#but I'm more so directing this to the section of ppl who go out of their way to drag the group down

[kimikoyukiart]

Hey! Idk if you remember, I'd talked to you about making your aymeric x estinien housing art into ffxiv housing. Ever since then, I have really fallen in love with your art style! I am also a noob artist and opened comms recently, but I haven't gotten any yet haha do you have any advice and tips for me to help gain an audience and commissioners? Thank you and goodluck with your shop!

Hello again! Yes, I remember gosh thank you so much for enjoying my art! Also I'm always super happy to answer art stuff since I'm in love with it, but I will open with a disclaimer specifically for the growing audience bit cause for a long time I've primarily been an OC / original art artist and it wasn't till I became cripplingly obsessed with estimeric that I grew some semblance of a following so I'm a pretty small artist by most standards ;;; With that said, here are my tips and advice which I'll separate into 2 parts

Putting this under a read more cause it's LONG

Commissions (mostly about expectations, best practices, and organisation to make it easy on clients)

Have some kind of commission page (here's mine for example) to make it easy for your clients to be able to reference something and for you to direct new inquiries to. This can be anything from a website/carrd to even just a google doc/tumblr pg. Will there be clients who never read this? Absolutely. BUT it's also great for clients who are shy and/or who like coming prepared

Have a Terms of Service section!! In our current day and age of tech bros and assholes trying to exploit and scam creatives I cannot express enough how just having a TOS will deter these ppl! It shows you're serious and that you know what you're about, making you less of a target!

MOST IMPORTANT! Be kind to yourself!!! Opening commissions is exciting due to the prospect of making money from something you love and it can be very disappointing and demoralising when you don't get any! It's also a very "feast or famine" type of roller coaster, so don't feel bad if you don't get any, even super large artists struggle!

Building a following (from someone who's doesn't actually prioritise this so take it as you will!)

You've probably heard this before but fanart is definitely better at drawing a crowd than original art so I feel obligated to mention it. (I'm a pretty classic case study of this imo lol) And the reason for this is that there's already an established audience out there that loves the content you're making unlike original art where you're starting from ground zero. Does that mean you should give up making original art if you want followers? ABSOLUTELY NOT! And honestly most of my advise will be from the perspective of growing an audience via original art because you can apply the same principles to fanart so here we go!

Consistency is key. Being a constant presence on your existing followers' feed means having consistent chances for them to share/engage with a piece of your artwork, which means more chances for new eyes to see them which means more chances for followers etc etc. But what's the pace? Well that depends on how brutal you're interested in being with yourself unfortunately....if you die hard want to grow as fast as possible then once a day (i've seen some artist do more;;;) but it's something I would NOT recommend for all sorts of risks. (you can mitigate the risk ofc but that's like a whole thing in itself) I'd advice you to figure out a pace that works for you so that you maintain a healthy relationship with your art

Join events/zines/bandwagons. Whether it's things like drawtober, ffxiv art parties, or zines, engaging with community/communal activities (especially those with hashtags/promos) can help you engage with people who might not have found you otherwise. If you're a social person it's a great chance for you to make friends who have similar interests too! Making art related to a piece of media that just came out is also great way of engagement since people are probably looking for it (for example spidersonas or dressing OCs in outfits to watch the barbie movie)

Make it easy to find your art when someone visits your page. It doesn't necessarily have to be a full portfolio, but giving viewers a place to see only your art posts is crucial imo. Tumblr is great since it's tagging system is fantastic making this part easy but places like Twitter for example only have a single media tab; so making a thread for art post or keeping your media tab clean is ideal. (you've no idea have many artists i've chosen not to follow cause their media tab is 1 awesome piece of art then just 500 cursed memes/reaction images lol)

HARDEST BUT MOST IMPORTANT POINT! Make compelling art. I follow artists who post a piece of art maybe once every....I dunno 3 months if even that, but when they do they get thousands of notes, why? Because it is a compelling piece of art. Something that touches the heart or makes you gasp in awe or swoon from it's vision or die laughing. And this is the hardest point because what that looks like is completely unique to you. Basically it is your answer to the question of "Why do I make art?" which artists everywhere all around the world, regardless of genre or industry, are trying to answer themselves. The one thing you MUST REMEMBER while you try to figure this point out is that it must involve Love. That means loving the journey; the grueling failures, steep learning curves, and all, because if even you don't love what you're trying to create other won't either. And that's not to say you have to be happy about a piece of art not turning out right (I still cry from frustration myself all the time) but it does mean be kind to yourself when you fall so you can pick yourself up easier when you stand again

THAT WAS SUPER LONG WOW! With all that said tho those 1st 2 points for growing an audience is what I would recommend focusing on! The internet is all about engagement and you can't have that if there's nothing to engage with! Also because it just bears mentioning that sometimes it is just a skill thing and you just have to get better at drawing BUT that is not to say skillful=complex! Nonono take a look at webtoons like "My Giant Nerd Boyfriend" by fishball or "Sarah's Scribbles" by Sarah Andersen. Or illustrator's like loonpflug or mmeiccaa. It's not complex but it's some FKIN GOOD ART!

Ok I will stop my ranting here GOOD LUCK AND DON'T FORGET TO BE KIND TO YOURSELF!! You are more than how many numbers you make on the internet and I hope that you always remember that 💖

[androdragynous]

slightly strange question, feel free to ignore if it's too weird/makes you uncomfortable in any way.

hi i'm also a mobility aid user who loves character customization and also video game design. i kinda. collect? posts ppl make where they talk about how character customizations have excluded them or failed to account for the true range of human experience (ex, weight sliders that go from thin to not-quite-as-thin, lack of black hairstyles, lack of mobility aid options, no limb difference options, no hearing aids, etc). and i know that no character customizer could ever TRULY cover the entire range, but i also am fueled by spite and don't like assholes telling me what is and isn't possible.

so. with that as the background, i would genuinely love to know 1, what kind of mobility aid you use, 2, other grievances you have found with character customizers in the past, 3, other things you don't think are included often enough even if it's not something that applies to you/that you would ever use, and 4, anything else you don't see enough of in terms of video game accessibility

no pressure to respond, of course, and feel free to only respond to some of these (again, zero pressure at all!) but i love collecting data from ppl who don't see themselves in character customizers, and i love knowing what can be done to help 💖

I don't mind answering, at least the basics!

At the moment I have a cane and a rollator, though I'm hoping to get a wheelchair for prolonged outings; I mainly end up just using the cane when I go out for transport convenience, to the chagrin of future me

I don't think I have any unusual sentiments on character creators. I don't usually try to make myself or specific characters, so I'm usually just messing around with what I'm given rather than trying to replicate options that don't exist. Don't like that eye patches usually take up the single head accessory slot, even though you can stack them with other things in real life, including other eyewear.

The ones you mentioned are definitely ones missing a lot. I don't think I've ever seen a game that lets you have a service animal even purely cosmetically, like a seeing eye dog. Not a lot of options for facial asymmetry. I think it would be neat to be able to select the amount of facial expression your character does in games where that's shown, like Dragon Age or Fallout, or to be able to select sign language for your character rather than speaking.

Is "everything" a sufficient answer for missing accessibility? Honestly, there's not a lot that's in there to start with. Flash / strobe toggles, distortion filter toggles, particle effects toggles, UI and caption font + scaling options. Hmm. Button mapping obviously. Motion controls or one handed controls when possible. Sound cues for collisions with walls / objects, or sound cues to indicate you're on the right path to a destination or something important is nearby (Nirnroot, for all of the jokes about it, makes a good example). Color / contrast adjustments beyond just overall brightness scaling - being able to darken the backgrounds so objects and NPCs stand out more, for example. Spoken UI options. Sound effect + directional captions. Saving at any time and pausing at any time. Volume scales broken down into sections instead of just one master volume slider. Ui dark / light modes. Icon-heavy UI having text along with the symbols. Warnings for anything that might have to be toggled (like flashing) so it doesn't come as a surprise later. UI for accessibility settings being clear and accessible in itself - if I can't find the settings for limited vision because I have limited vision, it's not accessible.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head; hope it's useful to you!

[kenobster]

I can see that the whole stewjoni dualsex thing might be problematic... at times... maybe... But counterpoint: a) knock him up and b) uh, um, Triple Penetration In Three Holes

Look lmao, I'm not here to say what's problematic or unproblematic (unless you hate Anakin, of course... in which case, please consult my very serious Ted Talk on the subject).

Anyway, I said what I said in that answer, not because I think ppl who write Stewjoni biology should stop (I'm not a party pooper nor an anti, so please carry on ^_^), but rather because I was furious over a blatant hypocrisy on someone else's post lmao.

But on a personal level re your counterpoints.... and how do I say this gently...... Oh! Right:

YKINMKATO

Lmao, there we go.

In case anyone would like to drizzle some Fine Kenobster Tastebuds over their Fic Perusing Repertoires, they're absolutely welcome to consider my below counter-counterpoints.

(Note: I am incapable of getting horny over consensual smut, so we're assuming these are noncon/dubcon adjacent, but in full honesty, I'm sure you could wiggle these into any smut fantasy of your choosing.)

counter-counterpoint #1: i've read fic that made fortuna's thumb more erotic than any number of simultaneous penetrations.

counter-counterpoint #2: if u wanna get a biological boy knocked up, see below for instructions:

Step 1: Detach the bowels from the blorbo's anus and connect them to an external poop bag instead;

Step 2: Insert a uterus (along with a pre-fertilized egg attached to its lining) into the blorbo's abdomen;

Step 3: Connect the anus to the cervix (please note that no other modification to the anus is necessary);

Step 4: Ejaculate into blorbo's anus repeatedly (please note that, as the egg is already fertilized, this step may be completed as a fun little treat or skipped at your leisure);

Step 5: Pump blorbo full of pregnancy hormones while you wait for the fetus to grow to term;

Step 6: When your blorbo begins to go into labor, watch with mirth as his body fails to eject the baby through such an inelastic hole. Feel free to laugh yourself giddy as his ass-muscles get all torn up and scarred.

Step 7: Unless your goal is for your blorbo and its fetus to die, eventually show him some mercy and conduct a C-Section.

In other words, don't be a pussy about giving the blorbo a pussy.

counter-counterpoint #3: may I direct your attention to the many cunt-having blorbos out there? For example, Padmé has some very Obi-Wan-esque qualities, and she comes with a canonical interest in pregnancy and ready-to-lactate boobs! "But Padmé's not a Jedi," you whine. Bitch, please. If you're giving Obi-wan a cunt, then I think you can make Padmé a Jedi, yeah? -pats your head- Live your dream. Be free. <3

***

Anyway, if you were hoping for some serious thoughts in response to your ask, then (1) I apologize lmao, I have chronic inability-to-be-serious blogger syndrome; and (2) please copy paste your ask and resubmit it here instead. ^_^ If you do that, I promise that you will get a very comprehensive post that describes my exact opinions on the subject, no joke. Give it a whirl.

[yardsards]

one of my least favourite traits about myself is that i really don't know the social skills to move from "good acquaintances" to "actual friends" and every friend i've ever had was either A) an extrovert with good social skills that decided to befriend me for some unknown reason and i clung to like an orphaned duckling B) someone i met THROUGH one of said extroverts and we became friends by association until we spent enough time hanging around the same person to become actual friends

[vyl3tpwny]

parasocial relationships

something i never thought i'd deal with was having ppl form parasocial relationships with me, i thought maybe i wouldn't be cool enough or interesting enough for that, but whateveer.

it's such a complicated subject, because it takes the form of many different nuances. and this problem has gotten so much worse in the past year alone, given that more people are hearing about me and choosing to support me and interact with me and my work.

i'm heavily introverted, reclusive, and really know who my friends are. sometimes i'll meet new ppl and thats cool and sometimes i'll vibe with one or two and thats cool. but that's my own accord, it's a two way thing. a lot of the times i'll respond to someone's inquiry or comment because i want to try and acknowledge them and then suddenly they're talking to me like we're best friends. sometimes i'll try and be helpful or attentive to someone and then they'll start pushing boundaries, asking personal questions, and acting like i'm a bad person for giving them short responses or no reply at all. sometimes i will have worked with someone or interacted with someone who's supported me and because of that connection, they start to treat our casual acquaintanceship with each other as something that can be exploited — used as a way to talk to me all the time. sometimes i wont even interact with someone and i'll find them writing love letters to me or writing really stupidly, parasocially inappropriate things in my comments sections and replies. in all cases, i'm uncomfortable.

i have a lot of messages to answer every day, and it takes a lot of energy and willpower for someone like me to respond and be attentive. ive fallen into states of depression for just trying to bring myself to answer people sometimes. and through all of that, ppl find themselves spamming my inbox with things and pushing my boundaries, ignoring my statuses, and sometimes even mocking me for expressing in some way that i dont want to talk.

and its especially hard when there are people who connect a lot with my music and the things i convey through my work. because sometimes it feels like i've helped them a lot, they begin to think of it as a direct interaction and so on and so forth.

my brain can't handle it.

and i don't know what to do. sometimes it comes from someone who's supporting me and i dont want to be rude, or sometimes it comes from someone i may have interacted with more frequently in the past. but i honestly can't handle this at all. i want to be a nice person and i want to be reasonable and helpful.

another thing that rlly stresses me out is when ppl's only interaction with me is spamming my inbox with shitposts. like, i get it, i love funny things and i love being weird. but 1.) again i need a lott of energy to answer messages so when i finally muster myself and just see a gif sitting there i get so anxious and whatever 2.) i really would prefer not to be only "internet funny person" to someone.

sometimes it's hard esp if the other person doesn't really understand what they're doing. and i feel bad expressing "hey can you stop talking to me it stresses me out" because i dont know how to disengage from people without coming off as dismissive. so i just end up ignoring a lot of messages or coming off as short anyway.

im just dumping my thoughts out here. but this has been really affecting me a lot the past two years, and especially within the last 6 months. idk if i'm going to just have to concede being nice to everyone or what. its just really breaking my mental health.

[cancerbiophd]

Hi do u have any tips for science writing in general? I have to write a paper analysis for a microbio class but since most ppl in the class are in 4th year (I'm only in 2nd) the prof says she's expecting higher quality. I'm worried bc the only science writing ive done is lab reports

hello!

that sounds quite intimidating! let’s see if i can help you out. so these are tips that have worked for me (or i’ve seen work for others based on what i’ve read/edited/etc). for science writing in general:

know your audience. how much prior knowledge of the subject do they know? what is the purpose of them reading this article? who your audience is will dictate how you write your article. in your case, it’s your professor, so they probably know a lot about the subject (or maybe not! maybe you’ll write about some niche topic they haven’t studied yet), they’re reading to grade, so they’ll be paying attention to things on the grading rubric, etc. these are all things to keep in mind when you’re prepping, outlining, drafting, and editing. 

structure your essay so it’s a story. just like any other essay, science articles should also have a beginning (intro and statement), a middle (paragraphs to support your statement), and an end (conclusion). usually in science essays the conclusion also serves as a discussion where the writer can finally insert their own opinions on things, and further discuss why the results in the article are important for broader implications. 

be concise. science writing is not like some other styles of writing in that it’s best to avoid fluff, unnecessary descriptions, flowery language, etc. keep it short and simple.

if you need to use jargon or abbreviations, be sure to define them (for jagon), and give the full phrasing (for abbreviations) the first time they’re used.

avoid using absolutes unless it really is an absolute. in science, hardly anything is 100% certain. that’s why phrases like these are used a lot: “the data suggest”, “x may be caused by y”, “x has been shown in controlled experiments to be caused by y”, “thus it can been hypothesized”, etc. unless it’s a law (like gravity), then we can never use an absolute to describe it, and biology especially is a lawless land. 

related, keep in mind that the word “data” is plural for “datum”. so it’s “the data are” not “the data is”. (i still catch myself making this mistake alskdfj)

like most writing, avoid the passive voice whenever possible, and keep to the same verb tense.

practice summarizing research results into concise sentences for your supporting points. it can be difficult to wade through all that jargon and data in an article, so it definitely takes practice. it’s almost like reading comprehension dialed up to 12. article titles and abstracts help with this a lot, as the authors have already summarized their main findings there. reading good examples can also help (like science news articles from reputable sources–you can see what kind of language they use to summarize key points). 

present data in an unbiased way. you may be writing an essay that argues one point over another, but that opinion should not leak into when you present study results. Ex. “60% of animals treated with ABC survived to the study endpoint, versus 10% of animals receiving the control” is unbiased, whereas “ABC had exceptional results in a study where the majority of animals treated survived” sounds pretty darn biased in favor of ABC, and may not be an accurate reporting of the results (maybe the drug actually sucked upon further studies?). Of course, if your essay statement is arguing in favor of ABC, then you can follow up your unbiased presentation of the results with something like “This study showed the efficacy of ABC in a controlled in vivo setting, and thus has promise for further studies”. 

however, “laundry-listing” data and results can make for a very boring read, so be unbiased, yes, but state things in a way where there’s a clear direction or train of thought. this part is tough; i have to admit i’m still practicing this “art” (which it definitely is). take my above example about ABC for instance. which one is easier to follow? the one i gave, or this: “Six out of 10 animals treated with ABC survived until day 42. One out of 10 animals treated with control survived until day 42.” you’ll notice this 2nd option is really stilted, boring, dry, and if the entire results section is presented like this, the reader will surely get lost as to what the point of it all is, and possibly fall asleep. so although personal bias should be avoided, there should still be direction and flow. take care to guide the reader. 

unless it’s your own opinion, every statement needs a citation. i use the free reference manager mendeley (it has a browser plug-in that adds articles you find online to its citation library, and then you can sync it with word doc and it does the citations for you). 

proofread and edit a lot (no one’s first draft is ever perfect), and if possible, send a draft to your professor or TA to look over it and see if you’re on the right track. 

phew! that’s all i can think of for now! i’m sure there’s sooo much more that goes into writing for science (and academia, in a more broad sense), but these are just a few main ones from me. 

if anyone else has something to add, please do!

and good luck anon! you’re going to do great :)