Tag: advice

arkadycosplay:

From someone who’s survived MySpace, livejournal, deviantart, and fanfiction.nets’ content purges and bad policy updates, here’s some advice on how to get through tumblr’s recent bullshit:

– don’t knee jerk delete. I know it’s tempting to peace out immediately but hang on and do the other steps first. Out right ghosting and erasing everything is how fandoms die.

– archive everything on your blog you want to keep

– tell your followers how they can archive and keep your work too. A lot of fic and art were only saved from ff.net and lj because other people saved it first. If you’re cool with other people saving your work for them to personally keep, let them know this. You can absolutely discourage reposting but I really do highly recommend you allow people to personally save fic and art they like and are worried will disappear forever. Digital Dark Ages are a real thing.

– tell people where you’re jumping ship to. Give links. Keep that info up, even if you’ve left the site.

– go through who you follow and find out where else you can follow them. Save their work if they’ll allow it. It’s tedious as hell but if you want to keep up with people on here clicking on their page to check in is the best way to do it.

– support places like ao3. This is exactly why ao3 asks for donations a few times a year. They are a 100% anti-purging, judgement free, ad free non profit run by an elected board and protected by lawyers. Places like ao3 literally save fandom so please continue to support them and other similar archives. This is exactly why ao3 is so important.

bel-mont-bae:

raejin99:

zambamboz:

bardicknowledgeblogger:

lair-master:

bel-mont-bae:

bel-mont-bae:

Hey DnD Community

How many of you have been banned from playing a bard in campaigns? I need to know for science.

For anyone that might ask- I had to sign a legally binding contract to not play bard characters if I wanted to join a campaign in my old group.

this is an outrage.

here’s what you do:

  • be a half-elf. the skill versatility trait is similar to the bard’s starting skill proficiencies
  • play a warlock. again, similar starting proficiencies. charisma is your spellcasting ability. very bardy
  • your otherworldly patron is the great old one. or the archfey. except call them your “otherworldly muse” or “otherworldly patron of the arts”
  • pick spells on the bard spell list, such as minor illusion, mage hand, dissonant whispers, or Tasha’s hideous laughter
  • take the entertainer background. much bard. wow.
  • choose pact of the blade if you’re a valor bard or pact of the tome if you’re a lore bard. i recommend the latter. pick the vicious mockery cantrip (because bard), as well as guidance and resistance (to emulate bardic inspiration)
  • for eldritch invocations, take beguiling influence for more skill proficiencies and book of ancient secrets to ape the bard’s magical secrets feature
  • if you miss having expertise, splash in a level or six of rogue, perhaps at fifth level
  • voila! you’re a bard in all but name. that’ll show ‘em

Stealth bard-ing

Tbh if you fucked up being a bard so bad that your group absolutely does not want you to play a bard then if u use these “tips” to be a stealth bard you’re just a dick.

I have a friend who DMs for their own group and they straight up told me that if it got to the point that they had to ban someone from playing a bard and they pulled the “stealth bard” shit they would literally just give up and not want to DM at all because that’s such a shitty shitty thing to do.

Like it’s one thing to be an asshole to the DM but then there’s being THAT asshole that no one wants to play with or DM for.

Instead of thinking of ways to bypass the rule against you not being able to be a bard maybe y’all should reevaluate why your team has banned you from being a bard in the first place.

I doubt they were banned from playing bard because they played it poorly in the past, since 9 times out of 10 a ban like that usually comes from a GM who takes the stereotype of the typical bard player as the “guy/girl who tries to seduce and sleep with everything and everyone and throws the campaign off the rails” a little too seriously.

Like most of the time these GMs ban ALL of their players from playing bards because they think it’ll ruin the atmosphere of their campaign. Which is shitty GMing, mind you, because you should be talking to your players about everyone’s expectations, not just your own, as you can usually come to a compromise that everyone finds reasonable and enjoyable.

I do agree that “stealth barding” isnt going to solve the problem either way, though. It might be cathartic for like a minute, but by that point you’re better off finding a DM who’s more flexible about player options.

Uh OP here, I got banned becuase my GM was a control freak that actually had EVERYONE in our group sign something before our first game. The only thing he didn’t count on was someone (me) playing a bard.

Like he was so obsessed w/ the campaigns playing out how HE wrote them, that the first time I derailed it he was actually a bit mature about it. After 6 other campaigns tho he went back and revised his shitty little contract so no one was allowed to play bards and told me to “retire” my bard- whom I’ve been using for all of our campaigns since all the other players wanted it to be like a series of adventures for our ban of misfits- and make a new character to join the adventures. It made both me and the others upset becuase we all already established relationships among our characters and didn’t want a “stranger” joining.

So in the end I made a new character and it wad a bard. It was my final “fuck you” to him and I haven’t played w/ that asshole since. As for the other players, the GM literally threatened to ban other players from playing in his group if they talked to me.

Pretty astounded that zambamboz immediately came to the conclusion that OP was being a dick and the GM was faultless. It’s pretty obvious that the GM isn’t ideal.

If a GM is making you sign a legally binding contract not to be a bard before letting you play, that’s a bad sign. It’s a sign that they’re not only inflexible, but that they lack the out-of-the-box thinking required to be a good GM.

That’s not just because they’ve banned a player from an entire class. That’s a huge part of it, and it shouldn’t be ignored – if you’re resorting to legally binding contracts rather than just, say, talking to the player, you’re trying to be too much of a dictator and not caring enough about the players having fun. GMs aren’t supposed to just make sure they themselves have fun at any cost. They have to look out for the players, too.

As some people might point out, this goes both ways – conversely, the players have to follow rule #1 of roleplaying, I.e. Don’t Be A Dick. The definition of “being a dick” is pretty nebulous and varies by circumstance, so it’s once again up to the GM to determine if a player is ruining the enjoyment of other players and/or themselves, and to take them aside if they are, and peacefully (hopefully) come to a compromise with them. Tell them *why* what they’re doing is Being A Dick, and work with them on a way to change that aspect WITHOUT eliminating their enjoyment.

So back to the Bard thing: telling a player “you can’t be a Bard, period” is RARELY a good way to get that peaceful compromise. For one thing, it’s not considering what that Bard-playing player wants out of it at all. For another, it doesn’t even remotely get to the root of the problem. Is the problem that the player keeps singing songs of their own composition to be in character, tormenting everyone else in the room? Is it that the Bard character keeps having sex with enemies, derailing the violence and action? Is it that the player derails quests in other ways? Is it the awful, awful puns?

These are all completely separate issues, and none of them are caused just by the character being a Bard – you can play a Bards without creating these issues. By that same token, none of these issues can be stopped just by having the player stop playing Bards. It’s irresponsible of any GM to say “alright, stop playing Bards and the problem will be solved”, instead of figuring out what about playing a Bard causes problems, and how to talk to players about it. And, frankly, it’s naive and a clear sign of inexperience.

Of course, sometimes you get a player who can’t be reasoned with, and then the solution would just be to not play with them. If you can’t handle that player, don’t GM for them. Trying to stop them by having them sign such a broad-yet-generic contract is just asking for them to exploit loopholes. If they’re enough of a dick to ignore you when you’ve talked to them about their behavior multiple times, they’ll definitely find a way around the contract, unless you can define with clear legal precision what “Being A Dick” means in your campaign. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’ve been through at least two years of law school (or if you’re a genius and you’ve already passed the bar).

But this brings us back to the other reason why OP’s GM is not a great GM. They not only aren’t familiar enough with DnD to realize that you can be a Bard without being a Bard – they don’t even realize you can create any of the problems that Bards stereotypically create without even Stealthing the class! Humans can enjoy puns. Anyone with curiosity and creativity can derail a quest. Druids can try to have sex with everyone they meet. Hell, horny humans with seduction magic can do that. And as for singing, you can always insist your elf is from a region or clan that sings whenever they feel strong emotions. DnD is flexible enough that you can’t just solve all Bard-related problems by banning Bards. A lot of popular games are. Hence the “Stealth Bard” suggestion.

Finally, great GMs roll with the punches. Your Bard seduces the latest big bad and you haven’t come up with any other monsters? Throw in some other problems. There’s a kitten sleeping in front of a door you have to open. A magical item causes conflict among the characters and they start fighting over something trivial. The big bad gets possessive and won’t let the Bard leave, and now the other players have to rescue their resident headache. Players aren’t going to follow the exact campaign you have in mind; things are going to get derailed, at least a little, sooner or later. And you have to be prepared for that as well. It’s true that things can get derailed too far, and you sometimes have to reign it in; and there are many cases where players derail because they’re being dicks, and you have to have words with them. But not every imperfect campaign is the result of players being dicks. Usually it’s the result of players being humans. If you really, desperately want things to play out a certain way, use the rules and mechanics to try and keep things along that path – make failed rolls worse if they’re taking action for something other than to achieve the goal. Raise thresholds of success for trying to seduce a monster.

Otherwise, don’t GM – just write a book.

*Caveat that I’ve never actually DM’d DnD in particular before, but I’ve played and GM’d a few games, and that’s more than enough to tell that if the GM keeps an open conversation going with players outside the game, it’s a lot more likely to get players to not Be Dicks than if the GM made them sign blanket contracts with pretty seriously huge loopholes. Feel free to point out game mechanics I’m getting wrong for DnD in particular, though – it’s probable I used names incorrectly.

**Disclaimer that I don’t actually think writing a book means your plot can’t get derailed. Characters are like players except when they derail your plot, the only person you can blame for it is yourself. Not that that’s a bad thing.

inkskinned:

HOW TO WRITE 20 PAGES (from one girl w/mental illness 2 the rest of u, but please keep in mind all of this is just personal Stuff That Worked for me n u might be different):

  • first of all, and probably most importantly, make that paper about something you actually give a shit about. if you can write an essay on how long shakespeare’s dick is when you’re talking to your friends, that’s a good topic. don’t choose something u don’t care about, you will Want To Die
  • “okay but the only topics are ones i don’t care about” talk 2 ur teacher 99% of the time if you’re like “here’s a well-thought-out thesis can i talk about this instead” they’re like “sure lmao i just couldn’t think of other paper topics to suggest”
  • “they said no” cool find the one u hate the least and try to tie it into something u like. for example i really hated this stupid paper i had to write about a stupid book so i ended up writing about the food inside the book and whether or not it was a historically accurate depiction of food. turns out i fucking love talking about food. i also remade some of the old recipes and brought them in as part of the presentation of my project and people went fuckken nuts bc BREAD. basically i thought about “what motivates me? uh food” and followed that. it was a 45-page book about bread and i looked like a really good student when really i just love bread (somewhere, oprah smiles over me)
  • the 20-pagers are the ones you Actually Cannot Do the night before. i know we all got real fuckken cocky back in hs when we learned how to do 5 pages in one night w/out trying too hard but 1. as a teacher now i can tell u for sure that teachers do know you rushed it, we just Don’t Care bc We’re Not Paid Enough and 2. twenty pages is not the same thing. you need to actually take the time to do it. this is the actual version of “you’re not in hs anymore” DONT lie to yourself and think “it’s fine i’ll do it in one day” you will !! Regret it!!!! 
  • “raquel. raquel. listen to me. do you actually believe i’m capable of time management. raquel i have depression i barely manage to exist.” same. but the truth is that when i started like?? actually following the rules of timelines and taking my time etc it actually really helps mental illness. you don’t feel pressured all the time by a deadline, so your anxiety chills a little bit. small progress being acceptable means that on depression days, you don’t have to worry you’re fucking it all up. when it’s 15 minutes every day (even if it’s only 1 word a day) it feels a lot better.
  • ask the teacher what timeline they’d recommend. they actually Know.
  • always ask if it’s informal or formal (if you can use “I” statements or not). informal essays can rely on personal feelings and are so much easier and trust me if you find out on the day it’s due that you could have written 12 pages about your feelings instead of 12 pages of research, you will Be Very Upset
  • i lie to myself all the time and move the deadline up. i write it in my agenda as at least 2 days before it’s due. surprise!!! i tricked u, self!!! you can’t procrastinate!! 
  • agendas/planners need to be what actually works for you. i liked to prioritize w/colors + keep lists. i really love crossing things off lists. it’s like… a balm. for me, i usually say i have to finish the first 2 things, start the 3rd thing, and “touch” at least half the list. if i finish the whole list i get a prize. also i get to cross off everything which is so satisfying i’m sure it’s someone’s idea of a rush. there’s so many “how to” documents on these that i won’t get into it but frankly?? if you don’t write it down you will not remember it. “yes i will” no you won’t greg. just do it. write it down. write it where u can see it. not there, greg. greg, somewhere good. my friend is smart af and uses a post-it on her laptop. that doesn’t work for me bc i can just? use my hand to cover the anxiety? so choose somewhere good greg.
  • nervous system, skeleton, meat, skin. nervous system is the thesis. skeleton is quotes/data. meat is the analysis of that data. skin is the fancy transitions + beautification.  meat goes on both sides of bone, and skin goes all around. nervous system has to touch everything. do what your teachers have been begging u to do since 3rd grade and start w/an outline. do this while you read/research. i usually have a starter thesis like “lady macbeth is a feminist ICON” then take the quotes i think fit. but if while you’re reading u realize u wanna talk about the use of feminine language and how shakespeare parallels daintiness w/sharpness, u still have a bunch of quotes you can use or not use. this works also w/research papers. just pull what u think is something u wanna talk about. copy-paste it but leave a link to where u got it. then put a bullet point under that says roughly why u mention it
  • if you just write the outline like you’re keeping notes to yourself you’d be amazed how quickly you write the essay bc we get stuck in academic language but it’s easier to translate “this is why bees are the #bomb” into a paragraph. i mean you just rewrite your notes to yourself in academic speech. “The above passage illustrates the growing necessity of pollinators such as bees in an agricultural environment.”
  • keep track of your sources + label them. don’t just write “(SOURCE)” instead if you’re using multiple sources use the lazygirl way which is (SA1) or whatever shorthand u have for each source. then when you need to finish your sources you go to your little source document, find the one labelled SA1 and then “Find+replace” w/the actual source.
  • integrate quotes so it reads w/clarity which means don’t do this but if you’re running late on it and don’t have time to look up the quote u want to fit this situation, technically you can “use any” word you want (56). so yeah “there is” a moral question about it but you “can” make up quotes (79, 90). don’t “actually” do this unless you’re seriously in a crunch. which u shouldn’t be, bc u managed ur time, right?
  • running late part 2 (which again would never happen bc you followed my advice and made a little time table for yourself but anyway if it does somehow magically happen) i really recommend using school computers to do your work. ur surrounded by people who will hold u accountable + u will focus
  • running late pt3 on the day of it being due, around 5 PM, be honest w/yourself and see where you are. if you’re like “it needs 2 more hours” okay. but if you’re like “this is……… not started” email the teacher. they’ll be so much more receptive the earlier you do this in the process. it looks like “i’m genuinely struggling and i hope to finish this on time but i’m worried i won’t” instead of “i started this at 11:58PM and am asking for an extension”. please also just… be honest? 
  • “my teacher won’t accept late work!” they all say that, he probably will, particularly if you have a note from the school therapist being like “lmao she’s got so many mental illnesses idek how to help her”
  • “no he really doesn’t, he doesn’t care” you can file for disability if you have mental illness, and, in fact, you should if it’s something that often stops you from completing work on time. i didn’t bc i found that it just let me procrastinate for a longer time, but having that on file means you can go to the dean.
  • “no!!! raquel you’re not listening i have 2 pages and he doesn’t take late work!!!!!!!!!”  okay. yeah that’s bad. but nerves, skeleton, meat, skin. what is it that you’re struggling with? is it that your can’t find any quotes to back up your thesis? impossible, tbh, you need to be more willing to purposefully misuse quotes (don’t do that). but the better option is to just change the thesis. 
  • “i don’t even have that!!” did you. do the reading? if you even just watched the movie, you probably have an opinion on something even if it’s “this is bad.” you can use that. use why you didn’t like it to write a hate-fueled examination on how whiny the main character is and why u think the author is trying to point out how miserable cis white boys are to deal with. 
  • “i don’t have enough sources!!!” go to wikipedia’s page about it and look @ the sources. try to like actually read some if you have time but frankly in a hurry a student (me) might be compelled to just slap the source in there. 
  • “how the fuck do i analyze this”. u know how ppl agonize over why an actor breathed in a scene. melt into that kind of thinking. you can literally force the words to mean whatever you want. i’ve talked about word choice so specific that i based a 12-page essay on three separate uses of the words “my dear”. i talked about the possessive “my” and how it developed for like 5 of those pages. and always repeat the thesis like a million times. after every analysis you should talk about how it links to the thesis. that is like a free 3 sentences every paragraph.
  • “i did all that and it’s still 3 pages too short” quick ways to Beef Him Up: definitions are great in research papers + essays bc you can talk about either word choice or like the definition of every process used in getting the data. also make the conclusion hella informative (it should answer “what does this mean moving forwards” most of the time, tie it into modern life or into the past). thicken ur intro with “here’s a quote from this guy about it and what he personally felt about acid-base titrations”, use a paragraph to talk about the history of the data/book, use a paragraph to talk about the modern reception of the data/book. also look for where you can use two words instead of one even tho like grammatically don’t do that.
  • worst comes to worst, brevity is the soul of wit. most teachers prefer concise over rambling and all over the place. if you choose to scoot under the page limit, tho, your writing etc needs to be exceptionally clean. frankly i’ve only done this once and it was terrifying
  • make computer read it aloud 2 u before u submit. “raquel….. i can’t look at it anymore”. you’re not looking @ it, you’re discovering you wrote “breath” not “breathe” and u need to change it
  • tutoring centers exist, i worked in one, and this is how i know they actually Help and have Good Ideas
  • ask about extra credit and do it tbh
  • good luck…. breathe. and remember u are astronomically more important than a grade could ever be.
Source: theawesomeadventurer

Staying Focused While Writing

a-sundeen:

Hey everyone, it’s Abby with another writing post! Today we’re talking about writing, but in a different way – this post is about the writer, not about what’s being written.

It’s so easy to get distracted while writing. We do it because we love it, but sometimes it’s hard to stay focused on the screen or paper in front of you. Today I’m here with some tips to combat this situation we all find ourselves in at one point or another.

The most important thing to remember is that we all have good and bad days. If today you wrote 5,000 words but you can barely get 500 tomorrow, that’s okay. We can’t expect or be expected to be at the top of our game every day of the year. The best thing you can do here is know your limit. If you just can’t go anymore, or there’s something going on outside of your writing that needs to be taken care of, this should become your number one priority. Even if you don’t completely acknowledge it, stress is terrible for you; take care of everything else and make sure you can attack your project with a healthy mind.

If your schedule is constantly full, block out a time for writing. If you write at about the same time every day, it’s easier for you to fall into the creative mindset during that time that longer you follow that schedule. Your mind will go, it’s time to write, and you’ll be able to write. Schedules are so incredibly important, especially if (like myself) you’re working on more than one project at a time. Even if you can’t schedule, make an effort to write every day – it would be 10 words, it could be 10,000 words, as long as you’re getting ideas down on that page.

This next one should already be understood, but I’m going to go over it anyway: Work in a place of comfort. It’s easy for us to be distracted by our surroundings, so surround yourselves with things that will put you in the writing mindset. Get comfortable. Make sure the room isn’t too but not too cold either, your chair isn’t digging into your back, things like that. The less time you spend worrying about your environment, the more time you can spend writing.

You know things about yourself by now. You know your habits, what you eat and drink and whatnot. You know what foods or drinks you like and don’t like, which ones are the least “distracting”. When you’re writing, have these foods/drinks with you. This applies especially if you’re in for a long writing stretch; you can only will away your hunger for so long before a want becomes a need. If you have these things with you, you can take care of yourself and continue writing; I’ve found that getting up in the middle of a writing session is very distracting.

So, that’s all I’ve got for you today. If you want to see me cover another topic in my next post, please don’t hesitate to drop a message in my ask; until then, much love! <333

Good advice