#i'm not an expert

[dragonmuse]

How to be a Dirtbag Fic Writer

I got to do some talking about writing today and I couldn’t stop thinking about it so here are my full thoughts on the matter of being a dirtbag fic writer.

Being the disorganized thoughts of someone two and a half decades into the beautiful mess that is writing fanfic (and a few non-fanfic things too).

What is a dirtbag fic writer? 

 I am talking about someone who is not cleaning up anything. We show up filthy, fresh out of rooting around in the garden of our imaginations. We probably smell a little from work. We will hand you our hard grown fruits, but we have not washed them and we carried them in the bottom upturned parts of our t-shirts. The fruit is a little bruised. It’s not cut up or put in a bowl yet. But we got it in the house! It’s here. Someone can eat it.  

Why dirtbag it? Because the fruit gets in the house. If you’re hemming and hawing, if the idea you want to do seems to be big or you want it perfect and shiny. If you’re imagining a ten thousand step process, so you’re not taking the first step? Dirtbag it. 

How do I dirtbag? 

That’s the best part. You just write. Sit down. One word after the other. No outline, no plan, no destination. No thought of editing. Just word vomit. Every word is a good word. It’a word that wasn’t there before. Grammar sucks? Who cares. Can’t think of the perfect word? Fuck it, put in the simplest version of what you mean. 

Write the idea that you love. The one thing you want to say. Has it been done 3000000 times? WHO CARES human history is long, every idea has been done, probably more than twice. YOU have never written it before. It’s your grubby potato that you clawed out of the ground and guess what someone can still make it into delicious french fries. 

Now here’s the critical part. Write as much as you can squeeze out of your brain. One word in front of the other. 

And then I challenge you this: at most, read it over once and then put it into the world. Just as it is. AND THIS IS IMPORTANT: DO IT WITHOUT APOLOGY OR CAVEAT.  I challenge you, beautiful dirtbag to not pre-emptively apologize. Do not make your work lesser. THAT IS YOUR POTATO! It has eyes and roots and dirt clinging to it because that is what happens.  We are dirtbagging it today. Hell really confused people at do #dirtbagwriter on it.  

Dirtbag writes id, base, lizard brain. Dig in the fertile garden of your imagination. What is the story you tell yourself before you fall asleep? What’s your anxiety this week? Your fantasy? What is going well? What do you wish things looked like? Who is the feral imaginary character you’ve been crafting to take your frustrations and joys out on? 

But, VEE, I wish to have an editor and an outline, use a cool software like scrivener instead of retching up onto a google doc and making it look NICE and PRETTY!

COOL! DO THAT THEN! IF YOU’RE ACTUALLY DOING IT! You should have a process! That’s cool and healthy and necessary for sustainable writing. But if you’re not writing because all of that seems too much? THEN DON’T. 

Did you know fic is free? That we do this from love? From sheer desire? For the love of the game? If you have a process, and the words are flowing, amazing, I love that for you, you don’t need this essay.  If you don’t, let us continue. 

What does dirtbag writing look like? 

It’s messy. It’s a little raw and tatty around the edges sometimes. It’s weird.  It’s someone else’s first draft. Maybe it winds up being your first draft, Idek, that’s your business. 

It’s jokes that make YOU laugh. It’s drama that would make YOU cry if you read it. You are your first commenter. You are your first audience (and possibly continuing pleasure! If you don’t go back and reread your own work sometimes, you might be missing out on one of your favorite authors cause you wrote it for you! Wait until you’re not so close to it. Years sometimes. Then hey, maybe some of this is pretty dang good actually.) 

It has mistakes. 

Dirtbags make mistakes, but dirtbags have published pieces. They have things other people can read out there. 

What if I don’t get good feedback? 

Look, the most likely outcome of any new, untried fic writer (and even established writers trying something new-ish)  is that you get no feedback. That’s real. Silence. It’s eerie, it’s terrible, it sucks. I don’t want to pretend it doesn’t. But nothing is not negative. It’s a big fic-y ocean out there and we are all wee itty-bitty-sometimes-with-titty fishes.  

You should still do it all over again. And again. And again. You get better at writing by writing. You just do. Nothing else replaces it. If your well is dry? Fill it with new things. Go do something new, read a new kind of book, watch a new film,  (libraries have so much good shit, you don’t even have to spend money for so many things if you have a library card), just go for a walk in a new direction. Stimulate yourself. Got a cup of something hot and eavesdrop on conversations. Refill yourself with newness. 

And hey, speaking of, do you leave comments? Because you get what you give. You can build relationships with people by commenting and that builds community and community means places to get feedback in the end. Comments are gold. They are all we are paid in. Tip your writers with ‘extra kudos’ or ‘this made me laugh’. And hey, when you go back for a re-read so you can tell them your favorite part? Ask yourself how they made that favorite part? What do you like about it?  Tone? Metaphor? The structure? Reading teaches us how to write too! 

BUT, okay. Sometimes. Sometimes there is actual bad feedback and people suck. 

You know the best part about being a dirtbag? Unrepentant block, delete, goodbye. You don’t own anyone with a shitty opinion any of your precious time on this earth. You did it for free, you gave them your dirty, but still delicious fruit and they went ‘ew, this is a dirty strawberry, how could you not make a clean tomato?”  Because you didn’t plant fucking tomatoes, did you? Don’t fight, don’t engage. Block. Delete. Goodbye. 

If someone in person, looked you in the eye when you brought them a plate of food to share at a party and they said “Why didn’t you bring me MY favorite? This isn’t cooked well at all.” You would probably write up a Reddit AiTA question about it just to hear five thousand people say they were an asshole.   Fic is no different 

And hey, when you dirtbag it? You know you did. It’s not your most cleaned up perfect version. So who cares what they think? You might make it more shiny and polished next time! You might NOT. 

Ok, but what if I don’t finish it? 

Fuck it, post it anyway. 

What if it’s bad? 

Fuck it, post it anyway. 

What if it doesn’t make sense? 

That’s ART, baby. Fuck it, post it anyway. 

What if what I want to write doesn’t work with current fandom norms? 

Then someone out there probably needs it!  And what the hell is this? The western canon? FUCK IT POST IT ANYWAY* 

*Basic human decency is not a ‘fandom norm’. Don’t be racist, sexist, ableist, fat shaming, classist or shitty about anyone's identity on main, okay? Dirtbag writers are KIND first and foremost. Someone saying you are stepping into shit about their identity is not the same as unsolicited crappy feedback about pairings. In the immortal words of Kurt Vonnegut: "God damn it, you've got to be kind.”

You’re being very flippant about something that’s scary. 

I know. I know I am. I know it can be scary. But no risk, no reward and hell, you aren’t using your goddamn legal name on the internet are you? (please for the love of fuck do not be using your legal name to write fic) You’ve got on a mask. You’re a superhero. With dirt on your cape. 

That niche thing that you think no one cares about? Guaranteed you will find someone else in the world who wants it. Maybe they won’t find it right away. Maybe they will be too shy to comment or even hit a button. But your dirty potato will stick with them. They will make french fries in their head.

You have an audience. But they can’t find you if you have nothing out there. 

Go forth. Make. 

You have some errors in this essay. 

PROBABLY CAUSE I DIRTBAGGED IT.  But I picked this strawberry for you out of my brain, so I hope you run it under some cold water and find the good bits and have a nice snack. Or throw it away. Or use it to plant more strawberries (I know that’s not how strawberries work, metaphors break when stretched).  

#dirtbagwriter 

Go forth and MAKE

#writing #i'm not an expert #I just have been doing this a long time #and these are my feels #please feel free to throw away this strawberry

[caycanteven]

how do you go about drawing the heftier skeleton body types so nicely? i want to draw bigger skellies but im not sure how to go about it!

I'm so sorry this is a bit late, but I hope it still helps in some way!

I heavily focus on the shapes as a foundation for my boys. I reference a lot of body types and anatomy! If you're looking to draw bigger skellies, I recommend finding a body type you like and studying what defines it; it doesn't have to be realistic (that can be a bit overwhelming) but finding a style you like and learning that way is much easier and is a simpler form.

For me, I like wide shoulders and large, comfy bellies--aka, the wonderful dad bod <3. So that' where my major shapes will be defined; I like to focus on points like the collar bone to help me build on the ribcages, and if I draw ecto, that tells me where the pecs should be, abdominal "muscles" and other lovable folds!

Most of the time, my guys are clothed, so I don't have to worry about bones. ;3

Everyone's interpretation for skellies is different, but the one thing that is universal, imo, is the use of shapes! That's where you want to start off and know that I'm encouraging you and rooting for you! <3

#cay talks #cays tips #i'm not an expert #but im always willin to lend a hand! #i believe in you #make those hot hefty skellies #you got this #<3 #if you got tips/tricks/suggestions please reblog this and add it in! #I can learn something to ya know #teehee <3 #its so early #i stayed up trying to figure out how to explain this without second guessing myself ough

[lolli-popples]

I don't usually talk about this stuff, and this has been spoken about by many others, but I do wanna mention it.

So, there's a general "rule"/courtesy on Tumblr around discussing your dislike of different media/fandom things. Basically, when expressing your dislike of something, you should do one of two things(or both)

A- Tag it as hate. All you need to do is write out the tag "(main tag) hate". This way it will be blocked by anyone who is filtering that tag.

or

B- Don't put it under the main tag of the thing you dislike. This way it won't show up when you search that tag.

Now, it is absolutely fine not to like things. Or to talk about not liking them. Sometimes it's fun and cathartic to hate on stuff! But don't put it in the same spaces that people go to enjoy those things.

In that same vein, if you don't like a certain fandom, ship, or character, then you can set up your Tumblr dash to hide any posts with the relevant tags! Or if you don't like to see hate for that thing, block the hate tag! Just like blocking accounts, you can choose what you see here so you can enjoy your time on Tumblr.

Just remember, you wouldn't go into an anime club just to tell everyone that you hate anime, so use that same courtesy when interacting in online fan spaces.

(Also, good faith criticism is a slightly more complex topic, this is meant to be a simple explanation)

#lollipopplestalks #tumblr etiquette #fandom etiquette #If anyone more knowledgable wants to add onto this or correct something I said here feel free #I'm not an expert #Just wanted to restate this point

[sketching-shark]

Hmmmmmm I’ve heard and seen that villainizing Erlang Shen is becoming more common in the western jttw-adjacent fandom and so I do think we should all keep in mind that besides Erlang Shen still being a very important deity in the Daoist pantheon (to say nothing of his role as a deity who’s saved countless humans from floods) he also does have a number of understandable reasons for many of his actions. For example, he played a vital part in capturing Sun Wukong on account of that monkey wrecking heaven, & to a degree even his role in imprisoning his own sister Sansheng Mu under a mountain is comprehensible because of the mindset that the gods absolutely can’t afford to have any human emotions under any circumstances on account of the chaos they could wreak if they let feeling such as jealousy, anger, want, etc. define them. I mean, one popular myth even says that the first goddess Nüwa had to give up her own life to repair both heaven and earth because of a catastrophic, nearly apocalyptic war that the gods waged based on the desire to control heaven, so you can understand why the rule that the gods can’t allow themselves human emotions would be absolute.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think that Erlang Shen makes an amazing antagonist when done well, and the possibilities involved in exploring things like his unrelenting belief in the righteousness of all his actions even for things like (again) imprisoning his own sister & burning thousands of the Mt. Huaguoshan monkey yaoguai to death could make him a terrifying figure. HOWEVER, I think it does a massive (and potentially really disrespectful) disservice to his character from both a story-telling & a cultural standpoint to paint him as a 100% despicable villain who fully deserves to be demonized. He’s a figure who’s done SO MUCH for the good of humanity, and that’s not something that should be immediately dismissed.

As always I need to note I’m in no way shape or form an expert on Chinese mythology, but I am relatively confident in saying that when it comes to the conflicts between humans, yaoguai, and deities there is plenty of violence and strife, but the narratives you can weave about them are much more interesting & meaningful when you’re not reducing any of these groups to being the one designated “bad guy.” If anything, as Journey to the West itself makes explicitly clear, the line between the three groups is blurry at best, they are ALL responsible for numerous atrocities, and there’s plenty of blame, as well as opportunities for truly doing good, to go around.

#chinese mythology #erlang shen #as per usual if i mess up with anything here let me know #i'm not an expert #just someone who's getting tired of important chinese deities being immediately pigeonholed into the 'villain' box #as part of this weird fandomification/massive simplification of world mythology

[cosmic-muses]

Hello! Just out of curiosity, what's it like being a system?

Howdy hun, Novella here o7

This... is a tough question, mostly because how diverse the experience is, y'know? My hardships and stories are gonna be way different from someone else's. I have a small nunber of diverse headmates, none of them fictives or anything like that, we have some memory problems but largely stuff translated across, we get along well but we have disagreements and conflicts. These kinds of things are going to be different for everyone.

But... imagine a roommate, for a moment. You can leave each other notes or occasionally talk directly. Any decision that affects the apartment as a whole has to be decided upon together.

This apartment is your body.

These headmates have the closest perspective of you. They know your thoughts sometimes. There is little to no privacy in your own head. Further, big decisions? Those are shared. You know how difficult it is when different headmates disagree on huge decisions like bottom surgery? There's no way to make everyone happy there. It just causes bickering and arguments over dysphoria in your head. Sometimes, headmates are so loud it feels like I can't think. You juggle responsibilities and your leisure time for hobbies is split into pieces, because everyone wants a chance to do things they enjoy.

Then there's what happens when an unstable headmate is capable of forcefully taking over the body, how you have to worry about what another mind might do while in control. It's also hard knowing that you can't talk about it to some people or you're slapped with that stigmatized label of "crazy" or "insane." You've got to explain or justify any lapses in memory or "sudden changes in behavior" you might have. Pretending to be a "singlet" so to speak

There's the general dissociation and the infighting and the invasive insight and the trauma and it's all... hard sometimes. It can be complicated. Did I mention dissociating? That's not fun. Neither is the memory issues.

It's not all stormclouds. I'm fond of all my headmates and I care for them dearly. But I would never claim to you that systemhood is something glamorous or wonderful. There are times we've all wished we had our own bodies and could be seperate people, because it would be easier. There are times when we consider each other family.

This... we felt unsure of answering this ask, because there's no "one" plural experience. So many systems have so many different experiences and it's... just that pur experiences and thoughts shouldn't dictate your understanding of plurality, is all I'm sayin, y'know?

#asks #nova's answers #it feels weird to answer this question #I'm not an expert

[mydaroga]

did punk ruin music

The short answer is "no." The longer answer is, "I'm not sure anything can 'ruin' music." But the serious answer is that while I'm not remotely qualified to answer this question, it's been asked, so I'll give it a go. If you're serious about asking it, I'd love to know exactly what you mean.

Because my understanding is that punk was a natural and, in a sense, necessary reaction to what was going on at the time. Punk is a lot of things, but one essential thing to remember is that it's both a rejection of what was going on at the time and an embrace of prior modes of rock and roll. It's a rebellion, but it's not a wholesale rejection of everything that came before. In that sense, it has a lot in common with, say, early Beatles (and there are several examples of punk bands being influenced by the bugs, down to The Ramones' name). It is a reaction against the mainstreaming, popification of music in the 70s, a desire to get back to the basics. And you can love a lot of the excessive 70s arena and prog rock and still think we needed someone to come along and remind us that, hey, you can start a band in your garage. You don't need all that.

It's just a cycle, really. You see it again in the early 90s with grunge as a response to hair metal and power pop. You saw it in the 50s when Chuck Berry et al exploded the norms of crooners and jazz standards. Nothing's wrong with any of that, but it's refreshing for someone to put together three chords and make a beautiful noise. It's a reminder that music is for everyone.

I currently feel terribly pretentious for having said all that, but I hope it's interesting!

#kris talks a lot #i'm not an expert #but i do have opinions! #anon asks #the ask box

[theinheriteddutchess]

I think that if all the people deciding to start and continue wars, had to be in the front, the first to fight, they wouldn't be so quick to order all these deaths.

They feel very safe away from it all and have no empathy to the ones in the middle of it.

I wish them that empathy, not for themselves, but for those who are affected by them.

#war #i think of the whole world here #because there's many things going on we don't hear about it barely hear about #but yes also #ukraine #palestine #gaza #I'm not an expert #i don't have answers #i want people to have basic rights and freedom #i want us to treat each other as people

[wigglebox]

Let’s talk Mary’s costuming in The Winchesters’ trailer! 

One of the first things I saw pop up specifically was about how Mary looked in this, 1972, in comparison to her 1973 counterpart in SPN prime. 

Neither one is out of place, but their styles do seem pretty different. I’m not going to get into why they decided to style her like this as opposed to in SPN prime, but I will say that Mary never seemed to have her own “style.” She’s had vaguely girly things that’s hit trends in the various times we’ve seen her but she’s never felt like she’s had her own “style.” The most we’ve seen her with a style is after she comes back to life and we see her for three seasons in outfits that more or less mimick Dean and Sam. Jacket, over shirt, under shirt, simple hair, minimal make up. 

But even then, her style felt more like the boys’ style, and not her own. 

Which is why I was so excited to see her costuming in the prequel’s trailer. It felt like they were trying to finally establish her style to us. And with visual storytelling, how you stylize your character just sets the tone and vibe and gives us subtle or not-so-subtle hints at who they are as a character. 

When looking at the line up up there ^ I see someone who’s vaguely girly, though the 1980 Mary in Asa Fox -- girl your hair. Help. Who did this to you. 

But, 1980 flashback Mary in Asa Fox matched 2019 Mary more in my opinion of someone who doesn’t really care about her appearance and is just wearing someting to wear something. And that’s how I feel 1972 Mary’s styling looks like. 

At least in the trailer. Idk what else they’re gonna have her wear. 

From her hair, her jacket, the pin buttons, and the necklaces – some people were confused as to why she looks like she walked out of 1997 than 1972, but to me she’s still 1970s (especially because all aspects of 70s fashion from 1970 to 79 have been revisted in subsequent decades of fashion up to this day). 

Her look is just not conventional, typical, generalized 1970s. To me they personalized her more to tell us her story.

Note, I’m not a certified fashion historian, but I do like fashion from the ‘60s and ‘70s a lot lol. I may get some things wrong, but this is just what I’m thinking. I know there are fans of this show who likely were even walking and talking at this time and may disagree with what i gotta say but whatever I’m gonna go for it anyway lol.

Also a reminder: this is The CW, not some period drama on HBO Max or anything. 

Despite not having expertise in this area, just going off of the numerous vintage fashion video’s I’ve watched on Youtube, there are some things i personally always keep in mind when it comes to studying fashion trends. 

Trends do not exist purely within the boundaries of a decade. The early 70s take with it some late-60s fashion trends, particularly the hippie/boho stuff but other things as well like jewelry and some hairstyles. Every decade bled into each other, and with the rise of fast fashion, trends can change even easier. Now, in 2022, you can’t really even pin down a trend because things just move too fast.

Trends didn’t often quickly permeate more isolated, conservative, or poorer areas of the country. The population of Lawrence in 2020 is estimated at just over 97,000. You can imagine it’s smaller for the early ‘70s. But these places didn’t often have people who played into fashion trends be it too expensive, extravagant, or just not having the resources to buy and invest in trends that would flip in a few years anyway.

Let’s start with Prequel-Mary’s hair. 

Some said it looked too ‘90s or just not 1970s at all. But it is! Long, straight, sometimes messy-looking hair was indeed a trend for women in this time. It may conjure images of hippies for many, but it was also on other women. For me, Mary not having curls means to me that taking the time to curl and stylize her hair, and going in for trendy haircuts, wasn’t her priority. There are plenty of images, spanning multiple countries, of women at this time not doing anything with their hair, leaving it more natural and not having blowouts or curls. Also, since Carlos evoked the name of Janis Joplin, Mary’s hair also reminded me of her. 

Onto Prequel-Mary’s necklaces. 

Another thing that made people say she reminded people of the ‘90s were her chokers, but chokers are hardly a ‘90s thing. Indeed if you look closer at her necklaces [which is harder to do in non-HD lol] you’ll see they seem to be made of wooden or shaped shell beads, which was common at the time and a hold-over from the late ‘60s. They aren’t out of the ordinary at all, especially later in the trailer when we see her sporting one with some kind of pendant on it but still with what looks like natural-material beading.

Prequel-Mary’s leather jacket?

This was a little harder for me because the leather jacket combined with the vintage pin buttons felt very punk when the punk fashion movement is usually hard marked at 1974 and beyond. The prequel takes place two years before that, obviously. But, women wearing fitted leather jackets weren’t uncommon, but usually signaled that she was a “bad girl.” To me, just with the quality of the trailer, it indeed looks like a motorcycle jacket or just something simlar. Women in leather jackets became more popular with the rise of the Mod fashion movement in the 1960s. 

It’s not a current fashion trend for someone of her age to wear that i think in 1972, but I imagine the costumer designers had their reasoning. Between the hair, and the jacket with the pins, they are establishing Mary as someone who isn’t following typical young women trends and societal expections. Basically, she’s living outside the “norm.” She doesn’t have time to look “cute” or fashionable. Who knows, maybe the jacket has some personal meaning to her.

I’m unsure if this is also influenced by her music taste lol. We don’t know enough about this Mary yet. Though, I do want to know what her pin buttons are really realyl bad lol.

Prequel-Mary’s t-shirt/under shirts. 

This isn’t really something anyone complained about, and it’s because there’s nothing to complain. Young women wearing t-shirts and jeans were common throughout the 70s. 

This tank top:

This is 1973 but:

The tanktop isn’t out of place at all. There are multiple variations of different kinds of tanktops and a scoop neck tanktop wouldn’t be out of place I think in 1972. 

Prequel-Mary’s make up

I’m not going to get too into makeup because it’s harder when you don’t have actual fashion historians doing your costuming and make-up – idk if this show does but again it’s The CW, not a high budget period film. But also, being on TV, especially if they’re going to be shooting this with specialized lenses and the like... just in general, you need more make up I think on an actor. 

However if we go off that ^ image above we can make out a peachy kind of blush, pinker lipstick but not overdone, thicker eyebrows, and just some eyeliner with mascara [maybe a little shadow but it’s not intense imo]. 

Given her jacket, her hair, and her apparent t-shirt and tanktop thing going on, I’m willing to bet she also seems to be the kind of person to put the least amount of time into her makeup. Obviously not every woman can be painted with the same brush -- we all decide on our personal style and if we want to care about trends and all of that, and if we want to follow societal norms, but a trend that followed into the 70s, also due to the women’s liberation movement, was a more natural look. 

Compare this Covergirl ad from 1972 to Mary’s look:

It’s not too far off imo. Her lipstick is a little pinker but I don’t think it’s like, out of place. 

Mary’s eyebrows I think are what threw a lot of people off because they are darker and thicker. If you look at fashion magazines at the time you’ll see a lot of pencil-thin eyebrows for the most “trendy” but her thicker eyebrows aren’t out of place. 

To me (as someone with thicker eyebrows lol) it’s going in theme with her minimal make-up, little hair styling, and shunning of young women’s fashion trends at the time. She doesn’t have time or the need to go to a hair salon, get her hair layered and permed or put in those hot rollers. She doesn’t have time to go and get her eyebrows waxed or spend time in front of the mirror to do it herself. 

She feels androgynous in a sense. A little more masculine than our 1973 Mary who wore embroidered cowgirl shirts and sported shorter, more styled hair. 

I’m unsure if they’ll change Mary’s appearance once they hit 1973 in the show. I don’t even know when they want to hit 1973 in the show. 

If anything, what i’m gathering from little comments from jackles he’s made regarding this show, it sounds like it won’t be told in a way we’re expecting so who knows what’s going to happen tbh. 

But regardless, I love this Mary’s styling. I can’t wait to see what else they put her in!

#long post #spnwin #if anyone has any other thoughts pls jump in #i'm not an expert #just sharing observations #i also wanna just do everyone else lol

[heyheynananat]

tomgreg dog owners 

#tomgreg #grEg did you get a dog #grEg what did you do #this is an excuse to post nicholas braun with dogs. #i'm not sure it's a bulldog #i'm not an expert

[partnering-diluc]

I've been watching this youtuber called Aly art and they give really solid fashion tips based on your kibbe type.

And I think that Diluc is definitely a Romantic body type. This is the vibe I'm getting from him.

(in the artwork, I think that most of the 3D models look like ass)

- His face is soft, his hands are small.

-He looks petite and if I didn't know, I would've said his height is average for a guy.

- Romantics have a lot of ying energy and I can see that in Diluc.

- He has quite the gentle expression.

(though it's more of a distrustful look)

I know that people are into buff Diluc but I've always liked that he's a petite male character. And just because he's a Claymore users doesn't mean he can't be petite. What about the other female claymore characters?

In my eyes, Diluc will always be petite but that's because his muscles are lean due to running often.

#You can headcanon Diluc having a buff body #this is just my headcanon #Diluc and his gap moe #Petite Diluc #kibbe body types #diluc ragnvindr #diluc #my opinion #I'm not an expert

[hereticusmaximus]

As someone who's trying to get into mini painting by way of doll customization, do you think I can use Mr Super Clear matte varnish as a primer for minis? It works beautifully for dolls, but doll customization uses different media

Hmm, interesting question. I would obviously recommend using an actual primer, but I think using a matte varnish as a primer could work too. Though, I'm not familiar with the specific product, but as long as the coat is not too thick and the finish isn't like hard/glossy, I think you should be good.

I think the main concerns here would be: 1. Does it block model details? 2. Does the paint stick to the varnish? 3. Does it damage the model? (Some chemicals might dissolve plastic for example)

If you want to be on the safe side, you could first try it out on some scrap piece of plastic (e.g., sprues) or on a figure that you don't really care about, and see how it looks and if the paint layers sticks properly to the "primer".

#i'm not an expert #try at your own risk #and other disclaimers

[mawofthemagnetar]

Hi, is there any advice you could give to beginner writers? Your works really inspired me as a writer for whom English isn't a first language and i wanted to say thank you so much for that, even if it wasn't intentional. I wanted to try writing something a bit more serious than short fanfiction and i figured you'd be the best person to ask about that. Sorry if it's a bit too weird ^^"

Anon, I'm truly and deeply flattered, and thank you so, so much for letting me know this. This isn't weird at all, and don't apologize for asking!

As for your question, uh...

So, the thing is, I've never, ever taken any sort of formal training for writing or English. I did okay in school, but as far as writing goes, I'm entirely self-taught.

The most basic piece of advice I can give is: For the love of god, use your enter key to break up paragraphs and make sure everything is roughly grammatically correct. That's the single biggest thing to keep in mind.

Aside from that, here are the only real pieces of advice I have:

Write for yourself.

And write the specific content you want to read.

I know that's easy to say, but the thing is, it's incredibly easy for fic you think is killer to get ignored, and at the end of the day you need to be your own target audience. If you ONLY write for numbers or comments or reaction, you're going to go insane and want to quit. Now that's not saying that feedback isn't important- it's critical, and it's a huge help. But having a story you really, REALLY want to see to completion is such a powerful motivator, at least for me. It's the only way you'll have enough steam to keep going for longer works. So, when I walked into the Hermitcraft fandom, I looked around, saw that nobody else was giving Keralis the nightmare monster treatment he deserved, and dove in with both feet.

Another thing:

KILL SECRET RULES.

Full send. Every time. Write something and full send it, slap that shit on Ao3. Obviously edit and spellcheck, but don't get bogged down in "is this good enough". No, it's not perfect. Because nothing created by human hands is EVER perfect. If you agonize over every line you'll hate yourself. So when you have something roughed out, give it a day to rest, give it a polish, and then drop it like a lead potato. It's fanfiction. We're not getting paid. It's for fun!

So who cares if the fic is short? Who cares if the fic is weird? Who cares if it's something odd or strange or whatever? Don't give yourself minimums and requirements and regulations. Let the words do what they will.

Both of these things tie into my biggest single tip, which is:

START WRITING AND DON'T GIVE UP.

The thing is, fanfic is a fantastic way to sharpen your skills. There's an old anecdote about two classes of university students in a pottery class, and how one class was graded on number of pots produced and one was graded on a single pot at the end of the semester. The class that cranked out pots like there was no tomorrow had better clay pots at the end of the day, because they'd put in the time to actually practice pottery instead of stressing over theory!

So just...start. Just open a word document (or a google doc if you're not a piratey pirate like me) and just put some words down. The more you write, the easier it gets.

If you don't have an idea for a story, look for some prompts- or just start asking questions. This is sort of how I come up with plots:

Grab a hermit. Grab your favourite hermit. Your protagonist doesn't have to be a nice person, or a good person, or even a hero at all, but if they're a blorbo it really helps.

Let's say it's Zedaph. Now let's put that fucker in a situation. Think of something you're interested in! For me, I have an extreme obsession with aircraft and aircraft disasters and the wilderness. So, okay, let's do a pilot AU. Now I get to dress Zed up in a pilot costume! (Keralis can be his co-pilot!) It's fanfic- you're allowed to spoil yourself! And then, from there, we make decisions about our story- does Zedaph crash his plane? How do they find rescue?

Plotting a story, at least to me, is about putting these bitches in a situation and then asking questions about how things will turn out based on how these characters act.

So, in general, just... go for it. Your first stories WILL suck. Christ knows mine did. You don't have to post them! But you can. And you might be surprised- because as you grow as a writer and a creator, people will look at everything you've made with very different eyes than you have. Even the old stuff you come to cringe at is often loved by someone, somewhere. (This is why you should orphan old works instead of deleting them, trust me!)

But when you go for it, there's another thing you should keep in mind:

Take breaks. Rest. Take time off. It's not a job and it shouldn't feel like it! Go for a walk. Take a month off. Look at the daisies. Spend time with your family. Real-world experience is valuable to a writer, helping you understand sensations and situations. Reading other people's works is invaluable too, helping you get to grips with stories and plots and all the machinery of narrative. So take time to exist, and take time to consume, and take time to rest.

Take time to be.

To sum up, writing is a game of mental leapfrog where you shuffle puzzle pieces around in your head until they click into some kind of shape. The perfect is the enemy of the good and secret rules will make you insane. The actual act of putting words down is something that absolutely gets better with practice. And you're not a machine, so don't treat yourself like one.

And anyone can write.

I'm not some authority on writing. To be frank, I'm kind of clueless. I don't know the technical terms for things, I'm not an English teacher, and I'm not a professional. This is just my general, overly long thoughts on the matter.

I hope this was even slightly helpful. Go for it, dude. I believe in you!

Oh, and one more thing...

Listen to some Pendulum while you write. <3

#Magnetar rambles #answered ask #thank you! #these are just my thoughts and they're probably very incoherent #I hope this was even slightly helpful #thank you so much anon #I believe in you with all my heart! #And I'll be honest #I'm not amazing at sticking to all of these myself #but they're things I think are helpful #again #I'm not an expert #I'm just some guy with a keyboard

[gekken]

Looking at cassette tape players and it's genuinely kind of insulting some of the shit that gets pushed out for new production players. Like this "We Are Rewind" shit, they've basically only had a render for years now, they seem to finally be ready to ship soonish, and they're just gonna be awful.

Like, personally, I think this just looks a bit shit. Visually, it doesn't have any of the same charm that even the 2000's era players had, and if they were instead trying to mimic the appeal/charm of the 80's players, well, they missed the mark there. It also just looks like it would be awful to hold/lug around.

And then there's the feature set. Stereo recording/playback, ok that SHOULD just be standard, it has bluetooth, whatever, the body is aluminum, cool, but then it has the fucking nerve to say that it's rechargeable built in battery with a ten hour battery life is a "world first"?

Like, bitch, that is nothing. Used to get 35 hours off of a single AA. Quality rechargeable AA's exist and aren't terribly expensive. Some late Sony Walkman's had a gumstick battery, which offered comparable performance and were rechargeable, and they would often have a sidecar attachment that you could stick a AA into for even more playtime. Is your "world first" in sucking so bad that you make late 90's/early 2000's tech look amazing?

And there's also like, the mechanism.

This is bad. They want €90 (they're a French company, and the US dollar is about even with the Euro at time of writing) for what appear to be the exact same mechanism that you can get from a $20 recorder on amazon, complete with the permanent erase head (which is to say, just a fucking magnet, that blue thing the the left of the word rewind), so any recording you make just sounds like shit.

And that €90 is a pre-order discount, the full retail price of this will supposedly be €150, wow, what a great value. Even still, €90 for a cassette player with a bargain bin mechanism (I'm pretty sure it uses the same one as the It's OK players) with a basic feature set, and nothing like an auto-reverse or any type of noise reduction like. What a fucking scam.

Don't buy it.

#i'm not an expert #but i think i have a semi-decent idea about this #also why are you buying a cassette player in 2022 #also I just bought a cassette player in 2022

[canadian-riddler]

Fair enough. Not many people know that much about autism, or enough to make a solid statement about it. And that’s okay to admit. Thanks for answering anyway.

I can only really speak to what I've been looking into for my fanfic, unfortunately

#so says Indy #asks #anon #and even that's kinda #I'm not an expert

[good-to-drive]

I’m really fascinated by your mention of Nixon in tags. Let loose! I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.

Careful what you wish for!

#ask #hopefully you're not disappointed lol #I'm not an expert #I just have a lot of THOUGHTS #would love to hear from people who know more than me

[takaki2]

#i'm not an expert