#hobbyists on holidays | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ellierenae · 9 months

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SUPER UNIQUE writing ideas for hobbyists and professionals looking for fun, personal projects to get their inspo back

get a fictional pen pal (ask your other writer friends!) and spend time decorating envelopes, picking out a handwriting style, maybe buying a cheap perfume/cologne that smells like your character to really get to know them and feel their presence. if you have hand tremors or bad handwriting like me, you can choose a handwriting font for them and print their letters out!! more examples: save the dates, wedding invitations, birthday cards, party invites, etc.

use old calendars in character (there are many "expired" planners on sale around the end of the year, usually August) personally, i use them to record major life events like first band tours, trips abroad, holidays, birthdays... even trash pickup days and when they forget to roll out the bins!

sketch floor plans this can be on graph paper if you have the know-how when it comes to scaling down, but there are also tons of simple apps that allow you to both create the floor plan a builder would use and add furniture like an interior decorator. some even let you rotate them afterwards and see the furniture and walls burst to life in 3D! you can think of them as the sims but where everything is actually to scale

make an architectural model if you have some scrap cardboard, paper, and glue, you can easily bring the floor plan you just made to life (you'll need practice if you want to get really fancy with it of course! window panes and railings are the gnarliest part for me, haha)

make a playlist as your character maybe the most accessible one on this list, you can make the playlist your character listens to. sometimes this can be fun and surprising, like when my little guy Possum from Violence Without Plot is covered in tattoos and plays punk music on stage but listens to nothing but spa music to wind down between shows

write something your character can see this one is so weird to summarize but what i mean is like... a school essay for your teacher character to grade. cryptic street signs warning about danger by the lake. a memorial plaque beneath a statue. a character's online blog. a few of the cards in a grandmother's recipe box. a business card for a smooth-talking lawyer. things you can write that make everything feel so textured and real

these are all things i do on the daily, and it makes my life as a writer a thousand times more joyful and fulfilling. so have fun, be safe, and don't forget to unplug the hot glue when you're done <3

#writing advice #writing inspiration #writing tips #writeblr #writing prompts #from ellie

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wolf-912 · 2 years

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Brain: Hey, with $, you can buy like, actual gifts for your friends now

Me: True true

PICTURE THIS

I can buy cool things, to then use, to make gifts for them in the FuTuRe

Brain: You sonuvagun

Me: *Proceeds to spend wayyy too much money on craft supplies*

#crafting #hobbyist #artist problems #and then I proceed to never make the things #or make them weeks and months after the holiday is over #forever just gifting things to my friends at random times of the year #based on when I finish products #this is why we dont have nice things #but we COULD #just gotta make them one day #why do i do this to myself

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comicaurora · 5 months

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Hi! I finally got the chance to read Aurora a bit ago. It's a wonderful story--all I was expecting and better! I was particularly amazed and delighted by the artwork and visual mechanics used to tell the story, so I wrote a post to yell about how cool it is and break some of it down. (No criticism, just praise.) I'm mostly a hobbyist, so I'm hoping I've done it justice.

That said: zero pressure to read it or respond to this ask. Normally I wouldn't send it since I tagged, but I know Tumblr's notifs are a mess and things get lost very easily. I've been in both the "one (1) word of praise will feed me for a year" and the "oh gods don't talk about my writing/art because anything that seems Off will break my brain" modes before, and I absolutely don't want to push or make you uncomfortable!

If you are comfortable, however, I wanted to ask about your use of what I'm assuming are Screen and blending modes in sound effect words. (I'm only guessing that's the technique, though, so I could be totally wrong about how it's done! I'm mostly experienced in image manipulation in Photoshop.) Making them semi-transparent over the actions is genius :) What inspired you to do that, and are there specific techniques you use to make it work?

Same questions go for using specific colors to distinguish different characters' words and actions. I really noticed it in the cave sequence with Falst and Dainix, since their colors are so vivid in the dark (ex. Falst's little swats and Dainix's swooping kick at 1.20.9). It lends excellent clarity to busy scenes.

Thanks! Have a lovely day, enjoy your break, and happy holidays <3

You're correct about the technique! "Screen" is the blend mode I use most often for sound effects. I stumbled on it mostly through trial and error - I love how sound effects add depth to a comic panel, but it's very easy for them to obscure the art in a way I find counterproductive, so "Screen" lets me put the sound effect directly over the origin of the sound while still letting it be visible through the word. Early chapters didn't have it as much-

Most of the sound effects in early chapters are just solid colors with reduced opacity if I'm feeling fancy. But I started figuring it out around chapter 8 and 9, because Falst is kind of a sound-effect-heavy guy, especially in his fight scenes.

In order to make sure they don't impede the visibility of the action, I'll often soft-erase the top or bottom half of the SFX to reduce its opacity while still leaving it readable.

I'll usually double that up with an outline on the SFX so it's still readable. This is an especially important consideration if the SFX goes over an area of the background that's very bright or glowing.

Color-coding the speed lines and SFX to the character or force causing them isn't a hard and fast rule, but I like using it (in part because it's a habit from the OSP illustrations, where every character has a single pop of color in their lineart) mostly because it sort of codes every sound to make it clear where it's emanating from, or the general feeling of the sound. Since I normally do character-colors for SFX, something like this stands out more jarringly-

Which it's supposed to, but a big lightning strike doesn't register as anything too worrying because it's just Tess up to her usual shenanigans.

It's also very useful for magic effects, because each form of magic has its own associated palette.

And when I had a very complicated fight scene in a dark environment, I used the texture pattern I'd already made for the monster to color its SFX, so when I Screened them onto the panels they didn't obscure too much while still communicating "this is something else."

Changing the weight, lined-vs-not-lined, and opacity of the SFX words also helps to communicate that not every sound has the same feeling. A strong motion is solid and aggressive, but a crackling, unstable sound is more ephemeral and staticky.

It's definitely been a process of learning as I go - looking back at the earlier chapters I can actually see when I first tried various tricks I now use regularly, like doubling and distorting an SFX to produce the effect of a camera-shaking impact. I haven't really seen any other comics that do it like I do, probably because most other comics follow a more traditional production pipeline where text bubbles and sound effects get locked into the composition early, before the inking stage, because traditional physical comics don't have digital-art layers to play with. Adding sound effects to a page is almost the last thing I do before exporting them, and that only works because digital art and layers allow for a ton of flexibility.

#asks #aurora #art stuff

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annamaetion · 1 year

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Benoit Blanc (and Philip) Headcannons

If they were both on vacation and a ‘busman’s holiday’ happened (aka a murder or other sort of investigation needed) Philip would actually be the most enthusiastic for Benoit to join in, because he’s seen what his husband is like when he goes long stretches without a case.

Word of god (aka the author) has it that Benoit can’t afford his apartment [on his own; I blame the cost of living, and honestly Benoit’s clothing tastes cannot be cheap] and it’s heavily implied that he’s a hobbyist that is more than willing to do charity cases because he cares about the people and justice. So that puts significant weight on the ‘Philip is the biggest breadwinner of the two’ theory (fitting that his quarantine crazy project was literally making bread). TL;DR: Philip is a sugar daddy to Benoit.

Philip is actually more famous than his husband in some circles (possibly the world of finance or fashion?) and Benoit doesn’t mind at all. (Frankly Benoit would be happier if his name wasn’t the first Google result for ‘Worlds greatest detective’)

Marta and Helen are now honorary daughters to the Benoit and Philip, this headcannon is so popular I choose to believe it is just full bonafide canon.

#benoit x phillip #benoit blanc #knives out #philip glass onion #glass onion

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eroguron0nsense · 6 months

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Assorted One Piece Modern AU HCs

The Whitebeard Pirates are all part of a shelter/relief/mutual aid network for drug users, unhoused people, and vulnerable youth. Ace looks up to them all immensely and volunteers part time, but he's still very much on a journey of self discovery and healing

Ace is a massive music nerd and hobbyist with a near encyclopedic knowledge of genre histories and subcultural spaces. He goes to a lot of local acts his friends are involved in, plays the drums and bass and hangs out at Brook's recording studio/jams with him from time to time while he's in town (Brook loves Luffy and his family, and he's just happy to entertain young people who make or love music and let them use the space). He's undecided in his major but kinda leaning toward sociology or social work.

(Rayleigh is his prof, and unbeknownst to him, a college buddy/old flame of his bio parents who recognized him immediately and has no clue what to do with himself.)

Sabo is, of course, a socialist student organizer in a poli-sci/law program and interning at Dragon's practice (grassroots activist turned civil rights lawyer). The ASL brothers live together in a shitty apartment with barely any heat. He's secretly a massive film snob and organizes Radical Documentary Screenings with Koala from time to time.

Dadan has a cabin like 2 hours outside the city in the mountains and the brothers crash there every now and then over the holidays. She's retired now and constantly gripes about having to feed and shelter her stupid kids every time they come home but she still gets teary whenever she watches them go. Their childhood bedroom and three bunk beds are perfectly preserved and cleaned, and she wouldn't ever dream of moving Ace's posters or Sabo's old bookshelf and criterion DVDs or Luffy's plushies and taxidermied insects.

Brook's band is a genre-blending indie darling that occasionally tours the country. I'm definitely not the first one to think of this, but Laboon is a Newfoundland with severe separation anxiety and Brook has to bring him on tour or to half of the group outings. The Rumbar Pirates are a local jazz act he performs with from time to time, and he may or may not have dated Calico Yorki.

Usopp (fresh out of high school) only recently reconnected with his father and they've been having awkward family dinners with Kaya but it's getting less weird having Yasopp around. He babysits the Usopp Pirates part time and they love him to pieces; he's low-key interested in studying Botany and horticulture and has been checking out local degrees and training programs.

Franky's in the middle of an auto mechanic apprenticeship and is debating trying to get into a mech eng program at Robin's university; he was raised by Tom as a carpenter, and has worked as one for a really long time, but he's increasingly getting into engines and inventing things and the family's very supportive. Robin's a Masters student doing an hourly TA thing in Clover's class on Archaeology of the Void Century, and they're married.

Sanji, naturally, works at the Baratie and Zeff lets him brainstorm and test daily specials or set menus for holidays. He and Pudding are in the same patissier courses at culinary school (she's obviously a baking major); they're exes who've stayed friends and care deeply for each other. The ASL brothers sometimes pick up shifts at the Baratie (with the exception of Luffy who broke way too many dishes)–Zeff really likes all of Sanji's friends and dumps leftovers on them

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shevi-creates · 1 year

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"don't you see? this is a world where hope does not exist."

commissions are open! check my pinned post for more information! please don’t use, edit, or repost without permission; thanks!

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xlntwtch2 · 6 months

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photos by @xlntwtch2 ... december 2023

"maybe we can light the way"

a neighbor's lights and a favorite welcome mat

#photography #photographers on tumblr #decor #small holiday sights #peace #snowman #xlntwtch2 #'serious' hobbyist with a phone

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the-umiran-amulet · 8 days

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What holidays do you celebrate in Octan? :D

One of our biggest national holidays is Alliance Day, which celebrates the formation of our alliance with Cape Space. That relationship has sometimes been strained, like when Sirius' father held the throne, but it has persisted for nearly four hundred years now. There's usually lots of parties and food and fireworks involved.

King's Day, the day our kingdom was founded, is celebrated in much the same way. There's also a huge parade in Bricksburg, and the ruling monarch at the time- not always a king- will make a speech and pray for another year of prosperity.

We also have the Four Festivals, which celebrate the Four Gods. They are each held on the first day of each god's associated season and typically last for a week. For example, the Frost Festival which honors Arwil is on the first day of winter. It marks the start of the new year, and the season of rest. Gifts are often exchanged, and most people choose to spend this holiday with family and close friends. You can also find many candles and strings of lanterns decorating most homes as a guard against the longest nights of the year.

The Blossom Festival in spring is full of performances by musicians, storytellers, and acting troupes performing new plays. Graduating apprentices will show off their masterpieces in the hopes of attracting rich patrons to support them, or hobbyists will sell their works for a bit of extra cash. Farmers usually spend the week after getting their crops sown, weather permitting. It also kicks off the start of what we tend to call "faire season", in which there are any number of smaller celebrations and festivities where makers of any sort will sell their wares. It runs on through summer, and comes to an official end on the first day of the Harvest Festival.

The Makers' Festival in summer is the time for tradesmen and women to show off their skills. You'll find many beautiful and high-quality works on display during this time. It's also a good time for young aspiring craftspeople to find someone to mentor them.

The Harvest Festival is when we celebrate the bounty of the crops we have reaped, and another year of good health. As you might guess, there is a LOT of feasting during this week. It's also a good excuse to use up dried herbs and spices from the year before to make room for new stock. If any are still left over at the end of the week, they are burned. I think people used to believe doing so would help to ward off illnesses in the coming cold months. It's just a tradition these days.

#asks #the lego movie #gcbc #lore

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flowerflamestars · 5 months

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Hello! I hope you had a good holiday season! If you don't mind, I was wondering about Amren and what she is doing in Effloresce. I can't remember if Summer heist happened yet. Her boss, coworkers, and boss's totally-not-love-interest have fucked off to coerce human women to help them. Amren knows laws. She knows there will be consequences. She finds out about the Archeron ties to the city. Someone's going to tell her about the contract that will kill the ruling class of Night. She is the only rational one left on the ruling council.

Hi, thank you! I did- if a very, very busy one :)

If there were an emotional scale for the IC charting from Azriel at one end- having a centuries late break down, genuinely contemplating murder, off the rails, wings on fire, carnivorous shadows CHAOS- Mor would be dead in the middle- bristling with some kind of SOMETHING and concerned but not like. enough to do anything differently- Amren would round out the other side.

She's watching this all happen and gently yawning.

She's infinitely old.

(hello, thing that irritates me beyond belief in canon. She's old and otherworldly and!! why would that only manifest in mild grouchyness?? WHY)

We're pre-theft (which, ho boy, is going to be a fun one), but post almost everything else. Amren has been waiting out whatever stupid thing she knows Rhys will do, busy being a time bomb with a mate who?? doesn't know she's his mate? ridiculous, thinks Amren.

The thing is, she likes the Night Court. She also, at times, cannot help but look upon all these creatures around her like they're very small, brightly colored bugs and she's a hobbyist entomologist on her third aperol spritz watching them buzz flowers she planted, or occasionally die running into windows.

Amren knows things.

She's been waiting for Feyre to reveal some kind of SOME interesting Archeron intrepidness. For Rhysand to look at just the right record. For Feyre to try to go to the bank alone.

(For Azriel to pick up a crystal pitcher and physically start bludgeoning Rhys)

She IS rational, but like. Her goals aren't really...other people's goals. She's interested by what's happening. She has some serious thoughts about the current regimes long term trajectory. (Amren comes SWINGING into the Effloresce narrative.)

What's different, is that she's Night's second.

She's old enough she doesn't really make promises. But when she does, she keeps them. She's going to protect the Night Court, for the best possible future of the Night Court.

#basically I think Amren is the MOST under utilized resource #which is in itself a good quiet example of Rhysand's towering arrogance #people complained about us not seeing enough of her power #but like #why is the first scariest line of defense not...just..Amren's endless centuries of knowledge??#she's smugly waiting for the exact right moment or question #you can't die and you've been alive basically forever #war is both deeply sad and probably pretty compelling #characters like her have to either be touched by otherworldly sadness OR a totally alien resolve #and I think the along for the ride beauty of the quick burn weird specific morals of it all suits her SO MUCH better than perpetual grief #Amren has been sitting on prime gossip for 100+ years shes ready to meet Nesta #I literally made this joke in another fic #but Amren thinks Feyre will be more interesting when she's done cooking #she's a little baby dough

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angusbyrne · 1 month

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ANGUS BYRNE ( CALLUM TURNER ) is a THIRTY-THREE year-old SENATE STAFFER in WASHINGTON, DC. They were brought under Richard’s care when they were only FIFTEEN years old. They are known as THE PROTECTOR because they are VIGILANT but also CONTROLLING.

BASIC INFORMATION

Full Name: Angus Peter Byrne

Nickname(s): His little brothers would call him Gus, but he would not appreciate anyone else using it.

Date of Birth: September 23, 1971

Age: 33 (almost 34!)

Occupation: Legislative Director for a U.S. Senator

Current Residence: Washington, DC. (Albany part-time for work reasons)

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Blue

Height: 6’2”

Notable Features: Beautiful long nose, freckles, slay cheekbones, sticky-outy ears, generally fae face

PERSONALITY & BEHAVIOR:

Strengths: Detail-oriented, loyal, professional, protective, diplomatic, and cultivated.

Weaknesses: Stubborn, insensitive, strict, invasive, secretive, and manipulative.

Quirks: Always popping Advil and Tums (tummy ache survivor <3), carries an expensive fancy lighter with him, always wears an expensive watch, has glasses but wears contacts every day because God forbid anyone sees him wearing them when he’s not prepared, used to bite his nails so they’re cut short, misophonia sufferer!!!

Vices: Brandy, expensive cigars, his personal art collection (which he doesn’t display in his home)

INTEREST & HOBBIES:

Interests: Fine art & art history, expensive spirits, expensive cigars, expensive cars, architecture, politics, law, boring WWII books and docos, etc.

Hobbies: Making meticulous lists, going to the gym, boxing, cooking, reading Agatha Christie novels (not that he’d admit it…), watching old film noirs, going to his tailor lol, other individual sports like golf and tennis, being boring/invisible/not drawing unnecessary attention to himself, etc.

Special Skills/Talents: Lyinggggg <3 and he grew up taking a lot of music lessons at his dad’s behest so he’s got a pretty good singing voice (church choir experience) and plays the violin.

MISCELLANEOUS

Pinterest I / Pinterest II

Playlist (vibes version -- because Angus primarily listens to his white noise machine)

BECOMING A WARD

The Byrnes resided on a large, sprawling property in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains of northeastern New York – not too far from Woodrow House. There, they kept sporadic hobbyist farm animals – goats, miniature horses, pigs – that didn’t produce much but a means for Angus’ mother, Maren, to spend her time and keep busy (Marie Antoinette’s pastoral ideal vibes). Angus’ childhood was lush and green, filled with fresh air, fairytale books, and skinned knees from wrestling with his two younger brothers Malcolm and George; it was also marked by being the lesser-favorite son, and the only one who ever caught a glimpse in his adolescence at the extent of what his father did for work. Spoiler alert: it was, at times, not totally above board.

It was through work that his father, Peter, met Richard Woodrow. Peter Byrne was by and large an antiques and art dealer and owned a gallery outside the city. Their business dealings were totally, definitely, absolutely above board (I mean, as far as Richard knew – so that must be true, right?). Richard became close with Peter, first in a professional setting and then later personally. Their holidays mingled; they visited each other’s homes; the Byrne brothers called him Uncle Richard soon thereafter. Angus came to be one of Richard’s wards after his family was involved in a car accident – he was the sole survivor. When Angus was orphaned, Richard stepped up and brought him into his care to honor the Byrnes.

LIFE AS A WARD

Very few fellow Wards experienced what Angus was like when he first came to live at Woodrow House. For the first few months, he was rude, agitated, paranoid, and combative. He accused the House’s staff of stealing, moving, or just touching his things; he didn’t want anyone near his room for days at a time; and he punched more than one hole in his bedroom wall (not that he advertised that fact to anyone beyond Richard and Mrs. Tristan; Angus learned to hide the products of his frustrations quite well). But then, suddenly, one day a switch flipped. Though things remained a little tense with Richard, from that day forward, Angus was outwardly neat and well-mannered – and all up in the other Wards’ business.

Going forward, he took the role of a pseudo-kinda-big-brother seriously and always did what he could to help the other Woodrow House residents and did what he thought was best for them, even if that meant frustrating some of them in the process. He wears a mask of his own face – boring, straitlaced, and stiff – and that is how most of the Wards know him. Still, that agitated, argumentative energy thrummed under his skin, like he’d gone full circle and speedran the spiraling anger and swallowed it whole so it made its home in the center of his chest – waiting for its moment to bubble back over. It's a good thing he always had a punching bag.

AESTHETIC

Angus is very well-dressed and has taken a page out of Richard’s book so that the most casual he’s ever dressed are classic Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren fits. 75% of the time he’s in a suit, honestly, or in a semi-deconstructed suit (not wearing a tie, first couple buttons undone, jacket on and sleeves rolled up, etc). He has carefully controlled curly-ish hair, which he keeps in check with product. His hair is basically only out of place when he’s at the boxing gym. Regarding signature accessories, Angus wears the crucifix he had received for his Confirmation from his mom a few months before she died and is always wearing a watch from his extensive collection (something also inspired by Richard, who gifted him his first). Ultimately, Angus’ goal is not to stand out. He does not wear bold colors or loud patterns; he does not try to look different from any other suit in D.C. The more inconspicuous he is, the better.

EDUCATION

Angus was due to attend a boarding high school about 4 hours away from Woodrow House when he first became a ward. The year he was taken into Richard’s care, he instead spent his freshman year in a homeschool environment on Woodrow House grounds, but when the next year rolled around he insisted that he return to what he considered a proper school. Angus finished high school at a nearby private Catholic school in upstate New York, about a 45-minute to 1-hour commute from the house. After he graduated, he attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC. where he majored in PoliSci. After completion of his Bachelor’s, he attended and graduated from Yale Law School.

EXTRACURRICULARS

Sports-wise, Angus primarily took up boxing and was on the wrestling team at school. He very casually dabbled in tennis. In a more creative realm, as a kid, his dad had all of his sons taking music lessons, so Angus also continued his education in violin at Woodrow House. He’s not fantastic but he was in the school orchestra all through high school.

THEIR LIFE NOW

Since leaving Woodrow House, Angus began a career in politics. From starting as an intern for a State Representative to an advisor and manager for various politicians, a legislative assistant, and now the Legislative Director for a US Senator. The goal, ultimately, is to become the Chief of Staff for a Senator – or hey, maybe even the CoS for a President one day.

A couple of years after college, everything seemed easy-breezy all things considered until someone came knocking at his door. Literally. They were a former affiliate of his dad’s… and they weren’t happy. Since then, for about a decade, Angus has had to contend with various loose ends re: his now-deceased father’s business, only slugging through it all because of the the promise of an end to all the business dealings altogether somewhere on the horizon. The world of art and antique dealing wasn’t always squeaky clean, that was for sure, and Angus kept that side of his life extremely under wraps – for both his safety and his sanity.

He lives alone in a DC townhouse, which has been gutted and cleanly modernized inside. Slick, shiny surfaces and no personality: just the way he likes it. In Albany, he keeps an equally clean, modern, and personality-less one-bedroom apartment. You can sense a theme here and the theme is boring. His romantic life has always been defined by the seemingly endless line of blonde Ashleys, Ambers, and Christinas that are getting their Master's at GW or working in marketing. None of those relationships seem to last very long. That is also just the way he likes it.

IRT to the other wards, Angus tries to keep in contact with most if not all of them. He wants to see all of them on a good life track – happy, healthy, successful (not jobless or directionless), the whole shebang. Historically, he's known for keeping tabs, hovering a bit, keeping track of their friends, reaching out to them regularly, offering to be a reference for work, offering to help get them a job (preferably closer to where he lives), etc etc. He’s fought their battles for and with them, championed them, and stood up for them (and also talked down to them and judged them and fought with them…)

So Angus doesn’t appreciate radio silence and he doesn’t appreciate disrespect when he’s trying so hard and is so committed to, in his way, taking care of the Wards. So though he has plenty of experience in this role so far, that doesn’t mean he deals with those frustrations super well. If you're on the same page as him re: what's good for you, then most of the time things are pretty fine and dandy, but if you're not, well. I'm sure quite a few disagreements have cropped up... but he just really really cares. Just, you know… don’t tell him it may be all deeply rooted in anxiety because that would be sooooo annoying for him.

#wrhq.intro

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