#advice nobody asked for

[stupidphototricks]

I've been in the workforce for 30 years now, and I feel done. Mentally ready to retire. Unfortunately I still won't be financially ready to retire for probably more than ten years.

My Dad was about my age when he took an early retirement offer from his company, after it had been acquired. And honestly thank god that he was able to do that, because he and my Mom got to have a good 15+ years of travel, hobbies, and volunteer work that they loved before they started dealing with health problems in a major way.

I'm the primary breadwinner of my family, by a lot. I have a kid in college who may well go on to grad school and in any case is unlikely to be able to fully support themself right off the bat. (No judgment at all, things are tough.)

I don't hate my job. It's a good job and I'm lucky to have it. I'm very, very grateful to have the life of relative ease and comfort that I have.

But odds are (and trust that I'm doing everything I can to weight those odds in my favor) I will start sinking into the mire of hereditary age-related health problems right about the same time it becomes financially possible for me to retire. And that's the best-case scenario where I don't lose my job before then, which would put a big financial strain on everything. (I don't have any illusions that I could get another similar-paying job at this point, given my age and lack of skills and contacts.)

And whatever, it is what it is. But my advice to my kid and all of the younger generation out there is, don't put all of your career eggs in one basket. That doesn't work anymore. If you can, keep taking online courses after you graduate. Do freelance work. Explore other interests than what you majored in in college. If you have to keep working for pretty much your whole life, and I'm sorry but you probably will, mix it up! Try to have something to pivot to if your chosen career goes away or if you get tired of it. 40 years is a long time, I'm just saying.

[doublegoblin]

Howdy kids! This is your impromptu reminder that if you are on the roads far from town/city/village and you suddenly find a large branch/stick/other kind of obstruction and you think "hey that isn't that big, I can probaly get out and move it" don't!

Most likely it is nothing, however there have been cases of people placing these sorts of things to get up to nefarious purposes! Just turn around and reroute your trip to places.

Saw a post of a dark road and didn't want to just hijack their shit for a psa.

Stay safe as the days get warmer and brighter, when those who can and do enjoy going for long drives or trips do.

[cocksley-and-catapult]

mr cocksley and catapult do you have any advice for making shitty comics and sticking with them. how do you stay so motivated to make these i don’t get it

[i-really-like-phrogs]

When someone else’s art is so good you physically can’t look at it because of artistic jealousy

[ragnarokhound]

omg sweetie pie don’t talk about chains I’ll BLUSH. definitely never been into that…

How do you think the rest of the Batfam reacts to Jaytim finally happening (something along the lines of your secretary fic) ?

I think Cass knew how they felt before them, Damian is disgusted (but secretly pleased), Dick found out by walking in on them at Tim’s apartment, and Bruce had no idea and has none until Jason tells him point blank. Alfred? Somehow orchestrated the whole thing.

I'll keep that in mind babe ;) (*adds 'Spicy Hardware' to the budget)

Ohoho, that is a fun question, and one that I often have trouble answering because I am like a horse with blinders on when it comes to my hyperfixations and my ships OTL Jason and Tim usually get the brunt of my obsessive analysis, leaving only minimal room for other characters to squeeze their way in. RIPeroni you two ❤️

That being said, I'm a huge liar because I do actually have some Thoughts lol

It largely depends on the state of the verse we're in and how involved the others were in watching their courtship go down, so without further adieu, here's how I think the batfam would react to finding out about jaytim's newly minted relationship in my secretary!au fic:

So in Secretary!AU in particular, the others weren't involved to an almost suspicious degree 😳 Tim is losing his mind for a month over Jason daylighting as his secretary, and he never finds out anything resembling the truth from anyone? What??

Which of course means some of them were simply unaware because they don't give a shit or assume Tim isn't suffering (Damian, Duke, Bruce) and some ARE aware to some degree that this is unusual and came to their own conclusions. And promptly decided to stay out of it (Dick, Babs, Steph, Cass, Alfred - Duke might actually be here, it depends lol)

In particular, Steph hears Tim's mini rant/breakdown Day 1 and is simply too amused. Because she watched him suddenly start deflecting Jason's attention 3 months ago, and oh boy does this feel like a comeuppance. She's got popcorn and is asking things like, 'i dunno Tim, why do you think Jason followed you to the office where you have to reliably be?' and after all of it, when he shows up with a hickey after patrolling with Jason that night, she golf claps at him

Cass shrugs at Tim when he vents where she can hear, because she's been waiting for them to figure this out for like. A year now. She is surprised when Tim had his Jason-shaped epiphany because she knows that Tim has been Into Jason ever since that time in the park with Poison Ivy, and Jason called him a princess for getting particular about decon. (Similarly, Cass also knew that Jason has been low-key into Tim since the time before that, when Tim ugly laughed so hard at a joke Jason made at Dick's expense that he nearly inhaled a french fry). When they get together, she is standing next to Steph, also golf clapping because Steph told her it would be funny

Dick had to listen to Jason complain about Tim ghosting him a month or two into it (Jason and Dick were in each other's vicinity and Jason asked how Tim was doing. Dick said he was 'fine, why?' And Jason scowled and muttered, 'No reason. Feel like he's been dodging me, is all' and a tiny red alert pinged in the back of Dick's head) so when he hears that Jason is at Wayne Tower and that Tim is having vent sessions about it with Steph, his eyebrows shoot waaaay up. He kind of hopes that the Tower is still standing after Jason's done getting whatever vengeance he has in mind (Jason's prank war game is both legendary and unhinged). When he finds out what actually transpires (or rather, guesses what transpired), he has a small moment of relief because 'oh phew, is that all?' and then immediately BSODs because 'WAIT WHAT, IS THAT WHY YOU GUYS ARE CLAPPING--'

Babs quietly figured out why Tim was panicking pretty early because no one ghosts someone for having a good, fun, tbh flirty relationship for literally any other reason. She wondered vaguely if Jason was going to a) clock it and then b) do anything about it, and then equally quietly paused auto-uploads on Wayne Tower office footage so that she could make Tim review it instead. She simply Will Not be the one to log the data from Monday morning, thanks.

Damian did not and does not give a fuck. He briefly questions Todd's sanity. Then immediately discards that thought because it's Todd. He would like Grayson to quit yelling at that octave though, because his 'i'm secretly happy for you but also hurt that you didn't confide in me' shouting is very grating and makes Damian nervous.

Duke I'm on the fence about, but I lean towards 'i was sitting over on the bench' for him. He was so busy Staying In His Lane that he simply did not notice that this was happening. 'Uh, congrats, I guess?'

Bruce was keeping tabs on the situation. He does not plan to review the footage either. He has ten more gray hairs than he did yesterday, and is pondering how their relationship might affect their performance in the field, but trusts that Tim has likely thought through the ramifications and likely scenarios that should need to be compensated for. (Being involved with your teammate can be frightening and stressful; it could lead to strain between the two of you, and opens new vulnerabilities up for exploitation. But it can also be deeply, deeply rewarding. Hm.) (also shout-out to the one commenter who theorized that Bruce was the one on the other end of the phone call that Jason yanked the cord on. LMAO. ROFL, even.)

Alfred defuses the tension in the cave by reminding everyone to please finish their reports, and that there are refreshments in the dining room upstairs when they are finished, should anyone be joining the household for dinner tonight. He is very pointedly looking at Jason and Tim when he says this, because they Will be joining the household for dinner tonight, because it is the duty and privilege of a grandfather to tease his grandson (Jason) for having a boyfriend (Tim). Idk if Alfred called it in quite the same way as Cass, but he knew there was something interpersonal they needed to work out, and also that Tim has had a crush on Robin for his Entire Life, so he's not exactly surprised.

...aaaand sorry if I skipped anyone, but that's my list lol

[snzluv3r]

i actually feel so incredibly uncomfortable and isolated in this space right now and i know that’s silly because of how many people there are just like me who share the same feelings but idk…the fact that people even think this is defensible behavior is making me feel sick

[fianne-0123]

Lan Xichen giving advice : Do not pursue homoerotic friendships; He deceived everyone around him, killed my best friend, manipulated me, stole sect secrets, stole the stygian tiger seal, exploited it & basically unleashed chaos to the world.

The Lan disciples : zewu .. jun?

Lan Xichen, calm as ever, sips tea : Yes?

[arguablysomaya]

more than anything i want a spiderverse office drama au

[bayheart]

MORE ARTED FIGHT!! batch 2/2 of revenges for this year >:3

2013 wc era ready-to-strike Raven for KittyDragonLove (AF)

dark forest Nightstrike for Drakizora (AF)

scheming Slatemoon (ft. Jackson and Vellichor) for Itraka (AF) and ft. mystikatzen (AF)

up-to-no-good Ally, Moe, and Bayneheart for @ashcrowz and ft. @dzzystrs <3

honeymooning Jack and Hikaru for @recallback

favorite brother Frogpaw (ft. ecstatic Bouncekit) for goldstorm (AF)

exasperated Nixi and respective dads Essex and Cosmos for @king-hsssy

here is to me having the same amount of illness next year <3

[electronix-arts]

do not be afraid to hit that unfollow button on that account

[zedif-y]

people older than you when the challenge is to not give unsolicited advice: 💀💀💀

[rileys-battlecats]

How did you learn to draw backgrounds so skillfully? :0

Aaa I'm still learning and trying to improve but thank you!! The short answer is lots and lots of practice!! However that's not very helpful SO the long answer is that I spent time learning mathematical perspective (which I explain in this post) and spent even longer sitting down and drawing scenery from life and photos. Never underestimate the power of drawing from life!! It can be a little boring if you're not into drawing that sort of thing, but it honestly helped me SO much. Learning to draw something realistically will help you learn how to simplify it! I think the old adage was that you had to "know the rules before you break them"?? Idk I think that was a thing I heard in school HAHA. But it's true!! Knowing how to draw something the way it looks irl will help you to be able to simplify/stylize it in a way that looks and feels right to you :)

Some practical little tips I like to keep in mind for simple backgrounds:

Layering! Keep in mind the foreground, midground, and background. and if you're me, the back-background lol, cause a lot of my backgrounds have faraway mountains or distant trees in the very very back

^related to this, keep in mind that objects further away from the viewer will have a lower saturation and lower contrast than the things closer to the viewer! If you see mountains from far away, you'll notice that they tend to look almost pale blue against the sky. Here's a Wikipedia article about the phenomenon :D

Think about what makes sense for your background. What are some things you might see there? If you're drawing a forest, what types of trees are growing? What sorts of undergrowth? It won't all be the same species, the wild has plenty of diversity in its flora and fauna!

This one's a bit more of an abstract thought than real advice BUT. Try to think of your background as less of a backdrop to put your character in front of, and more as a stage your character is standing in! Try to think of it as a three-dimensional space, instead of a painted screen you're wheeling in behind your characters lol

All this being said, these are my rules for drawing backgrounds. If you find something different that works better for you, do that!! Art is all about breaking rules, so don't take my word (or anyone else's!!) as gospel! Feel free to experiment, to do whatever you think looks good or is fun to make :)

[feralthembo]

internet survival tip: dont follow people who's primary source of engagement is making fun of people. doesnt matter if your morals align. if the only time you see em is when theyre making fun of something or being mad? fuck em.

[morsobaby]

Hey is it possible to just be becoming more mentally ill or neurodivergent as you age (or have notable symptoms thereof become more debilitating and noticeable)?

[ohtobemare]

I think one of the most life-giving things I’ve learned from this hellsite is the simple power in writing what you want to see in your fandom.

Creating your wants, fulfilling personal fantasies and desires even if you’re exiled on your own little maroon. And certainly I don’t agree with some of the directions this advice produces, but—I don’t have to. That’s the point.

We get so swept up in content consumption that we begin to expect it to just readily exist for us—and this is problematic, for creators, because it keeps us stagnant. Comfortable. We begin to seek comfortability and crumble when we don’t see what we want in our fandoms—which leads to a jaded sense of loneliness that “we’re the only ones” and “something is wrong with us” for liking any one specific thing. Many leave fandoms and interests because they don’t find what they’re looking for, because what they want doesn’t exist. And thus, personal responsibility is abandoned, blame shifted to those who already are creating what they want. Blame and pressure, which nobody asked for in breathing fandom.

You see, FanFiction exists from the cumulative idea of creating what you want. The skeleton of such a beast exists from the creation of the original piece of media, the foundation. And from there, it’s meant to grow into whatever direction creatives want to take it. If it doesn’t exist, and you desire it to, then you are responsible for creating it.

Not doing so, ignoring that crushing isolated-island feeling, falls to nobody’s fault but your own feet.

There’s power in creating for the niche. Give life to what you want to see in fandom—even if it’s just you. Even if you don’t get interaction. If it’s just for you, if you can only hang on in the fandom because of your own AU and creative power, that’s it. That’s it, honey. That’s the idea. Validation is the asystole of the creative heartbeat. You don’t need anyone to say yes or no, you don’t need kudos or reblogs or interaction. None of that keeps your creativity alive—only you have such reach. It’s your creation, Frankenstein.

Write it so you can go back to it. Get what spins through your head like a rotary on paper and into the fandomverse. Create so it can be created. Create so maybe, someday, a thousand days from now, someone else can experience a fandom through your eyes.

Write, for the sake of fandom. For your own peace of mind. Write for you, write for me, write for us and don’t care. Stop caring. Caring is the crushing—it’s the poison that’ll stop the heart of your living thing. Stop caring so much about other people, other voices. Stop caring about the outside and care about what’s on the inside of you.

That’s your power. Use it wisely.

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

There are certain chicks who just give off that "mean girl" vibe to me. "You hate girls like me because we know our worth" Nah, you are just a b*tch who thinks she's above everybody else just for existing.