#business. there are many reasons someone might choose to change their art style for a production)

[danmeichael]

i need manhwa artists to realize that i really like seeing them through their art and i do not want another generic handsomeman art style and start catering to me specifically instead of any broader profitable audience.

[defdaily]

THE STAR Magazine April 2021 Issue featuring JAY B

Translated by defdaily.

GOT7’s eternally sincere leader JAY B. A friendly interview where you can feel his warm-heartedness.

*This interview was done in informal language to give off the feeling of two friends chatting*

It has been a while since we last met for GOT7’s feature in 2017.

Right, hi. I’m JAY B. Nice to meet you. Have you eaten?

JAY B has been chosen to be on the cover of THE STAR’s 8th anniversary issue.

Dobby is free now. (Laughs). I’m a freelancer now but I still can’t believe the fact that I was chosen to be on the cover of THE STAR’s anniversary issue. I’m so thankful to THE STAR for choosing me to be on the cover so I worked extra hard during the shoot.

How are you doing these days? We’re curious to know what you have been up to.

A freelancer’s daily life is always similar. I work when there is work and rest when there isn’t. I was busy recently organising this and that to release GOT7’s digital single ENCORE. I took the lead and there were many things I needed to figure out such as paperwork. So I was very proud. The members have all joined agencies but I want to take a little more time and think about it carefully before choosing. I’m still a freelancer.

Does the freelancing life suit you?

I don’t know if it suits me but it’s fun. Now work-related calls come to me directly, so I would be asleep then receive a call. I’d go “Ah I fell asleep for a moment, sorry. What is this about?” (Laughs). Since I do even these kinds of small communications myself, it’s nice and fascinating to realise the value of work and opportunities. If I didn’t have this time and experience, I think I might have not realised the value of work as much. I used to be on edge at times when the managers used to tell me things in the past. But now that I’ve learnt how much processing has been done before the information reached me, I feel sorry. Now I have a heart full of gratitude for opportunities.

I don’t know if it’s because you’re a freelancer now, but you seem much brighter than before.

Dobby is free now. (Laughs) I’m joking. Of course it was very helpful having a company. But now that I do everything myself, I feel more satisfied. I enjoy it.

The GOT7 members have all started solo activities. It must not have been easy for everyone, how did you come to your decision?

Right. It definitely was not easy. The seven of us researched a lot so that we can continue as GOT7 together. But then we thought that we should broaden our view so each of us could end up in a better situation. In the process, what we each wanted changed a little and, there is a future that each person dreams of right? The company said we did everything we could do on our part and that they will cheer us on in the future, that made me feel proud. We are also very thankful to the company. I felt that we received a lot of protection under a large umbrella. After all, the company is like the mother that gave birth to GOT7, so I’m thankful to them and respect them. I also thought a lot and looked into a lot of things about how to continue as GOT7. I also went to the president and asked him for advice, and I greeted and thanked Jinyoungie hyung for everything.

While preparing for new activities, what was the thing most discussed amongst the members?

“So what is it that you want to do?” “So what do you want to do?” We asked that a lot. So everyone said “We have to do it" So I asked again “No, not 'I have to', but do you want to do this? Or do you not want to do this?” If you are going to do something, you should do it properly, right? If you are not going to do something with an active attitude, I think it’s better to not do it. So we all came together and decided to give it a try.

It’s clear that you are GOT7’s leader.

One advice the company president told me was that my talent and effort as a leader starts now. Personally handling matters related to our recent digital single, I felt this “Taking the lead as a leader, I need to really work hard.” There was a lot of pressure, but if I don’t do it, who would. It pushed me to work hard.

You mentioned very clearly in your social media livestream that “GOT7 did not disband.” I felt your affection towards the team, what does GOT7 mean to JAY B?

One extremely important thing in my life. Actually, it’s an indispensable part. I’m thankful for the fact that our team exists. You have to know that because GOT7 existed, we individually exist too. It wouldn't matter if my beginning was as a solo, but my beginning was as GOT7. That's what made me who I am now.

How is Lim Jaebeom different as JAY B within GOT7, JJ Project, Jus2 and ØFFSHORE?

Comprehensively they’re all sides of me but if I have to split them, they would be a novel vibe versus an essay vibe. ØFFSHORE and Def. are all about music I like, regardless of genres, and honest stories I want to tell. As for GOT7, JJ Project and Jus2, we would have a particular concept and make it a bit more fancy.

Most of the songs you have shown on SoundCloud are R&B genres with a groovy feel. Have you ever had a conflict between music you want to do and music you have to do?

I felt that I needed to work harder to prove [myself] to do what I wanted to do. I can’t always be spoon-fed. To prove [myself] I made more GOT7 tracks and sent around 15~20 demos. Later on Jinyoung hyung and the president acknowledged me and said “Jaebeom will take care of the musical aspect. You can trust him with that.” I felt really proud hearing that. I don’t really feel a sense of conflict between the musical differences. From pop and R&B to folk and modern rock, I don't want to draw lines between genres and make music that sounds good.

We are curious about the music JAY B will show alone and what you��ll pursue. What stories do you want to tell?

I want to do a variety of things. Alone, I think I will try mixing genres and do things that are fun and experimental. I can also do R&B pop or Urban genres which I’ve originally liked. But that might change later on.

Is there an artist you’d like to collaborate with in the future?

Someone with a pleasant tone to listen to. Even now, when I listen to music and I like the artist’s tone, I send them a DM asking if they’d like to collaborate. And Korea's top hip hop artist, IU-nim. Do you think it's possible? (Laughs).

Then would you like to send a message to IU?

Suddenly? Um… I will work very hard. If by chance you think my song is alright, I would love for you to add your nice voice to them. (Laughs)

An appearance that may seem cold with a tsundere charm. But what do you think your real personality is like?

I’m the type that is quiet and calm, but people close to me tell me I’m a weird person. When I cry reading a book or watching a movie, or when I get emotional they say “It’s so weird, it doesn’t suit you.”

Are you the tender type?

I think I just often get hit by waves of emotions.

We’re curious about the lifestyle you seek and your values.

To live each day without any regrets.

Is there a place you’d like to visit after COVID-19 ends?

Kyoto, Japan. It’s a place where there is a lot of Japanese heritage and it’s also pretty.

Recently you have combined your two Instagram accounts @jaybnow.hr and @def.cnvs, what was the reason?

I’m the one doing everything after all, it is just the musical name that was different. I can’t split my body into two. I realised I could combine them into one account and just show the difference within it. And as I get older, it’s hard to manage two accounts. (Laughs). Was I too honest? Now I'm confused about what's what.

Was there any other moment that made you feel old?

I don’t do much and my whole body aches. In the past, my body wouldn’t get affected by the weather. Now when the weather is gloomy my back hurts and my knees go numb. (Laughs).

I can see that you’re interested in artistic aspects such as photography, painting and fashion etc. Do these things influence your music?

Of course. They affect the way you live in itself. I’m a person who wants to express and leave behind what I feel. Calling myself an artist feels somehow cocky.

What are you interested in recently?

It’s not art but I’m interested in moving around. Living as a freelancer, I spent more time lying down at home, but now I need a fast-paced daily life. I try to wake up in the morning to eat breakfast and nutritional supplements then go outside to photosynthesize and soak in the world. Everyone has to keep moving. (Laughs).

Are you interested in fashion and lifestyle curation and design etc?

I don’t think I’m a person who dresses up exceptionally well, but if someone asks I’d be willing to help.

What would you introduce as JAY B’s preference?

Freedom. Regarding fashion too, I liked vintage and grunge styles but recently I’m interested in work look and amecage styles. My preference keeps changing. I can't define myself clearly either, but I like the sense of being free.

What inspires you?

Many situations and people, my experiences as well as indirect experiences.

How do you have an indirect experience?

Watching movies and reading books. Nowadays I read song lyrics and unfold the scenes in my head. I try to think of various points of view in these one-act plays.

To JAY B, love is?

Nonexistent. A moment. I don’t know. As you live life, I think falling in love is a momentary emotion. If it lasts long, I think it’s affection not love. I'm a person who has to talk about love, but sometimes I wonder if it’s okay to feel this way. There are also many different forms of love. The love that my parents give me and the love that my fans send me. I’m thankful for everything.

While promoting for 10 years, what was the happiest moment and most lacking point?

I feel like every moment until now has been somehow lacking. Whenever you look back you end up thinking “I should’ve done better back then.” I think everyone feels that way. But I never regret those times I’ve spent. The happiest instance was when I spotted my parents at a fanmeeting and ran to them and held them while singing. It felt like I was boasting to my fans “These people are my father and mother,” and it also felt like I was showing my parents how I was receiving that many fans’ love and support. I'm thankful that the fans looked at my family happily at that moment.

Have you ever had a slump?

I don't think about something if I think I'm going to fall into something serious, but I'm the type who gets stressed out to do something new.

You are loved not only in Korea but also abroad, have you ever thought about why your fans like you so much?

A lot. I just don't understand. I'm not even popular among my friends... Why on earth?

Think of at least one thing.

Maybe it’s because I worked hard steadily? To be honest, during the past 10 years I have never not tried my best on stage. I can say this with confidence. I’m thankful to be able to do what I like as a job. I have told the members about this previously, I’m sorry for not being affectionate to fans onstage. It’s my nature so I can’t help it. But I have never been indifferent as a singer onstage, that is a fact.

Your bucket list that you surely want to achieve this year?

Being healthy mentally and physically. Since the members have started their solo activities this year, I think I should release an album as well.

Any words for the readers?

Everyone, I’m not saying this as a formal greeting but I really want to say thank you. Hmm… How should I put this? Don’t worry since we are not disbanding. That’s why I tried hard to release the digital single. Continuing on I’m going to try my best to do as much as I can. You might feel disappointed at times along the way, and I apologize in advance for that. But what I can promise is that I’m going to do my best. Thank you so much for supporting me for 10 years. You all know this already, but I’m not so good at things like sending hearts and saying thanks affectionately. I just want to speak sincerely. Thank you so much. I hope everyone will be more happy, not just because you like and support us… I could sound arrogant saying it like this but... I hope our fans are sturdy people who will find their own small sources of happiness in their daily lives even if that isn’t us. And I hope everyone is happy. I’m so thankful and I want to ask you to trust me.

Lastly let us know your future plans.

We will try our best to match our times and do GOT7, JJ Project and Jus2 etc. no matter what. Even if our times don’t match somehow, we’ll try our best to gather even 4 or 5 people and return, so don’t worry. And Dobby is free now. (Laughs). I will do my best in everything. I've made a lot of songs and I'm diligently working on songs right now too, so look forward to it. You’ll be able to listen to it soon. Thank you. This has been GOT7 JAY B. Please give lots of love to The Star’s April issue!

Translated by defdaily.

[horrorslashergirl]

I need any headcanons for Asa and/or Jesse, you can also add others if you want. Like stuff like their scent they're usual mood, how you can tell if they like you, stuff that people usually don't care about ya know?

I have to admit I wrote more than I intended too, but I think it came out pretty good. Some headcanons I debated from watching their movies I think over 20 times? Feeling like a detective. 

Random Headcanons

The Collector/Asa Emory

If I have to picture his scent I think he would have a combination of citrus, disinfectant, and dust; do you know how an old book smells, that rich smell of knowledge that is rather calming? That's how I picture him like. Why citrus/lemon/disinfectant? I headcanon Asa as a neat-freak so I think that would be a common scent for him, plus I don't think the flowery scents are his favorite when it comes to room air freshener.

Surprisingly, Asa knows how to dress, but doesn't care. He dresses according to where he goes; working at the university, working on his human collection. He is a more practical type. He never finds the need to dress to impress.

Asa is an introvert. His usual mood when he is his civilian self is one of pure calmness, maintaining a stoic facade, mostly so that people won't bother him. Now, he isn't a shy guy, more like socially awkward, and doesn't have the abilities of a social butterfly. He can learn to be but chooses not to. If someone tries to get under his skin, he will use his intellect to make said people feel like they're the dumbest and make them walk away in shame. As his Collector persona, he lets his inner demons free; the rage, the blood-thirst, he doesn't feel like he needs to maintain a facade anymore, because as the Collector, he is the master, the one who calls the shots.

If Asa likes someone he will never flat-out tell them or try to impress the said person. If you're a very observant person, you can catch him observing you from the distance, but as soon as you look at him, his gaze will move away from you. Asa likes to observe from the distance and there are many ways his liking to you can go; taking an interest in someone means the person will most likely end up being part of his collection like he sees a beautiful specimen and he knows they need to own them.

I picture Asa as having some sort of PTSD; nightmares, flashbacks can come when you trigger his past. That's probably one of the reasons he isn't so opened up to having someone care for him and trust them. The person who was supposed to love him unconditionally and be the guide in his life took everything away from him; his father we are talking about here. How can he trust someone who they admit that they love him when his father created him the monster that he is today?

He has some sleep problems, mostly because of how big of a workaholic he is. Working from morning to afternoon at the university then working all night on his collection can suck the life out of him. God bless the dark liquid called coffee.

The biggest characteristic of Asa is probably his intelligence and by all means, this man is a walking encyclopedia, not only on Entomology but also on other topics like history, art, and geography. Despite him being strong and intimidating with his stature, his intellect is the biggest weapon; a very good strategist and a master trap. You have to get the brains to make such things.

When it comes to relationships and you managed to somehow get into one with Asa, you need to understand that you have to take this man how he is, he will never change for the sake of someone. Don't question him, especially about his gruesome hobby. I picture a traditional housewife type would be the perfect shot for him, considering he isn't that much at home, someone has to clean the house and cook. I think everything in Asa's life is cold, metaphorically speaking, so coming home to finding his house immaculate and a warm home-cooked meal is a big treat, makes him feel loved and without you being a too push-over and annoy him. Give him his space and be there when he needs it.

Chromeskull/Jesse Cromeans

When it comes to Jesse's scent, I think it would go two ways or a combo of the two. The scent of metal, medical solutions plus adding some expensive male cologne, tobacco, and rich alcohol fragrance is what this man smells like. It's quite intoxicating and makes you feel a little dizzy, but that's Jesse's intentions, like a drug you're getting addicted to.

Looks are everything for this man, despite his face being turned into the horrors today, he makes a very good impression with designer clothing, perfectly polished Oxford shoes, and perhaps a Rolex? Cars are like accessories, the flashier the better. Why not a Chrysler, maybe a Jaguar? Perhaps a Rolls Royce? Cars exhume power and by Gods, Jesse loves the power. If you have the money why not buy the finest things life has to offer?

Jesse is an extrovert and when he enters a room is like a panther is stalking the room, looking for the next victim. He is no shy guy and likes to make his thoughts known by all means; signing, electronic reader? He has many ways. His moods wary, depending on the situation at hand and they come in all kinds of forms. Jesse can go from playful and sassy to downright vicious and brutish. He is a big tease and loves to make people flustered; men or women, doesn't matter.

He has a dark sense of humor and that can be shown by just body language; the way that he teased Princess Gemstone with poking her head with his knife 'This piggy went to the market. This one stayed home.' Or when Princess Gemstone tried to save a bounded girl, but she runs away and Jesse waved his hand in a mocking 'bye-bye'.

He has a God-like complex, always the need to be in charge and that is shown when he killed Preston for trying to take the title as Chromeskull. Now, that's his style and Jesse doesn't like cheap copycats. Greedy, Jesse won't accept other people trying to steal his kills and get credit for his work. Just no.

A theory of mine is that Jesse is running a multi-million chroming company. The reasons? Chroming is very expensive and you can get a load of money from it. How do I know? One friend chromed the wheels of his car and the cheapest he found was 400 EURO. The process of chroming is not only expensive but also very dangerous and complicated. So, therefore, CASH! But also when you came tons of money from snuff films you got to have a business facade so people won't brown-nose into your shit. That's what people with illegal businesses do, a facade business to clean your dirty work.

A prime characteristic of Jesse is his ego, his PRIDE. His ego and misunderstanding other made him lose his face and also WIFE. He saw himself as invincible and he didn't even think about his wife when he started all this mafia-like organization. Just shows how selfish he can be in my opinion and like his wife said at the ending of Laid to rest 2 that she hadn't seen him for months and she was pregnant; Jesse thinks only for himself.

Talking about being in a relationship with Jesse? Here goes a nasty truthful headcanon; you will be his trophy wife, just an accessory for him, and having loyal pussy at his beck and call seems like a sweet treat. You will be spoiled rotten, but that will come with the price of being owned and feel like that. Say goodbye to freedom and the option of speaking your opinions. Now, Jesse wouldn't mind you play a feisty spitfire, all the more fun to see you crumble down in obedience into his arms. The only option you have is to be diplomatic and try to best yourself at playing mind games because if you don't at some point you will end up like his ex-wife.

How you can tell if Jesse likes you? Pretty hard considering he has a habit of being a huge flirt and womanizer, buuuuut...You might have a chance to be something more than a piggy or quick-fuck, if you show that you're more than the common-looking piggies. Be smart, be independent, show him that you won't drop on your knees and choke on his cock; don't be an easy catch, if you want to have him want you as his prime trophy.

[scandeniall]

Let’s Make a Song

Pairing: rnbsinger!atsumu x rnbsinger!reader

Summary/warnings: ur long term on again off again bf Atsumu wants to do your first song together. Thing is you’re currently off/honestly just cursing. 1 tiny implied nsfw sentence. Literally 1

the 2nd piece in rnb!haikyuu bc why tf not. Other

a/n: The song that’s written is change by Arin Ray & Kehlani (that’s also the cover art mentioned later)

Wc: 2.8K

When your manager relayed the invitation to collaborate with Atsumu you were rather surprised. He didn’t do many new collaborations, reserving those for people he’d worked with in the past. Then there was the fact that he hadn’t asked you personally. The two of you were more than acquainted and he definitely had your phone number. But then again it’d been months since you’d last had any contact.

The two of you had been on and off again for the larger part of your careers, meeting in high school and building a friendship for years. A year after graduation you’d decided to make the switch from friendship to relationship. And it worked. The two of you both wanted to pursue music and understood one another. You were one another’s number one fan, muse, and confidant as you grew in popularity.

He’d gotten signed before you but neither of you thought it would change things. Then he started being around less and less getting busy recording his first studio album while you continued to work independently. He’d still come back to you at the end of the night. However that was short lived thus bringing about the first of many splits over the years. It was mutual—things were too busy to give the love someone deserved.

During that first split you’d ended up getting signed yourself. In only a few months you were immediately thrusted into the same professional world as Atsumu and that brought the two of you back together. He’d seen the announcement post on social media and paraded over to yours that night rambling about the betrayal of you not telling him you were in talks with a label. He’d bought over dinner and the two of you got back to talking consistently and rekindled in mere weeks.

That had been at 19. Now at 23 the two of you were still a roller coaster. You’d broken up for a number of reasons over the years. Busy schedules, his ego, your attitude, internet rumors mixed with poor communication, poor timing, you name it. Yet the two of you always found your way back like magnets.

You weren’t quite sure what you expected when you agreed to doing a song with Atsumu, who you were currently off with. In all your years, the two of you had never done a song together. Sure you’d fucked around with writing a few times but neither of you ever used any of those songs. You two had different styles, him focusing more on heavy bass, and reminiscent on the SoundCloud style. Meanwhile you were more soulful and melodic.

You hadn’t even so much as texted atsumu in like three months So of course it was a surprise when you made your way to his for a writing session to see the lyrics he’d already come up with. Lyrics that just by the way he read them to you, were clearly about you.

you’ve got me all in my feelings And I know you get tired of running You stole my heart and I mean it When we break up, can’t wait to make up

“That’s all I got so far,” he sighed leaning back on the couch next to you. “What do ya think”

“It’s different from your usual shit. It’s softer.” You ignore the scoff he sends you and sit back on the couch before he starts complaining. “But I like it. What was the inspiration.” You’re not even sure why you asked. Maybe it was the desire to have confirmation that you really have been the one all these years. There was still a chance it could’ve been someone else

“And you say yer the smart one between us,” is all he says before grabbing his laptop off the coffee table. “I got this beat too. Suna sent it over this morning and I think I wanna use it.” You choose to ignore his confirmation as you begin to get comfortable against the couch. He plays the instrumental and it only further surprises you from just how different it was from his usual. It was undoubtedly more your style and you're almost offended that your friend hadn’t sent you the beat instead. “Ya like it?”

“Could you play it back.” You begin to hum along a few nonsensical words to yourself and you’re aware of Atsumu’s eyes on you. He watches as you hit the voice record on your phone, already aware that you do that in case you say something that you like. You try to think back to what he started with and He moves his notebook closer to you so you can get a better view of the words messily scribbled.

You can’t keep coming and going In and out of my life please make up your fucking mind I give you time and you kill it

Immediately after that he pauses much to your annoyance and ignores your complaint. “I like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Sounds like yer replying back. Like a conversation,” he nods. “Is that really how ya feel about me?” You don’t miss the way he tries to subtly put his arm around the back of the couch and subsequently you. And your laugh.

“God you’re annoying Atsumu.” You end up caving, moving the laptop back to the table in front of you and moving under his waiting arm. You can’t even deny the way you like it either, comforted by the way his hand rubs up and down your arm. “Is that how you feel about us,” you challenge referring to the lyrics he’d come up with

“Course. I look forward to making up ya know.” He chuckles and the look of faux disgust you send him before continuing. “But I mean it. Ya got my heart and have for years.” The words are paired with a kiss to your temple.

You two sit in silence for a few moments before you break it with a sigh. “I’m tired of this shit Tsumu. It’s been years of us and this and the older I get, the more draining it is. I wonder all the time if I should stay or just leave for good.” It’s the first time you’ve ever admitted it to anyone other than yourself, and it’s to the person that has the power to break your heart at any given moment. The only small comfort is that you know it’s mutual and that you hold his as well.

“If you’re tired then write it out (Y/N). It’s part of the reason I asked ya to do a song.” He nudges you to sit up and catches your eye. “I think about ya way too fucking much and I’ve thought about if shit between us was worth it too.” He looks like he’s in through for a moment before quickly grabbing his notebook scribbling for a minute before showing you.

thinking of you is all I do honestly I might go insane cause when we break up can’t wait to make up Some things will never change

He’s playing the instrumental before you can say anything waiting until a certain part and signaling for you to just wait. Then his voice softly fills your ears as he goes into the words and points at you to follow up with what you’d sung before. As you near the end you gesture for him not to stop it yet

It’s very personal to me That you give it everything Should I stay? Should I go? Should I leave? I don't know.

After that your mind blanks and you reach over to pause the track. It felt good. Really good. “I think I have my verse,” you exclaim. “And what if we repeat your part. Maybe starting from thinking of you” you half mumble the words already writing away at your own notebook. You don’t even notice the look Atsumus giving you until you look back up minutes later after humming along and trying to string the words together. “What”

“It’s nothin. Just love watching ya write that’s all.” You end up shooting him a soft smile before focusing back on the words in front of you. “Actually, this beat is more you than me so did ya wanna do the bridge”

That causes you to look up in confusion. “Are you sure? It’s your song. It’d be weird for me to have a bigger part?” Atsumu is brushing off the question of you asking him to be serious. You didn’t want to step on any toes or offend anyone.

“If it’s that big a deal to ya we can go back n forth or somthin’.” His eyes question yours for a moment before smiling in victory at your agreeing. “Besides, Suna was gonna send it to ya anyways. Paid him to let me have it instead. Didn’t take much just-Ow!” HES quickly cut off by your fist coming into contact with his shoulder. “Why’d ya-“

“You’re an ass, did you know that,” you roll your eyes in response. No wonder the beat was so different from his usual. Because the track wasn’t meant for him. You’d have to bitch at Suna later for giving the track to Atsumu of all people. And for who knows what kind of lowball offer it was. “Wanna tell me why you did that. Or I can leave. Your choice” you’re closing your notebook at this point shifting away from him a bit.

“I missed ya.” It’s the only thing he says before your scoffing and getting off the couch and starting to gather your things.  “I’m serious (Y/N).” The feeling of his hand grabbing at yours causes you to stop. “I kept thinking about us and couldn’t Bring myself to text. I got Suna to give me the track cause I wanted to see ya and talk.”

“Why couldn’t you just text?”

“I can say it better in a song. And I know you can too. Now c’mon don’t go alright?” You allow him to tug you back down onto the couch with a sigh. He wasn’t necessarily wrong. You’d wanted to settle things between you both once and for all for a while now. He just provided the opportunity. You both needed to know if you were just wasting time.

“Listen. If ya wanna talk about it outside of the song let’s go for a drive then.”

“First you steal my beat to get me to come over, now you wanna trap me in a car with you?” Atsumu only looks at you unbothered before you sigh. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”

“If it’s that bad, you know how to tuck and roll. I might slow down enough.” —-

“Atsumu what are we doing,”

He doesn’t even spare you a glance before responding. “Driving.” When you don’t reply he lets out a sigh before giving a real answer. “Do you still love me?”

“Yes,” it’s like you answer before your brain even ponders the question. “Do you still love me?”

“Wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t.” His words are just as confident. He shoots you a quick glance before continuing. “I wanna get back together. For good this time. Heard about yer date with that Semi guy.”

Your breath hitches for a moment. While you’re not surprised that he knew about the date last month, you didn’t think he’d mention it. You’d woken up the morning after notifications crazy. Pictures of the two of you filled them and many of the tweets had actually tagged Atsumu as well.

“We weren’t together so ya don’t have to go explaining anything,” he stops you from your attempt at an apology. “Of course i'm not sure what ya saw in that guy. But it made me realize that yer the one I want. Always been the one.” He shrugs before the hand closest to you comes to rest on your thigh. “And I’ve always been the one for you too right?”

“Are you serious about wanting to make us work this time?” His hand leaves your leg for the wheel again and you watch in confusion as he makes a few sudden turns. He mutters something about giving him a few minutes before pulling into a random parking lot. He shuts the car off before unbuckling so he can turn his entire body to face you. “What are you doing Atsumu?”

“Move in with me.” You’re looking at him like he’s grown another head before he continues. “My lease with Samu is almost up and he’s been wanting to move closer to his shop and I wanna be closer to a studio. I’m serious about us and I just think-“

“Would you actually help with boxes or just sit on your ass and watch?”

The questions cause him to frown a bit in thought and you can’t help but laugh as he actually interprets the words and what they really mean. You could tell the exact moment he gets it and a lazy smirk settles on his face instead. “No promises babe. I kinda like watching ya walk away.”

The way his face eased closer to yours had you following his lead until your lips met. You can feel yourself smiling as one of his hands comes to cup your jaw. The kiss is sweet, lips moving slowly against yours in a reunion of sorts. “Stay over tonight we can work on the song again tomorrow.” He pulls away just enough to insist, resting his forehead against yours.

“Already told Samu so he’s bringing enough dinner home. And I got a new toothbrush in the bathroom.”You lean to peck his lips before sitting back in the seat. “You knew this would happen didn’t you.” Despite the accusation you find yourself agreeing with no hesitation.

“I hoped. It’s a difference babe. If not, more food for me” his hand quickly grabs yours to place a kiss on your own before settling back on the wheel. “Let’s get back I’m starvin”

—— “Are yer eyes closed? Are you sure? Don’t peek-“

“Hurry up Atsumu,” you groan as you allow him to lead you to god knows where. The song you’d guys finished a few weeks ago was set to release in a few hours and Atsumu refused to let you see the song cover. It was a surprise, or so he told you every time you tried to ask. Even in his new song tease on twitter he just posted blank images. New song with a surprise guest coming soon ;)

He’d had you meet him at his label and jumped on you the second you stepped into the building blindfold in hand and stupid grin on his face. “Don’t act like this is a new thing for ya,” he’d whisper in your ear as he tied the blindfold and laughed when you attempted to hit at him and miss.

“Stop complaining before I make you wait until the songs officially out. We’re almost there” you feel his hand leave yours before it’s placed on your back. You can hear a door open before he instructs you in. “Small step up.” With your restricted sight your hearing has seemed to increase tenfold. You can hear the sound of blinds opening and him moving around. “One second babe.”

After a few more moments and complaints for him to hurry up a pair of arms wrap around your waist. Leaning into the warmth you feel his lips kiss up your neck before stopping. “You can look now.”

It takes a moment for your eyes to spot it. First your eyes dart around the room to see nothing out of the ordinary save for a table with a champagne bottle. Then one of his arms points toward the window and you freeze in shock. “Atsumu is this?” You turn to look at him expectedly as he nods and pushes you near it. From the window of the building you see the cover art plastered on a billboard.

“Where did you find that?”

Atsumu’s voice grows closer as he stops next to you. “Our mom came down a while ago. Had some shit to deliver and brought some scrapbooks. It was in there.” You nod in understanding before he continues. “Ya like it?”

The picture was one from years ago. He’d just gotten signed and that weekend you and a few friends went on a road trip to celebrate. That particular picture had been taken on a Polaroid as you two were outside supposedly star gazing. On the mountain of blankets it was clear that his attention was more on you than the sky. It was one of your favorite pictures for a while then eventually you had broken up (for the first time) and it was long forgotten.

“Love it. Brings back memories you know?” You don’t even notice he’d gone to pour you a glass before he's dangling off in front of your face.

“Here’s to our first song together babe”

bonus things

yall actually filmed a music vid (this isnt included bc i am only now finding out theres a mv despite having this song in my music for a year)

he tweets the song link with “decided to stay”

atsumu ends up buying suna a ps5 game he wanted as a thank you (not w/o complaining though)

ppl on the internet arent even surprised that yall are back together (theyre tired too tf)

atsumu ends up putting that polaroid in his clear phone case <3

this is yall 6th time getting back together (yall keep trying HUH lmfao. but yall never actually ended on bad terms and always stayed friend)

you end tweeting a joke “ok last time yall i promise LMFAO”

[monstersandmaw]

Evening to ya, Ghosti✌️😆

Sorry if the wording sounds silly, but I wanted to ask if you know any rituals I could do for the New Years. 🤣 Christmas hasn't been exactly an easy time for me for various reasons and I tend to get the holiday blues pretty bad, and for a long old while New Years has felt very similar. I'm doing my best to feel hopeful and to have some faith for the new year, but it's turning out to be trickier than I anticipated. So I wanted to ask for suggestions as to do anything that could help feeling more hopeful, I dunno. :3

Though feel free to ignore this if you don't have the energy for it. I hope you had delightful holiday however you celebrated!!! 😊💖💖💖💖

Hey anon! (it’s now afternoon here in the UK, and it was morning when I started this! I got a bit carried away). I don’t know that I’m necessarily the right person to ask about this, but here are some ideas of things I’ve found helpful/centring/calming anyway which you could draw from. Other folks, please feel free to chime in with your favourite ways to put the old year to bed and welcome in the new one!

(first of all, I’m sending you lots of virtual ghostli hugs to help drive away those holiday blues. That sucks, and I’m so sorry it’s been so tough for you.)

Here’s a rundown of what’s below, and I’ll put in a ‘keep reading’ so that it’s not an incredibly long post! Some of it is more on the ‘spiritutal’ side of things, and others are just mundane and practical things.

Congratulate yourself on making it through the clusterfuck that was 2020

Make some tea and meditate on what’s been and what you wish for

Go outside, be still, and breathe deeply

Let go of negative events and thoughts by writing them down, then safely burning the paper

Disconnect from social media for a few days (or however long you’re comfortable with)

Start a bullet journal

Write lists of goals for 2021 and then refine/distill them down to 3 manageable objectives

Commit 100% to 6 months of positive change

Pick three dates/months in the year when good things will happen, and make them happen (including growing veg/fruit)

Light a candle on the full moon or New Year

Ok, so, first of all, you’ve made it through this year!! That’s no small accomplishment, given the sheer volume of absolute shite that has been flung at us from all angles, no matter where in the world you live. Celebrate that. Seriously, I’m not being flippant. Take a moment of stillness wherever you are, be ‘present’, and just think about the fact that you’re here, right now, reading this post. Not everyone is here any more for one reason or another, but you did it. Congratulate yourself and celebrate that. Treat yourself to a slice of cake (or something you really enjoy) specifically to celebrate making it through 2020.

Make a cup of tea (try a new blend or recipe perhaps, or stick with your absolute favourite), or make a comforting drink of your choice. As you pour the water into the cup, breathe in the steam and enjoy the scent of it. Try and imbue all the positive things - memories, achievements, moments etc. - that you encountered this year into the tea/drink, and think about them growing in strength as the tea steeps, and envisage them continuing on to next year too. When you drink the tea, you take the positive thoughts into yourself and they become a part of you. You could try it in the morning with a caffeinated drink (if you enjoy those) and let it fuel you for the day, or you could try a herbal tea at night to let the good vibes steep overnight while you rest. Make it part of your daily routine; a private meditation.

Go outside and find a quiet spot somewhere and either stand or sit and just soak up the atmosphere. If there’s a tree nearby, think about the way its roots are planted in the earth, its trunk stands tall, and its branches reach towards the sky. Feel that space inside you. Breathe deeply in and out, visualising your lungs filling to the deepest parts, starting at the bottom. Count to four for each inhale, and six out (or whatever you’re comfortable with, so long as the exhale is longer than the inhale). This will help to still you and calm you.

If you have something fireproof (can just be a ceramic bowl), take a piece of paper and make a moment to write down all the negative things about this year, using a pen that you’re comfortable with. If you’re not one for words, draw pictures. You can make it really beautiful or just scribble it all down - it doesn’t matter. Get that shit out. Look at it for a while and read it through, mentally letting go of each thing as your eyes pass over it, then light one corner (carefully!!!) and let it burn somewhere with good ventilation (a cooker hood is good for that, but outside is better). Visualise all that negativity being swallowed by the universe and let it go. My favourite line from the Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf comes at Beowulf’s funeral when a Geat woman is singing her grief at his passing to the sky, and there’s the simple sentence: “Heaven swallowed the smoke.” How beautiful is that? The sky swallowed up her grief as she poured it out to the universe. The negativity might take some time to vanish from your life (it’s not going to disappear at the same time as the paper, sadly!), but watching it go can be the first stage of letting things go. I did this last year, and I’m only just letting go of the last things on that list, but it was a start, and it made me feel more at peace. 

Disconnect from social media. I know that with so much more happening online this year out of necessity, we’ve become even more dependant on our phones and computers, and it’s wonderful that we have this chance to connect with people when we can’t see them face to face, but social media can also act as a crucible for negative feelings. People usually post the best or the worst aspects of what’s going on for them or what they care about, so it leads to a skewed view of both the world and of what’s going on amongst our connections. It’s easy to start feeling insignificant next to someone else because of their achievements or their looks etc. and it’s also easy to start to get a bleak outlook when the news is full of terrible stories and people are reacting to it in a volatile and often knee-jerk way. Take some time off - uninstall the apps, or put the limiter setting on, or just step back - for a day, two days, a week, whatever you’re comfortable with. It doesn’t have to be forever. If you use those platforms to talk to people, tell them what you’re doing, and give them another way to reach you if they need. No need to isolate yourself completely!! Think about how you felt before you started it (write it down?) and do the same afterwards, and compare. If it didn’t work for you, then that’s fine too. 

Start a bullet journal! Now is the perfect time to start bullet journaling. I first started this year when I felt like time was slipping through my fingers and my life was out of my control, and it’s really helped me to get a sense of order back. It’s not the magic cure-all for procrastinators and time wasters, trust me, but it can help to organise your mind as well as your day, and keep track of your habits etc. It can be literally whatever tool you need it to be. There’s a trend on social media - particularly Instagram and YouTube - that shows off these gorgeous journals that are basically works of art in themselves, and while it’s absolutely fine to aspire to that if you want to, the essential point of the bullet journal is to be a tool. You can buy print-outs from Etsy if you don’t fancy doing your own spreads. But don’t get completely hung up on pretty spreads and layouts because you won’t use it fully then. If you’ve got ‘new book fear’, like I did, make your own! I literally started my journaling by folding a few pieces of paper over, slapping a few stickers on them to cheer them up, and writing some lists. I didn’t buy a ‘proper’ journal until July 2020 when I’d got the hang of what I wanted out of the tool, and how to use it. I adapted one or two things, and I’ll be changing one or two things for next year, but it was a good way to start.

Here are two ‘minimalist’ journals and styles that I found helpful when setting mine up. They focus on usefulness and practicality, rather than overwhelming, artistic spreads and cutesy designs. I’m about to do a ‘plan with me 2021’ journal video for YouTube, so I’ll put that up when I’ve finished it, in case that’s helpful. 

Elsa Rhae

Pick Up Limes

Write down the things you want to achieve for 2021. These can be more abstract concepts like ‘more organised’ ‘healthier’ ‘start a business’ etc. Then, when you’ve got as many things as you’d ideally love to achieve/accomplish/manifest (don’t hold back at that stage), take another piece of paper and choose a maximum of six from that first lot to focus on, and below that, choose just three absolutely essential things to focus on. Make those your things for 2021.  

Now, this one is a personal one for me, so it may not be applicable at all to you/others, but I’ll share it anyway. For me, I need to make some significant lifestyle changes for my physical and mental health. So, I’ve decided to commit to 6 months of really hard work to bring about those changes. Time is going to pass anyway, from January to June. Six months will come and go anyway. Where will I be in six months’ time? I could be physically and mentally exactly where I am today. That thought is super depressing to me. Or, I could devote 200% focus, commitment, and energy, and bring about those changes, and be the ‘me’ I want to be in six months’ time.

It’s like the adage of ‘given a week to write a speech, it will take you a week, but given a day to write the same speech, it will take you a day’ - your brain will tell you it takes the amount of time that you have at hand to accomplish the task, and that’s simply how long it then takes. Use those three things from the 2021 list above, and commit to making those three things happen.

As an aside, tell someone (whose opinions you value) that you’re going to do this. By telling someone, you’re helping to cement the idea in reality, and you’ve got a support to turn to if it gets rocky, someone to cheer you on, and someone to celebrate with who knew what a struggle and commitment this was to you in the first place. 

Pick three points in the year where good things will happen. Book yourself something nice, save up for something and have it delivered then, or tell yourself that you will have achieved [x] by May, or September, or December. For me, it’s a working draft of my novel, and certain health goals by October, but make it yours, and keep those points fixed in your mind. It will help 2021 not to be one amorphous mass of time, and will give it structure and form. You could also choose to grow something in a pot - lots of vegetables can be grown cheaply from seed in a pot on a windowsill, and you’ll have something tasty to eat at the end of it!!

Here’s a slightly gentler idea to finish with: 

On New Year’s Eve take a moment to yourself, go outside if it’s not raining or too cold etc., light a candle, hold it (safely) in your hands, and be still. It doesn’t have to be exactly at midnight, but it will help your focus if it’s dark. Otherwise, go to a quiet part of the house and turn the lights down so that the candle flame is your focus. As before, think about what you’ve achieved this year, and be honest, not just negative! It’s very easy to say ‘oh I didn’t achieve anything, it all sucks, it was all awful’, when there will be tiny victories tucked away in there, I promise you, even if it was the toughest year of your life. Then think about where you are at the moment, mentally and physically. Acknowledge that state of being. Look at it with honest eyes. This moment is not for anyone else, so you don’t need to colour it one way or another. It’s for you. If you’re finding it hard not to be negative, be neutral. Let those thoughts come and go, and then turn your mind to the future. Mentally feed those negative thoughts into the flame in front of you, one at a time. Say it out loud if that helps, but do what makes you comfortable. Let the light from the flame fill your mind and your heart, and think about your intentions for the new year.  

Tonight (30th Dec) is a full moon, so if that is significant for you, you may wish to do this tonight instead of tomorrow. 

I hope that some of that gives you some inspiration, and I hope that people will chime in with their own new year’s rituals and habits. Be honest with yourself but not harsh, and be positive but not unrealistic. This year has been one hell of a ride, and we’re not done yet... Here in the UK, we’ve got the highest numbers of Covid that we’ve ever had, we’re in the harshest lock down (Tier 4) and can’t visit anyone, and we’re also going through Brexit (which is proving a nightmare for everyone, especially small businesses...).

Control the things you can control, and learn and employ systems to ride out the things that are beyond your influence. And take heart - you have a family of folks on here, all across the world!

[ga-yuu]

Manhua/Manhwa’s I hate!!!

No hate on the art style or the author. It’s only the story and the characters that makes me want to rip my hair off...!!! In short, I’m a person who cares about the story. The art is also important, but if the story is so good then I wouldn’t mind the art.

Also I read these awful ones in 2018 and 2019, so might not remember them very well, except for the fact that I hated it.

1.  Háomén qìfù de chūntiān/ The deserted woman.

So this was the manhua that started me getting into stories where female lead sleeps with the male lead at the first chapter and doesn’t even remember each other the next day and after 5 or 6 years, the female lead with her kid, meets the destined male lead like they are star-crossed lovers. To be honest, I like stories with these kind of premises if done in the right way. Sadly, this one is not.

The deserted woman is a story about Kate and Lina, two step sisters, with Kate being the illegitimate child. Kate is the innocent and kind one and Lina is the cunning and villainess. In order to save their father’s employment, Lina arranges Kate to sleep with their father’s employer. Kate, without this knowledge, gets drugged by her sister, but accidently walks into another room, instead of the one she was designated for and sleeps with a young man(male lead). Next day, she confronts her sister about this and realized that she was the one who plotted everything. After few chapters, Lina found out that the man Kate slept with was a very big business tycoon. So Lina gets jealous and plans to marry the male lead, by presenting Kate’s baby as hers and pretend in front of them that she was the one that slept with him.

This story was a drag..... Like literally a drag and annoying and irritating and was testing my patience each time when I kept reading. The problem with this is that, there are some many misunderstandings, many annoying characters, and problems that could be solved easily if the characters just talk to each other and clear out these misunderstandings. But no! They just kept dragging and dragging and dragging and kept pissing me off!!

Kate is a dumb bitch. I know it’s rude, but after reading this manhua, you’ll feel it too. She’s just so dumb, throughout. She knows that her sister was the one who plotted her assault but still keeps falling into her trap again and again. After knowing that, Lina took her child and pretended as it was hers, Kate could have gone and confronted to the male lead and his family that it was indeed her child, by performing the DNA test. Half of the problem would have been solved then and there if Kate had done this. Instead, we get a love triangle with another blonde guy, and surprisingly he’s the only one I like in this manhua. He supports Kate to help her move forward and start a new life. But in the end, he doesn’t gets the love he deserves because he’s not the male lead and Kate falls in love with her sexual assaulter(male lead).

The male lead is stupid and has no personality and who clearly needs to get arrested for raping the female lead several times throughout the story. He knows everything, about Lina’s lie, and that Kate was the real mother of his child. But still decides to keep quiet, like he’s this cold hearted CEO or something. If he knew everything, why didn’t he divorce Lina? Oh! I know because he’s an idiot. Also still keeps assaulting Kate without her consent when she’s drugged again later in the chapters, you want me to believe that’s all a part of ‘romance’..... 

*Sighs* I hate this manhua, very much, that I stopped reading it. I’m a sucker for romance genre, but this is not the romance that I was looking for.

2. Mr. Fu’s favorite

Shen Wei Lan(female lead) was the lover of Fu Su Mian(male lead). But Mr. Fu was taking her for granted and Lan dies in an explosion, after realizing this. She travels back in time and wakes up in her own bed and was surprise to find out she was alive. After realizing that she had travelled back in time, she chooses to change her fate and decides to not fall in love with Mr. Fu. But for some reason, this triggered him, and Mr. Fu becomes a yandere and from here starts the love story of a girl and her yandere boyfriend.

Actually, the manhua was okay. It was fast paced, and kept on getting interesting. I started reading manhuas back in 2018, and this one I think in 2019 but I still remember some parts liking it. But the reason why it makes it into this list is because it ended in a bizarre way. It’s like you wouldn’t even know that you’re at the end chapter until you see ‘The End’ at the very last and you’ll be sitting there and thinking, ‘what did I just read?’

It felt like the author wanted to end it somehow but didn’t know how, so he took the cliched idea of making it as a dream sequence at the end and wanted the readers to believe that all we have just read past 60+ chapters were all a dream. Now you be the judge of this manhua.

3. Trouble with the President: Return of the Princess

Has anyone read the prequel: Trouble with the President? I did....and it was boring. And now the second part is even more boring. Susan(female lead)’s father loses his company and everything he owns to her uncle in one night. She decides to seek revenge by setting up the another business tycoon, Chandler(male lead) in bed, so that she could be his wife and with that she could get back what she and her father owned. (ー_ー )

Look. I don’t think assaulting someone is the pathway to romance. I know the author wants to make it look sexy but this is not right! in anyway! The prequel of this, kind of had the same story, where the male lead asks the female lead to be his bedroom partner, if she wants to save her beloved orphanage. The female lead unwillingly agrees but asks for time so she could prepare herself. He agrees and gives her one week........but they have to live together. The first one was boring but I still sat through the entire manhua to see how it ends and it was exactly like I predicted. The sequel is the story of their child, Chandler and when I saw that there was a sequel, I was like ‘I’m not going to waste time reading this garbage.’ But even after saying that I still read it and I’m not recommending it. But I know there will be people out there who would be curious to see how bad it is. Do whatever you want. At the end this is just my opinion and we might not have the same taste.

4.  Arranged Marriage With My Beloved Wife

I have a mixed feelings for this manhua. It was good but......it does have things that I have already mentioned before. You guessed it right!

The story is about this innocent homely girl was drugged the night before her wedding. She sleeps with a handicapped man(male lead) who was suppose to marry her sister or something, IDK. The next day, the handicapped man decides to marry the female lead and she does too, because they felt like they were out of options. Though they were married, the female lead didn’t have any feelings for the male lead. But slowly after seeing his love and respect towards her, she also falls in love with him.

Okay, so the thing I though was weird was because, throughout the story, they didn’t even give a hint that his legs were okay and that he could walk. A part of me did guess that the story was going to go that way, but since they didn’t mention it even once, I decided to stop thinking about it.

Until, at the ending chapter, this guy could walk just fine and he carries his wife in his arms and walks away..... that’s it. That was the ending. But why? Why did you stop there, author? You could have given nice side stories or at least showed the future where they would have kids and all.

5. My sweet wife.

Shia/Xia(female lead), fall in love with her third uncle(male lead).

........ (◕‿◕)

............. (◕‿◕) (◕‿◕)

.................... (⌒‿⌒) (⌒‿⌒) (⌒‿⌒)

.............................................Yes. That’s it. That’s the plot of this manhua. Is there anyone actually....like a die heart fan of this?

[beetlefursuits]

Why Your First Fursuit Commission Was a Disaster! (or How to Prevent it)

Being approached by a stranger asking you to be THE fursuit artist they have chosen can make you feel AMAZING and eager to say YES!

Out of all the artists out there, they picked you!

The immediate assumption is that you can knock that project out and get some money in your pocket, while filling out your portfolio, gaining some experience, and having some fun!

But pause a moment, step back and think “Am I ready for this? Is this the right client for me? Do I even WANT to do commissions?”

Before you jump into business with someone, consider the following list of reasons that this project (or this client) might not be the correct fit for you.

Six Tips For Success in Choosing Which Fursuit Commissions to Accept (and which to avoid!)

#1. Will I ENJOY Doing This Project? 

Is this REALLY something you want to make? 

When a new project crosses your eyeballs and you get that excited glow, you can immediately imagine how great it will be to show off the finished product in your portfolio.

But stop and REALLY think about the project you are considering, break it down into every aspect, every small detail that you will have to source and buy materials for, that you will have to construct and sew and cut and sculpt and paint, and then decide how jazzed you really feel about building it.

300 rosettes (you realize only after counting each one) will look amazing but consider sewing each one and how does that make you feel. Sew a test spot just so you can time yourself and feel it out.

Those cool markings? How will you do that? By machine? By hand? Do you have the fur for it in stock? Does it even exist and do you know where to find it?

How will you do the long hair to get that particular shape? Does it have Spikes? Horns? Both? What will they be made from? Have you done it before? Does that prospect of making something new excite you? Or do you feel dread?

If you are not starting it immediately, consider how interested you will still be in a few weeks or months once that initial glow has faded, the deposit has been spent, and what’s left is a pile of materials and the prospect of a lot of hard work.

If there is an aspect of the project that you do not like, consider that future clients will see this work and assume it’s the type of project you wish to do again.

#2. Am I CAPABLE of Completing this Project?

Building a commission is NOT like building a personal fursuit.

With a personal project, you do not need to discuss your ideas with others, you do not need to stick to a reference or plan, you can cut corners with sewing or final finishing, etc.

A commission requires a lot of back-and-forth discussion between the artist and the client. You have to consider the opinion of someone else. You need to accurately size it to a person you have never met and who cannot try it on during the process. Everything has to be finished and durable and clean.

Following are 4 quick tips to consider if you’re ready to accept client work:

Do you know how long it takes (roughly) to build a (non personal) fursuit?

Have you already made and sold artistic liberty/artist-designed/premade projects? When you are starting out, this is how you decide on your pricing and deadlines. It’s not good to enter into an agreement with no idea what to charge or how long it will take you!

Do you have a dedicated work space/guaranteed amount of time available?

Fursuit making takes a lot of space (Huge awkward foam rolls to store and fur to spread out while you pattern/cut. Duct tape dummies awkwardly starfish out their arms and legs all the time and don’t help at all with the sewing) and it’s much easier to work on commissions when you separate life and work areas.

If you currently have other major obligations besides fursuit making (such as work, family, health, and school) which already take (or have the potential of taking) most (or all) of your available time, then it might not be the right time to take full suit commissions. Artist-designed projects and smaller projects will offer more flexibility for unpredictable and limited time—and energy.

Are there a lot of new elements to the project that you have not done before?

Some things may look easy and then when you start building it you realize that it’s much more involved than you expected. This can be a huge drain on your time, your money, and your motivation (which just compounds those first two issues).

An example could be a character with 3 tails. It’s just 1 tail(X3) right? But will they all fit correctly together? Do you make and attach them as one tail or leave them separate? Will they bounce or sit weirdly? Do you now need to make a new ‘side tail’ pattern so they splay out in an appealing manner?

Or say you take on a particularly tall client and you suddenly have to research and develop all new larger hand and foot designs as your current ones do not fit them or the padding you normally make looks too small now and needs to be remade larger.

These are all aspects worth considering. To prevent taking on more than you can handle, my suggestion is to take on no more than one new aspect (that is preferably no more than 10-15% of the project) on each commission that you’ll need to research and develop. You will probably go over time and over budget on these new processes at first (as you gain experience you naturally find ways to craft things quicker and easier) so it’s best to not knowingly take projects that you do not yet have the skills and/or experience to fulfill.

Can you take criticism?

Paid artistic work invites criticism. Sometimes something you make does not work out. You loved it and the client hates it. Or it doesn’t fit. Or it fell apart. That is all part of learning and growing and trying new things. Can you take the corrections, make it right, and move on?

If you feel that you currently cannot emotionally/mentally/physically handle potential setbacks/obstructions/times where things just don’t go your way; stick with non-client projects that are easier to control and fit to your schedule (premade suits. ears and tails. fursuit props.) and revisit commissions further down the road.

#3. Is the Client Displaying Red Flags?

Knowing which clients to turn away is a valuable skill.

As your business grows, it pays in your time, resources, and sanity to know when to refuse a commission (or when to cancel a commission) and to do so as early and gracefully as possible.

If you watch for situations like these, you can focus on cultivating happy, excited, and RESPECTFUL clients who love your work and your preferred artistic style. Not those who try to cut corners or denigrate or manipulate you for their own goals.

Here are 6 ‘red flags’ to consider when picking or accepting client projects.

The client complains (a lot) about their previous artist(s)

Simple, constructive, and legit complaints are one thing (the client says “Artists tend to get this marking wrong so here is how I really want it.” or “My last artist used these materials but it broke so can we try something else.”)

If instead the client immediately gossips about/trash-talks previous artists to you, it shows a lack of social boundaries and the high potential that they will then trash-talk about you/your work in the future.

Poor Quality Reference art.

This one is not a deal-breaker as long as it is not paired with an uncommunicative and/or demanding client.

If the client wants a “sly grey wolf” then we may proceed as long as we both understand that it will be my personal version of that idea and might not match what’s in the clients head.

If the very specifically-desired concept involves complex unclear markings, specific tattoos that are not consistent across the reference, the client’s desired fursuit and the reference do not match, a blurred photograph of a scratchy OC reference, etc; IE ANYTHING you cannot make heads nor tails of.. then ask them to clear this up with a favorite reference artist first and get back to you.

(And If YOU are your favorite reference artist, make sure to charge appropriately for the extra service!)

The client is a child or cannot/will not prove their age.

Children cannot be held to a contract in the USA and most fursuit artists require their clients to be over 18 (many are starting to ask for proof such as a photograph of a legal ID). You may choose to proceed with the project but the contract, payment, and all discussion needs to go through the child’s legal adult caretaker.

A client who micro-manages you and/or your work through constant criticism, proposed changes, or ‘redlines’ of your work.

These clients (though generally well-meaning) are honestly hell on the self-esteem. The occasional suggestion or constructive criticism (as mentioned earlier!) can be very helpful in determining the angle to take on a project or future projects.

But CONSTANT red lines and complaints and ‘suggested changes’ to your work (that they keep suggesting because they don’t even KNOW what they really want from you) means that NEITHER of you is going to come out of it feeling very happy about the art. Cancel and refund them and move on. I promise that it’s worth it.

The client disagrees with the quoted price/requests a discount/attempts to change the commission parameters.

“No” is a complete sentence.

To elaborate on that further; not everyone who asks for a discount is like this but be warned that there ARE potential clients who look for bright new fursuit makers, with the intent to jump on them early and obtain a new commission at a low price by (knowingly or unknowingly) taking advantage of the artist’s inexperience.

I am going to give a fictional example of this situation to show how insidious it can be:

You are still unsure about fullsuit commissions but you say on social media that you’re thinking you could try a head? An acquaintance says yes! Me! PLeeeeese. They seem excited so you agree for an introductory price. This new client chats a lot and seems friendly.

Could they get feet?? Feeling on-the-spot you agree since they’re ‘friends’. You’ve not made feet on commission yet so you underestimate the difficulty and under-charge. The client seems happy tho. They discuss a few changes they want to the head (that they’re sure they mentioned in the initial quote). Maybe you forgot??

This all takes some time and meanwhile they show you some reference art they just got done of a different character and ask to move the commission to this since you don’t have THAT much done yet. Also how much for hands?? They find you at a con and offer to buy you a drink. You restart the work.

A few more rounds of these (or similar) behaviours. The client starts to complain how long it’s taking. Maybe they drive other potential clients away with their actions or threaten an artist beware on you. And eventually you realize you’ve been manipulated and bullied into taking on a complicated fursuit that you had no intentions of making and have very severely undercharged for. Not fun!!

Instead of this situation coming to pass, hold your ground in the beginning and refuse to ‘add’ to a commission or to change a commission after it’s been paid for and/or started. This muddles what you’re working on and allows the client an opportunity to keep changing things forever. (instead treat the add-on as a brand new commission to be started only after the current part is finished and paid for)

Do not entertain those who think you’re not worth the price you’re asking for. Do not give ‘friends discounts’. Friends want to see you succeed!

Other artists warn against working with them.

Get to know other fursuit artists! We are usually happy to vouch for good clients and warn about any particular issues you may experience with others. Sometimes there are issues that prevent one artist-client relationship but can be managed within another and eventually other artists might recognize which clients to refer to you (and you to them).

If you are wondering how to start this type of discourse, there are public groups on Facebook or considering joining a fursuit artist’s Patreon and/or Telegram chat! Many fursuit makers have one (or both) of these with various mentoring tiers.

As an example, all of my patrons are given a link to join my Telegram chat where you can share your work and receive critique from a like-minded audience. At higher tiers you can join my Discord to share and chat in real time.

If there is a fursuit artist that you admire, ask them and see what they offer!

#4. Do I Need The Money?

Fursuits are maybe NOT quite the jackpot they might first appear to be

Fursuits are deceptive. It sounds like a great deal to gain several thousand dollars in one simple cheque, but, if you are not careful with budgeting, if you undercharge, or under-estimate how long it will take; you can find yourself falling into a state of using future projects to pay your current project materials, shipping, taxes, etc; as well as your regular life expenses like rent, car, insurance, utilities, loan repayments, etc.

The simplest practice is to prevent this entirely right from your first commission! My suggestion is to first take on smaller projects with a quick turn-over. This keeps you flexible to increase your prices or change your practices as needed. Then when you have enough savings to keep yourself afloat (so that you will not need to dip into your fursuit deposit money even if things don’t go exactly on schedule), you can take larger projects with longer turn-around times and higher price-points.

If you do find yourself in a situation where you NEED the money immediately; the issue is that you will be much more motivated to take on more difficult clients, less fulfilling projects you don’t really like, and overall accepting a worse deal for you for the reward of immediate payment (which then exacerbates the issues by giving you more work for the future and then pushing you further into the hole). Sadly, getting out of this situation can be very difficult.

Sparkle Kreations writes:

In my earlier business years, I found myself in a deep hole; I struggled financially day to day, I had over 80 clients on my list, and I was overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done. There were solutions, all very challenging decisions laid out before me. One path was the one most recommended, was that I go out and get a full-time job as I slowly refunded everyone on my list (a viable decision, advised to me by furry and non-furry alike) while I continue living and paying my living expenses. Another path was that I completely close off all large commissions, only taking on a few quick/small commissions to keep a bit of income flow, closely budgeting every dollar that I spend as I worked on my queue and knocked out my commissions until they were all complete. So I chose a hard path to regain my business name; I started by being completely honest with all of my customers and offering refunds if they chose. I then worked 6-7 days a week/8-10 hours a day, for about 5 to 6 years. I watched my budget closely, avoided going to conventions so I could instead refund customers. I now run a successful business that is financially stable, with a comfortably-sized queue, where myself and my assistant comfortably work a 5 day/35 hour work-week.

Finally, keep in mind that what really matters is not the $$$$ on the cheque but actually how it distills into $/hour. An artist is limited by the hours they are able to put into the work and a sexy $$$$ fursuit deposit might not actually gain you more in the end than several smaller $$$ projects with quicker overall turn-around times. Track your time and choose the most profitable options to promote and pursue.

(For much more on the physical realities of running a business, read my previous blog article “What I’ve Learned From The Past Decade Working as a Professional Fursuit Artist”)

#5. Can I communicate effectively with others?

Good communications are key with all client-artist interactions.

Can you stay calm, be professional, and set expectations? Poor communication (on either artist or client end) can easily snowball into angry clients and artists, stress and anxiety, emotional withdrawal from your work, misunderstandings, and even artist bewares.

There are several important aspects to communicating effectively:

Can you stay calm and professional even when the client is combative?

At some point, you will have a difficult client. When this happens, you need to stay professional and work through the issues with them. If you cannot agree then you might need to part ways. You must do so with the grace and assurance that you did everything possible to fix the situation. If you think “Taken out of context, will this screenshot look bad?” And the answer is “yes,” then you need to step back, collect yourself, and rewrite your reply.

Can you set expectations?

As the artist, you can choose your commission methods, but you need to be VERY CLEAR to the client what those methods are, what your expectations are (for them and for you), and how the commission process will proceed. Before you take any clients, figure out what you what you want out of the commission process. Do you want to take on clients for money? For the satisfaction of a job well done? For the social challenge of managing an artist-client relationship? Or the artistic drive of working to a specific goal and schedule? Aka WHY do you want to take commissions??

If you have not developed your own drive and are not familiar with your own commission process then you are not ready to move a client through that process

Are you ready to directly and clearly (and repeatedly if needed) communicate your policies to a client through the design, payment, construction, delivery, potential changes or repairs of the commission?

If you need payment by X date or they’ll be dropped from the queue, you need to inform them of this. If they have an issue with the work you did (and you need them to ship the item back asap so you can fix it before their warranty runs out), you need to inform them of this urgency and what failing to act by the deadline will result in.

Don’t leave it up to the client to know your policies. Your policies/procedures should be on your website Terms Of Service (TOS) that you had the client read and agree to, but a little refresher (plus a reasonable and clear deadline, if applicable) allows everyone to move on informed and aware of the consequences.

Do you have a method to communicate with your clients and be available for them to discuss issues with you?

I’m not saying be available 24-7 (an important self-care aspect is having certain hours of the day and/or the week to yourself without any work concerns) but if the client has an issue, how will they communicate that with you so that you can respond in an effective and timely manner? Do you prefer Telegram? Email? Twitter? Decide how you want to conduct business matters and let clients know where/when to contact you.

Do you have a method to update your clients and ask their opinions?

Depending on how you like to work, you do not need to ask a client’s opinion on every aspect of the build. However, showing your work and giving updates on the progress will make the client feel happy and secure in their commission choice.

One easy method for updating that I like is to keep a Trello board of projects where the client can always see the current progress of their commission. Telegram is a popular group chat client. It’s nice for sending pics/videos to clients and the ever classic email is perfect for initial quotes and longer back and forth discussions.

Can you always be honest with your clients?

It’s hard to run an entire business by yourself and you might promise too much or underestimate how long something will take or you life circumstances change and you now have less time to work. When these things happen, you need to be honest and transparent to your client. Explain the issues you are having (in simple, appropriate terms), apologize, and try to work with the client on a solution.

If you are going through some things that might affect work or deadlines, let them know. Keep in mind though, this doesn’t mean you have to share ALL of your struggles if what you are going through will not affect them. Just share what you feel they need or deserve to know.

#6. Do I have other artistic or personal goals right now?

Are commissions even right for you? 

If you have other things that are important in your life right now, it’s perfectly acceptable to focus your time on them instead of commissions.

Depending on your stage of life, you might still be in school. Or have a family. You might have another job or a hobby you enjoy. You also might just have other artistic goals that existing commissions do not fit into right now. People love your canines but you want to try cats instead. Or cosplay.

Or you don’t know what you want to do yet but agreeing to a many-month long contract is not that.

The desire for quality fursuit work from reputable artists is high;

if you are active in your community, your peers might try to convince you into taking their project.

It’s great that they love your work! But if the project is not in the direction you wish to go, does not offer enough money in compensation for sacrificing something else you want to do instead, or you do not feel like you can dedicate the time needed, it’s okay (and probably necessary!) to say no!

The ultimate goal in taking client commissions is to have them bring you MORE satisfaction and fulfillment than they take away; Be that in monetary, social or artistic terms.

Figure out your personal drive in being a fursuit artist. Create and run a thoughtful, intentional, and passionate business; whether you decide to take on 30 clients, 1 client, or zero clients.

Above all, have fun with it! Bring those characters to life without losing your own.

[toloveawarlord]

Ch. 2

Characters: Elaine, Arthur x Theo, Vincent

Pairing: Elaine x Isaac (eventually)

Tagging: @plumpblueberry​ @lady-moonbroch​

A/N: This chapter turned out nothing like the first draft XD Enjoy some Elaine spending time with her Uncle and she meets a boy!

Four days into her new job as Theo’s assistant, the mood in their home had drastically lifted. Elaine never complained and paid close attention to every task given to her, exceeding all expectations. She quoted things he’d said to her years ago and questioned smartly, craving the knowledge he had. Having her along had proved quite useful with prickly clients, smoothing over situations with a charming smile and sweet words, likely emulating Arthur. 

Theo enjoyed having time with her. In recent years, they’d grown strained. The teenager wanted more freedom and broke rules in place to protect her because she believed them unnecessary. Now, at nearly eighteen in only two days, she’d fought harder. Being able to keep an eye on her put the art dealer at little more at ease.

His daughter sat across from him, glancing at him out of the corner of her vision. Elaine hadn’t taken the news that she couldn’t accompany him today well. Instead of anger, she’d pouted silently all morning.

“I take it that you aren’t happy with today’s agenda,” Arthur piped up with an amused grin not quite hidden by his cup of steaming coffee. The previous night Theo had informed him of the impending unhappy teenager.

Elaine stuffed the fork full of pancakes into her mouth, enough to make her cheeks puff out to match her frown. She’d gotten up extra early and made pancakes and extra sweet coffee, but the answer remained unchanged. Now, she wanted to drown her sorrows in syrup and butter until she got sick.

“Vincent has asked for you to help him today while I’m gone.” Theo could easily see the motive behind his brother’s sudden request. He’d promised to make her do some work instead of spoiling her the entire day.

The teenager flinched at those words. She couldn’t very well turn down her uncle, as she adored him so much. Help isn’t the word she’d choose to describe what the day would entail. He’d likely ask her to do a small task or two, nothing that required much effort. “Fine. I guess I can do that.”

Working didn’t bother her. She assisted around the house with the chores without complaint. If Comte asked, she would readily agree. It irritated her that this client wouldn’t allow her entrance to his home, prompting this sour mood. No promises of being quiet or staying outside had swayed Theo. He couldn’t risk spooking the man.

“If you find yourself in need of something to do, I can have you proofread for me.” Her grimace only made the mystery writer chuckle again. Her disdain for that job well-known. Though she enjoyed his stories, playing editor didn’t appeal to her. A tedious thing.

Theo cracked a grin, rising from the table. “You better thank Vincent for saving you from that.” One check of his watch ended the conversation. He bid his family farewell before heading into town alone.

“Are you sure you don’t want to help your Papa with his work?” Arthur teased further. He had been a tad jealous that she eagerly wanted to assist Theo over the course of the week. Ah, but he was also grateful that the two were more understanding of each other.

Elaine stacked all the empty plates to carry them to the kitchen. “I love you but no.” Her curt reply still amusing. Setting the dishes in the sink, she licked the sticky syrup off her fingers.

“Off you go then. I’ll take care of the cleanup.”

The young vampire didn’t need to be told twice. Housework didn’t appeal to her either. She did her part, pitching in when needed, but if told she didn’t have to do it... the teenager bailed as quickly as she could.

Inside the mansion, the hallways were quiet and empty.  At this hour, everyone should be awake, except for Leonardo perhaps. Rapping her fist against Vincent’s door, she cast confused glances down the hallway.

“Goede morgen, Elaine,” Vincent greeted with a bright smile. He laughed softly at her confusion. Since Arthur and Theo had moved out of the mansion with her when she was only 4 years old, daily happenings didn’t reach their house as quickly as it spread through the mansion. “We’re the only ones here today.”

“I’m okay with that.” She flashed a disheartened smile, unable to shake the dark cloud hanging over her. Her normally mischievous and lively attitude disappeared. The others might have tried to make her understand. She understood perfectly fine.

That didn’t make it less saddening.

“Come here.” He’d barely open his arms and invited his niece to find comfort with him when the teenager stepped forward and accepted the warm hug. Vincent stroked his fingers through her copper hair. He wouldn’t say it out loud, but she reminded him so much of Theo when he was a child. “You know, he couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful you were on the job.”

“Really?”

It wasn’t that he hadn’t said so to her. Theo would give praise often, especially when she came up with new ideas. Telling the others about it, that was rarer.

Vincent hummed in response, a gentle smile on his lips as she peeked up at him. “I’d say he was outright bragging. I’m not surprised. You’re his daughter after all.” Placing a kiss on the top of her head, he laughed softly at her uplifted mood.

Elaine lingered a little longer before releasing him, soaking up his sunshine-like warmth. “I guess I could stop pouting about it.” Relenting her sad feelings, she sighed softly before questioning. “So, what was it you wanted my help with?”

“I finished the final painting and I thought I’d ask for your expert advice on where to put it in the gallery space. That is, if you want to.” His request was well-received with a glowing smile from his niece. Theo had mentioned that he’d given her the sole responsibility of choosing how to use the space to best showcase the art. The uncle looked forward to seeing what she’d done.

***********

The paintings on the wall were shrouded in black cloth, to hide the precious items from view until the day of the showing. Only a select few knew what was beneath, ones trusted by Theo to make this a success. Elaine had been gifted one of the only keys to venue, a testament to her importance.

“I believe I’m looking forward to this event more than any other,” Vincent commented, allowing the staff to hang the framed piece in its designated spot.

The heat in her cheeks caused the teenager to turn her gaze anywhere else. “It’s not much different from how Vader does it. I’ve been to more of these than any other event in the city.” The location changed but ever since she learned to walk, she’d been toddling around, observing, and learning how it works. Before she’d even realized, she’d begun understanding color theory and composition.

“It wasn’t too long ago that you were only a few years old and correcting patrons on the medium or style of the art. You always had this incredibly serious expression, much like Theo.”

“That was so long ago! I’m almost eighteen!”

Vincent chuckled with a loving smile. “Yes, I guess that’s right.”

The chime of the door timed perfectly with one of the staff calling to speak with Vincent. Elaine stepped away to investigate the newcomer. Violet eyes narrowed at the sight of a boy, likely no older than herself, attempting to take a peek at the portrait veiled by the black cloth. “Excuse me, but you can’t be in here.” Her tone less than polite, Elaine thrust her palms against his chest to push him away from the art piece.

“Oh, my apologies. I’ve been most curious about why there are staff entering but it’s never been open for business.” His emerald eyes filled with hidden intent that didn’t quite match the half smirk on his lips. The boy never resisted her pushing him back to the door and onto the street. “A secretive operation, I presume, miss?”

“Elaine and we don’t open for another two days.”

Her biggest fear was that he was a spy for le academia and all of her father’s hard work would go to waste if they were discovered. He didn’t fit the typical appearance of a high bred family, usually scrawny and uptight, and he wasn’t either of those things.

“I’ll have to pop in when you are open. My name is Leon Autry.” He flashed another brilliantly smug smile and winked. “Might I inquire your surname, should I have any future questions?” The reason lost on the recipient. He’d yet to ask anything relevant to the gallery.

Elaine turned on her heel to return inside. “It’s Doyle.” Even though she didn’t quite like the boy, she couldn’t risk turning away a potential buyer. Her cheeks were warm, and it wasn’t clear if it was from embarrassment or anger. The young pureblood didn’t have many friends her age, and that led to a bit of awkwardness when around humans her age.

“Ah, like the writer.”

The girl stilled, hand hovering above the door handle. Perhaps she’d heard him incorrectly.

“You might not know of him. He’s a British writer, mystery, I think.”

Or perhaps not.

“I believe it’s Arthur Conan Doyle. Any relation?” Leon asked as if he already knew the answer, like playing a game of truth or dare in order reveal a secret for confirmation.

Elaine relaxed her shoulders. Although she could hardly admit that she was indeed was the daughter of that very Arthur, albeit the vampire one, she wouldn’t allow him to glean that precious information from her. “No, but you aren’t the first to ask. But wouldn’t that be grand? Imagine being related to someone as talented as that.” Her dreamy smile fowled his for a moment.

“Imagine.” The façade of his grin had ghosted away for a split second, but it didn’t go unnoticed.

“Elaine, are you ready to head back?” A third party interrupted, much welcomed by the girl. Vincent approached the two, protectively a half step in front of his niece. The tension between the two children enough to worry him.

Her head bobbed once in response. “Yes, let’s go home.” The way Leon’s eyes followed her unsettled the girl. Elaine settled back on the seat in the carriage, mulling over the strange interaction. Was it so unusual for someone to draw a connection between her name and the human Arthur from this era?

Whatever the case, she now had a proper mystery on her hands.

[studyingoose]

i’m always trying to find ways to lessen my impact on the environment but being a uni student means that most of the time i’m trying to find a balance between realistic long term actions and sustainability. so below, i’ve shared some of the ways i currently help lessen my environmental impact as well as some habits i’d like to slowly integrate into my life in the future.

bring your own water bottle - i think this one is pretty straight forward. i’m very lucky in the sense that my university provides a lot of refill stations. i usually pack my water the night before with my lunch so i don’t have to stress about it the next day. plus!! with my own water bottle, i can add lemon slices or mint etc. in winter, i like to use a thermos and bring honey lemon water, hot tea, or just not chilly water.

pack your own lunch - this not only helps you save money but also makes sure you know what you’re eating. i have a perfect sandwich sized container as well so it means i don’t have to use plastic wrap for anything. since i’m a vegetarian, most of my meals are pretty straightforward and feature rice, pasta, eggs etc. that i can buy in bulk with less plastic packaging as well.

bring your own utensils/keep cup - if you enjoy coffee, either sit in the cafe or bring your own reusable keep cup! my university is really conscious about this so all the nearby cafes let us bring our own cups and sometimes you even get discounts for not using single use cups. when i do go out to eat as well, i try to bring my own utensils so i don’t have to use the single use plastic (or even those wooden chopsticks) this also applies to straws for bubble tea or smoothies.

switch milks - i know a lot of people already have coconut, soy, almond milks with their coffee/tea due to lactose intolerance/other medical/personal reasons. many coffee shops do charge for plant milks but if they don’t then it’s an option since the dairy industry produces a lot of methane (also plant based milks are healthier). i don’t personally buy milk often because i don’t drink it so it’s not a big dent in my budgeting but if it is then don’t worry about it.

reuse notebooks  - on top of recycling my scrap paper, i reuse notebooks that i never finished. instead of organising my notebooks in terms of papers or courses, i separate them by area of study so it means that i can use the same notebook for 3/4 years for politics or english. otherwise, i use the backs of notebooks to write practice essays, do past papers, doodle, do random brain dumps etc. essentially i treat unused paper in notebooks like loose leaf.

buy pen refills and do pen audits - find out what pens you actually use!! i know for me, i’ve felt pressured by the studyblr “aesthetic” to buy stationary that i don’t have a use for and it just results in unnecessary consumerism. i use roughly 10 pens at most as well as some art supplies but for my pens, i try to use refills instead of replacing the entire pen. in the future, i’d like to also stop using correction tape and be comfortable enough to just cross things out. i have to use a wide range of pencils for art but in general use, i simply own 3 mechanical pencils and refill the lead instead.

carry a reusable shopping bag - recently, my country banned single use plastic bags so now everyone uses reusable shopping bags or no bags. although you can buy brown paper bags for 20 cents in supermarkets, you never know what you’ll need to carry around so i like to bring a tote bag.

invest in a quilt - i am super guilty of getting cold really easily and that means i usually have the heater/thermostat on in winter when i’m studying but recently i’ve come to realise that i abuse that a lot. so instead of automatically going to turn on the heater, i try to see if i’m wearing enough first or getting a quilt to put on my lap when i feel cold. this way i don’t have to rack a super high power bill in winter.

change your mailing options - previously i’d get mail from my bank regarding bank statements etc. now i’ve opted for monthly statements online instead saving the paper that they’d use mailing me, similarly i no longer sign up for coupon books, circulars, random magazines etc.

thrift shop your clothes - i feel like this is a really big trend in my city but i’m trying to only thirft shop my clothes now instead of buying new. the thrift shops that i have access to are really good quality and it’s basically a reseller where people who bring their clothes in get 50% of the sale. this does mean that clothes are pricier than big chains like h&m but it also means that you have to think about the purchase for longer + a lot of the finds are super unique and will most likely last longer.

mend your own clothes - in a similar sense to thrifting, don’t just throw out a shirt because it’s missing a button. a 20 minute youtube tutorial can make sure that shirt remains a staple item in your wardrobe. plus sewing leads to darning your socks, knitting, crochet, or even making your own clothes.

consider epilating/laser hair removal - i used to go through so many plastic razors during summer because i was someone who preferred no hair. i know there are many people who don’t mind their body hair and that’s great! for those of you who do however, considering an epilator (multi use) or even laser hair removal (permanent). both are more expensive however they both also use less plastic (compared to fornightly/monthly throwing away of razors)

bulk make your own snacks - i really want to make my own museli bars in the future since i eat them a lot. usually i try to limit my snacks to things like carrot/celery sticks, fruit, nuts, berries etc. but i try to not get individually packaged snacks (they can be more expensive as well since you’re paying for convenience). this is definitely something i can work on but i’d like to be able to bulk make my own granola, museli, dips etc. in the future.

replant your vegetables - this is a lot more achievable for me since the place i live is rural in land style. currently my family has a multitude of fruit trees, tea trees and we’ve recently gotten into reusing our vegetable scraps. for celery/cabbage/lettuce/etc. you can replant the root area. the same goes for spring onions (which are super easy to grow! and garlic cloves!) most vegetables are quite easy to grow with just a bit of googling. even if you don’t have a lot of space but would like to give this a shot, consider adding some herbs to your indoors plant collection.

visit farmers markets - unfortunately, this isn’t that big a thing where i live but i remember going to a few as a kid and the produce is much fresher, the atmosphere is lovely, and it’s a good way to source food and products. many stalls also sell premade items like jams, sauces, baked goods, soap etc. so if you find yourself busy then it may be a possible investment to buy from farmers markets.

some other habits: composting, public transport, bicycling, bamboo toothbrushes, natural home cleaners, raising your own animals, beeswax wraps, cloth napkins/handkerchiefs, buy in bulk, use rain water to water your plants, invest in a menstrual cup, choose wooden over plastic

disclaimer: you don’t necessarily need to buy anything to be more environment friendly!! some things on this list do suggest it but look at your life currently, if you don’t drink coffee or tea on the go then there’s no need for a keep cup etc. invest in products, don’t just buy them because they’ve been advertised.also, i’d like to iterate that whilst climate change is a very real and very scary threat,  personal use by the general population only results in a small part of it so please don’t feel like you’re letting anyone down if your personal situation or any part of your life prevents you from doing more than a few things to help the environment. as long as you’re not being dick to the environment and taking 4 hour showers, using 500 plastic straws a day then doing your best is enough. if you can’t do anything more in lessening your environmental footprint, then that’s okay. other people might be able to so even just spreading the news could help a lot.

if you have any other habits that you do not in this list then please tell me as well so we can all learn from each other !

happy learning everyone xx

[aperrywilliams]

A Normal Conversation Ch07 (Spencer Reid x Maxine Brenner)

Previous Chapter / Ch07 / Next Chapter

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Chapter 7: The second date

Summary: Second date for Spencer and Max

Word Count: 2332

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

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As he promised, Spencer was out of Max's school at 12:00 noon. Waiting in the same place as the last time. A few minutes later saw Max come out through the gate. Upon making eye contact they both smiled to each other. She walked over to where Spencer was.

"Hey… how are you?" said Max. “On time as ever Spencer" added.

"Hello. Yes, it's a habit on me... in case you hadn't noticed". Both grinned.

"It is a good habit I think. I admit it’s more hard for me..." Max said scratching her head.

"How have you been this morning? Are you ok?". She thought it was sweet of him asked her about it. She remembered their conversation from the night before over the phone.

“Yes, truly. I think I found myself just at a moment a bit distressing... but I'm fine now". Max said. “By the way... thanks. It helped me we could talk last night”.

"And it's what I intend us to do today" Spencer statement. “I have so many questions for you...". Max upped her eyebrows.

"Is it going to be some kind of FBI-style interrogation?" she joked. Spencer couldn't help but laugh.

"I hope not that kind of interrogation... shall we go?" he said quickly.

"Yeah, let’s go. We will walk there?”

"No, we’ll go in a cab. The place is a little further from here". After saying it, Spencer stopped a cab in front of them. He opened the door and invited her in first. Then he came in, closed the door, and the car moved when Spencer gave the driver instructions to get they were going.

Along the way Max told him the story of how she came art’s teacher at her school. Spencer thought it was reasonable she accepted the job in that circumstances.

"It was a good opportunity for you" he said.

“Yes, I needed to have my space and be independent and I think it was the best reason for me to make that decision. I had a good letter of recommendation too. That sure worked” said Max.

"But now you're not so comfy there..." said Spencer.

"I think I’m not" said Max, frowning. "And I think is because there is so much I could do with those children! But every time I propose something new I have someone at school who tells me that 'you can't', 'it's irrelevant', 'you have to worry about other things'… And so over and over again".

"Have you thought about what you would like to do, truly?" Spencer asked.

"So many times you would be surprised..." said Max. At that moment the cab stopped. They had reached their destination. Spencer paid and got off first, helping Max get off later.

They were in front of an Italian restaurant. Max looked at Spencer and couldn't help but joke.

"This time you’ll make sure you don't get hungry" They both laughed.

"Yeah, I wasn't going to take that risk again" said Spencer.

They walked towards the entrance and come into the place. It was not a big place, but it was very well decorated, very Italian style. Black and white photos of different people hung on the walls, possibly the owner's family of origin. There were checkered tablecloths on all the wooden tables. Chairs was wooden made too. A young woman approached Spencer and Max asking if they needed a table. Spencer nodded saying "for two, please". The young woman led them to one of the tables by a window, the one that faced the crowdy street. She handed them two menus and told them that the waiter would be taking their order soon.

They sat down and took the menus to see what they were going to eat. Max looked at the menu with an infinity of dishes on it and was not quite sure what to order.

"Any suggestions? So many options overwhelm me" Max asked. Spencer thought for a minute.

“If you ask me, I think the risotto at this place is fantastic. Although I traditionally choose pasta, I like it more”. At that point the waiter came to take their order. Max heeded Spencer's suggestion and chose a risotto with four cheeses sauce, while Spencer ordered his traditional pasta with putanesca sauce. To drink they asked for water and juice.

“I think I had already asked you in the cab, but now we could return to the subject. What would you like to work on?" Spencer asked.

"I've thought so many things" said Max, sighing. "From the most unlikely to very simple ideas". Spencer looked interested, waiting for her to continue talking. "For example, did you know in museums and theaters there are programs that encourage children's bond with arts as a way to integrate soft skills they cannot acquire at school?".

"I suppose it's reasonable to think of something like that given museums and theaters aren't going to survive long in this digital era otherwise" Spencer said.

"Sure, it may be a business plan for them, but despite it I think this kind of measures can help expand children's minds and connect them with things more sensitive than math’s... I would love to do something like that...". Saying it Max paused for a second. "Of course... no offense" finished saying. Spencer smiled at the last sentence.

"Are you saying it because I like math?... Ok, I think I can forgive you that" he said jokingly. Max smiled.

"I've also had crazy ideas like going to Los Angeles for artistic painting on the shore of the beach, smoking weed, like I did when I was younger...". Spencer stared at her trying to know if what she was saying the truth or teasing him. She noticed it and decided to challenge him. "Okay, Dr. Reid, Mr. Profiler... those I just said, is it true or a lie?". Spencer accepting the challenge scrutinized her eyes and body language. He watched her carefully and silently for a few minutes. Max couldn't help but blush feeling his eyes so meticulously look on her.

"It is… true!" Spencer sentenced, surprised himself by his finding. Max smiled sheepishly.

"Clearly there are things I did in my youth I'm not very proud of today ..."

"I am not going to judge you. I have no moral for it. I've also done things I'm not proud of…”said Spencer. At which he quickly regretted saying it. Max was about to question him when the waiter arrived with their order. "Our dishes!" Spencer said quickly "…Now you’ll tell me if my recommendation was good for you or not"

Max didn’t want to do her own questionnaire on him. She was hungry and preferred to focus on food. Apparently Max's plate had been a good recommendation, since he was enjoying it with great need. Spencer was also concentrated on his own plate. From moments to time he looked up to see how Max was enjoying her food.

"I owe you one. It was an excellent suggestion” said Max taking a sip of the juice that had been brought while they was eating.

"I’m happy you liked it" said Spencer pleased. After she wiped her lips with the napkin. Max started to speak again.

"Well then... FBI. And you travel a lot you told me. Do you like it?"

"My job? Too much. I love it. Travel is something you get used to… or at least you should get used to” said Spencer.

"And if you do profiles to catch murderers... isn't that like 'playing' at being them and thinking like them?"

"In fact, that's what we do". Spencer noticed Max frowning. "I know... it could be heard as very morbid thing... but the truth is... being difficult and unpleasant as it could be... sometimes... I think someone has to do it".

"I am not going to question it. I think it as a very dedicated job and it is good there are people like you who do it…”. Spencer looked at her knowing there was a ‘but’.

"But…?" Spencer asked.

"The thing is... how can you deal with it?... I mean, in your daily life". Spencer thought about it a few seconds before answering.

"I don't know... I guess trying not to think about it too much. At least I try… ” Spencer said.

"But you have those dreams..." said Max. ‘Touché…’ thought Spencer.

"Eh… yes. I think sometimes it just beats you... a little...". Spencer lowered his head and thoughtfully for a few moments. Max knew had struck a tough matter so she wanted to change the subject.

"Okay. I think we shouldn’t have to talk about work" She looked at him and gave him a smile. He smiled too. "What do you like to do when you are not traveling?"

"Wow... ok. I love to read, a lot. I have a small and interesting collection in my apartment”

"I can imagine it... and I bet it's bigger than you say, since I think it couldn't be any other way" said Max.

"One of these days I’ll invite you to my apartment and you’ll realize I’m not underestimating my collection...". Spencer paused for a few seconds, hoping it didn't sound like an overly explicit invitation. Apparently Max took it very naturally.

"It would be nice to see that, although I could bet you do have a giant collection..." Max laughed. "Well, what else…?"

“Uhm… I like to watch old movies sitting on my couch eating popcorn. I also like listening classical music on an old record player I have… sometimes I write little case reports for my classes…” said Spencer.

"No offense, I think I'm beginning to understand why your therapist told you to go out more..." Max said with some caution to try not to make Spencer feel bad. He just laughed out loud.

"The truth is… I like my place. I think it has everything I need for when I'm not at work. Even though…"

"Even though …?"

"Even though I think walking in the park and talking with you could also be one of my new favorite activities...". Max couldn't help but blush, knowing perfectly well what he was referring to.

Spencer couldn't help saying it either and though it might seem like he was flirting but he really was convinced of how good a practice like that had done to him. Gratitude perhaps? He thought was clear it could be more than that. Her eyes captivated him. When she speak… the passion was clear in her words. She looked secure, defined in life... he, in other hand, being the genius he was, felt he lacked. "Had she suffered much in her life?" he wondered. He hoped not. He inadvertently felt a need to protect her but he was not sure why,  because it was clear that she didn’t need any man to protect her.

Time had gone by too quickly for both of them. When Max saw the clock on her phone realized if she did not leave at that moment would be late for class.

"I have to go now, the next class is in 20 minutes" said Max. Spencer gestured for the waiter to bring over the check. "Thank you so much for lunch" she said while was getting up from the chair. Spencer rushed to stop her.

"Wait, I'll go with you…"

"Spencer, it is not necessary, I can take a cab outside…".

“Let me go with you. I brought you here. At least let me take you back” said Spencer.

"I'm not going to get lost, if that's what worries you…" Max said jokingly. The waiter had brought the check and Spencer was paying with his credit card.

"I know you're not going to get lost... it's just that...". The waiter finished processing the payment and left. "Let me go with you".

Max didn’t understand why so much insistence by him. Under normal conditions she would believe this excess courtesy was a typical tactic of male conquest, but in Spencer it’s looks like very natural. There was no way he was faking politeness.

She finally agreed to have Spencer's company in a cab. The funny thing is throughout the trip none of them spoke. They only gave each other furtive glances hoping the other didn't notice. Despite that the trip wasn't awkward. Apparently they liked having that kind of company even if they was silent. Max felt in comfort with his company even though they knew each other so little. She wondered if he would feel something similar.

When they got back to school it was almost 3:00 p.m. They both got out of the taxi. Max was in a bit of a rush, but she didn't want to be rude, so she let Spencer walked with her to the entrance. They stood looking at each other for a few seconds.

"Thanks for the lunch. I had a great time with you today… and the risotto was totally worth it” said Max smiling.

"No problem. Thanks to you for stand me all these hours…” Spencer said jokingly. Max couldn't help but patting his arm.

"Hey! Don't say that. You don't seem to be torture after all”. Max laughed.

"Good to know it... Ok, I'm leaving so you can go to your class”. Spencer moved closer so he could kiss her on the cheek. He hesitated a few seconds, but when he saw that she was approaching him, he decide to do it. It was a short but very warm and pleasant kiss.

Goodbye Spencer. Take care” Max said before turning and come into the school. It was just time to start her class.

"You too..." Spencer managed to say, although in a voice so soft and low that hardly she heard it. Then, with his hands in his pockets, he began his walk in search of a cab to return to work.

--------------------

[lucahqs-blog]

❛ ✶  —  did you see LUCA MARTÍNEZ walking around campus earlier ? i hear a lot of people talking about the TWENTY-ONE year old JUNIOR . from what i know , they are studying HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY while minoring in ILLUSTRATION and are a part of PHI KAPPA DELTA . they come across as + DIPLOMATIC but also - NON-CONFRONTATIONAL , which makes since because on their instagram ( LMHQS ) it says they are a LIBRA . when i see them , i think of LONG 2AM ROOFTOP CHATS, 100% GREEK & DEAD POETS SOCIETY CHAOTIC ENERGY, MESSY ROOM COVERED IN ART & PROJECTS, DOG-EARED TEXTBOOKS, CIGARETTE SMOKE. the most interesting thing i’ve heard about them though , is the fact that [  REDACTED ] , but don’t tell anyone i told you that .

hello, loves !! this bean goes by rue ( she / her pronouns ), and i’ll be playing this Mess™, luca ( with fc by froy gutierrez ). below you can find his bio, enjoy ! + disclaimer: there are mentions of mental health and cancer, so please read at your own discretion.

biography

When someone hears the name Martínez, they automatically think of words like prestigious, wealthy, and perfect. And who wouldn’t? With the father being a State’s Attorney and mother owning her own real estate business, you had to think like that. In the public eye the Martínez family was flawless. Diana was the always supporting wife who thrived in raising money for fundraisers and showing off her cooking skills and David was being a husband who brought home piles of money and was devoted to his family. Everyone wanted what they had. Luca Martínez was born into a world where perfection was of the utmost importance. The Martínez family are one of those prestigious families that has always been full of wealthy and high-class snobs, and Luca’s parents were no exception. He grew up learning how to be charming and handsome, and aware of his superiority over those of inferior to him. Luca’s childhood years consisted of him sitting restless at various fancy parties and dinners, while his father kept him from all the treats so that he would grow up to be fit and strong. Luca’s father was always cold and emotionally isolated from him; only after a perfect son to show off to the world.

He has brother, who is three years younger than him, named Nathaniel. His relationship with his brother, however, is a bit estranged just like with their father. As much as he loves his brother and wishes they could see eye-to-eye, sometimes they tend to butt heads often. Whether that might mean your typical sibling arguments or full-on blown out fights, they just cannot seem to see get along.

As a young, restless little child, Luca sought escape from his shallow, chilly life in the form of a friend. His friend taught him that there was such thing as warmth and friendliness, told him lots of stories of Greek mythology, and he learned that his father had been lying about “tactless individuals” being horrible people. However, when his father found out about his associations with his friend, within a week, the boy mysteriously disappeared. Since then, Luca kept all his unapproved-of friends to himself. Unfortunately, as time went on, Luca grew up to become a lot colder and more isolated like his father—leaving the feeling of pure joy of meeting that friend he met long ago, had vanished. With his family situation being completely dysfunctional and rottenly horrible, he never experienced what being happy was all about.

Sometimes calling someone selfish is a gross exaggeration, but in Luca’s case its right on-point. Eventually in his early teens he became distracted, always preoccupied with his own affairs and matters of interest. Whether it was schoolwork, his multiple and usually explosive relationships, or his many existential crises, Luca was one for waving people away and turning the conversation back on himself. This was not necessary out of narcissism or some hidden agenda: Luca genuinely does not know who he is. Perpetually fidgeting and restless, it is not uncommon to see him rapidly flicking a cigarette lighter, or playing with his hair, or bouncing on the balls of his feet. In high school he was brilliant: it was that simple. He was the golden boy. Prone to spilling into intellectual spiels - and labelled a know-it-all - he internalized everything, memorizing tiny details, eyes skipping here and there. His intelligence is among his most useful traits and is by far the thing he values most about himself. Much of his ego is built around the confidence that he is effortlessly smarter than almost anybody he encounters. Knowledge is power, and he weaponizes his superior intellect, using his brains more than brawn to protect himself and intimidate the people he does not care for.

Although his parents were the bane of his experience 100% of the time, his mother was not all that insufferable when she had her moments away from his father and not trying to be this pristine ‘perfect’ woman beside her husband. In fact, throughout his childhood she often encouraged Luca’s belief in extraordinary things and hoped he had carried it throughout his life growing up. His mother had always made him promise to have courage and be kind to others, for—as she explained to him—kindness has power, and that she would see him through all the trials that life could offer, in life and death.

Cancer/mental illness TW—when he was thirteen, his mother had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. Upon hearing the news, Luca’s whole world clasped. Not only was he at a pivotal stage in his life where everything was changing and becoming more stressful ( becoming a teenager, starting high school, going through puberty ), the only important person who had actually showed him any kind of love in his life had be claimed by the deadly disease altogether. So many thoughts and feelings were going through his mind at the time, that he ran himself physically sick and had experienced his first panic attack. He has since been medically diagnosed with panic disorder. Thankfully, the cells on his mother’s cervix were diagnosed at precancerous stage and the doctors were able to treat it because it developed and spread. However, that didn’t and doesn’t stop Luca from being in a constantly state of panic every time his mother so much as feels pain or coughs due to irrelevant reasons. The entire year had changed him and his family for a while.

He is now attending Beaumont University currently in his Junior year studying Human Physiology and minoring in Illustration. The university is his parents’ alma mater and he joined his father’s former fraternity after he was convinced it would be a ‘father-son bonding experience’ to have shared the same Greek house. Not to mention, his family has pretty decent ties at Beaumont, making Luca pretty well known become his parents. Sure, his family is wealthy, well known in the socialite community, and has basically grown up with this sort of life from an exceedingly small age, but to say he actually cares about all that crap is an overstatement. He is nothing like some of the spoiled and entitled students at his school and rather vibe with himself than gossip about the latest trend.

Despite issues with his own family, Luca has a lot of personal of his own he deals with. He is capable of enduing tremendous hardship. Though he may not handle difficulty in the healthiest or best way, often repressing emotion, he mostly like emerges on the other side. He does not know how to express his emotions in a put together way, but rather fumbles it all up and starts to ramble. Rarely opens up because of this. He usually distracts himself from his insufferable emotions with hobbies such as playing the piano, painting, and reading some of his favorite classics. After he moved out the house at eighteen to pursue college and became more independent, he started to come into his own style with his wardrobe. To put it simple, he is like a hippie dippy child of the universe.

No joke. No seriously, his place at home and his dorm is full of sensual shit and art. It is getting out of hand and somebody needs stop him soon. Catch him rocking the Greek philosopher and Dead Poets Society aesthetic around campus. He strongly believes that art is an umbrella term that relates to expressing of oneself—not just through photography and painting—and that everyone has the freedom to express themselves however they please. Because of his beliefs, he chooses to break gender roles like bread and wears whatever the fuck he wants because yolo. His appearance pretty much represents his hippie dippy lifestyle with him wearing all sorts of hipster shit. His clothes can be very flowy like, but don’t let that fool you. He doesn’t miss the opportunity to represent his upper class within his style, so he does dress to impress, let me tell you. His hair color changes sometimes too depending on his mood but it’s generally never too eccentric.

[rpgwrites]

10 Questions

I was tagged by @cdrkateshepard, @natsora, and @mrscullensrutherford Thank you all for tagging me!!

Tagging: @ljandersen, @ripley95things, @obvidalous, @wickedwitchofthewilds, @that-wasnt-so-bad, @pip-n-flinx, @fogsblue, @starsandskies, and @naromoreau, with no obligations. Only if you want to do this. 

Questions by @cdrkateshepard

1. How old were you when you learned how to drive? 

I was 22 when I started to learn. I don’t currently have a licence, my learners isn’t valid anymore so I should go for it again in the future. 

2. What’s your favorite drink? 

Like beverage? Coffee!!

3. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? 

Germany. I have Dutch, Netherlands, German, and French blood apparently. But I was always really interested in the German side and since I heard I was part German it has been my dream to go there. And my great great grandfather (I think)  came from Germany

4. If you woke up tomorrow and had a tail, what would you do? 

Hmm... I’m not sure. Try to see if I can use it?

5. How many languages do you speak?

2. Afrikaans and English. I could’ve speak a little bit of German but I forgot most of it. 

 6. How many do you want to speak/learn? 

Hmmm.... I don’t know. German is one. Maybe Italian too? 

7. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? 

Oh there’s many. For one sometimes people seem to think a certain group of people is the same, that’s not always the case. 

8. Would you go to space if given the chance? 

Nope! I like being on the ground. I have a fear of heights lol. 

9. Recommend a movie? 

These days I don’t really watch movies. I can’t seem to sit still long enough to enjoy the movie. So maybe The Lord of the rings? I know most have seen it and it’s not new but I can’t think of a movie to recommend. Plus I enjoyed it when I re watched it a couple of months ago. 

10. What thing that’s popular to hate do you secretly love?

I don’t really think there is something. At least nothing I can think about. 

1. Preferred breakfast. 

Toast, bacon, egg, sausages, mushroom, with cheese. Yes, this would be a breakfast I’d be cheating with. 

2. Favourite mode of transport.

Can walking be one? I like to walk around depending on the neighborhood. 

3. You have $500 in your pocket, you have to buy a gift for a loved one, what do you buy and why? 

Depends on who it is. And I’ll check up on what they would really like to have. 

4. How are you holding up? 

Generally? These days it depends on what time it is during the time. But honestly not that great. Right now, I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.

5. What do you miss doing right now? 

I don’t know? Maybe spending time with my niece. 

6. Recommend a song / book

I can’t think of something to recommend right now. But I’m really enjoying this book I’m reading Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. It’s so mysterious. I think I told you @natsora how much I’m enjoying this one. 

 7. Favourite footwear? 

Tekkies. Well I guess most would call it sneakers. Here in South Africa we call them tekkies. 

8. Post a link to the latest piece of media you’ve created or posted. 

The Path We Take - Last chapter that was updated is Chapter 16

 9. Anything you’re eager to work on? 

Yes!! So much. I really like working on this Dragon Age fic but today I realized I’ll need to cut down on my writing. These last few days I’ve been getting so excited over the Benefactor fic I’ll work in the future. Might be still a while but I’m so glad I’m getting excited over this. 

10. Favourite snack.

Fruit salad. 

Questions by @mrscullensrutherford

1. What is your style? Writing, art, personal? 

I write but I guess you can say art too, in a musical form. I sing, but I kinda stopped singing. Don’t get me wrong it’s one of the things I’m most passionate about and I miss it so much. But I needed a break from that among other things. I’m not sure when I’ll get back to that. 

2. How do you contribute to fandom? 

I write and read. As for reading, I kind of feel bad about that. Because I can’t get to everything anymore. So now I’m only keeping up with a couple of fics. 

3. What song best describes your personality?

I don’t think I really found a me song. 

 4. What hobbies do you have? 

Write, read, sing, etc. 

5. Who encourages you? Who do you look up to? 

No one? The things is everyone has their flaws and by not looking up to someone you won’t get dissapointed. Okay, that sound negative I know lol. But we’re all different and I just want to be my own person. 

6. Do you have a favorite OC? 

No. I can’t choose. I love all of them very much for very different reasons. 

7. Who is your OTP? 

My one and only OTP is F!Reyder. 

8. What do you find encouraging about the next year? 

Nothing. Last year I hoped this year would be better. And that hasn’t exactly happened. I don’t mean with everything that is going on around in the world. That sucks. But with my personal life. I just want to take it one step at a time. 

9. How do you decompress? 

These days I’m having a hard time to decompress. I try to keep my mind busy. Writing sometimes help. 

10. Top 5 Video Games. Series count as one.

Mass Effect

Dragon Age

Skyrim

Assassin’s Creed

Border lands

My questions to the people I’ve tagged.

1. Tell me something positive. 

2. Are you happy?

3. Do you have pets? If you do, share some pics of them!

4. What is your favourite colour?

5. What time is it?

6. Give me some advice. 

7. If you were an animal, what animal would you have been?

8. What is your favourite genre to read?

9. What is your favourite desert?

10. Do you like hiking?

[joeys-piano]

To the Anon who asked for my opinion on Reblogs vs. Likes

TL;DR → Hitting the like button is like telling someone you love them while hitting the reblog/retweet is like expressing through action that you love them. Both buttons express love and feel good in their own right, but one over the other carries a more meaningful weight behind it. Really, the happy scenario here is if both buttons were hit because you get the best of both worlds.

Also, to fucking Hell to the bullshit conventions of “cringe” and to its whole host of brethren that sprung up out of social media culture during the past few years and decade. If you’re going to give fucks over someone because of what they like, look at your fucking self and think of how you’ll feel if someone did that to you. Mind your damn business if someone likes and/or reblogs something that you find cringy. Honestly, it feels like the ones that stir up that noise want to be recognized for something and let me tell you, you’re being recognized by my fist against your jaw.

Reblogs are an essential part to a content creator’s growth, especially in the beginning of their journey and as they’re discovering their style and especially when they’re joining other platforms to grow and diversify their audience. Reblogging or retweeting a creator’s content into your space opens up an avenue that benefits three parties. The first party is the content creator because their work is given more exposure and this provides an entry-way for others to discover more of what they’ve done. The second party is you yourself because generally, people on social media share what they love, what they enjoy, what resonates with them, etc…

If there is a piece of content that amazed, excited, took your breath away or what-have-you, I would say it’s almost human nature to want to share that experience and have others experience it too. And lastly but not leastly, the third party that benefits is your audience. By reblogging another creator’s work and introducing your space to them, you’re helping your audience find more content that they might enjoy, that they resonate with as well, etc… It’s like a domino-effect: those people might reblog the work to their spaces, their spaces might reblog the work to more spaces, and you see this beautiful chain of events. 

As a content creator myself, I am inherently biased. I would prefer reblogs a lot more than likes. I am very familiar with other artists, writers, photographers, cosplayers, gift editors and all the alike who express that same sentiment. With the shifts that have been going on in social media during the past few years and the change in fandom culture as well, there has been a significant shift in the reblog vs. like debacle.

We see time and time again, likes are now the predominant button that people click on and then they go about their merry way. I’m only familiar with Twitter and Tumblr so I don’t have much of a say for other social media platforms. However, what I can say is that Twitter and especially Tumblr are communities that have grown and proliferated because of the reblog/retweet function. With the advent of newer social media like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok or whatnot -- from what I could see as an outsider, those platforms are built more for the like function than for sharing. Or at least, those platforms share creator works not as directly as Twitter or Tumblr has. I could be wrong about that, but this is from what I’ve seen and am familiar about on those platforms.

Increasingly, something else that has caused the great rift between reblog vs. like how fandom and overall social media culture has changed. A lot. I don’t think this should surprise anyone but creating a piece of art or writing or gif edit or anything of the like takes time. Could take half an hour, days, weeks, months even? Content creators aren’t machines busting out pieces every second of the day. We have lives and when we can, we dedicate our time to creating what we love. Because there are so many of us on social media and we’re all sharing our works at different times, it’s no-question that we drown each other out and that a lot of people beyond our audiences even see or are even aware of what we made.

For content creators with an established audience or with an audience that is relatively large, they’re not as burdened by this fact because of their audience and you can count on a subsection of their audience is going to share the work and reblog or retweet it to their audience. For a beginning content creator or for someone that’s coming into a new platform for the first time is building on their preexisting audience from a different platform, that crutch is either non-existent or not-guaranteed. To these individuals, reblogs or retweets can make or break if they’ll continue using this platform or if they’ll continue creating. Because of lower engagement and because their work isn’t given exposure if any.

Likes are fairly decent. They alert a content creator that YOU enjoyed it, but a reblog or a retweet means so much more because in a way, it says: I love it enough where I want others to experience this too. I would even say that the like button is just verbalizing that you love something while a reblog/retweet is the actual action that expresses you love something. From what I’ve heard, action speaks much louder than words.

Earlier, I did comment that I was a content creator and that I would be inherently biased in this thing. That is true. However, there are instances and circumstances I can think on why someone chooses not to reblog what you created. Keep in mind that there are more instances than just the ones I’ll describe and that ultimately when it comes down to it, it is personal preference on whether someone wants to reblog/retweet your work or not.

Perhaps your work doesn’t fit with someone’s theme -- a valid statement, especially since social media tends to lean more towards aesthetics and having an account or blog that curates content of a similar nature. Perhaps this person can’t share for that reason but love the work regardless of that, so they hit that like button because it’s the only thing they can do right now. This person could create another account where they do just reblog things only, but handling a lot of accounts can get confusing and there isn’t much of an audience associated with accounts like that so….it’s up to you as a content creator on how you feel about that.

Another reason why someone didn’t reblog/retweet your work is because although they love the execution or how it was done, something about the content itself doesn’t resonate with them and that’s why they hit the like button only. I do this, especially with fanart. I’ll find an illustration that I love, but there’s something about the content itself that I don’t want to share in my space. Perhaps it’s a pairing or a character or something about it that subjectively, while I can objectively say it’s a good piece of work, I cannot share it for so-and-so reasons.

Another reason can be that if it’s a fandom piece, maybe someone isn’t familiar with your fandom but is liking it to give you support. Or maybe if it’s an original piece, someone gives you a like for support despite their disinterest or maybe the original work itself isn’t their thing but they want you to know that they saw it and want to support in a way that feels best with how they feel about it.

Another reason could be that: hey, I know people who use likes to bookmark content they’ve seen and are adding it to their queue. So the actual reblog will occur in a later time.

These are things to consider as a content creator, as much as we bemoan and give the dirty eye to likes because of the perceived lack of engagement in them. This reblog vs. like debate isn’t one-sided. It involves you and the other person, the person being whoever has glanced at your work.

Both parties cannot force the other to do anything. In general, forcing doesn’t do much of anything -- other than create arguments. Just as content creators cannot force their audience to reblog/retweet, the audience cannot force the content creator to create anything.

In situations like this, I think what would be more beneficial are encouragements and possibly breaking down the bullshit conventions social media culture has cultivated with the rise of “cringe”, with the rise blatant bullying against people because of what they like and the harassment that ensues because of antis and whatever the fuck they do to push a faux-agenda for cleaner and pure content, with the rise of gatekeeping because that shit exists, etc…

I feel that the reblog vs. like debacle is almost a result of other things that have bled their influence in this and that to make meaningful steps forward to a balanced reblog:like ratio, something has to be done about the issues I addressed and above and their subsequent brethren.

[pureluxfilms]

How to Choose a Wedding Photographer

You want your wedding photographer to capture everything that makes your day special, to capture you at your best, to deliver photographs that live up to your expectations. Here are 10 tips for selecting wedding photography that you can live with throughout your new life together.

A reputable wedding photographer should have a physical location. A physical location where you can find them when you need them and where you can meet with them safely is important. Brick and mortar wedding photography studios build trust within the community and with their clients. If your wedding photographer does not have a local address (not a PO Box) that they will share with you, it's a good reason not to trust them. They might work out of their house, but do you know where that is? A physical office or studio is paramount to them being trustworthy. Would be you be willing to have a random stranger come to your house, or for you to go to their house? It's safer and more reliable to choose a wedding photographer with a studio or office you can visit and where you can find your photographer.

A good wedding photographer should help make your day go more smoothly. Aside from a dedicated wedding planner, your photographer is the only vendor who is going to be spending the entire day with you. A good wedding photographer should make things easier for you. They should solve problems. Your wedding photographer should be flexible. They should be able to adapt and thrive in difficult situations. Find out more about their abilities and ask about a difficult lighting scenario, bad weather, or other catastrophe and find out how they dealt with it in the past.

You need your wedding photographer to be focused on you. When you meet with any wedding photographer for the first time, do they ask about you, get to know you, and find out what you want? Or do only they talk about themselves and what they do? Find a photographer who is willing to spend time getting to know you so you know they understand you and your needs. This is the best way to find out if they are a good fit for you.

Your wedding photographer should be knowledgeable and helpful. They should offer suggestions about options you have for different things, provide advice on scheduling and setup, be full of ideas, and be ready to make your day and your planning easier. A good photographer is big on planning. Your photographer should work with you before an engagement session to select clothing and location. Your wedding day photography should be scheduled as part of your day rather than as an afterthought. Photography does not have to be inconvenient - it can be a fun and integral part of your day.

It might sound strange, but not all wedding photographers are the same and not all photographers are a good fit for every client. If your wedding photographer meets you and finds out about what you are looking for and then tells you that they don't think they would be a good fit for you, it might be surprising, but it's nothing personal. Wouldn't you rather a professional be honest about this than trying to change to meet your needs? Sometimes photographers realize that what they specialize in is not the same thing a client wants. Photographers don't want to make you unhappy, and if a wedding photographer thinks you might be happier with a different style of photography or with a different situation, we will tell you before you book so you are not disappointed later.

Price is NOT the most important factor when choosing a wedding photographer: You definitely get what you pay for. Photography is like anything else in life: You get what you pay for. It is not logical to think you can hire someone for little to no money and get the same results you would get if you had spent twice what you paid. Price is normally a factor when it comes to quality. Photographers who charge more are usually backed by their reputation, their brand, and their experience. You should also understand that your photographs will become the lasting memory of your wedding day. There are two things you should spend money on for your wedding, it should be your venue and your photography. People will probably not remember the food, you will only wear your dress once, and most of the other things are not huge investments anyway (flowers, music, makeup). You will look at your wedding photographs regularly - perhaps even every day - for the rest of your life. Shouldn't your wedding photos be great?

Your wedding photography studio should be insured and licensed as a legal business. Many venues actually require insurance from vendors working there. Camera equipment is expensive and you should make sure your photographer is fully insured by a reputable insurance company to make sure you are protected. Many photographers are just individuals with cameras and maybe a slick website. Make sure your photographer is backed by a legal, legitimate business.

Your wedding photographer should have backup equipment and a backup plan. Mandatory: Cameras with two slots for memory cards that can be written to simultaneously in case one card fails, backup cameras and lenses, a data backup plan including offsite backups, and a disaster plan. Protect your investment. If your photographer only has one camera, it's not enough.

Multiple photographers with your package are much better for you than having just one. Your wedding photographer should have multiple photographers on staff in case someone get sick or God forbid injured. A lone photographer cannot be in enough places at once to possibly cover a wedding day adequately. For all but the smallest weddings, your wedding photographer should have at a minimum a photographer and assistant/second shooter. Anything less and you will be missing out on important moments, angles, and opportunities.

Your wedding photographer should NOT dump a disc of photos on you and disappear after the wedding day. Some photographers will sell you a disc of high resolution photos, give them to you, and that's it. Your wedding photographer should provide value-add services and products after your wedding day - for example, photo books or albums, photo prints, and wall art. Other services you should look for are in-studio viewings and selection, retouching and editing services, and gift options. A photographer that shoots photos for a disc is going to give you a result that is a completely different set of photos than a photographer who is shooting with an album in mind or to create artwork. You are going to get a much better selection of photos from a photographer focused on artwork and an heirloom album than one who is going to shoot-andburn a disc for you and call it a day. Will you really want to spend time and money designing your own album? Probably not. Make sure your photographer provides you with personal usage rights for the images, but you do not need raw files or ultra high resolution photos if your wedding photographer designs for you an amazing photo album, gives you a disc of JPG digital negatives, and offers print, artwork, and design options after the wedding. Consider what you really need and talk to your photographer about what they provide.

If You are looking for best wedding photography services in houston then i would like to recommend you Purelux Films

[yourinternetmarketingguide]

The perfect Real Estate Website to Use

With thousands of Real Estate websites you can get, finding the right one can be challenging. Do a search on Google and also get hit with the most popular Real Estate websites, like Zillow, Trulia, and Refine. Once you get past the first page sometimes the less popular sites now have the same home browse features. So how does a home owner or home patron to know what site is best. Before you choose you first need to know a little more about how they all started and what they really are. For several years if you were in the market to buy a home you had to go to any nearby Real Estate office in the area you wanted to buy a home through and ask to see a list of homes for sale. This list was the print out of the homes for sale from the local Multiple Listing service (MLS). Typically the list gave you basic information about the homes as well as marketing remarks. You scanned through it and then sought after an agent to show you the homes you thought you would possibly like. This was great for Real Estate agents because as harbors for this information, the buyers had to come to them. It also gifted the agent a chance to show the homes that the ingredient themselves were listing first. For the buyer this wasn't so good. It was hard for the buyer to tell if the realtor was there to represent them or the seller given that they wanted to look at homes in more than one town some might have to go to other Real Estate offices to see list as a result of other MLS's. These lists could also be out of date and when you will did find the home of your dreams it may already possibly be sold. This process could take a long time and be stressful just for even the most seasoned buyer. Fast forward a decade or maybe two and some important changes have happened. The MLS went digital and consolidated into larger MLS vendors that covered even larger areas. Here in Western Washington we now use The North West Multiple Listing service (NWMLS) and it handles all but two counties; Clark and Clallam. In the 90's the internet brought the first Real Estate websites. Most of these showed typically the homes listed by the agent/agencies that owned the website not to mention were not updated very often. Some of the bigger Real Estate agencies, those who had the money and resources, started building home looks tools using data directly from the MLS. Now, for those first time, buyers do not have to talk to an agent to find homes for sale and will get even more information (pictures, schools, map locations or higher to date status). Nowadays the price of producing these high quality website pages has come down to the point where the average agent with the ideal skills can build their own. We now see an exploding market of Real Estate websites and it seems most of them have residential search features. This leaves buyers confused on which web-site to use. Now that buyers can get information from just about any Realty website, what should they know before picking one? First of all, here in Washington State any licensed agent can reveal and represent you on any home listed about the MLS no matter what website you find it on. Most of these webpages have a mobile application or are mobile friendly. Alot of buyers begin their home search on the internet what they don't understand is without a doubt that that website you use to look at homes is a list size tool for the agent. The buyer is trading their call information for the use of the website. This is not a bad thing. Any time you really want to buy a home then you will need your questions clarified, help finding financing, an agent to open doors for everyone, someone who understand the paperwork and can help you using the negotiations, and a trusted agent to look out for you from the closing process. That can only happen when you talk to a real estate agent. Which agent you get is the important part. And that's whereby finding the right website comes in to play. The buyer should utilize these websites to find out more about the agent they might want to characterize them. Finding out more about the agent before getting knowledgeable about an agent is the key to achieving your goals regarding or selling a home. What you should be looking for is the things the agent's experience is in Real Estate? Do they perform full time as a licensed Real Estate agent? What is their closing achieving success rate? Do they guarantee their services? What achieve past clients have to say about the agent's service? All of these questions can sometimes be found on the agent's website but if not you might want to ask on the first contact with an agent. Now that you know where did they started and what they are, how do you choose the right website available for you? First, let's talk about the differences in these ınternet sites. We can break it down to four types. The first style is the big non brokerage sites like Zillow, Properties. com, Realtor. com and Trulia. These sites do not own agents working in the field. What they do will be sell the leads that register on their site for you to agents who hope to convert the lead into a client. These website have worked hard to make sure home buyers come across their site first. They have added a lot of nice devices that estimate home values or mortgage calculators and also all the information they can get on just about every home in the US and some other sorts of countries. They get most of this information from public track record and what some home owners may give them. The down side to this to these sites is that the information they employed can be out of date or inaccurate. Take the home values for example , because they get the sold data (what homes in the exact neighborhood sold for) from public records not the local THE LOCAL MLS their numbers can be behind the market trends. In the world regarding Real Estate we only look back to the last six months for helping us determine the value of a home. While the sale rate of a home may go in the public record right within closing, it can take months to filter through the system prior to these websites can encompass it into their data and also will throw their numbers off. There is also a question with regards to like kind homes. When a Real Estate agent or appraiser really does a comparable market analysis (CMA) of a home's importance, they look for homes just like the subject home (the place that is being valued) same size, same bedrooms, equivalent baths, same size property, same neighborhood and very same condition. This can be a bit of an art and the question is will be able to a computer do as good a job as an agent? This can set out buyers and home sellers confused about the true worth of a home. I would like to take this opportunity to weigh on on home values. In a free market, like ours here in the US, the true value of a home is exactly "the highest price a buyer is willing to pay as well as least amount a seller is willing to take" for just about any property. It is only when a property is sold that the true selling price can be set and everyone else, Real Estate Agent, Appraisers, County Assessors and any website, is only making an estimate as well as guess. The second type of Real Estate websites are the big plus medium size brokerages like Re/Max, Windermere, Coldwell Bank, Century 21, RedFin and ZipRealty. These companies have a number of brokerages in many locations throughout the US. These Real Estate suppliers have agents who work for the brokerages directly, normally as independent contractors. Leads or potential customers who signup on their sites are assigned out to the individual professional or sometimes sold depending on the companies polices. These companies make a large part on the agent's commission or pay, through some of them taking 60% or more. This means the agent should work harder to convert as many leads to customers as they can be just to make enough money to stay in business. Sometimes all these agents take on more than they can reasonably handle leading to very poor customer service or a higher transaction failure rate. Some of these providers give the buyer a rebate. This rebate comes out from the agent's commission and can make it even harder for providers to provide good service to their customers. I have heard loads of complaints about agents that disappeared once a commitment is signed or agents that refuse to show real estate to buyers that are looking at homes in the lower end of your market yet they still want to write up the written agreement and get paid a commission. The third type of Real Estate websites is the small or independent brokerages. These companies are usually had and operated by seasoned agents who have the proficiency and knowledge to build a good quality website and provide decent service to buyers and sellers alike. You will find an identical home search tools and email notifications as within the big sites and because these sites serve localized communities, many times these sites have more information about the locations they serve and consumers can read more around the agents that they may want to use in buying or selling their homes. They then can have one or more agents working together as a team or possibly as independent agents and usually have a higher successful ending rate. What makes these sites the best choice for home individuals or sellers is the agents that come with them. The 4 . type of Real Estate website is the independent agent website. All these websites are built by the individual agent or a third party on the part of the agent. They can be as good as any of the bigger commercial websites depending on the skill, time and money an agent is ready to put into it. These agents can be very good agents but still most of them are little more than one page public resumes put out by agents hoping to attract buyers and / or sellers to the agent it is promoting. So in taking into consideration a Real Estate website, buyers and sellers should take into account a website is not going to help you buy or sell your home, oahu is the Real Estate agent. The website is a way of seeking out the right agent to try the job. Think of it this way, since you can get the properties information from just about every website now what value presently getting from a website? The value is in the service you can get from an agent who may save you time, money as well as keep you from the heartache of a bad deal or perhaps bad service.

[brynwrites]

What I learned while self-publishing.

@milkyteefs asked:

I'm unsure about the entire self-publishing world! Do you have a basic outline of the process? Some key highlights/headings of how you started and what connections you needed to make? Thanks again! <3

I went through the process of self-publishing Our Bloody Pearl this summer. Even with all the guides in the world it turned out to be a very grueling experience. I’ll be doing it again with Quasi Stellar soon, but I also hope to traditionally publish The Warlord Contracts trilogy.

First, let’s get this out of the way: Self published books are often very bad.

But they don’t have to be.

Self publishing requires you, the writer, to either wear the hat of everyone else at a publishing house, or be your own investor and pay for professionals to do the jobs you can’t. If you’re willing to put in that effort and money then you can come out with a more professional book than you might have had you published traditionally. If you’re not, then self publishing might not be the right road for you.

Now then, how do you self publish in a way that produces a professional book?

Fifteen Basic Steps to Self-Publishing:

1. Write and edit the book.

This is, understandably, the step that a lot of people get stuck at. Writing a novel is hard. Don’t worry about how or when you’ll publish it until it’s finished.

Just write it.

During this time you should also be marketing yourself as a writer. Learn more about that via my marketing tips tag.

2. Beta readers and critique partners.

Getting feedback from handpicked peers is essential for any book no matter which publishing route you choose. If these terms are new to you, learn more about beta readers here and critique partners here.

During your first book (or two) I recommend starting with critique partners and then moving to beta readers afterward, because critique partners will shred your novel down to the bare bones, which you usually really need the first few books you write. Critique partners will also generally pick at your grammar and typos though, which can be very useful at the end of the editing stage so that your manuscript looks cleaner to an editor (or agent, if you traditionally publish.)

3. Write your blurbs and summary.

While your story is in the hands of your final group of readers, you should already be working on blurbs and summaries. By the end of the publishing process you will need:

A back of the book blurb.

A one-two sentence logline style blurb.

A one page summary of the story.

Don’t put these off! They won’t get any easier if you wait. You can find tips on writing blurbs in this article.

4. Determine that you’re done making changes to the manuscript.

A writer who’s growing and learning will forever feel as though there’s something they can change in their manuscript, but at some point you have to decide that what’s done is done. You will always have another awesome book which will be even better than this one.

If you have trouble determining when this point should be, check out this explanation!

5. Make a publishing timetable.

Give yourself more time on your timetable than you think you need! Traditional publishing takes about two years for a reason. A lot of the steps below this point seem relatively simple compared to writing and editing a book, but they require you to learn new skills and spend a lot of time waiting for other people with busy schedules.

Five and a half: Start book two.

You might have already done this during the beta reading stage, but if not, start another book! Writers should never stop writing and editing (outside of planned vacations, emergencies, and mental health breaks, of course), so pick that pen back up and start pounding out another book.

6. Find a content editor.

If you ran a beta reading stage with 10-20 critical and knowledgeable beta readers in your target audience then congratulations, they served the purpose of a content editor already!

6. Find a copy editor.

A copy editor is the person who checks your grammar, sentence structure, flow, and word usage. I found my editor though the editorial freelance association directory. The main things to look for when choosing an editor:

Experience. This should include testimonies, information about any publishing companies they worked with, and the works they edited in the past. If you can’t easily access and double check these things, then keep looking.

Sample edits. Any editor worth your time will offer you a free sample edit. (For copy editing this is generally 750-1k words of your novel. I’m not sure about other types of editing.) Take advantage of this! Send the same sample to the top four or five editors who fit your price range and see who returns feedback that you jive with and feel comfortable paying.

What if I can’t afford a copy editor?

In general, you can probably get away without hiring a professional copy editor if you (a) find 3-4 solid critique partners who are willing to do a very detailed line edit and proofread of your final draft (do not take advantage of your fellow writers!! Offer them the same in return!!), (b) get free sample edits from a handful of freelance authors to see if they catch any major formatting issues you do regularly, and (c) learn what a style guide is and make at least a simple one for yourself while you do another round of proofreading.

Remember though, traditionally publishing exists specifically so that you, the writer, can get a professional edit without having to pay for it. If you want a professional book without putting in the investment, then querying an agent might be the better option for you.

7. Prepare to offer ARCs to reviewers and friends.

Getting reviews for your book is the most important marketing activity you can do. The sooner you contact reviewers about this, the more reviews you’ll have when the release date comes. Note that the large majority of book reviewers you contact will never respond. If you email 20 reviewers, expect to get one or two reviews out of it, most likely in 4-6 months. (Which is why you should email all your friends and past beta readers too.)

How do we maximize the number reviewers who will read our books?

You know those neat little lists of book blogs who will review indie books? Don’t use them. Anything that with nicely compiled and easy to get reviewer lists is going to be overcrowded with blogs who have two year wait-lists and 97% of them will never even email you back.

Instead, try searching for reviewers you already follow on twitter and tumblr. Look for semi-popular goodreads reviewers who put positive reviews on books similar to your own and check if they have a link to a blog, or an email for review inquiries. Find less well known booktubers that youtube links to off your favorite popular booktubers.

8. Format the book.

You can pay someone to format your novel, but its rather expensive for something that’s relatively easy to learn to do yourself using guides off the internet. Paperback and ebook formatting must be done separately, and your first time I would set aside a full Saturday to tackle each of them, just to be safe. If you have a program like scrivener, with a little tweaking you should be able to get a nice looking ebook with none of the hassle of learning html. There are many other options though. Do a little research to find the one which works for you!

(Note: If you’re printing a paperback you cannot get a paperback cover until you’ve formatted the book and know final page count for your print size!)

9. Hire a cover artist.

The book cover is the most important part of your book, so far as sales and success are concerned.

There’s a huge trend in self published books to skip this stage and work with photoshop or cavna instead. I would not recommend this. Cover artists for professional books do what they do full time. They know the market. They know what sells. So do some writers, but the truth is, many of the writers who think they can design covers, turn out the sorts of designs that are easily pegged as self-published books.

If you want a professional looking book that pops in the amazon charts, hire a professional.

There are a multitude of ways you can go about this. Some large cover art sites like damonza offer bundles which can get pricey, but let you back out with no charge if you don’t like their first drafts and include unlimited changes if you commit. There are also many freelancers who specialize in book covers, for a wide range of prices.

What if I don’t have the money to hire a cover artist?

If there is anything you don’t want to go cheep on, it’s your cover art. But let’s say you absolutely have to get a cover for cheap or free. There are people who do cover designs for $5 on Fiverr, and I think some of them actually turn out half decent covers for very specific genres, but its a gamble. A couple writeblrs do cover design as part of their day job and might be willing to do something cheep or for a trade. You could also learn how to design covers yourself, but if you want to compete with books whose designers went to school just to do what they now do full time, you’ll either have to put in a lot of time or be lucky enough to have a very good, easily executed idea for your particular novel, and hopefully not one with requires any stock photos unless you want to purchase rights to them.

Now, there are some exceptions. Some writers have a natural design brain, and some writers are in fact designers themselves. Sometimes you write a book where the perfect cover design is very simple and easy to produce yourself. But that won’t be most people, with most books.

So far I have seen exactly two of the hundreds of self publisher made covers I’ve seen have actually made me want to buy the story. I’m not trying to be mean. It’s just the truth.

10. Offer ARCs to more reviewers.

Now you have a nicely formatted book and everything! Who can resist that?

11. Do a cover reveal, and during the cover reveal, offer everyone there an ARC.

Cover reveals come in many different forms. Some writers just post the cover on their blog, some do livestreams on facebook, some do question and answer sessions leading up to the reveal, some even go all out and have other writers come talk about their books on their site for a full day prior to the cover reveal.

Do whatever works best for your schedule. The goal is to attract attention for the book, so make sure you link to anything you’ve already set up from #12, so people can easily find your book when you release it!

And, as always, give out ARCs.

12. Get your book and author profile set up on everything.

Prior to your book’s release you should have a goodreads author page, an amazon author page, and a bookbub author page, all with your book attached. You should also have a website and a mailing list (linked to via your ebook), prepared release announcements for every social media site you work off of, and be ready with attractive and easily noticeable links to the book’s sale page off your tumblr blog and website.

Keep in mind that some of these things will take a decent chunk of time to set up, and a few of them require a live human being to confirm you are who you say you are. Start them as early as possible!

13. Release the book!

Time to actually put the book out there for all to buy. You can do a similar hype release as you do with a cover reveal, if you so desire. Make sure you remember to post all your announcements and put up all your links.

Try not to check on the book’s sales until the following day! It does not help their growth or your mental health to constantly be haunting your sales charts. When you do check them, keep in mind that a book which sells two thousand copies in its entire life time has done well, all things considered.

The fantastic thing about self publishing is that you never have to stop selling your book. If you sell fifty copies your first month and then twenty the second and then five the third, you can always dive back into marketing, run a discount, apply for a bookbub ad, focus on marketing yourself as an author and gaining followers. You chose whether your book is done selling.

To offer pre-orders or not?

This is a toss up. In my experience, pre-orders aren’t a good idea for your debut self-published novel, even if you think you have a large audience who will buy them, because they take away from the sales you could have your release week, and the boost those sale give you on the amazon charts. If you do wish to offer pre-orders though, try going through ingramspark instead of amazon advantage, to save yourself tears and heartache.  

To go amazon exclusive or not?

Many authors claim that you have to try both to know what’s right for any particular book. Do your own research and decide what you think is best for you.

Thirteen and a half: Start book three.

At this point you should already have finished at least the rough draft of second novel, so don’t forget to start your third book at some point!

14. Offer people read for review copies.

Especially if your debut novel is aimed toward broke teenagers and younger adults, there will be a lot of people who are interested in the book but aren’t motivated enough to actually buy it on faith alone. By offering free ebooks on a read for review basis, you...

Grow your reviews.

Create fans out of people who may have never read the book otherwise.

Have higher paperback sales, because readers who loved the ebook you gave them may decide to buy themselves a paperback.

15, unto infinity: Keep promoting your book into the sunset, while writing new books!

The time to stop promoting you book is whenever you feel you’ve had enough sales and reached enough readers. Until you reach a point where you’ve published so many books that you can’t handle marketing them all, you should still be trying to expand your readership!

And don’t forget to have a little bit of fun along the way. You worked hard for this. Celebrate it.

But what if I just want to get a book out there?

If your goal is not to publish a professional looking book with will expand your fanbase and set you on a path to full time authorship, but rather to have a piece of your writing available in a book format your friends and family can buy, then there’s no reason not to publish exactly how you wish to.

Are all these steps really necessarily?

I believe they are, at least for a debut novel. In fact, there are probably more steps which I missed entirely. But, if you can find multiple self-published authors who went through a less rigorous publishing process and still received hundreds or goodreads reviews, then by all mean, follow that process instead (and let me know about it!)

So which book did you self publish?

This one here! You can support me and my ability to keep giving writing advice by purchasing a copy today =D