#sorry this answer was so long orz

[torterrachampion]

19. For the writing asks!

19. If you could write an ideal fic, what would it include?

This is such a hard question! I guess my hypothetical magnum opus fic would have to be a multi chapter one. I'm far more comfortable with oneshots but I really admire the dedication that goes into writing a long fic and it gives a lot of opportunities to actually dig into the characters. My longest fic to date is only a little over the 50k mark but for the ideal/fantasy I'm cooking up here I'd like to try for 100k+ words. And although I like AUs I'm far more partial to canon compliant or canon adjacent fics, because removing characters from their natural habitat can make it difficult for me to pin down how they've become the person that they are.

Because vnc brainrot has been going strong for many, many years at this point, as of now I'd want my ideal fic to be a vnc one. And with my penchant for domijeanne I'd also most likely want this fic to centre them. Though, in order to write a canon compliant multi chapter domijeanne fic, I think I'd need to wait until either vnc ends or one of their storylines is over (the most likely scenario being Jeanne's death). Tonally I'd want the fic to fit with the manga, with a careful balance between the more serious and goofier moments (if I could manage that). Otherwise I'd just like it to be an exercise in really dissecting Domi and Jeanne to an intense degree. I'd want it to give people the same kind of brainworms as a good meta post. And I'd put Chloé in it. Somewhere.

In a perfect world there would be no spelling or grammar mistakes. I would be blessed with zero typos as though it were professionally edited.

Other than that I recently reread Crimson Shell and have been tossing around the idea of writing a long fic that would be a sort of continuation to the manga. It would give me a lot of freedom to just do whatever the hell I want and I would like to give some love to Mochijun's oldest manga. Of course, I'd need to plan a lot to get that project moving. I'd have to have at least a few twists up my sleeve if I wanted to "finish" Mochijun's work for her. I'm absolutely not as good a storyteller as her so I wouldn't want to rashly try anything that would put me out of my depth. There's also the matter of Xeno and Claudia's relationship... I'd like to lean into and deconstruct it if I ever did manage to plot out a Crimson Shell fic... but Xeno would not come out of that looking good.

[paimonial-rage]

Ask meme - 6 and 9 for the dragon men (zhongli and neuvillette) please!

This took so long I am so sorry, but here we go!

[Character Analysis Ask Meme]

What is Neuvillette's biggest insecurity?

Neuvillette’s biggest insecurity is not something he's ever tried to hide. Anyone that has spent enough time with the Iudex has probably heard him mention it before. Simply put, Neuvillette doesn't understand the emotions of humans very well. He never has and sometimes he doubts if he ever will? How many times has this flaw of his costed him dearly in the past? How many mistakes has he made? And how many are there yet to come? How he dreads the thought.

What can’t you trust [Neuvillette] with?

To chase after you - Iudex Neuvillette is many things—polite, kind, intelligent—but he is not a man without faults. Only a few know him well enough to realize he holds many regrets upon his shoulders, majority that were never his burden alone to bear. Should you ever become the source of one of these regrets, you can surely expect to know. With somber eyes and a weight upon his shoulders, he will apologize to you. But don’t expect anymore than that. Not understanding human emotions is not only his weakness, but a prison. He will not attempt to make things up to you nor will he try to make things how they used to be. You’re best off where he can hurt you no more, even if that means he will be left alone to the rain.

What is Zhongli's biggest insecurity?

Who knows lol.

What can’t you trust Zhongli with?

With mora - As knowledgeable and talented Zhongli is with many things, it is a surprise to many to hear that businessmen don’t exactly enjoy making deals with him. How can they when contract discussions always leave them with the [shorter end of the stick]? How many [unforeseen business expenses] do they end up incurring in such a short amount of time? In the end, they always lose more than they gained. What they don’t know is this unfortunate occurrence happens with any Mora dealings with the man. But what can you expect for someone that, by contract, has the Traveler liable for all expenses during his outings with them? It's simply best to leave all matters of mora out of any relationships with him.

With your heart - If there's one thing true about Zhongli, it's that, while he may withhold the truth, he does not lie. So when he speaks of a person warmly, they can very well believe his words to be true. That being said, it is important that one does not mistaken his warmth with depth. One cannot simply entrust their heart to him and expect his in return. How could anyone hope to understand the weight of many a millennia, after all? So while the desire may be cute, it'll never be something he would even consider to reciprocate.

[braisedhoney]

please tell me about the pigments i would love nothing more than to hear you talk about that one shade of red you like and the process it took too recreate it

... oh, op. you have no idea what you've unleashed.

alright. here we go.

OKAY SO THE RED PIGMENT. pr206. my beloved. my dearest friend. it was an absolute bastard to find because there are so many of these. however many you think there are, there are MORE, and that's only if you don't count the many many scenarios where colors are known to be multi-pigment mixes, usually varying in tone/shade/intensity depending on the brand and manufacturing style. some colors are more consistent than others, but there are situations where a color can be named the same and contain the same pigments and STILL look wildly different depending on the ratio, binder, and paper you use. and that's not accounting for the way the pigment is processed. some pigments (like pv19 for example) can come in so many shades it's frankly kind of ridiculous.

anyway, my quest begins when i am, admittedly, in an edgier phase. i want a blood red, but not specifically because of that—no, i want it because it is THE IDEAL COLOR (to me) for a perfect, warm, slightly muted but still intense shade to add to a muted autumn watercolor palette. and... if you look at my whole theme, you probably know how much i love warm colors. i want to paint mushrooms. i want to dim down some of the brighter greens to make them autumnal. i want the perfect red to put as an undertone.

the search starts in earnest.

the immediate issue is this: reds (and purples and pinks) have horrifically bad lightfastness. not all of them, mind, but many are NOTORIOUS for fading under uv light, which means they will also fade if exposed to sunlight even in passing should it happen often enough. and—in especially bad cases where they're essentially working with dye and not pigment—they can even fade inside your notebook. inside of a drawer.

so not only are we working with an unfortunate pigment base (i'm simplifying here, there's way more nuance to this but shh) but we are working with one that skews heavily toward floral pinks or oranges. the red i'm searching for is warm, but not orange. dries dark but not brown. is transparent, not opaque. that last part is agonizing, because i also desperately do not want a color that will fade on me or generally destabilize, and most of the stable dark red pigments are EARTH pigments like red ochre (pr101) or the like. which, while fascinating because of their historical usage in things like pottery and even cave paintings that last to the modern day, are VERY OPAQUE. this is an issue with my preferred style of watercolor painting specifically, because opaque pigments tend to lift easier off the page and limit layering.

the search continues. pigment after pigment breaks my heart for one reason or another, drying too close to the cooler purpleish-red tint of wine at best. i think i find it in perylene maroon, but the drying shift (the difference between how a color looks wet vs after it dries on the paper) is so extreme that it loses the luminosity AND it's more opaque than most. i languish.

for a while my search turns to creation. i try and mix as many of my single pigment colors as i can into something that vaguely resembles what i'm looking for—so i take quinacridones and mix them with napthols, with nickel azos, with dashes of ultramarines and burnt sienna. everything turns out either just a bit too opaque, just a bit too muddy (that happens with multi-pigment mixtures, and is why so many people swear by single pigment colors. it's personal preference, really, great art can be made either way.)

still, nothing works. failure haunts me. i sit before a pile of used up watercolor paper that is literally covered edge to edge in nothing but similar red squares with various gradients and blooms as evidence of when i tried and failed to convince myself my efforts were close enough. i admit defeat.

in the meantime i shift my focus. i try and appreciate different color palettes and profiles, experimenting with things like fully transparent palettes (personal favroite) to fully opaque ones that function more like gouache. but despite finding appreciation for it, i still think about the damn red that i could never recreate. it kills me.

and then one day, a youtube video. a pigment is being discontinued, and the watercolor community is distressed. this happens a lot, because pigments are actually not always popular because of artists—sometimes beloved colors are put out of production because larger markets like car companies no longer find them popular enough to invest in. this time, the casualty is pr206, aka brown madder, aka quinacridone burnt scarlet.

let me tell you a little about quinacridones. they are genuinely remarkable colors. they have their own cult followings because of how bright and abnormally stable they are under uv light. they're transparent. they're luminous. they come in mostly shades of red and pink and purple, though there are a couple oranges and yellows in there. (there are no quinacridone blues, as far as i'm aware, but the phthalo blues have that category covered.) they also rewet beautifully, so you can put them on your palette and let them dry and not worry about it turning into a useless little rock of color that you can't get any pigment from anymore.

quinacridone magenta (pr122) is probably the most popular of these, the most often used besides maybe quinacridone violet (pv19). a few years prior we suffered the loss of quinacridone gold (po49) and since then people have been On Alert when it comes to losing these colors. i am one of them, because i never got the chance to even see po49 in person, and now the tubes are so stupid expensive that even the student grade versions go for Ridiculously High Prices on ebay, and the professional brands are being hoarded like (ironically) gold by anyone lucky enough to have a tube left over.

but back to our main character. not me, the pigment. pr206. i have legitimately never heard of this one, which to be fair is probably because i try to limit the random colors i fixate on since the hobby can easily get VERY expensive if you aren't careful. but it's a quinacridone, and that catches my eye.

i open the video.

now, i'm sure any artist out there will be familiar with the fact that screens don't display color consistently. it depends on your device, but most can agree that something that looks cooler on one may be warmer on the other, it's just what happens. but i see this color being swatched, and my brain implodes.

it's almost a perfect match.

it could work. it could. years of thinking that same thought have left me bereft and mistrustful of this specific quest marker, but the thought refuses to leave me. probably because the 'discontinued' label flashes like a neon sign.

i resist for about six months, and then i cave. at this point i have genuinely been trying and failing to find this color for upwards of five years. i am desperate, and the color might not be available anymore soon anyway, and apparently i am weak to sales pitches. (note: the color IS now unavailable in some brands, but others bought a decent supply and should have it available for at least a little while, alongside po48 which is quinacridone burnt orange, a favorite of mine and probably one of the only oranges i use regularly. both are discontinued officially, but they'll still be on sale till those supplies run dry.)

the color arrives. i grab my favorite brush. i pull out my stash of paper that i save for special occasions.

it's almost perfect.

i mix it with quinacridone burnt orange.

the result is, i swear, a perfect match for what i have been searching for.

it's warm. it dries dark but not dark enough to look brown. it keeps its luminosity (thank you quinacridones). it's fully transparent (thank you quinacridones). i genuinely feel the urge to weep, but i don't because i am clinging at last to the dredges of my sanity and also salt makes watercolor pigments behave differently and i will not risk this glorious moment. finally, after all these years, bill cipher has a gun i found the goddamn COLOR.

i mix it with warm yellows and with my favorite blues. with the pinks, just to laugh. life is beautiful and i am painting its sunsets, and i do not care if they look ridiculously messy. i have won.

the moral of the story is to never give up. or maybe it's to remember you never actually know everything about even the fields you love the most, because this color totally blindsided me despite being much more common than i expected. or maybe it's that i seriously needed to chill out for a while.

but yes. that is the tale of one (1) of the colors that has taken up residence in my soul. i hope you don't regret asking now lmao.

[theangrypomeranian]

I was gonna go on anon to ask this bc fear lol but do what scares you until it doesn't scare you ufeelme lmao ANYWAY

Do you have any guidance or advice to someone that has /never/ read fanfic but wants to start? I'm not really a shipper (outside of canon, anyway, like I love boblin but avoid the kids ships even if canon bc of the internet drama I've read. Obviously no judgment on my end, I just don't wanna be involved in it - that anxiety/ chronic stress life babey)

But I've been feeling like having scenes or stories to draw will be the next step in improving my art. I can draw the characters reasonably legible now so wanna draw them interacting with each other more! To encapsulate their dynamics and relationships with one another, any fanfic seems ideal for that! Otherwise I'd just be redrawing scenes and that's fine as is, but it's not necessarily enough? If that makes sense?

With all this in mind, I'm overwhelmed with the prospect of diving in without any knowledge on the fanfic/writing world whatsoever. As I only follow a small handful of writes, and you seem to be one of the most consistent/frequent, I would absolutely love and appreciate your help!

I understand this may either be an unnecessary amount of info, or just a lot/ an intense amount in general lmao, so you don't have to answer this! But I had to try somewhere 👉😎👉 I hope you understand! I'm sure you'll understand 😆🤭

Hello! Sorry for responding so late, work has been taking all of my spoons this weekend and I wanted to be sure I could answer this with the gusto you deserve. (Also I HELLA feel the "do what scares you until it doesn't", I need to start living by that more. Good on you, mate!) For what to read, my number one rule is if I don't think I'll enjoy the story I stay away. AO3's tagging systems is a freaking lifesaver for that imo as you can filter away a lot of stuff you don't want to see, like certain ships or genre tropes or even physical acts of affection/intimacy. Sometimes the summary of a story can also help you decide if it's something you would be interested in. And if there are certain things you DO want to see or certain characters or ships, you can exclusively look for stories that have them (like how I hang out almost exclusively in the Zeke x Tina tag on AO3 lol). Knowing what you do and don't like is crucial for this, though. If nothing else, you can just go onto the Bob's Burgers AO3 tag and scroll through the fics until you see something you want to try reading. And always remember that fanfic is supposed to be FUN, so if you start something and start to not like it there is no shame in clicking out. You are not obligated to keep reading something you don't like, not even if it's posted by someone you DO like. This is supposed to be a fun hobby, after all. I hope this helps you a little bit! And thank you so much for asking me about this, I feel honored. <3 Happy reading!

[feroluce]

smth smth yingfeng paralleling farcille

(magically inclined long lived partner tries to defy death by bringing their short lived partner back to life/have immortality but they come out Wrong(tm) instead)

just. the parallels <3

RIGHT? Like oh my god I love the idea of it: a mortal and immortal character falling in love, and the immortal one doing something horribly taboo for them to be together forever. But maybe they fuck something up, or maybe it's just their punishment for playing god, but their now-immortal lover Comes Back Wrong.

I'm actually not caught up on dunmeshi (I get the gist of farcille from socmed, though) but I really like an Inuyasha/Kikiyo flavor to it- Mortal lover is full of rage and hatred, immortal one can't not love them, and then they romantically and dramatically die together murder-suicide style and drag each other to hell. You know, the good shit. ☆

It is one of my ideal dynamics for a bad end pairing. And I do like necromancy shenanigans with a happier/good end, like farcille style too! Just...I don't like either situation for yingyue.

I don't think there's anything wrong with playing with them that way as long as you don't pass it off as canon, like I say all of this with no judgment. But I'm picky and I like to follow canon more closely so I can't really see them in that kind of scenario haha.

It's just! Yingxing's whole deal is that he's a haughty, spiteful, arrogant asshole of a man whose life mission is to be such a damn good craftsman that he can tell all the Xianzhou Natives who looked down on him to suck his short life species dick and flip them the bird. Him being made immortal takes all the fun out of it for me and kinda removes a central part of his character. I LOVE him being petty and full of himself. He should do it more!

And I am so so dearly enamored with the relationship between him and Baiheng. I can't write her out of the whole equation, especially considering she and Yingxing both Came Back Wrong from this incident, and she was the actual intended target.

Like. He loved her. Yingxing loved her. Baiheng was so, so important to him. She's referred to as "the beloved" in Blade's character stories. He called her his bosom friend. He handmade a jade flask just for her.

Not a weapon,

not something she needed,

not something he was doing to show off,

just a flask.

Something pretty, and just for her, something that she would like and use everyday. Not a need, but a want. He did it simply because he wanted to give her a present.

She was the first person to really encourage and believe in him. She helped him come out of his shell (so all that arrogance is her fault BSMZJMS). That animated short where they went up in her star skiff together and she called him cute fucking killed me. They make me chew concrete.

And she was really important to Dan Feng too! He wouldn't have tried to bring her back, otherwise! She died saving him. And he knew what he was doing when he chose to try to bring her back as a Vidyadhara. He had to have. There's no way he couldn't have known that his life was forfeit after this. They don't let you get away with purposely breaking one of the Ten Unpardonable Sins like that.

And he chose to do it anyway. He still chose her life over his own. Dan Feng loved her, too.

He and Yingxing both worked together to try to bring her back because she was someone neither of them could bear to lose.

So if anything, I feel like yingyue is more like larcille bringing back their beloved Falin haha

But no matter who is romantically involved with who, like. It's the love between all three of them that's important.

That's the secret ingredient that makes the triumph of Falin's rebirth and the horrific tragedy of the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae so emotional. Because these were things that could not have happened unless they all loved each other.

[cilant-lis]

Questions 3, 10, 12, 13 & 16 for your wonderful watcher Variel? : D (feel free to leave some out if they're too much, I'm just really curious about her! < 3)

*cracks open my encyclopedia of variel lore*

3. what are your watcher's likes and dislikes (like the ones poe2 companions have)?

likes: lighthearted, animal kindness, worldly, impassioned dislikes: animal cruelty, piety, racism

10. which god did your watcher make a deal with? did they keep their end of the bargain?

variel made a deal with hylea, seeing as returning the souls to the hollowborn was the most compassionate choice in her eyes. she kept her end of the bargain, and does not regret her decision

12. what does your watcher think about the gods?

at the beginning of poe1, variel was a pretty devoted worshipper of ondra. it came from a desire to be seen and acknowledged by the goddess, for her to finally recognise her as her child and reward her for all these years of hardship. over the course of the game, variel grows more and more disillusioned with the gods, with the divine intervention she has been hoping for never coming. it reached a climax during the events of the white march, when variel saw all the atrocities committed in the ondran temple and ondra herself finally answered variel, only to tell her to sacrifice her life. by the time poe2 happens, variel has it out for the gods (only hylea is on thin ice) and will openly defy them. her personal grief towards ondra is only multiplied when she sees how the goddess clearly favours tekehu, and despite herself variel is resentful and jealous.

13. how does your watcher relate to their culture?

because of how she grew up and her godlike-ness, variel's culture is very eclectic and she never really fit in anywhere. though her mother was a pale elf, she never got the chance to meet her, so she has no ties to the glamfellen culture other than genetics. variel spent the first years of her life in an orphanage in aedyr, though she has not picked up on any aedyran culture. the biggest influences on her were the times she spent on vailian ships, being forced to go on all voyages by her adopted 'family' as a good luck charm; and her time in the living lands, in the paladin order of kind wayfarers.

16. how did your watcher react to the reveal that the gods were created by engwithans?

variel is not exactly the type of person to theorise on things, but the more interactions with the gods she had, the more suspicious of them she became (especially after white march). iovarra's reveal was not much of a surprise to her, and it only fuelled the crisis of faith she was already going through.

[crowdsourcedloner]

35. How do they feel about the fact that they've killed a lot of people and/or things?

Nailah's been a mercenary most of her life. She knows she's good at it and carries herself as a consummate professional - it's her life or theirs and she has work to do, it's not personal.

This is what she's told herself, anyways.

Truthfully, Nailah struggles with seeing worth in herself under all the blood on her hands. There's a lot of unspoken survivor's guilt just under the surface, bubbling up whenever things are a little too quiet.

[rubydracogirl]

you've actually just raised a really interesting point and perspective! ink is a very difficult character to write due to his unpredictability, you've managed to make sure that we can never guess what he's going to do next, say next, or have reactions to! your ability to write him makes me appreciate him even more, hence why he's usually the focus of things i ask! now it makes me wonder, how would you explain his feelings toward the 'alouettes'? some twisted form of love? an obsession to acquire something that is continually ripped away? what does he want from the reader, exactly? in his head, how would they ideally act? has it changed compared to when he wasn't corrupted? i guess that would be describing his descent into insanity, in a way! I would love to hear what you think, its totally feeding me💗💗

Hello! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to reply, but I was excited to see this ask! I'll reply under the cut, since there will be some spoilers XD

A bit of a complicated question, one that I had to think about for a while.

So I will say this;

He's not aware of it, but Ink is addicted to the cycle of losing and finding his soulmate, which is a big reason for the theme of the game of tag.

Ink is prone to boredom, so even though he desperately desires his soulmate, he will crave the chase, which is one reason why he doesn’t bat an eye when Swap starts bringing ‘replacements’. He’s desperate to keep the game going, even if it’s not with his soulmate; he’s addicted to physical pleasure, addicted to the thrill of chasing something he can never keep.

He no longer has expectations from Reader, because every time they're reborn, they're different. They look different, act different, live different lives. All they have in common is the misfortune to be tied to Ink and Dream (and Swap.)

Ultimately, the one thing Ink wants is to keep experiencing the euphoria of being reunited with his soulmate, to feel the rush of that connection and intimacy, and to feel like he's 'won' the game. Unfortunately, that's no longer going to be entirely possible, because his connection has become so tainted from the violence he's inflicted on Reader, both knowing and unknowingly. The weaker the connection grows, the more desperate and violent Ink becomes.

[awwishfulthinking]

I don’t know if you’re still super into it but SpyxFamily for the ask meme?

I'm not as obsessed with the series as last year, but I still enjoy it.

The first character I first fell in love with: Loid because I'm superficial. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: I guess Yor because I was mostly neutral about her before. But she's actually really adorable and it's criminal how little attention she receives compared to Loid and Anya. The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Does Damien count??? He's ok but he's also a little shit sometimes. The character I love that everyone else hates: I feel like almost every character in Spy x Family has a fanbase just because the series is so popular, but I guess Franky? His relationship with Anya is really sweet. The character I used to love but don’t any longer: Not that I really "loved" the character to begin with, but Nightfall went from being a cool badass female spy to... having her love/obsession with Twilight/Loid be her main personality. The "strong female character is in love with and pines for a male character constantly" trope is one of my top disliked tropes. The character I would totally smooch: Anya and Bond both deserve smooches on the forehead. (I am saying this affectionately like an aunt) The character I’d want to be like: If I had even one iota of the charisma that Loid has, I'd probably have a full time job by now orz The character I’d slap: Yuri for the siscon stuff. Franky also deserves a slap sometimes for his (bad) attempts with women. A pairing that I love: Loid x Yor because I am boring A pairing that I despise am mostly "meh" about: -Twilight x Nightfall (which is pretty one-sided anyway...) -Anya x Damien (it's cute as a kiddie crush but I wouldn't want them to get together seriously when they're older) -Yuri x Nightfall (people ship them because I guess they're both attractive and they have... mutual obsessive tendencies towards the targets of their affection. But idk I don't think it'd work out with the whole... in-universe political situation. And god, they'd hate each other so much even beyond the politics.)

[thomine]

🐠🪸 :3c

( from show us some published works! )

🐠 a funny quote from a published work

« Instead, you receive a note on your desk a few weeks later. I ran out of food. - You know who »

— in the nick of time (wanderer)

omg this took a while because like... am i funny enough for this 😭 first thing that came to my mind was in the nick of time (wanderer). it's not a funny line, per se, but i guess it is the punchline, and in context it's funny (promise). i don't think i'll ever be able to write a line that's by itself funny. always got to be in need of some context or something.

🪸 a great closing line from a published work

other than that closing line from in the nick of time (wanderer), perhaps another favourite closing line of mine would be...

« [Ayato] did not comment on Thoma calling you his partner—although whether it remains as work partners is an answer Ayato cannot give. »

— sincere sins & serious schemes (thoma)

it's not a very punching line, but i feel in the context of what i hoped was conveyed in the fic, this line can cause some damage. throughout the whole fic we sort of see that they're tight, but are they really though because reader hides things from thoma and thoma was able to do things behind reader's back. we sort of see at the end that ayato is the mastermind for some of their most intimate moments, which leaves the question: what are they? and it's not the whole romantic lens of "are we dating" although on the surface it is.

at the end of the day, they are partners. they are work partners. but whether it becomes something more or less, ayato has done what he wants and it's up to thoma to pick up the pieces and put it back himself.

[curiosity-killed]

@ your tags abt trying to get people into ballet and running.. i am very interested in getting into ballet and running but i don't know where to start! tbh i feel like i might be a bit old to start ballet (19), but running seems like something i could start at any age!

FRIEND I have NEVER dived so quickly out of a movie in order to reply to a message as I just leapt from that terrible shitty movie to answer this

this is going to sound cliche but you're literally NEVER too old to start either!!

also oh god i'm sorry this is. it's so long. mistakes have been made

ALSO QUICK DISCLAIMER I'M A STRANGER ON TUMBLR AND THIS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE MEDICAL ADVICE PLS AT LEAST CONSIDER TALKING TO YOUR DR BEFORE STARTING A NEW FITNESS ROUTINE

starting with ballet bc it sometimes has the biggest barriers to entry:

People start ballet young for a couple reasons (for one thing: children are easy to lure in with promises of pretty costumes and fun tricks and then they get suckered in too far before realizing that they're 25 years old and spend more on dance per month than groceries but ANYWAY) including the fact that it's generally easier to build your base understanding of technique and establish the particular musculoskeletal (& proprioceptive) capacities uniquely demanded by ballet.

That said, even professional dancers don't always start super young. Misty Copeland started ballet at 13; there are professional dancers who started in their 20s. And regardless of your aspirations within the field, ballet is so fun. For all the media out there saying ballet is brutal and cruel and competitive (and it can be), ballet is also making silly faces with your friends and laughing when you mess up and feeling a whole different knowledge of yourself bloom in movement and joyful struggle. I've continued ballet for 20 years not because I'm great at it (I'm a decidedly decent dancer and that's about it) but because I love it and the unique feelings it provides.

So if you're looking for ways to start, here are a couple tips:

First, look for dance schools near you. Depending on where you live and if it's rural or urban, you may not have a ton of options, but if you do, I would recommend looking for adult ballet classes. These tend to have a mix of levels (i.e., I regularly dance with Legit Professional Dancers and also people who are on their 5th ballet class ever in my weekly classes) which to me helps the environment feel more friendly and welcoming. They also will often have recommendations for what you need for class and where to get it locally (if you ever need more info on this, there are lots of lists online and I'm always happy to help out!). You may have to make an actual phone call if you live in a small enough town (or go through your mom's childhood bestie's mom's cousin. small town dance is a whole different post).

There are also a lot of free online ballet classes which are very cool but I'm hesitant to recommend those for starting out simply because a lot of ballet is not intuitive and you can injure yourself by doing it incorrectly. Being in a studio with a teacher helps not only provide you with useful feedback but also have someone looking out for you and reducing risk (like a spotter in lifting but they may also be an extravagant Argentinian woman who swoons while loudly asking, "May I TOUCH your gluteus??" which is honestly way better).

WAIT ALSO: if you're in uni (or there's a university/college near you), that has a dance program, many have youth or community schools (this is what my studio was when I was growing up!) which can be DOPE.

Two quick notes: every dance school has its own environment. Most are a mix of good and bad, and they can all be a little overwhelming at the start. I usually recommend giving it at least a couple classes as a try (if that is an option) before deciding some place is Bad, Actually.

Along with that, ballet is kind of a lot. It's a demanding athletic activity combined with artistic components plus all these French words (often mispronounced and used in weird ways. That being said, there are frequent chocolate and cheese metaphors for fondu so...that's a win??). It is both a-okay and also super normal to feel a little overwhelmed or lost. One way to help is to make sure you introduce yourself to the teacher either before or after class. This can be super simple: "Hi, I'm [name] and this is [my first time taking a dance class/my first class in a long time/etc]." This helps the teacher get to know you and provides an opportunity both to see if they feel the class is right for you and to ask for help on any steps that were particularly challenging or confusing that day.

okay I'm stopping there but seriously pls feel free to holler if you have questions or anything else comes to mind!! i am the Anti-Gatekeeper of Ballet i want everyone to try this shit (with the appropriate safeguarding beforehand so as to be better protected against the various in-field issues and uhhhh quirks of the art)

also here is an article with things to know before your first class! i confess i skimmed it but it seemed like a starting point?

ON TO RUNNING

this feels like a good time to admit that while I am very enthusiastic and very excited to help/provide info on these things, I've been doing both ballet and running since i was. a child. and so am not actually a great resource on starting out because my brain was basically wrinkle-free mush when i did but ANYWAY what we lack in knowledge we make up in being So Excited about getting to talk about this shit

The number one thing I would say about running is extremely counter to my entire existence but: don't jump in 100% of the way at the start. Going too hard too early is the number one way to get injuries (hi chronic tendinitis, my old friend).

The number two thing is please for the love of god get running shoes if you really want to get into running. They are expensive, but a) it is much more expensive to fuck up your feet/knees/hips/back from running in shoddy shoes and b) I am extremely skeptical about the quality of the average person's general shoes and even if you don't wind up doing tons of running, they'll save you pain if you wear them for like. walking. and shit. Also they come in fun colors so that's a win. Anyway, if you can, try to get to an actual running store and have them fit you properly for your first pair. As with most things, you can try to guesstimate based on suggestions/lists online but it's a large enough purchase and important enough for your health that I would recommend not doing that until you at least have a stronger sense of what you need/want in your shoes. A fitter goes a long way towards making sure you don't drop $100 on shoes that tear your feet apart. bc that's what pointe shoes are for not running shoes!

Aside from shoes* (and socks*), I think a lot of running gear is...pretty subjective? Like sure, having basic athletic clothes is a good place to start, but the specifics are really up to you. I still run in shit from middle school, other people I know run only in high tech fancy ass shit. you do you boo

*technically also subjective but we're not getting into that here

Once you are, presumably, dressed and shod, my other recommendation is: fartleks. Both because they're funny to say and also because they're a great and versatile training method. A fartlek is, essentially, a run where you switch up your speed periodically (I'm sure there's a more technical definition somewhere but like hello it's 1 AM and i have lost control of this response). For starting out, I'd recommend trying to do a 1:1 or 1:2 run:walk ratio. That can be running 1 minute and then walking 1-2, it can be running for 5 minutes and walking for five. No one is actually keeping time. The idea is basically to incrementally increase your amount running while providing your body with lower-impact walking breaks, which are still exercising your legs/core/etc. and lungs. As you continue to do these a couple times a week, you'll gradually build strength and endurance which will enable you to do longer/faster runs.

Like dance, and most things at the start especially, running can kind of suck. Don't get me wrong I love it and think it's great but it takes a while to build strength and endurance and get to just run as opposed to making yourself run. Getting through the slog stage is often easier if you associate it with something you like: for instance, go for a run at your favorite time of day (with considerations for safety), have a special playlist of fun songs just for running or a podcast you like for it, or run a route you really like (to a favorite park or along a fun sidewalk, etc).

I also recommend getting into the habit of telling someone when you're going on a run and where you're going/about how long you think it'll take. If you have a running buddy (highly recommend), this is less important but it's a good habit for safety. Whether it's rolling your ankle or getting lost and winding up in the middle of very featureless corn fields, you never know when you're going to want to have someone ready to come pick you up.

You can go into a whole rabbit hole on running form and the real nitty gritty but I'm definitely not qualified to speak on that and also wouldn't be much help from here. I will say that, in general, I've found that the more relaxed you can be while running, the better. Places that tend to hold tension include your hands (instead of holding them in fists, try to shake them out and envision a heavy grapefruit or pomegranate held loosely in your hands) and neck/shoulders (try to think of dropping your shoulders and letting them swing naturally from the socket).

Also if you have the option between running on soft surfaces (dirt, grass, etc.) as opposed to hard (concrete, sidewalks, etc.), soft surfaces reduce impact on your joints (but may also be uneven/etc., so be safe).

And now a Runner's World article

oh: if you feel a tightness in your chest while running, a feeling like you can't fully exhale/inhale, have wheezing/rasping breaths, and/or a dry cough after running. that is asthma. pls don't do a me and wait almost a decade to get that checked out

[raepliica]

hey! is there somewhere we can buy your art? I'd love that spiderpunk piece as a poster

hi! sadly no>< though i really appreciate the interest🙏💕

[elegyofthemoon]

12, 30?

hi again :D

12. how are you?

I'm actually good today !! even despite the lack of sleep. It's at least a better day than yesterday so i'm glad at least for that :) I just wish I could like. focus alsfh the area I'm in rn makes it hard to do though and that is why i am here :^)

30. what reminds you of home (doesn’t have to mean house… just things that remind you of the feeling of home)?

summer evenings/sunsets, a specific candle scent i had bought called "campfire nights", laughs between friends because youre making the stupidest kinds of jokes from staying up way longer than you were supposed to, the freedom to be as you are without judgement...aaand honey :)

[austerulous]

◈   @talkawayknight​ liked to get a name sign from Horace the Hushed 

— CREIGHTON ‘ blue-eyed ghost ’

Fingertips of one hand drum lightly against the inner wrist of the opposite arm, mimicking rain or flowing water, to signify the colour blue.  The tip of a forefinger then taps beneath an eye, pointing directly upward.  For ghost, or spirit, both hands come to hover at the temples, fingers fluttering faintly.

[perelka-l]

Flygon anon here! Firstly, I wish you the best of luck in whatever’s happening irl, it’s rough out there Secondly, do you think those two boys talk about how to care for Dragonites together?

Thanks a bunch flygon anon. Shit's tough but gotta try and figure out survival I guess. Though tbh I'm vastly more motivated with job finding when I think about potential upcoming Kieran merch. If it works, amirite.

I like the thought that their Dragonites are one of things that made them get along post Indigo~

I like to toy with idea that Drayton gave Kieran an egg, though it's not something I'd consider a hc. Maybe they let their Dragonites play around as they chill together (and get shitton of eggs out of it lmao). Just... Dragonite boys. I doodled them in matching Dragonite pajamas a while ago too wwww they'd be so cute......

[lazyblueghost]

Hello, Blue! Can you tell Dys on discord that he sucks toes? Hope you're doing well! uwu

No, cuz he will take my snacks away and I worked very hard to steal those ( V~V )

Also I'm doing ok, thank you Anon! C: