#ask box answers

[artofchira]

As someone else who's in the process of burning out just surviving, and has lost sight of why I enjoyed art in the first place, would you be willing to share some of the things you've tried to get back on your feet? Super glad that you're doing so much better, btw.

First: It's actually become a job for me to help artists reconnect to their art through my mentorship workshop with everything I have learned, and I consider myself very good at it. I've been doing it for about 4 years now. If you or any other artist would like direct help with recovering from burn out please check out the service page of my website and testimonials from previous clients.

To answer your question:

A lot of my own personal stabilization just came as a result of wanting the experience of making art to be comfortable. It wasn't a choice anymore. After my father passed I relaxed for about 3 months -- longest I went without drawing in my life since I started freelancing -- and when I sat back at my desk I just couldn't make myself work under the same pressure. I'd try to force myself to draw and it made me want to cry instead. I quickly learned I could only create if I felt comfortable and drawing felt gentle, so I had to accept moving forward if I wanted to continue being as productive as before I needed to find a way of working that eliminated stress or using will power, which means working in a way that was renovated from the ground up. I couldn't go back. How I was making art was over. I needed it to be repaired. I had no idea what that looked like, so it was truly trial and error.

A fact about me is I have a very high sensory/pain threshold naturally (I also recently learned I was autistic over the pandemic, imagine that has something to do with it) so I've always been historically bad at ignoring my physical limitations because I rarely felt them unless my body broke down on me, and when it did I treated myself with annoyance and forced myself to work through it. I'm talking like no sleeping for 3-4 days straight, or coming home after a kidney stone to finish a comic page still shaky on pain and morphine and then feeling bad at myself for being lazy. To say my old work habits were highly self abusive is an understatement. So when I started addressing everything that was an inconvenience and uncomfortable, it ended up correcting everything I was ignoring or failed to consider a problem until it was past due.

To cut a long story short, a list of material changes to my life that improved my health:

I got medicated, finally. I'm extremely bipolar. Always have been. Drawing between periods of oscillating between feeling divinely invincible vs ideating suicide every waking moment vastly became easier to manage.

I got glasses. I'm farsighted, but it was never a problem for me since I could see fine -- ooor so I thought. Turns out when you're farsighted you're focusing constantly without even realizing it. Turns out getting glasses gave me 80% of my mental space back so I suddenly had more energy, generally more awake, and more focused. No one talks about farsightedness so I had absolutely no idea I was burning myself out physically just being able to see. Worth mentioning!

Started seeing a massage therapist and a chiropractor regularly. I always thought of those things as luxuries, not necessities. Which was extremely stupid. Maintaining my physical body through directly working out kinks in it became something like brushing my teeth or showering -- it's just something you do to make sure health and hygiene isn't making you dysfunctional and rotting you. My body no longer breaks down.

For the same reasons as above, maintained seeing my therapist regularly even if I felt fine or had no issues to work out. I realized I was always quick to end support as soon as I felt I didn't need it anymore (again treating it as a luxury) so making the space in my life for mental/emotional check ins kept my head organized. My therapist is bewildered by me and has no idea what to do with me because she feels she's not doing anything. I just tell her by me making the space for me to explain myself at all, even if all I was doing was describing how I was fine, was the help. She's great.

Got a cappuccino machine. May seem stupid but being able to make gourmet coffees from my kitchen every morning really genuinely improved my life and mind more than getting medicated.

Got a dog. He's amazing. I love him. Very warm and loving companion, and such a gentle soul. He keeps me out of my head and gets me prioritizing walks every day, so my vitamin D intake increased massively. I don't have the luxury of staying in bed for 3 days straight in my depressive episodes anymore. I have to make the effort to leave it at least twice a day to walk and feed him and play with him. Like most people, I'm terrible at prioritizing for myself but will move worlds for those I love no matter where I'm at.

For personal habits I just reflected a lot on why I felt I had to will myself to draw when drawing is something I love doing most. It made no sense to resent doing what you devote yourself to doing. I changed -- and still changing -- my mental framing in how I think of working on art for it to be something I'm eager to do, not obligated to.

Hope this was educational.

#ask box answers #Personal

[ryunosuke-naruhodo-blog]

Have you tried iced tea? Does it have some merit or should you drink tea while it's hot?

...People put ice in their tea? No, I have never tried that before. Maybe it's some sort of Western tradition that I never partook in, but I would suggest drinking hot tea for the full flavor and for the enjoyment of the tea experience.

#ask box answers #I should make some for Miss Susato and the Professor

[whatgaviiformes]

Some asks :)

1 what are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?

24 what’s one thing you’re proud of yourself for?

26 fave colour and why?

26b most used yarn colour?

1. 3 things that shaped me into who I am...

Teachers: I had some excellent and supportive teachers growing up that I didn't want to disappoint. Between them and the work ethic I inherited from my mom, I made my academics a large part of who I am and always strove for straights A's when I was in school. Although I'm no longer taking classes for anything, I've brought that desire to perform well to my work.

Fantasy: I'm cheating by putting a genre here, but I read A LOT growing up. It was a few stories in the fantasy genre that made me realize that reading wasn't about what the school curriculum decided would be the most educational and enriching. It was about journeys, escape, seeing something from another perspective. And yes, the obvious one is in this list but I also read a lot of Tamora Pierce, and Madeleine L'Engle (though that's probably more along the lines of sci-fi).

Team sports - I was in softball and synchronized ice skating, so that gave me the heart for teamwork and accomplishing something together. I was also in the girl scouts, so that contributed too.

Obviously there are others, but those are some things that established a few of my core values very early on.

24. One thing I'm proud of myself for...

It actually is my crochet. It's one of those skills that keeps on giving since there's so much you can learn within the craft. And I know there's a niche of the craft I can say honestly I know I'm pretty good at. I'll be humble over everything else, but the thread work was something I picked up on my own, learned through tutorials I found myself and just gave a try. There's always room to grow the skillset, but right now that's one thing I am proud of and how I feel unique in the crafting space. Now the interest in doilies however is a different story. They are not a quick turnaround to make.

26. Favorite color and why

I like a lot of colors for different reasons, so I probably need this to be more specific 😁. Just based on aesthetic my favorite color is blue, and I like anything in the spectrum of blue. In clothes, I gravitate towards burgundy - it was my school colors twice, so I have a lot of hoodies in that shade. For you all, 💚💛. Can't forget those.

And 26b- when it comes to yarn- also probably blue since I am not making clothes all that often. I do have a lot of doilies in burgundy and purple since I made those for the table centerpieces for my wedding (and those were the colors), but if you remove those my Instagram tends to keep coming back to blue. I use everything, though. Brights, pastels. The one shade I don't see a lot of in my crafts or stash is brown.

#ask box answers

[official-timari-server]

Do you think the Maribat fandom has any problems?

Of course it does. All fandoms have their own issues. It’s to be expected really.

But that doesn’t automatically mean the fandom is “bad”.

There are bound to be toxic people in the fandom, that’s just life. But it be such a waste to only focus on them.

Rather, within our server, we like to focus on how to better the fandom and make it more inclusive, improve events, focus on small creators rather than give all the attention to big names, and give our members a voice.

So maybe the fandom does have problems, but we work to fix them and create a place that allows you to escape from them and fix them.

Thank you for your ask! Feel free to leave another and -> Join Today!

X Timari Server Staff

#maribat #mlb x dc #dc x mlb #maribat issues #fandom issue #Timari server asks #timari #timari server #timari discord #timinette discord #timinette server #ask box answers

[triflesandparsnips]

What’s this about trifles and parsnips?

THANK YOU FOR ASKING @asquared-ohgodnotthehorrors AND ALSO A+ NAME.

It took me until, like, last month to realize that my username could suggest that this is a shared blog or whatever. The real origin is both mundane and self-referential, as most things are.

I'm one of those tumblr cryptids who've never changed their username or icon; I came over to tumblr after spending some time lost in the wilderness after the big fandom exodus of Livejournal. So trifles and parsnips refer to my two main LJs at the time, whose names I quite liked and wasn't ready to give up entirely.

trifles was my username for the personal LJ I'd been keeping since college, named for a bit of poetry that resonated with what I was trying to accomplish then (and, I suppose, now):

Think naught a trifle, though it small appear:

Small sands the mountain, moments make the year,

And trifles life.

(The poet is Edward Young, writing in the 1720s-- which suggests that I have Always Been Like This.)

The parsnips LJ was a journal for posting fanfic and such, disambiguated from my personal LJ so that elderly family members who read the one would really have to work to reach the devil's sacrament at the other. That one I named for the proverb "Fine words butter no parsnips." (The earliest attestation of which, I have literally just discovered, is from 1639 why do these centuries haunt me)

Then the AO3 came around and "parsnips" became my main pseud, with "trifles" being the one I somehow decided to use for the rare-fandom Yuletide exchange, back when it was shiny and new and not yet migrated to the AO3. When it did migrate, though, those two names became more thoroughly linked than they'd really ever been on LJ, so when I came over to tumblr I just said to hell with it and tied them together for good. Leaving us here, now, ta da.

--All this, by the by, also slightly explains why, when referring to myself in the 3rd person in meta or whathaveyou, I say stuff like "but trifles, where's the 18th-century soap", but often when posting fanfic I'll go for tags like "triflesandparsnips writes things".

------And as an entirely extra bit of information that is not at all relevant to my naming conventions but is nevertheless something I wish to share for reasons that will soon become apparent: My favorite kind of birthday dessert has, since college, been trifle. Whose recipe, under the actual name "trifle" and not just "a layered cake thing", is first recorded in 1585 because of course it fucking is.

#ask box answers #about me! #anyone who has spent any time listening to me talk about SYLLABUB will also find a SURPRISE in that link about trifle-the-dessert #I WAS CERTAINLY SURPRISED #...but tbh I'm glad to see these threads of continuity in my life #I like these little interests of mine #I'm glad I've kept them

[negans-vampire-bat]

It is Very important that I know where your banner is from. For science of course ♡

Hi Anon!

It's from the 2011 film The Resident! I have a few other GIFs from the film that I can happily share with you!

#anon ask #ask box #ask box answers #jeffrey dean morgan #jdm #fuck....this movie was so scandalous 🥵

[aniron48]

Your writing is such a balm, love. Thank you 💗💗

@stinastar 💜😭😍😍😭💜 thank *you*, friend! This was the kindest thing to find in my inbox.

It’s been a bananas few weeks of 70+ hour work weeks and all kinds of things going on personally as well, so writing and tumblr and everything else has been falling off and I’ve been feeling sad about it. Seeing this brought me such a bright spot of joy.

I hope you are doing well and having the loveliest of weekends. 💜

#ask box answers #lovely people being lovely

[klirk-hammurton]

top 5 met members? 👀👀👀

Hi anon!!!!

Asking the tough questions, I see 🤣🤣🤣 hmmmm....this one actually made me think a bit

Kirk Hammett

Cliff Burton

James Hetfield

Robert Trujillo

Jason Newsted

Now I know Lars didn't make the top 5, but I absolutely adore the Danish Bastard. But with this list, Jason, Rob, and Cliff all do not get the love and recognition they oh so deserve.

Bonus pics for tax

#metallica #metallica family #met family #tallica #acillatem #5th member #ask away #anon request #anon ask #ask box is always open #ask me things #ask me anything #asks #ask box answers #ask box #kirk hammett #james hetfield #cliff burton #robert trujillo #jason newsted

[ask-a-gotham-mortician]

Corpse Disposable

I think it's Weasel cuz it is furry and my employer that I'm legally not allowed to name, doesn't have a lot of assets with fur. Just uh... Ignore the fact it's headless.

( from @notanemployeeatbellereve )

(occ: Sorry I screwed up the first ask)

Uh, wait just a sec. Are you sure it's a weasel? It's too big. Looks like a damn werewolf to me.

…"Weasel." The Weasel? The metahuman that allegedly went on a rampage and killed 27 children?

#ask box answers #notanemployeeatbellereve #corpse disposal prompt

[chrissy-n-eddie]

chrissy and eddie make a porno au!

hi idk if this is a reference to something but I don't care let's get smutty

- eddie gets them the camcorder from a pawnshop when they move into their first place together. it's a big, chunky handheld thing and he uses it to record their housewarming. he follows chrissy around and records her putting out party snacks before everyone arrives and then straightening the pillows, steaming the curtains ("baby you're so sexy when you do weird shit--") and then fixing her makeup, putting her earnings in, changing into her outfit and her blushing shyness when her tits are on camera---- and then of course, he records the party itself - their friends filling the house with noise and love and laughter---

- he catches her rewatching the footage a few days later, sitting on the edge of their bed with the sound of his voice on the recording and the sound of the footage reeling back, over and over. eddie leans his shoulder on the doorway and says "hey, sweetheart---" and chrissy startles, blushing electric pink-- "what'cha watching?" turns out-- yeah, it's exactly what he thought it was. the grainy, golden camera footage of her fresh from the shower in nothing but her jeans, hair curling around her shoulders as she puts her earrings in. and her shy smile, her little bashful "eddie". and then her pretty tits filling the frame as she leans to kiss him on the cheek

- now, "you look good" eddie tells her, grinning as he kneels between her thighs. and then he takes the recorder off her hands and puts it on the bedside table. "I was just--" chrissy tries, but eddie laughs and says "I know, baby" he angles the camera right and raises an eyebrow at chrissy "you wanna do the honours?" and he kisses up her thighs as she giggles and leans over to press record

- eddie loves eating her pussy. could die happy right there between her thighs, anytime. but there's something about her like this, on camera. the shyness, the tip and swallow of her throat as she moans, her fingers pressing over her lips, the way her gaze is caught flicking between eddie's mouth on her and the camera watching from the bedside table. she's slick and hot all over his mouth when he drags his tongue from her clit and tells her "take off your shirt. c'mon, gorgeous" and chrissy shivers and glances at the camera and does as she's told, puts her pretty tits on show again

- he grabs her under her thighs and shifts her over to show her off to the camera - her slick pussy, clit throbbing. his hands spread her thighs, pressing them open, rings catching the light. and he slides three fingers into the knuckle, thick, his palm griding on her clit. chrissy moans so loudly it almost bursts an eardrum. and she comes fast and hard squirting in these perfect little gushes all over the sheets.

- "wave" eddie jokes, as chrissy recovers, panting. they both wave at the camera. they watch it back together tucked up against the pillows of the bed. eddie's hard, and by the end of the footage, chrissy is torn between kissing his throat and watching with her fingertips pressing hard into her bottom lip. "you like it?" eddie teases. chrissy takes the camcorder from her lap and brings it up to squint at eddie through the viewfinder. "take your shirt off," she grins. and eddie does as he's told. they do it all again, but it's eddie blushing and coming all over himself this time

#again this is six bulletpoints but #hey why not #ask box answers #hellcheer #eddissy

[gaviicreates]

Helloooo! 💎☕🌸 ^_^

💎 What’s your most prized possession?

MOST prized? Ooh that's hard. Right now, I'm especially attached to the dining room table and chairs we desperately needed and which was about four years in the making. It's got a upholstered chairs, a bench, and a leaf insert if we need to extend it. Prior to that we used a small circular table, so having it has given us the gift of hosting our neighbors for game nights.

☕ Coffee or tea?

Day to day it's coffee, but nothing beats an iced tea in the heat of summer. I do drink both, though I think I enjoy creamer more than I actually enjoy coffee.

🌸 Best compliment you ever received? Not in the specific words, but the core of it was that I'd made a positive difference. That's the kind of stuff that stays with me the most.

(Hello! And thanks for the asks!)

#ask box answers #meet the maker

[artofchira]

Hi! I saw your svsss art and your style seemed familiar and nostalgic. It reminded me of a comic I used to read in 2016ish(?). It was a big favorite, but lost track of it when it was no longer listed on hiveworks. I looked for it a few times since, but "magic theory + circles" got me nowhere.

Scrolling through your blog, I found it - Sfeer theory!! It's so gratifying to find it again. I reread it immediately. It's a great story with complex worldbuilding. Your art style is wonderful! It feels so nuanced and intentional. There's this flow to your comics, across the panels. Characters are so expressive and real. And it's distinctive enough for me to recognize after all this time, wow!

So, I guess I'm saying, thanks!! Love your art and ty for sharing it. I'm very glad to have seen it :)

Gosh what a wonderful message to find in my inbox! Glad you found the comic again and that it still stands strong to you.

A lot of our projects (Sfeer Theory def top of the list) has been under an unofficial hiatus for a while now since roughly 2020. My father passed at the start of the lockdown. and it had a pretty big impact on my life as it served as a catalyst to completely re-examine and re-evaluate how I work and the way I create. There were other very major upheavels happened since then which only reinforced how important it was that I focus on myself.

My evolution has centered on what kind of artistic journey I want to actually have rather than be compelled to burn myself out surviving. Nearly 4 years later, I've really completely restructured my life for the better. I'm healthier, both physically and mentally, and as a result my art also has been better for it. At the moment I'm solely focused on getting back to my grind with better grounding under my feet.

I think of Sfeer Theory every day and in fact have started working on pages again since the late spring of this year, but I don't want to make promises about when updates will start again. I just feel I owe some kind of explanation to waiting fans.

Sfeer Theory is a story I absolutely will see through to finishing, I just needed to figure myself out. Please look forward to it starting up again sooner than later.

#ask box answers #personal #sfeer theory #little foolery

[ryunosuke-naruhodo-blog]

[The package, when opened, appears to be.... a leaf-covered halibut? There are leaves where it should have scales, very much attached to the fish.] 🌠

That is... A very odd-looking fish. Maybe it's some sort of new breed?

#ask box answers #Is there anything else in the box?

[whatgaviiformes]

77. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [Fanfic Name] story/chapter?  😁💚💛

Hmmm... I've never written anything called [Fanfic Name]. Which I have to say because you handed it to me. But for everyone else, Nutty messaged me to say it's for all fics.

So that now makes this job much much harder.

I think I do better with short scenes and brief moments. So I actually immediately think of my FishTank one shots. This one:

Directionless - one whole scene that I think nailed what I was trying to do with the characters, set a beautiful background, and really captured that edge of adulthood theme. There's a good balance of dialogue but it's still got some of those good descriptions.

"I've always found it calming up here," Virgil tells him. "A beacon to guide you home and all that." He says it casually, but Gordon can hear the edge of wistfulness in his voice and a tone that speaks of a creative mind scattered between the current moment and colors and shades and emotion through images. Or perhaps Virgil hears a distant song only he knows. Gordon's heard that tone many times, Virgil in the zone. Missed it even, on all those long semesters away.

And it is a very pretty sky.

It means a lot to me, the message and support Gordon receives from Virgil, so it's one I am proud to have written.

#ask box answers #gumnut logic

[betrayalssting]

42 for the writers ask game?

@mk-writes-stuff thank you so much for the question!

42.  How do you feel about love triangles?

I think love triangles add a complexity in stories that is sometimes necessary. I particularly like to utilize love triangles in the same way as other use cross roads. One person will often represent the readers/OC's darker side and the other is her (more often than not) the good.

I personally like them, though I don't always use them.

#writers community #Writer Ask Game #Ask Box Answers #Feelings on Love Triangles

[official-timari-server]

I saw an interesting post about an official name for Maribat fans. I was wondering if there was one for Timari lovers.

Shutterbuggers? Java Junkies?

I wouldn’t say we have an “official” name to be honest. That implies that a majority of the fandom has agreed on it.

But I will say that Java Junkies is likely the most reasonable one as it’s been thrown around the fandom for Timari for years now. It’s the most well known.

It’s clear that you’re one of the members of the server with the shutterbug comment as well. It’s likely if you decide to call people “Shutterbuggers” no one will know what you’re referring to.

So I’d say Java Junkies most likely.

Leave your opinions in the tags/comments!

Thank you for your ask! Feel free to leave another and -> Join Today!

X Timari Staff

#maribat #mlb x dc #timari #dc x mlb #timari server #timari discord #maribat marinette dupain cheng #maribat tim drake #Maribat server #maribat discord #timinette discord #timinette server #shutterbug #ask box answers #Timari server asks