#awesome advice

[cuntkinghorr]

If you’re secretly a bit masochistic or tend to engage in self destructive habits or behaviors, you can literally transform that into a superpower. You’re already a step above the rest: some part of you enjoys the dopamine rush and addiction of pain. Most of people’s inaction stems from a subconscious desire to avoid pain or discomfort. Instead of harming yourself with bad habits/situations/people, channel that energy into trying new things, putting yourself out there, working out, the discomfort of being a beginner at something, allowing yourself the risk of being rejected or told no. Transform and alchemize your energy and get addicted to that instead.

[spiritualseeker777]

[balleater]

despite being more often than not a "rules as written" fan over "rule of cool", i really do love me a good "rules be damned, i'll give you this awesome moment" call. like matt giving fcg the otohan kill despite what her hp was at or brennan giving cerrit an extra mage slayer reaction attack at the end of calamity. honestly, if anything, i think the fact they mostly play by the book makes these moments even better because it really has that extra weight towards those decisions to put the rules aside.

[jadenvargen]

nobody asked but the how to draw manga books that raised me cause i didnt have the blue one raise your hands up

[coldshrugs]

glamtober #31 - supernatural: mothman

my favorite american cryptid. i spent half my childhood in appalachia and those mountains are haunting and comforting. there's something nice about a fucked up creature trying to warn folks away from harm. this fit is silly but we can pretend she found it in eorzea's version of spirit halloween, right next to the sexy chirurgeon costumes.

items used:

head: tonberry head (jet black | ruby red) body: quaintrelle's ruffled dress (jet black | jet black) arms: demonic gloves (N/A | ruby red) legs: bunny tights (N/A | jet black) feet: makai priestess's longboots (ruby red) fashion accessory: fallen angel's wings

[csquare]

Needed a serotonin boost so I commissioned @heeeygracie for a bit of Red Daughter fun. As usual, Gracie knocked it out of the park — look at her ☺️

[lunarharp]

shirahama-sensei reminded me she has a thing for the teacher from pokemon s/v so i randomly went off on an au where qifrey is the professor. etc

[cartoonsinthemorning]

Today it's Jan the 4th, my Birthday! This is my present. Let me tell you why I decided to draw it. I know MTMTE fans think of Rung letting lose and dancing like a dork- during that party chapter in LL- as a simple gag. And I mean YEAH it was hilarious, but. You see. Rung also happen to be, canonically, an anti-fascist icon. A symbol of Liberation, freedom of expression and identity! GUYS HE'S SO DISCO. HE'S A DISCO QUEEN. I strongly associate that dancing Rung bit with the unifying force of Disco, of Queer Joy. It makes me so happy, you have no idea. Or maybe you do, because I went off with this drawing AHAH! GAY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEEE~

[ssbooks]

Your character has been kidnapped...

The chains on your wrists rattle as you move. Your butt is starting to hurt from the chair you're sitting on. A double mirror is on one side of the wall. You stare at the reflection. You're disheveled, but you're fine. The door opens, and someone in a black cloak walks into the room. His face is hidden by a mask. It is completely white and shows no facial features. He sits down across from you, his arms clasped in front of him.

“Now, let us begin.”

His voice is human-sounding, so you cross "unknown beast from beyond" off your list. He lifts a stack of papers and sets them on the desk. You can’t see what is written there.

“Who are you?” you ask.

“I am part of the story police. I’m going to ask you some questions. Answer them to the best of your ability.”

“Why? What do you want?”

“Simply what’s best for the author.”

“Author? What author?”

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s start.”

(This is a character interview. You sit down with your character in your head and talk to them. This is a good tactic to flesh out your characters. The scenario was just to give your character context. You can use it or not. Enjoy)

Part one: The basics

What is your name?

What three words best describe your personality?

How old are you now?

When were you born?

Do you have a lifelong dream or aspiration?

What is your state of mind usually?

Where do you call home now?

To what social class do you belong?

What do you tend to do that other people find strange? 

What are your quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

Do you have any bad habits? If so, what are they and how do you plan to get rid of them?

Do you have a lifelong dream or aspiration?

Part Two: Family

How close are you to your family?

Do you have a spouse or significant other? Describe them.

Have you started your own family? Describe them if you do. If not, do you want to? Why or why not?

Who was your Father and what was he like?

Who was your Mother and what was she like?

Who are you closest to in your family?

Is there someone in your family you wish you were closer to?

What was your parent’s marriage like?

Did they remain married? If not, how did that affect you? When did they split?

Part Three: Friends and Relationships with Others

In general, how do you treat other people that you have just met?

Does your treatment of people change depending on how well you know them and if so how?

Who is the most important person in your life and why?

Who is the person you respect the most and why?

Who are your friends? Describe them.

Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help?

Do you trust anyone to protect you? Who and why?

If you died or went missing, who would miss you?

Who is the person you despise the most, and why?

Do you tend to argue with people or avoid conflict?

Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations?

Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Why or why not?

Do you care what others think of you?

What is the most important quality you look for in a friend?

What do you most value in your friends?

Part Four: Growing Up (Childhood)

Where were you born?

Where did you grow up?

How would you describe your childhood in general?

What is your earliest memory?

What is your fondest childhood memory?

What is your worst childhood memory?

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

As a child, what were your favorite activities?

As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?

As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like?

Part Five: Growing Up (Teen/Young Adult)

How much schooling have you had?

Did you enjoy school?

Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?

While growing up, did you have any role models other than your parents? Describe them.

While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?

How old were you when you went on your first date? Describe the date.

What is your favorite memory from your teen years?

What is your worst memory from your teen years?

When and with whom was your first kiss?

Describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today.

Part Six: Past Influences

What do you consider the most important even of your life so far?

Who has had the most influence on you?

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

What is your greatest regret?

What is the most evil thing you have ever done?

Do you have a criminal record of any kind?

When was the time you were the most frightened?

What is the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?

If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why?

What is your best memory?

What is your worst memory?

When and where were you the happiest?

Part Seven: Beliefs and Opinions

Are you optimistic or pessimistic?

What is your greatest fear?

Have you told any one your fear before?

Who would be the one person you’d never tell your fear?

Are you able to kill?

Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable?

In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do?

Do you believe in the existence of soul males and/or true love?

What do you believe makes a successful life?

How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings? (Meaning do you hide your true self from others and in what way?)

Do you have any biases or prejudices?

Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? Why?

Who or what, if anything, would you die for? (or go to extremes for?)

What is your best feature, in your opinion?

What do you think of drugs and alcohol? Are there any types that people should never do? Why or why not?

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Part Seven: Religen/politics.

What are your religious views?

what religion are you apart of?

What are your beliefs?

what will you not do as part of your religion?

What are daily/weekly practices do you do?

What holidays do you celebrate?

Why do you follow your particular religion?

Are you aware of the origins of your religion?

Do you ever disagree with the teachings?

Do you ever have a crisis of faith?

Do you trust priests or religious leaders?

Why do you think religions were created

Do you believe in an afterlife punishment/reward?

Do you know much about religious history?

Are you ever sceptical of holy fables/stories?

Do you think you can be manipulated by religion?

Do you ever dislike non-believers of your faith?

what commands from a religious leader would you not obay?

What are your political views?

What life experiences have you had that have led you to feel so passionately about this issue?

Where do your beliefs come from? Family? Church? Work?

What do you think your beliefs might be if you had been born into a different family, religion, race, gender, class, or time?

What is at the heart of this issue, for you as an individual?

Why do you care so much about this issue?

Do you see any gray areas in the issue we are discussing, or ideas you find it difficult to define?

Do you have any mixed feelings, doubts, uncertainties, or discomforts regarding this issue that you would be willing to share?

Is there any part of this issue that you are not 100% certain of or would be willing to discuss and talk about?

Do you think other definitions, meanings, experiences, or emotions are possible? How?

What underlying values or ethical beliefs have led you to your current political beliefs?

Part Eight: Likes and Dislikes

What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes?

What is your most treasured possession?

What is your favorite color? Why?

What is your least favorite color? Why?

What is your favorite food? Why?

What is your least favorite food? Why?

What is your favorite sound? Why?

What is your least favorite sound? Why?

What is your favorite smell/scent? Why?

What is your least favorite smell/scent? Why?

What, if anything, do you like to entertain your self with? Books or movies? Why?

What makes you mad?

What makes you furious?

What makes you laugh?

What makes you laugh out loud, hysterically?

What makes you cry?

What makes you cry, hysterically?

What shocks or offends you?

How do you deal with stress?

Are you spontaneous or do you always need to have a plan? Why?

What are your pet peeves?

Where do you go when you’re angry or depressed?

What do you do when you are sad? Why?

What do you do when you are angry? Why?

What do you do when you are happy? Why?

What do you do when you are scared? Why?

What do you do when you’re bored?

What type of music do you like? Favorite bands or musicians?

What annoys you more than anything else?

What kind of weather is your least favorite? Why?

What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

What is the most awful thing you have ever seen?

What sorts of things embarrass you?

Part Nine: Self Image

Describe a normal day for you.

How do you feel when your routine is disrupted?

What is your greatest strength as a person?

What is your greatest weakness?

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Are you generally introverted or extroverted?

Are you generally organized or messy?

Name three things you consider yourself to be very good at.

Name three things you consider yourself to be very bad at.

What are your reasons for being an adventurer or heroic? Are your real reasons different than the ones you tell other people in public? If so, detail both reasons.

What three words best describe your personality?

What three words would others probably use to describe you?

What about you is heroic?

Are you a better lead or follower? Why?

What is your responsibility to the world? Why?

What do you like about yourself?

What don’t you like about yourself?

How do you picture yourself?

Part Ten: Occupation & Finance

What is your occupation? (If you don’t have one, where does your money come from?)

Do you like your job?

What is your boss/employer like?

What are your co-workers like?

Do you get along with your co-workers?

Which co-workers don’t you get along with and why?

What is something you had to learn that you hated?

Do you tend to save or spend your money? Why?

If you were to gain an obscenely large sum of money, what would you do with it?

Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If yes, why? Do you want to quit?

Do you drink on a regular basis?

Have you ever tried any kind of “mood altering” substance? Which ones? Describe the experience.

Part 11: Love

Have you ever been in love? What happened?

Have you ever had your heart broken?

Do you currently have a lover? Describe them, what you are attracted to, and what the relationship is like.

What is the perfect romantic date?

Describe your perfect partner.

Do you ever want to get married? When do you see this happening?

Do you want children? Why or why not?

What was your most recent romantic relationship like? Who was it with?

What’s the worst thing you’ve done to someone you love?

Part twelve: Morality

What one act in your past are you most ashamed of?

What one act in your past are you most proud of?

Have you ever been in a physical fight before? Over what, with who, and who won?

What do you feel most strongly about?

What do you pretend to feel strongly about, just to impress people?

What trait do you find most admirable and how often do you find it?

Is there anything you think should not be incorporated into the media or arts? (i.e., sex, violence, etc). What and why or why not?

Do you think the future is hopeful? Why or why not?

Do you think redemption is possible? Why or why not?

Is there something you think is absolutely unforgivable? What is it?

Is it okay for men to cry?

Is it okay for you to cry?

What do you think is wrong with most people, overall?

What is the worst thing you could ever do to someone you hated?

Do you have feelings that disturb you? What and why?

On what occasions do you lie?

Do you think it is okay to lie?

Part thrteen: Talents/Superpowers

Tell the story of how you became what you are or first learned of your own abilities.

What do you think now of being supernatural? Is it cool or have you been screwed?

Do you have a mentor? Describe them and how you became their student.

Do you have any magical items? Where did you get them?

Think of a major event that happened during your training/initiation. Describe the experience.

What is something you had to learn during your training that you hated? Why did you hate it?

What is something you had to learn during your training that you loved? Why did you love it?

Part fourteen: Future

What goal do you most want to accomplish in your lifetime?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left.

What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?

If you could, what advice would you, the hero, give to the villain? Or If you could, why would you, the villain want the hero to be at your side or part of your team?

If your house burned down, what one thing would you want to save?

What is a nightmare (during sleep) that you have often?

What is a daydream that you have often?

What is your motto?

Part fifteen: Chariter arc

If you could go back to any point in history and change something, what would it be?

What is the absolute worst thing that could happen to you at this point in the story?

What is the best thing that could happen at this point in the story?

Everybody’s hiding something—a fear, a weakness, a strength, an unpopular opinion. What are you hiding right now?

[libelelle]

I love how you draw silver so so much do you have any tips

THANK YOUUUUU thats so nice of you 🥺

drawing silver was a lot of trial and error for me ill be honest, im still kind of figuring out how to do it. HOWEVER i do have tips : ) it will be under the cut because im allergic to being concise.

1.most important. dont skimp on the fluff. i know his 06 model looks a bit like he glued on yarn to his neck but its important that he is fluffy. to me

2. and more seriously, the toughest part to figure out is is stupid fan weed forehead quills. theyre stupid, they block half his head, theyre a defining characteristic and they make drawing his eyes a nightmare. for most other characters you can draw the eyes easy, but the way silvers quills work make fitting them and the eyes together really weird.

anyways my though process drawing them is. try not to think about them as separate things. its easy to think of it like being the eyes and then somewhere above there are the quills, but its eaier to get them to fit together if you imagine the eyes are following the shape of his quills

like this ^

they intersect. so the shape of the eye is influenced by the way his quills lay, but you can also use his eyes as guidelines for the quills too. they start where his eyeline ends, and they follow the shape of his brow on the top as well. you can start from the brow or the corner of his eyes, either way works, just pick the one that makes dinding the position and size easiest

from there you care use his eyebrow quills to reference the rest of them. i usually jump to the middle on next and use its position to judge where the last ones lay, cause those ones are kinda awkward

then of course you can add his little ears in. you dont HAVE to if the angle is awkward. his ears are itty bitty and easily hidden

all his quills slope back a bit, so they have a cute bend to them.

3. uhhh those 2 big fucking quills on the back of his head. they are weird to position because they are SO. LONG. luckily theres only 2 of them. theyre spaced out pretty evenly from each other, and there is a gap in between them. we've all seen his bald spot

anyways the quills have a gradual curve downward and outward. you can see it pretty well in that first picture, with all the silvers lined up. you can see it pretty well on the silver figure. from the front you can see them falling to either side of him

his quills kinda look like a starburst from the front : )

anyways i think thats the best advice i can give. dont ask me about drawing his cuffs or boots. they scare me

i am also figuring it out still but hopefully this helps a little : ) this also by no means a rule book, ive seen people draw him a million different ways and they all look awesome so experiment with this. have fun drawing him!!!

[spiritualseeker777]

[morporkian-cryptid]

Sometimes you get put down for being autistic and weird...

And sometimes your neighbours ask you questions about Japan because they're going there on vacation, and you write them a 14 pages long list of things to visit and cultural tips and vocabulary and a pronunciation guide (while knowing full well this is not a normal thing to do); and they read the entire thing and invite you to their place for dinner to ask you follow up questions, let you infodump about kabuki history and Shinto culture and sound genuinely interested in it, and they learn the Japanese phrases you gave them and ask you to correct their pronunciation.

Sometimes you find people who are genuinely interested in you and happy for you to share your knowledge. Sometimes being neurodivergent is a fucking gift.

[softpine]

This might be juvenile, but do you have any tips on not comparing yourself to others? (Especially when it comes to note count or popularity.) I’ve been posting a story for over a year and it hardly gets any traction. It’s tough for me to see new creators post and get hundreds or even thousands of notes. I hate that I’m doing this but don’t know how to quit it!

this is not juvenile!! i struggle with this myself, especially knowing that i hit my peak years ago and i've been on the decline ever since – but only by numbers alone! i'm more proud of my story than i've ever been, i'm more attached to my characters, i'm putting more love and thought into everything, but i had to be realistic with myself and understand that i'll never pull even half the notes i did in 2020. gone are the days when i would wake up to 3 new anons about my story and dms from people every day (i can't believe i used to get overwhelmed by it...) and i would be lying if i said it didn't make me sad sometimes, because we're humans and our brains are practically wired to crave the hit of happy chemicals you get from seeing the stupid number go up 😭 it does feel demotivating. it makes me feel less urgency to post quicker if i convince myself that no one is waiting for me anyway, which means i post less, which means even less people stick around, which makes me post less, and on and on. it's a tough thing for me to come to terms with in all honesty.

but it helps to remember that i would be writing even if no one is reading. and i know that, because i have! i've written entire novel-length fics that i've never published, i've written countless short stories in the frozen pines universe that i'll never post, i've created alternate universes that will never be shown, etc. i do it because the idea is in my head and it needs to Get Out and i'm kinda just a conduit for that. that might not apply to you, and that's okay! everyone is different. the important thing is to really sit down and think about WHY you write and what you get out of it. which part of the process makes you happiest? what makes you feel a sense of fulfillment / satisfaction? play to your strengths. try not to spend your time doing things you think other people will enjoy and instead, spend more time on the things that make you happy. for me, i haaaaate editing and i always have, so lately i've been trying to speed through it a little bit quicker even if it means the final product won't be as appealing to others. (this is still a work in progress for me...) i have more fun when i experiment with different writing styles, which might not appeal to others because it takes longer and i don't really have a recognizable style, but i don't care anymore because i'm having fun! ask yourself what YOU want from your story, and then write for yourself and only yourself.

essentially what i'm saying is: there will ALWAYS be people more popular than you, and there's no guarantee that when you find the popularity you seek, you'll be able to keep it. so you need to find some sort of intrinsic motivation to continue or you'll just keep comparing yourself to others forever and you'll deny yourself the joy of creation! "comparison is the thief of joy" could not be more true!!