#Short-term Graphic Design Course

[graphicdesign9]

You can improve your image editing skills with the help of Photo Editing Course in Delhi at the Graphic Design Institute. It gets you ready for assignments at work and at home.

[strategiadvizo]

Elevating Employability: Short-Term Course Suggestions for College Students

Empower your future with our latest blog on short-term courses for college students! 🚀 Enhance your employability and unlock new opportunities. Dive in to discover courses that fit your passion and career goals. #EmpowermentThroughEducation #SkillUp

“विद्या ददाति विनयं, विनयाद् याति पात्रताम्।” “Education bestows humility, humility leads to worthiness.” In a world that’s constantly evolving, the importance of education—especially for students from lesser-known colleges in India—cannot be overstated. Education not only paves the way for personal growth but also significantly boosts employability in today’s competitive job market. Here are…

[cerastes]

Okay, Hades 2!

Supergiantgames does it again. It’s still Early Access, but it has more polish and content than a lot of fully released games on its price point and higher. Of course, all this content would not matter if it wasn’t good. It’s good. From gameplay to voice acting to sound design to music to graphics and visual elements, Hades 2 is airtight. There’s one exception we’ll discuss, but otherwise, it’s incredibly well crafted.

So far, there’s only one instance in the game I can say needs some important improvements: The second phase of the Tartarus boss, Chronos, who is an end boss. Not in terms of difficulty, mind you, it’s in terms of visual clarity: There’s so many lights and particle effects that making out what’s up can be frustrating, especially when Chronos hits you anywhere from 20~ to 35 damage, or, you know, his 1000 damage practical instakill. The instakill is HEAVILY telegraphed and easy to deal with, almost trivial, but in the concerto of lights and fireworks, it’s possible to miss one or two seconds of Going To The Don’t Die space and getting mulched. That’s not a big problem, it’s just a user experience issue that you just internalize after a few tries and some short term frustration. What IS an issue is Chronos using the Liu Kang flying kick from midst an incomprehensible mishmash of light graphics and taking out 25 HP plus forcing you to reposition in a fight that’s quite lengthy and in a game that’s stingy with its HP.

They don’t need to meddle with his difficulty! They just need to make the second phase easier to parse. It’s a great fight otherwise.

On the Melinoë end of things, some boons and weapons feel like they could use a touch-up: The Torches let you keep shooting while you dodge and move (movement speed reduced), for example, and you NEED to keep shooting to activate Omega Attack which is what actually does damage. But it’s a big commitment because now your defense option is also doubly important as your main movement tool AND your i-frames. This is all really cool! Except the damage does not at all make up for it in a game where the Torches’ linear nature hurt it more than help it, as enemies don’t line up and instead go around each other or otherwise have specialized movement and attack options. The Axe, with its wide sweeps, does pretty much all the Torches want to do, with a lot more damage and less risk. The Aspects of the Torches would try to help: Moros can be nifty, but the ghosts the Moros Torches shoot are physical objects to each other, so they pile up and soon your shots just collide with each other and don’t reach the enemy. It’s a constant tug o’ war with detonating them with Special, which, again, fun, but you have to set up real Hellzone Grenades before they are truly damaging. Basically, a ton of effort for damage I can easily get more safely and easily with other Arms. Which I hope they address, because I like the Torches.

Hestia’s boon is a bit underwhelming, but that’s expected from the DoT build, those are always the hardest to balance. Dionysius in Hades 1 was really strong. Hestia here has potential but ultimately falls off hard because no matter how much you build, it always ticks at 40 per second. That’s very low DPS for Boons that otherwise add no Attack%. With Sister Blades, I can rack up 600 Scorch and it’s still better if I grab Aphrodite instead and do that much damage in a few attacks instead.

And you know what you are seeing here in these paragraphs? Very easily tweaked things in a game in Early Access by a developer known to deliver. I am not worried at all. This game kicks ass.

[loopy777]

Any thoughts on new Kiyi, Mai, and Zuko centered comic?

"An all-new stand-alone Avatar graphic novel! Kiyi, half-sister to Fire Lord Zuko, enrolls at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls! Known for its strict curriculum and even stricter instructors, Zuko worries for Kiyi."

When things take a turn for the worse and a seed of doubt about the new headmistress is planted, Zuko takes action by installing one of the people he trusts most, Mai, as an academy teacher. Can Mai keep a watchful eye over Kiyi and keep her on the right path, or will the academy’s cruel culture shape her footsteps into those of her other half-sibling, Azula?"

I'm looking forward to this one! As an active member of the Maiko Support Community, I'm of course happy to see Mai back in the storyline with a setup that could lead to finally resolving this Breakup plotline. I'm also just so happy that this is coming out in March 2025, so I might be able to actually make a progress report on my Maiko Timeline next time! XD

I think Hicks has the pacing and storytelling skills to give Mai some decent focus even if Kiyi is the main character. The recent Iroh&June comic showcases it, even if I don't think that one brought all its themes together. Fortunately, fixing Mai's problems with Zuko isn't as thorny as the morality of Iroh's life, and there are any number of good short fanfics which manage it quite well. @privatefire has one I really like that's only 18k words, and if a picture is, as they say, worth a thousand words, then something similar would require only 18 panels at minimum. XD I even wrote one in 19k words which had room left over for an Assassination subplot and a secondary romantic couple.

I've never been enthusiastic about Kiyi, but of course I'm not a fan of Gene Yang's Avatar writing at all, so it's possible Faith Erin Hicks will make me like the character. I'm also interested in a good look at the Girls Academy, as we've gotten some interesting hints about the nature of the place in the Kyoshi novels- and at the NYCC panel where they announced this comic, the lead designer on the Avatar RPG talked about how he ran a cool long-term playtesting session set there. I just want to know why we haven't heard about a Boys Academy at all; was Zuko home-schooled? If so, why?

The mention of Azula is interesting, as we've never heard much about her connection to the academy; the cartoon just hinted that it was where she met Mai and Ty Lee. Of course, in the world of fanfic (professional'n'approved-by-Avatar-Studios or otherwise), throwaway references have to become major aspects of character history and worldbuilding, hence why there's apparently no equivalent academy for boys. That said (rather snarkily), I suspect we won't get much about Azula in this comic, perhaps a quick mention about how she thrived in such a harsh environment. I wouldn't mind this new Harsh Headmistress has some memories of Azula, either as her teacher or maybe even a fellow student (upperclassmen?), which could be the impetuous for some change at the Academy.

I'm interested in the idea that Zuko thinks Kiyi could potentially become like Azula, but that's a rather fraught story-path which could either alleviate or exacerbate all the talk about how the point of Kiyi's character is to be The Good Daughter and prove that all Azula's problems are Ozai's fault. Not that Azula's problems don't mostly stem from Ozai, but Kiyi is a rather ham-fisted way of conveying that, and it buries some of the extra nuance of problems with the whole Royal Family and Fire Nation society itself. But the Academy could be a good way of showing some of those societal issues, so this comic might be aiming for a good target.

I also really like the idea of Mai finding a calling as a teacher or similar role-model, giving her a role to play in this generational Redemption Of The Fire Nation. That's actually something I've played with, so I'm delighted at the possibility of seeing it become canon.

So, overall, I'm rather enthusiastic for this comic. Even a girl sitting behind me at the announcement and saying out loud that she never liked Zuko and Mai as a couple could ruin my mood.

[skwpr]

A simple representation of images does not offer enough for proper memorization.

Study Faster And Retain More With This Quick Tip

I don’t know a single student who doesn’t want to study faster and retain more at the same time. I usually get a little nervous when trying to use quick fixes to make this happen, but today I have an actual quick tip to help you do just this!

Being a problem solver by nature, I dug into the situation and tried a few new approaches. Some worked, and some did not.

One of my best strategies was to sort the information into two categories:

facts to be memorized

concepts to be understood

You can use this strategy for any course. No matter the subject, there are things you have to memorize (terminology, dates, names, equations, etc) and concepts you need to master. Identifying this creates a clear, drama-free path, meaning you actually study faster and retain more because you are working on the right information in the right way.

How To Memorize Facts

I used to hate memorization work. It seemed tedious and hard and I sucked at it. Or so I thought!

Turns out I just didn’t have good skills. now I have some strategies in my toolbox and I love fact work. It’s easy and you can master it quickly. The key to mastering memorization is to:

Keep a list of what you need to memorize.

Schedule time every day to work on it. You must have the daily repetition if you want new facts to stick in your short-term memory. Start with just 10-min each day and you will see results.

Vary your memorization strategies. If you use only one strategy it becomes less effective.

How To Master Concepts

How you approach concept mastery is going to vary a lot based on the subject you are studying. There are two strategies to help with every subject:

1. Hands-On Practice

You will never fully master a concept through reading about it. You learn the concept through reading, but there is a big difference between learning something and mastering it.

The basics of hands-on practice for any subject are to come up with an applicable problem and solve it. Then come up with another problem and solve it too. Here are a few ideas, by subject, of how you might practice:

literature – Read a book or short story and write an analysis of whatever focus you are working on.

computer science – Come up with a problem and solve it with real code.

graphic design – Imagine a client asked you to design something, and create 3 different solutions for them.

math – Pick an equation, make up some starting numbers, and solve it.

science – Define a hypothesis, create a simple experiment, get in the lab and execute it!

2. Explain Or Teach It To Someone Else

Want to be certain you have mastered and fully understand a concept? Teach it to someone else.

As a teacher myself, I can tell you there have been plenty of concepts I thought I knew really well until I tried explaining them to someone else. You need a thorough understanding yourself before you can help someone else understand it.

Enlist the help of a friend or family member and try to explain a major concept in a few minutes. If you struggle, make note of the sticky spots. They are exactly what you need to work on next.

If you have no problem explaining it and your friend understood everything, mark it off your list and move on to the next concept.

I hope this quick strategy helps you dig out of confusion and take the right action in order to study faster and retain more.

Try It Yourself: 20-Minute Challenge

Grab your notes, a fresh piece of paper, and a timer.

Set the timer for 15 minutes.

Go through your notes and sort every piece of information into one of the two categories: concept or fact Challenge yourself to do this before the timer goes off. Go with your first instinct if you aren’t sure.

Spend the next 5 minutes and map out your next steps.

How and when will you work on the memorization each day?

How will you approach the first concept?

[j4m3s-b4k3r]

MONKEYBONE

Here are some pre-production drawings done for MONKEYBONE, a film directed by Henry Selick. I worked on the film very briefly, perhaps only a week or two, helping with story beat boards. It was a fun gig, in part due to the location in The Presidio.

Nowadays The Presidio is one of the jewels of San Francisco - a truly beautiful parkland for residents to play in - but when I first arrived in San Francisco, it was still a functioning military base. It was already known that it would soon close, however. So discussion about what was next for the site bubbled for the first few years that I lived here. Would it become low income housing? Or yet another swanky property development, as seemed likely. Who else but big money could pay for the cleanup required after the military had left so many toxic cooties (asbestos etc) behind? 

Anyway, while such things were being decided, some of the abandoned buildings would be rented out for short term projects, one being an animated/live action comedy, that was in pre-production circa 1998 (adapted from a graphic novel - DARKTOWN  by Kaja Blackley & Vanessa Chong). I worked on MONKEYBONE in the early, eager, happy, anything-is-possible phase. It may have been so early that our work was merely a proposal, before a ‘green light’. 

Henry himself was in a great spirits, now that he was out of the shadow of Tim Burton, and Chris Columbus was his exec producer. Many of the crew were Henry’s old cronies from Nightmare Before Christmas, such as production designer Bill Boes. He’d already built models of some of the sets & locations, and these were great reference. With a tiny lipstick camera we could shoot the models from all kinds of angles, and this was enormously helpful, allowing myself & Lawrence Marvitt to bang out panels relatively quickly, under the guidance of Mike Cachuela.

Many things had not yet been decided on, such as casting. The protagonist in my sketches here was based on Nicolas Cage, but of course Brendan Fraser got the role of of Stu. Other roles were played by Rose McGowan, Dave Foley, Bob Odenkirk, John Turturro, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Kattan and even Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito. The final film really had an amazing cast.

The Presidio was not yet full of dining options, but our workspace wasn’t far from the Presidio gates, where we’d have lunch at Liverpool Lil’s, a great little pub (that has recently burned down, sadly). I also remember a really fun swanky dinner (I forget now where) with the entire tiny pre-pro crew, where Henry was in a jovial mood and writer Sam Hamm was too. Both hilariously regaling us with their Hollywood horror stories (and comparing their scars inflicted by Tim Burton). Best of all, someone else picked up the exorbitant check! (I think it was Sam Hamm?)

Years after my brief stint on MONKEYBONE I got an invite to a preview screening in early 2001. The film was madcap, weird, & even disturbing at times. Much of what I’d thought would be animated was actually handled with costumed humans in the final film, surprisingly. But it was exciting to have worked on a feature film that actually got made. This was a period where I worked on many great projects that collapsed before making it to the screen. I remember enjoying it until the very end, when I saw that I hadn't got a credit (I hadn't worked on it long enough apparently). In the lobby after the screening, there were a lot of concerned/worried/disappointed faces. Whereas I was bummed that my name was was not in the credits, many people seemed unhappy that their names were.

Ha ha!

Sure enough, the film was a financial & critical flop and has low score to this very day (despite a tiny subset of viewers who still love it, and look back on it fondly). I learned that there had been much tussling along the way to the screen. Perhaps the guy who'd done Home Alone was not the right choice to ‘mentor’ Henry? Did things go sideways after Rupert Murdoch fired Bill Mechanic? Or was it merely typical studio meddling? My guess is it was another case of AOTA: all of the above.

Henry himself sums up MONKEYBONE this way:

"I have two thoughts: it never would have been a big hit. It certainly would have done better if they advertised it a little... I would still like to do a Director's Cut because there's a lot of cool stuff that was removed... my main lesson learned is, I don't really do well in the live-action universe... I love my world of stop-motion... I went down a slippery slope to make Monkeybone, but the film that came out it's not my vision of what the film could've been, and I just don't thrive in that.”

Not long after I worked there, the fate of The Presidio was finally decided when George Lucas’ proposal to develop The Letterman hospital into a media centre was accepted in 1999. And it became the mixed-use space SF residents play in today.

----

Just last weekend, we spent a day in The Presidio, enjoying its restaurants & bars and exploring the new Tunnel Tops park. As we strolled around, I tried to figure out which of The Presidio's many buildings we worked in in 1998, but couldn't pin it down (of course, the Letterman hospital complex was levelled to build what became ILM/Lucasfilm, so perhaps the buildings we worked in are gone).

[sugar-phoenix]

unfinished rought unedited short story about vampires

alright so the winning vote out of the polls was "yes" so I'm deciding to post my unfinished short story draft here because I'm too impatient to wait until i finish it to post it

My new roommate is a vampire.

How do I know this? Simple.

Johnny Robert-Mulligan told me, about a week after he moved in.

“Now you seem like a respectable man, Daniel, so I'll tell you straight up: I'm a vampire.”

I nodded, thinking that he was joking or high or something.

“I will be having blood packets delivered to me each week. You need not make dinner for two. And don't invite your friends over on nights of full moons unless you want them to be sucked dry.”

We stared at each other for a moment. It was then that I realized that he was being completely serious. And then, he laughed, quite loudly, which scared the wits out of me.

“I'm just kidding, of course,” he said, chuckling.

“Oh, thank God. I thought you were actually a vampire there for a moment.”

“No I am, I am a vampire. I was joking about the full moon thing. That's a werewolf thing, not a vampire thing.”

I only stared at him in shock again.

“Oh, don't tell me you believe in werewolves? Those are completely made up.”

“Well,” I responded, “until five minutes ago I didn't think of the possibility of either vampires or werewolves being real.”

And thus began our odd friendship, of which I learned a great deal about vampires. As it turned out, vampires were a lot less untouchable than I had previously thought.

“Is it true that vampires die from a stake to the heart?” I asked one lazy Sunday afternoon, while we were watching the game. The ads were rolling, and I was eager to take this chance to ask my new roommate more about himself.

“Technically speaking, a stake to the heart could kill anything. You could also kill me by stabbing me, shooting me, running me over, throwing me off a cliff,” Johnny proceeded to count off his fingers. “Anything that would kill you would kill me.”

“Oh, I see. I guess that makes sense.”

“We're not immortal either,” he added, taking a sip out of his Coke can. Although soda did nothing for him in terms of sugar intake or energy, he told me that he had gotten quite hooked on the taste.

“You aren't?”

“No, we're just extremely long lived. I think my great grandfather lived for almost 600 years.”

I let that sink in.

“How old are you, Johnny?”

“I think I'm turning 197 this year.”

I turned to look at him.

“That would mean you've lived through both of the World Wars.”

“Oh yes, I did. I don't remember anything though, I was too young. You see, vampires only reach adulthood at around 150 years of age.” He took another sip of his soda. “You know, come to think of it, my parents might have stolen blood from the opposing sides to keep us fed. I think there was a movement or something. ‘Make The Nazis Paler’ and all that.”

“I see.”

And then the ad roll finished, and we were back to watching the game.

 I neglected to mention that Johnny was roommates with me because we were both enrolled in a local college. I was undertaking my bachelor’s in graphic design, which meant that I was more often than not buried under design projects, the likes of which could run from posters to redesigning entire corporations. Thusly, I would often have myself shut in my room during the busier weeks, specifically midterms and finals.

Johnny told me that he hadn’t decided what his major was, and that he was simply experiencing what college was like. He doubted that he’d have a use for it, to which he told me his mother disagreed, since he would at least need to take a job of some sort and make money, but what was the use if it was only going to last him so long and in about 300 years it would probably become obsolete?

I only nodded and hummed to his explanation. I didn’t quite like thinking about these things. Everything seemed so impermanent when you were a vampire, and as a relatively short-lived human, it was creepy to think about.

Thankfully, Johnny got along quite well with my friends. He didn’t have any friends of his own, which I thought was strange, but it’s possible that he drove them away with his casual talk of things that happened long ago. If you didn’t know he was a vampire you’d probably think he was a freakish nerd of some sort. But because Johnny was my roommate, and because he got along with my friends, they were apt to invite him along with me whenever they had parties.

It was at one of these house parties that Johnny met Cynthia. She was a psych student, and she often twirled her hair around her finger like as if she could will it to curl just by doing so. She always had one or two girlfriends around that she talked to, and rarely did she talk to anyone outside of them. But for whatever reason, she caught Johnny’s eye.

“I think she’s a vampire,” he said to me one day, as I was trying to work with the pressure-cooker in our kitchen.

“Yeah?”  The contraption hissed steam at me, and I prayed it wouldn’t take my eye out. “What gave you that idea?”

“I think—no, I know she’s a vampire. She’s got that quality about her.”

“What quality?”

“Vampire quality. You know, we can sense each other out.”

“I see.” I didn’t particularly believe him, but I wasn’t going to say that either. What do I know, perhaps vampires did have a sixth sense for each other, and perhaps this was what was happening, rather than my initial theory that Johnny had a big fat crush on Cynthia and was secretly hoping she was just like him. Of course, I kept all this to myself.

“Go and speak to her then,” I said.

“What? No. Women must be approached carefully, Daniel, otherwise you risk spooking them away.”

“You speak as though they’re skittish deer. I think you’re just scared of talking to her.”

“Scared? No. I’m simply being strategic.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Strategic, scared. Either way, you haven’t talked to her yet.”

“I will talk to her. Soon. Next chance I get. I plan on it.” I nodded, gingerly lifting the lid of the pressure cooker to reveal the pasta and sauce within.

divider by cafekitsune!

[deathgamegirl]

Indigo Children, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Akane Kurashiki: An Analysis

many people interpret the character akane kurashiki from the zero escape games as autistic, a sentiment i fully agree with. however, i haven't seen much active discussion or analysis on the how and why of this interpretation— which i want to change, since it's a far deeper connection than just coincidental coding. uchikoshi may or may not have set out to create an autistic character, but he did certainly create one that has its roots in misunderstandings of neurodivergency.

just to preface, this analysis was written by an autistic individual, so it will come from an insider's perspective. under the cut, there will be major spoilers for each game in the zero escape franchise, as well as brief implications of real world ableism, though nothing graphic is detailed.

now that the intro's out of the way, let's talk about the pseudoscientific concept of indigo children.

the long and short of indigo children is as follows: some special children are born with indigo auras, which signify a number of unusual or even supernatural traits in the child, such as telepathy or supernatural empathy. according to the original coiner of the term, the number of these indigo children has been steadily rising since the last 1960's.

traits that indigo children reportedly have include the following:

high empathy, innate curiosity, and a strong will

are perceived by those around them as being "strange" or "unusual"

have a clear idea of what their purpose in life is and feel entitled or deserving

an inherently accurate intuition

resistance to rigid authorial structures and control from outsiders

a subconscious spiritual strength (though this doesn't necessarily apply to religion or faith)

obviously, these listed traits are nowhere near specific enough to supplement an actual diagnosis for autism. those who believe in the concept and parent a supposed "indigo child" often forego a proper diagnosis, as they believe that autism spectrum disorder is an inherently bad condition (which, to be clear, autism is not bad in any way). however, we can make connections from indigo children to the DSM-5's criteria for autism spectrum disorder.

the most obvious example being the perception of being "strange" or "unusual"— we can easily connect that to social deficits in individuals with ASD.

the resistance to authority and control and feeling entitled most closely matches with an insistence on sameness and their own repetitions.

the innate curiosity and intuition comes into play with special interests and how autistic individuals perceive the world around them.

i want to next list out the non-behavioral evidence that akane was most certainly based on the concept of indigo children.

akane has indigo as a prominent color in her 999 design. notably, her eyes and dress are both shades of indigo, leaning towards lavender.

as an ESPer, akane has telepathic abilities (such as the ability to SHIFT as well as use telepathy by accessing the morphogenetic field).

in ZTD, it's mentioned that the number of ESPers has been on the rise recently in-universe in response to the oncoming radical-6 outbreak.

it's also worth noting that zero escape in general delves into a lot of pseudoscientific concepts throughout the series for narrative purposes.

with everything i've just laid out in mind, i want to make the connection that akane kurashiki, who is based on the indigo children, is autistic, by listing her behaviors over the course of the series that match up with the DSM-5 criteria for ASD.

persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts (social-emotional reciprocity, nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships)

social-emotional reciprocity: akane has been shown to talk over others about whatever's on her mind at the time (in particular, this relates to her special interests, elaborated on below).

nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction: there are multiple instances in 999 in particular where she doesn't understand the tone of voice that another character is using, often for comedic purposes. (in particular, the "i might get wet" scene comes to mind.)

developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships: akane has been mentioned in her childhood to have been friendless at school, save for junpei. in the interim between 999 and ZTD, she primarily worked alone. in ZTD's C-END 1, she forgoes her relationship with junpei to make the AB project a success.

restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities (from the list, i specifically reference insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior, and highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus)

insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior: akane is very set in her ways, and insistent on doing things her way (particularly with regards to the AB project). in a way, her "I will achieve the best possible timeline no matter the cost to myself or anyone else" also reminds me of this.

highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus: all of the conversations about psuedoscience, quantum mechanics, and conspiracy theories in 999 contribute to this. it's also evident in the way that she's fixated on rabbits throughout the series.

there's a reason why so many of the autistic individuals i've seen play the zero escape games resonate and adore akane so much- it's because she's a genuine, authentic portrayal of the autistic experience, even if it's never stated outright. she's a flawed, yet idealistic character, with one foot in objective reality and the other in her own perfect world. she is human in the way that so many autistic people are, and i think that's incredible. i hope that we can get more characters like akane in many other works.

if you're curious, i used this wikipedia article as a source for the information about indigo children, and this autism and health article as a source for the DSM-5 criteria for autism spectrum disorder.

[snailmail444]

Boo! I'm being nosy!!

2, 6, 15, 32, 38, 42, aaaaaand 50 (is there something you wish your mutuals knew about you?)!

2 Well if we’re talking food wise I would pick Pepsi over Cheetos. HOWEVER in terms of color it is Cheetos bag orange ALL the way I am having an orange love era rn. I think it’s a really fine nice color to play with :3

6 oooh well in terms of SDV I stay on discord with @maylilithreign @birdielouwho and @beegyoshiwitdaheat and I love you of course moot @hopefuloverfury there are more beloved blogs and mutuals but I don’t wanna notify a billion people so we’ll keep that list short LOL

In terms of NOT SDV we’ve got my beloved. My favorite. Bee @pbflutist love you hiiiiiii

15 Weirdest would probably be appendicitis. I had it for uhh. Too long. Perhaps. And when I say too long I mean like a month. It was chronic appendicitis and I was really sick for a decent chunk of time with that one lol. My favorite two truths and a lie factoid

32 I’m a pencil person I need to be able to ERASE!! Chronically misspelling shit lol

38 THIS ONE is a joke with bee that was basically that I would send her smut via snail mail (printed out and sent through the US postal system). And then the 444 is simply. A vibe.

42 Earphones for life. Same me earphones. Earphones save me. I work in a cubical with other people around so I gotta be able to listen to my nonsense in peace lol.

50 What I want moots to know. The biggest thing that I don’t always say but isn’t necessarily a secret is that in my day life I’m actually a graphic designer/illustrator. I don’t draw a whole ton in my free time but it’s the other half of my creative passion. It’s a little funny because most of the people in my writing sphere don’t know that I make art, and most people in my day to day life don’t know that I write. Sort of creative double life I guess. I’m super passionate about it though! I especially love graphic design and then illustration when I have time is wonderful. If I can ever get my shit together I really want to make a comic so that I can bash my passions into one big creation. Just gotta actually. You know. Do it. lol

I should draw more. I always say that but it’s true. If anybody ever missed it this is my favorite piece of art I’ve made for the fandom.

LOVE YOU MOOT SO HAPPY TO SER YOU MOOT 💞💞💞💞💞

[wirewitchviolet]

Hell is terms like ASIC, FPGA, and PPU

I haven't been doing any public updates on this for a bit, but I am still working on this bizarre rabbit hole quest of designing my own (probably) 16-bit game console. The controller is maybe done now, on a design level. Like I have parts for everything sourced and a layout for the internal PCB. I don't have a fully tested working prototype yet because I am in the middle of a huge financial crisis and don't have the cash laying around to send out to have boards printed and start rapidly iterating design on the 3D printed bits (housing the scroll wheel is going to be a little tricky). I should really spend my creative energy focusing on software development for a nice little demo ROM (or like, short term projects to earn money I desperately need) but my brain's kinda stuck in circuitry gear so I'm thinking more about what's going into the actual console itself. This may get techie.

So... in the broadest sense, and I think I've mentioned this before, I want to make this a 16-bit system (which is a term with a pretty murky definition), maybe 32-bit? And since I'm going to all this trouble I want to give my project here a little something extra the consoles from that era didn't have. And at the same time, I'd like to be able to act as a bridge for the sort of weirdos who are currently actively making new games for those systems to start working on this, on a level of "if you would do this on this console with this code, here's how you would do it on mine." This makes for a hell of a lot of research on my end, but trust me, it gets worse!

So let's talk about the main strengths of the 2D game consoles everyone knows and loves. Oh and just now while looking for some visual aids maybe I stumbled across this site, which is actually great as a sort of mid-level overview of all this stuff. Short version though-

The SNES (or Super Famicom) does what it does by way of a combination of really going all in on direct memory access, and particularly having a dedicated setup for doing so between scanlines, coupled with a bunch of dedicated graphical modes specialized for different use cases, and you know, that you can switch between partway through drawing a screen. And of course the feature everyone knows and loves where you can have one polygon and do all sorts of fun things with it.

The Genesis (or Megadrive) has an actual proper 16-bit processor instead of this weird upgraded 6502 like the SNES had for a scrapped backwards compatibility plan. It also had this frankly wacky design where they just kinda took the guts out of a Sega Master System and had them off to the side as a segregated system whose only real job is managing the sound chip, one of those good good Yamaha synths with that real distinct sound... oh and they also actually did have a backwards compatibility deal that just kinda used the audio side to emulate an SMS, basically.

The TurboGrafix-16 (or PC Engine) really just kinda went all-in on making its own custom CPU from scratch which...we'll get to that, and otherwise uh... it had some interesting stuff going on sound wise? I feel like the main thing it had going was getting in on CDs early but I'm not messing with optical drives and they're no longer a really great storage option anyway.

Then there's the Neo Geo... where what's going on under the good is just kind of A LOT. I don't have the same handy analysis ready to go on this one, but my understanding is it didn't really go in for a lot of nice streamlining tricks and just kinda powered through. Like it has no separation of background layers and sprites. It's just all sprites. Shove those raw numbers.

So what's the best of all worlds option here? I'd like to go with one of them nice speedy Motorolla processors. The 68000 the Genesis used is no longer manufactured though. The closest still-in-production equivalent would be the 68SEC000 family. Seems like they go for about $15 a pop, have a full 32-bit bus, low voltage, some support clock speeds like... three times what the Genesis did. It's overkill, but should remove any concerns I have about having a way higher resolution than the systems I'm jumping off from. I can also easily throw in some beefy RAM chips where I need.

I was also planning to just directly replicate the Genesis sound setup, weird as it is, but hit the slight hiccup that the Z80 was JUST discontinued, like a month or two ago. Pretty sure someone already has a clone of it, might use that.

Here's where everything comes to a screeching halt though. While the makers of all these systems were making contracts for custom processors to add a couple extra features in that I should be able to work around by just using newer descendant chips that have that built in, there really just is no off the shelf PPU that I'm aware of. EVERYONE back in the day had some custom ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chip made to assemble every frame of video before throwing it at the TV. Especially the SNES, with all its modes changing the logic there and the HDMA getting all up in those mode 7 effects. Which are again, something I definitely want to replicate here.

So one option here is... I design and order my own ASIC chips. I can probably just fit the entire system in one even? This however comes with two big problems. It's pricy. Real pricy. Don't think it's really practical if I'm not ordering in bulk and this is a project I assume has a really niche audience. Also, I mean, if I'm custom ordering a chip, I can't really rationalize having stuff I could cram in there for free sitting outside as separate costly chips, and hell, if it's all gonna be in one package I'm no longer making this an educational electronics kit/console, so I may as well just emulate the whole thing on like a raspberry pi for a tenth of the cost or something.

The other option is... I commit to even more work, and find a way to reverse engineer all the functionality I want out with some big array of custom ROMs and placeholder RAM and just kinda have my own multi-chip homebrew co-processors? Still PROBABLY cheaper than the ASIC solution and I guess not really making more research work for myself. It's just going to make for a bigger/more crowded motherboard or something.

Oh and I'm now looking at a 5V processor and making controllers compatible with a 10V system so I need to double check that all the components in those don't really care that much and maybe adjust things.

And then there's also FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays). Even more expensive than an ASIC, but the advantage is it's sort of a chip emulator and you can reflash it with something else. So if you're specifically in the MiSTer scene, I just host a file somewhere and you make the one you already have pretend to be this system. So... good news for those people but I still need to actually build something here.

So... yeah that's where all this stands right now. I admit I'm in way way over my head, but I should get somewhere eventually?

[graphicdesign9]

Completing a graphic design course in Delhi from the Graphic Design Institute opens careers like graphic designer, UI/UX designer, and web designer. An Advanced Graphic Design Course offers specialized roles, while a Short Term Course in Graphic Designing leads to entry-level jobs or freelance work.

[sketchfanda]

Kirishima’s Mystique:Ayanami’s Riot

It’s a known fact for some that the man called All for One was an absolute bastard. A generally vile, heinous piece of shit who seemed to go out his way to think the world and life was a comic book that existed to cater to his grand design as some Demon King. So of course his array of petty and vile actions often involved atrocities such as illegal scientific experiments whose very purposes and intentions were nothing short of basically spitting in God's face and pissing in his garden. Among those being the art of cloning with the intent to craft spare bodies, now you might be asking what does this have to do in terms of context?

Allow me to introduce you all to one such clone, a pretty little thing to say the least, known as Rei Ayanami. That was the name she'd been designated with from her particular test tube conception, as well as that of her fellow clones or sisters who'd been discarded as AfO didn't see any rhyme or reason to needing a female body, nevermind how and why they all developed female. Far as the so called demon king of villainy was concerned, they were just Nomu who'd be good for little more than well.....whatever any of his cannon fodder underlings could think of to do with them. Not that they got far enough to do that when naturally in came some pros busting in on their lab with a raid!!

It had all gone by in a blur but for the peculiar hivemind of clone girls, they seemed to now no longer find themselves as disposable assets but rather recognized as sapient beings with sentience, will and citizenship. Seems having an array of identical young girls made for great spaces to fill in the work force, for every office building a pretty face for a secretary or personal assistant, a waitress in a diner, any and every need possible. It helped that each Rei was pretty adaptable but some of their caretakers wondered a few things about them. That being why in the hell were they so goddamn sexy?!

Researchers had yet to determine the exact cause to how and why but the Reis all seemed to have a habit for physically developing into bombshells with looks that put pornstars to shame. I'm talking more curves than a freeway, thick and I mean THICC sexy cuties with voluptuous booties, the flexibility of Cirque de Soleil contortionist acrobats and legs that truly brought a classic ZZ top song to mind. Tits just ideal in firmness and softness that those meatbuns just called to have a skilled hand touch them, the muscle tone of an olympic swimmer and the exotic albino-esque appearance. All this and more made for a package that could only be called a walking sex bomb.

Yet just as much a mystery was that not one of the Ayanami swarm had yet to report or experience any encounter in terms of sexual activity, could be that maybe their quiet, often cold stoic looking personalities were off putting. Or that some were worried about whether or not they'd be willing to consent or if they were risking sexual harassment but all things considered, these girls were about as chaste as nuns. That was until a recent development of course occurred at UA University. According to a field report from one of the key handlers, Nemuri Kayama, aka the Rated R heroine Ms.Midnight who was shall we say quite explicitly graphic and detailed in regards to this development she witnessed by chance first hand.

It had all happened seemingly innocent enough as the Rei assigned to campus as her teaching assistant had seemed to, at least in her opinion, develop an interest or perhaps even a romantic if not sexual attraction towards one of her students. That being one Eijiro Kirishima, aka Red Riot, much to her delight, as the cute often seemingly mute homonculus girl would gaze at him silently with those ruby red eyes of hers. Seeming to especially take interest in whenever he was interacting with his girlfriends Mina and Maya such as holding hands or the brief little private moments they’d be making out, observing with almost voyeuristic curiosity. Or seeming to snap pictures of him on her phone when she’d catch him jogging by on a morning run or working out on the campus gym.

what follows of course in Midnight’s report could be considered overly graphic snd explicit in her descriptions and observations of her young charge and her sexual awakening. Snippets of psych profiles detailing numerous pornographic websites frequented by the albino mutant nomu, a collection of the pictures she had of Kirishima especially shirtless to which there were videos and photoes of her masturbating to them. As well as some peculiar documentation involving sexual education from the Rated R heroine herself and records of what had seemed to be a back and forth text chat with Mina and Maya, codenames Pinky and Mystique. To say that the HPS bureaucrats who had to read and check this report over had issues was an understatement .

But then of course the report went on to highlight how Rei’s behaviour had seemingly developed, wearing outfits intentionally a few sizes too small for her voluptuous frame or designed to highlight her sexiness to seeming to be more direct in approaching and socially interacting with Kirishima. Making small talk, one sided as it could seem but the hardheaded redhead was shown to do enough talking for both of them as well talk enough on the exotic girl’s body language in spite of her seemingly limited vocabulary. Then of course came the first act of sexual intimacy between the two according to a voyeuristic first hand account from Midnight as she had witnessed it in secret. Nobody wanted to ask exactly how and why she was there, quite frankly you’d be hard pressed to get an answer from her.

Apparently it had all begun playing out like an atypical scenario from a porn video, as the albino TA had the himbo stay with her after class, locking the doors as she immediately pressed herself to him, squirming in his firm embrace as they pressed their lips together in a heated, sloppy kiss. Their hands proceeding to remove one another’s clothing as their tongues danced together, Rei’s quiet but deep throated moans melodic and beautiful as she felt the object of he newly discovered sexual fantasies explore and caress her body. Her own hands relishing the firmness and heat of his muscular form as she kissed and licked her way down his torso, kneeling down to face his crotch. Looking at his cock and balls in awe as she grasped and started to stroke it, trembling with anticipation and arousal as her pussy gushed and dribbled with desire and need.

Midnight let out no detail of this illicit liaison, her vivid praise of Rei’s enthusiastic fellatio sounding like a critic praising a major award winning performance in how her charge sucked and blew on Kirishima’s cock. Let alone the himbo’s sexual experience ensuring the albino nomu girl’s world was rocked as he fucked her just about any and everywhere they could in that classroom. Rei seeming become devoted him with every orgasm he assaulted her with as if she were a bitch in heat being claimed by the alpha male she had courted with the results she had been hoping for. Her moans and gasps of pleasure often mixed in with her soft cries of his name with a tone of need and desire like she was becoming a junkie.

That being the cas, it eas all no small wonder that the first time would lead to several more interactions and encounters of a sexual nature and variety between the two. Midnight’s report a pornographic treasure trove of texts like out of a porn book to pictures and videos enough to stock pile an onlyfans profile. From the pair rutting in a beach shower cubicle to a secret late night skinny dipping romp in the campus rooftop swimming pool. Secret blowjobs, private cosplay roleplays and that was just one on one of course. It only escalated once Mina and Maya got into the equation.

One could almost swear Midnight wasn’t exactly being subtle in hiding the fact she wasn’t secret about her acquiring her a evidence. The fact she was in some of the pictures and videos herself made that very clear to say nothing of other women involved such as the Hawaiian gaijin lifeguard at the local community swimming pool or the skater girl gaijin general course transfer student. But most peculiar was that the more Rei interacted with Kirishima sexually, the more it seemed not omly like she got more closer with him intimately but something else occured. A sort of strange synchronicity among her fellow clone sisters.

Reports from the handlers and observers of the Rei found that not long after Kirishima’s regular erotic trysts, they all began exhibiting changes in their behaviour and personality. Dressing in the same casually sexy, erotic manner, outright courting attention for erotic intimacy but most of all? They all seemed to share the same romantic lust for him, as if linked by a hive mind of raw, primal desire. Scrapbooks filled with pictures of the red riot, sketchbooks of which many anatomical artist nude drawings were among them, even journals detailing sexual fantasies!! No one was sure what to make of it to say the least.

Let alone when the Rei who started it all set up her own OnlyHeroes profile account, filled with a library of not only her sex live with Kirishima and the women in his life. But also those of her clone sisters, as if being a literal one woman harem army for the Red Riot hero. From pseudo twins performing tandem blowjobs to videos of to roleplays involving step siblings, that was just the tip of the iceberg. As if Rei was wanting to show off and highlight the stud thst she and hers had all come to think of as their sex god.

Observations continue to be reported in regards to the Reis and their adaptation to regular society but extra careful has been noted to maintain vigilance in regard to this peculiar sexual behaviour. As well as whether or not any children that may be conceived by the Rei from their constant copulation with Kirishima. Who knows what next generation army may come about. And does this hive kind behaviour also include and extend to the Reis still in their tanks…..

[the-teddy-bear-butch]

Hi how are you? Ask game time!

16, 47, 65 & 93?

:)

Hi anon!! I’m doing wonderfully rn! God bless the end of finals and the upcoming summer break. How are you? (Should you feel comfortable enough to reply, of course! I don’t bite :3) Thank you for giving me a chance to ramble :3 um. 16 got long so it’s at the bottom 🥰

47: how well-decorated is your bedroom?

That depends! If you mean well decorated as in how much decoration, yes, lots! Well as in nice/aesthetic um? I like it, but I know my maximalist style can be a Lot for some people LMAO. I have posters and D&D art everywhere, a rainbow carpet, Christmas lights strung through my bookshelf, knick knacks everywhere, etc.

65: do you have a Signature Outfit™?

Oh yes absolutely. Or at least a signature formula: graphic t-shirt under matching button up, jeans or shorts, maybe a cap or beanie. Here’s my favorite button up and jeans just for sillies :3

93: favorite game?

In an every context possible way (board game vs video game vs ttrpg), D&D, hands fucking down. But in terms of video games, I adore the Mass Effect series. No other video game series has made me cry quite so much. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a close second, though I am still in Act 3.

16: is there anyone you're not biologically related to that you consider "family"?

ABSOLUTELY. In fact, why don’t I tag those of them that exist here as an excuse to be a huge fucking sap about it and so you all can go follow them. (Uh. This gets long, so adding a read more thing. I get sappy after 10 pm oopsies)

While I am no longer in the fandom that brought us all together (nor are most of them), I do have to thank that fandom for being what put us all in one place. One beta reading comment left on a fic inspired me to finally pick up D&D again after years of failed campaigns—and we’ve been going strong near a year and a half now. This D&D group is fucking everything to me. These people have been with my through the lowest points of my life and I owe everything to them. Not only are they all talented in art, writing, poetry, and the many things they do, but they are all absolutely incredible people and the best friends I ever could have asked for. One little comment genuinely changed my life.

@daughterofdrearburh is one of the coolest people in the world. She’s smart as a whip, hilarious as fuck, and one of the kindest hearts I’ve ever met. If you get the chance, you should bug her about her novel (I am the number one Starblossom fan) and about her horse, Ginger, who she has made incredible strides with. I admire her a lot. Also about her homebrew/framkensteined together TTRPG she’s running, because it’s a fucking blast!!

@ninthhousesteel was actually the first of the gang that I was mutuals with!! She’s also incredibly funny (probably the most hilarious person I know, seriously they pop out of fucking nowhere with one liners that’ll leave you in stitches). She’s so fucking smart and doing incredible things in engineering (I may not understand it, but I know they’re going to do great things), as well as being a great artist and wonderful writer. Also? Incredible taste in music, frankly. Another thing to bug them about!

@haaawaiianshirt is like. I don’t even know where to start. The best personality ever. She’s funny, outgoing, unbelievably sweet, with just the right amount of bite! She’s like summertime personified, just warm and the best to be around. You can’t help but smile. Add onto that the most delicious art style and an incredible talent for so many different crafts (ask her about crochet beast!!). They’re going to be famous one day for being behind the set design of all your favorite theme parks and theme park rides.

@candle-lion is so COOL. I genuinely look up to her so so so much. Again with the super funny (literally can’t breathe with this group, you will be in stitches). One of the most talented writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, an incredible DM, master at roleplay and making characters you can’t help but fall in love with, as a player or a DM. I admire everything she does in teaching—she is exactly the kind of teacher that our world is in desperate need of. She’s going to change lives, I just know it.

@lavenderlevetan where Emmie is summertime, Eve is autumn. She’s so unbelievably chill, a breath of fresh air to be around, a warm mug of tea of a person, if you catch my drift. She’s so sweet and so smart and sooo wonderful to hang out with, with possibly the most lovely laugh ever. Her writing is immaculate, and god I just LOVE the way she builds characters. You can’t help but be sucked into their inner workings. And yet another incredible artist!!

@suwunnysideup the master storyteller. I have never met someone with such a skill for weaving together stories and characters in such a beautiful web that you can’t help but be starstruck. Seriously, the world building is insane and so in depth, you can see how much they really care. They’re a fucking riot and my best fucking friend. Once again, another insanely talented artist, I need to shake their art like a chew toy. Ask them about carpe diem :3

And last but not least, while not an active PC in our main campaign, the group would not be complete without @avocadosockz . Our resident meme maker, comedian, character arc instigator, beloved guest star NPC, and best audience in the world—while also joining our side campaign as the funniest possible character choice in the world (ask her about Sadie!). Another amazingly supportive person who I appreciate with all of my heart, I love bouncing evil ideas off of her in DMs to enact upon the rest of the party. Excited for our next little scheme >:3

That’s the D&D group covered but I’m not done, if you would believe it. I will take every single chance to be a complete sap about my friends.

More people I met through fandom! I haven’t talked to them as much in recent months, which I’m terribly guilty about, they are all incredible people. @lionydoorin is a wonderful artist and a super sweet person, someone you can always rely on. They’re going to med school and I know they’re going to be fucking amazing in their field. @idyllghost is another rad artist and one of my first really good friends here in Tumblr! He’s so sweet, so funny, and so good at poetry and writing too. An artistic genius in so many ways.

@whiteredrose13 is possibly my oldest internet friend. I think we’re going on?? 5+ years now? Which isn’t much compared to some of y’all, but it’s a lot to me. Rose is one of the kindest, most supportive people in the entire world. She’s so unbelievably patient, listening to me ramble on and on about my D&D campaign and my unfinished writings. Speaking of, because I’m literally surrounded by talent, they are yet another insanely wonderful artist AND writer, with an incredible world and the most lovable OCs ever. Gabe and Ana and their entire family will always live rent free in my brain 🫶

And a special shout-out to the one irl friend who has stuck by me through everything 🫶 Elaina is so kind, so funny, so fucking smart, the best taste in music, one of my favorite people to talk for hours with. I wish we hung out more :,) (Side note, Em I’m realizing the two of you are like two sides of the same coin and would get along so we’ll probably)

If I forgot anyone, know that you are loved in equal measure, I am simply sleepy and functioning on post finals brain fry 🫶

[definitelydissociative]

Being in college has been a very strange experience for us so far--and I use "us" here because it's not just the school parts who are having a strange time. I'm absolutely not a school part, previous to returning from dormancy two years ago, I was only ever here to soak up the night time abuse. Now, somehow, I'm sitting here on a day off (it's reading week, thank god) and I'm typing this post to avoid doing homework. I somehow ended up roped into this whole mess, despite having been very, very vocally against attempting school again. I don't know how I feel about it now.

Initially, it seemed like it was all going to be one single part who handled our courses during the day and dealt with homework. Callie (the main school part) did it all on their own for the first few weeks, but I think they reached a point where she had a massive stress induced meltdown and has refused to touch homework since. Now it's just Callie who goes on campus, but there's a whole bunch of us who are contributing academically and in terms of support. There's a part who does all of our timed touch typing and typing drills. Phoenix gets us all ready to go in the morning. Luca is, apparently, the "bus guy" because nobody else can handle the stress of taking public transit here after being sexually harassed literally the first day we took the bus. I don't doubt there's more that I'm not aware of yet. Whoever is around contributes to homework, usually myself (Adam) or Jack. I'm working on a project for our graphic design-esque class, which is a brochure that's due tomorrow afternoon. Over the last week, I think it's passed between at least three of us, maybe four. It's incredibly strange to open up Canva and realize I have zero memory of what had been done by another part.

It's hard to deny the depth of our amnesia at this point. Memory sharing is weird, particularly between Jack and Callie, but most days when we get home from school and switch to home parts, nobody remembers that we'd had classes at all. Sometimes memories will be shared after the fact, though not always. It makes homework incredibly frustrating and difficult to keep track of--I've never had to be so rigorously organized before. It's just really, really fucking hard to sit down to work on an assignment and realize that I don't remember any of the lecture relevant to my assignments. It's exhausting, most of our extended homework sessions (some days I work six hours straight after school) are made so long because it takes up lots of time to track down the information we need.

Don't even get me started on dealing with trauma. It's a whole thing that needs its own post, but the short story is that we've been in deep, deep denial since disclosing to my mother went so badly last February. It's a huge part of why this blog was abandoned, actually. It's been a work in progress but that denial is finally fading and we're being forced to face the truth. The truth is just... unpredictable. It would be nice to keep, at the very least, the CSA flashbacks and triggers to at home, but it hasn't been working like that. I don't know enough about Callie's experiences to say what that's been like for her, but I am aware that it's been really distressing when she has her own school related trauma to deal with.

Anyways. I wrote this as a way to stall doing homework, but I should probably stop stalling and get the stupid thing done and over with. It's worth 20% of our final mark and I certainly don't want to get blamed for a shit mark because I refused to pitch in and be a team player.

I hate having to share my life sometimes. I just want to do my own thing, separate from the other chucklefucks and their bullshit.

[raylangivins]

Are you a video editor or smth? Did you have to get a degree for this or?

Yeah I’m a video editor or smth.

You don’t need a degree to be an editor, all you technically need is edit skills and a competent reel. However, employers like it when you do have a degree (especially if you’ve never worked in editing before), because it demonstrates that you’ve had experience working with deadlines, and with the constraints a brief. A lot of jobs will ask if you have a degree, and if not, for at least 2 years of relevant work experience.

In terms of actually learning editing though, you can just do an informal short course (which I recommend over learning through YouTube tutorials if you’re actually looking to work towards a career). They’re usually taught by freelancers who work in the industry, and can guide you on what specifically you will need to know for a job. They’ll give you more useful workflow best practises that companies like, which isn’t information you’ll necessarily find in YouTube tutorials. You will get to work with a brief and come out of it with something to put on a reel. And they are good networking opportunities! Students and tutors share job opportunities they find all the time. Same benefits of a degree, but much cheaper and less time consuming.

Short courses are also handy because they usually specify on certain softwares so you can learn for the type of job you want. Bear in mind it’s been about 4 years since I’ve had to look for a job, but at least when I was looking, the industry standard for traditional media (film/journalism/network programming) was Avid, although even back then you’d have to do a proper post production course to learn it cause no one else was arsed using it. New media companies usually go for Adobe softwares or Final Cut (but that one’s rarer). DaVinci’s editing software was fairly new when I was last job hunting, but people swear by it, so I imagine that’s a more common one now too. (It’s handy to know too bc it’s the industry standard for colour grading).

I would say the one thing a degree is useful for is that a lot of editing jobs are unfortunately not solely editing jobs. You might get lucky and find a company willing to hire you on your editing skill and train you up themselves on anything else they want you to know, but a lot of places are specifically looking for an editor/videographer, or an editor/graphic designer. More generalised media degrees are good to have for these jobs, because a lot of media courses encompass a lot of media elements besides editing, so you can say you have some experience in a number of things, even if it’s very little. Sometimes, knowing the basics is enough, and they’d be much happier taking you on and training you if they know you’re not starting from scratch. At the very least, I would always recommend anyone who wants to work in editing to learn how to operate some sort video camera manually, even if it’s just a shitty old DSLR.

[clowngames]

What is a game engine? I see a lot of video about it, but a lot of them tend to skirt around what it is. They give examples like unity but not actually give details on the structures.

This is a great question! Defining a game engine is like defining a chair - most people just get comfortable in one and leave it at that.

The short answer is: a game engine is a series of libraries, tools and interfaces designed to make developing games easier. But lets break that down.

A library is a programming term for a bunch of functions and classes you can import into your project to make certain functionality easier. For instance, a default library for javascript is Math, which has several functions to let you do arithmetic, ie, "Math.sqrt(num)" returns the square root of the supplied number. "Math" is the library, and "sqrt" is the function that the library gives you access to.

A game engine will have a collection of libraries, or one large library, that adds a ton of functions. Unity has the MonoDevelop class that all objects belong to, which contains the Update function that is "automatically" (for all intents and purposes) called every frame. The developer can define what happens inside this function.

Unity, Unreal and so on have huge libraries designed to let you make a variety of different kinds of games but some engines are more specialized. Ren'Py is built to make visual novels easier and RPG Maker is built to make Dragon Quest clones.

There's an additional layer which is that game engines also have enough ground work set up that when you start a new project you can hit play and there is immediately a game. A game with nothing in it, of course, but there are objectively graphics and a framerate and things like that, which you would have to set up yourself if you were just creating a new project in Visual Studio.

A tool is software designed to make accomplishing something specific easier without (necessarily) programming. This and interfaces are intertwined, and these are probably what most people think about when they think of game engines, because they're the part people are actively using at all times.

An interface in this context is the thing that packages tools together. This isn't a technical term but the best way to describe them for non-programmers (interface means something different for programmers). You can think of an interface as the UI of a game engine. Through it, you navigate between tools and connect them with one-another.

In Unity, the camera system may be a library, but when you add a Camera into the scene editor, you're using the scene editor tool which is one of many tools in the Unity interface.

For a less traditional example, developer Tyler Glaiel always programs his own engines, and he always uses a tool he wrote himself (along with libraries) that recreates Flash's art pipeline since he and the people he works with loved the way Flash did it and it works better for them than modern proprietary engines' systems. Now, Glaiel tailors his engines to his projects' exact needs, so this works for him and his team while it might not work for someone who is used to Unity's art pipeline. As to what Glaiel's interface looks like... well, he would know and I wouldn't! I know he's shown off a bit but I haven't had the opportunity to look.

Sometimes the needs of your project necessitates adding to the engine in some way. Game Maker's room editor used to be notoriously terrible (while these days it's only slightly bad) so most devs would build their own room editor tools using Game Maker. As in, they made an in-game level editor which they then used to make the actual game levels. Most of these games included the level editor as a reward for being the game, since it was already a part of the project.

Unity actually lets you edit the Unity interface directly to add your own tools. Instead of making tools inside the engine, you can create your own libraries and tools and then import them into any future project. RPG Maker has a similar but worse system, where you can add and edit as many libraries as you want but you can't change anything about the interface which dramatically limits how you can implement user-made systems.

So, what all of this means is that even Excel Spreadsheets can be a game engine if you try hard enough - it has functions that can manipulate variables and the spreadsheet's appearance (libraries), and the ability to... make spreadsheets (singular tool + interface). I would not recommend using it as one, but I wouldn't recommend using a computer as a chair either, and someone will inevitably find themselves in a situation where it seems like a good idea.