#i feel like all my advice is like THIS THING IS SO FUN. Get the Correct Equipment and also Be Gentle With Yourself

[ghouljams]

scrolling through tumblr instead of doing my college paperwork (why do they need my immunization records? weirdos. thanks for accepting my application in like three days though) and sinking my teeth into fallout ghost bro (also you wouldn’t happen to have dorm advice would you im desperate)

i love seeing writers i follow taking these boys and pushing them that nice apocalyptic dark.. there’s something that itches my brain about fallout in particular and it’s feeding the worms bc truly anything can go with narrative depending on where you stick em. all that to say loooooooooove ur fallout stuff it’s living in my head forever now and you can’t get rid of me <3333 :3c

Fallout is such a great mix of post-apocalyptic but also there is a society to play with. It's fun writing darker fic with the boys, I like when they're a little fucked up. There are different morals out in the wasteland, you gotta draw your own lines in the sand, decide where you stand and where you aren't going. Ghost's prerogative is survival and revenge, we're just unlucky enough to owe him a debt and get carted along for the ride.

As for Dorm advice... Get flipflops for the showers if you have communal bathrooms. Leave your door open when you can the first week or so, that way people can say hi and you'll know when people are going for food; it's way easier to make friends over lunch/dinner. Don't worry if your roommate isn't your best friend, just try to be cordial with them. My freshman roommate fucking hated me, I ended up spending most of my time in my friend's room since they lived down the hall and my room was just where I slept and studied, it was fine.

Having a roommate agreement sounds silly but is really helpful if you're having any sort of dispute, you can point to the paper you both agreed on and say "look you said you wouldn't bring people back here without giving me a heads up" or whatever. On the other end of that, if your agreement says you'll alternate taking out the trash and your roommate hasn't taken it out, just take it out. It's easier to just do things yourself most of the time. Maybe it's because I'm an oldest child but I tend to just fix things myself when they bother me, trying to get other people to do shit is pointless 75% of the time.

Honestly most people treat the dorms as just a place to sleep and study. It's your home, but it's also not. Which always feels weird to say but you'll get used to it fast. Don't sweat too much about it.

#ghoul speaks

[mrsbsmooth]

I don't know if this is a safe space for me to share my opinion on S8 but I disagree with your take on WLW relationships in S8. As someone who is exclusively WLW, I've got to say that Season 8 is the worst season that I have ever played. It's not worth it. I regret every second that I have spent on it. I wish I never played it. I feel like I have wasted my time. Watching Claudia grind on Theo made me feel physically sick. If you're bi, you're automatically locked out of the WLW route and Bea dances for Claudia instead. If you're doing a WLW route, the two female LIs are merged together. There are only two female LIs and they're hidden behind a gem wall. You can't couple up with them until the final week. The male characters are forced on MC no matter how many times you reject them. Being LGBT is treated like a fun side mission. It's something you're only allowed to do behind closed doors. You can pay to make out with a girl in every episode and the other characters will keep pushing the OG guy and CA guy on you either way. If you're romancing a girl, you're made to feel like a cheater. The WLW routes in S8 are written to be a bonus thing for bi women to do once they finish the good routes. They are not written to be the main course. The S8 WLW routes  are something to play around with but not something to commit to. S5 was no fun but at least we could be in an unofficial relationship with Dana and we could choose to befriend Alfie. We could couple up with Vicky in S7. S8 is like S6 but somehow even worse. The openly homophobic and racist comments that I have seen some straight players make about Bea and Hari are only making it harder to feel accepted. What hurts the most is that MC was a bombshell and she was not coupled up with her OG LI before the Casa. They could have let us pick a female LI the moment MC walked into the Villa. There was no better way to justify a WLW main route. The way they waste Luna and Felicity is unbelievable. I wouldn't recommend S8 to anyone who isn't super into the male LIs

Hi lovely, of course!! Always happy to hear a different opinion as long as they're respectfully put, which yours absolutely is, and as long as you don't mind me disagreeing back!

[Note: Sarah's just pointed out to me that you asked for a safe space and my response doesn't really do that and just disagrees with you. She's right, and I apologise for not being clearer about the fact I was planning to do so when I hit post. But you are always welcome to share your opinion here. I can't guarantee a safe space, but I can guarantee an open mind.] Because I do genuinely believe that the WLW routes in S8 are better than they have been previously.

I'm not going to be addressing homophobic and racist comments about Bea and Hari. My advice for those? Stay the hell off Reddit. I'm not getting into the way this fandom talks about race, especially for Asian islanders. I just want to talk about the WLW routes as that was the main point of your ask.

I want to make sure I've acknowledged and responded to everything you said, so please see below.

[This got long AF. TL;DR at the end.]

Locked out of routes, and Male LIs being forced on you

This isn't new to this season, and in my opinion it's been done dramatically better than previous seasons. I've played all of them, and almost every single season holds the female LI back until the end. Marisol, Elisa, Najuma, Angie, Dana, Lulu, Bella, Chloe, Flo, Bonnie, I don't think you could couple up with a single one of them until the final recoupling. The only exceptions were S1 and S3, I think? I believe you could get with Talia slightly earlier (and have Sammi come in later as a LI for the guy who otherwise would be dumped), and AJ/Yasmin you could couple up with and make Tai and Ciaran get together. But that's only 2 seasons from 8.

(Note: I see you said you could couple up with Vicky in S7, and I'll be honest, I barely played S7 as I found the writing itself extremely lacklustre. So I'll have to take your word for it that they somehow made that work.)

I get that it's frustrating to be separated from a female LI until late game. It's a sentiment I've heard every single season since I started playing alongside the releases. But realistically, this is how the game is structured. Love Island, as a premise, is based on heterosexual relationships. Pairing off and being in heterosexual couples, etc. Same as something like 'the Bachelor'. Two female contestants could be together, sure. But that's not how the show is structured. The only real solutions have been in S1 and S3, both of which I've already mentioned. I'd love to see more MLM couples made canon, or creative ways of letting us couple with women earlier, but I don't think there's one simple solution. This particular show is aimed at het couples. As unfair as it may seem, that's how the game is structured. (Crossing my fingers for canon MLM couples. PLEASE!)

I also disagree that WLW routes are written to be a bonus thing for bi women to do once they finish the good routes. Claudia's route has been a main route since day one in the villa. The fact that you can only have a relationship with either Theo OR Claudia means they intended from the very beginning to have whichever one of that couple you choose be the slow burn route- the route that you can't get on until the very end.

To say that 'Watching Claudia grind on Theo made me physically sick'-- Congratulations and welcome to the slowburn route 😂 I feel exactly the same way when Theo REJECTS ME OUTRIGHT and says he's only interested in Claudia, or when Suresh's heartrate gets raised the most by Lulu, or when I finally couple with Jake and he tells me I should pursue Levi. Don't you think the fact that it's had such an impact on you shows how well-written she is as a female LI? Claudia is AMAZING. But she's also bisexual. She's allowed to be torn between a male and a female LI and want to explore relationships with both, and I don't think it's fair to be angry that she's playing out all her options. That just means she's a well-written bisexual character. (Side note may I remind you that you've been able to take Claudia to the hideaway, and sleep in a bed with her, whereas Theo girls were only able to KISS the dude for the first time within the last week!!!! 😭) I think the only canonical lesbian routes are Angie from S4 and A.J. from S3. But even so, they're both questioning while in-villa and only come out either towards the end or in the post-season. You can watch AJ's route on Youtube if you didn't get a chance to play. Also, you're not locked out of the WLW route if you're bi/into men. Only if you're interested in Theo specifically. This is definitely somewhere they could improve-- I wanted Theo and Claudia, but eventually went back to play a straight route for Theo. However, I DESPERATELY wanted to flirt with Bea. It would've been wonderful if we'd been able to flirt with her separately. (I think I did get this option, but I believe it may have been a glitch). An option early in the game when the female LI asks you could be:

Yes, I'm into you!

No, I'm not into you, but I might be into other women

No, I'm not into women.

The Female LIs are merging together

Welcome to Love Island the Game by Fusebox games, where all the love interests merge and the personalities don't matter. You're not alone here, and it's not NEARLY as bad as previous seasons. Watch Najuma, Bruno, and JAMES have exactly the same dialogue in S4 despite being wildly different personalities. Watch Lewie, Jamal and Ryan be completely interchangeable. This isn't exclusive to WLW routes.

The female LIs are hidden behind a gem wall.

Again, this is the same for everyone, even players on a straight route. FB are greedy.

Being LGBT is treated like a side mission

It's something you're only allowed to do behind closed doors. You can pay to make out with a girl in every episode

This is hard. I get why you feel like this, anon, I really do. But I genuinely do think that this is the devs trying to give you something. They know it's frustrating to have to wait so long to couple with a female LI, so they try and give you bonus opportunities along the way to connect with your love interest. Almost every single smut scene written in the scripts has a female alternative. Again, I'm not saying that it's perfect, but having looked at and manipulated the scripts for four seasons now, I can absolutely assure you that this has not always been the case. They ARE improving and giving you more opportunities to spend time with your female LI than you had in previous seasons.

TL;DR

I'm not saying S8 is a perfect season for WLW routes.

The part I'm disagreeing with is where you said it's the worst season.

I absolutely disagree with that. There are far worse seasons. Even the golden child Season 2 didn't let you couple up with a woman until right at the end, watching her graft and grind on everyone BUT you. We also don't even know for sure that we can't couple up with a girl until the last week. The game's still being released. (I won't be surprised if that's the case though.)

I think Claudia and Bea are EXCELLENT female love interests in comparison with what we've had previously. They're both beautiful, they have unique personalities, they have very different routes (Claudia's confused between you and Theo, Bea's your bestie to lover and she's got terrible taste in men, dear god please save her).

I understand WANTING more WLW routes, but from a development point of view, there are simply not enough opportunities in the real-life structure of LITG to have fully blown out WLW routes. And even if they were, FB Games are not going to be financially motivated to do so. Their main customer base ($$$) is pursing a het route, so that’s who they’re creating for. They can't even get through the hetero routes without the characters merging personalities. There are other games doing this well, including fan-made games, which I'd recommend checking out. I don't have the link handy to the game pages, but check out @thatwheelchairchick, I believe she's working on an alternative game?

Anyway, I hope that clarifies my position on why I think they're worth playing. Sorry that it turned into an essay.

#litg wlw #litg claudia #litg bea #litg s8 #litg tempting fate

[miodiodavinci]

I made a Vocaloid channel but I'm having trouble getting views. I like making covers for fun but I wish I could get more than a handful of views, especially since I haven't even gotten 5 on my latest ones. I use Vocaloid 6, which may be the problem since not many people talk much about it as much as the older versions

Would you have any advice as to what I can do?

m m m m m , , , , , , i feel like it's hard to say—back in the day when i was doing UTAU work, most of the interaction i got with my work was from my friends from UTAForum. we all sort of just shared our work with each other and supported one another doing our fun little hobby. though the sort of forum culture that spawned that sort of friend circle has kind of disappeared by this point , , , , ,

but honestly, even still—find folks whose work you like and get involved!! share your work on other sites and shout out people you like!! support the folks around you and establish yourself as part of a community

(of course like. don't treat it as a transactional thing. if there's one way to ensure No One interacts with your work it's to. comment on people's things or shout people out and then get passive aggressive expecting a response back. doesn't work like that. you support people because you love them and their work—not because you want something in return.)

but even more than that, honestly just keep doing what you do and the love in your work will come across in heaps and bounds, and someone will be bound to listen. people also tend to get interested the more you put your own spin on something, whether it's creating your own PVs, adding your own harmonies, sharing some of your files, or linking multiple covers together as part of a kind of overarching story. if you make it yours, it'll be yours for good.

like, at the end of the day we can all agree that views are just a number on a screen and are kind of meaningless and no one should base their worth on them, but also yeah it kind of wears you down after a while to keep sharing things you've put a lot of love and effort into with no response.

i'd just like to encourage you not to lose your passion for it—views or not, there's a lot to be gain by pursuing something you love. your VOCALOID endeavors are only just beginning, and who knows where you'll end up ! ! ! ! take the journey as far as it'll take you, and have fun all the while ! ! ! ! ! ! !

also send me your work i want to listen 👁 👁

#mio answers things #anon #is. what i think i mean to say sjdhflkgjhjdfg #forgive me i am bad with advice like this #but i think the long and short of it is I Feel You Deeply Anon #you awakened visceral memories of posting cover after cover onto deviantART and UTAU forum and getting like. 1 view. #and the feeling suuuuucckkkks so bad #but like. very much what kept me going was just. sharing with friends instead #like. if i am being wholly and completely honest?? #even now i usually make my covers with maybe 5 people in mind. 10 max. #i work on my covers and i have fun and i think about like 4 or 5 of my friends i know will go nuts over it when i post it #and really that's what matters to me most skjhdflgjh #NOT THAT I DON'T SUPER APPRECIATE ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT I GET FROM EVERYONE . . . . . #but like. when i was working on my wanderlast cover i was literally just sitting there thinking 'ohhhhhhhh myst is going to love this w' #you really do just make for yourself and your friends and you will be so so happy forever #but also again. i feel you on the views w #fight the urge to base your worth on it #but also know that YEAH if you've got people you like and they like your work back #the views will get better and they won't matter so much anymore w

[sysig]

Hm ok what's your favorite or a really cool worlbuilding thing you've done? For any fandom or original or even an unimplemented idea

Hmm well at least in the past decade, my big worldbuilding projects have mostly come down to three-ish stories: Other Side of the Gun, Adventures of Gæilo and Ethon, and Just Desserts

OSG was an Invader ZiM fancomic concept I started around 2013 to justify every single Irken headcanon I ever came up with lol - I never finished it, or even really started it, but I put a lot of time and energy into its roughs back in the day :)

^A stick figure recap of Ch. 1, inspired by - what else - the Vargas stick figure recaps lol

One that you can see over here is all the work I did for my DnD campaign, AGE! (Though its sideblog hasn't been updated in a while haha - the AGE tag over here works just as well) I basically homebrewed a pantheon and had an absolute blast designing all the gods and their forms before they became gods and even things like architectural differences in their churches and the BBEG and his motivations and just ah <3 Such a fun project :D

It also laid the groundwork for things like Pokemon Homestyle, specifically all my papercrafts! You can really see how I leveled up haha

And my latest has been Just Desserts! Even with less time under its belt, it's still pretty expansive, as evidenced by my icon and theme and the backlog lol, and it's the one I have the most AUs of! (Though OSG does come close actually haha) There are still some thorny details I'm trying to iron out, especially to do with the magic system, but all the characters and creatures and the fact that I made my own fighting minigame, ah, pleased! I've never been so happy with a sona before Charm! ♥ From the very beginning it's been so fun to work on and I still want to improve!

#Long post #There have been others of course - things like BunBonBop and TMatM and quite a handful of original species lol #I was also involved in an IZRP that got very in depth which is where Bar comes from actually! #As well as my brief stint into being a TGWDLM askblog lol soz to everyone over there ouq #And little stories like Karera no Kotogara and Yanderapy but those mostly set in cartoon-reality y'know? #No magic or sci fi there haha #Man looking back through the OSG stuff kinda makes me wanna unstore Ch. 0 - I've grown a lot since then! #To the point where it almost doesn't feel ''mine'' anymore haha - it has been almost ten years! Maybe to celebrate its anniversary :) #Also yeah if you look hard enough I've been in love with and inspired by Vargas for as long as I've known about it haha #AGE was so much fun <3 I would like to get back to it someday but picking back up after so long is hard! #I still hold all of them fondly of course ♥ Mar especially since they were the tipping point for me loving spiders :D #It's hard to believe Just Desserts is already four years deep! It still feels so new to me haha #I know I big up Charm and her design a lot lol but for me it really is exactly what I want <3 It's my perfect :) #I still really want to get into 3D modeling to make her as I originally envisioned her! #If I had the funds I'd absolutely commission someone but tbh I don't know many names on that side of art haha #I've also heard about people who give advice/brainstorming sessions for magic systems and I've been intrigued ever since :0 #I'd love to sit down with someone and hash out Exactly how their magic works! It feels like it just needs a few more pushes! #Then again that's what I said about the TVAU outfits too haha ♪ Maybe it would all fall into place! #To the base question tho: I never know how to qualify ''implemented'' - does just putting it out there as a concept count? #Writing a story? Making a comic? A series? Polished? Completed?? Where's the line haha #I'm always so full of ideas but focusing on anything long enough to make it ''pretty'' is so hard for me still #I just keep creating never stopping haha

[stergeon]

for the writer ask

💭🚦💛 💌

💭 What inspires you and your writing?

this is a real marketing major-ass answer (from your local marketing major), but i love sharing knowledge and telling stories. writing’s one of those things that’s a bit of a compulsion for me—i’m always writing something. i took a five-year break from fiction writing before i stumbled ass-first into fanfic last year, but even in those years when i was focusing on my career, i was writing guides and trainings and a ton of other stuff—just not anything fun, lol.

writing is also so cathartic. sometimes i set out to tell a specific story, but at other times, a particular emotion gets me in a vice grip and i have to put it to words before it’ll go away. my stories tend to wind up as emotional dumping grounds as a result.

i don’t write things pulled directly from my own life, but there are bits and pieces of myself and things that have happened to me scattered throughout stuff i’ve written, and usually when i’m about 75% of the way through a piece, i’ll realize it’s absolutely related to something i’m currently going through. funny how art works that way, even when you don’t intend for it to.

and occasionally i just have a fire lit under my ass about an issue and i get so hot about it that i gotta compile my thoughts. looking at you, silver snow

🚦 What sort of endings do you prefer to write: ambiguous, bad, happily ever after, etc.?

look, i would love nothing more for them girls (pick whichever girls you please) to have a happy ending where they kiss and are stupid in love for the rest of forever. i love reading those kinds of stories. but in my heart of hearts, i love an ambiguous ending. i like when there are still questions after the story ends. i like thinking about where things could go or how the characters will go on after the events of the story. like, shared space could be read as having a happy ending, but i don’t really think it is. and with the victors; the vestiges, well. you’ll see :0)

come to think of it, i’m not sure i’ve ever written a happily-ever-after, but i don’t think i’ve ever written a 100% bad ending, either. i read too many bury-your-gays stories and watched too many sad european queer coming-of-age films in my youth to ever be happy putting that kinda thing out into the world. i want to write about love with all its ugliness, but not despair or hopelessness. i think what most appeals to me about an ambiguous ending is that lingering feeling of hope. it’s not the same as the kind you get from a happily-ever-after, and something about it speaks to me.

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

honestly? how to take criticism. i took a creative writing class in high school where we had to read our work out loud and then receive feedback on it from the other writers in the class, and that did a lot for me. going into that class, i’d already been writing for forever and had won some little local writing contests and such, so i was a wee bit of a pretentious douche. but i’d never gotten real critique before beyond, essentially, spelling and grammar checks. it humbled me lol. it made me grow so much as a writer, and i could see where i needed to improve or where my head was wedged way too far up my own ass for others to follow. it also helped me recognize strengths i didn’t know i had, and that was huge. it’s easy to get into a self-doubt spiral when making creative work, and good, constructive criticism can do so much to help avoid that.

to this day i love critique. i like knowing what worked or didn’t work so that i can continue to improve as a writer and do better next time. did my themes land? did something really work, but another part fall flat? i’d love to know!! i try to treat everything i write as practice for the next thing, and frankly that’s helped take some of the pressure off so i don’t go into total Perfectionist Mode.

i know critique is kind of a sensitive topic in fan spaces, but i think that’s because a lot of people have gotten unsolicited criticism that is purely critical and isn’t constructive. but getting good, constructive criticism will do so much to help a person grow as a writer. it’s scary, and sometimes it hurts! writing is very personal for most people, and it stings when things aren’t received the way you think they will be. but i know i’ve grown more from having my failures pointed out (and, very importantly, having the good things about those efforts acknowledged) than anything else.

💌 Is there a favorite trope you like to write?

actually Just answered this in another ask!

#sterge.eml #foxyjeongin #thank you for playing my little game and letting me talk about stories (and about me lmao) #sorry this is kind of a long post #i talk too much #i think i sound pretentious in this ask whoops. sorry #unfortunately i kind of am. i’m working on it. #… ​i guess the short answer to that first question is ‘emotions and mental illness’ lol #if you follow me on twitter (not recommended as it’s just me complaining about the weather and not being able to ride my motorcycle) #you know that every time i bring up my writing in therapy my therapist rocks my shit by revealing the story is #in fact. #NOT about what i thought it was about #or more accurately ​it’s ALSO secretly about whatever’s going on with me in real life lmao #y’know what’s really fun? looking back at something you wrote in a manic or depressive episode and going ah. hm. interesting. #the signs were. in fact. there. #(this is in fact not fun and i don’t like it. but it always happens.) #everything i write is accidentally Also about being bipolar. no getting around that #i tend to have issues organizing my thoughts and feelings to even figure out how tf i’m feeling #(forget making any attempt at doing so verbally. i have chronic foot-in-mouth disorder and accidentally say shit i don’t mean all the time) #but writing stuff down has always helped me sort through whatever mess is going on in my noggin and i love it for that #learning how to take critique is my no. 1 piece of writing advice but no. 2 is to read #read the classics. find out why they’re classics. read weird shit. read shit you don’t like. find things you like about em anyway. #and importantly: figure out WHY you do or don’t like it #it’s funny to re-read a book i haven’t read in a long time and discover OH. that’s where i get that technique from. #or that’s where i got that idea. or that’s why i had X thing happen in this story. #or why i like this type of character or scenario #nothing’s truly new and original #we’re all an amalgamation of influences and that ruuuuules #celebrate it!!!

[megansplants]

.

#I feel a little like I’m losing my passion for plants #not that I don’t still LOVE my plants #but like I don’t need to spend hours on the weekends messing with them anymore #I have so many other things I’m doing that make me happy #I don’t have a hole in my life to fill with plants #there isn’t as much NEED there anymore #and I kind of….. don’t mind #Bridger and I are happy and I love my job #we love to hang out together and basically spend all day on the weekends and all evening every day talking #and playing games and snuggling and having fun and listening to records #I feel so much more fulfilled than I did when I was lonely in school #like I’m so much more ‘well then fuck you too!’ when people say stupid shit when I give advice on social media #I used to feel the need to explain everything and I spent a lot of time moderating the plant group #and i really wanted my book to become a huge thing #but now it’s kind of like….. I tinker around with stuff when I feel like it #I will get on the plant group once every few weeks instead of every few hours #I’m just living life man

[salsflore]

ummmm

#oh mika there is beauty in life~ look at your future! everything will be worth it in the end~ #my favorite image on this device btw ^ #cw negative #cw vent #you know where this is going. apologies my mind is a mess and i really just need to get it out because i find its better than- #-writing a semi formal email to that One (1) emotional support organization and i’m afraid to make a call so #but i just genuinely believe things would be better off if i weren’t alive. a bit of a silly thing to jump to i know but #my tuition fees aren't cheap and i'm not even that great of a student or a daughter or a sister and i- #-have no talents or remarkable feats. i’m not impressive in any way. and i hate hearing shit about how ^_^ its okay! we all have something- #-special about ourselves! for example maybe you have really good hand writing and thats good enough ~ but that doesn't work for me because- #-i have nothing. my handwriting isn't good my singing isn't good i'm not artistically gifted i don't have some random affinity for puzzles- #-i'm not charming or somehow really good at calculation or super creative or a really comforting friend i really have nothing at all #i don’t want to die. i have no plans on doing that sort of thing anytime soon— don’t misunderstand me #i just wholeheartedly believe i don’t deserve to be here anymore not because i’m not loved. i just can’t stand myself and my teenage years- #-feel so long and i'm so fragile how much longer do i have to tolerate. i'm contributing nothing. why should my family have to feed and- #-clothe a burden like me who provides nothing. why should my friends care for someone like me. i’m not really that funny or sweet or great- #-with advice giving or pretty or helpful in any way. why is it that life is genuinely easier for others. what did i do? what can i do? #how much longer must i tolerate this? would you believe me if i said i really did try to change my mindset this time? #i have no one in real life to talk to. therapists are pricey and i don’t think mine was helping me in any way anyways. she was nice though #so every night i sleep hoping i wake up somewhere else. somewhere where i'm happier and i can live all my silly fantasies where i'm a fun- #-and lovely person who has everything she wants and nothing goes wrong ever!! #how much longer must i hang onto the little things. i’m in such an exruciating amount of pain that i want to kill myself without dying? lol #everyone repeats the same stuff. get bit #i can't rely on the joy of having coffee every morning or persevere for the sake of seeing cute cats on insta. nothing will ease the burden

[curiosity-killed]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ON TO RUNNING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now a Runner's World article

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

#i feel like all my advice is like THIS THING IS SO FUN. Get the Correct Equipment and also Be Gentle With Yourself #orz #but i am right about this #okay sorry this is SO long and also. incoherent #seriously always happy to chat and answer questions or anything!! #i've been dancing since i was 4 and running (competitively) since i was 11 and i. love them. so much. #long post #asked & answered #anonymice #AND GOOD LUCK!!! #whatever you choose to do with this monster #i hope you have a lot of fun!! #trying new things is hard and scary and also SO cool and rewarding #also as a medium-adult i have to say these are both helpful in getting to know people and making friends #....i feel like i'm forgetting something #but um. it's now 1:30 and i still have a tub of cold footbath water sitting by me so #it'll wait!

[orcelito]

i hate anytime anyone says like "You should just do this one specific thing with writing bc it's the superior way of writing and everything else sucks" bc im like well what if i dont want to do that with my writing. i rather like how my writing is as it is. & then it makes me feel self conscious of my writing. bc brains are bitches i guess.

#speculation nation #like i do take writing advice into consideration bc it's not like my writing is perfect #there are still things i could improve on. & im working on them. #but. sometimes ppl r just so... generalizing. #this is Specifically with regards to the sentiment ive seen going around of 'it's best to just stick to 'said'' with dialogue tags #and i... dont like doing that. #i find it Fun to think on whether theres a more descriptive word! #and it can really embellish the writing when you find the right ones #and i also like to intersperse dialogue among actions and thoughts. to mix it up & all #'said' just feels very... bland to me. i dont like using it much. #im trying to work on using it if theres just not a more descriptive tag that properly fits. & there's not an action i can easily insert #bc i do agree that overusing synonyms of 'said' gets you that My Immortal type of screenshot #it's about moderation. it's all about moderation. #i know im overthinking this. i KNOW plenty of people have said they like how i write. #but when i see something like this that contradicts the way that i write. it makes me so incredibly self conscious i find it hard to write. #the thing is i try to seem confident on ao3 but i am anything but. even after 640k words posted my confidence is flimsy at best #so even one statement that could be read as anything other than a glowing review makes me so self conscious i wanna curl up in a ball #gaaaah brain's a bitch. anytime i start getting self doubts i try to just shut up about it so i dont bother anyone else with it #since it happens... unfortunately very often. VERY often. #ive been thinking about this for a few weeks tho & ive seen another post on the matter floating around #it's a joke post. not even that serious. but it still makes me so self conscious. #so i wanted to get it off my chest. mostly just complaining. i hate feeling so self conscious about my writing. #hundreds of comments of praise and excitement for my writing & im done in by a few posts that weren't even directed at me #self consciousness is so fuckin stupid. i hate how my brain works.

[imwritesometimes]

I am once again completely losing any interest or motivation to actually write anything 🙃🙃🙃

#it just poof! disappears! vanishes! gone! it has left the building! #I absolutely positively HAVE to write linearly I cannot go oh well I have the ideas for much later chapters so I'll start there #my brain does NOT work like that and quite frankly I hate the advice that's always like oh write the fun bits first then! #cause it's like bitch I KNOW myself I KNOW my brain I'd never finish ANYTHING #I am the ULTIMATE 'well this isn't fun anymore I'm dipping' bitch. QUEEN of hitting the bricks #and also my brain just. will not function in that way. things gotta be done in ORDER or it DOES. NOT. WORK. AT. ALL. EVEN. A LITTLE. #but I find myself getting very VERY self-conscious and outright repelled by own set-up and structuring if that makes any sense? #it's like I gotta BUILD to *the* part but when I work on the foundation and framework I'm like 🫤😟🥴 #it's like oh this just sounds like boring drab info dumping bullshit #and the thing is. I know it's not! I'm not a *bad* writer. I know anyone else reading it doesn't see it as #hollow paint by numbers blah blah blah bland af shit #but to ME it feels that way #and I just lose the desire to work on anything anymore #this has been going on for MONTHS now. MONTHS. I've not been able to write ANYTHING. for MONTHS. cause of this. #this stupid weird trepidation that all my setup work is just horrid awful runny dog shit #idk where it csme from. idk why it's stuck around so long. idk how to fix it. don't think it CAN be fixed at this point. #I just don't know what I'm doing man. I used to LOVE writing fic. now I'm like lol maybe DON'T do that. #erin explains it all

[jankwritten]

the story doesn't start with the beginning or the end, the story starts with the moments that spark it. the story starts with that idea you had that made you want to sit down and write, the story starts with the moment the characters have that branches out and out, blooms into so many different choices and paths and conversations. it's okay if you don't know how to begin or how to end or even if you don't know what the story wants. just write the moments. follow them and see where they lead.

#this post brought to you by: my fucking writing process #i always try to force myself to write the beginning like i 'should' but then i get BORED and i wanna write the FUN STUFF #so write the fucking fun stuff!!!! #write the moments!!!!! #write when the two protag's eyes catch across the room #write the moment when the main character massively fucks up his entire project and ruins months of work! #write the moment where the hero and the villain run up against one another and in the ensuing fight we learn that they loved one another #like write the shit that makes the story INTERESTING!!! #i PROMISE it will lead you to the plot it will lead you to all the points you need SO Much better #you don't have to start where the story starts. you can start wherever the FUCK you want and then decide later what to do #i always start writing where the conlflict begins #and then if backstory is needed or if there's something that should come first i can make it come first #i can start with nico meeting the weird pale blonde boy and taking him into the woods and then i can go back and add the context #write the moments god dammit #ALSO ALSO ALSO if this advice isn't for you then fuck it!!! this is my advice that i took and it works for me and if it doesn't work for u #then that's totally chill and cool and sexy! now you know one more thing that doesn't work and you're closer to finding the thing that does #it's 3 am so i don't know how coherent this will seem in the morning but By The Gods does it feel so important rn #maybe this is more just a note for myself. write the fucking moments grey.

[girlvinland]

I’ve been feeling bad about my art lately. Idk I just feel like when I hear or see a friend make fun of it even teasingly it ends up really hurting my feelings? I don’t really care what strangers say or whatever but when it’s someone close to me it always hurts more, especially when they don’t give any advice on how to fix something or don’t make it clear it is a joke. It kind of puts me in the mood to just. Not.

#by bug #minor vent idk #please don’t think this is a cry for sympathy or anything it’s just me being annoyed #but anyway #it makes me feel so ashamed to ever show people things #or even draw at all I guess #idk why I’m so sensitive about that stuff #I’m fine with criticism and advice but just being mean for no reason gets under my skin #obviously I don’t want you to blow smoke up my ass but #it’s just a pet peeve #like you make fun of me and tell me something is wrong #at least give me ideas on how to fix it too #also like me making fun of my own art isn’t really an invitation to make fun of it too even if we are close #ughhhhh I just feel discouraged rn #i try not to let outside opinions on things get to me but being teased/made fun of does get to me sometimes #the lasting affects of being bullied I guess

[taeyungie]

hi i just wanted to address something regarding my asks recently so i'm redirecting to read the rest in the tags ⬇️

#first of all i wanted to say i'm really sorry for replying late or in some cases not replying at all #but i've been going through some crazy stuff irl and being here and having fun and making gifs is my only escape #recently i noticed that i've been getting a lot of asks from people who seek advice and comfort in hard situations for them #and i tried to reply the best i could but. i have to be honest #the amount of this type of sad asks that i get these days is being too much to handle for me. i'm so sorry #I'm saying this with a heavy heart because i love when people talk to me and when they trust me with things that mean a lot to them #and i appreciate it so much that you choose ME out of all people to talk to because as someone said i create a 'comforting surrounding' #i've been under a lot of stress these days but it's never been like this for me before. I could always handle everything #but these days... i just can't handle more. i'm so sorry #i have three unanswered asks of people that asked for comfort and advice on serious hurtful topics and i just cant collect myself to answer #and i want to clarify - i am not ignoring you. i'm just not in the right mindset to be a support for other people right now #it requires so much energy from me and it frustrated me because i want to do my best i want to provide the best support and love that i can #and i just don't have that energy right now #i might be okay in a week or two... but these days were bad and i know a lot of people feels that way. idk what's in the air #but i send you all my love and appreciation and i wish you the best of luck and i'm sure everything will work out <3 #I'm really sorry that I couldn't help this time #❤️

[suttttton]

me 🤝 my mom undiagnosed anxiety disorders

#the older i get the clearer it becomes that me and my mom catastrophize about things very similarly #difference is i found healthy coping mechanisms while my mom found homophobic death cult evangelical christianity #of course this realization makes me feel very bad for my mom because like. i get it. #she tells me that she worries about me and i know she doesn't mean the normal way moms worry about their kids i know she actually means #that she has a creeping suspicion that my life choices are going to send me to hell and she feels powerless to stop it #and her brain will not let her think about anything else so 24/7 its just alarms blaring #and because she's constructed her entire belief system around having anxiety she's like. this fear i feel is a message from god. #and i have no idea how to help her #like???? #she's literally believed these things fro her entire life giving them up feels like the end of the world #and her WHOLE FAMILY is there with her so even if she could realize she'd be happier without these beliefs #she'd immediately have a dozen trusted voices telling her no actually. your anxiety is correct and you're right to afraid all the time #for awhile when i was like. 18-19. the major question i had about my childhood was WHY didn't my mom never take me to therapy #because yeah okay she came from a culture where therapy isn't trusted and god is supposed to fix all your mental illnesses #but she read all the parenting books and universally took experts' advice over what she'd learned from her own parents #(because she knew her parents hadn't done a great job and didn't want to repeat their mistakes) #and she KNEW i was REALLY bad. i was crying all the time having her drive me to the bookstore to get books i thought might help #sending myself into anxious spirals if anyone mentioned death around me #not a fun time in my life or her life #and she DID take me to talk to my pediatrician about it so like??? why did we never see a therapist??? #i was 9 i though there was just nothing that could be done but???????? #but now i realize that what happened to me back then didn't really scan in my mother's head as something wrong with me #because she was the same way #:/

[necromoonstar]

Trying to make myself a character design in a month feels like it shouldn’t be that hard yet here I am days in still just staring at the canvas not sure what I should even do to begin

I got a concept for what the character is based around, I have some ideas based on that

But actually getting started or having any comprehension on how to design something is not working out

Seems to be a consistent issue for me. I just never really made things like this so I don’t really have a good mind for it. I don’t really even know how to get /into/ the mind for it

How does someone start to learn how to make something and design characters and have fun with things if they never grew up doing it so it’s all foreign and every advice out there is just kinda overly business sounding or just ‘go with the flow and create’ when you don’t know how to create

You never had that kinda childhood

It’s terrifying if I’m honest and I kinda regret getting this time limited make-your-own but I loved the mythology of the species and wanted to play around with it before knowing I’d get stuck again

#bagged a post #negative #Not all that negative but just in case it is sorta venty #Though genuine light advice would be nice #I want to be able to start making things for myself and having fun #Like I never got to do before but when you have no childhood experience in it #It’s like a foreign language that no one has any instructions for #They all assume you already know some or something or think you’re doing it for business not just chilling and doing things for yourself #I don’t know how to explain it #It does really feel like too many people assume a child always has a creativity and drawing and having fun phase and people just need to #Get back to that mindset to learn how to make again #But my childhood was reading novels and taking apart technology and trying to make my own technology from it #I never drew or created things never wrote didn’t really watch cartoons and only a little tv in general I didn’t have a ‘childhood’ #So what am I supposed to build off of to get started now

[ao3commentoftheday]

Do you have any advice and how to write a long fic?

I'll encourage long fic writers to add on in the notes, but as someone who tends to prefer short and medium-length fic, I'll tell you how I go about it.

Get a premise that you just absolutely love. You're going to be writing this thing for months, if not longer, so you want it to be something you're willing to spend a lot of time thinking about.

Embrace subplots. You'll have your main plotline that you want to see through from beginning to end, but you can also weave in some subplots here or there. The way I do this so that I don't get lost down a rabbit hole is that I always make sure that every chapter has at least 1 thing that moves the main plot forward and then if I want to spend 1-2K with some side characters doing something fun I can do that as well. Subplots can extend for the length of the full narrative, but they can also just last a chapter or three. If you're used to writing short fic, these might give you that familiar feeling of "completion"

A chapter is only as long as it needs to be. Don't get hung up on having a consistent chapter length. Don't get hung up on hitting some arbitrary number every time. Instead, figure out what the next part of your story needs to include and write however many words it takes to get that chunk across. Varying your chapter lengths is a normal thing to do and not something to stress about.

The next thing that I find important personally may or may not be relevant to you, but I find that I can't plot anything in much detail. If I get too into the nitty gritty with my plotting, it just feels like I've already written it. I need to keep it at the level of "And then A and B meet C and hijinks ensue." I can figure out the particular hijinks later. It's the characters meeting up that's the next important thing for me to figure out. Getting too far ahead of myself is a death knell for me in writing long fics, but there are other writers who swear by it. Test out different ways of approaching it and see what works for you.

As someone who tends to write more briefly, another feature that's common to longer fics is more extensive descriptions. People spend time painting visual pictures of the setting or the characters or the actions that are happening. Write the more bare-bones style that focuses more on dialogue (if you're like me) and then go back and read through what you've just written and see if there are opportunities to add in more detail. This can lead to some really interesting characterization choices and also help you out with worldbuilding.

When it comes to worldbuilding, you don't have to get it all on the page. You just need to share what's relevant for the reader in that moment and what is useful to lay out now so that it's already there in a future chapter. You can have an encyclopedic knowledge of how your world works in your head, but it's not actually necessary. No one is going to be quizzing you later - and if they do, you can always figure it out at that point.

Most important for me when I'm trying to get myself to the end of a longer fic, have a friend or a group of friends who are also into what you're writing - or at least willing to hear you get excited about it. Being able to get excited about your work is so important. It's like a bottle of water being handed to you on mile 10 of a marathon.

#asks and answers #long fic writers go! #and short fic writers who have successfully written long #how did you go about it? #long post