#and the above I've learned is not enough for google

[ailelie]

"Pinkies out."

Two older women in what I remember as big dresses. Maybe they were puppets. But one (in blue, maybe?) would always advise "pinkies out" when drinking tea.

And there was time travel? Or travel to different worlds?

What was this show???

[galedekarios]

plagiarism in the bg3 fandom

disclaimer: this post should not be taken as a springboard to harrass anyone involved.

-

as i've stated previously, i didn't want to make this post because i have a lot going on in real life, but i have been watching this being done to others and myself for months now and i can't not speak about my experience anymore.

laiostoudenn (prev urls: lathanderr/spellbooking/wizardblood) is a plagiarist and he has a history of stealing from other creators like @minthara, @mercymaker, @onewingedangels and others.

in this post, i, finally and after much and long deliberation, want to add my voice to theirs.

i'll try to give a chronological overview of what happened as i have come to experience it, through others and myself, and as condensed as possible and to make it easier for myself to tell:

the story

i became aware of this new blog after he @ me and he messaged me. he's been following me. i was slow to engage because i have a lot of things going on in my real life that cost me a lot of energy during the day. i have also grown cautious of too quickly becoming close to strangers online. i became aware, however, that he had been doing this with multiple bigger creators in this space, like my friend @hawke, who is also a creator in the bg3 space, and who has experienced the same behaviour. they asked me if i knew him and i replied that i did not.

that was it for me at that point and i didn't engage much beyond that because i didn't know him and i thought nothing of it - until later.

during that time, whenever i saw his creations pop up increasingly, either in the tags or on my dash, i noticed more and more that they looked familiar to the works of others, from @minthara, to @mercymaker, to @onewingedangels and other creators, including myself.

it was then confirmed that i wasn't simply imagining things when, months ago, two creators were brave enough to speak up about the fact that he has been plagiarising gifsets and edits from them:

@minthara and @mercymaker:

@onewingedangels original set posted on 31st december 2023:

his set posted on 29th january 2024 (now deleted):

this was done without consent, and after he had already copied prior sets from @onewingedangels.

i would greatly recommend reading the posts shared above, and looking at the examples provided in it, so that you get a clear picture of what's happening here. it's not one isolated incident.

if you take a look at the notes in the post, you can also see other creators speaking about their experiences.

@minthara has recently also uploaded a google docs with the screenshots of the sets stolen from them because they either have been deleted, or lead to nothing due to now multiple url changes.

i was made aware today that he, following the first posts detailing @minthara and @mercymaker's experiences, apologised at first and admitted to what he's been doing on 31st march 2024:

but sadly, this wasn't to last, and the opportunity to learn and grow wasn't taken.

instead what happened was now painted as "bullying" from other creators, as "clique" behaviour and as "gatekeeping", despite many of us operating independently from each other. i, myself, have only started speaking to one other creator involved now that i have noticed the stealing and copying still ongoing.

i have in my time on this website never gatekept anything. i have shared metas, gifsets, creations, mods, art, tutorials, and many other things freely.

but back to the matter at hand: after he has been trying to ingratiate himself to me for some time now, following me, unfollowing me, and refollowing me again until i blocked him for my own mental health, i tried to remain civil before this point, engaging rarely if at all, hoping everything would go away on its own - which was a mistake in hindsight, i realise - i noticed that once again he's been lifting entire concepts and frame-by-frame gifs and sets from me.

things that he now claims - likely after he has been made aware of my prior personal posts and @minthara and @mercymaker's post circulating again by being reblogged by other people who have been affected) - were simply "remade" or "expanded" upon, that he may have been "subconsciously" influenced, while simultaneously claiming that he didn't know these sets existed in the first place, that he came up with the ideas independently, and that it's simply inevitable to use the same scenes because it's a limited game.

this doesn't hold up under scrutiny, however.

i want to make clear that i very much understand and that i am acutely aware that i do not own scenes and i do not own mods or outfits. however, what i do like to pride myself on is coming up with concepts and scene choices and captions accompanying these concepts that are unique, inspired by my metas, headcanons pertaining to gale and my own ocs altonaufein and karl, all of which i have seen copied by him several times now.

this is not as simple as simply gifing the same lines of dialogue from a scene as he and others supporting him are now postulating and i want to make that very, very clear.

another reason why this statement doesn't hold up under any scrutiny and, what ultimately confirmed my suspicion that he has been copying me, was when he - after the first post exposing his behaviour by @minthara and @mercymaker was made - reached out to me, asking if it it's ok to copy a gifset i made (note: again, this happened after he was called out for plagiarising the first time):

i didn't respond quickly enough, so he went ahead and posted it without waiting for my response (the response i gave him is pictured above and for transparancy, i responded about a day later bc of work and irl obligations).

below you can see the stolen post and what i managed to save from it:

the set was a 1:1 copy. he wanted a version for his oc so bad that he went ahead and stole my concept anyhow, without even waiting for the permission he asked for.

he went to take it down after my reply, made cautious most likely by his still fresh callout done in march 2024 by @minthara and @mercymaker, and i thought the issue was resolved and it wouldn't happen again, that he wouldn't take again without asking, despite having been told not only by myself, but by other creators as well, no. we are not comfortable.

but no. he "remade" the set, switching out gifs while complaining about how he "had to make it original":

my set in question was made on 1st february 2024, he reached out to me on 22nd april 2024 to "remake" the set. he is well aware of the existence of these ideas and concepts and sets he wants to copy, underlined by the need to ask for permission when it's simply too obvious to otherwise deny.

it's no coincidence.

like others have had the experience, i too noticed that he often would not engage with content he planned on stealing or did go through with stealing. he would sometimes present it as his own "remake" of a set he did, of another he was "inspired" or wanted to "expand upon", sometimes crediting, sometimes crediting someone largely unrelated, sometimes and, more often, not crediting.

as i mentioned above, this was not the first and not the only set/concept, which he copied from me - whether that was before asking or after asking, or not asking at all, if it was ok to copy.

i use this example mainly to show a clear pattern of behaviour that exists across the board: he takes concepts from other creators and inserts his own oc and/or favourite character into it because he wants a version of it so very badly. it does not matter if said creator might be hurt, if they told him no, or if they exposed his behaviour before. it doesn't matter how old the set is or how recent.

it is still going on today, the only difference is that he has stopped asking at all once again.

my story completely echoes that of @minthara and @mercymaker's.

concrete examples

i will now go into more detail about the concept sets he's been copying, include the caption or quote attached to it. i'm sorry that these will not be in chronological fashion. i will add at a later point, just like @minthara has done, a google document to better do side by side comparisons, highlight the similarities visually even more, and preserve some of the sets, which have now been deleted by him as recently as today:

the theme of hands in gale's romance

-> mine posted on 23rd september 2023

versus

-> his 1 posted on 24th february 2024

-> his 2 posted on 17th june 2024

i want to preface this by saying that the theme of hands was and still is incredibly important to story of my oc altonaufein and has concept of romance with gale. again, while i do not own these scenes, i wished to highlight a theme that i identified as poignant and profound within the relationship context. it's also why i added the poetry and quotes accompanying the set.

notice how even the caption format matches. the only thing lacking are my quotes / poems.

the format matches almost entirely: gifs from the same scenes (pulling gale out of the portal, the bench scene in an illusionary waterdeep, the astral sea scene, the boat scene, and more of the boat scene). the only thing that was added in this gifset are scenes that weren't available to me back then, namely the updated proposal scene, the kisses patches, and the epilogue as they came out well after i made my original gifset.

the second re-make even contains a gif that's not only the same minute detail of a larger scene - one that anyone who played gale's romance knows contains a multitude of other parts that could have been used - but also the same frames:

mine vs his:

i suppose adding that one to the original post with the same format i had chosen for mine would have made it too obvious, but that is only speculation.

gale + missing waterdeep/home

-> mine posted on 30th september 2023

versus

-> his (deleted on 18th july 2024) so i will have to include screenshots so you may compare:

same caption format, overlapping scenes chosen, only new additions are of content that wasn't available to me back when i first made my original set (the epilogue, kiss patches and proposal scene).

an attempt at "credit" even though he is only referencing my tags on an entirely separate set of a different creator, not the concept i came up with in my original set months prior.

and even though i have told him no before, just like others have told him no before.

i think it speaks volumes that this set is now, like some others, have been suddenly and coincidentally deleted.

gale of waterdeep vs gale dekarios

-> mine posted on 20th november 2023

versus

-> his posted on 13th may 2024

the concept is entirely the same, the scenes are largely overlapping, again, the caption format is almost entirely identical, with the sole difference of me including the full quote and devnotes as i'm wont to do.

gale + i love you

-> mine posted 16th september 2023

versus

-> his 2 (a "remake" of an "older" set of "his") posted on 13th may 2024

again, the concept is entirely the same, it's same caption format, the scenes largely overlap, some of the gifs added that were not available to me when i made my set (which, again, would include the epilogue, kisses patches, and the updated proposal scene).

mermay gale

-> mine posted on 13th may 2024

versus

-> his posted on 21st may 2024

it's the same concept again, the caption format is similar, it's the same setting (camp at baldur's gate), the same armour, the same armour tint, the same 3/4 pose except mirrored, and, this time, his tags were inspired too:

my tag: #i have the worst art block still and virtually no time but i still wanted to do smth for mermay so have this

his tag: #i can't do art so heres my mermay contribution i guess

copied oc post

-> mine posted on (likely) 30th september 2021

versus

-> his originally posted on may 7th 2024, which has also now been deleted on 18th july 2024:

the only thing different was the font. sadly, i deleted my oc post since i have redesigned some of them and wanted to make an updated version of it in the future.

thankfully i found the link on my friends blog, @ayrennaranaaldmeri.

as you can see, all of these happened after the first cases of plagiarism and after i personally told him that i'm not comfortable with him "remaking" my concept sets as his.

conclusion

there are many other sets that i suspect have been copied or plagiarised, i want to remain objective, however, and include the ones i feel are the most damning examples, supported by the fact that he has been deleting some of them today while again, trying to set up his narrative to his audience.

again, i want to highlight the pattern is here with him. my post is not the first, my suspicious are the first.

he knows what he is doing wrong, highlighted by the fact of trying to ask for permission, by deleting sets in question, by, at first, apologising, whilst now talking about "gatekeeping", "bullying", "inevitable repeats of scenes", "taking inspiration", "scrolling by", being "subconsciously" influenced, etc.

as a conclusion, i can say nothing more on this topic other than that i'm very sad. it doesn't give me joy. it stressed me immensely then and it still does now. i wish he'd have taken the already admitted wrong-doing to heart and grown from it, instead of attempting to change the narrative and doubling down on his past behaviour, not examining what he has done and is doing several times over by now.

i have blocked him now, as have done many others, and will not engage further with him. we have been through this before and at this point, i don't think he will change.

what i do very much hope, however, is that this is the last i hear of this happening.

edit:

updated the links to lead to his "archive" so you can access the stolen sets that he still hasn't deleted and seems to have no intentions of doing so.

[ryker-writes]

hi! This is my first time asking I'm really sorry if this is bad 😭 but how would the boys(anyone of your choice!) React to mc with a city accent? (Yes I saw the country one but what if city?). And they don't try to hide the accent, they use it like 24/7?

No worries it's perfectly fine! Once again I was very unsure what qualifies as a city accent so google is helping me here. Most of google led me to New York slang, so that's kinda what I'm basing this around. I've discovered that there are things that I say that are considered city slang I guess??

Characters: Riddle, Epel, Vil, Malleus

Riddle:

he half understands

sometimes he is able to decipher what your slang means and sometimes he can't

if he can't he will ask you what it means and take mental notes

he thinks the accent is neat

though when it comes to formal events or events with important people, he may ask if you can tone it back a bit

thanks to you he can understand more of what Cater says

Epel:

ah yes

the battle of accents has begun

he doesn't understand what you're saying

and he's so confused

but also too stubborn to learn

he believes city people think they're above country folk

so around you he's talking in his accent more

he sees this as some weird competition in his head

other students are so confused when you two have a conversation

they don't know what either of you are saying

it's like you two are talking in two separate foreign languages

Vil:

oh you bother him

just like he does with Epel, he's telling you to tone it back

scolding you when he hears your accent

around Vil, you have to speak "properly"

he understands everything you're saying tho

he's met enough people and been around the internet to hear everything

if you don't give in he may give up on asking you to tone it back

but that will only happen after a long time and as long as you aren't in Pomefiore

Malleus:

poor boy has no idea what you're saying

but he will gladly learn it if you want to teach him

I'm begging you please teach him

because Malleus will start using your slang and try talking like you do

it's so entertaining to see others reactions when Malleus uses your slang

and he's so happy to learn about your accent and slang that he even tells others in Diasomnia what he learns

and you know Sebek is going to take anything his master says and run with it

so you've somehow managed to get both of them to use your slang and accent

Just imagine hearing Malleus saying something is lit or saying he's got beef with someone

[pelleas-at-castle-nox]

I'm surprised I haven't really seen anybody talking about the food sourcing theme in dungeon meshi. Like, the very first thing it made me think about when I started reading the manga was like "oh yeah, this really makes you think about food, where it comes from, the work needed to create enough food for one person, let alone a small group, to eat comfortably and nutritiously. Laios even specifically calls out that 'regular' food is also made using shit and dirt, intentionally grounding it in reality and subtly asking the reader to introspect on the food they eat and where it comes from."

Like, it's fair to say kui has the old "world builder's" spirit, it's easy to extrapolate a whole world when you're willing to both ask "how does x mundane task work?" And being willing to give it as fanciful or grounded an answer as you feel is appropriate, food is the central theme, but that sort of thinking extends to every corner of the lore and world building where you can practically begin to trace back a lot of world elements to these basic questions, like "what would happen if there were people who lived for 500 years, what would happen if you fought a creature with two heads" and I think that's really cool-

But like, that core question "where does the food that sustains you come from" is like such a relevant question that we should all be asking ourselves. I suppose it's just that I think about that often, both when I'm world building, and in modern and historical contexts.

In a lot of ways it's alienation of labor, most USAmericans (to keep it at least slightly contained in scope) don't get to know where any of the food they eat actually comes from. At best, you might buy your own groceries and maybe even be able to google some information as to the conditions at the place this food was grown, maybe you're lucky/resourced enough to grow some of your own food in like a garden. At worst you get your food premade and prepackaged and you're even completely divorced from the preparation aspect.

A major symptom of this is clearly shown in dungeon meshi's opening and especially in kabru shuro and even the canaries: when food is taken for granted, it becomes easy to neglect. The party initially wiped simply because they'd not considered how suicidal it was to press onward while exhausted, Kabru is so dissociated and focused that he shuts out most of his own biological signifiers of hunger, Shuro starves himself, equating food with leisure instead of a vital practice to sustain life and energy, and of course there's mister no desires.

It's no mistake that in all of the above cases, it's seemed to be heavily implied that food is either an after thought, or someone else's responsibility, or a simple logistical concern. Senshi's whole rant (in volume 1!!) about "oh the youths of today just buying prepackaged meat wine and bread" is especially tied in to this main theme of "do you know where your food comes from?" By taking it to the next level and asking "do you know why you're eating what you're eating?"

To take a personal side tangent, I was recently diagnosed as diabetic, and it's completely changed my relationship to food on a pretty fundamental level, but I'd say I'd always had a pretty good and healthy relationship with food (after I stopped having an eating disorder but that's a story for another day) so it was an easy enough adjustment to have to start actually thinking about how much of my diet was carbs and things like that, it just became a matter of considering what I was eating and when and why. I'm still not perfect at it and it's still a learning process but I'm working on it.

Anyways, my main theory as to why I've not seen it being pontificated on is just that in general people really hate being asked "do you know what you're eating?" Around these parts in a general fashion, but like, especially with weaponized starvation going on and very real issues of things like food desserts in America, and the fact that we all have to pay for just about every little meal, I think it's important for leftists to contemplate the political implications of meals.

An army runs on its stomach after all. Rant over

[eemamminy-art]

not obligated to answer this but if you have anymore thoughts about alex sdv (or stardew valley at all) please share. i am obsessed with alex

Oh hell yeah anon you've activated my current hyperfixation 😁 I have a google doc where I'm dropping my headcanons and a bulleted timeline for a Alex/m!farmer longfic I've been writing in my head that's up to about 13 pages now ahaha so here's a few things!!

When he first moved to Pelican Town he was actually really quiet and reserved because he was still grieving heavily, so he never really got close to the other kids. He talks about how he played gridball with his mom so I think once he got the chance to play that in school (in another town no doubt) I think he came out of his shell then and made some friends, but all those friends lived far enough away that after graduating high school he's been pretty lonely and never could connect with the other people his own age in town.

He never goes into the saloon to my knowledge prior to the 10-heart event dinner scene, so I headcanon that it's because he doesn't drink alcohol and doesn't want the temptation to try it. I don't remember if it's said explicitly but I got the impression his dad's abuse stemmed from being drunk so I imagine Alex refuses to touch the stuff out of both principle and fear of becoming like his father one day.

I said it in another post but I headcanon him as gay and suffering comphet. He's built himself up as this cool popular guy, so he tries to emulate the sexist straight guys he's seen in movies but there's absolutely nothing behind it. He says something rude to a girl and then is like uhhh (shit what now) bye! 😅 I want to think that in getting to know the farmer he not only does away with that facade but also gets more comfortable in his sexuality!!

and on a sidenote to the above: I hc most of the town as gay or bi and I am toying with the idea of Abby being transfem! Sam/Seb is a given, and maaaybe they're in a poly relationship with Abby but I'm still undecided!! I like Maru/Penny as a concept but need to marinate on that a bit more, I see them always sitting together and it makes me happy but I need to think more on how they met and what their relationship would be like. I don't have anything solid yet in terms of other characters' gender or sexuality headcanons exactly, other than Caroline and Jodi being bi and desperately yearning to run away together 🥰

But back to Alex!! With how his storyline goes of trying to impress others with his jock persona, then trying to switch gears and be super booksmart, I headcanon that he gets close to the farmer via the farmer tutoring him so he can take a community college placement test. :3 My thought for why he's in the rut he's in is that he wanted to play college gridball but his grades in high school were so bad he has done nothing with himself since graduation and has just been stagnating and becoming more and more bitter (which only amps up his shitty attitude when the player first meets him). So trying to get educated is doubly good for him because he can work toward his sports dream (in a way) and try to impress the farmer. Though of course, the thing that brings them closer is Alex learning to be true to himself 😊

This is getting long, so last thing: he's actually a really well-rounded homemaker but does not even think about it really. George has been disabled for a long time, so all of the handy work around the house has to be handled by Alex, and he's so eager to help out his grands. :3 They put a roof over his head so of course he'll climb up onto it to fix the leaks when it rains! Evelyn is always cooking and baking and Alex is so soft for his granny he has been in the kitchen helping her for as long as he's lived with them, so he's actually got a real talent for cooking and baking too! One of the first things he learned after moving in with them was the proper way to set a table, and the best way to wash dishes efficiently. He's spent enough time at Haley's house having no chemistry with the poor girl, but found Emily's whole sewing setup really fascinating and she taught him to mend the holes in his letterman jacket when he asked so he knows how to hand sew! These are all skills that he has but doesn't recognize as skills, he just inherently has this desire to help the people in his life so he picks up this and that to make it easier!

Anyway! Thank you for letting me ramble 😄 Alex is really sweet and soft underneath the mask he wears, and he's been rotating in my head for the last few months hehe

I had bought sdv when it came out but barely touched it, and started it up again on a whim earlier this year and I'm so glad I did!! I really adore the game and it's bringing me a lot of joy currently 🥺

[seancurry1]

I'd love it if you clicked through, but real quick—

I hear aspiring copywriters ask often how to get started as a freelance copywriter, and I've written out the same answer so many times that it beared writing it as its own article.

The best way to start freelancing is to start at a full-time job, for three reasons:

To be a freelancer is to run your own business, by yourself. YouTube gurus and TikTok course guys teach you enough to cold-email businesses hundreds of times, but they don't teach you about pitching, client services, project management, payroll, taxes, sales, marketing, and more. You are the business, no one else is. You need to run it, no else will. Working a full-time job first will give you an opportunity to see how it's done at a big company before having to do it yourself.

You're going to make a lot of mistakes at first, whether you're freelance, full-time, or a mix. Being full-time will give you a safety net to make those mistakes, as well as experienced senior leads who can coach you through (or, ideally, around) those mistakes. When you're freelance, mistakes mean losing clients.

A resume with one (or more) full-time jobs in-house or at an agency will beat a YouTube course and a Google Drive folder full of spec work every single time. It's a catch 22, I'll admit, but it's still true: to get experience, you need experience. An entry level full-time job will be much easier for you to land with no prior experience than your first freelance client.

The link above gets into these three items, but in more detail.

Here's the link again: The Best Way to Start Freelancing is to Start Full-Time

Hope you'll read, comment, and/or share!

[system-of-a-feather]

This isn't going to be a post where I have a stance or a claim to it as I haven't really thought enough about it to have a developed opinion; its more so some information I've come to find out about Tibetian Buddhism and it being a "closed" vs "open" practice, particularly in relation to the topic of tulpacourse and just me generally sharing it since it was something that with all the googling I did, I couldn't get a clear answer or understanding

But Buddhism, Tibetian Buddhism included, is an "open" practice in the sense that anyone can take the teachings and practices, anyone can learn it, anyone can use it, and above that, people are encouraged to use them without necessarily committing to a life of study; its a large part of Buddhism as a generally large family of spiritualities / philosophies and Tibetian Buddhism is not any different

It's when you get around to the more advanced and potentially somewhat-mystical sounding practices and "rituals" for a lack of better word that individuals who have studied hard and found a master / teacher to learn under; those sort of practices are in this sort of semi-closed position

It's not closed in the sense of ethnic basis or anything like some cultures are, but most individuals who formally get to the point of learning those skills and practices take something of an oath (I'm not sure from the little bit I heard about it in the book I'm reading - The Joy of Living, Yongey Mingur Rinpoche, towards the later chapters - if this is an ACTUAL oath or more of an unspoken but widely understood rule) to not use any of the fruits of the study and practice as a means of display, ego boosting, or miss use like gaining social respect or power or fame; as a result, those that learn some of the more mystical-appearing practices tend to keep their experiences between themselves and their master / teacher and its considered poor practice and "miss use" of the fruits of practice (which is considered to tarnish the fruits and thus regress the individual)

So one of the reasons its really hard to find anything on the more advanced practices of Tibetian Buddhism from an actual Tibetian Buddhist rather than from a westerner who visited and learned from those Tibetian Buddhist is really just that it is frowned upon to make a spectacle and use the practices, skills, and fruits of labor to gain a following, money, or any personal benefit beyond the innate benefit that comes from helping others realize their true nature / Buddha nature

Its one of the things thats been racketting in my mind for a few days since I was reading about it, so I wanted to just share it for others to racket around in their brain if they like

[gregorygerwitz]

Crochet Commissions!

For those who don't know me, I'm Alex (she/they), and I started the year off with Covid. Because I had to take two weeks off work, I'm really hurting for money right now, so I'm opening up a limited number of slots for crochet commissions to try to fill in that financial gap.

ALL of the materials I use are machine washer/dryer safe

Pictures of my recent work and prices are below. Including: stuffed animals, dice bags, holiday stockings, blankets. As well as: shipping info, custom request info.

For further questions or to request a commission: message me here or email me at crochetbyalex@outlook.com

When I did my poll, most people voted for stuffed animals, and I recently finished a few that I can show my skills with. The blue penguin is my latest finished piece, with the purple penguin the first thing I ever crocheted side-by-side for comparison of how much I've learned in the last ~7 months. The mouse is technically unfinished because the eyes aren't embroidered yet, but I made it in about a day and a half, for timeline purposes.

I also just finished the above dice bag octopus about an hour ago for my roommate, which took about three hours of non-stop work (I turned on a movie and got through the stitches pretty quick). I can make them in any color you want, with either the plastic safety eyes or embroidered eyes. Most of these can be entirely customizable, just let me know what you're thinking and I'll see what I can do!

Dice bags: $10 + $5 domestic (US) shipping Stuffed animals: $15 + $5 domestic (US) shipping optional crinkle filling (washer/dryer safe): + $2 (stuffed animals only)

10 slots total (4 REMAINING)

I don't have any pictures of any of the hats or scarves I've made because it's been a few years, but I made some stockings for the apartment for Christmas last month, and that's one of my most recent projects. The green one was the last one I made, and probably the most accurate to what my capabilities are now.

If you'd like a stocking for Christmas 2024, let me know! I have an unlimited number of slots for them as the holiday is far enough away that the time crunch isn't so rough.

Hats: $20 + $5 domestic (US) shipping Scarves: $30 + $5 domestic (US) shipping Holiday stocking: $24 + $5 domestic (US) shipping

5 total wearable (hats/scarves) slots

The least popular item in my poll was the blankets, which I understand. And I'm only going to open one slot for them at a time because they take so long and so much yarn to make. The wave pattern (both blankets pictured above) is my favorite to do, but I have patterns for most simple designs, or I can likely easily google it and put it together for you. Prices are based on the time and materials these take to make, but because they're so much more expensive than the smaller items above, domestic (US) shipping is free.

Baby blanket (top left): $50 Throw blanket/afghan: $100 Full size (length shown in bottom picture): $200

1 blanket slot (0 REMAINING)

Custom requests:

If there's a pattern you've found on Etsy/Pinterest/etc that you want made, contact me by using the contact information above. We can discuss prices or my ability to accomplish that for you. ***patterns must be CROCHET patterns as I do not knit (yet)*** 5 custom slots total

International shipping:

Let me know when you request a commission where you are located, as shipping prices vary wildly from country to country. I'll go over the actual cost with you before you commit to the commission and make sure the price works for both of us.

Current open slots:

Stuffed animals and dice bags: 1. [FILLED] 2. [FILLED] 3. [FILLED] 4. [FILLED] 5. [FILLED] 6. [FILLED] 7. [OPEN] 8. [OPEN] 9. [OPEN] 10. [OPEN]

Wearables: 1. [OPEN] 2. [OPEN] 3. [OPEN] 4. [OPEN] 5. [OPEN]

Stockings: [NO LIMIT]

Blankets: 1. [FILLED]

Custom requests: 1. [OPEN] 2. [OPEN] 3. [OPEN] 4. [OPEN] 5. [OPEN]

[binart]

Also SRY second ask. I know people get tired of the question "how did u get so good at blank" and the answer is usually practice. But did u do anything specific to get so good at anatomy?? and comic book angles??? Cause dayum

oh thank you!! that's actually something i've been wanting to work on even more (esp in the new year).

Lemme think here... i think there are a few things to keep in mind when looking to improve your art.

First, if possible, try to find something you're obsessed with! so for me that's keith/lance & catboys right now. if you're obsessed with characters/pieces of media then you'll want to draw them a bunch and that's HUGELY beneficial to improvement.

Secondly, go into improving your art with the understanding that it will take a while to see significant improvement. Pace yourself, and if you find yourself getting frustrated that's ok, but don't direct that frustration towards yourself. Art is a skill you have to work at, so don't get mad at yourself for not learning fast enough. Gentle mindset!!!!

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh what was the last point i wanted to bring up.... OH RIGHT. collect inspiration and resources!! everything you need to improve your art is available on the internet these days.. it can be helpful to organize resources if you want to! but you can also literally just google "intro to anatomy" or something and start learning.

Oh actually, Stan Prokopenko ("Proko") has some excellent free youtube tutorials that I highly recommend checking out. I'm using some of his stuff right now for gesture studies.

anyway yeah practice is very important so that's of course part of it, but what i mentioned above has really helped me over the years. good luck in ur art journey!!!

[codecicle]

hi ash, could i utilise your mega autism for a moment? would it be possible for you to provide me with some good reference images for drawing Charlie's face ie front and side profiles ect? plus any tips on details you think are important? No pressure ofc! Just thought this might be something you had a lot of thoughts about anyway, if not then please don't go out of your way I am indeed capable of using google, it just takes longer and is less fun than talking to a cool guy XD

YES. YES ALWAYS AND FOREVER. GLADLY. ABSOLUTELY. Here's references + notes under the cut!

First of all, go -> here <- for a guide by razberypuck, which is perfect and explains everything better than I ever could.

Second of all, he has some pretty distinct features of both his face and his body that are important to keep in mind, which is mainly what I'll be talking about :-)

Third of all, not all these features need to be kept, especially when you consider styles and the tendency to drop certain parts of the body or face once you've learned the rules enough to break them. Im just listing them all so people know what features work well with their style and what features don't ^_^

His hair is very messy and fluffy, kinda like cowlicks for his entire head. His front hair typically comes down into bangs that curve towards the right, while the rest goes in every direction possible. (This is also true going back years ago. He just combed it a certain way, so you'd only see the fluffy cowlicks in the back of his head)

Another thing I wanna point out is his Adam's apple, which is very prominent ! I kept ted in the photo to show the difference ^_^

Also! No matter what era you're drawing from, his eyebrows shape a LOT of his face. They're really thick!

3/4ths views to show it more clearly, his jawline is relatively soft! And his old frames are clunky. He has a really pretty hooked nose which curves down towards the tip of it. Otherwise, it's pretty much a triangle! If you're drawing him from the side, keeping the little triangle dip on the side of his nose can help you find the general shape easier.

Also! The above images are really good examples of his mouth. I don't have many notes on this, but if you're going for anything 1 to 1 of him, I'd recommend keeping the curve of his cheeks downward when his mouth is closed, and the curve upward when he's smiling. He has visible cheekbones that make the area around his mouth appear very round

^ this is a great reference that shows everything I've been talking about. 1: triangle on the side of his nose to show the curve from the front 2: thick eyebrows 3: visible cheekbones and small curves around his mouth 4: cowlick hair

Also, he's very buff! Chulked out 2 the max. Some of these images came from me being a major hater over art of him, before remembering people can do whatever they want forever. But I can use it now! Charlie has wide shoulders, natural tummy, and gigantic tits.

He's visibly wider than Tommy and Ranboo, with a frame closer to Sneeg and James in build. He's strong!! He's really really strong!! I feel like people forget Just How Strong This Guy Is.

Also heres an image from and older post of mine, which I designed while trying to explain why he doesn't look That Different without the glasses (2 me). It's pretty much everything I said above, but summarized in a photo!

source: bro trust me and also source: the final 2 images i could fit on mobile which are 2 random face studies I have of him nearby. I have better one's but i can't find them right now so take these okay bye bye

+ I'm so sorry if this made 0 sense I'm very tired ^_^

[neithliveshere]

building my organization and productivity system part 1: school

hello interweb

this is a big project so we'll do this in parts.

first: school

I am finishing the last couple classes I need for my degree over the summer, therefore school is still an important part of my life.

Apps:

notion:

I am not a notion girlie, but I can't find an app that lets me build databases the way notion does. at least not one I like. I am a productivity app enthusiast so i've tried just about all of them and notion just works the best. Here is the template I use to keep track of my assignments. It is a mix of StudyWithAra's template and Notion's Assignment Tracker. The image above is the template I've made available for all of you! There are automations set up (the lightening icon), but I think everything is pretty self explanatory? if you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out.

edit: I have added a new section called "treats" to the database, to help motivate me to finish more of my work. I should add that this system is what I have developed while struggling to manage my chronic illnesses.

obsidian:

my one true love. i can wax poetic about why this is just a superior notetaking app, but that will be for a later post. for now, think of obsidian as a wikipedia database for all your notes. it allows for tags and backlinks and search and callouts... its amazing. love it there. uhm. a bit of a learning curve, but again a whole post on obsidian upcoming. here is a bit of an intro video for obsidian for students that I often return to. will reveal my obsidian notes in that post I'm working on.

timepage:

if you love stationery you might be familiar with Moleskine. they've built this wonder suite of productivity tools and timepage is the calendar app. I use this on my phone! its everything a calendar app should be and more. its super cute and functional and customizable. I use google calendar to create different calendars that i've color coded to correspond to different areas of my life. i use a couple different calendar apps but timepage is my school calendar. it tells me when to leave for class, how to get there, and how long i have to rest/study/eat between my classes. it shows the weather, alerts you of rain, and did i mention its cute?

things:

the adhd/depression/anxiety struggle is real. I have 101 different apps to tell me what to do and when. things is another one of those apps. one of my lovely friends purchased the mac app for me and it has been a game changer. i use things to organize my entire life, but in the screenshot above you'll see my school list. when notion is too overwhelming or i need to break down things a bit more, i use things.

youtube:

here are some youtube channels I recommend for motivation, for aesthetics, for background noise 1, 2, 3, for body doubling...

drafts:

cute little app. great for quick notes and also uses markdown so easy to copy and paste between drafts and obsidian. opens and closes quickly and syncs between your mac and phone for free! I write my speeches in here and also those last minute things your professor says after you've already put away your notebook.

anki:

just started using this because i am in desperate need for spaced repetition. i bought and set up a small remote using this video to help move through the flashcards faster. i am also terribly lazy so we definitely downloaded premade cards instead of making our own. still need to do a bit more research to be able to use this software properly, but it is good enough for now. I am supplementing this app with the flashcard app below.

brainscape:

i use this to learn whatever I am studying. recently it has been vocab and kanji, but I imagine I might add in grammar cards at some point too. if you are familiar with anki, brainscape has a similar system for "learning", meaning you rank the card after seeing the answer, deciding for yourself how well you know the material. I can also download the decks I make to use during my commute so that is super helpful. And it's free (with a subscription upgrade available)!

Supplies:

as for material supplies, you'll find some of my favorites below:

kokuyo campus semi B5 - 5 mm graph

kokuyo campus semi B5 - dotted 6 mm rule

zebra sarasa gel pen .07/.05

pentel energel .07/.05

pilot g2 .07/.05

zebra mildliners

bic mechanical pencils in .07

twsbi fountain pen medium/extra fine

platinum carbon black ink

hobonichi cousin

System:

okay so i'm not quite sure how to explain this in a way that makes sense, but i shall attempt it. the system as it stands has a few steps.

move weekly assignments and such from the syllabi to Notion

add due dates and deadlines into Calendars

move tasks to Things

plot study schedule onto Calendars

write essays using notes i wrote in Obsidian during class

study for Japanese using Brainscape and Anki for memorization

practice Kanji and writing in kokuyo campus notebooks

write scripts, quick notes, etc., using Drafts

migrate things from Drafts to Docs, Obsidian, Calendars, or Notion

commence studying using YouTube as background noise

---

that's all for now. I'm still working on the next few posts in this series, but I hope this is helpful or at the very least somewhat entertaining.

wishing y'all the best,

Neith

[writingquestionsanswered]

I'm honestly rather new to writing.

English isn't my first language but I've been pretty much teaching the language to myself through interacting with other English speakers and so on.

I feel like I'm missing a lot of words in my vocabulary that could lift a story up to a better level of reading.

And, probably my biggest problem, I don't know how and where to start writing. How to come up with a plot or how to find inspiration. I'm incredibly motivated but I feel like I don't know where to start.

Since I want to write horror, as it's probably the thing I read and watch the most, I bought a few English horror books to study the ways of writing, words and plot build up. I also started watching analog horror Videos on YouTube to improve my plots yet I often feel like my head is empty despite all those attempts at improving.

I know this is a lot and I'm really sorry for it, but is there any way I could genuinely try and get more into writing as well as to improve the things I mentioned above?

Want to Write But Head Feels Empty

I want to start by saying I never would have guessed English wasn't your first language if you hadn't told me. You have a better grasp on it than a lot of native speakers, so I don't think you have to worry a whole lot about your vocabulary. You're not further behind in that sense than most other new writers. You can check out my posts Improving Vocab and 10 Tips for Improving Your Grammar Vocab for help with that, though.

Since where you're really struggling is with coming up with ideas and plots, what I would recommend is starting with writing prompts. You can find writing prompts all over--on tumblr, various web sites and forums, and even in books. If you Google "horror writing prompts" a ton of options come up.

Writing prompts are a great way to ease yourself into writing when you're struggling to come up with ideas and prompts. Much like fan-fiction (which is another option I'll get to in a minute), writing prompts are almost like training wheels for writers. They let you do the actual writing without having to worry about the initial ideas. And prompts are super flexible... you can interpret them figuratively or literally, you can combine multiple prompts together, or use what you like from a few different prompts. Whatever works for you. The key is to just open your mind and let it carry you wherever it wants to. Don't stress about it being good or making sense. You're not worried about quality or form, just taking those ideas and forming them into *something*. (And, side note: there are also plot generators that will give you more than just a writing prompt, so that's worth trying, too.)

I do also want to address fan-fiction as being another great way to practice writing when plots and ideas escape you. Since you want to write horror, think of a favorite horror movie, TV show, book, or video game and write a story set in that world. Flesh out a scene or moment that you liked that didn't go far enough in canon. Give a character a different moment or ending. You can even create an original character and drop them into the story to see what happens. Once again, this allows you to focus on the actual writing without having to start from scratch with ideas.

I hope something here works for you! ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[battle-of-alberta]

Who speaks the most languages? Also who has the best French?

well this just might be my most ambitious ask in a while :) shout out to the 1.5 francophones who may or may not follow this blog. And also for those 1.5 francos...

Clause de non-responsabilité

J'ai étudié 6 langues mais je suis toujours monolingue. :'(

Je ne suis pas franco-albertaine et je ne peux pas commenter sur le dialecte.

Mon éditrice @randomoranges n'est pas franco-albertaine, elle est québécoise*. Ah, et elle dit, avec plus d'élegance:

"nous pouvons répondre en français, mais svp demandez-nous pas d'le faire trop souvent, sinon notre pauvre artiste ira en burn out, malgré le fait que ses efforts feront rire sa consultante"

*cependant, selon le Lego, mon éditrice n'est même pas considérée québécoise haha >>;

more info below!

I already expect this piece to get less engagement because it's (mostly) not in English, and I'm afraid I'm still going to be more annoying and not provide a translation. As previously I will lean into making a statement Windex-style by purposefully not translating what I've written above into English just because the point of celebrating Franco-Albertan heritage month is, well, acknowledging the unique status of French in this country and how there is an expectation to conform to English in this province that needs a little challenging. I hope if nothing else, it strikes your curiosity enough to painstakingly type it into google translate so you can get half of the banter.

Another question that languished at the bottom of the box for over a year! This was because I felt I should make a real effort to write in French, of course, but also because I struggled with the wording of the question and ultimately didn't answer it. The "most" or the "best" are very loaded terms, so I avoided answering them entirely particularly because we have several languages that risk losing native speakers and because there's a lot of bs wrapped up in what "good" french is that I'm not skilled enough to unpack (though you can read what Windex wrote on this matter earlier on this blog... And here as well).

I have to strike a balance between representing the gang here as individuals (and immortals to boot) who have a lot of time on their hands and some interest and investment in learning languages on one hand... but also as representations of "average" people on the other. Francophone travellers aren't going to find many French speakers outside of airports, national parks, or government services in this province, but it still might surprise you considering all the "everyone outside of Quebec hates French" rhetoric that politicians like to fling around. It's more complicated than that, obviously, but I can mostly talk about my own personal experience with French here. I tried to represent both the reality that Franco-Alberta exists (represented by Ed) and the stereotypical resistance to French here (represented by Calvin, though clearly he understands enough to respond here. I also just think he tries to play dumb on purpose so that others underestimate him, it's all part of the image!)

Finally, I don't speak any of the languages (Michif, Tagalog, Punjabi, Cree) represented here so I hope they pass muster for the purpose of this little comic! ;~;b I have also represented Calvin speaking Mandarin previously on this blog!

oh yeah, and that "english and business" quote is from kevin o'leary who is from montreal so make of that what you will.

[artsie-rosie]

some kitchen & cooking tips that helped me a lot lately!

I've always had the hardest heckin time with cooking and kitchen management. From deciding what to have as a meal to grocery shopping to actually cooking, every step of it was a source of stress, guilt and many other bad feelings. I was confused and disheartened and I felt so alone because I seemed to have the hardest time with something other people did so easily and casually.

After I came to terms with my neurospicyness, my wife introduced me to a facebook group called Executive Dysfunction Meals and it quite literally changed my life. Learning that I was not alone in this very specific struggles was so darn validating, and from there on I started learning and coming up with strategies to make my life in the kitchen bearable, and even fun (shocking, I know!).

I'm very passionate about paying forward and spreading help and information, so I'm gonna start typing down the strategies and tips that have helped me the most so far. I hope it may be of help to someone out there!

(Please note I am not a professional and I'm not claiming to know the best way to do anything, these are all just my personal experience.~)

Optimize your space (specifically for you): You know how fridges usually have a big drawer type of space specially for veggies? I used to put my veggies and greens there, but then my brain would magically Out-Of-Sight-Out-Of-Mind them away. Countless times I'd open the drawer up, weeks later, just to find rotten veggies and liquified greens. Then punish myself with guilt and anger... Until at some point we decided that enough was enough, that simply wasn't working out to our advantage, and we changed things up entirely: We started putting things that don't go bad in the big drawer, such as beverage cans, unopened juice boxes, pickled greens etc, and the veggies now go on the area just above, out in the open, so I can see them everytime I open up the fridge. I also have a little magnet whiteboard on the fridge's door, and whenever we do groceries I make a list of the stuff we have to consume quickly before it goes bad - visual cues help me quite a bit. I'm happy to say it's been quite a while since we've let greens go to waste!!!

Optimize your space (specifically for you) II: In the same logic as the item above, you can (and should) adapt your space to you, and not the other way around. I have a little stepladder that I use as a stool whenever I'm cooking or washing dishes, because it's hard for me to stand up for too long. Whenever I start using a utensil more often and it was initially stored behind doors or someplace hard to reach, I change things up to bring it closer and have it easily accessible. If I don't use something for more than a year, I put it away a little further away to free up space for something I use often. I'm always optimizing my space and keeping the things I use the most very easily accessible; it's not an easy process to change things up like this, but I promise the positive effects of this strategy are long lasting in my daily routine!

Learn the best way to freeze and use leftovers, vegetables and fruit, and adapt them to your routine: I freeze chopped bananas and avocados that would go bad otherwise, because I like turning them into smoothies. Leftover rice is saved to make fried rice which we love! Learning the best way to freeze broccoli was a game changer and it gave me a week of really nice quick meals! Google is your friend and there's so much handy info out there, being curious and adventurous really pays back in the kitchen.

Batch make and freeze sandwiches for a quick snack: I picked this tip up from the Exec Dysfunction Meals group! I've been doing it for a few weeks and it really helps. Whenever I feel like I have the extra spell slots, I make a couple more sandwiches than I would normally, put them in little freezer baggies and freeze them. Whenever my wife and I want a quick bite and don't feel like making anything, grabbing a sammich and popping it on our sandwich toaster is so easy and it makes a warm and crunchy meal. I've done it with ham, cheese and oregano, I have friends who do this with plain toast too.

Batch make garlic paste and chopped onions to freeze, for quick cooking starters: Yes I'm aware a lot of people speak against this, but hear me out. As a brazilian, a lot of my cooking starts with crushed garlic and chopped onions. Whenever possible, I do prefer these ingredients to be prepared and used as fresh as I can, but whenever the executive dysfunction or the joint pains hit, having these starters ready to go help a lot. For the garlic, I either crush or process a head of garlic or a handful of cloves finely with salt, then use silicon ice trays to freeze it into little cubes. For the onions, I chop them finely on the food processor, get rid of the excess water, put them into a freezer bag and use the dull side of a knife - or a spoon - to shape them into flat little squares (the flatter it is, the easier it will be to defrost and sauteé them). When it comes the time to get some rice or some stir fry started, I grab one little cube of garlic and one little square of onion and sauteé them; it's quick, easy, and effortless.

Process anything you can: This one is kind of specific, but for some reason I was raised to think that everything is better if it has a lot of effort involved, specially in the kitchen. That's the reason why I've hesitated so much to really put our food processor to use, and kept insisting to do a lot of things the "traditional" way. In the last few years I finally stopped pushing myself and now I use it to grate, slice, chop and blend everything I can. Being adventurous and figuring out in which ways can I put the processor to use instead of doing things by hand is a fun puzzle, too. Besides, a masterfully crafted meal with things finely chopped by my own hands won't help me at all if it never becomes a reality due to how tired or sore I feel to cook.

[I might either come back and add more to this post in the future, or reblog it to add more tips!]

[studylustre]

hi carol! i hope you're doing well! if you don't mind, can you tell your journey transitioning into ux? like how you got started, how long did it take you to learn etc. i'm interested in ux after a class i took one semester but i'm always too afraid to explore more. i'm also a psych graduate so seeing another psych graduate in the ux field is nice. thank you in advance!

from: a lost 25 year old.

hi hi!! 🥰 as a disclaimer, i'm no expert and i'm still v much at the beginning of my ux journey, but i'd be more than happy to talk about my career transition to give you an idea of what it was like!

when i decided to make the leap, i enrolled into a google ux design course on coursera and earned some certificates. after a few months, i realised that whilst i wanted to be in ux, design wasn't really my forte and i started looking more into the writing side of things - i've always loved writing and reading and so this felt like a much more natural fit. thankfully, my previous experience working in marketing came in really handy bc even though i wasn't always doing strictly ux-related work, there was a lot of crossover with the things i had worked on. for example, because i was responsible for our user-facing communications, i planned and delivered everything from our emails and in-app messages to our blog posts, social media content, website pages and more. that has a big overlap with ux writing because you have to consider similar things, like:

clarity - is the messaging and cta clear to everyone who will read it?

conciseness - is the copy as short and to the point as it can be? (people don't like to read, so this was v important especially when it came to writing out in-app messages and emails as there's limited screen space)

conversational - is the copy "natural"? is it using every day language?

so as you can see from the above, i was able to take a lot of my previous experience and apply it to a ux context. i also had a few examples of ux work from my time in the marketing role that i was able to highlight in my portfolio. this is a v important asset if you're planning to apply for a ux role. you need to have a portfolio to even be considered for a role. i recommend having at least 2-3 case studies on your portfolio to show as examples of your work.

after that, it was just a case of applying and hoping to hear back from companies. i won't lie, this was the hardest part and was often really discouraging because there were times where i wouldn't hear back at all, or i would be turned away after the first or second interview. job hunting absolutely sucks, even if you have experience, so as a junior it was really challenging. eventually though, i was lucky enough to be hired into a role that really interested me and i've been working in a ux writer ever since!

if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to message me and i'll be more than happy to share as much advice as i can! i hope this helped even a little. career transitions are a tough and often lengthy process but it's so worth it. i'll be rooting for you! 🤍

[fyeahcompetentwomen]

FUCK yeah, competent women in fiction!!

We all love them, we all know there's not enough of them, we all got the hots for them - but who is the most competent of them all?

Let's find out!!

This will be a bracket of Ultimate Women's Competence, decided by all y'all here on Tumblr, starting with who gets to enter!

Here's where you can submit yourself to the worship your champion to the bracket.

Here's the rules:

must be a woman (honest to Xena, competent women are still a much rarer sight than competent men…)

must be (canonically!!!) highly competent at at least one skill

this includes superpowers, learned skills, talents - as long as she's visibly and noticeably very, very good at something 

this includes women whose talents weren't allowed to shine either due to in-show or writer/producer reasons

can be entered twice or more if she appears (and has noticeably different skillsets) in two or more different shows or movies - i.e. Sarah Connor, Seven of Nine etc.)

no real people, even if they are massively competent. Much love to you all, but this bracket is for fictional women only!

I will seed the bracket from your entries; submissions will be open throughout April, and the bracket will be announced in May!

Please don't submit via asks or reblogs/replies; only submissions made through the Google Form linked above will be considered!

Is this bracket open for non-binary/agender/genderfluid etc. people? - Unfortunately not. I've decided to focus on women for this one, and I don't want to group women and non-binary people, because that would be a disservice to the non-binary people. If there's big interest, I can later make a separate bracket for highly competent non-binary, agender, genderfluid etc. people!

Let me know if you have any questions!

And please reblog to spread the call - who's the most competent of them all?!