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trickstarbrave · 6 months

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i saw some people bitching on tiktok about art/commission prices again and i feel like ranting

idk why someone got it in their heads all artists are upper class rich folk trying to scam you out of something that isn't hard at all for us to make. art takes time and energy--time and energy we could literally spend doing ANYTHING else. we could be spending time with our loved ones, working a regular job with reliable pay and better benefits, or even just making art WE want to see. most of us are working class or poor.

"but you could charge less and get more customers" who the hell wants to work more for less pay. genuinely. would you rather work 90 hours for 10 bucks an hour or 40 hours for 35 bucks an hour? like get real. past a certain point of popularity you will be literally unable to keep up with commissions bc you cannot physically make them fast enough and stay healthy so higher prices mean you can dedicate more time to people who want it more

"well your art isnt even GOOD" if someone's art isnt your taste or technically worth it to you then dont buy it. to really get good at commissions you do have to build an audience and if they havent then they'll figure out they need to improve or network/promote more. you bitching about it isnt helping them figure it out any faster, and you bitching to artists who DO reliably get commissions at that price makes you look like a whiny brat

"but you COULD charge less and still survive. that means youre scamming people" listen i know you are used to be catered to by large corporations who can use literal slave labor to make things dirt fucking cheap but ethical labor costs more. we are not large corporations with big art machines shitting out subpar garbage you can buy off the rack. you are asking for handmade, customized things from someone in a place with a higher cost of living. we cannot and will not bend over backwards to appeal to the lowest common denominator. see above: we have better things to be doing with our time and this shit costs time and labor to produce. if you dont want a handmade custom art piece or dress or jewelry consider buying from shein then you cheapskate and get out of this market.

because, see above: we have better things to be doing. you are the one asking me to spend my free time making you something because you want it supposedly. i could instead be making things i like. i have the luxury too where if i dont wanna do something i dont have to. i dont have to pick up extra work for you. other artists can find other customers that arent you. if YOU want something you should make it worth the artists wild. no i dont wanna do a full custom painting for you for 40 dollars. i would barely get out of bed for 40 dollars. if i told you to clean my whole house for 10 dollars and deep clean it you would probably tell me im insane and you're not gonna do all that work for 10 god damn dollars. 10 dollars wont even pay for the cleaning supplies.

i dont take commissions anymore specifically bc i kept getting burnt out. i felt i had to make it cheaper to get more when in reality all it did was make more work with little reward. i didnt feel happy making art anymore. it became a chore, and i didnt wanna make anything for myself after i spent hours and hours making other stuff for other ppl. im lucky enough now to have a corporate job with more free time so i can get paid enough to survive and still make art. if i ever decided to again i would probably price it rly high bc tbh. if you want me to make you a custom piece i dont rly wanna draw you had better make it worth the soul crushing work that is turning a passion of mine into a profit.

and lastily with the "you could charge less and still survive" artists deserve to not only survive but thrive. artists deserve free time to make what they enjoy and have other hobbies. artists deserve to not have to work overtime to have stuff in savings. you do too in fact as a non-artist, but attacking artists for wanting that and trying to make it a reality that they get paid not just a survival wage but a FAIR wage is not actually helping anyone.

#no one here btw this is mostly tiktok again #i see this on clothes and jewelry and dice and art #its ANNOYING

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cozymochi · 1 year

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1, 12, 4, and 7 for the artist asks!

Love the avant-garde non-chronological storytelling this employs

1. What canon character(s) do you love to draw the most? (And why?)

As of NOW, it’s changed considerably. Tbh I think I’m still finding out who is the favorite to actually draw vs. a character I just happen to draw a lot. …So on that end i’m gonna refer to old but gold, Yamcha MIGHT still be my top favorite to actually draw. It’s just been a hot minute. His design means the world to me. Even if in toriyama-land he’s default generic pretty man. with scaaaarssss. AIN’T NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT IN MY HOUSE!!!

12. Which OC do you love to draw the most? (And why?)

I have a new favorite now starting back in April. WHOMST? she’s hasn’t been introduced yet. At least not formally up here? I like drawing her because (and im gonna sound so,,,), anyway after all the bs irl from then to now, she’s now my comfort character. Im obsessed with indulgent scenarios mkay. Though she has cameo’d twice so far publicly. But she’s inevitable just gimme a hot minute to stop being cryptic for no reason , here’s important stuff

4. What type of colors do you like using in your art? (And why?)

I’M FINDING MYSELF USING A LOT MORE BLUES AND GREENS NOW and anything in that group.

7. Any funky lil art tips? ((WARNING I START LOSING IT ))

Not unless something is asked in specific and caters to a specific persons needs. TIP: there’s no ONE way to approach anything. Like!! If that video tutorial someone pedantically linked in a discord channel isn’t helping you then!! It’S FINE TO try something else! Or if google searching isn’t teaching you then ask someone else! …but plz be cooperative about it and open to listen, i know i just said there’s no “one way” to do something (and there isn’t, these arent contradicting statements) but the amount of times i’ve seen art advice fall on deaf ears because the asker just was not cooperative despite inciting kills me.

Also plz learn fundamentals i know they are tedious, boring, and seemingly useless (aND ARE THEY EVER so not-fun to learn, take from someone who had to start at the beginning every new class for a D E C A D E), buT it COMES BACK SO OFTEN and is more universal than people assume. Then hey, maybe that tiktok “art shortcut” will finally make sense or be a little easier to grasp. Yeah shortcuts are cool n all but that shortcut was made by someone who considers all this “second-nature” and has like, years of foundations under their belt to MAKE that sorta thing 😭

actually now that i think about it all this is like the equivalent of ppl buying those old “how to draw whatever” books back in middle school but instead of reading the material, people just looked at the pictures and skipped to idk tracing the final results. Meme the chris hart books all you want (there’s a lot to lol at, especially in a modern lens) but those foundational portions early on in those text blocks aRE sAying universal things!! IT ISNT GONNA CONDUCT A MIRACLE OR ANYTHING buT THE KNOWLEDGE DOES HELP A LOT AAAAaa reading!!

I JUST AAAAA

i literally trailed off im so fuckib sorry i have a 7 hour shift in an hour and dont wanna leave my bed

#cozy ask

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mylove-iv · 1 month

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⠀ ₍🕊₎ ..⃗. ꒰ colonnade, rules ꒱

⠀ ꒰🖇꒱ general notes. ༊*·˚

ೀ blank/ageless blocks and spam likers will be blocked ࣪ ˖

ೀ this blog is 18+ only (features nsfw) and interacts with dark content as it also is not spoiler free. all fics will be tagged accordingly ࣪ ˖

ೀ please understand that english is not my first language so grammatical and syntax errors are bound to happen ࣪ ˖

ೀ i'm pretty busy so i only occasionally open up tumblr once in a while so responses to letters are somewhat delayed ࣪ ˖

⠀ ꒰🖇꒱ about my writing. ༊*·˚

ೀ i do write nsfw and dark content ࣪ ˖

ೀ characters written for are always aged up ࣪ ˖

ೀ this is not a request blog! i merely write for my own enjoyment (mainly to feed my delusions tbh) and therefore post pretty inconsistently, so please don't over step but ideas are always welcome in my letter box ࣪ ˖

ೀ i only write for fem!reader because that is what i'm most comfortable with and is more relatable to me in terms of experience as i am a heterosexual woman myself ࣪ ˖

ೀ i do occasionally write gender neutral (gn) reader but those labeled with a gn!reader will always been written with a fem!reader in mind and is stated in the 'reader specifications' ࣪ ˖

ೀ i try to be inclusive with my writing but some aspects of what i've written that details skin color, hair, and other body features may not correlate with yours so therefore, my writing isn't as inclusive. if you have any issues with this, kindly drop my fic, get off my blog and find another fic to cater to your preferences ࣪ ˖

⠀ ꒰🖇꒱ important notes. ༊*·˚

ೀ do not interact if you're: racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. ࣪ ˖

ೀ i also do not tolerate hate speech, racist, gender, and political discourse on this blog. my blog is a safe space and i will continue to maintain it that way ࣪ ˖

ೀ do not trauma dump in my asks (letter box) or pm/dm (personal/direct message) ࣪ ˖

ೀ do not submit ideas that you've sent/are planning to other blogs in the letter box as i don't want any misunderstandings with other blogs ࣪ ˖

ೀ do not recommend any of my works and my blog to any other platforms (especially social media, ie. tiktok, instagram, twitter, etc.) ࣪ ˖

ೀ do not feed my fics to ai to get an ending you want because you thought that the ending i chose for my very own fic is unfulfilling ࣪ ˖

. ˚◞✩ ⃗ now that you've gotten acquainted with my rules, come my love, to the rotunda of fine arts ༉‧₊˚

#𝐢𝐯'𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬.⋆｡☾*:˚

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wandapinkay · 3 months

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(same anon as before)

AHHHHH I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO COMPLIMENT YOUR ART OMG!! it was actually the first thing that drew me to your blog, you are so talented!!! i’ve been learning to draw myself lately and your daru art really inspired me to draw more art that caters specifically to me, you make him look so handsome (//u_u//)

and daru in the jojo costume had me rolling LMAO why does he look so good in it?? stan a man with good taste!

those headcanons were so cute too, the moe moe kyun scene (and by extent daru’s entire sideplot to win yuki’s heart) was one of my favorite parts of zero and truly a perfect confession so why try to change perfection?

i wish you two all the best in your relationship (⁎⁍̴̛ ₃ ⁍̴̛⁎)!!

AAA THANK YOU SO MUCHHH!! 😭💕 I wish I had the proper words rn to properly be grateful but I'm just GDDGSFGH /pos Everytime I hear about people who are genuinely inspired by my work, I just get incredibly sappy because it feels surreal in a way 🥹 I'm so so happy I motivated you enough to try doing something like that for yourself! Especially if it's something that involves the hacker boy of all characters aaa / u \ It means so much the way I draw him caters to you btw, I am flattered

ALSO I KNOWWW he looks great in every outfit he wears! I could talk here for days about the many outfits that were canonically worn by him in the anime or even in spinoff media since he has a very vast wardrobe apparently! And tbh I'm all for it..

Very happy you enjoyed the headcanons too! And that sideplot in 0 was my favorite as well: for someone like me, it felt like immense fanservice because I was squealing the whole time AAA I could have come up with other scenarios but that one seemed the most accurate since it was already established I guess fhfhg Thank you so so much still for the sweet asks!! We both appreciate your wishes 🥺💕

#wandapinkay's ask #wanda's replies #wanda's selfships #super hacking my heart 💻 💖#daru #itaru hashida #steins;gate #anime #anime f/o #selfship #selfshipping #selfshipping community

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bigskydreaming · 4 years

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Is it true that gymnasts can't work much when they're 30+ ? Is it like an Olympic gymnast thing or just stuntwork in general? I saw some people concerned over Dick's back causing him problems as he gets older. But then a lot of martial art guys like Donny Yen, Jet Lee are still pretty flexible aren't they?

I see this a lot in fandom too, anon, and as often happens, lol, I myself cater to the ‘fandom’s got it backwards’ take.

Fandom specifically focuses on Dick’s body giving out early on in life compared to the rest, due to acrobatics being ‘his niche’ but in reality - or as close to it as we can come in a universe that tbh really demands suspension of disbelief over the fact that any and all of the Batfam take as much punishment as they endure.....

Thing is, Dick is actually one of the family most likely to have the LONGEST longevity of physical fitness.

This is because fandom keeps correlating Dick’s niche as gymnastics, rather than what it IS - acrobatics.

Yes, gymnastics is typically considered a ‘young person’s game.’

ON AVERAGE.

But, something to keep in mind, is that there are different TYPES of gymnastics. There’s competitive artistic gymnastics, but also rhythmic gymnastics, aerobic gymnastics, and a few others. Olympics gymnasts are primarily competitive artistic gymnastics, but even there, there are specializations so to speak. All Olympic gymnasts are usually cross-trained on the various events/categories, but the teams overall put up their best gymnasts in each category to compete in that category when possible....because for the most part, someone who excels at say, floor routines, is not going to be the most optimal choice to do the high bars or the vault. That’s because floor routines emphasize more rhythmic gymnastics, whereas something like the vault is more in the arena of a power gymnast.

And these different areas of focus put different kinds of strains on the body.

So yes, while its true that a lot of gymnasts retire early and the Olympic teams as a whole tend to see their gymnasts exiting the game by 30 at the latest......the latter is because those gymnasts are expected to be at least capable and at elite levels in ALL events, so they can compete as needed for the overall team....BUT, in the case of the former, the gymnasts that retire early completely.....those are almost universally the power gymnasts, the ones who specialize and emphasize in the hard-hitting events like the vault, the beam, the uneven bars, etc.

I say hard-hitting, because I literally mean hard-hitting.

Because these are the high impact events. The ones that see a gymnast land with the full weight and impact of their body on their feet at the end of a successful (and exponentially force-multiplying) flip, handspring, dismount, etc.

That kind of impact puts TREMENDOUS strain on your joints....and that, specifically, is what leads to a lot of early retirements, and a lot of early wear and tear on the body. That’s the kind of punishment that the body can only withstand at elite levels for so long.

But that’s not the only kind of gymnastics, and its definitely not the thing that Dick’s known for specifically - that’s acrobatics. And while there’s similarities and crossover, that’s another ballgame entirely.

In fact, where the similarities and crossover tend to happen is in the areas of rhythmic gymastics, aerobic gymnastics.....the kind of things that you see in events like floor routines, the rings, the parallel bars, the pommel horse.

Those gymnasts, the ones who specialize primarily in those areas of focus......they tend to retire from the OLYMPICS around the same time as the others, because again, everyone on those teams needs to be on the top of their games and CAPABLE of being pitted against the power gymnasts of other teams on events like the vault if they need to fill in in a pinch.....BUT they don’t often retire at age 30 overall.

You wanna know where a lot of them end up going after that?

Cirque de Soleil.

Dead serious, I shit you not.....a ton of elite level gymnasts after leaving gymnastics end up....essentially running away to the circus, lol. A full third of Cirque de Soleil’s performers ARE former professional gymnasts.

And a lot of them end up....acrobats.

Because after all, there is a lot of crossover in the two, in terms of feats.....but the difference, the thing that lends acrobats more longevity than most power gymnasts and the like.....is the latter endure most of the abuse to their bodies and joints....when their bodies hit the ground at the end of their feats.

Acrobats, in contrast.....are kinda focused on.....not being on the ground.

A lot of the same wear and tear simply doesn’t happen on their bodies, and allows them to perform much further into life....because there’s simply less strain in the types of aerial feats acrobatics focus on, while suspended high up off the ground.

And we see this reflected in the Batfam and their various styles of fighting and focus, which is why I say despite people focusing on Dick’s body giving out soonest, as the quote unquote athlete of the family -

(Which tbh, I kinda...eh, about, because it feels often like one of those things where people NAME him ‘the athlete of the family’ just to give him his niche without having to acknowledge him as being the equal of any of the ‘brainy ones’ in that regard like Tim or Babs or Bruce, etc.....but honestly, when was the last time you saw any significant focus put on Dick being able to do something physically that the other members of his family COULDN’T do, because they’re not ‘the athlete’? Y’know what I mean? Like, there’s a lot of MENTION of how he’s the most athletic or acrobatic or all of that.....but that never seems to hold any of the others back from doing any of the equivalent physical feats one is inclined to write them doing, or allowing them to be written as sizably less skilled as fighters in any meaningful way. So focusing on Dick as being the most specifically physically minded and oriented of the family feels a bit performative, tbh, and that puts the focus on his body being specifically vulnerable to wear and tear, moreso than the others a bit.....suspect imo. BUT I DIGRESS).

My point is, regardless of that, my take is the focus on Dick’s body giving out soonest is ironically just....completely backwards. Because actually compare his form of physicality to some of the others, and you see what I’m saying:

Bruce and Jason for instance - they’re perfectly capable of high-level gymnastic feats when necessary, but their overall approach to flips and jumps and grappling swinging and the like is to use it as a means to an end. Its always in service to getting them ON THE GROUND as quickly and efficiently as possible....where they can use their brute strength and mass and physicality to its most effectiveness, wading in to brawl hand to hand with combatants anywhere possible (excepting of course when Jason is using guns from a distance, or Bruce his Batarangs, but you get what I mean in terms of overall styles).

But THAT kind of thing....is far more the realm of the power gymnast. The kind of high impact landings and force-multiplying jumps and flips meant to just....cut straight to it. Hone in like a heat-seeking missile. Deliver the full force of them as quickly and efficiently as possible.

In contrast....Dick’s style is entirely different, and hails directly from his origins and his strengths as an acrobat. He’s NOTED for basically spending as much time IN THE AIR during a fight as possible. He soars above when possible, rather than engage up front and hand to hand. He’s more likely to leap over criminals’ heads, kicking out and navigating upwards on his way to ‘tag’ the next one in any manner he can....dodging in and out, using confusion, weaponizing evasive maneuvers, getting his opponents to get tangled up in each other’s way...that’s HIS style.

Dick deliberately keeps himself at a distance as long as possible, not out of fear but out of basic awareness of his own strengths and weaknesses and his instinctive (due to being a born and raised athlete every bit as much as Damian and Cass are born and raised fighters) drive to look after his own body and keep it maintained and honed and efficient for as long as he can - something that I don’t doubt was drilled into him by his acrobats-as-their-livelihood-family from the very first moment they began training him.

The less he HAS to engage hand to hand, the less he HAS to land feet flat on the ground after a flip rather than using the balls of his feet to simply spring off even further and then transition into firing his grappling hook mid-air, the less he HAS to block a strike with the side of his forearm or strike someone fist to face rather than block with an escrima stick and strike with the other.....

The longer Dick’s body stays in strong enough condition to remain his most effective weapon.

And that’s not something everyone in his family can claim, or even point to as a priority of any kind.

Which is why I maintain that focusing on Dick’s body giving out young is not only a bit....eh....given they all perform equivalent levels of physicality in their vigilantism day in and day out.....its also, IMO, focusing on the wrong family members entirely.

(Overall, personally I’d rate Dick, Tim and Cass the ones most likely to retain their physical fitness the longest based on their respective styles and how they’re typically depicted in fight scenes).

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chubsonthemoon · 3 years

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tagged by @storybookprincess!! (thank you!!) here are some of my fave fics I’ve written! tbh this was kinda difficult; I am very aware that nothing I write is neither perfect nor very polished (it wouldn’t be even remotely fun for me if I tried to do that), but mostly everything I’ve written I’ve written for the sole audience members of me myself and I (and also sometimes a friend :3), so these are some of my more recent faves. under a cut because this got kinda long, whoopsie!

tagging! @superish, @dodici12, and @owletstarlet! <3

Letters from Heaven: haikyuu!!, kagehina, 60k

this fic was written for last year’s kghn big bang and it was so fun! It’s the longest thing I’ve written yet, and boy oh boy it was such a challenge to juggle a bunch of different things that I hadn’t done on this kind of scale before, like longer character arcs and, especially given that this is a violet evergarden AU, describing things in a way that fits with kyoani’s style and VibeTM. My last longer fic, thy kingdom come, was about half this length and almost made the list simply because of how bonkers it was (like I hadn’t written at all that year and suddenly signed up for a big bang and then had to take a month long break in the middle because of school stuff, and then boom I ended up writing the latter half of it a few days before the deadline LOL), but anyway. It’s not perfect (nothing is!) but it’s chock full of recurring metaphors and long-winded descriptions about the sky and pining out the wazoo (basically: all wildly self-indulgent things catered to me and me alone) and I love it all the same. (also bajillion thanks to janine for this one heh she is to blame for most of my kghn madness)

over the edge (of all our knowings): hunter x hunter, killugon, 13k

okay this one almost went to my other killugon fic again bc everything I write is so self-indulgent but!! this fic is probably one of the few fics that I set out to write very intentionally? that sounds weird, hmm how to explain. I tend to write fic mostly to let out Emotions but tbh it’s so much easier and way more fun for me to do that through reading other people’s works--less work for me to read abt my faves than to write them, after all! so most of what’s on my profile before this fic is exactly that: I sat down at like one in the morning with my notebook and fever-dream scribbled out a oneshot that I spent maybe the next two or three days typing up, reading over once, and then yeeting it up onto the archive. but not with this fic! I had already written my Vent fic for the boys in question, but my goals with this fic were more deliberately geared towards examining and changing up my approach to writing: 1) I really wanted to explore gon after the world tree and what his healing might look like, but gon is Really Hard for me to write (the boy is so!! ARGHSLKDFJ). So: deeply inhabiting unfamiliar character pov practice. Asking myself, after every single line of dialogue and event and inner monologue, how this character would react and why. How will this impact their next action? How will it impact their relationship with this other character? How about this? and this? and so on and so forth 2) I wanted to find a balance with my metaphors on both a sentence by sentence and an overarching basis (I tend to just go for the first--I can’t help it I love purple-y prose jslkdfj). 3) Time!! I also went a lot slower with this one. Every night for over a month, writing a little bit at a time in my notebook. And I found that going slower...is actually really nice? Takes a lot of the stress away. tldr; this fic was basically one long exercise in me examining my writing (also ngl my creative writing professor’s feedback on my work for class really kickstarted this LOL) and boy oh boy was it satisfying to see it posted when I finished. I learned a lot! Also I got some of the kindest comments that made me tear up, which was so wonderful. god this got long okay moving on.

your heart, bright heart: natsume yuujinchou, tanunatsu & gen, 7k

after over a year of quarantine I’ve read more fic than I ever have in my LIFE and I have figured some stuff out about what makes me go absolutely bonkers, writing-wise. this fic was an attempt, after several months of reading literally hundreds of fics across dozens of fandoms and relationships and pairings (like geeze! hxh, run with the wind, hq, yuri on ice, the great pretender, ouran highschool host club, snk, mdzs, final fantasy xv, and yes natsuyuu too LOL), an attempt at making myself go bonkers, if you will. and I still can’t quite put my finger on what it IS but I know it has something to do with the naming of things. like an author will Name a Thing, very specifically, whether it is an action or a character thought or something very simple about the environment--and that something speaks volumes about the character and their relationships and the core themes of the series and it’s like. it’s like there’s a moment of understanding between that character and the reader, an oh! I know what that means. it’s wonderful and I’m butchering the explanation here but anyway. I still have no idea how to do this myself yet but goddammit I’m gonna get there one day. This fic was my first attempt in the Naming of Things. idk if there are any oh! moments in it myself, but natsuyuu is the perfect series for the kind of quiet that I think you need for those small moments.

holy SHIT this got long uh. if you’ve made it this far--thank you?? this was also useful for me to articulate what the hell I’m doing in hamsterland. Recently a visiting poet came to one of my classes at university and talked about language-making as a physical art. Language has a physical existence, she said; it leaves the body and enters another and causes a physical reaction in both speaker and listener. She talked about how writers are creators of physical things, and how writing is mostly thinking before the creating. The physicality of language. To say it made me lose my marbles is an understatement!! tldr; there’s so much inspiration everywhere, and I wanna write more!!! So I’m gonna!!

#tag game #rambling #my fic

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lesbeet · 5 years

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this might be a strange question but what goes into becoming a teacher? i've been thinking about becoming a teacher and i'm nervous even though it's something i really think i want to do and i'm curious as to how you go about becoming one like what courses/requirements do you need to take and how do you come up with a lesson plan and everything? and how did you know teaching was something you wanted to do or realize it was something you would be good at?

hm well i can only tell you about my own experience, which i would say is probably pretty unorthodox, but it’s been working really well for me!

so i’ve been working on a masters in teaching for english/language arts grades 5-12 from western governors university, which is an (accredited) online program for aspiring teachers who need to be licensed as teachers in general as well as certified/endorsed in their particular subject areas. depending on what you want to teach, there are a couple of undergrad teaching degrees they offer (i believe it’s elementary ed, special ed, and a couple of different math and science programs), but to do like language arts or social studies etc, you’d need to have a bachelors degree to qualify -- though i also did my bachelors at wgu (in business management sdklfdjskdflsjd i hated it) so it doesnt need to be education-related or anything

if you wanna know more about my particular program let me know, bc it works fairly unusually but is a legitimate post-secondary educational institution and is also incredibly affordable, and idk what i’d be doing if i hadnt found out that it existed lmao

but so yeah idk what an education undergrad would consist of, but for my program in particular there were a lot of english content classes, obviously, like secondary disciplinary literacy, english pedagogy, secondary reading instruction and interventions, stuff like that

and then there were a lot of more generalized pedagogical courses, like educational assessment, foundational perspectives of education, classroom management, fundamentals of diversity and inclusion, principles of psychology: child and adolescent development, and stuff like that

again, this is just based on my own experience, but re: lesson plans, i actually just had some assignments for my courses where i had to write them and justify the thought process behind the decisions i made! like in my english pedagogy course, i had to write 3 essays (one for a literature-based lesson, one for a grammar-based lesson, and one for a writing-based lesson), and in each essay there was a section where i had to plan an entire lesson using their lesson plan format, and then explain and justify why i made each choice that i made.

i’m starting student-teaching next semester, as soon as we get back from winter break, and i assume i’ll get more practice with lesson-planning through that, but basically it kind of comes down to like...figuring out the standards your students are supposed to reach, then figuring out how you’re going to break them down into a curriculum, and then for each lesson you figure out what objectives/goals you want your students to reach by the end, and you figure out how to present the material and then assess in some way whether or not the students understand it. once you know what the purpose of a lesson plan is (whether re: the idea of lesson plans in general, or a specific lesson plan you’re working on), the rest is just figuring out how to achieve that purpose. and it comes with practice! and trial and error, and figuring out what works and doesnt work with your own teaching style and in your classroom, etc. ik that’s super vague but so much of it depends of the parameters you’re given—like while i’m student-teaching i won’t be picking the books we read, so i’ll already have that requirement figured out for me, yknow?

as for your last question, my mom has been teaching my whole life, and my dad started teaching when i was about 10. my aunt is also a teacher, and my other aunt is a speech-language pathologist, so. i grew up around teachers kfjsldkfjs

i’ve just always liked explaining things to people and helping them understand them! i think really what it comes down to is that i just have a lot of passion and a lot of things to say sldfksjdkflj like i really do believe that english/language arts in particular is applicable in all parts of life, because all people communicate. i can’t speak for like. calculus or biology or whatever, but 99.9999% of people will need to do some sort of reading, and some sort of writing and/or speaking and/or communication of some type or another, and for all of the “the curtains are just blue!!!” whiners out there, it’s crucial to know how to communicate with others, and to understand what others are attempting to communicate to you, and i can’t think of a single scenario in which that isn’t the case.

plus like, idk a single person who doesn’t like some form of story, whether through tv shows or movies or books or plays or podcasts or video games etc etc etc, and imo those can all be enhanced and made even better by having some sort of background knowledge of storytelling as an art, or as a process, or as an established medium with its own structures and intertextual lexicon etc! like the more i read about the art and history of storytelling, the more i enjoy movies and tv shows (which i already love and watch frequently), bc storytelling isn’t just a textual medium!

tbh part of the reason i think i’m good at explaining things is because i grew up in an emotionally abusive household, and i learned very early on how to anticipate the way another person (usually my dad lol) would interpret something i said to him, regardless of what i actually meant by it. so i subconsciously learned to apply that skill to other people, and now i’ve got sort of a knack for being able to cater my explanations to different people based on how i think they’ll best understand the information, and not just in a classroom setting—like i sometimes serve as a mediator/”interpreter” when my sister and my dad are having difficult conversations, because i know them both well enough, and the way they think well enough, that when one of them says something, i can usually understand both their intention AND how the other person is going to interpret it, and i can rephrase or explain things so miscommunication doesn’t end up making the problem worse

so in a classroom, i can explain things in several different ways, and if i’m working one-on-one with different kids i can usually figure out what isn’t clicking and can try another way to explain it. also bc my adhd brain processes information by making connections to other things i already know, i’m particularly good at coming up with (often unusual) metaphors or analogies for things, and people are like “oh wow ok that’s a weird way to explain it but i definitely get it now” and stuff

so basically i’ve learned bc of necessity how to communicate more effectively with others, and because i want everyone else to get the enjoyment out of language arts that i do, i’m drawn to teaching because i hope to help the students find at least some area of it that they’re interested in, and to show them that literature/storytelling/communication aren’t just about reading old boring books written by racist white dudes who hated women, but about learning to represent and interpret and take part in the human experience, because the foundation of any sort of society is communication, and that very basic desire to be understood by others

so even when i didnt actively Want To Be A Teacher it was always kinda in the back of my mind like “well if i dont find anything else i wanna do, i can always be an english teacher” bc most of my favorite teachers growing up were english teachers, and even at my absolute worst i did just fine in those classes, even when i hadnt read the books we were discussing (which was most of the time jsdklfsjd which is now kind of a problem for me as a teacher so i do think i shot myself in the foot there but oh well, i was 14)

anyway, as usual that got super long, but i hope it was helpful! lemme know if you have any other questions :)

#anonymous #answered

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canonicallyanxious · 5 years

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Reading Recap: June 2019

In an attempt to document my efforts in completing my New Year’s resolution of reading at least one book every two weeks, every month I’m going to be doing a brief write-up of the books I read to keep myself accountable and share this journey with you all.

So this month i read 9 books if we include each sandman volume as a separate book which tbh is definitely more than i thought i did lol but i’m not gonna complain. lots of graphic novels this month! mostly sandman but not all of it was sandman! And also a few really amazing books I wanna scream about! so let’s go!

The books I read, alongside ratings out of 5 stars [5 for favorites; 1 for books I unreservedly dislike] and some of my thoughts:

Sandman: Dream Country / Season of Mists / A Game of You / Fables & Reflections - Neil Gaiman | 3.5 to 4.5/5

i really really love this series. i mean idek what else to say about it, it’s absolutely brilliant. I think probably my favorite of the bunch i read this month was Season of Mists, the one where Lucifer decides to abdicate hell and give it to Dream. Which is basically as bonkers as it sounds lol but I just really liked the writing and the creativity in this one! Fables & Reflections was also really wonderful, lots of really good reimaginings of already existing stories. I didn’t like A Game of You as much bc of the transphobia the trans character dying and other things I mean I know it was a different time and it’s great that a main character of the story was a trans woman but like, it’s just not the kind of thing I’m looking for rn you know? So that’s where the 3.5 rating comes from. Otherwise tho I’m looking forward to finishing this series!

Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng | 5/5

Holy shit this book took my fucking breath away. I already had high expectations after Everything I Never Told You and honestly??? Little Fires Everywhere is somehow even BETTER. Ng has really outdone herself here! Every single character is so wonderfully fleshed out, the story unfolds in such a compelling and engaging way, i love how even with the less likeable characters of the story she really takes the time to flesh out their histories and where they come from so you can really understand where they’re coming from, and i really like that not everyone in the books learns the full truth about everyone by the end, which feels true to real life and is also the source of some AMAZING dramatic tension. We as the readers get the full story, but some of the people in the story never do, and that tension, that lack of closure, almost, creates an ending that’s honestly painful to read. Ng is a master at character-driven stories, that’s really all i have to say at the end of the day.

Picture Us In The Light - Kelly Loy Gilbert | 5/5

I feel like if a YA book had been constructed in a lab specifically to cater to me it could not even compare to this book. I love the writing in this, I love the character-driven narrative, I love the way it explores issues like race, Asian American identity, immigration, sexuality, mental illness - all of it in such a nuanced and emotional way. I think at the beginning there were a lot of different plot threads going on, and it would spend a lot of time on one thread and then jump to a new one that it was hard initially to keep up with, but by the end I think it all came together really well. Not to mention the romance, even though I wouldn’t say it’s the main part of the book, is fucking amazing. I mean, best friends to lovers with a healthy dose of pining, what more could you even want???

Blue is the Warmest Color - Julie March | 3.5/5

First of all thank you to @offbeat-leah for gifting this book to me! Second I did enjoy this story, the art and the writing are both very good and it definitely feels a lot more heartfelt than the movie did. However I did watch the movie when i was, like, fifteen, and reading this book at my age, yeah it does kind of really fucking bother me to see sexually explicit images of a character who’s supposed to be, like, sixteen involved with someone in their mid twenties. And idk I feel like I’ve sort of outgrown my need for this kind of story, like when I was younger I was so desperate for any queer-centric stories I could get my hands on but like, I can get representation now from sources that don’t involve tragic death and potentially unhealthy age differences. Also I thought the pacing toward the end was weirdly fast but I think that’s just a personal problem. I promise I did still like this one though! My favorite part of it is the art style, I think. Extremely evocative. And some really beautifully tender moments between the mains, despite the age difference the way they fell in love itself felt very genuine.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reed | 4.5/5

This book is a FANTASTIC read and also somehow not what I expected at all!! I’m not going to say too much about it bc I went into this book knowing pretty much nothing about it and like I wouldn’t want to ruin that experience for anyone who wants it bc it was pretty fucking fantastic but I will say - love the sheer complexity of women and womanhood depicted in this story, love the complexity of love depicted in this story as well, and also LOVE the complexity of agency explored through the lens of a character who simultaneously spends so much of her life on a public stage and keeps so much of her personal life as private as she can. There’s a lot of tragedy in this book as well (tw for major character death, sexual assault, underage sex, domestic abuse, etc. etc.) so be prepared for that but genuinely, what a compelling read!

An Oresteia - Aiskhylos/Sophokles/Eurypides, translated by Anne Carson | 4/5

So full disclosure, I am FAR from an expert in classics, and I also don’t believe I’ve read much Anne Carson if I’ve read her at all [I think it’s possible I read some poetry or essays or other short things in an english class during college but I really don’t remember honestly skdfjds]. But this collection of Greek tragedies was really absorbing and engaging! I read the whole thing in an afternoon, which might not be the way to do it lol but I seriously couldn’t stop reading it. I love Carson’s translation style, it’s very poetic and accessible but each play feels so different [which they’re supposed to, I feel like, since each was written by a different writer] while still feeling part of one narrative which is a pretty incredible thing to accomplish, I think. An excellent collection of Greek dramas!

#sarah.txt #reading recap #i swear these reviews get longer and longer every month

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emsysquared · 5 years

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technically this IS art-related, but gonna put this under a cut as I just needed somewhere blog-like to write down some long personal thoughts I’ve had about my art journey recently

Over the years I had friends encourage me to draw more OC and original art as it was something I loved to self-indulge in when I was in school. but I hesitated for the longest time, and maybe this was due to me being embarassed about it and getting caught up trying to do art specifically catered to the artist alley convention crowd in recent years. I mean, I really do try to draw fanart for the things I enjoy, but during late last year and early this year, I struggled coping with a lot of toxic and negative feelings that started surfacing.... and I started to wonder why? Maybe was I comparing myself too intensely to the successes of others, and was too desperate to achieve their art-related success because I thought very little of myself? Was I pushing myself to accomplish too much in too little of time? I wanted to reach out talk to someone about it so badly, but it was hard because I didn’t want to admit to any friends how deep the feelings were actually affecting me. I got so depressed and miserable I had thought after a certain point.... why do I even bother continuing to be alive, why couldn’t I be happy..... why did I have to be born an artist? why could’t I have been born with aptitude to be an engineer or doctor? no matter how hard I worked I just was not lucky enough. But rationally when my head was clear of such thoughts, I thought... maybe I just needed to stop being so hard on myself, to let go of the things I cannot control, and concentrate on what I CAN control - and give myself the freedom to draw what my heart was yearning for for so long.

but when I did, I still struggled with feeling shame. it’s true that trying to get people to notice your originals, especially art of original characters, can be extremely tricky, at least at cons. I didn’t mind that tbh, I knew. but it was hard to pinpoint my exact feelings. well maybe I just needed to rebrand myself and do a better job at drawing what I like? so I tried drawing more artwork involving couples, because my OCs were a couple, and I noticed I started gravitating toward that kind of work. it hit me I wanted to be known as an artist who drew that kind of stuff - cute ships, wholesome couple energy, maybe even capturing such sensuality in intimate moments.... it gave me such happiness and life just wanting to see 2 people happy together...

but I think it hit me only recently why I felt so ashamed about it for the longest time was because a lot of my OC art is.... so personal, and when it hit me I was using it as a way to deal with some unconscious feelings I’ve had all these years, it shook up my world. there were so many people around me who were passionate about pursuing art for such noble and happy reasons...and here I was drawing because maybe I was just actually fucking lonely and needed an outlet for these stupid feelings of mine. And for me, being a somewhat reserved individual, this felt exposing to know.

But at the same time, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using art as a way of self expression, or a way to cope with things like trauma or your inner demons. because that’s what art is able to be. art.... has been a way to help me communicate things and ideas that I couldn’t when I tried being a musician at first. even though I’m not always passionate about art, I don’t think I could completely quit it as it’s become almost my identity, and how I want to storytell. and I came to the realization there’s nothing wrong wanting to abandon pursuing it as a full-time career if you would rather preserve that side of it. and that there’s also nothing wrong pursuing another career and doing art on the side if it means you have the freedom to draw whatever you want to draw. I can understand the pressure of needing to “make it” to pay the bills if one feels like art is the only thing they’re good at. but I guess I’m fortunate I’m in a situation where I don’t have to completely rely on doing so.

pushing myself to do AA more... did jade me a little on what it takes to “make it” as an artist. at first it /was/ rough, I stressed out for the longest time I was just some stupid artist with unappealing art. I worried a lot that pursuing my passion more seriously than just a hobby did end up making it feel like work. and that’s the tricky thing - all work IS work at the end of the day, and it’s not always going to be enjoyable, but at what point do you start constantly hating your work and getting burned out?

but I didn’t want to end up hating art...I saw so many friends who actually did quit art because they couldn’t deal with their negative feelings about drawing and I worried.... would I end up being like them too one day?.... I don’t want to be the person who learned to hate art because I was so discouraged with life and envious of others because I was “not lucky”. I was very close to that borderline earlier this year, and it was difficult trying to make changes within myself and always beating myself up when I regressed.

I’m not.... entirely sure what where I want to go from here on, or if things will get better. but maybe a few years from now, I would like future me to console the past me who cried every night and say “because you didn’t give up and found your way through those tears, look and what you were able to do. I’m so proud of you”

#personal #blog

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aroworlds · 6 years

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Aro-Spec Artist Profile: Alex

Today I have the delight of introducing Alex, better known to aro-spec Tumblr as @arotaro and @mutant-jojos!

Alex is a bisexual, half-Puerto Rican multi-disciplinary aromantic artist and creative with severe ADHD. You’ll find her prolific fanworks on AO3 as EmeraldTrash666, writing primarily for the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fandom. Her bold, colourful art for the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Fullmetal Alchemist, Hetalia, Pokemon and Vocaloid fandoms is also available on Redbubble under the name StellaHagane.

She writes, she creates digital art and she dabbles in music, sewing and fashion design, single-handedly proving that there’s no such thing as too much creative awesome for any one aromantic!

With us Alex talks about finding the word aro, the power of fandom and creative fanworks, her love of aro Jotaro, the challenges of creating with ADHD, the struggles of being an aro gen writer in fandom and the importance of expressing our aro headcanons. Everything she says is absolutely on point, so please let’s give her all our love, encouragement, gratitude, kudos and follows for taking the time to explore what it is to be aromantic and creative.

Can you share with us your story in being aro-spec?

I guess in some ways my “story” starts out pretty typical. Got older, kept waiting for my First Crush™, never got it, started worrying and trying to force myself to develop crushes. I actually was in a relationship with another girl on a forum I was part of as a teenager, but eventually I realized that I didn’t really like her romantically, and the relationship started to become really unpleasant for me. I eventually felt so miserable that I didn’t even want to talk at her at all, even though we were close friends, but I didn’t want to break up with her - partly because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, partly because we were everyone’s “OTP” and I didn’t want my friends to hate me for ruining that. But eventually I did break up with her, and I’m happy to say she took it with grace and we’re still close friends today! (She’s ace and a great writer/artist herself, too!)

I was part of a very nice LGBTQ+ group as a teenager, but I could never figure out my identity. I felt really ashamed and alone. Whenever I brought up how messed up I felt because I’d never had a crush on anyone, everyone was like, “Oh, sounds like you must be asexual!”, but I knew I wasn’t, and that was the worst part. Even though I knew aromanticism was a thing, nobody ever talked about it. It was only ever in the context of aroaces, so I didn’t know I was aro. I thought I must have had some sort of mental illness or something, but certainly not a legitimate orientation, nothing to be proud of like everyone else.

During that time, I found myself connecting on a deep emotional level to characters like Alphonse Elric, Fujiwara no Sai, the X-Men in general (although I’ve been an X-Men fan since I was literally a baby), basically anyone who was somehow “different” from the rest of humanity, even though I never understood why, since I was a fairly privileged kid who had never experienced much bullying or anything. Weirdly enough, it was Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure that helped me realize I was aro and come to terms with it; I saw an interview with Hirohiko Araki, the author of JJBA, where he was asked what type of girls Jotaro Kujo likes, and replied that he didn’t think Jotaro liked girls. The obvious interpretation would be that Jotaro’s gay, but somehow, one way or another, I decided to go with the idea that Jotaro’s aromantic. Jotaro also happened to be a character I really related to for reasons I couldn’t quite articulate, so around the time I was 18 I put two and two together and was like ... oh shit…

Please click keep reading to continue Alex’s story!

Can you share with us the story behind your creativity?

I’ve always been weird in the way I’m very creative, but tend to kinda bounce around from hobby to hobby. Other people draw, or write, or sing, while I draw for a month, and then write for a month and sew for a week and play video games for a week, and then I draw some more, and then I try out something completely new, and then I write again. I think it must be an ADHD thing, idk. In any case, I’ve just always been really passionate about making stuff, whatever that stuff happens to be.

I’ve also always been very much fandom-oriented. Ever since I was a toddler, I used to dictate fanfiction to my mom (back then it usually involved Winnie the Pooh, the Powerpuff Girls, Godzilla, and my dog). I mostly draw fanart. I find that I’m not really capable of writing original stories, but I’m great at getting fanfics in character, and I love writing them. I love taking stories I already love and reinterpreting them, seeing what it would be like if the characters were put into different situations, etc.

Because of my ADHD, I really struggle with actually finishing things. I try really really hard, I really do, and I’ve been trying to push myself even harder these past few years. I’ve made progress, but it’s still extremely difficult, so I’m very sorry for all the projects I’ve abandoned over the years. Sorry I still haven’t finished the fic that was supposed to be done in early March. I’m trying, really. I promise I’m working on the next chapter of BLaD, too.

Are there any particular ways your aro-spec experience is expressed in your art?

Of course, pretty much everything I write is gen. Even if I include romantic relationships in my fics, I never write about romance, just stories which also happen to include some characters who might be dating someone. And obviously I always write Jotaro as aro! That’s really important to me. No matter which AU I’m writing, he’s always aro. (And autistic, but that’s off topic.)

I’m also not really into shipping because of my romance repulsion, but I ship Joseph Joestar and Caesar Zeppeli. The thing is … I’ve always viewed it as a unique relationship, sort of difficult to define as being strictly romantic or platonic or sexual, just kind of their own thing that defies words. That’s how I’ve always written it. I had the sudden realization recently that this strange view on the only ship I really actually like (at the moment, anyway) is probably due to my being aro, lmao.

What challenges do you face as an aro-spec artist?

People don’t read gen fics, and people aren’t interested in aro stories. That’s just the way it is. I do have some dedicated readers, whom I love deeply, but in general… I could post something with a deep plot, something funny and dramatic and witty and touching, something I poured my heart and soul into for months, and it’ll get very few hits/comments/kudos, while someone else could post the same generic 2,000-word romance fic everyone’s seen a dozen times over, with no editing or anything, and get twice the amount of traffic my fics do in half the time. It’s really crushing.

How do you connect to the aro-spec and a-spec communities as an aro-spec person?

I dunno… The aro community feels so small. Online, I have a small circle of aro mutuals who all kind of vent collectively, and I’m part of Arocalypse and a few aro/aspec Discord servers, but I still feel like there isn’t really much of a larger community to be part of in the same way that there is for other orientations. Offline, I’ve never met another aro, or even anyone who actually knows what aromanticism is prior to me explaining it to them.

I also don’t feel like there’s a very unified “aspec community”. As an allo aro, I feel very rejected by the ace community - not to say that I feel like I should be part of the ace community, since I’m not ace, but I feel like they throw aros under the bus a lot. I mean, we’ve all seen the “asexuals can feel love, just like anybody else! … oh, except for aroaces, I guess. But the rest of us are normal, so you should accept us!” rhetoric. Both within and outside the aspec communities, aros are rarely treated with the same priority as aces, even though we’re arguably in a much more difficult position than your average allo ace.

That being said, I’m glad there is an aro community at all. I don’t know where I’d be now if I were still questioning. Probably not in a very good place.

How do you connect to your creative community as an aro-spec person?

As I mentioned, there’s a general lack of interest in gen fics or sympathy for romance-repulsed people in general. It’s really difficult being romance repulsed in fandom spaces, because nobody cares about anything other than ships. There are very few gen fics, and even less that are a decent length, not abandoned, or cater to my specific interests, so I have to write my own. I don’t often have anything good to read; most of the big fics, the ones with cool plots and long word counts and ongoing updates, are ship fics. If I’m lucky, maybe two gen fics will be posted in one week, and maybe one of them will be longer than a few thousand words. Maybe one might even have my favorite characters. But usually genfics are few and far between, and kind of random in terms of what you’ll get. Sometimes I get so bored that I read ship fics anyway, and then I always wind up feeling really awful afterwards.

I’ve written, over the course of the past two years alone, over 20 gen fics. But whenever I vent that sometimes I’d like to actually get to read something, I always get someone telling me, “Well if you want gen fics, write some yourself! You have to make the change! You can’t demand people write stuff for you!” And of course, at the same time it’s totally acceptable to request ship fics from your favorite author, and if you complain that there aren’t enough fics for your rarepair, it’s seen as relatable and totally valid.

Fandom is just … really, really amatonormative, tbh. I hate it. I’m trying to make a difference (I did organize Gen Jojo Week along with my friend Rachel last year, and hopefully will again this year), but there’s only so much I can do.

How can the aro-spec community best help you as a creative?

Aside from reblogging my art and promoting my fics? Talk about stuff. Talk about aro stuff in fandom. Seriously! I know it seems obvious that aro people would like aro headcanons and gen fics and all that, but we need to talk about them more. Nobody outside the community gives enough of a shit about us to have aro headcanons, so let’s get them popular. Talk about your favorite aro headcanons. Talk about your favorite gen fics. Talk about how such-and-such character is totally aro; talk about how excited you are to see aro characters in fics. My dream is for aro headcanons to become just as common and popular as any other type of headcanon.

Can you share with us something about your current project?

This is old news to most of the people who already know me, but my current big project that I’ve been working on for several years now is Between Life and Death, a drama/horror/supernatural JJBA fic.

(WARNING: PHANTOM BLOOD AND STARDUST CRUSADERS SPOILERS BELOW.)

The plot of the fic is that Dio wins at the end of Stardust Crusaders, and after realizing that he has no hobbies other than harassing the Joestars, he decides to bring Jonathan back by sticking his head (which… we’ll just assume Dio preserved for plot purposes) onto Jotaro’s body. Obviously, Jonathan is NOT happy with this arrangement, but it also turns out that Jotaro’s still alive, just not in control of his body. He can still use his stand, so he essentially uses Star Platinum as a sort of proxy for interacting with the environment around him, even though he only comes out when Jonathan’s alone since he doesn’t want Dio to know he’s alive.

Basically, it’s the story of a depressed vampire and a traumatized ghost. It’s a very introspective fic; most of the story consists of conflicts between Dio and Jonathan, and Jonathan and Jotaro struggling to come to terms with their new existences - Jonathan being unable to reconcile vampirism with his personal morals, and Jotaro having one hell of an identity crisis while also mourning the deaths of his friends and family. The plot is picking up, though, and there is an end goal in mind, as well as an eventual sequel!

As for where the story-in-progress is at right now … well, the next “stage” of the plot is hamon training for Kakyoin and Avdol, which will be fun. This chapter also includes several dream sequences, including an extended appearance by Mary Joestar (Jonathan’s mom), and a very serious and dark scene which I almost ruined by having dream!Will Zeppeli refer to Jonathan as his padawan. Yeah.

Have you any forthcoming works we should look forward to?

As mentioned, I’m working on chapter 9 of Between Life and Death! And working on and off on some stuff for the mutants AU. Most recently, on a whim I rewrote the lyrics to Handbeat Clocktower by MOTHY to be about Jonathan Joestar. Somehow this went far enough that I’m making an actual UTAU rendition of this “parody”, and hopefully it’ll be done sometime in the next few weeks. I’m really having fun with it and I hope people like it!

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honeykngdom · 6 years

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What's happened? What post has a bunch of notes and why are people sending you nasty messages? 😞

Tbh, I wasn’t gonna reply to this, and I’m still contemplating whether this is a good idea, but I had way too much on my mind and I needed to say this.

I’m putting this under a read more because I don’t need this opinion of mine taking off like that last one, but I hope that my followers take a moment to read this because it’s really important to me and several others within our fandom.

This is another shitpost, this is very long, and this is strictly my opinion.

IT WAS A SHITPOST WITH VERY MINIMAL THOUGHT PUT INTO IT, BUT RAISED A GOOD POINT NONETHLESS.

Pretty much someone’s like vs reblog ratio made me snap one afternoon; I had previously been talking to a few other content creators (writers, photographers, artists, etc) within the Riverdale Fandom specifically about how they’re struggling to get noticed/get their work out there because of the lack of exposure (in Tumblr’s case, this would be reblogs). I hadn’t meant for the post to go past my circle of followers tbh, and this past weekend its almost tripled in note size (started at just over 2400 saturday morning - we’re at over 6000 today, and still growing). Suddenly, I’m the worst person in the world for having this opinion and saying something (which, by the way, is the opinion of the majority).

Regardless of how many people wasted their time harassing my blog/inbox/IM, the majority is still 80/20 in favour of people reblogging posted works because common courtesy trumps everything always.

I’m completely done with this site and these people. “We don’t owe you anything.” You’re absolutely right, you don’t owe me - or anyone else - anything. You’re not obligated to reblog peoples work, you’re more than welcome to continue to like it (or not, whatever works for you), I never said you couldn’t do that. But likewise, as a content creator writing/releasing for YOUR viewing/reading pleasure, regardless of whether or not I enjoy writing for myself (which, I obviously do), I’m not obligated to post my creations or share. ** Bad Omen can sit in Docs for the next 20 years, and I’ll keep writing it, but that doesn’t mean I have to post chapters anymore, and that would suck for everyone. ** No one has to draw you cute things about/involving your OTP, or make gifs for your fandom for your enjoyment/viewing pleasure, no one is entitled to give anyone anything on either side of this argument.

Content creators post because we wanna share what we did. We did a thing, and we are damn proud of that thing, so we decided to share. That in of itself takes a lot of guts for some people. Sharing what I write still gives me anxiety, as I’m sure it does for a lot of people, so please don’t kid yourself into thinking that those in favour of this argument are all here being entitled and demanding. People are literally asking for a reblog and some exposure. I took the time - out of my free time - to make something I thought others would enjoy. Insinuating that if we don’t have enough traffic on our posts/if we feel the need to complain for more activity on our blog, then our content must not be good, is an incredibly arrogant and ignorant statement to make. Period. I’m sorry if my post offended you, I’m sorry if you think people are too ‘bitchy’ or ‘whiny’, as some people have put it. Tumblr would be a pretty lame place without creators sharing their work for the remainder of the fandom to enjoy, and that’s a fact.

Imagine this: waking up tomorrow and no one posted anything original for a whole week. No new gifs, no new stories, no new original content for you to enjoy. Idk about you, but as someone that thoroughly believes in supporting others work, my dash would be pretty boring and bone dry.

In terms of sfw/nsfw posts, aesthetic blogs, rp blogs, underage bloggers, etc:

I understand what it’s like to run a blog (I am currently doing so, so I am up to date and aware of what that means, ya feel?). I have run several over the years, of all variables. Much like I understand that I have an audience to cater to, I understand that all of you do as well. There are some blogs run by people (like myself) with the intent of releasing/reblogging content for viewers to enjoy. There are blogs run by people that reblog for themselves, bc it’s their blog and it’s just for them. Both are completely okay. I have had someone (incredibly close to me) come forward and agree with that I had said, but remind me that they lean towards OCD tendencies and that their blog/colour scheme is presented in a specific way, and that is why they had only liked that OP, and not reblogged it. There are people unwilling to put NSFW content on their blog bc it’s a safe space, etc etc. I’m not disagreeing with anyone’s reasons as to why they don’t reblog everything they like.

I said if you liked something, and you thought others might like it to, then it wouldn’t hurt to reblog - and I never said it had to be everything that you liked. I still stand by that that statement. It benefits everyone. People make connections this way, people make friends this way, people find something to help bring them out of dark places in their head, either by reading/admiring art, or taking the time to create something that distracts them. Getting into a different head space is necessary for some people, and this is really important to consider and understand.

I’m not entitled for speaking out for those who can’t and won’t because people (like the anons in my inbox) would likely drive some people off of this site. One of the first comments in response to the post had been that there were people struggling to get 100 notes on their work, and that I wasn’t in any position to speak out on the topic. Here is my counter: my blog is a high traffic blog, and my follower platform is fairly large so I know I’m talking to a lot of people right now. But I also have pretty thick skin so I don’t mind being the voice every once in a while, and I thought about deleting the OP but why should I? Nothing I said was false. Nothing I said was inaccurate. Nothing I said targeted any one specific person, so I don’t know why some people are taking it so personally. I didn’t say the example used in the OP was mine, I wasn’t ‘bitching’ about 500 notes, I was speaking out on behalf of my author and artist mutuals/friends. I’m not being ‘ungrateful’; I’m constantly blown away by how supportive my platform is, I don’t think there’s anything I could say or do to show you guy how much I appreciate each and every single one of you. I just don’t understand why it’s so difficult for people to just consider this topic as a common courtesy thing. Ex. don’t make people wait on you (ever, this is my biggest pet peeve, I have an entire video rant I did a year ago on this), don’t cancel last minute, don’t be a no show, use your manners (please and thank you still go a long way in today’s day and age), support content creators. (And if you’re gonna come into my inbox upset about my common courtesy examples, then gtfo. Everyone should have manners, like y’all weren’t raised as barbarians, I’m almost positive about that.)

FYI: If you’re struggling to get recognition/notes/support with your work (art, writing, edits, etc) then my post is about you because reblogging helps you. I’m not picking a side, I’m not talking about me, I’m simply a (loud) voice.

You do not get to go into someone’s inbox, or comment on someone’s shitpost, and tell them what kind of a person they are based on an assumption. And you most certainly do not get to do that to me. I know what kind of person I am. I know I have my flaws, and I know that I can be really blunt and straight-forward, and I know that scares a lot of people. But I’m also really kind, and empathetic, and believe in karma. Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. I get a lot of support and kind words and feedback on my writing, and I like reciprocating and giving that back. I’m a very big believer in supporting content creators, because at the end of the day, what we do? Is hard.

Working media programs for image and video manipulation? Hard. Working with crappy colouring and low quality content to create an edit? Hard. Stringing together words that both create mental visual images and piece together to tell a story? Hard. Drawing accurate depictions of characters? Hard.

I was in an Arts program for high school. I graduated from that program with a double major and a minor (red seal certified), honors in English, and with a business certificate of endorsement. I have friends from every place on the arts spectrum. Believe me when I say that what we do is not easy; it is time consuming, it is exhausting, and I can guarantee there is no one more excited about our work than ourselves, and we are our hardest critiques - but we love sharing what we do with everyone else.

So no, I don’t believe it’s a far-fetched idea that people LIKE receiving recognition for something they created. What a concept.

As for the other content creators on my post talking about how they hate people like me for ‘whining’ - okay, just because you enjoy creating and releasing for the heck of it, doesn’t mean there isn’t someone working off commission and working hard to get themselves out there. As someone who’s interested in pursuing an actual career in this field, I have a very strong opinion about this topic. We all start somewhere. Being in this field of work (the arts specifically), whether you’re looking to make money or otherwise, is exhausting, time consuming and emotionally/mentally draining. It’s not a far-fetched or improbable idea that someone starts their career for their passion here, by creating a foundation and platform for their work, and putting themselves out there. Again, if you wanna post for the sake of posting, congrats, you do you, I don’t have anything at all against you; I’m still gonna support you bc that’s who I am and what I think is right. Personally, as a content creator, I feel pretty good when I attract new readers/followers bc the content I reblog/post interests them.

I don’t need validation. I don’t need encouragement. I don’t need any of the above; I’m very good at what I do, I’m very confident in that, but I understand that not everyone is, and sometimes a little goes a long way, y’know?

And then ofc I have the odd person/reply that’s talking about advertising and comparing the example I used in the OP to statistics and how 485 likes to 34 reblogs is normal in terms of exposure - homie, this is Tumblr. This isn’t Marketing 101. My work is not ADVERTISEMENT, it’s original RELEASED CONTENT. There is a big difference between the two.

Basically, I said sharing is caring and y’all are offended and mad at me. Drink a Kool-Aid Jammer and simmer down, sisters.

#answered: ooc #long post #shitpost #rant #i swear to god if this gives me heat too #im gonna turn off my inbox for the rest of the week #at least the anon option #watch how many people stop bothering me then #smh #this is a waste of time.#Anonymous #save #im seriously gonna hate myself for this #like really gonna hate myself for this #I already know #but here it goes.

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