#I made this while watching Jacob Geller too

[realityisagoddamnscam]

Little something I whipped up a few nights ago, definitely didn’t use up all the ink in my markers, not at all

[daisywords]

the good news: finally started* my new bookbinding project (making a sketchbook for a birthday present for my brother—I think I'm going to do some variant of a sewn boards binding if I can find some kind of card with the right weight. thinking of doing some kind of loz design or at least a sword on the cover? also I found the scraps of gold leaf I scavenged from the trash this has so much potential)

the bad news: it's 1 am and the high of starting something is making me. not tired

*folded the signatures and that's all

[quicksilverlightning]

Having a delightful time with my best friend, a sixty-something English professor who has become a borderline shut-in since Covid. I haven't seen him since March 2020, but we talk on the phone a lot - a variety of factors has made him withdraw from society for a while, but he's trying to break the habit a bit.

The pandemic has been hell on teachers in general, but it reinvigorated him - synchronous remote learning has been fantastic for his whole teaching style, and he's excited by all the new tools and techniques he can deploy with everyone together in the digital space. It's doubly funny since he's the oldest person in the department, and all his colleagues hate remote learning.

I recently introduced him to video essays and he's been watching one at a time and we chat about it after. He already runs a popular radio show/ podcast, and the video essay format is very similar so he's getting quite a lot out of it in terms of technical components like structure. I started him on Jacob Geller, which may have been setting the bar too high, but I've tried to include a wide variety to check out.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that I'd like to recommend finding a friend that is significantly different from yourself in age because it's been a grand time exposing him to entire branches of media that he never would have otherwise encountered himself. He loved Over the Garden Wall; he sends me short stories and novel recommendations; I am slowly pushing him into playing Kentucky Route Zero. More than once he's brought up something I showed him to a younger coworker, who is baffled by his knowledge. We both fluctuate on a similar wavelength, but the age gap and generational difference removes enough common ground to always have something to talk about. Get yourself some intergenerational solidarity 🤝

[anthropwashere]

Did you play or watch someone play Mouthwashing? I think it's a good game. What are your thoughts on it? 👀

I watched an LP and absolutely plan on buying it (as soon as my bank sorts out the gatdang claim I put in over a week ago, grumble grumble). For all that I love spooky scary stuff, I'm a tremendous coward with a short attention span so I don't actually play many indie horror games. Mouthwashing is one of my rare exceptions, and it's a level of good that's gonna sit with me a while.

It's a game that uses its limited time to make the characters properly interesting people. It sits you down and forces you to reflect on yourself a little, even (especially) if it hurts to. It puts mundane drudgery and the danger of prolonged isolation front and center of a sci-fi setting, which is my favorite flavor of sci-fi. It reminds us we need to take responsibility reflect on the baggage we've gotten used to carrying to see if it's still worth it.

The PSX graphics and surreal horror aspects come together in a way that's genuinely breathtaking in a way I didn't expect too. Like, full-stop paused the LP several times to appreciate what I was looking at. The music was another pleasant surprise, not obtrusive or kitschy, but just eerie enough to help sell the story being told.

There's a fucked up horse too, so that's fun.

It's a damn good horror game I can't wait to freak myself out with a few more times.

(ALSO I just realized Mouthwashing was made by the same people who did How Fish is Made, which is another game I haven't played yet but that video essay Jacob Geller did on it lives rent free in my brain. Man, what's my excuse for not playing that one yet? It's friggin' free! Well I know what I'm doing today.)

[vexillologyisenjoyable]

So I was watching Jacob Geller’s “Pinocchio is a story about art and god” and he talked in the beginning about how so many adaptations of Pinocchio have been made. and I was like hmm that reminds me of Pinocchio from neverafter, but that was just a dnd campaign, so it probably didn’t touch on too many themes(it’s been a while since I watched neverafter, ok). then I remembered that Pinocchio SHATTERS REALITY BY BREAKING THE ONE RULE OF HIS EXISTENCE SO YOU KNOW MAYBE IT IS A STORY ABOUT GOD AND ART. so I rewatched the clip of Pinocchio cutting the strings. the characters fall through burning scraps of the pages of their stories. there’s like themes and stuff and I can’t really words right now but like y’all get it

anyway here’s the video, if you want to watch it.

[c-rowlesdraws]

Ooh these are some interesting questions!

1. Art programs you have but don't use? and/or 11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

I'll answer both! (But for the sake of my stamina + pathetic attention span I'd encourage people to ask just 1 question at a time)

1. ohhhhh I've got a few lol. I tend to be very bad about trying out new art programs, and really only shift from one to another when the one I was using stops being supported or I'm otherwise forced to change my workflow. The first digital art program I used for a very long time was Corel Painter, and then I switched to Photoshop, which I still use (I know, I know) despite friends trying to turn me on to Clip Studio. I have Clip Studio! It is by all accounts a wonderful program. I just can't bring myself to invest the time into learning all the quirks of a new program when Photoshop is still right here. Call me again when I finally get fed up with giving Adobe my money. I also have Autodesk Maya still sitting in my taskbar, from way back when I had a subscription... but I prefer Modo for 3D modeling and haven't touched Maya since the last time I had to animate something. So now the icon is just there for... decoration, I guess? Like a mantlepiece knick-knack for my computer. 11. Sometimes if I'm getting very frustrated or just need a break from Sounds, I will pause or turn off the stuff I'm listening to while drawing, but that's the exception rather than the normal state of things. I love listening to music, sometimes music that matches the mood or aesthetic of what I'm drawing (listening to Talisk when painting a nature scene, for example), but usually just my Spotify library on shuffle, or Radiooooo. "Good drawing music", to me, tends to be music with a good but not too repetitive beat, and either all instrumental or with lyrics that don't tell so specific a narrative that I'll get distracted. Lyrics in a language I don't understand also work well. Sometimes I'll go out of my way to listen to music that "fits" a particular character that I'm drawing.

When I'm not listening to music, I listen to podcasts, or put YouTube video essays on and try to not give in to the urge to look at them instead of the canvas. My favorite podcasts right now include Well There's Your Problem (a podcast about engineering disasters, with slides), "How Did This Get Made" (about bad movies), and "Maintenance Phase" (about diet and wellness industry trends, controversies, and influencers). My go-to YouTube video essayists used to be the holy trinity of hbomberguy, Jenny Nicholson, and Lindsay Ellis (who has been making new content exclusively on Nebula for a while now), but other favorites are Big Joel, Jacob Geller, Dan Olson (Folding Ideas), Caitlin Doughty (Ask A Mortician), and Defunctland.

Sometimes I listen to/"watch" Let's Plays and video game streams while drawing, too! My current favorite streamers are supergreatfriend (also @supergreatfrien right here on tumblr!), Helloween4545, and my friends Kristi and Liana at Vodka Auntie Cabaret.

[legendfinder]

compare daniel mullins games to a christmas carol

This question was sent on October 10th, 2023. I meant to answer it during, yknow, Christmas. Well, you can guess what happened. But no matter! Here we are, exactly 1 month later. Pretend today is Christmas, ok?

One of the reasons why I think I put off answering this for so long is because I felt like I had to somehow match the quality of my earlier answer about Jacob Geller's archival video. Needless to say, I'm not going to do that. I'm too tired for that. I'll keep this short.

Of course, inevitable spoilers for Pony Island & The Hex & Inscryption.

The order I experienced Daniel Mullins' games was Pony Island, then Inscryption, then The Hex, and the feeling of having all those different things melge around in my brain for a while... It made me realize, after the fact, that it felt almost like a self-reflection of sorts. A strange bittersweet intervention, if you may. I felt like I was visited by the ghosts of *my* past, present, and future.

Pony Island was a game I watched Markiplier play years ago. I was still in middle school at the time, and... It left quite an impact on me. Perhaps younger me didn't quite realize how that game specifically left a mark on him, but that game had all the hallmarks of what I'd later internalize into my own personality. I love things that aren't as they seem on the surface; I love when it's possible to break something beyond what it's intended, to give yourself more agency than you should. I love content shifts, both in aesthetic and gameplay. The programming puzzles were just a cherry on top, as I had a big passion especially for block-based programming languages like Scratch. It was a perfect game for me, and probably shaped a good chunk of my ideas going forward. That game is the ghost of my past.

Then came Inscryption, which I only beat a few months ago. It was... Strange, seeing the KamWerks videos, after having created a similar experience myself for the Moon ARG not too long ago. Just like Pony Island, the familiar hallmarks returned; a game going deeper than it advertises, a game that seems to "break", a game that shifts its tone and form several times over. Except this time, it didn't necessarily seem to shape me as much as Pony Island; I played the game specifically because these hallmarks would be there. This type of game *is* what I already was, and I loved it for that. And, er, the robot was also the cherry on top. Just saying. The game is a ghost of my present self.

Before I talk about the Hex, there's something about Inscryption I noticed only because it reminded me of my own creative process. See, the game to me felt like Daniel Mullins wanted to make a card game, went "hm. how many ways can I make a card game?" and just accepted every answer. It was as if he had some sort of bucket labeled CARD GAME IDEAS that he just dropped any sort of shit into, and managed to make a coherent game out of that. That is... Exactly what I do, too. I create categories of buckets and let them gradually fill up over time, stringing them into coherent objects at a later point once it feels fully formed, although by that point it'll also have gathered a whole heck of a lot of extra bits. It isn't necessarily a good or bad thing, but... Y'know. It felt surreal.

Lastly... The Hex. The Hex is a game that wasn't fully on my radar, and I only decided to play it because of its ties to Inscryption (that's important, keep that in mind). Remember those Mullinsisms I mentioned before? Deep games, breaking things, content shifts? This game is that, in full fucking force. This wasn't just one bucket, no no no; This feels like an entire fucking brewery of different ideas. How many things can I make for an RPG? A tactics game? A fighting game? A fucking top-down shooter?? It's absurd how rapidfire this game is. I feel like every single emotion a human can experience is in there somewhere. I'm probably in there somewhere. Well, I am, in a sense.

The one thing that led me to create this connection between Daniel Mullins and a christmas carol (yes, I asked callie to ask me this question, fuck you) was... The ending of The Hex. The very, very, self-indulgent and meta ending of The Hex. The ending that also features Daniel Mullins (or "Lionel Snill", which, come on. That is literally just Daniel Mullins' name distorted) getting strangled by his own game. Consumed by it, literally, but also figuratively. The game, by virtue of this ending, has partly become a commentary on his journey to try and make a suitable follow-up to Pony Island.

I am a very self-indulgent person. Like I said in the last answered ask, I have a google drive of everything I ever made. I hold a lot of what I make up to a weird museum-like pedestal, and because of that I also tend to reference a lot of my earlier works in future ones. Remember those connections between Inscryption and The Hex? It's not enough for the games to be purely standalone experiences, they must also exist in a larger shared universe. Almost everything I made now exists in the Elemental Realm somewhere. A larger shared universe inhabited by self-inserts of varying degrees (there's something to be said about how everything in a story universe is a self-insert in a sense, but that's another post entirely). A place where every single idea I can ever have is crammed into one giant overarching narrative. I assign past ideas to new situations, often on a whim, just to see how they'd feel there.

To best understand my works now, it's better to understand me as a person.

...

One of the main antagonists of the Elemental Realm is a trickster clown with murky ambitions, although the true villain ends up being the author self-insert.

..

The Elemental Realm will end with a character escaping the universe and confronting the authors directly.

.

The Hex is the ghost of my future, and I don't know how I feel about that.

==============================================

Oh, did I say I was gonna make this post short? My bad.

There's a few nuances I wish I could hammer out but uhhhh brain fog. I'm making a lot of assumptions about Daniel Mullins' intentions for the sake of narrative; it's not like Lionel is *actually* a 100% Daniel Mullins self-insert, or that Mullins is actually just dumping every idea he has into one game. There are just little details that viscerally remind me of the way I'm personally going about things, and that's mainly what I wanted to make the post about.

Anywho, there's 2 minutes left until christmas is over. Signing off.

[parker-d-bloodrose]

 Before I go to bed, I want to talk about something. Some of y’all may’ve noticed that I’ve been posting more art over the past week. And like, it’s honestly because of some things that have happened over the past year. Firstly; I’ve gotten back into collecting comics and manga. It was a pursuit I stopped at the behest of my ex-spouse back in... oh I wanna say 2017? “You aren’t even reading them anymore.” Which is kind of correct, because I had shifted my focus from being a reader to being a collector. I’m back to being a reader because I’m being more narrow minded in my focus of what I’m buying. Primarily whatever funky shit catches my attention. Anyway point is. I started getting back into comics and surrounding myself with beautiful art. I’ll be putting the rest of this under the cut.

I’ve also watched many of my illustration friends work and post work and thought it was extremely cool. I even picked up some art books from artists whose work I admire, like Gerald Brom and Yoshitaka Amano. While their art styles are both extremely technical and detailed, and at a level beyond the scope that I personally want to achieve, I still admire and find their work inspirational. Amano’s work in particular, because when I have the time and mental energy I adore playing Final Fantasy 6. It’s just so gorgeous, even though it’s rendered in smooth pixel form.

I’ve also been working on pixel art in general as a way to destress after work, as well as producing my own tokens to sorta fill out my monday game where the art provided for the adventure path just doesn’t have the unique creature I need. It isn’t something I wanted to do beyond pursuing my own hobby interests. I find it extremely relaxing and calming to draw pixel art, much like how other people build mini figs for their TTRPG games. About a week or so ago, I saw an absolutely gorgeous pixel art picture of a woman coming out of a pond and I was just... stunned by what the artist did. I don’t know the resolution or anything but it was, like many other great pixel art pieces I’ve seen, a gorgeous fucking thing to behold. And it struck a chord with me. I realized that pixel art isn’t just about sprites. Sprites are certainly a cool part of it. But the medium can do more than I was allowing myself to do with it. And for awhile I was like “eh it’s fine. I don’t... have to do anything amazing. This is just a hobby.” And then I watched the video “Sekiro’s Parry and Other Pursuits of Perfection.” by Jacob Geller. In it, Geller discusses how playing Sekiro and mastering it led him to wanting to pick up piano playing again, even though he wasn’t intending on composing his own music. He just wanted to get that feeling of playing a perfect note again. I thought it was kind of cheesy but also lowkey? Despite Geller making fun of himself by pointing out how it was typical of a video essayist to veer off track of the original point to talk about a personal anecdote, it was also kind of impactful on me.  As y’all may’ve noticed, I’ve also been playing Sekiro too and while his enjoyment comes largely from knowing what to do next and executing it perfectly like sheet music, my take away from this game is actually different. I enjoy this extremely punishing video game not because I know the timing or whatever, but because I enjoy the challenge of learning something new. I’ve been toying off and on for... quite frankly about as long as I’ve been writing with doing traditional art. I have never considered myself a good illustrator. But, that’s okay. I don’t need to be. I can accept that I am an amateur artist. But I do find that I crave learning a new skill and mastering it. I was going to get better at pixel art. So, with all of these things happening, I made a resolution - I was going to produce a 64 x 64 pixel image myself by the end of the year, one of the largest canvases I’ve ever been comfortable doing shit on. Then I dove into a pixel art tutorial and ended up doing a 100 x 64 pixel image following the steps. But.... a lot of it didn’t look right. I found myself frustrated by my inability to get the landscape to look the way I wanted it to. The mountains were... mountain-shaped and passable. But the image I was referencing had clouds with rim lighting and I did not understand how it was working. My brain couldn’t grok it, so I removed it. There was also a person in the foreground who was sillouhetted. I ended up removing that person and instead focusing on the little wizard tower. Which came out.... mostly fine, except for again the lighting. I very quickly realized that my rudimentary understanding of lighting and shapes needed to be honed. I can’t afford a tablet right now, because I’m actually between jobs (Hello I quit my job and my last day is tomorrow!) and I also don’t really want one because I work more comfortably using a mouse with the kind of art I do. But I can afford a sketchbook, pens, and paper. So, I think what I’m going to do is fill these 100 sheets with sketches. And I’m going to have fun doing it. And I’m going to learn shit. So that maybe by the end of the year I’ll produce an original 64 by 64 pixel image. It’s also been relaxing to have an additional creative outlet aside from writing, because right now I’m kind of suffering from an extremely bad case of writer’s block and I’m having a hard time breaking it. Anyway, it’s late and I actually have work in the morning and this already took me about forty minutes to write so I’m going to bed. I hope y’all enjoyed this personal essay. 

[semifinel]

February - 2023

Games

Disco Elysium- I’ve actually been slowly going through it for over a year (I would play for a few days and then take a break for a few months and then forget where I am and restart). However I finally finished it and I can very easily say it’s one of my favorite games ever. The writing, the style, the music- what’s not to fucking love.

I could talk about this game for hours and I have actually done that enough to convince friends to play it as well. But I probably can’t say anything that hasn’t been said before me.

Great game- I might be in love with Kim kitsuragi.

Rain world(?)- to be honest I haven’t played it (yet?) but I spend way too much time watching gameplay of it and videos about it, went into a deep dive in the wiki. This world absolutely fascinates me, the ecosystem is just wow- even though it seems like a very difficult game I might actually get it one day.

Decide to include it cause it’s my list and I make the rules, also it ate a chunk of my month.

Monster hunter rise- this is my second time trying to get this game and last time I (apparently) quit before even going on a mission. To be fair it was a combination of my own stupidity and the game’s absolute horrible tutorial that made me drop it so fast.

However given a second shot I’m already having more fun, flipping and riding and monster hunting.

I have no idea if anyone ever cared about a character in this game but the monsters are cool and I love them lots.

Why is there a tower defense section is beyond me- I never liked any kind of tower defense, but this is very much the wrong game for it.

Can’t wait to try a hunt with friends- I heard it’s awesome.

Start again: a prologue- a delightful lil rpg that made me feel a lot. I love time loops as a concept already and this was executed so well- I will cry about it.

Can’t wait for in stars and time!! I need more of this cast and world.

Lookouts- another game I’ve been making my way through oh so slowly, no reason here since it’s not really long. It’s a visual novel and I have trouble focusing on reading, that’s my main issue.

However I’m happy I played it- trans cowboys on opposing sides falling in love and find a way for them to have a life- I am the target audience. I love them.

Hue- sure was a puzzle game. And it was a nice one, pretty sure I got it for free and I mostly used it as something to play while I listen to podcasts. It’s cute and not very long and the puzzles were nice.

Shows

Mob psycho s2- still doing my rewatch, still love my sons.

Darry girls s3- finally got around to it, honestly liked it less then the other seasons however it was a nice end to the show as a whole and I’m glad they wrapped it up nicely.

Animation vs Minecraft- what if I told you the animation you used to watch on YouTube as a child kept going on while you looked away. That there is now a storyline spanning several hours which is very neat and dear to my heart.

How simple are your blorbos? Mine are literally just different colored stick man (they are my sons and I love them very much).

I want everyone to watch it, you can’t understand how hard it goes in the final episodes you don’t understand ahhhhha.

Podcasts

Something rotten- did I start this podcast just cause I wanted more Jacob Geller? Yes.

Am I happy I did that? Also yes.

I do not care even a little about the games they talk about but it’s still fascinating to hear them talk about them (along other kind of related topic)

Personally never heard of Blake Hester before but glad I know him now.

Can’t wait for next season where I might play along since I have one of the games in my library for some reason.

Etc?

The prince by Abigail throne (philosophy tube)- so like one of my favorite trans creators writes a play and uploads it in full- I had no doubt it was gonna be good.

Love the characters, love the themes, and the setting (of being stuck inside a play) is very fun.

But man do I not understand Shakespearean speak but that’s more of a me thing.

Felt a lil cliche/sappy at times but it was cute so I had no problem with it.

[volno]

Hi, Volno here, once again making my art degree everyone else's problem. Marcel Duchamp, was a pivotal member of the Dada movement (tldr: basically the anarchist shitposters of the art world), and while his work "Fountain" (you know, the funny urinal artwork) is his most well known work, what I wanted to talk about was his 'Readymades'. To quote MoMA's page on Duchamp's 'In Advance of the Broken Arm' (because this passage says it better than I could):

"Beginning in 1913 Duchamp challenged accepted artistic standards by selecting mass-produced, functional objects from everyday life and designating them as works of art. These sculptures, which he called "readymades," were aimed at subverting traditional notions of skill, uniqueness, and beauty, boldly declaring that an artist could create simply by making choices. Duchamp purchased the first version of this work in a hardware store in 1915, signed and dated the shovel, and hung it on display from his studio ceiling."

The questions you, op, have asked are very good ones! they are ones humanity has been asking for a very long time, and they are important to ask; even when they will never have a definitive answer. There is no right or wrong answer, because art is in the asking. You can ask 'is Call of Duty art?', but you can just as easily ask 'why isn't Call of Duty art?' and have just as an engaging discussion. like lets do a thought experiment, if I put a CD copy of Call of Duty up on a plinth in a gallery, is that art? If your answer is yes, why is it art? if your answer is no, why is it not art? or even then, what makes it art? is it art if I draw a moustache on the guy on the cover? is it art if I only display it on ANZAC day? Is Call of Duty art if the disc inside the case is so scratched that it can no longer be played? and if any of those things made it art, why is it now art?

these questions I have posed are genuine, I'm not trying to bait you or hit you with a 'gotcha' moment. They don't have a correct answer, what's important is that they are asked at all. If you dismiss something by saying that it can never be art for x or y reason, you close yourself off to so many ways of looking or thinking about the world, and for me a least that's a big part of what art is; a way to make sense of and express the world around us.

this post got way too fucking long, so to avoid rambling on further I'm just going to direct you to the video essay Who’s Afraid of Modern Art by Jacob Geller, as its both a great watch and talks about all of this in more detail than I ever could.

thinking about the whole "games are art" thing. does propaganda count as art? does something that exists solely as A Product To Be Sold count as art? like. to use a non game example i wouldn't say e.g. the 14$ plastic trash can in my kitchen counts as art even though at some point a human designed it- does that extend to games? are the countless asset-flip minimal effort indie games on steam and the EGS art in spite of only existing to scrape a tiny profit off some itch.io marketplace assets? do battlefield and call of duty count as art when they only exist to sell teenagers on the idea of the military industrial complex being a cool thing to participate in?

[bombshellsandbluebells]

2021 Year in Review

I was tagged by the lovely @iamnotawomanimagod and @dylanobrienisbatman :) Love ya both! We all made it through 2021 hallelujah!

Top 5 Movies You Watched This Year

I watch movies all the time but I have such a hard time remembering what movies I saw this year lol. Let me wrack my brain real quick.

1. Inside (dir. Bo Burnham)

I really, really loved Inside. As always, Bo gave us something that was funny, unique, out-of-the-box, and also, kind of painful in a too-real kind of way. I’ve been meaning to rewatch this one ever since I saw it to digest it better, but I haven’t quite been ready ready for the emotional journey yet.

2. The Green Knight (dir. David Lowery)

Visually stunning. The art director and cinematography in this movie is amazing and every single shot was beautiful to look at. And while it maybe wasn’t my favorite film ever, it was definitely a unique journey to go on. Glad I saw it. 

3. @Zola (dir. Janicza Bravo)

A wild ride. Definitely entertaining. Really creatively filmed and directed. 

4. Roshomon (dir. Akira Kurosawa)

A classic I FINALLY sat down to actually watch. I’ve finally seen a Kurosawa film.

5. Dawn of the Dead (dir. George Romero)

Loved it lol. I love zombie movies. Definitely enjoyed this one more than his original Night of the Living Dead.

Top 5 TV Shows You Watched This Year

Once again....I know I watched things lol but I’m struggling to remember what I watched so this is an incomplete list lol

1. Arcane

BEAUTIFUL!!! Absolutely obsessed with this series. The animation is beautiful. The writing is great. The characters are all very interesting. The character DESIGN is fantastic. The pacing is amazing. Just really, really loved this one.

2. Ted Lasso

I really love this one also. It’s both funny and sweet and earnest and I love that it can be both things without sacrificing one for the other.

Top 5 Songs of 2021

Shrugs.

I don’t really pay a lot of attention to what songs/albums I listen to tbh.

I listened to a TON of The Crane Wives though. Definitely my favorite artists of 2021. Also listened to the Hadestown album on repeat.

Top 5 Albums You Heard In 2021 Top 5 Youtube Channels in 2021

I’m stealing @iamnotawomanimagod’s :)

1. The Try Guys

My go-to relaxing, fun channel. They always make me laugh. I especially love their Without a Recipe series because as someone who bakes a lot and has a decent grasp of what should go in what I always get so stressed for them lol.

2. Sideways

I love this channel!!! Hugely recommend!! If you find music, especially musical scores in film/tv/theater interesting, you should definitely check this one out. Not only is his content fascinating, he’s also really funny.

3. Jacob Geller

Possibly my favorite channel ever - or at least in the top 5. Jacob Geller talks about video games, but not the way you would expect a youtuber to talk about video games. He’s not talking about walkthroughs or theories or how to beat the bosses or news - no he’s regularly getting existential and talking about life and philosophy through the lens of video games, and it’s fascinating.

Strongly, STRONGLY recommend this channel.

4. Mina Le

I’m not a super knowledge about clothes or fashion, but watching Mina talk about it is so interesting. She mostly talks about fashion through the lens of film/tv costuming and she tackles a lot of topics that deal with classism and other big issues as they relate to fashion and fashion history.

5. Micarah Tewers

Love her!!! I feel like she’s kind of replaced my Jenna Marbles needs of someone super positive and silly who’s not afraid to be herself and just does fun things that make me smile. She’s a super talented seamstress who also owns about a million animals and just lives life in such a fun and admirable way. 

Top 5 Books You Read in 2021

1. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski 

Technically this was a reread of a book I’ve already read before, but whatever. I love this book. I love this book so much. It’s my favorite book ever and it’s a dense brick of postmodern horror that might sometimes be too pretentious for it’s own good but is interesting and unique and worth it anyways. It’s my favorite book that I never recommend to anyone lol because I know it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea but I love it.

It was so worth rereading. I feel like I get something new out of this book every time I dive into it. And sometimes that something new is a headache, sure, but it’s worth it.

2. who i was supposed to be (a collection of short stories) by Susan Perabo

I picked this up randomly from a used bookstore I love because I liked the title, and I was really pleasantly suprised by this one. Every single short story is so well written and captivating. Really loved this one.

3. The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind’s Greatest Invention by Guy Deutscher

I love linguistics!!! Language is so fascinating!! And this was a fascinating book.

4. Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood

Really interesting! A little slow to get through, not necessarily a page-turner, but all really interesting cases and information.

5. I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Ian Reid

I read this because I loved the movie, and while it was interesting and unique and Ian Reid is a great writer, I ultimately like what the film did with the story more than the original novel. Still a good read though. Incredibly depressing, but good.

5 Positive Things That Happened In 2021

1. This was my first year going fully freelance and working in the film industry full time and it went better than I ever expected!!! I’m so happy to have left my old job I didn’t really like and start pursuing something I really, really love.

2. Going along with the first point, I worked on my first feature!!! Which was kind of a disaster, admittedly, but still a huge accomplishment. :)

3. Working in a new industry means I met a lot of new people this year and made a lot of new friends, which is always great! Especially because my closest friends both moved out of town last year and it’s just not the same with them so far away.

4. My emotional/mental state was just way, way better this year than last year. 2020 was ROUGH. I’m sure it was for most people, but along with the shutdown and the pandemic fears, I was also dealing with a friendship going bad and feeling like a friend I really cared about suddenly had nothing but negative things to say to me, wasn’t in the right place job-wise and feeling miserable about it but terrified to leave the security behind to go freelance, hormone/auto-immune issues combining with likely undiagnosed ADHD and depression due to the everyting in the world basically meant I was super forgetful, foggy, unfocused, and lethargic like ALL the time which I just got mad at myself for.

So yeah. 2020 sucked so hard and 2021 felt so much better. 

5. I read 8 whole books in 2021!! I used to read all the time and haven’t read much since I left school, so I’m really, really proud to have reached that number. I think being in a better emotional/mental state let me pursue stuff like that more.

***

I know there was still a lot of bad in 2021 and the world still isn’t perfect, but overall, 2021 was a good year for me. A far better year than the one before. It had a lot of change, but it was all good change, and I feel like I’m finally doing what I’ve always wanted to do and it feels right in a way the past couple years just haven’t. I feel fulfilled!! And I’m excited for whatever 2022 has to offer. 

Also lots of love to all my mutuals!!

Tagging @laufire, @boomheda, @nicoleanell, @doortotomorrow, @saiyanqueenreads, @sarcasticdebate, @nomattertheoceans, @rosealie, @padawanyugi

Happy holidays!! <3

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

Some additions from mod Sus!

Podcasts:

Random Number Generator Horror Podcast No. 9

From the creators of Welcome to Night Vale, the writer Jeffrey Cranor and actor Cecil Baldwin discuss about horror movies. That's kind of it, but it's still fun to listen other people talk about movies you like or know about. Using this one as my home chrores background sound.

The Magnus Archives / The Magnus Protocol

"Make your statement, face your fear." A fictional monster-of-the-week horror story podcast that tells about strange supernatural encounters through old audio tapes of people's confessions. Each story revolves around a fear, each more horrifying than the other.

Yeah sure I'm sure you must've heard of this one a ton of already if you've been in Tumblr at all, but I jumped into the train rather late. But once I got into it enough to follow the episodes, I got really hooked on the story. Each story is different, and the writers know how to tell a scary story without revealing too much by telling. I used to listen this when working summers at cemetary, just mass consuming several episodes a day.

The Magnus Protocol is the sequel that you so far can listen without having listened to Archives, and so far it's really good too. While still audio podcast, it swaps the recording audio tapes to camera view.

OG mod mentioned it already, but I also listen to Dead Meat podcast a lot. I think I like the historic/context/how this was made episodes the best.

Youtube channels:

Acolytes of Horror Small Youtuber who makes good, nicely long video essays about horror movies and getting into analyzing the story telling and horror elements. Very much recommending, even if he makes videos once in a blue moon.

Jacob Geller Very long and very deep video essays about... a bit of everything horror. Has very existential style in his videos, which makes these good if you're looking for food for thought or interesting views and philosphies about life, existense and what makes us feel anything.

Ryan Hollinger You most likely have seen a ton of his movie videos, and they are pretty good and bite-sized. He doesn't get as deep into movies as AoH or Jacob Geller, but it works if you like shorter than 20 minutes videos and just like to sit and chill listening about your fave movie.

I as well like to watch/listen to Wendigoon videos a ton when doing other things. The dude just has this weird talent of making ANYTHING sound super interesting without using any gimmicks or effects. Dude just sits there and talks and I'm hooked into listening him tell anything.

do u have any horror recs for other mediums? tv, podcasts, books, youtube shorts, etc

I'm really gonna show my ass in this regard because most of my recommendations are going to be TV shows or short stories because I haven't branched out much beyond that if I'm honest.

I love The Haunting of Hill House (Nell Crain is my favourite horror character full stop) and The Fall of the House of Usher from Mike Flanagan (most of his shows are incredible but these two are my favourite).

THOHH: Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it.

TFOTHOU: To secure their fortune (and future) two ruthless siblings build a family dynasty that begins to crumble when their heirs mysteriously die, one by one.

The Exorcist (2016) was great!

The Exorcist follows two very different priests tackling one family's case of horrifying demonic possession. Father Tomas Ortega is the new face of the Catholic Church: progressive, ambitious and compassionate. He runs a small, but loyal, parish in the suburbs of Chicago. Father Marcus Keane is an orphan raised since childhood by the Vatican to wage war against its enemies. He is everything Father Tomas is not: relentless, abrasive and utterly consumed by his mission.

I really liked American Horror Story: Asylum, can't say the same for the other seasons.

AHS: Asylum takes place in 1964 and follows the stories of the staff and inmates who occupy the fictional mental institution Briarcliff Manor, and intercuts with events in the past and present.

I also liked a few South Korean shows I saw on Netflix.

Kingdom (2019): While strange rumors about their ill King grip a kingdom, the crown prince becomes their only hope against a mysterious plague overtaking the land.

All of Us Are Dead (2022): A high school becomes ground zero for a zombie virus outbreak. Trapped students must fight their way out or turn into one of the rabid infected.

Hellbound (2021): People hear predictions on when they will die. When that time comes, a death angel appears in front of them and kills them.

I loved Interview with a Vampire (especially because it does everything the movie didn't, which is why I didn't like the movie). it's very gay, it plays heavily into the themes of vampirism and sexuality, and I love Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson as Lestat and Louis.

In terms of other media, I really like the Dead Meat channel (if I haven't said it enough already), I also like the Scream Dreams Podcast with Catherine Corcoran (from Terrifier), James A. Janisse (from Dead Meat) and Barbara Crampton (prolific and stunning horror actor).

I know it's a little over done now, but that original series of 'The Backrooms' by KanePixels was great.

Some other horror channels/channels that explore horror as well as other topics are SpookyRice, MistaGG, Wendigoon, ElvisTheAlien, BionicPIG, Trin Lovell, KennieJD, MertKayKay, and AmandaTheJedi.

With books, I'm such a basic bitch, so I've really only read Stephen King's horror books. I'm not sure of this is horror or just very bleak and depressing but I'm Thinking of Ending Things was an incredible reading experience. And at this point it goes without saying House of Leaves is so fucking mindblowing!

H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe were terrible people, but their short stories are truly so dark and well-written, the cosmic horror Lovecraft is known translates best in his writing. Ambrose Bierce is the father of psychological horror as we know it, his short stories are great. My favourite short horror story is The Yellow Wallpaper. If you are interested in an audio version of it, listen to Chelsea from the Dead Meat channel with headphones (headphones are vital to that experience).

That's all I can think of off the top of my head for now! I'm sure others will give their own recommendations.

[liaroflesbos]

Thoughts on the Buried and the Eye

The Buried has always been an abstract and distant fear to me. I tend to skip “Lost John’s Cave,” episode 15, because I just don’t get the fear of a caves system, even with the added scare of “leaving your sister to die in the dark in your place.” I’ve never even been near a cave, let alone gone spelunking! 

The closest I got to understanding the Buried is in episode 88, Dig. Despite the title, I almost didn’t categorize “Dig” as an episode about the Buried when I made my organizational monstrosity. Set at the beginning of season 3, it touches on what I feel is the theme of Jon’s journey through the Eye in this season: uncovering knowledge at all costs. This is the season where Jon gets his hand crispened, gets asphyxiated, gets Hunted (twice), travels across the whole fucking world, betrays incredibly dangerous hunters, and has a panic attack while destroying knowledge. No other season has Jon put in such sequential, continuous danger, and it happens as Jon hunts for the truth of this maddening situation he’s found himself trapped in, for its rules and limits, and for the individual rules and limits of the Stranger and the Unknowing.

The episode itself prioritizes the dangers of hunting for truth. Martin’s reading of the tape is bookended by both Basira and Melanie’s quests for truth. Basira is looking for Daisy, and when she discovers not where she is but what she’s doing, she is now burdened with the knowledge that Daisy may kill a friend; later when she does find Daisy, she gets taken hostage by Elinus, drawing the two of them further into the web of their undoing. On the other end, Melanie has begun poking around the Archives. She asks about Jude--who in the next episode injures Jon as the price for asking questions--and the missing calliope, another link in the chain to the misfortune of finding the Unknowing.

But see, I was just watching Jacob Geller’s “Fear of Depths,” and in it he describes being in cave, and the compulsion to keep exploring, further and further in, although every inch is just another danger. In the dark, with the walls beginning to press in: this is what “Dig” explores, the intersection between the Eye and the Buried, the result of digging too deep.

[fresh-outta-jams]

Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Part 2

Namjoon x Reader Author: Admin Mo Summary: When your soulmate tattoo finally appears, an address, you figure it can’t hurt to send a letter, right? Warnings: A few swears. Soulmate fluff. Word Count: 2.5k

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,  Epilogue

“Dear (Y/N),

Cross my heart, your letter writing gets better and better with every one you write. Please don’t stop any time soon. I’m sorry to hear my letters to you have been lonely all alone in that mailbox of yours. One of my friends might fix that soon.

Okay, but seriously, Ross and Rachel belonged together, though. Hear me out. I get that Ross isn’t perfect, but he did love her, and he did wait for her, and in the end, she chose him, didn’t she? Case closed. Joey’s a nice guy and all, but he’s not Ross Geller.

For the record, I am not a ‘Christmas starts November 1st’ person, I just want to make sure your present gets to you on time. Speaking of which, you completely avoided my question. What do you want for Christmas?

Also, you mentioned Nanowrimo. I looked it up and found out it’s a writing thing, right? 50,000 words in 30 days? Pretty ambitious, but...I think I might give it a shot.

I’m glad your new K-Pop friends are getting you into BTS. They’re pretty cool. You should check out Spring Day. I think you’d like that one. I guess I didn’t realize how big they were getting over there.

Anyway, happy almost-Halloween. I don’t know what I’m going to be yet. Do you have something picked out?

Can’t wait to hear from you.

-Namjoon”

***

“(Y/N), can you adjust the barn doors on that light? It’s too narrow.”

“Got it.” You nodded and walked over to the tall LED light pointed at the interview subject for your film project. Her name was Lillian, and she was going to answer some questions about how she met her soulmate. For this particular project, you were in charge of the interview, but during set-up, everyone helped with everything.

Your project partner, a sophomore named Jacob, helped Lillian clip the lav to the fabric of her shirt. Once you had the light adjusted and nicely diffused, you picked up your clipboard and read over the questions your group had written a few days before. Ryan, who was in charge of sound, watched the meters on the camera carefully, large black headphones strapped over his ears. The cheap little camcorders the school provided did what they needed to...sort of, but no matter how hard you tried, the white balance was never quite right. You only hoped your professor wouldn’t dock points for it.

A few minutes later, everything was in order: Jacob behind the camera, Ryan holding the shotgun mic, and you, perched on a chair across from Lillian with your sheet of questions.

“Can you tell us a little bit about your soulmate? What’s his name, what’s your connection...”

“My soulmate’s name is Mason.” Lillian’s features softened and she smiled dreamily. “Our connection is a compass tattoo on our wrists. It always leads us right to each other.”

“How did you and Mason meet?”

“It was spring. We were still in college. Exams were right around the corner. The next week, actually. I was with my friends at the library studying when my wrist started to sort of burn. I looked down at my tattoo and the arrow of the compass was spinning around wildly. I wasn’t sure what it meant until I looked up to find this handsome guy staring at me, holding his wrist...”

You continued the questions, evaluating her reactions and throwing in some follow-up questions where you could manage to make sure you got the footage you needed. It was so hard to get interviewees to answer questions the way you needed them to so you could actually use the clips. If they didn’t phrase things a certain way, it was impossible to tell what they were talking about when your vocal clips were edited out.

The entire time, you couldn’t help but let your mind wander the tiniest bit, especially given the topic. It had been a hot minute since you’d heard from Namjoon. You were hoping that when you finally got back to your dorm, there would be a special something waiting for you in the mailbox.

You helped Ryan and Jacob lug your film equipment back to the student rental place in the Communications building and then the three of you grabbed some quick lunch before you were finally, finally able to go back to your dorm building. You felt like your mail key was burning a hole in your pocket.

As soon as you passed through the front doors, you turned to your mailbox and jammed the key inside, turning it and opening the door to find not one, but two envelopes. A grin covered your face as you reached in to retrieve them. They both had the same return address, but the words were written in two very different handwritings. One was Namjoon’s, obviously. The other, you didn’t recognize.

You walked up the stairs to your dorm and walked inside, bidding a quick hello to your roommate before turning on your desk lamp and tearing the first envelope open.

“Dear (Y/N),

Hi. My name is Jimin. I’m Namjoon’s friend. He told me your letters were lonely so I wanted to write. I’m sorry my English is bad.

Bye!

-Jimin”

You chuckled to yourself before opening Namjoon’s and reading over his words carefully. Warmth spread through you from your heart, slowly encompassing your whole body. Oh, Namjoon. The way that boy made you feel with his words alone…

You rolled your sleeves and picked up your pen, mulling over your words for a few seconds before lowering the tip to the fresh sheet of paper in front of you.

***

“Dear Namjoon,

I hope you’re right about my letter-writing getting better, because I’d feel bad for you otherwise, having to read these all the time. Speaking of letter-writing, tell Jimin I really appreciated his letter. It put a smile on my face. And tell him his English is great. And adorable.

Ross Geller...Where does one begin discussing Ross Geller? He may have gotten Rachel in the end, but she ended up having to give up her dream career for him, so was it really worth it? If he really loved her, he would have loved her success in whatever field she chose. Mic drop.

To be completely honest with you, I have no idea what I want for Christmas. Maybe just some laptop stickers or something? I trust your judgement. Here’s a question for you: what do YOU want for Christmas? I’m pretty sure I would be an awful soulmate if I didn’t send you something.

I definitely think you should do Nanowrimo. We can race to 50,000. (I’m gonna beat you, but you can try your best. I won’t make fun of you too much.)

Now, about BTS… I’ve been listening to more of their music lately and DAMN. What talent. Is all K-Pop this good? I guess I need to diversify my tastes a little bit so I don’t get addicted to them. I mean, I’m not really into rap that much, but...damn. For real. Rap line is hot. RM is hot. I think he’s my fave, actually. So far. I’ll stop gushing before I embarrass myself further. (Also, I listened to Spring Day and I really really love it. It’s gorgeous. You’re just going to drag me deeper into this hole, aren’t you?)

I’m not sure what I want to be for Halloween yet. I was thinking maybe Wonder Woman or Scarlet Witch. I’m all about girl power.

Until next we write,

-(Y/N)”

***

“Dear (Y/N),

Jimin was very happy to hear you liked his letter. It made him smile probably the cutest smile I’ve ever seen. The guy is as adorable as his English, I promise.

On the topic of Rachel and Ross, I respect your mic drop, however, this conversation is not over. I just need to watch the show again so I can come up with some counterpoints to your argument.

Are you sure all you want is laptop stickers? I’m literally in Seoul. I could probably get you a BTS album or something. Just saying. That said, I’m not really sure what I want for Christmas either. This is really cheesy and you’re gonna hate me for writing it, but I’m going to anyway. All I want for Christmas...is you. No, but really, I don’t even know. I would be happy with a letter from you, to be honest. Every time there’s one in the mail, it feels like Christmas morning anyway.

I accept your Nanowrimo challenge. Consider yourself beat. I made an account on the website the other day. My username is namjoon94 if you want to add me as a writing buddy.

Also, about BTS...you think RM is hot? Really? Are you sure? I agree that their rap line rocks, but really? RM? Out of all of them? V and Jungkook are really handsome. So is Jin. I’m sorry, I just can’t wrap my head around that.

You should definitely send me a picture from Halloween. You should really just send me a picture in general. I’d like to see your face. I’ll send you one back, I promise.

-Namjoon”

***

Halloween came and went quicker than you would have liked. As per his request, you were sure to take a picture of your costume, which ended up being Wonder Woman after all, and got it developed so you could send him a copy. You didn’t look exactly like yourself, what with the costume and the makeup, but you were still you, and finally putting your face in front of him was a little more nerve-wracking than you would have admitted.

But, fears aside, you stuck the stamp in the corner of the envelope and pushed it through the mail slot to get it started on its long trip to Korea.

***

Namjoon went out to get the mail while he waited for his Keurig to brew his first coffee of the day. His caffeine addiction was becoming a problem, but it wasn’t like it was a new thing for him to down several cups of the bitter drink a day. He doubted he would have the energy required for his busy, busy idol schedule otherwise.

A smile overtook his face when he shuffled through the stack of envelopes to find the one addressed to him in the quirky handwriting of his soulmate. It was thicker than usual, he noted. Maybe there was something inside. His eyes widened when he recalled what he’d requested the last time. A picture.

Coffee long forgotten, Namjoon raced through the kitchen, half-heartedly throwing the rest of the mail at Yoongi, who yelled in response before batting a sleepy hand and deciding the chase wasn’t worth his time. He threw open the door of his studio and sat down at his desk, his long fingers already working at the envelope, its paper worn from its days traveling to get to him.

Finally, he opened it, sliding out the paper carefully. It was folded around something very precious, and if he let himself fall into his clumsy ways and rip it, he would never forgive himself.

When he unfolded the paper, he was surprised to find something other than a picture on top of the little stack of things that had been sent. Instead, there were a few sheets of stickers. Some were colorful, others were smiling animal faces, some were sparkly. Finally, under the stickers was the thing he had been looking forward to. No amount of preparation could have prepared him for the picture of the most beautiful girl in the world dressed up as a pink-haired Wonder Woman, all smiley and happy and buzzed on candy and apple cider.

This was his girl. God, it knocked the wind out of him just thinking about it. This was the girl the universe had picked for him, and she had exceeded all of his expectations. The sight of her lit a longing deep within him. He needed to hold her, and soon.

While he was sitting at the computer, his email binged before he could even delve into the letter she’d sent him. It was an email from NaNoWriMo, and it said: “user (y/n)WritesThingsSometimes has added you as a buddy!” His heart leapt and he clicked on the email, logging onto the site to send one right back.

Namjoon’s eyes lingered on the message for a few more moments, his pink lips curling into a fond smile before he turned his attention on the letter sitting on his desk. “Dear Namjoon,

Sorry it took me so long to send this letter. It just took me a while to work up the courage to send you a picture of me. I was afraid I wouldn’t meet your expectations. I got over it, though, when I realized how good I looked as Wonder Woman. Not to brag, but the pink hair is really working out for me, as you can see. Now it’s your turn to send me a picture. No pressure.

As you can also see, I’ve sent you a variety of fun and funky stickers for your binder. You mentioned you had one where you’re keeping all of my letters, so I figured it might need some spicing up. I fully intend on sending you Christmas stickers when it gets closer, but NOT AS YOUR PRESENT. So, if you could tell me what you want for Christmas, that’d be great. For real, quit dodging the question with your cheesy ass “All I Want for Christmas is You” bullshit. I’m gonna send you a rock for Christmas if you’re not careful.

I accept your challenge to my challenge, but keep in mind that this is my sixth Nanowrimo so you’re definitely going down. I’ve got a rhythm going and a ton of free time, so you can fight me. But like. With your words. I’m definitely going to send you a buddy request, but I’m forgetful so it might be in a few days.

Now, onto the matter of BTS...what is there to not wrap your head around?? RM is hot?? End of story?? It also might help that his name is ALSO Namjoon...maybe that’s just my type. ;)

Also, okay, so this is a weird question, but could I send you my film project on a flash drive so you can tell me if it’s trash or not? I’m pretty sure it’s trash, I’m just not sure how to make it NOT trash. You’re good at giving advice, so maybe you can help me see what I’m missing. It’s also huge for my final grade, but no pressure.

God, my heart is racing just thinking about you opening this letter. You know what I look like now, and for some reason, that makes my anxiety soar through the roof. I just...ugh, I want to know everything about you. What are the little details that make up my Namjoon? That was cringey, I’m so sorry.

Sorry for the rant, hope you put the stickers to good use,

-(Y/N)”

Namjoon sat back against his chair, letting out a content sigh, amused chuckles falling from his soft lips. God, what was he going to do with this girl? Well, for starters, he figured he’d write her back, but only after he taped her picture to the corner of his computer. There. Much better.

Tagged:  @ffantasylandd

[vantavarmint]

Dreamworlds by Hans Bacher is another good resource if you want to understand concept art and the production process in animation. The Illusion of Life is another animation classic. i think its considered a little outdated but most of it stands i believe. You'll get quite a bit of mileage from flipping through art books for animated films and just analysising what about the pieces work, how and why they settle on the designs they do. Obviously the spiderverse artbooks are a great but any major animation production will have great work done on it.

Youtube art tutorials are a life saver tbh, thats how i learnt most of what i know. Most of them are there to teach you how to do art but many will equip you with the right language to talk about art too. Heres some good ones:

Design Theory from Sinix Design - I recommend his whole channel but these videos in particular are great at making you zoom out and make you think about shapes and contrast in a piece. This series is perfect for learning design fundamentals. Highly recommend

10 Minutes to Better Painting - I cannot reccomend this one enough. This playlist by Marco Bucci is one of the best resources on youtube. Its easy to understand, expertly made and incredibly informative. His videos about colour theory shapes how i work today. 100% check his stuff out

12 Principles of Animation - If you want to know about the fundamentals of animation, let this be your starting point. Skyen talks about this stuff in his videos all the time so you'll be familiar with much of it already but if you wanna have it all layed out, watch this

James Gurney - His guy has been making art instructionals for decades, he knows his stuff. His videos are usually of him doing a plein air painting while talking through his process but he's easy to listen to and very wholesome. He has a bunch of books on painting and colour

Who's Afraid of Modern Art - This is not a tutorial, it is a video essay about modern art and fascism by Jacob Geller. It is one of my favourite videos. If you want to start doing analysis on art and thinking critically about art, essays like these will help broaden your horizons

Van Gogh's Ugliest Masterpiece - In a similar vein to my last recommendation, this video by Nerdwriter1 is a video essay about art. This channel has a variety of analysis but his art videos are very informative

There are many resources online, don't worry about which books to buy especially when the art community hoards free pdfs like dragons dm if you're interested ;), just find people who are passionate about it (like skyen here) and listen and they'll be happy to talk your ear off. Happy learning friend!

hey skyen, pretty vague question, but it would be too long to contextualize, so here i go:how can I think like you? any books you recommend on animation/character design/concept (i know, wide variety of subjects) but I feel like studying more and I don't know where to start. sorry if it's too weird

I wish I had a good answer to this, but whatever skills I have are a combination of a decade of experience as an artist, six years of university studying the humanities, years of watching GDC talks and interviews and videos from artists and character designers, and reading criticism and critique of various kinds. I've not had any kind of formal training as such, and short of going to art school I wouldn't know where to find it.

I've experimentally read books on character design that are available commercially and... at least the ones I've read weren't super great. They're more of a kind with the How To Draw Manga sort of tutorial book than deeper technical examinations of the craft or discipline of character design.

The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams and Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics and Making Comics are good reads for understanding those disciplines, though, so I can recommend those at least.