Scribbles Because I Don't Wanna Work

Avavav always has the most interesting concepts

i don't know if i should make everyone in my artschool universe attend some imaginary school or not because they're technically personified art schools

And speaking of scurvy, I am eternally amused by the thing where some ancient form of healing that was born in a time where people didn't know exactly how the human body works, or what causes it to stop working sometimes, that still somehow worked. Like how so many old folk medicinal plants were listed as a cure for various ailments that - from a modern view - are clearly just symptoms of scurvy, and the plant itself is rich in vitamin C.

I recall reading some story, no recollection of the exact time or place, where the king of a large empire suffered from constant horrible headaches and was incapable of falling asleep unless drugged or blackout drunk. Sick of taking temporary fixes to dull the pain and having to be sedated every night, he called up some old sage healer who was said to know how to fix things nobody else could explain, and the healer heard his symptoms and went

"Hmm. You spend too much time being a king. Your skull is packed so full of kingly thoughts that they don't all fit in there and that's why your head is in pain. You need to spend time not being a king." And prescribed him to schedule three days every month where he must go to a peasant village where nobody knows he's the king, live with a family there under a fake name and identity, work in the rice fields with them, eating the same food and sleeping on the same mats. Absolutely nobody is allowed to address him as the king, speak to him of any royal or political matters, and he himself is not allowed to think any kingly thoughts or think of himself as the king.

And naturally, this worked. Taking a regular scheduled break from a highly stressful office desk job to completely decompress, paired with physical exercise in the form of hard but simple physical labour, plain and simple food and Just Not Thinking About Your Fucking Job All The Time does help chronic stress, which here was worded as "spending too much time being a king clogs your brain."

Sometimes you do have ghosts in your blood, though I'm not entirely sure whether you should do cocaine about it.

Day 10 of barefoot shoes now! Here are some observations:

The ground is so utterly interesting!!! Especially the netherlands where everything is cobble and the footpaths are bumpy (bec the ground keeps sinking perpetually). I was missing this outlet of sensory info with normal shoes. I also like to wrap my feet along the edge of a stair.

Touching my toes to the edges of the shoe no longer feels like a stretch. In time my foot should expand enough that it naturally brushes the sides. I suspect if I wear my old shoe again it will feel very cramped already.

I also now walk more like a cat or a pawed animal for that matter. I see other people put their heel first, while I now put my foot down paw first. Apparently this is good not only for my feet, but also my leg, which should get thiccer, with the joints lasting longer. We shall see.

My socks don't get smelly at all and last for a week or more, though that maybe bec the shoe is new.

Obligatory cat walking gif with fun (unrelated) fact:

WELCOME TO THE:

TUMBLR CLASSIC HARBOR BRAWL

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITES IN A SHIP-OFF

RULES

All pairs have been randomly matched up

All ships are from media around ye olden Tumblr (media older than or was around at 2012 - 2016)

NO RPFs

One wildcard (Shrek/Fiona)

24 hours to vote in each round

Campaign. Vote with two accounts. Whatever. Just remember: VOTE CORRECTLY OR NEVER SEE YOUR LOVED ONES AGAIN

ROUND ONE:

DESTIEL vs. STUCKY (WINNER: DESTIEL)

TENROSE vs. ROSEMARY (WINNER: TENROSE)

JOHNLOCK vs. ENJOLTAIRE (WINNER: E/R)

EDWARD/BELLA vs. BUBBLINE (WINNER: BUBBLINE)

KORRASAMI vs. INEFFABLE HUSBANDS (WINNER: KORRASAMI)

SHREK/FIONA vs. HANNIGRAM (WINNER: SHIONA)

MERTHUR vs. CECILOS (WINNER: CECILOS)

STEREK vs. DAVEKAT (WINNER: DAVEKAT)

ROUND TWO

DESTIEL vs. TENROSE (WINNER: TENROSE)

E/R (ENJOLTAIRE) vs. BUBBLINE (WINNER: BUBBLINE)

KORRASAMI vs. SHIONA (SHREK/FIONA) (WINNER: KORRASAMI)

CECILOS vs. DAVEKAT (WINNER: CECILOS)

NOTE: SEMI-FINALS MIGHT BE DELAYED FOR A DAY AND IT IS POSSIBLE WE WILL HAVE AN INTERMISSION.

INTERMISSION POLL

SEMI-FINALS (ONGOING)

TENROSE vs. BUBBLINE

KORRASAMI vs. CECILOS

(CHECK IN WITH THIS POST FOR UPDATES)

It's gonna be such a funny mess when Donald Trump dies of a stroke on April 1st, 2024.

Naturally everybody will think it's fake because of the date only to lose their minds (both positively and negatively based on their opinion of trump) when realizing it's real

There will be massive celebrations in the streets and on social media and lots of predictable "don't speak ill of the dead" discourse about those celebrations

Weird evangelicals will pull some weird number trick talking about how Jesus was conceived on April 1st and that makes Trump a sort of messiah and people will make fun of that

The Republicans (after they're done with the faux-sadness and faux-outrage) will stomp over each other to be his successor but none of them will succeed. They'll tear each other apart and have no single nominee for the November elections.

There will be discourse about if Biden and the living former presidents should go to his funeral (they won't, he was a traitor insurrectionist)

The Ukraine-Russia War immediately goes in favor of Ukraine as morale in the Kremlin is reduced. China similarly backs off from its threats on Taiwan.

Ten thousand new memes are made, some sticking around for years to come.

Not a month later a bunch of unofficial biographies of Trump hit the bookshelves, many with new details about just how awful he was.

Oohh my favourite one recently is this cello artist called Takénobu! He does improv sessions every Tuesday for an hour and he posts his sessions as podcasts on his website. Very steady tempo that's not too calming but slightly restless at a good pace. It's not quite classical tho, on Spotify I think they classify it as contemporary classical.

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCrguPgSvx7TNvMuNUAScIiA?feature=shared

Improv sessions: https://www.takenobumusic.com/mellow-cello-podcast

It’s literally that simple

Friend: “hey my son can’t concentrate on his homework. He chooses to do literally anything else everytime. He said his head doesn’t feel like it.”

Me: “Did you give him music?”

Friend: “No! No tech until he’s done! He doesn’t need more distracted.”

Me:

“k, bring me the child”

*Go to her house*

*points to the obviously ADHD boy struggling with his homework*

Me: “so your head doesn’t feel like doing homework?”

Son: “yeah. It would rather do ANYTHING else.”

Me: *unwrapping earbuds* here, listen to this for an hour while you do it.

French voice: 1hr later

Son: “k I’m done! :-)”

Friend: “wow, what’d you give him? Concentra, Adderall, Ritalin‽”

Me: “Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics” and some lo-fi.

Source: The Boy Who Collects The Stars 星をあつめる少年

by Natsu

Clam's Quick Tips for Starting Your Very First Webcomic

Howdy! Here are the three bits of advice I tend to give people who ask me about getting into webcomic-making. Maybe they can help you jump into the fray with a little less fear.

1) Make Your First Chapter a Pilot Episode

You will be told by webcomic veterans to start with a short, simple comic idea first - which is wise - but if all you can think about is your big magnum opus, then you might as well hop in, right? Otherwise you'll just be glancing back at the other cooler project forever.

But if you can't start with a small simple story, start on a small, simple part of that larger story. Your first chapter should be a snapshot of the main conflict - show us a simple scene with few characters, ease us in slowly, keep things clear and focus on emotion/impact/clarity. Get the audience to care by offering something easily digested, but full of promise.

Once you're done with that 'pilot' chapter, and you're feeling more comfortable with the whole comic process, you can open the gates and show us the larger world. At that point, you'll be way more ready.

2) Simplify Your Art Style For Your Own Sanity

Always try to make your webcomic's art style as simple as possible - the standard rule is to use only 75% of your artistic skill for every comic page you make. Otherwise you will burn out quickly and terribly.

But you also need to be PROUD of your art style. If you're really feeling itchy, add a couple bells and whistles to your style so you can look at the finished page and say "Yeah, looks cool." You'll find the right balance the more you draw.

Also, don't be afraid to change your art style as you go along. Ultimate consistency is often impossible in webcomics anyway - so embrace your desire to try new things, streamline your work, whatever you feel needs to happen to be happiest. Sometimes the coolest part of reading a webcomic is noticing that style change - so don't hesitate to embrace it!

3) Resist the Reboot! RESIST!

The curse/blessing of drawing the same things over and over is that you'll inevitably get better at drawing those things. The trouble comes when you look back at old stuff and start thinking "Damn, I could draw that way better now."

You must recognize that this feeling never goes away. Not after a hundred pages. Not after three hundred. Not after a thousand.

I think everyone should be allowed one soft reboot for their first webcomic. Redraw some panels that bother you. Change up some dialogue if it doesn't make sense with your new story ideas. Do maintenance, basically. One of the beauties of webcomics is that they can be easily edited, without reprinting a whole book or remaking a whole game.

But if the ultimate purpose of a webcomic is to tell a story, then constant reboots will just be retelling the same story - slightly better each time, but the same at its core. We've heard it before. Most audiences would rather you save your strength and just keep going, rather than circling back year after year and going "Wait wait wait! I'll do it better this time."

Reboot early, not often, and only when you absolutely must! You're a storyteller, and you're constantly getting better at telling your story. Don't be ashamed of it - look back how much ground you've covered, and keep walking!

---

That's a good start. Happy webcomicking - don't be afraid to jump in, but be prepared to learn a lot very quickly. And if this advice doesn't work for you or adhere to how you did it, that's absolutely fine - webcomics are diverse by nature, and so are their creation processes. Feel out what works best for you, and good luck!