#and also miss out on artists im genuinely invested in

[vikas-room]

deleting my twitter and finally spending less time on social media i don’t even use properly vs. wanting to check on artists/creators i like and my concerning dependence on social networks for Things To Look At for easy brain chemicals, fight

[cloudwhisper23]

hiii I just found out you exist yesterday and im already a huge fan of your work :D

your writing is really detailed and awesome and so so immersive!!

I'm also a HUGE grumbo shipper!! your Grumbo Month day two made me cry it was that good

the only other fic that made me cry was Wilted Petals by xxshadowcasterxx (you should DEF give it a read :P) (#NotSponsored)

but youre really great and you should keep it up :) :) :)

Awww, thank you so much! I didn't really start writing Grumbo until two days ago, so it's not like you've missed much, lol.

I really enjoy the process, and I've honestly never had as much inspiration to write as I did once I bit the bullet and finally started writing for Grian and Mumbo. I have not been able to stop myself, XD

I'll definitely read that fic as well! It's always good to check out other artists (Love giving and sharing inspiration with others in the community, it's my favorite thing ever).

I've come across an author who made me cry as well over on Ao3. It's not a shipping fic, but it's definetely worth the read. @quaranmine did a fantastic job of getting me fully invested in the story (genuinely, I planned on reading like two chapters and then proceeded to read the whole thing) 10/10 would recommend The Incandescence of a Dying Light if you haven't already read it. I think there's art coming to it too now, so that'll be cool to check out!

Thanks again for the compliments, and I hope you enjoy the newer writing that'll be coming for Grumbo Month! 💛💛💛

[hazbean-hotel-imagines]

hey! i’m an INFP bisexual transman here for a matchup:) i can be kind of awkward at first, but after a bit i love opening up and talking about my special interests and getting to know people; talking about music and media, showing them my art or writings, and just sharing a space. i like to make people laugh and am down to hit the club or just chill with a comfortable night in. i have my own share of trauma and anxieties that im trying to work through. i’d say i have a grunge aesthetic but im also definitely a nerd, too. just a dude who’s vibin’ and trying to get by. thanks for doing these matchups, they’re so fun!

Matchup

I pair you with…

~ I’m glad you like these matchups!! They’re feeding my hyperfixation and I reallyyy missed writing!! Anyway!

~ Okay, I can see you and Ozzie being so compatible.

~ Firstly, he really appreciates art. The best person to be a proofreader, or see a finished art piece. He’s not only so appreciative, he’ll give specifics on what he likes. “This was super successful here,” is a common phrase he’ll use before going on to elaborate. Anyway, he doesn’t just say he likes something, he says what he likes and why in great detail.

~ Ozzie helps you navigate your traumas and anxieties healthily. He really puts work into understanding this part of you, removing all triggers as best he can, and he’s super open to listening to you vent.

~ You understand his energy. You’re seen going to clubs and public outings with him, while also domestic enough to appreciate simple dates at home, like making a nice dinner and starting a new tv series. Ozzie just digs that you’re able to understand both sides of him; his party side, and his domestic side.

~ This all makes me think you guys would make a great friends to lovers trope. You understand Ozzie, and he shows that he understands you.

I pair you with…

~ I’m not sure why. But you know that one trope where’s there’s a dude whose special interest is their partner?? Cherri Bomb to you. I won’t elaborate on this, because I don’t know how, but I’m confident in this trope here. I’m not sure how but I am.

~ I feel like Cherri’s one of those people to be really into like having art in her apartment. You make anything? It’s on her fridge or wall. She loves everything you make.

~ Loves hearing about your special interests, and will get into them too so she understands you better. You mention a fandom? She’s googling ships while you talk. “Ohhh these ones look hot, who are these two?”

~ I feel like while she’s definitely a partier, I’ve said this before, she loves being all domestic and winding down at the end of the night. Cuddle pile with a blanket and pillow nest!!

~ Loves taking you out so she can show you off.

~ Definitely someone who appreciates music and media. Keeps up to date with popular things and her own niches. Cherri would love not only hearing you talk about your interests, but bring her own into play and be just super excited to talk about music. She’s someone who loves not only music and media, but appreciates the artists behind it, I bet she’s the type to have notifications set for news outlets that regularly cover updates on her favourites.

I pair you with…

~ Introvert adopted by extrovert trope!!

~ Vortex loves awkward. Will listen to you talk about your hyper fixations and be genuinely invested. Will also hit you with questions to elaborate so he can really get an idea of what you’re putting out. Pleasantly surprised when you begin to open up.

~ Will take you to parties, outings with friends, etc. He’s more a casual boyfriend, less sweep you off your feet and more peaceful coexistence. Love language is definitely quality time.

~ Regarding traumas and anxieties, Vortex is the best person to help you practically forget about them. If he notices you’re having a bad day and need a pick me up, he effortlessly cheers you up so well it’s hard to even realize he’s doing it. Distracts you with all of your favourite things, drinks, snacks, movies or shows, you name it.

~ Vortex lets you choose when you’re ready to vent or need to share, but until then, he effortlessly ensures that you’re always happy. Despite his casual demeanour, he’s always someone who just takes to people really well, especially you.

Alternate pairing…

Charlie

[wngweis]

nah, i genuinely love riize, i really do. been there with them since very predebut, and just when all this time i thought i might be a wonbin simp, i just don’t see the group full without seunghan. my will for hyping any mememer rn is at such low and very strange place. it’s like im missing something so much. like im happy for them, but seunghan not being part of his own group, who is deserving of all of this as much, is making me sad. i truly don’t see riize as riize without him. or at least for now, i don’t. maybe they will grow out of it if SM decides to really kick him out and we won’t really dwell much in the future, given we tend to move on from things/people but the reality is just too, overly too sad rn. and im truly feeling it even more as days go by. like cutting out a person out of a picture. like sm is trying to erase him out of my memory. like brainwash me as if he has never been there. yeah, as i said, i feel the emptiness more & more day by passing day. like why would you kick someone on no basis but doing basic human things, things like all of my friends in high school used to do. the whole situation is base-less and inhuman, truly even evil, bc some ill, bored mfs on the internet one day decided to ruin someone life, aside from dreams, which make em basically piss on someone’s past efforts and patience all those years they invest into something. they take a completely normal person, stick some negatives to them, and basically label them for life. like it’s soo utterly wrong.

& how, imao, the whole situation is dictated by solely kfans and non k fans, natizens, so if he gets kicked out, they win. like sm is very on the edge about these things. always been! sm cares for reputation to a point they will drag clearing someone’s name until the heat over the person is over and the matter is no longer a hot topic. even then, they will do nothing. but then they will also push an artist even if they do so many wrong things, but ofc they will do that bc most of the domestic public don’t see any problem with that artist. international and inland fans are two complete subjects, and sm has never leaned on the first imao. or at least in my whole time as an *sm stan* saying this purely cos of the fact that most of the artists i listen to and have been following thru the years re under sm

anywayss, all of this truly feeds into my misery, discouragement and overall negative thinking, even though riize themselves truly seem like are giving as much subtle hints as possible, & do as much as they can manage, to make it seen that they too miss him, and that seunghan is unapologetically part of them and that riize is no complete riize without him.

i truly like to believe this. and i truly hope justice and humanity prevail over evil this time. i hope things turn around and sm finally do one thing right. it’s about time they do. im sick of how they handle their artists. it’s actually scary how easy are kpop companies to throw their artists under a bus. the exact moment they are done w them, they will drag an artist down completely. even push them into the much bigger gutter. that of course after they have milked all of what they could possibly have. the system is crooked and terrible. it’s making me sick.

[carpisuns]

New anon, but I saw the last one and I have some thoughts. Specifically, I have been obsessing over ml for the last month or so, and I’ve only seen three episodes, and they were the three released before crocoduel. And you know what? I wasn’t that into it, it wasn’t bad it just wasn’t half as engaging as fanon and fanworks have been for me.

I’ve also done this with the Magicians, Supernatural, and a couple others. I think the reason that this works, for some people, is because it is a more familiar and in many ways, easier way to discover and become attached to new material and new characters. Fan writers and artists are coming from a place of love for their source material (no matter what issues they may have with it) and that bleeds out into their work. Time is spent developing the characters and their feelings, their relationships, in ways that canon so often can’t or isn’t allowed to, and reading that, it’s very easy to fall in love with new characters very quickly. There’s also common AUs and dynamics that make it much easier to start something new.

And also: comfort characters. So many fans find common ground with characters and further project onto them, particularly in fanfic. And because of that it’s often easier to identify with a fan’s interpretation of a character than it is to identify with the canon’s, since you have these more deeply explored feelings and relationships based on a combination of canon and the personal experiences of the fan writer. Also, with these kinds of fics it’s extremely emotionally affirming since for someone who doesn’t have much of any connection with the source material, it feels like the original, even if you’re reading a large body of work by a lot of different people. And I’m so used to fanfic as a substitute for the emotional work and character development that shows/movies/books don’t have room for or aren’t willing to get into, that approaching a fandom as it’s own original piece of media in a way, feels very comforting.

That’s my perspective on it anyways, and why I do this. I do think it is a good thing to engage with the canon to an extent, even if it’s just watching a few clips (how I found ml) but I also don’t think you need any real connection or knowledge of it to be deeply invested in the fandom. Sorry, this got very long.

you know, i totally get being on, like, the fringe of fandoms and interacting with fanon to an extent without a proper investment in canon (I have a couple fandoms like that), but i honestly just can't imagine becoming super invested in a fandom when I am not invested in the source material...maybe that's just a difference between you and me, idk.

but also, i gotta admit that i'm struggling a bit to understand the reason. you yourself pointed out that fan work is enjoyable because the creator's love for canon bleeds into it. and isn't that the reason that you would want to give canon a real chance? obviously there is fan content made out of spite lol (and sadly a fair amount in this fandom), but to me most fan content is like a love letter to canon. like, "i adore this thing so much that it inspired me to create and share with other people who adore it." and what better recommendation is there than that?? i would think people would wanna familiarize themselves with canon in order to better enjoy fanon(?)

i completely understand your point about fan content delving further into characterization and relationships where canon hasn't/can't, and that is such a big appeal of fanfic/fanart. but i don't feel like that's a reason to not engage with canon? on the contrary, i feel like you are missing something important in your understanding and appreciation of that wonderful exploration if you haven't experienced firsthand the foundation that canon set. and maybe that missing thing is just your personal interpretation of a character/dynamic.

for example, i could say, "adrien agreste is this, this, and this and he would do this but not this." and of course i will think im right because my characterization is always perfect 😌sakjdfaldjks but someone else might have a slightly different interpretation, and someone else will have another interpretation, and when you mush all those individual takes on a character together, you will get a good sense of who they are, but you still don't have the Original™️ to draw your own interpretation from. idk, to me it sounds like basing your opinion of chocolate ice cream on what other people are saying about it without ever trying it yourself? ajsldakljf maybe that's an oversimplification but i do think that without experiencing it for yourself, your understanding will always be kind of incomplete.

idk, i big agree with everything you said about why fan content is special, but everything that is a point in fanon's favor is not a knock on canon. to me fan content feels pretty inseparable from canon, so it just doesn't compute to me to take canon out of the equation? then we would have nothing.

i feel like it's almost kinda trendy nowadays to be like, "oh this show actually sucks lmao but the fanon and AUs are good." like it's shameful to actually...enjoy source material? 😭 i mean i completely understand that miraculous ladybug is not gonna be everyone's cup of tea and that's fine! but if you truly enjoy the fan content that much i encourage you to give canon a real shot. it's not that surprising to me that you watched 3 recent episodes and didn't vibe that much, since you haven't seen the 3 seasons of buildup that lead to them. miraculous has a neat way of tying a bunch of things together so if you aren't familiar with all of it, you're probably missing out.

personally my love for miraculous was kind of a slowburn at first. i only started watching the show because my sister and i made a deal that forced me to watch the first few eps lol. and i didn't really vibe either. but there must have been enough of a spark there for me to keep watching bc for some reason i did and the more i watched the more i fell in love with it until it became the thing that occupies my brain more than anything else. i started with canon and then got into fanon, but it could easily go the other way too. and if you're already invested in the story and characters, i have to imagine it would be much easier to push past the initial cringe of "this is a show about a couple of teen furries rated TV-Y7 on netflix" lol and give anything you don't vibe with the benefit of the doubt.

again, to be clear, i'm not trying to judge or gatekeep here! i'm just saying this because i genuinely LOVE miraculous. it's my favorite show. that's why i make things for it. that's why i have this blog. i want people to watch it. so maybe, pwetty pwease, try watching the show you like so much? 🥺👉👈

(source bc i was too lazy to make my own so i stole this from twitter)

[cquackity]

HI!!!!!! my dsmp hot takes would probably be:

-i like c!ranboo, he was my first favorite character and cc, but ive lost so much investment in him overtime because of the sheer amount of unsolved mysteries about him that have never been answered and, with his lore having been shelved atm, probably never will :(. the mysteries were so intriguing and engrossing at first, but with time going on for him to only create more unanswered questions instead of solve any of them i think ultimately hinders his character a lot. seriously, it's been 8 months since his january lore and we still don't even know what his other half is nor what his and c!dreams relationship is 😭😭😭

(^ THAT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE CRIT AT ALL BTW!!!! i still 100% respect cc!ranboo and know he's always had trouble getting people involved with his lore but my qualms are still there.)

-stop telling artists how to draw characters. stop. dude. just stop. if you don't like a headcanon that's fine but that's all they are. Headcanons. just move on... one of the best parts about this fandom is the art and how much it all varies, just stop. please 😭 pig techno is awesome! anime techno is awesome! zombie wilbur is so cool! white streak tommy is super nice! goat horns tubbo is wonderful! cardigan and hair clips tommy is amazing! etc, etc!! Just Move On And Respect Headcanons!!!!!

sorry about dumping this Monster in your inbox man 😭😭 totally cool if you don't agree with me though btw - id love to hear your thoughts :D!!

HI CALLI !!!! WONDERFUL TAKES AS ALWAYS !!!!!!!! i agree with you about c!ranboo, i think he has the opportunity to tell a really compelling story. but that's just.... Not Happening right now. nor does it look like it will anytime soon 😔 having a dsmp interest way later than everyone else, i don't really have an attachment to c!ranboo tbh. i can only imagine how exciting it was watching his lore live, and i think missing out on that and how Stuck his character is just didnt make me all that much of an enthusiast. what i love most about c!ranboo is the fanart, tbh. artists who draw c!ranboo are SO fucking talented, and there are so many different phenomenal fan designs for him. but in the end though there are just. many puzzles about his character that can only be solved with more lore. most of all i really want to fucking know what's going on with him and c!dream, feeling SO normal about the unsolved mystery of who set the explosives up in the prison! i am personally convinced its c!ranboo. also not crit on my end, i still really do love c!ranboo!!!!! i just don't think abt him Nearly as much as my other dsmp faves 😭😭

on 2 ur second point.... the artist critique drives me nuts. something i love so much about dsmp artists is they all are so fucking CREATIVE!!!! like you said, headcanons are one of the best things about this fandom❗❗ you can tell artists put so much time + effort into their designs. it's fucking inspiring. i truly never get bored going through dsmp art !!!!!!! and tbh? vilbur is definitely not my Favorite thing to see. but im not going to tell people to stop drawing twisted freaking cycle path c!wilbur. not my place, its rude as fuck, and a lot of cool art vilbur art does exist 😳 unless the art is harmful and genuinely needs correcting (like poc informing white people on how to draw characters/ccs who are poc respectfully is for sure needed critique) just. Let People Have Fun. there's value in everything artists create, regardless of if it directly caters to me or not.

[searchingforbucky]

Fic Recs (Part 12) :)

Welcome to the ABO fic rec list! I just want to clarify this is not for werewolf AUs, this is A/B/O dynamic. This also has been highly recommended and I’m so sorry it took me so long, i was struggling about whether or not to include the smuts that are like, no plot lol. But I decided I will, they will just be separated. The first part is stories that are not solely focused on smut, and the second set are ones where smut drives the story. Its super long, I hope you guys like it :) 

Heart & Soul by @all1e23

Okay so I know everyones read this, and if you haven’t……do it right now. But I feel like I would burst into flames if I didn’t include this. This story, is absolutely one of the best things I’ve ever read. I would read it 51284823 times if I could. The relationship between these two, is just the burst thing. Theres no ulterior motive, he loves her and will do anything he can to protect her, she is learning to love and trust him. There is nothing more beautiful. Its a slow burn, but thats what it should be. It perfectly builds their relationship into what it is now, which is something that I can only hope to get. Allie is an artist with all of her works, but this one is just so special.

Better Like This by @simam12

You know what else this has besides Alpha!Bucky???? Detective Bucky and  reader! Hell YEs !!!! This story is fantastic, I Absolutely LOVE this premise and the slowish build of their relationship. And the badass omega!!! YES!!!!! Supportive yet protective Bucky!!! yEs!!! God its just so good!

Step With Me by @kentuckybarnes

if you want a slow burn that is fantastically good and has fluff, and slight angst? Ohhhh buddy is this the one for you. I love the reader’s personality and Bucky’s patience. It makes the slow build to love so so worth it. This is a A/B/O story that is about more then sex. It being about the right to choose who to be with, when to be with them, and in what capacity, and its beautiful. 

Just Try by @waiting4inspiration

Oh man, now this one, what a series. So action-packed, so many twists and turns, any time you think things have calmed down? NOPE somethings gonna hurt lol. But its just so, so good. And its long so it has a lot of time to build these wonderful characters and this universe and this family, I miss getting updates for this, I was always so excited to find out what happened. I always love stories where the female lead is really independent and strong. Its nice to see. Super, super well done, highly recommend. Also check out their fic The Red Cloak

Some Alpha by @propertyofpoeandbucky

God I am straight up in love with this story. Its actually about Chubby Alpha Bucky and Beta reader which is so cool and unique, it’s always so awesome to find for different and this fic it’s just like the thing for me. Their dynamic is so cute, you have independent beta reader, insecure and infatuated bucky, it just leads to a love that so pure and not guided by power complexes and its actually really plot twisty lol. Love it. 

 Pint Sized Protection Squad by @shy-violet-soul

You wanna read probably the cutest most tooth rotting fluff ever? Well this is it. This is absolutely the fluffiest fluff to ever fluff, and its absolutely amazing. You get big protective bucky surrounded by pups and little babies being protective of the reader and bucky not knowing what to do, I cannot even begin to explain how close I got to legitimately squealing. 

Bound To My Broken Soul by @captain-ariel-barnes

I love this one, I just really like stories that give a glimpse into the Winter Soldier. He is aggressively soft in this, which may be OOC but who cares I love it lol. You juts really feel for Bucky, you want to give him a hug and let him be happy. He is such a sweet boy who gets so much bad thrown at him :( anyways, super well done fic, absolutely loved it.

Not My Scent by @stevenssrogers

We love a jealous!bucky and possessive!bucky ! I love mutual pining stories too! And this is the cutest combination of them. Bucky is crushing hard on his girl, his girl is crushing hard on him back, are they gonna do anything about it? Of course not! Not until bucks jealousy overrides his common sense lol. This story is just really cute, really well done, and the dynamic between ALL of the characters is really fitting. (Im talking about Tony messing with Buck lol)

By Chance by @green-eyeddragonfanfiction​

My heart! My soul! This was, just, perfectly beautiful. So well balanced with emotion. It’s completely unrushed and captivating. The dynamic between bucky and threader is perfect, we need more independence and actually choosing to invest in a relationship instead of the author basically forcing them into one lol. SO awesome, and so well done.

Project lure by @itscaptainyoulittlemaggot

This one was so unique, and I really like the rawness of it. It represented the situation and subject really well, there was no romanticizing but it was still a beautiful story. super awesome. Broke and forced to choose between food and your suppressants, you sign up for a drug trial that promises a lifetime supply along with a fat pay check. However, all is not as it seems as you unwittingly become caught up in Hydra’s latest experiment

Did You Just Growl by @welldonebeca

This is a short but sweet, and funny Drabble. I love seeing protective Bucky with a crush, its adorable. It makes me want to wrap him up in a blanket and never let go. Love this. 

Okay, so these are the smuts. its hard for me to fic rec smut, because I don’t know what to say other than its written well and its hot lol. SO I’m gonna include the summaries so you guys know what its about. I hope thats okay :)

Too Close by @theycallmebucky

Alpha!Bucky lends a hand to Omega!Reader during her heat. Hell yeah Bucky is a perfect alpha, the second I read the first line I was all in haha. We all know I love protective possessive bucky and ohhhhh baby is this a great example. He wants to help his girl, who isn’t really is girl lol. This one was really well written, detailed, and not rushed. 

Accident or Fate? By @asirenscalling

This one is so cute. Its not smut with no plot, but It is over half smut id say. I don’t know what it is about like, weird fated get togethers that just automatically make a story a favorite, but it really does. I loved how this one isn’t like, we accidentally mated so lets just tough it out, like they had this genuine connection. The sun was nice too if you know what I mean lol. One morning you, an omega, wake up next to the an alpha you only met the night before with a bonding mark on your neck.  What are you going to do now?

Comfort by @thottybarnes

This one I loved because there was just this awesome dynamic between the characters. You see them before the smut, and he really just cares for the reader, he wants her to be okay and happy and this smut wasn’t driven by anything other than wanting to make his girl feel good. Jealous/possessive Bucky comforts you, his (not yet) omega that is struggling with the results of a recent mission.

Animals Awaken by @221bshrlocked

This one isn’t mainly smut, but its filthy lol, so I needed to add it here haha. Really good though, I loved the sort of enemies to lovers vibe, its all about that sexual tension yo! Bucky forgets to take his suppressants in time during a mission with you. You offer your help but he rejects, afraid that he’d hurt you because it’s his first rut since decades. And well, you know the rest. Also check out the start of their other fic called Thought You Were Mine

The Chase by @firewolf-marvels

This one is really cool, I like the thriller aspect of the first part, and then you find out that its like, a thing in their relationship. It really sets up the dynamic of their relationship well. Werewolf AU. You’re being chased and it ends up getting heated 

Alpha by @misssavenger

You go into heat earlier than you had anticipated. This one is basically all smut, but that doesn’t mean its not good! Its really good! And sweet, and really well written. I love the fact that Bucky didn’t want to take advantage of her, but they’re meant to be together so its okay lol. 

Alpha, Please by @welldonebeca

This one is super good, and its an Omega!Bucky!! So Cool! Bucky experiences his first heat after being held captive for so long. You help him, and you finally mate. 

Do You Want To Have An Alpha by @welldonebeca

Here they are again with another awesome unique pairing, this one is Beta!Reader. When you confess to Bucky that you’ve never been with an Alpha, he offers to show you what it feels like. 

And even though I know its not Bucky, theres this really awesome Alpha!Chris Beck story by @after-avenging-hours called Stardust that I HIGHLY recommend. 

I hope you all love these fics as much as I do! :)

[mandolovian]

fanfic writer appreciation

hello!!! due a highly unfortunate combination of both 1. i didn’t know it was fanfic writers’ appreciation day and 2. i had an exam today and so i wasn’t online over the weekend, i missed out on friday’s / saturday’s LOVELY posts and mentions :((

i think im really damn lucky that i stumbled on all you writers / artists / creators, i genuinely don’t think i’ve been this happy to be writing in ages, and you’re all so fucking amazing and talented and a little bit of my heart stays with you all

i thought i’d make a little list of some of my absolute fave writers and fic, since you deserve ALL the praise bc i personally know the absolute effort it takes to write fics of any length - this is not an exhaustive list by any means (see here for more!) but maybe i’ll update this somewhat regularly!

paz viszla | saviin’ika -- @stubbychaos : i don’t think i can properly articulate how much this fic means to me - has some absolute stunning prose and portrayal of pain, but such comforting and loving tenderness too. i’m thoroughly and absolutely invested in their story and lives together

paz viszla | you hurt, i hurt -- @datmando​ : i feel like i’ve felt every single emotion under the sun while reading this, it’s absolutely gorgeous and the way that paz is written is so tender and loving, and i love seeing their journey and lives just evolve with each chapter

paz viszla | something sweet -- @hdlynnslibrary​ : i love coffee shop aus and i loved this too! the little internal conflict that paz has about referring to the waitress as ‘his’ and something about imagining paz using a straw makes me very very happy

agent whiskey | my love is a dagger -- @goldafterglow​ : some of the most beautiful poetic language and sheer pining i’ve ever read. absolutely stunningly visceral characterisation too, and my heart just kept breaking for poor jack

agent whiskey | first time (soft) sleeping together -- @littleferal​ : amazingly comforting and empowering but still very loving piece. the line ‘you lead the dance’ - i’ve thought about that daily since i’ve read this

cassian andor | dissimulato -- @hansoulo​ : this was! the first fic i had read in like six years! absolutely 100% responsible for getting me hooked back into the starwars fandom and it was stunning fic too - to combination of dirty dancing and rogue one was amazing, and i spent actual money in renting havana nights after reading this

javier peña | sure of you -- @ergotautology​ : im absolutely biased because i requested this, but i cannot properly emphasise how whole this made me feel, and how much it just made my heart ache. also, this has amazing figurative prose and it feels like (and i know that) every word was chosen so deliberately, and i would sincerely love to live inside this fic

rex | of sleepless nights -- @chaotic-noceur​ : sleepy and tired and very very soft. one of the gentlest angst / comforts fics i’ve read and i love it so much. i may or may not read this almost nightly because of how loved it makes me feel

din djarin | the lovely moons -- @vercopaanir​ : genuinely this may have been the fic to tip me over from just lurking on here to actually writing my own fics too. i love it so much! the pacing and twists and the character development in this fic - honestly i could write a dissertation and still not cover how much i love it

din djarin | rough day -- @no-droids​ : im barely lying when i say my mouth is always a little bit open and a little bit dry while reading any part of this fic. stunning, showstopping, fucking delicious. that part about the reader doing a minihunt while sleep deprived was genius

gustavo gaviria | numinous descenso -- @gustavos​ : i read this because i was mildly interested at seeing a gustavo fic, then absolutely became hooked. im still not exactly sure how you made the character in such a way that my heart just breaks anytime anything happens to her. absolutely amazing prose, genuinely an amazing fic

[freakygirlie]

Walker- 1x04 ~spoilers~

I know i’ve said this a dozen times...but Walker just keeps getting better and better and better! With every. single. episode. I loved everything about this episode so much and again! Jared live-tweeting it was the best!!! I watched this episode at 3 am lats night again help.

~spoilers~ last warning!!!

OK SO CRDIREZ BEAUTY EPISODE!!! YES! I loved loved loved loved the development of their friendship in this episode SO MUCH! 

First scene Cordirez and them badass rangers catching bad guys together YES!!! Walker trying to find out Micki’s middle name is so cute pls. 

I really enjoyed the case they worked here as well. It was both deep and emotional and that twist! YEPPPP SIGN ME UP.

THE BAR SCENE WITH WALKER AND MICKI. AGAIN THEIR FRIENDSHIP! The episode title fit so well here and I’m glad Micki and Walker have really reached a good understanding on a friend and partner level. THEY\RE THE CUTEST PLEASE I LOVE THEM. 

‘‘walker where’s my drink’‘ ok every word micki and cordell exchanged with each other was the best??? 

WALKER AND HIS KIDS AND BROTHER UNPACKING TOGETHER!!! I asolutely adore their relatioship. AUGUST IN THAT BLUE HAIR AND SUNGLASSES DHJHHF AUGUST I FUCKING LOVE YOU CAN I ADOPT YOU.

I really adored the tiny exchange between Stella and Walker. Speaks volumes of how much they’ve progressed since the pilot. Walker and Stella’s dynamic I ADORE so seeing them at really good terms is just beautiful.

Annnddd now August is being the rebellious kid. 

I’m glad they brought up Belle’s case here as well bc i thought they’d completely overshadowed it. STELLA AND BELLE ARE SO CUTE! I WANT SO MUCH MORE OF THEM

OK NOW IK I SHIP CORDIREZ TOO BUT I SHIP TRICKI TOO. GOD.

They are so so so CUTE WITH EACH OTHER AND TREY IS JUST THE BEST I LOVE HIMMMM. 

Micki is such an epic artist??? HOLY SHIT GIRL HOW MUCH TALENT DO YOU HAVE HIDDEN IN THERE.

Micki and Walker working the case ‘off the books’! YES PARTNERS IN CRIME. or well soving crime. i didn’t like monty shaw too much anyways...idk bad vibes. WALKER DEFENDING MICKI AND SAYING SHE CAN FEND FOR HERSELF. I COMBUSTED.

THE CORPSE LADY WAS THE SAME ONE FROM SUPERNATURAL’S NIGHTMARE 1X14. HOLY SHIT.

*sigh* The Harlan Family. Classic Rich People.

‘‘can we keep this one off the books’‘ ‘‘OFF THE BOOKS???’‘ ‘‘are you kidding me off the books is my middle name. Just kidding it’s Beauregard what’s yours’‘ HHAHAH NICE TRY WALKER I LAUGHED SO HARD THEY’RE ADORABLE.

Cordell Beauregard Walker- such a fucking handful!

THE INTERROGATION SCENE. WHEN THAT GIRL WINKED AT WALKER AND HE JUST FLINCHED AND TURNED AROUND LMAO. WALKER WHAT HAVENT U HAD PPL HIT ON U BEFORE.

‘‘You got it ranger rick!’‘ PLSJJCDDFJFD. ‘‘that was so satisfying’‘ same micki same.

‘MICHELLE FLORIANA’‘ WOW??? I LOVE IT.

ALSO MUSKRAT! ADORABLE SO ADORABLE I WANT CORDELL TO CALL MICKI MUSKRAT ALL THE DAMN TIME.

‘‘on a scale from micki to muskrat where am i’‘ ‘‘floriana’‘ THAT LOOK THO.  HSHSHSHS DONT WORRY WALKER YOU’LL GET THERE.

-I love how this show is really taking the time to address the difficulties someone like Micki- A Female Latina would go through- the sexism, blatant disrespect and disregard. Micki’s character is also something that’s very well written and acted(Lindsey ily) and portrayed extremely well. One of my favorite things about Walker is how he really trusts Micki, views her as an equal, and wants to earn her trust, not demand it. It’s perfect(cordirez breakdown time). Micki is also slowly letting her fences down around him and it’s a huge and very delightful to see step. I love and adore their friendship and chemistry so much. 

MICKI SPEAKING IN SPANISH IS AN OFFICIAL TURN ON FOR ME BYE.

ALL OF THEM SOLVING THE CASE TOGETHER!!! NOT JUST CORDIREZ BUT TREY TOO! WALKER AND TREY MEETING TOGETHER WHEN.

Trey is such an amazing boyfriend truly! THE TOWEL ON HIS SHOULDERS DJSFDJFD AND AH THE COMIC MICKI DREW??/ ADORABLE. Also love how encouraging and supportive Trey is. The men in this show are the best.

LIAM AND WALKER SCENE. I love their dynamic too and i wanna see moreee. Also more micki and liam scenes yes please.

‘‘thanks brother very supportive’‘ i sobbed when he called him brother. i just. *screams*

Ok so Abby and Bonham really had a bad falling out huh. Abby was in an affair with someone who still misses her??? Damn, can’t wait to see how this one progresses. ALSO WALKER FINDING THAT LETTER FROM GARY TO ABBY IN THE BASEMENT I FREAKEDDD,

THE ADDRESS. ON THE LETTER. IS THE SAME. AS THE LOCATION. OF JENSEN’S BREWERY. THE SAME BREWERY. WHO’S FIRST KEG OF BEER. WAS GIVEN TO JARED. BY JENSEN. ON HIS BIRTHDAY. HELP. HELP. HELP. NOT ME HAVING A J2 BREAKDOWN IN THE MIDST OF A WALKER EP AT 5 AM IN THE MORNING.

Aight so August and Ruby is a biG NO OK. Like idk idk idk just idk.

WALKER HAD AN AFFAIR(after emily so ok but still) WITH SOMEONE ELSE WHILE UNDERCOVER??? WAS IT JUST UNDERCOVER OR REAL??? I NEED ANSWERS STAT.

THE PHONE THAT WALKER HAD. ONE OF THE CONTACTS WAS WINCHESTER AUTO. W I N C H E S T E R  A U T O. Jensen coming to the show owning this shop and Walker going to him to get his car fixed when Jared Padalecki.

MICKI AND CORDELL(AND TREY!) SOLVING THE CASE TOGETHER!!!

‘‘micki gives a play by play of the security footage’‘ ‘‘we’re watching the same thing micki’‘ *bitchface* PLS I LOVE THEM.

Holy shit Mrs. Harlan having an affair with Monty??? ENZO BEING BOB’S SON??? HOT DAMN THE CASE CONTINUES. Again. LOVE THE WORK/FAMILY BALANCE.

OK OK SO THE SCENE IN WHICH MICKI AND WALKER CONFRONT SHAW AND THE LOOKS THEY GIVE EACH OTHER BEFORE MICKI GETS IN THE CAR WITH SHAW WHEN THE MUSIC STARTS PLAYING!!! YES. YES. MY SOULFOOD.

I loved the way they worked it out. Phonecall, recording everything, THEM PARTNERING AND WORKING IT OUT SO BEAUTIFULLY I NEED SO MANY MORE CORDIREZ CENTRIC EPS YALL DONT EVEN KNOW.

‘‘walker! bulldog it!!’‘ HSHJDSHDSJ YES.

PLS I SCREAMED WHEN SHAW PULLED THE GUN ON MICKI.

BUT SHE IS SUCH A FUCKING QUEEN BADASS I LOVE HER.

Success!!!! The Micki and Walker and Larry scene at the end was so cute! I like how they’re actually invested in their jobs and want to do good it’s so heartwarming.

WALKER CALLING TREY TO FIND OUT MICKI’S FAV THINGS!!! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! Also I genuinely love that Trey wasn’t weirded out by it or jealous or anything.  Can’t wait to see them interact I NEED IT!.

‘‘thanks for believing in me’‘ ‘‘i didnt. i trusted you.’’ HELP STOP MY FEELS.

‘‘thanks beau’‘ don’t mention it flor’‘ I DIED I DIED I DIED. MICKI AND WALKER I LOVE YOU. JKSJD MICKI WARMING UP TO THE MIDDLE NAME. THEIR FRIENDSHIP IS THE BEST.

That last scene with Walker and his mom was so touching. Walker’s relationship with his parents is so sweet. His mom hugging him and comforting him when Walker said he missed emily so much *cries* I just wanna hold him please. 

August being worried for his father’s happiness I JUST. YOU SWEET BOY. I really think messaging Twyla was a baaaaddd move though.

WALKER AND AUGUST SELFIE. The way Walker so easily just picked his son and brought him to him, made him family photographer and that scene. THE BEST. 

I genuinely don’t think anything happened between Twyla and Walker. But we’ll have to see.

oKAY SO. Captain James??? It’s just an on and off thing. Do I trust him? Do i don’t? Why did he take those surveillance vids out??? I trust Liam with it and i’m glad he’s looking into it and all. Hopefully it doesn’t backfire badly. I have a very bad feeling that James had something to do with Emily’s death.

THAT STELLA AND BELLE INTERACTION. SO CUTE. Stella giving that jar of jame to try and make up and Belle being all cute and funny I love them. For a sec i was so scared Belle might yell at her but I’m very happy to see that they’re going strong despite all the circumstances- Belle’s parent’s deportation.

ALSO TREVOR IS SO HOT??? I like him and Stella they’re cute. Stella so obviously has a huge crush on him and they ride horses so well together. HHAHAHAH THAT DANCE STELLA DID WHEN HE FOLLOWED HER ON INSTA. SO RELATABLE.

The last Tricki scene mY HEART. ‘’you wanted a hero so you drew one. then you became one’’ Micki is going to be such an inspiration I love her. And the way they interacted, Trey getting a job!!! And Micki’s excitement, THEIR HUG!!! ‘’hugging is one of my superpowers’’ TREY BARNETT I LOVE YOU.

THAT LAST SCENE WHY LEAVE IT LIKE THIS. WHAT IS HAPPENING WHY DOES WALKER OR DUKE APPARENTLY HAVE TO GO BACK.

Anyways! As you can see the entire episode was so enjoyable and I loved it. The best part of this was definitely the Cordirez friendship development and i cannot wait to see where it goes from here!

Speculation/Thoughts for Episode 5:- So it’s for sure that Walker is going back undercover as Duke who’s a baseball...person? Idk he was wearing a baseball hat so :) Walker’s past is now very much mixed in with his present and I AM SCARED. What he’s doing is yet to be revealed but Tywla is coming back and that will just. mess. things. up. The scene in which Walker is yelling at August GOD SO NOT READY FOR THAT. It feels like him and his kids might go back to how they were before. I really don’t want that to happen. Also why am I expecting a major cliffhanger. 

HEY BUT THERE’S SHIRTLESS WALKER AND! MICKI RIDING THAT MECHANICAL HORSE IN A BAR OR SMTH AND MORE INSIGHT INTO WHAT TREY IS DOING SO IM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT.

And it’s going on hiatus. Idk how to deal with that. :(

[thehighestmountains]

taylor swift's new (now old when im writing this) album, folklore, is by far my favorite album shes come out with. dare i say my favorite album of all time.. no, no, i can’t. you know those wonderful mature songs sandwiched between all the pop-py, repetitive songs: this is that album. i do understand when people say this album is quite boring, many songs sound similar, but if you are a fan of indie folk, you will be able to pick up on the subtleness.

note: the lyrics i post below with each song, im emphasizing them for the musical moment, the way the song sounds at that point, not necessarily the words themselves.

1. peace. this is a musically and lyrically beautiful song. not only is every second of this song captivating, it physically pulls me on my heartstrings when she asks would it be enough if she could never give him peace. the vulnerability and also acceptance of the consequences of her unique circumstance is palpable - she feels it, i feel it. 

The devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?

I talk shit with my friends, it's like I'm wasting your honor

2. my tears ricochet. i would honestly just paste the whole song below, because again, this entire song is interesting and flows so beautifully - the way it climaxes at the end of every bridge just rings and echos. its very moody, sullen.

And I still talk to you When I'm screaming at the sky And when you can't sleep at night You hear my stolen lullabies

3. epiphany. im particularly invested in the first half of this song, it feels like sitting in the pews of a silent, empty church with your head hung low.

Crawling up the beaches now Sir, I think he's bleedin' out

Holds your hand through plastic now Doc, I think she's crashin' out

4. the lakes. im in love with the chorus, and the first verse. its romantic, cottage core (not that this entire album isn’t cottage core).

Take me to the lakes, where all the poets went to die I don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you

5. mad woman. im literally feel angrier and sadder singing along, that women are mocked of their hysteria that you caused. shes huffing under the weight of these industry men.

The master of spin has a couple side flings Good wives always know She should be mad, should be scathing like me, but

6. illicit affairs. the way this song blossoms from shy, embarrassment to i dont deserve this, anger, is truly beautiful story telling. my only thing is that it ends quite suddenly.

Don't call me "kid," don't call me "baby" Look at this idiotic fool that you made me You taught me a secret language I can't speak with anyone else

as you might be able to tell at this point, i really enjoy the later half of the album, and thats because i listened to the first half when it first came out over and over and over again until it was a gray snot rag. then i waited a whole month or whatever to listen to the second half. thats just how i chose to do this. so im actually sick of the first half, but i do remember which were my favorites:

7. the last great american dynasty. i think the fact that taylor was able to find a similarity, a connection with this woman who had previously owned her home and write a wonderful story about it is charming and plays until the whole folklore concept.

8. seven. the contrast between the verses and the chorus is so fun, like how is this the same song?

Sweet tea in the summer Cross my heart, won’t tell no other And though I can't recall your face I still got love for you

9. invisible string. although cheesy, the writing of this song really sells it for me. i absolutely adore the way the lyrics are in this song, the format “.* was a .*”. she retells all these lovely details. its dreamy, its a great ode to love and its complicated relationship with time.

Time, curious time Gave me no compasses, gave me no signs

Time, mystical time Cutting me open, then healing me fine

Time, wondrous time Gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies

10. the 1. this is really a wonderful break up song, when youre at stage 5 of acceptance “and it's alright now”.

I thought I saw you at the bus stop, I didn't though

Persist and resist the temptation to ask you If one thing had been different Would everything be different today?

11. cardigan. i actually bothers me that this is clearly a lana del ray song, but its none the less a good song, and when she sings “i knew you” before the start of every uniquely different chorus, i can feel her heartbreak.

I knew you Tried to change the ending Peter losing Wendy, I

12. exile. the culmination of their two voices and ballooning at the end is stunning artistically.

13. august. the first half is slightly predictable, it rises and falls exactly where you think, but the way the second half of the song does a 180, and i quite enjoy it.

Do you remember? Remember when I pulled up And said "Get in the car" And then canceled my plans Just in case you'd call Back when I was living for the hope of it all For the hope of it all "Meet me behind the mall"

14. betty. i do think this is a great complement and light hearted balance to the more serious side of the album. its kind of a fun vibe when youre in your car, singing along “will you love me, will you hold me”, but if i want teen romance songs, i prefer august over betty. 

Standing in your cardigan Kissing in my car again Stopped at a streetlight, you know I miss you

15. hoax. i dont quite understand what the song is about, where is she coming from? who did this to her? im genuinely confused, but with nearly every song at the bottom of this list, theres still moments i enjoy.

Stood on the cliffside Screaming, "Give me a reason" Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in

16. this is me trying. this doesnt do anything for me. she sings that she is trying, but is she really? im not at all convinced in fact. also this lyric is disgusting: “I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere”. ??? i still like the bridge, an escape from the rest of the song:

It's hard to be anywhere these days When all I want is you You're a flashback in a film reel On the one screen in my town

17. mirrorball. this is skippable. “You'll find me on my tallest tiptoes Spinning in my highest heels, love” is sickly sweet, this is no real backbone to this song. again, the bridge is an escape from the cotton candy swirl of a song:

And they called off the circus Burned the disco down When they sent home the horses And the rodeo clowns

jesus christ, did i do it, did i do all the songs, that was so many songs. we ended on a sour note, but i still think this album is a 10/10.

[comicteaparty]

July 11th-July 17th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from July 11th, 2020 to July 17th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

How do you personally stay motivated and/or disciplined enough to work on your story?

🌈ERROR404 🌈

being under schedule DEFINITELY being under schedule

there has been nothing that has lit a stronger fire under my ass than self appointed deadlines

eliushi [Keyspace]

Deadlines definitely help for me! I also find talking with supportive fellow comic folks, writers and artists very inspiring Their successes help me focus on my work too!

carcarchu

I'm motivated by the desire to see how my story ends

eliushi [Keyspace]

That is also very true and very much the Mood

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I agree with self-appointed deadlines, but also just my eagerness for future scenes propel me. And a little bit of a desire for other people to see a bit of the world that's in my head.

eliushi [Keyspace]

I desire to see the world inside your head

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Hahaha, and I desire to share it

Seriously though, as much as I write for myself, I get an obscene amount of motivation from seeing other people getting excited about my story.

I thrive on the curiosity and eagerness of others, and the potential for others to love my characters just as I do

Feather J. Fern

For me, I think motivation for me is "If I get this done, I can show my friend who is really excited about my comic" Because you always need that one hype friend who wants to see your comic

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

100%

A hype friend or family member can be a great motivator!

Shizamura 🌟 O Sarilho

Scheduling, deadlines, having other people to talk about your work... Definitively my top 3. But also, if for some reason I'm not motivated to do a particular thing, I like to think why is that exactly? Is this page/scene not convincing ME? what can I change to fix that?

Deo101 [Millennium]

^^^ YES!!! 9/10 times if I'm not working on a page it's cause I'm not feeling it 100%, and restarting the page to try something different helps almost always!!!

So I stay motivated by keeping it fresh, and also yeah deadlines help a lot

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Personally? Just hanging around people who also art and seeing how they work. Also trying to keep myself physically healthy because I can't focus on my work if I'm not up to par.

DanitheCarutor

You know, in spite of how busy my life has gotten within the past couple months (Now balancing housework with a job that keeps me away from home for 12-13 hours a day.), the two things keeping me motivated are seeing certain scenes play out and the ending. I have some really major events coming up and I want to see them happen, I want to see that development from where everything began pay off, and I want the characters to get that satisfying ending they worked hard for. Also I really want to see readers reactions, making people upset with my characters and what they're going through is my jam and admittedly a major driving point for me to continue working on my comic.

eliushi [Keyspace]

The emotional connection is key!

persephinnie

Having a support group of friends, even if not exactly friends but peers and mutuals in online communities does so much wonders! And also not necessarily having a strict structure on my end, but telling myself every week what progress needs to get done and writing it down instead of keeping it all in my thoughts helps tremendously.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I'm very motivated by producing the next parts/end of the story

Getting to future scenes

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Fanart is also a biiiig motivator for me. Just the idea/fact that people took the time, care and love to draw my ocs makes me a lot more motivated to tell my story even more, because it means that people care enough to want to see more

TaliePlume

My family mostly my brothers are a huge motivation because they have been through a lot and and there's not that many comics with positive Haitian representation. I wanted to dedicate my comic to them.

GuildmasterPhill

I just started uploading my comic on webtoons now, as well as my main website. Hopefully it can reach more people that way!

In terms of staying motivated, Any amount of feedback from readers is key. I want to connect with them through my art, and if they let me know it's working, then I just gotta keep going!

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

When I can I treat Wayfinders like a full time job. That helps because then I have my usual working schedule and then I just work away! When I have a job I take small breaks to help Q out, like five min breaks, and work on it in weekends and evenings

So motivation is not a problem. I want to make this story so bad. I want to work creatively on my own stories every every day

crittybonbon

I used to be quite motivated by my readers, not wanting to disappoint them by missing updates. But I realized that this was actually causing me a lot of stress and anxiety. Now I'm mainly motivated by strict schedules and habits ("Tuesdays from 8pm-10pm" is my sketch the whole page night, ect). I have a kid now and also work FT so I take my schedules seriously, I cant delay or procrastinate like I used to because I have to balance work and family. On that some note and if Im sick or something I will push the update a day or two and I try not to feel too bad it, your readers will wait. But it did take me years to develop a good work ethic.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

I don't have many readers so I stay motivated purely by my love of the story, my habit of drawing, and my desire for a finished product.

Miranda (Into the Swell)

I feel like my story is what keeps me motivated. I finally have a story that I'm very invested in and it's made it so much easier to keep working on it. But I think also knowing that people are reading my comic would be a good motivator as well. I've also found an art style that I genuinely enjoy drawing and improving at so it's fun to see the improvement as I work on pages.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I want to tell these characters' stories. And I want my readers to know what happens to them. Every page I make is a step closer toward that

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I relate much more to the recent love of story comments than the friends and readers comments

i wanna get to the good partsss

i love my endinggg

and i refuse to be yet another incomplete webcomic

Desnik

I stay motivated by having a critique group to share with on a regular basis. If I have no progress ready to show I feel bad

AntiBunny

I agree that point. My motivation is to get these stories out of my head and into the world, or they might just build up until my head explodes.

Yung Skrimp (Carefree)

Motivation where you at

Mitzi (Trophallaxis)

squeakin in just before the deadline to add that, and this might sound a tad mean, spite honestly keeps me motivated to make art and continue my comic/other art pursuits There have been people who tell me I should be doing something else with my life (to put it nicely), and what better revenge than to keep improving and putting more and more of my work out there for people to see?? ain't no one getting rid of me lmao

carcarchu

i feel ya on the spite thing mitzi, the best revenge i can get against the people who doubted me is to flourish

varethane

I think my main drive is being extremely hype to have people outside of my own brain get excited about the story things I have planned. These moments I daydream about.... if someone else can share that dream even for a moment, that's what I want (just realized this wording is extremely sappy skdjdhfbf sorry)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Ah no I think it's lovely the way you worded that

Shizamura 🌟 O Sarilho

Hahahaha [I laugh but deep inside in just... Uwu.. Same]

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Deep same. I do want to see the story come to life for myself as well, but it wouldn't be the same without potential audience engagement. If I were to do this in a total vacuum, I'd probably just do illustrations of my top favorite scenes only.

But it's a little bit more complex than that in practice. Drawing all the scenes enriches my own understanding of/ love for those favorite scenes. It's got the opposite of vicious cycle effect going on.

[bloodydamnit]

You went to MICA, right? I’m currently going there and it’s good (stressful as fuck, but good) and I wanna know; what did you hate and what did you love about it? (Oh my god I sound like those end of year surveys they give you)

Hello there!!! Omfg I’m literally on campus right now for pride!!! LOL just got myself a smoky burger from OTH what what. okay okay okay good questions. 

MICA has changed quite a bit since I was there. Like, my freshman year was fucking lit. If you take the shuttle and get Mr. Robert or Ms. Yvette, ask them about the nudists. Shit was wild. 

Our freshman/foundation year was different in general too? Like

Okay. So. lol. Our classes were:

Elements of Visual Thinking - Which was a chance to explore concepts, mediums, learning how to properly critique, etc. 

Critical Thinking - Which was just critical theory, but more on your own practice I guess? I don’t really know how to explain it. 

EMAC - Which was exploring different forms of digital media and how to use them (Premier, Photoshop, Audacity, recording devices, etc)

Sculptural Forms - Which was a chance for you to explore 3d media. So it was held in what used to be 15/15 and it was woodshop, plaster, 3d printing, and cardboard. 

Then, this is where I get pissed off and seriously fucking angry about this change. 

But we USED to have Painting and Drawing. Now, if you got a 5 in AP art, you gained an extra credit and could skip Drawing/Painting 1. HAH. IMAGINE THAT. HAVING A PAINTING AND DRAWING CLASS AS A FOUNDATION FOR YOUR ART. BECAUSE IT’S KIND OF NECESSARY. 

can you tell im a bit fucking salty?

They were separate classes and I think, they were extremely fucking important to the development of not only my art but my peers. For example, I fucking hated painting when I went to MICA. Literally fucking refused to touch the medium. 

I went to my first class with Latoya Hobbs, tried oil paint, and everything fucking changed. I was a GD major (or that was my plan) and I immediately switched to Painting and I never looked back. 

Unfortunately, yall don’t have that opportunity anymore. Especially since when you choose your major, you tend to stick with those classes. Which really fucking sucks, because you can tell the variety of art has gone down since this change happened. And I think that’s the thing that I dislike about MICA NOW the most. I had the chance to take things, was required to take them, and then I knew how to do a variety of things BECAUSE of those changes. And from what I understand, you don’t have those opportunities anymore. Which really fucking sucks. Because you also miss out on the amazing fucking professors in other majors as well. For example, Karen Warshal. I HIGHLY recommend taking her Portrait class and her Anatomy class. I swear to god, those were the best, more useful classes I’ve ever taken. Is she crazy? A bit. But she’s the most genuine, caring, supportive, and one of the hardest professors I’ve ever had. And thats what you WANT. You don’t want someone to butter you up, tell you your art is poppin when it’s not, and to try and let you off easy because you look upset. Karen tells you how it fucking is and that’s so god damn important. no matter what major you are, TAKE HER FUCKING CLASSES. They’re important and they’re necessary to your development as an artist. Even if you’re not into figural art. - also she makes food and brings it in. and if you’re sick she might make you chicken noodle soup. shout out to karen

Honestly, Karen was probably one of my favorite things about MICA. Along with Mark Karnes,  TONY FUCKING SHORE. LISTEN. YOU NEED TO TAKE A CLASS WITH TONY SHORE (PAINTING). I think he might be doing a class on race (which haha he knows hes white as fuck) and i think it will be fantastic. so keep an eye out, AND RUTH TOULSON THE ANTHROPOLOGY TEACHER. IT MIGHT STILL BE A REQUIREMENT. HER CLASSES HAVE AN 80+ WAITLIST. IF YOU GET ON. ITS SO WORTH IT FUCKING TRUST ME. SHES OUT OF THIS FUCKING WORLD. PAUL LONG, HE’S AN ACADEMIC TEACHER (TEACHES POETRY AND SOME OTHER SHIT. HE’S GREAT. BRINGS SNACKS EVERY DAY), and others?? if you want to know more, please message me and i’ll give you them!

Anyway, I havent really answered your question!

Dislike:Housing situation fucking sucked. getting a room was fucking ridiculous. They ran out of room for us because they started accepting more (this happened when sophomore housing was required. My year was the first year that went into effect and they had to buy out bolton hill apartments. people had to break leases, etc. it was fucking ridiculous). 

The MICA store is eh? It used really good and held in dolphin. But it was literally falling apart. Now its too.. idk. It’s fine. I prefer artists and craftsmen. 

Access to studios and equipment is eh too. Because of time constraints. 

How the student body treats the fucking faculty is DISGUSTING. One girl literally called one of the sweetest security guards the ‘help’. Ms. Gloria (senior in security) is fantastic, Officer Green is everything, Ms. Yvette is so fucking sweet, and Mr. Robert makes my heart sing. 

The student body in general LOLOLOLOLOL. ‘Surround yourself with good juju’ - Former MICA Grad (my best friend) The fucking student body mica page is a fucking dumpster fire lol. 

I don’t like how white MICA is and how entitled a good part of the student body is. The amount of entitlement is fucking ridiculous. And the amount of ignorance is astounding. Also the obviousness to what fucking city you're in, is so wild i cant fucking even. Like. MICA is deceptively beautiful (the MICA bubble). Which is why it is high in crime lol. Just be alert and don’t be a god damned dumbass walking around at 3 am with your fucking headphones in, smoking a cigarette, and acting like you’re fucking immune to being mugged. Just saying. Take the shuttles and you’ll most likely be gucci. 

I don’t like how MICA spends its money (our money). And what they choose to invest in - like buying random fucking buildings and not telling the students what it’s for, and fucking raising the price of tuition and living in order to compensate. 

The total and utter lack of transparency, etc. It felt eehhhh I don’t know how to explain it. 

NOW. I KNOW THIS SOUNDS LIKE A LOT AND THAT IM JUST SHITTING ON MICA. BUT MY MICA EXPERIENCE WAS THE BEST OF MY LIFE. I LEARNED SO MUCH. AND I FIND WHAT I LEARNED THERE TO BE INVALUABLE (except for the fact that I’m 56k in debt. just saying)

But really. I loved MICA. I wish I could go back. I met so many amazing people, made great connections, and I don’t think I would have had the same love at any other art school. (I have friends in SAIC, Pratt, Parsons, FIT, SVA, RISD - they all complain about the same things. they in the grand scheme of things, are material. Which important because, hah, money. But, material nonetheless. If you have the means, I don’t think these things I explained are deal breakers)

Now what I loved about MICA. Because honey. I fucking LOVED MICA:

When I was touring schools, I was kind of eh about them? Not in the sense that I wouldn’t have a good time or be ungrateful, but I didn’t get that feeling. Does that make sense? For example, I took a tour at SVA and I have very very strong opinions about SVA, I had no feeling. When I stepped on MICA’s campus, that was fucking it for me. Not only was I comfortable there, but the professors that were at the tour, made it their duty and went out of their way to make myself and the other potential students feel welcome. They were personable, they were kind and welcoming, they were warm, and that continued even after I decided MICA was the place for me. 

My class at least, had no drama lololol. Again, my freshman year was a hell of a lot of fucking fun. We didn’t have any big racist shit going on like other years (ahem ahem 2018, 2019). INSTEAD, we had the nudists, we had carrot videos (ask around about that), it kind of felt less cliquey? Because everyone was generally interested in being friends? Idk. Like we definitely had groups and they became more evident as majors really clicked in, but in the beginning, everyone was pretty much together (this was the first year that the grill opened and leake was a thing. So we were all figuring out the dorms together). I mean we had drama but it wasn’t... idk. It wasn’t like mica student body (maybe its because we didnt have that to fuck shit up lolol). 

On The Hill was my shit. Still my shit. I fucking love on the hill with a fucking passion. Pom Iced Teas, where you at. The neighborhood in general was really nice. Baltimore is one of my favorite cities and the stigma of it will be broken as soon as you start exploring it. HOWEVER, BE FUCKING SMART. DONT BE A FUCKING IDIOT. IF YOU DON’T FEEL COMFORTABLE SOMEWHERE, YEET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE. TRAVEL WITH OTHERS. DON’T BE THOSE DUMB ASS WHITE GIRLS FROM RURAL FUCKING TOWNS THAT THINK THEY CAN WALK AROUND AT 4 AM OR JUST WHEN IT’S DARK OUT, ALONE, AND BE OKAY. TAKE. THE FUCKING. SHUTTLE. 

The studio spaces were really nice so as they’re taken care of. the equipment is really nice. take advantage of it while you can. because once you’re out of school. hah. you’re screwed. 

Networking was nice. 

Being close to the Walters was amazing and the ability to go to DC for the day only spending 8$ on the Marc train to get there was amazing. Having Penn right on campus. 

Again, the professors were in majority, fucking amazing. 

Some professors had classes outside of MICA (karen has model drawing classes at her studio) take them! They’re really worth it!

I actually didnt mind the dorms. 10x better than most colleges. 

Accessibility was amazing. Especially since its not a closed campus, but everything is in one place. That’s not the case with a lot of Art colleges. 

And most of all, I just loved being there. I loved learning. I loved the people. I loved baltimore, i loved the professors. MICA 10000% shaped how I am as an artist in the best way and I think it’s an amazing place to be despite the downfalls. 

Don’t take everything I said as gospel. like I said, these are just my experiences as well as a few of my friends in the same fine arts department. The others, I’m not sure about. But yeah. I hope this helps! You can always message me and I’d be happy to refer you to classes, professors, etc. Good luck with next year!

[harrysdimples]

ok lol sooo my Harrie origin story is well lmao just wait. so I became a fan of zayn when pillowtalk came out but like I didn’t know who he was?? I thought he was a new artist lol and I heard it on the radio and lOVED it. so then I looked into him to see if he had any other music, and I found out he was in—as I knew them as—the harry styles band. I had a brief passing interest in 1d caused by that doc they did, but I genuinely didn’t give a fuck about the rest of them askdkak like ok when 1/?

under the cut because it’s quite long but mega cute!!! can I be part of ur relationship pls? im personally rooting for u. the dunkirk part reminds me of my friend going to see it with her mum and at the end her mum turning to her and going “that guy in the film really looked like harry styles, that’s so weird isn’t it?” lol 

I watched it it was at a friends house ok, and we both knew of harry and thought he was hot lmao and she’d seen it, and we skipped over all the parts where harry wasn’t doing anything. I think we only watched the performance where he got pantsed? lmao. so I knew of him, but in a like follow-accounts-that-posts-hot-pics of him sorta way?? so then when I realized he and zayn were both in 1d, I was like wtf. And I looked into the rest of them to see if I missed anything else and then was like 

2/? (that’s kind of joke, plenty of ppl seem to like that blonde one and I’m sure they have like great personalities or something. I rlly don’t know. If u like, good on u ig). Alright so! Then i was like living my life, appreciating harry and zayn, and starting to be interested in harry like aside from his face and zayn. But then he like disappeared and zayn was too difficult for me to like ~follow (I have a short attention span) and then! My bf at the time was like hey, let’s see this new movie

4?/? and so we went. And I’m sitting there, like dreading this like historical movie that doesn’t even have like a girl to admire at least (tho jack lowden was a nice bonus!), when all of sudden I see this boy that looks reaaal familiar. So I IMDb it right then and there lol and it’s harry! And I was like wtf he acts too?? How did I miss that?? (Turns out hes only done that, like what!) so I search him up when I get home, and I find out first that he’s got a lil doc! That behind the scenes thing 

5/? a pic of harry with like lace titties (my weakness) in his met gala look. And we start texting again, then we decide to go for drinks (to talk about harry, ofc..), and I’m kinda not super invested in harry, but like. She’s hot! So I play it up. Anyway, long story short, we’ve been dating since July (my longest relationship yet!) and she keeps way involved harrys like life lol to the point where I feel like a proper harrie now! We’re really looking forward to seeing him on tour again, without 

6/? a pesky bf in the way. We’re also really hoping that when he says the album is about having sex and being sad or whatever he means he’ll have at least one like proper sexy song to uh ya know, experience to its full (sexy) potential lmao. So yeah! Sorry this is long af, my gf is laughing at me. She made me get a tumblr and she says I suck at it asfsjsk lmaooo 7/7 (I think?? whoops lol)

[themoneybuff-blog]

Questions About Tax Brackets, Compound Interest, Warehouse Clubs, Stamps, and More!

Whats inside? Here are the questions answered in todays reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Losing faith 2. Thoughts on simple investment strategy 3. Tax bracket question 4. Compound interest question 5. Costco versus Sams Club 6. Question about forever stamps 7. Investing for near term 8. VA disability and property taxes 9. KitchenAid 10. Where should I retire? 11. Credit cards for specific purposes 12. Saving old journals On the wall in my office are three framed pictures that my children drew for me when they were younger using finger paints. In the corner of each, my wife typed out a brief description of what the painting was supposed to be, transcribing what the children told her about them. They are among my favorite possessions. I look at them at least a few times a day and they provide a constant reminder to me about what Im doing, what Ive done right, and what I might do better. Theyre older now. My daughter is a fantastic artist at this point, drawing still life far better than I ever dreamed of being able to do. My oldest son is developing into a skilled problem solver and is likely headed for some sort of engineering career. My youngest has a superb wit and the most insatiably curious mind Ive ever come across. Those pictures captured them at a moment in their lives thats already past, yet when I look at the pictures, I dont think of my children as they were, but as they are. Its pretty impressive what three pieces of paper and a few cents worth of finger paint can do. Q1: Losing faith I have worked for the DoE for 18 years and been through a few shutdowns, but this is the first time Ive simply not received my paycheck. Part of the reason I have chosen to work for the government rather than an energy company is due to the stability of the job and now that feels like it is eroding. I dont know when Im getting paid next which is the very type of thing I wanted to avoid in private industry and took a somewhat lower paying job. I am losing faith in the government as reliable. Not sure what to do. Dan After last weeks mailbag focused so heavily on the shutdown, I wanted to dial it back a little this week, so this is the only shutdown-related question. Again, Im not interested in the politics of the situation, just how it affects the daily life of those affected by it. In your shoes, Dan, I would probably start polishing up the resume. I get the impression that your finances are generally pretty stable and you can handle a short period without pay. I would also use this as inspiration to remind yourself that the best kind of financial reliability is when youre relying solely on your own savings, not the reliability of an employer. When things do return to normal, kick up your retirement savings a bit and get yourself into a place of financial independence just a little faster. Q2: Thoughts on simple investment strategy I wanted to get your thoughts on the investment strategy my great uncle told me about. Hes in his mid 60s and has been basically retired for about a decade. He ran a bakery but sold it to the manager about a decade ago and sometimes consults with them but thats about it. He said that what he did was starting in the early 1980s when he was just starting out, he put a minimum of $100 a month into a savings account and then put in any windfalls he got. The minimum grew as his income did. Whenever the stock market dropped 10% from its peak, he would take half of his savings and put it in the stock market and then not watch again for another six months. He said he blew away the market doing this and its why he retired so early. I am skeptical because he sometimes tells tall tales and I think he is mostly retired on bakery money. Your thoughts? Alex So, lets break this down. He puts $100 a month into savings and then puts half of his savings into stocks every time the stock market is 10% or more lower than its peak, but he only does this every six months at most. I tried my best to match this strategy in a spreadsheet to figure out whether this would actually beat the market. As best as I can figure, over the period of January 1, 1982 to January 1, 2019, this strategy would beat the market but not overwhelmingly, and it didnt beat the market for long stretches in there. I assumed a 3% return over that entire period on money in the savings account, and I only checked the stock market on the 1st of every month. I used the S&P 500 as the number for the stock market and assumed he was investing in the Vanguard 500, which basically matches the S&P 500. Now, having said that, its worth noting that sitting on stocks over that period is simply a great investment. On January 1, 1982, the S&P 500 was at 117.30. On January 1, 2019, its at 2,584.62. That money he invested back in the early eighties utterly exploded in value. Heck, even as late as January 1, 2009, it was at 865.58 it has basically tripled since then. If your great uncle sold his bakery ten years ago and put a lot of that money into stocks, and hed been doing this investment strategy as you described all along, he probably is sitting on a pretty penny right now. As for whether you should do it, I dont think its strictly better or worse than just investing that $100 directly every month. It really depends on how the market fluctuates, as all of these strategies do. Your great uncle got rich because he made a 40 year investment in stocks, not because he had a great timing strategy. Anyone with just about any strategy starting in the early 1980s would be doing very good today if they just left the money in the market. In other words, I think youd be in great shape if you used your uncles strategy. I also think youd be in great shape if you just put $100 or $200 a month into a broad based index fund and sat on it for the next 40 years. The thing those two strategies have in common is that theyre both riding the long term stock market growth, and thats where the real money is over the long term. Q3: Tax bracket question You wrote: Lets say youre a single taxpayer who earns $35,000 per year. The first $9,275 of your income is taxed at 10%, and the remaining $25,725 is taxed at 15%. What? While $35,000 falls into the 15% tax bracket, your effective tax rate is actually 13.7%. The higher your income, the more tax brackets you pass through to arrive at your effective tax rate. There is no listed 15% tax bracket for single taxpayers.. That sentence is thoroughly confusing! Please explain where you came up with that! Tammy The article in question was written by Simple Dollar contributor Frank Addessi, not by me. Ill do my best to explain this specific point more clearly. First of all, Frank seems to have been using the 2017 tax brackets rather than the 2018 ones to explain the principle. His numbers perfectly line up with the 2017 tax brackets, which did include a 15% rate. The current 2018 tax brackets for single filers look like this: 10% Up to $9,525 12% $9,526 to $38,700 22% $38,701 to $82,500 24% $82,501 to $157,500 32% $157,501 to $200,000 35% $200,001 to $500,000 37% over $500,000 The easiest way to think of tax brackets is to imagine a big water fountain, one that has a bunch of progressively larger pools. When the little pool at the top overflows, the overflow runs down into the next pool which is a little bigger, and when that one overflows, that overflow runs down into the next pool, and so on. Heres a picture if you want a visual aid. So, in Franks example, hes looking at someone who made $35,000 in taxable income this year. You start dumping that income into the 10% bracket until it fills up at $9,525. At that point, you still have $25,475 to put into the fountain, so we move down to the next bracket. It can hold all remaining income up to $38,700, and so it holds the remainder. So, that first $9,525 is taxed at 10%, which means $952.50 in taxes, and the remaining $25,475 is taxed at 12%, which means $3,057 in taxes. Your total tax bill is $4,009.50, which is 11.5% of your income. This person is in the 12% tax bracket and their effective tax rate is 11.5%. Remember, because some of your income always ends up in those smaller bowls with a lower rate, your overall effective tax rate is always lower than your tax bracket. Hopefully this clears things up! Q4: Compound interest question I recently read a blog post about compound interest, which Ive primarily associated with bank accounts. But the article also seems to associate compound interest with retirement accounts and I was wondering if you could provide some clarity. One example early on says Lets say you have $5,000 in a retirement account, earning 7% interest each year. The first year you earn $350 in interest, which brings your total to $5,350. The following year, interest is calculated based on that $5,350 total Even if you never deposit anything but the original $5,000, youll have $38,061.28 in 30 years. I know the average stock market return is 7%, but is it accurate to call that interest? If not, is there some other type of retirement account that genuinely offers 7% interest on your principle every year (as this article seems to suggest)? Another example: toward the end it says If youre saving for retirement, invest in low-fee index funds. Fees of 1% or more will drag down your profit and cut into your compound interest. Index funds will follow the markets course and provide a solid rate of return. Avoid picking individual stocks, as their volatility can be problematic. Im on board with the ideas of low-fee index funds, but not for fear of high fees cut[ting] into your compound interest. Index funds are liable to lose value some years too, arent they? I wouldnt be giving this as much thought if it came from a smaller blog but this is Mint. It makes me wonder if I fully understand how my retirement accounts are working, or if Im missing an opportunity elsewhere. Is the article conflating two topics that dont really connect to one another? Or is there a way to leverage compound interest to this big of a degree for retirement? Max Mint is using the terms investment returns and interest interchangeably here in order to reduce the number of different terms being thrown at the reader. I do this myself its a way of making similar concepts seem familiar and not overwhelm people with new terms, especially when theyre asking an introductory question. They are distinct ideas, but they both have the same effect if you let them sit for a long time, the growth they provide is powerful. Your retirement account, assuming its invested mostly in stocks, doesnt return interest. Rather, what happens is that you usually own shares in a mutual fund. Each time you put money into your retirement account, its used to buy more shares. Over time, those shares grow in value maybe not each and every year, but most years. They also regularly produce dividends, which are small cash payments for each of those shares, issued to you. Almost always, dividends are just used to buy more shares of that same investment. So, shares grow in value over time and youre also rolling dividends in to buy even more shares. The end effect of that is much like compound interest in a savings account it builds and builds. Although theyre not the same thing, the exponential growth curve of interest in a savings account and investments in a retirement account are similar. The growth curve of the savings account isnt as steep, but its very steady and always upwards. The growth curve of the stock market investment is really bumpy, but overall trends upward much more strongly than the growth curve of the savings account. Q5: Costco versus Sams Club I dont know anything about sams club because we joined it when it first came to town years ago and hated it. When Costco came to town, we heard such positive things we decided to give it a chance and have liked it much better. Reasons are several, including those you wrote about esp. the gas prices as we pass the store every day. Further, they treat their employees really well. most importantly, they guarantee that if the credit card rewards (on their visa card) do not equal the membership fee, they will refund the membership fee. We have only one visa card and its theirs as we get a great deal of rewards based on gas alone. Jaden My experience has been that different chain stores have different degrees of quality in different areas of the country. Where I live, the two closest warehouse clubs to my door are both Sams Club and theyre both clean and well stocked and well staffed, and both feature gas prices that are consistently about $0.07 per gallon cheaper than any of the stations near them. There is a Costco in Des Moines (the closest Costco to me) and I found the experience there to be very similar when Ive visited with friends with Costco memberships. However, having said that, I didnt see anything that made it worth the substantial additional drive for me. My experience is that theyre both fine, at least at the locations Ive visited, and you should check out both in your area if theyre both available (along with BJs, another warehouse club chain popular in some regions of the United States). Q6: Question about forever stamps As you likely know, the largest increase in the cost of a stamp will occur on Sunday, January 27, 2019, as the price of a first class Forever Stamp goes from $0.50 to $0.55 (a 10% increase). While the best way to save money on stamps is to call/TXT/email rather than mail a letter, sometimes mailing a letter presents a very good value (sending someone a note of appreciation, etc.). Due to how significant this increase is, I would recommended that anyone with no high interest debt who already has an emergency fund try to purchase 2-4 years worth of stamps, while anyone else try to acquire at least a 1-year supply of stamps (as long as they can do so without paying interest on the purchase). Im curious how much of a supply of stamps you would recommend people acquire prior to this price increase? Stephen Personally, we estimated how many stamps well likely use over the course of 2019 (mostly personal letters and holiday cards) and bought them all already. This added up to 200 stamps, so the cost was $100, as compared to the $110 we would have spent had we bought those stamps at the end of January or later. With a longer timeframe than that, the cost benefit of buying those stamps really starts to shrink. Your annual return starts to sag and you have the stamps for longer, which means theres a greater risk of some sort of damage to the stamps (the longer you have them, the more likely they are to be lost, burnt, misused, and so on). This is basically what weve done each time theres been a bump in the cost of forever stamps. Weve bought an entire years worth just before the bump in price. Its not a big savings, but it saves us $5-$10 over the course of a year. Q7: Investing for near term You recommend fully investing in the Roth/529 even though they are less than 10 years out from likely needing the capital? I was thinking of them putting 10 or 20% aside for long term, although they are a bit depressed by the .1% interest our local bank returns to them. Any back of the envelope math as to what $2,000, invested at age 16, is worth at age 70? Annie Yes, I recommend putting money into tax-advantaged education and retirement accounts, even if youre less than ten years from your expected use. The difference is that when youre looking at that short of a timeframe, you choose investments that are intended for short and medium term investments, like safe bonds or money markets. They have a smaller average annual return than stocks, but they certainly beat savings accounts and have very little risk of losing money and youre still able to pull out the gains tax free. As for your other question, if you put in $2,000 into, say, a Roth IRA at age 16, put it aggressively into stocks, and let it ride until age 70, you should see an average annual return of 7% on that money. So, 54 years of a 7% average annual return on $2,000 gives you are you ready for this $77,224.30. Now, its worth noting that $77K wont go as far in 54 years as it goes now, but itll still be a very healthy chunk of money. If you withdraw 3% of it annually (which is a safe bet), thats $2,317 a year. Yep, if he puts that $2,000 away now and starts withdrawing it every year at age 70, hell be able to pull out more than $2,000 a year basically forever and still hand down a big chunk of it to his kids/grandkids. Q8: VA disability and property taxes Can a veteran who is on total VA disability with no other income receive a tax refund on his home owners taxes? Jim Property taxes are a deduction from ones income tax bill. Since, as a person on total disability from the VA, youre already paying no income taxes, you have nothing from which to deduct. I dont know the specifics of your financial state, but if you were to earn a small income, its likely that the deduction from the property taxes would take care of the income taxes on that small income. However, if your income is solely from the VA due to total disability, property tax payments wont help your income tax bill since you dont have an income tax bill. Q9: KitchenAid it is my understanding that [KitchenAid] was bought out by a foreign company some time ago surely since 50 years ago and that the new company has been making them with some parts being plastic that were metal originally. I have seen reviewers saying that the old ones really do last forever if one takes good care of them, whereas some of the newer models plastic parts tend to wear out. I dont remember seeing any mention of whether those plastic parts can be replaced. I think I found this information on consumer information web sites. Annie Whirlpool purchased KitchenAid in 1986. At some point in the late 1990s, it seems that KitchenAid replaced the gearbox in some of their stand mixers with one made of nylon rather than the original one made of metal. The issue isnt that the nylon ones wear out under normal use, but that people tend to stress them. For example, the instructions for the manual state to only use the dough hook attachment on speed setting 1 or 2, but people often turn it to 3 or higher. This causes the gearbox to get overworked and cause breakdown issues. Today, KitchenAid makes two lines of stand mixers the Artisan and the Pro line. The Artisan has a nylon gear box where the Pro line seems to have the old-style metal gear box but the Pro line is substantially more expensive. One note: the reason many people believe that old things are more reliable is due to selective bias. People remember the things that worked well in the past and forget the things that do not, and then they compare those things that worked well to everything now, where some things work well and some things do not. Thats always been true. Q10: Where should I retire? My husband I are targeting early retirement within 10 years but well be figuring out a location in 3-5 years. We want to spend the next few years visiting a variety of possible locations, narrow it down to a shorter list and then try out a few, staying 6 months to a year. Where would you start? What criteria would you consider? What resources are available, particularly those geared towards retirees (we dont really care about the quality of local schools these days). Thanks for any suggestions. Margaret If I were you, Id start by figuring out what you want to do in retirement. What do you want your typical day to look like? Does it involve regular time with family? With friends? Does it involve a lot of time outside in warm weather? Do you guys like cold weather? How do you want to spend your time? Questions like that should narrow down your target locations pretty quickly. Once youve addressed those kinds of quality of life issues, I would focus on cost of living and aim for areas that have a low cost of living while still meeting your other quality of life goals. I like using this cost of living calculator. Since youre retiring early, I wouldnt prioritize access to services too much at this point. Instead, focus on what will give you the aspects of life you want with a low cost of living. Q11: Credit cards for specific purposes I have not used credit cards until a few years ago and wondering if the following expenses qualify as recurring payment for which the card gives a cash-back: 1. Monthly rent paid to the apartment landlord (not sure if the landlord would accept credit card though but rent is the single largest toll on my modest purse); 2. Life insurance premiums. These do accept credit card payments and I am about to apply for two. Sasha I think that using credit cards for very tight specific purposes like this is a good choice, as it raises your credit score and likely provides some sort of reward bonus or cash back bonus for the card. The key, of course, is paying off the balance in full each month. Youll have to check with the credit card in terms of whether or not such payments qualify for the cash back reward. It depends on the specific offer and probably on how you go about the payment. If I were you, the next step Id take is talking to my landlord about credit card payments. My guess is that a small business might not accept credit cards, but a large one will. You may want to consider other strict uses for it as well, such as gas purchases or other regular bills. Q12: Saving old journals I loved to learn that you also use the three morning pages idea! I have been doing this for years and years, since 2000 at least. Question: what do you do with the old journals? I have a box of them in the garage. I realize I dont really look at them but it feels wrong to just burn them or throw them away but I also dont really want my kids to read them because theyre really personal and I sometimes work through hard feelings about motherhood. Jenny Personally, I digitize all of my old journal entries and then destroy the originals. (The exception is journals that Im hand-writing for each of my kids to give to them when theyre adults that contains a summary of the life advice I have for them along with things like family histories and recollections.) My process is that when I finish a journal, I put it aside for a while until I realize Im no longer looking back on it (usually six months or so), then I cut all of the pages out of the binding and scan them all (I use Scanner Pro). Then, I burn the original pages. That way, I can easily browse through them when I want, search through them using text searching, and theyll basically go away when I die (I suppose one of my kids might find them if they trawl through lots of my digital detritus, but most likely theyll just toss out old computer equipment without a second thought). Most of the stuff Ive written is simply me working through personal problems, and I really have no interest in rereading that stuff. The valuable stuff, for me, is when Im working through an intellectual idea, because I often want to revisit the earlier thoughts. Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. Ill attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours. https://www.thesimpledollar.com/questions-about-tax-brackets-compound-interest-warehouse-clubs-stamps-and-more/