#that advice to find the useful bits

[danwhobrowses]

For anyone else who is gonna struggle surviving the next 3 weeks with the angsty and tense situation of Callowmoore here's a few things from the last 2 episodes that I feel were underrated and will assist in trying to keep me sane/emotionally stable: - Matching messed up hands built for holding - Fearne nervously playing with her hair as she approaches Ashton - Ashton wanted Fearne to be either the last thing they saw if they died or the first thing they saw when they succeeded - Fearne's admittance corroborates Ashley's 4SD revelation that Fearne is in love with someone in the party but doesn't know how to process the emotions - Fearne wanted Ashton to be happy, while Ashton wanted to feel whole so they would be worthy of the Hells - Ashton twice tried to lead a search for Fearne, and instantly clocking onto Chetney saying he followed Fearne - Fearne making herself look as radiant as possible before giving Ashton the cold shoulder - Ashton only rose to Chetney's provocations until he said 'You hurt Fearne' Use how you will

[lesbianherald]

if its ok to ask, how do u find the motivation to write? i have a whole oiutline and everything i just cant seem to find the motivation to Actually Write Anything and was wondering if you had any advice ?

hello ! sorry this has been in my inbox for a while because I do not know how to answer !

typically, unless i'm in a really bad depressive episode, finding the motivation comes kind of naturally because I just love it so much and its such an escape for me. when I'm writing nothing else matters other than what I'm doing. all the noise of the world is gone and I don't have to worry about like, being a person while somehow simultaneously contemplating what it means to be a person in a really safe way.

i don't know if that makes sense. i was a very lonely kid and I think maybe it became a natural impulse for me. that's not saying my writing is better or some shit like that. some of the most brilliant writers I know struggle with motivation all the time. that's just not really my relationship with it.

But! If i'm in a bad episode or feeling stuck or like I've written myself into a hole, I typically listen to music that reminds me of whatever I'm working on. and then I listen to it all the time and visualize it in my head when I'm doing things like running errands and doing laundry.

also, for me writing works best if I just KEEP GOING and don't stop and ponder too much, Even if I HATE IT. especially if I'm just lost on a word or phrase. usually I'll just write something like "fix this later bee" or "research this later?" and move on. whose going to see it? if you're studying writing, just make sure the notes you leave have your name then search it before you turn anything in LMAO

usually when i'm writing and i note something is wrong I'll keep another tab open with a checklist of things I need to address or fix in the next draft instead of trying to make things perfect in the first. i think the need for perfection or overthinking often holds people up. I see that a LOT in my students.

sometimes in long form (feature films specifically) the urge to go back and correct becomes too much or I really do need to change something for future scenes to make sense. In that case I usually go sequence by sequence.

the fear of being 'bad' often stops people from even trying. but the only thing that will make you better is to get the "bAd" out first. Usually, I find people who really want to write who can't have something rooted in this fear.

IDK i hope that helps! Sorry it took so long.

[atoriv-art]

Hihi!! So so sooo sorry if this is a random question, but ur art style is so insanely inpirijg and beautiful to me, so do u have any tips on how u learnt? Like any specific stuff u tried to learn first, specific websites u used, etc? If ur not comfortable with answering this im so sorryy😓😓 YOUR ART IS GORGOUS!!

i don't mind answering, dw!

my learning process is very random to be honest, i usually get a little obsessed with trying to learn one particular thing and end up focusing on that for a bit. the most recent one was trying to learn how to draw better clothing folds :P

the general journey i took isn't really much different from what looks to be what most people do tbh, you can never go wrong with figure drawing (there's many people who can explain it better than me but it's just drawing from reference — preferably in-person, but i've never done that LOL — in short amounts of time trying to get the key elements down. the big website for this that i know of is [line of action])

i also use [these] [websites] for references, i think it's important to know at least the gist of how the human body actually works, how the muscles stretch etc, but you will affix all of that information in your brain much faster if you actually see them in action. for proportions and such i think 3D models are completely fine (and i use them. so much) but when it comes to drawings muscles or fat you will have a much easier time if you've actually seen how they work and look. it'll make you better at shading them too!

there's a bunch of resources for anatomy but my favorites are the [anatomy for sculptors] book (they post tidbits of it on social media, they're geared towards 3D artists but that's just a plus for me imo because you can understand the form you're trying to achieve much better) and the famous morpho: fat and skin folds book (i don't have a link but just like. google it it's the first one that pops up)

i alsoo tried studying color theory a lot but honestly it's rare that i find something i like enough to share KSJDKSJ once you get past the basic "what is an analogous, complimentary, tertiary palette" stuff it gets a little harder to find meaningful stuff online, but if i were to offer any advice it'd be to study light-dark values bc a lot of the time the hue doesn't matter, it's the contrast that does

relatedly (at least for me), for composition i'm still getting the hang of it (orz) but what has worked the best for me so far is this [youtube channel], he's a traditional landscape painter and yet i still find his insight very useful :P i also really like his book on composition but i dunno how available it is.. but essentially any source on composition will just tell you it's an arranging of shapes, the tricky part is how to construct those shapes (via color, contrast, etc) and how to make them convey what you want them to convey.

speaking more broadly and not just what websites/books i use, what i like to do is to save any and all images that look appealing to me, even if i don't feel like doing anything with them at the moment... i do this with pictures, paintings, literally any image that i like lmao pinterest is an easy place to do this in but you could do it wherever, i also have a pureref file full of just Cool Images That I See Online. whenever i feel like i'm stuck i look at the things that inspire me and usually i get the spark to try to do something

i also do this with poses i find in the websites i mentioned earlier, makes it way easier to find a reference for what i want ^^

you'll notice my "style" sometimes fluctuates a lot and it's usually because i saw one particular artist / style of illustration that really inspired me and i wanted to try something similar KSJDKSJ for example the more painterly stuff i've been posted is heavily inspired by aleksander rostov's art for disco elysium!

also i would feel like a liar if i didn't mention this. using "cheats" is completely fine LMAO it's very common that i do some more complicated angles / structures / lighting in 3D with blender to heavily reference them afterwards 😅 i also like environment texturing so in a few cases for my backgrounds i'm painting over a render i made. but you don't have to go that far LOL i'm just saying there's nothing wrong with stuff like that so long as you're not stealing from someone else.

and if you struggle with motivation for studies i'll just say, you can cheat a little and make the studies about something you actually like LMAO like when i was trying to get better at clothing folds i just drew a bunch of naruto characters and paid more attention to the clothing. it's silly but it works :)

[divinekangaroo]

Random thought that S1 could have instead had more consistent hinting/detail to it that Tommy *suspected* Grace in some way, and therefore his seduction of her wasn't entirely just the hearteyes it tried to be sold as, but rather attempting to sway her to his side. Because, given every other series has Tommy using his body/self/sex as a way to leverage influence he wouldn't otherwise have, it'd be consistent to have seen a hint of that with Grace.

And then to *still* have their revelation moment after the Garrison killings, because then how much more meaningful if he throws away his suspicions in favour of finding someone he feels sees him and gets him.

[longagoitwastuesday]

On the one hand, I don't believe Megumi and Gojo were ever too close, even if their apparent closeness called my attention since their first scene together because of the way they behaved and talked to each other.

On the other hand, Megumi was a fifteen years old with a lot of problems, a pretty bad childhood and a bit of an attitude to say the least, and Gojo, besides Tsumiki, was the "paternal" figure he could turn against

[rottingraisins]

Are you using gouache or water colors for your traditional art? If so, How do you get such clean shapes and lines? Do you work wet on wet or do you let it dry in between?

- (Art nerd anon)

its both actually!!! theres usually a watercolor underpainting, either one solid color or, for more complicated pieces, blocking in a few different colors or patches of light and shadow, and then i paint over that in gouache. the lines look so clean bc after letting it dry i usually put down a layer of fixative (ive found the one made for oil pastels works well) n after letting that dry too, retrace some lines using my ink pen. truthfully this burns through ink pens quite fast bc the gouache pigment can still dry them out, but its the best solution ive found.

i do let the watercolors dry properly before bringing in the gouache, but i dont rlly deliberately take breaks to let the gouache dry in between as gouache dries super quick anyway, especially when u work as small as i do (my most recent sketchbook was an a5 one), so id hesistate to call it wet on wet either. i just kinda alternate between patches of color so everything has a bit of time to dry. idt i really could stand to take breaks from painting bc i get distracted rlly easily, so id never finish anything, haha!

if u find ur gouaches bleeding into each other a lot or taking rlly long to dry u might be mixing them w/ too much water, gouache is rlly supposed to be at sort of a pudding like consistency when u work w/ it, unless ur trying to deliberately thin it out to get a lighter, more transparent shade, though id rlly recommend just using watercolors if ur trying to do that. this can happen easily by accident if ur paintbrush is freshly wet from cleaning it out, i recommend always keeping a bit of paper next to ur paint water to be able to dry it off.

[telesodalite]

This is a bit random, but I've been thinking about Misfire a lot lately, and it struck me, that with his adhd, the whole implied/hc'd substance use is only sometimes considered as a form of self-medicating? And, idk, I find the concept interesting.

Like, yeah sure, within the canon implications it's just stereotypical stuff, so it can be interpreted as wholly recreational, and whatever one might call accidentally catching a high from blood you've taken from a corpse.

But like, his adhd is emphasized as an important aspect of his character, so surely it's impacted his millions of years worth of life with its symptoms? Both good and bad?

The Decepticons in idw1 are weird, in many ways lol, but in the sense that they're the faction defined by their oddballs and rejects. They're the unwanted, the belittled, the different, the oppressed, the strange, the mad. But at the same time, any deviance from their impossible and ever-changing standards is punishable and looked down upon.

It's a classic, almost frustratingly stereotypical case of a system built against oppression becoming the oppressors. But that's not the point here.

The point is that they opened their arms and offered the idea of freedom to those who felt different from the pre-war standards, who felt belittled by it, or betrayed by it, and promptly went and turned around on these people to make them feel belittled and betrayed and made different from their own new standards.

Abuse, in many forms, runs rampant within Decepticon ranks. From the very top, to the very bottom. Any deviation or perceived weakness is an open invitation for such actions. Throw in the DJD, and there's no escape from it. No way to get out, only fit in and keep your head low, or become the very thing you originally wanted to fight against and be free from.

Substance abuse is mentioned in canon enough to assume that certain amounts of it were almost expected across both Decepticon and Autobot ranks and contingents. But considering the condition of Decepticon standards and communities, it can be assumed to be a bit more rampant in their case.

So, Misfire. We don't have much context for his background and what all he's seen and done.

It's implied he did some spywork, or at least made some cross faction connections during the war with Brainstorm, which might've been a big enough deal that it caught the attention of Skids, because he's aware of Misfire of all people, knows he changed his name right at the end of the war, and considers Misfire somewhat as a nemesis, which, might I remind thee that Skids was part of a secret special operations unit, a secret special operations unit under fucking Prowl!? So uh, possible big interesting stuff that never got explained there.

(The possible spy bit keeps me up at night I swear to god, bcs wtf were all those tiny implications supposed to mean?!? I need to know all the details of that possible spy drama so bad, omg)

Then, we know he "accidentally" killed "a dozen" other cons towards the end of the war, and that he was going to be jailed for it.

So Misfire's life obviously went down the drain before the murdering a dozen fellow soldiers bit, but considering every awful and challenging factor of being a sub-par soldier in the Decepticon army/air force, what kept him from doing something like that earlier on?

More important, what got someone like him through the war? What kept him going? What kept him alive? Well uh... the same thing that kept a lot of Decepticons going I guess. Substance abuse.

Ok so where does the self-medication angle of this whole thing come in Teles?? My answer to that would be, uh, inherently ig.

Because think about it, you're just some kinda weird guy, caught in the middle of one long ass war. You're never good enough, can't achieve the one thing you've been gunning(lol) for, and are just sorta flying by the seat of your metaphorical pants through life. You're a solider, and a victim of systematic abuse because of that, and at some point, you're possibly a perpetrator of that abuse*. On top of all that, you've also got raging adhd during all this stress and trauma, and man, quieting those racing thoughts and numbing that constant buzzing itch in your body probably feels really good when you're escaping your extremely stressful situation for just a bit.

It feels better to be more detached, to be "calmer", less caught up in a hundred thoughts at once, more focused, more in control. Eventually this becomes the subconscious focus of his using to ease the stress. It "fixes" something. Makes things "right". So casual escapist substance use tumbles into substance abuse and addiction.

How this factors into his post-war life, idk, you decide ig.

I figure the scavs being broke and cut-off from others could play a part in Misfire having to wean himself off of whatever substances were most common among his ranks, but he's also probably creative enough to make stuff from whatever they pick up. Anything considered to be "hard stuff" would likely be frowned upon or policed by Krok tho, because of the whole traumatic experience with Roadbuster and his extreme brutality due to perceived Syk abuse.

But then again, the scavs are all still very much cons with vices, and 100% constant sobriety is apprently a challenge or punishment for cons and bots alike post war.

-

*(Expanding on that bit via another ramble I had lying around that i thought i'd include)

When considering Misfire's adhd, most things emphasize the hyperactivity and impulsiveness in general without also emphasizing the negative sides.

That moment where he almost punches Grimlock comes to mind a lot.

It could be viewed as just a side-effect of perpetuated Decepticon abuse, a knee-jerk reaction that may have been turned on him during the war for his mistakes, that he in turn expresses towards others "mistakes".

Something to also consider here though, is how the impulsivity of adhd can make violent reactions worse, anger and/or frustration harder to control, and harder to hold back from expressing outwardly or physically, especially if left unchecked or untreated for a long time.

But Misfire stops and takes a second to collect himself before becoming somber as he considers Grimlock's perspective.

This instinctually violent reaction is not something he wants, or likes, and judging by how much time has passed by that point in the comic, this has been something he's been working on and is still working on.

But what about while he was still an active solider? When holding back was seen as a weak or foolish response? How did the impulsivity play into it? After being treated like that himself, struck or beaten for mistakes, at what point did it snap and he found himself standing over another solider as they stared up at him with that same fear and shock and hurt he had felt. How did that affect him to know he was capable of doing that without thought?

Because, ya know, he's done bad things too...

[medieval-canadian]

so i'm crocheting a temperature blanket this year. my initial instinct was to say it's for my 32nd year but that's not actually how birthdays work so instead i'm awkwardly going with "the year i'm 32" and shortening it to just 32 mostly. anyway, that's besides the point.

i have the colour palette/yarn, i have the pattern (toni lipsey's linen stitch pixel temp blanket), i made a gauge swatch, i've started tracking temps (i've recorded hi/lo starting on dec. 8).... but fuck, i'm having so much trouble figuring out the temperature gauge!!!

i can't decide what the intervals should be, i can't decide if i want purples to be warm temps or cold temps or where to put the neutrals, i can't decide if i want to fiddle/tweak(/cheat?) and use the lows for the cold temps instead of the high which was the initial plan.... i just don't know!!! ugh.

[syntaxaero]

oh by the way i made the best burritos ive ever made in my life they actually tasted like a mexican restaurant burrito. i finally did it chat

[dallonwrites]

bestie how the fuck do you start writing again when you haven't written in years bc you're so paralyzed with Fear of Writing Badly mixed with How Do I Get Started and also WHAT do I write about HELP

I WANT to write but every part of it is. so. DAUNTING

Ohhh bestie I have BEEN there. Whenever I take breaks from writing I find myself scared that I'll have just….forgotten to write?? I think the fear of "bad writing" is amplified when you don't write for a while, however long, because you have to like hype yourself up to go back to writing and it's like what if I do all that and then I just can't do it? Returning to writing, especially after a long time, for me has taken a lot of mental work, trying to understand what will make writing fun and healthy for me. A lot of it, honestly, is easier said than done, but also it's mental work you'll keep doing after you start writing again and as you write, and for me it's easier to process my relationship with writing when I am actually writing.

A big part of that mental work for me, and something I think is so valuable, is to reconsider what "bad" writing is and give yourself permission to write it. Sometimes you will think your writing sucks, happens to all of us, but that isn't all it has to be. Like yeah, I'll think something I wrote sucks, but I still wrote it. I can revisit it and work on it and maybe I'll turn it into something I'm happy with. And even if I don't, I still wrote it, I learned from it. Writing does not need to be "good" by whatever standard we're holding it up to for it to have value. And you can delete it! Nobody has to see it! Also you can have fun writing something and still think it's not your best. I've written a lot of "bad" scenes that I had fun with because the scene was entertaining to me! I love when writing turns out how I like it, or I write a banger prose line, but equally I found it helpful to give myself permission to not worry about that all the time and just focus on my interest/enjoyment in what I'm writing, regardless of the "quality". Again, easier said than done, but something I've found easier the more I write, because you'll have bad writing days but you'll also have writing days that are so good

I know a lot of people see writing as a skill that they want to improve, and like I agree it feels really good to see your writing grow, but writing is so much more than the skill and the craft and the theory. There is no objective "perfection" to reach with writing like we are not Sims with levelled skills LOL. Writing is art and creativity and it should be fun and fulfilling. And IMO, the more you focus on what makes writing fun, you will grow and "improve" as a writer a lot quicker and in a way that is a lot more enjoyable than if you treat writing like some icy quest for perfection. You also get to decide what "good" writing is for you/your story. Some of my stories are more prose focused and I'll play more with language, imagery etc. Others are more about the plot and just having fun imagining this scene. Sometimes it's a mix of both. What is "good" writing depends on the writer, story, genre, etc. There is no one way to write.

I'm rambling a lot because I'm just really passionate about this and I cannot express enough how easier writing got, including all the difficult and ugly and frustrating parts, when I gave space to prioritise my enjoyment and fun. People love to romanticise the idea of the "struggling" writer. I see stuff on here and I'm like you guys….writing should be fun. Like yeah sometimes it's hard and we should talk about that but like, you Need to make sure you are having fun. Anyway I'm going to try not to ramble and bullet point some things that helped me:

Make Writing Fun: Lol! Literally whatever makes writing fun. Sometimes I just write super indulgent scenes and the fun of that sets me up to work on my projects. When I work on my projects I try to find what in each scene I'm going to enjoy the most, and focus on that to help me write the rest. I make playlists, moodboards, memes, art etc for my story because it's fun, and it helps me be engaged with my story outside of writing it. Just, have fun.

On productivity: some people will benefit from setting clear goals and running towards them. Some people don't. For me it depends on my headspace. I don't think productivity is a bad thing, it can feel good, but productivity should not be the only reason you write. And the most productive writing process is whichever one makes writing enjoyable for you, because that's how you'll get words on the page

On that note, please be wary of anyone online who who treats the writing advice they share as Fact. I'm not saying every writing teacher out there does...but some of them market it that way! And creators do not have an authority on writing just because they have a platform however big. There are some AMAZING content creators out there who talk about writing, and I have found them motivating, but like just let yourself be picky about who you listen to/engage with. I say this because I consumed some very Strict writing advice when I was younger and it literally contributed to my years long slump so like...I'm picky now LOL

About goals: Personally, gentle goals are what help me get back into writing. Maybe just write for 20 minutes, or write every day for a couple days. When I do word count goals, I base them on how I feel that day, and recently I don't make a word count, I'll transfer it to the next session but smaller. So if I try to write 500 words but can't I'll say okay, lets try 250 next time. Goals can be a great motivator and way to feel achieved, and maybe bigger goals will help you, but you're also allowed to adjust them as you go to make it easier

On finding new ideas, having been there before, you don't need a fully fleshed out idea to start writing. My longest break I came back to writing with...one character and a backstory? If you have stories/characters already you can revisit them, either build on what you have or completely change it. Or if you don't have that, if there's a piece of media you like you can take that concept and play around with it in your own way, or you can even just write fanfic until you have your own idea (if you want your own idea, fanfic is cool too!) You can even just find a cool pic on pinterest and play around with describing it, writing about it, seeing if you can get anything from that. Ideas are everywhere and they can be tiny, and I think if you have that want to write you Will find your story eventually. All writers have had the Idea struggle, but I think the more you engage with writing and think about what concepts and stories interest you already, the more you'll like train yourself to get ideas

That was very long and maybe a lot but like, I am very passionate about this! I've been in writing "slumps" where I didn't know if I would write again, I've started writing again with no ideas, and in those times all I had was the fact I knew I wanted to write. There are a lot of reasons why we end up having long breaks from writing and it is totally normal, sometimes beneficial for us, and we should never give ourselves a hard time for not writing for however long. But also remember that you can always come back. Every one of us has the capacity to create, whatever that looks like, and you can make it as self indulgent and self serving as you want.

[islenskihesturinn]

I’ve started riding Fjara to help my dad with her tripping (read: he likes to ride with a long loose rein and Fjara ends up tipping forward).

The first two times we were still getting used to one another, she’s still trying to gauge why the heck I’m asking her for turns and to do a few steps backwards and walk sideways a little.

Today I decided to take a different path around the farm and Fjara was particularly high in her energy, so when we turned to go back her back curled a little and her tempo went up…

And I’m sitting on her all impressed at the energy but also please don’t do a happy buck, I’m still getting used to how different you are from my regular horse 😅

[questions-about-loki]

Real big fucking TW

Lately I’ve been rewatching TTDW and avengers one a lot because I fixate on Loki a lot as a way to sort of escape reality. I relate to how lonely he must of felt for so long and how he had nobody, felt rejected by his family etc, I think about how much I wish I could of just kept him safe, how he needed someone to listen to him. Because I just want someone to do the same for me. Everyday it feels like a battle with myself realize I’m genuinely a danger to myself and I’m completely alone and there’s nothing I can do to change that, and as much as I get so deep in these thoughts, the reality is that I’ll go out alone and there will be no deep meaning behind it.

[dreamyeyes26]

What if the umpire gets up and kicks draper’s couch out then what…

I wish that was plausible bc he deserves it so much -_-

[anthonycrowley]

telling random people that they probably have to shampoo their hair less than they think is a thankless job that no one listens to me for but someone must be a prophet that walks the earth

[nerdyfangirlingbooks]

Every now and then I remember the times I would mention to my flatmate that I was thinking of buying myself something reasonably expensive (that I had been eyeing up for months and had budgeted for) and she'd tell me that I shouldn't spend that much money on something I didn't need and it would be stupid etc etc while she regularly impulse bought things that cost at least as much and she would use once (while complaining that she was under a lot of financial stress and couldn't afford <$3/week for 2 months for a rental washing machine when ours broke). She is... perhaps not my first call for financial advice

[adore-gregor]

study smart not hard (altough both is best actually) this saying is so true