#also i experimented with a more common artstyle

[aphidoideart]

Meet Magnamaze!

My take on the identity of what kicks you out of the dungeons in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon!

My idea is that after getting a full team of level 100 Pokemon and timing out in a dungeon, after the "It's getting closer" message, it would say "You feel strong enough to face it". And enter a boss battle with Magnamaze! Recruiting it would allow you to access Creative Mode where you get to make your own custom dungeons!

[dunmeshistash]

Hello! I thought Laios's eyes were just very light brown cuz in my reading experience yellow/golden eyes were a sign of a werewolf. Or that your (grand)parent was a god/dragon/fairy/vampire etc. Or a wolf cursed into human form by an evil witch (this one's pretty cliché now, and rarely used). But Laios and Falin are perfectly normal tallman, and tallman are just like real life humans I believe. I guess I thought unusual eyes colors meant unusual people?

Not all fantasy worlds work the same, in Dungeon Meshi some characters have really unusual eyes but it doesn't mean anything about them being special or not.

If anything there's a type of unfounded meaning given by the certain traits like eyes and hair color by the in world culture, but that are merely visual (looks different but aren't associated with anything else as far as we know) like the silver eyes and hair that's expected from Mithrun's family and the obsidian skin and red eyes that are traits of royalty, both are visually unique but don't make them any different from other people, so much so that Mithrun is a bastard with his family desired traits while his brother is a legitimate son without the traits.

There's also Kabru's eyes that caused his family to fall apart even tho it was also based on meaning given to it .

I think it fits with Kui's storytelling and worldbuilding that minor physical characteristics don't really mean much more than the meaning we give them.

I think eye color, pupil or no pupil, shine or no shine etc etc is more a character design choice Kui makes to better express what kind of characters they are (where they're from, like Eastern archipelago people having dark eyes, what race they are with elves having the more striking/detailed pupils, their personality etc etc)

Kui might have an artstyle that's less "Animu" than what some might be used to but it is still in that style, in animanga eyes are a pretty common way to express what kind of person the character should be perceived as at a glance, that's why the eyes are often so big. So the golden eyes in Falin and Laios are probably so we recognize them as main characters and so we recognize them as siblings

Hope this made some sense let me know if I got anything wrong or said something that doesn't sound right

[deerspherestudios]

Hi! I played your game and really, really like it, I am a huge fan of slow burn - combined with Yandere too? That's kinda rare nowadays, haha. Thanks for making it and creating Mychael, I love his design. Two questions: How many days are planned to be playable in the full release?

And

Since in just one day Mychael feels very friendly towards us (according to a post you made with where his feelings are based on a meter) does that mean he's very clingy??? Like, in just one day he feels like our friend. What little effort and words will it take for him to go from crush, to love, to whatever yandere thing he might be??? Like, is he okay??? Should I be worried???

This guy? Clingy? Nahhh. Nothing to worry about, anon :-) 🍄❤️

As for the game, long (!!!) answer below cut: might be spoiler-y might be not.

For context, here's the post mentioned above.

I'm still not sure how many days it will be, but it's definitely ranging between 4-5 days. Granted it'll be a while before the game is finished finished but I think progress will pick up as I complete assets that will be reused. I'm writing Days 2, 3 and 4 simultaneously (anyone who writes can probably relate to wanting a specific thing to happen in the story but dread writing up to it, so I skip around in order to keep my motivation and interest up)

As for relationship progression, slow burn usually means a long time passes before anything develops. But this is a VN and I'm a solo part-time dev so the scope still has to be small 😔 That said!

Mychael, as a person, is quite solitary in nature; he likes being alone and you'll find out why. He does however desire company and he's only realized just how pleasant having someone around can be (hence his reaction for the Bad Endings in Day 1 if you wish to leave/run away)

Although I'm not a fan of the 'you do one (1) nice thing any decent person would do and yandere is already head-over-heels for you' trope, I do have to make use of it but, drip-feed style? You grow closer to Mychael as you hang out with him and do little things that he appreciates. (Honestly I just realized I'm describing the typical visual novel experience just without the yandere beginning-- go! figure!!! /lh)

Example: the first thing that boosts you to immediate friend status is your willingness to accept his physical looks, something that's never happened to him before. (I know my artstyle makes him a yassified pretty boy but imagine genuinely meeting a sentient creature in real life with patchy green skin, a dextrous tail and four blinking pitch black eyes, I think I'd freak too haha) Little things like that mean a lot to him and motivates him to prolong your stay.

In a way, the MC is written to be more kinder and open-minded (at least outside of Bad Ends) than the sweet/sour personalities that come in a VN, so (for narrative AND coding purposes) I can't really diversify it much. I hope that's okay ¯\_(; v ; )_/¯ If Mychael met a more grouchy/mean MC on Day 1 he'd probably not be as attached. He'd just save you, feed you and send you home when you ask hahaha. Of course this will change as he gets to know you better, at that stage he'll be willing to overlook your flaws like any upstanding yandere

Phew this was a lot to dump in an ask but I did wanna explain my vision for the game! I enjoy yandere VNs as an escape fantasy, but it's common they start out with the yan already being invested in you or fall for you too fast!!! if that makes sense. I'm interested in yanderes in the aspect of how love (romantic or otherwise) starts from innocent affection and spirals into dark obsession!!! It's also compelling as to why a character is so devoted to someone, in this situation the MC, and I wanna write the kind of person Mychael would fall for. And personally 'love-at-first-sight' as a reason just doesn't do it for me 💔

(Disclaimer!!! I'm not saying my game is any more original or better than the other wonderful yan VNs in the works, but hopefully with Mychael as a character I can deliver that 'slow-burn-and-yearn' storyline I'd like it to be. As my itchio profile says: I make games I thirst for in secret but are sadly lacking around the internet 💔 )

Thank you for the ask!! :-D

[kob131]

Out of nowhere I bet but I wanna try listing off why AI Art isn't good-

The common argument against the accusation of AI Art is that human beings themselves take ideas from their surroundings and mix them together to make 'original' ideas (like a horse with a horn to make a unicorn). However, the difference between an AI and a human being comes not only from how the human brain is infinitely more powerful than any computer ever made by humanity (meaning it can consider ideas and alter them at a far greater rate than any algorithm) but also that the human brain is affected by things like 'preference' and 'bias' for certain ideas or expressions.

For example, a person who prefers anime style drawings will almost always interpret the idea of 'badass horse' will interpret that to mean 'badass horse in an anime style'. While this seems simplistic and easy to replicate with AI (keyword being replicate)- there are INNUMERABLE preferences and biases that come into play when making art. To the point that an ultra specific prompt could still result in innumerable different interpretations because of people's individual tastes. This can then satisfy numerous peoples' different desires or perhaps even create a new demand. AI can't really do this- It will give you exactly what you asked for. ... Exactly. No differing interpretations or unique ideas mixed in. You ask for 'horse with a water mane' and you get a horse with a water mane. That's it.

Another reason why AI Art isn't good is that AI art...is just a dead end. The way it works is that the algorithm is taught to look at certain images in association with certain keywords and then, based off the data given, it will spit out an image to match. ... Notice how, in this process- the AI is reliant on outside information to make the image. As in, the AI NEEDS to be able to look at certain artstyles in order to properly fulfill its request. Unlike a human artist, who can use the data gained from other experiences (like touch, taste and hearing) along with how those would be associated with certain imagery to create new styles or interpretations. Humans can independently create ideas, AI can only regurgitate.

There's also how the human brain has this...uncanny ability to detect when something looks wrong or doesn't look real. You see this most often in movies or shows with heavy use of CGI- the images might be more technically impressive but without the grounding in real life that practical effects have they can easily look off because computers...just can't generate anything on par with reality. Same with AI- it can generate images resembling real works of art. ... But there's always something in them, some variable the AI can never account for, that will tip off the human brain to the fact that a human didn't make this.

In short- AI cannot take creative liberties, is basically parasitic with human artists and is too simplistic to match a real artist.

That's why AI art is a bad idea from my point of view.

[gophergal]

I know fuck all about tf2 except for character names. Most I got is you and a few other mutuals posts, and they're 10/10. How does the game..... work exactly? Like is there plot? Is it first person shooter sort of thing? Is there a tf1?

I could google it but that's not nearly as fun

OH BOY GET READY FOR THE B I G R AM B L E

WHAT THE FUCK IS TF2?

It's a team based first person shooter published by Valve (of portal and half life fame) in 2007 with nine classes to choose from, each with strengths countered by other classes (for example, the Spy is often a counter against the Sniper and Engineer. Respectively, by picking off the Sniper with a quick, stealthy backstab or by destroying the Engineer's machines). The game has been free to play since 2009 (i think. grain of salt please), and has a healthy playerbase to this day, aside from the bots. But not every tf2 fan actually plays the game. I play sometimes, but mostly just rotate the characters in my brain like a microwave burrito.

It is ALSO, however, a multimedia franchise. Aside from the game, which shows off worldbuilding and characterization through the environment and character dialogue (as well as the update announcement flyers on the official blog), there are also animated shorts and comics created by Valve that further flesh out the world and characters of TF2. Frankly, I think you should give the Meet The Team shorts a go if nothing else. They're iconic. It's hard to pick favorites, but I'm partial to Meet the Medic (obviously), Meet the Engineer (which I can quote verbatim), and Meet the Sniper.

Broadly, the world and aesthetics of TF2 are based on 60's/70's cold war thrillers and spy movies. Think James Bond and the Manchurian Candidate. These impeccable vibes are then wrapped neatly in a cartoony artstyle that wasn't common at the time (and arguably still isn't. I'm pretending that fortnight doesnt exist, as is custom). On a related note, the soundtrack FUCKS SEVERELY. Like. They just DO. They have influence from Jazz, Funk, and miltary marching songs, with more specific influences for individual characters (ex: country western for engineer, polka for medic, and bagpipes for demoman)

An important thing to note is that every class is a play on some stereotype from the movies that inspired the vibes:

Heavy Weapons Guy is a husky ruskie and a man of few words, but he has hidden depths. He's a family man, most importantly, and has been supporting and protecting his mother and younger sisters since his father was killed when he was a teenager. He has a close bond with the Medic and speaks highly of the Engineer ("Engineer is credit to team!"). In a debatably canon piece of dialogue from TellTale's Poker Night At The Inventory, he is revealed to have a PhD in Russian Literature.

Engineer is a texan with 11 PhDs in hard science. He exudes southern hospitality and seems like the most sane man on the team. He also takes great joy in the death and destruction his weapons cause, and ALSO helps the Medic in performing deeply unethical experiments that go against the laws of nature for curiosity sake. He's the third in a line of engineers, btw, and his grandfather basically conquered death. Which isn't super relevant, but I feel is a good lead in to some of the wackier elements of this world I would like to mention.

And every character is like this to some degree. Some more so than others- Soldier is basically just "how american can a man be before it starts impacting his mental health" and Pyro is unknown in terms of nationality, gender, and background

TF2 has a plot by the way! Yes, there is a reason for these many dudes in funny hats to be fighting. They are fighting over gravel. Yeah. So, these two brothers are fighting over land willed to them by their father (who died in the 1890's) which is largely useless aside from having a lot of gravel. Their names are Redmond and Blutarch Mann, and they're the ceos of their own corporations. Reliable Excavation & Demolitions (RED) and Builder's League United (BLU) respectively. They each hired mercenaries to fight a proxy war for them with the goal of owning it all. All the while, a third party, The Administrator, has been playing both sides of the Gravel War to keep it going as long as possible. Why? It's a mystery...

RAPID FIRE TF2 WORLDBUILDING BULLSHITTERY BE UPON YE:

(most of this is just stupid shit that was made up for Pure Random Funny HaHa and has very little bearing on the plot, but tells you a LOT about the tone of the franchise)

Rocket Jumping (that is, shooting a rocket propelled grenade at your feet and crouch-jumping at the same time to launch yourself into the air) was a technique pioneered by Shakespearicles, the STRONGEST POET TO EVER LIVE. He also invented the concept of a Second Floor in a building

Btw, stairs were not invented when the second floor was invented. I want you to take a wild guess how people got to the second floor before stairs were invented. (hint: it involves explosives)

Stairs were invented by Abraham Lincoln. He died due to rocket jumping up said stairs which caused him to accelerate rapidly into a wall. He was also the first Pyro in the 1890s.

New Zealand sank below the ocean sometime in the 40's. By which I mean it was intentionally sank because a Jor-el knockoff believed that the world was ending and that going underwater was the only way to save the nation.

CisMpreg exists. This fact is Medic's fault.

OK But What About Team Fortress 1?

So, its. Not complicated but it's not exactly simple. Quick answer, the original TF game has nothing to do with TF2. Team Fortress was originally a mod for the game Quake and has the same basic gameplay premise as it's successors (team based FPS with 9 classes) and quite a few maps have actually been remade for TF2. It was released in 1996, so, as TF2 was taking A Very Long Time to complete, Valve released a sort of... updated version that was meant to hold fans over. It uses the half life 2 engine, I believe, and was released in 1999. It is called Team Fortress Classic and it's only a LITTLE confusing to research I swear.

TFC takes place in the same universe as TF2, but in the 1930's instead of the 60's. Ignore the scifi/modern looking tech. Don't worry about it. This has no bearing on TFC, really, because it was only confirmed in one of the comics released in 2014. The TFC team matters to the comic plot, but is otherwise kinda just. there. Like, they only exist in the Mann Co No More story line and otherwise just exist.

Fun fact: TFC (the game) was updated to change the ingame class models to more accurately represent the appearance given to them in the comics.

For example, look at the glow up given to the TFC Medic! (original on the left, updated on the right)

In Conclusion:

I will be surprised anyone actually reads all of this, but that is my rambling summary of what in the fuck TF2 is. To be fair, the game is richly detailed but also kinda sparse at the same time. Its all vibes and interpretation my dude. Honestly I think what has made TF2 so popular and long lasting (lore wise) is related to what early FNAF games had going on

[iztea]

Something about my drawing feels off , i only got into digital drawing few weeks ago and I'm stuck at the same point and lost .. any advice?

mmm okay first of all this is really good- first impressions-wise, the proportions and anatomy look very solid so there are no major glaring issues so to speak

if you were to ask me, what i think this artwork needs is that sort of 'volume' or depth that most beginner digital artoworks lack. You can achieve this sort of volume in two ways depending on the style you are going for: either by improving the lineart, or by treating the lines just as part of the sketch and painting over them for a more.. ''painterly/rendered'' look if you want to keep the lineart in, what i suggest is adding some "line weight" so that the artwork doesn't look so flat. What i mean by this is to thicken the lines where body parts would naturally overlap (like the neck and shoulder, the nostrils area, the corners of the mouth as well as the tip of the lips etc) and where shadows would normally be for the illusion of volume. After that, i'd also add more shadows and color variation in the colouring layer so that the skin looks more lively and again, for that volume. You can do it with some dark blue or orange on a multiply or an overlay layer, just experiment a bit with colors and blending modes. If you want a more messy/painterly look (which is more down my alley or in line with my artstyle), what i'd personally do is i'd create a new layer on top of everything and just paint over the lines with broader strokes and a darker color in an attempt to add some volume to the shapes and to make the artwork look more cohesive and less "digital" because at the moment, i can tell that it is made up of a Lineart layer, then a Colouring Layer below, that very religiously follows the lineart layer and then maybe a layer on top of that for the other colors and the hair. This is a very common digital art process and a good one to keep in mind but a little secret i can give out that i've noticed in 80% of the artists who have this sort of drawing process is that they will always, always merge everything in one layer at the end and adjust things as they go. They will not keep the layers separated and just never revisit them in the process, despite what it may look like. There will always be something that needs fixing and they will fix it as they go so i suggest doing the same and being a bit more "freeform" with your layers

Anywayss, besides that, I'd also introduce some color variation like in the previous method. As a general tip, try to move the color slider around and don't just shade with a darker variation of the base color. I like how the hair is painted and the shine and everything, it looks very good and everything is pretty much set in place, i'd just render it even more, make it More voluminous. It's just missing a little pop a color: i'd add some blueish gray hues in the brown hair and for the purple hair i'd make it more rich by adding some deep dark blue hues and some faint yellow highlights (bc purple and yellow are complementary colors blabla) As for the shape, think of the hair as chunks of volume that reflect light and that are also affected by gravity.. or as spaghetti if u like flat hair like me bsjsjd That's all i could think of; Again, it's very good and promising considering you started just a few weeks ago, so keep going at it! I hope it was at least somewhat helpful and that i wasn't being too technical with the wording (and that it made sense)

[mars-rnr]

Incoherent Rewatch of The Hollow: Episode 1

The Hollow: Season 1 Episode 001

Typing down my thoughts as I rewatch The Hollow: Episode 1

It is alot of thinking, also spoiler warning

Ohhh!!! The dreadful and haunting vibes being set up as Adam looks around the room

I like how Adam is so calm about the situation

amnesia SUCKS— BRUHH WHY DID ADAM HAVE TO THINK THE WORST IDEA POSSIBLE— Death!

They don’t know their names!! Oh powers being foreshadowed!!

Adam, Kai, and Mira!!! They finally got to remember their names

I’m so sorry, I know Kai gets better but he’s beginning introduction sucks. More progress occurred using the typewriter than not using it and smashing it

Does Adam not like loud sounds?

Aww, Mira making jokes by introducing herself as a good puzzle solver (MIRA HYPE HYPE)

Acrobat Adam!!

I forgot what Kai and Mira’s powers are. It has been a while. I think one of them can talk to animals.

Mira may not have her memories back but she remembers deep in her bones having to shout common sense at two guys arguing during the worst times (Mira, you deserve better, but I appreciate your loyalty as an amazing friend)

Mira, the Bearer of Common Sense

Mira is so beautiful <333

AHHH ADAM OPENING THE VAULT

I do give Kai a lot of shit but he is a kid and not everyone his age could handle it as well as Adam or Mira can. He is a bit of a coward, same

Mira’s ‘which way’ is HYPE HYPE. Everything about Mira is Hype for me. Ohh she is the one who can talk to animal!! Just like Ezran from The Dragon Prince!

Adam and Mira may not have their memories and their past friendship, but they still banter much more and at the beginning, when Adam woke up, he approached Mira first— RAHHH I LOVE THESE GOOFIES AND THEIR FRIENDSHIP!!

BECAUSE YOU ARE COOL MIRA THE COOLEST!! (I JUST REALIZED MIRA HAD DARK RED NAIL POLISH AND SO SHARP NAILS— Gonna watch the entire thing and see if she loses those fierce nails or not— betting on she didn’t ^^)

Oh also I’m making icons/ pfps of Mira in episode one because she deserves it <33 (I love her so much— I forgot how cool she is)

Okay, I’m starting to like Kai’s pathetic energy

If I remember correctly, Kai never really had alot of confidence in himself and his surroundings— so if he did lose all of his memories, not know where he is, yeah of course he would the most freaked-out reaction over everything!!

The artstyle is so so GOOD!!

Hahaha, Kai is too goofy!! Bless his brain, he needs it. Even Adam and Mira are having a laugh!

The voice acting <33

Adam can worry too much as well as be too cautious, and Mira and Kai could not care about it sometimes qowuhs

This show is so good at making the tone of a scene so dreadful

I like how Adam, Kai, and Mira are making theories on what happened to them because the characters have as much info on what’s happening as the audience (me), and the amount of info is ZERO

With them making these years, the characters invite the audience to also guess and theorize what is happening— Are they scientist’s experiments? Secret gov’t spies? Who or what are they? Are they human— how they have powers? etc etc

Hehehe— Kai freaked out and left the shack, only to comeback because he doesn’t go into the forest alone. Mira and Adam staying cause they have same mindset of ‘hmmm..maybe something here has something we can use’

Adam found a bag— is homie gonna finally style himself? Mira shouldn’t be the only one serving here! All Adam’s style got going on is his fanboy shirt…

Oh noo— The trios are fighting and Mira’s nerves snapped D:

Uh oh!! The wolves are howling!! Hahaha!! Kai barely moved away from the shack!

Hahaha!! I hated Kai a bit for attempting to DESTROY THE TYPEWRITER EVEN THOUGH IT IS PROVEN THAT IS NOT WHAT THEY SHOULD DO BUT BUT ADAM TAKES THE CAKE FOR THROWING A WRENCH AT THE ELECTRIC FENCE ONLY FOR TO BACKFIRE TO HIS FACE!!!

Epic win for Kai!! He found the power switch!!

A rare Kai and Mira agreeing with each other moment— When Adam’s plans are too goofy to follow up on owenbsd

AYYY PURPLE DUDE!! I remember thinking this dude is not to be trusted but at the end he became a pretty thoughtful dude actually

Purple dude forshadowed what this entire thing was by saying’Do you think this some kind of game!?’

Who wants to bet Adam had a gay crush on the purple dude? It would be so funny if he did— this is my Adam headcanon now

They are in the desert now

[booniesoil]

Deer in Rusty Lake might mean something else

A lot of people theorize that the imagery of deers in Rusty lake represents hatred / violence towards family, which is something I totally see with Nicholas Eilander and Albert Vanderboom, but I don't know why that would be applicable to Dale Vandermeer. He is perfect!! Actually, I theorize / believe that people with deer representations in Rusty Lake could mean something a bit opposite. First of all, I think the true reason the use of deer is so common and inconsistent is generally because it matches the style or Rusty Lake, so they reuse deer carelessly (sorry Rusty Lake, I LOVE YOUR ARTSTYLE I DO), but,:

I think a more accurate telling of deer for characters in the series would be reaching enlightenment. Between the three characters, they may be taking steps, and may be some of the only characters taking steps towards enlightenment in different ways. (I haven't played all the games in the series recently, so a lot of my information may be out of date or flawed, and it is not fully defined what enlightenment is, or how to reach it outside of possibly drinking the elixir, so I am making inferences). I don't fully know what the purpose of sacrificing Jakob is, but Nicholas had taken interest in using Caroline's memories for whatever reason he needs them for. Intentional or not, helping the lake or not, Nicholas may have been taking steps towards enlightenment.

Dale, to me it seems like the plans Aldous and Mr Owl are attempting to him is to get him enlightened (without his knowledge). He's already a corrupted soul, but as far as I know Mr Crow is attempting to change his negative memories into positive ones, changing memories gut keeping the past, it's all vague but he ends up with the golden cube, which might be a step to enlightenment. Ambiguous stuff I hope it all makes sense.

But most exciting, to me, is Albert. Albert may be unintentionally in the process of becoming enlightened. Seeing as Mr Crow is trying to turn Dale's negative memories into positive ones, seemingly to enlighten him?, Albert is ACTIVELY and unintentionally taking steps to enlightenment by personally changing his past, negative memories of his family into positive ones by. Murdering them all. Nice man! 

Ms Pigeon is the closest character I could think of that may be applicable to whatever I've layed out here, since she does take interest in extracting memories before she dies. I don't fully know the rules here, but maybe she's too side of a character to have an association with deer, or perhaps have not started her experiment, already has a harsh enough connotation with pigeons (although Albert has MANY connotations with many different things, Mr Pigeon can definitely have multiple, too) to provide a second animal connotation, or she may have already reached enlightenment.

William is a character that seems like he's massively failing at becoming enlightened! For being the one with the most work done, he got killed by drinking the elixir, took all the steps to reviving himself, and got reincarnated as Laura, who seems like she got, once again, doomed to a fate opposite to enlightenment. Laura has a ton of bad memories, as does Dale, but her bad memories are utilizing a lot by the lake crew, and ultimately she is not getting steps done to getting closer to enlightenment. She pretty much is held hostage at this lake by her brother to extract bad memories after bad memories to help enlighten Dale. If I am READING THIS CORRECT. 

I think I good way to see if this fits is to crosscheck if random deer in the games could also indicate this, but I haven't done that yet, I'm just keeping in mind Albert, Nicholas, Dale, and William.

I hope that all makes sense! I hope someone use understands this and gets EXCITED by it because I think it's a far more exciting theory with a bunch of potential than the previous one!

Edit: ADDING ON TO THIS. Playing through Paradox for the first time in years, Laura outright said that one of them will die and the other will reach enlightenment, and I absolutely do not see that being Laura. You have no hope I am sorry Laura.

[suboptimal-xenobiologist]

Irken stuff

Since the pak contains vital organs like the primary heart and brain, a lot of organs are no longer present in Irken bodies, as a result of genetic engineering and natural evolution.

For example, the secondary brain (not in the pak) isn't much more capable of that of a lizard's. It acts as a control panel to pilot the body, controls reflexes, and stores the very limited cognitive function required to remove and perform maintenance on the pak in dire situations (a task that's usually performed by an invader's sir or an average Irken citizen's peers), and that's pretty much it.

The digestive, excretory, imune, lymphatic, endocrine, and temperature regulation systems are also much less complex than that of humans, consisting pretty much only of the squeedily spooch and a few glands attached to it.

They do, however, have insectoid hearts and lungs.

The pak stores the primary brain (basically just a glorified usb stick will all the Irken's knowledge and memories on it) and the primary heart. The primary heart regulates blood continuously through the body, while the secondary heart (not in the pak)act as a backup that can keep blood moving for about 10 minutes while the pak is removed.

Irkens have semi-open circulatory systems. Irk has pretty high gravity, so the only reason they're able to survive this way is because of the secondary heart.

Since the pak is directly connected to both the primary and secondary brain, the mechanical attachments stored inside of it (ie; the big mechanical spider legs) function just like extra limbs and require no more extra effort to control.

Canonically, Irken's don't have a reproductive system. They were pretty much removed via genetic engineering, since people having the ability to copulate kinda defeats the purpose of having a society based on genetic engineering in the first place.

There are, however, vegistial differences between genders in Irkens, most notably the curly antennae and eyelashes seen in females. This comes with a big caveat though, partly because these features are only more likely to occur in females, not exclusive, and partly because as previously mentioned, they're vegistial features, and are gradually starting to become less common in any gender at all.

In the same vein of having no reproductive system, Irkens also have no sex drive. And since their species never evolved a strong drive for strong interpersonal relationships either, this means that most Irkens are aroace legends.

It probably goes without saying, but Irkens don't naturally see members of other species as being people, let alone hold them to nearly as high of a standard as they do their own species. This mentality can change depending on personal experiences, but it doesn't change the fact that natural empathy is very low in Irkens. This does carry over to how Irkens view others of their own species as well. The "I am the best and therefore everyone else is less worthy of being viewed as a person than me" mentality is very much a staple of Irken psychology, and it's what kept their species alive long enough on-planet to get where they are now.

Irkens have (small) nostrils and ear holes, they just aren't surrounded by cartilage and therefore aren't defined enough to be worth drawing in the IZ artstyle.

Meat (and other food products but most notably meat) on the IZ version of Earth is just as diseased as the water is polluted, and Irkens are hurt by the infectants rather than the substance itself in both cases. Humans are only imune to it because humans have been regularly consuming them their whole lives for countless generations.

[lovethelittlerthings]

Shel Silverstein at age 19

Discovering this heck of a creative in age 19 is almost like a message from heaven or whatever that means. i haven't read any of his books prior today, i saw a glimpse of artworks but was never interested given that he mainly made children's books. Children's books were seen by me as well... childish. Yes, it bore some important lesson but when i grew i thought well i could get the same lessons in a much more epic way and "mature" way. I had this premonition that children's books were kinda patronizing in a way and always has this cut and dry moral with just very few wiggle room for interpretation. I was also raised in a filipino household with no cultural experience of western story books save for the common ones like cinderella, etc. I knew of Roald Dahl and Dr. Suess, i actually love the lorax, catcf, and liked a few of their books but it's more of a novelty thingy. When suddenly I stumbled upon a video about the most controversial book of all time and the book in question was the giving tree. I was sobbing after listening to this guy narrating the book in a way that i hadnt sobbed before in children's book and it stood out to me. Next was a book called a light in the attic, my god did hat resonate with me. I was so enraptured by the way this guy has such a powerful message and sentiment in very simple words and kinda disturbing artstyle. I havent explored more but i considering in how i reacted to his two books, i bet i enjoy most of it. I dont know the guy, he seems to be a cool one albeit does have that white guy in the 30s box of worms. So, if you haven't come across this guy before like former me I would highly recommend you reading his stuff, truly thought-provoking and comforting in some ways.

[drew-mga2022mi6011]

Research | Analysis of the SBC Winners

via Immagina (2018) - Anastasia Suvorova

Now that I have seen the work of all the winners of the Silent Book Contest, I have extrapolated a few key characteristics which each entry seems to have in common.

A Flat Artstyle

All the winning entries seemed to have a much more flat art style than one would see in a typical illustration, however to compensate for this, each of them are texturally unique. Whether it be through the use of mixed media techniques, or the replication of analogue style textures through digital painting.

Double Page Illustrations

As expected, most of these books contain double page illustrations. In fact, they are almost wholly that. As a result, there are many wide shots or paintings that seem to fade into the next. While this is interesting, I am not sure that I want to follow a format like this. I want to try and pack as much story as I can into these 28 pages, without taking up too much time from the work that I need to do for MI6021.

Use or Replication of Mixed Media Techniques

As mentioned earlier in passing, each of the winning entries were texturally diverse. It seems that the general consensus is non-traditional art is preferred. While I do want to experiment with mixed media techniques, I also want to retain the level of detail that comes with using digital art.

Themes of the Stories

Most stories that have won seemed to have been mainly targeted at children. They mostly follow the formula of some mystical journey that dips into themes like surrealism, magical-realism and other abstract ideas.

Now that I know what makes a "winning" entry, I can move on to looking through general entries to see if any of them aim to do anything similar to my own, or if there is anything I can take inspiration from. Using this information I can also choose to play into or subvert from these ideas depending on what my story calls for.

[teeto-peteto]

Soul Fighter is officially stuck on my head. I’m imagining all these dynamics. Evelynn and Xin Zhao having this one sided unprofessional relationship where Evelynn constantly says stuff like “If you decide to slip your leash, I might just tighten it a bit,” Nidalee facing Lux in the arena and thinking about how she’s reminded of Neeko, Pyke and Gwen have been talked about already, Jhin and Samira having this twisted “I made you who you are” “You took my fucking eye” dynamic.

I’m not okay. But I’m so invested in this skin line.

Im not okay either but its good we're not okay and also invested in this together 🤝

To be honest and not trying to be a 'Oh skin with Pyke is an instant like for me' cause i hate Project and i dont really like Empyreans BUT if it wasnt because they made the Samira skin drama, Soul Fighter could've been one of the best events of the game and also one of the best skinlines in the recent years.

Samira's design in the skin isnt bad, i do like her a lot, but the skin was such a scam when it came to the price-quality correlation. Copypasted animations and wasted potential etc. I only wished for them to remade the skin or at least exploit some of the concepts revolving it a bit more, cause her design is good but its not worth around 30€ like Lux or Seraphine and even that old Udyr skin. It really downgraded the expectations of the event for most of the fans.

The event was good, as a common player of league i believe. The mini game was frustrating at some point but yeah, its kinda the point of fighting games. I think the rewards in the minigame were nice and overall it was a cute experience that makes you understand a bit of the story and Samira's path. They also added those fan characters? They were cool and funny i think they gave a good sidekick to the story. The interactions are on point and the artstyle is good.

The skins are amazing at least for me. I know shit about the inspirations they took with anime/manga/other fighting games cause im a uncultured fuck but i like the outlines, the black shading, the bright colours. Sett looked oddly 2000's and that was awesome cause i dont give a flying fuck about Sett but this skin made me think 'OOh thats pretty' and so with many other characters. I love the characters they picked and how they relate to each other, the way they 'team-up' and the rivalies. Dunno. Its the first time in a long while i've been this invested in a skinline besides Star Guardian when Ahri's team released.

So yes im not okay but for this time Riot did a good job. Now we're building our little block tower with headcanons and silly scenarios till Riot decides to push it to the ground. Run while you can.

[godlyvex5]

I never played baba is you, but I watched videos of people playing, and tried to solve the puzzles before the youtuber did. The later levels in baba (after the first big twist) were confounding to me and I couldn't solve them in my head at all (aside from the smaller simpler puzzles, which I could sometimes do). But levels before the twist usually were solvable for me. The game doesn't rely much on precise movement or niche interactions, almost every solution is an obvious consequence of word definitions. The hard part is usually noticing which combination you need in order to set up a specific situation. Early on, it's even simpler, and you usually just need to notice one single possible sentence which would solve the level. Like, in the early lava level, you just need to notice that you can move a word that allows you to create "lava is melt" or "lava is baba". Later levels require multiple sentences to be created at different times in the level, and the key is knowing WHICH sentences you can create which would be helpful, what order to make those sentences in, and where in the level you make them. But generally, it feels like it ramps up slowly. I rambled a little long there, let me switch to talking about bean and nothingness.

In bean and nothingness, I've only completed the first 2 worlds, so keep that in mind. Baba puzzles feel pretty open ended, like there are always more things to try. In bean and nothingness, once I've tried a few things, it feels like I've exhausted all of my options and it's really difficult to motivate myself to keep walking around an area which is not very dynamic. Puzzles this difficult weren't very common, the rest of the puzzles I found fairly easy, with less than 4 of them actually posing a challenge around my level. Having said that, I still had fun with all of the puzzles except for one that was a large square with a bomb bug in the middle, and 4 rollers on the outside. That one was fairly easy to see what I was supposed to do, but the challenge of moving the rollers around on the outskirts was just exhausting to me. I gave up on it after messing with it for 5 minutes.

You also convinced me to play microban 1, and I played through to around level 120. I found the game very easy up until around level 80, which took a really long time because I have just been playing it on my phone when not doing anything else. Most levels after 80 were also very easy to figure out and took less than a minute. I think less than 10 puzzles in the entire 120 took me more than a minute, and at least 5 of those only took so long due to the tediousness of moving around so slowly with mobile controls. The puzzles that actually took me longer than a minute to figure out usually took me 10 minutes or more, and I had a great time solving them. But these only started showing up after level 80, and many levels after 80 tend to just be more tedious and larger rather than necessarily more difficult.

Actually, the experience of going through these simple levels for so long reminded me of void stranger. The atmosphere and artstyle was quite a bit worse, and the lack of music certainly impacted the experience, but the gameplay loop of solving tons of really short and simple levels was very reminiscent. I enjoyed void stranger more, I'd say. The earlygame was more fun because the tile moving mechanic was novel and the atmosphere was great at motivating me, and once I got into the lategame of that, there were far less 'easy but super long' puzzles and more 'short but extremely difficult' levels. To bring this back to bean and baba, I'd say void stranger felt more like baba in how open ended it felt, while microban felt more like bean with how limited my options felt. I'll say that when it comes to the easier puzzles, I liked bean and nothingness more than microban, but when it came to the puzzles that stumped me, I liked microban more than bean and nothingness. Now, to be fair, I haven't finished either bean or microban, and I never technically played baba myself, so take these opinions with a grain of salt.

to people who started playing bean and nothingness from my video & still haven't watched it, hows the game so far?

[pianostarinwonderland]

If I may add on about the ships, There are specific emojis that indicate that an artist likes that pairing. Examples: 🐉♦️ ; ♣️🌹 ; 🏹👑 in their bio.

Telling this because I had a mutual in the fandom before complaining about it but not directly to the artist thankfully that she didnt know that the artist she likes ships a certain pair when there is the emojis in the artist profile.

I can give examples of twitter artists that makes content for ships but it’s the ones I know of.

Rook x Vil (@Hrmkkuuyo) (@vv_rv0)

First one makes manga type stories and second ones makes cute baby arts. (≧∀≦)

Trey x Jade (@clodol333)

I like that artist artstyle and their coloring method. I look forward to their art a lot. They make kind of story-like content too. (o^^o)

Ace x Deuce (@neterumitai)

I don’t exactly ship them but it seems like a lot of people do judging by their following and likes of Adeuce.

I didn’t give a lot since I prefer self ship so I am not focused on character x character ships but still love it. Hope this helps. ☆��

[Referring to this post]

Oh shit yeah! This is so useful. Often, artists may use emojis in place of ship names, which will help more with your search.

Each character has a certain emoji or two commonly used, which will greatly help you in sifting for all kinds of fanart. Here’s a list of the emojis used for each character:

NOTES TO READ

As far as I know, most dorms do not have a dorm-specific emoji except for Octavinelle. Octavinelle uses 🐚.

Some characters have more than one emoji.

Ruggie, for example, also has 🐆, though I’ve seen donut being used more often.

Kalim is a special case for having at least 6 emojis for him. 😂 The emoji listed on the image is ☀️, but I’ve seen 🦦, 🕌, 🏝, 🦂, and 🏜.

Vil also has 🦚. Personally from my experience, I’ve seen 👑 used more often, but apparently, 🦚 is common.

Idia also uses 🔥. I think same goes for Ortho.

Sebek’s emoji is actually ⚡️. I’m not sure if people use 🐊 for him.

Silver’s emoji is actually ⚔️. I don’t know if 🗡 is used. He may also have 💤.

Crowley also has 🎩, which might be more commonly used.

Crewel also uses ⚗️. It might actually be the more common one.

Trein’s emoji is also 📖. I hope I got the right book emoji. 😭

Sam also has ☠️, which might be more commonly used.

[amalasdraws]

I think about your OC’s a lot and maybe I just need to catch up on my Taran lore, but can Tao cook? And is Aran good at cooking/ does he like it?

I ask this bcs I mainly see them with takeout, or eating out. They also seem to have an affinity with snack kiosks :) I have only ever seen Aran in the kitchen and one time it was heating a tortilla? (I think it was a tortilla) over an open flame on the stove - which is easy, but also makes me worried for his safety in the kitchen.

That particular artwork made me think of him with those character bandaids I used to have as a kid in the early 2000’s all over his hands bcs he accidentally burns himself on the open flame bcs of his bad kitchen safety (I say this as someone who rarely cooks and also has bad kitchen safety).

Sorry for the long Ask, I kind of went down a wormhole of a thought-train, again I love your artstyle and your OC’s and can’t wait to see more of what you do :)

OMG!! I love questions like this!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I always get so excited when people love Aran and Tao and want to know more about them!! Wuhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Tao in fact does know how to cook! And he loves cooking! He's very good with it. And it's my fault that I haven't drawing him in the kitchen yet :D I just love those urban public spaces and its items, this is why I love to draw those take out places or love to draw those food containers and a can of soda. And as much as Tao loves to cook he also loves food and loves to try new food so he also loves take out and restaurants. And both he and Aran are often busy and out and about so take out can just be convenient.

Tao's parents own a small food shop/restaurant and he grew up with learning about food and cooking. He loves it. And he loves to try new things and experiment. I guess one of the reasons why I haven't drawn him in the kitchen yet is that I have to really think what he would cook, how and how his kitchen would look like. He would have a lot of great items. And I don't have his kitchen knowledge :D

But as much as Tao loves it he is also often busy, out a lot, and has adhd. So he can totally zone in on cooking and new recipes, or find it way too overwhelming and rather go for a run and get take out.

Aran, well, Aran's kitchen knowledge is limited. he knows some basics and has some things down, but in general he is a bit helpless in the kitchen. But keep in mind when we meet him in the story he is 19/20. And he has still a lot of time to learn! And he does! Once he lives together with Tao he will learn things and get better.

And no he is still not in danger in the kitchen :D The thing he heat up over the stove was arabic flat bread and it's a common way to heat it up again like this, to make it soft, warm and tasty again. He grew up doing it like this and knows what he is doing.

Never be sorry for a long ask!! I loved this! THANK YOU!! Feel free to ask other things about them if you ever go down the wormhole again :D

[tatiejosie]

17. any art tips?

23. Recommend some music!

#17 | If you're not feeling satisfied with your art, try to pinpoint exactly what you have to improve in order to directly work on it. Take a good look at your art, and carefully analyse what's not clicking with your brain.

Common stuff to look for: lack of dynamism, anatomy issues, lack of distinct personal style, too different to the kind of art that you like General solutions: more sketchings and push your impulsivity as you draw! take the time to make studies! take the time to experiment! analyse the art that you like and see what you can import into your own artstyle!

Most importantly, please show your art and only gather feedback from people who you trust, and who know how to actually analyse art and give proper feedback. There's a distinct difference between "oh i like the character's outfit, but the ankle looks a bit wonky here be careful" and "oh damn i'm getting [reference 1] vibes from that, i think it's the vibrant coloring style that reminds me of the [reference 2] atmosphere. The way you're portraying the character's emotion through [type of stylization] is interesting, it's a bit like [creator]'s way of portraying [topic] in [reference 3]. I can see that you're going for [vibe], is that correct? I'd advise you to look at [reference 4], you would like it, and maybe see if you can try [art medium, coloring style, etc.] to make it more [vibe]?"

#23 | I'm sorry in advance for being insufferable,,

jk jk i won't mention Persona. this time

Lyrics or r/im14andthatsdeep wise, I'd recommend Stromae's works, such as L'Enfer [electro-depression] and Alors on danse [upbeat depression]. There are way too many francophone artists who produce solar-level, soul-wrenching-tier music??? And in the same vein we also have Stupeflip, go for The Antidote [electro/RnB].

Vibe-wise, I've been pretty hooked on Takayan's Underdogs [upbeat electroswing/RnB] and Kikuo's Cloud cloud forecast [upbeat/electronic/whatever tf is up with Kikuo/Hanatan's stellar vocals].

I have a very versatile taste in music and I'll listen to the dumbest shit tho. I love talking about music!!!! Just accept that I'm cringe and we'll get along!!