#because there is a lot of difference in creating a good environment by checking your own behaviour

[maximumzombiecreator]

It's often remarked how D&D 5e's play culture has this sort of disinterest bordering on contempt for actually knowing the rules, often even extending to the DM themselves. I've seen a lot of different ideas for why this is, but one reason I rarely see discussed is that actually, a lot of 5e's rules are not meant to be used.

Encumbrance is a great example of this. 5e contains granular weights for all the items that you might have in your inventory, and rules for how much you can carry based on your strength score, and they've set these carry capacities high enough that you should never actually need to think about them. And that's deliberate, the designers have explicitly said that they've set carrying capacity high enough that it shouldn't come up in normal play. So for a starting DM, you see all these weights, you see all the rules for how much people can carry or drag, and you've played Fallout, you know how this works. And then if you try to actually enforce that, you find that it's insanely tedious, and it basically never actually matters, so you drop it.

Foraging is the example of this that bothers me most. There's a whole system for this! A table of foraging DCs, and math for how much food you can find, and how long you can go without food, etc. But the math is set up so that a person with no survival proficiency and a +0 to WIS, in a hostile environment, will still forage enough food to be fine, and the starvation rules are so generous that even a run of bad luck is unlikely to matter. So a DM who actually tries to use these rules will quickly find that they add nothing but bookkeeping. You're rolling a bunch of checks every day of travel for something that is purpose built not to matter. And that's before you add in all the ways to trivialize or circumvent this.

These rules don't exist to be used, that is not their purpose. These rules exist because the designers were scared of the backlash to 4e, and wanted to make sure that the game had all the rules that D&D "should" have. But they didn't actually want these mechanics. They didn't want the bookkeeping, they didn't care about that style of play, but they couldn't just say, "this game isn't about that" for fear of angering traditionalists. And unfortunately the way they handled this was by putting in rules that are bad, that actively fight anyone who wants to use that style of play and act as a trap to people who take the rules in good faith.

And this means that knowing what rules are not supposed to be used is an actual skill 5e DMs develop. Part of being a good 5e DM is being able to tell the real rules that will improve your game from the fake rules that are there to placate angry forum posters. And that's just an awful position to put DMs in (especially new DMs), but it's pretty unsurprising that it creates a certain contempt for knowing the rules as written.

You should have contempt for some of the rules as written. The designers did.

[prettieinpink]

REBRANDING YOURSELF

COLLAB WITH THE HOTTIE????!!!!!!! @honeytonedhottie. LMAO NOT US PLANNING THIS IN LIKE DEC THEN RELEASING IN APRIL. I luv you so much ur my fav moot. moots who collab together, stay together. Check out her post on her page too, as usual, she makes the best points so y'all better listen.

Rebranding is a process in which you redefine who you are and how others perceive you. Each journey of rebranding yourself is personal and individual. When you rebrand yourself, you further align yourself with your higher you. This post is a guide to getting started on your journey!

UNDERSTAND YOUR CURRENT SELF.

So, take a step back and think about who you are as an individual right now. What are your values and beliefs? Does your external self reflect your inner self? Are you comfortable in your current environment?

These questions and more will help to see which aspects of your life you may need to redefine. See if there’s anything that doesn’t align with your higher self. 

After that, pick those aspects that need to be redefined. Why do you want to change this? How has this been impacting you internally/externally? Does this aspect stem from your environment or yourself? See why this aspect needs to be improved. 

DESIGNING YOUR BRAND

This is more of a fun step! So, using your aspects design how you want that specific thing to look and feel like. Avoid being vague or non-specific. Try to put in as much detail as you can for each aspect. 

If you’d prefer, you don’t have to use ‘aspects’ and instead use your life generally. This is your redesign, so do whatever is more comfortable and achievable for you.

ASPECTS

Health

Social life

Career

Hobbies

Family

Finance

Spirituality

Personal development (mindset, goals, improvement)

Self care

Culture

Well-being

Things to include

Achievable goals

How your environment looks like

How your daily life like

How you see yourself

What do you feel after

Why this is alignment within yourself? 

You can do this any way you want. The one I would recommend for redesigning your life would be a vision board, preferably a physical one. If you don’t want to do that, there are still a lot of options such as writing it down into a pretty poster, creating a playlist that will reflect your brand, creating a pretty list, or having sticky notes around your room as reminders. 

Be creative and detailed with this. You should spend at least an hour if not more trying to redesign your life/aspects.

CREATING GOALS

Goals are so important, especially when we are moving in a different direction than we were before. As we’ve got the current status of who we are and what we want to be, creating goals should be easy. 

Make your goals visible. Put a sticky note on your mirrors, put it as your laptop background, put a reminder on your phone, listen to a playlist that motivates you of your goals or anything else that will constantly remind you of your goals. 

Other than that, remember that goals have to be achievable, mindful, and flexible.

ESTABLISHING HABITS

Habits are so important to rebrand yourself. Habits make up your identity. The way you act, speak, and do daily, can subconsciously influence you to be someone who isn’t in alignment with your higher self.

 As much as it’s important to establish new habits that align with you, you have to root out the habits that are pushing you off track from achieving your goals. 

The good thing is that you can do both at the same time. Replace those old habits, with brand new ones. For example, when you open your phone first thing in the morning instead of opening up TikTok, get YouTube opened and start a 5-minute meditation to start your day.

However, just because a habit is beneficial for you, it doesn’t mean it is in alignment for you. For many people, they prefer to read books as a productive alternative for leisure, however, you may not be able to read a book and focus. In that case, you may want to watch an educational video instead. You’re still getting the benefits, but just in a different way. 

STEP FIVE: IMPLEMENTING YOUR BRAND DAILY

Think about all the little details of how this person would act, from morning until night. Embody their actions, words, aura, and vibes. This is when having a visual of your goals is good, so you can see what you need to do.

This includes no longer indulging in things your higher self wouldn’t do. Regardless of how much comfort, entertainment, or dopamine something gives you, you have to let it go if it is destroying your mind. 

I way I recommend implementing your brand daily by creating a daily routine that focuses on a different goal each day of the week. E.g:

Monday - Practicing being mindful (meditation, journaling, connecting with your religion)

Tuesday - Fitness (pilates, weightlifting, hot girl walks)

Wednesday - Socialising (going out to meet new people/connecting with old friends)

Thursday - Productivity (Schoolwork, studying, business, workplace tasks)

Friday - Self-care (taking a slow day however you’d like)

ta-daa!! thanks 4 reading. now go follow @honeytonedhottie 💕😍

[sysmedsaresexist]

To the anon asking about my username...

There's a bit of confusion here, I'm going to answer many of your questions but I may not post the ask itself, hopefully it'll make sense :)

When I started my blog I was heavily anti endo and I specifically posted bad pro/endo takes, debunking or just laughing. To this day, most of it is still pretty hilarious. I wasn't focused on cringe, but totally crazy, out there claims that made zero sense and were flat out wrong. Check out my tags #shit endos say, #shit singlets say, and my newest tag, #shit anti endos say, I hope you have a laugh at a couple of them.

In my pinned post, you'll see the thing that started it all. A pro endo saying that sysmeds are sexist.

I would also like to know how they came to that conclusion. I'm right there with you. Also like you, I still have many issues with the pro/endo community. I believe CDDs are trauma based disorders. I post research pretty much weekly about it (check out #debunk and #research). I think endogenic plurality and CDDs are completely different things.

And you know what, my pro endo friends support me. We're all learning. I'm kind with my opinion, I'm open to talking about it, we debate, we share resources, we change our views and adjust based on new info.

This blog corrects misinformation from both sides, now. Some of it is worse than others. Antis can and do spread just as much misinformation as pro/endos.

What I would encourage you to do is start with the multiple selves theory. It actually developed right alongside Freud's theories on hysteria (which included early versions of CDDs at the time), and if Freud hadn't been such a perv, it might actually be much more well-known. It's a nonpathological theory on consciousness and philosophy. People have been describing this phenomenon for a very long time, "endogenic" is just the newest term for it. Here's a couple examples.

2015 - at any given moment in time, one or another of our subselves is in control and determines how we think and act.

1987

2012 - this one has so many links to other people talking about this theory

2023 - These results suggest that the normative principles by which agents have adapted to complex changing environments may also explain why humans have long been described as consisting of “multiple selves.”

2020

2010

Like I said, though, you can find this stuff as far back as the 50s with ease, anything older might take a bit more digging, but it's not a small or new theory.

I think an overlap in language has created a lot of confusion, but it's really not out of the realm of possibility for people to be more in tune with these parts of themselves. It's been documented for over a century outside of psychology, in other areas of research-- anthropology, philosophy.

I'm going to be honest, I don't think a single one of the headmate sale blogs are real. I think they're antis trying to start shit. Like maybe one out of every ten is actually someone misguided behind the screen.

Even CDD systems still incorrectly believe in core theory, endogenics picked it up from us and don't know any better. System resets aren't real, but there are real experiences that can FEEL like a reset-- try being patient and educating people. Ignore the others, because some people just can't be helped, and you're better off spending your time spreading good, accurate posts than arguing with people who don't want to learn anything.

I forget what I was saying.

Anyways, I'm a pro endo sysmed.

I hope you'll stick around and see what's going on.

[makingspiritualityreal]

I had an interesting conversation with my friend recently and she claims my observations were valuable and should be shared with others.

The context of the conversation was from a phenomenon that we can see on social media recently that criticizes “nice people” and says that “they don’t get what they want” while “bad people get their way”. I have seen many pseudo spiritual teachers preach something similar, but all that it does is preys on people’s anger and resentment and has nothing to do with truly figuring out the vibration of the Universe.

The Universe responds to the frequency of our true intentions and is aware of the truth in all situations, thus it can’t be tricked. And from that comes a very important realization, that being “nice” is not equal to being good.

The other important truth is that this Universe operates within a certain harmony and is not kept forever “out of check”. Thus, it is impossible to infinitely commit destructive actions with no reaction from our environment.

Most people are nice habitually, but it is an action directed at social adherence, devoid of depth of feeling. How many of us can really say that they wake up with a genuine feeling of goodness in their hearts every day, even in difficult situations? It is not only impossible, it is not required of us. If we polled a “vibrational” monthly average there are people out there with foundational goodness of character, but sadly so few of them compared to those who are simply superficially nice. And for those who radiate genuine goodness, it always ultimately comes back in some form. Those who are only “nice” on the surface but sulk about how bad life is to them are dishonest about the true motivations of their character.

The discernment about people called “bad” is necessary, because very few human beings are genuinely bad people. People are complex and have different aspects to their personality. Someone can be a very successful worker and make a lot of money but treat people in their personal life poorly, and their life will ultimately reflect that. This is the problem with the perception of “bad” behaviors - their seeming victories are short lived. You will see that while up until a certain age these kind of people have enough energy to keep repeating their mistakes, they never gain any long term payoff from their bad behavior.

To show you an example, this is the reason why totalitarian leaders ultimately fail and face opposition, because while they power they way through short term victories, they don’t achieve long term respect, as it would require a certain integrity, so the opposition they attract makes them fail.

Genuine goodness is something very fragile, hard to build and easy to shatter. It requires effort and self discipline, yet gives unique results. It is irrational to say that people who don’t work on themselves at all will get the same results as people who refine their character on a regular basis.

If you need an example to put this in perspective, think of a relationship you have with someone, that is bound by negative attachment. Most of us are born with certain difficult karmas, so we go through at least one such experience in this lifetime. You may be temporarily bound to them, you may be afraid or unable to escape them, but if someone has not been good to you, they have shattered your genuine love for them a long time ago. Love and attachment is not the same, and once good feelings between people are destroyed, you can’t really manipulate your way out of it, as deep inside a person’s heart something is irrevocably changed.

That’s why goodness and trust is so rare and so precious. Because, unlike what the modern media tries to tell us, there is really no cheat code to bypass the truth and the effort required to create something genuine. Being good is not about weakness, it’s about hard work, and few people really achieve it.

[what-even-is-thiss]

I’m thinking about starfield again because I haven’t had the desire to redownload it and try another playthrough. And that’s weird. Because I replay games to death. That’s basically how I consume video games. I only play a few and I replay them until I know them inside and out and then put them down until I pick them up again a few weeks or months later. It’s very rare that I don’t want to replay a game that I’ve spent a lot of time with.

I think reflecting on it if they ever make a sequel to starfield they need to commit to one thing. Just any one thing. Just pick a thing to commit to. Commit to something.

It’s like starfield doesn’t want to commit and go all the way with any one thing. Starfield isn’t saying anything. Like even more so than usual with Bethesda games.

Like why am I collecting all of these artifacts? Why am I going to the next universe? Why am I helping any of these people in this city with very few named NPCs? Why am I cataloguing all of these plants and animals? Why are these gigantic procedurally generated environments here if there’s nothing to do in them?

Bethesda was trying to make it no man’s sky and a Bethesda game and not be weird or controversial in any way. What? This is the same studio that made giant radioactive bipedal alligators native only to one amusement park.

You know the terror of coming across Swan emerging from the lake for the first time in Fallout 4? You know that oh crap moment when you realize you can kill Astrid in Skyrim? I had zero moments like that playing starfield.

They should’ve done way more with the faction they created that was a bunch of murderous zealots worshiping a giant snake. Freaky fictional cults are Bethesda’s bread and butter. They’re very good at making comically evil cults and parodies of religious extremists.

Where’s the famous lines everyone is quoting from starfield? I’ve found none. No “I used to be an adventurer like you then I took an arrow in the knee” no “I’ve fought mudcrabs more fearsome than you” no “war never changes”

Perhaps the most memorable NPC interaction in Starfield is a) optional based on a box you check at the beginning of the game and b) Is a freaking reference to Oblivion. A game from 2006 with better writing. I’m of course talking about the adoring fan. That entire thing is a tribute to and almost carbon copy of the oblivion character and it’s the only fun NPC interaction I can remember from Starfield.

Like starfield doesn’t say anything. It doesn’t add anything. It’s not even uniquely bad. It’s just there. It’s not even an exploration game. Everywhere you go has already been settled. There’s random abandoned research stations and pirate outposts everywhere. Constellation aren’t explorers. The cataloguing you do with your scanner means nothing.

Starfield needs a direction. It needs to commit. It needs something on par with deathclaws. It needs to establish an antagonist that’s worth revisiting or being a major world event in the history of this world. The star born are just stupid to me. Just people trying to collect a bunch of rocks and go to another universe again and again and again so they can get dragon shouts or something. They’re lame. They’re disorganized. Picking sides between their different philosophies has no tangible impact on the world.

[travelingthief]

Zeus Devotions and Offerings

Learn About:

Clouds (what’s their part in the water cycle? How do you tell the difference between types of clouds?)

Weather (predominantly rain, wind, & thunder and lightning) (What causes these phenomena scientifically?)

The justice system

Eagles, hawks, and other birds

His myths and genealogy (there’s a lot there!)

His Roman counterpart, Jupiter

Political history in your country (or any country of interest)

Climate change and how you can help reduce it

Storms/Rain

Collect rainwater as an offering or for use in spells

(Safely) Watch a storm (I like to do so in my car)

If you can, safely offer shelter to those during storms (travelers, unhoused folks, or even stray cats/dogs!)

Participate in storm clean-ups

Splash in puddles/Dance in the rain

Thank Him for the rain and acknowledge how helpful it is for providing life to all of us

Take proper storm precautions, like buying enough food, having flashlights/candles on hand, and having non-electric ways to keep warm

Keep a rainy day fund

Spend rainy days with your [chosen] family

Meditate/fall asleep to rain sounds

Learn how to respond in the event someone is struck by lightning

Sky

Go cloud-gazing (try making up stories for the shapes you find!)

Go parasailing

Travel on planes

Hot air balloon rides

Ask Him to bless your flights and travels

Go birdwatching

Ride a zipline

Fly kites

Learn cloud divination

Order and Justice

Keep up-to-date with local political happenings

Participate in your city/school council

Attend protests and advocate for equality  

Vote in local, state, and nationwide elections

Take breaks for yourself when learning about politics! That shit can be overwhelming!

Learn de-escalation methods

Join a debate team

Keep your schedule in order

Maintain a clean and orderly environment

Advocate for a greener future

Visit your state house

Leadership and Protection

Trust yourself to take on leadership roles

Build your self-confidence 

Be assertive in your boundaries 

(If you're able to) Work out and build muscle

Take proper measures to protect your home (locking the door and windows or a protection spell/jar!)

Take self-defense classes/martial arts/wrestling etc.

Make your own self-love affirmations 

Do things that make you feel powerful!

Understand your power. So many people are afraid of power because of negative connotations, but power can be used for good as well

Carry yourself with pride

Speak with conviction

Misc.

Support small businesses

Check the weather and dress appropriately (or pack emergency backup clothes if the fit is too good)

Carry an umbrella on you! And a spare if you can, to pass out to someone in need!

Wear grays and sky blues

Travel and see the world!

(Safely and sanitarily) collect bird feathers. Make sure you’re aware of which bird feathers are restricted from being collected

Show Him things you’re proud of!

Set attainable goals and make a plan to achieve them

Offer hospitality to every guest, even if you’re not thrilled to see them

Be a pleasant guest, even if you’re not thrilled to be there

Offerings

Feathers

Bull/swan/eagle imagery

Rainwater/snow water

Representation of lightning/storms (Paintings, trinkets, drawings, etc.)

Imagery of Scales of Justice

Voting stickers/Absentee ballot envelopes

Political mail for causes you support

Homework you put a good effort into and are proud of

Pictures of the sky/clouds

Bird figurines

Crown imagery/figurines

Lastly, it’s undeniable that Zeus has a long history of assaulting and mistreating women. Everyone has their beliefs on the matter and I think it is entirely possible to worship/work with a god while fully acknowledging the messy past. Furthermore, as I dive deeper into the history surrounding the myths I gain a better understanding of the factors surrounding Zeus’s philandering, like the synchronization of Gods and Goddesses across religions and how Zeus likely assimilated past male deities and the people of the time created the stories of his many affairs to explain this merging.

There’s no way to justify the raping by our human standards. That being said, I don’t think it’s cause to completely shut Him out. He is the King of the Gods, the Bringer of Life! Surely that is something to celebrate. 

With all that, some final acts that support women:

Believing victims

Donating/volunteering at women's shelters

Learning the signs of domestic abuse

Learning and acknowledging red flags in a partner

Talking to friends about any major red flags you’re concerned about with their partner

Advocating for women’s rights 

Learning about domestic abuse/rape/abortion services in your area

Hoping this is helpful to someone! I see very few posts for Zeus on here.

[velvetvexations]

it's different for all of us <3

I'm happy to have provided that relief!

so even in very progressive and trans pockets of the kink scene, you'll still often find carried-over attitudes that implicitly "center" subs in the scene--workshops are catered to subs. writing is from the perspective of the subs' desires. doms are treated with suspicion if they're not directing their attention to a specific sub. etc.

and a lot of this creates a *really bad* environment for transfem doms in particular to feel comfortable openly expressing sexuality and desire, because the dom stigma is *pre-existing* on top of vanilla society already portraying transfems as predatory. and in the scene locally at least, transfems are generally only *provisionally* seen as women due to presenting as "soft" and intentionally effeminate, so that adds another layer on top of it--acting too dominant in the scene will often get you misgendered by people subconsciously associating dominance with manhood.

and then we get into how that crosses over with the intracommunity pressure from the transfem side of things to adhere to gendered stereotypes in order to be seen as a woman by your fellow girls, and how part of that is "kindly" meant pressure to cast away dominant and aggressive behaviors with the argument that girls are only performing them because they feel they have to conform to male social roles, but nobody likes it when i bring that up because nobody wants to admit there's intracommunity problems in trans groups 🙄 but the intracommunity problem does bleed over into the kink scene in my experience

IDK, I don't really have a problem with the idea that transfem dom content might be rare for a variety of reasons, but so are a doms in general when you compare them to subs, and I believe OP when she said she wasn't trying to say that trans women are inherently subby but she did phrase her point in a way that made it sound like a very similar sentiment I've seen a lot.

- Trans fem meetup group. Previously run by a trans woman who moved away. There was no group for almost a year before a non binary person started it up again. Huge FB outcry over this not being a trans woman and ppl bullied them into making a public post confirming they were AMAB and identify as trans fem. They have posted that they would be happy to hand the group over to a trans woman if people would be more comfortable with that but nobody is interested in taking it over. (2/5)

- General trans/intersex/etc advocacy group. Run by an intersex person who could be considered trans masc, I don't know if they identify that way. Pretty much everyone else I know of involved is trans fem aside from one cis woman, I don't know everyone involved though.- Radical trans group who organise protests etc. Leadership is all trans fem last I checked. They have some trans masc members and try to have some equality in representation re: who makes speeches at events. (3/5)

So, imho this is fairly balanced insofar as groups just tend to be organised by local people willing/interested in organising and so there is rarely any kind of perfectly equal distribution of who organises them. If one or two people quit or move the entire "balance" can be thrown one way or another. But there is so much hue and cry from a loud minority about how "all" the local groups are "run by trans mascs". (4/5)

Including ppl claiming "all the meetup groups are run by trans mascs" & when ppl point out the person running the trans fem group is trans fem you get "You know what I mean". Yeah, I know what you mean, and it's not good! (5/5)

Good analysis, anon!

Small minds have limited storage capacity.

[splitsabers]

I proudly present to you:

The Splitsabers Photomode Guide!

This guide will be a look into some of my thoughts and tips for photomode in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Let's get into it!

Disclaimer: I am in no way a professional 😂 my credentials include art as a hobby and a 3-month obsession with Jedi Survivor (still learning new things every day) so this is definitely more of a beginners guide but I love talking so here ya go

Survivor is a huge game full of environments, actions, and movements. When I'm looking to take photos, I have two files: one completed on New Game+, so I have access to all cosmetics and areas (this is what I use for the saber series), and one "fresh" file where I'll play the game from 0% and have access to specific animations, storylines, environments, and scenes:

When it comes to taking actual photos, I'll just run around and play the game as normal while constantly looking for areas with good lighting, scenes, or encounters.

Sometimes I'll have a specific idea, like with the saber series, where I want to take photos in certain environments. For example, for the purple saber I wanted to go for an "outcast" look with the outfit and selected areas like the laser on the Shattered Moon, observatory, and meditation arenas in force tears. I'd go through different lightsaber stances, animations, and poses, as well as lining them up with the environment to get shots I liked.

I have a collection of places I like to go throughout the game with good lighting, encounters, or similar (rehabilitation wing my beloved).

For 90% of my photos, I place the subject in focus (typically someone's face/body, weapon, or hands) and turn down the f-stop so the environment (or sometimes the rest of a person's body) is out of focus. I like doing this because it places attention onto the subject while leaving the background in context.

You can leave details like this that enhance the photo or add weight to the photographs - we as the audience can extrapolate how certain photos relate to the meaning of a shot from what we know about the game - a picture is worth a thousand words!

You can use the environment as a framing tool, or take pictures of the beautiful environments of Survivor itself!

For posing, throughout a session I'll constantly pause and check the poses for characters I'd like to take photos of. Look at scenes from different angles to see what works! There are countless different actions in the game that can provide photo opportunities. These can be idle animations, finishers, combat engagements/attacks/stance switches, cutscenes, or character interactions!

It can take a lot of tries to get the right timing - for certain sets, I'll often reach a spot, take photos while constantly pausing and checking poses, and then quit out without saving so one-time animations (like certain combat finishers or the first BD visor interaction) can be repeated for that "perfect shot" (I'm working on collecting save files for different story points throughout the game).

When it comes to posing Cal, while idle, he'll look in the same direction the camera does (it actually took me a long time to figure this out I still feel silly sometimes for not knowing) as long as the camera is behind him; otherwise he'll look straight forward. You can use this to get him to look down, up, or to the side!

Tilt can also be a fun way to add drama to a picture or change the framing of your subject to fit your shots!

Exposure is useful for changing the whole brightness of a scene or creating better opportunities for shadows and highlights. For this photo, I had an idea for this nice strong contrasting shot where the lights would only see one side of Cal's face and make a sharp shadow. However, the light from his lightsaber illuminates the dark side (no pun intended) of his face.

To solve this, I turned the exposure way down (so the saber glow would be much weaker) and really pumped that blue light onto the strong side with spotlights to create the effect I wanted.

Spotlights are also an incredibly important in creating light that frames your photo! They can be used to define and bring attention your subject, enhance existing lighting, or create visual interest using color.

I always find my favorite photos make creative/extensive use of lighting. Certain things will interact differently with spotlights or give off light of their own - consider your environment and intended effect. Also consider how the lighting will react with your subject - for example, metal reflects light differently from cloth (I'll often use spotlights to highlight/reflect metal objects like Cal's lightsaber or BD-1), or particles may have certain effects (echo sparkles will disperse spotlights really nicely!).

Here's a before and after; good lighting can really make a scene pop!

You can use spotlights to create light sources that serve to define your subject and their key features (wait... I just realized.. is that why it's called a key light??). I'll often use a 2-light combo of yellow and white to make an "artificial sun" where natural light can't reach.

Since I post the majority of my photos in sets, when I take photos I'll often take the same photo in different color combinations of spotlights, exposures, and filters so that when I select the final photos for a set the whole "matches" and looks more cohesive together.

I personally don't do any editing on my photos third-party, but for most of my photos, I'll use the "Ryloth" filter at around 30-40% strength since I like the way it affects the saturation on colors (especially reds and oranges) and boosts the contrast a bit, although I will occasionally dip into the other filters. Of course, good graphics settings (if you can run them) can always improve the look of your photos.

As always, the #1 way to improve is practice! Learn for yourself what styles you prefer and try new things. I've taken (literally) thousands of photos and I definitely feel like I've improved by loads since I started.

If you're looking for more resources:

@animatedjen has made a lovely tutorial for portrait lighting, going over the different types of lighting in Survivor and ways to use them (💛💛)

Here's a guide by andva-ri on using a line of action - it's something I use more in my art, but I'll use this concept when I'm composing some of my more dynamic shots (love using this in combination with tilts)

Feel free to link resources of your own or to come to my inbox with any questions or advice! I'm so glad I got into this and I'd love to help other people learn, or learn something new myself <3.

Thanks for reading, and happy photographing! 📸

[demonicintegrity]

Y'know i've stayed out of the whole "teens getting hormones and bottom surgery" discourse apart of trans rights because every other trans person I knew as a teen was entirely unable to do so. Either because of expenses and/or parents. The plans they did have were reasonable and expected to have to wait several years into adulthood in order to earn the money to do so. So they figured out other ways to be happy with their appearance until then. And every trans person I talk to has a different plan for when/if they incorporate medically transitions into themselves. Not everyone wants to medically transition.

But reading the phrase "Teens cannot consent to taking hormones" in regards to trans kids got a chuckle out of me. Because teens can. For a lot of other issues actually. Antidepressants are a hormone based medication. And I was on them as a teen. I consented and fought for them because I knew it was what I needed.

And it's not like taking medications for any reason has ever been treated lightly. I was working with a therapist for a good while until she said "we're really going anywhere because you're too tired to pull yourself out of this and work on these skills. You might really need antidepressants. I'll help you explain this to your mom so you can go to the doctor."

And then me and my mom went to the doctor with these concerns and my desire to go on antidepressants. And she was a good doctor. Checked my thyroid first in case it was that. Consulted with Adolescence because I was a teen and she was a pediatrician technically. Answered any questions and concerns my mom had. And then wrote the prescription. And stressed to me that hormonal medicine isn't like the normal medicine you're used to taking. I had to work up to my full dose (and it was still the lowest) and for that first week I had to be mindful and have a good support system in place as my body adjusts. I understood that. And then I really understood that as I went through my first week of medication. And then I continued to reasonable and mindful of myself as I stayed on it.

And that was that. I eventually didn't need them anymore. But my time on hormones didn't damage or kill me or anything like that. And its not like testosterone or estrogen are the only hormonal medications teens can take. Many are on hormonal birth control for a couple of reasons and those have a lot more damaging side effects.

I think if you're going to have discourse about trans teens, you need to give both teens and their doctors a bit more credit. Most people are reasonable and sensible. Most people have genuinely good intentions. With any medical process ever, you have to work with a doctor. Choices aren't being made blind and uninformed.

You're also going to have to figure out the double standards. Two girls want a boob job at some point, either to go up (or down) in size for whatever reason, and one happens to be trans. How is the trans girl meaningfully different from the cis one?

A lot of teens, for better or for worse and for whatever reason, want cosmetic surgery. And a lot of them do get that parental consent to do so. Both cis and trans.

And if you're going to say "oh it's all poor body image from the internet and bullying, teens to work on confidence instead of mutilating their bodies!" You gotta accept that bullying people for being obviously trans or otherwise gender nonconforming is apart of that. Telling trans kids they'll never be a real boy/girl because of their chest/other body parts is apart of that. You gotta create an environment where any and all gender nonconformity and experiment is safe to do. Otherwise you're creating more incentive for people to medically transition so they can be safe by passing.

[notvv0ltz]

Closing thots on this stupid fucking discourse

I gotta say this for real. Shipping discourse is absolutely pointless and forces into binary thinking. You've chosen a complex topic with lots of nuances and contexts you need to consider and turned it into a twitter-like mindset like "if you disagree with me you're subhuman" when yes, those hated by you proshippers, for example, can provide you more context on that. Not everyone from them are 30+ year old lolicon coomers, in fact there's a decent amount of people in their 20s who are CSA victims coping in their own way. I'm not a CSA victim myself but I can relate to this phenomenon as a dubcon/consensual-non-consent kink haver. When you have experienced trauma, you never can't be sure that your brain will response in the "appropriate" for the people way, in some cases brain chooses to fetishize it and that's! Not! A problem! Unless you're experiencing discomfort with the thoughts and/or have urges to commit harmful acts you're FINE! You should not be afraid of it! Your brain wants to replay the trauma in a safe environment so you won't lose your fucking mind! Literally this is a protective response!

You also need to understand that it's different from actually condoning the act. Women with rape kink don't want to be actually raped. It's that they trust their partners to force them to sex, and from the partners it's crucial to check if everything is okay and provide an aftercare. That's why it's called CONSENSUAL non consent. Rapists DESPISE these women. Rapists despise the fact that a woman can be sexually adventurous, that they're confident in themselves. Because they can't assert power over them. They can't control them. And you calling women who read books with the said kink the reason why sexual assault is being condoned is a huge asshole move. Saying that victims of CSA that are projecting on the minor characters in pedophilic pairings are the reason why CSA is being condoned is a huge asshole move.

You paint victims or groups that statistically are more prone to be victims of atrocious crimes as the REASON of these crimes is so fucking painful to watch at, I fucking tremble every time I see that. Are you guys completely brainless or what? Why don't you attack lolicon or zoo advocates instead? Why don't you attack people who have literal folders for CP? Why don't you attack people who generate AI CP? You're also creating embarrassingly braindead posts like "proship dog whistles" which is umm literally a term about alt right signaling for each other that other people would not notice, so you're just equating people who you could've understood and listened to to the actual nazis is insane, you just washed up a term, fucking congrats! You've created a culture in which people are QUESTIONING CP allegations because they don't know if that's a serious situation or just some dude guy in 20s drawing ship from camp camp or whatever. You've created a culture in which you must have the "proships DNI" in bio for the "good person" points (been there, done that). Because of your culture I fucking hated myself and thought that I'm fucking filthy asshole when everything I just wanted is to create a safe environment in my mind. That's why I say that shit is too complicated to have just 2 stances. Eat fucking shit I'm so tired of you all

[oathbreakerapologist]

How Ghost felt in a world of kindness and love. I imagine he hasn't experienced much simple kindness in the past, how did he feel about it, was he surprised?

I always wonder what his relationship with Tav would be like, where they met, what greetings and kisses he had?😊What would he notice in another person as an advantage and what would push him away?

Thanks for the questions!! :)) These were really fun to answer—

You're absolutely right that Ghost hadn't experienced much kindness in the first several decades of his life. His formative environments, the drow city of Menzoberranzan and then the Temple of Bhaal, were both violently hierarchical social scenes in which your average person went about their interactions primarily intending to (1) survive and (2) increase their own status. It was deeply unintuitive to him that among, well, regular folk, most social interactions weren't understood in those terms.

So it was disorienting, but it was also just nice in a way he couldn't have anticipated. He'd never really had a reason to care about integrating into society at large, so he'd never had a reason to do anything other than exactly what he wanted to do to other people. When, for the first time, others treated him with warmth, openness, and kindness, it gave him a reason to want to remain in the company of those others, because for the first time, they had something to offer him that he actually wanted. Companionship and closeness—emotional and otherwise—felt good, and chasing that pleasure was enough of a reason to behave himself in a way that others would accept.

(As an aside, given the way that simply being exposed to human kindness was such a powerful influence on his ability to control himself, it's no wonder that Bhaal created Ghost amongst the drow—had he had the benefit of tolerance from others from a young age, who knows how differently Ghost would have turned out. His upbringing in a cruel and antagonistic social system inculcated in him the perfect sort of antisociality to turn his sadistic hedonism into constant violence.)

It was so fun to think about your second question!! I hadn't thought much about him as a companion before, but it was really interesting to go down this little rabbit hole; I'll probably make a longer post (probably with a bit of art—now I want to draw some Ghost kiss animations) on this soon!! But for now, here's a couple preliminary thoughts on Ghost as a companion:

I think that you'd find him on the nautiloid, strapped down to a table and bearing just-barely-healed wounds from recent vivisection. He'd be disoriented at first, having been brain-injured by Orin then experimented on by Kressa Bonedaughter before he was released into the "care" of the mindflayers and their thralls, but he'd seem to become cheerful in the company of others rather quickly. Succeeding an Insight check might let you know that he made up the name "Ghost" on the spot when asked what you should call him, but if pressed about it, he'd swear he didn't remember any other name.

He's quite chatty, and he'd have a lot of passive banter lines. Some of his greetings would be:

Approval: Low/Neutral "Hm? I wasn't listening. Give it another try?" "Would you look at that? Something's brought this one over again. Go on, tell me what's on your mind."

Approval: Fair/Good "You're back. That's good. I get so bored when you're gone." "It's a pleasure to kill at your service. In service of our goals, I mean."

Approval: High "I'm a knife in your hand." "Please, tell me what to do."

Romance: Flirting "I smell blood on your skin—you haven't been getting into fights without me, have you?" "Sometimes I think you remind me of someone. I'm not really sure who, though." "Hm, look who's coming back to me again."

Romance: Partnered "If I were to be slain, my bones would crawl out from my rotting flesh to follow you." "My beating heart." "Won't you come closer? I crave your scent."

You'd get approval from him by behaving assertively (either for good or for evil), and he'd disapprove of actions that show uncertainty or hesitance. Cruel, sadistic acts would also earn approval, but so would actions that show particularly powerful care for others. Essentially, Ghost would be drawn to characters whose behavior tended towards the extremes of violence or compassion (or both). He'd also respond in a very negative way towards attempts to manipulate, intimidate, or otherwise control him.

Thanks again for the questions!!! I'm definitely going to have more to say on the Ghost as a companion thing soon ;)

[misccy27]

They could have easily written Darius and Hunter’s relationship out of the show after ASIAS

I kept expecting them to. I thought they did at first. Maybe it played out differently for me because I first watched season 2 by binging it after it was over, but the continued existence of Darius and Hunter's relationship kept catching me off guard. Like. Here's how it played out for me:

Any Sport in a Storm ends with Darius being set up as a sort of mentor figure that will help set Hunter on the right path by undermining Belos’ teachings. But that role became (largely) unnecessary with Hollow Mind.

So I was watching Hollow Mind, watching the stakes change suddenly and drastically, and it ends with Hunter ripping off his cloak. And it's like, Hunter’s cloak is such a direct one-to-one analogy for Darius’ approval throughout the entirety of ASIAS. So when Hunter in his very next episode throws his cloak on the ground at the end of it, I absolutely read that as Hunter also rejecting his relationship with Darius. 

And it was sad, but understandable. Hunter’s whole life has just been pulled out from under him. He can't go back to the castle. He thinks Darius is loyal to Belos. So his relationship with Darius becomes a genuinely good thing that he has to leave behind in order to escape his abusive environment. Just another tragedy at the end of a tragic episode. The show, as they say, must go on.

And it did. Labyrinth Runners happened and I was like, yup. Here it is. Hunter is now in a full-blown coming-of-age story. I know how this goes. He gets no parents now; only friendships born of trauma. It’s fine, it’s whatever. It's how the story goes.

So I was absolutely 1000% unprepared for Hunter to roll up on the Day of Unity on a mission from Darius. So casual too, like:

Hunter you are not here on a mission. You are here on a quest. Look at your snazzy little color-coordinated outfit. You look like you're here to deliver bread to grandma's house. It is the Day of Unity what is happening here? Like???

I genuinely cannot overstate just how much this floored me. Because the way the story plays out it's like: a week ago (in canon), Hunter learned that the man he trusted and adored more than anyone else in the world - the man that his entire life revolved around - has been sadistically manipulating him his whole life with just the most absolute worst intentions that anyone could have imagined. It is a complete nightmare scenario: 

The next time we see Hunter after that, and the last time we see him before he shows up on the Day of Unity, coven head Adrian is the one traumatizing him. Adrian is taking up the mantle of psychological tormenting this kid, lying to him about reality, creating illusions of both friends and enemies alike: 

So after LR there is approximately zero reason for Hunter to trust anyone outside of Gus and maybe some of the other Hexside kids. He definitely has no reason to trust any adult ever again tbh. 

So yeah. I was not expecting Hunter to show up on the Day of Unity taking orders from Darius. We didn't get to see them interact at all between ASIAS and now. Last I checked, Hunter still had no clue that the rebellion even existed. Meanwhile, we see Darius preparing for the Day of Unity, apparently keeping his work life and home life entirely separate, good job ig. When did Darius even have time for this? The entire world is at stake and Hunter has run away from the castle and they somehow managed to get in touch with each other again anyways?

The implied off-screen interaction(s) here is A Lot, but I'm getting off-track. The point is, it didn't have to be included. The writers could have had Luz meet up with her friends in any way that they wanted. Like, this is a show stuffed full of plot contrivances. We still have no idea what Willow, Gus, and Hunter were doing between LR and the Day of Unity. The possibilities were endless. There were so many options with fewer contrivances than Hunter trusting Darius at this point.

But the writers chose to intertwine Darius and Hunter’s plots again anyway. They doubled down on a relationship that I had given up on. “Darius insisted” that Luz needed an escort. Darius ordered Hunter to do it. This was I guess just thrown in as a fun fact: yes there is indeed at least one adult still paying attention to this child's situation right now. That adult is sending Hunter away from the action, on the same mission that Eda gave Luz to keep her safe. The world is ending and everything has changed and yet Hunter is still on Darius' priority list. Okay. Cool. I can be chill about this I swear.

And then King’s Tide happens. And it is not enough for Hunter and Darius to just have any sort of relationship at all by this point. No, they have to make sure we know: Hunter is attached to Darius. Like, this?

Totally unnecessary. Did not need to happen. This serves zero purpose to the plot. Even in terms of emotional stakes and making Hunter suffer, it’s like. This happens in between Luz sacrificing herself for Hunter and Hunter seeing his Uncle brutally murdered in front of him. This was not at all necessary. Those kids did not have to stumble across Eda and the coven heads on their way to rescue Luz. It affected nothing. It was actually just put in the episode to attack me personally and I love it. Fantastic.

And then the season ends. And the setup for their relationship is so bad at this point, like? Darius is in some unknown terrible situation a realm away. Hunter just showed up on Camila's doorstep with his 4 best friends. This is a perfect opportunity to end the relationship. I was mentally prepared for it, going into Thanks to Them. Going along with the theme of grieving and letting go of childish fantasies and all.

Here's the setup: Hunter’s situation is changing drastically once again, but this time it's for the better. He is now spending months in the human realm, finally in a relatively safe and supportive environment. He's spending enough time there to gain context about the fact that authority figures can be not only good, but also nice. Hunter now has another adult that cares about his well-being and is helping him. It is a good situation for him to be in. I am genuinely happy for him.

So when Hunter’s sewing hobby first came up in TTT, I was prepared to disconnect that from where it started in ASIAS. When Hunter brought up the fact that Camila taught him how to use the sewing machine, I was ready for closure. I accepted it as “Yes. I see. Camila has displaced Darius both literally as Hunter’s sewing teacher and metaphorically in Hunter’s heart.” I was prepared for it. So this did, in fact, hit me hard:

Hunter. For all you know Darius has been dead for months. What are you doing? Why do you still care?? Just how familiar are you with Darius’ stitches anyway???

And it's again like. Literally none of these scenes were necessary. Everything we see about this relationship post-ASIAS could have been removed entirely without affecting any other relationships or the broader story at all. The fact that all of this was included means that we’re now at a point where it’s like:

Hunter got out of his abusive situation and he has a strong support network of people who love him now and also Darius just so happens to still matter to him anyway. This relationship still matters despite the plot pulling them in different directions every step of the way. This relationship has turned into a full-blown star-crossed found family scenario now. And how am I supposed to feel about that?

Because I really don't know what to expect. We get to see so little of Darius. He has had zero agency for the past however many months. The crumbs we got in Hollow Mind and with the Day of Unity mission show that Darius does care about Hunter. It's obvious that Hunter cares about Darius. I am all-in at this point tbh. So please just give me another crumb writers. All I need is just a halfway decent reunion, it can even be in the background, I can fill in the rest. Just. Let this end on a positive note for them please.

[gyuyoungarchives]

💬 Soompi: A Good Day To Be A Dog Stars Dish On Their Characters’ MBTIs, What Dog Breeds They Would Be (Park Gyuyoung Cut)

What do you think is the MBTI of your “A Good Day to Be a Dog” character?

- ENFJ. Hae Na is extroverted, and she imagines this and that by herself. She is full of emotions, and she is good at empathizing. She also tends to plan things out, so I want to say she is ENFJ.

What is a memorable or fun memory from filming that you can share with fans?

- In a scene where Cha Eunwoo was filming with a dog, he filmed with liquid-type dog treats on his lips because he had to kiss the dog. I think everyone filmed it while holding back their laughter.

🗨 Cha Eunwoo: I became really close with Park Gyuyoung and Lee Hyunwoo, whom I worked together with the most, so we laughed and joked around together a lot...

Is there anything special you did to interact with the dogs starring on “A Good Day to Be a Dog”?

- Rather than trying to get close to dogs, I think everyone worked hard to create a safe and comfortable environment for the dogs to film.

If you were to become an actual teacher, what subject would you feel most confident about teaching, and what subject would you feel least confident about?

- I think I could teach math well because it is a subject with clearly defined answers. It is also the subject that I studied hard during my school days.

How would you spend your time if you become a dog for a day?

- I would want to spend a simple yet eventful day, eating, sleeping, and going for a walk. These are very simple activities, but I believe these activities are difficult to do attentively every day. [I want] to eat very well, to walk very well, and to sleep very well.

If you were to become a dog, which breed do you think you would become or would you like to be?

- I want to be a Jindo dog (indigenous dog native to Jindo in South Korea) that looks good-natured and also appears to be easygoing.

What does your cast usually talk about in your group chat? Which actor is the most active?

- Although there is a group chat, we only exchange simple greetings and photos. Instead, there are more things to talk about when we meet in person because we are similar in age.

🗨 Lee Hyunwoo: The most active person is Gyu Young. Gyu Young usually posts photos in the group chat and checks on us first, so we sometimes talk together through the chat.

Which actor tends to bring the most energy on set?

- All the actors created a good atmosphere in their own ways, but I want to say that actor Yoon Hyun Soo who plays Yul brought the most energy. His existence alone is lovable and he exuded adorable energy, so I remember the set always becoming brighter [with his presence].

🗨 Cha Eunwoo: Everyone brought energy to set because the set was filled with actors who are around the same age. If I had to choose, since actors Park Gyu Young and Lee Hyun Woo were similar in age to me and we joked around a lot whenever we met, I think the three of us were the most fun on set.

What kind of comments or reviews do you hope to hear from “A Good Day to Be a Dog” viewers?

- I hope to hear that this is a drama that makes them feel good from just watching. All the actors and staff worked hard on filming so that the viewers could feel happy.

What criteria do you take into consideration when choosing acting projects?

- Usually, I choose characters that can show different vibes from the character from my previous project. While acting various characters, I want to start out on a clean slate, and I think it’s one of my routines to accept a new character. It’s also a personal ambition to showcase diverse sides to viewers.

Do you have your own way of getting closer to your co-stars when beginning a new project?

- I believe naturally is the best way. Since all actors are present in different ways on set, we are all each present in our most natural selves on set, and we gradually become closer while being slightly considerate of each other to make each other comfortable.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

- I do the exercise that I feel like doing at the time, and then I stay at home doing nothing. Whether it is ballet, weight training, or pilates, doing the exercise that I feel like doing that day and then resting at home is the greatest hobby and routine to me.

What is something new that you want to learn one day?

- I learned how to play the bass guitar to play a character, but after filming ended, I didn’t have the opportunity to learn. If I get the chance, I want to learn to play the bass guitar some more.

Please share any TMI about yourself for fans!

- I ate salted butter rolls while watching “Street Woman Fighter 2.” This is truly too much information, right?

Please share a word for international fans who are tuning in to “A Good Day to Be a Dog”!

- 'A Good Day to Be a Dog” is a drama filled with adorable and lovable charms that you feel from just watching. I hope that the viewers anticipate this a lot, and I hope viewers receive good energy through this drama. It is already the second half of 2023, so I hope viewers enjoyably spend the rest of 2023 with “A Good Day to Be a Dog.”

as Han Haena in A Good Day to be a Dog, 2023

[burnwater13]

Concept art by Brian Matyas depicting Migs Mayfeld helping the Mandalorian onto the HVCw A9.2 Juggernaut transport, with Din Djarin in his regular Mandalorian gear. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 7, The Believer. Calendar by DataWorks.

Grogu asked his dad what concept art was. He’d seen it a lot on set while they were prepping for the next season and didn’t really understand it’s purpose. He’d given them as many details as he could when he talked to the art directors and set designers and the other members of the crew. He knew his dad did the same.

“Its sketches, paintings, and other graphics that help the director, the actors, and the other cast and crew members envision and understand the environment they are trying to create.” 

Huh? How did his dad know that? Grogu hadn’t expected to actually get a real answer from him. He thought his Dad would just tell him to ask Jon or Deb or Rick.

“At least that’s what I read in one of those periodicals Pedro leaves lying around. Makes sense to me.”

Ahhh. Now that made sense. Pedro had a ton of documents that he kept lying around his trailer and the set. Most of them had vids of him in them, but sometimes they had vids of Pedro’s friends. Grogu had enjoyed checking them out, but he learned that you couldn’t just take a vid out because Pedro liked keeping them just so… unripped. 

“Buddy, I suggest you talk to  or one of the other folks in production design. Or talk to Jon. Just be polite. No eating all the snacks they have in their offices.”

That was a great idea! Grogu considered which person he should look for first. Jon loved using art work to explain the stories he was telling and would talk about it for hours, given the chance. That was perfect! He didn’t need hours of Jon’s time, he just needed a quick answer. Grogu decided to visit with Jon and went off in search of him.

“Hey buddy. What can I do for you?” Jon was smiling as he was looking through a bunch of slides on his datapad. 

Grogu explained that he was interested in concept art and why Jon used it for producing the shows he made when Grogu was a readily available resource.

“Okay, good question. You gave us a lot of details. And I know the guys wrote them all down. But I have to show stuff to Dave and George and the other folks. I can use words to describe it all, but a vid shows them even more than I can describe. So we tell the artists what you said, what your dad told us and we showed them the vids of your ship. 

That helps them work through the differences between what George and your predecessors knew about your galaxy and how its changed over the years. Keep in mind, most of these people haven’t actually seen your ship or even met your dad. They have to believe in the stories we’re telling so we use the art work to help them believe in your galaxy.”

Grogu nodded thoughtfully at Jon’s reply. It made sense. Everyone hadn’t visited his galaxy. They hadn’t chatted with his dad (like that was going to help anyone get a better understanding of anything other than the wide variety of armor polish available in the Outer Rim). 

Grogu posed another question to Jon.

“Oh. I didn’t know. You’ve never shown me your art work. I can talk to Phil and Doug and see if they need it. You know we promised your dad we wouldn’t make anything exactly like it was there because he didn’t want people coming to this galaxy to find you. We wouldn’t want that kind of trouble.”

Grogu sighed. Jon was right. His dad had said that and when a Mandalorian in full armor tells you a thing you tend to remember it for the rest of your life no matter how long or short it is. Dank Farrik! He really wanted people to see his artwork and not just his dad. 

His dad always said the same thing. 

“That’s nice Grogu, we’re running out of space on the preserver to post it.”

It wasn’t a vid from the New Republic asking about the location of a certain criminal who managed to get off a rehabilitation planet. Grogu was sure he’d only seen a couple of those in the Marshal’s office after Mayfeld helped his dad on Morak. It was art. You hung art up or placed art or installed art. You didn’t just post it. 

“But you know what buddy, we have some room on our gallery. I bet we could hang a few of your pieces there and let everyone have a good look at them. We have pretty good security here. No one’s going to spam it on social media and get you in any trouble. George really frowns on that sort of thing.”

Wow! Jon had just made his day! He could select some of his best pieces and hand them over and then he could tell Phil and Doug and Christian, and Brian, and Eric, and Nick and Ryan, and Gloria and all of the rest of the artists and writers all about them so they could include them in their design process as well as the art books. It would be great! And… he’d remind them that they were for inspiration. Otherwise his dad might get a little annoyed with them. You know what Mandalorians are like.

Note - After writing almost 500 of these daily Grogu stories I thought we should all take a moment to thank the Maker and the artists who help inspire Grogu and the rest of us. So props to all the people involved in bringing Grogu’s worlds to life. Today, a special thanks to Brian Matyas for the concept art that inspired this story. May the Force be with you always. 

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hi BPP! You seem kind if level headed about most things so thought you might have some advice. Since getting into bts I've mainly used twitter to keep up with things, but have long found it too stressful with the fanwars, the negativity to bts, some army loving dicourse too much and demands from some about streaming/voting (which I do anyway, but the guilt trip posts start to stress me out) etc plus reactions to anything seem amplified there. I've tried several times to curate my timeline, only follow official accounts and trusted update ones, but still a lot of nonsense ends up reaching me. I've even tried deleting the damn app, but always end up back because I've not found anywhere better for updates yet. Maybe its because I already suffer with anxiety that a lot of these things effect me more then they should, but with all the enlistment stuff I really think I need to find better places to spend my time. I used to use tumblr years ago (before I was into bts) and since blowing the cobwebs off my account and going through my old posts I remembered how much calmer being a fan on here felt, so I'm thinking this might be a good platform to try and spend my time on instead. My only concern is that I'll miss actual news and translations as twitter just seems a better platform for that real time. How do you manage your fandom experience? And are there any good blogs here you'd recommend? I just don't think I can handle each of their enlistment periods putting up with both kmedia nonsense and armys instant reaction to it like you said on one of your previous asks. I know it won't do me personally any good and if I'm just stressed all the time I'll start associating feeling stressed with the boys, which I dont want. Honestly finding your account where you actually discuss things in a calm manner has felt a blessing when I've been both over stressed by twitter and feeling a bit lost on tumblr so thank you.

***

Hi Anon,

I hear you on all this, but I think the way I 'manage my fandom experience' might not work for you because going by everything you wrote, I suspect we have very different personalities. Plus the way I stay updated is mostly from actually talking to people, friends in Korea and outside Korea, rather than checking in with update accounts and things like that. Like most of the time I'm online for k-pop, I'm online with friends on Daum... not Twitter or Tumblr. This is what I sort of organically developed over the years and during significantly crazier times in k-pop.

Occasionally I get asks wanting advice on navigating k-pop or fandom in general, and it kinda stumps me because fandom is just a microcosm of wider society so just do what works for you out there, in here. It's a process of trial and error, but eventually you'll create an environment you like staying in.

You're also doing all the right things already. You seem self-aware of your limits and how staying longer in an environment you find toxic could impact other things such as how you view the tannies + the fandom. You mentioned checking out different online platforms and I agree with you that Tumblr better allows you to isolate for what you actually want to see, way better than Twitter does. Tumblr, rather than Twitter, is the best platform to create an echo chamber which is essentially what you're asking Anon. I don't follow many accounts here and most of the accounts I do follow are pics accounts for the rapline and jikook, but one account I'd recommend that updates with current events for all BTS members very promptly, is @jung-koook.

On Twitter, I have notifications set on the official BTS accounts and usually add new events to my calendar right away (but this is also something I do generally for other events to stay organized). The people I follow on twitter outside of official accounts are friends who I've known for an average of 3 years (from all sorts of fandoms), as well as some producers and music magazine editors. I look out for people who seem genuinely interested in the music over anything else. I have a fairly big account on Twitter but I'm also a vintage twitter user (think circa 2007) and so I'm very comfortable navigating the madness happening on there daily. And this brings me to one big point: if you plan to spend any time in fandom, any fandom, you might have to work on your tolerance.

Basically, you can try to curate your online environment as much as you like, but so long as you're dealing with people or are anywhere you expect to interact with strangers, then you need a higher tolerance baseline. I answered another ask recently where I said fandom probably skews higher than the normal distribution of freaks in a population, so no matter the platform you're on, you're just going to have to expect to see weirdos. Like you might be surprised to learn that even with my apparent 'reasonable' approach with this blog open for less than a year on a 'calm' site like Tumblr, I've had my fair share of weirdos and manufactured drama. It's unfortunate, but also just par for the course.

The basics: block people you don't want to interact with, mute words you don't want to see or that add to your anxiety. You don't need to explain yourself, but also understand you'll still see things you don't like. With my personality it's easy for me unlook weird shit and focus on what makes sense to me, but for others I can understand if they need hard limits on that sort of nonsense.

*

TL;DR

Tumblr is better for creating echo chambers than Twitter. Tumblr is better for controlling what you want to see than Twitter is.

One account I'd recommend following here is @jung-koook who posts frequently and promptly for all the members.

On Twitter I have notifications set on the official BTS accounts. I mostly only interact with a handful of friends on Twitter though I have a fairly big account on there.

There's no shortcut to creating a space that works for you. It's trial and error but you seem to already be doing all the right things.

Develop a higher tolerance for weird. Fandom brings in all sorts of people, pay attention to things you like, block things you don't, and eventually you'll find your people. That's not a platitude, it actually generally works.

Goodluck Anon. 💜

[milatherese]

Another Blog

I have another blog someone got me into doing (like how someone got me into making this blog lol). It only has two posts, but I plan on keeping it going. It’ll basically be a peek into my life as a church musician and different things I have learned. Feel free to check it out, too.

There may be some cross-posting in the future because I don’t intend to put my name on that blog (because I’ll end up discussing work-related things and I don’t want any identifiers on it).

Anyway, here's the latest post / update on my life.

Half Rest

It has been about 5 months since I quit my last job. The biggest confession I have is this: I hated working as a music director. (Note that I put "hate" in past tense. I love it now, and am in a much healthier work environment and place in my life. All glory to God.)

To be fair, I was overworked, underpaid, and overwhelmed. A break was much needed. My time off was conditional ("If you can find a cover, you can take time off."), my pay was that of a beginning McDonald's cashier (because "we can't afford to give you a raise"), and my boundaries were constantly being crossed (think verbal and emotional abuse). Not fun.

On paper, the above reasons are grounds for quitting. If not, they are major red flags for employees. I knew this, but I was not sure if this job was supposed to be a cross I had to carry for a temporary period (that would soon resolve) – à la St. Therese enduring emotional and verbal abuse set forth by her fellow sisters and superiors – or if this was really God nudging me to leave this job.

After much prayer (and a shocking mental health wake up call), I made the move to quit. My resignation letter was an acrostic one because that was what I needed to move on and out.

I think there are a lot of church ministers today that suffer from burnout and decide to deal with poor work environments because "it is all in service of the Lord." While that is true, we are also called to pour out from our excess, not from an empty cup. If you don't believe me, here are some references from Scripture:

• Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21) – Here, Jesus specifies to "sell what you have," not from what you do not have. This means all that we have been given. Can one give from empty hands?

• Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) – When you are working to the point of burnout, what good is the work that you do? Will you be able to continue the work of God if you are burnt out? Therefore, take care of your body because it is meant not to be burnt out, but to glorify the Lord through your work.

And then, of course, you have the classic "God rested on the 7th day" verse. If God created all things to be good, why can't be rest be good?

Rest.

Even Jesus did (Mark 4:38).