#they can share work tips.

[lunarscaled]

me psspsspssing other fantasy / guild esque characters to talk to Lyric

[liones-s]

one of the biggest things I can advocate for (in academia, but also just in life) is to build credibility with yourself. It’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking of yourself as someone who does things last minute or who struggles to start tasks. people will tell you that you just need to build different habits, but I know for me at least the idea of ‘habit’ is sort of abstract and dehumanizing. Credibility is more like ‘I’ve done this before, so I know I can do it, and more importantly I trust myself to do it’. you set an assignment goal for the day and you meet it, and then you feel stronger setting one the next day. You establish a relationship with yourself that’s built on confidence and trust. That in turn starts to erode the barrier of insecurity and perfectionism and makes it easier to start and finish tasks. reframing the narrative as a process of building credibility makes it easier to celebrate each step and recognize how strong your relationship with yourself can become

[canonkiller]

but you can't keep holding on like this.

[reasonsforhope]

Btw, if you really just Need A Job (tm)

I'd really recommend looking into care work

Care work here is specifically being a home care aid, a care aid or assistant at any kind of residential home.

This for usually for elderly or disabled adults - and those are the ones that tend to be most entry level, from what I've seen, but also for mental health, addiction recovery etc. (With the obvious caveat that some of these jobs will be more emotionally intense than others)

I'm so serious about this guys. I was applying to jobs in care work for just three weeks, starting a couple days before Christmas, and in that time I got three interviews, two jobs offers, and five additional interview requests

Care work needs people CONSTANTLY

because it's a huge sector but very hard for them to keep staff long-term. Partly because it can be high burn-out, and there's definitely toxic places out there you should watch out for. And partly because a lot of people think care work is beneath them

AND they ACTUALLY MEAN IT when they say they're entry level. Because it's so hard for them to get staff that a lot of them will advertise super aggressively that they will train you themselves. A lot of them will straight up pay for your CPR and First Aid certifications, once they hire you, too (and you can get a leg up on applications by getting a CPR/First Aid certification for like. $30 to $80, at least in the US). They also accept experience taking care of elderly/disabled/etc. family members as real experience

Like, obviously don't do it if you hate taking care of people, but if you're open to it, it's probably by far your best shot of getting hired rn, statistically

(eta: Genuinely disclaimer that it can be super taxing emotionally and large portions of the industry are indeed fucked, and def don't take a job in this field if you're gonna be an asshole to the people you're caring for, but sometimes you just need whatever job you can get.)

Seriously, though, the first time I applied for a care work job (in October 2023, yes short timeline, like I said there's some toxic workplaces etc. out there), I applied to like ten or fifteen jobs over the course of a week or so. Within three weeks, I was working.

(And they did provide all of the training, fwiw)

If you need a job and no one is hiring, seriously consider looking into it

[oddly-casual]

Trolls band together spoilers

I like this thing Viva has going on with her cape being her safety blanket. Especially since it’s literally a patch of fake grass which could also be used to camouflage herself.

Like we’re introduced to her with it on, but only when she finds Poppy and gets excited does she take it off, like rips it off.

And it stays off for the whole song. It’s only later when Poppy starts asking Viva about their separation does Viva visibly get uncomfortable and puts the cape back on as she leaves.

That cape stays on even when Poppy and them all leave. The last time we see it on is when Viva appears with Bridget to help in the fight. She admits she’s freaking out but she takes her cape off anyway and it never comes back.

It gets flung in the water, sis had no intention of getting it back. But I think that’s really cool because this was Viva putting herself on the line, taking a leap of faith for people she loves even when she’s lived in fear for so long.

[thebatdadnomad]

Falling, falling, falling...

[synthaphone]

Do you mind if I ask what kind of clay you use for your sculptures? I recently tried to get into clay sculpting and I thought that I had gotten good clay but it seems like no matter what I do it doesn't look smooth and I just leave dents, bumps, and fingerprints all over it. It might just be me being new and bad at the craft, though (like should I be wearing gloves?) But if the clay does make a difference, the kind you use looks nice ;o;

I don’t mind at all!

I use oven bake polymer clay for my sculptures! For the ones I paint, I use a combination of Super Sculpey (peach colored) and Super Sculpey Firm (grey colored). i usually use the former for the base of the sculpture, and then the firmer clay for small details and areas that I want to give a little extra strength.

I find i have the worst issues with fingerprints when i use the type of Sculpey that comes in white- its a lot softer than the Super variants (and also more brittle in its baked form). I used some for the white parts of this sculpture I made in 2019, and its a lot less smooth than my more recent sculptures

BUT! I’ve also started doing some stuff in recent years that could potentially help with getting a smoother look on any variety of sculpey!

i started baking my sculptures in stages- sculpey can be rebaked multiple times without too much trouble, and this helps prevent me from leaving fingerprints on or squishing parts while im working on another part of the sculpture (although too many times and it can start to look burnt, so if youre not painting it you’ll want to watch out for this). it can be a little difficult to get unbaked clay to stick to the baked clay though, so i use the oven bake glue sculpey makes to help adhere it

I started using fine grit sandpaper on baked sculptures to smooth out unwanted lumps and fingerprints. this can work really well, especially on larger smooth areas where theres less danger of accidentally snapping something off. if you try it, you probably want to wear a dust mask and do this somewhere ventilated, because breathing the clay dust seems like a bad idea.

My friend gifted me this set of clay tools, and the one with the pointy blue silicone tip has been super helpful for smoothing over small areas that my fingers cant reach.

i found out like, a month ago? that you can use rubbing alcohol on unbaked sculpey to smooth out fingerprints, and it works SO well. just test it out first on sculpey with added pigments, like the little packs that come in bright colors- i tried it out with some gold sculpey that had glitter in it and it didnt work as well there as it does on the super sculpey/super sculpey firm- with the gold it felt like the alcohol was like, catching the pigment and glitter bits and giving the clay a weird filmy appearance. but i just put a little onto the sculpture with my finger or the silicone tool and it really helps smoothing out the surface!

sorry for the long answer, and that its only really relevant for one type of clay- i hope that it can potentially be helpful though!!

[looney-mooney-studio]

Been playing a lot of Cult of the Lamb lately, here’s an art of my in-game polyamorous genderfucky Butch Wife, Witness Bathin 💜

[eternally-tired-cryptid]

I have another one but it's separate so here.

If you have insomnia bc of anxiety, or your insomnia triggers anxiety (similar but different things 🤷) pick a Thing. For example, during the day, when I start thinking depressive or anxiety thoughts, my go to is "I wanna curl up in my bed and sleep". It doesn't fix it but sometimes there isn't fixing or talking yourself out of the thought, so a broken record response helps.

Specifically with insomnia, I will pick something to "write a story" about. This is when I do most of my oc fanfic plotting, bc I'm more likely to be able to figure out those ideas again when I wake up bc there's an original source material (if I were to think about my original works I may make the insomnia worse bc I NEED to write it down before I forget). But you could pick something you really enjoy talking about, something you're studying, music, whatever. Just pick something that's your "topic for the night" and whenever you start to drift into thoughts that make your insomnia worse, just jump back to the topic.

It sounds a lot simpler than it is, trust me. Sometimes I'll lay there just repeating the topic word over and over in my head bc the moment I stop I'm spiralling again. But trust me when I say that late at night when insomnia is keeping you up is rarely the time to unpack all those thoughts, it's okay to just avoid them in whatever way you can. If it's still a concern come the morning sunlight you can take steps to work through it then.

[the-one-who-lambs]

When you're writing, rhetorical questions can often be a checkpoint to assess the effectiveness of your narrative. If you find yourself writing sentences like "What had (character) done?" / "What had really happened when ...?" / etc, chances are these are questions that your reader is already asking about your story, or should be asking. Readers don't need a ton of hand-holding, and such questions are usually more effective when presented in subtext rather than explicitly. However, if you take out the rhetorical question and the setup doesn't lend itself to the reader asking that question on their own, it's a good idea to evaluate why that may be.

I've heard the writing tip that rhetorical questions are most effective when used sparingly, but I think the reasoning (the way I see it, at least) is worth explanation.

[ace-of-clubs-and-diamonds]

So uh. I have an Instagram for my art now. If that would interest anyone.

[martyrbat]

batman and superman vs vampires and werewolves #2

[pipskippy]

theres something abt suzaku and lelouch that makes for really nice atmospheric dreams for me i think it’s a big part of why cg has stuck with me lolll. very fitting actually bc i originally watched it because i kept having dreams about it and got curious…

[xcziel]

okay! fighting!

[libidinous-weeb]

oh also! to anyone following me that writes! ESPECIALLY ESL writers or anybody with any form of disability! (not a requirement tho!) i am always available to grammar check (for free!) if you’re interested! or to be a beta if you need one!

maybe you just want to see how something sounds before you post it? or check the flow? concerned about inclusivity too? making sure you get all the TW? let me know! i’m here to help! my DMs are always open and proofreading is a lot of fun for me. love ya’ll!

[eggs-are-my-passion]

how to communicate with your child as an autistic parent:

ask them to be clear about their emotions. Midori confuses me a lot sometimes cause they aren't very open about everything, but whenever they feel sad or mad about something I did, they draw a face on one of my eggs so I know I did something wrong.

be open with them as well. Midori used to scream a lot when they got angry and it always made me feel bad and I'd usually end up curled up in a ball crying, which helped no one, so they learned to not scream and instead, move around, walk as they talk. This helps them calm down and keeps them from shouting.

and most important of all, listen to them. Most of the time your child only wants attention, someone to vent to, someone to talk about their problems. Don't go around like some parents do telling their children that wtheir feelings don't matter because "there are people in worst situations" or "I am too tired to deal with this", because they'll close up to you and might end up leaving you behind once they leave your house. Listen to their complaints, share knowledge on how to deal with them if they need it, treat them with respect, love and kindness.