#I like having hobbies and fun I don't wanna just idk give up. have a soulless adult existence filing taxes and delaing w/insurance 24/7

[imwritesometimes]

really wrestling with "writing fic is my hobby and I do it for fun and sharing it is fine and fun why shouldn't I share something I had fun doing" and "writing fic is a hobby sure but it's really only fun for me there is little point to actually sharing it with anyone though and therefore very little point in actually writing anything anymore" today 🙃

[jasper-pagan-witch]

Why don’t people curse, hex and put spells on politicians? (I know that there are people who do that) but it seems like people opt out of using that kind of magic to help the masses. Idk what kind of question this is haha but if you wanna respond you can haha

Okay, I was gonna wait longer after Huge Bitch Monday to answer this one, but I've been sick for several days now and I'm tired of looking at this message in my inbox and getting mad at it.

You said it yourself: There are people who already put spells on politicians.

But magic isn't guaranteed to work and it's really not that verifiable.

And pushing "help the masses" as the most important thing for everyone to do is exhausting. Like yeah, it's nice to help others, but why use magic for that when there are other (and often easier or more verifiable) methods to accomplish the same thing? Volunteer work, donations, activism, making connections, helping your neighbors - all of these and more can count as "helping the masses".

And some of us do that but don't use our magic for it. Case in point, me. Hi hello, guess who does a lot of volunteer work in the emergency management and response fields? You can bet your ass that I don't use my magic for that because magic is my downtime away-from-work hobby.

Sure, you (general you) can use your magic to cast spells on politicians. But that's not going to change things in the same way that more direct actions will. Voting, showing up at commissioners' meetings, signing petitions - these often have more obvious, concrete, provable results than just lobbing a spell does. No amount of "dick fall off in the Olive Garden" curses are going to change someone's entire political affiliation to match yours.

Don't get me wrong, you can absolutely use politicians as magical guinea pigs. It's fun and gives you a guilt-free target for curses. But not everyone does that, and that's fine.

TLDR: Magic can only do so much.

~Jasper

[angelsdean]

Which hobbies do you see canon Cas do and why? I am interested in your perspective on his character. Do you think he would still like physical hobbies because they remind him of humanity and the reality of being in control while being connected to the world he fell in love with, or do you think he would stay away from more physical hobbies because they remind him of his time as a machine and soldier? Or something completely different from those reasons? Like Vic, please, I wanna know what you think about his interests, about the way he moves on earth post-canon and how his perspective on things might change, or not.

Hi, Val !! I'm sooo sorry it took me so long to get to this ask. I did the silly adhd thing where i told myself "i'll get to this later when i have more time to answer properly" and then....my brain forgor :(

Anyways I have a cas hobbies tag and I really really think he would actually enjoy sports a lot!! For some of the reasons you listed but also because it's a way for him to use a lot of the stuff he was trained for in a new and fun, recreational way instead of as a weapon.

Cas has a very strategic mind, he's spent billions of years being a soldier and he's also charismatic and someone we've seen other angels turn to as leader (like during s9). I think a lot of his skills would transfer well from battlefield to sports field. I also think Cas likes to do and be active and in motion. We see him get very impatient with things that take time. He doesn't like waiting for doors to be unlocked lol, he abandons cars when they "suddenly stop working", he needs stuff to happen now. Which is why, contrary to popular fanon I really don't see Cas doing more meditative hobbies like knitting and gardening. In 15x06, when Cas is talking about fishing, he says he "had a friend (Dean) who always praised fishing for its meditative qualities. Wish I found it more relaxing." Dean loves quiet, slow, meditative hobbies. He loves fishing. He loves working on cars. Building things (emf reader, ma'lak box), even stuff like cleaning out his guns, taking them apart and putting them back together. It's a lot of doing stuff with your hands and also being alone with your thoughts. I think Cas would, perhaps eventually, come to enjoy some of those types of hobbies too, but I think he still leans toward more physical hobbies. I said it in this post but I really think Dean would be the one more interested in knitting (adhd boy needs to keep his hands busy) and gardening (similar vibe to fishing -- meditative, outdoors).

Aside from sports, I think Cas would also enjoy some more unconventional or risky hobbies. I can see him getting into making weird art, sculptures out of found objects, glass-blowing, welding, skydiving (to Dean's horror), deep-sea diving, cave exploring, probably some illegal stuff too like this post suggests, and idk leading a heist, you know normal stuff.

While I totally understand the idea behind giving Cas peaceful meditative hobbies post-canon, and I think he would enjoy some of them for a time, Cas would eventually grow bored / frustrated and want to try something new. I can totally see him being a "serial hobby starter" and just constantly getting into "new" hobbies and buying all the supplies and gear and then like, a week later he's over it and Dean is throwing his hands up exasperated (but fond) like "CAS! Where the hell am I supposed to put all your mosaic crap now??? The garage is already full!"

[isappuccino]

hey babe :3 u said reqs r open so i hv an idea!! make like a fic w gunwook n its highschool volleyball au where u both r the captains of the boys n girls teams idk how to explain it.. also do u think miumuras is a good username for my blog cs im gna change it once my smau is overrr

this ask is so old, omg im so sorry!

f!vbcap!reader x vbcap!rival!gunwook . fluff . no tw . rlly rlly cringe...

"gunwook." you say as you look up at him. "yn." he replies smiling, making fun of your seriousness. it really wasn't a big deal in his opinion, all he did was steal your court. "this is our court, we were here first." you state, trying to focus on his eyes and not the obvious smirk on his face, "yet you all left to get ice cream. meaning free opportunity, so i took it." he says, leaning down to get closer to your face.. you flinch away, scrunching your face up in the process. "bullshit. we booked this court a week ago! i'm getting coach." gunwooks smirk fades as he grabs your hand stopping you from walking away, "don't. fine, we'll give you the court, but only for today. don't keep expecting me to be nice." you scoff, watching him walk away 'what is he? some villian?' "alright, girls! on the court!" you hear your coach call out.

you walked out of the school, looking up at the heavy rain. quietly, you curse at yourself for not bringing an umbrella. "fuck. guess i'll have to run" you huff, annoyed since you're still sore from practice. "need help?" you hear from behind you. turning around you're face to face with the captain of the boys volleyball team, and your worst enemy. gunwook. 'great. just my luck.' you turn back around, rolling your eyes. "no. gunwook. i dont need your help." taking off your backpack you carry it above you as you step out into the pouring rain. "holy shit! its fucking cold!" you scream out, hearing giggles behind you, "do you need help now?" gunwook says, walking next to you with his umbrella dawning only above him. torturing you seemed like his favorite hobby. "oh fuck off dude. i dont wanna play today." you yell, walking faster than him.

it had been 10 minutes since you left the school, slowly hating how far away your home is from the school. weirdly enough, gunwook was still next to you walking with his umbrellla. you had passed by many people, staring at the two of you wondering why one of you was drenched in water, while the other remained dry. "fuck! fine I need your help!" you screamed in a last effort. the rain had gotten even worse. "okay!" gunwook said, instantly pushing himself closer to you. "feel better now, sweetheart?" gunwook smirks, "whatever, shut up and walk." you say shoving his side. you cant lie, his presence had been comforting. "say, do you really walk this far? everyday?" he asks, you nod before answering him. "i live this far, idiot." he laughs, looking down. "you're really pretty." he says randomly, a blush creeping on both your faces causes an awkward tension. "... you too." 'FUCK!' "you too?? can't even say thank you, huh?" he smirks, "shut up, i'll take that back too." yeah, maybe his presence wasn't so bad.

[inferencesarchives]

Slithers up to you like a snake

What about a reader who's like a parental figure to Walnut?

Like.. They help Almond babysit her whole he's working

🦎

Take Care

almond x gn reader

summary: some hcs about almond having a s/o that helps take care of walnut

warnings: idk i don't think there's any

ok first off just a quick general hc here. this guy is absolutely smitten for you. like you can't tell me this guy isn't a huge simp for his s/o (he would never admit it tho)

^because of how much he loves, he didn't think it was possible for him to fall even harder for you than he already has. but when you offered to help take care of walnut, boy was he head over heels.

he's so grateful that you're willing to help him and that you're so kind to his daughter.

walnut cookie absolutely loves you. she is like so attached to you. she's so happy that you get to be her new parent kinda

walnut cookie always likes to talk to you about her hobbies and other stuff she's been getting into lately. she's always so happy when she gets to talk to you aaaaa :,))

^also hc that walnut likes to draw but is a beginner and really wants to improve. whenever you compliment one of her doodles she just explodes with joy!!

almond is so happy that walnut trusts you and that the two of you get to spend time together. he loves the both of you so much and he would give both of you the world if he could.

bonus: once, almond came home to find both of you asleep at the kitchen table next to walnut's unfinished homework (lol)

a/n: sorry it's kinda short but this was super cute and i had a lot of fun writing itttttt ty 🦎 anon for ur amazing ideas <33 also im still trying to kick writers block in the shins so that's mainly why things are super short rn but hopefully once i finish my last request and take some time to actually rest and redo some stuff on my blog ill be good to go and start writing again :]

thanks for stopping by!

wanna submit a request? see my requesting rules- oh where did they go oh dear they ran away oh no- oh, here they are!

[spyroforlife]

not gonna reblog the actual post I saw because I don't feel like derailing and I will always just give people room to be haters on their own blogs, I understand the venting, I do. But it's always so funny to me when I see posts like "just let this ace/aro character be ace/aro you weird fuckin shippers!!"

because like

babes

they still are

they literally are whatever they are in canon. That is always gonna be the same. The representation is not being taken away from you in any way whatsoever because other fans are doing what fans do and making silly lil shipping drawings and fics, because they just personally find shipping fun and will do it to literally whoever they find interesting and want to imagine in situationships

The creator of your fav ace blorbo is not gonna go on Tumblr.com and look in the fandom tags and see a drawing of them making out with another character and go "hmm you know what. I dig that more actually. So asexuality retconned, he's gonna fuck (character) on screen now <3"

That doesn't happen. Can seeing the ship art be off-putting if you can't see the character being like that? Of course! Yes! Not denying it! But like. They're not changing anything about the character in canon. It's not some kind of problem in fandom that needs to be fixed. Shipping just happens, pretty sure it's a goddamn rule of the Internet.

But I promise you, there is still gonna be a variety of fans who would MUCH RATHER actually focus on that asexuality and/or aromanticism and discuss that, and portray it in their works. You can follow those people specifically, and join in their discussions! And who knows, it might get more people talking about it, so you'll see more of what you actually wanna see with the character.

It's just like. Idk. I get complaining but I just start feeling itchy as soon as it takes a turn into any sort of "so other people SHOULDN'T do x/y/z with blorbo actually" because okay hit the brakes, fandom is just for fun, it's a hobby, shipping is just playing around in imagination land and who cares if people do dumb or impossible things. You can dislike it, you can want to avoid it, but trying to tell other people what they can and can't do with fictional characters??

idk man. just rubs me the wrong way I guess. And in the end I'm just ALSO bitching about a fandom thing on my own blog and this ultimately doesn't matter too much to me because I DO have a job and fandom is just a hobby for me.

But I guess I just really don't see people shipping aroace characters as a big deal, because let's be real shipping has ALWAYS been about ignoring canon sexualities, this is nothing new. People will literally just smash together whoever they find hottest, or the most fascinating, or the most fucked up, or whatever tickles their fancy. And what's happening in some weird lil corner of fandom just isn't gonna have any impact on what actually happens with the canon character relationships, and it was never about that anyway, so. who cares and let people have fun. I promise when you go back to whatever media your blorbo is from, they're still gonna be their cool asexual/aromantic selves, because canon isn't fanon

signed, an asexual who gets amusement from dumb ships because I know I personally would never do this stuff but it's fun living it through random fictional characters <3

[hypegirl1]

Yanqing best friend hdc!(Gender neutral reader)

AN:I've been feeling kinda down lately due to Taeil's situation and writing is the only thing that keeps me alive honestly 🥹 I love Yanqing he's such a cutie and wanted to make some hdc! I tried making it gender neutral,but if there are any mistakes please tell me! 😭Plus I play in spanish so if I mispelled something also tell me!

Warnings:None,there are also no spoilers!

Gender:Fluff ig(Idk how to do this)

1.You both met one day when you were like 8 years old at a park in the Xianzhou's Luofu,you saw Yanqing playing with a stick and decided to join him

+Hey that's not how you use a sword!

-How do you use it then?

+Like this

2.Since that day you both became best friends,you would always hang out,mostly at Aurum's Alley,you would always go to that one restaurant and order that one meal

3.The day Yanqing wanted you to meet his father you thought not pretty much of it

+Know that I think about it,I never met your parents,but you met mine

-Well uhm,I don't have them

+Oh my god,I-I'm sorry I didn't knew

-No it's okay! I never told you about it,but I have like a dad,if it's the right word,wanna meet him?

+Of course!

Until the day you met him...

-General,this is my best friend Y/N!

"Greetings Y/N"

You were speechless,Yanqing's dad was the general Jing Yuan?! The general of the Luofu?!

+Uhm-hi!I mean,greetings! "No need to be formal Y/N,Yanqing is always talking about you,I'm glad we finally meet,you two seem to get along very well with each other"

+Yes,we get along very well

4.He's always teaching you swordplay,he dedicates his life to it,but you it's just like a hobby,but you two still have fun

5.You always want to go on missions with him,but he nevers let you because it's dangerous and is scared you'll get hurt

6.He ALWAYS remembers important dates and makes them feel important,like your birthday or your friendship anniversary

7.The general loves you,he says you're a good influence on him,as he doesn't have many friends

8.When he doesn't let you go on missions with him you'll go ask the general if everything is okay with him going alone

"I understand why you're worried Y/N,but it's okay,he's stronger than you think,he'll be safe"

9.When he's not teaching you swordplay,you're the one that teaches him your favorite hobbies

10.He will randomly give you small details,like a handmade bracelet or some flowers he picked up

11.He will always defend you even if you're wrong

12.He's always been an obedient guy,but when it's about breaking a rule or 2,it might take 2 years to convince him

13.He knows how to comfort you whenever you're feeling down,you know each other very well,so expressing your emotions to each other is not a problem

[nandosango]

15 Questions for 15 People

Tagged by @dayeongi :) appreciate the curiosity~

Are you named after anyone?

Hm, no. My mom has an uncle with the same name, but he's not the reason for my name.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Just this morning. It's been quite a month, but honestly I do cry easily.

3. Do you have kids?

It's only me and my OCs! And I plan on keeping it that way~ Love kids, but don't ever want to have my own. I'm actually terrified of the idea.

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

I took ballet and swimming lessons as a kid. Then capoeira and contemporary dance in high school, I also gave judo a try once. - I wanna try capoeira again.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Yes, but usually only around people I'm comfortable with.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Hmmm.... this might sound bad, but their looks. Clothes, hair, accessories, body shape, face features... That's just how my artist brain works, studying details to use later :9

7. What’s your eye color?

Brown~ (also turn gold when I'm blinded by the sun)

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Usually I would say only happy endings, but recently I've been learning to enjoy horror movies with my sister's help. So I guess both, depending on the mood and company.

9. Any talents?

I have great sense of direction. I can lick my elbow. I can walk without making any sounds (that scares people a lot, it's almost a curse at this point). I give great cafuné.

10. Where were you born?

Recife, Brazil~!

11. What are your hobbies?

Creating characters and redesigns~ Planning and arranging cute pages for my stories on Notion. Also rearranging the furniture around the house. Idk if it counts but little manual tasks to distract the mind, sudoku, dress up games, solitaire.

12. Do you have any pets?

No :( never had any because my siblings are allergic to everything.

13. How tall are you?

1,70m! :) - Not so fun fact: I have such bad scoliosis, I could have been 5cm taller.

14. Favorite subject in school?

I used to like history and biology. My art classes were history as well. And English classes were basically free period for me. But overall I did not like school :(

15. What is your dream job?

"I simply do not dream of labor." I wanna be paid to draw, write, read - create. I also enjoy working "behind the scenes" planning and decorating parties and events, and serving/helping people.

Let me tag -> @bee-zbub @sugutoad @dolce-tenebra-toscana @nyx-the-misthios @hoemine

[crypt1dcorv1dae]

Ykno I truly believe that no ACTION or hobby or anything is inherently "masculine" or "feminine", that just goes back to old shitty gender roles, BUT. THAT BEING SAID. as an avid crocheter who also PRESENTS MOSTLY MASC it is SO. SO FUCKING HARD. to find patterns or ideas for clothes or accessories for myself that aren't actively intended for feminine people, or just.... Boring.

Like, search up crochet projects for men, and they are always just like... Beanies and scarves with the least texture possible. Like maybe I wanna make a sweater for myself too!!! That doesn't make my body look more feminine!!! Because that gives me dysphoria!!!! And YES these patterns do exist but it is so so hard to find them sometimes...

Obviously, I know that crochet has, historically, been largely a hobby done by women, I get that, it's part of why I was taught as a kid (or, they tried to, and I didn't get it until I came back to it years later on my own) so yeah culturally it makes sense that MOST of the projects out there are made with women or fem folks in mind... And usually I have no issue with that!!!

It's just... It gets frustrating sometimes, to be a trans man who feels most comfortable in masculinity who wants to like... Still do things that are FUN. when did we decide everything fun and colorful was feminine????? Why is mens fashion all just bland earth tones and grayscale I want some COLOR in my wardrobe without having to visit the women's section!!!! I want to be fun and stylish AND STILL BE WEARING MEN'S CLOTHES or clothes meant to fit "masc" bodies (not that that means fuckin anything but dysphoria isn't a logical thing ykno? It doesn't make sense)

Idk I think it's a problem I face in general as a trans man like... Idk, I want to be able to signal to other queer people that I am queer and I am a safe person and yeah I'm a little bit of a *limps my wrist* sometimes but I dont want to have to act "feminine" for people to recognize me as queer. Sometimes trans men want to look and act like just any other random dude !!!!! And not just be pushed away by other queer folks because we dared to actually be ourselves because like I GET IT. A lot of us have bad history with cis men, a lot of us do not trust cis men, but like... The masculinity isn't the problem with cis men, it's the rape culture, I wasn't fuckin raised like that and if I want to be a lil butch that doesn't mean I'm suddenly gonna be a fuckboy!!!!

Sorry, that went places, it's just a frustration I have especially as someone who doesn't really get to present fully how I want irl, I can't bind and I'm not fully out and most of my clothes are hand me downs from my mom cus I got fat over the past few years so I don't even get to dress the way I want, I don't have any outfits I'm actually fully comfortable in, and even the people I am out to irl don't.... Treat me like a guy. I don't think they ever will. So I think the frustration is just built up over time being STUCK in such a shitty spot for so many reasons and then to feel like I still have to perform femininity (the thing that I was forced into my entire life) to be accepted and trusted by my own community just cus you don't trust masc people feels really fucking shitty. Idk.

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

(Self hating content incoming sorry if you don't wanna answer) I'm a grey ace lesbian and honestly I just wish so badly that I wasn't. I'm so scared that even other queer women won't want me, I know that realistically my odds of finding someone who's compatible aren't good, and honestly I just don't want to have to deal with all this. I wish I wasn't scared to even casually date half the time because I'm so afraid no one who isn't also ace is ever going to want me so it feels like I'd be

(self-doubting greyace lesbian anon pt 2) Like it wouldn't be fair to expect someone who wasn't ace to stick around for maybe a regular relationship. I want love and I wish I enjoyed more than the idea of sex more than once in a blue moon, is that so wrong? And it's so hard to not feel like i got cheated by the universe and resent my identity. I don't want to drag other ppl down so I just bottle these feelings up plus idk if I can afford therapy rn. I just wish I could make my peace with this.

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time, Anon. It sounds like there's two issues going on, the first is finding a partner you're compatible, and the second is self-acceptance in general.

I'd focus on self acceptance to start. Start following ace spectrum blogs (both ace themed, and people who just happen to be ace spectrum). If you can lesbian ace spec stuff, even better. And consider joining communities. Check and see if there's any in-person ace meetups near you, or think about joining online communities like a discord server or similar. It can help a lot to regularly see real aces who are dealing with the same or similar things as you so you're not always comparing yourself to the same standards as allos.

Seek out ace media, there's a lot of books and podcasts out there especially and you can find rec lists. Find characters who you relate to.

Remember too that your value is not in your relationship status, build yourself up. Learn a new skill or take up a fun hobby (or build on ones you already have). Build up your self esteem and self worth. This isn't giving up on dating, but it will help you value yourself no matter how things are going on that front, and will help you be in a good place when you do meet someone who is compatible with you.

Generally speaking there are actually a lot of aces out there (even if you take the conservative 1-2% estimate, which is almost definitely underestimating, that's still over a thousand aces in any city with a population of 1 million or more. They can just be hard to find, but I have known a lot of aces who have successfully found ace dating partners and found good relationships, so remember it is possible.

We do absolutely need better ways of finding each other, especially for dating purposes. In the meantime though there are dating apps that let you give your orientation as ace, and seek out other aces, and there are communities around. As visibility increases, this is getting better though. So even if you try and date withing the ace community, you do still have options.

There are also allo people who aren't as big on sex, or don't mind going without or not having sex very often, though that can be like looking for a needle in a haystack because of societal expectations. But they do exist.

So try your best not to give up hope, and to keep trying to meet people. What you want is possible and something others have succeeded at too.

All the best, Anon! And good luck!

[tomatoart]

mwah your art is good and nice :>

can I ask for some advice? no worries if u don't want to answer.

do you have any tips on how exactly to practice art? everytime I ask for art advice everyone always says "practice" but idk what to practice first! do you have any strategies for learning how to draw something? do you do excercises? and if so how do they work?and are there any beginner mistakes I should look out for and change specifically?

thank you so much!! have a wonderful week :>

thank you so much! im ok w answering! i dont want to speak as if i am an expert on how to draw things in general as i am learning as well and definitely am not completely learned, so i might not be the best person to ask since im not very professional w my art as I do it as a hobby (and I can only speak on mostly digital cartoon matters) but i reallly hope to try and help u out even a lil ! im really happy that you’re eager to draw :] I wish you so much luck muwah muwah

i also hated when ppl told me “just practice” and i dont wanna inflict tht on u EITHER LOL but also thats just what i ended up doing for awhile but i tried to find some things to help ^_^

tips for practice: My number one rule is that practices should be challenging but still fun, I know it can get frustrating trying to redraw a pose over and over trying to get it perfect. And over time it rlly is all about muscle memory, the longer you draw the more your eyes will pick out specific shapes in everyday life and convert them into its own vision of them! or at least its good to look at life that way, try to pin point key shapes and stress less on details in practices. after you look at key points, THEN you can go over what you have and draw in and over it to make it more “complete.” To stop practices from getting too stressful I recommend starting out drawing what you want a little more simple looking than ur desired finished product. This helps eliminate the pressure of everything not looking “perfect” and keeps your art more loose and fun. Doing this a few times is gonna get ur brain to recognize patterns in art and how things look/flow in anatomy and such. dont get stuck in ur own head abt perfecting everything to the point you either 1) give up bc ur not at a level capable of it being 100% “perfect” or 2) focus so much on making it perfect that you end up saying the work looks “wonky” or stale in dynamics, So while I do think studies help, don’t get too lost in them. I always practice with media I enjoy too, whether it’s characters or fashion I enjoy.

Strategies learning to draw something: people get mad abt this one but I think tracing reference photos is great. its been awhile but When I tried learning to draw hands better at first I would trace them then put the traced image to the side of the canvas, then try and replicate what my mind saw as its most important angles and aspects. Same for clothing folds/hair/etc! I think it’s maybe not the best idea to trace the ref and use the tracings as is, because you learn more from tracing it then trying to replicate and simplify what u learned into the style you’re working in. Find what shapes you like from them and don’t over detail it. you may have to go by eye and think “what parts of this ref photo should i simplify to fit my style” and for me, its usually adjusting the length of the torso and then the limbs by associations. i dont recommend feeling like u need a reference for every art you make though, its ok to let ur own head try out its own sometimes too while trying to learn this, see if it remembers any call bad from the past referenced sketches! over time ull remember where everything goes more, these days i rarely kick myself to use refs but im sure they still would help to use, but figure drawing simple blobby figure in a bunch of random poses was a big thing i used to do as well to get better at full body art + overall dynamics (still does this). also paying attention to silhouettes is great 

Exercises and how they work: I WANNA HELP U SO BAD BUT to be honest, all the works on my blog ARE exercises! i rarely actually do finished pieces, if u scroll thru my posts ull notice most r sketches. i usually just fill up a page and call it “warm ups” then i get attached to some of them, take a few, and just line them up pleasingly on a smaller page, then color them in (or sometimes fix the lines to be more clean too). im not rlly a person who “exercises” to practice, it more so happens from just me drawing a lot for fun as a hobby! but i really should. i will tell u this has humbled me a lil i need to start practicing too 😭 LOL but a good exercise is to look at what ur inspirations do, and study it. Make a collage and write out what you like most abt their styles/what u want to gain from them. For ref Here’s a page I did awhile ago when someone asked me abt my insps:

i also look at fashion magazines and as well as anime figures and take insps from that sometimes with learning cool poses and compositions to convert into my own things

Beginner mistakes to look out for: its hard for me to pin point “mistakes” beginners make, as sometimes we cant avoid all of them or even notice them, progress comes from growing out of old ways. some mistakes are even the foundation of ur future amazing cool style! but i think some things to look out for could be these, from my own old art experiences

Hands were the first thing I learned bc i liked drawing them. I don’t know if that is the best way to go but I think it is smart to practice sooner than later, here is a lil guide thingggyyy wingyyy from awhle ago

i see beginners shy away from drawing signs of age in people, sometimes adding too much detail on an older person in cartoon art makes it look weird, so i try and hit the key markings on ppls faces of age.

Too thin of lines. sometimes its a stylistic choice to use thin lineart, and it can look amazing ! but sometimes it can flatten an image if ur not familiar with its flow. im not saying use thick line art, but more so to keep in mind the weight of ur strokes, adding depth with a thick thin combo of line art can do SO much for the simplest of pieces. heres a visual from a while back when i talked abt my brush + more abt lines:

but if ur desired style is thin lineart that is cool too! tbh it was just harder for me as a beginner

sometimes artists think they need to do full lineart for everything and then hate how it looks compared to the sketch, do not fear i will introduce u to my bff: painting over a sketch, extractinging the lines, then calling it line art. i only do this sometimes but its a fun exercise-ish thing to do in a pinch. example:

finding what shading fits ur art. sometimes ill see ppl starting out who have a style thats very simple, but they use a very detailed rendering process on it. this is not something id ever police of course, art is each persons own choice! And it CAN work. It can be so cute! but sometimes mixing two very contrasting mediums of art can throw off the “put together” look of it. i use to abuse the airbrush tool thinking it made my simple style look super cool and detailed, but looking back on it now those pieces looked a little off, having such a simple style have somewhat more realistic shading. dont get me wrong the ability i see ppl use rendering like that is so insanely talented! but i found cellshading to be a good match for cartoony art like my own. a tip i learned way too late abt that is rather than shading each layer by color picking a darker color, instead use a clipping mask over the entire art (above line art too as I color my lineart) and lasso tool the areas u want shaded + fill it w a saturated purple then set to multiply + lower opacity. also, sometimes coloring can come out chalky looking when u meant for it to be smooth and transitional, i think this comes from overshading and overlighting pieces without reason. pay attention to where the light source is, and focus on making the shaded and lighter areas nice shapes that cover the necessary areas, then u can add additional shading to the smaller details of what should have a casted shadow/light  

its good to spice up ur art now rather than later, focusing making ur art pop more w backgrounds will help ur coloring skills look better too! i dont mean detailed huge backgrounds, a small lil color pallet and design rather than a blank white bg. like this will make u feel better abt it or at least it helped me *sweats* yeah:

beginners tend to draw blank faces like “:)” but I think a good thing to do is try and get silly with expressions early on. It’s okay if the mouth hangs off the face cartoonishly with joy or shock, it’s ok if the eyebrows are super high in surprise.

tracing and pasting it as is (already said this but I’ve seen ppl do it a lot with hair styles and it makes it look alienated from the rest of the style) (final fantasy fans found critically injured) n if need a ref for a pose, using a real humans anatomy as-is doesn’t look quite right on a cartoonyish drawing. Shortening torso and legs usually comes out of this for me!

flip ur canvas i promise u it’ll be less embarrassing over time!

using guidelines for perspective and foreshortening is GREAT. Do it stylistically rather than realistically to add some groove to it...yay. Having silly perspective in art can make it look like a 10 so easily opposed to a normal front facing sketch. Look at cool poses from fashion magazines! Don’t be scared to draw something you don’t feel confident in conveying perfectly, this is why progress redraws exist :)

Drawing the hairline b4 u draw the hair is great, it helps u understand where their hair flows from, where it starts and stops, AND prepares u for drawing bald ppl. Also don’t make the head too big, the skull IS bigger up top, but sometimes I see an alien head affect.

Anatomy is an interesting mistake that beginners make a lot, but it’s one they find harder to notice! When I started out, all my art would be SO wonky, but I didn’t even realize it! It still happens today too! specifically though I see beginners struggle with the arms in this department. My advice is to try and measure them out and make sure they don’t go past the knees, and are the same length as each other when Unfolded. asking for criticism is hard but it helped me realize when i would make something bigger/longer than it should have been in my art, and stuck with me being able to go “oh... i see it LOL” 

clothing wrinkles- do not over do it! Too many wrinkles and shading can look unpleasant and wirey- like a plastic table cloth all bunched up which isn’t exactly what ppl wear. pay attention to gravity too

I hope this helped even a lil im sorry tht I’m not very good at explaining or didn’t have much to sayyy! If u have any troubles no guarantee I’ll have the answer, but ur always free to ask!

[soup-mother]

I really want to get into shortwave radios, how do i build one? radioshack doesnt exist where i am anymore

ok so!!! most ppl usually don't build a radio to get into shortwave so idk how to help u there. but if u wanna get into it I'd totally reccomend checking out the following:

this is a list of online software defined radios u can listen to for free. u should be able to find one near u

this is the one a lot of ppl use, based out of the Netherlands (so will be mostly European stations). just if you wanted one ppl have tried and tested and marked a lot of stations on.

http://short-wave.info/

and this website lets you set where you are and see what things you can hear around you. it's really useful for checking what you're listening to as well.

if you want a physical radio, i got mine secondhand on ebay (a tecsun pl-310ET, it's really good especially for its size and price) so I'd definitely reccomend checking ebay or whatever marketplace site you can use.

but you can totally just use an online one if you want it's honestly a better experience unless you're into the "i picked this up with my own equipment" feeling.

if you can find a radio it might come with a wire antenna as well as the inbuilt one, but the classic diy antenna is like 3m or so of copper wire you throw out the window or into a tree or something and wrap around the antenna. just don't do that near powerlines or in a thunderstorm. an antenna and knowing the best times to listen are basically the two big things that'll affect the quality of what you're hearing.

if you're not in the US or Canada DO NOT trust ppl from there when they say so and so brand is cheap. it's like when they act like lodge cast iron pans are cheap everywhere lol. generally the kind you'll be able to get will depend on where in the world you are.

in general a lot of ppl trying to give advice are old men with too much time and money so definitely do not feel like you need to spend any/much money or that if you're not doing so and so you're not doing it right. (and don't let ppl convince u that you need to build a fancy dipole antenna first thing)

keeping track of solar conditions and stuff isn't something u need to care about too much but might explain if you're not hearing stuff (or u might be using a band that works best during the night in the middle of the day lol). best time is generally dusk and night in an area without too much electrical noise.

hopefully that's helpful! I really enjoy shortwave listening it's a fun hobby :)

[hoardlikegoldenirises]

blurple time.

finally finished this~ months after he appeared 😅

you can tell there's a bit of a punk/industrial vibe infusing the whole design. i also drew from various details in the comics, and other random things like bulletproof leather jackets.

closeups, ramblings, (and a version with a cape) under the cut:

i was originally not planning to add a cape cause i wasn't sure if i could make it work and tbh. still not sure. i like the way the purple cape looks from behind but the inside is like. idk. if it's purple then it looks weird, but the black feels off to me too... I don't think any of the other colors would work.

oh also i decided this glows in the dark (predictable as always)

Helmet's been through some sketches and stuff, spent a while figuring out the mechanisms and so on and settled on this design in the end.

Obviously you can see here the top is leather, it's based on a combo of a motorcycle cowl (with an angled zip you can just see there, and then the shoulders from an armored motorcycle jacket i was looking at. then the blue is meant to be a (heavily) modified like, boilersuit or whatever those are. mechanic's jumpsuit.

Plus all the spikes. Obviously there's no spider-punk in this setting but I like the aesthetics, and I like giving Hobie like a little thing of his own in terms of hobbies/interests so I thought adding that punk aspect would be fun, esp as it ties into his whole thing with being unsure of himself and being a little different and so on.

the lenses are one piece each, just with different colors of film on them, like you see on a variety of custom motorcycle visors. used chrome silver for the white "eyes," which i think would look cool and matches the metal hardware. very reflective. hobie prob won't be the only design with chrome/mirrored lenses for reflective purposes (thinking about the hobgoblin) (well. technically peter will also have aluminized lenses at one point but that's a spare mask for fires, not a main look)

earlier concept which i drew on my phone actually lol. some of this i obv jus copy-pasted cause it was fine as is, other stuff got tweaked, like i ended up changing the lens shape to look a little more like the comics and i did end up scrapping that shape for the faceplate/chin.

and you can see there i edited a pic from the comics playing with what colors i wanted to use. i liked the steel blue that showed up in some of the older painted art from the Prowler's earliest appearances, and I felt like I wanted to give him a color other than purple and green, though I didn't wanna ditch the purple either, so I ended up with this kind of neon blurple + navy combo that I liked a lot. And the silver too.

back of the jacket and helmet. Didn't originally plan on adding all those spikes but then I was sketching this out and I was like, oh... that would look cool... so i committed!! i like how it looks.

Originally I also had no logo/symbol on the front of the chest so I decided to put one on the back. Then I ended up adding that flat panel to the chest and added the symbol there too, and decided to keep the back one as well. i can def see a 19 year old being like, hell yeah... sick... people will definitely take me seriously now. and you know what. he's right.

i will admit i ended up a little dissatisfied with the story i told involving the Prowler in the linked fic, but... I also probably shouldn't have tried to wedge it between like five warring subplots. But it was like, the spot that made the most sense. If this was a cartoon I think it would be a like... 1-2 issue special focused more on him. And also peter would jump out the window. (The real tragedy that I didn't include cause it's hilarious, poor Hobie XD)

Anywho. Is this mechanism needlessly complex? Perhaps. I tried to simplify it at one point but then the more I thought about it the less the simplified version worked so I stuck with the OG idea here. I mean, i guess I could have ditched the locking mechanism entirely but i thought it would be fun if the helmet was self-locking! I also wanted a way for it to rotate/go visor up even with the spikes, thus it being a pretty large rotating faceplate with the spikes on it instead of elsewhere. not that he ever puts it up in the fic. peter just takes hobie's helmet off there 😂

He's also wearing a balaclava under there which I didn't bother really drawing, mostly to protect his hair (which I put in twists for related reasons of helmet-wearing) (I briefly had been considering braids but then, well, ATSV and Miles G. happened and I said, well now I cannot do that XD) (I mean I COULD have but I wanted to do something else here lol) Anyway. The idea here is that it's a kind of slide lock with a spring-loaded peg that slots into the holes, and the square hole with the square peg locks the faceplate in place and prevents it from rotating, but when the square peg is in the round hole, the faceplate can rotate freely. The only wrinkle here would be that Hobie has to pull on both locks simultaneously or as close to it as possible or he'd risk cracking the helmet (i assume? stress and pressure etc.)

Sliding the lock forward also slides the whole plate forward, which lets me (in theory) have a flush, smooth silhouette while still allowing it to come forward enough to push up. It's not vacuum sealed or anything though. But it does have like... air filters and a voice modulator and some other things. MOST of the suit is super low tech and doesn't require electricity but the helmet probably has batteries or something. (peter's new webshooters at this point are also battery powered lol)

Helmet is pretty typical fiberglass construction with foam pads inside. Idea there is that Hobie made a lot of this stuff using campus workshop resources like autobody or machining shop on campus, for stuff like getting fiberglass, having a space to work in, making polycarbonate lenses etc. Though it's totally possible to do fiberglass work at home too. (peter also uses campus resources for his lenses specifically btw)

Gauntlets!!! Uhhhh ngl very difficult. Trying to design armored gauntlets that don't look like knightly armor is very hard for me cause I always just google reference pics of knightly armor. LOL. I think these came out alright. There's a hint of motocross influence there too (though really even in modern days armor is armor so there end up being shared traits) The gloves ended up being mostly leather with some armored parts, though there is probably some inner armor which is not visible. The claws I left bare since you would not be able to sharpen claws coated in plasti dip—

oh yeah the purple color on all the hard parts is plasti dip, which is basically rubber paint.

The wrist gauntlets are very very very loosely based on a guy's grappling rope web-shooter thing which you can see in this youtube video: link. though i didn't wanna just rip him off so i mostly just said, alright, tubes and a harness—which the prowler already has in the comics anyway, albeit smaller. so really it's pretty much like the comics anyway.

Right wrist has the green laser dazzler, both have grapples, left wrist has EMP (not pictured) which Hobie uses in the scene I have him and Peter fight except then I realized recently I didn't actually explain what that was or how it was working 😂 I probably should have done that scene from Hobie's POV in retrospect. It's an EMP though and it scrambles Peter's spidey sense via interference/signal noise.

(electromagnetic signals being responsible for several cases of irl "hauntings" —> spider-man's haunted)

waist utility belt... I like the way the silver belt on the old art looks! So I decided to make these hard silver hinged cases instead of soft pouches (originally were soft but I changed my mind while coloring) — IDK if these really are metal or if they're just fiberglass with chrome paint lol but either way, shiny chromey, hinged to open, the insides are probably padded... buckle is actually metal though.

Boots—modified snow boots. These are loosely based off of a real thing btw: link to blog post

The silver things are the magnets. Gauntlets are probably also magnetic but those are not visible like the boot ones. I also read some comments saying certain kinds of electromagnets would be preferable for something like boots but ultimately, IDK how to draw that, so I just drew it like they look in jen foxbot's prototype.

There was some other stuff I initially planned on including that didn't make the cut, aside from the cape. I was toying with stuff like a jetpack (or really, a jump jet), gliding/wingsuit, etc. but... I didn't use any of those. Kept it simple and streamlined for the most part. so no gliding for this Prowler, but hey, he's got magnet boots.

maybe in the future if Hobie ends up with an Iron Man-esque collapsible suit, perhaps he'll be able to fly, but for now, he's a college student making a supervillain persona so he can keep himself from getting evicted...

And his face!!! cutie :3 loosely inspired by Greg Eagles' face (the voice actor for grimm from billy and mandy) Not that ATSV had no impact on this design but that was the main thing. Twists to keep his hair protected in the helmet under the balaclava etc. and something he can do himself, and then a twist out afterward.

plus you can see the nose rings I mention in Creep here.

[ofmermaidstories]

ur post about oc fic and reader insert fic made me think about how every time i see a post dragging x reader it's kinda just... thinly veiled misogyny.

like i don't wanna get super deep or whatever but a good chunk of x reader writers (myself included) are just women or people socialized as women that have felt unloved or under appreciated in their lives because of their looks or their personality or their skills in things that women/feminine people are expected to excel in and i think that oc/reader insert stories give women a really important space to make themselves (or a version of themselves) the most desired thing which is something that they often don't experience. it's a space where women can feel comfortable and loved in a world where they're under appreciated and tossed aside because of things out of their control and it drives me up a wall when i see people shitting on these spaces and these works because these are just safe spaces for marginalized people PREDOMINATELY CREATED BY MARGINALIZED PEOPLE!!

n e ways this was a long rant oops..

omg see the thing that gets me about the occassional x reader/oc drag is that—the call is coming from inside the house LMAO. like, okay maybe original characters in fics aren’t a niche thing, but x reader sure the hell is, so you have to like, know internet culture/fandom to be aware of it let alone to start using it like an insult, you know? and i would argue that fanfic tends to be a hobby that attracts marginalised identities as you say, so like, why are we clowning on ourselves? LOL. it’s like a mathlete bullying the horse girl of their class, like, buddy—we’re both losers!!! get over yourself LMAO.

i think my favourite dig at x reader (specifically) that i’ve ever seen is some rando on tiktok saying it was fanfic for people who were popular in public school—i think it’s so telling of how other fans might view oc/reader content? like, “oh that’s just some straight girl shit, they’re not putting any effort into it/they’re stealing our precious ship boys for their pORN/they’re ruining the canon story by inserting themselves into it”. and idk—part of it is just human nature (we are always going to shit on things we don’t like, that is a fact) and part of it might be fandom/internet culture at large at the moment (the purity aspect/policing) but at the end of the day all we can do is tell them to eat dog shit when they sprout up in our spaces and ignore ‘em.

idk! it drives me bonkers though, because it does feel like these spaces/niches do get targeted unfairly for it—if it’s not for the simple crime of writing a love story with your favourite character, then it’s like… being old and doing it! because god forbid you be over the age of 18 and still enjoy engaging with fiction! don’t you have a mortgage to go pay? like—i never see that attitude (within a fandom space) directed at the grown-ass men and women and gender neutral pals who play like, Dungeons and Dragons. No one (within a fandom space!) tells them they’re weird for forty-hour long campaigns where they fight and fall in love and idk, put dragons in some dungeons or something. no—it’s the blatant love stories that get picked on. the ones written by girls (gender neutral).

romance—and falling in love—is one of the most universal feelings/acts in the world. we want to fall in love with everything! in every world! we wanna—fall in love and be loved by superheroes and the villains they fight and the monsters in the dark and the good guys that rush in with swords and the cute barista at the coffee shop down the road. if other fans wanna get hung up on the fact that a tiny fraction of others want to insert themselves in these incredible worlds and experience everything they want to (having powers; being saved. saving someone else—saving yourself) then that’s their problem lmaoooo. im sorry you can’t have fun and create whimsy for yourself by drawing an oc who wins the sports festival and saves bakugou from being kidnapped—but im built different. 😌 and im gonna have fun while im here.

[georgieluz]

Julian!! I’ve missed you!! Sending a virtual hug and a few asks for the ask game!

❤️💛💚💙🖤🎤🎵📺🔐🧟‍♀️🍇💌🖇️🔍🪐🌚

I just realized… there’s a lot… haha sorry about that 😅 hope you’re doing well!

hiiii!! i missed you too!!! first of all, lemme return the virtual hug and then i'll get to answering!!

❤️ how tall are you?

5ft4. guess i'm joining george, johnny, frank and harry in the smol boys club

💛 what is your favourite feature on yourself?

maybe my hair? idk i feel like so many people talk about how lucky i am to have such thick fluffy hair that if i didn't choose that it would be the equivalent of cursing them and all of their families

💚 where are you from?

dwi'n dod o gymru!! actually it's fitting that the emoji is green because green and red are the welsh flag colours and i'm welsh!

💙 do you have any siblings?

just me, unfortunately

🖤 favourite hobbies outside of your blog?

archery! i used to be on my university team and we would shoot three times a week but i've graduated now and feel like i'm cheating on them whenever i shoot with my local team

🎤  have you been to a concert?

yes! i've been lucky enough to go to quite a few. some of my favourite artists that i've seen live are: my chemical romance, the libertines, epik high, vixx, kim hanbin and day6

🎵 favourite artists?

the libertines, the strokes, pulp, the cure, epik high, kim hanbin, onewe, hoppipolla, sunmi and woodz!

📺 last show you watched?

transatlantic (i'm still a wreck bc of these characters)

🔐 something no one would guess about you?

ohh this might be the toughest one bc i don't actually know how people see me so i wouldn't know what they would guess about me but maybe that i studied and competed in dance my whole life? (if you can guess what styles of dance i'll give you a prize)

🧟‍♀️ scariest thing that’s happened to you?

i don't wanna make this too heavy so i'll leave out the actual scariest things but the other week i may or may not have had an encounter with a ghost in my museum which is said to be haunted

🍇 a word your friends would use to describe you?

texted two of my friends and one replied "unnecessary" and the other said "an idiot of an enigma" so that went well lmao

💌 why did you start this blog?

because it had been so long since i had friends who loved band of brothers and i missed having an online community where i felt comfortable and happy and enjoyed engaging with people in

🖇️ what are your favorite asks to answer?

honestly i like all of them! i love interacting with people and so any asks are fun! writing asks, character discussions, get to know me asks, i'll take the lot of them!!

🔍 what character do you enjoy writing for the most?

lately it's been eddie jones!! every single idea i've had lately spawns around him and forms its own little solar system that revolves around his existence. i think it's bc i'm a little bit obsessed, but i also think the themes i enjoy writing most work very well with him so it's just the perfect match. but i also adore writing nix, he's my favourite hot mess and i love writing him. harry and tab are two i love writing who i didn't realise i loved writing until i saw the amount of times i'd written something focused on them when the work wasn't supposed to be anything massively to do with them lmao

🪐 favourite shows / series of all time?

ohhh another tough one, but i'm gonna have to say band of brothers, star trek, and lost, but succession is probably gonna end up being up there eventually but i need to give it a few years to settle before deciding. there are definitely others but they go in and out of order a lot and those are the three that always stay at the top no matter what

🌚 a show you’d tell people to stay away from?

honestly idk i think it's down to individual taste so if i knew someone didn't like a certain genre i could tell them to avoid shows based off of that but i usually don't tell people to stay away from a show unless there's something genuinely harmful in it

thank you so much for asking all of these!! it was fun to answer them and hopefully i haven't rambled on too long!!

for this ask game!

[kailoraurelius]

Where do you get the inspiration for your stories? I just fall in love with certain parts of them and its so different and unique with the way you write it. For example the whole “be convincing” chapter in stained glass. Or recently the 17th chapter (I think) of all I ask with the whole flirting thing, and the baseball cap and water bottle bit. I don’t think i’ll ever read them without smiling like an idiot. I can give you a list thats longer than you and me both and I’m not gonna exhaust you, but you should know that discussing your stories and parts I like is a hobby at this point ☺️

Listen, I'm real short. It don't take much effort to make a list longer than me lmfaooooo. But absolutely anytime, I'm down to discuss! I love these characters so much AND talking about them in depth sometimes brings me inspiration!

Besides that, I get inspiration from a lot of places. Music, a lot. Sometimes it's a specific lyric, but most often it's the feeling a song gives me. And I wanna write something that brings that same feeling. For the first two chapters of Occulta Apparentia, I listened to Mordred's Lullaby by Heather Dale on repeat and tried to lean into that dark, unsettling feeling it gave me. And, for Stained Glass, I spent a lot of chapters listening to Alright and It Won't be Like This for Long by Darius Rucker. The first is fun and warm and the second has a deeper warmth and that slight melancholy, but overall happiness. Listened to the second a lot when writing about Chloe's family.

Besides music, sometimes it's something someone says to me that sparks something or it's an old note I have in my phone. A lot of the time, it's just stuff I want or have had for myself. A beautiful night cuddled up by the bonfire with my friends, someone idly trailing their fingers up and down my arm is always a dream scenario. My dad used to do the thing Beca did, where he'd grab the bill of my hat and gently tug it back and forth to make my head bobble. And it was such a small thing, but I remember it because it felt like him telling me he loved me. And it was lol. So that stuff inspires me.

Idk if that answered everything lol. If you want more specific inspirations, I'd need a specific moment from my pieces. There's a story behind a lot of it!