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finniestoncrane · 1 year

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congrats on 1k Finnie!!! u deserve all the hype!! I’m gonna throw myself in the ring for the event, respectfully requesting number 9

a little bit about me is that I’m 4’10 (pun intended), I have brown eyes, reaaallly long curly brown hair, I wear glasses (the dano riddler kind LMAO), my fashion sense basically Bella Swan from Twilight, I’m questioning my sexuality/bordering on unlabeled so I’m fine with anyone, I’m an INTP 5w6, and a Leo (I don’t know shit about astrology lol.)

my hobbies include:

- acting, which is ironic bc I can’t stand theater kids lmao

- writing, whether it be my cringe ass fanfics, or to my feelings (or lack there of), or to the dreams I have at night, I gotta always have it documented

- watching movies, specifically horror or comedy. If I have any free time, u can GUARANTEE u that I’m going to being at home watching a movie, or at the theater with my friends. If I could legally marry my favorite movie, I would.

personality wise, I come off as very blunt and have a really dry sense of humor to everyone I meet. When I’m in my element, I can’t help but let my wit get the better of me. I am legitimately confident in my capabilities and myself. I can almost always talk my way in or out of situations. I love cracking jokes at any given moment and I always enjoy making anyone laugh, I’ve been told that I have good comedic timing so obviously, I gotta keep going with it. I also curse a lot, like I need a censor bar around my mouth at all times lol. I’m not afraid to stand up for myself or my friends and honestly, I kinda enjoy to. I absolutely value humor and friendship the most, and they are what keep me going. If I could describe myself as 5 fictional characters, I’d be Mickey Milkovich (Shameless), MJ (MCU), Ruth Langmore (Ozark), Louise Belcher (Bob’s Burgers), and Beth Harmon (The Queen’s Gambit). My positive traits are humorous, competitive, straight-forward, creative, and quick-witted

on the flip side, when I’m in a newish setting or a setting where I’m off my game/ not feeling myself, I’m ice cold, rarely speaking to anyone and if I do, it’s venomous. I tend to isolate myself and obsessively throw myself into whatever it is I need to do and just be done with it. I try to maintain a high level of professionalism and confidence and hold myself to a high standard, becoming wildly competitive and forcing myself to be better than everyone, basically faking it till I make it (and it always works). I tend to hide and bottle up my emotions, and I’m scared of/ hate being emotionally vulnerable. My negative traits are obsessive, indecisive, aggressive, sadistic, and emotionally detached

…and I just realized I went on for waaay too long lmao sorry. congrats again on 1k!!!

🎀 No.9: Ever Fallen In Love With Someone 🎀

tell me a little bit about yourself and i'll give you a rogue pairing a/n: thank you!! it's funny, with this one i thought of several rogues and then suddenly it came to me in a moment of sheer inspiration and i was like "oh shit yeah that's the one" 1k milestone info! 🔞minors dni🔞 • kofi • tag: finnie1k

i swear to you the height thing is a coincidence but i think a short couple are strong vibes. and he's a mama's boy, so the fact that your hair is long and curly like hers would probably be one of the first things that drew him in

we know he feels about glasses wearers, so... yeah

(side note: i feel you on the theatre kids one, i studied theatre at university and it made me realise i couldn't be a playwrite, because i cannot cope with actors)

ok so oswald has an absolute flair for the dramatics, and don't tell me he wouldn't make an excellent actor. you two could reenact scenes together and write your own plays or movies just for you two!

he strikes me as a diarist, so spending time together writing whatever you're writing while he catches up on his comings and goings in his little unpublished and just for him (for now) autobiography would be one of his favourite wind-down activities at the end of the day

oswald lives his entire life with main character energy and you can't convince me he didn't pick that up from obsessively watching movies about underdogs rising to the top and film noirs. he loves gore and brutality too, so a thriller or a horror would be perfect viewing material for you, and he'd definitely take you to the theatre on a date

ok so, it might be a nightmare putting the two of you together, but it could also potentially be the most fun. both of you are dry, humorous, experts in wit and sarcasm. charming enough to talk your way out of disaster, and into opportunity. together, you'd be a dynamic duo, perfect partners in crime. the confidence you would have separately and together would be insurmountable and intimidating, which oswald would find deeply romantic

little comments and sneaky jokes with the right timing are his forte too, i'm beginning to wonder if you aren't just the same person?

and the aggressive protection of yourself and others? come on, that's just him all over. and he might not swear frequently (although he might have if gotham was more risque) he does yell. a lot. and what extreme screaming match isn't complete without a few good fuck shit cock ass bastards in the mix?

speaking of friends, the loyalty and fierce protection of them would make it easy for him to trust you, which is so important to him. you're obviously a valuable asset in a friendship, and he would treat you as such

it's funny, i always think of oswald (specificalyl in gotham) as louise belcher! very much quick-witted and humorous, which you both are, and he's obviously extremely competitive, with high self-esteem and a belief he can conquer anything. he's not always straight-froward though, but that's something you can bring to the relationship that he can benefit from

he would understand the isolation and the cold attitude also though. it's a good facade to maintain when you're around new people, especially if you find it difficult to trust or open yourself up to them. a safety mechanism almost. it ties in with the holding yourself to a high-standard. he's dead set on being the king of gotham, a position he would gladly share with you if you could assist him in that professional and personable journey, which by the way, faking it till you make it? he's very familiar with it, umbrella boy to mayor after all

i doubt he'd feel the need to hide his emotions around someone like you who was so similar to him and so trustworthy, but he does that around others and wouldn't blame you for a second for trying not to be vulnerable around him, though he'd hope you'd warm up eventually

and please, your negative traits are all ones he holds in high-esteem within himself so get ready to have your ego boosted by him constantly praising you

#finnie1k #finnie writes

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clockworkrobotic · 2 years

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babe wake up new padlock content just dropped | harmonium

i’m home so as promised here’s something that has been sitting on my hard drive since uhhhh

for whatever reason i never posted this anywhere so it’s only been read by i think two people (shirts and another friend). I’ve had a read through but mostly left it untouched for the authentic experience, so here’s what i was up to in 2016 have at it

CW graphic violence, couples that kill each other, death (temporary), pianos

It’s mathematical, Tony so often told himself, not creative. It is a precise and calculated process that few are capable of doing with any degree of skill. Certainly not that idiot notepad.

That last part was probably a lie, but until proven otherwise he was going to choose to believe it. As far as he was aware, Paige had not so much as touched the grand piano since she had had it bought to the house: probably due to her lack of scheduling, but Tony was more than happy to think that it was because she had quickly discovered she was completely incapable of playing it.

Nonetheless, it was still technically her piano, and he’d be dead on his feet if she found out he’d been making use of it. So he tried- and had so far succeeded (as far as he was aware) - only to practise whenever she wasn’t around. Today was one of those days.

Two things. Two things were unusual about this, Paige mused to herself as she settled into a comfortable position in the corner of the linen closet.

First of all, Tony was being creative- creative- or at the very least indulging in some creative form, and she knew about it, and she had neglected to mock him endlessly for it. Normally, she would be on him like a hawk, and the teasing would be relentless. No; instead she was hiding in a closet and secretly relishing in his art.

Secondly, and more importantly—that was her goddamned piano. Sure, she hadn’t actually gotten around to playing it yet, but the principle remained: he was in violation of their mutually agreed and deliberately unspoken touch-my-stuff-and-die-slowly rule, and she had every right to execute a formidable and probably-ironic punishment for such a heinous crime.

But he played it so beautifully, and who was she to deny herself such luxury? It was a small price to pay, sneaking around the house like she wasn’t there and hiding in claustrophobic spaces, if it meant she could listen to every epitome of every great era of music, not a note missed nor a bar out of time. She couldn’t punish this. It would be no less than an act of blasphemy.

She could hear him calling her name upstairs, checking that she had really gone. She had wondered why it had never occurred to him that she might be hiding, but then again hiding wasn’t really her style. Paige preferred to make her presence known, and right now that was very much playing in her favour.

After a minute or so, the calling stopped, and he began to make his way downstairs. In a moment of brief panic, Paige realised that the door to the closet was still ajar, and pulled it shut as quietly as she could.

Tony paused at the bottom of the stairs. It was probably just paranoia, but he thought he’d heard… something… a gentle thud, nearly silent, not quite… he dismissed it after a few seconds; there was no way it could be her, she wouldn’t have ignored him calling for her for so long. And besides, quiet was hardly her forte.

Paige only had to wait a short while longer before the music began, and dear lord it was glorious. Of every version on every instrument of every melody that sang through the house, she was certain that his take was the best she’d heard. Much as it pained her to admit it, the time thing certainly seemed to help- there was no pause between each piece, yet he seemed to have a fantastic ability to merge 2/2 into 3/4 into 5/8 so seamlessly, and it was simply blissful.

“Bastard,” she muttered happily under her breath, heaving a quiet and contented sigh as she sank deeper into the towels, reclining as much as the limited space would allow, her arm brushing against something warm… very warm… uncomfortably warm… oh no that’s the hot water pipe.

It took approximately half a second to sink in, and she violently jerked her arm away from the searing copper with a hiss, whacking her head against the shelf above and crashing against the door.

The music abruptly stopped.

Oh no.

She kicked the door open and crawled out, pulling herself to her feet and dusting herself off before turning to walk briskly down the hallway as if she had been there all along. A door clicked open behind her.

“Paige?” He sounded more surprised than anything. She turned to face him.

“Was that you playing?” The words sounded rehearsed. She tried to force something akin to anger into her tone, “Were you touching my piano? That’s very rude, you know, I ought to do something about that-” shut up, you’re rambling “-though it has to be said, you were doing very well. Very creative-” SHUTUPSTOPTALKING.

“Were you… hiding in the cupboard…?”

“I was outside,” she retorted defensively, folding her arms.

“Is that so?” Tony mirrored her actions, and leant against the doorframe with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“Yes.”

He didn’t reply, just nodded to the linen closet; she glanced over to it and realised that, in her haste, she had left the door wide open.

“That’s my piano,” Paige blurted out, regretting the words as soon as they were spoken.

Tony laughed, dark and short. “It is indeed,” he straightened up and adjusted his shirt cuffs, “Perhaps you and it should get a little better acquainted.”

What the hell does he mean by that? She opened her mouth to respond, but found herself so perplexed that words failed her. He was approaching her now, and there was something wicked in that smile…

“Come on, dear, I’ll introduce you.”

“Wh-” She was cut off suddenly by his hand in her hair, close to her scalp and dragging her through to the music room. She clawed viciously at his wrist, and much to her surprise he actually stopped, though didn’t let go, once they were through the door.

“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” His voice was warm and fond. She stared at him. “Wait until you see the inside.”

And then he was pulling her along again, right up to the side of the instrument.

“I’ve been relatively modest so far,” Tony mused, seemingly talking to himself, “I keep it closed; grand pianos far too loud and intrusive when they’re open. Plus, it would drown out my clocks-” He set about propping open the lid, “-but there’s a first time for everything.” He pulled her upright, holding her head over the edge of the piano, and for one horrifying second Paige thought he was going to close the lid on her neck. “Would you like a closer look?”

“DON’T YOU DARE-” she shrieked, only to be cut off by his hand around her throat, pulling her up off the floor with such force it was a wonder he didn’t instantly break her neck. She couldn’t breathe; she grabbed frantically at the edge of the wood, careful to avoid knocking the prop, and kicked wildly at him as he shoved her into the case. The side of her face met the frame with an audible thud and she gasped, coming to her senses just in time to hear him pull the prop free; her arm flew up to hold the lid open but he pushed down harder, followed by a series of sickening snaps as she felt her wrist, then her elbow, then her forearm break.

His hand closed around her leg and pushed her further into the piano, and with a jolt her face was pressed against the piano wire, her broken arm draped uselessly over the thin frame, the half-closed lid preventing her from pushing herself upright. The piano wasn’t particularly deep, and was a gamble as to what would come first- the cutting or the crushing. She was shouting now, furious and panicked, yelling barely-coherent profanities and continuing to kick violently at him as he forced the lid shut.

It met her back first. One clean, crisp crack in the middle of her spine and she was screaming, hot agony surging through the backs of her legs followed by something that wasn’t quite numbness; her chest pressed against the piano wire, and she hardly dared breathe as her weight alone crushed the wires into her torso. He was still pushing the lid down, and the frame was digging into her stomach: howling, no longer capable of forming words- and it wasn’t long before the smooth, angled surface was pressed to her jaw.

It was terrifying. She could feel each thin, evenly spaced wire digging and slicing into her skin: first her face, then her chest, then her legs. Each slight movement- be it breathing, shaking, twitching- seemed to drag the wires through her skin with clinical cruelty, tearing through nerves and veins not nearly deep enough to let her bleed out. The frame was digging into her body at irregular points and crushing her organs: if she was still screaming, she could no longer hear it over the roaring blood in her ears and the horrifying snap of bones and the squeaking of wires pulling through her flesh. The last thing she felt was her ankle, awkwardly protruding from the piano, caught between the case and the lid as Tony finally managed to shut the instrument completely.

Tony heaved a mournful sigh, holding the lid closed for a couple more seconds before releasing it and checking the exterior for any damages. Until he found the time and resources to change the wires- and even that seemed a little over-ambitious, given the extent of the damage surely within the piano- it seemed as though his musical career would have to be put on hold for a bit. Damn her for spying- he could always count on her to ruin things, and this had been no exception. He sighed again and prised the piano open with a little difficulty, somewhat reluctant to witness the harm she had wrought upon the instrument.

He spared a scowl for the mutilated, bloodied corpse crushed inelegantly against the delicate interior.

“You can have your piano back now.”

#ice hell #padlock #shrugs #dhmis

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hatredcurse · 2 years

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@aranlae // Madara said ❝ I never realised you could cook… ❞

“Me either,” he threw back over his shoulder in jest. Freshly revived, out of the hospital, and yet all the vigor just like when he was a teen. Did Kabuto feed him the extra audacity when he imbued him with Hashirama’s cells? Temper, Tobirama. It’s not like he’d know and kami knows that the albino never had a positive review of Senju food during the height of the war.

It did get better later on, when there were more supplies and domestic hands to bring the creative spirit into dinnertime. The abundance of free time played into that and Tobirama was not exempt of this behavior. Whenever Hashirama took to a wife then consummated the union, he had a full staff that was more than capable of bearing the additional responsibilities that the younger Senju spearheaded for several years. Bachelor and alone, and a great lack of servants after the deconstruction of the daimyo, he built some domestic skills of his own.

The main meal consisted of braised beef, laid on greenery, with a side of garlic fried rice. It wasn’t much, but he noticed that the Uchiha’s appetite was set more on sweets than it was anything proper. An impulsive thought —impulsive wish— that Hikaku or Izuna had returned as well so that they could force some better habits into the man.

“Here, it is still hot,” he laid the dish down on the low-rise table. “I’ll work on some mooncakes while you work through this, and—” pale-red irises staring hard into the other,” only when this is finished can you have them.”

#Tobirama ic #Verse: For What It's Worth (Post Resurrection)

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joel5371125 · 2 years

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Week 5 Studio Tutorial – Sketching

With week 5’s tutorial taking a focus on sketching, we began the task by completing various sketching drills that served as a warm up opportunity. Following instructions, the exercises made us practice tasks such as straight lines, joining dots, circles and ellipses, and ellipses in perspective. With an aim of being free-flowing, I thoroughly enjoyed this minor task as there was no right or wrong way of approaching it. The calming and therapeutic nature of sketching was also a nice break from the previous tasks.

After reading the brief for the Olay Moisturiser bottle, I began developing my 12 thumbnail sketches. Not having a clear idea of how I wanted my bottle to look like, I began sketching multiple shapes in order to gain an idea of what worked to best and had the most aesthetic appeal. Completing the thumbnails, I was satisfied with the variation amongst my bottles. As I continued and began refining the bottles with tone and shade, I struggled to add onto my designs in order to make the more sophisticated. This is something I would go back and change if given a second chance. Re-reading the brief, I also realised that my designs were lacking in special features. Despite these concerns, this was by far the most enjoyable task to date as it allowed me to think creatively while also practicing the skills I have developed.

Continuing on with the development of my thumbnail sketches, I selected three designs to draw into 2 point perspectives. With practice from the previous week’s task, these drawings were much easier to complete. Sketching these designs out, I was pleased with the final look of my two sharp edged designs. The curved design, however, I was very dissatisfied with as it was difficult to portray the curved nature of its design. This issue comes down to my shading of the design, with this in mind I will strive to improve my tone/shading capabilities in the coming weeks.

As mentioned previously, this has been my favourite task to date due to the creative and free-flowing nature of the task.

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anxiousprocrastinator · 1 month

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WHY MODDING UPHOLD GAMING CULTURE

This week, I'd like to go into game modding, which is the process of changing a computer game by bringing new artefacts into the game environment, provided by a member of the general public (Bilińska-Reformat, Dewalska-Opitek & Hofman-Kohlmeyer 2020). What is the appeal of alternating a perfectly great game that the designers have spent a long time developing?

Not a new tale

I had many worries regarding the legality and ethics of these activities before realising that this is not a mistreatment that arose out of nowhere during the online gaming culture, but rather a matter of preference and the necessity for modification to fit into the milieu that individuals who play games inhabit. For example, the well-known board game UNO is popular for this type of interaction on Twitter.

From this, we may conclude that game modification is not motivated by animosity, but rather by people's instinct to improve gaming experiences for their players. That is also why, even though game creators have been noticed of these actions for so long, they have never overtly banned or disabled gamers' ability to put up their mods, and some even promote such efforts (Pereira & Silva Bernardes 2021).

Games such as Stardew Valley, Minecraft, and Resident Evil are well-known for being much better with mods. Modding is an excellent outlet for creative individuals. They can create new characters, weaponry, plots, and even entirely new game types. With individual creations and preferences, a game's life is now extended as mods give complexity to either the storyline or visual, causing users to want to spend more time on their device, which is ultimately what the developer wants.

The Sims 4 experience

The Sims is one of the strongest modding communities I've ever seen in gaming. The Sims games are essentially sandbox games, meaning they lack specified goals. The player creates virtual people known as "Sims", sets them in residences, and assists in directing their moods and satisfying their wishes. Players can either place their Sims in pre-built homes or build their own. Each expansion pack and game in the series expanded the player's capabilities with their Sims (WikiWand n.d.). Even though the premise of the game appears easy and just another option for players to "play God", it has 24 years of running, four series, and is one of the best-selling game of all time.

As I explored this extremely dull game, I decided to immerse myself in the experience by playing Sims 4 for a week. The first 20 hours were exhausting; the graphics in the game are not realistic or aesthetically beautiful, and the gameplay experience has nothing unique to offer, so I was perplexed. However, on the third day, a friend had introduced me to their modding system, and everything changed.

Game modification for the Sims is more than just making minor changes; there are other elements to consider. You can have various haircuts, costumes, and other personality traits coded by fellow Sims gamers with distinct aesthetics, mods that produced complete interactivity, new environments, activities, and species put into the game's release packs to make it more interesting. There were also cheat codes to make designing, gaming, and making money in the game more appealing. This expansion piqued my interest in installing and being more involved because I now have the ability to customise my game, and seeing such an active and large community made me feel less out of place.

Mods enable users to customise the game to their preferences. This could range from little cosmetic alterations to entire overhauls of gameplay mechanics, transforming a regular day-to-day game into horror, romance, drama, or whatever tale you like. For modders, this technique provides them with sentiment links.

Modding has elevated the game and doubled earnings; it's a win-win scenario. The firm understands how important a healthy modding community can be for any game. It provides a platform for people to interact, discuss ideas, and work together on new mods. This can help to keep the game going and build anticipation for future installments. Mods may introduce popular features or gameplay mechanics (Reisinho, Raposo, & Zagalo 2023). The Sims developers can take note of these and include them in future official versions.

To summarise, game modding serves as a pillar of gaming culture by encouraging creativity, extending the life of beloved titles, and empowering players to become active participants in the environment they live in. It exemplifies gamers' collaborative attitude, since individuals who are passionate about their favourite pastime may constantly reinvent and revitalise the experiences they value. Modding transforms gaming culture from one of consumption to one of invention, pushing the boundaries of what a game can be and assuring the long-term viability of this ever-changing medium.

REFERENCE LIST

1, Bilińska-Reformat, K, Dewalska-Opitek, A & Hofman-Kohlmeyer, M 2020, ‘To Mod or Not to Mod—An Empirical Study on Game Modding as Customer Value Co-Creation’, Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 21, p. 9014.

2, Pereira, LS & Silva Bernardes, MME 2021, ‘Modding as game development: Investigating the influences over how mods are made’, Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 151–172.

3, Reisinho, P, Raposo, R & Zagalo, N 2023, ‘The ethical dilemma of modding digital games: A literature review of the creation and distribution of mods’, Convergence, SAGE Publishing.

4, WikiWand n.d., ‘Wikiwand - The Sims’, Wikiwand, viewed 24 March 2024, <https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mod_The_Sims>.

#mda20009 #modding

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group10uh · 3 months

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Initial ideas

Fabian Kiss

UNDERSEA WORLD We kicked off our brainstorming session with excitement, diving into a sea of ideas that sparked our imaginations.

One concept that caught my attention was an enchanting underwater scene, complete with vibrant coral reefs and a bustling array of marine life. The thought of immersing our audience in the vivid colors and dynamic movements of the ocean was incredibly appealing. But as we delved deeper, I couldn't shake the concern about how the dome projection's blind spot on the bottom half might leave the upper part of our scene feeling a bit empty.

This realisation led to some heartfelt discussions within our team. We weighed the pros and cons, considering how to make the most of the dome projection's capabilities while still delivering an immersive experience. Ultimately, we decided to pivot away from the underwater concept, opting instead for ideas that could better utilise the projection space without compromising on our vision.

Even though we had to let go of the underwater scene, the creative journey was far from wasted. It taught us valuable lessons about balancing creativity with practicality and the importance of adapting our ideas to fit the constraints we faced. As we continued to explore new concepts, fueled by our collaborative spirit, we remained committed to crafting an experience that would captivate our audience and showcase the magic of interdisciplinary collaboration.

POST-APOCALYPTIC CITY My second idea revolved around an apocalyptic cityscape, offering a surreal atmosphere filled with fog, crumbling buildings, and an overall sense of desolation. This concept held great promise for creating an immersive dome-like experience. I drew inspiration from a few of my favorite video games, The Division 2, Fallout 4 and Last of Us which beautifully capture a post-apocalyptic aesthetic.

However, this idea was ultimately set aside for several reasons. While it had potential, it lacked opportunities for animation or visual effects (VFX), which were strengths of some team members. I felt it was important for everyone to have an equal opportunity to contribute, and this concept didn't offer that balanced involvement.

JAPANESE TOWN The third idea that came to mind was inspired by my desire to visit Japan. This led me to envision a traditional Japanese town as the theme. I've always been fascinated by the country's traditional elements—pagodas, cherry blossoms, and majestic snowy mountains.

Moreover, recent conversations about the Chinese New Year celebration, which holds significant cultural importance in Asia, sparked discussions about dragons. Given the dragon's symbolic significance in the festivities, it naturally became a central element in our project.

What made this idea particularly appealing was its potential for each team member to contribute equally within their own expertise. The town provided ample opportunities for environmental design, the dragon offered exciting animation possibilities, and the integration of VFX could seamlessly bring together all elements between the dragon and its surroundings.

Bertz, M. (no date) The Division 2 Review - a live-service shooter done right, Game Informer. Available at: https://www.gameinformer.com/review/the-division-2/a-live-service-shooter-done-right (Accessed: 12 February 2024).

Immersive journey into Japanese gardens: Balance, harmony, and serenity (no date) SUIKEI. Available at: https://www.suikeijapan.com/post/immersive-journey-into-japanese-gardens-balance-harmony-and-serenity (Accessed: 12 February 2024).

Jones, C.A. (2018) 10 exhibitions to catch this summer in Tokyo, Savvy Tokyo. Available at: https://savvytokyo.com/10-exhibitions-to-catch-this-summer-in-tokyo/ (Accessed: 12 February 2024).

Li Qiong (2018) Digital exhibition enables people to see the wonders 6,500 meters down in the ocean, CGTM. Available at: https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414d31637a4d34457a6333566d54/index.html (Accessed: 12 February 2024).

Marks, T. (2022) The last of US multiplayer game has a story, and is ‘as big’ as other naughty dog games, IGN. Available at: https://www.ign.com/articles/the-last-of-us-standalone-multiplayer-game-new-details-story-concept-art (Accessed: 12 February 2024).

National Geographic: Immersive Exhibit: 360 projection space (2023) Lumen and Forge. Available at: https://lumenandforge.com/projects/nat-geo-immersive-exhibit/ (Accessed: 12 February 2024).

Steam (no date) Fallout 4, Gamesplanet.com. Available at: https://uk.gamesplanet.com/game/fallout-4-steam-key--2838-1 (Accessed: 12 February 2024).

Teamlab (no date) Borderless TOKYO, Azabudai Hills. Available at: https://www.teamlab.art/e/borderless-azabudai/ (Accessed: 12 February 2024).

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dumbbitchfrommars · 1 year

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i finished bridgerton and im sad. im sad because i feel like lady danbury deserved more... and im scared that my life will end up like hers. i dont know. i feel like we all deserve more than a life without love.

today was so hard. every day feels so hard lately. im so overwhelmed with emotions, and ive been punishing my sister. im sad that i wasted our time together being like this but she was annoying me too... but she doesnt deserve to feel like a problem, or like she has to step on eggshells around me. i keep on facing this darkside of myself and its disappointing and shameful. im selfishly angry and aggressive and mean. i need to loosen up on others, and be kinder, and warmer, and all those good things that i feel like arent being provided to me. im sad shes leaving tomorrow cause i dont know when well see each other again. probably in 3 months... i hope. last time was 6 months ago... it will fly by!

in this economy its getting harder and harder to see the people we care about. but shes only a flight away...! i dont know. i guess its sad feeling so distanced again now that were changing and we dont talk as much. i want to be there for her but were going through entirely different situations.

im frustrated by my lack of a backbone. i hate my job but i do nothing about it. UGH! i hate the types of men im attracting yet i dont send them away, i open my life to them. when i know that by doing so i leave no space for the keanu reaves/oscar isaac/tom hardy types that i know i want and deserve. UGH! what happened to the bad bitch with a good music taste, amazing style, sexy attitude and too cool for school vibes? i completely lowered myself to feel validated by pathetic boys, only to wonder why i feel like nothing when i realise their validation means nothing. in fact, it actually lowers my worth, because now i think that i belong in their league.

i win at life when i realise my focus could be on myself instead of boys and relationships. i cant help it im a horny hopeless romantic! i miss the days where i was consumed by my stories enough to distract me from the real thing. now im indecisive over a dilf that i absolutely know is not the right decision for me.

anyways, yes, im sad and pathetic and wallowing in all my annoying and inconvenient emotions because im a woman and im definitely not living up to my full, amazing, beautiful, incredible, awesome potential. ONE DAY! one day. ugh. thats what makes it all so much worse, honestly. knowing everything im capable of, but sitting here idly being bored and drained by my lack of stimulation. its such an easy thing to fix, no? im surrounded by distractions. i just need discipline, to detach myself from this addiction to distraction. i managed to free myself from weed and bad people. even cigarettes, though that never really counted for me, i was never addicted, i am strong willed. i can free myself from this too! i am already so dedicated to my body, making myself the strongest i can be to feel my best and most confident. but the final piece of the puzzle is strengthening my mind, and my wit. wow.

this feels like such a revelation now that ive managed to conceptualise it. like all this time ive been so lost, and confused, and wondering what was missing from my awareness, to help me understand what ive been doing wrong. its this! i need to dedicate myself to my mind. it will solve everything ive ever felt insecure about! i will be a better writer, i will be a better student, a better marine biologist, a better friend, a better guest, a better partner, a better employee, a better person. a better creative. and a better divine being. because with knowledge comes connection to all things...

im figuring it out. im on my own path and timeline. and ill take it step by step. and one day ill look back and smile and laugh and cry about the journey ive managed to complete, all on my own. always on my own. because i am a strong, independent, magical woman. with music to heal and soothe me, and those who came before me to teach me and guide me, and my loved ones to support me and celebrate me, i will accomplish everything i ever dreamed or wished for! like i always said so. i am determined. i am determined. i am capable of anything i put my mind to. i will expand my knowledge, and become a makeup artist, and become a marine biologist, and get my divers certificate, and do beautiful makeup for my beautiful friends, and create endless stories, and memories, and love, and acceptance, and nurture myself as a gorgeous flower only learning to bloom.

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zarabrown-the-artists-blog98 · 1 year

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Making the cut

When joining the MA online illustration course, in the practice 1 module we were tasked to do an introductory project of sorts, a way to get to know us if you will. The task was to create artwork out of paper; however, we are unable to draw or paint on the paper, but I could be any colour. We were given 2 weeks to complete the project, so I decided to get to work.

I had heard of art being created out of paper in the past, more specifically the term known as ‘psaligraphy’ which is the art of cutting silhouettes, typically out of paper (Collins, 2022). I had come across this after seeing examples of Karen Bit Vejle work, as well as the more widely known art of paper folding known as ‘origami’ originating from Japan, the word Origami literally translating to: folded paper (Megahed, 2017).

The art of paper cutting is believed to have originated from China as that is where paper was invented, although it has played such as role in Chinas history, due to the lack of the newer generation carrying on this traditionit has been included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists (ANON, n.d.), giving us an idea to the importance of this tradition in China. Paper cutting seems to have made a presence in many places in the world ever since the invention of paper, such examples being papel picado in Mexico and Scherenschnitte in Germany. Paper is not only being used for art but for emergency shelters by architect Shigeru Ban (Saval, 2018) who has made several shelters out of paper tubes (Emergency Shelters Made From Paper, 2013), showing papers versatility.

The use of paper as the main medium was foreign territory for me as I am so used to creating art on paper, not with paper, but I was more excited than anything and began looking at several paper artists for inspiration in order make this project a lot less intimidating. I found many artists to look at such as Malin Koort who creates fun and interesting characters with paper and Margaret Scrinkl who’s work I found quite enjoyable to look at and found that when looking at the way she uses paper made me more inclined to cut paper without fearing of making a mistake

I found Scrinkl’s work to be the most intriguing, their way to be able to make an almost humble and everyday material such as paper look exciting and fresh intrigued me. Her work is easily digestible to view and process to anyone looking at it, but it isn’t boring. I decided to take inspiration from her work and apply to my own attempt. I chose to take much inspiration from Scrinkl’s method of working as she uses paper in many of her works, particularly her non-animated flat works were quite approachable and simple for a total beginner. So I set out to work.

Trick or Treat (Scrinkl 2022)

Due to the project being set in October I decided to go with a Halloween themed work of ghosts floating in a cemetery. I would say for a first attempt I was unusually pleased with myself and believe that maybe because I created this with my mindset of learning rather than wanting to create the best piece in the world and I found myself in a better and happier mindset after finishing the project. Drake and her colleagues found in their study that not only did creating works of art to distract improve mood but their participants found that after consistent days of drawing their score on a life satisfaction scale was higher than before they began the experiment (Drake, et al., 2016).

Ghost Party (Brown 2022)

When I first began my journey to become an illustrator I believed that the only way to create art was to take paint, pen or pencil to paper, however the longer I continue this journey the more I am exposed to the world of art as a whole and how diverse it is and the ways and mediums artist decided to use to show their creativity.

Through the project I have realised that I am capable of showing my creativity in other mediums other than pen, although paper cutting is quite tedious and time consuming I do believe it helps me think outside of the box as I do have a tendency to live in my sketchbook.

This type of art has sparked my interest and I do believe I will continue to apply it to my practice especially when I find myself stuck for ideas.

References:

Collins. (2022) Collins Dictionary. [Online] Available at: https://www.collinsdictionary.com [Accessed: 1st November 2022].

Megahed, A. N. (2017). 'Origami Folding and its Potential for Architecture Students.' The Design Journal. [Online] 20 (2). pp. 279-297. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14606925.2017.1270511. [Accessed: 1st November 2022].

ANON, (n.d.) Chinese Paper-cut. [Online] Available from: https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/chinese-paper-cut-00219 [Accessed: 5th November 2022].

Saval, N. (2018). 'Why Is Japan Still So Attached to Paper?.' The New York Time Style Magazine'. November 19 [Online] Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/t-magazine/japanese-paper-washi.html?searchResultPosition=1 [Accessed: 5th November 2022].

TED. (2013). Shigeru Ban: Emergency shelters made from paper. [Online Video]. August 13. Available from: https://www.ted.com/talks/shigeru_ban_emergency_shelters_made_from_paper/transcript?language=en. [Accessed: 5th November 2022].

Margaret, S. [scrinkl] (2022). [Trick or Treat]. [Instagram]. 30 October. [Accessed: 6th November 2022]. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkV-Xf2Dcwj/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D

Drake, J. E., Hastedt, I. & James, C., (2016). 'Drawing to Distract: Examining the Psychological Benefits of Drawing Over Time'. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts [Online] 10(3), pp. 325-331. Available from: https://psycnet-apa-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/fulltext/2016-30739-001.html

Brown, Z., (2022). Ghost Party. Unpublished personal work.

#artistblog

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edamicofmp · 2 years

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First Week Back and Changes to my Set Brief

Today we were given a lecture that consisted of vital information and insights on successful design projects. Program director Dannah Abdulla was in charge of the lecture, and as I had hoped, Dannah Abdulla presented a range of resources at our disposal, from references to open-source projects. Consideration for ethical design methodologies were highlighted in particular, and there was a broad variety of socially-engaged design projects that had employed design to connect disadvantaged communities and break down boundaries, rather than commercial purposes. This was a great second chapter to this project, since the beginning I have been placing more emphasis on the negatives when, in fact, design is a neutral tool, and it is us who have the capability to change its principles. Projects in particular I took note of were Conflict Kitchen, a mini takeaway restaurant that showcases cuisine only from countries America is in conflict with, created by Jon Rubin and Dawn Weleski in 2010, and additionally, Gran Fury's designs for HIV awareness and advocacy from the mid 80s to early 90s, which are now internationally recognised for their messaging.

Rubin, J. Wleski, D. (2010). Conflict Kitchen. Restaurant. America, New York, New York.

Fury, G. (1988). Silence = Death. ACT UP. Political poster.

Conflict kitchen > cultural exchange, be part of the conversation Challenges biased representation Virtual reality goggle box Using products to bring together cultural exchanges Halal hotdogs > employing local communities

First Session

Today we returned to university for the first time since the previous semester. I felt considerably optimistic, since we had been assured that we would have additional time in the studio, including time with tutors, seminars, and workshops. In a session on submissions details, we learnt what to provide as well as how to incorporate material into our blogging, such as evaluations, mock-ups, and general progress. It was essentially a catch-up on everything that needs to be submitted as well as a rundown of what will get us additional credits.

Notes:

- Final evaluation should be submitted

- An effective strategy. Clear research that leads to realisations that can subsequently be creatively used to design.

- Theoretical and specialist influence

- D&AD, New Blood must be present!

- The FMP itself (Major Practice Project) *Must be present!

- 500 word FMP outline description *Should be present

- Online journal as a blog, website or PDF Must be present!

- Self evaluation form as a PDF *Should be present!

- Create a final summary entry in your journal so that they can see precisely what you've produced / 500 word outline description

Tutor discussion

Given the chance to talk to a tutor regarding my project was certainly a highlight of the day. My project received enthusiasm and some excellent feedback I will need to consider. The experience of discussing my proposal has given me confidence, as well as led me to become more aware of the lacking specifics of my project that will need to be addressed, such as the question of whether or not my editorial will be my primary project. I shall reassess my focus on the discursive attribute of my project after today, since, despite my desire for it to remain an aspect of my project, I recognise that my editorial has become more significant.

Notes:

Mark Wallinger electric chair

Andy Warhol electric chair

Homemade prison weapons

Legitimate violence vs non-legitimate violence

Monopoly of Violence documentary

Helmut Smits’s The Real Thing

What is the insight? What is the material? What is the story?

20th-23rd April

1. After a prolonged hiatus, I was eventually able to access the ceramics studio at university. It was an incredibly exciting opportunity, and I learned a considerable amount about the mould process of slip-casting. I began by pouring plaster into a bucket of water and waited for it to be submerged. After submerged, I started mixing the plaster until it had the consistency of custard. Once it had reached a custard consistency, I poured it into a make-shift mould held together by wooden boards with my toy gun centre. Once settled, it was placed in the dry cupboard. The second effort resulted in the completion of both halves.

2. After the lid of the mould was finalised, I was able to continue with my first slip-cast of the gun. This operation was fairly uncomplicated and I'm certain that I'll be able to replicate this procedure given the information I've gained. I was able to remove the initial cast the following morning, and despite some imperfections, I am fairly satisfied with the mould. I aim to create a final cast before my hand-in, but for now I intend to focus on my final piece, which is my designed editorial. As stated in the preceding entry, I want to experiment with discursive design; nevertheless, this will be a less essential consideration of my project, as I believe my book will place more emphasis and contextual understanding of how objects may be violent or incite harm.

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d-criss-news · 3 years

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Nine Songs: Darren Criss

When Disney, Phantom Planet and Mr Hudson collide: Glee star, Emmy and Golden Globe winner and musician Darren Criss talks Andrew Wright through the pivotal songs in his life and the unexpected ways they found him.

“When we are younger, our gateway drugs to a lot of popular things don’t come from the sexiest of places. It’s up to you how proactive you want to be with your curiosity from there, and how far down the rabbit hole you want to go, if you go down at all.”

Choosing the songs that define you is a tricky business to say the least, especially when the power of song has provided an ongoing soundtrack to your life. “When you’re as avid a music consumer as musical artists are, trying to pin down Nine Songs is difficult,” Darren Criss laughs. So much so, his final choices only really crystallise as our conversation draws to its close. “It’s hard for me not to see the value and joy in literally everything,” he explains. “The curse of the creative person is that your ideas and your interests always move way faster than your body can execute.”

Criss is a creative par excellence. As well as his Emmy and Golden Globe winning performance in The Assassination of Gianni Versace, where he played serial killer Andrew Cunanan, to his upcoming role in Muppets Haunted Mansion Halloween special as The Caretaker, he’s also a prolific musician. Criss enjoyed a decadent musical consumption since childhood, so “this was a bit of an archaeological dig,” he admits. As such, everything from jazz standards, to 808s, punk rock, ‘90s teen pop, and musical numbers are excavated in the course of our extemporaneous journey through the music he loves.

Equally on his mind is how to go about approaching the task of creating his Nine Songs, full stop. “The interesting social experiment is: Are my answers going to be songs that actually shaped my life and were formative to me as an artist? Are they songs that were formative to me as a human being? Or am I picking songs that I think represent who I am to people that do not know me? All three of those things aren’t necessarily the same thing.”

He reaches a conclusion of sorts. “For the purposes of making some kind of decision, I’m gonna lean less into trying to look cool to your very cool readership, and more into the literal, ‘What made me think about music in a different way? And hit me in a very emotional way?’ I think that’s probably the healthiest route.”

Embracing the accessibility that characterises Criss’ picks - or at times the initial touchpoints that led him to them - are something he vacillates over during our chat. “I’ve seen a lot of other people’s Nine Songs and they’re super cool. It’s like Leonard Cohen B-sides and old opera records and stuff. I’m gonna be pretty honest with the pop culture zeitgeist of how I grew up but explain why there is so much value in those moments.” His contemplation continues into the next day, Criss’s publicist passes on his regrets at being tentative to admit how he encountered one of his song choices via the Shrek soundtrack.

A yearning to reinterpret accessibility and the value attached to it drives Criss, however. He tells me that a festival performance that applied the anarchic verve of punk rock to a more refined Great American Songbook number remoulded his perception of music entirely. His love of the fusion of these two genres in particular symbolises the salient musical backdrops of his childhood - the guitar bands he played in with friends, and his musical theatre endeavours that led him to Broadway and multiple Ryan Murphy juggernauts, including his breakthrough playing Blaine Anderson in Glee.

Criss employs these contrasting musical lexicons, and other areas in between, on Masquerade, his new EP. Comprising five stand-alone “character-driven” singles, it sees Criss donning different musical personas. “I’m leaning into people that might know me as an actor,” he explains. “Because if actors can do Shakespeare, romantic comedy, and then do a horror movie and wear a prosthetic nose and a wig, I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just do that with music.” The song “walk of shame” draws on jazz-standard chords interlaced with hip-hop production, “i can’t dance” looks to new-wave, and “for a night like this” is the product of Criss’ goal to create the ultimate end-of-the-night crowd-pleaser for a new-year bash, wedding or bar mitzvah. “This is all of the parts of me as a lifelong fan of these genres, trying my hand at servicing the pieces of them that I love.”

“I really love all styles of music and understanding what makes them unique and special and what makes them really pop. There are so many things that really make things sing - for lack of a better verb - and I like acknowledging those things and celebrating those things.”

“So, let’s begin. I have runners up and shit, and I have artists, I don’t just have the songs, so we might have to pick them as we go.”

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“Part of Your World” by Jodi Benson

“When people read this, they’ll go ‘That’s cute, he likes Disney songs’, but it’s more profound than that. Some of the most formative pieces of music to hit me at a very early age would have been any of the songs that were coming from ‘The Disney renaissance.’ The early-mid ‘90s explosion of The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and The Beast.

"One of the through lines between the three of those musicals was Howard Ashman, who is one of my all-time heroes. Dramaturg, songwriter - he really was the voice behind what made those songs great. I have always loved Howard’s lyrical sensibility and also Alan Menken, his partner who wrote these songs with him. There was a musical structure to a lot of the songs which I would unconsciously pick up in my own songwriting, not just musically, but the idea that not only did somebody make these songs, but they wrote them for a story.

“There’s a clip of Howard Ashman vocal directing Jodi Benson, who was the original voice of Ariel. It’s a wonderful example of his genius, where not only was he songwriting but he was storytelling in the way he would tell her how to perform it, and you can really see the song coming to life in that clip. That’s when you cross the street from ‘It’s a song’ to ‘This is an experience.’

"There are certain ingredients that are required to elevate music that goes beyond just a nice melody, a beautiful orchestration and a good voice. There are things that are required to really give a performance a characterisation, context and a vulnerability, that he architects in real-time with Jodi Benson. You see that what he’s doing is what makes the record so special, and that’s something that’s always been inspiring to me.”

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“MMMBop” by Hanson

“I think my love of Hanson was because some people didn’t like it, so I was like ‘Fuck you, I like this, how do you feel about it?’ But this is difficult for me, because you know, I’m speaking to The Line of Best Fit and we’re trying to be cool! Although, do you know what’s cool? Being accessible! Writing a pop hit when you are 10 years old. Being in a band with your brothers and you’re all below the age of 15, you have a record contract where you are writing, producing and performing songs that are doing well.

“I was 10 years old when their first album Middle of Nowhere came out, and I remember reading somewhere that there were these kids that had a record. At the time, I was playing guitar and I was writing songs, but in my mind I was a kid, and that was it. I couldn’t be on the radio; you had to be a grown up to do this.

"This was the first time where I realised ‘Holy shit, kids can do stuff!’ It’s the value of seeing yourself in the media - that’s a whole other conversation to talk about - but there’s an immense value in feeling like there’s a piece of you out in the zeitgeist and doing well because it’s encouraging. You go, ‘Holy shit, maybe I can do this as well.'

“When you see children doing things, you’re ‘Wow, this is so cute and fabulous’, but then when you actually look at it you go, ‘This is miles above what most people in this age group are capable of,’ and that’s all I saw, because I was in the same age group and I was so inspired by that. This whole album was really a turning point for me, where I was like, ‘I can do this, I can do music too, because these guys can.'

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“Ooh La La” by Faces

“This song really blew my mind. It became my own theme. It’s that ‘Make your heart sing’, nostalgic moment when you’re a teenager, driving in the car listening to it, playing guitar with your friends and you’re singing “I wish that I knew what I know now / When I was younger.” You’re like, ‘because I’m an adult now, I’m 15-years-old. If I only knew what I know now.’

“I was doing theatre from a young age and I was part of a young conservatory called A.C.T. in San Francisco. By way of somebody who knew somebody, I had an audition for a movie. As a kid not being near New York or Los Angeles it was really exciting, and this audition was for a film called ‘Max Fischer’, which would become the movie Rushmore, which would become one of my favourite movies of all time by the now very distinguished Wes Anderson.

“Separate from my own objective love of Wes Anderson, when this movie came out I was just around the age of getting into my own sort of identity with music, but also movies - indie movies - and trying to assert who I was. So, I see this movie Rushmore and I love it. I love the soundtrack, I love it so much, it’s one of my favourite albums ever. This song is the end sequence, and the way it made me feel - the vocals on it, I could play it on guitar and it was part of a cool movie - it really represented a lot in my life.

“And because of the acting thing, and Rushmore being great - it’s about this kid in high-school who's misunderstood but has his own agenda - everything about it was just so fucking cool to me. To this day, I cite that song as one of my favourite records of all time.”

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“Recently Distressed” by Phantom Planet

“A guy that really formed the way I would sing and write songs is Alex Greenwald, the frontman of Phantom Planet. I went to see Phantom Planet because I loved Rushmore and I found out that Jason Schwartzman [who had been cast as Max Fischer] was also the drummer for a band called Phantom Planet.

"So, when I saw their name on the bill I went, but I didn't know their music. I was barely 14, but their set blew my mind. It was Rock and Roll, but I loved Alex Greenwald’s voice. I loved everything, and I would follow their career from there. I always tell people that my voice is a combination of me trying to be Alex Greenwald, Paul McCartney and Rufus Wainwright, but failing. Alex was incredibly formative for me.

“One of their biggest records was a little while after I first saw them, which was the song for The O.C., "California." That was more of an Elvis Costello thing, and they employed a lot of stuff that sounded to me like The Beatles and a lot of ‘60s mod/pop-rock. But later they would employ things from Fugazi, Radiohead and harder shit, and that eclecticism, again, only accelerated my love for Phantom Planet.

“Recently Distressed” is from their 1998 album Phantom Planet Is Missing. This was a cool rock song that employed these George [Harrison] and Paul [McCartney] background vocals and included all of the things that I loved. It was harder but melodic and employed minor 4th chords and more complicated chords than I was used to. I had grown up with power chords - which are very Gregorian - on a lot of alt. punk rock, like Green Day or Nirvana, and if Kurt Cobain was using power chords then that’s how I was playing guitar. Hearing this music was like ‘Oh, I’m using full chords, not sevenths, minor 4th chords, diminished chords’, shit that I would learn to use more and more.

“When you haven’t experienced much, anything that gives a hint towards possibility, even though it’s probably always been there, you’re like, ‘I like this, I’ve always kind of liked this, but it’s very encouraging to hear somebody else do it and it’s gonna make me reconsider my possibilities.’ That was literally the moment that my power chords turned into full barre chords.”

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“Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” by Rufus Wainwright

“I forgot the other day how I got into Rufus Wainwright, because all of this stuff I was getting into quite young. It’s like when I talk to 11-13 year olds, it’s funny to think that this was when I was really starting to build my musical identity. But then I remembered, and I didn’t want to say because I didn’t want to sound uncool, because he is such a revered artist who exists in a much cooler place than what I’m about to say.

“I loved soundtracks and I would always buy soundtracks for movies that had cool playlists. I had the Shrek soundtrack, and there’s a cover of Leonard Cohen’s seminal “Hallelujah” that Rufus does and he smashes it, and I’m like, ‘Who the fuck is Rufus Wainwright? What a beautiful voice.’ Then I saw that he was going to be at the Virgin Megastore in San Francisco one week, so I go and he’s there promoting his new album Poses. I remember I didn’t have enough money to buy the album that day, so I had him sign my sneaker and I saved that shoe.

“The first song on Poses was “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”, which is a very dark and reflective song about his own battles with addiction, but he’s singing it over this really beautiful, whimsical song that has a lot of really great wordplay. I always love when artists, especially lyricists, can encapsulate an idea with not exactly what they’re talking about. The song’s called “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”, it’s not called “Addiction”. Its talking about things that he craved and how that’s representative of other things that he’s gone through. There was a sophistication and elegance to that that I really gravitated towards, that I didn’t possess but wanted to shoot for. So when I saw him, that was a big one for me and he would also continue to influence me later in my life.

“I’ve become friends with Rufus since. I’ve performed with him and we’ve made records together, which is crazy. His songwriting was very complex and punk-rock, but he had this classic cabaret voice, the kind of voice that I don’t have. I was fascinated that there was somebody that could write this really dark material but have such elegance on top of it. He was virtuosic on the piano, which I thought was very cool because musicianship is always the thing that gets me going the most about artists.

“You know what? People say, ‘Don’t meet your heroes.' I completely disagree. Chase the living fuck out of your heroes. I’ve spent a lifetime doing so, it’s made me a better artist, and I’ve sometimes got to meet them and work with them. I’ve worked on music with Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet. I’ve performed with Hanson. I’ve performed those Disney songs with Alan Menken at The Hollywood Bowl.

"This is all because there are people that I love who I have put on my vision board, and the things that they have done are the things that are bringing me to them. So it is nuts, but at the same time you’re like, ‘Well, what else did you think would happen?’ They did stuff that some part of me connected with, so obviously there’s a magnetic pull towards that person.

“Rufus Wainwright is one of my absolute favourite artists of all time and like I said, me trying to sing like him and failing is a big part of my own journey as an artist.”

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“3x5” by John Mayer

“John Mayer’s another guy that came around when I was 15. I heard a song of his on a middle-of-the-night, singer/songwriter college radio show. This is where I used to get music. You would listen to these carefully curated playlists that you wouldn’t be able to hear anywhere else, and the host played “No Such Thing”, a new song by this young kid who had just dropped out of Berklee College of Music - John Mayer.

“I’m listening to this song and I’m like, ‘Not only is this guitar playing really interesting, but the lyrical value and everything that is going on here ticks all the boxes.' It was jazz, but it was pop. And he did something that all these other guys and girls I’ve mentioned did. They made something very unique and very accessible.

“I immediately went out to buy this album, Room For Squares, and I listened to it over and over again. It was an album that was really formative for me. "3x5” is a really beautiful song that employs a lot of chord structures and melodies that blew my fucking mind at the time, and it made me wish that I could write songs like that.

“That album was a huge turning point in the way I played the guitar, because it was the first time in my life where I would look up tabs. Up until this point in my life, if I heard a song I could play it instantly. It was like a party trick, I would get how it worked if I heard it, because most of the songs I would hear on the radio - especially those that involved a guitar - were [centred around] power chords. And now I’m hearing all of these ninth chords and thirteenths, and I’m like, ‘What the fuck is this?’ So I’d have to look up tabs.

“I think any young artist can attest to this - when you try and learn other people’s shit, it’s the best tool for educating yourself. Playing other people’s music really helps you lock in what your own style is. Trying to learn these songs - and sometimes pulling it off and sometimes not - really changed the way that my hands moved around the guitar and considered chords and voicings that I’d never really thought of.

“There’s another tie to musical theatre here, where I remember seeing Audra McDonald, who is a very venerated theatre actor, and she did a cabaret. If you’re familiar with cabaret culture, it’s more about performing the story of the songs – ‘Life is a cabaret’. She did a John Mayer song because she thought it was from a musical theatre show, and I was so tickled by this, because I was like ‘Yeah, if you really think about it, I don’t think he knows this and I don’t think his fan base even thinks about this, but there’s a number of his songs that feel very theatrical in the way that the lyrics play with each other and the way the chords move’.

"When I saw this I thought, ‘That is why I like John Mayer’, because yes, he’s an amazing guitar player, but he’s also a really strong songwriter.”

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“Cabaret” by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

“Also, around this time growing up in San Francisco, as a guitar player playing music with your buddies, the number one thing that you play is punk rock. There are different parts of the spectrum of punk rock, there's the NOFX, Swingin’ Utters, like real punk, punk. And then there’s the pop-punk thing that was happening at the same time, which was also equally influential - blink-182 and Green Day.

“Fat Mike was the frontman of NOFX. I loved NOFX, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were a supergroup of different members from different punk bands, of which Fat Mike was one of the main architects. They would cover songs and turn them into punk rock songs. They have an album of hits from the ‘60s, and they also have an album called Me First and the Gimme Gimmes: Are a Drag, and that record is just a tonne of musical theatre covers that are done through punk rock.

“That was completely in line with everything I loved at this time of my life but didn’t really know how to articulate. I loved punk rock but I also really loved musical theatre. Not only the performative element of it, but there was a real musicality to musical theatre that wasn’t as present in some of the other shit that was popular at the time, just harmonically, or where chords would go. There was a sophistication I loved that seemed to not exist in punk rock.

“Then hearing Fat Mike at The Warped Tour going ‘Alright, which one of you Motherfuckers loves Julie Andrews?’ and hearing a mixed bag of reactions, because people were ‘What? I was not expecting that from you, sir?’ And then they start playing “My Favourite Things”, a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein song which is very accessible, but sophisticated nonetheless. And I am just living. I’m like, ‘This has got the attitude and simplicity of punk rock, but the sophistication of a beautiful song.’

“That was the first time in my life where I went, ‘It’s just all music. All these categories and boxes are completely arbitrary.’ So I thought, ‘I can do that.' I was playing power chords in punk bands but I realised that you can take chords and make them into other rhythms and voicings and have the same song. I could take a punk song and make it jazz. I could take a jazz song and make it country. So, quite providentially, I would end up on Glee, where they took popular songs and would sometimes do their own versions.

“By that point, I had been doing this my whole life. The first time this ever became a possibility for me was seeing Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and that way of thinking about music and genre. I’ve put that into Masquerade, and it’s all born from that moment of ‘Oh my God, nothing has to be one thing. It’s just about how you look at it.'

“Cabaret” is from a pretty famous musical that I would’ve probably heard about later in life, but I first heard that song as a punk song and then I went back and heard the original. It doesn’t matter how these things happen, the inspiration happens and then you can go from there. But Me First and The Gimme Gimmes were a huge gateway drug and I play “Cabaret” now every year at my festival. That’s why the festival is called Elsie Fest, because it covers the song.”

youtube

“Modern Nature” by Sondre Lerche

“One of the great joys of being a younger brother is that you get to inherit the music of your elders. My brother and I were both really proactive consumers of music, so we would share stuff with each other all the time. But then he would come home from college, which is like coming home from a music festival essentially, right? He was in a new time zone with new people, so he’d bring home these mix CDs that he’d made from people that he’d heard about, and he brings home this guy named Sondre Lerche.

“Hearing this guy blew my mind, because he also was using jazz chords and drawing on musical theatre. Musical theatre’s a massive category, so I can’t just say that musical theatre sounds like one thing, but when I say this, I’m referring to The American Songbook, the jazz standard songbook. “Modern Nature” was a duet that I would go on to play many times with one of my oldest musical collaborators, Charlene Kaye. When we got to college and we both found out that we loved this guy.

“There was a much more whimsical way to how he wrote these songs. And what’s crazy is that loving this guy meant that we also loved Rufus Wainwright, that we also loved these other artists. But Sondre was the first time I considered that I loved that type of music, but I didn’t know that you could be a singer/songwriter and put out music that sounded like it.

“I don’t know if ‘twee’ is the right word to use, but with “Modern Nature” there was a playfulness about it, and again, a musicality that I really gravitated towards. There is a through line - there was a sophistication that was accessible, and me trying to learn those songs did make me rethink the way that I was writing music. The structures were weird and different and I liked that.

“To this day, I find myself writing songs that I think might be difficult for people to ingest, because they’re a little too left of centre, and I realise that I’m trying to write like Sondre Lerche, or I’m unconsciously just copying him.”

youtube

“Everything Happens to Me” by Mr Hudson & The Library

“I was in an H&M in Stockholm when I was 21, and I heard this really cool groove and the lyric was “Why must I always play the clown?” It was sung with a really thick British accent, had an 808 feel on it, and lyrically it had an attitude. Who would say something that sounds so like you’re in a Gilbert & Sullivan musical, but it feels hard? It was cool.

“I went home and looked this up and it was off the record A Tale of Two Cities by Mr Hudson and the Library, which would really, really fuck me up. I bought the album immediately because I loved this song. I had to order it on the internet because I couldn’t find it. It was doing well in England and he was on the festival circuit in the early-mid 2000s, but the first song on the album was a musical theatre cover with 808s.

“It was a pared-down, sort of a hip-hop version of “On The Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady, and I’m like ‘No fucking way, this guy gets where my head is.’ I’d thought about punk rock musical theatre, but I never thought about 808s and 909s scoring these beautiful songs. I go down the track list and he has “Everything Happens to Me”, which is another very famous standard, and he had this really cool, what we would now call chill-hop, ‘study beats’ version of this song. I was like, ‘This is it. This guy gets that good music is good music and you can reinterpret it to offer it as a new song.’

“I would later become great friends with Mr Hudson. I got to meet him years later when I was with Columbia Records, and they said to me ‘Who do you want to meet?’ He was at the top of my list. I went to London and we’ve been friends ever since and have created all kinds of music together.

“He told me a story where Tyler the Creator went up to him once at Coachella and said, ‘Oh man, “Everything Happens To Me”, that’s like my song.’ We both wondered if Tyler the Creator knew that it was a Chet Baker cover. And we were thinking how cool it is that you can offer these songs to a new audience through a different lens. Tyler’s a smart guy, he’s very cultured, and I’m sure he did know. But it’s more the idea that if someone experienced this song and didn’t know that it was a cover, and this is like the first time they ever get to experience it.

“Mr Hudson would go on to do his own thing with Kanye and was on 808s & Heartbreak and has had his own career. I think “Supernova” was a hit in the UK, it didn’t really cross over here to The States, but before that moment for him, that Mr Hudson and The Library album changed my life. People use that phrase willy-nilly, but this literally was a turning point in my life. It all had to do with the same thing that happened with these other songs, where I saw someone do what I always wanted to do but didn’t really know how to pull off. Where he had this fusing of old songs delivered through a contemporary lens, but also laced it with his own original material that also employed the things that made that old songwriting interesting.

“It’s like changing the font of a great essay but finding the font and figuring out that that font is its own art form. He really displayed that marvellously on this.”

The Masquerade EP is out now

#darren criss #the line of best fit #press #sept 2021

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shyampyari · 2 years

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After reading all the previous headcanons about Dury/Yudi, I think they would have made a lot of sense together if they weren't cousins. I think they're just opposite enough to complement each other. Dury is short tempered and stubborn while Yudi is shy and submissive. Dury is willing to do whatever it takes to win while Yudi rigidly follows a severely outdated version of morality and has a tendency to think good about everyone around him, even though they've repeatedly proven what they're capable of. This same trait comes back to bite him in the ass in Dyut sabha. My main problem with Yudi is that he never gets comeuppance for all his mistakes; he's still portrayed as perfect and ideal when actually, he's pretty spineless. But Dury/Yudi might balance each other out??? Yudi could teach Dury how to be more calm and forgiving and Dury could help Yudi be more assertive and canny, and make him realise that the world isn't as noble as he believes?? When I first watched Mahabharata, I always thought Yudi would be much better as an advisor, while Karna, or even Dury or even Arjun could do a better job at being King.

Jdhflgvf this started out as why I could see Dury Yudi working and ended with a short character study lol 😂

I think Arjun would cry if someone asked him to rule a Kingdom and probably go to the woods for knowledge and 'somehow' end up in Dwarka in Krishnas personal chambers (lets all act surprised at least for this bbs sake)

Ok but I have Dury and yudhi hcs but they were more brotherly than.....whatever this is so let me turn this in a way that would make me (pls spare me) a little more comfortable to lay out my hcs

ps: i started this as an hc and it turned into a fic i have no self control

Maybe, just maybe

Pairing: Duryodhan x Yudhishthir

warnings: might cause braincell loss permanently, fluff but you'd probably want to kill me after this, not proof read, if you feel like shooting me with a rifle after reading this go ahead

a/n: all credits go all the anons i have received lately and a crippling sanity. THIS IS N O T INCEST PLS I SPECIFIED IT

Let's say Dhritarashtra was the crown price but because of his physical lack, we have another crown price who would be known as Pandu. To the citizens, not much is known about him but it was proven that he was an Aryan descendant and taken under Bhismas shade through an advice given my Satyavati. Only Satyavati and Bhishma were aware of Pandu's origin having something to do with Vyasa's hermitage but not Vyasa himself.

After the incidents that followed demise, Yudhishtir wasn't as shaken as his siblings by the prospects of their near future. The woods had ample supply of material and labor, but most of all, the peace and calmness of the forest was what he had wanted, what he imagined and also what kept his feet planted in the sloppy mud when the chariots of Hastinapur arrived to fetch his little world away from what he called his home, his heart.

That was the first time he had seen someone his age hold himself up with an aura he couldn't quite place his finger, as if the person was guarded in his own form. Gaze steely but curious, feet never still but still carried a body with so much pride, a boy in conflict. Yudhishtir knew then and there, he didn't want to call him his brother.

Bheeshma was the kindest and wisest guider he could ever ask for, he felt the warmest in his presence and view of interest. He'd rather spend his days in the study itself, away from the knowing gaze of the souls that roamed like ghosts in the palace, especially the one that couldn't really see. But, even in his safe heaven, he would crumble under the piles of homework that the grandsire would appoint him to. He had discovered that Duryodhana was about as old as Bheem, they were similar in aspects of strength and blood temperatures but refused to along under any circumstances. If Yudhi had successfully registered any info during the study lectures, when Bheem wouldn't stop with the absurd amount of creative words that left his mouth every two mins, yudhi had registered that the Prince was excellent at reading maps and knew the expanse of aryavarth like the back of his hand, a skill ydhishthir completely and totally lacked. He could only aw at the way duryodhan would explain the flow if currents that encouraged the rivers and streams to move in and about the land.

Not just the extreme display of unmatched strength and landscape knowledge, Dury was an oblivious leader. He would behave as if his brothers were a hindrance, but the admiration they held for dury in their eyes made yudhi realize the place dury held.

Yudhi was somewhat well versed with a concept Bheeshma pitamah called Dharma. The art of extracting knowledge from the endless expanse of ved gyaan that Pandu had installed in him. What Yudhi didn't like, however, was how a frown would settle on Dury's well sculpted eyebrows whenever grandsier concentrated and let out satisfactory sighs at yudhi's responses.

Not even a month would have passed by since Yudhi and his brothers had settled in their lifestyles. Arjun was still rampant with ideas and ways he could manifest his skills, but he wasn't old enough to hold anything other than a wooden sword, Bheem had a found a new flash of fame in the way he'd get cheered on by the queen's handmaidens, while the twins were still infants who had only just learnt to smile at only the ones taht could tell the twins apart right, yudhi still struggled to find his identity in this sea, what was his role?

Until one day, when Bheeshma entered the study with faces he had only seen the day he had first stepped in the palace. As all of Duryodhans brothers and stood and lined up to greet them. Yudhi felt a sharp nudge on his side, he thought maybe his sleepless mind was playing tricks on him when he saw dury standing beside him. He was facing forward but his frown indicated that it definitely wasn't an unintentional nudge, Dury didn't have sharp cheekbones but they were visible, he was taller than him but seemed even bigger when he stood the way he was standing. "Straighten your back, puff out your chest. You are a prince, stand like one." Yudhi felt his entire demeanor shift, confidence bloomed in his chest with so much warmth he could feel it on his fingertips. He made a quite sound that probably was supposed to sound like a 'thank you' but to dury it was more important to hold his smile as the boy besides himshivered with an enigmatic excitement.

When Dury heard a soft, almost inaudible, knock on his chamber door past midnight of a weekend, when he had about 9 scrolls of a particular tough homework piled up on his desk, he didn't except the voice that followed throw the gaps of his doors into his ears. It had only been about a month since the pandavs had moved into the palace but more into the grandsire's heart, but Dury had almost never heard this voice directly interact with him before and mysteriously, it felt strangely satisfying. As dury asked his wait- who was he to him? cousin? he didn't have any proves, brother? he didn't like the sound of that, friend? deep down, maybe, maybe just maybe and if not, may that not be the case after tonight.

Yudhi took small steps towards dury's seated form, awkward and testing but who could escape dury's inviting and yet guarded aura, more than the rive streams doubts that yudhi held under his arms, he found that he only wanted to stand besides dury's desk desk as he went on with his flow of words, yudhi would be content. But for the later, the situation made him want to jump out of his seat and make a run for it. Something about being in the same room with yudhi alone made something crawl under dury's skin.

In a change of events, however, Dury dosen't even remember when he asked yudhi to take the seat at the corner of his bed instead as he explained how he thought the force of water near the deccan region could be a useful irrigation source just as yudhi advised how the small streams flowing in the northern borders of Hastinapur could be used to grow small herbs that he had heard about from his father. Maybe they discussed about how pitamah was relentless when it came to lessons and homework, maybe they laughed about that one time dushasan tripped on the stairs because he thought one of the ministers daughters was looking at him and got too excited maybe they realized that they weren't so different and yet differ in a sweet way after all, maybe they promised to help each other through every future obstacle head first, maybe just maybe because we wouldn't know what happened behind the closed doors of rajkumar Duryodhan's chambers, what we do know that when a smiling Yudhishthir left Duryodhan's chambers at the break of dawn, on both sides of the sandalwood door, leaned two teenage boys, warm with wholesome newfound companionship of friendship or maybe, hopefully, just maybe, something more.

tagging: @c-h-a-a-n-d @ginazmemeoir @disamaniac (im sorry for making ya'll suffer jusngkur)

#this is my official suffering fic #i started writing and then hm guess ill give it a title and everything oh wait 😳its a fic now 😳#im sorry yall #yudhishthir x duryodhan #this tag is cursed oh my god my hands are shaking #hindu mythology #mahabharat #THIS IS NOT INCEST IN ANYWAY I PROMISE I DIDNT WANT THIS TO BE INCEST IN ANYWAY #mahabharat fluff #watch me going out of my way ujegcnyuygr

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slightlyrebelliouswriter23 · 3 years

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hey so i'm hoping to get some writing advice about creative burnout? like i seem to write in fits and spurts. some months i can churn out a oneshot or chapter everyday and some months i can do one (1) creative thing only. so i'm wondering how to prevent creative burnout and how to just create more smoothly <3 thank you!

Creative Burnout & How To Ward Against It

First, I’d like to preface this all by saying you’re definitely not alone. You probably already know this, but sometimes it’s nice to be reminded.

I know from personal experience that creative burnout can leave you feeling hopeless, detached from yourself—the kind of identity crisis no one needs in 2020.

So buckle in, folks. It’s a dosy.

I. The Symptoms

Not to be the local WebMD page here, but signs of burnout can include:

Procrastination (more than usual)

Dreading writing and feeling stuck or overly perfectionistic when you try

Physical tiredness and/or irritability

Feeling like everything is monotonous

It’s more than just writer’s block. It’s a physical and emotional exhaustion response to something that goes deeper than a simple lack of inspiration. In my experience, and from a bit of research, I’ve found that what your brain is really looking for is dopamine.

Dopamine is essentially your brain’s chemical reward system for doing something interesting or exciting to you. As someone who is diagnosed with ADHD, I have chronically low levels of dopamine, so this is a constant struggle for me—but it is absolutely made worse by creative burnout.

II. The Problem

Studies have shown that the more we do A Thing the less that thing will give us dopamine (unless a component of the activity changes regularly). This is because eventually our brains desensitise to the stimuli provided by the activity, and subsequently, we become disengaged.

But it’s not necessarily The Thing (i.e. writing) that becomes boring. Actually, more than a few factors could be at play here, and the first step to finding a solution is to identify the problem.

1. ENVIRONMENT LACKS EXCITEMENT/CHANGE—

Sometimes, the monotony of everyday life can feed creative burnout. This becomes especially applicable in quarantine when you’re not leaving your house.

What we don’t realise is that even something as small as the variables of driving to and from work, or interacting with passing coworkers, gives us dopamine. So if you have the same routine every day that does not involve any added variables, your brain will begin staunching that dopamine supply.

2. EITHER TOO EASY OR TOO CHALLENGING—

In 1975, Hungarian-American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, coined the term “flow”, which refers to a heightened state of creativity and concentration on an activity. Csikszentmihalyi posited that if your skill level is equal to the level of challenge in any given activity, you will experience this state of flow.

The chart below is taken from Csikszentmihalyi’s own study on the subject of flow and motivation. It examines “your skill level” on the x axis in relation to the “challenge level” on the y axis.

Essentially:

Too much challenge + not enough skill = anxiety, worry (which might lead to procrastination and perfectionism)

Too much skill + not enough challenge = boredom, apathy (which might lead to monotony, irritability, and other depression-like symptoms)

Skill level = Challenge level = Flow

3. NOT ENOUGH “ACTIVE” STIMULATION—

When it comes to dopamine seeking, there is a distinct difference between active and passive stimulation in the brain.

Active stimulation is any form of activity that you have to actively engage in. For instance; exercising, doing a crossword puzzle, or reading a book. These kinds of activities not only give you dopamine, they also facilitate critical thinking and problem solving thought processes, which act as catalysts for creativity.

Passive stimulation, on the other hand, comes in the form of television, social media, and YouTube. It’s anything you can consume without having to actively engage. Passive stimulation will indeed give your brain dopamine, however, it won’t activate your creativity.

The problem also lies in the speed at which you receive the dopamine from passive activities. Passive stimulation is so easy to access that the more you consume, the harder it becomes to pick up active stimulation. Your brain expects a hit of dopamine just by picking up a phone or turning on the TV—it becomes addicted to the quick fix of a Netflix binge.

III. The Solutions

Based on the problems mentioned above, I am going to list a few solutions. Keeping in mind that not every solution will work for everyone, these can act as both preventative measures and remedies for someone who is currently burned out.

1. CHANGE UP YOUR ENVIRONMENT/ROUTINE—

Aim to do at least one thing per day that will add “variables” to the monotony. This can be as simple as going on a long walk, dressing up in that bold outfit you always wanted to wear to the office but never did, or sitting at a different workspace in your home.

Anything you can do that’s simple, but might provide an extra variable to your day to spice things up. Note: this shouldn’t be the same thing every day.

2. CHALLENGE YOURSELF MORE—

If you find yourself bored by your work, try challenging yourself more. This could mean setting goals for yourself that go a bit beyond what you’ve been doing.

For example, if you’ve been writing 500 words per day, see if you can beat your own word count every day for the next week. If you’ve been writing mainly fluff pieces, switch it up and do an angst piece. See if you can write a book in a month, or start a blog where you don’t write fiction at all!

Anything you can do to add a little kick to your workload. Note: Beware of challenging yourself too much! This can lead straight back into burnout.

3. CHALLENGE YOURSELF LESS—

If you’re on the flip side of that coin, and find that you are anxious, procrastinating, and perfectionistic when it comes to writing, fret not. Just because you’re experiencing any of these things, doesn’t mean you’re incapable of doing the job with your skillset.

It just means your perception of the job needs to be shifted.

Procrastination, at its heart, is a fear of failure, which results in actively avoiding the negative emotions associated with the task that causes this fear. Perfectionism is a type of procrastination that is a combination of a fear of failure and a fear of success (or, more accurately, other’s critiques of your success) all at once.

Neither have anything to do with your actual skillset, but they have everything to do with your perception of your skillset. Obviously, this is a harder thing to fix, as it has to do with deeply ingrained levels of self-esteem.

What I can offer you is a tactic to trick your mind into thinking you’re capable.

If you have a task, big or small, and you are feeling overwhelmed by it (like you might go curl up in bed and scroll Tumblr), immediately break that task up into smaller tasks. Keep breaking up the smaller tasks until you have the smallest possible part of the bigger task without doing nothing.

Then do that smallest possible thing.

If your goal is to write a 2000 word one shot, a small part of that task is writing half of it. An even smaller part of that task is breaking the one shot up into “scenes” and writing one scene. For instance:

Jude wakes up to a sore throat, a runny nose, and a fever.

She tries to go to work, but Cardan, being the mother hen that he is, threatens to never make her another grilled cheese sandwich (her favourite food) ever again if she doesn’t stay home.

Jude agrees begrudgingly, and Cardan sits her down in front of the TV with a bottle of Gatorade. He leaves to go get medicine from the store.

When Cardan comes back, Jude is worse than before. He makes her soup and saltine crackers and spoon feeds her.

She complains the whole time and, in her feverish state, threatens to never buy him another bottle of wine (his favourite food) ever again if he doesn’t let her feed herself.

Each bullet point represents one “scene” of about 200-400 words each. Obviously, there will be more details that you work out as you write. But with these five smaller scenes, your goal is no longer writing the 2000 word one shot. Your goal is writing the first of the five scenes.

If you complete the smallest possible task, you can stop, and you’ll still feel like you’ve accomplished something because you can cross off that task from your list. But chances are, by the time you cross off one task, you may have inspiration enough to keep going.

4. ENGAGE IN ACTIVE STIMULATION—

Since active stimulation has been proven to turn on the creative “tap”, try incorporating more of these activities into your daily routine:

Exercise: As the resident couch potato, I hate to say that exercising is good for creativity, but it is. Even if it’s just going on a short walk, so long as you’re moving.

Reading: Sometimes you have plenty of ideas, but no words to fit those ideas. Fill your well of words by carving out an hour or two each day for reading a good book.

The Creative Process: In the writing world, the creative process is a process of about 20-30 minutes that the writer partakes in every day before they start writing. This process should be creative, but also have nothing to do with writing. You can try colouring in a colouring book, painting, organising a page in your bullet journal. Anything that is creative but does not make you think about everything you have to do that day. Think of it as creative meditation.

Listen to music: Having APD, I personally can’t listen to music while I write. However, studies have shown that if you listen to at least ten songs per day, it will significantly benefit your dopamine levels and overall mood. If you’re like me and prefer to work in silence, maybe stick on a couple songs during your creative process. If you can manage music and writing together, get out those headphones!

5. KEEP A REGULAR SCHEDULE—

I know this is the most cliche point in the book, but it’s valid. This doesn’t mean do the same thing at the same time every day over and over, because ultimately we’re looking to avoid monotony.

But having pillars of structure to bolster the excitement can definitely work to keep you from slipping into burnout. Going to sleep, waking up, and having your meals at relatively the same time every day are good examples of this.

Feel free to change up the things you do between breakfast and lunch, but make sure you have those pillars of consistency so your brain knows that a break is on the horizon and doesn’t get tired.

6. PACE YOURSELF—

This is particularly difficult for those of us who are coming out of a creative burnout, but I urge you to pay special attention to this one. If we are suddenly hit by inspiration and the writing is flowing and flowing and flowing, eventually we will hit the point of highest dopamine capacity for writing.

Not putting a check on the flood of inspiration coming out of a creative burnout, I’d argue, is actually a guarantee that many of us will experience burnout all over again. It becomes this vicious cycle in which we are trapped.

While it feels great to write non-stop and receive immediate validation for that work, try to limit yourself to how much you’re writing and how immediately you post your writing (if you plan on posting it).

Whenever I finish a one shot or a chapter of something, I like to allow at least one day for editing before I post. This timeframe is important, because it acts as a buffer of rest between writing marathons.

You can take however long you need for the editing process, but definitely make sure you have a set amount of time in place. Otherwise, your brain might not have enough time to come down from what is essentially a writing high, and you will always need to reach greater heights in order to achieve that same level of dopamine.

~~~~

Overall, the most important things to take away from all of this are:

Change up your environment

Keep your brain actively stimulated

Have pillars of structure between which you can run about chaotically to your heart’s content

PACE YOURSELF!

Hope this helped. Happy writing!

-Em 🖤🗡

Writing Tip Masterlist

Fic Masterlist

Celebrate 2K with me!

#this one was a spiritual one y'all #thanks for the ask babes!#writing #writing tips #writing advice #writeblr #writing tip masterlist #writer #writer's desk #writer's life #writer's problems #writer's block #ao3 #fanfiction #creative burnout #asked and answered #em answers #danaanruhn #thank you for 2k!! 🥳💜

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