really like them & i want to show them that i want them too. often desperately so.

p.s. i really love your "advice to my baby femme self" posts & they've been so so meaningful to me as ive started embracing my femme identity, thank you for making them <3

Hi! Thats very sweet, thank you but please just call me Niamh!

That’s wonderful about your new relationship, I’m so happy for you! I think first and foremost, it’s lovely you want to take your relationship seriously, thats great. However, if you can, please don’t put a lot of pressure on yourself or get stressed out about it. You are doing your best and that is enough! Growing and getting better in a relationship happens naturally over time, as you listen and adjust.

It’s very natural to find being the initiator hard- I think especially for lesbians generally speaking. It can be even harder again if you’re a femme, due to that ongoing misconception that we don’t do that 😅 of course, that’s nonsense. It sounds like you’re unpacking how your previous dynamic may be affecting your view of your sexuality and identity- so you’re very self aware! And are already doing the work. Might I suggest writing some of this down? You could also create an art piece if you don’t like writing. What this does is it helps you keep that reflective work going. You’re basically trying to ask yourself “my previous butch wanted this from me, and that gave me one idea of what femme meant, but is that the only acceptable definition? How much of that was me, and how much of it was what they were projecting onto me?” These are questions only you can answer for yourself, I certainly don’t want to tell you what to do, or think, or be. This might help improve your confidence and general peace, which may help a lot with what you’re currently experiencing.

If you have more practical concerns about how to initiate, perhaps start small. Fantasies can help you figure out how you want to show up in your relationship. Remember they are completely private- nobody can see inside your head. They don’t necessarily have to be sexual either. Let’s say for example you have a daydream about coming up behind your partner when they’re doing the washing up, and wrapping your hands around their waist, and giving them a hug. You could then ask your partner about it sometime, like “hey, how would you feel if I hugged you in this way? Good? No?” And see what they say. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Time and experience improves confidence. Listen, learn and be respectful. And just know that there is nothing non-femme or wrong with your desires. You can take initiative, it’s wonderful, it’s natural. Have fun and be safe!

[pynkhues]

Work is so boring. I’ve been in this meeting for less than five minutes and am completely unable to engage. Any advice on how to find a job you love if you’re a person with no talents/interests?

I highly doubt you have no talents or interests, anon, but I'm sorry that your work is disengaging you.

I actually think it's less important to find a job that you love than it is to find a job that you find personally satisfying or rewarding with a healthy workplace culture. While jobs are where we spend a lot of our time, they don't need to be parts of our identity beyond what we do to pay our bills, and the concept of 'work a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life' is one I find inherently problematic. I've worked jobs I've loved before, and they've tended to be the ones that have been the hardest work, have the most toxic work environments and caused me the most personal strain.

My current day job is at a children's participatory theatre company, and it's one that's been really good for me. It's got a terrific workplace culture with a great wellbeing program, flexible hours, a supportive team and a mission statement I believe in (that all children have the right to experience and be empowered by art). The work I do there isn't work I love doing by any stretch of the imagination, but it's work I understand the importance of, and work I feel valued doing, and that combined with the great workplace culture makes it a really good fit for me right now.

In that sense, I'd suggest maybe starting with an idea of what environment you'd like to work in as opposed to what job you'd like to do. What's important to you? Do you want to work in an environment outdoors, on the go, or in an office? What do you think you'd like in a workplace culture (I know for me, given I freelance and am an author as well, flexibility is really important to me, as is a focus on arts and culture)? What values do you like in an organisation? And what's important to you in terms of your own values and needs? There's nothing wrong with taking a job for the money - I've certainly done it before - but it's also sometimes a compromise in terms of pay versus values, and that's something to consider as well. I earn less than I have previously at the theatre I work at, for instance, but I've supplemented my income with writing and prefer the healthier workplace environment.

Your personal interests don't necessarily need to be centred when you're looking at career pathways, I guess is what I'm saying, and if you have the freedom to choose, looking at bigger picture elements instead of focusing on likes and dislikes can really help you map out a way forwards. Hope this is a help!

[evilartist37]

I saw you made a post about how disheartening it is when your art doesn't get many notes, and I know you struggle a lot with feeling good about your art and I just wanted to say that you're not alone.

But doing art and posting art right now is the best thing you can do, y'know? Even if it's 'not good' right now (which uhh, is not true because art is about how much love you put into it and also literally your art is good anyways)

And I just really wanted to say that putting your art out makes people like me feel like my art is actually ok because it's like yours and yours is ok.

I used to struggle so much with my self worth in regards to art.

And (unsolicited advice incoming) I think it's so important to keep doing art, y'know? Keep drawing shapes and copying images and tracing images and imitating inspirational art pieces by other people. Doodle with a ballpoint pen on scrap paper. Redo your own art again and again and don't be afraid of doing 'bad art' because art is about love and learning and practicing and evolving and improving.

I think the thing that helped me most with my art, was thinking to myself that every piece of art I did is just practice for the next. And that is just practice for the next. And so on.

And y'know, someday your art will get so many notes but that doesn't make it 'better' necessarily than what you're doing now, and certainly not more important because every little bit of art you do is like a brick of a wall. And someday that wall will be tall and beautiful but without those bricks it is nothing.

I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that every piece of art is important, even if no one else can see it yet.

<3

This was so profound and meaningful and deep! Like, anon, this means so much to me. I don’t know who you are but I am hugging you through the screen. Thank you so much.

I never thought of art being bricks in a wall. That analogy actually sounds like it would work for me. I really like it.

I’m recovering from drilled-in-as-a-kid perfectionism and it is so difficult. It makes me hate the things I create sometimes, or tells me I don’t have the proper skills to attempt something. But you know what? Who gives a damn! I can make whatever art I want, when I want, skill level be damned.

And honestly, I’ve improved so, so much from where I was years ago. I used to think my art was stagnant, but looking at then and now, and how fast I’m improving with digital art, it’s very clear that it’s not. My art isn’t stagnant, and that’s huge. That means I still have room to learn and grow.

Also, I’m so glad I can make other people feel good about their art by posting mine! I love seeing all sorts of art when I come on here. (It’s one reason I haven’t abandoned this hellsite yet.)

Neil Gaiman has a fabulous quote about making mistakes and bad art, and through that ultimately making the world a better place than it was before you started. I have it taped to my wall, actually.

So, yes, I struggle with perfectionism and not even really figuring out how to doodle, but I have room to grow and will keep posting as I do.

Thank you so much for this encouragement. It means so much to me. 💙

[literaticat]

What recourse does an author have if an agent/agency refuses to honor contract terms upon termination of the agreement?

My former agent/agency is taking liberties, refusing to pull my sub book, and continuing to nudge editors with deadline for response, though there is no written clause to support their actions.

So, usually in agency agreements, it is specified that the agent is the agent of record for any deal that happens that they submitted. And, agencies get some span of time in which to wrap things up.

This is for the agent's protection, so that authors don't get the brilliant idea to make an agent do a bunch of work, get an offer, etc -- then fire them before the contract is signed to get out of paying the commish -- Nope! Sorry! -- but it's also for the AUTHOR's protection, because if there are things just *dangling out there*, contracts mid-negotiation, offers pending, whatever it is -- presumably you'd prefer to not have a bunch of loose ends that you wouldn't understand or necessarily know about and would have to figure out how to deal with.

Now, if there's nothing on submission or pending or anything like that, likely the agent will just say that it's fine, go with god, I don't need the 30 days. But IF you and your agent part ways while you are actively on submission, they'd certainly want to wrap up that submission -- by nudging editors and giving them a deadline for response. And yes, they'd be the agent if they sold it to one of those editors.

So this doesn't seem like bizarre behavior to me, from the outside, knowing no specifics - this seems to be pretty much what I might expect an agent to do in most cases? But are you saying that it's been significantly longer than 30 days (or whatever it says in the agreement?) -- or that the agreement says they will pull submissions immediately or something? I just have no idea what your agreement says, or what they might have told you.

Basically: If you think they are violating their own agency agreement or doing something wildly out of bounds -- In MY opinion, your first step is to send them an email detailing the problem, and what you propose:

Like, "According to your agency agreement, you have 30 days post-termination to conclude any active dispositions, and it has been over three months. Please withdraw any still-pending submissions and confirm that we're officially terminated effective immediately." (Or whatever the problem is and what you want, this is a for-example)

Usually most agents are reasonable? They don't actually WANT to represent somebody who doesn't want to be repped by them -- like, sure, they'd like to get a deal if there is a deal to be gotten, but they don't have any desire to *trap* an unwilling author. So they should be able to explain what is up / do what you want / whatever.

If they are still acting up, your next step is to get advice from a publishing lawyer, and perhaps get them to write a cease and desist or something. Organizations like the Author's Guild and SCBWI often have lawyers that can give advice to members.

Good luck!

[robo-cryptid]

💖 🤗

Hi anon! I've been waiting until I had the brainpower to answer this, so sorry for the wait! And hopefully you'll see it!

💖 What made you start writing?

In general, I have no idea. I've been doing it on and off since I was a kid. Like I didn't realize other people didn't write down the silly things they imagined in their heads. Then I discovered fanfic at the tender age of... 13? 14? Somewhere around there?

More specifically and more recently, I'd been writing a metric fuckton in grad school but it was all very dry and boring (well, not to me, but stylistically boring), so I wanted to write something more fun and with lower stakes, so I got back into fanfic ~2018.

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Gosh, there's so MUCH advice out there that I'm not sure I'm better qualified than anyone else giving it. But here's some I've gotten that work for me that I think would also work if you're just starting with fanfic. (Caveat: no writing advice is one-size-fits-all, so if one thing doesn't work for you, that's ok! Try others!)

Just write it. The first draft will probably suck and that's ok. Sucking is part of the process of not-sucking. This is what editing is for.

Speaking of editing, if you're worried about your own editing skills and can find a good beta, I highly recommend it! My qualifications for a good beta are not necessarily "good with grammar" (though yes, that should be part of it), but also someone who knows how to communicate to you about whether or not you're successfully executing what you're trying to execute. They aren't there to "fix" your story in some objective sense and certainly not to tear you down. They're there to help make your story the best version that it can be.

Write down all your ideas, no matter how stupid or how convinced you are that you'll remember it later. "If an idea isn't written down, it functionally doesn't exist" is writing advice I got 1000 times in school, and infuriatingly, it is correct.

If you want to write more than just a short one-off, make writing a habit. Lots of people say "write daily," and that's a worthy goal if it fits your schedule and how your brain works, but maybe that's too high-pressure or untenable for you. But making it a habit, where you sit down regularly and do it (once a week, three times a week, once a day - doesn't matter), will definitely help build up the muscle so that when you need the words to be there, they are more likely to appear.

Read critically. What do you like about the writers/works you like? What don't you like about the writers/works you don't like? What's working? What isn't working? Why is/isn't it working?

Outlining is super helpful, especially for longer stories, but you should also know that there's about a million ways to do outlines and that your outline is not set in stone. You're allowed to change it! At any time! It's as flexible as you need it to be.

Read your own writing out loud, especially your dialogue. If you get tripped up on a sentence or turn of phrase or something sounding weird when you say it aloud, it's probably weird to read too.

Since most of my anons come from Overwatch and in particular YeeHan fandom: whatever urges you have to write in a character's dialect, dial them back by at least 50%. If you're doing your job, readers will hear in the character's voice even without, for example, dropping every G and spelling things as "yer" instead of "your," etc. Sincerely, a Southerner who's read a lot of WILDASS Cassidy dialogue.

At some point, you will probably look back on your writing and go, "God, that sucks." This is very normal. I don't know any writer who hasn't cringed over something older that they wrote. It means now you're better, because you've got the distance and the critical eye to see what you could have done differently. Don't let it get you down. One day you will hopefully also be able to see the parts of your writing that were good right from the start.

Finally, my favorite piece of writing advice of all time: stop telling yourself you can't write. If you can use social media, send text messages, chat on Discord, write down a recipe, whatever, you can write. It isn't some sacred ritual. It's just writing. You do it every day.

[multi-lefaiye]

helloooo multi

hypothetically, do you have some (hypothetical) advice for a hypothetical person who may hypothetically be attempting to make an animatic. you've done that before so you're more knowledgable than i (hypothetically) could be if i were to do this. hypothetically

(i cannot stop thinking "the magnus archives mad iqs animatic the magnus archives mad iqs animatic the magnus archives mad iqs animatic". help)

helllloooo nico!!!!!

oooooh yes i may have some advice in this completely hypothetical scenario!!!!!! so fair warning, i'm far from an expert and i also do Not have any cool advanced programs for fun editing, so i can't help on that front. HOWEVER i can maybe help with getting started or offer some general advice, and i can point you to some resources that may help as well!

my main point of advice is to not stress yourself out too much over planning it very extensively or making it super polished--an animatic isn't a complete and perfect animation. you know your own planning methods and workflow better than i do, so really do whatever is most comfortable for you, but don't stress yourself out or feel like you need to make it SUPER polished.

essentially, each frame doesn't have to be a complete, rendered piece with full coloring and shading. if you want to, you certainly CAN do that, but animatics are more often, as far as i've seen, done in a simpler style with a limited color palette (or not even colored at all), and if there is any shading it's usually done to emphasize certain moments.

but uhhh other things to keep in mind:

regardless of how extensively you plan (i.e. like if you make a storyboard or something first or jump right in), make sure you know going in how many frames it's going to be. again, you know your own planning method preferences better than i do, so do what's best for you on that front, but that's the big one for me.

you don't need any fancy editing programs or anything. while they can be NICE, all you really need is something to draw your frames in and some way to set them to the audio you have in mind. i use windows movie maker and that works just fine for me.

if you're planning to upload this to youtube, then i definitely recommend sizing your frames to make sure that they 'fit' in the video player without having those black boxes on the sides. i'm sure there's probably a more specific guide with exact ratios out there, and if i find one i can send it your way, but the size i use for my frames right now 1920x1080

the most important tip i have to offer: just have fun with it!!! ultimately it matters most that you enjoy the process more than anything else, and don't stress yourself out trying to make it perfect, especially for your first one (even if you don't intend to make more in the future). making animatics is a SUPER time-consuming process, but it's also really fun and rewarding!!

and now for some other resources.

here is a good website for cutting and trimming audio--you don't necessarily have to worry about that right away, but it can help in planning to know exactly how long your audio will be: [link]

and there are a ton of websites for downloading the audio you might need from youtube or wherever else you're accessing it, but one website that has worked well for me is this one: [link]

aaand i think that's what i got!!!! if you have more specific questions i can try and answer those, but this is at least some general advice!! :>

also while answering this i got an idea for another animatic i could make. hohoho heheeh

(also if anyone else wants to chime in to offer advice, please feel free to!!!)