#i hope theres some helpful advice in here anon

[taxkha]

i love your art so much i can't even describe it!! for the past year, every time i see it, it inspires me to create and improve so much i can't be jealous; i can only work harder hoping i can invoke the same feeling in someone else one day. your masterful use of loose lines and cozy colors never fails to make me happy on the rainiest day. do you have any tips for establishing such atmospheres, such as color selection or particular poses or expressions? (i don't write very well, sorry if this seems confusing) -an anon who appreciates your work to the fullest

Oh my god anon, you are so sweet, thank you so much (ಥ﹏ಥ) It means so much to hear I inspire someone to draw and I'm happy I can motivate you! <3 Please keep it up and I would love to see what you are making if you ever feel like sharing it! x) I'm so happy to hear my art has such a positive impact on you!! Okay so regarding your questions! When it comes to colors I recently made a coloring tutorial where I also went a bit into how I select colors, how I shade and what my go to effect layers are, you can find it here but it's also currently pinned at the top of my blog! I explained it in my tutorial but I will say it here again, I rely a lot on effect layers. That isn't wrong by any means and is what I would argue most digital artists do but if you want to learn actual color theory that goes beyond what colors compliment each other I unfortunately cant help with that on my own nor do I have any guides at hand to redirect you to :") Speaking of complimentary colors though, knowing your color wheel and which colors contrast each other already helps a lot! My favourites are green/red and orange/blue! To give some examples: green/red

These are less about an atmosphere achieved through lighting but more about the general subject matter of the piece. They are both more ominous and uh, bloody and threatening. And for Orange/Blue

The orange and blue combination is something you see in a lot of movies, for example Mad Max Fury Road or Blade Runner 2049 and many many more which have likely influenced me on what colors I chose in my art to some extend. Paying attention to media other than your own helps a ton and can totally improve on how you approach you art! Like, obviously I draw mostly anime/manga esque art and I get most of my inspiration from manga and video games, but I also try and look at buildings when Im outside, look closely at shot compositions in movies and so on! Other inspirations that have helped me are artbooks from my favorite games/shows/series, if you enjoy those x) Theres probably PDFs to be found of a lot of artbooks online if you don't want to spend money on them. I know you didn't directly ask what my inspirations are lol but they absolutely helped me! OKAY SO now about poses and expressions. Since you mentioned my loose lines, I have very good advice for that: Draw without erasing. Get a scrap book or some lose paper, cheap paper! And a pen you cant erase, such as a fineliner or a ballpoint pen and then draw. Do not go into it with the intent to make an actual good drawing, just. Draw! Draw half finished faces, hands, bodies, cats, whatever you feel like. Fill up the entire page. If you don't want to waste any paper, do it digitally but don't erase! Do that a lot. You will train yourself to draw loser and loser as time goes on. I've always had the habit of doodling onto everything mindlessly and I still do so I never had to actively practice drawing lose lines but thats most likely the reason why I draw the way I do! I actually have some examples from today because I got distracted at work:

I just draw whatever comes to mind until the page is full. I usually don't even keep these pages :") It has helped me a lot though. Uh yeah thats pretty much everything?? Thanks so much again for sending this ask, it was a very sweet thing to wake up to and I hope my rambles here can be of any help and to you good luck in your art endeavors!! :) <3

[actualbird]

do you have any advice for overcoming awkwardness when writing smut? I don’t get awkward *reading* smut and thinking of writing smut fics, but when I actually sit down and write smut fics I get so awkward and feel embarrassed!! There’s no shame in writing it of course, but I specifically feel shame and im often like “agh it’s so awkward writing this level of intimacy!!”

hi anon!!! and ohhh......im not sure if my answer is gonna be helpful, because it's more of a mindset thing than it is a concrete/tangible writing tip but like

just treat smut like how you would treat any other type of story

because it is! smut is just another kind of story. some people like it, some people dont. same goes for sex. some people like it, some people dont, and while sex is an intimate act, it doesnt always have to be as well. theres friends with benefits, theres sexually active aromantic people, theres people who have sex for the fun of it. essentially, sex is like......every other act. meaning can be attached to it or not, the same way you'd attach meaning or not to the mundane act of like, eating a cake.

i think im getting off topic here kBLKSJFD but like. at least for me, what helped was stopping myself from putting smut on some kind of Special Pedestal with Different Rules. at the end of the day, it's...just another story. so i treat it like how i treat writing any other story.

mindset things aside, here are some other tips off the top of my head that might help

if the problem is intimacy, try writing other scenes that have deep physically intimate connotations. like a bubble bath together, or sharing a first kiss, or giving each other a massage. this can help in getting comfortable with writing intimacy in general, so when you take the intimacy up a notch for smut, it isn't as jarring or like you're jumping into the deep end immediately. ease your way in

if the problem is explicit-ness, i'd suggest not writing E rated fic right away and maybe starting with what would be rated M instead (going by ao3 ratings). if ever you arent familiar with the difference, this post is my FAVORITE post on differentiating M and E smut, please read it, ive screencapped it below for ease of reference.

essentially the difference is in the amount of detail and scene expansion, and with this in mind, M rated situations can be a nice training ground for working up to writing E rated situations. same rationale as my previous tip: if diving in head first is hard, then ease your way into it

another tip i have thats more collaborative is: if by any chance uve got a friend/s who you discuss fanfic ideas with.....talk about your smut ideas with them too. bounce the idea around with another person, i feel this helps make any fic idea (not just smut) much less intimidating while also having the extra bonus of fleshing out the idea even more

last tip: practice!!! you can write snippets or short scenes of smut little by little and, as the saying goes, everything gets easier with practice. not just the act itself, but also the attitude of going into it. with enough practice you'll just end up so used to writing smut that eventually you'll forget to be awkward or embarrassed about it

i realize that i just said a bunch kLJBSJD so i'll end this ask here. i hope some part of it is helpful to you!! and i wish you the best on your smut writing journey :D

[bunnidid-reviews]

hello 🌷 I hope you're doing well. i wanted to ask and I hope this isn't offensive in any way.. so those w did and osdd have the word system to refer to themselves as, right? what about the c ptsd fragments / parts? some r saying that they give their parts names even, but I don't do that.. tho I do want to make it clear to my loved ones that I am fragmented if that makes sense, and maybe even tell them what this ep does and how my anp usually behaves but im confused. i don't want to make it look like im different people but I know they get confused when I differently to protect myself or shift states, so I do want to explain!! im not in the community yet hence why I asked. thank you and I apologize if this was rough to read. ☺️

Hi anon! Thanks for reaching out. Pls note I’m not a professional and can’t give advice or speak for how the community feels, just going off my own experiences

So I’m a full supporter of using what language makes sense to you and your loved ones when explaining what’s going on for you. If that means using system language to describe it all, theres literally no issue with it at all, especially when its just between you and loved ones anyway. Sorry, but I’m not going to gatekeep words, thats silly! People might get confused if you talk about it in a more public way but thats about it.

I frequently change up my words according to who I’m telling about this all, depending on what they understand. Not everyone knows I have DID but I’ve had to explain what happens sometimes because I’m pretty overt with my presentation and I don’t really like having to do the whole ‘do you believe me or are you going to be fucking weird about this’ song and dance.

Here are some words that might suit you, based on things I’ve used to explain my parts without outing my DID entirely that you may or may not find useful:

- parts of self (‘this part of myself’, ‘the traumatized part of myself’, ‘the part of myself who struggles with this specific thing’, etc. descriptors help a lot to differentiate)

- trauma brain and present brain (easier, snappier, more to the point than ANP and EP, nicely not specific to any one part. Sometimes people use left brain and right brain to explain their logic side and creative side, so its the same kinda thing)

- using animals to describe whats going on (my housemates use things like ‘feeling stalked by hyenas’ when feeling urgency, or ‘hiding like a wounded animal’. This is pretty normal too, like ‘a deer in headlights’ used to describe someone whos frozen or confused)

- age descriptors (‘me at seven’, ‘teenage self’, etc. )

- job descriptions (‘the part of me that can go to work’, ‘the aggressive part of me’, ‘the part of me who cries all the time’. Makes it easier to get to the point of what this part does)

As for a system of parts, if you don’t feel comfortable using system, here are some others I’ve used:

- animal groupings (a flock, a murder, a herd, a colony, whatever works here)

- computer or machine terminology (‘my inner processing unit’, ‘my folders full of memory files’, idk I use the term ‘programming’ a whole lot with my loved ones because of how theyve said that I respond like a robot, but I’m certain some people here would be upset that I use their Very Special Terms. But if its in the privacy of your own home I really do not think it matters)

- Literally any sort of grouping analogy, whatever makes sense to you and feels right. You could say a jar full of trauma buttons or something idk! Up to you! Get creative with it

R and I constructed an understanding of my DID without using the Big Community Words because it was just me and him figuring it out for a few years. Things like The Personas (instead of parts or alters), the Council Of Bunny, trauma brain/present brain, The Guys In my Head.

When it comes down to it, you and I are on the same spectrum anyway. DID is not some special disorder, its just C-PTSD with extra steps really. So I wouldn’t worry too much about all this. I wish you luck in finding words and phrases that suit you and your loved ones’ understanding of what’s going on. Having someone Know helps so so so so much

And also if I totally misunderstood and you were just wondering what the C-PTSD community uses.. i have no idea sorry! Maybe look into inner child language? I’m not even caught up on my own community

[pinkmoondoll9shihtzu]

hi, im a mutual of yours who is too shy/on&off tumblr to interact, but i do look up to you; and your blog and way of seeing things helped me in the past when i was struggling quite a bit.

Lately I feel as if im lost in life, lost my passions and floating aimlessly without a real goal, detached from the future etc. Do you have any advice? I appreciate ur view on things, hope this isnt overstepping 🌦🌈

hi its ok no pressure too interact w me ona personal level just cus were mutuals i enjoy the ambient bonds that can form on this website its why i stay ^^ and no it's not overstepping at a;ll sorry it took me a lil while to respond i was trying to think of good advice since i often feel lost too---

well firs t n foremost to give credit where credit is due, this bjork reddit AMA response really gets to the bottom of it , ever since i first read this here on tumbr a few years ago it really rly stuck w me:

the way this answer helped me is like, it helped me realize i dont need to be so regimented i dont need to put all this pressure on myself to create..All that does is feed into self inflicted guilt when i cant live up to my own expectations u.u you see for my whole life i've never been able to plan anything. yes i can think about the next steps i want to take, i can assemble a plan, i can see the logical way forward, but my moods. or like, idek. how to explain..

i cant force anything. if im not feeling it, i cant force it. ive STRUGGLED w this like i dont wanna be this way. because my feelings i cant predict. like for example i worked on music all winter because thats what i was feeling. then suddenly in march i just like, wasnt feeling it all of a sudden. As soon as it hit me i was like Fy767*T&UG*** because i didnt know when it was gonna come back. i still dont know!! im just trying to be patient waiting it out..in the mean time i have suddenly become enthused with drawing again after not ~feeling~ drawing for most of 2023. sometimes i go for weeks where i dont take a single photo and then suddenly it starts flowing again.. my website was also left untouched for most of 2023 until recently.

thats just one example of this repeating pattern in my life that i didnt understand for so long. theres years of my 20s where i couldnt feel passion for anything at all, looking back now i believe those times i was meant to be focusing on stuff in my psyche that needed healing to clear out some headspace for art. and this bjork quote put a lot into perspective it showed me how to reformulate my thinking to be more accomodating to my disposition. when i'm patient & kind w myself, take each day as it comes, let go of the imaginary pressure, let go of "the future", stuff starts to come thru easier.

and maube its gonna show up in ways you dont expect but its true that the mundane world offers so many ways to practice being creative & giving u stuff to weave into the art u want to create.. every water fall starts w a single drop its trueits true :] thats my advice i spose i really didnt meant to write this much but im boooored.. actually my nighttime boredom writing is one of those habits i never considered to b creative until very recently. there's so many small & automatic things we do that can lead to a meaningful life & purpose.

thanks for the question anon i hope this helps in some way , this is whats helped me but everyone's process is different. and i still have moments where im like WTFFF is happening but its easier to ride it out now. i wish the same for you just give it time <3 thanks again xPmd9

[borderlinereminders]

hi aa sorry i rambled in the tags of a post i reblogged from u bc your recent posts have all resonated hardcore and they always do in a reassuring or helpful advice kinda way, but since this made me think of a few questions u might have good advice for i wanted to send an ask too (dw abt answering quickly or at all tho, i am vibing and it also helps me to reach out in general even if its just expressing stuff if ur not sure how to respond aaa)

i wanted to ask if there are resources to learn DBT skills that dont involve group and individual therapy ? either resources to help someone go through the workbook on their own or if individual therapy is ever offered for that

and if you have advice for ways to find support as an autistic adult ? ive been curious if there are support groups anywhere, ideally online bc idk if thered be any near me, bc hearing about other peoples experiences has helped me a lot recently and things have been extra hard recently w all that for me, i think i am autistic burnout mode and meltdowns have gotten often and more horrible and i feel ive learned some how to manage that for myself but it's hard and hard to find advice or people who understand this experience

so i wanted to ask about any type of support that could offer advice or reassurance for experiences like meltdowns

thank u so much, this blog gives a lot of hope and support to me ♡♡♡ you are so amazing amd people sharing advice and experiences like you do makes me feel seen and understood and reassured and less alone and more validated bc it can be hard to struggle and not know how to help yourself, but even harder to feel like it's unreasonable to struggle and ive always felt like that pretty often so it helps to know other people can relate and that there is hope even if stuff wont look the same for everyone, and i think letting go of the expectation to be like everyone else helps a lot too

thank u for the validation and reassurance and good advice always ♡

Hi anon,

Some of my favourite worksheets are on therapistaid. I’m not sure what resources to suggest to aid getting through them, but I find these worksheets to clearly lay stuff out with examples which I always find helpful!

Here’s a link!

I’m sorry I don’t have advice for the rest. Maybe some followers have ideas about finding support as an autistic adult?

Also, thanks for the kind words!

[etherealspacejelly]

my parents dont get my autism or my transness or my aroaceness

they dont get that im not trying to be rude or selfish or whatever but they think i am

they dont get dysphoria

they keep asking me if i have crushes or a boyfreind

they dont get that if the foods bad ill refuse to eat it

they dont get sensory issues or food issues

they dont get that the internet is a safer place to talk about my emotions than they ever will be

they dont get how much effort i put into trying to be normal for them

they dont get anthing

they keep trying to force me to spend time with them playing board/card games which i hate and they know i hate

they keep messing up my pronouns

one of my dads "insprational" speeches was your not flat, you'll never be flat so give up.

when i first came out my mum said "why cant you just be a lesbian instead of nonbinary or whatever?"

they say i cant call myself trans bc i don't want to be a boy

they dont get how much periods suck even tho they dont hurt

theres probably more but i cant remember it rn

any advice would be helpful

maybe ill run away and live somewhere better for me but i can think of a place

hey anon. unfortunately im not sure how to help you with the autism or aroace stuff myself, even though i am aroace and autistic my mum doesnt really understand either of those and i havent been able to reach that point yet. we have just taken to not talking about it, which is much easier now that i have moved out.

however! i do have something for you that might help! i made a powerpoint about transness for my mum that did help to convince her that being trans is a real and valid thing to be.

i cant link to it on here because it would reveal my full name publicly but you can just make your own! i included facts about the percentage of trans kids that experience anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts, and how gender affirming care significantly lowers those numbers. all of this was taken from the trevor project website!

i also included some stuff about transgender people across history and in different cultures.

i finished it off with a slide about the transgender genocide currently taking place in america and spreading to the UK.

you could make versions of these for autism and aspec people too!

im very sorry that you are experiencing so much invalidation and misunderstanding from your family, i understand how that feels. i hope this technique can help you to teach them a bit about your identities. most of the time when people say mean things about an identity, it is simply because they are misinformed. getting angry and upset is perfectly understandable, but it may make them feel even more antagonised and justified in their bigotry. explaining things to them calmly and simply, with graphs, diagrams, and real data can work wonders.

good luck!

[my-castles-crumbling]

TO CAMP ANON

Hi love! Someone sent some advice to you, so I'm putting it under the cut because it's a bit heavy. I hope you're doing well <3

I’ve been keeping up with your tumblr and your asks and stuff, and I hope it’s okay but I had something to say to Camp Anon.

I sort of inferred the situation through your answers Cas. When I was a kid I was often in group at church with other “rebellious” kids. I know now that we were all the queer kids who hadn’t realised yet (credit to them, maybe some of them had) and then when I turned 16 and partly figured myself out I started getting invested in peoples stories.

By that point a lot of the kids I’d gone to church with were also closeted, and we started talking to each other about ourselves and our experiences.

And turns out a few of those kids went to conversion camps. The summers before and after I found out. 

One of the kids was a year older than me and is still a very close friend of mine. She’s actually taking a course to be a therapist now.

And there were a few things they said (and my friend still says when she decides to talk about it) that I thought maybe you should know. 

It seems like from Cas’ answers to the ask, that Camp Anon has been somewhere before and I presume is going somewhere else again this summer? (Parents don’t usually send kids the same place twice in a row)

Look, I have some advice that’s gonna suck but I think you should hear it. You need to know before you go to the camp what sort of level/type the camp it is. 

There are ways to find out and i’m gonna list some here and just do as much research as you can (safely) because if you’re unprepared it will be difficult to leave if you need to.

So the camp has to find away of telling parents what it’s like without directly saying it. It’s often found in quotes.

Theres a big difference between “helping your child” and “healing your child” and “fixing your child”. 

Helping usually means giving quotes and bibles and doing straight kid activities (whatever that means).

Healing usually means a lot of churchy sessions, “explaining” what’s wrong with you, being more delicate

And then fixing means being absolute dickheads. 

There should also be a website somewhere, or a form or something that your parents had to sign. Sometimes that can be over an email or sometimes it’s a letter. It’s just another way for the camp to cover their asses. Whatever is written inside it should give a vague message about the danger level, how many things they want to cover themselves for.

Also- about recording the camp. If you do decide to (no pressure, always prioritise your safety), focus on filming the other kids around you. If your phone is caught or found, if the videos start of silly with other kids in (as long as they know the risk of being caught with a phone too), it’s unlikely someone will scroll through all the videos, which will mean even if they’re deleted, you won’t rise too much suspicion. 

You can also hide videos in other places, like take a video you have and put it in a draft on your tumblr account, and then delete it from your phone. That can be done on Insta too. It does require internet but I assume you have mobile data.

Also camps without phones will still have wifi for adults, sometimes this is free wifi. If it is, don’t use it (if possible).

Also, sometimes the location of the camp on fliers won’t be the real location. For example, it might be the location of the church you go to, but the place you sleep might be one road over, so stay awake. Keep an eye on road names if you move from the location your parents dropped you off at (in case someone needs to come get you, and then can’t find you). 

It is illegal to say that being queer kids can be “fixed”. It’s against the law for camps to do this. Conversion therapy is illegal and wrong. Morally wrong and literally wrong. Not a thing. Doesn’t work. Total fucking bullshit.

And be careful. I know there’s a temptation to bring a weapon (like a knife) with you to these places, and it makes sense. But these kids have been through a lot, like you, and can be really depressed and have mental health issues. And you don’t want a kid to do something bad to themselves with a knife you brought with you to the camp. 

(Cas here: just remember if that ever happens, it's NOT your fault)

Just think it through. 

And be careful who you talk to, some of these kids believe the stuff they’re told. It’s not their fault but don’t assume everyone will agree with you about the situation. 

I don’t want to get too involved, I understand this is an overwhelming thing and reaching out just to talk about it was so brave. If you’d like I can ask my friend, who’s been to places like that, if there’s any personal advise she can give.  Or not, either way is fine. 

And finally, the area I grew up in had a terrible social services place nearby, and when you called the number for social services that school gave you, they’d just send someone from there. There was a kid I used to know who called social services on his family and the guy who showed up was friends with his dad. 

Idk if you have good social services or not but do some research first if you can ❤️

(Cas again: let me know if you want me to reach out to this anon to ask any questions or to get info from their friend! We support you <3)

[terraliensvent]

I'm the person who talked about how tired I was and how I stopped believing. Thank you terravent, in the midst of despair and dashed hopes I find strength in your answers and this whole blog.

Venting is truly therapy, I have written many posts here, some just as depressing, others as aggressive. I'm looking at this situation from the inside and now I realize it's really unhealthy. Sometimes I look back at old posts I used to write and that's how I realize how I used to feel. I'm sorry for using your blog as a diary.

What keeps me in this species are my "kids". But I think eventually it's time to put them out of it. Let your mom take care of you and give you a better life than staying in this Godforsaken species.

Thanks for everything, terravent.

I am the same person who is disillusioned and the same person who is consumed with paranoia. It's horrible how this species has made me such an anxious person. Hopefully I'll be stronger in the future.

Terraliens (was I believe) is my addiction. Hopefully tomorrow I will stop it. I've never felt this way before, never loved someone's ideas and someone's species so much. But I don't belong here, I think I should finally let this situation go.

post related

wow, this one did hit me hard

first of all i dont want any anons to feel ashamed for using me as a diary, i fuck around a lot on here but genuine vents are always welcome

congratulations on realizing you need to break the cycle. honestly ill admit terras is an addiction for me too, and im trying my hardest to walk away (in every way i can aside the blog)

hopefully leaving will help you find some peace, and if theres advice i can offer you is that you shouldnt wait until tomorrow to make a change, you should do it now. leaving the server is the first step, or if you feel like you need to you can void all your terras if you have them. after that it should get a lot easier, you wont be tempted to go and check on the current events because youre not there.

find other vices to replace terras, whether thats a healthier cs space or by throwing yourself wholeheartedly into your other ocs, do whatever helps you most. the best solution for addiction is a healthy substitute. and make sure you go outside a lot, this internet shit really does suck you in

thanks for being an active reader/venter, i appreciate everyone who takes the time to look through my musings about this stuff. and hopefully soon terras will die so i can leave this blog and everything terra related too haha

[tadpolesonalgae]

helloooo, i hope this isnt weird at all.

u really inspired me to start writing one of the wips ive had cooking in my head for 10,000 years with CBMTHY (i love your interpretations of all the characters across everything youve written, even dark! versions of everyone).

but how do you get the thoughts in your head onto the page :( its a little demotivating to not be as good of a writer as I'd like. so im terrified constantly that the story isn't coming off correctly. it certainly doesn't help that I've been stewing on this fanfic concept since i initially read acotar and tog, (crossover shit woo!) but the scenes are so vivid in my imagination that everything i can actually type out seems to fall flat or seems jumbled with the amount i try to include.

like, i posted a part last night after having it ready to go for months (there are several more im hiding 😭) and have reread it 3 times and have to remind myself its fine and i dont need to delete it. but idk if im just being crazy tbh. Im also very much the same type of person who needs feedback in order to continue with creative projects. however the idea of even asking about it here is intimidating, especially after your stories helped push this lil amateur to write. But any help would be so greatly appreciated, especially becsuse theres no one ik personally who enjoys the series who would be willing to chat about it 😅

again, i hope its not weird that im not sending anything in directly related to ur work and asking for advice 😅😅 but i hope you have a good rest of ur day/ night !!

haha, don't worry about it! I'm not sure I'm the best person to offer advice on this since I'm just kind of writing what I want to write though, but I'll try and help.

What you mentioned about struggling to get thoughts down on the page - I think an element of it is probably feeling comfortable enough to put them down there in the first place? That and also having the words to know what you mean? Read around, listen to music, chat with people if you can and see if you can find stuff you resonate with and then pay attention to what it is and try to figure out why. And it can take a while to find the right words, so let yourself breathe.

Suddenly jumping into a project you've been hyping up in your mind won't come out pristine immediately, it might be a case of writing paragraphs once, then writing them out again beneath that but trying to improve on what you've already written with a thesaurus in hand. It might also be a case of listening to music that simulates the emotions you want to write out and then trying to articulate them in the moment. Also writing without thinking can help. Or writing exactly how you're thinking, I guess? It doesn't always work though, so I'd sincerely suggest trying to write some smaller things to start with or have on the side to help practice.

In terms of trying to find people to give feedback, I think interacting with other writers can help. I'm not the best person for this since I like being away from my computer/phone as much as possible, but chatting to writers off anon, or if your writing blog isn't your main one then switching to your writing blog to leave a comment or reblog and leaving notes in the tags is a really great way to show other people you're interested in acotar/tog and writing. If the idea of coming off anon to interact with writers is (like I find it) absolutely terrifying, you can always keep anon on but sign off using a specific pseudonym or emoji that will be recognisable! That way you can get used to chatting without entirely compromising your anonymity and hopefully become comfortable. Asking other people what they do to help them get their thoughts down too can help since you'll be more likely to find someone similar.

I'd also recommend that if your story is long to try planning it out roughly as chapters or bulletpoints so you don't have to store it all in your brain. Have playlists on hand or boards on Pinterest to look over.

I think it's great that you've posted a chapter though - if you have a project you want to do well it's so easy to get caught up in wanting it to be a good as possible that you never actually get around to posting it, so I think what you've done is a great start. If you're unhappy with it after a few months or so you can always edit, nothing's written in stone.

And if you want to write in again please feel free to! I promise it doesn't have to be about my writing and I would think other writers would feel the same. If you want to turn off anon that's fine, and if you want to use an emoji as a sign off that's cool too, you can work your way up to chatting more openly about the stuff you enjoy :)

Also, if anyone else thinks they have some good tips for writing, getting thoughts down, keeping up interest/motivation with a project please add them!

And anon if you want to send in a link to the first part of your story feel free to, or if you want to chat with me directly I'd be interested to have a peek at what you're writing? I love acotar but tog still has a special place in my heart so I'd love to read more content around it too. I know how scary it can be sharing stuff you've worked hard on :)

[spacedlexi]

hey same anon from yesterday!

first off, good luck with your assignments, Killin myself out here too.

And thanks for the advice! I’m trying to make it canonical while in a modern au, so since this was a mainly S1 part of the series, Clem’s parents + Lee’s wife nonsense still happens, just navigated differently. Different dates obviously happen, some characters are less prominent and others are more (i.e St. John’s useless, or Larry + Lee’s family roles/created)

For the personalities, some characters are just easier to write I think. I’ll never understand the Violet southerner thing, a telltale sight for me is if someone messes that up. (Also basically every story has Minerva as a total asshole so that’s funny)

I tried to implement game lines too, while putting it in modern context! And the end of the day you’re right, it is MY choice, just want to have it look nice. Again, thanks and good luck!

using lines ripped from the game can definitely be helpful, especially if it feels natural in the scene, i would just be careful in not leaning on it too much. adding a twist to it definitely helps. but really try to pay attention to the cadence with which characters speak. theres a rhythm to Everything. do they stutter when theyre nervous? do they use a lot of filler words? do they hesitate at all or do they speak confidently? do they enunciate? stuff like that. if you can figure that out it makes it easier to write dialogue that really feels like its coming from that character. think about the different ways multiple characters may express the same idea. how does it get filtered through their heads and mouths. its less about What the character is saying and more How theyre saying it. believability and all that. to me it feels like pulling off a magic trick

it really is just a delicate balance of behavior and vocabulary. its why i try to cut a lot of slack to writers when it comes to fic. i know its a hard line to walk, and i'll give points for getting Enough right. especially for characters we dont see much of. thats why even tho it annoys me a bit i understand why so many people write minnie as being a possessive asshole and not much else. its why i end up going down the rabbit hole trying to figure out who she was before the delta. like we Know she was a different person, we just dont know much about that person, and the experience/thought process that she had that turned her from the "didnt even like killing walkers" never mind the darkness minnie into the minnie that killed her sister. i find her to be a really interesting character because its obvious she still cares about the ericson group in some fucked up way (sans clem she just sees her as an obstacle to getting them back) and i Do wish that depth was examined more in fics. but maybe im just not reading the right ones

ANYWAY i hope this has all been helpful and good luck with your writing 💕

[blue-phoria]

If anon a while back was asking for more than just the problematic shipnames, here are some off the top of my head. Theyre probably problematic in their own ways but most people dont consider them it, i dont think.

Fornket (Forneus X Heket)

Sozura or Sozomura ( I think?) (Sozo X Shamura)

LeshyLamb (Leshy. X Lamb)

Lambket (Lamb X Heket)

Thats all I can remember. theres probably more but i hope this helps.

Fornket and Sozomura are probably the most "safe" LeshyLamb and Lambket are huge agegap, they kill each other, and Génocidaires/Victim You don't go to this game for healthy relationship advice is what i'm saying, they are all fucked up little dudes

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[actualbird]

pardon me! I wanted to try the game tears of thermos, but I’m a little nervous since I don’t play these type of games. Do you have any advice on how to best enjoy myself and invest in its world/characters?

hi anon!!! im so glad you wanna try out tot!!! i do have some tips, but before i go there i must inform you that autocorrect mustve done something to your message because you said tears of thermos and i cldnt rest until i edited a meme of that

sjfhavkkHJVKJHJKSD OKAY ANYWAY, TIPS!!!!

im particularly interested in how you worded this ask!! ive had a lot of people ask me tips on how to start tot (and the relevant ones, i'll link in this ask too) but never on a narrative investment/immersion angle. so my tips for this will be a bit different

but before that, here are my past tips from my tot tips tag

general tips for a newbie (gameplay tips and story tips)

how to "predict" upcoming events

tot stories in chronological order (only updated til july 2022)

now for your question i guess my biggest tip would really just be to treat tears of themis like a visual novel that just so happens to update with more stories.

idk how much of a newbie you are to this genre, but when i got into this game i had NEVER played any other otome before in my life. so it was all new to me!! and i basically treated it like an updating visual novel, this is My Method, and that got me quite invested (as is obvious from my entire blog). so when i say "treat it like a visual novel" i mean:

im personally not particularly a card completionist or a gacha enthusiast. which, hell yeah, this game wont bankrupt me LOL. but also, since cards are the main way where new nxx boy stories are released through, for any card i dont have, i just watch it on youtube. because basically every card, event plot, minigame, etc gets uploaded by someone a little bit after its release. so if youre bummed you missed an event card but you dont really Want the card, you just want its story, just search it on youtube!! search [card name/event name] + [whichever language dub you prefer] + tears of themis and voila! new story for you to read!!!

if you want plot = read Main Story. this is where all the heavy main plot happens and it is SO GRIPPING AND RIVETING.

if you want character development and relationship development between mc and each boy = read Personal Story Bloom Chapter, and then the respective nxx boy's Anniversary 1 card, Personal Story Sweet Chapter 1 and 2, and then the respective nxx boy's Anniversary 2 card. the personal story routes (aka the routes where mc eventually ends up with the boy romantically) are where a BULK of characterization and character development happens, imo

if you want romance and oneshot dates = explore the available cards!!! the tot wiki has an archive of all the available cards per boy on each of the characters' main pages. for example, here's luke's page. scroll down to the cards section and Behold. Luke Stories As Far As The Eye Can See

these pages dont have the story transcribed in them, but theyre great to use as a directory or a map of cards. so if any of the cards catch your eye, then take urself to youtube to find the card and voila (again)! new story for u to experience!

(note: SSRs always have a full 6 act story. SRs either have a 6 act story that is unvoiced, OR 2 voice messages. MRs always have 2 voice messages. R cards have no story and no voice messages)

if you want nxx team dynamics = read and/or play the events!!!! this is my favorite thing, the tot events are a treasure trove of fun cases and awesome team dynamics. in the game itself, some of the big events are available as DLC for anybody to play themselves at any time. to get there, X-NOTE Story -> lower and rightmost button Event -> upper and rightmost button Past.

if theres anything i would reccommend the MOST, itd be to download and pllay the event Mysteries of the Lost Gold. it's so good. it's my favorite event story. trust me on this

i hope these tips can help!!! happy playing :DDD

[comerosas]

Sorry if this is outta nowhere, but in a desperate attempt to find people on here to relate to, I found a post of yours on an old, I assume abandoned, blog, about being a mexican trans guy/transmasc, and man. I felt that deeply. I'm also a mexican trans guy :) and I've been dying to find other mexican trans guys to like share these feelings like how you were talking in that post: losing your very large family bc you're trans, fearing they'd be straight up transphobic or just weird. I'm also not close with my extended family, and seldom visit mexico, but it's still a fear of mine, yknow? Being cut off because I wanna just be me. I'm not out yet to anyone, but these are the thoughts I have as part of why I'm so hesitant to transition and tell my family. But anyways yeah, I'm glad I found your post. I feel better knowing I'm not alone in those feelings. I wish you well, buddy :)

hey this ask was to be honest kind of weird to get (not in a bad way at all) because im not very active on tumblr and i purposefully avoid bringing attention to myself... but this ask also kind of means a lot to me.

i'd have to go back and find the post youre referencing cuz i dont remember how long ago i made it (was it on an older blog that links to this newer one?) but i completely understand (and have gone through) your desperation to find people like you. forgive me if this gets too rambley. i have a lot of thoughts on this.

even though trans people are everywhere online bc of the safety of being open online, it still feels extremely hard to find anything about a specific culture or not about white trans people. i kind of went crazy over it earlier in my transition. there is no advice or specific writings about how to come out to specifically latin american (MORE specifically mexican catholic) families and get them to understand you.

what happened to me was really weird and i'm not sure how common it is... i came out to my mom who is tolerant but early on said she doesnt approve. she said she would talk to my dad about it but he has never talked to me about being trans, and my parents never bring it up ever. its like a huge elephant in the room. it makes my plans of getting top surgery asap quite complicated (i came out at 23 yrs old and my mom said im too young for surgery)

online stuff related to nonwhite ftms is already quite rare, and even moreso when you look up stuff for specific groups like black, latine, asian, etc trans guys. theres a subreddit for trans men of color that i always forget the exact name of (its r/tmpoc had to look it up lol) and it is a nice read but its not as active as i wish. these frustrations of mine are compounded by the fact that although i am fluent in spanish, i'm much slower at reading it than with english so i have no ties to any online spanish speaking communities, nor do i know how to seek those communities out.

theres so much more i wish i had transition-related advice for, even for sillier smaller worries that I have. i think this is a weird time to be trans, theres a lot more visibility than people like us had in decades past, but theres still a lot of unknown territory and a lot of fear nowadays. because its hard to find stuff for your particular experience, sometimes you feel you could/should take up some kind of mantle as a spokesperson to help others like you... theres a lot of misinfo ive seen online about transition but i'm way too reclusive and private to put myself out there.

idk if youll end up reading this anon (does tumblr even notify you of anon asks being answered lol?) but either way i hope you end up finding more people like you, and i hope you can find even a little bit of community. and of course thank you for the kind words :)

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

tw neglect , social anxiety / anxiety

hi i would like some advice

so i plan on moving out as soon as i can once i turn 18, it’s impossible for me to live at my “home” any longer than necessary.

im not cared for correctly my parents wont get me in any doctors appointments of any kind (eye, yearly doctor appointments, therapy, etc), theyve emotionally neglected me my whole life, they wont let me leave my house on my own i dont live in a dangerous place and its not far walks to go places here i get the hesitation since im a girl but again this is not a dangerous place and im not trying to go super far people walk here all the time. i dont know how to live on my own in any way. i can survive being alone in my room 24 hours a day but i have severe social anxiety and along with the neglect i havent been in school. i’ve always struggled with school and that was always ignored but i think it’s something more but i cant know for sure since my parents wont get me in with any doctor. as soon as i got into homeschool since i was experiencing really bad anxiety (instead of actually trying to help and get to the root of the problem they just put me in homeschool and turned a blind eye and acted like everything was fine) everything has only been festering and growing since and its debilitating now.

i dont have a driver’s license or id and not much school record since i got homeschooled 5 years ago (i would have been a senior next school year/in a couple months) i cant get a job I for one: dont have any of that i mentioned and also no idea how to socialize i dont have any friends and it just seems very hopeless. im not sure what to do. i need a job to start saving up to move but i have no way of getting one for the reasons i listed and also every time i try to do exposures for my social anxiety my parents wont let me (the walks for example). i cant live here any longer than i need to i really cant and thats not all the reasons why. i feel trapped here theres no room for me to do anything or grow at all. i just cant take it anymore i want to spend these next couple years trying to get better to leave but i have no idea how.

im not expecting anything from this i guess i just need any sort of advice or anything on how to navigate and get through my situation. how would someone handle this? not even just about the job aspect just how do i get out of this. i have no idea what to do and i dont have anyone i can talk to or go to. thank you for your time!

Hi anon, I'm very sorry to hear about the emotional and physical neglect you have, and currently are experiencing, as well as the lack of resources provided for you to become an independent adult (which seems to include both financial, as well as educational, abuse). I can deeply empathize that it likely feels like you are very much alone in all this, but sadly you are not the first, or only one, and I found several resources that might be of assistance (both for getting independence, as well as further validation).

Here’s a page that discusses the abuse that is sometimes found in homeschooling environments (which isn’t to suggest all are, but in your case, very much sounds so).  If anything this page might validate some of your experiences, as well as potentially sharing them with the reddit, and/or facebook groups.

Here’s an article that discusses what financial abuse is, suggestions of how to develop a safety plan to leave, as well as resources linked at the end to find shelters/services near you that might be of assistance.  

In my opinion, first focus should be about getting you into a safe environment, with trained professionals, who can help you navigate personal independence as you connect with community resources, and begin your healing journey.  Though my hope is that as you practice and experience safe environments, with safe people, it might help alleviate the social anxiety (if it’s a trauma based response), or, at the very least, they might be able to assist in developing new coping skills to navigate the world with the anxiety.  Either way, I promise there are people out there who care, want to help, and will - and I hope with at least some resources shared, it might be a starting point to help you connect with them. 

[hoodienanami]

How do you deal with all the negative comments about Elvis as a fan? He wasn’t a saint but some people are so intense in their hatred for him on social media that it kinda takes the fun out of being a fan :|

this is a tricky question to answer bc im very aware that my ability to not care about what other ppl say about the stuff i love is smth that comes with my age. im in my late 20s so ive had a ton of time to accept that i cant control the opinions of other ppl and that theres no point in letting things i cant control get to me or ruin my fun. its a skill you have to cultivate over time and smth you have to constantly remind yourself of

im not going to claim im perfect at this skill tho. it pisses me off greatly when ppl are wrong about smth i love when the correct answer is only a google search away and i often have to hold myself back from correcting randos on the internet

it stings to have smth you love be rejected, even if the ppl doing the rejecting are strangers who opinions shouldnt matter to you. so dont beat yourself up for feeling this way! its just natural human response

anyway heres some advice that might help you out:

dont go looking for the negative even if it might be tempting

the internet is stupid and the ppl who say untrue negative things wouldnt ever say it irl and would back down instantly if you started hitting them with the facts

ppl who say true negative things wouldnt ever say it irl either

social media isnt real life

when it comes to elvis theres more ppl who love him then hate him. hes the most popular entertainer who ever lived for a reason! i get compliments on my elvis shirt all the time from both older ppl and ppl around my age

i hope this helps you out a little bit anon!! good luck out there and remember that the person whose opinion matters most when it comes to what you love is YOU!!

[ynwa4eva]

i’m starting uni this autumn after a bit of a crisis (went kind of mental) n i was wondering if u had any advice for first yr at all? if not no worries, also good luck on ur exams🫶

Thanks anon <3 this is gonna be really lame but i truly picked two subjects that interest me (english and archaeology) and i got a lot of people saying what a peculiar combination those are! And igaf! So dont gaf about other peoples stupid comments.... I noticed that here in germany (esp for my subjects) the people are soooo snobby omg.... Like i dont want to get along w these peopleeeeee 😭😭 like dont pressure urself to need to like people.... But i wish you luck in finding a clique 🫡 im kinda hoping theres gonna be nore cool people next semester looooolll...

So like a very big me-issue but dont stress urself if you cant find any friends immediately loool like just.... Idk this is so lame but just enjoy ... Studying 😭 and learing... And independence!!!

Alsooo if you moved away from you parents DONT save money on food, get urself treeeeaats all the time get FRUIT! And have a little medicine cabinet and some easy to eat food if youre hangover/sick... I got really sick a few weeks in and those package soups saveeeed me! And also my best biggest investment was a rice cooker ❤️

Its really overwhelming in the first week because they got all these systems etc but truly just ask!! I went to counselling and like help desks alllllll the time like those people love to help! Ask! (Weve had a new system in place and stuff idk if this applies to you)

Also imo dont stress yourself too much with needing to take notes all the time... Like the first semester classes are truly soooo.. erm easy if you literally just pay attention... Like if people talk about how hard an exam is theres a 75% chance theyre idiots im sorry to say 😭 like if you picked a subject you like you will NOT have any issues!!! Like truly!

My BEST tip would be (if you moved away) is to just walk around ... Like familiarise ourself w your surroundings... It helped me sm knowing where all shops are and atms and ice cream shops ...