#step 2 moment

[kennico]

refreshing drink 🥤

[teplejtrouba]

jsme v muzeu, kamarádka se kouká na pochybně provedenou dřevěnou sochu Josefa s Ježíškem, komentuje Josefův výraz: "On vypadá hrozně utrápeně."

muzejní pracovnice právě procházející kolem: "Však to dítě není jeho..."

[dynjir]

Memory Lane

Part 2 of 2

[Prev]

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The second part! There's a panel missing here where I was going to show Rachel playing the same piece she played at the wedding for them to dance to in the background, but I wasn't sure what kind of device she'd have?

I'm not sure if smartphones are a thing or if she'd use something like a record player, so I just decided to omit it altogether. Just pretend they have music playing in the background I promise they're not dancing in silence :')

[aashiyancha]

It's been a solid minute since I've drawn step 3 Ash. While I was at it I drew Step 3 Derek too.

[floweroflaurelin]

I’m still exploring my design for Historian!Pix, so have a portrait sketch! ^_^

He’s sun-kissed, aged up some, he’s got longer hair than the Copper King now, and then I figured since he’s a historian… glasses, maybe?

How do we feel about this design for him? Genuinely let me know what you think, I’m curious!

[riding-the-sunset-bird]

Got an anonymous request for Lee's reaction in a hypothetical where the MC could tell Lee that they were crushing on the "mystery boy" (Baxter) from Soiree, so of course I was 👀👀👀

I'm 99% sure they were expecting an idle mention rather than a full thing but I couldn't control myself so--

Bonus below the break:

[jackriverart]

I haven't seen anyone talk about the fact that the Metatron put Muriel in charge of the bookshop, specifically calling them "the dim one"

Like, he wouldn't trust anyone else with that amount of human knowledge, and specifically chose someone that he thinks won't be swayed by it.

Meanwhile, Muriel thinks that the Metatron specifically chose them because they're special and/or important.

It's yet another way in which the Metatron is such a slimy, manipulative person, and I'm really hoping for some character development of Muriel in the next season.

Also, this is just my own speculation, but I feel like Muriel is going to help Crowley again, except this time it won't be by accident.

[grapejuicegay]

That conversation between PatPran about their parents' reactions to the play and everything makes so much more sense to me. Ming isn't on social media and he doesn't really care about Pat's extracurriculars outside of rugby. He's not going to care what event Pat puts on or is involved in - he likely also doesn't have much room to say anything anymore. So Pat can give up his play for Pran, he can sacrifice that without it being an issue.

But Dissaya likes all of Pran's photos, is still a big part of Pran's life. She's okay with them acting together because it's just a play, it means nothing. She cares about all of Pran's achievements. She would care that he suddenly isn't putting up a play as his department event when he does so every year. She would care even more if engineering put on that play instead.

No wonder Pran is so anxious, no wonder he's on a mission for this permission. And if it fails once he's tried everything, he has an answer for Dissaya. Until then, he's an impenetrable (i'm trying very hard not to make the joke i want to make) ball of stress.

But you get Phupha intervening and giving them the signature with the condition that only PatPran can play the leads and Pran has a convenient reason. How he sells it, I'm not sure. Maybe just a simple "they're making us work together". Who they is, Dissaya doesn't need to know. But a lie with a hint of truth is always easier - especially when you're lying about so much already.

Pran is aware of how much Pat is sacrificing because that includes his relationship with his dad. Pran is aware that he still has a relationship with his mom. Pat is aware that him and his dad's relationship will never be the same whether he gets to be with Pran or not. Pat is aware that Pran is risking a lot in his relationship with his mom. They're both still scared.

And then you add in Pran-as-Phupha telling Pat-as-Tian "no one should use their whole life to repay anyone" and you have Pa tear up at that? Good god, the sheer amount of guilt these two families carry with them, that all three of these children are trying to work through.

This isn't Pat getting really into character and Pa getting really invested in the play they're putting on. This is their lives, each and every day. Everything around that is them trying their best to live for themselves, to not let that guilt take over their lives. Because that brings them right back here

Once again, I'm very happy that this is a little stopping point before ep 12. That we get to see them be happier. That as they get older and older, they get more and more freedom, they get to expand their world just the slightest bit more. They need it. And this is the reminder of how hard they worked for that happiness we see.

and also, this just made it clearer to me how much pran needed to go to singapore. just to get away from Dissaya. just to get to the point where he tells dissaya the big moments of his life when he comes back, when she's not tuned into everything. when she can hear pat sneak into pran's room the moment he's back and know that not only is she okay with it but after everything, there's nothing she could do even if she wasn't. they all need time but these kids also need space

[ctl-yuejie]

kinou nani tabeta s.2.ep11 or food > sports

[o-wild-west-wind]

i need one of those sexy firefighter calendars but it’s just the crew in those stolen uniforms does anyone else see my vision here

[lemongogo]

can i ask.how u guys practice ur creativity <3 how u practice ur imagination or like.. how u experiment with ur art, how u come to ideas and how u develop them.<3 pretty please <3

[pastafossa]

How do you get past writer's block? I have a fic that I'm working on that is updating on a schedule, and I made the mistake of giving myself a month off in between parts and now I can't really get back into writing it. I don't want to leave it abandoned because I have a few people who I know are really invested and I don't want to leave them hanging, but I'm having a hard time getting as excited to write it as I did before.

Ok so I'm in a weird place for this, hilariously. Because The Answer That Usually Works For Me (TM) and that carried me through a regular weekly update schedule for almost two and a half years is, in fact, not at present working for me apparently my brain can write through a pandemic but not through recovery from the shit that went down in December/Jan so we found my writing kryptonite. However, I'm going to assume you're closer to 2021 Pasta than 2024 Pasta. SO LET'S GO WITH THE METHOD I NORMALLY USE SINCE IT WAS SUCCESSFUL FOR YEARS. Cause that's the thing: sure, I've written almost a million words, and pumped out chapters for years (ignoring the past few months) but I promise, I hit the same walls as everyone else even when nailing weekly uploads. But over those years, I came up with a fairly solid list of steps that I'd go through one by one.

Fun one first: when I'm in a block, I almost always try re-engaging with canon first. I'd rewatch my favorite episodes, binge a whole season, or even the whole series depending on how much of a boost I needed. For me at least that was often like Pavlov's bell, my favorite story triggering a flood of affection. I'd remember why I loved this fandom and the characters so much, and it could often kickstart my brain and excitement back into gear. If you really want to dangle a carrot and your fic touches on canon, focus on watching parts you're excited to get to in your story. A big one for me in TRT for example was the post-Nobu, Nelson v. Murdock episode, since I'd had that planned for TRT almost since the start, and I was very excited to reach the hurt/comfort I had planned. Even if your fic isn't following canon though, see if it'll give you a creative rush again!

So let's say step 1 doesn't work, either because the canon just isn't hitting the spot or because your fic is dealing with something else. In this case, my next step was usually to jump ahead to write a scene I was really eager to get to. It was often a short blurb, but it was always something I REALLY wanted to explore, and because I'm also a reader who likes exactly the tropes and plots I'm writing, I want to read what fucking happens. Except, fuck, I'm not there yet, am I? And I can't see how that scene finishes until I write my way up to it and finish it. This is my own carrot. Multiple scenes in TRT were written months or even years in advance, simply as a way to bribe myself. This is also an option!

But maybe this doesn't work. Sometimes it didn't. This is when it got a bit more serious. For anyone who was reading at the time, you'd have noticed that I'd sometimes drop side fics, either Matt POVs or one-shots. This was me, in essence, working on the shower principle (basically, ideas/solutions will come if you stop thinking about it and do something else, like take a shower). I figured if I went and wrote something else - either with less stress, or something fun and dopamine-inducing - the part of my brain focused on my Big Fic would wander around the writer's block beneath my notice. And it almost always worked, all while I still kept my brain trained that, hey, even if we're not writing This Thing, we're still writing.

But let's say this doesn't work either. You're well, and truly, stuck. Been there now and then. And, you're going to hate this one. I hate it but it works 9 times of 10. And it is: Write anyway. Half of it was spite. I was not going to give up my schedule, I liked my schedule. The other half was that I knew myself. I knew if I could just get past the chapter/plot/dialogue I was struggling with, I'd be able to roll along again. And so I made a rule: whatever I wrote didn't have to be pretty. It just had to exist. If that meant I wrote, "Jane chased the cat in circles and caught it. She was happy." then that's what I wrote. Because everything, EVERYTHING, can be fixed in editing. But you can't fix what doesn't exist. And so there were those nights when I would scowl and groan and snarl and bash my head against that writer's block until 5 in the morning, but in the end Jane chased that fucking cat adn caught it, it was written. Hilariously, sometimes those chapters have wound up amazing (likely because I spent so much time hammering at them) and reader favorites. There are absolutely, I believe, moments where you can, and should, see if you can push through.

But that brings me to *waves* now. A lesson I've only recently recently and with encouragement. Namely... sometimes brain no go and that's ok. My steps work for me 99.9% of the time, but I've done the above during the past few months, and it just... hasn't dragged me out entirely out of it yet. Sometimes, our brains demand that break, especially when things just aren't going great. There's a reason TRT had a break of roughly 2 years between chapter 4 and chapter 5 (feel free to check the chapter index with dates on AO3!). I had some life things happening and I just was not in a place to write, even if I was still busily plotting and planning and thinking about TRT behind the scenes. And that was ok. We're not machines. I came back like a bulldozer in Jan 2021, yes, and bulldozed through weekly updates, but that break was needed. And now I'm obviously taking a short one again while I recover from everything. It's ok if you're not in a place for it. So the last step is one I've been told a lot by dear friends recently as they helped me through this: be kind to yourself, and try not to stress if none of the above works. The story will always be there, and if TRT is any indication through all its highs and lows, your readers will be there when you start up again.

[simplydnp]

oooh my god why would they do that. they could have just. not posted shirtless stories. thank you for answering my question i will be thinking about this.

great question. they love riling us up. always have.

thank you and curse you anon for revealing my trash history 😔 all a girl has is her fake reputation on dnp tumblr. there is absolutely no way you could ever guess this information has been seared into my brain (<- says the girl who's reputation is spouting off specific and detailed moments from their past and waxing poetic about it in her own posts and the tags of others')

[lale-txt]

from edging on a panic attack throughout the train ride to standing front row during a concert of one of my fav bands within two hours wahooo

[exandrianpunk]

*downcast eyes, nervous demeanor, deep shame wracking their body*

(deep breath, then a long drawn-out sigh)

...yeah, i've started listening to campaign two again...

[skitskatdacat63]

Please save me, I'm reading a reddit thread about Seb vs Max(bcs Tost said he thought Seb would win out), and none of these people know how good Seb was in his prime