#my work desk is like

[not-poignant]

For the meme!!! 21 - 22 - 23

We love a sequential number sequence :D

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

I mean, yeah, maybe one day! I don't want to quit writing, I certainly don't wish I could. I love this job! It's been my favourite ever job! It's also been the hardest fucking job I've ever done!!! But I still love it :'D

I don't want to say 'I'm never going to quit' - I don't know what the future might bring. The arthritis in my hands is pretty bad, maybe one day I'll be in too much agony to justify it. Maybe one day I'll just stop enjoying it. I don't believe in sticking something out forever based on how I feel about it now!

I can say with all confidence that I don't want to quit. The biggest flaw in this version of my job is that it doesn't pay super great for the amount of work that goes into it. BUT, it definitely pays better than working as a professional artist did, and there is growth, and amazing people do support the Patreon, so it's like...that flaw becomes less of a flaw over time.

I love this job. It wasn't one I would have picked for myself, but it's introduced me to the best people, it's something I feel I'm actually pretty good at (maybe I'm not, but this is a nice feeling to have), and it's kind of unique. I get to be my own boss (I'm a mean boss, but I'm getting better), and I get to work from home, and I can accommodate my chronic illnesses. I get to spend time in amazing worlds, with amazing characters, and then I get to reply to amazing comments and asks made by amazing people.

Like, when this job is going well, I feel like one of the luckiest people. When this job is hard I just groan a lot and take painkillers for editing headaches. But like, the good parts of this job are very good!!

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

I'm pretty organised.

So, all of my chapters are written in Microsoft Word and saved directly into Dropbox (with offline storage as well). All of my folders are also very well organised. I have a naming system for each chapter, and everything is chained together pretty well.

On top of that I now use Obsidian for worldbuilding (it's free! Though you can pay and they deserve money for their awesome service). I used to use World Anvil but found it too clunky for my personal needs. I have about 4 Obsidian vaults now (i.e. different worlds) and they look like this:

You can see a chained folder system on the left, and the graph view on the right.

And the information in the individual files is set up like a Wiki page:

Not all of my worlds get this treatment, but Underline the Rainbow, Vexteria, Mallory & Mount and something else I've forgotten about all have vaults. Fae Tales doesn't, because I didn't know Obsidian existed when I started worldbuilding for that, lol, so all of that is in Word.

And then I will on occasion just write in notepads and in Paperblanks journals when I need to brainstorm stuff. This part of the process is especially useful when plotting, brainstorming names or titles, or figuring out the end of a story.

I don't use Google Docs (don't actually like it), Scrivener (hate it, sorry Scrivener fans), or anything else. Word has its issues, but it does well enough for me. I actually formatted Perth Shifters in Word.

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

I write in a study dedicated to art/writing, because those have been my jobs for over 15 years. I sit at a large desk, and have a desktop computer with one monitor (I've wanted two monitors for such a long time), a decent speaker system, and a good RGB hard-drive.

It's a mess, lol.

Hang on let me show you:

I have stickers on the desktop by the immaculate WhiskeyRabbit. I have a bunch of art supplies, and art in various stages of completion (the raven is finished, Augus behind the raven is not). There's meds and supplements everywhere. I have my Metformin (diabetes meds) in front of me because I often eat where I work, lol. I have some Sank collectible toys on the subwoofer because I find Sank very inspiring. And lots of art behind me like I'm some 18 year old instead of the 41 year old I actually am.

Oh and like, some half-finished chocolate blocks, lmao. And some fingerless gloves, a tea-towel, notepads for my writing, a calculator for my wordcount, a little spiky massage ball for the muscle/fascia issues in my wrists from writing so much, and much, much more.

It's a very ADHD desk. I do not notice the mess, lmao.

To my left is my writing whiteboard which tracks my writing and the chapters I've completed for the year, and my yearly wordcount to date. It also has some pinned up fanart and gifts from readers to keep me going when things get hard! :D

--

From the Weird Writing Questions meme!

[000bun]

[july-19th-club]

seriously have been thinking about this all night long. call me autistic but the fact that 90% of workplaces the point is not to get your work done and then be done doing it but to instead perform an elaborate social dance in which you find something to do even when you're done doing everything you need to do in order to show your fellow workers that you, too, are Working . because you are at Work . disgusting why cant we all agree that if there is no work immediately to be done. we just dont do anything

[spaceandbones]

when ur just a cute human girl but your serial murderings have drawn the attention of an urban legend turned real spirit whose soul lives inside an umbrella and he thinks you left those bodies for HIM and not because you're a college student who has no idea what to do with dead bodies and he decides to pull you into his world so you guys can be umbrella souls together forever because he doesn't understand how asking a girl for her number works

[suntails]

reality

[splickedylit]

@ USAmericans that are following me, if you (like me) get anxious you'll somehow have issues with a mail-in or drop-off ballot: I forgot that in a lot of places (here's a site to check!) early in-person voting is an option, so I figured maybe you did too!

Lines are MUCH shorter than election day,

which means it's quick and you have more time to look things up at the voting booth if necessary,

and you have a LOT more ability to find a time that works for you than if you just vote on Nov. 5th (which I would be have been almost completely unable to go out and vote on).

Early voting y'all it kicks ass. A quick google of "early voting (my city/county" immediately brought up the exact address, days and hours of where it was available. Will definitely patronize the fine folks at my local polling center again in four years assuming that. Things go well. And we still have a democracy in four years. OTL

[joaniejustwokeup]

Made a cat out of clay and highlighters.

His name is Mr Cheeto.

Edit:

I gave him a collar:

[egophiliac]

I got a really tough question.

What’s your favorite Twst event of ALL TIME?

I like Harveston

this truly is the hardest question. :( but after much consideration, I think Endless Halloween Night wins out for me, because it's nonstop Characters Being Silly the whole way through. the whole thing is just lots of these little dorks having the most ridiculous interactions, which is always my favorite! and of course the big twist is SO delightfully stupid and doubles down SO hard that it becomes AMAZING and I 100% unironically adore it. AND it's Halloween! everyone is in their cute little costumes and having a spooky adventure! it's great!

however, I am ALSO a big fan of the Harveston event! how can I not be! everyone is wearing comfy winter outfits and getting along really weirdly well with Epel's grandma and he's getting a little worried about that! my terrible loud son sews a plush squirrel and then gives it a silly little nickname and refuses to leave it behind when it breaks! the ending shot with the sled! I LOVE IT.

obviously we need the best of both worlds now

[peonypyxels]

maggie & rei🌟

[pangur-and-grim]

this broken leg experience has made me realize how much muscle you need just to move around the house. I can walk without the cast now, but squatting to pick something up? kneeling and then rising? even standing for a long period in the kitchen takes a lot. and carrying things too, that’s something I couldn’t do while hopping about on crutches. every night I’ve been going to sleep with sore legs and arms just from performing my normal non-intensive household tasks.

[candycatfalls]

Rate my gamer setup

[deoidesign]

I met the me who made different choices

[crandairy-juice]

mizukage rin nohara and her helpful office assistant, hound! yes she has an isobu paperweight :)

for @yellowocaballero’s recent roleswap au which is Great

[starcurtain]

I have this small, deeply personal headcanon that after his grandmother's passing, Alhaitham's home was so unbearably quiet that he started--just barely, just one or two words--to speak out loud to her as if she was still there.

"I've been accepted to the Akademiya, Grandmother."

"I passed my promotion exams."

"I debated with Haravatat's sage."

Just that, and quiet again.

But one day, it's: "I met someone strange."

"He keeps showing up when I'm trying to study."

"We don't agree on anything. Still..."

"I made a friend."

"Today, Kaveh and I were researching--"

"It's already dark. I didn't realize we spent so long in Razan Garden. Kaveh wanted to hear about my article--"

"He's going to be furious when I tell him the whole point for his portion of the lecture is based on a false predicate--"

The house where his grandmother used to be gets a little louder again; the noise lasts a little longer.

Until one day, when there's no words at all.

One day, when there's just the sound of a single sob, and then a long, long silence.

[whereismyhat5678]

HOORAY IT’S DONE MY DOODLES ARE DONE!! 💥💥💥

I polished em’ up >:DDD (I was gonna do more but I hated how the sketches looked so I just went with these bad boys 😈😈✨✨)

[witchofthesouls]

Humans not only from viruses can get sick but from stress alone too

Try to to do something about invisible threat (poor bots)

Funnily enough, they do understand stress-related illness and injury, especially with education on the line, but there's still a huge cultural clash (and arising misunderstandings).

On Cybertron, medical-related frames are regulated to a mid-to-higher caste in the system as Golden Age Cybertron highly values them and those fields. It stems from the Quintesson Occupation since their conquerors greatly valued intellectual pursuits (and ways to control Cybertronian biology and keep the population docile to their leverage).

That doesn't jive well with American business practices. To the Autobots, June Darby is their equivalent of a highly skilled medical practitioner, especially since she's acting as a trainer or as a head of a specialty unit. On Cybertron, she would be afforded more privileges in accordance with her rank and responsibilities: greater pay, final say on her core staff or floats, better access to fuel grades and a greater vareity of flavorings, off-premise housing on a discount, vacation pay, emergency/sick pay, access to parks, libraries, and more places dedicated to pure recreation (like amusement parks or plays), an allowance to decorate her hab to her preference, greater priority if she wanted to mentor a newframe or a sparkling from the Well (granted it had to share her own medical-frame), seating on public transport, discounted/free items and services through the hospital and university networks, and priority on networking and trade within the system.

Shoot, it's how Ratchet kept his clinic in the Underground alive for that long. He utilized all the privileges afforded to him as one of the best of the best until it couldn't be overlooked. Even then, Ratchet was afforded a heads-up about the raid long before it happened so he could clear out and wrap up any illegal treatment or training.

If Ratchet found out how poor the state of medical care in the U.S., especially the mockery it was twisted by insurance and private equity, the mech would be so infuriated that he would skip English and go back into Neocybex to the point all of his 'strongly worded letters' to many local, state, and federal committees would be in Cybertronian.

Plus, Ratchet is incredibly salty, bitter, and frustrated at the current state of the war... so he'll channel those emotions into the political and social scene on bettering healthcare and patient outcomes by coordinating many advocacy groups... and curating ties to organizations and individuals that have beef to pick over the state of things or have no qualms in upsetting social polite fictions.

Bottom line, Cybertronians are very familiar with stress-related injuries and illnesses, but they're absolutely astounded on how Earth (let's be honest, the U.S. since the Autobots seems to only sole ties to them) can be so forward, yet incredibly backward on things.