#but a lot of these things are trying to reinvent a wheel that can't be removed from the vehicle yk?

[thedragonsfate]

since I'm thinking abt it, I feel like it's always a good time for the reminder that your kidneys main function is to filter your blood to balance your body's fluids and remove waste to be released out of your body in your urine

if your kidneys are functioning properly then they are already doing any "cleansing of toxins" your system may need automatically all of the time, just like they're doing in the bodies of countless other species

The human body is very successful at surviving and has evolved to do so!! it's a very cool thing the way your body works to support your everyday life in ways that can pretty much eliminate the need to manually enact basic survival functions like the beating of your heart or the filtering of waste harmful to your body!

I guess I just wanna say like. unless you truly have kidney disease or other organ failures/disfunctions - in which case definitely do seek medical intervention - you can trust your body to take care of that for you

don't let anybody shame you into thinking you should be out here doing cleanses and paying significant money to try to hack into what your body is already doing for you naturally,

and try not to let human intelligence and ego undermine the success of a body plan that has been successful for vertebrates for at LEAST tens of millions of years

[starhoppin]

pick a picture; aspects of you that your future spouse will adore

pile 1 -> pile 2 -> pile 3

disclaimer; this is a general reading! these messages may not fit everyone. please take what resonates and leave the rest.

「 pile one」

knight of swords (cb: judgement, knight of wands rv), ace of cups (two of swords, five of cups), the hanged man (cb: the chariot, death).

your future spouse will adore your logical mind. you're not the type to get swept up in anger or impulsiveness. you're a steady and reliable presence in their life. this may not be for all of you, but you may be hesitant to get into a relationship with them in the beginning because of how your past relationships turned out. however, it looks like they adore the fact that you overlook your worries and decide to take a chance on them. they love your perspective on things. you may be someone who has a easier time detaching and working through change when compared to your future spouse. because of this, you may help them work through situations by offering a different perspective. i'm also getting an additional message that they love how you reinvent yourself over the years. you may also like to change up your style or your hair a lot. this is something that this person loves.

[songs that may resonate] hello, brooklyn - all time low, unconditionally - katy perry, rebel beat - the goo goo dolls

「 pile two」

strength (cb: eight of pentacles rv), page of cups rv (cb: nine of pentacles), the moon (cb: ace of cups)

your future spouse isn't highlighting a specific aspect about you that they adore, but they're emphasizing your impact on their life. they may be going through a dry period in their life - lacking passion and motivation - before you. however, when you two meet, it's like you sparked something in them. they view you as brave, compassionate, driven, etc. and your presence inspires them to be the best version of themselves. this may be a specific message, but for some, you may deal with a lot of gossipy, jealous people in your life that are trying to tear you down. these people lack emotional maturity and are just generally insecure. your future spouse adores how you're able to stand tall and take the high road - you don't let their words affect you nor do you stoop to their level in order to exact revenge. you're content being yourself; you don't need their acceptance. you may have had bad experiences when it comes to relationships; consequently, you tend to be a bit more reserved when it comes to love. i'm specifically getting that you "make someone work for it." this is something that they adore about you. you only give your love to those who are worthy of receiving it.

[songs that may resonate] la vie en rose - daniela andrade, goodbye forever - us the duo, perfect/ can't help falling in love - btwn us

「 pile two」

knight of cups (cb: king of swords, judgement), the sun (ten of wands, page of cups rv), wheel of fortune (cb: the emperor, four of swords)

you may usually embody an idealist, romantic energy/mindset; however, you can be incredibly logical when you need to be. i'm seeing that your future spouse loves this duality. you're the light of this person's life. this isn't an aspect of your character that they adore, moreso how you make this person feel. it's like your presence instantly alleviates any burdens they have. their past relationships seem insignificant when it comes to you; nothing could surpass their love for you. i heard the line "you make me strong" from the song strong by 1d - that may resonate for some of you. your future spouse is driven by their love for you and they want to spoil you (possibly with material items.) if this person is really in their masculine energy they may feel obligated to make sure you're taken care of. consequently, they may be prone to burnout since they may overwork themselves. despite this, you encourage them to rest. this is something they adore since they feel like you care about their wellbeing.

[songs that may resonate] outer space / carry on - 5sos, mr. jones - counting crows, dawn to 9pm - brian bulger, jennafer

tarot deck used in this reading: cirque du tarot

[iztea]

hello iz ik it's such a cliche question and idk if you've already answered that but- how do you learnt drawing humans??? like everyone says practice but i don't know how and i struggle so much :( thanks already for answering!! i really really love your art

hi!

the very regulated, academic, objectively correct bs answer: learn the fundamentals, study and practice!

the unhinged, off-the-counter, cool uncle from your dad's side of the family answer:

Imo, the best way to learn how to draw on your own is to reference and study other people's art. There is no need for you to reinvent the wheel, and if you are a beginner and have no idea what you're doing, tackling multiple fundamentals at once can overwhelm and demotivate you quite a lot. So, for your morale and motivation, I think it is totally okay to just observe multiple artworks from multiple artists and engage with them critically ( * N.B. : artistS - plural; by referencing multiple works, you lower the risk of accidentally becoming a copycat or locking yourself into an art style that will never be as good as the original because it was not yours)

What I mean by critically engaging with an artwork is to analyze how they're tackling difficult body parts that you struggle with. For example, let's say you can't/don't know how to draw legs. Look at a picture of a real human leg, observe how someone else has simplified that leg form and anatomy, and then try to recreate it. Don't just copy their linework 1 to 1. That is not the point. Do it your own way, incorporate aspects of others' art that you like, and make them yours. You should have 5++ references of that leg from 5++ different artists. There are maany people out there who post their studies online, raw sketches or structural drawings (TB Choi comes to mind for example). Look for people like them, and if you can't find someone, then Pinterest is your bff. When learning how to draw, hunting the internet for how people sketch >>> rendered art. If speedpaints are more your thing, then youtube has you covered. Personally, I've learned more from a 20 min speedpaint with nightcore bgm and zero annotations from some guy that doesnt even speak english that has 300 views than I've learned from 10 min long art tutorials from fluent english speakers with 1 mil views. At the end of the day, we can yap and theorise as much as we want, but it's the act of drawing that brings results and seeing how other people draw is sometimes worth a thousand words.

> References in general also help a lot. I can't tell you how many times I was too lazy to look something up and spent 14235 hours trying to draw it off the top of my head only to have it done in 10 minutes once I finally gave in and pulled up a reference. So yeah, always use references. Don't be like me this is actually a bad habit

Okay, but how to /use/ that reference if you're a beginner? Very simple: draw on top of it ( *Do Not trace the outlines, that's pointless if you actually want to learn something). Draw guidelines over the body parts, deconstruct and simplify the ref into just boxes and lines ( always think in 3D ). This will help a lot with keeping the proportions in check. You can start by drawing those guidelines first and then get into details. Kinda like in sculpture: you start with a big block of a rock, and then you slowly carve and build form and then detail. The more you draw, the less you will need those guidelines as you get a feeling for the proportions yourself and will no longer need this step.

Once you become more confident in your skills or have a "sense" for drawing and you are in too deep to just give up after hitting your first wall, then you can tackle the scary intimidating stuff that is art fundamentals ( or you can do them simultaneously, all I'm trying to say is to never forget that you are not the only drawer in the world; looking in your neighbor's yard is totally okay within the reasons of common sense ). You don't have to raise and milk a cow it to make butter, you can just buy it from the store. If you want to bake a cake, a beginner chef will use store-bought cake mix because they have no idea how to cook. Once they learn the science behind baking (because it really is a science) they will buy their own ingredients and then improve or personalize the cake with better, well-researched ingredients, they will add their own twist, flavours, adjust the macros, perfect the technique and so on.

This is how I've personally learned how to draw by myself bc I'm self-taught and didn't care for formalities as it's just a hobby of mine that I do for fun. If you want proper advice you should probably listen to more qualified people but I can only preach what I practice.. Anywayssss hope it helped!!

[literaticat]

hi jenn! im in the very fortunate position of having multiple offers on my book. what sort of questions/things should i look out for to choose between—what seems like—two stellar agents? thanks!

Congratulations! That's definitely a "champagne problem" :D

The other day (week? idk) I wrote a post about what you might expect on "the call" with a potential agent, and there was a link in there to potential questions to ask. (There is LOTS and LOTS of advice on the internet about what to ask a literary agent, too, so I won't reinvent the wheel by writing it all down here!)

Basically, though, just go into each call with an open mind and see what they have to say. You can by all means have a list of questions like the ones in that link above -- but I bet they will answer many of them before you even have the chance to ask. You can absolutely compare and contrast their agency agreements. You can absolutely ask to be connected to a couple of each of their clients to ask them what THEIR experience has been. (Caveat that obviously they aren't gonna give you the info for people who hate them, so it's likely the clients will give nice recommendations -- but still, it's useful to hear!)

Remember that this is about YOU and YOUR needs and YOUR book. So don't base a decision solely on "this agent/agency is more flashy" or "this agent is more internet famous" or whatever -- I'd listen to them both and see if you like their communication style and agree with their assessment of the book. Does one of them seem to "get it" more than the other? Is one of them more "editorial" than the other (and do you WANT that)? Does one of them have a big track record in that kind of book specifically? What are their thoughts about a strategy for YOUR book?

Let's say one of them says, "oh, this will sell for six figures tomorrow, I'd send it out as is" and the other one says "well, I think this needs some revisions" -- the first one, I'd raise my eyebrow at a little, tbh, because I don't give a shit who you are, NOBODY can guarantee that a book will sell quickly and for a large pile of money. (In THIS economy???) -- the second one, I'd want to know what kind of revisions -- major, minor? Do you agree with the general thrust of them? Do they, in talking about the book, seem to be nailing things that you have actually thought about already? IF SO, that would make me feel like... yeah, they are probably right! And I'd lean toward Agent 2 in that scenario. If, on the other hand, I really wasn't feeling the revision they mentioned, maybe that would make me lean toward Agent 1 -- I'd just temper my expectations by putting a large grain of salt on the "six figures tomorrow" business! ;-)

After you talk to them both about themselves and their agency and their feelings on the book, and you've asked every question you can think of or find online, and you've compared their agency agreements, and you've spoken to their clients -- well, it could be that they are both perfectly excellent in the exact same ways -- but I'll BET they are both excellent in slightly different ways. So sleep on it. What does your gut say? Does one just FEEL right to you?

(If after ALL that you truly can't decide, well, they both must be great, so really, it'll be fine either way! So at that point, I guess you do what I do when I'm trying to decide what to eat for dinner. Get a coin. Agent A is heads, Agent B is tails. Flip it. Whichever way it lands, what's your instant reaction? Do you feel satisfied? Or kinda disappointed? That's your answer!)

Good luck! Yay!

[indieyuugure]

INDIE OMGGGGG.

ok ok chilll

I just wanted to say I just read your Mutation Situation Comic.

HOLY SHIT!!!!?!?! ITS AMAZING. I LOVE IT!!

You are so talented how does your art look that good?! It's amazing.

You're awesome and I can't wait to read the rest of your stuff. Wowzah

But As an aspiring artist who is trying to start their own comic do you have any tips or advice or anything. That would mean so much to me, you are a true inspiration.

🐢💚

I’m glad you’re liking TMS so far! ^v^

Um, if you’re just starting out with your first ever comic, I could give you a few tips.

I’m not sure if you’re doing fanfic or something original, but either way, make sure your ideas are clear and refined. It’s important to have an entire plot in your head, not just like 2 points in the story(I know this from experience💀)

Find your art style! Creating an iconic style to your work helps you a lot! I wouldn’t say my style is the most unique style out there(black and white with specific things colored) but it stands out enough to be memorable. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, just make sure you’re doing something that’s you.

This one is kinda more for fanfic, but make sure the characters sound like themselves. Only good things will come to you when you put in a few minutes making sure the dialogue is in character. Technically you can apply this to original characters too. You just need to invent a unique voice for the character, and make sure you stick to it throughout the dialogue.

Just a few little things I learned early on making comics, hopefully they’re useful 😅

Good question! :]

[jjconway]

Hi there! I'm hoping to one day storyboard for a transformers show of some kind myself one day. I'm going into my senior year of highschool, and i'm not quite sure where to really begin in terms of figuring out the path. If you can share a bit of advice as a storyboarder in the industry, i'd really appreciate it big time! Thanks in advance!

Happy to! I think there are 2 really important things you can do at your age, and luckily they're both really fun! First, DRAW. A LOT. The more you draw, the better you'll get. And don't just draw from your head, make sure to do studies. Half of drawing is knowledge. You can't draw a cat if you don't know what a cat looks like, right? So whenever you sit down to draw, take 30 min to do some warmup studies before drawing from your imagination. Either study what you plan to draw, or study what gave you trouble last time. I literally do this to this day. One exercise I'll do is copy something once, then I'll compare my drawing to the original and try to understand what I didn't quite get right. Then I'll either do a second drawing of it, or I'll do a few drawings on the side practicing the area I got wrong, and try to understand how to do it better. Another great exercise is to take an artist you want to draw like and trace their drawings. The loose/rough drawings are best, because those show you how the artist THINKS. So trace each line, and in your head ask questions like why did the artist make this line, and what is it communicating? The goal is to learn how to THINK like the artists you admire, so that you can make the same choices in your own work. Second, WATCH MOVIES (and TV). A LOT. Study classics, for sure, but also watch the stuff that inspires you. Watch the stuff that makes you want to be a filmmaker, and just absorb as much as you humanly can. It's so important because when you become a storyboard artist, you'll have to problem solve how to approach story beats, and all those movies you watch become your library, and they'll give you ideas on how different filmmakers have approached similar problems in the past. It allows you to stand on the shoulders of giants, instead of struggling to reinvent the wheel. Also listen to director commentaries and interviews, and watch video essays that dissect film. Like the tip about doing studies, it's all about learning how they THINK.

[donnerpartyofone]

We have all this baggage around the ideas of creativity and originality, and I think that the situation would be better understood in terms of consumption and production. Like, in what proportion do you, the individual, consume versus produce something new. There is usually a moral flavor to the word "consumerism", and like obviously abject materialism has a lot of problems and it really matters WHAT you consume. You can be a major consumer of all kinds of arts and crafts and things that are good for you and/or your community, and there's nothing wrong with that. You can also be a curator or scholar of things, which is kind of a hybrid consumer/producer status where you're constructively shedding light on and guiding the consumption of certain things. Similarly I think the idea of "creativity" is poorly understood, or at least it's a term that gets used in a limited way that has something to do with being abstractly "artistic" and "thinking outside the box" and having originality--concepts that can distract unfairly from whether a product is actually GOOD or not. I mean you can make something very novel just to find out that it's rare because it's not a good concept; you can also make something that doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's really finely realized and either emotionally or physically useful and inspiring. It seems to me that instead of speaking glibly about "consumerism" and "creativity", it's more interesting AND less morally onerous to talk about consumption versus production. The pleasure of consumption is probably pretty universal, where the pleasure of production can be impeded by self-criticism, the limits of your personal perspective, and your limited ability to surprise yourself. You'll think I'm joking but when you're trying to make something that you yourself find exciting, you can run into the same type of problem as how you can't tickle yourself, or like, that joke about masturbating with your non-dominant hand and calling it "the stranger". It's totally understandable that it's rarer to be productive; skill at any given craft is not universal, and the ability to generate an exciting idea is not universal--and it could be that you have both but it's too hard or confusing to get your own approval. I think about this a lot while I'm doing serious fictional writing for the first time. I have stories that I'm totally committed to, and that excite me in some unique way, but the pleasure of production will never compare to the pleasure of consuming someone else's products. If I could get away with it I would do nothing but watch other people's movies and read other people's books until my body is done living, but I feel this compulsion to at least try producing something myself, no matter what becomes of it or how hard it is, just because I feel like I might be able to. But I don't sense a hierarchal relationship between consumption and production. It's all just a matter of what you feel like you can do.

[moodymelanist]

hi! first - i hope this ask comes off as genuine and not attacking or critical at all, i'm curious and trying to understand.

you talk about liking Nesta for being a complex character, but i really struggle with it. her character is extremely triggering for me because i've dealt with sibling/family abuse in the past, and i can't get over how cruel she was to feyre - a lot of the time seemingly just for cruelty's sake. instead of a stand-off-ish 'girlboss', to me, she just comes off as a bully. i'd like to engage more critically with her character, but i have a hard time seeing past the 'bully'. in general, i think people who really struggle with forgiving/liking her as a character do so because they have a Nesta in their life, and it's really heartbreaking being in feyre's shoes.

what are the qualities you like about her? how do you feel about the way she treated feyre and never apologized for it? what in her character arc helps you see the positive things about her?

respectfully i will not be answering your “questions.” this ask came off as judgmental and critical as hell and if you genuinely wanted me to answer you, you could’ve just asked what I like about nesta because you’re trying to engage with her character more critically and left it at that. adding in all your negative opinions about her just comes across like you’re trying to pick a fight and like you’re shocked that people like the character tbh, and if you legitimately want a thoughtful answer, I would work on reframing your question.

that being said, if you want to change your mind about nesta, you need to do that work yourself. if she’s triggering for you there’s not much I can really do about that, but if you want help changing your mind there are plenty of ways to do that. I can appreciate that you’re trying to change your mindset about her, but there have been a LOT of posts on various social media apps (tumblr, Reddit, hell even Facebook) about why people like nesta and I’m not gonna reinvent the wheel for free here.

also as an fyi for the future, I have in my pinned post that I don’t like people sending me long asks without asking if I’m cool with it first. this is a prime example of the kind of ask I really don’t like receiving without some kind of heads up, and if you had sent me one, I would’ve told you not to send this.

please don’t send me asks like this y’all. i will skip straight into go fuck yourself territory next time and i promise you won’t like it

[domirine]

You probably do a lot of life drawing seeing as how perfectly fluid your art always is so this ask might be redundant lol but,, i was wondering what kind of references you usually use? Do you just google similar poses, does it come from your mind, or do you have a go-to app to look through like pinterest?👉👈 i ask bc I struggle a lot with poses and usually when i look them up i end up drawing nothing bc its not. Ever good enough for me/what im looking for lol😔 still not sure how to even draw characters smoochin, rip

thank you, nonny!! i do a lil bit of life drawing, but man i really do feel the same way you do. while i'm happy to show some art when i get it done, the process can be a real struggle.

sorry this is gonna be long and all over the place lol hope it helps tho:

life drawing good: i recommend ditching the idea of finding the 100% Perfect Ref right off the bat. studying anatomy and life drawing (this site has a range of body types and fun poses) somewhat regularly, therefore growing my mental library so that i can try and make whatever pose is in my head happen later, has been more viable to me than spending hours looking for the Perfect Ref.

drawing a bunch of generic people skating without pressure of creating proper character art is good practice, and it primes me to then come up with a skating pose of my own.

ref hunting: i save pictures i might use as refs regularly in a browser folder - good refs, bad refs, boring refs - losing a ref standard can be helpful because at the end of the day it’s what you make with it, so it doesn’t have to be particularly mind-blowing to begin with. you don’t wanna reinvent the wheel or create the most never-been-done-before pose, you just wanna get a thing right.

pinterest is very good for poses, yes, though you have to know how to look for them - i.e. i found that typing out "dynamic pose" will not yield organic results, as opposed to looking up people in motion like athletes, boxers, skaters and such. for fighting, i recommend using photos or clips from (ideally staged lol) fights, as opposed to stock images where the models are standing for a while posing - the former preserves a lot of the movement. i also recommend looking up group photos from events or shows for interesting natural poses and people interacting.

best hot tip of all tho: what helped me most is to not treat references very religiously. don't be tied down by what's in your ref, or not finding the perfect one, because then you're focusing on accuracy and not necessarily on what you wanna communicate with your drawing. if you can't find what you're looking for in full, just use a part that you find interesting, and then bullshit the rest and revise accordingly.

idea-generating can be very hard but you can practice it like any other skill, because having a decent idea of what you wanna draw is helpful - you don't have to have the whole pose visualised 100%. it's the mood, body language and expressions, that i think are more important. looking at refs can help reveal your ideas and intentions, but i will not create them for you i’m afraid.

for example, speaking on characters smooching, i've drawn these using refs in   pretty uptight way with no ideas beforehand - and i find them painfully boring because they're not rly communicating anything aside from a anatomical accuracy (more or less);

i was being too intent on staying faithful to the reference, and they're looking kinda stale to me. the only one that was done without any ref, was the bottom left - which i like! bc it's got spice and it’s portraying some emotion.

but i wouldn't have drawn it if i hadn't already started on the others, so maybe another good tip is to trust the process and not give up mid-work!! drawing stuff you’re not proud of is still drawing stuff, and not everything you create is gonna be satisfying. things are gonna click here and there, but you never know when, so don’t give up on your ugly artsy ducklings!!

[cannibalisticskittles]

i need..... so many more resources for my nonverbal kiddos. writing resources especially. need things at their level, with picture supports. a lot of kiddos already need a lot of assistance bc they don't Get how sentences work, and how they can Provide Input to make a sentence or a statement, and having picture options seems to get most ideas across the best, but. I Don't Have These.

i can make some, but between finding enough pictures that are relevant to a given subject and formatting everything in a way they'll be able to use em, it takes three -- maybe four -- times as long to put together a single activity as it takes them to actually complete that activity. i know we aren't supposed to reinvent the wheel and i sure am trying not to, but there just. aren't enough relevant resources available. not unless i shell out my own money, and i'm not going to do that. but i also can't spend this much time just putting together picture supports; there isn't enough time in the day, and i have Every Other Subject to prep for as well, plus writing IEPs. but i also can't leave students in the lurch.

common problem; not enough time available to do everything that needs to be done.

[gynandromorph]

Any tips on how to put thoughts into words when you have schizophrenia? I find a lot of your insight really just hits the nail on the head with this fucking disorder. For me it's like a translation game, but I've never really processed either language.

turning any thoughts into words is usually a huge mental task for me -- people are like but why did it take you 10 months to answer my DM or what's so hard about transcribing pages for fresh meat why isn't it done why can't you do it gray and it's because i'm tired and the process of having to put what's in my head into words gets more and more burdensome. you see this huge wall of text right here? that's literally because i eased up on some standards i might usually have for interacting with people. let me try again.

a while ago, i made a post that said to express a thought is to fundamentally change nature of the thought, and i was being trite, but i was also being quite literal. there are two specific, identifiable areas of your brain that Make Words Happen. the rest of your brain, which is the majority of it, is what experiences the thought. even though they are directly communicating, the parts of your brain that create thoughts and the parts of your brain that create words are not the same parts. it is literally a translation process.

what you feel and what i feel differ; therefore, what we'll do to communicate those feelings will differ. for me, i communicate my thoughts and ideas how anyone can -- through the principles of writing. why reinvent the wheel when billions of other people have already blazed a trail for communication? there is a reality in front of me that i need to translate, and there is a reality in my head to which these skills are also applicable. with concision comes clarity. the clarity of concision comes from understanding the clarity of your purpose in translating the thoughts. not every thought exists for a purpose, but words only come into existence with a purpose. there are so many thoughts in my head. they all want to be expressed at once, but if everyone talks at once, no-one's voice is heard. understanding my purpose in the tiresome task of Making Words allows me to create a microphone for one facet to talk at a time. critical in this skill was cultivating an understanding that i don't need to express the full thought because no one will ever understand the entirety of my experience -- including me. even i will only experience portions at a time dictated by the conscious parts of my attention. i can only assume that you feel you haven't fully processed either the thought or the language used to express it due to these two facts, because those are primarily why i feel them. in my experience, psychosis and even a mind carrying the burden of dormant psychosis tend to see many things as important - meaningful, maybe to a fault. as the mind attempts to create narrative with the importance, the meaning rendered can frequently be inaccurate or impertinent to reality. a glance from a stranger; too many spam calls in one day; observing a show about murder on tv; noticing the standard poison control message on your toothpaste; hearing a creak you didn't listen for before in your apartment -- all of these can seem important, and add up to something like… there is someone following me and they're going to kill me, i just know it. not all of these perceived webs of importance manifest as psychosis, yet i've noticed that they happen anyway, and they are often not comprehensible to other people when i attempt to explain them. ironically, i've assumed these two observations are related. interestingly, people tend to categorize and comprehend importance subconsciously, and they tend to do so based on repeated motifs. my motifs may be a little different -- then my brain fabricates less average meanings. if they are too off-base, the motifs don't line up at all with other people, and they can't use the similarities to understand what i'm saying. i bring this up because i believe that cultivating an awareness of importance, as a sensation in your head, can be useful for navigating the dense noise of thought. it makes purpose more obvious.

my only other tip is try visuals or sound instead sometimes. many things i notice aren't words at all; visual rhymes are very common points of importance in my head. we experience the world through a multitude of senses, and none of those senses are language. :)

[butchsophiewalten]

There's something so inherently funny and fascinating about niches of internet horror and how accessible the tools of creation are nowadays. Because you have so much content that exists now that is so uninspired in the very literal sense. And it leads to little microgenres of horror content that are very very insular in a way that is so interesting to analyze and observe.

And I'm talking in MASSIVE broadstrokes here. Not just analog horror, or even just YouTube horror, but stuff like Creepypasta and Indie horror games. Especially shit like Minecraft horror maps or Amnesia custom stories. Because it is such an incredible phenomenon that some middle schooler named Cameron can mess around with the Gmod development tools for a week and have made an honest-to-god interactive horror experience by the end of it. Will it be a good one? Almost certainly not! But it'll still be one! How fascinating is that?

What does Cameron know about the conventions of the genre he's operating in? What does he know of the structure of it and the tropes he's playing into? What is Cameron's familiarity with the defining pillars of his genre? Has Cameron seen Dracula? Psycho? The Sixth Sense? Has he played Clock Tower? Silent Hill? Outlast? Maybe, on a few accounts! But it's a lot more likely that the thing driving his creative vision for his art is a different Gmod horror map. And the thing driving the vision for that map was a different Gmod horror map.

Not even to imply you can't make good art unless you've seen the classics (though having a familiarity with the genre will certainly expedite the process), but just that this strange, perpetually self-infatuated cycle of inspiration and creation in these hyper-specific niches of internet horror content is really. What's a good word. Cool? Enigmatic? Interesting, probably. Everything in these communities is inspired by itself and its contemporaries and almost nothing else, so everyone's just trying to reinvent the wheel instead of studying the art that inspired the art that inspired the art it's cribbing from. And this could only ever happen in a world where fucking anybody with time to spare could sit down and make a piece of art and have other people engage with it. Because there's just so many accessible tools for creation that exist out there in the world.

[lunarsilkscreen]

Jesus and the Law

At some point, I'm going to turn into a hippie youth pastor if I keep talking about Jesus, and I should probably stop but here we go.

Evangelicals turn away, this is gonna be an alternate interpretation you're not ready to hear. I'm not quite ready to say either. But no doubt, will regret saying anyway.

Jesus noted something important in his days. He was one who spoke of the invisible guiding hand, the machine that controls humanity, the system of which to rage against.

He was a child of God. And God was not the law.

A child born against the law, however you wish to interpret that. Rape, incest, premarital. The Bible never quite explains, but if we're thinking realistically, he calls God "The god of those Alive, not the god of the dead" the living word, the living God. And he stands law and God side-by-side.

He says that God doesn't care about the laws of man and will do as he pleases. And if not for that creation, Jesus would neither have lived nor died.

If humans were lawful, Jesus wouldn't have existed. And if they listened, Jesus wouldn't have been crucified.

He routinely talks about the things that humans were doing to each other, that society had agreed were shitty things to do, but did them anyway. Broke commandments and laws, and nobody bats an eye.

But you call people out on their transgressions, and everybody loses their mind.

The gist is this: when you give people no choice but to break the law in order to survive. Even if you offer them a livelihood through a system that makes them burnout, or a lack of freedom of thought and desire, or a lack of being able to pursue their dreams.

Then they'll pursue that which gives them that hit of dopamine their body should be giving them for free.

Think about it, you get dopamine from eating, creative thought, sex, solving problems, and exercise in moderation.

What happens when you restrict freedom? Give people too much stress? They resort to other methods in order to get the dopamine they need to get through the stress.

I can't get through the morning without coffee.

So if you take away freedom of expression, of thought, of sex, force them into hard not-moderate exercise, restrict their food intake to protein powder and water.

How do you think they're gonna get that dopamine?

It's not by wanting to keep working that's for sure.

"man cannot live on bread alone."

What kind of people resort to hard drugs? Depressed people, who don't want or can't afford children, who eat a diet of whatever is cheap and sodapop when they're feeling like splurging, who couldn't break free from the grind to do something that was actually meaningful, and was told they'd have to jump from one shitty know nothing boss to another ad-infinium until death.

Sisyphus pushing that rock up the Hill. A perpetual motion machine for others to profit from.

It's right there documented in our historical texts, that which still happens. And people at the highest level of powers have decided "you know who had It right? The ancient Egyptians, whose workers were so tired of their shit, THAT THEY DECIDED to go on strike in the middle of the desert FOR FORTY YEARS."

They went on strike for so long, their descendents still carry the stigma of being lazy to this very day, by people that keep trying to reinvent the slaver wheel.

That cycle repeats, even by people thumping Bibles, that definitely should know better had they thought to open the book.

Jesus was a lazy hippie, leader of the feral hippies, and probably hosted the first burning man festival before it was called burning man. Literally fed a bunch of unemployed lazy good for nothing's when he did that one sermon on a mount.

Jesus proved it was possible to feed a lot of people at once, that it was possible to have wine aplenty after it had all been drank, and was a carpenter, all the way up until he wasn't allowed to be anymore.

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

Why Is Tenor Clef?

I feel personally attacked by tenor clef sometimes. It almost looks like alto clef but surprise motherfucker, it's not! It's also right next to the alto part, so have fun looking at the wrong staff while you're trying to transpose to a different clef! Dyslexia is kicking my ass trying to transcribe this thing, ugh.

I've been thinking a lot about string instrument timbre and whether it's possible to even more closely mimic the human voice with strings. Like, with really precise bow technique, could you add some sibliance or plosives to mimic words? I'm kinda obsessed at the moment with the idea of replacing vocals with string instruments but still having the ghost of the lyrics there in the articulation. I can't be the only one who's thought about this sort of thing, but I have no idea where to look for some tips before I go reinvent the wheel.

[skirtsandsweaters]

me reinventing the wheel in 4k. this was doesn't accurately describe me anymore as it was written years ago. there's some insufferable melodrama but i did genuinely feel that way at many points in my life so it gets to stay. there's a gem or two past the melodrama. if u don't find any, then i never said anything.

---

cold sorrow :( shivering sadness :( so alone and so over it that you're sad then numb then sad :( misery so freezing that you lose your limbs and cry about it but there's no end to the tears :( endless unhappiness :( just upset forever eternally

KNOWLEDGE IS A SERVICE: why do we have to pay for knowledge? why isn't it free? knowledge is free, accessing all there is to know is virtually possible should you try. we pay for the (((labour))) that goes into compiling, collecting, translating, and modifying the knowledge of the world into consumable pieces like research papers and classroom curriculums.

BRIGHT TILES NEED A LOT OF BLEACH: horror but the scary people are those who aren't disfigured because their untouched state speaks to the amounts of violence and scheming they've done to stay that way. the baddies are those unaffected, the protags, or the status quo is being hurt

MUSIC AND REPETITION: i call my favourite songs "good" regardless of their objective quality because they make me feel good. they make me feel good because i am familiar with them and my brain releases endorphins for pattern recognition. since i know them front to back they are sure to make me feel good or comfortable. this causes me to stick to a few songs and be hesitant or wary of trying new music because i don't want that penalization from my brain for not recognizing the patterns of new music when all i'm looking for is easy dopamine and "comfort"

UNINTENTIONALLY DETRIMENTAL ADVICE IN Horror MOVIES: it's common for horror text to have unaware people suggest that those haunted by demons should face them, not knowing that they'll end up hurting themselves more

NO TWO WORDS MEAN THE SAME THING: rhymes but doesn't repeat, similar package, different meaning, do the same ((way)) i do but not the same ((thing)) i do

STORM: cold front meets warm front creates storms - mom's worldview meets other people's worldview causes chaos (in general), feelings of cornered prey, lashing out (both in her), instability (in general)

FALLING FOR ETERNITY: is there a place where it's always stormy? (every year has its december --> what if it's always december)

DISCONNECTION FROM OBSESSION: a lost soul is someone who is obsessed with something that disconnects them from life

THE MIND: the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought.

JOYFUL SUFFERING: the grace of that cross changes the Cyrenean's heart and from the compulsory task, it becomes a privilege and joy.

CALL OF THE VOID: L'appel du vide

GHOST/GOES: solid ghost, so it goes (---> so it goes as in so light and barely tangible, oh "there it goes" as expected, leaving quickly and easily. --> solid ghost as in you're human and corporeal and take up space and are visible but it feels as if you aren't any of those things, like a wallflower, a living ghost :) )

- Voice so low / Sneaking around, so it goes / I always try my best to listen

- Pacing around, watching my feet / Batteries drain, I get the memo / "I think that I might have to let you go" (reminds me of Noah)

BACKWARDS ECHO: repeats what will be said instead what has been said.

VICTIM BLAMING: We take to victim-blaming because we are problem-solving people who want to feel secure. We view a crime as something that happened, like a natural disaster, because we can't control or understand the actions of the assailant, instead of something that was done to someone by someone. We don't see any efficient or immediate way to have stopped the crime on the wrongdoer's end so we blame the victim, ask them what they did wrong, how they could have gotten out of it, because we want to assure ourselves that it will not happen to us. We view crimes like sexual assault and shootings as comparative to running down the stairs without looking where you're going.

HUMAN VALUE: " Our true value lies in the core experience of being a conscious being who feels and perceives.” In other words, rather than making our self-worth contingent on categories such as academic success, appearance, or popularity, we must value ourselves solely for the fact that we are human beings and accept that failure is part of the human experience. "

SWEARING: using swear words in descriptions to avoid intimacy or vulnerability - as a distraction

COLOUR: older and younger generations tend to see (identify, name, call) colours differently - pink and red, green and yellow, brown and orange - education, personal relationship with colour, circumstances could be factors

[the-firebird69]

The History of Duff Beer

What are you saying is exactly right. But the can looks nothing like the TV show and the lettering looks nothing like it so we're wondering what they're talking about and they said it's the word Duff and yeah you can copyright that so we had an idea to change the word and put the can like the show and how Laura said no our lawyers said no and we said what exactly is Fox and universal and they said it's this huge conglomerate and it is all that entertainment and news and I said so why aren't we doing this and I get a little flack and they said we don't want to step up and I said we're not going to it's a it's a morlock concept it's a molec name and they're being blocked from doing it possibly by themselves but that's what it is and they said this it's not really themselves but we get it so who cares that they fight as long as they're getting the hell out of the way or at least they'll fight some of them and that's what they look at it like they'll be fighting some mac proper and they deserve this beer as their name it's their beer they didn't themselves. So you want some of you to get off your Duff and get down there to the phone and let us know what you're talking about and he wants you to have a meeting at the legion of tomb to address this question and try and come together on items of this nature and Tommy F wants to he wants him to be Doctor Doom or God forbid the enemy of Superman Mr luthor lex luthor and they agree. And they will hold the meeting and they want to feel super evil or something so they want to go and meet and they want to talk about the beer they said they can't get it off the ground with us doing this s*** so he says and that's our son why not take the brewery and put it in each different area of theirs off the city and we'll manage it run it updated keep it going clean water and clean hops and barley everything is fresh and pure hahaha. And his making some jokes with Brian but it's not funny so we are having some trouble here with him but for the most part it's a good idea so if you're like Milwaukee and someone else's Detroit then you would have one there and Detroit and you would have some other group in Milwaukee there are different group and those places would serve their own places for the most part I'll have others in there to make sure they weren't pulling funny business and there be some fighting this is how we're doing it with the automobiles

Thor Freya

Olympus

This is what's good we're trying to reinvent the wheel and everything cuz it's not working but there are things that will work now we're going to get to it this is going to be great

Nuada Arrianna

Luckily Jenna a lot of them don't want to be top dogs and stuff which is kind of true they'll each have a position in the company and a stake in it and they'll be on the board but they don't want to control it and run it and they want their area and you guys could do that it's more pay and you could pull a little from each area and you could do the advertising in marketing and restaurants in syndication and merchandising and they would have it all for their areas and they like it so it's nice if someone drops out from death I would have to move in and take over but seriously besides that it is a great idea and it's like you guys is working it's your beer name and Duff does mean what it says it's your butt get off your butt and also means this peat moss stuff and things and you're supposed to understand you're in trouble so we're going to go ahead and submit for this idea and the areas are going to start up and we want to have the group are you in there and discuss your areas now there's only three or four of you more luck who don't get along with each other and we'll have separate meetings all the time and we'll alternate which one is first and we can have three different people or what have you this one guy doesn't get along with anyone and he's going to pull you together we want you to discuss this idea for a few things it's our son and daughter she backed them up when I and no she says it's part of her idea and it's good. That's how it works but we're going to get this beer going

Thor Freya

Olympus

This is great no but it's not bad it's such a pain in the ass getting them stuff

Mac daddy