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ibijau · 2 years ago

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The fake dating to real marriage pipeline chap 2 / on AO3

Dating Nie Huaisang turned out to be more fun than Lan Xichen would have expected. They would meet once or twice a week, sometimes more if their schedules allowed. Nie Huaisang knew every restaurant in town that had vegetarian options worth checking out, he always had tickets for every exhibition in every museum, and even for concerts sometimes, all of which he handwaved as “work perks”. Lan Xichen hadn’t been aware Nie Huaisang even had a job until then, and even after weeks of dating remained a little unclear about said job. It seemed to involve a lot of Nie Huaisang filming himself in front of things, something for which Lan Xichen was sometimes asked to help, though he thankfully never had to be on screen himself. Nie Huaisang assured him on their first date that he valued Lan Xichen's privacy, before going on a rant against internet creators who didn't keep healthy boundaries between private and public life.

Initially Lan Xichen felt awkward about the whole dating thing. In his circle of friends, Nie Huaisang counted as little more than an acquaintance, someone he talked to sometimes, but only because he was Nie Mingjue’s little brother, and Lan Wangji’s almost boyfriend’s second closest friend, rather than Lan Xichen’s own friend. Except for helping Nie Mingjue console Nie Huaisang a few years before when he’d had a particularly bad breakup, Lan Xichen just hadn’t ever had any serious conversations with him. It was partly because Meng Yao’s bad opinion affected him, yes, but he’d also never thought that Nie Huaisang and him might have enough in common to become better friends.

Lan Xichen was pleasantly proven wrong. Nie Huaisang wasn’t just someone who’d encourage Wei Wuxian to set things on fire to see what happened and film it all for posterity (something which they’d done since high school, and still did regularly, now sharing it online too to the delight of millions). He was also capable of surprising insight when he was given a chance to talk about art, literature, and movies. Not only that, but his tastes aligned well with Lan Xichen’s most of the time, and when they didn’t he usually had either interesting or hilarious arguments to defend his side of the disagreement.

In spite of his misgivings, Lan Xichen was glad he’d agreed to this fake dating plan. It was a little uncomfortable at times to be deceiving people… but he’d had to lie about Meng Yao too, telling most of his friends that they were just good friends hanging out, so he had experience. And going out with Nie Huaisang certainly beat staying on his own and drowning himself in his work to forget his bleeding heart, as he’d initially planned to do.

In fact, if he were to be honest, Lan Xichen might have enjoyed his fake dates with Nie Huaisang more than a lot of the real ones he’d gone on with Meng Yao, especially those toward the end of their relationship. For some weeks before their break up, Meng Yao had been inattentive when they were together, and he’d often cancelled dates at the last possible moment, sometimes while Lan Xichen was already waiting for him somewhere, only to make himself sound like the victim if Lan Xichen complained in any way.

There had been plenty of signs that things hadn’t been going well, but Lan Xichen hadn’t wanted to see them.

Nie Huaisang was surprisingly nice about it when Lan Xichen shared that realisation one night. They’d just spent a very pleasant evening at a retrospective exhibition for some artist Lan Xichen had never heard of before but whose work he’d ended up enjoying, and were now headed toward a restaurant Nie Huaisang liked and which he swore had a very interesting vegetarian selection. They could have taken the metro for it, but it was only two stations away, the weather was nice, and it was still early enough that they weren’t in any hurry. And as they walked, Lan Xichen commented on the quality of this date compared to previous ones with Meng Yao, and how he wished he’d noticed sooner that they hadn’t been headed for the happy ever after he’d dreamed of.

“Well, he was your first serious boyfriend,” Nie Huaisang pointed out. “It’s tough seeing the warning signs, especially when you don’t have anything to compare it to. You’ll do better next time.”

“Will I?”

“Of course you will, because now I’m giving you a basis for comparison,” Nie Huaisang said, grinning as he cutely grabbed Lan Xichen’s arm. “Anyone who treats you any less than I’m doing now is not worthy of you, gege.”

“Careful not to do too good of a job then,” Lan Xichen joked, “or else I’ll end up staying single because you’ll have raised the bar too high.”

“Well, I could reconsider my ‘no dating’ rule if you asked,” Nie Huaisang retorted as he tucked his hair behind his ear, his grin widening. “But you’d have to ask very nicely.”

Lan Xichen had chuckled at the joke, but for the rest of the night he kept thinking that it would be a lucky person who could get Nie Huaisang to agree to a serious relationship. If he could be that good of a partner when he was merely acting friendly, Lan Xichen couldn’t imagine what he was like when he was really in love. That ex-boyfriend of his, the one who’d broken Nie Huaisang’s heart so thoroughly it had made him swear off relationships, had been a complete fool for giving up on something so good.

Not that Nie Huaisang didn’t have his bad sides too. Such as a tendency not to warn people about his plans, since he generally assumed that he knew exactly how they were going to react and thus didn’t see the point of discussing things beforehand as long as his assumption didn't involve them turning violently angry. It could be charming, but on more than a few occasions it proved somewhat hard to deal with.

As happened one evening a few weeks into their fake relationship, when Lan Xichen's doorbell rang and he opened his door to find Nie Huaisang with a heavy suitcase.

"I figured it was time for this," Nie Huaisang announced without so much as a hello, sliding inside Lan Xichen's flat. "You're clearly doing better, and we've been dating for a little while now, so it's time to start preparing for the next phase of our plan."

"The next phase?" Lan Xichen repeated with polite bafflement.

"We've got to lay down foundations for a believable but amicable break up," Nie Huaisang said with a grin. "And a ton of people break up after starting to live together, right? So I'm going to start living here for a while, and when you're ready to break up, nobody will be surprised."

Lan Xichen smiled politely as he caught up with the situation.

He really wished Nie Huaisang would have mentioned at any point in the past that their plan would involve cohabitation. Lan Xichen would probably not have refused, but he’d have had time to prepare himself for it. It was lucky his flat was usually pretty tidy, and he did have a convertible sofa, purchased in case Lan Wangji ever needed to stay with him (he never did), but ultimately Lan Xichen had never lived with anyone who wasn’t family.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, it’s only temporary!” Nie Huaisang assured him when he was silent for too long. “Da-ge hasn’t kicked me out or anything. I’m leaving most of my stuff at our place, and I’ll go back there when we ‘break up’. Just put up with me for a little while, alright? It's just to sell the whole thing!”

Lan Xichen nodded, not sure he could trust himself with words yet. Partly because the whole situation was unexpected, but also because this was the first time either of them said anything about the future break-up they’d need to stage.

It was not something Lan Xichen wanted to think about, so he pushed it aside in favour of being a good host, now that he’d given himself a moment to accept the fact he was a host.

“Make yourself at home,” he told Nie Huaisang. “Let’s put your suitcase in the office, and then I’ll give you a tour so you know where everything is. I’m not sure I have much in the fridge at the moment, so let’s order something, alright?”

And that was it. From that point on Nie Huaisang lived in Lan Xichen’s living room, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It felt natural enough to Lan Xichen, to his own surprise. He’d have expected it to be difficult to have another person in his home, especially when Nie Huaisang spent that first evening constantly joking about how horrible he was to deal with, but Lan Xichen found that it wasn’t so bad. They’d discussed a few basic rules the first night, and then a few more as days went by and the occasion arose.

The most perplexing side of living with Nie Huaisang was the odd hours he kept. Lan Xichen quickly came to understand that, contrary to Nie Mingjue’s complaints, Nie Huaisang was often very busy, working several jobs at the same time. His two favourite ones were helping Wei Wuxian’s youtube channel and making videos for his own channel about current cultural events, but what kept him busiest and made the most money was his job editing videos for other creators. He usually worked on that during the night, claiming the quiet helped, and then slept until early afternoon unless he had more pressing obligations. Nie Huaisang laughed about it, and complained about every bit of effort he had to make, but at the end of the day he was always excited to talk about what he’d done whenever Lan Xichen asked about it, so he probably just enjoyed complaining in general.

Aside from staying up all night and sleeping most of the day, the main difference in lifestyle between Lan Xichen and Nie Huaisang was the latter's tendency to leave a mess everywhere he went. Clothes, electronics, books, leaflets all eventually ended up around him on the floor or the sofa. That Lan Xichen found frustrating, but once they talked about it Nie Huaisang started making an effort. The mess didn't disappear, but it became more contained, and Lan Xichen decided early on that it was enough for him.

Besides, the mess sometimes had pleasant consequences. Nie Huaisang’s job came with moments where he could do nothing while his laptop processed something, moments which he used to cook. To Lan Xichen's surprise, Nie Huaisang was quite good at that, and always more than happy to try new things, especially if Lan Xichen made a request for a certain dish. So while Nie Huaisang usually left the kitchen messy with dirty dishes, Lan Xichen never found any reason to complain if he had to clean a bit, not when he hadn't eaten so well in years.

“Yeah, learning to cook was a necessity,” Nie Huaisang told him one night when Lan Xichen once again complimented him. “Dad would have fed us nothing but takeaway because he had more money than time, right? But in middle school I was terrified of getting fat so I learned to cook vegetable to avoid that. And Da-ge can’t cook for shit, so when dad died, I had to take over the kitchen or else he’d have eaten protein shakes for every meal. I bet he’d prefer that, too, but cooking for one is a pain in the ass, so he has to eat what I make.”

“I’m glad you’re taking good care of him,” Lan Xichen replied. “He might complain, but I’m sure he misses your cooking now.”

‘I know I will miss it when this is over,’ he didn’t add, unwilling to say anything that might lead to them talking about the manner in which they’d break up someday. Life was good like this, why think about something unpleasant? Lan Xichen had never needed a roommate, and he’d always heard too many horror stories about sharing a place with a stranger, but having Huaisang around was nothing like what people talked about. If anything, his experience felt closer to that of people in a romantic relationship, except for the fact that Huaisang and him weren’t romantically involved. Outside, where people might see, Huaisang never hesitated to take his hands or kiss him on the cheek, but in private where no comedy was needed Huaisang never tried to pretend anymore, never really flirted.

Which was fine, and exactly what they’d agreed on. They weren’t a couple. Lan Xichen was still recovering from dating Meng Yao, and didn’t want to get really involved with anyone, least of all his best friend’s little brother who was infamous for refusing to date. They’d become better friends through this little deception of theirs, but that was it, they were only friends.

Still, Lan Xichen would miss this when it ended. Perhaps even more than he’d ended up missing Meng Yao.

Not that he thought much of Meng Yao these days. Nie Huaisang had really done a wonderful job of distracting Lan Xichen from his heartache these past three months.

It was almost too good to be true.

Lan Xichen should have expected for something to happen.

There were no particular warning signs when something did happen. It had been a quiet day at work, with enough to keep Lan Xichen busy, but not so much that he might have felt compelled to do overtime. Nie Huaisang hadn’t been too chatty that day compared to the number of texts he usually sent, but it was a Wednesday, which was the day he’d spend setting things on fire with Wei Wuxian for internet clout, so he was always quieter on Wednesdays. His only message had been to tell Lan Xichen that they might have to order food that night, but that too was something Lan Xichen now accepted as part of his normal life on Wednesdays.

When Lan Xichen got home, Nie Huaisang was already there, sprawled on the sofa and watching videos on his phone, looking positively exhausted. Lan Xichen’s chest tightened at the sight, at how oddly right it felt to have the other man looking so comfortable in his home, as if he truly belonged there. He didn’t have time to question that impression, nor would he have had the willingness to do so anyway.

Huaisang jumped to his feet as soon as Lan Xichen closed the door behind him, an excited grin on his face.

“Ok so, I’ve got something to say!” he announced, his grin widening. “It’s good news and… also good news but that you’re not going to like! Where do I start?”

That sounded very ominous, but considering Nie Huaisang’s tendency to be a little dramatic, it probably wasn’t anything too bad.

“Normal good news first?” Lan Xichen requested.

“XuanXuan just got engaged to Yanli!” Huaisang exclaimed, nearly vibrating from joy. “At long last, right? And they’re having a party about it, and I’m invited, and I get to bring a plus one so of course you’re coming as well!”

Lan Xichen smiled, and nodded. He wasn’t terribly close to Jin Zixuan, but he was on good terms with Jiang Yanli, mostly because they were both so concerned about whatever was happening (or rather, not happening) between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. If she had found love, he could only be happy for her, although Lan Xichen was now of the opinion that joining the Jin family was a harsh price to pay for happiness.

“Wait, is it a formal party?” Lan Xichen asked, suddenly suspicious what other news Nie Huaisang might have to share. “I mean, will their families be there as well, or is it a gathering of friends?”

“They’re going to do both, because the two crowds wouldn't mix well,” Nie Huaisang explained as he rolled his eyes, probably because him being openly out was probably part of the problem. “Their parents are going to organise a big party with every rich asshole they can get their hands on to show off what a great business merger it's gonna be for them. But the party we’re going to this weekend is just for friends, and it will have cool people only. Well, cool people and also Wei Wuxian, who is going to be less cool than usual until his eyebrows grow back. Not everything can be safely set on fire.”

Immediately relieved that he would only deal with limited exposure to Jin family drama, Lan sighed and nodded. He was about to ask for details about Wei Wuxian's eyebrows, certain that before long Lan Wangji would be texting him about that in a mix of panic and consternation, but before he could say, anything Nie Huaisang went on speaking.

“Of course, XuanXuan is determined to be on good terms with his half-siblings now that he knows he has them,” he said with a smirk. “So yes, YaoYao will be at that party with his fiancée, and he’ll get to see how well you’ve moved on! Isn’t that going to be fun?”

#xisang #nie huaisang #lan xichen #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #xisang fake dating

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bvannn · 11 months ago

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Weekly Update March 1, 2024

I’m not doing the best this week but I’m also not doing the worst. I’ve not been sleeping well and I think it’s culminating today so slightly early update post just in case I fall asleep early tonight. I’ve had on and off moodiness and flareups but not a whole lot of surgery sickness, hoping next week will be the same. I think this week was a lot of semester stress, which makes it hard to take care of myself. I just ate three applesauces and next week is spring break, so I should have a bit of breathing room for more art stuff. Just in time for my art block to maybe be giving way. All I gotta do is get caught up on sleep, which I’ll try to start tonight.

So I’ve been trying to put more brain power into actual Oc story writing stuff this week. I have the little comic I’m working on in the background and that’s going a bit slower than I’d like but I’m still making progress and reviewing over it there’s fewer older pages needing redo than I’d thought. I’m also now officially through the second act of the episode/chapter/ w/e, so the third should move smoothly. Scenes are flowing nicer than I thought they would, generally going pretty good.

I also finally think my animation art block is giving way. Clip studio is good for flowier animation so I’d like to combine it with flash for any actual big animation projects I try to pick up but on it’s own it’s fine for smaller ones. I might do some more sketch style test animations for unfamiliar movements, and eventually I’ll need to do a test for one with lineart and color layers. The interface is not user friendly at all but I did figure out how to do it the way I had wanted. Not planning on doing any shaded animations though, shading will have to be done with after effects somehow. I’ll round up ideas for test animations tonight because I’m very headfoggy today so I doubt I’ll be able to throw music together.

I’ll definitely do a quick little gif for the bigger song I finished, I’ll try to get going on the next one, but for the time being I might finish up some half baked covers. I’ve fiddled with vocaloid more now, have two half finished vocal parts I’m using to test out how the English and Japanese banks work with English songs. Japanese bank is working better than I thought, but it’s annoying having to play with the dynamic and exciter settings for certain consonants, and the limited vowel selection also sucks, but it’s not like the English banks have basically the same issues too. I just need to play with settings a bit more, finish writing out the vocal parts (should basically be copy paste at this point, I’m already through one chorus of each), and throw together instrumentals to go with them, but I picked songs with simple instrumentals anyway, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get a skeletal structure ready, then I can fill it in with piano or violin because I can’t go two songs without either I’m addicted.

Music comic and animation are the main things I did this week but I am slowly getting my updated commission sheet together. I’ll probably start timing myself on smaller songs so I can try to add music options properly. Animation comms would be nice too but that’ll definitely be a ways off.

I did make unexpected progress writing an epithet TTRPG campaign, it’s like mostly structured, but maps minis and some encounters still need to get written. I might sit down to do that over break. I’m more certain now that I’ll need to take people online as players but I’ll wait until I’m closer to run before I make a google form for that

I’m going to try to either spend tonight with friends or go to bed early or both. I’m a bit worried about my body because flareups have been getting bad but tomorrow I don’t have to move my legs at all beyond doing laundry so I should be fine. If plans for both fall through I’ll either watch a movie or cartoon (I don’t do very often but if I indulge in media I can improve my writing skills) or draw or both. Tomorrow is walled off for homework though I don’t think I’ll be able to do much else.

#weekly update

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m34gs · 1 year ago

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So, about a week ago (insert slightly sheepish laughter here) I asked @kimium what video games she thought the Vice Housewardens of NRC would enjoy; not including the already canonverse videogames (see her answer here). She prompted me, in her post, to give my own answers as well...and I have taken my time it seems ahahaha, but I did not forget! So, here they are:

Trey - Trey is gonna play something like Dentist Simulator. He loves it. Even if it's gross at times. He finds it fascinating and satisfying. Trey loves teeth and the cleaning of teeth; this is mentioned not only in a vignette, but also in the Halloween event currently going on when it is revealed that Sebek's father is, in fact, a dentist. (Trey gets very excited and that is so adorable) I can just imagine him loving every minute of a Dentist themed game, and I've seen enough simulators to feel confident in my selection for him even if I haven't played this specific one.

Ruggie - Ruggie is gonna like some online Monopoly. I think he would have fun with the game, he can play with the kids back home, and he absolutely can and will crush anyone who challenges him. I think it gives him a little bit of an escape from reality, too. It's nice to be able to pretend a little that he has money and the power to buy entire properties. Ruggie respects the hustle. He's made for Monopoly.

Jade - I think Jade would really enjoy Danganronpa. He's definitely on Junko's side. Loves the despair and seeing people pushed to the brink, and he probably enjoys the executions more than he should, but it's all in fun. I think he would enjoy the mystery, solving things and putting clues together, and the puzzles! (except Hangman's gambit. Fuck Hangman's gambit). While I think he would enjoy the entire series, I do think he'd have a special place in his heart for Trigger Happy Havoc. I can almost see the look on his face when the first execution comes up. He'd be surprised, and I think Jade likes surprises. He finds them fun.

Jamil - I don't know why, I just really think Jamil would like the old Space-themed pinball that came already installed on Microsoft Windows computers when I was a child. I think it would be something he doesn't have to stress over, he doesn't have to try overly hard if he doesn't want to, he can just play for a little fun and down-time. (goodness knows, the boy needs some down-time).

Rook - So, Rook is gonna love him some DMMD. The characters are all beautiful, the art is cool, the colour scheme is good, the story is interesting...the only sin is Aoba's jacket. "Meags," you say. "You're forgetting something," you say. Listen. LISTEN. If anyone thinks for one second Rook isn't playing the spicy yaoi games they are Wrong. Of course he is. But don't ask him his favourite route; that's just opening yourself up to a five-hour verbal essay that boils down to "he can't choose because every character is so beautiful in their own way and all deserve to be happy and in love".

Ortho - Ortho really likes adventure and heroes, much like his brother. I think he'd have fun with Skyrim! The quests are fun, and there's a lot of character customization you can do. I think it's a fun game, and I think Ortho would like to be a hero too. He probably finishes the main quest, because I think Ortho would do that (I never did, but I did become the head of the mage's college and a vampire, so who's really winning? lol).

Lilia - Call of Duty. Which one? All. He has the time, he can play them all. I think he would enjoy the aspect of playing on a team and defeating enemies that way, much like he does already with Idia. Now, I personally suck at COD, but my brother does not and I used to watch him play quite a bit. It can be a lot of fun when you know what you're doing and can actually do more strategy than just "point and shoot and hope to heck you didn't miss the dude three feet in front of you".

There you go friend! Those are my answers. I hope you enjoyed them!!!

#twisted wonderland #headcanons #favourite video games #my headcanons #vice housewardens #some of these were really hard to decide lol

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photocut-ai · 1 day ago

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spaciousreasoning · 3 days ago

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A Very Busy Tuesday

There was no rain in the forecast again today, but it was very foggy in our neighborhood early this morning and remained overcast for much of the day.

My blood sugar was 143 this morning. Not too bad, considering we did not have a real dinner last night.

We started the day with our coffee and brain games. We only needed one clue to make Queen Bee today. Then we had cheesy eggs, with bits of leftover bacon stirred in, and toast with jam for breakfast.

Heading out a little later on a couple of errands, I stopped first at Old Crow for a mocha, then went to donate books at the Springfield library. I bought a card from Chuck & Alice for Deborah’s birthday and give owner Christopher one of my calendar postcards. Then I dropped off some styrofoam and an old food chopper to St. Vinnie’s.

Speaking of books, when we were at Costco yesterday it appeared that the book table is finally on its way out, as had been rumored previously. There was only one table, and it contained a lot of different kinds of books. The selection of novels was much smaller than usual. I did not have a chance to ask an employee if this was actually the end.

I also stopped at DMV along the way to find out about a replacement for my driver’s license, which a corner broke off of the other day. The place was packed, with nobody at the front desk, but there was a little card that said I could apply for a replacement online. When I came home I got online to do it. The cost was $30 and the old license is now void until the new one arrives. So I have to carry a piece of paper with me that gives me permission to drive.

Calendar postcards went out in the mail to Elise & Neil and Denise in Tucson.

I had a nice talk with recovery buddy Art, who is still in California. He and Nora have sold their house and will be returning to Oregon at the end of February. He had three H&I functions scheduled for today, most of them online, I think. He mentioned having me share at one of the online meetings he does regularly.

We also chatted about our histories with diabetes. His last A1C was 5.5, which is very impressive. If I can do a better job of watching my diet and maybe walk more, I might be able to drop more weight and have a better A1C also.

With the temperature finally reaching the day’s forecast high of 48 degrees, I went out at 1:30 p.m. for a walk. I got in 3.67 miles in just under 1 hour and 6 minutes, with an average pace of 17:51 minutes and a total of 8,100 steps. The sun even came though the clouds as I was wrapping up the walk.

I had a brief chat with Catherine, another friend from Tucson. She called to thank me for the calendar postcard and was quite effusive about it, despite saying she “had no words.”

For dinner Nancy and I had one of the packaged meals we got at Costco, a beef and broccoli combo with some nice ginger sauce. We also cooked some rice to go with it. Sure, rice isn’t “keto,” but that’s not why we bought the package.

Tonight’s men’s recovery group was hosted by Daniel, who was celebrating his first year anniversary. He’s been active since I joined the group when we moved in April, and it was great to see him reach this milestone.

There were cookies waiting for me when I got home, and I enjoyed them while we watched Monday night’s Colbert and the first show in the new series of “Finding Your Roots,” hosted by Henry Louis Gates, featuring guests Lea Solanga and Amanda Seyfried. We always enjoy seeing the exploration of the guests’ history, and, as Nancy said, it makes us want to dig into our family background. For about five minutes.

#oregon #life #walking #streaming #recovery #postcards

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gabrielgek · 18 days ago

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Ho-Ho-Hold On, Peeps! iFoto's PFP Maker's Got Your Festive Avatar Covered!

Alright, confession time: I've been staring at my social media profiles, trying to figure out how to get that holiday vibe across without looking like a walking Christmas tree. We've all been there—right? So, imagine my joy (and, let's be honest, relief) when I stumbled upon iFoto's PFP Maker. I mean, how else am I supposed to let everyone know I'm ready for Santa's visit, apart from donning an elf hat?

Let's backtrack a bit. Have you ever taken a moment to look at your profile picture and think, "This is... just a little bit meh"? We've all had those moments. It's like picking out an outfit for the day—sometimes you need a change to switch up the vibes. That's where the brilliance of iFoto's PFP Maker comes into play. It's like the fairy godmother of profile pictures, waving its wand to turn your average Joe or Jane into a festive sensation.

So, what's the magic trick, you ask? It's simpler than finding a parking spot at the mall on Black Friday. You just select your everyday photo (the one where you look moderately awake), choose your desired style or theme (I'm voting for 'Holiday Sparkle' every time), and voila! You're instantly changed into a social media sensation, ready to spread the holiday cheer with your new, dazzling avatar.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We're not just slapping a reindeer nose on your face and calling it a day. These avatars are works of art. iFoto's PFP Maker isn't just about the visuals—it's about capturing the essence of the season. And since we all know that every good party needs a theme, why not make your online presence an extension of your festive excitement?

Picture this: you're scrolling through your feeds, and up pops a friend's profile pic. Instead of the usual, there they are, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree—avatar style! It's like a little gift to your eyes and a instant mood-lifter. Suddenly, you're not just looking at a social media profile; you're walking through a virtual winter wonderland, all thanks to iFoto's PFP Maker.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Isn't this just a temporary fix? Christmas comes and goes, and then what?" Fear not, my friend. The beauty of a personalized avatar is that it's as versatile as your playlist that moves from 'All I Want for Christmas' to 'Auld Lang Syne'. Keep the avatar, switch up the theme—iFoto's PFP Maker is there for you, not just for the holidays but for all those moments when you feel like shining a little brighter online.

But let's get back to the reason why we're all here: spreading Christmas cheer. We all know that the holidays are about more than just gifts and mistletoe kisses (though those are certainly a bonus). It's about connection—feeling like part of a community, sharing in the joy, and yes, showing off your holiday spirit. So what better way to do that than with a profile picture that screams 'Merry Christmas'?

Now, I'm not saying that your old profile pic doesn't have its charm. It's like that old sweater Grandpa knits every year—it's cozy and holds sentimental value. But let's face it: wouldn't it be nice to give your social media profile a little style update, just like you swap out your flip-flops for snow boots when winter hits?

So, before you deck the halls and trim the tree, take a moment to deck out your profile with iFoto's PFP Maker. Not only will you be spreading holiday cheer, but you'll also be the talk of the online town. People will be saying, "Whoa, check out [Your Name Here]'s profile pic! They're really getting into the holiday spirit!

And there you have it—your social media presence is now festive, fun, and fresh. So, go ahead, give iFoto's PFP Maker a whirl. After all, 'tis the season to be jolly, and what's jollier than showing off your holiday avatar? Absolutely nothing, my friend. Absolutely nothing.

#iFoto #PFP #PFPmaker #ProfilePictureMaker #linkedinphoto #Resume #driverphoto #Headshot #portraits #AI #AIPortraits #VisaPhoto #Headshots #AiPhotoGraphy #careerhelp #profilepic #Christmas #Christmas2024

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artsychowroamer · 5 months ago

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Epicurean; Atlanta Hotspot

Author: Artsy Chow Roamer

EPICUREAN

ATLANTA HOTSPOT

This blogger and writer is big on exploring in your own backyard so we decided to make a run down to Atlanta to celebrate our anniversary with a stay at the Epicurean. An architect friend of mine posited that the property was one of the best new places to stay in Atlanta proper.

We took a speedy tour online and liked what we saw. A fresh contemporary design with a young modern vibe on the interiors, amenities and menus. Located in the heart of Midtown, there are lots of cute shops, restaurants and bars to take advantage of as you walk about. This post will give a good idea of what to expect should you want to book your own quick get-away.

CHECK IN

We opted to use our GPS to get there from our mountain home. Warning: it was confused. Between one-way roads and closed roads from construction, it was difficult to get there. The valet and entrance face West Peachtree which is one-way heading away from town. It was closed to traffic right above the property so it was not easy to get to the right roads. After a few work arounds we managed.

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The nice valet helped us with our bags and walked us to the check in which was tucked into a cozy little corner of the bar. Almost hidden, there were a couple of tables and chairs for folks to sit and wait or power up a phone or lap top. You could also grab some lovely cucumber water or a cup of coffee.

We were quickly checked in after they asked our preference for a view; to the pool and courtyard or a downtown skyline. We picked downtown but I wished we had picked the pool after I saw how pretty it was. We got our cards after sipping our welcome glass of white wine and headed to the elevators to ride up to the 11th floor.

Security is a good thing. You must tap your room card on the elevator panel to get it to accept your room floor button choice. We also noticed that the sustainable bamboo panels on the elevator were the same as our floors downstairs in our mountain home-great choice!

THE ROOM

The rooms are spacious with a big king size bed with luxurious linens, a leather headboard and wood wall paneling. A table provides a spot to open suitcases with large flat screen TV above and is joined with a gracious work desk. The art is lit with a wonderful small contemporary fixture highlighting a clever collection of epicurean items; a sketch of peach pits, paintings of radishes and a slice of pie, a poster pushing coffee and a cute wire sculpture in the shape of a coffee cup.

A freehand sketch of The Varsity in Atlanta hanging in the entry and a pillow with knife and fork on the bed are all unique design details that are well thought out, fun and support the overall local concept of the property. Floating nightstands with good lighting made it easy to read in bed and the seating in the corner was very comfy for morning coffee and catching up on the news.

Instead of the usual mini bar in fridge, a high-end wall design included glasses of several types, a nice offering of wines and canned cocktails along with a selection of liquors and mixers. Well done with a mini fidge below it for anything needing to be cooled down. The only critique I had was one needed to take the bucket down to the lobby for ice which is not handy.

A sliding barn door opens to your spacious bathroom with a well organized sink, towel and amenity area designed in classic neutrals that will stay looking sleek in the years to come. A large tub/shower combo offered a lot of grab bars for safety but it might have been more forward thinking to simply offer a step in design with glass doors.

THE TOUR

After settling in, we walked back down to the lobby to check out the public spaces and look over the offerings for dinner in the bar and restaurant. The bar has stunning views with lots of options for seating. You can sit at the bar directly, dine at tables or just hang in a living room type setting with comfortable sofas.

Reverence Bar & Bites offers artisanal small plates and snacks with a “fusion of bold flavors and culinary innovation” offered in a sophisticated and stylish interior within the bar proper. Choose between three or six selections of fromage and charcuterie, snacks like citrus olives or crab dip and small plates of bang bang shrimp or lamb meatballs.

Choose the Reverence dining room and your options expand to five different salads like roasted beet or fried artichokes, additional small plates like peri peri chicken kabobs, boneless pork ribs or seared scallops. Large plates include a pasta, steak, seafood and burger option. End with one of the five lovely desserts on offer including a panne cotta, creme brule, gelato or cheesecake.

THE POOL

Head up to the 9th floor where you will find the event spaces which were very busy hosting a large wedding the day we visited. You will also find some outstanding gardens to walk, sit on a bench and read or enjoy some journaling. Order a fancy signature cocktail at the outdoor bar.

We were surprised at the stunning variety of plants and trees there were throughout the property which offered a large pool with in-water recliners, cabanas and a casual outdoor dining option in Aerial Kitchen & Bar. Menu items take on a Mexican feel with smashed avocado, shrimp ceviche, yucca fries, shishito peppers and molotes.

If that doesn’t work for you, try their ensaladas and bowls, tortas with fries or masa plates with exciting taco choices like mushroom adobo, carne asada, roasted chicken or shrimp. Finish off with a banana hazelnut capirotada or fresa con crema. Ole!

THE BREAKFAST

Upon waking the next morning, we had a wonderful Bloody Mary mixed from the bar with some goodies we brought from home. A Nespresso coffee maker provided the best beginning to the day and since check out was at noon, breakfast was more like brunch for us and began with a lovely hot pot of Earl Grey tea.

While the early breakfast rush was over, there were still a good number of late diners enjoying some great offerings on the menu. We looked it over and immediately opted for the tiramisu french toast with coffee mousseline, white chocolate crumble and macerated berries. Served with warm syrup on the side, this dish was simply fabulous.

You do have a choice of omelets, eggs with sausage or bacon, avocado tartine or short rib hash as well as cereals, oatmeal, yogurts, fruits and more. There was also a wonderful buffet available for a set price that had so many things on it I can’t list them all here.

CONCLUSION

Exploring in your own backyard is always a fun adventure. The staff were very considerate of us and patient with all of my photography attempts. You can tell they want you to have the best visit so you will return.

This is a little gem of a property in the Marriot Bonvoy Collection. They are well located and you are able to walk to a very nice Italian restaurant across the street that I will post about in another blog. You’ll also want to walk across the car park to The Office Bar which is a part of the hotel. It’s a great spot for a late night after dinner drink, coffee or light snack. Book your backyard adventure soon and enjoy the video tour below.

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If you enjoyed what you read you might also like other posts from Explore the World. Look for my next post on the the lovely Italian restaurant we revisited after many years that’s just across the street. Until then…

Cheers!

ArtsyChowRoamer

Follow me on You Tube, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter

#travel #georgia #hotel #food #exploring #review #atlanta #Epicurean #Midtown

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ritunn · 1 year ago

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Venture Into the Hidden Realms: Roon of the Hidden Realms Dungeons

Archidekt Decklist | Art by Rafael Sarmento

Welcome to a short deck tech for a tried and true classic, Roon of the Hidden Realm! But like our rhox friend, we're not treading the normal battlefields you typically see with Roon... because we're venturing into the dungeon. A mechanic introduced in primarily blue and white in AFR, venture allows you to enter 3 special dungeon cards for loads of effects. Most decks use Sefris of the Hidden Ways to make use of this mechanic, but we have a different path laid before us. Replacing black for green and switching a reanimator strategy for a blink one. So, without further ado, let's go over our commander.

You Meet Your DM at the Store

Roon is a 4/4 for 2GWU with Trample and Vigilance that can be tapped in addition to paying 2 mana to blink a creature. Overall, a very good engine! This deck mainly makes use of creatures with enter the battlefield effects, our goal is to use Roon and other similar blinkers to squeeze extra uses out of those ETB abilities. Through this, we can get extra value out our creatures and stay ahead of our opponents! But, how does this connect to the dungeon theme?

The Dungeon Beckons You In

Venture allows you to enter 3 of the 4 dungeons. Take the Initiative allows you to enter the Undercity or progress your current dungeon. The majority of our "dungeoneers" as I will refer to them, allow you to enter a new dungeon or advance a single room when they ETB. With help from Roon and other blinkers, this mean we can continously have these dungeoneers venture over and over again to reap the dungeon rewards and make any card that has an effect that triggers when you complete a dungeon to come online faster.

There is also the Take the Initiative. This effect works like the Monarch, hit whoever has it and you take the Initiative, allowing you to advance a room in your current dungeon or enter the Undercity if you don't have an active dungeon. It even let's you venture every upkeep if you have it! But, we can also Take the Initiative via just playing any creature with an ETB effect that states so, like Feywild Caretaker... or blinking them! This means we can keep control of the Initiative pretty easily by blinking one such creature at the end of our opponent's turn before our upkeep. Roon's trample and vigilance also makes him good at defending the Initiative and taking it back.

However, we also have a few cards who help enable this strategy further without ETB effects. These include:

Dungeon Delver

Ellywick Tumblestrum

Hama Pashar, Ruin Delver

Varis, Silverymoon Ranger

Yuan-Ti Malison

These dungeoneers were selected for being powerful and repeatable venture triggers, while Ellywick herself can be a wincon if she ults and Yuan-Ti Malison lets us easily keep and trigger the Initiative, the two most important amongst these are Dungeon Delver and Hama Pashar.

Both of these cards do the exact same things, doubling our room triggers. Though we may not want to complete a Tomb of Annihilation campaign with these out, the other 3 benefit greatly from these cards! Especially the final rooms, the huge game swinging effects now getting to trigger twice. Talk about value! Though this is all nice, one may be wondering how we actually win.

The Infinite Lays Before You

This deck wins via combos, but we do it in style. As such, it makes use of four primary combos:

Archaeomancer + Time Warp + Any Repeatable Blink = Infinite Turns

Archaeomancer + Peregrine Drake + Ghostly Flicker = Infinite ETB + Mana

Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake = Infinite ETB + Mana

Felidar Guardian + Restoration Angel = Infinite ETB

Now Infinite turns is a pretty obvious win con, but how do we win with infinite ETB creatures and mana? Well, if you saw the Radiant Solar above, that's the answer! Combo 2 and 3 can also be used on any creature with Venture or Take the Initiative for the same effect after acquiring infinite mana, giving us infinite venture triggers.

When we achieve infinite venture triggers, we're looking to progress two specific dungeons: Lost Mines of Phandelver and Undercity. We want to advance through the Dark Pool and Trap! rooms respectively to get our opponents to 0. Simple, clean, and not too difficult. Even if your opponents prevent victory that turn with a Teferi's Protection, I doubt they can survive an encounter with 80~ goblins/skeletons or a majority of the creatures in your deck with 3 +1/+1 counters on them.

You Meet a Veteran Dungeoneer

So, how do we play now that we know what the deck does? Overall, our goals before assembling a combo is pretty simple:

Early Game: Ramp! Play those ramp spells, that Farhaven Elf, and your mana rocks. Get out a few early dungeoneers if possible and play your early blink engines to start venturing. Focus on finishing Lost Mines of Phandelver first.

Mid Game: This is where the fun starts. A majority of dungeoneers are CMC 4 - 6. By this point we should also finish our first dungeon and all our cards that do a thing when we complete one are now online. Wicked! Last but not least, get Roon out around this time if necessary.

Late Game: By now we should be venturing through 3 rooms on average. We can focus on finishing dungeons like Dungeon of the Mad Mage and Undercity now for their powerful final room effects that will help us gather our combo pieces and win the game.

Before I leave you, here's some other important cards in the deck I wanted to call out. The Adventurers! Tomb of Horrors Adventurer, Undermountain Adventurer, and White Plume Adventurer are some of the best dungeoneers in this deck with Ellywick Tumblestrum and Radiant Solar. Each Takes the Initiative when they ETB, which we want out asap, but also provides a powerful effect. ToHA provides spell copying (which means more ETBs), UMA provides ramp, and WPA provides a Seedborn Muse-lite effect (super important for Roon). All of these effects get even stronger when we've completed a dungeon, becoming insanely powerful for their mana cost. Keep them safe and you'll be rewarded greatly once you finish a dungeon if you haven't before they arrive.

Lastly, here's a few cards I would love to add, but are too expensive or simply unobtainable for me currently and I highly suggest you consider.

Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines (Panharmonicon on a body)

Seasoned Dungeoneer (Veteran Dungeoneer but better... if only anyone was selling one without insane shipping to Canada)

Teleportation Circle (It's just a white Conjurer's Closet in this deck)

You Hear the Bards Sing Your Tale

Thanks for reading through my second deck tech! Coming up on 4 years game mastering for not just D&D 5e, but PF2e, Fabula Ultima, and a bunch of smaller TTRPGs, dungeons have always been some of my favorite parts. When the mechanic got introduced in AFR, I loved it! But Sefris just being a quirky reanimator deck made me sad. So, I'm glad to have put my own twist on the theme that allows me to play Ellywick, Hama, Nadaar, and Varis together... the AFR adventuring party! I hope you enjoy the deck as much as I do.

#mtg #magic the gathering #edh #commander #deck tech #roon of the hidden realm

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indigoking · 2 years ago

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MP development

The first things I did when starting with the creation/development of my project was write down anything I’m interested in, as well as issues I find important. I landed on the idea of female empowerment as this was something I felt passionate about. I researched into lots of existing campaigns and videos on this and decided I wanted to create one, specifically one including cut-out collage and stop motion.

I found a spoken poem titled ‘The Strength Of a Woman’ which I resonated with and found extremely powerful, so wanted to create visuals to go with these words. I wrote my proposal, time plan and then worked out the specifics like how many pictures I would need to have per verse of the poem. I sketched storyboards of what came to mind when listening to the words of the poem, thought of possible names for the campaign and thought about which creative women in history inspire me.

I got my friend, Talulla, who writes her own poems, to record the voiceover for the poem/video, as she has a very soft voice which feels fitting to the words/vibe. I also sketched some storyboard ideas, as well as name ideas, subjects to focus on and some examples of powerful creative women in history.

I found copyright free music to add under the words, and adjusted the volume of these tracks accordingly in Premiere Pro. An effect I like to use is ‘Exponential fade’ to make the sound fade in and out.

I experimented a lot with creating visuals. On After Effects I learnt some skills on the programme like keyframing and discovering some interesting effects. I had a lot of fun trying new things, for example making images 3D.

I made elements of an animation in After Effects, showing text transitioning into image, vice versa and both of these moving around the screen in the pace and tone which I wanted to convey, which matched the words of the poem.

It was interesting experimenting with this, adding many layers and learning how to move them around in the way that I wanted, with the use of effects and keyframes. I enjoyed creating different ways for certain words to stand out visually, and give more of an impact.

I created different ways for certain words to stand out visually, and give more of an impact.

I also experimented a lot with physical art, and abstract ways of showing the meaning and feeling behind the words of the poem. I used a lot of colours to express emotions, and really enjoyed the process of drawing and colouring in this way, to create stop motion.

I created series of photographs for the different verses in the poem, and made sure the amount of pictures I had for the stop motion element matched the time stamp for when they are spoken, so it flows nicely and shows the words in greater detail through visuals.

I made many versions of the different verses in my stop motion animation so that I had lots of different options and could pick one that fit the poem the most. I also added text over some parts of the video to enhance the meaning behind them, and carefully selected a handwritten style font. I decided to remove some font as it looked too busy, and ended up changing the font.

I also added real footage of creative women in history, which I feel made the video a lot more empowering/inspiring.

After completing the stop motion and feeling happy with it, I felt like I had to create something more. I wanted to design an online space for women creatives to be able to interact with eachother and get recognised more easily, as I feel as though women creatives are overlooked a lot in society.

I chose the name ‘XXCreatives’ as it sounds feminine, and used an illustration from a still in the video as the main logo for it. I changed this slightly, and decided to create mock-ups for the Instagram page of #XXCreatives.

I took a still from the stop motion animation to use as the logo for the ‘XXCreatives’ campaign and in their social media presence, specifically an Instagram page I created for the platform of creative women to share, comment, collaborate and uplift eachothers work.

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lunarticxenia · 3 years ago

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Moon Signs Pt. 2

Hi guys here’s part 2 of the moon sign series! After I post this, I’m going to be focusing more on answering your questions, I have a lot to answer. Thanks so much for all the support! Without further ado, here’s Libra through Pisces moons!

🌵Libra Moon: You guys LOVE attention, and you don’t even try to hide it LMAO. One of my good friends is a Libra moon and he literally loves to say outlandish things just to get a reaction from us and to get attention from us if we’re not talking to him enough in a conversation. Libra moons also love relationships and if underdeveloped they may feel incomplete without one. They can also be very dependent on their partner for happiness as well. However, they are romantic and in love with love. They’re also extremely sensitive and are very feminine. Even in men, it gives them a more feminine touch to their personality. They also hold their morals in very high regard. They have their set morals and won’t change them for anything or anyone. They also tend to hate conflict and usually shy away from confrontation. They’re also too nice, WAYYYYYY too nice. You guys need to be more assertive LMAO. They’re also extremely optimistic and if they don’t believe in that particular way they at least try to be optimistic with others. They’re always reminding you the glass is half full. Also, Libra moons are mad clingy. Even with those they’re not dating LMAO. My Libra moon friend whenever I try to leave the FaceTime Call, he’s like “Don’t go... :(”. They just love to be around the ones they love. They’re also in love with beauty, and all things beautiful in the world. They’re lovers of music, art, film, and literature. Libra moons also have a softness in their eyes, I can’t describe it. This girl I used to like has a Libra moon and her eyes were just so soft. They’re also extremely indecisive, they tend to flip flop between who they wanna be and what they wanna do. They also aren’t shy when it comes to compliments, they will compliment TF out of you. They’re the best hype man. They also put others before themselves a lot, and can be very shy upon first meeting them. However once they feel comfortable around you they open up. One last thing, I feel like they tend to like anyone who’s nice to them...don’t attack me. LMAO.

🌵Scorpio Moon: I feel like Scorpio moons have about ten different playlists relating to their emotions and still won’t open up to anyone about how they feel. Scorpio moons I feel have such intense emotions that they just don’t deal with them and they tend to implode after a while. I relate to them a lot in that respect tbh with my Sun square Moon, because that’s how I am. You guys are also super passionate and super creative. Every Scorpio moon I’ve met has been really creative in some way whether it be makeup, fashion style, or artwork. I’ve also noticed that this is a very alluring placement, there’s this intriguing way about them, and like Aries Moons, they have a fire in their eyes. Their gaze is INTENSE. They’re also very selective with who they let close to them, they don’t let just anybody in. They’re also very good at reading other people and seeing people’s true intentions. They have an extremely good intuition. If underdeveloped this can be used to manipulate other people, as well as being compulsive liars. Scorpio moons are also very protective over the ones they love. If you mess with anyone they care about, they will kill you. End of story. Also I feel like every Scorpio moon I’ve met has been through the wringer, like they’ve really had some hard experiences, it’s so sad to me. Scorpio moons are also extremely stubborn, remember this is a fixed sign. Scorpio moons ain’t playing, once they’ve settled on something, they’re not budging. Also, can we just say, masters at investigating people. These are the friends you want stalking your ex’s social media. They will find out everything. They’re also really good psychologists as well, almost all the Scorpio moons I’ve met are actually Psychology majors LMAO. They’re very good at finding the root causes of people’s issues. I also feel like Scorpio moons undergo a lot of transformations in their lives. I’ve known a Scorpio moon for about 10 years now and he’s undergone so many different transformations in his life. Mentally and physically. They’re also extremely sarcastic and have a tendency to be pessimistic. They’re also mad scary when angry. I’ve seen them angry before, as an Aries moon, even I get a little scared.... love y’all tho.

🌵Sagittarius Moon: The funniest people ever. Sagittarius moons always have me laughing my ass off. Their sense of humor is very diverse. They tend to stick with sarcasm and like to say outlandish things to make people laugh. Also, I feel like Sagittarius moons tend to go for science/math oriented careers or at least have an interest in those subjects. I know four Sag moons, and they’re all in STEM it’s actually crazy. They’re also extremely blunt and honest, especially when it comes to people they don’t like LMAO. They make it very clear when they don’t like someone, it’s so funny. They’re also just so much fun, like they’re genuinely so much fun to hang out with. I feel like I’ve never not had a good time hanging out with a Sagittarius moon. I feel like Sag moons however tend to struggle with asserting themselves a lot of times, until they get really fed up. They’re very much go with the flow kinda people, and this can be to their detriment especially with the ones they love, they don’t wanna rock the boat. However, they also make really good mediators and are good at settling arguments. They also really like to travel, and likely have traveled a lot. All the Sagittarius moons I know have traveled to at least 4+ countries. They love traveling the world, and I’ve also noticed move or want to move far away from their childhood home. They wanna explore everything the world has to offer. My cousin who’s a Sag moon left her parents’ house to move a few states away and my other friend who’s a Sag moon wants to move to the other side of the country. These individuals also tend to like foreign culture as well. I’ve noticed Sagittarius moons tend to like foreign music or foreign tv shows. I feel like they also tend to ignore their emotions when they get sad and just don’t like to deal with their emotions. They also don’t like to talk about how they feel and will brush sad things off because it’s just too upsetting for them. However, once the emotions boil over, just like their anger, they will blow up LMAO. I’ve also noticed that they’re really good at teaching people things? Like my Sag moon friend explained this Chemistry equation to me I couldn’t understand and I got it after 10 minutes. Natural teachers.

🌵 Capricorn Moon: Guys, it’s okay to open up. You don’t have to pretend to be so strong all the time, you’re not weak for showing your emotions. Anyway, Cap moons have high expectations for people, and will not tolerate any bs from people. I seriously commend them for that. I feel like Cap moons struggle with how their points are being expressed, they can say one thing, but it’s seen as something else. While Capricorn moons may struggle with expressing their emotions, I haven’t found them to be closed off or cold when meeting them. Every Capricorn moon I’ve met has warmed up to me very quickly and have been super nice. I feel like they’re very friendly and once they have a conversation with you they’re really warm and kind. Also, they’re not afraid of anything?? Except for showing their feelings maybe. But like, they’re so open to trying new things like scary rollercoasters and aren’t afraid to fight for themselves if they have to. Also, super fucking ambitious. I wish I could be ambitious. These people will really have like three jobs, be in school, and tend to household responsibilities. I don’t know how you guys do it. Now everyone says Capricorn moons are just analytical and systematic when confronted with conflict, and I personally haven’t found that to be true. If they feel wronged?? Nah. They’re not going to be systematic or logical or anything. They will go off. As for personal challenges, yes they’ll be more analytical. But I feel like everyone boils down Cap moons to emotionless and machine-like nerds, which I find to be very untrue. Capricorn moons are very soft once they’re vulnerable with you, and genuinely feel like they’re bothering people when they show their emotions and feel weak for showing them. Also I’ve noticed that their mom is a big motivator for their success. Their moms always push them to do their best in work and school. If poorly aspected, they could feel too pressured by their moms to do well. Also, they’re so underrated for being funny. They have a really dry sense of humor and it’s well developed. I also feel like they get overlooked for putting others before themselves, when it comes to the people they love they’ll do anything for them. Brb gonna go give my Cap moon friends a hug.

🌵Aquarius Moon: You guys are just so unique. There’s something unique about each and every Aquarius moon, whether it’s a quirk or a hobby. These people are literally the best to talk to. It’s so easy to have a conversation with them, they really can talk about anything. I’ve also noticed that Aquarius moons tend to be interested in astrology and tarot and things of that kind. Every Aquarius moon I’ve met has been really interested in it, and even involved in it. I feel like they also have big dreams, and have big plans for themselves. Aquarius moons also love to get lost in their music and tend to use it as an escape. This can be a problem because they tend to avoid dealing with their feelings. They also go between reacting to things really heavily vs not reacting at all. It just seems like it goes back and forth. They speak up with things are unjust however only to their friends or online. They just don’t like to deal with face to face conflict in that regard. They also give really great advice. My best friend is an Aquarius moon and she always gives me the best advice. She knows me better than I know myself tbh. I feel like Aquarius moons relish in being unique LMAO. I’m 99% sure they had an “I’m not like other girls” phase. I feel like this placement always tends to space out and daydream a lot. They also aren’t the types to just lash out at people, their anger is more subtle (unless they have other placements of course). I feel like Aquarius moons also have a lot of friends but they tend to have a small group of friends that they tend to be super super close with. They’re also...really charming? I don’t know what it is, but like every single one I’ve met has been really charming and likable. They also have a really goofy sense of humor and love to do wild shit to make people laugh. I feel like some downsides of Aquarius moons are that they tend to be too analytical and rationalize things too much, and they inadvertently invalidate other people’s feelings. Aquarius moons are also super open minded to all opinions. I have a friend who I tend to disagree with on certain issues but they’ve always been open to hearing my opinion. They also love to travel too. I’ve noticed that as well.

🌵Pisces Moon: To think, I was almost one of you guys. No seriously I almost was, if I were born four hours earlier I would’ve been a Pisces moon LMAO. Anyhoo, Pisces moons are just so sweet. I don’t know how else to start, they literally are the sweetest people and give off this mystical type of aura. They’re very otherworldly. Also, these people daydream 24/7. They put Aquarius moons to shame in daydreaming. This girl I like is a Pisces moon and I always catch her daydreaming LMAO. They’re also extremely sensitive too and feel things so deeply. They try to hide how they feel from people, but you can see it in their eyes. I can always tell when my Pisces moon friend is upset just by the look in her eyes. They also tend to be introverted and it takes a while for them to warm up to someone. My co-worker is a Pisces moon and it took 2 weeks for her to finally start talking to me LMAO. They also have really vivid and wild dreams too. I feel like my Pisces moon friend is always telling me about some wild dream they had like that they were in a castle or in an ocean. They also can be really moody, they can be fine one second and then get really sad out of nowhere. Their emotions are like the ocean. I feel like another downside of Pisces Moons are that they can be very manipulative however this is really with any underdeveloped water moon/sun placement. I also feel like they tend to be escapists a lot. They don’t like to deal with reality a lot, and they see the best in everything and everyone even if it’s to their demise. They’re also super friendly and are nice to everyone they meet, even if they’re reserved they’re still very sweet. They’re also extremely creative too, I feel like every Pisces moon I’ve ever met has some sort of creative hobby. My co-worker who’s a Pisces moon is working on becoming a photographer and her stuff is AMAZING. I think that’s because they see the best in the world and the beauty in everything; and they know how to show that in their work so others can see the world like they do. They’re also super empathetic and are really good listeners. You can talk to them about anything and feel understood. :)

So this wraps up my moon sign series! I hope you guys liked it! Again, don’t take offense these are just my opinions on each moon sign! Hope you guys enjoyed, and if you don’t see your moon sign here it’s likely in part one.

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zulivaris · 4 years ago

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Art Block tips that helped me

I’ve recently experienced art block after 3 or so months of overcoming my last one. Thankfully this block only lasted a few days thanks to some things I’ve observed and noted down from the previous time. So I’m sharing these few tips in hopes that it might help someone get unstuck :D!

First and foremost if you’re tired, sad or anxious don’t be surprised that you can’t make art, go and take care of yourself by treating yourself with kindness and patience, the sketchbooks and canvases will wait for you :)

The tips are under here:

Separate art studies from the creative time: When you do art studies you’re there to focus on specific things, learn and understand how things work so you can apply them later in your art. Studies take a lot of energy and focus and are the opposite of the creative "flow” of making your own pieces. If you combine the two the results are either unfocused studies or stiff drawings. When you sit down at your desk ask yourself “Do I want to learn something new or do I want to create something of my own?”

When you have an idea don’t be afraid of being messy: Let’s say you want to make a picture of several cats kolo dancing in the moonlight. How do you go about doing this? Well since you came up with the idea you already have a vague image in your mind, sketch it out with simple shapes, stick figures, circle and spheres etc Don’t worry about cat anatomy, or the dancer’s moves, sketch out the essence of it. This method removes the need to be perfect or accurate.

Ok after the messy sketch then what? Well now that you have sketched out the essence of your idea (and hopefully had fun doing so) now you go on to look for references! You put the creative process on pause and you can do a few brief studies if you need to: anatomy, color schemes, values, poses. Pick out a few of your favorites but don't obsess over them, they are a guide, a tool.

You know much more than you think. You’ve probably been drawing for a few years now. You’ve probably done some studies and drawn more than one type of subject. Then you have already internalized some of that information. I used to be obsessed with capturing the minute detail of the subject, and not be able to draw ANYTHING without reference. Instead of a useful tool, references became another obstacle to my creativity. That’s perfectionism my friend, and that’s no good. Here is an exercise a good friend of mine offered: Draw a few characters, animals and objects from imagination. Make sure that the subjects have no personal value to you (no ocs for example) so that if you make a mistake you won’t feel bad about it. Make the process relaxed and comfortable, pour a nice cup of joe, listen to your favorite music ... You will notice that you do indeed know how to draw some things without reference, and it’ll help with your confidence.

The more you do studies the more you understand This seems evident but the more you understand your subject the freer you can be and the easier it’ll be to draw it from imagination in the future. If you really struggle with something to the point of frustration (as in you can’t get it right even with reference) It means you have to study it. Have a study list, for example: hands, perspective, color theory etc. And one of those days you want to study pick something from the list, and look for videos on youtube or useful sites like line of action etc. Only study one thing at the time. You can go from studying hands to studying arms since they’re more immediately connected, but you can’t study hands and then jump to learning perspective right after. Trust me you can learn perfectly fine with the resources online, and I’m sure you’re clever enough to do it :D

Mistakes don’t mean you “suck” I’ve noticed that the two most common causes for art block are perfectionism and lack of self-confidence. The two can often go in tandem which is worse :’D But let me remind you of something, you can fix your piece along the whole process. Use erasers, lasso tools, liquify , select, paint it all over etc If something looks off to you then you also know deep inside how to fix it. Useful ways to see what clunks: flip canvas horizontally (helps with placement, proportions), turn the image to grayscale (helps to check values and where your eye tends to look), look at your image in thumbnail size and ask yourself if it’s clear, see the pose’s silhouette and ask yourself if you can tell what the character is doing etc. Don’t fret, everything can always be fixed :)

Perfectionism, sometimes it stops you before you begin Perfectionism causes you to overwork a piece, it makes you draw less, it makes art stressful, it brings insecurity. Let’s remove it with a simple exercise. It can be combined with the “draw things from imagination” once you’ve drawn something you like: dont do line art, don’t shade it, keep it as simple and crude as possible and then...post it. Yes, post it. You’re not at your best? You’re only human, this will help you embrace that very human side of you. You make mistakes. So what? The more mistakes you make the more you know what you need to study and the better at art you become. Mistakes are there to show us what we need to learn. See them as another tool and not a sign of failure.

Make the process as enjoyable as possible: You like art. You love drawing. Never forget this. Otherwise why are you drawing if you don’t enjoy it? It’s easy to fall prey to the mentality of those relatable memes that “art= suffering” or “I can’t even draw the other eye”. No no no my friends, these messages are fueling your insecurities instead of overcoming them. Let me tell you what, art is fun. It is. Art is fun, because I decided to make it fun again. And you should decide on that too. Personally I adore lineart but my hand-eye coordination is lacking to do it digitally, so....I just skipped it. Yes. I skipped it. I do the sketch, I clean it up a bit and then jump onto color which I adore. It allowed me to draw more and more freely. When I draw I listen to music, make strokes with the rhythm, I take breaks often and I drink my favorite iced teas. If you don’t like coloring do it in grayscale, if you love lineart then do that etc It doesn’t mean you won’t learn your weak points in the future with studies and practice, but you won’t let your weaknesses prevent you from drawing at all. No no, you won’t let them. You draw because you want to, despite of them.

Don’t wait for inspiration, provoke it Inspiration is not a divine and capricious muse. You make inspiration. It’s easy just collect all the things you like, music, artists, objects, characters, animals, patterns, plants etc Make boards on pinterest or similar sites, combine things you like. You like suits? You like birds? You can draw a bird in a suit, or a bird-inspired suit design, there is frankly a lot of ideas that can spring up from little things like these.

When a project stops being enjoyable either pause it for now or move on to the next thing. Pieces aren’t precious. They’re not “the one time I got x right” they are one of many. This advice goes mainly to hobbyists who can afford the luxury of passing to a new project. I have a WIP of a character who is overly complicated (I enjoy a challenge from time to time) sitting for half a month. I sometimes come back to it and add something... but as soon as it starts to create discomfort and insecurity instead of enjoyment I move onto something else. In the meantime I created 3 or 4 new pieces. If I had waited on finishing that piece I would have been severely creatively and physically exhausted. The art comes from you, not inspiration. The more art you make the better you become.

That’s about it :D I know it’s long but I prefer to be thorough and cover all the possibilities. If you have read of this: Thank you so much I hope this helps you at least a bit, if it helps only 1 other person I’d still be very happy. Have a nice one, and kick art block’s butt!

#art block #art block tips #art block advice #art advice #art help #BloggityDiary #art reference #I hope this will help someone out #This will also help me remember my own advice sksksk

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flying-guinea-pig · 3 years ago

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Not What He Seems ch.3

Read on AO3

Chapter 3 – Shopping Trip

Elisha had realised pretty quickly that spending time with Thomas also meant spending time with his friends. They were very clearly a package deal.

There were the occasional movie-and-game nights, of course. Eddy lived in the building across so he was a regular visitor, and Tyrone was pretty much Thomas' unofficial roommate, showing up whenever he felt like it and often claiming half the couch to watch cartoon reruns. She’d once caught him crying during an emotional episode of Mizar the Magnificent, which had been amusing, and his acid tears had utterly ruined her second favourite purse, which hadn’t been.

Elisha minded less than she had first expected. It could have been suffocating, having his friends over so often, but for some reason it wasn't. Maybe because they could take a hint and leave Thomas and her enough time just for the two of them. And she did enjoy their company, even though their interests were so different from hers. While they tried to include her in everything, she just couldn't muster up the same enthusiasm for science fiction movies or board games or strange demonology jokes as they did.

It would be nice to have more friends as a couple. Brad’s flavour of the month rarely got to the stage where they could do double dates. Both Maria and Eddy were single to her knowledge. Tyrone… was Tyrone.

She didn’t really have her own friend group, not like they did. There were her colleagues, of course. She got on well with most of them, and they went out sometimes. Double dates with them had been difficult. Thomas did his best, but once out of his comfort zone he could be so awkward and quiet. It didn’t help that Sylvi told the entire salon about every demon-related horror she read about in the news.

Elisha did get along with Elisabeth Adams, who she met through an event at Thomas’ university. It had been nice to commiserate with someone else about how impossible Tyrone could be. They’d kept in touch since, mostly through online chats since Elisabeth was apparently always on the move.

All in all she didn’t have many real friends outside of Thomas’ group. Was that unhealthy? Most magazines claimed so. But she was happy anyway.

With a wedding to plan and bridesmaids to select, her lack of good female friends was painfully obvious, though. Maybe it was time to make an effort. That's why she invited Maria to go shopping. Just a girls' day out at the mall, browsing the stores. Getting to know each other better without the distractions the men usually supplied.

She took The Car, of course.

Sentient cars tended to worry most people. Even Thomas admitted he didn't like to approach The Car if Elisha wasn't around.

"’Lish, your car is the coolest," Maria said, sliding into the passenger seat. "Don't let Thomas or Tyrone know I said this, but this is what a monster car is supposed to look like. Not all that glitter stuff."

"Thank you," Elisha said. She gave the dashboard a fond pat and the engine became a fraction louder. The sound drew some startled looks from a couple of pedestrians but Elisha didn't care. She put The Car into gear and set course for the shopping mall.

It was different with only Maria for company. They didn't know each other that well, but she wouldn't be a hairdresser if she hadn't mastered the fine art of smalltalk.

“Anything in particular you’re looking for?”

“I could do with new shoes. Something dressy. Speaking of… congrats with the engagement! Did you set a date yet?”

“Thank you,” Elisha said. She weaved through the traffic, The Car narrowly avoiding a collision with an impatient jaywalker. The growl of the engine seemed faintly disappointed. “And no, not yet. Maybe sometime in the summer months.”

“Good, good,” Maria said. “That gives me plenty of time to plan the hen night.”

A dark sense of foreboding tingled in Elisha’s spine. “I don’t know if that’s necessary. We’re thinking of keeping the whole wedding small.”

She only had her uncle she really wanted there after all.

“So you’re not going to invite the entire Strange family? Probably smart. Did Thomas tell you about the last family wedding he attended?”

“I heard something, yes. There was an argument about the food?”

“A full-blown fight, you mean. Something about one branch of the family revealing grandmama’s secret coffee croissant recipe to an unvetted girlfriend and another branch claiming grandmama stole the recipe from an old magazine in the first place? It was a whole thing. They’re all a tad weird about their bread.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Elisha smiled. She’d met most of Thomas’s close relatives and they had all been nice. If, like Maria mentioned, very involved with either their bakery (Thomas’s parents) or the demon worshipping cult they were part of (his aunt and uncle).

“But that’s a no on the hen night, then?”

“I don’t know yet,” Elisha said. She had to brake for a red light. A biker pulled up next to her, his motorbike gleaming chrome with painted skulls and flames. He flipped up the visor of his helmet and gave them a lecherous grin, motioning her to pull down her window. When she didn't oblige, he shrugged, put his visor back down and revved his engine. Challenging.

Elisha narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on the wheel.

"Well, in case you decide to have one, just let me know who you want invited and I’ll - whoa!"

The light flipped to green and Maria's sentence was cut off as The Car jumped forward with a monstrous roar, leaving behind a cloud of soot and one dust-covered biker.

“Ha!” Elisha knew guys like that - she'd dated guys like that. They always underestimated her.

She became aware of Maria's stare.

"Sorry," she said, a bit embarrassed at her outburst. "Guys like that just bother me."

"Hey, don't apologise. You just earned like, ten Cool Points. That puts you ahead of Eddy this month. And Brad, of course, but since he turned into a corporate drone he doesn’t get to be in the running anymore.”

“We haven’t seen him much lately. I heard he’s doing well?”

“Yeah, in his father’s company. He’s not screwing it up as much as expected,” Maria said, with a fond smile. “I suppose all those lessons on demon deals have been good practice for proofreading lawyerese, or whatever it is he does there.”

“Speaking of jobs, how is the interviewing going?”

“Okay-ish. I may have something lined up for tomorrow…”

Elisha nodded while Maria talked about the most confusing job interview ever, but she had to focus on finding a parking spot. The mall was packed.

There!

A small minivan raced from the other side of the car park and slid into the open spot before she got there. The wheel shivered under her hands. She patted the dashboard. “We’ll find another spot.”

“I think I see one,” Maria called out, gesturing to the other side of the car park. “Between those two minivans. But it might be too narrow. Oh, wait, nevermind, someone else is going for it.”

Elisha smiled, and eyed the stone stairs that could work nicely as a ramp. “Not if we get there first.”

The Car barreled up the ramp, its momentum sending it flying over one row of parked cars to drop right in front of the open spot.

The other driver screamed.

The spot was too narrow, unfortunately. The Car opened its doors and waited with barely restrained impatience until both Elisha and the hysterically laughing Maria got out. Then it slammed its doors shut and very sloooowly eased into the parking spot, leaving barely an inch of room.

“Good Car,” Elisha praised it. It hadn’t scratched the cars on either side. “Well done.”

“Those people will need to be very limber to get into their own driver’s seats,” Maria mused, grinning at the cars on each side.

“Maybe this will teach them to park properly next time, instead of leaving such a narrow spot in between.” Elisha arranged her scarf and nodded at the mall entrance. “Shall we?”

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

Shopping with Maria was surprisingly relaxing. This trip had been a good idea.

Right now Maria was trying on some new jeans and Elisha was browsing the rack of blazers near the fitting rooms when a familiar voice called out.

"Elisha?"

Was that -? Oh no...

She turned around and put a smile on her face. "Hi, Sylvi."

Her colleague made her way through the crowded shop to greet her with a kiss on each cheek.

"I didn't expect to see you here!" Sylvi said. "Are you shopping all by yourself?"

She had been avoiding Sylvi outside of work. It was annoying enough to hear all those pointed comments during work hours. Not to mention the oh-so-subtle pamphlets for the abuse hotline and the preternatural police that mysteriously found their way into Elisha's purse every day.

Sylvi meant well. She really did. That was also the only reason Elisha hadn't yet crammed all those pamphlets where the sun didn't shine.

"No, I'm here with Maria," she said, deliberately leaving out who Maria was. Should she lie? She really didn't want a scene... She'd been looking forward to a relaxing shopping trip. Maybe she could get away with just being vague. "She's a friend. Have you seen the sale on these blazers? And those skirts are just to die for."

"There's a sale on these?"

Distraction succeeded. Elisha pulled out her phone as soon as Sylvi turned to the rack.

[sylvis here :s hates demons pls dont mention them?] she typed quickly and hit send. She thought for a moment and followed it up with [srry :s]

Two dings came from the nearest dressing stall as she put her phone away.

"Look how cute these are," Sylvi said, holding up a skirt edged with pastel blue lace.

"Those fit your style so well," Elisha agreed. Her phone vibrated in her purse. She glanced down at the screen.

The message consisted of a string of smileys, including a thumbs up and a wink.

"Don’t they?" Sylvi said. "I'm going to try it on. I must say it's good to see you here - we haven't gone out much together since you got that boyfriend. I was starting to worry he locked you up outside working hours."

Her tone was light and teasing, but her expression told a different story. Elisha bit back a sigh. Play nice. Stay calm. You don't want to make a scene today.

"I've been busy, that's all," she said, deliberately ignoring the part about Thomas. It was nonsense anyway. She’d only been avoiding the get-togethers where Sylvi was present, not the others. What was keeping Maria so long? Come on, she wanted to leave. Hopefully Sylvi wouldn't follow them to the next store...

"You simply must come to the next Girls' Night," Sylvi said. "We're all really worried about you, you know."

Not making a scene, not making a scene...

"A Girls' Night? Sounds great!" Maria butted in, finally finished with the dressing stall. "What kind of Girls' Night is it? Boys and toys talk - wink wink - or romance movies? I'm more a fan of the former than the latter, but hey, with a good drink in hand I'll watch pretty much anything. Nice to meet you by the way, I'm Maria."

Sylvia seemed a bit dazed at the sudden introduction, but she rallied admirably. "Nice to meet you. My name is Sylvi, I'm one of Elisha's friends. We work together."

"Right, I think she mentioned you once or twice," Maria said.

"Only in a positive light, I hope." Sylvi glanced at Elisha. "You never mentioned a friend named Maria. Do you two know each other from before you came to the city?"

That was the other thing Sylvi liked almost as much as insinuating awful things about Thomas – prying into Elisha’s past.

"Not really," she said. "Excuse us, we really should move on, we still need to find heels for Maria before the stores close."

"You're looking for heels? There's a sale at the other side of the mall.” Sylvi blatantly ignored the hint. “I'll show you where exactly, let me just try on this skirt first.”

She ambled away in the direction of the dressing stall. Maria looked at Elisha. “Time to run?”

Elisha sighed. “That would be rude.”

“Yes, we don’t want to be rude.”

“Also, she would find us again. The mall isn’t that large.”

“True enough. Alright, how do you want to do this?” Maria glanced at her phone. “This is that one colleague that Thomas likes so much, I take it?”

“Sylvi, yes. I don’t want a scene, we still need to work together.” At least until she had enough saved up to take the plunge and start her own salon. Another reason she and Thomas had agreed to keep the actual wedding on the smaller side. She didn’t want to put one dream on hold for the other. “And she’s… sort of a friend. Mostly. Don’t mention anything related to demons or Thomas, and I’ll try to get rid of her without ruffling any feathers.”

“Alright,” Maria agreed. She nodded at the jeans in her arms. “Let me just go and pay for these, then.”

Elisha idly browsed through the racks of skirts while she waited for both Maria and Sylvi to return. Maria and Sylvi. Brash, joking Maria and opinionated, pushy Sylvi.

Maybe Thomas’ pessimism was rubbing off on her, because she could not see how this could get any worse -

"I'm bored," a voice sighed in her ear.

Elisha jumped and had the can of mace out of her purse and in her hands before she even turned around.

"You," she said. Tyrone grinned innocently at her, from way too close. "Do the words 'personal bubble' mean something to you?"

"Man, you too? You sound like Thomas," he said, rolling his eyes. "'Stop breathing down my neck, Tyrone'. 'Don't tie my shoelaces together, Tyrone.' 'Don't set my hair on fire what the hell, Tyrone.' Nag nag nag. All morning. It was just a few stray sparks, sheesh. I'm so b͈̱̤o͎̖o͔͚͎̤̞o̖̫̳̦̩͈o͉͓̬͍o͎͔͉͇̪̼o͙r͚̟e̥̹͎̯̙̭ͅd."

He draped his arms over her shoulders, hanging off her like a particularly large scarf. She shook him off, backing away slightly.

Thomas had warned her about Tyrone's 'moods'.

"Can you act normal, please?" she said. "People are starting to stare."

Maria, Sylvi and Tyrone. Perhaps Maria’s suggestion to run hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.

“I could,” Tyrone said, and gave her a wolfish smile. “What’s it worth to you?”

She’d seen Thomas perform plenty of demon deals to know what Tyrone was after. Was it wise, though? She wasn’t trained for this. But then again, it was Tyrone. “Would you just leave?”

“That’s a no.” Tyrone patted her shoulder rather condescendingly and glanced around. “Hey, is that Maria?”

“Yes, and one of my colleagues is also here. Please avoid every mention of demons or other weirdness.”

He ignored her, choosing instead to wave wildly at Maria, who did a double-take before waving back with a grin.

She was the first to return, and greeted Tyrone with an amused: “You’re crashing our girls’ day out, dude.”

“What, you’re going to exclude me too?”

“Aw, don’t give me the long face. Fine, you can stay. After all, every shopping trip needs a designated pack mule.”

Elisha took her aside.

“This is a bad idea,” she hissed, as Tyrone idled towards a rack of dress pants, which morphed into a many-legged abomination under his touch. “Why is he doing this?”

“Who knows?” Maria shrugged. “Is this your first time around Tyrone when he’s acting up? Aside from that one poker night, I mean. You sure got a big dose of Tyrone-brand weirdness then! Don’t worry, I’m a certified demon wrangler. Literally. You wrangle your colleague, alright?”

“I wouldn’t care as much, if Sylvi wasn’t here,” Elisha said, and eyed Tyrone as he left the faintly twitching Multi-Pants and started fiddling with the leather belt display.

Speak of the devil. She spotted Sylvi leaving the dressing stalls to go to the cashier.

Elisha turned to Tyrone. “Please be on your best behaviour.”

“I’m always on my best behaviour,” the demon huffed. The tangle of belts in front of him hissed. “I’m just extremely bored. Hey, there’s a bowling arcade in the mall, right? How about we go there?”

“Maybe later, buddy,” Maria said. “We’re shopping for clothes now.”

“That sounds painfully dull.”

“I’m sure we can find a way to liven things up.”

Squeak squeak squeak.

They eyed the rack with Multi-Pants wheeling past them, the legs waving through the air like cloth tentacles.

“… or maybe you’ve already got that covered,” Maria grinned, as another shopper screamed and the chaos burst loose.

----

“I don’t understand,” Sylvi repeated, staring at the blocked entrance of the mall. “How did that even happen?”

“It’s a real mystery for the ages, right, Tyrone?” Maria said. She met Elisha’s eyes with a sheepish smile. “I think our shopping trip is cut short, though. They’re not opening up again until the whole building has been cleared of suspicious magic.”

Elisha glowered at Tyrone. “At least no one got hurt.”

“As far as we know!” Sylvi cried out. She fanned herself. “It’s a good thing the mall security came so quickly. When that giant snake started roaming around I was terrified!”

“Those were belts.”

“What do you think caused this?” Sylvi said. She lowered her voice. “Do you think it could have been a demon?”

“I doubt a demon would be childish enough to transfigure clothing into monsters,” Elisha said, glaring at Tyrone. He only shrugged and grinned.

“You never know,” Sylvi said. “Those things are unpredictable. Maybe –“

“Excuse me for a second, I recognise that guy and I’m going to be nosy,” Maria interjected, and went off towards the mall entrance, where a gaggle of police just left in the company of a man with a silly little moustache. Maria intercepted him.

Elisha sighed, and glanced around to find The Car. It wasn’t in its parking spot anymore. It wouldn’t run off without her – not like Rainbow Basher occasionally did to Thomas – so it had to be somewhere.

Tyrone's grin had frozen on his face, and his eyes were blanking over while he listened to Sylvi’s increasingly outlandish theories.

“Yeah, no,” he cut her off, before Elisha could stop him. “I’m sure it was just a little prank, you’re all so uptight, sheesh.”

“Excuse me? Who are you even, sir? Elisha, you know this man?”

“He’s a friend of Maria’s,” she answered. Definitely not one of hers. Not when he was being a pest like today. “I’m sorry, Sylvi, I’m going to head home. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“So, funny story,” Maria returned, with a pensive look. “Turns out there actually was a demon there. Brennan banished it. You remember Brennan, right, Tyrone? He works with the police now.”

“That’s Brennan? From our class? Almost didn’t recognise him with that moustache,” Tyrone said. His frown deepened. “Which one was it?”

“He didn’t know. It was possessing one of the shoppers, but he got it out.”

“Very low-level then, if the possession was so easy to break. Huh. I should have noticed.”

“Wait,” Sylvi said, looking from Maria to Tyrone. “Are you –“

“Do you need a ride home, Sylvi?” Elisha interjected, with a friendly tug on Sylvi’s arm to guide her in the direction she’d spotted The Car. It had parked next to something that could best be described as rust on wheels. Next to that wreck, its new coat of paint seemed extra smooth and glossy. “I can give you a ride. This whole experience has been so troubling, I’m sure you feel as rattled as I do.”

“Yes, yes I do,” Sylvi said, with a backwards glance at Tyrone and Maria. “But you heard them, Elisha. Demons, here at the mall! I’m never shopping here again – oh, oh no, I’ll take my own car, thank you.”

------

The television played some kind of documentary about ancient folklore. Elisha leaned her head on Thomas’ shoulder and browsed the internet on her phone. Thomas seemed distracted as well. Odd, because usually he loved documentaries like these.

“Busy day?” she asked, during the commercial break.

“You could say that,” Thomas said, vaguely. He smiled down on her. "How was your shopping trip?"

She took a moment to find the right word and finally settled on, "Eventful."

"Oh boy."

"We ran across Sylvi."

“She was delightful as ever, I suppose?”

Elisha turned her head to frown at him. “She means well, Thomas.”

He made a face. “Sorry. You’re right. I’ll try to be nicer next time I see her.”

“It’s okay. She could be nicer to you as well.” She leaned back to rest against his arm again. "Tyrone showed up too."

"Really? Ouch. He's been a pain all morning."

She ran a hand through his hair, finding a few strands that seemed shorter and more singed than usual. "I noticed."

"Sorry,” Thomas said, cringing a bit. “I told him to go bother someone else, I didn't think he'd go to you."

"It's okay. Maria seemed to know how to handle him. More or less. Does this happen often?"

"Occasionally. He usually snaps out of it pretty quickly. But well... he's still a demon. Some weirdness is inevitable. The important thing is to stay calm and don't show any fear. Confidence is key."

She raised one eyebrow at him. "Is that a demonologist thing?"

Thomas laughed a bit. "Well, we do know Tyrone well, and how to deal with his less humany behaviour. But it's good advice for all demons."

“I’ll keep that in mind. You’re the expert.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not entirely an expert on how to handle Tyrone,” he said, his smile fading.

“Oh? What’s wrong?

“I need to have a difficult conversation with him and I don’t know how to do it without hurting his feelings.”

“All those lessons about dealing with demons,” Elisha softly teased. “And they neglect to teach you that.”

“Yeah, okay, laugh it up,” he said, with a wry smile. “But if you have any advice, it’d be welcome. You’re good with people. A lot better than I am, for sure.”

“Hm. If your previous issues with Tyrone have taught me anything,” she said, with a glance towards the kitchen where a second fridge was taking up valuable apartment space, “it’s that you need to be direct and to the point. Hints are too easy to ignore. He’s old enough to handle some criticism. What is it about?”

“He scared off all other demons. I can’t get any new ones to sign up for the Safe Summons List, and just forget about any higher-level ones for research. They’re all too terrified of him.” Thomas rubbed his face with a tired sigh. “He means well. I know. He just wants to protect me. But I can’t do my job with him hovering around the lab all the time. I might get fired if this keeps up, Hicks said, so… we need a solution. What can I even do if I get fired? It’s not like I have any other skills except for handling demons.”

“You could always start a cult,” she teased, but the joke fell flat underneath his worried stare. She slid an arm around his chest and leaned her head against his. “Thomas. Just talk to him.”

“With the weird mood he’s been in since that whole Chavazikel incident I’m not sure talking would solve anything. I need a deal. One that won’t turn around to bite me in the ass afterwards. It’s just…” He moved a hand through his hair, ruffling it. “I’m nervous.”

“Of how Tyrone might react?”

“Well, yes, but no. I mean… if he takes that deal, and leaves the lab. I’ve gotten so used to having him in my corner, you know? Even during summonings where he wasn’t present. I always knew that, should things go horribly wrong, I could count on his help.” He took a deep breath. “If he stays out of the lab, I’m on my own. What if I’m not as good a demonologist as I think I am? Or worse, what if this deal goes sour, and he decides to completely leave? I’d lose my friend as well.”

“You need to have more faith, Thomas,” she said, softly. “In yourself and in Tyrone.”

He smiled at her. “Maybe. Thanks.”

They shared a soft, warm silence, until she heard the evening news begin.

“Er, Elisha?”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t that the mall you usually go to?”

------

#transcendence au #fic: not what he seems #elisha mckenzie #thomas strange #alcor the dreambender #maria dewitt

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kiingocreative · 3 years ago

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The Structure of Story is now available! Check it out on Amazon, via the link in our bio, or at https://kiingo.co/book

There are some buzz words everywhere and, in the writing world, and it feels to me like ‘journaling’ is one of them. It’s something everyone seems to be doing.

It took me a while to build a journaling habit, and I wouldn’t say I’m quite there yet with my Journaling discipline, but whatever experience I’ve had with it has been incredibly beneficial.

What’s Journaling?

Back to the old trusted dictionary! Journaling is defined as:

To write in a journal or diary.

Simple, right?

For those of you with a penchant for etymology and random fun facts, the word ‘journal’ comes from the Latin ‘diurnalis’, or ‘diurnus’, meaning ‘daily’. In late Middle English, a journal originally referred to a book containing the appointed times of daily prayers. (If you use this as an ice-breaker at your next dinner party, please let me know!)

Nowadays, journaling is a lot more about keeping track of one’s praying schedule, and much more about recording one’s thoughts in an informal, free-flowing, stream-of-consciousness manner.

It’ll take different forms for different people, and the great thing about it is that (in my view) there isn’t a right or wrong way to journal. The only right way to do it is the way that feels right to you. As with any form of writing, craft or art in general, it’s all about individual preference, and highly subjective. And because Journaling is generally something that remains personal and private, you can do whatever the heck you want with it.

Pretty great, isn’t it?

Why Journaling is Good For You.

Based on my own experience, I’ve found a few benefits to journaling:

Pressure-free writing.

I’ve found that Journaling, because it follows no set rule and isn’t meant to be shared, is a great chance to write without any pressure. To write just because you want to write, with no other agenda than indulging in your love of putting words together on a page.

To me, writing without an outcome in mind is always liberating. It’s a chance to reconnect with your craft in way you might not if there was a clear purpose to it, like writing a book due to be published or a blog article meant to be posted online.

Experiment with your writing.

Journaling is also the perfect format to experiment with your writing, and try your hand at something new. Maybe you normally write fiction, and Journaling is a chance to give poetry a go. Maybe you generally blog, and your journal can start hosting plots and ideas for a novel, regardless of what you make of it later. Maybe you’ll want to try writing exercises—like jotting down ideas from a prompt or in a specific style. Or you could start recording dreams and memories you can remember.

Discomfort is where we grow, so putting yourself in those situations regularly is a great opportunity to expand your writing abilities and hone your skills. Who knows, there may be writing gold in there somewhere!

Never forget an idea.

I don’t know about you, but I often get ideas for my writing and beyond at the most inconvenient moments—in the shower, whilst cooking, doing the dishes, or picking up dog poop (I know, oh the glamour of a writer’s life!). I always think that I’ll remember these, but the truth is, most of them get forgotten, never to be retrieved again from the confines of my mind.

Journaling is a great way never to lose sight of an idea. My Journaling involves a lot of notes about random ideas I have for a plot, a story, a post, or life activities in general. They serve as inspiration for the future. Writing them down helps me rest assured that I can go back to that list and explore it later, whenever convenient.

Free your mind &notice trends.

One of the most important things I’ve notice happen when I journal, is that it helps me empty my mind fro ma lot of the never-ending thinking loops I tend to fall victim to. By putting thoughts down on paper, I’m able to see them more clearly, and my brain finally feels like it no longer needs to hold onto them. Jotting things down is a great way to break your pattern of thinking (or, if you’re like me, obsessing) and to allow yourself time to take a step back and look at the big picture.

Whether it’s something you’re stuck on in your writing, or in your life in general, journaling on it is powerful, especially if you do it regularly. Not only will you create more space in your mind for better and brighter things—say, your next brilliant writing idea!—but it’ll also give you a chance to notice trends and recurring themes. And that’s a great way to build awareness about your own patterns of behaviour, and start eradicating your most negative or toxic thinking habits.

Keep a record.

Performance coach Tony Robbins (yes, him again! What can I say, I’m a huge fan) says that ‘if your life is worth living it’s worth recording’. I couldn’t agree more. Journaling gives you a chance to be your own life historian. To keep track of where you’ve been and how far you’ve gone. To look back on those day-to-day accomplishments that may look minute at the time but all add up to something big and wonderful in the end.

Looking at your own existence and experience as something that’s worth keeping a record of also sends your subconscious mind a clear message: that’s you’re worthy. You’re enough. Every moment of your life has an impact, the good and the bad, and helps mould who you become.

I’d say there are few more powerful truths to embrace in your lifetime!

Getting Started with Journaling.

That’s all well and good, you might say, but where do I start?

Fear not, my friend, here are some suggestions to get you started.

1. Set a schedule — If you don’t make time for it, chances are it won’t happen, because life has a habit of getting in the way. Identify a time that works best for you—whether that’s morning, midday, evening etc.—and schedule it in your calendar, setting a reminder so you don’t forget about it. If finding time daily feels daunting or unrealistic, why not start with once a week, or a couple of times a week?

2. Make it a habit — Stick to it! Whether it comes naturally or not, be disciplined about it. Embrace whatever comes, both the joys and the discomfort of it. Set yourself a goal—every day for a week, every other day for a month etc.—and sit with it for the entire duration you committed to.

3. Set a timer — Journaling doesn’t have to take a lot of time. I tend to journal for about ten minutes at a time on average, sometimes less and sometimes more. If you’re unsure what duration to start with, set a timer for ten minutes and see what comes up.

4. Let it flow — As I mentioned above, Journaling may or may not feel natural at first. It may feel great or it may feel uncomfortable. Whatever comes up for you, let it flow. Why not journal about the sensations and feelings the experience of journaling brings up? It may end up being one thing one day and something altogether different the next. Whatever it is for you at any given time is what’s right. Be open-minded, remember this is unique and personal, and no one—not even you—should ever judge it.

The Power of Rituals.

If you’re still unsure about the value of journaling, or about getting started with it, let me say this one final thing: the most important piece of the puzzle, as with anything else you do, is defining your ‘why’—i.e. the reasons behind your decision to start (or continue) journaling. Ask yourself:

Why do you want to start journaling?

Why is it important to you?

How do you think it’ll make you feel? How do you want it to make you feel?

What difference do you think it’ll make to you, to your life, to your writing?

Clearly defining your ‘why’ and your intentions will help you maintain the habit. More importantly, understanding the value this holds to you will take journaling from a mere habit—which can feel like a chore—to a ritual of self-care. That’s the difference between doing it because you think it’s cool, or because everyone is doing it, or because you think you should do it, and doing it because you know for a fact, in your core, that this will make you and your writing better and stronger.

This will go a long way in making it more enjoyable. It’ll help you build rituals around it that are nurturing and caring. Get yourself to acknowledge why it’s good for you and why it’s pleasurable, and then set up the environment to make your journaling time feel like an absolute treat. Maybe that’s setting the scene in the room where you journal with a candle or some background music. Maybe that’s selecting a nice notebook if you’re doing this by hand, or picking your favourite writing spot, at home or beyond.

Eventually, these will all act as triggers to get you into the right journaling mindset whenever you’re sitting down for it.

And if you’re not quite sure what that all looks like for you… Well. Isn’t that a great topic to start journaling about?

#writingtips #screenwriting #creative writing #writers on tumblr #writers #writing #writerblr #writing advice #writing community #writing resources

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