#minty-eyedrops

[beck-a-leck]

Do you have any writing tips? How do you come up with all these drabble settings? How do you get rid of writers block? (Sorry if this is too many questions)

The long and short answer to for writing tips and drabble setting is: I use the resources at my disposal.

If tumblr works properly, there should be plenty of posts I've reblogged over the years under the tags "writing" and "writing tips" you should be able to find so more than I could ever summarize in one reply. a couple tips that come to mind, though:

1. Learn grammatical rules. Learn story structure. Learn the technical, nitty-gritty, so that you have a good understanding of the rules. And then. Break the Rules. You have to know the rules to break them effectively, and to know when is a good time to stick to the rules and when is a good time to break them.

1a. When you see those big long posts of people in all caps saying DON'T USE THE WORD SAID/ADVERBS/PASSIVE VOICE/ETC. pay attention (learn the rules) but also selectively ignore them. ''Said" is not the worst dialog tag. Adverbs are not the root of all evil. Passive voice is necessary sometimes. Again. Learn the rules, break them more efficiently.

2. If you want to write better, you need to read better. Read More. You want to learn storytelling, read more stories. Read lots of different authors and genres. Listen to fictional podcasts, watch TV and movies. See what you can learn from all the different ways people tell stories. Try and take note of what they do that you like in particular. Figure out the tropes and see how they can be handled well and how they can be done poorly. Don't let your fun reading become homework, but let it be something you're aware, so when you see something the piques your interest you can take note of it.

3. Have Fun! Seriously! Having fun while writing is actually the most important thing. I think. Particularly when it comes to fic, which is my hobby. It's fun for me to write, to come up with stories, to share them with folks. Find some kind of joy in the writing process, and it's much harder to get caught in the slippery slope of comparing yourself to others, and getting disappointed about feedback or lack thereof.

Write the stories you want to write. Tell them how you want to tell them. and Have fun with it! Everything else is just bonus.

As for writing prompts. I got all of mine from posts around tumblr. There's several pinned at the top of my blog that range from Dialog prompts, AUs, Smooch Prompts, and more. You're free to go to those posts and reblog them, and there's lots more floating around tumblr free for the reblogging. If you just want to write something, but can't make up your mind on which prompt to pick, I like using a random number generator to pick for me.

Prompts like those are great for writing exercises, and kicking off points for fics, and having lots of fun with readers and blog followers.

And to get rid of writers block. The age old plague upon creatives. There's no single, surefire way to do it. What works for one person might not for another. But here's what I do:

Work on multiple projects. I can't focus on a single story to begin with (yay adhd) so I always have multiple Works In Progress across 2 or 3 fandoms at a time. If I want to write, but I'm stuck on one story, I'll skip over to another one and see if I can find inspiration there.

If writing isn't happening at all. Do something else, preferably something also creative to keep your brain in the creative zone. But honestly, doing anything else than staring at a blank document can do a lot for you. Exercise, gardening, some chores, a hand craft, art. A lot of times I find the bit I'm stuck on will work itself out in the back of my mind while I'm focusing on another problem.

Putting your stories in time-out can do wonders for getting past writer's block.

If you absolutely have to write only the thing you're stuck on. Try changing the weather in your story, that can help move a scene along.

Try picking the right music to work to, something to set the mood/scene, something you find relaxing, movie and video games soundtracks are great for staying focused and motivated on a task without getting distracted by lyrics.

And usually, when you're stuck in the middle of the scene, your problem is probably several paragraphs upstream. Backtrack, reread, see if there's something to change or fix that unblocks things.

Also. There are lots of other blogs out there, specifically meant for writers and advice. Look around and you'll find them. Use them, use the resources at your disposal. Use google, see if any authors you like have done things like ted talks or other kinds of video lectures about writing. There is so much to learn from all the writers out there.

Happy writing!

[sortagaysortahigh]

The Zooter’s Guide to Getting Zooted

Just wanted to remind everybody that smokes to do it ✨safely✨. As Lord of the Zoots its my job to ensure that everyone woking smeed is being safe about it! So here’s my guide to ✨safe meditation✨based off my own experiences :)

Warnings: mentions of drug use (Marijuana), I am not a doctor or an expert, I’m just a stoner

KNOW YOUR LIMITS.

Take care of your body and your lungs, if youre asthmatic no judgement here but make sure you take them inhalers and shit. Also i recommend boiling orange peels and ginger and inhaling the steam as a mini lung detox/steam therapy. It also helps if youre congested

Practice safe detoxing! Its important to keep your body healthy when you’re a ✨pothead✨. I detox a few times a week by making this green juice in the morning and by doing the steam therapy.

Dont smoke with strangers OR people you arnt comfortable with, this can lead to a panicky high and also its just not safe babes

If you think someone around you is way too high cut them off, we look out for eachother around these parts. And if you know youre going past your limit slow tf down.

Never go smoke without water or something to drink (preferably not alcohol unless you want to get crossed, thats your business).

I recommend investing in a CBD pen! You don’t need a weed card to buy cbd products. If youre having a strong high/bad high the cbd can help to mediate the thc in your system

If you start to panick stop smoking asap, drink some water and sit back, just breathe through it and let someone sround you know. if its because of an edible, eat something and lay down flat on your back, your weight holding you down will help w the anxiety

KNOW YOUR STRAINS. Indica and Sativa are the two main strains. Indica mellows you out and Sativa is more psychoactive, then ofc a hybird is the mix of both. If you’re buying medical grade oui’d definitely ask your plug what the base strain and flavor is (flavors are just the names: ie key lime og, cheesequake, og kush, purp, etc)

Understand the measurement system for buying oui’d, prices vary from state to state and depending on if its medical or not. But a dime is 1g, a dub is 2gs,an eighth/kd is 3.5gs, a quarter is 7gs, a half is 14gs, and an ounce is 28gs. This will literally save your ass if you wanna cop oui’d. If youre unsure of prices just think of it like 1g is $10

If you don’t smoke often don’t let people pressure you into smoking a lot, you can get v sick and usually this leads to a bad high. If you do start to feel sick drink water and eat bread-y type foods, make sure you eat slowly so your body can adjust.

If you’re gonna smoke regularly learn how to roll joints, my personal favorite sheets (that you can get on amazon) are the bambu hemps, Theyre thinner sheets so they can tear easy but practice makes perfect :)

I dont smoke out of tobacco based products and i dont use funnel in my joints ever (i use a little bit of rosemary sometimes). But a few of my favorite alternatives for blunts are: king palms, mintys mint wraps, and high hemp wraps. Im pretty sure you can get those all on amazon!

If youre smoking out of a pipe make sure its clean!!! If youre smoking out of a bong make sure its been cleaned (the swamp waters cool but the actual pipe thing and bowl). Bong water being swampy is one thing but if the bowl and shit are dirty snd have old residue and ash in them thats bad for you and your lungs

Eye drops are your bff, not even just for getting rid of redness, the smoke can burn the fuck out of your eyes, so invest in some eyedrops.

Finally dont try to cover the smell up with perfume, the smell can make you sick and you’re still gonna smell either way. No matter what your high ass friends tell you, you still smell.

[dirty-creature-lyfe]

I get fucked up daily. Some days I might smoke once, but the next I am burning multiple bowls. Mind-numbing to the point I feel my skin tingling. My breathing becomes quick but deep. I know my addiction, but I hide it. My eyes glossy and red, maximum eyedrops become my savior. Water supplied at work becomes my safe haven. I am safe as long as I don’t drift. The potent smell is hidden by cologne and minty fresh breath. No one should know my addiction. I know the base of the addiction, anxiety. No more migraines, no more panic attacks. My happiest and most confident self. I hide my addiction.

[aceofintuition]

Hey so like. I don’t really have many rules for drawing my characters but I’ve been meaning to mention these for a while. I love all the fanart I get but if you wanna draw or write Snowy or any of the rest, there’s just a couple things I’d ask you to respect. I also want to reblog all the gifts you guys give me, but if these aren’t respected I won’t be reblogging, sorry.

- Don’t hurt baby Joy! This is like hollywood style don’t hurt/kill kids rule. She is just a smol bundle of sunshine do not do harm to her pls.

- Nothing sexually explicit for Snowy or any of the rest of my cast. Some ppl are into this, I’m not.

- Don’t whitewash my characters, please. Especially Snowy, but that goes for Joy, Ana, Minty, Henry, Norman, and anyone else I choose to introduce. I’m not saying you have to stick to his skin’s exact RGB hexcode (although I especially love those of you who eyedrop/ref from my art, thank you) but Snowy is distinctly brown, not white. So is his daughter, his wife, and Minty. Henry and Norman are even darker. As long as you’re trying to approximate it you’re doing ok. Obvs this also only applies to if you’re actually coloring it, not lineart.

[smoakinn]

“Oh god oh god I put the drops in my eyes and I thought they were eyedrops but they were minty breath drops, help!”

[askgumi]

gET YOUR ASKBLOG STARTER KIT FOR ONLY 39.99 GUMI DOLLARS!!!!!!11

Seriously though, it takes me 2+ hours to draw each answer so it’s not particularly fast? (not this one tho, this took me like 50 mins)

I plan answers out in advance and think of what Gumi will say, and then get on with the drawing. Imo it’s about good planning and setting goals (i.e. answer 1 thing a day etc etc) and then not procrastinating and just doing it. (pro tip: minty eyedrops will help you stay awake tho)

It also saves time if you already have a colour palette planned out for your character and set outfits! I think thats p much it

[beck-a-leck]

R, S, and Y!

Thanks for the questions!

Fanfic Ask Game!

R - Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an inspiration?

You know, I know there are specific writers, but as soon as I try and think about it my brain turns entirely to swiss cheese and I suddenly have never read anything ever in my life.

To be unspecific, Yes. There are so many times while I'm reading I'll take note of "oh, I love how they described this." or "that's a great word choice. gonna remember that." and "god I wish I could write this funny/dramatic/heartfelt/romantic." and sometimes even "oh, I don't like the way they did this."

It's old advice but good advice, to be a better writer you need to be a better reader, so in a way, every author I read inspires me in some way shape or form. For fanfic and professional.

S - Any fandom tropes you can't resist?

I am so weak for baby fic. Whether Accidental baby/child Acquisition, or extremely purposeful, I just love looking at some characters and going "okay, but what if we gave them a baby?" because it is almost always so heart warming, and cute, and fluffy, with just a touch of drama and angst. *chef kiss*

Y - A character you want to protect.

My Original and Forever PROTECT THEM characters are Jak and Daxter, from the Jak and Daxter games. They are traumatized children, and deserve so much better! (This only gets worse the older I get)

[beck-a-leck]

It seemed like you really wanted to play the fanfiction trope mash-up, so I'll play with you! How about Accidental Eavesdropping and Interrupted Declaration of Love for any fandom?

Fanfic Trope Mash Up Game!

Send me 2 tropes and a fandom or pairing and I'll tell you the fic I would write based off that.

Accidental Eavesdropping + Interrupted Declaration of Love.

Okay. For obvious Book of Boba Fett reasons, Star Wars was on my mind tonight, so the first thing that came to mind was a prequel fic.

I'm definitely thinking this would be a story where Anakin and Padme maybe didn't get married immediately after Geonosis, but still spend the entirety of the Clone Wars making Completely Unsubtle Heart Eyes at each other across the room. Everybody knows there is something happening between them, but Obi-Wan has decided, "Seeing Padme again is the best reason Anakin has to not get himself killed pulling some stupid stunt so.... we'll just let it slide for now."

And Ahsoka is like 14, and thinks her Master is the coolest, so she's not going to go messing up something that's Grown Folks business (and maybe think it's kinda cute that her Master has a crush on the Senator) (and maybe maybe she's also realized after spending a week in Anakin's presence that Obi-Wan is right and Anakin needs a reason to not get himself killed in battle)

Cue the inevitable mission where Anakin and Ahsoka are escorting Padme somewhere, and the two adults think that they have some privacy and alone time, and Anakin has been working up the nerve and this whole long spiel about declaring his love for Padme, and now feels like the perfect moment to say it. And it's going great. he's so eloquent and suave, and definitely not stumbling over his words and getting flustered about how Padme is literally so close they could kiss and get away with it because nobody would see or know.

Except Ahsoka.

Who completely on accident, while looking for Anakin to ask him a question, ended up just outside the room and has heard pretty much everything. And she gets this horrible feeling that she's about to witness Anakin do something very un-jedi-like. and she wouldn't want him to do that and then feel guilty about breaking the code. It would eat him alive.

So she decides to save Anakin from himself, barges into the room shouting at the top of her lungs that she has a "VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION MASTER SKYWALKER! No it's can't wait! I have to know now!!"

And then completely ruins the moment for Anakin and Padme, but saves her Master.

Ahsoka sleeps well that night, thinking herself a hero.

Anakin stays up contemplating the difficulties of dating and single parenting.

[beck-a-leck]

How are you today? :)

Oh, doing pretty well. Thanks for asking!

I worked all day, but it's finally the weekend. And I had delicious Mexican for dinner and a big margarita, which has improved things significantly. And now i get to enjoy a rare evening when I have the house all to myself.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, because we're supposed to have really warm temperatures and sunshine, which means I can open the windows and air out the house and I'm excited for that!

How was your day?

[beck-a-leck]

I see. I also like astronomy! I don't know if you like or watch anime, but there's an anime called "Cells At Work" and it shows how different cells function within the human body. It's pretty interesting! There's also another anime titled "Dr. Stone" which is also scientifically accurate, funny, engaging, and the main character displays traits of asexuality/aromantic!

I don't watch much anime or go looking for it very often. Typically only the ones that "break containment" and are either Extremely Popular outside Anime circles (like FMA) or someone recommends it to me.

But I feel like Dr. Stone sounds familiar. Maybe someone recommended it once upon a time. I'll have to look into it when I'm next on the lookout for something new to watch! I'm always down for aroace protagonists!

[beck-a-leck]

What kind of science are you into? I absolutely LOVE Neuroscience and Petrology!

I love what I like to call the Wet Sciences, mainly Biology and Chemistry, and all of their offshoots. My degree in college was Biology (with a premed focus) but I currently work as a chemist working with soaps and shampoo and the like. So my career took a turn somewhere along the way 😅

That being said. The kind of science I will gladly talk about or study on my own: I'm with you on neuroscience, it's absolutely fascinating to try and study about how the brain works. We know so much about it and yet we know so little at the same time.

And I'm always interested in anything human-body related when it comes to the sciences. Biochemistry, biomechanics, just getting down into the nitty gritty details of what individual cells do and then zooming out and getting to see how it all works together to make functioning tissue, which makes functioning organs, which make a functioning human being! Amazing!!

For more "hobby" topics, I got a little bit into Botany in college, and that's something I like going back to, particularly when it comes to planting flowers and veggies in my garden.

And of course, Astronomy. Space is fascinating and terrifying and I want to know everything about it.

The same can be said for Oceanology. But they're more terrifying than fascinating lmao

[beck-a-leck]

What's an interesting, deep topic subject to you? Like a thought-provoking question, an unanswered science query, historical/philosophical debate, etc.

Oooh, this has got me thinking over the last couple days.

LIke, if we're talking deep subjects that I would gladly talk about when we're like 4 hours into a bonfire and everyone's really relaxed, I'd go on for quite a while about how at our core Humans are story tellers. We tell stories about everything, things we can't explain, things we can, the things that happen in every day life. And each time we tell a story we tell it a little differently, with different flavors added by each story teller. before we understood the world and the universe and science and even the human body and mind, we made stories to explain why things happened to us. And we created intensely rich tapestries of story that literally formed human civilization.

And that can be such an easy springboard into mythology. I love mythology from all around the world. I love that when we were finding reason in a chaotic and confusing world, for the most part we created characters who were super-human in just about every way, but at their cores were still Very Human.

Oh man, I could go on about it for forever.

But if someone is talking at me about something, I could listen to stuff about Space for hours. There is so much unknown out there, but also so much we already DO know just by looking through telescopes! AMAZING!! TELL ME MORE!

And in general, I could listen to someone info dump about the Thing they love. I love seeing the little things people who genuinely enjoy and are interested in a subject find that a casual observer would never see on their own.

I just. I love humans.

[beck-a-leck]

Oh oh I wanna hear some Wells of Silence, please!

Okay!

Forgive me if I go a bit off the rails. I think the last post I made talking about Wells, I was actually talking about a spinoff piece I am working on for the Obi-Wan show. BUT to cover all my bases, I will talk about both.

(This might get long and there will be Obi-Wan Kenobi spoilers, so I'm placing the rambling under a cut)

Okay So. Wells of Silence.

That is a canon-compliant star wars fic I wrote a few years back featuring female Anakin and male Padme to see how much might change to canon while still ending in the same place as canon. So Anakin was the one who ended up pregnant with the twins and it changes so many things. The fic starts with the discovery of her pregnancy during the late days of the clone wars, goes through how the Jedi and Anakin and Padme handled things (spoilers. Lies are told and secrets kept that make things even more stressful for all involved), the birth of the twins, the inevitable outing Anakin and Padme's secret marriage, and builds up to and goes through the events of Revenge of the Sith.

It is canon compliant, the story ends as canon does, with just a few changes reflecting the AU's canon.

You can read it on AO3!

And here's a little snippet from the first chapter

Despite the heaviness in her body and the soothing presence, Anakin was beginning to feel a growing sense of dread. This was wrong; the soft presence, the gentle administrations, the poking and prodding. She wasn’t supposed to be here… but where was here? Her brain struggled sluggishly to put the pieces together. The hands returned and wrapped something sticky around Anakin’s left elbow. Anakin forced her eyes to open; they resisted. Then the hands moved and began pulling at her shirt. Anakin panicked. Her right hand flashed up, grabbing an intruding hand by the wrist. Her eyes shot open, she was instantly assaulted by bright white light. “Calm down, Skywalker. You’re alright; you’re in the infirmary.” Anakin blinked slowly as her eyes adjusted to the light. She focused on the gentle face of Stass Allie. “What happened?” she asked, releasing the healer’s hand. To her immense relief, Allie took a step back from the bedside. “You collapsed after the Outer Rim meeting, do you remember?” It took a moment for the memory to come back to Anakin. “Yes, I remember.” “Good. You’re severely dehydrated and your blood sugar is incredibly low; when you stood up too quickly your blood pressure tanked. I don’t know where you were off to in such a hurry, but you barely made it out the door.” The healer frowned at Anakin. “Obi-Wan said you had been feeling ill for a while. If you were sick you should have come to a healer.” Anakin knew exactly why she didn’t go to a healer, but she wasn’t about to tell Allie that. She rubbed at her temples, settling for a half truth. “I’ve had a migraine for the last few days. I thought it would go away on its own, but it hasn't. I was actually going to come for something later.”

Wells of Silence has also inspired several extras and spinoffs and AUs of an AU, which I have collected into a series on AO3. The latest in that series has been inspired by the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, in which I am taking certain select scenes from the show and writing them as they would play out within the Wells of Silence universe.

This piece is called Echos - Obi-Wan Kenobi (i have another Echos piece that included deleted scenes and post-Wells content for the AU. Including the OT movies.)

As episodes of the show air, I'm going to keep posting new chapters when there are things I think would play out slightly differently (or I just love the angst)

Like this scene

"I heard Jedi could make things float. Can you make me float?" "What?" Ben nearly stopped in his tracks, looking back at the girl trailing in his wake. Long brown hair, deep brown eyes. Not blonde and blue. But those words from the Princess as she pretended to balance across a crack in the pavement had thrown him over twenty years back to the past. That had been one of the first things Anakin had asked to learn when they returned to the Temple after Naboo. Anakin quietly and hungrily watches some older padawans practicing catching and throwing each other over the pools while Obi-Wan schedules some swim lessons for the desert dweller. Laughter and shouts echo around the pools as a padawan, who expected to be assisted over the wide stretch of water freezes in mid-air while her teammates coordinate to keep her airborne. Laughing and kicking uselessly in the air, she tells her friends to let her down, only to realize her mistake a half second later when they let her plunge into the water. Anakin wants to float, wants to fly. She’s had a taste of escaping gravity and now she can’t get enough. As they turn to leave, she hurries to Obi-Wan’s side, tugs at his sleeve, and points to the padawans. ��Can you teach me that? Can you make me float too?” Obi-Wan smiles and ruffles her hair. “Learn to swim first, Anakin, and I’ll toss you into the pool as many times as you want.” “Make me float.” And he was brought back to the present, staring at that determined face. A child daring Ben to prove himself and give into demands. Fortunately, Ben had many years of practice resisting dares of that manner. “No.”

[beck-a-leck]

Ooh, for the character bingo can you do obi wan kenobi, please?

Let's Play Character Bingo!

Obi-Wan my precious, my beloved, my blorbo before I even understood the concept of blorbos (even before the term came around) you deserve so much better than the raw hand you were dealt by canon. You suffered so much (and I cannot wait to watch you be completely Devastated in your new show) Your angst is delicious and I feast upon it.

I want to protect you and keep you somewhere safe, even though I know you are completely capable of taking care of yourself to a scary degree of competence because you are an Extremely Piwer Psychic Space wizard.

I can't believe you look Like That. You confuse my aro/ace brain. Stop it!

I did give him a half "everything I like is non-canon" because while there is Plenty of canon stuff I love about Obi-Wan, I've also spent so many years of my life with him being a favorite character of mine I know there are head canons I have made inseparable from the character.

And tho I know he wouldn't be down for marriage. And neither am I for that matter. If there was some entirely platonic way to take that man out of his story and give him a home and a family to return to, someplace safe, someplace where the galaxy is not out to be needlessly cruel to him. Someplace where he doesn't have to worry about the safety of a family. I'd give him that in a heartbeat. Particularly for his life post-order 66.

Obi-Wan deserved so much better, but the canon he is trapped in is exceptionally cruel and he is a helpless victim trapped within the story.

And I am fully aware of the irony in me saying all this, because I am also exceptionally cruel to Obi-Wan in the fic I write, finding new ways to hurt him for the delicious angst 😂