#anyway. hope these giant chunks of random text help somehow

[skeletoninthemelonland]

hey starbs! I was wondering something, I know you are studying biolgy in uni and as someone who wants to be a biolgist but has been told im too "artistic and creative" to spend my life working with such precise things. I know you are also and artist, obviously, how has it been for you that you are a creative person, yet working with a course that is so strict to what it is (like not incudlign the different types of biolgist, like how you work there you rcant do what you want like you could with art or writing etc)

do you have any advice on how to reach for this goal or how youve felt just wanting to be a biolgist? im struggling alot with future stuff and it would be nice to hear from a fellow artist. (keep up the great work)

I'll be honest and say that studying Biology was a bit of a rushed decision (?)

I had no idea what I truly wanted to do while studying for the entrance exam. I knew I enjoyed different subjects and could work flexibly, but depending on the path I took, things would become either enjoyable or difficult for me. Biology has always been a subject I loved as a kid, but never something I was constantly interacting with growing up. With art that was different. I was definitely more passionate and skilled at art than at anything else.

I would have choosed to work with art, if only I had scored higher in the entrance exam and if only it was easy to make art for a living. Still, I don't regret choosing to study Biology.

It was a little discouraging in the beginning with how little I knew about the subject. Some students had far more knowledge than I ever had growing up. Some of them know exactly how a biology major will help them in the future. There were also people like me who had no idea what they wanted to do, but were willing to learn.

Turns out that Biology is one of the least precise things you could ever work with. Sciences in general is a subject that functions on uncertainty, and is what brings people forward to gather more information. My Plant Anatomy teacher often says "Mas é isso né gente, as plantas não lêem livros" (Which can be translated to "But yeah, plants don't read books"), because very often you'll find exceptions and unexplainable occurances everywhere (In this case, students are taught not to make assumptions about certain morphological characteristics that are present in plants... but not in all of them).

Artistic and creative are traits that are incredibly helpful and often necessary as skills. In a more literal approach, it might help you understand illustrated examples and "train your eye" for the tiniest details. Using your creativity as a tool to learn will immediately make things easier for you. I can't always draw and paint like I used to, but I can say that "motor proteins travelling along microtubules look like tiny people going for a walk :D" and never forget the information.

Being creative helps you make analogies with already existing information, so it's easier to retain it. I could also say "motor proteins travelling along microtubules remind me of Michael Afton walking down the sidewalk :D" and it's even easier to remember! Play with the information like it's a toy. If you can explain it to a 5 year old, that's because you learned.

But of course, there will always be classes that are more difficult than others. Mathematics will always be that one for me. You can't escape the challenging parts ^^'

Overall, it really depends on the person. It might work for me, and it might not work for you. The key is to explore and experiment on your own pace. Answers will come to you if you keep searching for them.

My best advice (in any major you're choosing), which will likely save your time, energy and sanity, is to find people like you. Not necessarily people who share similar interests as you, but people that you can count on and share your struggles — and they'll sometimes share their own. Befriending people often keeps you grounded and less anxious about how you'll perceive yourself and the future. It's a win-win interaction. Everyone is struggling, so we'll help each other out.

Remember it's okay to not know things right away. Remember it's okay that you're not as skilled as x person. Remember it's okay to be kind to yourself.

I could be saying all of this, but every day there's a huge effort to remind myself to take it slow. Reality oftens becomes skewed when we don't give ourselves a break.

I hope I helped you somehow, with the little to no experience I've had over the past few months. Wishing you and any other person reading this and who's in a similar situation good luck.

-----

One last advice.

Please, SLEEP!

SLEEP. SLEEP. SLEEP.

Don't even think about staying up late. SLEEP. Eat healthy whenever you can. Carry a banana with you, they have potassium — which is fucking great for your organism !!!

CARRY WATER. EVERYWHERE. TAKE 💧💧💧💦💦💦💦💧💧💦💦

How is anyone supposed to make good decisions while exhausted, grumpy, dehydrated, overwhelmed and hungry? THERE IS NO WAY. TREAT YOURSELF WITH CARE !!!! NOOOWWWW

[literallynothingbutvictuuri]

I noticed in your FAQ that you don't really read many fics, and I just wanted to know why? I'm not trying to be rude or anything! I'm also curious at what draws YOUR attention to fics? Because, you do read some fics, but most of the ones you recommended that one time weren't very popular, and I was just wondering what brings your attention to fics? Does this make sense? ^.^' sorry if I'm being too confusing haha!

No, it makes sense! Don’t worry! :) I’m going to make this a whole “read more” situation though so I don’t clutter up people’s blogs. So if you want to know what personally turns me AWAY from and TO fics, I guess, read more ;) (that’s so vaguely threatening ioahfnsakh)

Well, personally, I actually don’t really know why I don’t read very many victuuri fanfictions? Honestly, I think it’s because the anime itself was enough for me to satisfy my ~needs~ so I just don’t go looking very often lol. 

That being said, I DO read some fics and I guess what draws my attention the most is honestly the summary? 

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of LONG summaries. If it looks like a huge paragraph, I honestly won’t read it lol. Which is a shame because I’ve probably missed out on a lot of fanfictions. But my biggest tip to anybody is to really focus on your summary. I’m also turned off when people put “I suck at summaries.” Be confident in your abilities! (says the person who hates everything she writes whoops). 

I’m also not a fan of too many tags? Sometimes, when there are tons and tons of tags, I just don’t want to read it lol. Of course, tags that are very important to the fic are necessary, but do you really need to tag every single character in it? But then again, I’m all for the ~mystery~ of what fics could contain so you’ll catch me opening up the fics that have a one-word summary (not many people do this though- that can be a turn-off for a lot of people). 

(Also, this is just a random tip but I know people will “blacklist” authors if they don’t appropriately tag their works with things that could be triggering. If you personally want to choose the whole “chose not to display warnings” that’s okay! but maybe try to reiterate that the fic IS mature/explicit whichever and might have darker undertones.)

I also don’t really go “looking for fics” so most of the fics I DO read either come from other fic rec lists (usually @victuurificrec 😘 ) or I look at fics created by the people who comment on my own fics! I’m a really really big fan of looking at the fics my commenters make because I’ve discovered some really great fics that way. :)

Titles don’t really matter to me, personally. I don’t think I’ve ever really been turned off by a title. But I do know that I’ve opened up fics BECAUSE of the title. For example, I’m a big e.e. cummings fan so when I recently saw a fic with a line from one of his poems, I was already hooked lol. 

And then there’s the obvious– and that’s simply whether or not I like the premise of the story as well as the fic itself. I have opened up tons of fics and sometimes, I’m just not into it. And that’s okay. Other people will be, but maybe it’s just not my cup of tea. 

Also, you mentioned that a lot of the fics I read aren’t very popular (for victuuri), and that’s mainly because I do love giving love to the writers in this fandom that aren’t really appreciated, if that makes sense? 

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read some 1k+ kudos fics before for this fandom, but I know with how popular YOI is and with how many fics are posted daily, sooo many fics are often drowned in a sea of other fics. 

So, when I see a fic that looks interesting and has 10 kudos, I usually open and comment lmao. Because I’m not really a big writer, and I know what that feels like sometimes when you work so hard on something and only have 9 people kudos it. But when I read the really really nice comments that are left on them, it’s worth it lol. So, I like to do the same and try to encourage writers that aren’t really focused on :’) Plus, like I mentioned earlier, some of those fics are really VERY good!!!!! 

(Anyway, here’s my other stupid turn-offs for me for any fic. Please don’t take this personally! This is just my personal reaction/experience! I’m just trying to be maybe helpful.)

-For some reason, I’m not a huge fan of indenting in fics. I don’t know why. Even with really good fics, it honestly turns me away. But then again, I’m probably annoyingly picky. Sorryyyy :’)

-That being said, I also don’t like huge, huge chunks of text in fics. If I open up a fic, and it’s immediately giant chunks of text, very rarely will I even try to read through it. :’)

-Once again, maybe don’t have 100+ tags! Try to narrow it down to the most important tags and only tag characters that show up frequently throughout the fic (that doesn’t mean a background character that’s mentioned like twice- no need to tag them, I swear!)

Honestly, I can’t think of anything else? I don’t know how this became a “Tip for Fanfic Writers” thing but somehow it turned into that. 

I hope this somewhat helped you!!!!!! Or answered your questions! If not, please send me another ask and I’ll try again :)))

much love xxxx

-dianna :)