Look, Simon is a poor little meow meow in dire need of a hug for sure. BUT!!!! Rick Shades literally opens the book by being so pathetic and adoptable the grown ass man gets adopted by a trio of literal actual children. He's such a wet cat of a man children look at him and know if they don't take care of him he will be dead within the hour.
And they're right.
And he only gets more adoptable from there somehow. I won't spoiler his very good arc, I'd rather you just listen to the audiobook. But I assure you, he may have less broad market impact, but he is the more adoptable grown man.
art block is your brain telling you to do studies.
draw a still life. practice some poses. sketch some naked people. do a color study. try out a different technique on a basic shape.
art block doesnt stop you from drawing, it stops you from making your drawings look the way you want them to. and thats because you need to push your skills to the next level so you can preform at that standard
As a scientific illustrator- this is 100% true and going to review your basics will fix it every goddamn time. Not only does it keep your skills sharp, when you’re not emotionally invested in the final product of a piece, you relax and your brain makes more/better art juice for you. So, when you get back to that big/important piece? You’ll know what to do and how to do it.
Nothing in nature blooms all year round. Rest, and take care of yourself.
Write a description of an object. write the weather today. Write a made up characterization of a random photo of an actor from the internet as to the character they are in that picture. Write a little story about your pet’s day. Write about spilling soup and make it super dramatic and tragic. Write about someone’s day being ruined and make it funny. Write a meetcute coffeeshop AU of two OCs you’d never put together- maybe from different stories. Write them breaking up.
Write a bunch of short stuff meant for no audience ever and super duper self indulgent.
I found out relatively recently that it really helps if I write short fiction surrounding the novels I write. Like oh? I’m stuck for a bit? Ooh there was that section I wanted to explore but doesn’t fit in the plot really. There was that what-if that could never happen in the actual story but would be fun to explore. It keeps me in the characters’ headspace (tho that’s not always what I’m needing) but not right where they are exactly.
Yes! I have gotten past writers’ block multiple times by writing drabble collections. Making something coherent happen in just 100 words is a very different challenge from writing a long story and it also lets me get past plot points that I don’t want to explore in-depth.
I am also going to have to start drawing studies now…
Really great thread from Instagram about ADHD burnout and how to reset not just "rest" that I think all my followers who struggle with burnout should read:
Source
Image description and captions under cut:
[A 9 image grid of a woman in gym clothes and over-ear headphones seated in front of a mirror, holding a phone up to cover her face and photograph her reflection. Each image is the same photo with text overlay.]
[Image 1] "Just take a rest day" is terrible ADHD burnout advice actually
[Image 2] "Jut take a rest day" ok cool but now I've:
Rotted in bed for 9 hours
Doomscrolled myself into an identity crisis
Ignored every routine that normally keeps me sane
Eaten absolutely nothing with nutritional value
Built up 700 layers of task paralysis
And somehow convinced myself that I'm incapable of functioning ever again.
[Image 3] ADHD burnout isn't just "being tired." It's a buildup of:
Too many decisions
Too much noise
Too many tabs open
Constant task switching
Masking
Self-criticism
Running on cortisol
So when you suddenly remove all routine and disappear, your brain doesn't calm down. It gets worse.
So here's what to do instead [memo pad and pencil emoji].
[Image 4] First things first: Your ADHD brain does not need a productivity comeback. It needs less shit.
Right now your only jobs are: eat food, drink water, sleep, basic hygiene and keep yourself vaguely employed. That's it.
This is not the week for: starting a side hustle, deep cleaning your kitchen, becoming a morning person, or replying to every message you've ignored since February.
And if someone offers help? TAKE IT. You do not get bonus points for struggling independently.
[Image 5] Become aggressively boring for a bit.
Same breakfast, same comfy clothes, same lunch rotation, same playlist you've already listened to 400 times.
Yes we love novelty but right now you need less decisions and more predictability.
[Image 6] Eat like your brain is injured because honestly it kind of is.
ADHD brains love accidentally surviving on coffee and crackers.
Do not do this.
But easy options only: protein yoghurt / toast / microwave rice / rotisserie chicken / frozen meals / snack plates / protein bars / get someone else to cook for you (and no I don't mean deliveroo)
[Image 7] Stop using all your dopamine before 9am.
If you wake up and immediately scroll, compare yourself to everyone, and answer 47 messages, your brain starts the day already depleted.
First 20-30 minutes: water, light, protein, gentle movement.
Protect your morning dopamine.
[Image 8] Move your body - BUT DO NOT 'push through'
Movement genuinely helps through ADHD burnout.
But right now we need gentle movement that makes your brain think ah its ok we're safe.
Walking / stretching / easy lifting / mobility work
[Image 9] And please stop waiting until you feel fully rested before you start living again.
We are now hibernating until we're "magically fixed"
Regular meals
Slightly better sleep
Fewer extremes
Slightly lower expectations
Tiny routines
And then one day you realise your brain doesn't feel like it's on fire anymore.
That's it. That's recovery.
No dramatic transformation montage unfortunately. I know. How rude.
One of the most jarring moments of my university education was in a physics class when I was given a device that measures gravity and was told “this cost the university sixteen thousand dollars, but the only glass blower in the world who could make the glass springs inside it died so it’s literally irreplaceable. If you drop it those springs will shatter. Go fuck around with it for a day and take some measurements”
In the UK there's a thing called the endangered crafts list which I highly recommend if you fancy discovering some crafts you never even knew existed. Scientific and optical instrument making is considered 'critically endangered' and glassworking (scientific glassware) is just considered endangered, which is for 'crafts with a shrinking market share, an ageing demographic or crafts with a declining number of practitioners.' There's some other crafts in that category which are easier to teach yourself or go to classes on that list, like lithography, marbling or block printing on fabric, so it might be worth considering those if you're looking for something to try.
Phm being a story so full of love and care and hope and not having a romance plot in it means so much to me. There's so many other ways people can love. Grace being aroace is canon to me. It's such an integral part of the story for me- that Grace cares and loves so much, but none of that love is romantic.
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