#this isn't my usual style or my usual medium but i wanted to experiment this once!

[effeiya]

Inspired by this old tumblr post that I think about every other day.

[number44newseries864962]

Need to rant for a minute because even though I have very much been enjoying the fruits of my efforts learning how to sew vintage style clothes, I just swapped out old fatphobia (nice plus size vintage clothes never making it to stores) for new fatphobia (trying to find patterns). Cause it doesn't end at what clothes you're able to buy already made.

I finally bought a Friday Pattern Company pattern the other day, and man it made the bare minimum feel like I was being spoiled. The sizes go up to 7X (that's XL, XXL, 1X, 2X, etc, so there's 9 sizes above L) they had a thin and a fat model on the cover! Usually I'm barely lucky enough to get an XL, and I'm just expected to guess how it's going to look on my body. The majority of their patterns have two differently sized models on the covers, and all of them have that full range of patterns inside.

It is so hard to find good plus size patterns, even if they're available, many companies just scale up their mediums and I can't guarantee they're actually sized correctly for a different shape. As good as Friday is, them and other modern indie pattern companies aren't easy to find.

Okay well what if I went another step deeper, what if I forgo patterns all together and decide to be completely independent and draft things myself?

Then I'll need a plus size dress form. I got lucky and found one at an antique mall for 50$ but these are incredibly rare and more expensive than smaller ones. I'll need to learn how to draft patterns, something that was taught to me on a XS form by my college and nearly every tutorial out there. Drafting close fitting clothes for fat bodies is a completely different skillset, because all that extra fat is much squishier and shifts more. Measuring yourself correctly and getting the shape you're looking for is far more important. Before I even got there I'd need to sketch out what I wanted to make, right? Well the patterning book my family got me only shows you how to draw tall, skinny people. A beginner would have to look up their own drawing references and tutorials because what what supposed to be a super accessible beginner's guide to fashion has decided their body isn't normal enough for the baseline tutorial.

We're expected to be the ones who put in the extra effort. Digging to find the pattern companies that fit our shape and actually prove they can, paying extra in shipping or driving farther to pick them up. Having to search specifically for plus size tutorials for drafting and sketching. It's always treated like it's not part of the beginner's experience to be working with a fat body, that's just going to make people more frustrated and lost and less likely to pursue something they're excited about! Especially if it's in response to already being frustrated about the lack of clothing options.

We need a little positivity to this post so to end on a high note, here's me modeling the blazer I just finished with a shirt I made a couple years ago!

Being able to finally wear clothes I really feel like me in has been an amazing confidence boost. It's not fair that there's so many roadblocks in the way for someone who looks like me who just wants to wear things they enjoy.

[indieyuugure]

How do u draw your characters bc I want make a comic series just like you but my art teacher isn't teaching me shit so I was wondering

Should I do paper comic (doing it on paper)

Or digital (which might be a bit hard to step as I wouldn't have the stuff on hand)

Ps art style is fantastic 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Lol, I’ll try to help the best I can!

Okay, so, I’m not exactly sure what you’re having trouble with specifically, so I’ll just try to keep it general.

For starters, drawing a person at all, typically I start with a sketch that looks something like one of these:

Notice the usage of circles as guides for the joints. I find that this helps me to understand where in 3D space the character’s elbow or knee or shoulder or wherever is and can also assist with proportions before the drawing is being finalized and would be a pain to fix/erase.

Not sure how helpful this is, but here’s showing how the drawing evolves as a sketch. The circles help to predict where things’ll be so when you go to draw a rough outline, you have a guide to help you.

I draw chests as usually a trapezoid-esk shape and the hips as triangles(however I recommend drawing it more like a heart when doing girls). The head is kept a circle or oval depending on the character’s face shape and things like hands and feet are basically just a mix of squares and triangles.

Something to keep in mind, is the lack of detail on basically everything. I know from experience how tempting it is to do the detail as you go, and it’s not a good habit to have. Always try to sketch everything in as little detail as possible.

Once you’re done with your sketch, though, you can go crazy!

Here’s the second picture I did with some details.

Unfortunately, I can’t really help you with detailing since this step starts incorporating your own art style, personal flourishes, clothing taste, even level of detailing, it’s really something you have to learn on your own.

But, GENERALLY, this is where you establish key characteristics like the face, anatomy, clothing, hair, etc. Aka make it pretty!

Again I’m not super sure where you’re struggling, so this is just a general how-to, though hopefully it was helpful!

As for what medium to do your comic on, I suggest doing it in whichever you’re the most comfortable in. If drawing on paper is better for you, sticking with it is perfectly fine. I will say though if you ever plan to post said comic on the internet, digital is a lot easier to upload on the internet. But as I said, which ever is most comfortable is probably best.

If you have anymore questions about this, feel free to message me, I’ll try my best to help you to the best of my ability!

Good questions! :]

[gingermintpepper]

hi, i haven't read the iliad and the odyssey but want to - do u have a specific translation you recommend? the emily wilson one has been going around bc, y'know, first female translator of the iliad and odyssey into english, but i was wondering on if you had Thoughts

Hi anon! Sorry for the somewhat late response and I'm glad you trust me with recommendations! Full, disclosure, I am somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to translations of the source text of the Iliad + Odyssey combo wombo, which means I tend to prefer closeness in literal verbiage over interpretation of the poetic form of these epics - for that reason, my personal preferred versions of the Odyssey and Iliad both are Robert Fitzgerald's. Because both of these translations (and his Aeneid!) were done some 50+ years ago (63 for his original Odyssey tl, 50 flat for his Iliad and 40 for his Aeneid) the English itself can be a bit difficult to read and the syntax can get confusing in a lot of places, so despite my personal preferences, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is looking to experience the Iliad + Odyssey for the very first time.

For an absolute beginner, someone who has tried to read one or both of these epics but couldn't get into it or someone who has a lot of difficulty with concentrating on poetry or long, winding bits of prose, I fully and wholeheartedly recommend Wilson's translation! See, the genius of Emily Wilson's Iliad + Odyssey isn't that she's a woman who's translated these classics, it's that she's a poet who's adapted the greek traditional poetic form of dactylic hexameter into the english traditional poetic form of iambic pentameter. That alone goes a very very long way to making these poems feel more digestible and approachable - iambic pentameter is simply extremely comfortable and natural for native english speakers' brains and the general briskness of her verbiage helps a lot in getting through a lot of the problem books that people usually drop the Iliad or Odyssey in like Book 2 of the Iliad or Book 4 of the Odyssey. I think it's a wonderful starting point that allows people to familiarise themselves with the source text before deciding if they want to dig deeper - personally, researching Wilson's translation choices alone is a massive rabbit hole that is worth getting into LOL.

The happy medium between Fitzgerald's somewhat archaic but precise syntax and Wilson's comfortable meter but occasionally less detailled account is Robert Fagles' Iliad + Odyssey. Now, full disclosure, I detest how Fagles handles epithets in both of his versions, I think they're far too subtle which is something he himself has talked at length about in his translation notes, but for everything else - I'd consider his translations the most well rounded of english adaptations of this text in recent memory. They're accurate but written in plain English, they're descriptive and detailled without sacrificing a comfortable meter and, perhaps most importantly, they're very accessible for native english speaking audiences to approach and interact with. I've annotated my Fagles' volumes of these books to heaven and back because I'm deeply interested in a lot of the translation decisions made, but I also have to specifically compliment his ability to capture nuance in the characters' of these poems in a way I don't often see. He managed to adapt the ambivalence of ancient greek morality in a way I scarcely see and that probably has a hand in why I keep coming back to his translations.

Now, I know this wasn't much of a direct recommendation but as I do not know you personally, dear anon, I can't much make a direct recommendation to a version that would best appeal to your style of reading. Ideally, I'd recommend that you read and enjoy all three! But, presuming that you are a normal person, I suggest picking which one is most applicable for you. I hope this helps! 🥰

[oscconfessions]

Right, so I watched the first episode of ION cause of the constant discussion of it on this blog, and... it's pretty neat!! I like it so far, and look forward to watching more episodes of it. While watching I kept in mind all of the complaints said here and yeah, I can certainly see why so many people are off-put by the show.

The artstyle is definitely... different. It takes some getting used to, and I suppose some aren't able to tolerate it at all. The way I think about it, I just see it as how solely the ION characters look. Like, objects within/from that universe have much more detailed/human-like faces, it's normal there. Now, if someone were to apply those faces to any other object show I would Absolutely Hate it. But within ION? It's fine!! That's how they're supposed to look, and their designs fit their personalities in my opinion. (Honestly I was expecting worse, thought it would be go-animate levels of uncanniness ahah).

Also, Cracklin's character is what I suppose some would call "weird". Really, he reminds me of a typical young anime character swooning and obsessing over a teacher/mentor figure. I do see why some people would call that annoying or creepy, but I'm personally indifferent to it. Chief doesn't seem incredibly bothered by it and the two of them seem to have a forgotten history that might be influencing some of Cracklin's behavior towards him.

Thinking about the entire debate on people's distaste or praisal for this show is a bit complicated, but I'd summarize it by comparing it to the parts of an animated MAP. Like yeah, people really like when different parts flow and mesh together (PPT2, YAG, OLO) and sometimes are amazed by really flashy or skilled parts that stand out (ONE, TNM, MO) but there's often one or two artists with particularly striking styles that... just aren't as popular. They're not the normal status quo and don't quite match the interests of all the viewers. And there's nothing wrong with any of that, really. Some people don't find some artstyles as appealing as others, and would rather stick to what they're most familiar with or change it little. Some artists want to explore outside the usual medium, and incorporate their own styles or experiment with something completely new. Both of those are okay!! It's good to have creativity in a community, and it's fine to only stick with the parts you enjoy most. The two sides of this discussion are equally valid, and there's no need to get upset at one another over them, yeah?

Anyhow, I'm excited to see how the story develops and what exactly happened at that power plant, the beginning bits of the plot are already very intriguing. The backgrounds are superb by the way, they add so much to the vibe of the scenes. I also quite like the animation too, it's not constant frame-by-frame movement but it isn't a simple slideshow either, there's lots of varied expressions/poses and tweening. Overall, I think this show has lots of great things about it and really does add a unique flavor to the OSC as a whole!!

.

[genericpuff]

I have a question....So I like doing art and drawing comics. I usually go for a dreamy fantasy vibe like Lore Olympus did. But I want to try a new different style, I usually go for Watercolor brushes when doing my usually style but started using Oil brushes.

Can I have some advice on changing art styles and body details.

This is where I fully support the saying "good artists copy, great artists steal", because the whole notion of 'style' is just mileage + referencing. So really, if you're wanting to try out other styles and mediums, go find artists you like who work in that style and reference them! Do studies of them! Redline their JPG's! Experiment with brushes and see which ones get the closest! Analyze their work and reverse engineer it until it makes sense!

(of course, this is all for educational purposes, so don't go literally stealing any artist's work, if you do share anything that you've experimented on be sure to credit the original artist and link to their socials or something to pay it forward <3)

With LO, a lot of how I've studied Rachel's style (and I still do because man it's hard to nail) is literally just by taking old LO panels that I like and redrawing them. Whether it involves ground up "drawing what I see" or tracing (yes, I said tracing, it's completely fine if it's for learning!!), whatever gets the piece close enough that I'm happy with it. And then from there, I refine the process - if I did a lot of dumb little steps during the experimenting phase, then I do it again and again and again until I figure out what steps can be skipped and which ones can be kept. I was actually just doing this today earlier at work because I'm STILL trying to get Rekindled closer to that S1 LO look. There's nothing even really wrong with the art in Rekindled, I like it a lot, but I'm still far from my original goal. So I study, and I study more.

Also - and this isn't something that's always going to be doable but I suggest you try it - if you're working digitally, one thing that I find helps a lot with learning an artist's process underneath the final project is finding artists who sell their PSD/CSP/art files and brushes. Some artists do and it's so helpful for pulling back the curtain and seeing what they're really doing underneath that final result. There's a lot of great info you can get just by picking things apart and making a mess. Of course, that's only applicable to artists that sell their files, and they're for studying ONLY, for obvious reasons, but it's a great way to support those artists. Some artists I've gotten PSD's from include wlop and sakimichan!

I hope that helps!! Basically, just don't be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and always be on the lookout for what you can learn from the art you consume :)

[magpie-trinkets]

I hate what AI art has done to my enjoyment of art. I also hate AI art for multiple other reasons, but that is one of them.

Now instead of enjoying a piece for composition or colour or plain just "this looks pretty" I am instantly suspicious. Sus, one might say. I go through the piece with a fine toothed comb. Is there an inconsistent detail? A mistake a human wouldn't make so far in the process? A weird hand?

Most of AI art trying to pass as art (that I've seen) is heavily rendered, meaning a real artist should've spent hours or days on that thing, chipping away, seeing the piece, which means more opportunities to correct mistakes made in sketch or any other part of the process; it also implies that the artist has some experience and skill, and knowledge of their medium. Art tools, references, etc. Whether you like or dislike their style, their designs or concepts is another matter entirely. This is pure art analysis.

Let's expand:

- Inconsistent details: This is not "this comic artist forgot to copy a detail from panel to panel". This is forgetting bilateral symmetry. This is having fish from the same species have different fin placement. This is weird windows in a normal building, this is breaking a pattern up for no discernible reason. This is a line not connecting with another. This is a detail that shouldn't be there, be there. The AI is good at replicating how something looks, but is bad at paying attention to concepts in the foundation, and it shows with these little details. Concepts that are easily understood by humans by just looking at references and doing sketches.

- A mistake/uncanny wrongness: when you look at a piece for so long, at the same time your back suffers from the unhealthy posture you torture it with, you start seeing mistakes, or things you want to change, or improve, or remove. Like "that pose could be better" or "I forgot this in the background", or "this colour doesn't look good", or "this pattern is too concentrated, I'd better space this element out". An AI doesn't have observational skills or these thought processes. It's also hilariously bad at replicating text. If something feels uncanny, I have to think "did a human make this decision?" or "is the anatomy even correct? the perspective? the colours? the fucking text? it's the fucking text isn't it."

I would offer more specific examples of these, but I try to avoid AI art the second I feel the uncanny wrongness, I have the tag filtered. Once a detail is wrong in a wrong way (I'm not talking an artist accidentally drawing two right hands, I'm talking fingers coming out of fingers) I start to see other mistakes or uncanny decisions. It boils down to the little details.

AI is "trained" (stealing, copying) on multiple other pieces of art. But it copies without understanding. When an artist copies they're trying to understand, they are studying what they copy, and usually they are appreciating what they study. That's why they're called "studies", and they're often properly credited. When they borrow another's style (like Rembrandt) people often say "drawn in a Rembrandt style". AI doesn't do studies, doesn't understand, doesn't credit the thousands of artworks they've stolen from. Because it's thousands, millions. If you tell an AI to generate a painting in a Rembrandt style, you bet your ass the AI is using Rembrandt AND thousand other pieces from different people. But the person posting the AI art says "piece from X AI software in a Rembrandt style!", and that's even if they disclose that it's AI. They don't know which pieces and which artists have been stolen from for that piece. Hey, maybe the AI didn't even copy real Rembrandt pieces. Maybe it's not even Rembrandt style.

I am no longer able to enjoy heavily-rendered, semi-realistic pieces. And the moment AI art encroaches on other styles, we're fucked. Suspicion is such a killjoy, a party shitter and pooper. I hate feeling suspicion every time I see a piece, and I hate feeling right even more.

There's no soul behind AI art. There's no effort or skill. There's no "hours and hours of practicing hand poses". There's no observation. There's no appreciation. There's no intention. There's no love. There's only greed.

[gothhabiba]

hi!!! thank you for all the amazing commentary you are providing on the state of art — i’ve been following you for years and you’ve done so much to expand my understanding of the world. i’m a (brand new) 4th grade teacher and i’m currently designing a poetry unit for my students. i really want to emphasize to them that poetry is an incredibly expansive art form that can be created using myriad tools, forms, etc. i was wondering if you have any advice on how to incorporate that into the curriculum… or if you have any other advice on teaching kids to read/write/experience/analyze poetry. thank you :)) ❤️❤️

oh, that's great to hear, thank you!

I don't think there's anything wrong with all the standard culprits (e.g. acrostic poems, concrete poems) especially if you want your kids to write poetry—it gives them a basic framework to start with and can help prevent them from getting stuck.

I usually start with a very simple contextualisation of English poetry: a basic rundown of rhyme patterns including the couplet and the sonnet, and the idea that certain subjects belonged with certain forms (kings and legends and the epic in heroic couplets, the sonnet and shorter, more contained little stories); and then talk about how people "broke" those rules by writing metered poetry about everyday people. Ask if they agree that certain forms are fancier than others and should go with more "important" subjects, or if they agree that there's no point writing poetry about ordinary people, or if they think there should be "rules" that can't be broken.

If you're going to have them write a sonnet at that point, I wouldn't worry too much about meter, which is a bit abstract to explain to a classroom of 4th graders—just give them the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet to play around with.

From there I'll move into free form poetry, and then to "process" poetry that's more "random" (such Brion Gysin's poetry cut-ups). Pair this with a basic discussion of what context poets were responding to when coming up with these techniques (i.e. modernism and a breaking of the rules of form across art mediums) to help pair a poetic form with the "idea" behind it.

Having kids make found poetry is a good way to make poetry seem fun and tactile and immediate. I would recommend cut-up over blackout, since cut-up is more hands-on, and when kids write blackout poetry the final piece tends to just be a summary of the text they started with, which isn't very exciting. Use a source text that's not so dry that it's hard to get something "literary" out of—maybe using old books (outdated textbooks, anything in very poor shape that a local library is giving away) could give a thrill of the illicit to the whole thing.

Keep asking if they think this is a good way to make a poem, and why or why not. Ask if they prefer writing with rhymes or without rhymes, and if they prefer coming up with all of the words or rearranging them. Ask why a poet might choose one style of poem over another.

A good website on dadaist &c. poetry with some good tools and exercises that I regularly consult is languageisavirus.com

[the-official-account]

Is it just me, or does lesbian fandom have a problem?

My name is Edil. I've been a medium-sized name in several small fandoms, especially podcast fandoms. I am also a women appreciator, and enjoy media that centers on women. I'm going to mostly be talking about my experiences in two fandoms: The Strange Case Of Starship Iris and Pasithea Powder, both podcasts with central wlw ships, though I've also seen these same issues in Goncharov (1973) of all places.

When I go into fandom I go hard. My brain, which is very autistic, breaks down information of small details for fun. It's the reason why I wrote a dwarnian (TSCOSI's fictional alien language) dictionary for the podcast. The reason why I have a massive notes document on all of Pasithea's season one and the reason the wiki...looks and reads like that. It isn't owned by me, but most of the formatting, fonts, content: yours truly.

And I'm proud of these projects, which took time and effort and skill building to do! But I haven't finished or caught up with either of these podcasts, and that's because the online spaces that center around them have been overwhelmingly hostile.

I have a strong emotional connection to this issue — of whether or not sapphic fandoms tend to be more hostile to diversity, especially race and nuerodivergance — so I can't make a distinct analysis, not without more distance and more information. That's part of why I am making this post.

Mods and members of the TSCOSI discord circa 2020 will know me, and know why I left. That being a series of unwarranted criticisms and bad faith readings that left me with anxiety even interacting with the fandom I loved.

I am probably a lot less known in the Pasithea fandom, because I wrote fewer fics for it and left more quickly. After TSCOSI, I recognized resentment faster. But the Pasithea notes document that I've posted here before and the wiki, three fics, fan art and that one comic that's still to this day the only comic I've drawn: me.

This is not a callout post, not for individuals or for groups, and I don't have screenshots. I am only trying to open a discussion.

See, the pattern that I am seeing is that fandom spaces centering on wlw ships attract fans who are wlw. And while nothing is inherently wrong with that, issues in the lesbian community start to become very obvious.

Firstly, the lack of diversity in sexuality among most of the fan base (As I suspect bi and gay people have largely more popular media that attracts them, and lesbians have to dig deeper for smaller spaces like these podcast) starts to feed this sense of possession among fans. As if there is a correct, normal, or standard way to be sapphic. A set of rules stating that anyone who doesn't obey it hates lesbians.

From Pasithea, I got this in comments about how I was drawing the characters "ugly" (Jane is canonically fat and has a scar, which I made very visible...because I wanted to. I gave her strong Hispanic features because it appealed to me. Sophie is butch, and canonically has or had a buzz cut. Which is what I drew. — The "appearance" section of the wiki? Yup. I wrote that.)

These comments, which were themselves problematic, came from a place of implying I was lesbiphobic for drawing these wlw as "ugly". When in fact, I was drawing the type of characters that would appeal the most to me, and hopefully to others like me.

These expectations of skinny, eurocentric appearing, usually feminine characters... Well it reflects a lot of issues with TERF-y feminism and lesbianism at large. Lesbianism on the internet has an issue with gender essentialism that isn't universal but is incredibly worrying. And when WOC are often masculinized because of their non-white features, that transphobia becomes anti-butchness (or strict standards of butchness) and racism.

While TSCOSI fans were more receptive to my designs, I was drawing in a less realistic style where "ugly" was less of an issue — and, to be frank, The main ship being Southeast and South Asian made it hard to draw them "ugly" from a eurocentric perspective. Realism there would just be...exotic, I guess.

However, with TSCOSI fans there was still a sense of possession around how these characters were interpreted, especially in headcannons, that lead to me deleting more than I posted as time went on. Some of those were genuine issues on my part ("what if the Jewish guy was a vampire in a au haha!" I said. Then went to bed, woke up, googled it, and went "NOPE! NOPE!!! SORRY.") Others were just unnecessary, such as comments on how silly head cannons were "unrealistic", and how I should write more cannon compliant work, rather than what I was doing for fun.

Ultimately these are the ONLY things that made me stop listening to these podcasts. The ONLY reason I put down the projects I poured consecutive hyperfixate weeks into. Part of me thinks it was this enthusiasm in the first place that was the biggest threat others reacted to in how I spoke and acted.

For instance, in trying to write for both the TSCOSI and Pasithea wikis, I had folks try to change my methods of research and writing to a style that worked best for them. When I said they were welcome to work that way, there was no offers to assist. And communication with those who had established work was either non-existent or hostile. I've had people question if my passion projects were necessary, berate me for meaningless mistakes, and treat what could be fun collaborative work like a pissing contest. For TSCOSI, none of this occurred on the wiki, and mostly around documents I owned for my own note taking. Even then, the hostility of Wikipedia culture is an unnecessary and hurtful thing to bring into fandom wiki culture.

The TSCOSI people went on to make a wonderful wiki that I deeply admire, but I still wish I could have been part of that project in its infancy, instead of being pushed away. (I may have made the navigation system if I remember correctly, but I'm not certain. So this is not to say I was not allowed any input whatsoever.)

I love sapphic media, it's my bread, butter, pride, joy, and favorite past time. But time and time again I have found far safer social spaces for media that centers around gay men, even if it isn't my personal first choice.

As a non-white, non-allistic, non-lesbian, not-skinny fan...I have concerns.

I know you all want sapphic media to get more attention. I want that too. But unless you start actively searching for and calling out bigotry in those spaces, it absolutely cannot and will not happen. So much of fandom is powered by autistic people with time on their hands, and I want there to be space for people like me. Who get TOO excited, TOO far from cannon, TOO analytical about race and class and fatphobia and whatever else.

Sapphic media obviously has issues reaching fans that aren't the fault it's its current audience. But the good thing about being part of or close to a problem, is having the power to make incredible, effective change.

I refuse to leave these podcasts behind, I love them more than anything, and the projects I got out of them are still my beloved brain children (The alien calligraphy from the random writing system I made for dwarnian is still up on my wall. "It is what. It IS what, keeps us from the abyss.") I refuse to be shoved aside my racist fans and random people who assume they can act rudely to strangers because they treated characters or lore differently. I refuse to be sidelined from conversations just cause I can act weird.

But I also refuse to spend so much of my beloved labor on people who turn up their noses and belittle it.

This all has had a lasting effect on how I interact with fandom, a legitimate fear-responce to the idea of trying to engage deeply with women-centered podcasts. Something I'm trying to unlearn and overcome.

So. There's my explanation of why I don't do tscosi anymore, which I mentioned on the minibang I'd eventually follow up on. And a criticism of sapphic fandom which, I'll be real, I have a few more essays worth of commentary about, and it's also another expression of how I stare longingly at Pasithea every time it comes up on my dash.

But, most importantly, this is my question of whether anyone else has found themselves in a similar place. If it's a trend or an anecdote.

If you have thoughts, please reblog with them. I'd love to know what you have to say.

[utilitycaster]

you mentioned that liam and marisha's styles tend not to really hit for you; i'm curious as to why? i tend not to vibe with them myself, but i've gotten tired of the "marisha's metagaming/liam's a spotlight hog and a misogynist" fanwank; obviously it's not your job to articulate my feelings for me, but i've never been able to put my own finger on it and i'm wondering what your thoughts are.

Sure! And I fully agree re: said nonsense about Marisha metagaming or Liam hogging the spotlight or being misogynist. (I actually find the idea that Liam is a misogynist baffling, like, while I disagree with Marisha being a metagamer or Liam being a spotlight hog I at least see why someone who isn't very medium-aware or, well, smart, might reach those conclusions. The misogyny accusations are actually baffling. Liam is a bigger fan of the women of the cast than most of the fandom.)

I should also note that when I say "doesn't hit" it means "I tend to prefer other cast members' styles, but I still think both of them are very good performers and like their characters a lot...I just find myself at odds with a lot of very common fandom ideas about them." I happen to, for example, think Marisha does a particularly great job with portraying the true complexity and mess of interpersonal relationships, and her descriptions in combat are consistently some of the best; and that Liam's explorations of grief across campaigns in very different contexts are a highlight of the series. In the end I want to stress this is all personal preference. Also this is below a cut just because it's very long.

For Marisha, I think a huge part of it is that she just doesn't explore the themes I am most interested in (this is true of Sam too - I think they're making valid choices that are meaningful for them and just aren't necessarily what excites me the most). My personal favorite characters have pretty much always tended towards people who were fighting pretty significant internal demons, and who barely won out over their darker impulses. I also tend to be more interested in characters who are putting on a facade or are reluctant to show vulnerability but for very valid reasons (often, said internal demons). And I like explorations of arrogance and hubris. That's just not what Marisha usually does. She can, for what it's worth! I loved how she played Patia, and the things I like about Keyleth, Beau, and Laudna (and I do like all these characters) deal with these themes at least in passing: Keyleth's struggles with anger and bitterness, Beau's refusal to show vulnerability, and Laudna's reluctance to express darker emotions. It's just not as central nor as thoroughly explored as what Travis, Laura, and Taliesin have consistently done every single campaign. I also feel that particularly with Laudna - whom I like, and will discuss below - she kind of leaned into the aesthetic first, and the backstory feels patchy and incomplete, and I wish she'd spent some more time thinking the character through. She doesn't always fill out the backstory quite as thoroughly as I prefer, essentially.

Meanwhile, Liam's style in particular reminds me of one person I played with who was like, a fairly old-school D&D player. I don't think Liam is a spotlight hog - I think he is actually notable for how much he tries to start scenes with other people and bring them in and support the other players- but he does sometimes start moments that feel a bit disruptive to the flow, if that makes sense? Like, it's not that he's taking up too much space, but sometimes he takes up space when I wish he'd waited a little for a more natural break, and it happens enough for me to have noticed it. He also is at times particularly theatrical, and to be clear, I think watching Liam as an actor, on stage, in a theater, would be an amazing experience! But it doesn't always work for me in a filmed medium where I would rather have something more subtle and naturalistic. I loved Caleb because I think his more subdued and introverted nature in RP, combined with the theatrics when it came to his spells really worked, but it translates less well for me with Vax and Orym, who are Just Some Guys. I also have to say that while three of the Core 4 classes are among my favorite classes, and I would be excited if CR does a fourth campaign and Liam plays a cleric, I also feel like he's holding himself back from some interesting explorations. I love a battlemaster fighter but Orym genuinely would make more sense as a ranger. It's again kind of like Marisha and themes - I think he's doing what's right for him, and I support that, but yeah, I'm going to be more invested then in people who make choices that happen to appeal more to me.

I will say their choice to go back to Tal'Dorei for their campaign 3 characters also did not help. I actually really like the aspects of their personalities for Campaign 3: I like that Laudna is a cheerful weird girl who sort of never did anything about the evil patron who murdered her for 30 years and is slowly blossoming as Bells Hells shows that they will stand by their weird dangerous friends, and that Orym is several years out of a loss and tentatively exploring relationships again and has a deep sense of obligation and justice, but I think this would have been better achieved by making these characters from Marquet. I have very mixed feelings about the Whitestone Nostalgia Tour even as someone who does very much love Percy and Vex, because I would much prefer to see new places and new characters and engage with the setting. I particularly don't love that they're not just from Tal'Dorei but very deeply tied into Vox Machina and the hometowns of two VM characters. At least, if you must, have someone who like, was a child during the Seige of Emon.

Finally, I debated including this in here for obvious reasons but it is, in fact, a factor for me: I am deeply uncomfortable with the particularly rabid and obsessive portions of both Liam and Marisha's fans that no other cast members seem to have - and to be clear I don't think this is at all a commentary on Liam and Marisha (I doubt they know these people exist), but as someone who is skeptical and contrary by nature the nonstop fawning by those people for Liam and Marisha even when they are doing completely run-of-the-mill things, or the belief that the campaign should center their character at all times or the insistence that (for example) Orym MUST have an inner darkness because...because LIAM, is a turn off. It's something I'm working on ignoring, but well, it's a process.

(For what it's worth: I've joked about the Vex-to-Fjord pipeline and the Keyleth-to-Caleb pipeline and the thing is: while I'm obviously a Vex and Fjord person, I have nothing but profound respect with people who prefer Keyleth and Caleb, because exploring the effect of high expectations on someone in adulthood is a very good theme, and the people who followed that path are, as a rule, engaging with the characters in an insightful way that sees them as full complicated characters and not Unproblematic Angel or Sadboy.)

[fainthedcherry]

PARAMORE RELEASED THEIR A24 TRIBUTE COVER TODAY. AND I GOT INSPIRED BY THE LYRICS AND THE VISUALIZER.

IMAGE CREDITS BC VERY OBVIOUSLY THIS IS AN EXPERIMENTAL PIC COLLAGE PIECE PRIMARILY BELOW DESC (I DID NOT TAKE THE COOL PICS OBV.)

OK GIANT CREDIT BLOCK GO (Freepik and pexels my beloved saved my entire college year lmao):

1 OCEAN WAVES

2 OCEAN WAVES AGAIN

3 YES A THIRD OCEAN WAVE

4 VERY COOL DROPLETS

5 FLAME. OO FIRE PRETTYYY /POS

6 BG I CHEATED YOU INTO BELIEVING IS RAIN

The drawing though is made by my acoustic arse /lh

THE LYRICS ARE TAKEN FROM THE VID I LINKED. HAYLEY'S VOICE MY BELOVED AND FOREVER DEAREST ENTIRE BAND /POSPOSPOS. I wanna sing like Hayley so badly, she is such an idol to me, when it comes to vocals and I wish to sing as expressive as her some day 🤧✨💖

--

WHAT MORE CAN I SAY, OTHER THAN I'VE BEEN EXPERIMENTING WITH SHORT DRAWINGS, THAT TAKE UNDER A DAY TO COMPLETE TO FIGURE OUT SOME THINGS I WANNA DO AS AN ARTIST AND POSSIBLY COMMISSIONS. + These drawings genuinely kinda de-stress so it's been free therapy too, oops. I wanna do more of these vector-style drawings, that are just me taking lyrics and creating these fun collages, of things that inspire me or I like. It's a chill practice and lets my creativity actually do the work for once, instead of my usual need to outdo myself in every drawing and improve lmao. Improvement is cool and all, but dear god did I not realise how hard my need for perfection last year stress and strangle me tf out. I seriously need to re-evaluate the way I approach art as this massive, intimidating medium, when most artists literally draw for fun, and for me it's been like...A Sisyphean task.

--

If you enjoyed seeing this, I might make a sequel with C'est Comme Ca and w/ Marco in it instead and a red BG,, if I want to, I might turn these into a series, just like those aesthetic icon drawings I made of my 2 boys, started Lotta, and IMMEDIATELY lost that sketch due to my USB's death back in 2022 and lost all motivation for art due to that massive loss /neg

--

Not sure what else to add here other than my thoughts that I already did!! Other than ofc, the usual, MASSIVE thank you to my friend Hollowed-Hartlocke for introducing me to Paramore back in 2019 <3

Think I'm done rambling now tho!! OH WAIT. I can add, that I had to actually pull out Adobe Illustrator just to add stretched text for aesthetic purposes. Then I got so impatient with the effects panel not showing me the usual layer-effects and me being too lazy to look up, whether InDesign was the one, that had the usual layer effects I use in an Adobe program or not. Btw still mooching off my college acc that shoulda been dead long ago but just isn't??? LMAO I'M STILL GONNA USE IT IF I CAN ALRIGHT.

OH YEAH BTW. This drawing took 3 hours. NO I'M NOT KIDDING. PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY BE SHOCKED THAT SUCH A LAZY LOOKING PIECE TOOK SO LONG. BUT I GENUINELY AM RATHER SHOOK THAT I TOOK SUCH LITTLE TIME TO CREATE THIS. TBF I threw MOST proportion checks and canvas flips I do out the window, so there's a BIG chance I will hate this, if I flip the canvas xD ANYWAY I RAMBLED LONG ENOUGH I THINK NOW. JUST ENJOY EXPERIMENTAL ART

^Before-bed edit; Yeah his torso's a TAD too much leaning to the left, it's off-center to the rotation of his pelvis to be in fact, but maybe? I'll roll with this mistake. It kinda gives the piece its abstract nature..I kinda like the mistake?? This is the first time in my life I ever tolerated a mistake I did and now declare it on purpose and will probably build one into the next piece as well. Hell, maybe it'll yield an interesting result. Anyway, it's 12PM as I write this, and I have to get up at 4AM for my train soOooo, yeah, gotta sleep ASAP for school.

I have NO clue again what to 100% accurately tag this, so forgive me if the tags are wrong LMAO, I just will believe what I believe it has overlaps w/ within art-genre.

This piece kiiinda gives pop art??? So I'm gonna tag it as such as well, but but might be incorrect. If a pop-art enjoyer wants to correct me, PLEASE DO. I'm going off the definitions of pop-art I learned in high-school. So I could most def be wrong about me adding this tag in particular. How tf do people confidently tag their posts when I doubt almost every tag I add man. Tagging is the worst part of uploading art to me due to how hard it is to label art really, not meant to be in a genre. xD

Def adding Paramore tags tho bc I NEED to know more Paramore fans out there bc we feel like such a tiny community, when they're literally one of the most influential rock bands of the 2000s and 2010s imho AUGH

[dingoskidneys]

just me rambling and thinking out loud

I have a writing wip going right now that I'm really liking the concept of, but I'm having two problems with it. One is that I can see the visuals and the aesthetics of it and even also the sounds of it really

clearly, but idk how to write about it in such a way that gets the energy across right. And that's making me think that it would work better in a different medium. It would be cool if I could animate it but that's not really feasible for me right now, so tbh ideally it would be a little short film, which would be super cool so maybe I'll turn that around in my head for a bit. I could maybe try writing it as a regular short story and then rewriting it as a script (not that I know how to write a script). And stop motion would be cool. I considered a comic version as well for about two seconds but I don't think I'd be able to get the flow and motion of it right. I'm imagining this so extremely specifically, oy. Maybe I could use it as an experiment with switching between mediums. Anyway the second problem is that I've been reading so much Douglas Adams lately that I'm basically just imitating his writing style, which is fine because it's fun and I do want to be able to incorporate some of that into the way I write, and also Neil Gaiman said something that stuck in my head about how you have to sound like other people before you find your own voice (or something like that, I don't remember the exact quote unfortunately). But also not fine because I want to write something that feels like I wrote it myself in my own style. The older stories I've been posting feel more like my own style but probably just because I wasn't reading as actively (or actively hyperfixating on anything much), but also some of the humor feels dated in a way, like I was copying the kind of stuff I had watched on tv or something and isn't all that funny to me anymore and some of it rubs me the wrong way now. I only post the ones I do like somewhat though so I don't really have good examples of that for you. But anyway back to the current thing. I think I'm also getting ahead of myself because I don't even know where the story is going, my process lately has been to just start writing and see where it takes me but I usually expect myself to have it done right in one draft (with a few edits granted), when in reality I should try the technique of writing it and then starting over from the beginning and writing it again and again until it's better. I feel like I've heard that recommended by a few people but I don't remember who, anyway I've been wanting to try it but I'm usually too impatient. I've been doing that with drawing here and there, instead of messing with a sketch into oblivion I just start over; I used to be scared to do that because I didn't want to lose what I already had on the paper but then I realized that the sketch is usually way better if I just redo it and it works really well, highly recommend. My mom had been telling me to do that for ages but the way my brain is I had to come to it myself. Um. Idk where I was going with this

[winedark]

sage & chamomile & aloe vera! 🌿

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

OOH such a good question.... i will say poetry but i think it isn't the most common to affect me but when it does its SO powerful. i find it to be all-consuming which i rarely find in other mediums... i'm not a poet but i do love to write so i think there is also that !

chamomile ⇢ what kind of things do you like receiving as gifts?

honestly i love getting stuff like. a coffee. or an inexpensive book. just something small that's like hi i thought of you and i know you. i get a lot of bee related gifts which i usually enjoy, even if its not my style its amusing getting knick-knacks that say ''queen bee'' as a 20-something losergirl

aloe vera ⇢ what’s something (mundane) you really want to experience in life?

i want to make a whole meal from stuff i've grown... even if its just a salad <3

[mareenavee]

More asks, yes? YES? 💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language 🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change 🤲what do YOU get out of writing? 🧿what steps do you take to not take things personally if a fic doesn't do well, or if your writing/posting/sharing experience isn't going how you'd like it to? And I'm going to invent my own because I want to use an emoji, that's it that's the reason 🐦 What would you like to see MORE of, in the fandoms you're following. Could be writing/art related, could be fandom culture related. What would you like to see exist that doesn't at the moment (or doesn't anymore)?

HELLO! AH. I like that birb emoji :3 Always feel free to make up extra questions 😂Thank you for these!

Here are some Fic Writer's Asks for ya'll!

:D Here's the ask game.

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language?

Well! I can tell you my favorite part of writing a story (or reading one!) is character, followed closely by worldbuilding. But what's most important is a little more difficult to simply pick one thing. A good story has all of these things in spades. A good, solid plot idea. Characters that the author knows well. Clever worldbuilding aspects that make the setting seem real...and a good handle on language and grammar all work together to create a fantastic experience. So there's no most important part -- just that all of it has been given the author's best possible effort (:

🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

Ohhh I love this. Mostly because it's such a Thing (tm) in art spaces and is always a topic of conversation. I don't hear about it much for writers, except maybe "voice/tone" in critique circles. All I can say is that style regardless of medium is composed of certain habits the artist incorporates into their work.

For writing, that's going to be specific turns of phrase that tend to be used, perhaps it can be a series of tropes or situations the writer tends to focus on or include in their work. Just like with art, style changes the more skill you gain in your particular craft. Even so, a style may still seem "fixed" to the average reader, even if with each project, you improve and things change to suit.

So my go-to style is usually writing close third limited with rotating pov characters (: But even if I were to say, switch to first person with just one character through the whole story and posted it anonymously there's certain ways that I word things and certain themes that might make a reader be like "Oh this sounds like something Mareena might have written." It's weirdly difficult to describe exactly... but I hope that kind of makes a little sense lol

🤲what do YOU get out of writing?

This is an excellent question, my goodness. Writing fic has been so healing for me for so many reasons. I've had a really rough time the last few years irl with life throwing everything it can at me to try and grind me down. For a bit, it actually did, I suppose, and I'd stopped writing much at all. I hated everything I was producing, if anything at all and it was just a bad time.

Things looked up a little when I decided it didn't matter how good the writing was, but that I got something down on paper. I'd just finished a month-long art challenge for myself (I painted 31 pokemon and it was a lot of fun, even if it wasn't perfect) and I wanted to plan out something similar -- low stakes, just for fun. With the help and encouragement of some of my irl friends, a little help with an idea and MANY MUCH planning, The World on Our Shoulders started as a challenge to write and post daily, damn the consequences.

Since then, I've been revising. Some of my characters (not all just the MC either) have been given some of my problems. I like to write hope into hopeless situations anyway. It's cathartic to see characters experience the same huge emotions I can relate to and make it through to the other side. I get to write that. I get to be in control of the narrative for them, no matter how hard it gets before its resolution. It helps me believe in myself and my own strength, too. It's funny how art does that, I think. (:

🧿what steps do you take to not take things personally if a fic doesn't do well, or if your writing/posting/sharing experience isn't going how you'd like it to?

Well I suppose the "doesn't do well" part mostly doesn't affect me because of my stance on social media and hustle culture. At the end of the day, it's not about how many comments or kudos or likes my fic/posts get, it's about having fun making the content. I am writing for myself first, in this case, and for the readers second. I am lucky to have a circle of mutuals that I love hearing from regarding fandom things here on tumblr and discord. We support each others' creative endeavors and that is, in my eyes, doing well. If it brings joy, even just to me, it's good. It's doing well. My steps are simply to write, and share. The rest is nothing to worry over.

🐦 What would you like to see MORE of, in the fandoms you're following. Could be writing/art related, could be fandom culture related. What would you like to see exist that doesn't at the moment (or doesn't anymore)?

Well, would I even be me if I didn't say I wanted to see more Teldryn fics in the TES tags (: So yes, that. But more than that, I'm interested in different takes for the character. For any characters, really. I want to see deep stories with lots of different perspectives on lore and the handling of different quests in the game. I want adventure, I want witty dialogue, I want flawed OCs that team up with the coolest NPCs to go out and discover what they're really capable of. If they happen to be Teldryn stories, all the better.

I do want to see people finish some of their WIPS, too. I know that's a big ask. But there's so many on AO3 at least that have been unfinished for months, years even and I want to encourage all those writers and cheerlead their work. I know very well that sometimes life just gets in the way of being able to devote so much time to a project. But I hope everyone who has an unfinished and/or back-burnered TES fic (or any fic, really) sees this and knows I'm rooting for you. Your work is WORTH IT. Your stories matter. (:

So I guess another facet to this answer is, for fandom in general, more cheering each other on. Writers ought to stick together, after all. I'd love to see even more supportive, kind words for each other. More encouragement in general. I see too much silliness and arguments over the details in fandom and the only way to change that is to loudly support each other as often as possible.

[bennyswhims]

Animation throughout my life: a spotlight.

As someone who's giving their life into a career in animation, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I've had quite a history with the medium. Of course, as most, I grew up watching cartoons every day, and it'd be naive to think those childhood experiences haven't deeply shaped my thoughts on both the medium and art as a whole, as well as in life in general, as the emotional resonance and mood that animation can achieve are pretty much the main pieces that bind me to it as artistic impression. This being said, in my thinking for this post, I wanted to showcase works of art that have impacted me more recently, as a series of big and fast life changes have molded me into the person I am today, and I credit these pieces, among many others, for helping me hold everything together over my yet short stint in the field of adulthood. As per my usual, I've tried to spread myself evenly into one movie, one game and one show, for the sake of balance.

Song of the sea (Cartoon Saloon, 2014)

This masterwork film comes from a very small Irish animation collective, Cartoon Saloon, held up mostly by Irish government subsidies, as their works have garnered a bit of a reputation as preservation efforts for millenary pieces of traditional Celtic/Gaelic/Irish culture. This, however, is no edu-tainment snoozefest. The story of an older sibling coping with both the birth of a new sibling alongside a wave of loss is by no means a story never told. However, there is so much more here than what can be conveyed in an elevator pitch. Breathtaking animation that fits the emotional storytelling like a glove, a score that puts chills on chills and creative use of its setting form a piece of magical realism that moved me more than I can put to words. If you don't mind crying, give it a watch, I hope it gives you as much as it's given me.

Bee and Puppycat (Frederator/Cartoon Hangover, 2013)

The history of this show isn't anything short of bizarre. Released originally as a bit of a proto-web-animated series on the YouTube channel Cartoon Hangover and later released on the Nintendo 3DS' Nintendo Video, this loosely connected, hour long show/special tells a story equally as... avant garde? (Is it pretentious to use that term on Tumblr?) as its odd release strategy. Bee, a young adult struggling to keep a job and bouncing from place to place, bumps into a strange creature that looks kind of like a cat and a dog, smelling like the latter and having the ability to speak. Over the course of the show, they go on monster-of-the-week style (4-7 minute long!) episodes, all surrounding Bee, her closest friends and her own astranged relationship with her origins and her humanity. What can often feel like a high budget meme of a show ends up turning into a series of emotional meteorite strikes that will not hesitate to put you under. Definitely one of the best things you can watch on a 3DS.

GRIS (Nomada Studio, 2018)

This game is a bit of a no-brainer for this trio. Emotionally resonant arthouse style indie productions with a cutting edge plot line deeply hitting into a gutpunch climax are, well, my favorite genre of... things, really, and this is no exception. Fully hand-watercolored, GRIS tells the story of a girl who has to come to terms with the loss of a loved one, vagueness fully intended. Over the course of the game, you begin to unravel more of the stark emotional reality of what this loss has meant to the protagonist, and how difficult it can be to cope, as what brought solace has become dim, if not fully unattainable. This game has no dialogue, none of the characters have names and is a rather simple one-sitting puzzle platformer. On top of having one of the most touching plots in games I've ever played, this is a piece of art that knows what it is, recognizes it's limits and fully embraces them, utilizing it all to its major advantage.

Overall, while far from comprehensive, these are some of the pieces that have made a deep impact on me and have helped me understand both what I enjoy and what I personally aim to strive for in my artistic pursuits, and the past few years have been quite rich in both quantity and quality for me in that regard.

[kiki-shortsnout]

Hello.

I love your stories and writing style. It's always great fun reading them.

I don't want to be a bother but I was wondering if you could share some of your writing tips? Do you have some writing group or fandom friends that motivate you when it isn't going according to plan? I used to love writing (or maybe I still love it, but it is hard to tell when you barely write one or two sentences without overthinking them and being unable to write when one single word doesn't sound right) I want to share my ideas but instead, I am sitting in the dark corners of fandoms, all by myself because I am no good with people and words, with the consequences people misunderstanding me. I can't even come off-anon because I don't have the best experiences with people :(

Hello there Anon, thank you for the awesome compliment! I’m happy to hear that you’re enjoying my stories, that’s always amazing to hear, and thank you for reaching out, especially if you feel nervous. It’s incredibly daunting to reach out to people, even under anonymous, so thank you.

It’s never a bother to offer advice or tips, but I’ll answer your questions before I start. In short, yes, I have some writing friends in RL that offer me support and encouragement, and I’m lucky enough to meet in a group once a fortnight, not just for bouncing ideas off, but also as kindred spirits who understand the sheer frustrations and loneliness of writing. Because it can be, it can be the most wonderous of crafts, but also incredibly isolating, because at the end of the day it’s only you sat typing your words, and you releasing them into the ether and praying someone will read them.

I’m lucky enough that I do have a few fandom friends who help with that experience of writing alone. Friends who will cheerlead me through the process and motivate and support me, friends who will look at my ideas, and a few lucky friends who I’ve gotten to know outside of the fandom. These are relationships I have cultivated over the years, and I know the feeling of sitting in the dark corner of fandom…at times it can feel like there is a gang of people who already know each other, creators and fans whose names you see pop all regularly, and it’s incredibly daunting to try and breach those barriers.

It's no different to real life I suppose, how we can feel alone and unable to connect with people, especially if we are feeling self-conscious. So, in fandom, I’ve adopted the same approach I use in my everyday interactions when I have to sometimes be in huge groups of people I don’t know, and I want to make friends. I’m overly polite, and overly friendly and I find a common topic to wedge my way into a conversation, or at least strike one up. It doesn’t always work, but I’ve generally found that just being polite and kind about other content, or joining in on conversations about why we love certain characters in fandoms usually helps.

In terms of writing tips, these are the ones I usually pass on:

1: Read everything you can. Fanfics, novels, magazines, screenplays, poetry, Manga, anything and everything. Expose yourself to different genres, different styles, and different mediums. It all adds to that creative melting pot inside you that sparks inspiration.

2: Analyse why something works. When you read something you think is awesome, take a moment to jot a few notes as to why you think that. Was it the description, the emotive language used, something the character did? Discovering why something works for YOU can act as a springboard for things you want to include in your own stories. (Note: That doesn’t mean copying another work word for word)

3: Write what you want to read. You need to have passion and love for what you are creating otherwise the reader can tell your heart isn’t in it, and for that, you need to enjoy what you are writing. You want to write an epic saga of hurt/comfort, you go for it. You want to write alpha/omega, you go writing buddy. Life is too short to not work on what you love.

4: Believe in yourself. Writing is a craft, it can take hours, days, weeks, years, whatever timeline suits you, but no matter how long it takes, you are working towards a goal and that’s amazing.

5: Edit. Your first draft is always the rough shape you hack out of the marble. It’s ugly and blocky and only sort of resembles the idea you had in your head. It’s the hours whittling it down into the masterpiece which takes time, and that’s what makes it the finished sculpture.

There are loads of tips I could share, but these are the ones I believe are the most important. I promise you I fall out of love with writing all the time, it was only last Tuesday I was working on a paragraph that I got so hung up on that  I stormed away from my computer and vowed to delete my AO3 forever…that frustration happens frequently…..

Please, Anon, feel free to reach out to me if you would like to talk, I’m not scary I promise, and who knows, maybe it’ll be a start of an amazing fandom friendship! Thank you again for reaching out!