#personal views and tips

[adhdandcomics]

perhaps the most important question i’ve ever asked:

does anyone have tips for people trying to stop being chronically late to everything in the world that aren’t weirdly judgmental and aggressive or flat out lies

[enigmaticexplorer]

Writing Advice: Third Person Point of View - The Problem with Head-Hopping

A personal pet peeve in fanfic—and even some published books, unfortunately—is an author head-hopping.

I understand that not everyone learned about writing point of view in primary school, and many fanfic writers are new to writing and might not even realize they're writing head-hopping.

So, this post is an educational means for those who are interested in learning how to improve their writing.

I'm going to give a quick overview of point of view, a breakdown of third person point of view, and how to spot head-hopping in your writing.

What Is Point of View?

Point of view (POV) is the perspective (voice) from which a story is narrated.

There are three POVs.

First person

Second person

Third person

Third Person: Limited vs. Omniscient

In third person POV, the author is narrating the story through third-person pronouns (she, he, they).

Third person POV is subdivided into two categories: third person limited and third person omniscient.

Third Person Limited

In third person limited, the narrator is an external observer who knows the thoughts and feelings of ONE character at a time.

Here's an example from R.F. Kuang's, The Poppy War, page 341:

The Cike were stretched to their limit, especially Rin. Each moment not spent on an operation was spent on patrol. And when she was off duty, she trained with Altan.

Note that this paragraph—the entire book, actually—is from Rin's POV. We have access to Rin's feelings, thoughts, and observations throughout the book, while also seeing how other characters are acting.

But we are only in Rin's head. We do not have access to the thoughts and feelings of other characters. This is third person limited POV.

Third Person Omniscient

In third person omniscient, the narrator is an all-knowing observer who has access to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of ALL characters in the story.

Here's an example from Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice, page 104:

As they drove to Mr. Gardiner’s door, Jane was at a drawing-room window watching their arrival; when they entered the passage she was there to welcome them, and Elizabeth, looking earnestly in her face, was pleased to see it healthful and lovely as ever.

Notice how we have access to both Jane and Elizabeth's 1) physical locations, and 2) thoughts. Even though Elizabeth is in a carriage and Jane is inside a house, the narrator is all-knowing and can narrate both of them at the same time.

The problem I see from many fanfic writers: they attempt to write in third person omniscient when they're actually writing shoddy third person limited, constantly switching between the POVs of multiple characters.

This is called head-hopping.

Head-Hopping vs. Omniscient

Head-hopping is when an author shifts between the POVs of multiple characters without a scene break. Meaning, the author is inside Character A's head but abruptly—and randomly—shares the thoughts, feelings, and/or observations of Character B.

Here's an example:

Kathy arrived at the cafe in hopes of showing Brittany her completed sweater. It was the first time she had knitted and she was eager to share her hard work with her best friend. Brittany took one look at the sweater and cringed. She hated it, but she didn't want to hurt Kathy's feelings. She didn't know what to say.

In this example, we are inside both Kathy and Brittany's heads. Both characters have distinctive voices, and because of this, the narration of the story is inconsistent.

It's jarring to read, and pulls you out of the story.

Here's the same example written through omniscient POV:

Kathy arrived at the cafe with the intent to show Brittany her completed sweater. After hours of hard work, the opinion of her best friend was important. At Kathy's approach, Brittany observed the sweater in her friend's hand and wrinkled her nose. The sweater was hideous.

In this example, we are inside the head of the narrator. The narrator is telling the story through its voice, rather than the individual voices of Kathy and Brittany.

Remember: Omniscient means the reader is inside the NARRATOR's head, not the characters'.

The Scene Break to Denote POV Switch

Back to my definition of head-hopping: Head-hopping occurs when a writer suddenly switches POV without a scene break.

Like the first example of Kathy and Brittany—there is no scene break between their thoughts. If the author wanted to write from both Kathy and Brittany's perspective, the author would have to include a physical break to alert the reader to a switch in POV. See below:

Kathy arrived at the cafe in hopes of showing Brittany her completed sweater. It was the first time she had knitted and she was eager to share her hard work with her best friend. ~~~~~~~~~~ Brittany took one look at the sweater and cringed. She hated it, but she didn't want to hurt Kathy's feelings. She didn't know what to say.

The squiggly lines demonstrate a switch in POV, and the scene would then continue in Brittany's POV. [Please note that a single paragraph space (as seen in the first example of Kathy and Brittany) is not a scene break. It is a paragraph break, and therefore cannot be used to demonstrate a switch in POV.]

You can write multiple POVS throughout a story. These will all be in third person limited POVs.

For example, each chapter in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series is dedicated to ONE character. Throughout that chapter, the reader is inside the head—reading the thoughts, feelings, and observations—of that singular character.

Individual chapters can also have multiple POVs (again, these are third person limited POVs). These are denoted by a divider or additional paragraph space.

For example, Timothy Zahn's Thrawn switches between the POVs of multiple characters in each chapter. The switch between his characters' POV is shown by an additional paragraph space.

Why Should You Care about Head-Hopping?

If writing head-hopping makes you happy, then keep at it. It's fanfic, and most readers are so desperate for content they don't care.

But, if you're interested in improving your writing, here are a few reasons why head-hopping is problematic:

It's jarring to the reader, and takes them out of the story. Frequent head-hopping can confuse readers as they struggle to keep track of whose perspective they are currently experiencing. It disrupts the flow of the narrative and can make it challenging for readers to form a strong connection with any one character.

It makes it harder for readers to truly immerse themselves in your story. Consistent use of a single POV allows readers to immerse themselves in the story's world through the eyes of a specific character. Head-hopping disrupts this immersion by constantly pulling readers out of one character's perspective and into another's.

It hinders character development. When the narrative constantly shifts between characters, there may not be enough time or focus on any one character's growth and development.

It takes away the emotional impact of the scene. Head-hopping can prevent readers from fully empathizing with or understanding any particular character's emotions, motivations, and inner conflicts.

Even well-established authors struggle to write omniscient without head-hopping. It's a nuanced subject that can be confusing to understand and difficult to overcome.

Again, this post is simply to inform writers about third person point of view and the subtle differences between its subdivisions. It’s not an attack on fanfic writers.

[thejournallo]

Life Hack: Oil pulling

This is a life hack to take more proper care of our oral hygiene and is something that I am actually testing out, and I can actually see incredible results in only one week. 

What is oil pulling?

Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic practice that involves swishing oil around in your mouth for several minutes to promote oral health. The process is believed to draw out toxins from the body and improve dental hygiene. The scientific community has mixed opinions on oil pulling. Some small studies have shown reductions in oral bacteria, plaque, and gingivitis, comparable to mouthwash. However, more extensive and rigorous studies are needed to confirm these benefits conclusively.

What are the benefits that oil pulling can have on you?

Improved Oral Hygiene: It is said to reduce plaque, gingivitis, and bad breath.

Whitening of Teeth: Regular practice is believed to help whiten teeth.

Detoxification: Proponents claim it helps detoxify the body, although scientific evidence supporting this is limited only to the part of the mouth.

Relief from Jaw Pain: Some report reduced jaw pain and improved jaw strength.

How do i do oil pulling?

Choose your oil: Coconut oil is a popular choice due to its antimicrobial properties. even though every vegetable oil can be good for this practice.

Measure a tablespoon: Use about a tablespoon or two of oil.

Swish the oil: Swish it around your mouth for 15-20 minutes. Make sure not to swallow it. and it is suggested to do this first thing in the morning to get rid of all the bacteria that accumulates throughout the night. (This is the part that makes your jaw pain go away because you actually exercise your mouth muscles while you do that.)

Spit it out: Spit the oil into a trash can (not the sink, as it can clog pipes).

Rinse and brush: Rinse your mouth with water and then brush your teeth as usual.

Oil pulling is generally considered safe, but it should not replace traditional oral care practices like brushing and flossing.

My thoughts and experiences:

I always had problems keeping my oral igine costant because of my adhd. Since I started oil pulling, not only did I see an improvement in my teeth, as they are more white, but I also saw an improvement in my routine because, in general, I see it as an easy way to clean my teeth, which includes actually brushing my teeth. i also have notice improvements with my jawline but that could be the gua sha too.

[goobygnarp]

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[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

never have i been so entirely exhausted from sitting in front of a laptop in a dark room for three hours gay! and so full of delight and happiness! like wow! i have not felt this good in ages!! and its a good kind of tired! i feel like im glowing!

but shit, the update is more than i could've dreamed of. like i said - three straight hours of combing, and i probably still missed a thing or two! i'm even saving the storytime audio to enjoy in the morning, i haven't listened to it yet!

i already have so many thoughts and emotions but i'm... so wiped out oh my god lmao. so much new stuff at once! i need to sleep on it all! and in the morning i will be more than happy to reply, interact, answer asks on this subject, share my actual thoughts - i just need to take the rest of the night to Process and rest, yk yk

and i know i "missed" some links on my liveblog! i know i know! i didn't add every single thing i found - like most of the Wally audios - because i'll be compiling them all into a labeled post tomorrow! when i wake up! i'm already looking forward to it <3 i'm confident i personally found all of them, though! i was Thorough! i went through everything at least twice, i tabbed through, i clicked on Everything...

but yes i hope you all are having a wonderful Update Day/Evening/Morning/Afternoon As The Case May Be. this is truly a delight and again, more than i could've dreamed of. i'd forgotten what it's like to be so wholly excited and delighted by something! it's been so long since i've felt this kind of genuine joy and whimsy! usually im white-knuckling my optimism and happiness but tonight it was all authentic 100% non-forced From The Soul!

[giantkillerjack]

Uh-oh! You are like, SOOO awkward!!

You're so awkward that it is occasionally mildly uncomfortable for people!

You're so awkward that sometimes people are confused by you and then there are awkward silences!

You're so awkward ...... that ultimately no one is harmed!!

Oh damn!!! What a vile crime you have committed! What an unforgivable thing it is to make a fellow human briefly confused!

Why, if *I* were ever briefly confused and kind of uncomfortable as a result, I'd be devastated.... by the absolute net zero change in my happiness and health! - From which I might never recover!! Yes indeed! No punishment can ever be enough for you!!

So you better absolutely hate yourself for it.

Better be SO MEAN to yourself about every single missed social cue so you don't forget your horrible crime! Meaner than you'd ever dream of being to someone else for the same thing! This is YOUR responsibility!

You need to show the world that you KNOW you are bad by punishing yourself constantly! After all, think of all the people who BENEFIT from you punishing yourself! - No, really! Think about it! Think about who benefits from your pain.

Think of alllllll the definitely-good people that your definitely-necessary self-torment definitely helps! I mean, you can't just cut off their definitely-life-sustaining supply of your suffering, right?? Sure, everyone else has a breaking point, but you're probably the only person in human history who doesn't, right? Best not to question it probably. Sure, it's a symptom that billions of people with trauma have had, but who knows? You could be a one-in-seven-billion exception. Anything's possible!

Instead, better just accept that idea that bullies carry like guns in holsters - the idea that people who have trouble with social cues deserve to suffer. Better carry on the burden they placed on you until you drop. Aid the cause of the callous by enforcing shame and suffering upon yourself extra hard; try your best to do their work for them. They're very busy.

Better not recognize that you need patience and kindness to heal from your trauma. Better not find out that it was trauma rather than personal weakness filling your head with self-hating thoughts. Better not find out it wasn't your fault.

Better not find out that awkwardness is not inherently harmful or unkind, and, in fact, the people who act like it is *are the ones enacting harm and being cruel.*

Better not get righteously angry when you realize just how much unnecessary damage this has done to you. After all, if you get mad, you might realize you deserve better. You might even feel brave enough to DEMAND better! You might build boundaries that keep you safe! You might make other people think they deserve to feel safe too! And we obviously can't be having that, so...

Better not show yourself even a little kindness a little bit at a time.

Better not make a habit out of it after all that practice.

Better not get confident.

Especially if you can't first wipe out every trace of awkward. (And you probably never will. Because people who experience absolute social certainty at all times tend to be insufferable assholes that enforce the status quo. And you just don't have the stock portfolio for that.)

Better not be confident and awkward because then you might confuse and delight people

- you might accidentally end up making other people feel less shame for their social difficulties

- you might make isolated, traumatized, and shy people feel like they deserve to be included in social situations

- you might even make them feel they can be themselves around you

- you might start loving the effect you have on a room

- you might enjoy conversations more

- you might forgive yourself and bounce back from shame more easily and frequently

- you might come to enjoy some of those moments of harmless confusion you cause because NOBODY expects the Confident Awkward, and that can genuinely be an advantage in social situations

- you might stop apologizing so much.

- you might find that socializing is like a video game: it requires practice but also a safe space for it to be fun and positive.

Or if you can't become assertive and confident, better not remain awkward and shy and quiet, and then love and forgive yourself anyway!

Why, it would be carnage!!

In either scenario, you run the risk of finding out that it's not your fault that safe spaces full of kind people can be really hard to find, create, and nurture. You could end up building a skillset that helps you do those things if you're not careful!

If you start giving yourself even the tiniest amount of grace at a time, you will find that you've accessed a gateway drug with extreme long-term side effects:

- You might realize that it was never your fault that it took so long to like yourself.

- You might realize that you were always worth talking to, even when you didn't like yourself and communication felt impossibly difficult.

- You might realize that you'll still be worth talking to even if communication becomes harder as you age and/or experience disability.

- You might come to know that you deserve to be heard even on bad days when words come slow and blurry.

You might discover that you were always deserving of kindness, first and foremost from yourself.

So. As you can see, it's FAR too much of a risk to start granting your awkward self free pardons for your many heinous and harmless crimes. Better to just leave it there.

[kurjakani]

My mom said shes been struggling w basic life stuff (cleaning etc) and has kinda given up at this point and yeah i can kinda see it now.. its not too bad yet but i do kinda worry. After my gig is done i think im gonna ask her if i can do a good spring cleaning here under the pretense of kinda enjoying it but also, i think im gonna start visiting her more... the problem is that she just. Has such a high demand job?? Like intensly so. So yes i think our shared mental illnesses are at play here but it's also just... person has too much stuff kind of a situation. I do sometimes wish i hadnt gone to art school so i could focus on like... life? But i think if i visit her more often we can deal w the following 3 years and then i can go back 2 living w her...

Hopefully we can save 2gether until she retires and we can move 2 the coast in some tiny littlw houses that arw a bit seperate but close by c: that would be my life dream.

[gaypirate]

so speaking of my dumbass HOA

two of the streets that surround the condo complex are a good spot for people living in their cars. my place is right up against the street that gets the most people, and it's a complete non-issue to me, they're just people minding their own business. but my nimby ass neighbors are pissed off about it and always trying to get rid of them

so they installed a wall of trees on the other side of the sidewalk along the back fence*

i assumed that the purpose of the trees was blocking people from being able to see the cars and campers but, no, it's so much stupider

their goal was to discourage homeless people from parking there. their master plan was to plant trees next to the curb, so that they would scratch the cars of anyone parking there, thus preventing homeless people from parking because they'd be too concerned about their car's paint job

the board's vote to do this was almost unanimous, with the only person voting against it having spent months trying to explain to them that this was a stupid waste of money

*meaning the sidewalk now has fences on one side, and trees on the other. this created a little corridor which, honestly, seemed to defeat the purpose because it creates a perfect spot for someone to hide to get up to nefarious activities

**the city also immediately forced them to take half the trees down because they were blocking visibility from the intersections so the hidden corridor lasted about a week anyway lmao

[asydicsydney]

Guess who started to write a fic during the great AO3 shutdown and finished a month later!!

Ever since I saw that post about Kevin being bird-coded, I've imagined him with wings tattooed on his back. Here is Carlos (and frankly, Kevin) discovering them while stuck in a Desert Otherworld

TW for average Kevin stuff (mentions of blood and injury), 1.2K Words

"Could I study you, Kevin?"

Kevin's third person camera flickers as he spins his chair to face Carlos in the shared office space. "Wha-ha-at?" His nerves bubbling up in laughter in the middle of the question.

Carlos continued, "I've done a study on Cecil before. You know, marking his Night Valean qualities. I wondered last nigh- yesterd- earlier... If you had any similar qualities, since you're doubles and all." He eyed Kevin up and down, searching for a resemblance that didn't quite come up.

"Ohhhh-kay!" His tone lilted up to hide his initial perception of the question. "But I can assure you, Carlos," his voice was tinged with blood oranges, "I am genetically identical to... Him. We are doubles."

"I'm not certain on that," Carlos corrected him, walking to his side of the office and lifting his arm up. Kevin flinches. He does not know if it is from trauma or affection or an odd twilight between the two. "You don't have tattoos like he does. You've seen his, yes?" An 'mhm' is squeaked out through pursed lips as he stares at Carlos' hand turning his arm over. He does not notice his nails digging into his palms. "He has these tattoos of tentacles all over. They move not quite on top of the skin like an animated film. And I know they're not really tattoos because they turn into real tentacles. It's... Fascinating. But you don't have any..." Carlos sounds oddly upset at his final note, dropping Kevin's arm back on the armrest.

Now that he's been freed of the clinical gaze and grasp, Kevin lets out a shaky breath. The desert otherworld may be stuck at 76 degrees Fahrenheit, but his arm and face are reaching the mid 80's, at least. Only now does he process what Carlos said. "I do have a tattoo, actually."

Carlos drops the notes he was returning to and turns on his heel. "You do? What is it? Where is it? Does it materialize like Cecil's? Can I see it?"

The mention of the rival radio host from Carlos' mouth gives him pause, like it has been for the past few months since they built their shared living space, but he regains his composure because, oh my smiling god, he's finally interested in something about him! He does not read into this reaction. "Of course!" He takes the hem of his standard-issue StrexCorp yellow sweater vest, with it's interlocking triangle design across the chest, and starts to pull it over his head.

"Woah, wait, I-I-I didn't mean for you to str-"

"It's on my back, Carlos."

"Oh."

-

The sweater vest lays piled on his office chair like the grand mountains of the otherworld. He feels this ethereal weight lift off of him. Must be the heat. Really, who wears a sweater vest in 70 degree weather? He positions his third eye just so to aid the process in unbuttoning his work shirt. No one really gets how hard it is to push little buttons though little holes when your depth perception is every which way. He usually doesn't even entertain the thought. Back in Desert Bluffs he could be summoned to a meeting at any moment. There wasn't time to change into his hot pink satin loungewear.

"Do you...need...help? With that?" Carlos snaps him out of his walk-in closet mind at the same time he snaps a button off of its thread.

"I'm fine," he smiles a panicked smile, a smile he's perfected though it is not perfect, "Why would I need help?"

"I can see you biting through your cheek."

A bloody stream of spit drips onto his lapel. He stops chewing and lessens his smile. The last button comes undone and he moves the third eye to look back at him because he can't believe it. He's wearing a Desert Bluffs town fair volunteer shirt. Originally yellow but stained orange by the blood dunk tank he was running. DBCR was a shining sponsor of the old summer event. He smells traces of cotton candy (and blood) and sighs while his face is hidden from view. He tosses the undershirt on to the chair with the other pieces of his work outfit and turns around. "It's neat, right? I can't exactly remember when I got it, but it moves just like...His."

Carlos's brain starts backlogging information. Kevin's gaunt figure, scent, the many scars and still open wounds, his usage of the word 'neat', and the faint gold depiction of wings that, true to his word, are moving. They seem stiff, individual feathers stretching back to full plumage. And although they are not quite as sentient as Cecil's tentacles, they seem to shiver with fear. Carlos traces the sunset arc across Kevin's shoulder blades, feeling the slightest singe on his finger. Unlike with Cecil's markings, he could not keep his hands on the heated skin, not without lab gloves or giving off wrongful impressions of intimacy. "Can you materialize them?"

"I... don't know?" The wings ache each time he tries to move them. Their unfurling requires the energy of a younger Kevin, one who has not been physically shackled to a desk and forced to read out stock reports.

Carlos scratches his five o'clock shadow (he had just started growing it out before getting stuck in a dimension where nothing changes) and 'hmms' thoughtfully. Kevin's third eye spectates Carlos' scrutinizing, he sees his own body tinge red with increased blood flow, and he sees Carlos stab himself in the hand with a scalpel.

"CARLOS! Are you okay?" He moves his vision to get a better look at the wound. Oh, how the blood oozes and gathers to start building a scab and how expertly trained on the location of certain vital internal parts Carlos must be in order to still be standing right now. He bites his lip and draws blood there too. He tastes it and wonders what Carlos' would taste like.

"Kevin. Your wings- they're- astounding." The third eye whips back around to see its body's wings in all their gold tinged glory for the first time in years. Unlike their inked form, the manifested wings are a stark white that ignore whatever lighting conditions surround them, although the tips of each feather still shine a golden glow.

"They...they are. But, how did you get them out? I was, um, distracted."

"Oh, right! Well, Cecil's tentacles can involuntarily manifest when he's excited, and I know you like blood, so I stabbed myself. I can't actually do any damage, the Otherworld will just heal it. Look-" Carlos raises his hand to where he thinks Kevin's looking, showing the complete lack of a scar or scab on his palm, "I'm not hurt. And-" he squints as he walks closer to his lab partner's wings, "These are just stunning. The way they emit pure light is mind-boggling and makes them really hard to look straight at. Can you fly with them?"

-

Kevin freezes while his body feels a rush of heat never before known. He sees the endless sky outside the Otherworld lab, with zero smog clouds and just one ever present lighthouse. He sees himself next to the red light, wishing it a good morning, and diving off the railing. He sees his town, his new town, from a perspective unlike those of his spectral eye. The masked army looks like regularly sized people and Carlos looks like a very scientific ant. He lands next to his radio station and he folds his wings back together before he lets them dissolve back into the golden tattoo under his magenta DBTCR tank top, the same color he used to see the world through. He opens the door and the vision dissolves too.

-

"I can try."

[housewifebuck]

I was always taught that if you're gonna tip, tip what you find to be acceptable for the service you were given while also not breaking yourself. Clearly you're not gonna tip so much you put yourself in the hole but you want to tip enough that reflects the service you were given. Shitty service? Little to none. Amazing service? Well, that tip would truthfully depend on how much you spent but generally 20-25% at least. So you tipping these giant amounts? If you feel like it's worth it, especially given how much you've spent on the tattoos, then go for it.

I was taught similarly! I grew up like. Dirt broke and I pretty much still am but my dad always told me how important tipping is bc a lot of people rely on it so it’s ingrained in me

[curseofpower]

"It'd be super interesting to hear these counterarguments 👀."

@goopi-e Well let's see… where should I start? The mass assumption that Ganondorf just sort of left his kingdom for dead and stayed holed up in Hyrule Castle for seven entire years, (lolwut???) no longer caring about his fellow gerudos or even letting them know what the hell was going on?

Or something else? Maybe something a little dicier? Like the existence of gibdos? Or the fact he didn't save Nabooru after his moms decided her punishment? ... That last one might be a little self explanatory, though, if you understand his mindset.

Ganondorf is a man with a very strong sense of justice and a very skewed sense of morality. I think it's actually because he cared that he'd ever punish or let his people be punished like she was. Twinrova were his mothers too, so, it's likely he trusted their judgement more than anyone else's. A lower ranking pair of gerudo might not have gotten away with dealing justice in his name like that.

But I digress. I know I have to be missing something. I'm just very tired today and have a lot on my mind. Do feel free to let me know, though, if any of that interests you or if there's another thing I forgot to address that you want me to go into.

[water-in-the-wind]

The way my dad and I can calmly debate whether anal sex is not okay for gay men but okay for straight people or not (I obviously don’t think there’s anything wrong with anyone having anal, he’s just a fucking homophobe) but then he gets triggered by the word “person” and starts yelling and then storms off telling me he loves me but I need to “wake up” is so ridiculous like I wasn’t even using “person” to specify a non-binary or non-gendered person, I just meant person in general because I was giving an unspecified example without any kind of person in mind. It’s a fucking noun that everyone uses, he’s just a dumbfuck.

So yeah, the one person who I thought might stick by me if I came out turns out to be just as bad as the rest of them.

Maybe before trump’s administration he would have, but now he’s been brainwashed by the conservatives and watches The Five every night like it’s fucking mandated.

[silversiren1101]

Br!@nna Wu, of all people, outing herself as a truscum terf self-proclaimed zionist was not on my 2024 bingo card

[vounoura]

I’ve been thinking abt this for a bit

If you can get past all the very explicit and shameless anti-indigenous racism and narrative (like it’s. actually extremely offensive and has otherwise ruined my ability to replay it which is a shame), Pillars of Eternity is good. I don’t think it’s absolutely amazing (it is VERY clunky, and the writing is…well, it was written by people who like to describe things in the longest ways possible) or anything, but if you go in with the context that Pillars 1 was made for people who are REALLY nostalgic abt the OG Baldur’s Gate’s then it’s a fairly enjoyable experience.

Deadfire’s writing isn’t as good as the first’s (and tbh, I wasn’t inclined to trust Obsidian’s take on a narrative abt the horrors of colonialism after the unmitigated disaster that was the Glanfathans) imo but if the gameplay of the first is an issue for it try skipping to Deadfire, it’s massively improved and way less clunky.

[artifour]

HELP YOUR ART IS SO BEATIFULLLL AJJWDIAGAIVKAKujui I CANT EVEN IT WAS ART BORN FROM HEAVEN I WANTED TO ASK DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR A STRUGGLING ARTIST?

AGHGH THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I'm sooo sorry for the time I took to respond to you. I've been busy and its also a very difficult question, i'll be honest. The thing is you're asking for tips for a struggling artist.... to a struggling artist... so. I'm gonna try my best to give you something concrete and that makes sense, but i don't know if ill be able to- and knowing me, it IS going to be messy, I'm really sorry for that!!

First thing I'm gonna say is, obviously, draw things for yourself. Draw stuff that makes you happy! When I get really into a piece of media, i've noticed that i can see my improvement over a significantly shorter amount of time than usual, simply because, well, i like this stuff, and i like drawing things in relation to this stuff, and i want to draw more because i enjoy this stuff, y'know? It's easy to say and it might sound like it's not really a tip, but from my personal experience, i can say it does make a big difference. So basically, obsess over something and draw it all the time- but then, don't only draw the same thing over and over again, rather insert it into your art and get creative? For example, since we're both Pokémon enjoyers- take characters or pokémon you like and try things out! Focus on different things; shapes, colours, lineart etc. But if you don't feel like making studies or changing anything today, that's also fine, you don't have to. The most important thing is to have fun, or else, you'll get stuck. You don't draw with your head, and that's something that I myself struggle with, so i can't really talk, but having fun when you draw and just not caring about if it works technically or if the anatomy is correct or if others are going to like it- THAT's when you're going to improve, because you're going to like what you're doing and you're going to want to do it even more!

Also, search for inspo! Open pinterest and collect artworks you like, and staaare at them for a very long time. I like doing this. Plus, it usually makes you want to draw, too. This is a very common "tip", but notice what you like about how this person draws that specific thing (hands, legs, noses maybe? or the way they do lineart, or the way they colour), and just slap it on your art. It's like a cool little upgrade and it makes drawing even more fun.

Art takes time... art is a fuck... and we all have sort of a hate-love relationship with it, i think. And you're always going to struggle to a certain extent, because it'd be too good to be true if you could do everything and anything without having to learn and try and fail before. And sometimes you're gonna feel like you don't want to draw, and sometimes artblock will hit you like a truck, and thats ok!! You'll come back to it eventually. Challenging yourself can be great and all, but don't force yourself when you really don't feel like it. Be patient, and be indulgent!! You got this!! We got this!!! We can do it!!

[chappybird]

anyone else get those rpers who make their character a constant victim, and who try to tell you what to do in the actions? or even folks who dictate traits about your character. woe. i may be desperate for rp a lot, but i am so sick of it.

not an uncommon problem but I would say it's much more common amongst immature rpers with very narrow black and white world views. If their character is a victim then they can't be a perpetrator. The other thing is a sense of entitlement and poor RP skills.