#I'm a slow artist because I'm a fast writer

[rubberduckyrye]

Google how do you draw faster without losing quality--

[mortalityplays]

You need more free art.

I quit my job yesterday. Well, actually I quit my job eight weeks ago, but they finally released me yesterday for good behaviour. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do - but I do it for the wrong reasons. Working for major charities, you learn very fast that 'I want to make the world a better place' is a phrase you use to ask people for money, not to give them things. I was an ass-backwards fit for that world.

You need more free art. I need more free art. Everyone has felt the shift in our media landscape over the last ten years, away from access and towards nickel-and-diming the human experience. That lack of access is making life and culture worse for all of us, across the board. Paywalled news sites leave us less informed, attacks on the Internet Archive leave us less capable of research. Algorithmic social feeds and streaming walled gardens trap us inside smaller and smaller demographic bubbles, where we are increasingly only likely to encounter ideas that have been curated for us by marketing departments. Hasty efforts to resist AI commodification have only led to more artists locking their work away and calling for even more onerous systems of copyright law. This is not good for us.

We all need more free art.

So what am I going to do about it?

This is a question I have been asking myself for years. It's easy to sit here feeilng frustrated and thinking 'boy I hope SOMEONE does SOMETHING'. It's harder to take action in a world where I still have rent to pay. But hard doesn't mean impossible. Sometimes hard just means time-consuming, frustrating and slow. And sometimes it's worth doing something time-consuming, frustrating and slow because...I want to make the world a better place.

I'm going to do this:

1. From April 1st, I am relaunching as a freelance writer and editor.

This is the one that will (hopefully) help to pay the bills. I am a very good and experienced editor. I've worked on hollywood movies, I'm a member of the Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders, I have clients who have been coming to me exclusively for more than 10 years.

Alongside bigger contract jobs, I am going to refocus on offering my services to small-press creators at a reduced rate. That means you, graphic novelists. That means you, itch and amazon writers. I want to help you develop your work, the same way I help large organisations. You can learn more about what an editor even does and what kind of pricing you can expect here.

2. I'm also going to start giving shit away. Like, constantly.

Next week I'm going to launch a new free shop. If you're unfamiliar, a free shop, giveaway shop, swap shop, etc. is an anarchist tradition of setting up a storefront where anyone can take what they like for no cost. Offline, this often means second-hand clothes, tools, furniture, food etc. Online, I am going to be giving away digital art. Copyright-free, no strings attached. It will (eventually) feature everything from print-res posters to zines, poems, tattoo flash, t-shirt designs and anything else we come up with.

Yes, I said 'we' - while this is a curated collection, it will feature work from a variety of credited and anonymous artists and activists, all of whom have agreed to give their work away to the public domain. Some of it will be practical, some of it will be political, but a lot of it will be decorative or personal. This is, in part, a response to recent difficulty I had finding somewhere that would print a one-off joke poster for a friend that featured the word 'faggot'. Enough. No middlemen - no explaining ourselves. Just print our shit and enjoy it.

I'm very, very excited about this project. I'll have more to say about it closer to the launch, but you can expect it to go live on March 27th.

2.2 I forgot to mention the ACTUAL LAUNCH GIVEAWAY

To celebrate my launch, I am going to be giving away a ton of physical prints. When I went looking for my old stock to see if it was worth setting a new (paid) storefront up, I realised I had way more old work in storage than I thought. This will be announced in its own right on Monday, but this is why I've been hinting you should go follow my Patreon.

On April 1st, I will pick 8 random patrons (from across all tiers including non-paying followers!) and mail them a bundle of assorted prints and postcards. The prize pool includes A3 and A4 posters, packs of A6 postcards, and printed minicomics that I've previously sold for up to £12 each.

You don't have to be a paying subscriber to enter - this is strictly no-purchase necessary. It is purely and entirely a celebration of the concept of GIVING ART AWAY FOR FREE.

3. PORN, YOU PERVERTS

Because I still have to pay to stay alive, I am going to be subsidising all this free art with the introduction of Fuck You Fridays. Starting from March 29th, I will drop a new 18+ short story on the last Friday of every month, over on itch.io (yes I know my page is desolate right now, don't worry I'll get there).

The first edition, Go Fuck Yourself, is about, well - telling your boss where to stick it. Julia has had it with her millionaire man-child manager, and is just about ready to let him know what she really thinks. It's a short and steamy 5k words, with a gorgeous cover illustration by @taylor-titmouse, and you can pick it up for $3 starting from March 29th.

4. ANOTHER BIG SURPRISE

I'm keeping this one under wraps for now, but April 1st will also play host to one more (FREE) launch. If you've been following me for a long time, you might remember the other significance of this date (no not April Fool's day, though that is certainly thematically relevant to this entire effort). That's all I'll say right now. Watch this space.

tl;dr: I'm sick of paywalls and career ladders. I'm literally putting my money where my mouth is. More free art for everyone and I'm not kidding around!!!

[lilybug-02]

Happy 2 Year Anniversary to The Chara Timeline ✨

I FINALLY made drawing references for you guys, yippie!✨

It’s wild how long I’ve been working on this comic without reference sheets. I’m never that consistent with my art style, so I figured it was a waste of time 🫥💀😔 this is my first full comic okay…

Thoughts and Feelings About the Comic Below ❤️💖💕💞

Wow. It’s been 2 years??? I thought I would be done with this comic in 2 months! I don’t know whether to feel worried or accomplished!!

(With months between each update, I understand why it’s been 2 years. I’m a slow writer and artist and well- many things have come up in my life that had to come first, like my sisters wedding! 💞 and college 😅)

I want to thank my family and friends (WHO DO NOT READ THIS COMIC- THANK GOD) 💕 AND I want to THANK YOU! The readers! 💐💐

You guys are relentless! I’m as impatient as traffic and yet you guys wait for weeks or months at a time for like 4 pages?! You guys don’t even complain!!! I truly want to thank you all for that ❤️ it helps me so much. Being busy and getting burnt out are common and it helps me feel relaxed that i'm not on a timer. Literally tho- you guys keep this comic chugging I swear. Tysm 💐

Unorganized rambling about the comic ahead :) ⭐️🔥

—

My feelings with this comic are actually so complicated. On one hand I hate looking at my older art because GOD IT LOOKS SO OFF I want to stab it, and then on the other hand I am so so proud of myself for even continuing it this far. Ngl the weird route has been one of my favorite parts of this comic. It took me FOREVER to figure out an ending, but damn do I still get chills >:) hehe.

I’m still miffed that I named this project “Deltarune: The Chara Timeline” I could have gone for something so much COOLER. Doesn’t help I use like 7 different titles for it either. We got Deltarune the Chara timeline, Deltarune chara timeline, THE Chara timeline, chara timeline, Ct??? Man,,, I’m crazy. I take after my family so hard. We have 3 names for each of our dogs 💀.

Comic/Animation Tip i have learned. It is VERY GOOD to make the character relatively simple in design. Shape language is also super important, ((but I never really got around to doing that before I was half way through the comic, woops.)) These things can make ur process go by so much faster. This whole comic has been a HUGE learning curve. LIKE OH MY GOD. I had to learn how to draw backgrounds, write dialogue, plan a story, learn how to draw fast and draw noses (which god damn I really still can’t). And I had to learn how the heck to squeeze art into a tiny page and make it not look grainy. It's intense!

Anyways.... this has been such an awesome opportunity! Thanks Toby Fox!

I totally ran out of “art time” for my iPad and wanted to finish this today. So it’s a bit rushed. I’ll add weapons and possibly the other characters later :)

Oh shi- I forgot to add this grainy image of the next few pages lmao

[bettsfic]

hi betts! i hope you're doing well. there's something i want to ask: what is it called when you start noticing that your writing is getting worse over time?

i was looking at some of the stuff i wrote back in 2019 and they were pretty good. 2021's writing was still okay but the ideas were less solidly formed, in 2023's writing there's a distinct lack in dialogue. and today i tried writing again and i couldn't even write complete sentences. honestly i've thought about quitting writing altogether but ugh! the muses will still whisper to me sometimes and i can't do anything about it but suffer in silence.

as a more experienced author, do you have any advice on how to deal with something like this? i really don't want to quit just yet.

have you tried rewriting? i think sometimes when you see yourself getting "worse" at writing you're actually just getting faster at it. especially since you're writing in fragments, to me that says you might be getting your ideas on the page with more rapidity. every single sentence is carved out of every word in your vocabulary, and as you get faster at that process, you end up relying on familiar sentence structures and imagery. over the years, i've coached a lot of writers who see themselves get "worse" but actually it just means a change in their process: the fast draft and the slow draft. you get through the first one, it sucks, you rewrite it from scratch. and because you've already processed the scene in your head, you can take your time with it on the second pass, in the same way an artist creates a sketch and then begins creating layers on top of it. as you improve as an artist, you build endurance to put down more layers, but your initial sketches may get sketchier.

if you're already a rewriter, it may be a cognitive issue. writing takes an insane amount of brain power, so if you're writing at a time of day where your brain's clocked out, done making words, your writing might reflect that. things like depression, stress, med changes...all of that that impact your writing.

and lastly, you may have hit a writing ceiling! when that happens, a good idea is to try some particular challenge to put you out of your comfort zone. changing up the style, voice, structure, anything that can help push you to the next skill level.

don't quit! sometimes "i think i'm worse at writing" is secretly an opportunity to change things up.

[cleolinda]

Here's another song I had wanted to write about: Hozier's "Movement." It is a fact of my existence that I get into a musical artist/band about 10 years after everyone else does, and then they become 30% of my personality (see also: Florence and the Machine). So I didn't really get with the program until Wasteland, Baby, and even then, it was for an unusual reason.

When did this album come out, spring of 2019? I had spinal surgery in early 2018. A discectomy, L4/L5; the disc had gradually become herniated due to a fall I'd had at a convention. My surgeon was required to warn me that surgery would come with a (low) chance of paralysis; it was my choice to make. After two weeks of seizing up in pain every hour or so, confined to my bed—hydrocodone did nothing—I chose the scalpel. Even then, it was another four weeks before he could work me into the operating schedule. Trust me when I say, no matter how I'm doing now, I do not regret having that surgery.

But he also told me, "You will always be a person who has had spinal surgery." Since anything was better than screaming every time I moved, I didn't fully understand what he meant until a year or so later, when I was still in pain—a chronic but lower-grade pain that came and went depending on how much activity I dared try that particular day. It was infinitely better than before. And, but, yet, I still deal with that chronic pain today. I will always be that person.

"Walk," he told me. I had a packet of therapy exercises to do, sure, but he was firm on this point. "That's the main exercise you need. Just walking." Which I couldn't do at first—I didn't have to learn to walk again or anything, but I was in a wheelchair early on, then on a wheeled walker for a couple of months. I also have inherited neuropathy in my feet, which was exacerbated by electrically painful sciatic nerve damage down my right leg while I waited for my slot in the surgery calendar. (I swear to God I will start talking about music soon.) I only walk across the longest side of my backyard. I don't leave it and walk around the neighborhood, because I generally have about two minutes upright to get back to the house once my feet start hurting.

So I had been struggling with my walking assignment for about a year when "Movement" came out. Of course it's literally about physically moving (and emotionally being moved), but that wasn't what captured me. The song starts out slow and reflective; it was a gentle tempo for a time when I couldn't walk very fast, and I still use it as a warm-up today. But there are two other things I love about it. One, the willow tree in the chorus, as I was walking my little runway back and forth under a canopy of wild water oak draped with wisteria, looking up into the sun through the leaves and snowflake flowers of an overgrown cherry laurel. Sound met landscape.

But the other thing is how—generous? accepting?—the words are of the "you" of the song. This person, the lyrics say, does not have to be a virtuoso dancer like Fred Astaire or Sergei Polunin (who's in the video up there). Instead, "you're Atlas in his sleeping, and when you move, I'm moved." My absolute favorite part is,

Move like grey skies Move like a bird of paradise Move like an odd sight come out at night

What the fuck even are these lyrics. I can't. That's so good. You ever sit there as a writer and think, I'm so mad I didn't come up with that? Just the pure unexpectedness, "I'm telling you how earthshakingly amazing this person is. Like a beautiful willow, like a rare bird, like some weird-ass cryptid in the night, I don't even know what that was about but I love it." What even. So good.

And I was for sure an odd sight shambling back and forth across the back of my yard: five minutes at first. Then ten the next week, working my way up to thirty, still in a dull roar of constant pain a year into my recovery. But this is a song that says, your efforts to move are moving, whatever movement is natural for you; you may be sleeping just now, you may be moving without moving, but you are wonderful not in spite of being strange in your movements, but because of it. The song always feels like a friend walking along with me, no matter how many setbacks I have, or how slow I have to go.

Anyway, Unreal Unearth comes out next Friday. The five songs Hozier's put out so far are ridiculously good, and I've scheduled a couple of months to be completely feral about it. When the weather is less dangerously hot, we'll find out which songs are good to move to.

[saccgiriangel]

Welcome to my acc!!

I have many names but you can call me MONI/MARK/MIGUEL/TEGIRI (TEG)/ICHIKA/GIDEON/DANTE/EZEQUIEL (you dont have to use all of them, as long you respect them, im okay), im a weird freaky guy who likes to do silly things

im a GNC CISTRANS TRANS MAN/TRANSMASC GIRL AEGOSEXUAL GREYROMANTIC ACHILLEAN GAYBIAN who uses HE/IT pronouns (use masc + fem terms)

More info about me under cut:

BASIC INFO:

Minor

My birthday is June 20 (gemini gang ♊️)

ESFJ - 4w5

For the Homestuck fans, im a heir of breath and prospit dreamer (my true sign is Gemus)

Chaotic good

multi / rarepair shipper

multifandom

white latino (argentinian) (ESP/ENG)

selfshipper (ezekiel's bf 🤭💚✨️)

artist and writer (Sometimes)

in my total drama and avril lavigne era

INTERESTS:

Total drama (lol)

Homestuck

Scott pilgrim (all medias)

Lacey Games

Horror media content in general (games, shows, movies, books, etc)

Literature

History

Creepypastas + MLP Creepypastas

DDLC

Vocaloid

Internet

PJSEKAI / Project Sekai

Bandori

The Eltingville Club

Madoka Magica

Animanga

AUs (Alternative Universes)

Shipping

Zero Day

Etc...

BYF / B4 U INT.:

I use and need tone tags, its not obligatory to use them but I would be grateful if you do so

I write fast so I will often have mistakes in words.

Stupid to clarify this but im neurotypical

Im okay with gore and nsfw content, as long it isnt a problematic thing (like pedo, zoo, etc)

I usually do nsfw jokes and flirt in a jokingly way, if u are uncomfortable with this, let me know

I am a slow person when it comes to make (art) requests or answer some questions in my askbox, be patient and feel privileged if I get to answer ur question in the askbox fast (😅)

I can be annoying about my interests (including my AUs)

I don't like to talk about political issues and I don't tolerate questions regarding my political opinions or views on something, I don't mind arguing but I would prefer that you leave out the political stuff when talking to me (and also because I'm stupid and don't have the skills to debate about it)

Im pro mogai and i support ‘contradictory labels’ (mspec lesbians/gays, straight lesbians/gays, lesboys/turigirls, etc), i dont mind if u dont support them but dont be annoying about hating it or avoid sending me hate bc of it

TAGS FOR THE ACC

#sacc_intro: self explanation

#sacc_reblog: all my reblogs

#sacc_art: all my art posts

#sacc_talks: texts or things I say for no reason

#sacc_ask: all my asks

#sacc_fankids: my fankids / fankid requests

#total drama island of the chaos / #tdiotc: my td swap AU posts

I dont have a DNI list, if i dont like u or i find u annoying i will just block you owo 🎀✨

Mutuals/Friends:

@deimosbreakfrost @geoffparty @thatpersonkiwi @heavenpedia @million4rex @catrinita-jadez @istheharold @bl00dyv4mpzz @fightclubgayporn @error-drawings @donsfreakyleftit

Other Accs + Social medias

@sementaryoffags (label hoard acc)

SOCIAL MEDIAS:

my instagram

my pinterest

my spotify

my tiktok

my Ao3

[talbaquix]

A layman's guide to olympic fencing—

for writers, artists, olympic fans, or the otherwise curious.

disclaimer: i say layman for a reason! i'm not at all a professional, or even good, but i have been fencing (very) recreationally at an amateur level for ~7 years. also, my exposure to sabre is extremely limited, and i am speaking from an american POV, so please feel free to correct me on any points you see necessary. :)

long post incoming...

So, what is "Olympic fencing?"

First and foremost, it is a sport. Not a fight, not a duel—a sport. One of five that have been permanent fixtures since the very first modern Olympic games, actually—hence the name! While other similar sword-wielding activities (such as historical European martial arts (HEMA), kendo, or wushu for example) may occasionally be referred to as "fencing," most people (me included) define fencing as this specific sport, and use other classifiers to categorize the rest.

Originally, fencing began as a form of military training in Germany and Italy, before spreading recreationally across more areas in Europe. Currently, the fencing scene is almost uncontestedly dominated by Italy, France, and Hungary, though both China/HK and the US have had some pretty stellar wins more recently.

In addition, French has a pretty large influence on fencing terminology and language, at least in the West. Be prepared!

The Basics

Three Weapons

Fencing is divided into three disciplines, each with their own equipment, strategies, and ruleset. They are as follows:

Épée: The classic. The heaviest and most defensive of the three blades, épée's simple ruleset allows for more elaborate strategy and really lives up to fencing's moniker of "physical chess." In épée, the entirety of your opponents body (including face, toes, etc!) counts as valid target area and all hits must be scored with the tip of the blade. In case of a double-touch (relatively simultaneous hits from both opponents), both opponents score points.

Because there's no need for specific target areas, épéeists enjoy minimal equipment, forgoing lamés (electric jackets, pronounced luh-may) and mask cords in exchange for a larger bell guard to protect the hand (that big bit of metal at the end of the blade). Épéeists can use pistol grips for more point control (molded to fit a hand), or a french grip to get a little bit of extra distance (red stick grip).

Épée bouts are stereotypically known for being slow and boring, since the absence of right-of-way (explained later) allows more freedom in trying to sus out opponent reactions and strategize, and the whole-body target + double-touch system means there's more benefit to fencing slowly in comparison to sabre or foil. It's not uncommon for épée bouts to begin with both fencers being carded for passivity! There's a lot of bouncing back and forth in the middle.

Saber (Sabre): Fast, slashing, and aggressive. The fencing you see in movies? Sabre. It's the only cutting weapon, where the entire length of the blade is able to register contact with the opponent. In sabre, the target area is the upper half of the body (including the face, but excluding the hand) and their lamés reflect that. Sabre also employs what is known as right-of-way/priority/advantage (from here on abbreviated as RoW) which, in the case of a double-touch, essentially gives RoW—and therefore the point—to the "aggressing" fencer at the referee's discretion. RoW is pretty complicated, but is very influential in how both sabre and foil play out.

In their ready (en garde) position, sabreists also hold their blade vertically to protect the face (as opposed to foil and épée, where the blade is held horizontally to keep the point towards the opponent). Sabreists also need special masks to register hits, as well as a mask cord to connect it to the rest of the electric circuit. Sabre bell guards are kinda swoopy and extend downward (think pirates) and are always "french grips" (aka just a stick).

Sabreists are generally known for being (respectfully) batshit insane and dramatic as hell. Bouts are extremely fast (rarely more than a few seconds) and look simple, and rely much more on pure athleticism and fast reaction times than épée. Most bouts consist of the two fencers running towards each other, maybe a parry or two, then both fencers scoring hits with a fair bit of screaming and angrily pointing at the ref. Oh wait, did I say running? Sorry, I meant advancing, since sabre is also the only discipline where crossing-over with your legs got banned because people just started sprinting towards the middle instead of actually fencing. Love them for that.

Foil (Fleuret, rarely): Oh, foil. The artistic middleman. Originating as a practice weapon, foil tends to sit in the middle of épée's careful point-control and elaborate strategy and sabre's split-second reactions and fuck-it-we-ball energy. Yet somehow, it ends up being more nit-picky and complicated than both. It has the smallest target area of the three, only covering the torso, as well as the lightest blade. Touches are only registered from the tip.

RoW's influence is noticeably large, since, compared to sabre, the longer bout times actually allow for opportunity for RoW to be traded between you and your opponent. Foil can almost be thought of as turn-based combat. Fencer A initiates the attack first, now has RoW, lunges and misses, which gives RoW to Fencer B. Fencer B attacks, gets parried (back to Fencer A), A extends, B counterattacks, A gets the point.

Foil stereotypes aren't as strong as épée or sabre stereotypes, but foilists are generally known for either being super pedantic and arguing w/ the ref about RoW or whipping their blade around constantly & being flowery (hence, "fleuret"). Because of how bendy the foil is, foilists can also do cool stuff like flicks (snapping your wrist so that the blade bends around, oftentimes to hit your opponents back) and can also get into pretty funny in-fighting situations a bit more often than sabre/épée (since corps-a-corps contact isn't allowed in fencing, and stepping back means you lose RoW, there's a lot of awkward up-close poking).

Some Positions

En garde: the basic fencing position. In essence, a squat, with one foot facing forward and the other turned out, roughly one and a half foot-lengths apart. This is the basis from which all other movements—the lunge, the advance, the retreat—should be executed, and the position fencers return to once an action is completed.

Lunge: the quintessential fencing attack. From en garde, extend your dominant arm, kick out your front foot, land forward, and extend your back arm for balance. To recover, bend your back leg and return to en garde.

Parry: the most basic piece of defensive bladework that every fencer learns, with the "beat" serving as its offensive counterpart. Consists of hitting your opponents blade to prevent a touch. There are nine different parries in classical fencing, but the most common (in foil/épée) are the four and six, which defend the inside and outside lines respectively.

Ettiquette & Other Fun Facts

All fencers must salute their opponent, referee, and audience (if there is one) before and after the bout. Usually just consists of "nodding" at the salutee with your blade before the mask is donned. At the end of bouts, a handshake with your opponent using your non-dominant hand is also expected. Many people substitute/add on to the handshake by tapping blades instead.

Unlike in tennis, seeing a fencer hold up a one on their hand after a touch is an acknowledgement of the opponent's point, whereas a closed fist is a claim of theirs.

When fencing without a ref, many people will slap their thigh to indicate the start of a bout.

Fencers may not speak while the mask is on.

Fencing clubs are also sometimes called salles.

While electrical equipment can vary between disciplines, all fencers are required to wear knickers, a plastron (under-arm protector), a body cord, a jacket, a glove, and a mask. For women, a plastic chest protector is also required. In sabre and foil, fencers also wear a mask cord and lamé.

The first safety rule most fencers learn is to never raise your blade towards someone without a mask on, and it's taken pretty seriously. Because the back of a mask is exposed, its also a big big no-no to turn your back to your opponent during a bout or otherwise lower your head.

Common Terminology

En garde, prez, allez! - On guard, ready, fence! Used to signal the start of a bout.

Halt! - Said by referees to. halt the bout.

Strip/piste - The surface on which fencers fence. Usually around 2m wide and 14m long, the lines on the piste also dictate where fencers must move to to begin bouts, and where they're considered out-of-bounds. Sometimes, they're on raised platforms. Yes, people have fallen off, yes, it's extremely funny.

Feint - Probably what you think it is.

Disengage - Moving your blade in a little circle to avoid contact with what is usually an incoming parry/beat. On a very basic level, straight attacks beat disengages, disengages beat parries, and parries beat straight attacks.

Fleche - An explosive running attack. Due to not being able to cross-over, sabreists use "flunges" instead, a mix between a fleche and a lunge that essentially entails flinging yourself at your opponent in a flying lunge.

Balestra - hop :)

Riposte - An immediate attack done after a defender's parry. Usually heard as "parry-riposte."

Tempo - A kind of nebulous concept, but very similar to the musical definition of the word. The pace of a bout, sorta. Often used when someone is advised to break tempo or if one fencer is controlling the tempo of a bout.

FAQ

Why are the blades bendy? To keep us from dying, mainly. What, you want the metal pole people can throw at each other at the same speed as a bullet (literally) to be solid? Also, blades break a lot already, especially in the hands of the inexperienced—they'd snap a hell of a lot more if they weren't flexible. Ouch.

Does it hurt? About as much as getting poked really hard with a steel stick would. Leaves bruises often, but cuts very rarely. You get used to it. The real kicker is staying in en garde for that long. Trust me, your quads will be screaming.

Is it- No, it's not dangerous. If you follow the rules, fencing is actually extremely safe, especially compared to contact sports.

Does a red light mean no touch? No. One fencer is assigned a red light that lights up whenever a touch is made, and the other is given green. In sabre and foil, yellow (sometimes white) means whatever the fencer hit was off-target, and should not be counted as a point. Épée doesn't have an off-target light, since épéeists don't wear lamés.

How do the masks know when a point is scored? Often asked upon seeing the little lights on the side of masks light up upon touches. Unless you're "dry fencing" (no electricity), you're typically hooked up to a circuit. If you fence épée or foil, there's a little button on the end of your blade that registers when pressure is added onto it. When a hit is scored, the signal goes through the wire in your blade, up your body cord, and eventually to "the box" (and your mask if you're fancy), and the corresponding light is flashed.

Why hold your hand behind your back? Most people don't! Some beginners do it to prevent themselves from reflexively moving their non-gloved hand in front of them when being attacked (which is against the rules), but most fencers either keep their hand relaxed at their side, raised in a t-rex pose, or occasionally above the head.

Helmet? Mask.

Sword? If you want.

Touché? Often "touche," actually. No accent.

Paralympics? On (stationary) wheelchairs. Extremely cool, actually, and very hard. Check it out!

Expensive? To get all your own stuff? Yes. But most clubs will rent you equipment, or sometimes lend it for free! But yes, more expensive than, like, soccer. :(.

Is it fun? Absolutely. To quote some random internet user, "it's like chess, at 90 miles an hour, oh and there's swords!" I would 100% recommend it to everyone, especially if you're on the older side (fencing isn't super age-restricted at all—seeing a 12 y/o and a 70 y/o facing off on a club piste isn't uncommon!) It is exhausting, exhilarating, and super, super fun. Give it a shot!

.

Please feel free to send any and all questions, corrections, or musings my way. Thanks for reading—I hope this was interesting and/or useful!

[violetasteracademic]

Hey bestie, was just wondering when chapter two comes out 🙂‍↕️ been refreshing ur page once an hour for dayyyyyys. 💓

Hi my friend!! So funny you should ask, it will be ready to go up by early evening tonight! I will let you know as soon as it is posted! (I'm in US central time zone. So about 6-7 hours from now)

I'm so honored and delighted to have you reading the new fic 🥹 I don't like to share toooo much of my personal life on here because this fandom is sadly not always kind to artists and writers when it comes to the hostility of the ship wars, but I do want to give a heads up that A Court of Twisted Fate will not be coming out *quite* as fast as Golden Doe in a Valley of Shadow. I blacked out and wrote almost 100k words of Golden Doe in a total disassociative bender in under a month and a half while I was in between homes, closing the final chapter of my old life after a long fought for divorce, and set aside my 10 year long business and career. I was in a weird little vortex and could easily get a chapter out every few days. I want to be honest with myself and all of you that I will not be able to match that pace right now without massively sacrificing on quality and thorough edits!

If I haven't said it enough, you guys truly have no idea what the response to Golden Doe meant to me. Writing that fic helped me survive a very difficult time. I had never written a fic before and didn't even have an ao3 account, I had to wait a few weeks to be allowed in. I had no idea anyone would read it, and sharing that story wound up being one of the most special and joyful times of my life, which seems impossible when I look back on what I was going through! I just... Thank you. I don't know what else to say. Thank you a million times, every day, forever.

I am starting life completely over in a new city and a 1940's bungalow that has had a few catastrophes since moving in 🫣 I'm hard at work job hunting in this nightmare economy and fixing up the urgent items in the house! So it's a different kind of busy filled with lots of fear and anxiety and mental exhaustion. Thus, I'm also trying to give myself lots of time to heal and recover. I'm hoping for a chapter once a week this round, but I might need some grace for up to two weeks!

This might be a good opportunity to answer some other questions I've gotten. Some have noticed the new rating is M instead of E. There WILL still be smut, but this is more of a dark and spooky old school style slow burn and very story forward. And while I hesitate to say the spice will be more vanilla, it is not as kink forward as Golden Doe! It will still be spicier and more detailed than what SJM would typically write (y'all she's tame in my book) but a different style. That being said, the piece is not finished. Sooooo.... 🦇 we'll see if kinky Azriel body snatches me again and demands that the spice be freakier and more frequent. In which case I'll update the rating.

Golden Doe started as an M rating and 15 planned chapters, and we all saw how that worked out!

I'm pushing myself to create a unique world and characters that are not just a carbon copy of Golden Doe in a Valley of Shadow. Of course, it is still canon Elain and Azriel! But I'm focusing on different sides of them. I hope you all enjoy it just as much, but if it winds up not being your vibe, do know I have a few ideas bouncing around for Golden Doe continuations, additional Elriel fics, and my inbox is always open for ideas and prompts/requests!!

[justpoliteconversations]

To the Shadows,

Just something I occasionally catch myself thinking, and have to step back and correct myself. A confession of sorts, but more of a reminder.

Sometimes, when I have too many ideas running through my head and know I'm not capable of writing them all down (I'm a slow typist, but a fast talker/thinker), I catch myself thinking how much more convenient it would be if I could draw my thoughts. Because when I see fanart on my feeds, the finished product looks so effortless. Just lines and colors put together to express a story, scene or idea.

But then I have to stop those thoughts before they become something dismissive and hurtful (whether it's intentional or not). I have to remind myself that I am not an artist and therefore do not always understand how much work went into even a doodle. That, likewise, I'm just putting words together to form sentences the way they put those lines and colors together to form a picture. And that, in entertaining the idea of their contributions being somehow more convenient than my own, I'm discrediting the artist's effort, skills and passion.

(The fact I know many artists- and have seen how long a single picture can take them to complete- only solidifies this understanding. And causes me an even greater feeling of shame when I do slip.)

So, that's my confession. And I hope any artists (or writers or anyone else who contributes their time and effort into creating content) reading this, know I appreciate how much they give to us (as a community, and to me as an individual who is apart of that community). Even if we sometimes forget how much of yourself you put into everything you offer.

So, thank you. I'll always strive to remember.

-Polite

PS. I'm embarrassed now.

[ceilidho]

Hi, really strange question, so feel free to ignore, but how do you deal with the constant surge of content - art, really. You seem to be a generally more well known/viewed blog, and so I'm sure you've developed quite a community on here, whether it be people you know or interactions with other artists. And I've been following you for quite some time, and I always get excited when I see the "updated now" for your blog. But (here is my actual question), do you ever get overwhelmed knowing that you can't read/see/experience everything? I'm very new to social media, and online spaces in general, and it's generated this fear in me that if I don't keep up with what has been posted by those I follow, I am now suddenly lost. Missing a piece of what should have been catalogued in my mental history. Fanfiction has become such a relief in my life now, and I've gained this new appreciation for human creativity and the beauty of sharing yourself in your art. But I am constantly left wondering that if I miss something, will I also miss an opportunity. I love learning more, and reading, and viewing; appreciating beauty in this lifetime, but I don't know how to combat the overwhelming feeling when I cannot keep up with those who I admire, what's left of me, simply as a viewer?

Oh absolutely!!!! I wrote about this in another post around the traditional publishing industry in general and this overwhelming sense of FOMO that’s super evident in both readers and writers (for readers, that they won’t be part of the current discourse and won’t be part of the reading community, and for writers that they won’t keep up with demand and lose their reader base to other more prolific writers or just to new trends in general because to be honest, the constant microtrends in the book community are hard to keep up with even if you are a relatively fast writer).

I think I’m lucky that for some reason I tend to write very fast - I have a solid backlist of ideas, when I do sit down to write it tends to all come out at once, I (fingers crossed) haven’t dealt with a really bad bout of writers block in awhile - but yeah even I sometimes have moments where I feel guilty that I’m not writing enough. I think it’s super easy to feel like people are simply going to forget about you if you take any time off or if you start a multi chaptered fic and it takes you awhile to finish it.

And I won’t lie, sometimes that pressure isn’t just imagined! Most people that leave comments like “more people!” “Part 2??” “I need more of this!!” are simply expressing their love and I understand that, like I’m not completely insensitive to that (some creators tend to take it very very personally and I understand that too but I think we all have to have a little bit of grace and understanding and give each other the benefit of the doubt), but I will say that I have gotten some seriously rude comments before about taking too long to finish a fic. There is a grain of truth to the fear that some readers will lose their patience with you for simply taking your time to write.

I experience this more as a “creator” rather than a reader (tbh I don’t feel much guilt about not being able to keep up with what my mutuals are posting because I know it’s always there for me when I’m ready) - although actually now that I’m saying this, I take that back. I do sometimes feel very very guilty when I don’t have time to get into a friend’s fic. Oh wow yeah that was a huge lie, I DEFINITELY have felt extremely guilty before about not having enough time to read someone’s fic and feeling like I’m letting them down in some way and not adequately supporting them. Yikes. Goes to show ya.

I am hoping that as more and more people become aware of this that people will start appreciating slowness and ephemerality - taking your time to read or write something, starting incomplete fics just to appreciate them even if they’re short lived or never completed, forgiving yourself for not being able to read everything or write everything right now and realizing that you’ll get to it when you get to it. It’s easier said than done and I do feel guilty sometimes about perpetuating this by being a very fast writer, but yeah! Unfortunately it’s sort of on each of us to do this since the very medium of social media demands instant gratification - tumblr and ao3 (the latter by virtue of being an archive) are perhaps the least egregious of them, but it’s definitely in the nature of social media to induce this kind of behaviour.

[tagedeszorns]

What's boring you about the fandom? Sorry to hear you're struggling with that at the moment.

Just wanted to say though, it is normal to go through stages of fixation and ambivalence, especially if it feels like you might have plumbed the most exciting depths of your preferred niche. (I have felt like that so many times in other fandoms lol...) Maybe it's worth exploring other parts of the fandom, you might find something that ignites your passion again. Alternatively, if you need a break or feel the need to branch out, do it. The fandom will still be here when you feel like engaging again.

(Also, if you feel like it sometime, please tell us more about your minis and joytoy figs. Are they named? Do they have backstories?)

I'm not bored. I'm just having a severe "old man yells at cloud"-moment, like I do semi-regularly. 😉

When I came to the Tumblr-branch of Warhammer-fandom it felt so very exciting - artists and writers regularly got 80 to over 100 notes in a few days on their texts and pics (not just memes and/or shitposts, mind you! The real stuff!) - and not just likes, a lot of reblogs, comments and so much discussion! So many HC were developed here for everybody to see and to participate.

But this all changed. No fire nation, though.

I'm getting a bit tired of saying it over and over myself, but in my opinion it still is true: Discord is slowly killing fandom-permanence. Discord isn't good for conserving things. Ideas vanish. Pics get consumed like fast food and digested just as fast, leaving no nutritional value for viewer or artist. Thoughts get lost, because they wander down the chat-drain and vanish into nothing. HCs get no engagement, fade and die.

The slow, ugly decay of Twitter didn't help. A lot of new people not getting how Tumblr is supposed to be played and take the easy way out to Discord, too.

A Tumblr-blog is a very intimate showcase of a person's journey as a fan. It's like a geological slice of their interests and thoughts. I love that. I want to keep that. I want to get to know other fans. And not the shallow, fleeting way of Discord.

Yeah, as I said - old man yells at totally uncaring cloud. I can't stop time. I have to adapt or remain behind.

And the other thing is my "ceterum censeo" of being bitter about people just paying attention to Primarch-content and don't care about the guys from second row who are in my opinion so much more interesting and colourful. And if they get the spotlight it's just some meme-shit or being waifu'd to hell and back.

I love being silly about characters I like. I love making up shitty sidestories, silly AUs and other absolutely hilarious OOC-stuff. But if that's all that remains from a character, that's just sad.

I need way more Credible Hulks who love quoting the books as much as I do, around me!

But anyways, I'll come around.

That I had quite a few not so very good books this year didn't help either. I need both the Eidolon- and the Xantine-book to be good, next year! And St. Martin better NOT writing any shit about Lucius attacking Fenris (I mean, WTF, St. Martin! That short story was the worst you ever wrote, man!).

[pianostarinwonderland]

stuff in my head about what's happening

there is absolutely no end to the drama that is Twisted Wonderland :-)

"what's happening now" so basically everyone is disappointed with how Vil's SSR has absolutely no story. no personal, no appearance in the event. he's just there to be pretty. and give furniture.

and you Know it's bad Bad when not only the EN fans but the JP fans are talking about it. and by talking about it, i mean

personal story has trended

a big twst artist, twst_13, made a tweet expressing that they were pretty upset with the lack of story, and well.. that honestly ended up being their last straw in leaving the twst fandom. and due to their rep, it really spread throughout the fandom and uh yeah here we are

and rn a lot of people are doomposting. just your regular twst afternoon

so yeah it's been fun so far B)

in all seriousness, ik a lot of people aren't happy with this. if you're really discontented with what's going on so far, email twst. giving feedback is the best way for them to know what their audience wants, and they do listen to their fans if enough people send them concerns. you can send through this link. i think it would be great to email them in Japanese, but if you really can't, wellll let's hope some people there understand English <3

anyway there's a cut because i currently have talk too much disease and have Opinions on this so i want to make it an easier scroll for people encountering this post.

hi welcome to under the cut, where you will find the real reason why i'm making this post: to not Shut Up about what's going on.

personally my thoughts on this are mixed. on one hand, I really don't mind some cards just getting furniture instead of stories because (1) guest room feature nice for me, but I also understand that those who aren't immersed in it would be more frustrated; (2) more importantly is the thought that with less stories to write about, the writing team would actually, idk, have more breaks. the main focus would be delivering a Good main story chapter, and they put event stories on a halt for a bit.

on the other hand, this Is an event SSR, so it feels weird. club cards are acceptable because at least it's new New art and kinda accepted already that it's not gonna get personals. the main story cards, like cerberus Ortho and upcoming general Lilia SSR, are acceptable because they are already accompanied by main story. some tsumsted cards like the SRs and Rs are acceptable too because the event story itself already accompanies them. but an event SSR of an event being reran. it's a bit disappointing.

but at the same time, i've also gone through the time that twst was slow in pacing. and it was really hard. that was the first wave of exodus, and it's still the biggest one to this day. so it's like, if guest room furniture can let them keep updating the game so that it doesn't go too quiet, then I'd really much rather have what we're having now over slow pacing.

and diasomnia has been in the waiting room for wayyyy too long. a lot of fans, EN and JP alike, have been frustrated with how long they had to wait for diasomnia content. and ik twst listens to complaints especially from their JP audience. so it's good that now they're shifting priorities to dia story and ensuring that fans aren't dying too fast. and ngl after how long pome and igni felt (emphasis on felt because pome actually wasn't that long in hindsight, it just felt long after how we went from frequent octa and scarabia to two-month halloween), it's good that main story is getting updated at a good pace.

most importantly, i really just hope that the writers have more room to breathe. making a lot of personal stories, as well as revising, editing, and getting approval would be understandably difficult. in the end, we really don't know the situation in the hq, so whatever is happening there, i hope that the teams and devs aren't burning out

at the same time though, i also don't want event SSRs like upcoming Silk Vil not having personals to become a norm. a big part of what makes twst enjoyable is their story and their characters. and much of what we know of the characters is found in the personal stories. but see, this is where sending in a concern is important!! because we want this game to be as best as it can, and simply complaining about it will cause an echo chamber of doompostings with no substantial effort being put into actually doing something about it. i'm probably gonna see if i could send a concern to them about it because yeah, I want to see twst doing better.

[csvent-2]

honestly I can see why some species don't allow writing, I'm in a species that allows both and man, writing is much easier and fastr and absolutely I can take advantage of it because word counts are so easy to reach. I still do art though, because that's more important for my characters imo.

Not only that, but modding writing is also more difficult than seeing an artwork.

No disrespect to writers, but honestly? I dont get your complains

While I see your point I don’t necessarily agree. Some people are extremely slow writers while some artists are crazy fast, you could argue that artists who can bang out a fully shaded fullbody in a couple hours is taking advantage of lower-requirement species.

I think it’s nice for species to allow those who don’t do art regularly or at all to participate.

[death-munchkin]

What Hypoglycemia looks/feels like, from someone who has it (for writers/artists who wish to include the topic of Hypo in their SGA (or other) art/stories)

Summery:

I'm making this post as a resource for fellow writers in the SGA fandom (and others in general) because I've come across one too many fanfics which explore Rodney's hypoglycemia but do so in a... let's just say less than realistic fashion. Now I have nothing against these stories, they're still fun! and cool!, and it's not the writer's fault most of the time that info on what Hypo is like can be quite misleading online, but I wanted to make this quick resource for anyone in the SGA fandom, writers/artists in general or just curious people who want an overview of what hypo looks like (to an outsider), feels like (to the person suffering it) and what the signs/symptoms are + how to treat it!

First off, let's dispel some myths!

"Only people with diabetes/pre-diabetes get hypoglycemic" False. Hypoglycemia can occur in anyone and there are various causes. Let's get rid of the fancy words for a second and remember that hypoglycemia just means low blood sugar. If anyone avoids eating sugars & carbs long enough, their blood sugar will drop dangerously low and they will become hypoglycemic. However, people who *have* hypoglycemia typically mean they have a condition which causes their blood sugar to drop dangerously low more often than most or despite a healthy diet. People with diabetes are at risk of hypoglycemic attacks if they take too much insulin for example, but diabetes is not a requirement for the condition and many (like myself, and presumably McKay) are not diabetic.

"You have to go without food for a long time to get a hypoglycemic attack" False. When considering non-diabetic hypoglycemia (which is what I'll mainly be covering because it's what I have) there are 2 variations of conditions which cause hypoglycemic attacks. The first, and the one from which the above presumption is created, is called "fasting hypoglycemia". In this condition, your body constantly produces slightly too much insulin which will gradually drop your blood sugar levels (but faster than what is considered "normal" for a non hypoglycemic person). People with this version of the condition will typically start experiencing symptoms 8-12 hours since they last consumed sugar/carbs, and the symptoms will show & progress more slowly compared to the second condition variation (you might feel light headed, then an hour later a bit sick, then another hour later more sick etc etc). The second variation is called "reactive hypoglycemia", in which your body normally produces the correct amount of insulin (thus fasting is not a major risk as with the 1st variation), but your body does produce substantially too much insulin specifically in response to a large influx of sugar in your system. People with this version will experience symptoms only 2-4 hours after an influx of sugar/carbs (sugars tend to trigger attacks faster, carbs tend to trigger slower), and due to the sudden nature of the insulin spike, symptoms can appear and worsen rapidly (it can take as little as 5 minutes to go from "I'm a bit dizzy" to "get me a bucket or I'll spew on you"). NOTE: of course, each person's condition will differ and how they present/progress will differ too.

"Hypoglycemia isn't a serious condition" Ok I have to include this because it's just plain wrong. Hypoglycemia is often not severe if caught early, and the fact that the cure is literally just consuming sugar (eg. drink some juice) it can come across as no big deal or even silly, but make no mistake, hypoglycemia can and does kill. Without sugar your brain will eventually shut down and you will die. Don't make fun of me, just give me my juice, thanks.

OK, now that that's out of the way, on to the meat of this post!

What does Hypoglycemia look like to onlookers, and what does it feel like to experience it?

Depending on the type of hypoglycemia someone has, the presentation of their symptoms will vary. They can either have a slow or rapid onset, and remember that not everyone will show the exact same symptoms. The nature and severity of the symptoms will also depend on the stage of the hypoglycemic attack. While this isn't official, I personally categorize my hypoglycemic attack into 3-4 stages, and they appear as follows below. Each stage can last either mere minutes (5/10/20 minutes) or hours depending on the nature (fasting/reactive) and progression (rapid/slow) of the attack. Note, I'm getting my "onlooker" data from my amazing partner, who has to deal with my sorry ass, and my experience data is of course mostly from my experience, though I try to include other possible/common experiences too, but keep that in mind your experience may differ <3

Stage 1: Mild

This is the first stage of a hypoglycemic attack and will have the least severe symptoms. For many the symptoms might be so subtle that they go unnoticed, possibly up until the next stage of the condition, especially if your condition advances rapidly. A person in stage 1 will 100% still be able to eat/drink foods/drinks with sugars in them by themselves and will not need a glucose drip yet, just give them some juice. The symptoms: In this stage you typically start with the emotive/mental symptoms, described as "feelings of unease" etc. You might also experience mild physical symptoms such as feeling peckish or being a bit jittery, but not much so. How it feels: You might feel jumpy, anxious, annoyed, irritable, and have a general sense of being on edge. For some this expresses as anger, for others fear, and it's not always the same each time. You might feel a little bit hungry and your mind might be a bit more scattered than normal, but generally you'll feel fine if a bit uncomfortable. How it looks: Due to the mild nature of the symptoms in stage 1, it's very possible that onlookers will totally miss any sign/symptom in this stage. Your best bet is noticing that the person is more irritable or jumpy than normal, but otherwise it's likely to go overlooked until stage 2 hits.

Stage 2: Moderate

This is the 2nd stage of a hypoglycemic attack and is typically the stage where both the person suffering from the attack and onlookers are most likely to first notice the symptoms and piece together that a hypo attack is occurring. The symptoms in this stage is slightly more severe and physical symptoms start to present more prominently (allowing onlookers to notice what is happening). A person in stage 2 will likely still be able to eat/drink foods/drinks with sugars in them by themselves and will not need a glucose drip yet, just give them some juice. The symptoms: At this stage physical symptoms become more prominent. Most sufferers will have constant tremors in their limbs, making it difficult to do fine work as their hands will become clumsy and shaky. Their breathing might also be shaky/uneasy as a result. Rapid heart rate and what is known as "hot flashes" (sudden spike in body temperature, causing the face to become warm, flushed, and the skin to become clammy) will likely occur. This stage also typically features feelings of fatigue, moderate to severe nausea, disorientation/confusion and weakness. How it feels: Absolutely fucking terrible. Stage 2 is the worst feeling of the 4 as you are typically still lucid enough to know how shit you feel while feeling worse than in stage 1. You will feel hot, feverish, and the feeling of hunger will typically be replaced by being sick to your stomach. You will likely throw up. Your brain will start to go foggy and it will be hard to concentrate/work. You will feel tired, but too uncomfortable to fall asleep. You will likely feel uncomfortably hot and sweaty. Your hands will be shaking too badly for you to do much (drinking water becomes hard because liquid gets shaken out of glass) and your arms/legs will start to feel heavy. If you're not sitting already, you will want to sit down soon because legs no work. How it looks: The person might be flushed with a sheen of sweat on their forehead, clammy shaky hands, wobbly legs. They might also turn pale. They will look tired. They likely won't be able to hold a conversation, coming across as confused and disorientated. They will likely throw up. Imagine someone with a bad flu but they're also drunk, and that's pretty much what it will look like.

Stage 3: Severe

The third stage of Hypo, at this point the symptoms may become alarming and the person may not be able to consume foods/drinks themselves anymore and thus may need a glucose drip.

The symptoms: At this stage the person will likely become fully disorientated and incapacitated. They may be unable to walk/stand themselves and thus might need help moving around. If they haven't thrown up yet they probably will. They will likely be unable to focus. Their vision may become blurred or they may pass out. Slurred speech, loss of consciousness and severe confusion is likely. Mobility will be greatly limited. How it feels: Surprisingly not nearly as bad as stage 2, considering you're out of it for most of the time. You might feel sleepy, uncomfortable, vaguely aware that you feel sick, but at this stage you will likely be so out of it that you'll be drifting in and out of consciousness for the most part. Things might feel vaguely off and you will have gaps in your awareness. You probably won't want to move much if at all and just sit/lay wherever you are and hope to pass out (because being passed out feels better than being cold and hot and clammy and shaky and btw you're tired and hungry and sleep sounds good right now) How it looks: Fucking terrifying. The person will at this stage lose a lot of awareness and very likely start passing out/drifting off. They will likely stop responding, their speech will almost definitely be slurred and/or incoherent. They might still throw up/move but not with much will of their own. If you haven't gotten them medical attention yet at this point, do so, because they probably won't be able to drink juice themselves to get better.

Stage 4: Worst case scenario

This stage I have not experienced myself (thank the gods) and is reserved for some of the severe complications which can/will occur if someone isn't treated during stage 3. Namely: Seizure, coma, death. The person will NOT be able to consume sugar themselves at this point and will need medical intervention (if applicable), though ideally you want to get treated BEFORE then. There isn't really much to say on this stage because it's pretty much as labeled. Get them treatment or they will pass out and eventually (if still untreated) die.

So for all y'all wump writers out there, make sure to get McKay to Carson/Keller before then ;)

But anyway, I hope this can give some useful insight to people on what Hypo actually looks/feels like, and hopefully well have less stories where the symptoms and progression are all jumbled out of order and/or myths about how/when/why hypo presents will be reduced.

Take care and remember to carry an emergency juice box ;)

[cloudninetonine]

sooooo I've been cooking up something in my head, an au maybe idk I'm not much as a good writer or artist to do so but I can rant about it so meh. Guide as a powerful and knowledgeable entity not just as the player but an actual godly entity. - they float around like skull kid does when he had the majora's mask. - their appearance is not human, their non-attachable floating head is the triforce with an sheikah eye symbol right in the middle (just like bill cipher ik 😑) - they can change their head into the masks Young Link used in majora's mask to express what they are feeling or they do it for fun. - they wear a massive cloak that has very each symbols from the previous Zelda games engraved, all of them go in layers to the "first" hero to the "last". -their body is a wooden mannequin but worn out with scratches and they have symbol's engraved on the back that resembles The chain. - They can shapeshift to a human form if they go to a crowded place. Backstory: They made a deal to Hylia for entertainment because when you're a immortal entity and things can go boring real fast. The deal goes like this "For each era, you must guide the hero's of courage to their victory of defeating demise's reincarnation. Your powers will have to be limited to an extent, your knowledge will be the same but you can't tell too much until it is time. Once the journey is over you will be ascended to the next era to guide the next hero." so Guide agreed out of boredom, they help the hero's and you know the rest. Personality: they didn't have any empathy, they are carefree, oblivious to anyone's feelings and didn't care about the other gods. after the deal was made they developed to care about people and sympathies. (Guide is a asshole but becomes a better person slowburn 👀) they panic when link takes a hit and worries about anything bad happening to link and the people they come to like. They are still carefree to an extent, an total dumbass when it comes to other people's feelings but they are learning, silly funny clown most of the time, sarcastic and caring. alright I'm done explaining my au, i hope you like this! - 👽 (if any gammar mistakes im sorry.)

I LOVE THIS AU!!! It's an awesome take on the Guide! And we love slow burns, Player learning to feel with the boys and show empathy despite being so stoic for a majority of their life- I'm a slut for a slow burn (but also go insane over them OIUGFGIF LIKE COME ON)

[bogkeep]

i don't know if it's just me, but there's posts that i keep seeing that are like "people need to stop cycling through fandoms so fast," usually with a sentiment about the importance of commenting and sharing people's work and nurture their communities. i think Fandom Sustainability is a very interesting topic so i have THOUGHTS............ like first of absolutely all, that's a weird onus to put on people. Fandom Is For Fun. people don't usually control what their brainworms are gonna wriggle about. nobody should have to sign a five year contract for Enjoying Thing Together With Others. like. i understand that a lot of these posts are directed at people that are Enjoying the works of fanartists and fanfic writers, to urge them to share and react and feed their inspiration - but what about me, A Creator Of Such Things? are you making it my obligation to keep drawing fanart for a specific thing? becuase i've gotten plenty of lovely comments and feedback and all around soft and fuzzy feelings from the communities i've partaken in, but i'm only human. it's not that i lose love or interest for the properties, it's just - sometimes life happens. sometimes my momentum is unsustainable and i gotta slow down eventually. sometimes i want to draw other things! and yeah, i'm only one person, i'm not a whole fandom, and i can only speak on my experiences. i just feel like there's a narrative of "nice comments and engagement can keep an artist/writer go on forever" which i don't really agree with. reblogs and comments absolutely make me want to make more stuff! being part of a community is absolutely inspiring and fills me with ideas! but that can only take me so far. i think plenty of artists carry the same feelings of guilt for not drawing more X, or have gotten asks pleading for more Y. feeling unappreciated is not the only reason people stop creating a specific content.

my next Thought is that i think there are external sources causing fandom lifespans to shorten. i think there's a well documented phenomena that it's easier to sustain a fan community for long running, serial media with waiting time inbetween content, than it is for one-off movies or like, entire showruns premiered all at once for bingeability. and the current climate of "we're probably going to cancel this show after two seasons for capitalist rot reasons" and disillusionment with corporation and streaming services? probably not helping either!

i DO think there's something to be said for the speed of social media as opposed to, what, email lists? snail mail compendiums? but early tumblr was like, dominated by approximately five fandoms or something for years and years, so it CAN be done. clearly. maybe the change for discord servers to be the main hubs for communities, as opposed to old school forums? i think that may be one of the culprits for sure, because servers are so fast and exhuasting and there's Stuff going on all the time and you can only keep up so much before you burn out. i think. maybe it's just me who's burnt out thinking about it, because i know there can be really good servers that are well moderated and paced and sustainable! i've tried fandoming in several formats - i've done old school forum. i've done discord server. i've done Small Group Of Friends. i've done Just Vibing On My Blog/Twitter. and to me - and this is of course personal experience and not speaking for everyone else - the best longterm strategies for me has been the ones where i have the least contact with the actual fan communities. partaking in communities has been amazing and inspiring, i've made lots of close friends i'm still in contact with, but active participation in fandom is not something i can hold up forever. i can either burn in a fiery blaze for a little while or i can keep a low simmer for a long time. it's so much easier to love a story on my own terms when i don't have to be involved in every controversy of its fan community, even if it means trading away ideas and inspiration and drive. there's a balance to be struck between the two, of course. then there's like... sometimes something happens, either with the Media or with the Fandom. there's always going to be a risk with attaching yourself to a community and pouring yourself into it. do i have to keep loving something even if the creator of it makes it too weird for me? should i have to stay in a space that causes me stress or pain? sometimes the right thing for us to do is leave. sometimes we need a change. i think it's lovely when people stay to keep communities good, to keep creating good fanwork in spite of dissappointing creators. i think it's good to nurture love, but. it's a choice everyone has to make for themself. you should stay because you want to, not to martyr yourself for the sake of proving a point. last Thought i want to honor is that yeah, i believe there's Attitudes Afoot that are a sustainability drain: how old can a fandom get before it's Cringe? how large can a fandom get before it's Cringe? either we're all Cringe or none of us are. people love what they love, and is it not cruel to mock someone for something so joyful, based on arbitrary lines in the sand? if pre-2014 tumblr culture was good at anything it was to love hard and fearlessly. i DO think it's worth creating good and sustainable communities, to love well and responsibly, and find joy on your own terms. i think there's many ways to fandom and one way isn't more right than the other. a relationship is worthwhile even when it's not everlasting.