#I worked on this 4 month with college burnout

[rubyshimmer0x]

What if Watcher in mlp au (vol 1.) I had fun doodle during month to month :3

Alt version of the substitute, he is a changeling, during the professor replacement:

[plantenjoyer]

I SWEAR I KEEP TRYING TO DO ART BUT THEN SOMETHING GETS IN THE WAY AND THEN I PROCRASTINATE AND THEN SIX MONTHS PASS

[gladdyator18]

2025 Blog Plans

Hey hey everyone! Happy NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone is doing well. First, I wanted to say thank you for a great 2024! Even if I didn't do much on here last year cuz of school work and life getting in the way, but hopefully this year, i can bust out new art for you guys.

I have some stuff I wanted to address of what I want to do this year, as well as some upcoming posts (all under the cut cuz there's a lot):

Remember how i said i was gonna redesign my Winx Club OCs? Well, great news! All of them have been redesigned, revamped, and all that jazz! I am aiming to post them sometime late-January maybe (don't hold me to that) I had completed these during 2024 but quite literally had zero time to post them, and with how my schedule is this semester, hopefully I should have enough time to post them by late-January.

For my fics with my OCs, I would love it if you guys could give me ideas for what I should write! I have a lot of OCs and I really want to start writing more tickle fics for them, but motivation and inspiration is rather low. I'd love and appreciate it if you could give me ideas! All of my OCs can be found here! And if it's an idea specifically for my Fire Emblem OCs, their tickle tier list is right here!

Speaking of tickle tier lists, let me know what characters you want to see for it next! Some of the fandoms I have done art/OCs for have a good amount of characters, so I would love to know what characters you want to see on the tickle tier list next!

For the past 4 months, I have been working diligently on a Minecraft fanstory using one of my favorite mods, Iron's Spells & Spellbooks! This story's primary focus is on this mod as well as When Dungeons Arise's Keep Kayra, sprinkling in some other mods, like Biomes O' Plenty, Better Structures, Mowzie's Mobs, etc. This story will be a series with 4 books! The series is called Kayra's Magic Academy (taking account of When Dungeons Arise's Keep Kayra but adding huge twist on it) My friends from college have been helping menmake this story and magical adventure engaging as possible and not to not be mistaken for a Harry Potter rip-off. So, hopefully soon after I post all of my new Winx Club OCs, I'll start posting these characters, as well as the map I made for this story (not the actual Minecraft, sorry, just a visual of what this world looks like. Wish I could but IDK how to do that) Once the story is done and posted, I will add a link to it here!

Speaking of the previous link, I will be restructuring it just a bit, but no major changes to it.

As for my new art series, Sona Color Swap, I will be getting back to that shortly; I just need to ask some other artist friends of mine with Sona, cuz some of them don't have them, so.... yeahhhhhhh. But with the artists I've done sonas for already really liked them, and I'm glad. So, for right now, Sona Color Swap is on a mini hiatus until I ask other artist friends if they're interested.

To kinda summarize all of this: All of the things I wanna post and change on my blog is not gonna happen overnight. I know I say I want to start posting towards the end of January, but even as I say that, I have doubt that I won't be able to do that. Do I want to post during that time? Yes. Funny enough, one of my new years resolutions is to be more on top of my work, both for school and personal; this blog included. A goal I want to set for myself for this blog in particular is to post something every month, if not, every other month. I wanna keep this blog going and active. The only time I will ever be on hiatus for this blog is if I'm working on important school assignments, family emergencies, burnout, or if I'm on vaction. Of course, I will keep you all updated and will annouce if I'm taking a short leave to work on stuff within my personal and school life.

This post is gonna be long as fuck, but these are the real desires I want for this blog, and it'd mean a lot if you guys could help me out. I know there's only a small handful of people who really interact with my blog, and I am eternally grateful, but I want to give you guys more to interact with. So, if you guys are willing to send me asks, sugestions of fics or tier lists, along with maybe art of some characters, that'd be so so great, and I'd be very appreciative.

Okay, I've yapped long enough. Once again, thank you all for an incredible year! Here's to a great, fun-filled, blessed, and productive new year!

[writing-advices]

Should I study over the summer? A guide for college students

The arrival of summer brings visions of relaxation, adventure, and a break from academic responsibilities. As a college student, you may find yourself questioning whether it's necessary or beneficial to study during the summer months. This guide aims to help you make an informed decision about whether you should study over the summer, considering various factors that might influence your choice.

Assess Your Academic Goals: Start by evaluating your academic goals and aspirations. Consider the following questions:

Do you want to maintain a high GPA or improve your grades?

Are you pursuing a competitive major or planning for graduate school?

Do you have any courses or subjects you struggled with during the previous academic year?

If your answers indicate a strong commitment to academic excellence, dedicating some time to summer study might be beneficial.

2. Reflect on Personal Motivation: Self-motivation plays a crucial role in successful summer studying. Ask yourself:

Am I disciplined enough to stick to a study schedule during the summer?

Will studying over the summer help me stay intellectually engaged?

Do I genuinely enjoy learning and want to explore subjects beyond my regular coursework?

If you possess the necessary motivation and enthusiasm, studying over the summer can be a rewarding experience.

3. Consider the Nature of Your Courses: The type of courses you are taking or planning to take can influence your decision to study over the summer. Here are some scenarios to consider:

Prerequisite courses: If you have prerequisite courses to complete before advancing in your major, summer study might help you stay on track.

Intensive courses: Some universities offer condensed summer courses, allowing you to complete credits more quickly. Consider whether this option aligns with your goals and interests.

Online courses: If you prefer a flexible study schedule and have reliable internet access, taking online courses over the summer can be an advantageous choice.

4. Evaluate Financial Considerations: Summer study opportunities may come with associated costs. Weigh the financial implications by considering the following:

Tuition fees: Determine if the cost of summer courses fits within your budget or if scholarships and financial aid options are available.

Living expenses: If you plan to take courses away from home, factor in the cost of accommodation, transportation, and other living expenses.

5. Explore Internship and Job Opportunities: Summer break also offers opportunities for internships and part-time jobs. Consider the benefits of gaining practical experience and building your professional network. Reflect on how these opportunities align with your long-term goals and weigh them against the benefits of summer study.

Balance with Personal Well-being: Remember the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Consider these factors:

Rest and rejuvenation: Taking time off during the summer can help you recharge, destress, and prevent burnout.

Pursuing personal interests: Use the summer to explore hobbies, travel, and spend quality time with friends and family.

Conclusion: Deciding whether to study over the summer ultimately depends on your individual circumstances, goals, and priorities. Evaluate your academic needs, personal motivation, and financial considerations while keeping a healthy work-life balance in mind. Remember that summer can be a valuable time for personal growth, exploration, and self-care. By making an informed decision, you can optimize your summer break and set yourself up for success in the upcoming academic year.

[kanguin]

That poem hit me hard wow. Idk why I want to open up on Tumblr of all places but idk. I never share personal stuff in posts. Just oversharing in tags.

So yeah. I'm depressed. Depressed as shit. I quit my job recently because the commute, the low pay, and the high social energy cost of making 100+ phone calls a day just. Sucked the life out of me. Even my mother and fiance could see it. But this just marks burnout number... 4? I believe. I've experienced burnout and mental collapse 4 times now in the past decade. 4 years between the first two, 5 between the next two, and now just 1 year between this one and the last. And now I'm supposed to look for a job I like again, but... I don't know what I'd like. I'm not exactly enjoying life right now. And the thought of selling more of my life for money is not putting me in a good mental spot.

I don't play video games anymore. I haven't been able to do so for more than a couple weeks a year in ages. I never talk to my friends one on one anymore. I have no hobbies to speak of, really, aside from messing around on my computer, but it's not like I have the space to engage in any hobbies anyway since my broke ass still lives with my mom. I have my fiance living with me now, but while they're an emotional anchor, we have no space to our own besides the bedroom and a bonus room, but the latter is still technically a public space we can't decorate ourselves or use for painting or hobbies.

I feel stuck and miserable. I want to move out, I want my own home and space to be unbothered in, I want my own fridge and pantry with my own food, and to be able to be out of my bedroom without being on call for sudden required tasks or unwelcome socialization. I want a space to engage in hobbies; sculpting, painting, building, working with my hands. I want to be able to operate on my own schedule and not have to compromise on when is too late to start a task or eat a meal. I want to be able to start HRT in the privacy of my own home, so that I don't have to disclose my transition until I'm ready. I want... Freedom. I want to be able to live a life that feels mine, and not like I'm living in borrowed space and time.

But all of that requires money, and that just leads to a catch 22. I need money to achieve my desires, but need a job to get money. But I need a job I am happy doing so as not to burnout a 5th time, but I need to be able to enjoy life and work in the first place for that. And if I already enjoyed my life I wouldn't be in such a bad spot mentally.

I used to be so hopeful and determined for my future, but it's been 6-7 years since I graduated college with my bachelor's, and by now I've all but lost hope things will ever change. This genuinely feels like this is it, I'll be stuck here in this house until my mother dies, I get kicked out, or my heart takes me to an early grave like my father.

My next therapy appointment isn't for two weeks. I sure hope I stay on topic next time, because I only ever realized all the things I forgot to cover after the appointment. Even though I had my issues well memorized and written down.

...

If anyone actually reads this long ass ramble, I'm sorry. It's nearly 5am for me writing this.

.

..

To be honest, one of the aspects of my personality I miss the most is my love of making and keeping friends. Not that I was ever good at it, but I always enjoyed getting to know someone knew, and of course I loved learning more about my existing friends, too. There are so many people I can think of where I go "wow, I wish I had the energy to get to know them", but I can't really do that anymore in good conscience. Anyone I try and befriend nowadays is just going to get abandoned in a month or two when my overwhelming shame drive me to ghosting them.

[dr-scarlette-witch]

Hi mam

Sorry for the upcoming rant

I'm in first year of mbbs, just started classes one month prior. And I'm already stressed. I'm burnt out from neet preparation when I used to study every waking moment without any breaks especially during the last months. Then due to this year's dilemma I haven't gotten the colleges I expected. I'm trying to see the positive side that I got a government mbbs college but it still hurts sometimes. Then so many people knowing more than me, even in coaching I was one of the best. I study 3 to 4 hours everyday now but I don't think I'm retaining the information. I'm confused as to what to study and how. I watched numerous youtube videos but irl it isn't really helping. My college is in a place where really nothing much to do. So I can either study, scroll on my phone in my hostel room. There are many cliques forming already. I try to be friendly with everybody but I don't really have any friend. Although I don't like those cliques I feel sad for being excluded. I cannot even be happy for myself for getting into medical college, I can't really enjoy all these amazing things I was so excited to learn. Due to neet preparation for so long I haven't pursued anything I don't have any hobbies. I like to read but after reading medical books all day I don't want to read recreationally.

Can you please give me any advice both academic and how to cope personally.

Hii!

Congrats on getting into a government medical college! That’s a huge achievement, especially in a country where so many students are competing. No matter which college you’re in, we’re all working towards the same degree. I’ve always believed that a dedicated student can become a great doctor, regardless of where they’re trained—it’s all about how much effort we put into learning.

About the first-year burnout—I went through it too, and it took me almost a year to bounce back. One thing I wish I’d understood earlier is that, unlike high school, the syllabus in med school is endless. It’s more about gaining a basic understanding of many things instead of aiming for perfection. Striving for perfection can lead to burnout, whereas focusing on learning things that will actually help us treat patients is far more valuable. The first key to surviving med school is letting go of FOMO.

.

[aliilku]

warning: rant

mention of drug abuse and sh

i think im in my all time low.

three years ago my mental state started deteriorating, i was sh-ing basically every day, failing college, getting drunk on every possible occasion and using sex as sh

two years ago i was neck deep in my 3d, getting drunk and/or h1gh four to six times a week bc i needed to escape my life and mind so badly

now i dont even like being not sober. i dont sh at all. i relapsed here but half the time i dont r3str1ct anyway to be honest...

but i dont have any healthy copying mechanisms either. i am literally unable to handle my life, my responsibilities and my situation but i have no way of coping with it. ive been going through autistic burnout and/or depression for at least a year and a half but i could never afford to quit my job and take care of myself (im forced to have two rn lmao)

and bc of that i have been slowly but surely ruining my relationship. i dont have the mental capacity to plan dates, to have sex, to care about/for my partner properly.

so i just kinda exist through it. all ive been doing in life for the last year are the things i HAVE to do. the only person i talk to outside of work is my partner and i hate it but i cant/ dont know how to change it. i almost never put any effort into looking how i wish i did, i just dont have the energy to do anything not work/ household related

i dont even have the time and space to unload properly which my autistic ass desperately needs, all i get are a few hours alone every few days which i usually spend catching up on chores or playing the sims and watching youtube at the same time bc im unable to do things i would enjoy on a deeper level

and the longer i force myself to do even the absolutely necessary stuff the more im afraid of how hard ill fall when it happens.

i have an older brother whos autistic as well and unable to work, hes 28 and lives with our parents, dropped out of college like 6 times

and his life is basically my worst nightmare and my future at the same time.

and i have no idea how to help myself.

even if i could afford therapy i dont have time for it, i have 4 free days till the end of the month, some days i have scheduled an 8h day shift and a 12h night shift two hours apart from each other

im not even surviving right now, i am literally just existing.

i just push everything possible out of my mind and focus on forcing myself to do my responsibilities, if i even slightly think about myself i have tears in my eyer

and its fucking terrifying.

i doubt anyone will read all of this shit but whatever, i needed to do this.

and if anyone actually did read it, thank you. means a lot.

im open to advice but i might not respond bc i have a tendency to find every possible "i cant, because.." and end up spiraling and making the other person frustrated

[borgevino]

so, since last june i've been having about as stressful a time as it's possible to have in an office job. luckily this era is over (i'm still in the same job but now working 10h/wk) and i'm starting to recover.

it's hard to identify burnout / extreme stress while you're going through it (although maybe i'm speaking for myself here). here are some things i've noticed.

major stress symptom i've observed in myself and others: the narrowing of appetite until you're essentially only eating 3 or 4 "safe" things while everything else, even if you have enjoyed it in the past, sounds nauseating. for months, i could only eat taco bell and pizza. this has dramatically improved since i reduced my hours

various life skills i've developed simply vanished. i could not put together a grocery list at all -- i couldn't think ahead to what i would do with ingredients i bought. i also could not handle cooking -- I could barely make rice in the rice cooker. it was like i'd forgotten how. (this is back i'm happy to say! i did have to go "well let me shop like i'm 23 again" to get it but i made two home cooked meals this week)

i also lost a lot of coping mechanisms. all of my bad old protestant thought patterns came back with a vengeance. for example, i was taught growing up that complaining was A Sin -- i've unlearned this but found myself putting "cw complaining" on various tweets (this also is better now)

it became much harder to connect with my friends or my partner. luckily my wife (he/him) and i have done a bunch of work on communication already, but it became harder for me to spend time with him, simply because so much of my energy was spent on work (also improving!)

while i was in the high stress state i tried various remedies:

being comfortable physically and grounded somatically was essential. taking baths with lavender in them, petting the cats (and being sat on by them), taking deep breaths: small things, but incredibly helpful.

weed seriously helped. it affects everyone differently: for me it quiets all the anxiety alarm bells and gives me a 30,000 foot view of the situation. putting things in perspective was often humbling and reassuring at the same time. (i did not try alcohol because of the hangover factor)

there were a couple times when i took a week or two off to try and get some rest. these actually did NOT help; mostly they made things worse. i'd relax a little and then five things would go wrong in my body at once (presumably because i wasn't producing as much cortisol)

notes on recovering:

i'm taking a college class and that little bit of structure on my week is very helpful. also it gets me out of the house -- i've been WFH since the start of the pandemic, and i've gotten out of the habit. days i leave the apartment and do something besides just go for a walk or shop tend to be good ones

i've been sleeping a ton -- 12-14 hours a day, long naps. i'm lucky i can just let it happen -- i'm letting my body's instincts take the lead. if we need to sleep until 1pm occasionally, sure.

in the same vein, i'm not pushing myself. could i have made cornbread or corn waffles with tonight's chili? sure! a year ago i would have. but that sounded tiring, so i didn't. etc etc. i haven't started on the monumental task of getting the apartment to its pre-stress uncluttered state yet, because that would be too big a push for right now. "i will be compassionate with myself" is something i've been telling myself over & over.

it's surprising and encouraging how much things have changed for the better in the course of the past three weeks.

[beezusvreeland]

a very good idea - chapter 4

summary: After your boyfriend cheats on you at a party, you break up with him, who tells you nobody else is willing to be with you like him. You decide to prove him wrong, with a little help from a new friend.

ship: miguel o'hara x f!reader

______________________________________________________________

Chapter 4

You had more homework than the regular person and not just because you were taking some advanced classes. Before your side hustle, you would babysit kids in your neighborhood during the week and work as a waitress on events organized by your brother-in-law’s catering business on the weekends. 

You’ve had summer jobs before, but when high school came around, your mom got really sick and it took doctors a few months to come to the conclusion that she was exhausted. The burnout type of exhaustion. She started seeing a psychiatrist and, stubborn as always, went right back to her two jobs. You and your sister Jenna had to bargain a lot, but at last convinced her to quit at least one of them and let the two of you help her.

All the money from the babysitting and waitressing went to house and health bills, mostly your mom’s. You very quickly realized that, unless you got an all inclusive scholarship, your chances of going to college were zero to none. Attending college had been your dream since you were a kid, when you’d watch reruns of Felicity with Jenna, both of you fascinated with all the classes and drama the protagonist went through. Your mom didn’t have the opportunity to go to college and, when your sister’s time came, she chose to focus on working in restaurants, learning as much as she could so she could open her bakery someday. When she met her husband Mike, they united their toothbrushes and business aspirations. Now he would organize events and she would develop a menu for them. You’ve loved the way they were each other’s biggest fans. They were your idea of what a loving relationship should be. Mikes were really hard to find, though. 

The first time you hung out at Harry’s Manhattan penthouse, some of his friends were there. You thought maybe you and Harry could watch a movie and spend time with each other, but obviously that wouldn’t happen. 

Harry was different when his friends were around: louder, he would drink more and more arrogant, whatever it took for boys like Flash Thompson and Eddie Brock to laugh and agree with him.

Flash was complaining about how he had to turn in an essay about the Wall Street Crash of 1929. 

“It’s so fucking boring, who cares what happened literally a hundred years ago”, Flash said, like doing the paper was the worse thing could ever happen to someone. “The only interesting thing about Wall Street is the Wolf and Margot Robbie.”

It took a lot of effort for you not to roll your eyes. 

“Don’t turn that shit in, then”, Eddie said, making Harry laugh and shake his head.

“My dad said that if I don’t get at least a C, I can kiss the Dubai trip goodbye.”

“A C?”, you gasped, in spite of yourself. 

“I know right, it fucking sucks”, Flash looked at you, all serious.

That was a little too much for you. Forgetting to care how Harry and his friends perceived you for a moment, you said: “Gosh, I could write a C type of essay about anything in an hour”.

“Well, write mine, then.”

You finally gave into the need to roll your eyes, then looked at him. 

“For 200 dollars I just might”, you joked.

However, Flash took his wallet from his back pocket and gave the money to you. Just like that. Like it was nothing. It probably was nothing to him, but to you, that money was really valuable. That’s how you have justified your hustle since then: you would write reports and essays for some of the rich kids from school and earn enough to help out at home and save for college. It was a perfect scheme, unless someone found out, which you (and your clients, really) have been really careful to prevent.

***

After an hour inside the library, you still had to finish a book report of your own, so you took your things and decided to go to the basketball court. Miguel’s practice hadn’t even started yet, he and some other boys, including Miles, paid attention to what their coach was saying.

You climbed a few steps and sat at the bleachers. Before opening your copy of Hamlet , you observed your surroundings. Besides the basketball team, there were a few freshman kids ready to watch the practice, as well as some girls you recognized from the hallways. 

The coach whistled loudly and the boys clapped their hands, scattering through the court to start playing. Miles saw you and waved. Miguel turned to see who his friend was smiling at, his eyes finding yours. You gave him a shy wave, which he responded to with a nod, turning back to his teammates. 

You felt disappointed at that. Your mind was telling you to stop being stupid, that you had no business having any expectations at all. But you also remembered his smile a few hours before, at lunch. He had a really beautiful smile. You wished it wasn’t a rare occurrence. 

You tried to focus on the book, which you had already read, a pencil and a highlighter in hand. During your reading process, you used post-its to mark pages that had scenes and dialogues that could be useful remembering while writing the report. You always felt grateful to your past self. 

Sounds of sneakers gliding on the court’s shiny floor and the ball being thrown and caught filled your ears in an almost relaxing way. 

“Why is she even here?”, you heard a voice saying not so quietly on your right.

You pretended not to hear, struggling to read the same sentence for the third time. 

“Probably trying to find a rebound”, the two girls laughed at the pun. “It’s kind of desperate, if you ask me.”

Dealing with Harry was hard enough, but people you have never spoken to before? Who were they to say anything about you? Why did they even care? And, most of all, why did those stupid comments hurt you? 

“Hey!”

Looking up, your eyes meet Miguel’s again, but this time he climbs the steps, stopping one before where you were. He took his hoodie off, the white shirt underneath going up with it, before coming down all together. It was so quick, but you swore seeing a part of his six pack awakened something in you.

Miguel put his hand through his hair, trying to put it back in place. He proceeded to fold his hoodie and get on his knees, his long arms offering it to you.

“Can you hold this for me?”, Miguel asked, sounding so sweet, yet another thing you weren’t prepared for. He was so close to you, you could see a few of his sweat droplets in great detail. 

“Yeah”, you nodded, feeling his hand palm one of your cheeks, while his lips kissed the other. 

He went back to the court in what felt like too soon. You put your hand where his was just a moment before, you could feel the heat spread through your face. Back at the court, Miguel was smiling at himself and, next to you, the girls stood in absolute silence.

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<< chapter 3

>> chapter 5

all chapters

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a very good idea playlist

[kalibeak]

✨ HIATUS UPDATE ✨

Hi, it's been a while! I apologize for my disappearance, the last few months have been extremely busy and stressful for me but - after surviving my stay at the hospital and the deadline of my college application - I think it's high time to slowly end my hiatus.

I'm still in the recovery process and also experiencing an artistic burnout after over 4 months of constant work, so it might take some time for me to start drawing again (although I'm considering opening commissions some time later this month).

However!! I do have PLENTY of artworks I made within the last few months, and I'd love to share some better ones in the next days!

Thank you for being so patient with me! Stay tuned! ദ്ദി ( ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ )

[kenthenugget]

How Batching Comics Saved My Life

Jesus its been...quite a while since I last posted onto any of my tumblr accounts. Its not that I didn't forget that I had an account here, its just that I've been busy with school and my drawing Crescent Blue. Meaning any free time I have is limited which results in me neglecting like half of my socials. Comics and college has made doing social media difficult. That and I wasn't sure how to handle 2 out of the 3 tumblr blogs I have. But I've thought that I had use this specific blog for text blog posts, along with drawings I'm working on and stuff like that. Most of it will be a lot of writing type stuff like this so this should be fun. Anyways, onto the topic I wanted to talk about.

I've been drawing Crescent Blue for coming on 4 years now. And those 4 years were spent drawing its first Chapter. Its overly long chapter. I have realized the mistake I made back when I was prepping to draw it back in 2019, where 16 year old me who had never drawn a comic at this scale decided to go out adapting the opening chapter draft which was written to be the length of a double length tv show pilot (because that's how wrote scripts back in the day) without realizing the implications of how many pages I would have to draw, and that maybe I should've done more prep work to make sure I wouldn't be working on it well into college. Because I probably would've gotten burnt out with it after being stuck on it for so long. And that would end up happening when 2021 rolled around. Thanks to mental health struggles I faced through out 2020, which lowered my tolerance to drawing comics which I didn't enjoy, I had drawn a total of 28 pages by going into the new year. Feeling ashamed of that pace, I managed to motivate myself and make it a new years goal to devote more time to my comic and get faster in order to complete my first chapter. This manifested in a couple of ways, from illustrating backgrounds in graphite as to avoid inking them and potentially screwing them up, to manning up and move to drawing it digitally as opposed to traditionally (I did not have access to photoshop or a good drawing tablet when I had started so I did what I had always done and use paper, pencils and inking pens/brushes. However, I would get my XP Pen Artist 12 for my 17th birthday 2 months later, and I would be able to use photoshop at home by early 2020). But what I mostly did was focus on drawing pages more, moving onto the next one after finishing the last one without taking a break. Basically muscling my way through with the expectation that I would eventually get faster. This did not work, and here's why.

This one by one approach isnt bad on paper, and there are plenty of artists out there that drawing comics this way and don't have any issues. For me, the issue I found with this process was that it didnt lend itself very well to spend. Not all pages are created equal, taking longer or shorter to complete depending on the complexity of the drawing. In my experience, there were pages that took only a couple of hours to complete, and others that took days to get done, and this isn't factoring in stuff like school. This aspect brings up the problem with me muscling through pages. There are times where I dont want to work on my comic, and often times after I would finish a page, I wouldn't have enough motivation to get to the next one. But in my attempt to not spend years drawing my first chapter, I would force myself to draw pages even when I didn't want to. This results in numerous cases of burnout and art block, which can cripple you and slow you down, defeating the point of muscling through it all. One notable instance of this I can remember happened in February last year.

By July of 2022, I would've been drawing Chapter 1 for 3 years and as my new years resolution, I wanted to get it done by that time. I had made great progress in 2021, catching up to page 75 by the time of new years, and I felt confident in my ability to get it done that year. That hope was shattered when I did what I had done with one of my pages and complete a future page ahead of time. Said page was the last post I made on this blog which I've actually completed a few weeks ago. The numbering for that page is 148 (was probably lower last year as I did end up adding pages during that time thanks to rewrites). And at that time, I had just passed the 80th page mark. It was then that I realized the implications of what I needed to do in order to get Chapter 1 done that year. I would've had to draw more than double the amount of pages I had drawn in 2021, and given the way I was drawing comic pages at the time, I knew deep down that wouldn't be possible. But not wanting to admit it, I tried muscling through the pages I was working on, hoping that if I pushed myself beyond my limit I would miraculously become faster and more efficient. But that didn't happen. The stress caused by my realization and the refusal to accept it caused me to become more and more agitated, which caused me to make errors and not draw as well as I would've wanted. Said agitation also clouded my thoughts and made drawing more and more difficult as soon as I knew it. I had burned myself out.

I think I've done a good job at laying out why this method didn't work for me, and if I was still drawing comics this way, I would not be finishing my first Chapter this year. And at this point, I would like to take a moment to shout out @the-underground-beauty. If it hadn't been for her, I not have found out about batching and I wouldn't have been even close to ending this long ass chapter. I was in a discord call with them and other art friends I knew, and I talking about ways of becoming faster at completing pages. They explained that they batched multiple pages instead of drawing them one by one like I had. Like, you would do the layouts for one page, then you would do the layouts for the next page, same goes for sketching and inking. This makes it so that instead of dumping all of your energy into one page, you're spreading that work into multiple pages and thus, become more efficient. Now you might be wondering how this would be better than my old method. Wouldn't working on multiple pages at the same time instead of going one by one be worse? In my experience, it's the complete opposite.

Along with the upsides I've mentioned above, its also very flexible in regards to inking/coloring. In the past, I found myself getting board with pages and wanting to move onto the next one but couldn't because I had to finish the one I was working on. I don't need to worry about that with batching. I can go in chronological order or skip pages to come back to them latter. This can be very handy when it comes to complex pages that would take a lot of time to complete. If Im not feeling up for it at that moment, I can just skip that one and come back later once I feel ready. It also points out the most time consuming part of drawing comics, sketching. Inking is one thing, but when you're doing a lot more work when doing the sketches. And depending on what the storyboards call for, the sketching process for a given page can take a pretty long time and a lot of energy. But with the batching process, the energy I would've spent finishing said page with inking and shading/coloring can be better spent on other pages. This means that I would need to worry a whole lot when inking as most of the hard work was done prior.

Batching also helps with putting what you're working on into perspective. Throughout most of my time drawing my comic, I found it difficult to view the pages I'm working on as being apart of a much larger story, rather than on a page by page basis. I would spend so much time on them that I would view the page I was working on as being its own separate thing, unrelated to the pages that came before or after. Batching, in a way, solved this issue, because now that Im working on a part all at once instead of going page by page, it helped me view what I'm working on as being pieces of a story, rather than being their own thing. I felt that the pages I was batching had more unity to them than the ones before it. Its difficult for me to describe this feelings, because I would always get it when finishing a part and rereading it. Pages that would take weeks to complete took more a couple of minutes to read, despite the specific pages taking so much time to finish. I haven't had that feeling after adopting batching as my new method of drawing comics, since every page all at once.

But how has it worked in practice? Well to see if batching was effective or not, I decided to batch the remaining six pages of what would by episode 7 on CB's tapas page. I got those done in a week. And 2 months later in May, I began work on pages 95 through 105 and this was the true test to to see if batching could really be effective for an entire part. I got it done with in a month. The after that wasn't as successful, but I mostly contribute it to external factors that had nothing to do with batching. At the start of this year, I decided to ditch the part by part method and go at the remaining 67 pages of Chapter 1 all at once. At the time of writing this, I'm still not finished with this Chapter yet but I don't expect it to be for quite long. I anticipate on wrapping it all up around June of this year. So with all this being said, I think I can conclude that batching comics has been way more effective in terms of speed. Over a 100 pages over the course of one year, way more than I had in the past with the old method. If I hadn't switched up the way I had been drawing comics back in March of last year, I don't think I would've come this far! Now I am aware that batching might not work for other artists, and that's fine. But if you are in a place like I was and want to get pages done quicker, I suggest giving it a try and see if it works for you or not :)

[lemonywings]

(old art :P)

hey, sorry for kinda saying i was gonna post fanart once a week and then going quiet. (idk why im saying sorry i think i have like 4 followers-) ANYWAYS

i had a really rough couple months just pass me, and dealing with being back in college and also artblock AND burnout has been a mess. that with additional family stuff has made me dread posting because it felt more like an obligation than something i wanted to do. so im just gonna post whenever i want ig idk man. but yea im gonna try posting more often now. its not gonna be anything high quality so dont get your hopes up, alot of the junk i make is messy and i also have alot of class work to catch up on rn so idk man. aaaaaa

also i know this post probs isnt gonna reach alot of people, but if your seeing this, please consider lending aid to palestine in any way you can. any donation helps and even if you cant help by donating, sharing or spreading links is massively helpful too. i dont have the time and energy to post about palestine every day like some people are but ill try to put links with my art posts whenever i can.

with all that being said, if you wanna stick around and maybe see some art i make in the future then follow idk its 6am rn and i gotta finish my homework before i have to leave at 7 to go to class. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee bye

(gonna tag the fandoms im in aaaaaa)

[corinnetheanime]

After the monsters concept art, I’ll see if I can get started working on Page 4 for the comic. My goal is to get the first part of the Prologue finished before my birthday (June 1st), which would be Page 6.

This comic is gonna take like 20 years to make and that’s fine by me

I’m actually super happy with my progress in the Clip Studio Paint program. It’s been around a month since I switched to it from Autodesk Sketchbook, and the program really pushed my skills as an artist, especially after my hiatus from art for the past several months due to college burnout. And I’m happy to be able to reach a point with the art where I can look back at it and actually say “I like it. I don’t hate this at all. It doesn’t look off to me.”

Because dear goodness, I cannot stand most of my past art. Which is a good and bad thing.

Practicing all these concept arts were not only a way to get a feel of the program and what brushes/tools I like, but also to see where I currently stand as an artist. Heck, doing that Vlad and Danny comic helped a lot with the technical aspects since I honestly have very very little experience with panels, speech bubbles and fonts. Hopefully I’ll be able to practice more with those tools in the future.

Anyway, hoping to finish monster concept art today. That’s the main goal. :D

[daisyvisions]

🩶 - I lowkey got a lil turned on while editing the fic BUAHAHS I actually used to write for another fandom ~4 years ago during college but I stopped once I started working and had to do adult things 😭 glad you found it a lil sexy 😏😂

also, work burnout is the worst, I went through a wave of that a few years ago with my first job, I hope everything's okay and that you can take care of yourself & stay hydrated 💖 humans were meant to live, not meant to live for work, I hope you can rest when you can and remember to go at your own pace 💞 you deserved some PTO time fr!!

it was truly one of the sexiest things I've read thank you for the food babe 💕 hahaha

"humans were meant to live, not meant to live for work" thank you for this lately I've been really reevaluating my thoughts on work and life and this is something I needed to hear a lot since my burnout right now is bad (not the first time I've experienced one with the same job but yeah).

Just gotta stick it out a lil more til the end of the month then the source of my burnout (this one client we have) will be gone kjsdnfsdkjnf and my brain can work better on the other clients huhu

hope you're doing good too and keeping hydrated!! 💖

[sleepy-frog-lady]

I’m up late at night, as I often am, and thinking, as I often do, about how astronomically I have been fucked over by my college. I was meant to graduate this spring, but I didn’t because I failed one of my classes. I performed well enough to have a C average on the exams, but because I didn’t do a lot of the homework I still failed the class. I couldn’t do the homework because I was depressed and extremely burned out from simultaneously juggling my college work load, my part time job, my gender transition, and my increasingly severe autism symptoms. I hoped that, upon hearing my explanation, the professor would show some humanity and let me catch up on work or something in order to pass (this is before grades were finalized, for context), but instead she said she wouldn’t because I reached out for help too late. I couldn’t reach out earlier because when I’m experiencing autistic burnout it becomes incredibly difficult for me to do that kind of communication.

When I explain this situation to people, they often say something like “it’s okay, this failure doesn’t define you and shouldn’t decrease your self worth etc etc”. But to be honest I feel like that’s not the problem I’m having at all. Realistically, it was not my lack of knowledge, intellect, or work ethic that ruined my grade in that class, it was circumstance. I was mentally ill, and trying to keep up with all of the work was only making it worse. To be mad at myself for that would be cruel and unreasonable.

I’m not blaming myself for being unable to pass at class when my mental health was close to the worse it has ever been, but I am so, so fucking angry at all of people and institutions who would not just fucking help me when I needed it. I’m mad at my old therapist who told me my problems didn’t seem that notable when I was struggling to get out of bed and feed myself every day. I’m mad at the university’s “student advocacy group” who couldn’t help me in any way that mattered because their main and possibly only priority was maintaining the administrative function of the university. Who told me at the start of the semester that I had to take one more class because I needed 9 more units to graduate (even though the units didn’t have to be in anyway related to my major) even though I was already burnt out and struggling. I’m mad at the professor for not showing me a kindness that I would’ve shown her. I underperformed in the class sure, but I don’t think preventing me from graduating was a proportional or appropriate consequence.

Now I’m in an awful and uncomfortable position. I’m like half moved in to an apartment with my partner, but with the full knowledge that I’ll probably have to be away from her for another 4 months (we’ve already done a year of long distance and I was ready to put that chapter behind me). My parents disagree about whether or not they are willing to pay for my final semester of college, and if they don’t pay then I simply can’t afford to go. By the time I knew I was going to need to take another semester, all of the college’s housing forms and such were already completed, so now I have no idea where I’m going to live (and furthermore I’m cut off from the community I’d fostered and grown comfortable with in my dorm). It is a goddamn mess.

[bad-surprise]

For the writer ask game! (answer however many you want I'm just way too curious lol)

❤️💥🚀🥳🌻💛🔮(asking for a friend for that one 😅)🎨

❤️ What is your favorite line that you’ve written in a fic?

again, i can’t pick a definitive favorite, but i’m really proud of this bit from chapter 4 of the shark in your water

If ever a need should arise for Galadriel to provide a full physical description of Halbrand— if he were to go missing or something— she feels certain she would struggle to provide a cohesive image. Her mind breaks him down into pieces, as though the sum total of the man is far beyond her processing capacity. Every attempt to consider him as a whole leaves her stranded in the same limbo she encounters when peering at her own reflection in the bathroom mirror for too long. He exists as a hand on her skin, the curve of a shoulder, a set of smirking lips, or, most frequently, varying shades of green.

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

i write a non-canon ship so i think i’d probably want to make that canon so we could end the silly arguments around it haha

🚀 Do you like to outline your fic first or create as you go?

up until a few months ago i was huge on outlining. now i tend to keep more of a loose, very flexible concept in my head, and i might write down key moments. i almost always know the ending before i begin, but so many of my favorite bits of my fics have come about well into writing them.

🥳 Why did you start writing fanfic?

i abandoned a novel in 2019 and didn’t write a word for two years while dealing with some health issues that i still haven’t fully recovered from.

i really lost my confidence during that time and felt completely incapable of doing anything for myself, but decided i wanted to write again right around the time rings of power came out. i wrote a novel while reading other fics, then in december finally decided to take a chance and post my own work and now y’all can’t get rid of me.

🌻 How often do you read your own fics?

in their entirety? almost never. as they get longer i find myself needing to go back more frequently to check that the general shape of the fic feels correct, but i find it really cringe inducing to read my own work until a significant amount of time has passed. i generally think everything i write is trash until i have at least a month away from it.

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

i think i’ve found a lot more freedom in writing since i started writing haladriel. i remember sitting in college classes and feeling envious of my classmates because it felt like they had no internal censor. through writing this ship— and particularly writing dark content— i’ve really been able dismantle a lot of my preconcieved notions about myself and my writing. i don’t know if that’s a decent answer, but it’s the one i’ve got.

🔮 Any advice for writers working through burnout or writer’s block?

oof. i really struggle with this. the biggest thing i would say is that it’s a lot easier to write if you’re letting yourself be a full person. i always say i’m too busy to read, but when i find time for it, the difference in my work is incredible. i also would say maybe try another creative pursuit that isn’t writing?

but more than anything? just remind yourself that it will pass. you will write again, even if it feels impossible.

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

i answered this in the last ask i got, but honestly, the idea of anyone making fanart for my silly little stories makes me smile.