dujour13 - Tumblr blog

dujour13 · 49 minutes

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For Melissa!

🍉: Does your OC have a particular piece of jewellery that they always wear or refuse to part with?

🌽: How does this OC feel about acts of affection? What's their favourite act of affection, physical or emotional?

🍻: What's your OC's favourite comfort ritual? How do they calm themselves down after a rough day?

Awww thanks for the questions ♥ I'd better tell everyone about Melissa!

🍉: Does your OC have a particular piece of jewellery that they always wear or refuse to part with?

"One amulet. One owner. Two different sides. Two paths." She has a wooden amulet, already clearly worn by time. She always keeps it close by, in a pocket on her belt. On one side was carved the symbol of Cayden Cailean, clearly made by a skillful hand. Her father had made and given it to her as a child, it was her first piece of jewelry. At the time, her family owned a tavern called the Dancing Lights. Therefore, she has a special affection for such places. When she was little, she often prayed to Cayden Cailean for silly things like the most normal child, trying to believe that tomorrow would be better than today and not get discouraged. But prayers didn't keep her from the future.

On the other side was a rather crudely made symbol of Calistria. Melissa had carved it herself when she was a teenager, under the influence of strong emotions. There was still some dried blood from the cuts on this side. Now she was closer to the goddess aspects like lust and revenge. But whether her revenge will bring her peace of mind remains to be seen…

On one hand, anyone might think: "Why didn't she throw it away or destroy it? It reminds her of the past!" Knowing her character, she could have done so, but she didn't. After all, this simple amulet was the only valuable thing in her life that had always been with her and belonged only to her. Perhaps she still remembered and loved her parents, and it was a piece of her then good childhood. Later, she would definitely ask Trever to teach her how to carve something out of wood (but to no avail, she has no talent for it, just like she has no talent for singing, and I emphasize this for a reason your ears will hurt). Melissa claims she doesn't care about the gods and doesn't believe in anything, but it's not uncommon to hear her talk about them or utter phrases that one would only hear from a believer. I've already made an illustration of this in advance, ehehe:

🌽: How does this OC feel about acts of affection? What's their favourite act of affection, physical or emotional?

Sounds like a pretty interesting question… Gosh, I hope I got the point of the question right. At the beginning of the game, Melissa was afraid to feel affection for someone. It's hard and painful. For so many years of her life, she has firmly believed that love and affection are temporary. It is very easy to take advantage of another person's trust in this way. And even if you have friends or family, they will be gone and she will be alone. Again. But even a wild cat can be tamed with love and attention, right? As the story progresses, some companions show their good attitudes towards her and it works, her opinion on the matter changes for the better. So... Melissa loves acts of physical affection. She doesn't mind at all if you just give her a hug or a pat on the head, although she will grumble a bit. You don't need much more than that. She rarely received such simple signs of affection from anyone, except for two close friends from her past… But one of them is dead, and the other betrayed her at a crucial moment. As for acts of emotional affection… Melissa still has a problem fully opening up to even her closest people and honestly telling them what's wrong with her. She easily dodges uncomfortable questions (especially about her past or well-being) with jokes and diverts your attention. But now she is trying to correct this bad habit, because it can bring even more problems and misunderstandings.

BONUS: A sketch that will probably become a full art in time. I liked it too much. They're so cute. Here are all the ones Melissa has made really good friends with. That doesn't mean she has a bad attitude towards the others, each companion needs a separate explanation. Poor Sosiel… Patience and strength to you.

🍻: What's your OC's favourite comfort ritual? How do they calm themselves down after a rough day?

The dragon, the lost squad, the ever attacking demons, the x200 reports from Regill that she still has to sign ХD… She has some very "fun" days. She's a hedonist. That ACTUALLY says it all, how she likes to relax after a hard day. And in general, after paperwork or after returning to Drezen, she likes to go to a tavern and have a good drink. Preferably with someone. Better yet, get drunk with EVERYONE she can. She's usually joined by Seelah, Lann, Woljif, Daeran, and of course Arushalae (she's always the most sober). Of the slightly unusual rituals… She may, when she feels the need, sit somewhere alone or with Fluffy. Fortunately, of course, she'll find someone who will forever brighten her loneliness (I really don't want to make her life any more bleak).

To be honest, she doesn't like to be alone for long. That's when bad and sad thoughts start coming into Melissa's head. She prefers to distract herself from them any way she can. But in the future this will play a cruel joke on her.

I feel a kind of sadness and loneliness from this picture...

#pathfinder: wrath of the righteous #friends' ocs #wotr commander #melissa #love her #sosiel painting the gang is so great

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dujour13 · 1 day

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Ask me about one of my OCs and I’ll list out why they’re problematic.

Presumptuous perhaps but I'm skipping the reblog/ask stage. Also taking inspiration from @arendaes great idea to make this a creative writing project.

---

“Dreamer help me if a time ever comes I’m not. I live to be problematic. In a good way!” He flashes that radiant smile, thinking it'll get him off the hook.

Aivu narrows her eyes. “Sometimes you’re problematic in a bad way. You’re a problem when you forget to bring me treats. And when you’re sad.”

“I’m not sad. I’m never sad!”

“You’re also a problem when you don’t tell the truth.” Her dragon lips pinch with reproach.

“Come on, I only lie for good reason.”

“And when you don’t want to get in trouble.”

“That’s a good reason. And so do you, may I remind you.”

“OK but I’m bad at it. You always seem to know. I make my biggest, sweetest baby dragon eyes, just like this—” She bats her long lashes. “—and it never works.”

“Seriously, nobody else could have eaten that cake in one bite.”

“Woljif could.”

“In one bite, no.”

“Hm. Maybe not. Not without leaving crumbs,” she concedes. “But you’re being sneaky again.”

“Me?”

“You’re difficulting. Diftecling. You know, what Arueshalae says.”

“Deflecting?” He lets out a sigh of defeat. “All right, fine. How am I problematic—let me think.

“I’m impulsive. I trust in luck, and that makes me look reckless. Look, it turned out that letting Minagho go helped us out in the end. There wasn't much I could do for her victims. Imprisoning or killing her wouldn’t bring anybody back. Using her to help win the Crusade was the best revenge we could hope for, isn’t it? Like she used Staunton. Or, maybe not that bad, but still. It’s the principle.

“No, I didn’t think I could ‘save’ her. Just tried to turn her against her master. And it worked. Demons are so easy that way.

“I know what you’re implying. The savior complex? The manipulation? Be honest with me: if more people thought the way I do, the world really would be a better place. Case closed, right?” There’s the extremely compelling smile again. You are determined not to let him entirely off the hook, however...

“All right, touché, but rules are for cowards and suckers. And devils. Sometimes, lying, cheating and stealing are the most ethical thing you can do.”

“And if you’re sneaky you don’t get in trouble," adds Aivu helpfully.

“Or if you make big, sweet baby dragon eyes.”

#siavash #pwotr pals

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dujour13 · 1 day

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This is different from Al-Shifa:

There are images of decomposed bodies wearing what appear to be scrubs... with their hands tied. Meaning they were executed while bound. I will not be sharing them because I'm tired of showing our martyrs' bodies to people.

#free palestine

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dujour13 · 1 day

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#inspirations

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dujour13 · 2 days

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People liking your personal OCs is still such a crazy feeling, I've been doing this for years and ppl asking about them still fills my entire heart with warmth and idk how to handle it

You enjoy this fictional guy I made up for fun?? Whose only content is random artwork or writing made by me and a handful of other artists at most? They have no show/book/game with a large fandom, it's just one person with an art blog?? I love u

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dujour13 · 2 days

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#free palestine

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dujour13 · 2 days

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BREAD

Shared meme with Riigoje (there will be a link to VK, she doesn't have a Tumblr account, which is a shame).

4:19 - Woljif didn't get the joke at first:

4:20 - AND THEN HE CAUGHT THE FUCKIN' JOKE)))0))0))0)):

A little bit about the post:

This meme is a few days old now. We drew it separately and sent it to each other at the same time. Laughs. Riigoje offered to do it.

Oh yeah… Does anyone remember that I participated in the voting and lost…? It was her who beat me ;D We became friends by accident. But I'm glad because the boy is in good hands in our RuPatfinderAsk. The love for Woljif brings people together! 🤣💜

#pathfinder: wrath of the righteous #woljif jefto #wotr commander #friends' ocs #melissa #my cherry roll boy #hehe so cute

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dujour13 · 2 days

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Sometimes the worst thing you can find in Worldwound is a mongrel using a spoon not for its intended purpose.....🗿🗿🗿

#pathfinder: wrath of the righteous #lann #LOL

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dujour13 · 2 days

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AO3 Comments are SO SO SOOOOOOO important because you can only leave Kudos ONCE. You add to the hit count ONCE (every 24 hours).

So whenever someone updates their fic, the ONLY way an author knows who their regular readers are is if they comment on each chapter. And we WANT to know who's still reading.

Believe it or not, some of us think about the name that pops up constantly in the comments and go "omg I can't wait to see what they think of THIS SPECIFIC SCENE cuz I KNOW they'll say something about it!!!"

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dujour13 · 2 days

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After getting his approval, here is a drawing of @herequeerexitentialfear's Celia for an art trade!

#friends' ocs #friends' art #celia #she looks amazing in your style!!

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dujour13 · 2 days

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Things That May Be Causing Your Writer's Block- and How to Beat Them

I don't like the term 'Writer's Block' - not because it isn't real, but because the term is so vague that it's useless. Hundreds of issues all get lumped together under this one umbrella, making writer's block seem like this all-powerful boogeyman that's impossible to beat. Worse yet, it leaves people giving and receiving advice that is completely ineffective because people often don't realize they're talking about entirely different issues.

In my experience, the key to beating writer's block is figuring out what the block even is, so I put together a list of Actual Reasons why you may be struggling to write:

(note that any case of writer's block is usually a mix of two or more)

Perfectionism (most common)

What it looks like:

You write one sentence and spend the next hour googling "synonyms for ___"

Write. Erase. Write. Rewrite. Erase.

Should I even start writing this scene when I haven't figured out this one specific detail yet?

I hate everything I write

Cringing while writing

My first draft must be perfect, or else I'm a terrible writer

Things that can help:

Give yourself permission to suck

Keep in mind that nothing you write is going to be perfect, especially your first draft

Think of writing your first/early drafts not as writing, but sketching out a loose foundation to build upon later

People write multiple drafts for a reason: write now, edit later

Stop googling synonyms and save that for editing

Write with a pen to reduce temptation to erase

Embrace leaving blank spaces in your writing when you can't think of the right word, name, or detail

It's okay if your writing sucks. We all suck at some point. Embrace the growth mindset, and focus on getting words on a page

Lack of inspiration (easiest to fix)

What it looks like:

Head empty, no ideas

What do I even write about???

I don't have a plot, I just have an image

Want to write but no story to write

Things that can help:

Google writing prompts

If writing prompts aren't your thing, instead try thinking about what kind of tropes/genres/story elements you would like to try out

Instead of thinking about the story you would like to write, think about the story you would like to read, and write that

It's okay if you don't have a fully fleshed out story idea. Even if it's just an image or a line of dialogue, it's okay to write that. A story may or may not come out of it, but at least you got the creative juices flowing

Stop writing. Step away from your desk and let yourself naturally get inspired. Go for a walk, read a book, travel, play video games, research history, etc. Don't force ideas, but do open up your mind to them

If you're like me, world-building may come more naturally than plotting. Design the world first and let the story come later

Boredom/Understimulation (lost the flow)

What it looks like:

I know I should be writing but uugggghhhh I just can'tttttt

Writing words feels like pulling teeth

I started writing, but then I got bored/distracted

I enjoy the idea of writing, but the actual process makes me want to throw my laptop out the window

Things that can help:

Introduce stimulation: snacks, beverages, gum, music such as lo-fi, blankets, decorate your writing space, get a clickity-clackity keyboard, etc.

Add variety: write in a new location, try a new idea/different story for a day or so, switch up how you write (pen and paper vs. computer) or try voice recording or speech-to-text

Gamify writing: create an arbitrary challenge, such as trying to see how many words you can write in a set time and try to beat your high score

Find a writing buddy or join a writer's group

Give yourself a reward for every writing milestone, even if it's just writing a paragraph

Ask yourself whether this project you're working on is something you really want to be doing, and be honest with your answer

Intimidation/Procrastination (often related to perfectionism, but not always)

What it looks like:

I was feeling really motivated to write, but then I opened my laptop

I don't even know where to start

I love writing, but I can never seem to get started

I'll write tomorrow. I mean next week. Next month? Next month, I swear (doesn't write next month)

Can't find the time or energy

Unreasonable expectations (I should be able to write 10,000 words a day, right????)

Feeling discouraged and wondering why I'm even trying

Things that can help:

Follow the 2 min rule (or the 1 paragraph rule, which works better for me): whenever you sit down to write, tell yourself that you are only going to write for 2 minutes. If you feel like continuing once the 2 mins are up, go for it! Otherwise, stop. Force yourself to start but DO NOT force yourself to continue unless you feel like it. The more often you do this, the easier it will be to get started

Make getting started as easy as possible (i.e. minimize barriers: if getting up to get a notebook is stopping you from getting started, then write in the notes app of your phone)

Commit to a routine that will work for you. Baby steps are important here. Go with something that feels reasonable: every day, every other day, once a week, twice a week, and use cues to help you remember to start. If you chose a set time to write, just make sure that it's a time that feels natural to you- i.e. don't force yourself to writing at 9am every morning if you're not a morning person

Find a friend or a writing buddy you can trust and talk it out or share a piece of work you're proud of. Sometimes we just get a bit bogged down by criticism- either internal or external- and need a few words of encouragement

The Problem's Not You, It's Your Story (or Outline (or Process))

What it looks like:

I have no problems writing other scenes, it's just this scene

I started writing, but now I have no idea where I'm going

I don't think I'm doing this right

What's an outline?

Drowning in documents

This. Doesn't. Make. Sense. How do I get from this plot point to this one?!?!?! (this ColeyDoesThings quote lives in my head rent free cause BOY have I been there)

Things That Can Help:

Go back to the drawing board. Really try to get at the root of why a scene or story isn't working

A part of growing as a writer is learning when to kill your darlings. Sometimes you're trying to force an idea or scene that just doesn't work and you need to let it go

If you don't have an outline, write one

If you have an outline and it isn't working, rewrite it, or look up different ways to structure it

You may be trying to write as a pantser when you're really a plotter or vice versa. Experiment with different writing processes and see what feels most natural

Study story structures, starting with the three act structure. Even if you don't use them, you should know them

Check out Ellen Brock on YouTube. She's a professional novel editor who has a lot of advice on writing strategies for different types of writers

Also check out Savage Books on YouTube (another professional story editor) for advice on story structure and dialogue. Seriously, I cannot recommend this guy enough

Executive Dysfunction, Usually From ADHD/Autism

What it looks like:

Everything in boredom/understimulation

Everything in intimidation/procrastination

You have been diagnosed with and/or have symptoms of ADHD/Autism

Things that can help:

If you haven't already, seek a diagnosis or professional treatment

Hire an ADHD coach or other specialist that can help you work with your brain (I use Shimmer; feel free to DM me for a referral)

Seek out neurodiverse communities for advice and support

Try body doubling! There's lot's of free online body doubling websites out there for you to try. If social anxiety is a barrier, start out with writing streams such as katecavanaughwrites on Twitch

Be aware of any sensory barriers that may be getting in the way of you writing (such as an uncomfortable desk chair, harsh lighting, bad sounds)

And Lastly, Burnout, Depression, or Other Mental Illness

What it looks like:

You have symptoms of burnout or depression

Struggling with all things, not just writing

It's more than a lack of inspiration- the spark is just dead

Things that can help:

Forget writing for now. Focus on healing first.

Seek professional help

If you feel like it, use writing as a way to explore your feelings. It can take the form of journaling, poetry, an abstract reflection of your thoughts, narrative essays, or exploring what you're feeling through your fictional characters. The last two helped me rediscover my love of writing after I thought years of depression had killed it for good. Just don't force yourself to do so, and stop if it takes you to a darker place instead of feeling cathartic

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dujour13 · 3 days

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• “La liberté guidant le peuple” by Eugène Delacroix

and

• “13th attempt to break the Gaza blockade by sea”. Photo by Mustafa Hassouna (Andalou Agency for Getty)

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dujour13 · 3 days

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WIP Wednesday

A little snippet from West Wind. Busy this weekend but I'm hoping to start posting very soon. Have to keep fighting the mind goblins because this is a very ambitious project for what is at its basis just Woljif fluff

Devils watched uneasily as an unnatural storm spilled from the gates of Pharasma’s palace, gathered force and began not to drift, but to move with purpose in their direction, gathering speed and force and bearing down on them. Black clouds of dust churned across the graves of the Boneyard, coming straight for the portal to Hell.

“Close the gates! Form ranks!”

Shields clanked as they locked together. Dozens of clawed feet braced in the dust of the Boneyard. Only horns and beady black eyes showed over the iron phalanx.

At the eye of the storm strode the Destroyer, wings laced with flame, eyes dark as a storm, his black flaming blade drawn and thunder and shrieking wind whirling around him.

It was no use. The wind hit them long before his sword had to, toppling them and scattering them about the Boneyard like so many autumn leaves.

#my writing #pwotr pals

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dujour13 · 3 days

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stop freaking out about getting old and start planning out what kind of old person you're gonna be

#flemeth

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dujour13 · 3 days

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how many Exes/Ex-Situationships does your oc have? Do they still talk or interact with any of them?

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