#CSP actually does their job

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #146

Danny didn’t know whom his real parents were he had no memories from before he was found. The Fentons had adopted him after he’d spent a couple years through the foster system. They turned out not to be the greatest and when his English teacher mr Lancer calls CPS both him and Jazz wind up in foster care. They get sent to Gotham as there wasn’t a home in Amity Park where a certain billionaire was visiting the shelter as he often did.

Bruce wasn’t expecting to find him but he finds a kid at his local shelter that looks exactly like Clark. He was a miniature copy of him right down to hair and eye color. Thankfully he was able to get a hair sample and what he found was a little suspicious. The kid was indeed a clone of his friend, he wasn’t sure how and after the incident with Connor he didn’t want the kid getting rejected so he decided to adopt both him and Jazz

[havanillas]

i got some questions on the brushes i used for drawing kezia so i'd like to make a short guide on it!

keep in mind that this is very clip studio specific so it may not be for everyone

most of kezia and the props were drawn with this brush that almost everyone seems to have (it's one of the most downloaded csp brushes i believe)

it's nothing fancy, i just like that it can do lineart and rendering in the same brush

to answer the question on the thickening and wavering lines, that was just my drawing habits breaking out of containment, star rail linearts are a lot more consistent in terms of thickness compared to mine (i like doing that thing where the line intersections are really thick)

and i don't know if this is a tip but i like to do shading above the lineart layer since it's a lot easier to make changes on the go, it doesn't work for every artstyle but i think it worked for star rail

for simple-shaped details like her buttons and necklace i used the border effect to save time

the background sky was entirely this cloud brush just for texture, filling the negative space with this kind of light texture helps the detailed character blend in better with the scene

not the most proud of this part, but the fence and the ground were drawn on top of open source assets to save time (the brick is a default csp material)

i added the prism effect at the last minute because i realized aventurine's splash art had it, but found out that it's actually pretty useful for filling up negative space. might try it on other drawings too

there's probably a different prism brush out there that's better suited to my needs but i didn't want the hassle of looking for it, it does the job

for the paint-like edges i used the dry ink brush, i believe it's one of the default brushes

i think that's about all i have on my mind, tbh drawing this was a wild shot in the dark but i definitely learned a lot more about game art in the end!

[judithan-fr]

Tutorial: How I Render Accents

PART 1: LINES

a quick disclaimer: as stated on the title, this is how I render accents and obviously a lot of it will not apply to whatever style/method/etc that you may use. Another thing is there are some aspects of my style that will seem obvious to me that I may overlook explaining. please consider this a more generalized guide than a step-by-step.

So, first things first: the lines themselves.

I'm going to be making an entry for Brightshine for this tutorial, so it'll be the example i use. I use Clip Studio Paint for all of my accents and I specifically use the asset found in the CSP asset store called SOIPEN for my lines, specifically on a size 3. I feel it does a good job of getting crisp yet soft lines and matches well to the line weight of the dragons line art. I typically do not zoom in very far and try to focus on making the outer silhouette ares bold and the inner lines soft. This gives a crisp edge to the work and a definitive line that makes it easier to color later on.

Something to note if I utilize the line method of going back and forth between opaque and transparent colors. It's a hotkey you can set that effectively turns the same brush you're using into an eraser. It allows me to carve away segments to create that negative space (as seen on the middle of the flower above) rather than trying to perfectly draw in that specific circle shape. Negative space is a huge tool to master that can give a lot of depth to your work. It also helps to sometimes fill in segments or widen out segments that are just Barely touching. The less complications in the lines the better.

For the main feature, the flowers, I will typically find a reference showing a good clear outline of how the flowers look and simplify the shapes. The flowers in question here are Delphiniums and I've decided to render them upside down as if they're hanging. Simplifying the shapes and giving the illusion of the petal bunching is more effective than genuinely drawing each and every petal in a 100% accurate way. (also since it's for Brightshine I've replaced the flower bulbs at the ends with light bulbs)

When doing line work that goes right up to the edge of the dragon, I'll typically start with the line for the edge, then build from that. Also when it comes to narrow areas (like the tip of the wing there) I'll leave it blank and typically fill it in with gradients or other small things to not make it too busy.

A very important rule for making accents is: Do Not Invest In Details That Will Get Lost In Resizing. I don't make super small details that don't matter, for example if you look at the innermost part of the flowers they are blocky and somewhat large compared to how they actually are on the flowers. When they get resized they will barely maintain that level of detail.

With all of the linework done I'd like to point out how I do composition for my accents. I tend to have 2-3 main focal points (in this case it's the two major draping areas on the wings, and the flowing lace on the arms) and everywhere else is filled in with evenly distributed small bits. Originally the butterfly on the bottom left wing wasn't there in the sketch but when I looked at the accent lines for what I had I noticed an empty spot and filled it in with a matching motif.

Some main points of how I craft my accents include: keeping the main focal points and number of thematic motifs limited and deliberate. I could add a bunch of like, jewelry trinkets or more lace and really clutter the accent but by not doing that it gives the flowers room to breathe and be the star of the show. Also using references for flowers creates a much better image than winging it.

In the next part I'll go over my coloring/rendering process!

[reserved-system]

Love is Blind [HSBB]

You know that moment when you've known someone for so long that it feels like you've own them forever? That how this fic reads :D It's so light, and fluffy. In this AU Grian is blind and has a massive crush on Scar, whom he shares an apartment building with. How does the rest unfold? You'll have to read the fic and find out yourself!

[Link here!]

Maggiee did such a wonderful job, and was our biggest supporter during this! So let's go show them some love! Another huge shout out to the mods and specifically Dux for putting this event together! Check out the #hsbb 2023 tag for more works and fics like this!

Extras under cut - Wips, rambles, the whole nine yards

Over the course of 2 months, this piece took us nearly 16 and a half HOURS. Up until switching to Procreate I never had an art program that timed how long I worked on something. If CSP has this feature I must've not been able to find it.

The amount of time is pretty stunning to me. I'd say 16 hours isn't that bad! At least by my own standards.

Absolutely shocked by the amount of strokes btw. That's fucking insane.

So for once I actually went at this with a few thumbnail sketches and this was the winner out of the 3 and I blew it up to size and started the finalized sketch.

The funniest thing is I started this right before my art style decided to change so I hope you enjoy the old art style :P <3

So, I did something interesting here. In the past when we would do full pieces we would do a lineless background, so everything besides the characters were painted lineless.

THIS time we decided to line the background with maroon instead of black to help break up the characters from the background so they pop! more and I really like how it turned out and we're happy to say this has carried over into other pieces. :]

I want you to pay attention to Scar's wheelchair in these shots, it's the only thing that changes. I remember doing the shading on the background and main color on the characters all in one night because I was having a bad bout of insomnia and I posted my progress in the artist wip-sharing channel on our event server and looked back at it the next morning and was SO embarrassed I had to fix it. This is also when I changed references.

For some reason I didn't capture any in progress shots of the shading but we did manage to get a few shots of Grumbot. :] He's modeled after a labadoodle! While working on this the team and I discovered that's what they were originally bred for, to be hypoallergenic guide dogs! Isn't that cool!?

[With the source we found here]

My partner and I own a poodle and he was kind enough to be my reference/model. He was well compensated with treats don't worry.

Anyways, thank you for reading our rambles! Whether you're here from a reblog, from the fic itself, or were already following us. I hope you enjoyed! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the rest of our pieces for the event.

From the Reserved System, Happy HSBB everyone!! <3 <3 <3

[snow-body]

my tablet (wacom cintiq 24HD) is almost 10 years old, apart of having a slighter darker spot I rarely notice (which i feel like could be tumblrs dash fault asdfgh), it does overly fine. It's just huge and a pain... I miss having a desk with space, where I could place at least a DIN4 paper. I've checked if it's worth reselling but now it's just sold for barely a few hundreds by plenty of ppl, not sure if they will be lucky selling it ever.

I can live with that, I've used it a lot after all, so it has done its job. My biggest dilemma remains deciding what kind of tablet I want next... which brand, what kind of style... back to old school where I actually look at the monitor and not on the tablet screen? Do I want it super angled again or almost flat on my desk? *sobs* would be nice to test some, but lol this is such a niche product. Current plan is finding some youtube videos and somehow make a judgement and try different positions out with my tablet again. I rarely put it flat down since it covers my keyboard then... hhh I know those mini keyboards exist, maybe I'll get one evtl.

Another thing I ponder about is the feeling of the material, and the pen... I still remember when getting this cintiq, I was completely overwhelmed and my art style became so bad, ... and I had to switch programs from PS to CSP, since my old brushes looked suddenly shit in PS. Now I love CSP and just use PS for some filters and minor editing in colors.

[raid3r-r4bbit]

Fo4 Companions Modern AU Part 1

(For context: none of the Characters are evil, and some things are intentionally left blank because I plan on writing a larger story line. I've loosely based their backstories on their irl backstories, and am intentionally writing out certain characters. Their personalities will largely stay the same, along with the likes and dislikes. The sole survivor does not exist in this universe, and while I'll write intertwining stories, none of them are actually paired together.)

This is pretty long, but I intend to write more later, so deal with it.

Gage ran away from his family farm as child, and got put into the foster system where he met Cait and Macready. Cait had been displaced from her home due to intervention from CSP, and Macready's mother never knew his father, and passed away due to a drug overdose.

In the small town they lived in, Gage, being 12 going on 13, was tasked with walking 8 year old Cait and 10 year old RJ to and from the busstop from school. Often stopping by the pier to catch salamanders to chase the kids with, or getting free candy for finding worms for old longfellow.

Eventually, after aging out of the system, Gage found himself living in a shitty apartment, working as a mechanic. Cait, now a teenager and dealing with the trauma she experienced as a child would run away from the shelter, finding herself hungover or still wasted on Gage's beaten and ripped up couch, him already left for work, a cup of coffee and some pain killers on the kitchen tabel, with a sticky note about her puking on his boots before passing out in his living room.

RJ, watching this, decided to find busy work at Old longfellow's fishery. The old man was more than happy to have help, his age slowly creeping up on him.

Cait continued to spiral, leaving Gage to clean up her mess and RJ to drive her back to the shelter, RJ met a cute girl named Lucy, a transfer student. Her parents didn't approve of him, despite being nearly 17, driving and holding a steady job. 

Eventually, after RJ himself aged out of the system, he moved into a decent small house with Lucy, the two eloping soon after she found out she was pregnant.

Without RJ in the picture and Cait getting worse and worse, Gage was left to deal with Cait on his own. One night, after coming home from a long day at work, he found Cait on the floor, Blue in the face, and not breathing.

Rushing her to the hospital, a head-on collision caused them to crash, an ambulance arriving quickly, saving his and Cait's lives, but Gage now found himself missing an eye. He contacted the shelter and asked for her to be permanently placed in his care.

At first she thought it was an act of mercy, something like love, but it quickly became clear when he signed her up for involuntary rehab, not even saying goodbye to her, that this was his very silent revenge.

Months of grueling rehab later, Cait was released from rehab, to find that her room at Gage's apartment had been filled by McCready. Lucy had died in labor, baby Duncan being handed over to his grandparents, who had deemed RJ unsuitable as a single parent, and his inability to keep up with the mortgage was proof enough to them and the judge. 

Gage gave her two options, pay up, or get out. The only place where she was able to get a job was Madden's boxing gym. The place usually empty, apart from some soldiers from the nearby army recruitment offices in town, was a good place for her to clear her head.

Overtime, McCready and Gage noticed a significant improvement in Cait's demeanor. She'd been spending extra time boxing when she wasn't working as a mat maid. Gage even joined her frequently, and despite being built from years of working with heavy machinery and having about a foot on her, she managed to win most matches. RJ doesn't join the fights but will often join to watch Cait dominate in the ring.

After a few years of saving, a broken arm, many failed custody battles, and a hefty move into a better apartment, Cait and RJ saved to buy Gage a very feisty iguana, who he named Zilla.

In return, Gage helped RJ hire a lawyer, and RJ now has partial custody over Duncan, and he and RJ help Cait at her events at the local shelters, promoting drug free lifestyles, and providing supplies for homeless folks.

[cumulohimbus]

Cumulohimbus's 2023 Digital Painting/Drawing Program Ranking

*Note: this is purely my opinion, and only includes programs I have personally used.*

Digital Painting/Drawing Programs from best to worst

Paint Tool SAI

Krita

Clip Studio Paint

Adobe Photoshop

GIMP

Medibang Paint (Mobile)

Breakdowns under the cut

Paint Tool SAI - Pros: lightweight/fast/responsive, one-time purchase, easy to navigate. Cons: not as many bells and whistles or editing capabilities as other programs, there is a monetary cost associated with it (it is allegedly easily piratable, but I would recommend paying the ~$45 USD to purchase it bc I think it's worth supporting the creator). Probably still my favorite program to use, Paint Tool SAI just runs really well. It's quite beginner friendly, but doesn't have all of the editing capabilities of other programs. That said, it's specifically for digital painting and drawing, and it does a phenomenal job when used for those purposes. 9/10.

Krita - Pros: free, has almost all of the same things you would find in commercial products including basic animation capabilities (I believe they're working on expanding and improving these as well). Cons: runs a bit slow at times, layers & layer modes are kinda complicated to figure out. I got Krita not too terribly long ago, and after exploring it a bit, I think it's perfectly viable up alongside commercial programs. It can lag a little at times, and it has a bit of a learning curve, even for those familiar with digital painting/drawing programs, particularly in how to set up layers and layer modes (I have a document set up to remind of certain steps in Krita, like how to make clipping masks). Other than that though, I'm excited to see the improvements it gets going forward. 8/10.

Clip Studio Paint - Pros: an all around solid program with lots of unique tools and access to a user community where you can acquire additional assets, highly customizable. Cons: paid license subscriptions 🤮, can run slow and lag at times, limited brush options at the start. I tested out CSP fully for the first time yesterday and I was pretty impressed by its capabilities. I especially enjoyed the ability to pull up a bunch of reference images in a sub view window, and a seemingly infinite color history which was super helpful in painting. I wish there had been more brush preset from the get-go so didn't have to teach myself how to get/make more, but the ones that are there are decent enough, and I'll probably use CSP some more before my free 2-year license of it expires. That said, I am disgusted by the paid subscription cost, and if you're a low-income artist, Krita can do a majority of what CSP can, for no cost. 7.5/10.

Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator - Pros: I mean, they can do what you want them to do I guess. Cons: paid license subscriptions 🤮 (by Adobe 🤮🤮). Joking and hatred of big corporations aside, I think both Photoshop and Illustrator would be better if they had more tools for painting/drawing, but you'll still be able to accomplish everything you hope to with them. They're two really well-known programs; Photoshop especially is frequently used for digital painting/drawing, but it's not really built for that. It's got a lot more photo editing capabilities (as it's name implies) than tools for digital painting/drawing/ illustration, though it can do those things just fine. Adobe Fresco is the program that's supposed to be more painterly, but I haven't tried that one out. Not going to give Adobe my money if I can avoid it though. There are cheaper, even free programs, that can do everything Adobe products can do and then some. 7/10.

GIMP - Pros: free + open source, very good editing & selection tools, customizable, you get a lot for $0. Cons: can run pretty slow/lag, actual drawing/painting tools aren't that great, even with pressure sensitive tablets, bit of a learning curve but if you've used other similar programs before GIMP is pretty easy to explore and figure out. I used to use GIMP for making thumbnails for my YouTube videos, and I still really enjoy it's image editing capabilities, but I wouldn't say it's very good for digital drawing and painting. 6/10 since it's free and does some stuff better than commercial programs.

Medibang Paint (Mobile) - Pros: it's nice to have a painting/drawing app I can access on the go, free, has all the basics. Cons: probably better on a device larger than a smartphone lol, mobile UI is a little annoying as well. I haven't tried the freemium version of Medibang, or any other version not on my smartphone. I don't hate it, but I wish the mobile version had a slightly different layout. I'd say the painting/drawing capabilities of Medibang mobile are at least on par with GIMP's, maybe a little better. It's tough to use the editing tools on mobile as well. 6/10.

[trickstarbrave]

if you want something light weight and easy to travel with an ipad is a good option. expensive yes but i have a friend who loves hers so it does work great. you might be limited in the art programs you can use (you can only use CSP if you pay for the subscription plan for one, other stuff may simply not be available) so you might be stuck with whatever drawing software is available. but stuff like procreate is easy to work with and plenty of ppl enjoy using it, i just personally dont.

other options could be affordable pen tablets if you already have a computer or laptop. places like huion have them for sale for as little as 50 dollars. it can be a learning curve if you arent used to it but after a while you get used to drawing while looking at the monitor and not your hand. they're pretty lightweight, easy to travel with and store, and you just need to install a driver and then you can use it with your computer and any drawing software you like, free or paid.

i actually got a huion pen display tablet which works a lot like an ipad but needs to be hooked up to a computer still. it works like a second monitor but you can draw on it. before that i used a regular pen tablet, but this one i got for only 200 bucks and it works EXCELLENTLY. i love it so much. these can be annoying to set up if you only have a laptop but technically doable. theyre a lot bigger than an ipad though which may be a pro or con depending on your drawing needs and are not as portable as an ipad

all and all there are many options. what i will say is: do NOT get a wacom tablet. i have used wacom tablets for years and tbh ive had nothing but problems that have only compounded over the years. the cables always fail. their drivers are hell on earth and constantly love to malfunction. i had to regularly disabled and re-enable the drivers just to avoid restarting my computer constantly to get it to work again. they also charge a premium so my huion pen display tablet which is only 200 bucks would cost 800-1000 for a wacom equivalent for what i think is a NEGLIGIBLE drop in quality in terms of stuff like pen sensitivity and display. unless you are forced to for something like, idk ur job only allows wacom, do not bother with wacom products.

2 my artist mutuals, what do u think is a good tablet for digital art ? i have my sights on a 5th gen ipad air but the price IS steep and i worry it might not be worth the investment given that ill mostly just use it for college tbh

[fuck-customers]

Submitting this on 26th September. The story is going to be on the slightly long side. After losing a job in the newspaper kiosk (posted here before) I found a new one, in a market chain, on the cash register line. Wasn't that bad, been there since April 2021, got to learn how to collect the internet orders too. Shitty wage tho, but sadly I did need any bit of money I could get. And then, in June, got thrown into Customer Service Point (CSP for short). My manager didn't even ask if I know how to do shit there, I spent whole 4-6 hours there, "training", before being sent to do full shifts EVERY DAY on the CSP. Without anyone else who knew how to do shit and where are the documents and regulations etc. are, so that was a fun and hectic first two weeks. My wage was upped by an amazing 1PLN per hour, which is... Like 1/4 of a dollar at this moment. My full hourly wage at this point is $4.50. Not low, technically, but still under the minimal wage set by law. Whatever tho, I need it and the coworkers are nice, customers less. To paint what kind of customers I had to deal with - we had a guy come 8 hours after buying meat and tell us it was spoiled. And shout at me for saying we cannot accept the return of goods that were outside of the fridges for more than 10-15 minutes and actually fucking left the store. If he came right from the register line we could've taken the return, he would've gotten his money, all would've been happy. He spent an hour shouting at me, at the manager and then at the "on duty" director. Then, when told again that we won't take the return he threw the meat out of the bag onto the floor and left. Now, onto the main thing - I am officially hired here until 30th September, as it is the "trial" contract of employment, 6 months and then if you do well you get the "indefinite" contract. At the beginning of August I asked if they will give me the indefinite one. My manager told me "don't worry, we have some free places, you will have it prolonged". Okay, same shit my previous job told me and I ended up with no employment on the last day of contract, sure gonna believe you bitch. But fine, I let it go, asked two weeks later again, since law says we have to be told at least a month before the end of contract if it will be prolonged or not, and get to see the draft, new wage etc. Once again same words and no papers. Fine. I will ask in two weeks time. September rolls in, I go to ask, Manager is on paid holiday no one knew about. Well, that does not look good, let's send cv's and hope for new job then. Get two better offers, but manager is back and tells me to not go, there will be a place, better wage, come on, it will be fine. Meanwhile the jobs get someone else and I am again without options. Lo and behold, 16th September rolls in, Manager asks me to talk before I start my shift. And I get to know that sadly, they won't prolong my contract. Two weeks before it ends. And I also can't take the paid leave that, by law, they should give me. To say the least - I am pissed off, but joke's on them - getting a sick leave is very easy these days. And they have to pay both for me being on sick leave AND for the paid holiday they didn't give me :)

I do have to look for a new job tho, which sucks.

[halveablock]

Hi, I wonder if you can talk a bit about your comic making process. I've been obsessed with your jjk comics, some don't leave my head ever, and I'm curious how you go about conceiving them (also I just like hearing about people's art making processes)

hi! thank you for your interest in my comics and the process :) very flattered to hear they’ve stayed with you for a while!

in terms of how i conceive the idea, sometimes it’s a response to new canon info or situation. sometimes i’m stuck on a particular visual or a phrase/scene and want to create a story around it. sometimes it just happens from talking with friends. it’s kind of impossible to predict what might spawn the idea itself.

the process also varies but it at least tends to follow similar steps. i’ll just walk through one short example comic.

nbmk first mission together

from the prompt, “first mission together,” i thought of an appropriate scenario for them. usually i just jot down quick impressions of the scene with a few lines or particular expression. (if it’s longer, i make a rough script. sometimes it has detailed page and panel breakdowns complete with descriptions and callouts, sometimes it’s only dialogue. it all depends on how strong of a visual i have for the scenes).

i didn’t want to stretch myself too thin since i basically had to make this comic in one day during a workday, so i limited myself to only 2 pages. so i had to do a quick intro, buildup, punchline. for this i decided to just draft the visuals along with the script on the spot when doing the layout.

overall you can see why i made the first page the way it is: quick intro, buildup, and punchline, so that i could have nobara react in the next page. i added the more sentimental ending because it just felt fitting for maki to acknowledge nobara’s hard work. the actual exorcism isn’t important, i just needed to pace it in a way that doesn’t immediately jump into the punchline (buildup), which is why i spaced out nobara doing action poses.

i feel like a lot of comic making is just finding ways to get to what you actually want to draw with the proper emotional payoff. the effect just wouldn’t be the same if i had just drawn the punchline, and then the reaction. think of it like a theme park ride: you’re designing a particular experience and a journey for the reader. everything that you draw in the comic should be deliberate in contributing to that goal, cut out the excess.

i think the only real visual changes i made to this draft was changing nobara’s expression when exorcising (since when i reviewed her fight scenes, she was usually dead serious and fierce even when she was lighthearted/smug immediately after) and maki’s expression when bonking nobara (maki never actually shows fondness/appreciation on her face in another person’s presence, she tries to act tougher). overall i do try to keep characterization as consistent to canon as possible, though that can be difficult when i’m exposed to so much fanon.

after that, i bring the layout into desktop CSP (i usually draft in procreate b/c i find it easier to use my brain more away from the computer) and start inking. finally, i typeset in photoshop. i refine the script during these steps. there’s not much to say about that though :’)

edit: i totally forgot to mention panel flow. in short just think about how you would read the comic. every element on the page should act to guide the reader’s eye to the next intended element. you don’t have to do anything crazy, even using a simple layout is fine, as long as the panel composition does the job.

[kawasiki-jo]

And Yet Again, We’re Fucked ✨

- Sorry but this chapter's post won't have fanart cause I'm wrestling with my CSP software to save all my art. I am not winning.

I'll try having it fixed by the next post just so I don't lose my mind. But until then, please bear with me. - Joanna.

-—–---------—–------------––---------------------

I want to preface this part of the rant by addressing a few things that I’ve been asked on tumblr about the posts - 

1. This was never really meant to be a full fanfic, it was originally a 3k comment that I had sent on one of the fan pages i followed. The reason I uploaded it was because Instagram had a really short word limit and most of the comment was cut off, resulting in me having to individually send the whole thing to whoever wanted to read the full comment. It wasn’t necessarily proper in any way, hence i referred to it as a rant and not a ff. the second part of the rant was meant to be a mere skeleton of how i envisioned Macau and Chay getting their lives tangled up in each other’s. which brings up the next answer.

2. The lack of detail is, or well was, intentional. Just so the reader could imagine at their own pace, add details to whatever part they wanted. It was also meant to depict the underlining derivativity of actual affection and honesty shown to the second family siblings. Everyone already knows Vegas’ side of the story by now, but I didn’t want Macau to be left out. the novel does give his perspective some reading time, but I wasn’t fully satisfied with the dept it portrayed.  

3. Hence, all the posts are from Macau's perspective - so far. I felt the need to focus on him, since the series as well as the novel already provided for Chay’s POV. It allows me to create some sort of a time line that runs parallel to the series. 

4. In this rant, Macau isn’t very integrated into the dramatic events that happen in the series - in the sense he has no knowledge about some of the stuff that happens with the main family. seeing as I am portraying him as the one always left in the dark, don’t be surprised when I don’t mention a lot of events that pertain to the other couples of the series. it’s pretty understandable. But all the main events will be covered, don’t worry.   

5. Do I hate Kim? Yes, I absolutely fucking do. I detest him, very much. the fact that he does what he does, just cause he can, without considering anyone's feelings, irks me to no end. No one asked him to do an entire flog background check, no one even consented to that. He just goes about digging up a past that no one wanted to know. Porsche and Chay seemed to be at peace with their parents death, initially until Porsche’s entire world is flipped upside down and he realizes that he can’t fucking deal with everything changing. But the fact that Kim decided he’d ignore that and ‘find out what really happened’ pisses me off. even Korn knew not to break the siblings bubble until he was forced to. Kim disregarded Chay’s peace just so he can do what? Know everything and then what? Just remember, denial may be tough and annoying to watch, but sometimes it’s what’s preventing a person from becoming the worst they can be. I have so much more to say. But I’m already wasting so much of your time. So I’ll leave this with one last note. Jeff bringing Kim to life, makes me hate Kim so much more. (I absolutely appreciate Jeff, he did an amazing job in making me want to smack the shit outta Kim)

4. There now is a plan to make this a full fanfic, because i’m apparently the easiest person to coerce. But there’s still a bit of internal discussion on how i plan on making it a ff when i’ve already set out the first few chapters of the storyline for you guys. If y’all are still up for it, I don’t actually mind. 

As I see it, there's a few ways to go about it:

   a. would be to start all over with dept and details.

   b. would be to continue, but start the details from the next post.

   c. would be to continue with just a skeleton, and then maybe write a whole ff.

   d. would be to just write the skeleton.

I’m open to whatever.

I’m not evil enough to just post a half-hearted QnA so I’ll get on to the rant.

---------------------------

Macau should just leave it alone. he really really really should.

But a few days later, when he opens his Instagram the first post is from Chay’s account. it’s shaky as if the phone was moved just before the camera could click, but noticeably a picture of Kim, who’s playing the guitar.

But what Macau notices, even more, is the background. it’s Chay’s house. Macau is sure of it. A 100%. shaky image and all.

He tells his brother he’s going to the Skate park again, but this time Vegas tells him to take some bodyguards with him. Macau wants to argue, but he’s aware of the situation right now. He knows what happened to his second eldest cousin (referring to the lost-in-the-woods,-but-it’s-not-Kristoff-singing-it scenes) and that the main family suspect them first. 

He nods and is taken to the park, but half an hour later Vegas gets a call from Macau’s head bodyguard that he’s run away. Vegas sadly sighs as he tells them he’ll go collect him.

Escaping the guards was a piece of cake according to Macau. He’s done it a couple of times, but his main problem would be the amount of time he has until his brother comes for him. Judging from how loud his father was in the morning, Macau guesses that Vegas is in the warehouse near the east river by now. 

20 minutes, give or take.

He sits himself down at the same milk stall he had visited before, waiting - for what he isn’t sure, but he does it. 

10 minutes and he’s restless, knees relentlessly trying to keep his feet grounded. He has no idea if they’re still home, or if Kim has left or anything really. He’s wasting his time again.   

Nothing.

The 20 minutes go by and he sees nothing. He doesn’t know what he was hoping for, but he feels slightly crushed. 

His brother is feeling generous, he thinks. Giving him more than 30 minutes to waste away his time. When Vegas finally arrives he gets into the car without a word. Not sparing another glance at that stupid white gate. 

They get home and Vegas stops him from getting out of the car. He reminds him that he doesn’t need to keep an eye on Chay anymore, that he’s already done with his task.

Macau wills himself to resign, for the sake of his sanity brother. He feels bad that he’s also wasting Vegas’ time. He didn’t miss the budding red bruise on his brother’s left cheek. he shouldn’t be troubling his brother like this, Vegas has so much of work to do. 

He unfollows Chay.

.

.

It’s the last two weeks of school, Macau can’t wait to finally be free from that hell hole. He has successfully managed to avoid Chay, actively leaving when the boy is anywhere within his peripheral. if he did manage to do the same in his mental realm, he leaves no comment. Not that Chay noticed. 

He’s forced himself into a steady rhythm, chastises himself when he catches his mind reminding him of anything related to Chay. He had dramatically gone and packed up all the one piece manga he got after seeing Chay read one volume. He had also gone the extra mile and told his bodyguards to drop and collect him from the west-end school gate. it’s an extra eight minutes walk to his class, but it’s the path furthest from the music room and Chay’s class, so he does it. grumpily.

In an awful turn of events though, which Macau will surely argue is the universe’s way of fucking him over, yet again. he happens to overhear Chay confessing his love to someone, when he’s on his way to the school gate. his immediate reaction is to duck and hide behind the pillar.

He’s filled with a sudden feeling of unwanted hurt as his heart is pounding away in his ears. he’s going to town on the straps of his bag, surprisingly not ripping them out of the seams, with the force he’s crushing scrunching them in. 

He can’t bring himself to look, or move, or even breathe for that matter.   

He hears it once, then twice, then thrice, and surely he can’t be going mental enough for his own mind to replay Chay’s words again and again. 

He peeks, just to prove his sanity. 

And then he’s left confused. 

Chay is the only person there. 

Just when he thinks he’s actually fallen off the edge into hallucinations, he hears the confession again. But this time he can see that Chay is reading from a piece of paper. Or was it to?   

Macau’s been through a lot and judging from his recent plummet into insanity, he’d reckon that to was not so unbelievable. 

He’s thrown out of his mental crusade by Chay’s frustrated groans. he watches Chay pace in circles as he animatedly ruffles his hair out in frustration. It’s absolutely fucking adorable Macau’s heart is now beating rent-free in his mouth. 

Takes him of while of staring watching to understand that Chay is rehearsing . Chay is rehearsing his love confession. Chay is rehearsing his love confession to Kim. 

When his brain catches up to the realization, it’s a blow right to his gut. he feels the bile rise as he’s trying to get himself to calm down. he’s trying to reason with himself that he has no need to be affected by this. no reason whatsoever. 

His reasoning is weak solid and absolute bullshit true, he can’t afford to waste his time. this has already taken up so much of his youthful final school year. it also shouldn’t fucking matter to him. Chay is no-one. Chay was just the task he was given. Chay doesn’t even care about him

He crumbles to the floor, knees to his chest. hoping that at least they will hold him from completely coming apart.

Thankfully, his moment is ruined by the sudden blare of a phone ringing. he’s startled, but Chay’s sweet voice cuts through the tone quickly. 

From what he overhears, Chay isn’t talking to Kim. it’s a relief, but it’s short lived. He hears Chay enquire if ‘he’ is in the studio today.

The answer must be yes, because when he checks, Chay’s face lights up with the biggest smile Macau has ever seen on him. that stings.

Chay thanks the person on the other end before scrambling to collect his bag and guitar case. He rushes through the hallway, making Macau frantically fling his body into the bushes to narrowly escape being seen.

When he can no longer hear the resonance of running echo through the hallway, he takes out his own phone and texts his brother to send him all the addresses of Kim’s recording studios

------------------------------------------------------------------

Macau in this post is the epitome of ‘faking-it-and-hoping-i-don’t-crash-and-burn- till-i-make-it’.

also talk about organ displacement, poor Macau has had his heart take a paid vacation to smack the shit outta his braincells.

Also I'm aware this is short as well, and most of it was just me wasting your time. But I didn't want to give a full post (or whatever this was) without knowing if y'all wanted a full ff.

Let me know what you want, so I can continue.

[real-starkinder]

March update

Hello Friends,

No beating around the bush, I am a fragile mess, these days. Trying to be brave, after facing some really rough challenges.. We won't touch any of those topics for a while. Let's just say, I'm a Hermit with baggage & a fucked up life - but who isn't?

Been searching for the right job for a long time now... That's finally ended. I haven't officially started, so I don't want to blog about it yet - out of worry that I'll jinx it. In the meantime, I have been making plans and getting things accomplished that have been on the back burner.

Trying to make goals for an unpredictable future... What else is there to say?..

It's wild - At this point, I'm not even worried about being broke. I've been there, done that. A couple of times, actually. It's safe to say, I will find a way to survive.

As the self admitting Leech that I am. Which is something that my inner child had to face recently... You see, I've always had someone to rely on - a safety net. It's a fortunate thing & I am so grateful. However - It's time for me to start relying on myself. Being accountable & making sacrifices that other have made for me. It's time to stop being a Hermit & try again.

I don't want to survive the way a Leech does anymore. I'm glad that I've gone through this discovery. I will be brave & try to do this for myself. Especially because it's what I want & I am the only one in this Life who is going to fight as hard as she can to make it happen.

Right now, I'm at the library, so I can use their Wifi - One of the sacrifices to our budget, this month, was our internet. Really daunting how much we take comfort for granted, sometimes. I enjoy reading & have been doing that more, instead of looking for something to watch on Youtube - like, I have to really search these days, too... Ugh.

However, I do miss using CSP.. Something I should have done while we could afford it was invest in the program, instead of renting it monthly. I have been renting Clip Studio Paint for over 6 months now & I know I'll be using it for a long time to come. When I can afford it again, I'll be purchasing it. It's such an amazing program.

In the meanwhile, I downloaded Blender... So I will be overcoming my anxiety of 3D design/modelling this month. I will be starting off with a donut, so I can learn how to use this program.

I think that's all I have for this week... Hunger is saying 'let's wrap this up & go home'.

Have a good weekend, Y'all!

[allbeendonebefore]

Random ask but been bugging me a bit. What do you mean when you scan drawings? Like I've seen artists always mention about how they scan traditional drawing and upload them to their computer but like how??? Again sorry for the random ask, my baby brain is trying to gain big kid knowledge and experience lol.

I wh--

wha

what are they teaching you guys in school I

first let me preface this by saying you don’t ever have to be sorry to ask a question and even though i’m having an internal crisis about my age it is absolutely not your fault for not knowing and i am happy to answer and happy to help and i am not in any way trying to embarrass or poke fun at anyone but myself and also good thing you asked this this year when i actually have access to my trusty old scanner again lol.

groovy public service announcement with hip and modern music in the bg: learn to use a scanner not just for doodling but also for life!! old people will be amazed and astounded by your command of technology in a professional setting, it’s a life skill at any age. Using it for doodles is a great motivator.

meet scanner-kun

Step One: Draw a Drawing

i’m using scrap paper because i’m lazy and because sometimes fitting a sketchbook in a scanner is a hassle because you might have to hold it in place. (There are sketchbooks like grumbacher which come with removable tabs that i’d recommend for stuff you want to scan but dont want to tear out of your sketchbook.)

(its edward prince of the magpies)

Step Two: Pop it in your All in One Printer/Scanner that you totally definitely maybe have (or borrow someone else’s, you can do this for free at your local library and tbh their scanners are probably bigger) And Make Sure It’s Facing the Right Way Please

Step Three: Find the cables for your all in one printer/scanner that has been in storage for 3 years and actually hasn’t met your computer and needs to be introduced to it and thus you need to download the scanner app and oh my god this took slightly longer than expected aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

(a newer printer/scanner would be easier but mine is an oldboi and my computer has had some issues in the past so it’s a few apps short of a brain) (Oldboi scanner connects to laptop-kun via a USB cable because it pre-dates wireless printers that are much more common these days)

There is a button on the scanner I could press, but it’s probably actually better and easier to do it by opening the scanner app on the computer because you should preview your scan first in order to crop it and make sure it all fits and isn’t at a weird angle etc etc.

Step Four: Preview your image and make any adjustments necessary. I’ve cropped it but I’m not messing with the settings (the resolution would be important if you plan to print the image later and you might want to change it from colour to greyscale, but if you forget you can still do this in your editing program of choice really easily.

Step 5: Hit that scan button

and voila, your scanner has created an image that you can save, put on a usb stick, email to yourself, print, or whatever.

The scanner did a pretty good job of ignoring the big smudge i’d made by accident near his face, but I will want to open this up in an editing program like CSP to make my sketch easier to see. Scanning tends to wash things out a little (and with reflective material it doesn’t always show up well)

My guess is that fewer people have printer/scanners these days because so much “scanning” can be done with a phone - there are scanner apps you can download to your phone that are a little more precise than just using the camera app and can take scans of things larger than would fit in a printer/scanner, I just don’t have patience for them and haven’t really used them.

Step 6: drink and contemplate your own antiquity

am i really that old does everyone just use their phone these days

Step 7: Editing your drawing

I won’t go into this because it depends on what program you use to edit but It usually helps to adjust the brightness/contrast of the lineart layer (I have this under Edit > Tonal Correction but it might be in a different spot in other programs)

and if your program also has level correction that’s really helpful with cleaning up lineart

as you can see it’s picked up all the gross smudges - so i move around these arrows to try to get them as clear as possible : ) I think the arrows are for white, grey and black respectively (or at least, bright, midtone, and dark).

in csp what I would do is hit “convert brightness to opacity” which should make all the white areas transparent so you can colour under the line art. You can usually achieve something similar by changing the layer to “Multiply” in other programs.

voila! Now you can use the sketch as is, draw over it or under it, make copies, whatever you want.

[newnarrative]

Green Energy Boondoggle

The “Green” Energy Boondoggle

By NewNarrative

 One of the more popular narratives in the U.S. today concerns “green energy” and the elimination of the use of fossil fuels.  This topic is popular in the media throughout the U.S as well as here in California.  One simply cannot read a newspaper these days without finding a reference to the greatness and future of solar power. But has anyone considered what they are saying when they demand for the push to end fossil fuels?  Or do they think about how much it will cost to build all of these new clean power facilities?  What about what the REAL cost to the environment is?

Make no mistake, clean energy has its place.  Reducing green house gasses is a noble cause.  But before we rush headlong into destroying the economy (see below), let’s look at some facts about solar power and specifically energy uses here in California.

Today, solar power represents a mere 7% of the State’s total retail energy usage.  Currently, 41% of the state’s energy consumption is dedicated to transportation (fossil fuels), and another 24% of the State’s energy, mostly fossil fuels, is used for industrial uses.  With this in mind, one begins to see that the goal of the elimination of fossil fuels, while well-meaning, does not begin to address the end of fossil fuels.  

Fossil fuels are essential in the operation of many solar facilities.  Solar panels are comprised of a number of rare and extremely toxic and hazardous materials that are used in their manufacture.  Some of the materials used to make solar panels release in excess of 20,000 times the amount of green house gasses as the CO2 they are meant to help eliminate.   Additionally, there is significant waste in the manufacturing process used to create the solar panels.  Finally, the panels represent a huge problem at the end of their lives as there are currently no laws in the U.S. concerning how these toxic panels are safely recycled or what they will do to the environment when they are put into landfills. Source: California Energy Commission

It is useful then, to gain an understanding of the place that solar has in California, how much solar capacity the State has, and how much energy in total the State needs. Without the proper perspective, it becomes easy to fall in line with the narrative.  

California Solar Production Compared to Other Sources

Currently there is one major solar facility in San Bernadino County, California known as SEGS.  SEGS is a actually series of facilities that were initially built in the late 1990’s and commissioned in 2004, where it started with a capacity of 50 MW.  The complex has since grown to a capacity of 354 MW spread over several sites.  These sites initially were built utilizing Solar Thermal Energy but that has since evolved into a photovoltaic complex.  

The facilities that make up SEGS now consist of a total of 9 solar power plants spread throughout the Mojave Desert.  The original site was a Solar Thermal Energy Facility, which when it was built was the world’s second largest.  This type of facility uses sunlight to heat oil to 400 degrees C (or more) which is then used to transfer the heat to water to create the steam needed to spin turbines, thereby creating electricity.  This type of facility is located at Harper Lake and Dagget and employs about 140 people. Source: Solargenix Energy

  One of the initial problems with Solar Thermal Energy is the use of fossil fuels.  In 1999, at the SEGS Dagget facility, a 900,000 gallon tank of therminol (a type of mineral oil), which is a heat transfer liquid used to transfer solar heat to the steam tanks, caught fire and burned for hours.  Firefighters had to rush to keep the fire from spreading the other nearby tanks that contained sulfuric acid and caustic soda.  It seems that not all solar plants generate electricity without the use of other fossil fuels. Source: LA times

The largest U.S. Solar Thermal Energy facility is a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) facility located at Ivanpah (Mojave Desert, near the California- Nevada border).  At a cost of $2.2 billion to build (of which $1.6 billion was federally guaranteed money), this facility uses 173,000 mirrors designed to concentrate sunlight to the top of three towers in which boilers are placed to transfer the heat to boil water which spin the turbines used to generate electricity.  This facility was, at the time of its initial construction, the largest such facility in the world, and it has never lived up to its potential due to the high construction cost and numerous incidents and glitches in its operation. These glitches include a fire started by the mirrors directing heat to the wrong part of the solar tower, starting a fire which caused the shutdown of that portion of the facility, and the thousands of birds killed each year as they fly through the beam of heat generated by the mirrors.  The complexity of the facility also leaves open the possibility of any number of piping or, other mechanical issues that impair full production.  Source: BrightWorks

The cost per KWh from various solar facilities such as mentioned here is also about two to three times that of the cost to produce electricity versus the more practical Photo Voltaic facility at SEGS.   As a side note, this facility created 1000 construction jobs to build the plant and has 89 permanent positions on site. Source: US Department of Energy

According to the US Department of Energy, the cost to build a solar plant based on the most recent numbers (2015) is more than four times as much as the cost to build a natural-gas fired plant.  Natural gas facilities last between 30 and 50 years, while a solar plant only has a life expectancy of 20 years. Source: US Department of Energy

The cost to build a Solar Thermal Energy facility or a Photovoltaic facility, is considerably more that the cost to build a natural gas facility, as noted by the chart below.

  As of 2018, the total percentage of solar energy produced in California represented just 14% of the state’s electricity needs, while energy from coal was 15%.  Electricity from nuclear power has fallen to 9.4% from the sole facility at Diablo Canyon, where production has remained constant as other sources of electricity have risen.  As a side note, Diablo Canyon is slated to be shut down in 2024, which will make California’s energy shortfall worse.

The combined totals of wind, solar, small hydro, geothermal and biomass produce 32.3% of the state’s total energy output, but that number reached 43.6% with the addition of large hydro electricity production.  Electricity from natural gas remains the top source of electricity with a total of 46.5% of the state’s total production.  Source: California Energy Commission

One other important fact is that currently, California imports 32% of its power from other states.  The total electrical generating capacity in the State of California is around 54,000 MW. Remove the +/-10,000 MW from Diablo Canyon and the total magnitude of the problem begins to emerge.  If California produced 100% of the power it needed, it would need an additional 17,000 MW of capacity.  To achieve 100% “green” power from solar it would take roughly 20 square miles of panels!  That is a lot of panels.  

An essential component of the solar conversation has to do with how the solar panels are manufactured.

Solar Panels – How They Are Made

There are two types of solar power plants, photo voltaic (PV) and heat generating. PV facilities use solar panels like the ones on your house to convert sunlight directly into electricity, whereas heat generating facilities use reflective panels to heat a liquid which is then sent to a turbine which in turn spins to create electricity.

The manufacture of the solar panels and what happens to them once they have reached their life expectancy is of some concern. According to ChemService Inc., an industry standards magazine, the manufacture of solar panels is, like fracking, reliant on a variety of chemicals in order to work successfully and efficiently.  The panels use silicon like they use for semiconductors, except that even pure silicon is not pure enough to make a solar panel efficient, so the raw silicon must be treated with a chemical-rich process.

First the silicon is mixed with copper and Hydrochloric acid to produce Tricholosilane gas, which is then reduced with hydrogen to make Silane gas.  The Silane gas is heated into molten silicon which leads to silicon crystals that can be reformed and used for PV cells and micro chips.  This process is very energy intensive and materially wasteful, with about half of the initial pure metallurigical silicon lost in the process.  Silicon dust represents safety dangers and Silane gas is incredibly explosive (it ignites when it mixes with oxygen).

Some other chemicals used to make solar panels include Cadnium, Nitrogen Trifluoride and Sulfur Hexafluoride.  Cadnium is a naturally occurring earth metal, produced from smelting zinc, copper or lead ore. The EPA has noted that inhaling or being exposed to Cadmium can lead to cancerous and noncancerous damage to lungs and other organs. Cadnium is also very expensive, and like silicon only about half of the cadmium is used in the PV making process - so

  the rest is waste.  Finally the risk of any type of breach or leak of cadmium into the water supply would be very harmful.

While solar panels do not generate greenhouse gasses when they operate, the manufacturing process of solar panels does.  Two additional chemicals used in the manufacture of solar panels includes Nitrogen Trifluoride and Sulfur Hexafluoride.  Nirgoen Trifluoride is 17,000 times stronger than CO2 while Sulfur Hexafluoride is 22,800 times more potent than CO2.  These gasses are released into the atmosphere during the manufacturing process.  Source: ChemService Inc. Magazine

Finally, there is the matter of what to do with the solar panels once they have reached the end of their life expectancy.  Currently, there are no laws in the US (as there are in Europe)  with regard to the disposal of the used panels. Most panels go to a recycler first, who will remove any copper wires and the aluminum frame.  But the rest of the panel is essentially chemically-laden glass which is toxic and potentially lethal.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency there is a solar e-waste glut coming with an anticipated 78 million metric tons of waste being generated by 2050 with another 6 million metric tons each year thereafter.   This is an environmental problem that has yet to be addressed. Source: Renewable Energy Agency

World Wide Manufacturers of Solar Panels

The drive toward 100% clean energy, and specifically from solar, represents a boon to the companies who manufacture the panels, or the polysilicon crystals used to make those panels.  The list that follows represents the top ten solar manufacturers and their country of origin as of 2019.

1. JinkoSolar,  - Shanghai China

2. Canadian Solar – Guelph, Canada

3. Loom Solar – Faridabad, Haryana

4. Trina Solar – Changzhou, China

5. SunPower Corp – San Jose, CA

6. Hanwha Q Cells – Seoul, South Korea

7. JA Solar – Beijing, China

8. First Solar – Tempe Arizona

9. SF-PV - Changzhou, China

10. Yingli Solar – Baoding, China

 Source: SolarClap.com

 As of June 2019, only two of those companies, Sun Power and First Solar, are located in the U.S., meaning that in order to continue to work toward 100% “clean energy”, that the panels or components will be purchased largely from China or from elsewhere around the world.  It is not clear if all of the panels manufactured by Sun Power or First Solar are made in the U.S., but it is likely that the polysilicon crystals are not.

 Add to that fact that the construction, maintenance and operation costs of solar facilities exceed

that of most gas-fired energy facilities, and that the solar panels themselves represent a toxic

disposal problem that has yet to be addressed, and a new picture starts to emerge – that the

 true cost of the shift to solar has not been adequately addressed or publically discussed.

 While the move to “clean energy” is noble on its face, there is much to be said for energy independence.  The U.S. has a 1000 year supply of fossil fuels.  The thought that fossil fuels can / should be eliminated to “save the world” is short-sighted at best, and an outright lie at the worst.  

 Goal of 100% Carbon Free by 2045

California has a stated goal of producing 60% “clean energy” by 2030, and 100% clean energy by 2045.  This information comes from CA SB 100, “The Clean Air Act”, a report produced by the California Energy Commission.   A close look at this document reveals that this goal only applies to the RETAIL sector. So we are looking at 100% (or green energy) being used to serve the needs of 7% of the total energy market.  It’s all about misdirection.  Smoke & mirrors.  A narrative put forth by well-meaning politicians and the media.  Let’s all (not) get on the bandwagon.

According to the Wall Street Journal, 80% of the world’s solar components are made in China.   The push to build more solar facilities in the U.S. represents what could be the single largest transfer of wealth to other countries in the history of this great nation.  Those panels require extremely toxic chemicals in their manufacture, some of which release extraordinarily high levels of greenhouse gasses.  

Finally, the disposal of the used panels represents yet another hurdle, as there are currently no laws or regulation as to their disposal. 78 million metric tons represents 172 TRILLION pounds of toxic waste.  How green is that?

It is becoming clear that solar by itself is not the answer to producing “clean” energy. Nuclear power is clean. Nuclear facilities last a long time, and despite the bad rap that has been placed on these facilities, there have been very few issues here in the U.S.  Hydro power is efficient and clean, but there is not enough of it.  Biomass as an industry that is still in its infancy, but one that has potential to become an important part of the creation of green energy.  Natural gas is dominant and relatively clean, especially in California, and will remain the go-to source for electrical power for a long time to come.

With all of this in mind, we need more transparency when it comes to having an honest and realistic discussion about green energy.  Unionizing a labor force is not the answer, especially when the competition (China) is using forced labor to make solar panels.  We must also be honest about the cost, which is rarely discussed.  Any rational discussion about green energy should focus on the resources we already have in the U.S.  If we have a 1000 year supply of natural gas, it seems that it would be far more cost effective to utilize what already works.

Timelines to generate 100% clean energy are nothing more than a push to lower the United States and California specifically into a second class society at the effect of the New World Order.  The total cost for the conversion of California’s energy to solar is in the trillions.  The footprint of these facilities is considerably larger than gas-fired power plants.  Solar facilities do not last as long as other types of facilities.  Disposal of used panels is a problem.  

With regard to “going green”, the cost is clearly not worth it.

[skruffie]

I went down a rabbit hole last night on youtube when I was looking for speedpaint videos to get inspired, and it was the realization that concept artists will sometimes utilize this technique called photobashing to get their concepts to be photorealistic. It’s basically taking stock images and objects of existing places/textures/etc and applying them to concept art to paint over. Legitimately this whole time I’ve been thinking that concept artists meticulously render their pieces 100% of the time and so watching photobashing completely threw me for a loop. I also came into more of an understanding about concept art as... a concept... and so the technique makes sense. I’ve just been doing the thing of “no I must toil over my art start to finish”

Then in the midst of this rabbit hole I came upon this video about time saving tips for art and, while hard to describe, it feels like a whole bunch of light bulbs started turning on for me. 

There is so much I want to do art wise but especially in the last several years I’ve been way more unfocused on it than I realized. I want to do illustrations, but I also want to do a webcomic, but also I’m trying to practice environmental concepts, but also I want to do an animatic, etc etc etc and I was also operating under the assumption that a good illustration portfolio would be enough but it’s not. For the first time in my life actually I’m looking at my art and going “what do I actually want to do with this?” The answer isn’t QUIT because art is my lifeline but in all seriousness what are my next steps? 

I am often also frustrated that it seems like in a lot of social media sites that art is created for the purpose of trying to please the algorithm and build an audience, and I am too damn busy to do that. If I had the energy and the money I think taking the gamble to doing art full time would be interesting but I have my day job that I’m already burnt out from and I don’t want to risk ruining art for myself. Sure, I want an audience, but I feel like a complete stranger to myself without art... so if I burn out on that, where does that leave me? 

If I go into concept art, I would probably need to narrow my focus once I can get the right skillset, and there are definitely game studios and things local to my area + concept art itself is a growing industry, but... that requires more moving around. Also the industry standard seems to be Photoshop, which I can use but I’ve stopped using in favor of CSP. I have stories I want to tell with webcomics but that is a lot of work that, honestly, I would probably want to outsource some assistance with (like hiring someone to do inks or something) where I have no resources to outsource with. I want to really work on expanding my skillset which is why I’ve been experimenting with environments the last few illustrations but I WANT M O R E

[gay-tanuki-aus]

 Soulmate AU

Setting: School

It is said that the first thing, whatever it may be, said to you by your soulmate, would be imprinted onto your inner forearm like a tattoo. So there may be instances where the first things said might be super vague, something like "hey" or "hi". Then there were also the super-specific ones like "I remember seeing you at the bar last night, you were gorgeous, but I didn't think to say hi- so it's funny how we're meeting here again at a supermarket in the grocery lane." Last but not least, there were ones where it was just plain confusing.

"'Hi, I was wondering what kind of program you used?' I mean, who even asks that the first time they meet?" Ally groans as she stares at her forearm. No matter how much she thought about it, it just seemed impossible. It was always said that your soulmate was who you'd spend the rest of your life with and that you'd be lucky if you ever met your soulmate in your teenage years. Not many meet their soulmate this early on, after all, the world is so big, to make sure the two people meet, would need many variables to align. This made Ally feel slightly better about not meeting her soulmate yet, even though that particular sentence still confused her. It led her to wonder what kind of circumstances she and her soulmate would meet in.

At this time, Donut was also wondering about her soulmate. 'CSP'. That's it. That's all that is written. What baffled her the most, however, wasn't the short 3 lettered word or acronym. It was the fact that she didn't know what CSP meant. It wasn't like she didn't try searching online either, but all she got was "content security policy". Content security policy?? In what world would the first thing your soulmate say to you be content security policy? Did that mean she would have to try and get a job in that? Or maybe she just had to ask her soulmate what the acronym for content security policy was. No, that'd just be plain stupid. Imagine going up to everyone and asking that. Donut laughs a little at the thought, but she can't help but wonder if that's really how she'd find her soulmate?

Thankfully for both, it didn't take long for them to meet. As fandom people, it was only normal to be producing and enjoying fanart and fanfictions. So that's exactly how, and when it happened. It was at lunch, Donut decided to go to the Steven Universe fan club. She always enjoyed walking through the club room looking at the fanart which usually lined the club room walls. As she scanned through them, a certain fanart caught her eye. Intrigued, she had tapped a nearby person to ask them who drew it, and they pointed her to a girl- Ally not far off, sitting at one of the tables scribbling away.

Walking up, Donut decides to start the conversation up different. "Hi, I was wondering what kind of program you used?"

"CSP." Ally answers without looking up. Neither had realized what just happened until a second later Ally looks up almost aggressively. This only confirmed Donut's thoughts as she let out a small gasp.

"You're my soulmate???" Donut asks almost unbelievingly.

"Ok, but why are you taller." Ally seemed conflicted. "No, I mean- un-ask me that- please!"

"WH- I can't just un-ask you something like that!" Donut almost laughs at the absurdity of the request, but also slightly disappointed at her reaction. Did that mean Ally wasn't her soulmate? Or maybe they weren't meant to be soulmates? It is often said that one would feel a spark when they met their soulmate, but none of what was supposed to happen was happening.

"Oh, right, sorry, that was rude." Ally apologizes almost embarrassed but seemingly deflated.

"Oh pfft, don't sweat it, it's good! You see, so many people can ask you the same thing- so it probably isn't even me, I mean there are so many people on earth- y'know?? I'm sure you'll find the right soulmate." Donut says starting to ramble in an attempt to cheer Ally up. "Plus, we can just be soul mates with a space in between. Yes. We will be great friends or mates in this case!"

And that's what they did. They became soul mates. Kind of like when one would say 'Oh, this is my girl friend, with a space in between the girl, and the friend.' They would talk for hours on end about their ocs, and that's when Donut realized something was wrong. Something very wrong indeed, she may or may not be catching some unwanted feelings for her soul mate. Which was wrong. So what does a normal person do when they figure out something is wrong? They deny it.

"Yeah, then there's that boundary between acquaintances and friends." Ally says thoughtfully. The two were currently sitting at lunch talking about different types of relationships.

"I have like- friendship tiers I list everyone in. As you said, there are acquaintances, then there are friends. For me, there are three levels of friends: 'just met', close friends, and best friends. Then there is the slightly different topic of girlfriends. For instance, Theo would be a close friend." Donut starts to list off a few more examples as Ally listens, "And you- y'know you're like a super great friend, but I wouldn't date you. I mean, it's not like we're actually soulmates." She adds shrugging a little.

"Yep." Ally nods and that was the conversation; their attention brought back to fangirling over their ocs. If Donut could give herself a rating on how she did, she'd say she did pretty good, except she didn't.

A few months pass and Donut realizes her feelings were back, or more accurately, never left. So she decided, if Ally was interested in someone already, she'd just be a good friend and her ultimate wingman, but if Ally wasn't, she'd ask her out or something. Or not, since she's an awkward gay.

"So do you have a crush on anyone right now-" Donut had started the conversation, she'd ask every now and then just out of curiosity, except this time, she was going to make a decision afterwards.

"Huh, I mean everyone has one right, so I guess." The two were sitting at lunch again, just talking and enjoying each other's company.

Donut took a bite of her sandwich before looking back at Ally, "Oh?? So you do have one?" Now she was curious about who caught her soul mate's eye. "Who is it?" She asked almost a little too curious.

Ally didn't think much of it, however, and just shook her head. "I'm not telling you."

"Whaaaat- why not??" Donut whines. She really wanted to know now, who the mysterious person was.

"Why do you want to know so badly??" Ally crosses her arms almost defensive, but more flustered.

"Because I'm curious!" Donut exclaims. "I mean, you'd be the same if I said 'Hey Ally, I have a crush too.'" Lunch was almost over by this time, but hopefully, she could figure out who it was before then. Maybe a little push would help.

"You do? Who is it?" It was Ally's turn to be curious. "Y'know you should totally just ask them out, if it were me, I'd just ask my crush out."

"Yeah right." Donut snorts. "Like YOU would actually go up to your crush and just ask them out. That's not something the Ally I know would do." Donut teases Ally nudging her playfully.

"Shut up!" Ally clicks her tongue. "You are underestimating this gay. I would definitely ask them out. Anyways, what's your crush like huh? Since it doesn't seem like you'd be telling me the name."

"You're right I won't," Donut says with a smug look. "And I ain't telling you none of that." She was wrong. They spent the rest of the lunchtime talking about what their crushes were like. Right before the bell rings, Donut decides to go for it. "Wait-"

"Yeah?" Ally asks turning around, she was getting ready to go to class, but she decided that could wait. "What is it?"

"Good- luck in class!" Donut says after hesitating. She was going to ask Ally out, but on second thought, she could wait until later, or just not do so at all. She's pretty good at procrastinating anyways.

"Really now, I saw you hesitate." Ally crosses her arms in front of her chest. School can wait, whatever Donut was going to say had to be way more interesting than spending an entire hour in class listening to the teacher drone on about a random subject.

"IT'S NOTHING OK, GO TO CLASS." Donut was extremely flustered by now, she didn't think Ally would think too much of it, and now it seemed like she would have to tell her what she was going to say. Ally laughs a little and that makes Donut blush even more. "D-don't laugh!"

"Well it's funny watching you struggle for words, it doesn't happen a lot." Ally snickers some more. "So what's up my soul mate?" She had an idea what this was about, but she didn't want to ruin the fun.

"You're enjoying this aren't you- Oh my god. YOU'RE SO MEAN. I'M REALLY STRUGGLING HERE. Alright. I'll tell you, but if you laugh I'm leaving." Donut grumbles as Ally nods and laughs again. "Well uh, I think you're really cute- and like full homo-"

"There you go. Congrats." Ally giggled. "But really, I wasn't expecting this."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we had that conversation?"

"Which conversation- we've had many." Donut frowns trying to remember what Ally could be talking about.

"You said and I quote, 'You're like a super great friend, but I wouldn't date.'"

"That was-" Donut stammers completely forgetting they had that conversation, she then lets out an audible groan attempting to cover her face. "And like-"

"Yes?"

"Do you wanna like- go out with me?"

"I don't know hmmm-" Ally pretends to think about it. "What should I do..."

"C'MON ALLY. It's a yes or no question- the ones you're good at?" She then repeats in a slightly mocking but joking tone. "'Hey Ally, cats or dogs?' 'Yes'"

"Wooooow, don't make fun of me." Ally shakes her head in mock disappointment. "So rude. And I can't believe you don't want to be soul mates with a space anymore, I'm hurt."

Donut rolls her eyes a smile tugging at her lips. "So...?"

"Well- I have to go to class right now, so I'll let you know after school ok?? I'll definitely think hard on it." Ally winks as she turns to head to her class. Donut nods and gathers her stuff as well, there wasn't much time left to get to class before she was considered tardy. But that was hardly her concern at the moment. This whole thing had gone way better than Donut thought, and she was glad that Ally didn't flat out reject her which would've been quite devastating. On second thought, she also couldn't help but think maybe they really were soulmates.

TO BE CONTINUED...

(Because I can't write that much in one sitting plus I haven't spell checked anything so-)