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mercurytrinemoon · 1 year

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Astro basics: electional astrology

A few years ago I made a few posts about electional astrology in the context of social media profiles. Obviously you can still apply those rules to other topics but since I strictly focused on having the most favorable internet presence, I thought let's take it back to basics and talk about electional astrology in general. So here we are.

You can use elections in everyday life although no one wants to get too paranoid about that so what I recommend is, plan important things ahead of the time - so that you have a lot of options; and then, when it comes to smaller things, you could try to at least do things according to the Moon cycles (like transiting Moon in Gemini is good for doing errands, Moon in Virgo is good for doing any kinds of corrections, Moon in Libra is good for throwing parties or love confessions etc; btw I might do a separate post on it if anyone's interested). So this is moreso for major things like announcements, submitting applications, engagements, weddings, moving houses, important business decisions, signing contracts, travel, releasing projects etc. Also, keep in mind that starting something may be as important as releasing it into the world. So for example, wanna write a book? Not only think about the release date but also at what time you're starting to write it. But let's get into the do's and don'ts.

Generally speaking, of course, you want to aim for the best chart possible. A lot of trines, sextiles or benefic conjunctions? Noice. But these are the things you would want to pay attention to:

Position of the Moon

Moon is the most important thing but also the easiest to navigate around since it only takes a month to go around the entire zodiac. Moon in Cancer (domicile) and Taurus (exaltation) is very favorable. I don't recommend having Moon in the signs of its fall/detriment, which is Scorpio or Capricorn. Moon aspects are obviously as crucial - you want to aim for it to make positive aspects and better yet if those aspects are applying (for example Moon at 5° Aries applying to Mercury at 7° Leo with a trine) - that way it's amazing for the progressions. By positive aspects I mean trines and sextiles. With conjunctions it depends on the planet - a conjunction to Mars wouldn't be very beneficial (same with Uranus and Pluto). A conjunction to Saturn or Neptune wouldn't be that bad depending on what is the election for, but in that case I would rather aim for it to be a separating aspect (for example Moon at 25° Aquarius with Saturn at 22° Aquarius). The best thing you can get would be a nice Moon-to-the benefic aspect (Venus or Jupiter; or better yet, both). Moon-Mercury aspects are also great, especially if you're dealing with a mercurial situation (a job interview, contracts, sending an important e-mail, writing or publishing etc).

1. Moon applying with trines to planets in water signs; 2. Moon applying to a conjunction with Jupiter + sextiles to planets in air signs

Don't use elections when Moon is void of course. That means, when it's not making any aspects to any planet within 12°. This doesn't happen often but it's important. Unaspected Moon means lack of whatever you're trying to gain or achieve.

Examples of void of course Moon:

Moon phase: it's always better if Moon is growing - so between the New Moon and the Full Moon BUT at least 12° after the New Moon. It's because its phase is symbolising the growth of the thing you're starting. When the Moon is still New and you can't see it in the sky, it's kind of like its little phase of being in the dark, literally and figuratively. Then on the other hand, after the Full Moon its momentum is slowly dying, so it's loosing its peak moment. That being said, waning Moon is not THAT bad if you don't have any other choice - just make sure that (if choosing a date right after the Full Moon) you wait for it to be at least 12° separating from the opposition to the Sun.

A lot of sources also state that the Moon shouldn't be anywhere around the ascendant (and the 1st whole sign house in general). None of the sources give the explanation tho so don't ask me why.

The ascendant and its ruler

The ascendant itself can vary. I'd say with that you can do whatever you want. It is said that ascendant in any of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) symbolises longevity, although keep in mind that Scorpio, for example, can bring out negative qualities due to it being ruled by a malefic. Aquarius can be similar. Signs ruled by benefics (Taurus, Libra, Sagittarius and Pisces) with good placement for the ruling planet would be an ideal choice. I personally also like Leo rising with a good Sun placement cause that's pretty universal for elections, but that one became tricky ever since Saturn ingressed into Aquarius and is going to stay tricky after Pluto takes its place.

But what's important is the ascendant's ruler. Similarly to the Moon, we want to aim for a) positive aspects; b) the ruling planet being in a friendly or at least neutral sign. Example: if it's Venus it would be nice to have it exalted in Pisces or in one of its domicile signs: Taurus or Libra. Avoid Venus in Aries or in Virgo. The rest of the signs would be neutral. And c) a good house placements, like an angle, an angular house (that is the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th) or houses 5th, 9th or 11th.

Retrograde planets

Obviously avoid the most important: Mercury and Venus in retrogrades. Mercury retrograde is a no-no for big purchases, signing contracts or a big travel. Venus is a no-no for things related to money and most importantly, love and romance (don't get married during Venus rx!). Jupiter can be as important if we're talking about legal stuff (including marriage). Mars is a no-no for medical procedures (sometimes along with Venus if it's related to beauty). The ruler of the chosen ascendant shouldn't be in retrograde either.

What about malefics?

Keep them tucked away in cadent houses. Be careful not to put them in a house that is the main topic of your election (like in the 9th if you're travelling or 2nd if you're making a big purchase or dealing with money). Make them as nicely aspected as you possibly can. You can also ease their malefic impact with choosing either a night or a day chart (if Mars is causing problems, make a night chart; if it's Saturn - a day chart) - if you can, obviously, not everything can be done during the night. But most importantly, keep them away from the angles or angular houses. Sometimes Saturn in an agular house and a day chart can be acceptable tho, depending what the election is for and Saturn's aspects.

House placements

Those depend on the thing you're electing for. If it's a creative project, maybe consider having nice planets in the 5th house; if it's for a wedding, a nice 4th, 5th or 7th house placements would be appreciated as well. If you're just trying to give the best impression with whatever you're doing, a Sun, Moon or Venus on the MC; Venus in the 1st house etc. This is the most tricky part overall because often you can't choose the exact hour you want. So, planetary aspects will always take the lead in that regard.

Example charts: April 5th 2023; January 18th 2024 (exalted chart ruler in aspect to a benefic, malefic in the 12th house, Moon applying to Jupiter etc.)

Your own chart

Lastly, don't forget to make sure the electional chart you chose is in nice aspects to your own natal chart. You can cast a synastry chart of both and see if you have a bit of a support from the election or if it completely clashes with it.

Always remember that there's no such thing as a perfect chart. And what I always say, if something is supposed to be a lasting success, it will. We're trying to navigate the astrology and pick the right time for major events but most of the time, no matter how we try, it's the astrology that rules us - what we're trying to do is just avoid a diasaster so it's good to be aware of the energies and planetary influences.

Some examples of popular releases (with no exact time)

On the left: Psy's Gangnam Style (I know, lol). Both Venus and Jupiter co-present in the same sign of Gemini, with Moon applying with a conjunction. The presence of the south node seems to be significant as well. The air stellium is in a trine with Saturn and Mars - both in Libra and in a sextile with Uranus in Aries. Gemini planets can underline the aspect of an internet phenomenon (with the fast mercurial energy).

On the right: UPSAHL's viral tik tok song Drugs. Venus in an applying conjunction with Jupiter in Sagittarius. Moon is applying to them with an opposition. Mars is applying with a trine to both benefics. South node being close to the Sun. Side note: Venus and Jupiter are right on top of her Sagittarius planets.

On the left: Game of Thrones release date. Exalted Venus in Pisces. A nice Aries stellium (the martian war element is very strong here) with co-present Jupiter, exalted Sun and a domicile Mars. An approaching Full Moon conjunct exalted Saturn. Mercury is retrograde, which can signify public's later upset with how the show went on.

On the right: Wednesday Netflix release: Exact Mercury-Venus conjunction in Sagittarius (it's dark and witty yet still visually appealing and entertaining). An out-of-sign applying New Moon. The Moon is in Scorpio but it's applying to a domicile Jupiter with a trine. Both malefics in a trine to each other.

#astrology #electional astrology #mercurytrinemoon #astrology notes #astro notes #astrology 101

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chappellrroan · 3 months

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fave Gracie Abrams songs and albums and lyrics?

her minor ep is my favourite personally because that's how i got to know her and became a fan, as for songs two people, i know it won't work, will you cry?, right now, block me out, 21, friend, i miss you i'm sorry, unlearn, brush fire, mean it, stay, mess it up, for real this time, camden are my all time fav from her released songs.

as for lyrics there are two aspects that depends on determining if i love them, for example in i know it won't work, i love how she sings "it won't work like that, huh?" but lyrically i like "i am your ghost now your house is haunted" so you can guess. anyways i will give my fav lyrics from my fav songs now <3

two people - "i loved you so hard for a time i've tried to ration it all my life, we could go yellow to black overnight i take you for granted because you're mine" (it's long but yes yes this) ALSO "cause you know everything that could kill me"

already mentioned for i know it won't work

will you cry? - "now you walk through me with my heart heavy breaking my reverie i could die early with your arms around me would it not kill to say goodbye?" AND "it's kinda funny how it goes from all to nothing you have to laugh before you start to cry"

right now - "and i ended a friendship on the day that i left and though i really meant it, it still makes me upset" (OUCH TOO REAL)

block me out - "i think i am burning alive but nobody sees the fire cause when i open my mouth i seem to be stuck in silence" AND "plus after all this time i should be a pretty crier"

21 - "i see the look in your eye and i'm biting my tongue, you'd be the love of my life when i was young" and "i get a little bit alone and sometimes i miss you again, i'll be the love of your life inside your head"

friend - "and i hate the way you love and i hate that i still care funny how you feel like we could ever talk again, how could you ever think i'd be your friend?" (applies to SO many people atp this is my lifesong)

i miss you i'm sorry - "thought you'd hate me instead you called in, said i miss you, i caught it" and the whole bridge honestly because NOTHING HAPPENED IN THE WAY I WANTED EVERY CORNER OF THIS IS HAUNTED AND I KNOW YOU SAID WE'RE NOT TALKING BUT I MISS YOU, I'M SORRY, I DON'T WANNA GO THINK I WILL MAKE IT WORSE EVERYWHERE I GO LEADS ME BACK TO US (i am very passionate about this song sorry)

unlearn - "i keep bringing all my problems to a pillow fight" and "cause if i'm gonna learn how to love you i need to unlearn how to love too need to unlearn when it feels right OH MY GOD I AM TRYING"

brush fire - "then we become a brush fire, burning all the pain HOW CAN WE SURVIVE A DESERT WITHOUT RAIN?" and "boy you know what to say before i turn away you words hit me like a hard rain in L.A"

mean it - "holding onto thin lines until we just walk between them, getting so loud i can't pretend that i dont hear them, maybe that thing you said under your breath you mean it, i know you mean it"

stay - the whole chorus honestly because COULD YOU HOLD ME WITHOUT ANY TALKING? WE COULD TRY TO GO BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO STAY I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO STAY BUT IF I WOKE UP WITH YOU IN THE MORNING I'D FORGET ALL THE WAYS WE'RE BROKEN I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE CHANGED I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO STAY

mess it up - "heard that you're happier hope you're sleeping well knowing i'm not, i am doing too much" and "and everytime i get too close i just go mess it up" AND "i keep thinking maybe if you let me back in we can make it better breaking every habit pull myself together you can watch it happen make it happen" (the mv has very special space in my heart btw)

for real this time - "a thousand times i got up to say goodbye i could be wrong but i think i'm for real this time"

camden - "self diagnosing till i'm borderline i will do whatever helps to sleep at night" and "somebody take over drive somebody notice how i'm trying" and "all of me, a wound to close but i leave the whole thing open i just wanted you to know i was never good at coping" (one of the best bridges ever)

#did i have to write all of this? nope. but did it feel good? hell yes i hope you like it anon also thank you for giving me a chance to talk #about her music all at once #mailbox💌#gracie abrams #mine

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catilinas · 2 years

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Hi! I haven't been following you for long and I'm just starting to get into The Aeneid. Could you explain what you and the other anon meant when you said everyone in The Aeneid is a double of Aeneas? Like who and how? If you decide to answer could you link articles about it too if it's possible (because I'm kinda confused lol)?

the aeneid is (clearly. from its name) a poem about aeneas, so it would be surprising to me if there was any character who didn’t reflect some aspect of aeneas at least a little bit. it is hyperbolic though to say Every Character Is A Double Of Aeneas etc. or is it. eye emoji. there are definitely some characters who are More Blatantly doing doubling things like this Has Been Observed.

most noticeable is (as the other anon was talking about!) turnus. plotwise aeneas and turnus are doubles in that they are both rivals for lavinia. imo the aeneas-turnus doubling starts as soon as the sibyl’s prophecy in book 6 that in italy aeneas will ‘find a simois, a xanthus, and greek camps. in latium you’ll find a new achilles, he too a goddess’ son’ (aeneid 6.88-90 trans. bartsch) LIKE this is saying turnus will be achilles 2.0 But Also aeneas is invading italy! where the sybil says this new trojan landscape is! by taking the role of invader of a trojan landscape aeneas is also framed as a new achilles, and turnus takes the role of trojan defender i.e. what aeneas once Was! and the idea that turnus embodies an earlier (and trojan = not roman yet = defeatable) aeneas is then like. really obvious. e.g. juno tricking turnus into fleeing the battlefield to safety in book 10 as aphrodite saving aeneas from battle in the iliad. there is also the Very Famous parallel in the moment of turnus’ death where ‘ast illi solvuntur frigore membra’ ‘turnus’ knees buckled with chill’ (aeneid 12.951 trans. bartsch) repeats the line that introduced aeneas in book 1 ‘aeneae solvuntur frigore membra’ ‘aeneas’ knees buckled with chill’ (aeneid 1.92 trans. bartsch). what the fuck is going on there. like yes turnus is a weaker (and doomed) aeneas as he dies but also aeneas kills him while succumbing to furor i.e. the force/emotion consistently associated with turnus… like ok you could read it as aeneas overcoming the role of conquered trojan and becoming a hashtag victorious proto-roman via getting someone else to fill his previous role (ritual substitution on main) BUT aeneas killing turnus still ends up looking weirdly like self-sacrifice. and then the academics scream about The Ending Of The Aeneid for One Million Years.

also cool and sexy is that dido is doubled w aeneas!!! this one is kinda an obvious parallel like they are both rulers in exile. they both have dead spouses. they both want to found cities. and alas those cities are destined to be Sworn Foes :( my favourite detail of the aeneas-dido doubling though is vergil being cool and sexy w the verb ‘errare’ (to wander / to Err). the chapter on dido in j.d. reed’s virgil’s gaze (which btw i extremely recommend) says many very cool things about vergil’s Constant use of this verb for dido, including:

‘Dido’s welcoming speech ends with an even subtler and more emotional identification. Her last word—errat, “wanders”—naturally adheres to Aeneas; in his own words, for example, at 1.333. But erro is also her word, connected to her by an etymological pun: the third-century Sicilian historian Timaeus had said that the name Dido was applied to her by Libyans because of her wanderings in exile. [...] The last line of her first speech, in view of this wordplay, makes Aeneas a kind of Dido: perhaps, she fears, he wanders a castaway in some wood or city. Her sympathy with the plight of the Trojans can go no further than to cast their leader as an alter ego’. they are doubles to dido at least.

and then aeneas seems to see them as interchangeable Enough with one another that him helping to build carthage counts as the city he is destined to found! it takes the literal divine intervention of mercury telling aeneas off for placing the High Foundations Of Carthage (which a Reader knows need to instead by the High Walls Of Rome!!! but aeneas doesn’t!!!) to get him to abandon dido/carthage. fun fact until the end of mercury’s speech where he tells aeneas ‘cui regnum Italiae Romanaque tellus / debetur’ ‘[iulus is] owed the rule of italy, and the soil of rome’ (aeneid 4.275-6 trans. bartsch) aeneas has literally never heard of rome. and it’s mercury’s promise of italy that makes aeneas claim that ‘haec patria est’ (This Is My Land™!!!!!!) (aeneid 4.347) i.e. the verb ‘errare’ / Wandering does Not define aeneas the way it does dido and they have different fates, actually, and maybe even Wandering for Aeneas Who Must Settle In Italy IS To Err and the doubling starts to fall apart! and you’re like. but what exactly Does make aeneas and dido different. is it just fate??? bcs that fate was/is contingent on a historical Future Enmity between their cities (the punic wars) and vergil is using the future that has already occurred to say this imaginary past was inevitable, and then using the assumed inevitability of the past to say that specific historical outcome Was Inevitable Also. and that is a circle :/ and history Could have gone differently. hashtag here’s how hannibal barca can still win. like to me this is vergil implying that ‘fate’ (the fated foundation and Imperium Sine Fine™ of rome) only goes as far as the contingent historical events that you can retroactively use to justify it. and eventually you will run out of that and end up at the end of the parade of heroes in the present. and what do you (augustus) do then. (but maybe i have been reading too much lucan like the pharsalia brainrot is Real)

BUT ALSO that is kind of the point of (my beloved) virgil’s gaze by thee j.d. reed…… like that every Doomed Youth in the aeneid Could Have Been aeneas and every nation/people each doomed youth stands for Could Have Become Rome or an equivalent. do the doubles everywhere suggest that the rise of Rome Specifically is not as Fixed In Fate as it could be. maybe yeah. or that the Fated Rise Of Rome doomed every other almost-aeneas. pessimistic readings of the aeneid i love YOU <3

anyway yeah. every character in the aeneid kind of Is aeneas. if they have a dad they are Pius Aeneas (e.g. lausus and pallas. esp. pallas who aeneas even claims to be embodying when he kills turnus!). if venus is there. that’s aeneas (helen). if their humanity is sacrificed to the future augustan golden age that’s Also aeneas (turnus and also. marcellus in the underworld). if they Do Some Conquering In An Inset Narrative that is also also aeneas (hercules vs cacus, augustus on the shield of aeneas). if they found a city (or try to. or their city is the ghost of troy. but then aren’t all cities that.) then that’s also aeneas. honestly the aeneas-andromache parallels at buthrotum in book 3 make me go nuts because helenus is Right There! but vergil is like no. aeneas WILL be doubled with a doomed trojan princess who hashtag Lived Past The End Of Her Myth. wild. you can probably find aeneas anywhere if you look close enough! also wait i forgot about his GHOST. the imago of aeneas in book 10. aeneas is literally doubled in a ghostly image of himSElf while he is Still Alive. i get that this is a thing which is allowed to happen in epic poetry but also aeneas IS really extremely undead, especially after book 6, so. yeah. you see evert character being Also Aeneas and you’re like well if everyone is aeneas what is aeneas like. where’s that one article by adam parry. ‘Aeneas from the start is absorbed in his own destiny, a destiny which does not ultimately relate to him, but to something later, larger, and less personal: the high walls of Rome, stony and grand, the Augustan Empire.’ ‘Aeneas' failure as a hero goes deeper than the formality of his speech. As he makes his way through the first six books, we see him successively divested of every personal quality which makes a man into a hero.’ ough. at this point what is the difference between aeneas and his ghost!!!!!!

#OUGH SORRY THIS GOT LONG #i love. the aeneid. A Lot. i hope you have fun reading it too <3 #aeneid #zombie aeneas REAL #<- this gets to go in the tag #beeps

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stewpid-soup · 11 months

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LOTS OF STEVEN UNIVERSE SPOILERS, ESPECIALLY STEVEN UNIVERSE FUTURE (I’ll leave the ramble below the cut for the ppl who don’t want spoilers <3)

take a funny pic before u leave :3

(btw, if any info here is incorrect feel free to lmk or even start a calm conversation about your thoughts! I love learning more and hearing ppls perspective <3)

maybe it’s an unpopular opinion but i LOVE steven universe future, like it’s so good?? I was rewatching the last few episodes since I wanna write a fic where Steven stayed longer with Jasper bc i think they had an interesting friendship in SUF lol

But I wish it wasn’t so short and that the episodes were longer and spent more time on the characters working through their issues.

And yes, Steven may not be “Classic Steven” in SU:Future but that’s what I love about it. Trauma changes you. Even if you learn how to be a better person, it doesn’t mean it’s super easy to apply those skills to your life. It’s still so hard. Even when you think you’ve changed and gotten better, old habits seep through and you realize that maybe you haven’t made as much progress as you thought. But what SUF shows is that it’s okay to not be perfect, because that’s what makes us human. We aren’t a monster if we do things wrong, if we hurt people- what matters is that we learn and we actually take the steps to be better. This means taking responsibility. This means not running from your problems but facing them. This isn’t to say that everyone is excused from their actions because they aren’t.

I think that’s what made Connie’s entrance on the “I Am My Monster” episode so perfect. Like, YES it’s your fault! And while she was technically talking to White Diamond, I think it makes more sense if she was talking to everyone there. Everyone there, excluding Connie and Steven, are adults. Most of them have been alive for thousands of years for fucks sake. But they trauma dump and push their problems onto a child who already struggled with fitting in already. I think that even the Crystal Gems play a part in Steven’s trauma, because again, they should know better. He was a child and he didn’t have to be forced into this life. Parents are supposed to protect and make sure their child is exposed to as little bad content as possible.

Now, I’m going to use sex education as an example here, because this is a common issue with adults and how they talk to children, especially about sexual topics. If you wanna skip this bit, I’ll use large GREEN text once it’s over lol

So, there’s “two main sides” (i put it in quotes bc of course there’s ppl with loads of opinions, but these are the two most prominent ones and also the most problematic to their child’s development) to this: Some parents choose to shelter their kids from anything even mentioning sex, maybe even to the point where their child just has no genuine understanding of sex and how to deal with those thoughts and feelings. Without talking to their child maturely about these topics, their child will grow up not only being teased for not understanding but also just without a good understanding of sex and what it entails. Plus sex doesn’t just have to be about the pleasure aspect or procreation, what about sex safety and what to watch out for when choosing to go into a situation where there might be people who could potentially take advantage of you.

Now some other parents choose to not keep an eye on what their kid does on the internet or what influence people are having on their kids, and as a result the child might learn things that their brain isn’t ready to process yet since it isn’t fully developed. This can lead to their child having unrealistic expectations when it comes to sex and even get themselves into dangerous situations on the internet and real life. I’m sure many people here and on most social media platforms can understand that, when it comes to unlimited internet access, it can be a dangerous thing for young kids and teens.

However that’s not to say that everything here is bad, there are ways to learn without being exposed to material that your young brain might not be ready for. An example of this is the parental lock on your electronics! You can also TALK to your child, and focus on keeping an open communication. There’s loads of things to prevent either of these scenarios, which I can go into detail abt- but maybe in another ramble

ANYWAYS

What I mean by referring to this topic is that Steven’s situation can be seen as similar (except in a much more dramatic and complex way lol) There are things that the Crystal Gems and Greg could have done to take better care of Steven. An example being the fact that Steven was pushed headfirst into these life or death threats from such a young age. These were about things he was barely aware of until tragedy struck. So what could’ve helped during Classic SU? There could have been better communication, obviously. Greg could have at least helped homeschool Steven, or use the money he made from the car wash to possibly support Steven and the Gems financially. The Crystal Gems should have sat Steven down and told him about his mom and more about the Gem War. He should have had more of an idea of what he was getting into. The only reason he was so enthusiastic was because the Crystal Gems were his main role models since Greg was often working or just doing his own thing.

Time and time again, Steven had to be the adult in situations like when Greg faked a leg injury or when Garnet split because of the Pearl incident. I could name a million more situations where he had to be the bigger person, but I won’t for my sanity.

The Crystal Gems should have gotten more repercussions for the way they treated Steven, the things they put onto his shoulders despite being a literal child. Greg could have been a better dad, because being a dad isn’t just about having fun. Being a dad is hard and can take a lot of you, but you made the choice to bring this child into the world so you have to take responsibility. At least, in Greg’s case that’s what happened. He knew the risks and he still had a kid with Rose, so he should have been around more as Steven grew up.

anhwyas im exhausted, maybe more rambling tmrow lmao idk

love u guys and take careee

#steven universe #steven universe future #steven universe: future #SU #su:f #rambles rambles rambles #soupy thoughts #soup rambles #im so tired

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tranny-alcchemy · 7 months

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Hello mutual (we gon don dat now)! So to come clean, I did not go read up on aerodynamics and how planes fly. I just wanted to figure it out myself so I worked out how it would work in my head. Thats not a flex, I truly dont understand stuff unless I simulate its physics in my head and this had to be done. Turns out its very simple. As we know, the first plane was literally made of wood and thrown from a high place, no propulsion or flying, just literally falling with style. Which is easy because thats how parachutes work too. Basically having enough surface area (through wings this time) to let air push you a little bit before you fall because weight. Now you can see, what if we made a thing where gravity and air resistence matched and the thing kept floating, well thats a blimp. Now again, this is all what I just guessed so no source take it with a grain. But it seems true and im excited.

Now we need a way to lift something off the ground and then stabilize it in the air so gravity and air resistance matches. One way to do that is have a giant fan pulling air from above down, creating a low pressure area above it and a high pressure area below it. Pressure difference would allow the thing to start lifting off if the pressure difference is enough. Thats a helicopter basic ig. Add a fan on top thats big enough to get this done. Then add a fan at its tail (cant have that one near the big one it wont work). Have the tail fan be how you change directions, if the tail fan pulls air it rotates helicopter one way, if not the other way. Now back to planes. They apply all these principals but in a different way. Im talking modern planes btw. They have turbines that create the pressure difference, they have wings for maneuvering instead of a fan. From what I gather, the turbines runs very fast, creating a pressure difference and a heat gradient, wing's back rotates allowing the plane to get some lift and as the planes gets to an angle, the turbine starts working with it to keep lifting it higher. As plane hits a good height where the atmosphermic pressure can just sort of stabilize it up there, it needs to work less and can just fly straight using its turbines. Its way more maneuverable than a helicopter because its literally using the air flow hitting its wings and tails and just swinging them. If for example tail swings left, that means more air hits the left now as it has more surface area, pushing it to the right and it tilts. Same with the wings and they are more powerful at maneuvering because right above the turbine, good pressure difference to take advantage of.

Beyond this, which is extremely basic what I understood, and Imma get another physics teacher to teach me this. Probably gonna nab a uni student. I also recall reading about the engineering aspect, planes are made from light aluminum, need to be kept very smooth bc any roughness outside, big like a crack or small like a scartch, can impact its air flow and give more surface area to one place for air to hit and that can be bad. Wings need to be in a very specific 3d shape which are tested to have the best aerodynamics for its specific height and all that. Usually a curved outer facing side which then turns into a triangle at the back, allowing air to easy divide itself around it and merge at the end without using causing issues. If air starts to stop or have harsher paths following hitting the wing, it sends its large kinetic energy to the wing pushing it back or damaging even. Not good. But ig im just saying stuff everyone knows. I just get excited.

dw excutement is cool especially about cool things!!! weve actually has a moment of inyerest like this before when we noticed that flat plates, when they hit water, tend to glide forward as they fall. we forget our conclusions, but we assumed it was a result of lift and pressure differentials

#fairypost

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somnianus · 3 years

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On Chinese and Eastern Dramatic Acting vs Western

Part 1 Part 2

Mostly in ref to the Untamed/Word of Honor, but applies to a lot of East Asian works-

I’ve been getting the sense that people I know from the west (also being Asian-American myself) often interpret Chinese/Japanese/Korean drama and theatre to be too corny/cheesy/over-acted. A quick search on some internet forums confirms this. Maybe it’s because I used to watch a lot of C-dramas when I was a kid (Legend of the Condor Heroes/Return of C Heroes/Journey to the West/The Reincarnated Princess/etc), I personally did not notice that the acting was over the top.

I don’t really speak for the quality of acting of these actors because I barely follow them in their careers, but I do know that some of them are immature actors or don’t have much formal training (which may cause the cheesiness above). However, Eastern dramatic acting in general does seem like a common complaint, so I decided to look into it - this is all coming from someone who JUST recently got back into watching C-dramas btw, doing my own research so don’t mind me if there’s some incorrect things down here, I am by NO means at all an expert in drama and theater (lol):

^Villains are often depicted with very exaggerated facial expressions (Above, Xue Yang, The Untamed)

Part 1

1. Chinese concept of mo vs western equivalent of “mimesis” or “imitation”

From this, an excellent chapter on Chinese theatrical concepts vs Western concepts.

Mo plays a significant part in traditional Chinese theatre, usually held to be antithetical to the realism of Western theatre because of its emphasis on theatricality.

Mo means mimesis or imitation, but in a very different sense from the Western concept. One of the first Chinese scholars to use this term, Fu Sinian, used it to compare Western theatre to Chinese theatre:

Presenting a real event and performing an entertaining show are not compatible. The former emphasizes imitation (yige zhong mofang^b); the latter stresses spontaneity and entertainment. The former performance produces a lifelike image; the latter has nothing to produce. The former puts emphasis on the plot; the latter puts emphasis on theatricality. Therefore they are completely contradictory to one another.

This guy actually goes onto critique Chinese theater, saying it should be more like Western realism, so that there will “be no singing, and the acting will imitate people’s real gestures.” However! Other Chinese critics tried to approach Western vs traditional Chinese drama as two DIFFERENT but still valid forms of art. For example, Yu Shangyuan (1927) said western performance is “writing realistically” (xie shi) and chinese performance as “writing suggestively” (xie yi). Western dramas really rely on an accurate/semi-accurate representation of life and realism. Traditional Chinese drama and acting relied on the “symbolic and imaginative.”

Then what is mo? It is the emotional display, the emotional revelation, that is shown on stage. Starting from the Yuan dynasty, the Chinese drama was thought to be a continuation of poetry rather than its own independent stage art.

Poetry is where the intent of the heart goes. Lying in the heart, it is “intent”; when uttered in words, it is “poetry.” When an emotion stirs inside, one expresses it in words; finding this inadequate, one sighs over it; not content with this, one sings it in poetry; still not satisfied, one unconsciously dances with one’s hands and feet. [anonymous, 1975, from Shi Daxu 200 BCE]

Chinese drama with dancing and singing, was the most expressive product of poetry. The importance of mo cannot be stressed enough - it is the measure by which traditional Chinese drama was judged, how well this drama make you feel? Love, pain, loss, guilt, happiness? Plot becomes something that doesn’t matter as much (more on that later).

^Beijing/Peking Opera - highly stylized, emotive, “unrealistic” performances

To emphasize how central and important this concept is, it’s thought that a good Chinese playwright never fails to “seize a highly dramatic scene to stage an elaborate presentation of an emotional state.”

Love is of source unknown, yet it grows ever deeper. The living may die of it, by its power the dead live again. [Peony Pavilion, Mu dan ting]

This quote really shows how important it was to show these emotions on stage, to inspire the audience to feel deeply. Chinese critics believed that the best part about drama was how efficient it is to display emotion. Playwrights should “depict extreme bitterness, extreme happiness, extreme silliness, and extreme sobriety; imitate these feelings to the utmost (miao mo jin xing^p).”

Such performances are not necessarily accurately mimicking reality, but they are obtained through the “revelation” of a character’s internal emotional world.

2. Mo vs the depiction of reality or theatrical truth

The Chinese concept of aesthetic truth relates a lot to theatrical truth. In a lot of traditional Chinese art, painting, poetry, etc, aesthetic truth is not empirical, and doesn’t have to be accurate to life, or realistic. It’s a “truth that lies beyond mere superficial likeness.”

To the Chinese artist, an accurate resemblance between art and reality is not only superficial but often distorting. Chinese artists hold a dialectical view on the “form” (xing) and the “spirit” or “content” (shen) of an artistic object. According to them, xing and shen are not always complementary. On the contrary, they often stand in opposition to one another. (referenced in the chapter above)

Traditional Chinese artists would rather represent the object with the wish that their representation matches its spirit, or abstract identity, than its actual form because a “photographic image is a shallow image.” It’s easy to draw a picture of something realistically, but it’s much harder and more satisfying to depict its nature, its feeling, its spirit.

This also naturally affects theater and dramatic performances.

Dramatic writing can be divided into two types: “a painting-like work” or a “transformed work,” in which the latter has higher artistic value because it reaches more towards the essence of dramatic object. Realistic imitations are fine, but they’re not really enough to reveal the mo or true feelings of something.

In addition, traditional Chinese dramatists believe that “all dramas are nothing but allegories. One need not ask about their origins in actual life.” You might be able to see, then, that these older playwrights and critics really fancied the overdramatic depictions of emotions.

a. The Chinese notion of theatrical truth/aesthetic truth vs European

Onto what we, as part of the Western audience, are more used to:

For Italian neoclassical critics, the pleasure of a drama hinges on how accurate, how realistic, the depiction is. Castelvetro, the leading Italian Neo-Classical critic and creator of the concept of “the three unities,” claims thus:

We cannot imagine a king who did not exist, nor attribute any action to him.

Another Italian critic, Robortellus, said that a creative/imaginative story with no “verisimilitude” (truthfulness, in this context, realism) is less appealing than one that imitates a real-life event:

Thus if a tragic plot contained an action which did not really take place and was not true, but was represented by the poet himself in accordance with verisimiltude, it would perhaps move the souls of the auditors, but certainly less.

So basically, it’s fundamentally the opposite of Chinese theater. Italian dramatic works prized being realistic, being properly adapted from reality and real events. Chinese dramatic works, however, enjoyed the emphasis on heartfelt emotional demonstrations, or mo. Even in critical writings, the word “truth” is used, but it is usually used to modify the word “heart” or “emotion.” It is very concerned with the internal, the truthfulness of heartfelt emotional expression.

Taken these contexts, you can see why the Chinese stage/dramas are wholly “unreal” as Tao-Ching Hsu puts it. Everything, the makeup, the costumes, the props, is expressive and suggestive rather than imitative.

b. Bejing/Peking Opera, jingju

A famous example is the Beijing/Peking Opera, jingju. The makeup and costumes themselves are fantastical representations. The colors and patterns suggest different moods, temperaments, characters, and even changes in emotions. Actors would make distinct movements to depict distinct emotions with varying levels of energy. The stage itself may be sparse, because it is not as important as the expression of emotion and drama.

The stage is sparse not because of the lack of technology or funding, but because it leaves room for the actor themselves to fully express their internal thinking/feeling/emotions. Characters can cross hundreds of miles in a few steps or may take the whole stage to cross a supposed road. This representation looks “unreal” to a realistic-minded audience, but it is very genuine to a Chinese audience.

Summary (so far)

This crucial understanding of the concept of mo (the emotional revelation), and the way traditional Chinese drama depicts life and stories, informs how their modern works are also portrayed. Coming from a Western dramatic background, where realism and plot are the most important aspects of a work, it can be very confusing, right? Even Chinese scholars began to judge their own dramatic works through a Western lens.

How does this traditional background affect modern Chinese dramas and works? I think it still has a very large effect, even though much of Western ideals about dramatic works have been heavily integrated into modern Chinese dramas.

Part 2: On Theatricality and how it transfers into Chinese Cinema

#cdramas #theater #acting style #beijing opera #the untamed #word of honor #kdramas #jdramas #theatricality #east asian cinema

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alicenttully · 3 years

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“sansa’s feminity is defined by social constructs that the man made world created. its materialistic and performative and restrictive. it harms all women. thats not to say women can’t... enjoy certain aspect of it but the objective is female subjugation and that cannot be disregarded.”

There is just a.... lot with that statement.

First off, you can really tell that OP does not understand Sansa as a character (or girls like her) when they say her femininity is “performative”.

Sansa’s interests in particular things aren’t her attempting to put on some kind of “performance”, it is a natural part of who she is. it would exist regardless of whenever she is canon Westeros or in a modern AU. Could you argue that Sansa has been shaped/influenced by the women around her (Catelyn, Septa Mordane, Margaery, Cersei) Yes, to a certain extent. Because Sansa “being a lady at three” (and going by normal developmental stages, would have been in diapers not that long ago) again suggests to me this is who she is inherently. Using words “performative” suggests falseness and that doesn’t work because a proper look at Sansa’s chapters would understand that her interests/desires/behaviour is sincere.

Regarding her femininity being “materialistic” …. In that same post, the OP defines Sansa’s femininity as “fancy dresses, pretty embroidery, floral perfumes, dainty desserts, slippers on polished floors, music and dancing, love stories, traditional marriage, courtly intrigue, smiling when you want to cry”

I look at the statement above with OP’s own definition of Sansa’s femininity… and I’m like, where’s the bridge?

This is where you actually need to understand the words that you are using instead of just throwing them in to make yourself sound revolutionary. The word “materialistic” means “excessively concerned with physical comforts or the acquisition of wealth”.

None of that really applies to the things OP listed. First off, a lot of the items they listed “floral perfumes, dainty desserts, music and dancing” could actually be considered a form of self-care- that is to maintain “one’s emotional and spiritual health.” Looking after yourself doesn’t just mean keeping a proper sleeping schedule or drinking water because self-care is unique to the person. Self-care is about that person making themselves feel good. It is not materialistic.

Let’s move onto “fancy dresses and pretty embroidery”. I don’t think liking “fancy dresses” makes you materialistic. If it is, then why are so many Arya stans insistent on arguing that Arya actually likes dresses? Because being materialistic is defined as being “excessively concerned” so in other words, “overly, extremely” – so basically obsession. Sansa loves pretty clothes, but not to the point of being obsessed. She understands the need for her to dress in simple clothing in the Vale, even if she resents it. She was genuinely surprised by the dress fitting because Cersei neglected her clothes.

“Pretty embroidery” … I would argue (and somebody correct me if I’m wrong) but embroidery is related to sewing… and that’s actually a really important, practical skill that transcends class lines (something I’ve talked about before)? People in Westeros – even the rich- simply do not have the luxury where if they were me, the local shopping centre is 10 minutes away by car and at this centre, I have thousands of dresses to choose from right then and there (if money wasn’t an issue) Instead, the clothing that Sansa and Arya wear (both at the beginning of their stories and throughout), as well as the clothing of Catelyn, Cersei, Arianne, Margaery, Daenerys, Beth Cassel, Jeyne Poole, to the small-folk (i.e. Pia) also took the time to make- but the difference lies in that Westeros hasn’t undergone a textile revolution where clothing can be produced at a mass-scale. That dress Sansa wore for her wedding? Took weeks to make, and if something had happened it the day before- they would not be able to get another copy of it elsewhere.

Furthermore, there’s also the fact that sewing circles/doing embroidery together can actually be a way for women to bond, share conversations, perhaps hatch plans because it is done within a feminine space that their husbands/brothers/fathers don’t cross.

“Music and dancing”. How? Why? Loving music and dancing don’t make you materialistic. Loving music and dancing- things related to the arts, is deeply human. It brings joy to people, helps us to connect with others. People often use music as a form of self-healing. The same for dancing, which enables people to express and tell entire stories/send messages through movement.

Fuck off with this “materialistic” bullshit.

“Love stories”.

LOL, what? How is liking love stories “materialistic”?

And if it is… then why are Arya stans also huge Gendrya shippers? (Which I also ship btw, although I definitely wouldn’t say I’m invested. I can take it or leave it.)

“it harms all women. that’s not to say women…can’t enjoy certain aspects of it but the objective is female subjugation and that cannot be disregarded.”

The issue with that statement is that it is IMO putting the blame entirely on women/girls who happen to enjoy these things naturally (for example, I like to wear pretty clothes because it makes me feel good) rather than the men in their society with the actual power.

Ned Stark might have indulged his 9year old with sword lessons but it is abundantly clear through his POV that he saw it as a passing interest. “She would tire of it soon”. Tywin wouldn’t even consider doing the same for Cersei. Selwyn Tarth finally relented after Brienne broke three-four betrothals.

Sansa or any girl liking “pretty dresses, perfume, music, dancing, love stories” is not the thing driving female subjugation. You know what I tend to think of when reading the books? I think of how girls can be forced into marriages they don’t want/have their entire futures decided for them at the age of 11/12, be subjected to marital rape, queens being abused by their husband’s Kingsguard, a sex worker being murdered in bed, an eighteen year old girl’s virginity treated as a contest, that same girl being told by Tarly not to look to him for justice if she gets raped, the fact that smallfolk women if Kingslanding had fallen would have been at most risk of violence/rape, the fact that women can be excepted to keep having more children even though it would be dangerous for them to do (Naerys, Alysanne)

Just… the amount of conscendation and arrogance in that statement (as well as the entire post) is staggering. imagine thinking you’re writing some sort of feminist post only to degrade women/girls like sansa because they don’t fit your way of being. you do realize you are no different than the adults in arya’s life who keep trying to force her to be someone she’s not? smdh

#sansa stark #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #game of thrones #got #anti arya stans #anti arya stark #not really but to be safe #anti gendrya #ive often seen this post floating around and its always made me cringe #anti asoiaf fandom

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hxneydreamers · 3 years

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Hi! You really look like someone who truly lives by the law and if you wanted you could literally manifest the craziest of things, even things that defy the laws of nature and physics and I'm wondering how do you personally view life and existence if you can have everything now with just an assumption? If you are so above everything in the universe? Doesn't this make you feel lonely? Don't your desires feel meaningless? I'm always moved by great stories (most of which have something tragic or sad or bittersweet) and I love being moved by such things and I ultimately want my life to be a good meaningful beautiful story and my fear is that by buying the pearl of great price I'll have to give up on all that so now I find myself almost completely uninterested in my ideal life and I can't bring myself to visualise because I wouldn't feel a thing (btw do you think this will make the manifestation easier or harder?) but I still know deep down that I couldn't accept anything from life other than that perfect ideal I have for myself even though I sorta feel like cheating like... can I call this kind of experience authentic? Share some wisdom ma'am please. Can you also share some films or books or anything that inspired your idea of perfect life if you feel like it?

Hey! You make such an interesting and excellent point! Thanks so much for having such faith in me, hahah, it's extremely flattering!

I honestly have a pretty simple answer for you! Whilst I'm well aware of the law and how things operate and that I am the god of my reality, I am still human. We all are. That's what makes life so beautiful, colourful, and emotionally rich. I believe that the process of manifestation and conscious creation for many people is actually one of the most transformative and emotionally charged human experiences anyone could have, because they face their fears, overcome them, persist and stay determined, and ultimately win the best prize of all - and the prize is not just a material thing or a specific person - the best prize of all is happiness, contentment, and self-love.

I only consciously manifest in areas of my life that I feel have unfolded negatively as a result of low self-worth. The law has taught me that these things are a reflection of the way I treat myself and talk to myself and think about myself. The law has taught me that I should not let my happiness depend on a thing or another person, my happiness should come from within myself.

Our human experiences, the good and the bad, are what shape us as people, and I think that finding the law after we've experienced the ups and downs that human existence has to offer, can be really empowering. Yes, learning about the law helps us take control over our lives and create a happy and abundant life with our specific people, money, the right career, etc, but what I think the biggest thing that the law gives us is the lesson that we need to love ourselves and empower ourselves more.

I don't view life and my desires as meaningless. Just because you are the god of your reality and you have the power to shift into a new reality doesn't mean that the people around you are operating like robots. They are real people and they have thoughts and feelings. You aren't changing anyone or anything around you when you manifest, you are changing yourself and moving into another reality where the people and things around you reflect your new state of being.

The law of assumption has taught me how to speak lovingly to myself and get out of bad habits that ultimately diminish my power and worth. It has taught me to transform myself and my overall love and appreciation for myself so that I can be the best version of myself that I can be.

I personally don't subscribe to any particular religion, but I believe that somehow we were all put on this earth to have a human experience, but we are all one - part of the 'god' source, whatever that is. We all are gods and we all have the power to create the lives we want, but we are here to have desires, to feel all the emotions that come with it, and to experience life's ups and downs, overcoming them and learning from them. I don't know why, but we are all here, and we may as well make the most of it while we are. If we can learn to love ourselves fully and treat ourselves with kindness, we can experience the most lovely parts of life and live in realities where we are surrounded by a reflection of these amazing things.

Let's be real, just because I understand the law of assumption well, doesn't mean that I'm bothered to apply it to every part of my life. Who wants to have to affirm for everything in their life? With most things, I just sit back and enjoy the ride. If there is something negative in my life, I don't let it bother me because I know who I am and I know my worth. If something REALLY bothers me, then I know it's coming from an issue that I have within myself. If anything, it makes me look within and figure out what it is that is causing this.

Even when you know how to use the law of assumption to your advantage, life is still an adventure, and events still impact you emotionally and physically. Sometimes things pop up or happen in your world that come from some deep assumption you didn't even know you had. Life with the law of assumption is a journey of constantly learning about yourself on a deeper level and evolving, and to me, that is so awesome!

When you see people that have successfully manifested their desires, the story doesn't stop there! The new chapter of their lives begins following this, where they get to experience happiness, success, and everything that comes with it! Just because we have the power to change something if we can put our mind to it, doesn't mean that the things we experience aren't extremely real. They feel real, don't they?

Just because the 3D is a reflection of our imaginations, doesn't mean that the experiences we have aren't real. If imagination is reality, and the 3D is a projection of it, then that means that if we have thought of something and it is brought to life, then it is real on some level. We just have the power to place focus on what we want to stay and ignore what we want to go if we decide to.

Even though we manifest things, doesn't mean we don't feel the full weight of their reality. That's human existence. You can still feel your skin, right? You can still feel it when someone kisses or hugs you, right? So it is real to you. If you experience something that you wish you hadn't, you simply have the power to change it, doesn't mean you didn't experience it before, otherwise, where would the desire to change it come from?

Honestly, I can't think of any movies or shows specifically that have taught me anything about the 'perfect life', because everyone's idea of that is different. However, for manifesting and creation, I would recommend Neville Goddard's books. I have his complete reader, which I recommend, as well as Dr Joe Dispenza's books 'Becoming Supernatural' and 'Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself'.

In answer to your question about whether or not that perspective makes it easier or harder to manifest, it depends on what you believe, honestly. I would say that it if anything would make it easier for you to reduce resistance towards things if you truly feel and think that way. However, I encourage you to continue to feel life and to live it fully! The law simply means that things in your life reflect your inner world, and that should be the most real thing to you ever!

Don't let the knowledge of the law taint your view on life and the validity of your emotions and experiences. I, for example, know that the law is real, but I still feel every day and I still have doubts and negative moments in my life. I feel everything so real that sometimes it's too much. The law doesn't mean I won't ever experience hiccups and regular life moments again, it is very likely that I will, because I AM human, and humans naturally develop a mixture of emotions in various aspects of life. It just means that I'm on the journey of life and continuing to overcome these things, just like any other person. You can use the law to make it easier to do this, or harder.

The law is simply a reminder to stay in the state of loving myself and staying in my power so that overall I continue to experience true happiness, because that's ultimately what we all want, right? To be happy and to live in peace.

I hope I've somewhat answered your question and not just rambled on, talking nonsense hahah!

I appreciate the question because you got me really thinking.

All my love x

#manifest #manifesting #manifestation #affirm #affirming #affirmations #law of assumption #neville goddard #reality #parallel realities #create your future

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recurring-polynya · 3 years

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Hi Polynya! Love your stuff. I saw you mention that there are some “Rukia gets jealous” fics. Do you have any that you would recommend? And if you would make something like that, what canon character(s) can you imagine Rukia getting jealous of (romantically)?

Thank you!

The best example of the genre that I can think of, in the sense that it really goes into the jealousy aspect, is A Taste of Affection and Jealousy by Magpie_Game. Nanao and Renji bond over their respective one-sided affections while dragging Shuuhei’s drunk ass home from the bar and start up a cute li’l relationship, which sends both Shunsui and Rukia into panic. I do not care for the ShunNao ship, but I sort of skimmed those parts and enjoyed the fic very much overall (ngl, I kept yelling at Nanao to go for Renji). Rukia does not come off super-great in this fic, but I am very forgiving. There’s also a part where Renji and Izuru go to the batting cages that I think about a lot.

Hey Jealousy by ehvul_butterfly is a slightly silly one about Rukia getting pissed when all the other female lieutenants are horny for Renji.

What I Came for and What I Didn’t by eosdawnaurora (one of my fav Renruki writers, btw) is a bit of the same idea, slightly more serious, only it’s ladies of Squad 6, who, I may point out, are canonically hot for their assistant captain.

Hanami by Bukittyan is a very cute fic overall, which has a bit of Rukia being (irrationally) jealous of Momo in the beginning.

As for me, I did, at one time, write a fic, A Supposedly Fun Thing We’ll Never Do Again, where Renji sets Rukia up on a date with Momo and, in revenge, she sets him up on a date with Nanao, and then they have “why did I do this?” regret, so it is like jealousy in it’s mildest possible form.

I’m not trying to be a pedant about the difference between the words “jealousy” and “envy,” but it’s relevant to what I want to say. “Jealousy” is being possessive over something or someone which you regard as yours, “envy” is longing for what another person has. Usually, “jealousy” is the only one that applies to romantic scenarios. In this sense of the word, though, “jealousy” is not a thing I am interested or capable of writing about. To me, it is an ugly emotion that reveals a very distinct character flaw (which isn’t to say I don’t enjoy reading stories about jealousy, it’s just not my wheelhouse as a writer)

In order to write a Renruki story where Rukia is jealous of Renji, it either has to be a) a misunderstanding that contains poor enough communication to persist throughout the story, or b) Renji actually has to pursue some other relationship. As far as a) goes, I like to have Rukia and Renji be pretty honest with one another and have a good understanding of one another, and want the best for each other, so it just doesn’t ring true to me. As for b), the way I like to characterize Renji is that he is hopelessly devoted to Rukia-- he is not going to move on unless she explicitly rejects him. This is certainly a good framework for a story-- she rejects him, he finds someone else, she gets jealous, but there’s a certain meanness in it that isn’t what I enjoy writing.

On the other hand, I have often interwoven into my stories the sense that Rukia envies some of her and Renji’s mutual acquaintances, primarily Momo, and to a lesser degree, Nanao. Even though, from an exterior lens, everyone regards Rukia as a million miles above Renji, she, herself, doesn’t think she’s good enough for him-- that she thinks he would be better off with someone smarter, more feminine, more traditional, more organized, more disciplined. She’s also somewhat envious of Renji himself-- at how well he’s done for himself, at how he present himself to the world in a way that’s true to himself, at how many friends he has. Rukia may think of herself as badass, but she rarely thinks of herself as attractive. If there is one way I have imprinted myself on my characterization of Rukia, it’s that she’s able to find self-worth in what she does, but not who she is, which is one of her main character arcs over the course of my long series The Heart is a Muscle. It’s interesting to me that (in my writing) she’s not really envious of Rangiku, who is objectively beautiful and cool, but also a hot mess, which is not what she sees Renji going for in the long term. Rukia also has a brief bit of enviousness when she finds out that Renji used to date Shuuhei, but once she gets to meet Shuuhei and very quickly realizes that he is also a rampant disaster, it fades.

I think if I had to write a story on the topic of jealousy, I would probably set it in the Academy days, and the enviousness would be directed toward Momo. I think Momo and Rukia were both very envious of each other in those days, primarily because I like that a backdrop to them overcoming it and becoming friends in their post-trauma adult years.

A runner-up concept is that I am mildly fascinated with the idea that Renji, as a Vice-Captain and person-close-to-Byakuya ought to be a major catch as far as the social climbing minor nobility goes. I could see a fic where he catches the attention of various Kuchiki-family hangers on, and Rukia loses her mind of the idea that he might accept a very generous marriage offer to some beautiful and charming daughter of a mid-level house, which seems like a rational and sensible thing to do. Renji, of course, would never, we all know what he cares about.

As usual, I encourage my readers to add their own fanfic suggestions in the comments or reblogs!

#fanfic recs #renruki

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isthisitbytaylornicole · 3 years

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"is this it?" BLOG POST #1: hey, you! meet adulthood. the ghetto, if you will...

Author's Note:

First of all, welcome to my blog! It feels so surreal to be saying that because this is something I have wanted to do for so long, but fear, laziness, and "plans" kept me from doing so. I am so happy that you have decided to take time out of your day to sit and read my post. I'm so excited to be able to share these stories with you all about my dirty little cousin, Adulthood. She doesn't mean any harm, she just doesn't know any better. Trust me. I hope you are intrigued by what I have to say and I would love to chat with you in the comments about these topics. Enjoy!

"Don't you find it odd, that when you're a kid, everyone, all the world, encourages you to follow your dreams. But when you're older, somehow they act offended if you even try."

-Unknown (The Hottest State)

I can say, without hesitation, that I was not fully prepared for what adulthood had to offer. She came without remorse, but made sure to bring all sorts of debt, the occasional iffy encounter, and topped it all off with a micro-aggression or two (or ten). In these instances where I was thrown into situations dealing with money, racism, self-identity, relationships, etc., how did I handle these episodes with minimal detrimental impact on my inner psyche? The answer; I didn't because I didn't know how to.

I vividly remember the process of applying to colleges, final senior presentations, deciding what school I wanted to go to, all while being molded in the belief that college was the best option, if not the only option, for young, black, teenagers, like myself, who wanted to be successful. Please don't misunderstand me when I say this. I definitely agree with the fact that as young adults we should be able to take advantage of all the opportunities given to us including continuing an education at a four-year institution and experiencing all that college has to offer like social engagements and freshmen fifteen. However, I do not believe that is the only way to solidify success in a society where situations like going to a four year conventional university have become the norm. While we are molded into believing a four-year college is one of only three options for teenagers of color [the other options being pregnancy or prison as stereotype culture has taught us] we are limited in the knowledge of only knowing how to make it TO college, and not how to be successful THROUGHOUT and beyond college and I am a prime example.

Due to the stigma of black high school dropouts, often times, high schools in cities like Detroit (who primarily house students of African decent) strive for one-hundred percent high school graduation and college acceptance rates ,as apposed to, one-hundred percent college fulfillment and graduation rates. In other words, they don't care how you get home from the party, as long as you were invited. And I mean who can blame them?! While primarily white high schools with students trying to decide if they want to attend either Harvard or Yale are spitting out graduates left and right, primarily black high schools can't even get scantron sheets on time for their junior students to take the SAT, which is it supposed to be an equal opportunity test for all students, accept those with brown skin of course. (This happened at my high school btw.)

Then I get to college only to see that all of my professors are old, white, dirty men, which is not in fact the demographic I grew up within. Is this it? Is this what my parents are paying almost forty-thousand dollars a year for? Is this your King?! 👨🏼‍🏫Well, I'm here now and I guess I need to stick this out. Never mind being one of only four black students in an intro to political science class of almost forty-five. Never mind having a black roommate who didn't know if she wanted to be Ebony or Ivory that day. Her white boyfriend did tell me I had nice skin one day which was nice of him. Never mind me working at the McDonald's right across the street from my dorm my freshman year where almost everyday somebody I knew would come and try to get free food from me. (That didn't really have anything to do with my hardships during my time at college, but it was irritating trying not to get caught smuggling cookies and McFlurries out of the store every other day. I was too nice obviously.) Never mind having to refrain from using any kind of ebonics in order to fit into conversations and/or lectures about political science topics in order to sound more professional and educated to my white peers and professors (A.K.A code switching😶‍🌫️ 🎛). Overall, the majority of my time spent inside the college classroom setting was often done in ways that involved me faking it until I made it, until I didn't make it.

I dropped out of college at the end of my sophomore year and at the time it seemed like my biggest failure. Not only did I feel like I failed myself, I felt like I failed my family and closest friends and quite literally I failed most of my classes😬. Not to mention the thousands of dollars in student loans left for me to pay back which was bound to happen anyways but that is a totally different conversation for another post. (Sallie Mae better hope she don't catch these hands.) I felt like, as do most young adults my age, there was a timeline on my success. If I didn't get that college degree in four years, and have a car and apartment by twenty, my life had no worth. This narrative was brought on not only by my school environment growing up, but it was brought on by the climate that we live in today. As young people, we are so easily influenced by pop culture, social media, YouTube, sports media, our peers, music and so many other ideals constantly bombarding our everyday lives. We're shown these unrealistic almost fantasy-like scenarios in which all you have to do it make a prank video in order to make money and once you have money, fame, and a VLONE shirt, boom, you have worth! Why am I rushing to fulfill these egregious standards set by these dull influencers who can't even spell egregious. Success does not have only one definition. To me, success is defined by your own standards and not society's. And college is not a one stop shop!

The picture of adulthood has been painted so monochromatically that I have at times lost my ability to dare to dream bigger than what has been laid before me with society's crusty hands. Yes I plan on finishing my education at a four year college, but at the time, my college experience would not have allotted me the opportunity to discover the world of Cyber Security and the many job opportunities and networks I've been exposed to.

All in all, take advantage of ALL the opportunities you encounter whether they are laid out in front of you or even if you have to network to find them.

This was just a piece of the perspectives I am excited to offer as I continue to share my stories in this world of blogging and rediscovery. I hope I didn't scare any of you off already because in my next blog piece I will be diving into more aspects of adulthood and the whole notion of relationships(romantic and non); do we really need them tho? and how do we weed out the bad ones and water the fruitful ones?

PLEASE TUNE IN ON TUESDAY FOR MY NEXT INSTALLMENT OF "IS THIS IT?" BY TAYLOR NICOLE AND THANK YOU FOR READING!💛

By: Taylor Nicole

LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS BELOW! I WOULD LOVE TO CHAT.💛

#blog #tumblog #blackgirlmagic #black culture #black twitter #blacklivesmatter

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mercurytrinemoon · 3 years

Text

If you want to look into your chart to see your commited partner/marriage

I see so many folks asking about this & I feel like people look for these things in the wrong places or they’re instantly reaching for some obscure techniques (persona charts?? Random asteroids?? Never saw it really describing anything correctly. That’s like the last thing you should look at). Get your basics covered first. Your primary energies in the natal chart can tell you SO SO much. Okay let’s goooooo

1. Your descendant/7th house, duh. What sign is it in? If you have any planets in the 7th, look at them. Look at the ruler of the 7th. In what house it sits in? What aspects does it have? I’d look at classic rulership first btw. Also, for a predictive work like this, try exploring your chart with whole sign system.

Some basic examples of characteristics of partners according to planets in the 7th:

Sun: happy partnership, someone that is somewhat known in certain circles, generous, fun, inspiring, works in creative fields, an entrepreneur or a business person, someone who simply shines; marriage can come a bit later in life

Moon: partner that is caring or even parental towards you, family-oriented, sensitive, moody, stay-at-home partner, working in fields associated with nurturing or food (or anything that makes you feel nice); can also bring popularity; can marry young

Mercury: an intellectual, or someone with a “mercurial” occupation (communication, travel; teacher, writer, accountant etc.), a worldly person, sociable, talkative, possibly someone younger or of a young spirit; this also means you can marry earlier in life

Venus: a harmonious partner, a romantic, non-confrontational, an eye-candy, diplomatic nature, can work in any “venusian” industry (arts, food etc.), financialy stable; this also should bring harmony and luck in relationships*

Mars: an energetic partner, assertive, full of passion, independent, a leader, someone who constatnly keeps you on your toes, great motivator, a masculine type (regardless of gender), may work in a military/police etc.

Jupiter: a successfull partner, jolly, popular, possibly from a different background/culture/a foreigner, spiritual, philosophical, a teacher, can work in entertainment; you may meet while traveling or marry abroad; brings great luck*

Saturn: someone older than you, a mature person, disciplined, patient, possibly a widow/a widower; marriage can come later than expected

Uranus: an eccentric partner, intelligent, full of surprises, innovative, creative, someone working in science or tech-related fields; unconventional partnership; you may marry suddenly (and divorce as fast lol)

Neptune: spiritual, intuitive, sensitive, working overseas or in artistic fields; you’re looking for a soulmate; you may actually never marry your partner because something always gets in the way

Pluto: intuitive, magnetic, spiritual, persuasive, can work as a psychiatrist or a crime detector or in fields associated with science; a power couple; you may marry in secret

*Venus is the greater benefic for those with a night chart (Sun below the asc/dsc axis); Jupiter is the greater benefic for those with a day chart (Sun above the asc/dsc axis). Look to see which will bring you more luck in life.

If you have no planets in the 7th, just look at its ruler and the aspects it makes. Now lemme give you an example of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Just so you have a better understanding of how to approach this.

Angelina's descendant is in Capricorn so we look at Saturn. Using equal house system, it falls into her 12th house (actually her Venus as well), it can denote having secret relationships and affairs. That's how her relationship with Pitt started. Her Saturn squares Jupiter - Brad's a double Sagittarius. His descendant ruler is Mercury and it's a part of a stellium, which consists of Mars, Venus and Moon - I think it's obvious that Angelina is an embodiment of those energies. She's a nurturing Cancer rising, with charming & sexy Venus on the ascendant and she has a strong, fiery Aries Mars. And, obviously, she’s a Gemini.

(I could get into their synastry, in which they check all the basic & important rules of a relationship but that's not the point. Btw their synastry is kind of mind-blowing, these ascendant-vertex conjunctions? I mean WOW).

2. Depending on your gender (that’s a traditional way of looking at it but screw heteronormativity so do whatever floats your boat) OR depending if your chart is more masculine or feminine: Sun and Mars for feminine folks; Moon and Venus for masculine; if you’re non-binary, look at both or what you feel like will suit you most. This is for more what YOU are attracted to although Sun and Moon are said to show your spouse.

Venus specifically symbolizes love so you may look at the house it falls in to see where you may find it. For example, if it’s in your 3rd house, you may meet them somewhere local, doing every-day stuff; in school or through your siblings. The house your Venus is in shows where your charms and beauty are seen the most. For example, if it’s in the 11th it’s more probable you’ll date one of your friends cause you’re seen as attractive in your friend group. Also, some houses aren’t straightforwardly assigned to places so I guess for some houses it works better.

Your descendant ruler may apply to this technique as well but can moreso show traits that will further characterize your spouse. For example, descendant ruler in the 8th - they may be an accountant; in the 10th - may be someone well-established; 5th - may work with children or be of a creative nature etc.

3. Derivative house system: just flip your chart. Listen, it partially makes sense that 8th house stands for shared resources. For example, if you have benefics in the 8th house it can point to having a wealthy partner through whom you yourself will get rich or whatever. Well it coincides with the theory that your 8th house is your partner’s symbolic 2nd house. You can use derivative house system from any point in your chart but we’re talking about your partner, so just flip your chart upside down. Just DON’T read it in a literal sense.

I’ll give you an example of my mom’s chart. When we flip it, she has Neptune in the 2nd house. Her ex-husband, my dad, was earning money as a sailor (this also, later in life, meant that money was slipping through his fingers and that brought material instability). This is further backed up by Jupiter on the MC and even by Sun in the 9th house - all points to long travels and working in foreign lands. Stellium in the 10th also means he became a career-oriented person.

Obviously, when you flip your chart, it will say the opposite of your natal. So you’re thinking, “in my natal my desc ruler is in the 10th and when I look at it upside down it’s in the 4th - that’s the complete opposite! *Oprah voice* So what is the truth??? Am I marrying someone family- or career-oriented???” It’s important to point that derivative house system is activated once you get married/enter a stable, commited relationship. So this is something to look at additionally.

5. Other fun stuff to look at: Jupiter. In vedic astrology Jupiter represents the husband but we’re doing western so that’s not my point (ha! I got you there, didn’t I?). Jupiter stands for legal matters. It’s very common to see lots of Jupiter in synastry of married couples (bonus points if there’s flowing Jupiter-Jupiter aspects). Juno, which is one of the main, early discovered asteroids, symbolizes marriage and commitment; it also shows the way we balance things out, compromise and show fairness. It can tell us how we’re approaching these things and what we look for in a potential stable partner.

#phewww i hope i covered everything #astrology #mercurytrinemoon #astro notes #astro stuff #7th house #venus #descendant #derivative house system

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crescentfool · 3 years

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This is a really random question but how do you decide which fics to check out? Because I see the sheer amount of fics in the tags I search and get so overwhelmed that I end up not reading anything. Again, sorry for such a random question, I just figured since you gave monthly recommendations (which I really appreciate btw thanks so much) you might have some ideas

hi anon, please don't apologize for the ask! if anything- i think you provide good food for thought. i'm more than happy to answer your question! (and i'm also happy to know that you enjoy my monthly recommendations!)

i want to start off by saying- i completely relate to your sentiment that the amount of fics available can be so daunting! it's psychologically proven that the more choices someone has, the more stressful it can be to make a choice (even if we can get back to the other choices at some other point!).

so in a psychological aspect, i think a lot of fic reading can just be... taking that leap of faith, that the fic has what you’re interested in. there are some factors that help give some fics more “credentials” than others- such as the amount of kudos it has, or the method in which it was recommended. but unfortunately a lot of fics don’t have that luxury, because there are just so many fics out there (which is not the fault of the authors whatsoever).

i also think it’s best to NEVER, EVER think of fics as something that “you have to catch up on” because the slightest phrasing of your own mindset can really affect your willingness to read fic, at least, in my experience.

psychology stuff aside, to make it easier with deciding the fics that you want to check out... i think it depends on what you're looking for! are you looking for something specific? or are you mostly open to anything? do you like oneshots or do you like multichapter fics? in any case, it's important that you know your preferences of what exactly it is that you want in that moment. (if you don’t know, i’d advise just picking a random fic to start reading)

in my case, i'm mostly open to any fic concept as long as the characterization fits my needs. if it doesn't fit, i just leave it and read something else. selection-wise, i like when a fic has a good/intriguing summary that makes it stands out; especially if there’s a high volume of fics to read! i gravitate towards oneshots for the same reason, since they’re easier to commit to than multichapter fics.

there are several methods in which you can find a fic that you like, tbh. so here's my comprehensive guide on how to find fics if you’re struggling with that too. this goes for any fandom, but this post will specifically use examples from persona 5 and shuake/akeshu. the methods are under the cut, because HOO boy this gets long (i am cursed to never be able to express my thoughts briefly, lmao. i go big or go home, LMAO)

0. Filters are your best friend.

This applies to everything that I’m about to list. If you’re not too fond of E-rated fics (or you may be the opposite and ONLY want the E-rated fics)... Use the tagging system on AO3 to your advantage! I think it helps a lot to look through a specific filter set, depending on what your mood is.

For the Persona series specifically, some fics may overlap with the other games and include the other characters, so you can always exclude the Persona 1/2/3/4 ones if you’re not familiar/not really interested in seeing that.

There’s literally no disadvantage to this other than an author not tagging their work appropriately, but for you, the reader who is trying to find content, it helps immensely from a psychological perspective to have a smaller pool of fics to choose from!

1. Read fics as sorted by kudos!

This is a very basic recommendation, but if you're looking to read quality fics and don't know where to start, this is a good option! I generally do this anytime I get into a new fandom.

PROS: Fics are generally high quality

CONS: A lot of the hidden gems that are recent/undiscovered will not be found. Most of the fics that have high kudos are generally from authors who made their start early enough in the fandom.

2. Read fics as sorted by date updated.

Again, rather basic. But if you're looking for something new/fresh, this could be good! I generally do this after going through the highest rated fics (I did this with Ryoji and Minato since I realized that most of the highest kudo fics were from 2012/2013, and they only have 170~ fics to comb through)

PROS: You get a chance to look at the more recent fics! Good for rarepairs/less active fandoms.

CONS: Psychologically speaking, if you're in a fandom that produces a lot of content, you won't find this feasible.

"Okay but Lizz, everyone knows this." I know, I know! But this is where it gets really juicy. Or uh. At least I hope so, LMAO.

3. Find fics based on additional tags, and sort either by kudos/date updated.

Sometimes I like to search for specific fic content. For P5, you might be familiar with concepts like "Joker has a palace AU" or "Akechi has a palace AU" or "Futagoro siblings" or "Anngoro friendship" or "Akechi is in strikers" or “Goro Akechi’s mother,” or social media and fandom AU/chatfic. Those are just some examples, but you could find some cool fics this way!

PROS: You’ll generally be able to find a smaller selection of what you’re looking for! Remember, filters are your friends!

CONS: There aren’t always universal tags (outside of hurt/comfort, fluff, etc.) that people use, so your mileage with tags may vary. Also, what is finding the right words to search?

4. Find fics through fan events!

This is honestly one of my favorite ways of finding fics, since a lot of the moderators of fan events make designated collections on AO3! So anon, if you need help with your fic search, I’ve compiled some AO3 collections that were made specifically for Shuake/Akeshu events. This isn’t all of them, but I hope this can help!

Shuake Confidant Week - A 2018 event for Shuake!

ShuAke Week 2019 - A 2019 event for Shuake!

#SoftGoroWeek2020 - Soft fluffy Goro Akechi content!

ShuakeBigBang2020 - An event where artists and writers collaborated together to create Shuake-related fics!

ShuAke Week 2020 - A 2020 event for Shuake!

Goro Big Bang 2020 - An event where artists and writers collaborated to create Akechi-centric fics! (I participated in this it was great!)

Akeshuake Rivalmance 2021 - A 2021 event focused on the akeshuake dynamic from a hurt/comfort perspective (or just general fluff)

Soft Joker Love Week 2021 - A 2021 event focused on Joker receiving love/affection. A lot of it is Akeshuake focused, but there are some other dynamics here!

ShuAke Week 2021 - A 2021 event for Shuake!

PROS: It’s easier to find new writers, if you’re not good at searching through tags/filtering out stuff on AO3 search (so like if you’re me, lol. i for one have used a fair chunk of fics from the akeshuake rivalmance on my rec list before)

CONS: Not every writer writes for fan events/have a fic suited for the event.

5. Read the fics of the authors that you like!

You can only really do this after you’ve read a few fics, but! If you like the way someone characterizes the dynamic, I highly suggest reading the author’s other works! Sometimes they have some hidden gems that may not necessarily have as much kudos. I remember doing this when I got into P5; I read a lot of SomewhereFlying’s fics (they’re wonderful!)

PROS: You can support an author’s writing and it’s super easy to find once you’ve read one of their fics!

CONS: You kind of have to find them in the first place and sometimes that’s hard. 😔

6. Find fics through people’s bookmarks or collections.

I don’t actually do much of this myself, but some users may bookmark their favorite fics, or add them to a collection together! In a way, this would be indirect word of mouth through the features on AO3′s site.

For Persona, here are some two collections that I’ve seen a lot on my favorite fics that you may be interested in:

Quality Persona Fics by Pegistar5 - I’ve seen this one a LOT. There’s 300 works in here and while I haven’t looked through it myself, it’s a good collection to reference!

Margiolds Discord Recs by Aikosai - This is the other one I’ve seen a lot, contains 100+ fics!

Similarly to search, you can apply filters for relationships/tags, etc.! But these are a specifically curated collection, that can be a lot easier to look through! Admittedly, I should make my own collection too, for the fics that I’ve recommended here. Eventually, lol. Maybe by next month.

PROS: Collections tend to be a smaller selection, and by extension, less intimidating for bigger fandoms.

CONS: Sometimes you can’t really find these that easily. But, if you read enough, you’ll start to see some collections pop up repeatedly, giving you more options!

7. Find fics through word of mouth.

This is my final recommendation, and by far, the way that I get a huge majority of my fics. No words can stress how IMPORTANT word of mouth is for helping people find fics (and it’s serotonin inducing if you’re the author!). There are so many ways this can manifest! I held off on recommending this straight off the bat, because I do think learning how to search on AO3 and notice commonly shared tags is important. Sometimes it can be difficult to find people recommending fics... and I get that! But in any case, here’s the ways I’ve experienced word of mouth sharing:

Artwork - Some people draw companion pieces or gifts to a favorite fic! Finding the artwork may be difficult, but I can tell you that those fics are generally worth it.

Discord - If you’re on a fandom discord, there might be a channel dedicated to fic recommendations, or sharing fanwork! Discord can be a great way of hearing about fics; I have a few fics that I’ve picked up because of people talking about them there. While I can’t necessarily disclose what Discord servers I’m in because they’re invite-only, if you can find a Discord, it’s a great resource! (Assuming that the environment is friendly, ofc)

Fandom Friends - If you have any friends from Twitter, Tumblr, Discord, or whatever you use for your fandom needs... You could always ask them if they have any they like! Some of my friends just naturally share fics in group DMs with me.

Tumblr - I’m not sure what the best way to find fics on Tumblr are (in terms of search) but if a blog has good tagging practices, you could definitely find some through them!

Twitter - People tend to retweet fics that they read on Twitter! I find that writers are generally good at uplifting other writers, in my experience! So if one of your favorite authors has Twitter, you could always see if they retweet fics on their account too.

Generally speaking for me, I find it easiest to decide there and then “I WILL READ THIS FIC!!!” if it is personally recommended to me, rather than searching it myself, haha. But that’s just me!

I hope this helped in some shape or form! I do realize that I’ve written a lot here, so if I ended up making it a bit worse by writing this huge text wall, I’m incredibly sorry! But I hope you can find fics and decide there and then that you want to read them.

And to anyone who enjoys reading fics- please! Support your authors if you can. Leave a comment on their fic, or find their original post for the fic on Twitter/Tumblr! I thoroughly believe that word of mouth is the best way to learn of fics outside of going through the kudos section. It’s an incredibly motivating thing too- both for the reader, and the author! Please help writers make their work circulate, not just on AO3, but on other social media as well 💗

#lizzy askbox #fic recs #OK ANON I AM SO SORRY i ended up writing 2k words about my thoughts on finding fic lmao #2k words = less than 10 minute read on average I PROMISE I GIVE THOUGHTS #if you asked me to give a straightforward answer and if i couldnt do it i would be given death penalty... yeah i would have mcdied #but also i wasn't sure if the ask was asking about finding fics to read or how to like. motivate urself to read fic #and those are two completely different things that are somewhat connected by the underlying factor of FicTM #so i decided. WHY NOT ANSWER BOTH. because i have thoughts on both of them. like a whole lot as u can see #anyways to all of you who enjoy reading fics... i do suggest supporting fic authors if you can!! it helps their work spread n stuff #i like making the monthly fic rec list for that reason since its personally important to me that fic does not exist in a vacumn #like yes ao3 search exists and it can be your best friend #no it does not change that it is sometimes very intimidating to see that shoe achey has like.. 6k fics lol #anw idk if ppl are gonna read the whole post (valid i talk too much) BUT LIKE at least look at the collection list #LIKE I PROMISE U if u want to find shoe achey fic i left some recs here. sorta #but YEAH have a nice day... having a ship with a lot of content is a struggle sometimes lol #ive found it a lot easier for me to read p3 fanfic than it is p5 fanfic just because there's a lot less haha #BUT anw i digress it seems i am legally forbidden to shut the Eff up.. in ryuji's words #have a nice day anon!! thank you for the ask and i sorry for yap your ear off

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sageblogsthings · 4 years

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Do you have any tips on how to write characters with scoliosis in a respectful/accurate way?

Thank you so much for asking! I smiled like an idiot when I saw this ask. :) Let me preface this by saying that scoliosis can vary a lot from person to person depending on the severity of curvature, location of curvature, treatment methods, etc. So I think that, as with anything really, getting a wide range of viewpoints and voices on the issue will make it easier to write! Honestly just scrolling through the scoliosis tag on tumblr will give you a good sense of what it’s like for some people too. With that being said, I’ll talk a bit about my experience, and how I wish that characters with scoliosis were portrayed. Just know that my answer is far from universal amongst those with scoliosis. Also, medical treatment where I live is pretty shitty so I may have some other undiagnosed stuff that I’m attributing to scoliosis who knows lol. And I’m still learning a lot about it myself! Ok, with that caveat out of the way, here we go!

I’m gonna put a tw here for discussions of scoliosis, chronic pain, anxiety, and depression

Also, for those who don’t wanna read about my experiences with scoliosis, if you scroll down there’s 13 tips on how to write characters with scoliosis (a lot of these tips apply to chronic pain in general tho). :)

To talk about my own experience a bit, I was first diagnosed with scoliosis when I was about 10 or so. When I was first diagnosed they told me it was minor and just to watch my posture. Scoliosis runs in my family but for most of my family members it’s pretty mild so I didn’t worry about it and went on my merry way. In hindsight, not the best way to deal with that but ah well.

Flash-forward to college. I had been having back pain and headaches for awhile, but I just figured it was studying for prolonged periods of time, carrying a heavy backpack frequently, and not watching my posture when I studied. I never connected it to scoliosis because I hadn’t had a check-up since that first diagnosis. Again, not the best idea but life happens.

I just finished my junior year in college, and I have had almost non-stop doctors appointments all year. It started after I had some sharp pain in my lower back, and got x-rays to see what was going on. Several doctors appointments and an ER visit later I find out that my scoliosis has gotten significantly worse, and that I have a fractured L5 as well. One thing I don’t see mentioned a lot with scoliosis is that it significantly weakens your spine (usually lower) because your weight distribution is thrown off. I had a job that involved some pretty heavy lifting, and voila fractured L5. 13/10 would not recommend btw.

My curvature (I can’t get consistent answers from doctors) is somewhere in the 20′s in my lumbar region and in the upper 20′s/lower 30′s in my thoracic region. At least with the neurosurgeons I’ve spoken to, they don’t consider you a candidate for surgery until the upper thirties or forties, unless you have significant neurophysiological symptoms. Treatment options vary widely depending on where you live, what you can afford, and what your doctor will give you a referral for, but most doctors will recommend physical therapy off the bat. To my knowledge, most doctors do not recommend bracing anymore, though I think in children that might be different (not so sure on that). So currently, I am waiting on an appointment with a pain management specialist and will go from there.

Even though the curvature in my spine is relatively minor, I still experience significant symptoms. Some of these symptoms include sciatica, pinched nerves in my arms, legs, and back, muscle spasms in my upper back and neck, swelling of my hands and feet, and numbness or pain in my hands and wrists. Also, because my spine curves more in the upper portion of my back, my left lung cannot expand as much as my right lung. This isn’t always a problem, but I get shortness of breath pretty easily, and any respiratory infections make it super hard to breathe properly (pneumonia sucks a butt). There’s also the obvious bit of scoliosis where I stand a little crooked. Another thing I think that not a lot of people know is that how “lopsided” you are can vary from day to day. This doesn’t mean that the curvature is changing day-to-day, but the muscles may be more relaxed or tightened on some days.

So that’s my experience pretty much (bless you if you read all that!). But, to show an example on the opposite end of the spectrum, my friend had (I think) a 30 degree curvature in the thoracic region and 50 degree curvature in the lumbar. He had immediate corrective surgery (I’m not sure exactly what kind) and now aside from the scar on his back and that he looks like a table when he bends over (his words lol i’m not being mean) you would never know. And even weirder, he had no significant symptoms before his surgery aside from occasional sciatica. So your symptoms don’t necessarily depend on the degree of curvature, where the curve is located has a lot to do with it. Typically, more curvature in the upper spine is more painful but that’s by no means always the case.

Ok, so how in the heck does this all apply to writing characters? I promise it does, I’m not just rambling (well, maybe haha).

13 Things to Consider When Writing Characters With Scoliosis:

Their symptoms may vary from day to day. This may mean that some days they can do activities like running or baseball, and other days they can barely type or walk without pain.

They may have no, mild, or severe symptoms, depending on the location and severity of curvature, and other factors.

What is medical care like where they live? Dealing with doctors, neurosurgeons, physical therapists, etc. is just a part of having scoliosis, and very often an incredibly draining aspect. This is especially true if you have anxiety or other factors that make going to the doctor even more unpleasant.

Were they misinformed about scoliosis? Unless you go to someone who specializes in scoliosis treatment, you’re probably gonna get inaccurate information about something. For example, I was told constantly as a kid to watch my posture. Yes, this can have an impact, but more and more research is showing that scoliosis in many cases is influenced more by hormones (especially in teenage years) than posture. There’s also more egregious examples of this, such as a neurosurgery PA who recently told me not to ever use CBD to alleviate pain because it’s a “gateway drug.” This is literally impossible. So for writing, this could translate into frustration or even anger for your character. But it could also make for some funny situations later! I wrote down everything that crazy PA told me and it still makes me laugh from time to time.

Don’t give them a back-breaking job. It will literally break their back lol. I’m not saying they can’t be active, but if someone is impacted by scoliosis on a daily basis they probably aren’t working as a professional wrestler. Or maybe they are, and your story is trying to explain how that works lol

What do they do to manage the pain (if they have it)? For me, the symptoms are typically inflammatory in nature so things like ice, heat, turmeric tea, and anti-inflammatory medications help relieve the symptoms. This is one of those things where getting other viewpoints is good though too!

Is their spine visibly crooked? If so, are they self-conscious about it? This varies a loooot, and may even vary with symptoms. For example, maybe some days when the pain isn’t bad they wear a cute dress that shows their shoulder-blades. But then when the pain is bad, they just want to look like a hobo. I say this from experience lol.

Have people treated them differently because of it (positively or negatively)? Some people may experience bullying if their scoliosis is more visible, especially as a child. They may also be treated differently by adults, who are trying to look out for them, but nevertheless it still makes them stand out from other kids.

Do they make jokes about it? For example, I can be found frequently saying “my spine said yeet!” or “straight spine? idk her” or my personal favorite “my spine is about as straight as I am.” Scoliosis sucks, but living with it you learn to find humor in it too.

Are they going to get surgery for it? I can’t speak on this part since I haven’t had surgery, but I would imagine that there is a psychological aspect to this that you would want to mention for your character, as well as any logistical aspects like finances, dealing with trash insurance companies, etc.

How does scoliosis impact their mental health? This is one of my pet peeves, and it’s entirely founded in a lack of resources and education, so I’m not aiming this at anyone specifically. But scoliosis does impact your mental health, especially if you have pre-existing conditions like anxiety or depression already. It can be incredibly depressing to want to do something as simple as going for a walk, but you’re in too much pain. It can also really impact anxiety. For example, when I found out about my curvature change in college I had one of the biggest anxiety attacks I’ve ever had. There is also the added issue of not being able to breathe properly at times, which can make a panic/anxiety attack much worse (in intensity or duration). Of course, mental health issues can also be exacerbated by the environment you’re in, so that is definitely something to consider for your character.

What was their diagnosis like? What factors impacted their ability to get a diagnosis? Lack of adequate medical care or having crappy insurance is a huge problem, and it makes it really hard or even impossible for some people to get a diagnosis. And for most neurosurgeons or specialized treatment facilities you have to have that diagnosis and referral for them to be able to do anything. There may also be aspects of your character’s home life that prevents them from getting a diagnosis. Do their parents think they’re faking it, or that they just need to sit up straight? Is your character trans, and/or wears baggy clothing? I’ve heard several stories of undiagnosed cases because of this, so it’s something to consider.

Ok, I think this is the last thing (huge huge thank you to anyone still reading this!!). But please, if you’re writing a character with scoliosis, or any chronic issue/disability for that matter, avoid the trope of you’re still beautiful to me/you’re beautiful anyways/I don’t see your disability. Some people might not get what I’m saying here, so let me explain a little. If you have a character with significant scoliosis, to the point it impacts their daily life, and they meet another character (potential friend, love interest, whatever) and this new person grows to love them in spite of their scoliosis/disability, that is a huge red flag. It implies that they are seeing them through a lens of not having the disability, and they love that version of your character. But that is not your character in reality, because your character in reality has a very real disability. In general, just try to avoid the “I don’t see __,” in writing and real life. That could be applied to a disability, or the character’s race, sexuality, etc. In all cases, it dismisses a fundamental part of who that character is, and what experiences have shaped them into who they are. If your character has scoliosis and it has shaped who they are, it is important for other characters to recognize that as well, otherwise they aren’t really seeing that character in their “full glory,” if that makes sense. I’m rambling a bit at this point and I’m sure there’s other posts that make this point better than I have, but the takeaway is just please don’t write scoliosis as “you’re beautiful anyways.” Scoliosis or no scoliosis, it’s just “you’re beautiful.” Full stop. But part of how your character may come to recognize that beauty within themselves, or how others see it within them, may be influenced by their experiences with scoliosis.

Phew, I did not expect that to get so long but it’s a topic I’m passionate about and I haven’t seen information on scoliosis geared towards writers before, so hopefully this will help! Again, a lot of this is based on my own experiences so please do not take any of this as a universal guide to scoliosis, it definitely isn’t. And if I’ve said anything that people disagree with (or even agree with!) or have questions about, I am always open to polite discourse and discussion. :)

I hope that this answered your question some, and if not feel free to let me know! Thank you so much for asking this!

#ask #scoliosis #writing characters with scoliosis #kit chats #am i oversharing? probably #am i gonna share this anyways? yes #chronic pain #writeblr #representation #kit answers

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300iqprower · 3 years

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I found the Schindler’s List of video games. No I’m not joking.

Okay kinda, look i wrote a mini thesis when i found out TLOU2 deadass won GOTY, which is absolutely hilarious cause it’s beyond even my expectation, I didn’t expect them to give it the full RDR2 treatment, btw I picked a very good year to wizen up to the fact TGA is basically a circlejerk and the popular vote has no influience on the outcome [[So apparently its Golden Joystick which actually is people voted. “Gamers” really are just the definition of “Fuck you, Got Mine” and I hope everyone who voted for Naughty Dog under any circumstance has to work retail crunch until they learn empathy.]] BUT ANYWAYS I genuinely wrote the following out of interest, not anger. In fact I cant wait for all the people to explode because they still dont realize the game awards are a sham. this is ALL off the cuff, be warned, cause I basically rambled to friend about having stumbled onto a thesis prompt, I cut out the first half of it for that reason so here goes:

So then.

this entire thing?

It proves that "critics" don't actually want video games to be video games. They don't want video games to be art either. They just want video games to be movies

Writing is not a universal constant, because every medium tells stories in different ways

Do you judge the writing of a book the way you judge the writing of a movie? Does the fact a book wont have voice actors or background music make it movies but worse? of course not

so why do people keep acting like that's how it works for video games?

A video game will never, NEVER be able to be as well written as a high tier film, not in terms of pure standalone writing. The same way a movie will never be as well written as a book in terms of pure standalone writing.

Undertale is probably the best written game ever made. the writing isn't remotely as good as a B grade movie

because in a movie writing and acting are how you tell the story. That's its strength

Video games have a different. fucking. strength: GAMEPLAY

When you think of "art" in video games, what comes to mind?

Maybe Shadow of the Colossus? Undertale? Braid? Journey? These all work.

And ya know what they have in common?

They are not "cinematic" and they are not "masterpieces of writing and acting”

in fact of those 4 games, 3 don't actually have dialogue unless you seriously count those messages from Dormin

You know what they all have in common though?

They don't use writing to convey their story, messages, themes, etc. They use gameplay

Movies treat videogame qualities to be detrimental in a film. people attribute this to contempt. It isn't those people who say a movie being like a video game is bad? they are absolutely right.

And in that Exact. Same. Vein. VIdeo games shouldn’t be actively trying to be like movies

not if they want to be anything more than a B movie

Let’s just start with several examples of different ways video games create “artistic” narrative and experiences:

Shadow of the Colossus tells its story by having you realize that your actions as the player have unleashed a terrible evil. Braid sets its time travel gameplay mechanic in reverse at the end for its big story reveal. Journey has zero dialogue and through the way you traverse environments alone tells a grand epic. Undertale applies the idea of metanarrative to video games in a way unlike any other, something plenty of movies have done but no movie has ever been able to do to an even remote degree that Undertale did, because unlike a film the audience has direct input. Does that make metanarrative films like Fight Club, Inception, or far more historically famous than, either, a “Citizen Kane” type film if you’re gonna bring that stupid notion out, Sunset Boulevard, does that make it bad metanarrative? NO. IT MEANS ITS A DIFFERENT VERSION OF THAT STYLE.

Bastion is dialogue heavy, with constant narration, so is stanley parable, but both games have that narration dictated by the player's action. In a movie narration can only dictate predetermined action, even if that means unreliable narration or outright lying in the narration, that won't change the fact what it describes is predetermined because it's a movie. In a game, it could be different every single time.

There are far more examples of artistic games that are art specifically because they arent trying to be art in the same sense as a movie

Papers Please for example

THAT could genuinely be equivalent to Schindler's List

Because you are deciding who lives and dies, you TECHNICALLY aren't, but you know what happens to the people you deny. You know exactly what will happen to them.(edited)

so do you let them in even if it's not legal, deducting your own pay and making it that much more likely you can't afford food or heat that night for your family? or do you send them knowingly to the gulag?

In a film that already is a powerful message and like I said it genuinely isnt that far off from schindler's list. As a movie done right, papers please could be a harrowing story about those kinds of things. But it wouldn't be any better, nor would it likely be told in a way remotely similar to how you experience games.

because again: they. are. different. mediums.

That's what it means to have different mediums, you can tell the same story in completely different ways to elicit different, equally meaningful responses

In schindler's list what makes it harrowing is that its a man who was on his way to wealth who is sacrificing that wealth and his own safety to save the lives of innocents being persecuted

the emotional response is from seeing how Oskar Schindler deals with the situation he's ended up in and whether he has the resolve to save those people or if he would sell them out to secure his own prospects

In Paper's Please it's not even close to the same

You have no idea how grand scale the things going on are, you only have bits of info to piece together with the only context given being you are a border patrol guard who will serve your authoritarian "country"

There's a game called Not Tonight that has the same gameplay but gets these details wrong

it makes the resistance obviously the good guys, there's little to no penalty to helping them over the state.

in that aspect its MORE like Schindler's list because obviously the nazis are the bad guys

so why isn't the comparison Not Tonight and Schindler's List?

because the idea of a straightforward story where you know sheltering them is good and its bad to sell them out is part of film storytelling, where you are an onlooker

In Papers Please the way you're torn between what to do and who is worth saving and who isn't, whether you should back resistance or serve the state? That struggle you as the player feel is the struggle Schindler's List puts on screen for you to OBSERVE, not to be a part of.

Not Tonight in terms of its story and writing is more similar to Schindler's list. And that's why it's explicitly less artistic than Paper's Please. *Because if you make a game more similar to a movie, you lose the strengths of the medium of games without actually gaining the strengths of the medium of film.*

#tga #the last of us #tlou2 #video games #schindler's list #not a shitpost #for once #I just felt that it'd be a waste to not put this SOMEWHERE on the internet #papers please #golden joystick awards #fuck gamers #Naughty Dog #should burn in hell

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red-dia · 4 years

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hi! i've always loved your hnk panel redraws and recently i've been so inspired by them that i've tried my hand at coloring some panels too! if you don't mind me asking, do you have any tips?

oh i certainly do! some of these are a bit generic/art related but they’re definitely useful in this case too. I’m adding a read more because unfortunately it got a bit long but here you go:

1) Get to know your tools!

Since you weren’t very specific, I’ll assume you aren’t too familiar with art softwares (and if you are, you can just skip that part it’s not That deep). I’ll start with the basics; I know this is obvious, but please bear with me, because understanding how your program works WILL make you a lot more efficient.Here are quick descriptions of some features I think are very useful - I use Clip Studio Paint, but I believe most programs have equivalents. If you don’t know them, please experiment with them, they’ll come in handy!

- Locking transparency :

Locking the transparency of a layer means only the parts where something is already drawn can be modified. Basically, you can recolour something that already exists in a rather precise way.

This is very useful for gradients, which I’ll talk about a bit later.

- Clipping layers :

This gives the same result as locking a layer then drawing over it, but the difference is that you use more than 1 layer ; one as the bottom layer, defining the part of the canvas you can draw on, and the others, clipped on top, where you’ll draw. This can be more practical than locking transparency, because if you have a lot of details to add, doing everything on a single layer may make things more difficult.

I use this a lot when I shade, but just like gradients, I’ll bring that up later.

- Layer settings :

These options change the way the colours on a layer blend with the colours below. As an example, addglow is pretty good for colouring very bright light sources or for adding highlights on gems :

Basically, using those isn’t a necessity, but they’re still pretty useful so I’d recommend experimenting with them whenever you feel like it!

- Magic Wand :

Not the most complicated to use, but damn it’s really useful. It allows you to make selections based on the colours you’re targeting, so basically, if you need to colour an entire area a certain colour, you can just select it from the original panel, go on the layer where you’re colouring, and colour nothing but the part you selected. That’s about it!

There are lots of others, but these are the main ones you need to know about when you’re getting started.

2) Colouring stuff

This is where it gets interesting! I guess! I’m not too good at just coming up with these kind of tips, so I’ll illustrate with some colouring, hopefully it’ll help you out?

I usually colour in 5 parts : 1) Preparing the panel(s), 2) Applying flat colours, 3) Adding gradients, 4) Adding shading, 5) Finalising with details.

I always prepare pages in the same way: first, I use the magic wand to select everything i do NOT want to colour ; the frames around the panels, the speech bubbles, the sfx, etc. Once they’re selected, I copy them, and paste them on a new layer. Then, I select the original layer, and turn it transparent so I can colour below while still keeping the lines. To do that, I go in Menu > Edit > Change brightness to opacity (in CSP at least, it depends on your program tho but most of them support this, I think!).

I end up with something like this :

Two layers, one on the bottom with the semi-transparent page, and another on top, with everything that I don’t plan on touching. On the page on the right, you can get an idea of what it looks like when you add a layer below these 2 and draw on it.

Now that I’m done with the panel, I can start adding some (flat) colours.

I think it’s a good idea to start with the background, because it’ll help you figure out the feeling you want to give the panel.

The airbrush is a pretty good tool for gradients btw, just make sure you use a brush that is big enough so the transition in colours looks natural.

Next, I add a new layer, and colour the shape of the characters (and here the vessel as well), so it stands out from the background. It’ll make colouring less complicated, since the lines will be clearer.

As you can see, I was kind of confident, so I directly added a gradient. The bottom of the panel is a bit “darker”, because I wanted the main light source to be the reflect on Phos’….. head thing?

Here’s something kind of important about your choice of colours : if you’re colouring an area that is already shaded in the original panel, I would recommend taking a colour that is more saturated than it should, or else the colour may end up looking dull because the original shading will make it darker.

Next, I do more flat colours. Nothing too fancy, and pretty much everything is on different layers. The clothes are left uncoloured because the background colour already fits, so it’s okay honestly

Then, I added some gradients using clip layers :

As a reference, I used some overlay layers for Dia’s hair, and some addglow layers for Phos’ alloy.

I mean it when I say gradients are important! They make your colouring feel more complete even when they’re barely visible. quickly coloured bortz for reference, assuming tumblr won’t compress the colours too much:

the bastard on the left has nothing but flat colours. They’re nice, but when you’ll have shaded everything, chances are it’ll look kind of …. i dunno, like something is missing? So yeah, gradients : good, though i would recommend you keep them in the same tone as the base colour. I’ll talk about this a bit more later if i don’t forget.

Ok! next:

I felt like golden colours weren’t quite fitting the mood, so i added a layer with blue on top of it to make it colder. It’s at 40% transparency, so you can still see the colours behind well enough. Some parts were slightly erased because i liked the idea of these parts being lighter (you can see it a little bit around phos’ neck, or above dia’s knees : these parts are yellower than the rest of the pic)

I added some shading! Nothing too fancy. also not to sound like some gradient-freak but you can add some of those in shading as well, it’s usually a nice touch.

After than, I added some lightings, which are on a layer clipped on the original manga panel (so basically only the black parts of the original image changed colours, and the colouring work I did on the layers below wasn’t really affected, if that makes sense?)

The red lighting is the obvious one (it’s an airbrush, and i used an eraser to clear the part near Phos’ head so it looks like it’s coming from above/behind them and not from themself).

There is another lighting at the bottom, which is grey/blueish, to contrast with the warm colours on the top of the pic. it also kind of looks like smoke but yeah

Now the panel is mostly done, and I’m starting the “details” part.

Something I find really bothersome in the manga is the *original* shading : while it’s always really good, colouring under it will leave some grid of pixels on top of your colours, so to counter that i just colour on top of the grid by colour picking and painting on a layer above the manga layer.

It’s a bit tedious but it has a texture that makes it look like a painting. The downside is that the colours can be altered since you’re colourpicking from something with an irregular pattern, but it can end up making your panel look less boring, honestly, it just depends on what you’re aiming for!

I end up with something like that :

And then it’s just. Whatever man. I added a black border and some highlights, sparkles, etc, it’s the kind of things you do when you’re basically done.

For the technical aspect, I’m not sure I have a lot more to add. If you want some advices for picking colours, tho…

3) General colour stuff :

These are just recommendations! Licherally these are mental notes i came up with ever since i’ve started colouring, so they’re kind of personal and if you don’t follow them you’ll be fine, i suppose. But so far they’ve been useful to me so consider them whenever you’ll be colouring something:

- Do not use pure white! Unless it’s for something CLEARLY meant to stand out, such as the frame of your pages, a speech bubble, sparkles, or a light source/something very shiny. If you’re just colouring something that is not meant to draw attention, use some other shade of white, but not the #ffffff one if you see what i mean?

- Same about pure black, to be honest.

The shades circled in red tend to look “emptier” than the ones circled in green (here the hue of the colour is yellow but it works with most colours). It doesn’t mean you can’t use it, just, use it sparingly or it may make things look dull I think? I would recommend trying a few shades before taking a decision.

- Sometimes adding highlights where the shading starts can make the transition look smoother:

- Even if a panel is already shaded in the original page, I would recommend shading it again, because the manga shading is a black shading and shading a coloured drawing with black usually doesn’t look that good. (hence why i said something about using saturated colours in shading earlier).

- Even if a panel isn’t shaded in the original page, consider shading it anyways, even if it’s just a very light shading. It’s worth it :o)

I’m running out of things to say oh well

#i didnt mean to write so much. it just happened i hope it's not a pain to read #also i hope it was clear but if it wasnt. (points @ my inbox)#whenever people tell me theyre getting into panel colouring i go... [powercry emoji]... its really fun and honestly i dont see that many #ppl into it so i get really enthusiastic ? thats it #personal #asks

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