#midnight advice

[sixth-light]

I have had these thoughts bubbling away in my head for like...eighteen months or so now (it will become very obvious why shortly) but the discussion in this post has pushed me to write them down: I think societally we HUGELY underestimate how motherhood for primary caregivers, particularly first-time motherhood, can be a source of vulnerability to radicalisation.

There is obviously huge cultural variance here, but for a lot of cis women becoming primary caregiver to an infant in a capitalist Western society represents a time of immense vulnerability because in general you are:

Incredibly sleep-deprived (which has well-documented knock-on effects for your judgement, mental health, etc)

If you gave birth, recovering from a significant challenge to your physical health (even in the best-case scenario)

Isolated from your previous networks and communities of people in full-time work

Completely separated from the context of your prior career goals and achievements

Under huge amounts of stress to learn how to care for an infant (don't get me started on breastfeeding)

And on top of this, you are also be experiencing a huge amount of messaging about how all this is natural, wonderful, something you're meant to do, something you should love doing, and something that you must do for the welfare of their child. It's a huge amount of pressure and life change even when everything goes right and there's very little cultural space to express negative feelings about it.

Any group of people who offer community, support, and affirmation to cis women in this situation are going to have a really good shot at radicalising them into some very weird and dangerous headspaces and in fact we see this happen all the time - think antivaxxers and TERFs. It flies under the radar because of the hazy positive glow that associates with motherhood and babies and also because we don't take the radicalisation of women seriously I guess because they rarely shoot anybody, but...yeah. It is such a vulnerable time!

[saturnstrays]

HAPPY NEW YURI I MEAN YEAR!!! 🎇🎆✨

me and my beautiful majestic robotic wife (which is which we will never know)

og vers under cut lool

[deadlypoetacademia]

Grateful for 2024, hopeful for 2025

I wish this year everyone heals from something they do not talk about. To be honest, I am scared to start this new year. 2024 was quite an adventure, a roller coaster of emotions, a year of ups and downs, a year where I lost and learned, yet found so many good people. I am scared for the new life that will begin this year. I just wish to find strength to start all those beginnings with ambition and end up the existing ones with lots of memories. Dear God, this year let me find happiness, the true, real and raw happiness. 2025 please be good. There are lots, lots and lots of hope from you.

[pratchettquotes]

"But hold on," said Tiffany. "Won't I be you one day? And then will I talk to me now, as it were?"

"Yes, but the you that you talk to won't exactly be you. I'm very sorry about this, but I am having to talk about time travel in a language that can't really account for it. But in short, Tiffany, according to the elasticated string theory, throughout the rest of time, somewhere an old Tiffany will be talking to a young Tiffany, and the fascinating thing is that every time they do, they will be a little different. When you meet your younger self, you will tell her what you think she needs to know."

Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight

[skierisa]

seriously. HOW does one start writing a ninjago fanseason? every other time i tried it came out as very edgy and very much whatever was happening with teen dystopian teen novels from the 2010's, and i SERIOUSLY dont want it to happen again

so seriously, where do i start planning it, like, WHERE, like HOW

[isaiahpadams]

ADVICE NEEDED

Hi, my name is Isaiah Adams. I'm in the process of writing a book and my goal is to show the beauty of different cultures and highlight the experiences of people within those cultures. I want to focus on things like comfort foods, the poetry and literature, old sayings and specific actions, small ways home remains in the heart and soul even if you may not be there now. I want to share stories, good and bad, and show why it's all so important especially considering everything happening today.

The main question of my book, which so far I have chosen to title "As they say." is "what happens if this hatred towards 'others' continues and what future will be carved through this hatred?" and the answer becomes clear as war breaks out and violence becomes an even greater norm than it was. Love and safety are slipping from the group's grasp but people look out for each other in any way they can, holding on to home despite it being torn from them. Community and shared understanding is a central theme, as is romanticism vs. reality. This will be set in a slightly dystopian near future, through a queer point of view (but not only highlighting queer experiences).

I will find resources/papers and, if possible, recorded lectures on war and authoritarianism, the experiences and history of the cultures I will portray in the book and the languages spoken. I would have conducted interviews but that will not be possible as I wish to stay completely private/anonymous myself and wouldn't be able to do so if I were to interview people. This is why I was planning on posting a link to a Google form with questions anyone could answer anonymously about their cultures and experiences.

I myself am queer and living in a country I wasn't born in but my experiences may not be the same as other people's. I would so greatly appreciate any input about this anonymous form idea, all about your experiences and (if you would be willing for me to do so) how you'd like me to frame it in writing. I want to do justice to a range of experiences and views on life without assuming or putting words in someone's mouth. I want to incorporate your truth into this tale and share a wide range of experiences (particularly those often overlooked) without framing it as my own or speaking over anyone.

This is an incredibly recent idea for me so I am being as open as I can about the research I am going to do. I am incredibly worried about making mistakes as I know how it could harm other communities, so I will do everything in my power to carry out as much research as I can, this search for first-hand recounts being the first step. These form answers would be included at the very end of the book so people will be able to read it in your own words but it would be anonymous as to not out anyone.

If the idea seems off somehow, please let me know and I will try to find a better way to go about it, I just think first hand recounts and input would be most accurate for learning about how to approach different cultures with the care and respect they deserve.

Lots of love and thank you in advance for any input and advice. Sorry if this is poorly phrased.

-Isaiah ❤️

[mxmorbidmidnight]

In the time where I return to the trees and do my wolf things, which do not concern thee, please respect my right to privacy/joking. In this time I collect rubbish from my local scrubland area. Amongst said rubbish I have found MULTIPLE pairs of underwater. Keep in mind the only water one might swim in is a knee deep creek (at best, majority of it only reaches the ankle or shin), which is also HEAVILY polluted. Not to be controversial, but I fear you must put your dick away. So sorry babes💔

Think about this duckling the next time you become tempted to engage in sexual intercourse in nature. Is it truly the want of thee for this innocent creature to grow up surrounded by thine UNDERPANTS?!!?! THY PANTALOONS?!!?!!

[xarrixii]

sometimes you gotta imagine dialogue like one of those fancy aesthetic wave or wind graphics. people don't just talk about stuff. they have motives for why they say that stuff, and it'll remind them of other stuff, and they keep talking because humans like talking.

if you struggle with dialogue the best way i can try to explain it is, think about a time you had a conversation, any conversation. where did that start and where did it end? how often did it get redirected?

say i wanted to get from, you know, plot point A, "Dad said we were having mac n' cheese for dinner" to plot point B, "I wish school wasn't so stressful"

i'll italicize what gets the conversation to move before it even moves

You're having mac n' cheese for dinner! That's so cool and epic! Man I love mac n' cheese. It's so much better when Dad makes it than when Mom makes it.

A sibling might join in, you know, "Don't get me started on the school's mac n' cheese. It's so awful."

Aw man I hate school. The last thing I need when I'm stressed out is crappy school lunch mac n' cheese.

Yeah dude I know like why's school always got to make you feel worse about like everything you ever do ever. It's so stressful.

you notice?

this can work for more important things, too. if you keep up with flash/burn, an example from chapter 42:

i needed to address why liam pretty much never teleports even though he, well, he obviously can. a lot. chapter 4 made a big thing of this. so he started out explaining that, but i also needed to address a future plot point regarding alph's new moves. how do i get from telepathy to alph? well, i bring up a situation where alph was present. as humans do, they drawl and tell stories, and, bam. alph is suddenly in the conversation.

silence is a part of dialogue, too! my choir director in high school liked to say it with music, but it absolutely works with just normal human conversation, silence is a tool to help abrupt shifts in pace or emotion.

sometimes someone will say something, another won't think of a reply in a few seconds, and the person will talk again because they thought of more. and so after they hit alph, liam remembers this thing, and he says it. boom, foreshadowing and addressing what someone might be asking a question about.

(does this make sense? am i making sense)

characters talk to themselves too. in third person and in first person, there will be periods where a character is just thinking in their own head, and lucky for you if you need to cover multiple things at once, humans like jumping from one thing to another and forgetting where they started in the first place.

so--don't think about dialogue as this terrible thing. just have 'em talk like you would to a friend. where would you move off a topic onto something else? it's pretty likely this fictional word/art creature is gonna do the same exact thing

[thebeautyofanoracle]

Dear Future Husband,

I don't know if you actually exist but if you do, then I don't understand where you are, when will you meet me, and why is it taking so long for you to meet me.

I know you're hustling and working hard so that you can be stable before you meet me, but why is it taking so long, on top of that, these random men that I just talk to are so weird, and I'm so done with them now.

You better come fast. Like real quick.

Your future wife.

[catgirlkirigiri]

Do YOU need wormz in your petz4 game? Well boy do I have the cat breed file for you!!!

Introducing. The worm. You know you want this thang don't even try to deny it

WORM. Comes with:

4 color varations (that are honestly pretty similar but like. It's a worm. It's gonna be pink. idk what to say of course they're similar)

Smooth Ass Creature (was gonna have a banded texture but it kept breaking)

Floating Tongue??? (someone help me I CANNOT get rid of the tongue I've tried so hard it's still there I'm going insane)

Meows. (tabby cat based. Non-ow)

Weirdly large baby (I do not know how to make the baby smaller. Sorry)

What are you waiting for??? Get your own petz4 wormz today!!!!! <- Link to mediafire download of the .cat file

[lgbtlunaverse]

POV switches in chapter 108

This is generally me trying to figure out which parts of the novel are from wei wuxian's limited perspective and which ones are omniscient, as they switch pretty frequently and without warning. And also specifcally because @darkfalcon-z asked in a reply to a post I made earlier today!

Obvious disclaimer that this meta looks pretty closely into specific wording, and that my source remains a translation. I haven't read the original text and so can't attest to my accuracy there.

So MDZS gets real messy with its narration. It obviously starts in omniscient with celebrating Wei Wuxian's death, but spends a lot of its time in limited, most exemplary shown by the enduring obliviousness wei wuxians has towards lan wangji's feelings never being explicitly undercut by the narration.

The novel... does NOT telepgraph when it switches povs. Moreover, wei wuxian does sometimes make confident statement about how other characters feel. Prime example being him talking about how jiang cheng would react to finding out about his core

This being, notably... NOT what Jiang Cheng's actual reaction is when he does find out. That's because wwx is working with incomplete information here, he didn't know Jiang Cheng was willing to lose his core for him to begin with.

Also, he afformentioned obliviousness to Lan Wangji leading to him, multiple times, attributing the wrong motivations to lan wangji's actions.

The novel doesn't outright say "wei wuxian assumed/ thought that jiang cheng would react like that" in the screenshot above, but it DOES clearly show, by leading with him thinking about why he thought he coudn't tell jiang cheng about the golden core transfer, that we're in his head at the moment. And so the following statements are also his thoughts, not omniscient narrations. The difference is very subtle. But it's there

So we're in chapter 108. right before Lan Xichen stabs Jin Guangyao, an we're clearly in omniscient.

Lan Xichen's feelings are stated plainly and there's not very much focus on Wei wuxian at all. It switches over briefly to him and lwj checking up on Wen Ning but his feelings are not overriding everything else.

Then the stab happens

We're still in omniscient here. "Lan xichen felt his heart go cold" a detail Wei Wuxian couldn't know, stated plainly as a matter of fact.

However.

I think this part

Is where we retreat from omniscient back into wei wuxian's pov. We're not told anything about either of these character's inner worlds, but do get some extra litte commentary that jgy was so slow that even Jin Ling could catch him with his eyes closed! That's not something either Lan Xichen or jgy would be thinking of right now. It is, however, a comment Wei Wuxian's inner monologue might think to make.

In the context of my earlier post, which this was inspired by. It also makes some assumptions. Namely, that Xichen is just going after jgy to catch him. It doesn't explicitly say so, because we're not in omniscient anymore but it's clear Wei Wuxian thinks so as he'll feel the need to warn him in a few seconds. This is interesting, as it directly contradicts a popular fan interpretation of this scene, that's become explicitly canonized in multipe adaptations, which is that Lan Xichen is intentionally going along with and is willing to die with him. I'm not saying this theory is correct based on its popularity alone, obviously. I was actually surprised to find out it was so vague when I read the novel considering its popularity!

By the next chapter we'll be unambiguously back into wei uxian's head, and after "Lan Xichen could no longer persuade himself to silence him again" which is in the paragraph before the one in the image above, we are no longer told any other character's feelings or inner thoughts except for Wei Wuxian's. Specifically, this:

So this describes wei wuxian realizing a "something" what something? well, this something.

Again, the difference is subtle. The statement of "He was fighting with his last breath to lead Lan Xichen towards Nie Mingjue, so they could die together!" might seem like another one of those "other charcters' feelings" statements. But we're not IN Jin Guangyao's head right now. This is describing actions, not thoughts. He's not trying to get away (a visible action wwx would be privy to) which must be because...see statement above.

And all of this is framed under the banner of Wei Wuxian saying he realized something, and that being that Jin Guangyao isn't trying to get away and Lan Xichen needs to get away from him because... see statement above. This line basically starts as a repitition of what Wei Wuxian said, repeating his assumption, and then clarifying what Wei Wuxian DOES think is happening. The whole paragraph between is just buildup for the payoff of what that "something" of the realization is. MXTX could have writtern "wei wuxian, however, realized something. Jin Guangyao wasn't trying to get away! Instead he was trying to lead Lan Xichen towards Nie Mingjue so they could die together" and them describe the scenario, it'd be functionally the same in the manner of what information was conveyed, but the little gap in setup and payoff increases suspense and makes the reveal more engaging. It's a good little writing trick!

That wording above does make it way more obvious that that statement? Is one of wei wuxian's. That's what HE thinks.

In the line where jgy pushes lan xichen away, we're still not privy to their feelings or thoughts at all.

But we do get this curious litle "yet,"

That means this is a subversion, something that goes against what was previously established. Namely, that jin guangyao would want lan xichen to get caught by nie mingjue. The actual reality of the situaton conrasts hat we were told earlier. it's a surprise. to who? Well, to all the other characters watching this go down. wwx among them. We get other little commentaries, like how the sight of jgy being choked by nmj is frightening, placing us even further away from his inner world and into the shoes of someone watching him in the temple.

The style being used here is similar to the one in the next chapter, when nie huasang's plan is unveiled. First you get bit of dialogue with clear implications from Wei Wuxian, and then we go into wei wxuxian's head. In a few lines it's explicitly established that he's questioning things, and we are following his line of thought. And then a whle account of nie huasang's plan is given. With no further affirmation that we're still in wei wuxian's head. That's based on context clues given prior. Is this recount of the plan correct? Most likely, yeah! But we're never expicitly told. We are still in wei wuxian's head.

This bit on Jin Guangyao is similar. From the removal of stating other character's feelings (a possible exception might be the statement that "Nie Mingjue is not afraid of spiritual weapons" but that is something observable to wwx who's been seeing nmj not give a shit for a good few minutes now. We get nothing he's not privy to) and a clear indication that we're inside his head now. What we get next is his reocunt of the events, and they're fairly factul as he simply tells us what he sees, but when he gets into the reasons for why things ar ehappening? Well, if we wanted to, we could doubt that.

[deconstructthesoup]

I know that the overlap is probably razor thin but

If I were to write a Midnight Burger/Dead Boy Detectives crossover oneshot, would any of y'all read it?

[dreamaboutwhathappens]

nothing would be more both simultaneously delicious and devastating than if each variant track changed the reading of the album

[midnight-wood]

Thank u for reading Nightfall. 🥺🥺🥺 Means a lot to me since I worked very hard on it but it just didn't take off.

Omg of course!!!!!!

I really enjoyed it so so much 🖤🖤🖤

Should you ever add to it, put me on the tag list!!!!

Also I will say, back when I wrote consistently, (pre COVID, a lifetime ago) nobody ever loved the ones I put my all into??? But that did not stop me and it should not stop you. 🖤

[herbgerblin]

Hi Herb!! I was wondering if you had any advice on opening commissions? I enjoy your art immensely and you were one of the first people I thought of to ask since I know you do commissions on occasion

Sorry if this is totally weird, I am just at a complete loss! Thanks for taking the time to read this!

These are things I wish I had figured out when I started selling art commissions. Also, feel free to use my current commission form to pattern your own. (also if anyone >.> wants to commission me, I am open <.<)

Step 1: Write a Terms of Service

Good terms of service will manage the expectations of your clients, establish a level of professionalism, and protect you if someone tries to argue something already made clear in writing. You can keep your ToS really simple, but it's good practice to include the following:

What kind of art you will/won't do (I don't do nfts)

Estimated duration of the project (2-4 weeks is my M.O.)

Number of revisions (more than 3, I add a fee)

When and how often you will update the client

Rights that you retain as an artist/permit to the client

Note: This mainly applies to personal/non-commercial work. If you are approached to make art for a game/magazine/website, do a ton more research. You will need to write out a contract that makes things Boringly Clear, and you will want to retain all of your rights as an artist.

Step 2: PRICES (scream)

Everyone starts out underselling. I'm underselling (I'm trying to get better.) Just go at your own pace. Look at what other artists are offering, but don't just look at the quality of their work. Think about your turnaround time, your style, and your target audience. If you are a fast worker or very detailed, that's worth a pay bump. Niche communities will pay solid money for artists to cater to them. So for example, if you draw fetish art, you have more room to charge higher.

ALWAYS GET PAYMENT UP FRONT. You can offer half upfront and half upon completion. If it's a big or long-term project, it's okay to go 30/70. BUT NEVER START WORK WITHOUT SOME SORT OF COMPENSATION. I just had a client that has not paid me the 2nd half and they are blacklisted. This rarely happens but it does happen.

Once you think you've got a price chart you feel comfortable with, add $20. Do it, even if it feels wrong. You may have to pay transaction fees, or the work (often) takes longer than expected. It'll be a small mercy to yourself to account for these things. Raise your prices a little bit each year because you are growing in experience and inflation (scream) is a thing that affects the arts too.

Step 3: INTEGRATE AND AUTOMATE

I wish I had done this step years ago, but I slacked off, and therefore staying organized was a nightmare. The less "business" stuff you have to do manually, the more time you can focus on "creative" stuff.

Make a google form. Make it as easy for the client to input information as possible. In the settings, set it so that responses will go to an excel file. The questions you ask will be the titles of the fields, so keep them short and easy to read. Reference image attachments will save to google drive.

You can set it up so that you will get an email whenever you get a new response (you might want to make a separate email account specifically for commissions.) Prewrite confirmation responses and save them as templates so that you're not writing the same email to clients over and over again.

Set reminders for responding to clients, requesting payment, and finishing work. This can be through google calender or some other app. You are responsible for facilitating communication. Even if the email is just, "Hey, just letting you know the work is still in progress, I will send you a wip in 1-2 days." Client assurance is high priority.

I use paypal invoice for payments. It means I have to pay a transaction fee, but I factor that into my prices. It also ensures that I have clear documentation for orders, I can send reminders easily if I haven't been paid, and it just looks more professional overall. You can use whatever service feels most comfortable, just make sure you practice good bookkeeping (*stares at my taxes in horror*)

Step 4: Mockups and Descriptions

Provide examples of the work that you are going to. Make a mockup of busts/half body/full body, etc. Don't include anything you don't intend to actually produce.

Make sure that your form includes room to answer EVERY question about the commission that you might have. This will reduce the amount of back and forth you need to have with your client. You want to be able to get that request, confirm it, send that invoice, and jump on it ASAP.

Step 5: Start small, be honest, be firm

If you haven't done commissions before, have a limited number of slots available. Take break time after you've finished a certain amount. Don't languish over an art piece. At some point, it will be as done as it can be. Send it to the client, and keep rolling.

If you feel like you are getting overwhelmed, tell your client. It's bad practice to go on hiatus and not notify them while they're waiting on an update. If you genuinely forget to touch base with them, do so as soon as possible. Apologize, then finish the work as soon as you can. Refund if you think that's the most polite route, but completing the task is usually more appreciated.

Be cordial, but firm. People will try to bully you over little things, but don't give in. Ignore folks who say your prices are too high. Make it clear that if they ask for more than what is agreed, you will charge a fee. If you feel like a request is sketchy, get a second opinion.

obligatory paypal link: help me pay kravitz jr's vet bills

[callixton]

took 10 mg of my ex's ritalin in the hopes it would balance out my adhd and i'm having like. a real weird reaction to it. it is making me paranoid i don't have adhd but i think it is much more likely that my body just isn't sure how to deal with having a stimulant in it for the first time. i'm also not like. high in any way. i'm just sort of jittery and physically unable to settle. and i'm still having trouble focusing but not the way i usually do which i suspect might also be bc this isn't overriding how tired i am. i also can't stop talking when in a conversation