#and idk how applicable that should actually be to this setting

[celiaelise]

Lately I've been watching "Emma: a Victorian Romance", an anime from 2005, which has made the very bold and slightly confusing choice to be a romance set in historical England, that shares the name of one of THE most popular, well-known, and widely-adapted romances set in historical England. And having absolutely nothing in common with it.

Anyway, it's fun, I'm having a good time. There are some things that seem really well-researched, like shots of specific tools or gadgets that seem like they must be period-accurate for how bizarre they are, and then there are moments of glaring comedic inaccuracies. (as is to be expected, I suppose!)

(Well, the entire premise involves a nobleman falling in love with a housemaid, so it requires you to suspend a lot of disbelief from the get-go.)

I also don't actually know my historical time periods well enough to know if it is authentically Victorian or not. The most convincingly British thing about it, so far, is the Orientalism with which the Indian character is treated by the narrative. I didn't know Japanese anime could do that! You learn something new every day.

[itspileofgoodthings]

Random thought but I do think that fun can be such a good marker of whether or not something is healthy for you or even sometimes if it’s just good in general.

[2-dsimp]

So Harumu is a home wrecker basically? What if darling was just married for idk tax reasons or just to help a friend? I could totally see darling still saying no to him because what kind of person goes after someone who thinks you’re married?

I also would like to know how many marriages he’s broken up? Or if he would lose interest in darling once they actually want to be with him like in a relationship?

I know if I was with him for whatever reason I would be constantly concerned he’d cheat on me just to feel better about himself 🤷‍♀️ but that’s just me

No, Harumu is only a Homewrecker when it pertains to you specifically. The shapeshifters never intentionally broken up any homes before. And if it did happen, it was accidental as it couldn’t be helped due to his beauty that makes jaws drop to the floor.

Not that he’d entertain such things since Harumu was too in love with themself to even consider dating. Not to mention, the word hookup gave him the ick. The notion of it was disgusting to him, As he knows that he’s the prize. And should be handled and pampered with care long term (aka for the rest of his life).

For a little backstory on his main story which I’m coming out with…soon possibly(?)👀

Harumu is the spoiled ONLY child of his family’s international beauty company. And you happened to be in charge of managing him due to your experience and credentials. But the kicker is that the shapeshifter who was notorious for not wanting a manager to begin with.

Picked you out of the hundreds of thousands of applicants. Applying to manage him because your nonchalance caught his eye. Sure he was offended at first, like

why the hell weren’t you looking at him in awe. Were you blind? He should see your jaw hit the floor alongside that signature “ohmygod” leaving your lips.

How could you not swoon when he struts into the room? He was a goddamned paragon in the flesh.

But all you did was brief him on work schedule and make sure to set up to his preferences. To the exact dot, which he appreciated but scoffed at the same time.

From that day on Harumu was set on making you see the error of your ways of not immediately fawning over their pretty face. By actually trying to seduce someone (you) for the first time in his life.

At first it was to make a point and soothe their bruised ego. But overtime he gradually comes to genuinely care about you other than himself. Which was yet another first for him. So to his surprise when he finally found out you had a husband…

The shapeshifter went ballistic especially with how said husband takes you for granted…But that’s another story for later.

A/n: might change his name title to shapeshifter lol seems like a better fit XD

[charmedreincarnation]

Ya bitch got into the void state

Champagne anon here and your mf girlll got in the mf void state and manifested her dream life. This happened a week ago, and I’ve been chilling but I do wanna share my story to help others. Gotta give Thanks to Maya, and so many other bloggers and even anon. Y’all hoes will forever be in my heart, and I’m forever grateful 🥹 also Maya girl you told me when I succeed to get into detail and I got nothing to do for the next two hours so imaaa just share it all here in detail.

I also wanna especially thank all the black creators on tumblr!! I didn’t know there were so many of us using the law. It always seems the world is so against us, and there’s nothing we can do abt it but nahhhh!! we can all live our best melanated lives regardless. Periodt, as we should it’s about goddamned time after everything we’ve been though 😂

Anyways!!!! after reading this: https://www.tumblr.com/charmedreincarnation/717864613626134528/im-your-bubble-anon-but-i-made-this-burner-to success story yesterday I got hella motivated. I read that shit and I thought I posted it on accident because it was everything I had been through, and had been thinking anyways. That anon ate your tumblr habits btw. If y’all haven’t seen my good sis’s sucess post go check that shut out rn, On god it will help.

At the end that anon (my mf dawg 🙏) included that they manifested for everyone. Now ion know if that shit actually work tbh. I’ve seen people say you can and can’t, but tbh the vibes were too high for me to doubt. I was like ight, okay fuck it, ima leave my dream life. Whether it me, that anon, or the devil himself ion give a fuck.

So that’s whatssss a bitch did!!! I just affirmed all day it was very fulfilling. People who hate on affirming are mad corny. I can’t lie that shit works hella fast even if you don’t believe it. Idk if that anon’s void manifesting helped or what but I didn’t do much and after 3 months of trying I entered the damn void state. I’m mad I thought I had to be on some ghandi shit to do this (no hate to him hes da man) but you rlly don’t y’all. BUT LEMME TALK MY SHIT ALL YOU NEED IS AFFIRMING AND PERSISTENCE.

Anyways I went go bed excited asl!! I wrote my script that was like 10 pages long I can’t lie I did the most… but it’s whateva. I woke up in the void state after waking up at 4 am or sum, and i was like oh shityyyt lemme manifest rq and skrttt out this hoe. So that’s what a mf did 😂😂

Anyways the part y’all’s is waiting for. This is what ya girl manifested

Desired face and body. I was in shock how all the details came to life. Y’all im a solid 100/10 it’s giving natural bbl and Aliyah. I swear to gahhh everywhere I go people be trying to peep. I’m not used to being treated like a fucking celeb everywhere I go, whole time it’s just my fat gyattttt

Being the hottest 16 yr old IT GIRL at my school, and having lucky girl syndrome. People call me a mini jayda wayda, but tbh I’m better than her now. No hoe is ever gonna cheat on meee like they did her…bye. She’s still gorgeous as fuck tho

Perfect school life. Your girl is set to be the Valedictorian when I graduate (my school has 4!) I’m also sophomore year President, captain of the basketball team, apart of some volunteer programs through my school, and so much more. My resume and college application is abt to be so fuckin fire in 2 years. As I should Columbia is a competitive ass school 😤😤 that aside everyone always tryna link, I got 3 guys fighting over me (whole damn love square), so many people tryna be my friends, teachers love me, and I excel in everything I do.

My Family being rich assss fuck. My dad got a Wikipedia now and his net worth is 22 million dollars. He owns a hedge fund company now, we love a man in finance 😍😍 AS HE FUCKING SHOULD. He got a material gurlll daughter. Two in fact now.

Fire ass crib. Bro it’s a 9 million dollar penthouse, perfect for ragers. I woke up here and my room is decorated to my personality, pintrest clothes all in my closet, I got an exotic pitbull and frenchie, and the house is just mad clean and fire, I’m obsessed with it. Rarely ever wanna leave now.

My mom not being strict. That bald headed ass hoe use to be mad annoying. Y’all know how Haitians are. Mad annoying as fuck and strict for no reason. Now I go out everyday and come home at midnight and no one gives a fuck. Everyone minds their own business as they should.

Having an older brother and younger sister. I was an only child, because I was a miracle baby bc my mom was infertile. Now she got 3 of us, so she can stop being only in my buisness. I’m just playin I love my mom regardless she’s just hella clingy. Anyways my brother is mad protective but also be wrestling mad aggressive for no damn reason. He gave me a bruise but it’s whateva Ima get my lick back. I also always wanted to be an older sister, bc I’d love to be a role model! My sister is 10 and adores me soo much it’s so adorable 🥹 lmfaooo, she’s mad spoiled by me and my mom but it is what it is.

Successful lip gloss business and being a successful drop shipper. Now you didn’t think a sista wasn’t gonna give herself a career just because I’m young right 🤨🤨 we’ll ya wrong. Ya girl is making 200k-400k a year. I barely even use my money cause I got an allowance from my parents… but still, financial literacy and wealth is so important to me especially as a black woman.

A pookie bae. Y’all know I wasn’t gonna deal with finding a loyal cute and funny guy in nyc. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack. Anyways I got me a fine ass boo. I just wrote down all the features I wanted in him like for exampleS finically secure so he can spoil me, handsome as fuck, tall, funny asl, kind, little clingy, deep raspy voice, nice hand, good hygiene and style,yanno yanooo !!! Plus some other shit and whewww the void did me so good. Nowww my boo bear is a lil cracker and I’ve never dated a white boy befuh but my am I surprised. I wake up everyday with some long ass appreciation texts and plans already made ! Y’all know I love me a dominant man who knows what he wants. He’s got some nice ass clothes, nice car and crib, made me a passenger princess and spoils me way too much. He doesn’t complain abt my mood swings and simps in the best way possible. Not to mention he’s fine afkkk he’s giving vinnie hacker. He’s also 6’1 and I’m 5’1 so that height difference is soooo hot I can’t lie I feel so so safe with him 🫣 I could go on all day but in short he’s more than perfect

+ so much more but this is what shocked me the most. Anyways I’ve been living like this for the past week and it just feel so natural. I keep forgetting I got into the void but whateva I’m the only who knows anyways. Anyways live yo best life and neva give upppp. I gotta go but I’ll probably eventually make a blog. My names angela so look out for it. I’m just mad lazy soo idk tho !!!

Angela out 🫡✌️

Girl this was so fun to read, I’m just as excited for you lmfao. I love seeing black women win, and thank you for sharing your methods! Enjoy your best life and come back if it resonates with your life bae !!!

[euthymiya]

acting like you’re some woke person just because you advocate for middle aged women to be lifeless on the internet is not the flex you think it is 💀

You seem rather passionate about this so I’m going to indulge your ask to let you know three things:

Writing is a hobby that gets better with age, life experience, and practice. The best pieces of writing objectively come from older people and I’m not talking about fanfiction. I mean books and literature. I’m serious—go look at some of the most well known pieces of literature and then search up the ages of their authors during the years they were published. You’ll find the older writers tend to bust out bangers and this principle is very much applicable to fics too by default. Also writing fanfic is not “lifeless” lol. Some of you act like writing fanfic is juvenile compared to a novel and it’s rly not that different from writing an original piece of fiction. Sure, sometimes fanfic can be a little less on the conventional side in terms of technique. But genuinely the concept of putting characters into situations to create a plot is literally the main thing on both sides here and if you think writing fanfic is silly, it makes 0 sense to hold creative writing to some pedestal. Some fanfic writers demonstrate AMAZING original world building skills especially if they write au’s that diverge from canon and I think you are out of your mind if you think this hobby is not oftentimes an impressive one rather than “lifeless”

Being 30+ doesn’t automatically mean you must/do have a family and kids but I’ll still indulge that point and say you can easily balance a work and personal life while also having a hobby. I know middle aged men who dedicate more time to hobbies like hunting and fishing than middle aged women do with writing. One actually requires you to leave your house and family behind and the other you can do from the comfort of your home and tend to your family should you need to. I think the nature of your opinion only stems from a misogynistic view on aging women but that’s another can of worms

People don’t stop consuming and enjoying things as soon as they hit their third decade of living. If that’s your viewpoint on life, you’re going to set yourself up for a very miserable time once you hit 30. If you’re already 30+ then you’re a hypocrite by default by even being here in the first place lol. Also, life is literally so fucking silly okay? You wake up, work, pay taxes, and try to get by with what is usually an underpaid paycheck. Just fucking enjoy your life and let others enjoy theirs okay? If a 30 year old likes anime, then that is literally so god damn harmless I cannot stress enough how unimportant that is. There are 30 year olds out there doing heinous things in their free time and you choose to be bothered by someone who happens to produce an assortment of words from time to time. Please reevaluate your priorities

All things aside I cannot convince you that being 30+ and enjoying fandom and fanfic is not weird unless you really just realize that it’s not weird. Idk how old you are but I assume you’re younger than 30 because no 30 year old would be on fandom tumblr and then bash others for it. But regardless, just because you think something is weird doesn’t mean it’s bad. It is literally the most harmless thing I do not understand why you would care so much, just move on???? When you think someone dresses weird in real life do you go point it out to them??? No you think it to yourself and move tf on—and if you would voice it to them then you are literally a rude individual. Plain and simple. Rude and disrespectful and I would suggest you again, reevaluate. And it’s the same principle here. You just move on. If you seriously cannot be convinced that this is normal and just absolutely are dead set on believing that 30+ year olds who enjoy fandom are weird, fine. But just keep it to yourself it is the bare minimum you can do to be a decent person I cannot stress this enough to you

And one more thing. The people who are writing the mangas and animes you enjoy so much are middle aged. Older than 30/40. Grown people who might even have families and kids. Creativity has no age limit it is just a small joy that people indulge in at any age and it’s a very nice thing when they share it for others to enjoy, as well. Please just enjoy someone’s art and live a little. I promise you will be much happier and peaceful if you just read a good fic without worrying about the age of whoever produced it. I guarantee you a lot of the BEST fics you’ll read will come from the older writers they are literally doing you a favor if you happen to enjoy reading fanfic. Why bite the hand that feeds you?

[loveiis]

oh you fancy, huh?

chris sturniolo x black!fem!reader

summary: chris pretty much has a thing for seeing you all dolled up for a just a day of spoiling you. he loves spending his money on you all the time and seeing your reaction when he randomly takes you out to get your nails done and go shopping.

warnings: suggestive jokes, cursing, fluffy, NOT PROOFREAD

(A/N: i am somewhat proud of this but also not at the same time. i literally wrote this because apparently it was an idea i recently had. idk.)

“come on ma, you’ve been in that bathroom for an hour already.” chris called from the other side. “sorry bae, im coming i promise. one more thing.” you responded, dragging your lip gloss across your lips.

you forced the applicator back into the container, and walked out the bathroom to see your boyfriend scrolling on his phone. he looked up at you, looking at how beautiful you looked dolled up like this.

“damn, i didn’t know you were doing all that.” placing his phone in his pocket, he kissed up and down your neck softly. “chriiis, let’s go i’m ready.” you cupped your hands around his neck as he kissed up your jawline and finally placed a kiss on your lips.

“mm, i like that cherry.” licking his lips and tasting the bit of lipgloss on his lips now. “ew, chris. dont eat the lipgloss.” you swiped it from his mouth with your thumb. “i’ll eat you if you don’t stop touching my lips like that.” he looked down at you with low eyes.

you removed your thumb from his mouth and instead held his hand. “lets go, please. you’ve been waiting and i feel bad.” you say softly. “its okay, ma. it was worth the wait to see you look like a full course meal.” he smirked.

“chris.” you glared at him. “okay, sorry. let’s go.” he started walking, keeping his hand intertwined with yours.

he opened the car door for you, giving him a small “thank you” before settling in. he got into the drivers seat and started the car.

“we should go get your nails done before we go shopping.” he stares at you. “how’d you know i needed to get them done again?” you quirked an eyebrow.

“cause’ i got you a tech without your permission. you haven’t been able to tell by the amount of times i’ve taken you to get them done again?” he replies.

“no, actually i didn’t notice. that’s so sweet of you, baby you know you don’t have to do all this.” you hold his hand as a thank you.

“actually i do, spoiling you is my middle name.” he kissed the top of your hand. yeah, you’re marrying this guy.

he pulled out of the driveway, starting his destination to the place you usually get your nails done at.

——

“hey girl good to see you again!” the nail tech, rachael, greeted you. “heyy!” you gave her a nice hug. “so what we getting today?” she asked. you didn’t really plan this out, since it was kind of a last minute decision made by your boyfriend.

“ummmm….” you slowly turn to look at your boyfriend, who’s again, scrolling on tiktok. “ma, you know you can get whatever you want. i’m not going anywhere.” he deadpanned.

you rolled your eyes as you thought about what you should get. “uh, lets just do regular coffin french tips.” you turned to smile at her. “feet too? or no?” she asked. “no, not today.” you shook your head. “okay, lets get started.” she walked towards a manicure table and sat in the chair, as you followed behind and sat on the other side.

your boyfriend sat in the chair next to you, at the other manicure table. she started to get to work on your nails, as your boyfriend sat patiently next to you, occasionally checking on the process to make sure they look nice.

——

“baby, they’re done.” you wiggle your fingers in front of him, showing off your new set. he immediately looked up from his phone, smiling. you smile, doing a little shoulder dance, happy with your new nails.

chris loved to see you like this, happy with new things he bought you, looking like the happiest girl in the world.

you both stood up from your chairs, moving to the front desk to pay. “you look so pretty, baby.” chris stood behind you, his hands on your hips and kissing your neck.

rachael smiled and mouthed the words “yall are so cute”. you smiled at her comment. “how much?” you asked. “twenty dollars.” she leaned over the counter. “twenty? thats different from the last time i got these.” you questioned.

“yeah, twenty dollars because i love you guys. we’re like family now.” she shrugged. you chuckled, reaching into your purse to grab a twenty dollar bill, until a hand slapped your wrist.

“ow! what the fuck chris?!” you twisted your head a bit to look at him, who was still kissing your neck. using his left arm to hug your waist, he used his right to pull out his black card and hand it to you. “its just twenty dollars, jesus you don’t need to flex. its only rachael.” you rolled your eyes, handing rachael the card.

she scanned the card, and handed it back to you. “have a great day guys!” she waved at both of you. chris stopped kissing your neck and waved as you did too. you both walked out of the place, chris’ arm wrapped around your waist. “thank you baby.” you kissed his cheek as a reward.

“you say thank you in that tone again and i swear to god im gonna fuck the shit out of you.” he says, pressing the button to unlock the car. “whats going on with you today?” you get in the car as he holds the door for you.

he gets in the car, starting it up. “nothing, you’re irresistible, you know that.” he pulled out the parking lot, his right hand on your thigh.

——

you arrived at the mall, chris holding your hand as you both walked in together. chris had felt pretty scared since you were looking a little too good today and you were out in public.

“lets go to windsor.” you suggested. “wherever you want, just take me there. don’t even ask.” he once again kissed your hand, but kept holding it as you led him to windsor.

you looked around at the dresses, grabbing a formal one, and a sundress. he wasn’t really paying attention to what you were grabbing, so you went into the fitting rooms with him.

he waited outside while you tried on the formal dress, it was a sparkly blue skin tight dress.

“okay, im done.” you came out the tiny fitting room, stopping in front of your boyfriend who was sitting down on the complementary bench. he looked up at you. “what’s this dress for?” he caressed your sides with his hands.

“maybe for like parties or something, when i wanna go out with my girlfriends.” you looked at him, knowing he was going to say something stupid.

“oh you fancy, huh?” he smiled at you. “boy what do you know about fancy?” you chuckled.

“i listen to that song, what do you mean?” he continued rubbing your sides. “mhm, sure baby.” you laughed. “don’t doubt me, ma.” he said. you shook your head, and went back to the room to try on the next dress.

you came out again, this time with the sundress on. you gave him a little twirl and asked him what he thought about it.

he didnt say anything, but he stood up and got closer to you. he placed his hands on your hips and smiled. “you look so fucking beautiful. in everything. even in what you were wearing today.” he started to kiss your neck, again, for like the third time today.

“does this mean i can get both dresses?” you removed his face from the crook of your neck and looked into his eyes. “yes, baby. get whatever you want. just grab it.” he looked back at you.

he seemed entranced by you. like you put him under a spell today, he has never said no to his sweet girl, and he never will.

you kiss him softly on the lips and go back to the fitting room to change back.

you grab both of the dresses and head to the register, chris immediately giving you his black card again.

you started to hit more stores, never forgetting to say thank you to your lovely boyfriend everytime he got you something. even though there were clothes he didn’t like, but you did, he couldn’t say no. you were his weakness, and the way you looked today just made him even weaker.

chris carrying about four clothing bags and you carrying three sephora bags headed back to the car. putting the bags in the backseat you sat in the front as he got in the drivers seat.

“i love you so much chris. thank you for today, you know you didn’t have to.” you smiled at him. god he was gonna lose it if you smiled at him like that again.

“i do have to, i’m never going to not spoil you. i love you too, okay?” he lifted your chin with his index and thumb and placed a light kiss on your lips. “still liking that cherry flavor, ma.” he licked his lips, smirking. you rolled your eyes as he plugged in the aux cord.

“oh lord, what’re you about to play now?” you looked at him. “you’ll see.” he grinned at you.

“Go, go 'head (Go, go, go)”

“oh my god, chris.” you smiled, knowing he was playing Fancy by Drake. he started to head bop to the beat, you joined in after a little while.

“this song was made for you baby.” he says, driving out the parking lot. “that’s what you think.” you looked out the window, listening to the song.

“oh you fancy, huh?” chris sang along with the lyrics.

——

when you arrived back home, you both took the bags inside and placed them upstairs as you started to get unready.

chris was now in grey sweatpants and a white shirt, while you removed your makeup and wore one of chris’ shirts and nothing but underwear underneath.

chris laid back in the bed, waiting for you to finish whatever you were doing. you came out, no makeup or anything like that on. “you still look so pretty. how am i so lucky to have such a beautiful girl?” he opened his arms as you climbed into them.

you laid on his chest, his right arm around your waist and your right leg across his. he used his other arm to pull up the covers, and then placed it back on you.

“thank you baby.” you lifted your head a bit to look at chris, then scooted up a bit to cup his cheeks in your palms, and placed a bunch of kisses all over his face. you wanted to show him how thankful you are for a man like him.

“stop kissing me im seriously about to lose it.” he halted your actions. you went back down to your position, chris rubbing your back in up and down motions.

you get more comfortable as your eyelids started to feel heavier, falling asleep in your boyfriends arms.

[vangbelsing]

Time for my ten morbillionth vent post for Veilguard. Or more accurately, me bellyaching about my very specific nitpicks that most other people will not have. Not really gonna include spoilers, but I'll add a cut since I'm certain not everyone is keen to read yet another complaint post for this game. So if you're not interested in reading a huge vent post about Rook, go ahead and skip this.

I have to say, for as much as I like the game, I think all of my pre launch anxieties were well founded. Rook is actually everything I assumed they would be, and I do not mean that as a compliment. And no, I'm not upset that pre launch headcanons are largely not applicable to Rook, but I do think that Rook is several steps back from the Inquisitor. I've always maintained that Inky was one of the best rpg protagonists in any of the games I've played, and this has just solidified it.

Inky was perfect to me. They couldn't be evil, but you had so many opportunities to flesh out who they are, what they believe, their personality and what their life was like before. And despite Veilguard having a wider variety of options for customizing your characters background, it actually feels more rigid than DAI. Not only does Rook feel less like my character in terms of their personality, a lot of their background, regardless of what you picked, feels more set.

I also have a huge beef with how Rook is treated. Where the Inquisitor was age ambiguous and could ultimately be played as pretty much any age you wanted, with only a handful of places where it could be argued to that the dialogue might come off as immersion breaking, Rook is treated like they're fresh out of college at oldest, constantly being called "kid" or having characters bring up their youth. Not only does it feel restrictive in terms of character building, I'm personally just legitimately sick of being forced to play 20 somethings for every single game. My characters age should be a choice, or ideally, not brought up at all. What is the point in letting me customize my character to look older or mature if you're just going to practically ruffle their hair and call them a silly scamp no matter what I do?

(And yes, before anyone brings it up, I'm painfully aware that DAO and DA2 are actually guilty of this as well. DAO being the even worse example, considering you can not only make your character look 87 while having an older brother look younger than you are or a cousin of similar age look like your grandchild, but every one of your family members, no matter your origin, is always white, even if you are not. So literally every DA game has handled that better than Origins.)

I feel like, in some ways, BioWare knows their player base too well, and that's both good and bad. I think they know their players will ultimately ignore things and rewrite/headcanon things for themselves, and I think that will often lead to them deciding something isn't worth investing in since the fans will just do the work themselves. And I don't want that to come off as vitriol towards the team or an undermining of the effort that went into this game. I know it was hell, and I know that time, budgeting and other things had an impact on what the team was able to do, but I feel like deciding to make Rook some young 20 year old that apparently is oblivious by default wasn't so much an accident caused by development problems so much as it was a choice. You should be able to play your Rook that way, certainly, but in an rpg about choice, shouldn't you be able to... Idk, roleplay and choose??

I'm just disappointed because I thought the Inquisitor was almost perfect, and Rook feels like a massive downgrade. In a game for which one of the core pillars was lauded as "be who you want to be," it's just a bit of a letdown that I'm less able to be who I want to be than in any DA game before, except for maybe DA2. And it's doubly upsetting, because in some areas, Veilguard is actually so good about roleplay. Getting to choose your characters identity, getting to decide whether Rook is a virgin or if they have experience, etc. Smaller things like that feel so personal, but they're so few compared to the parts that feel like my choices for who Rook is aren't meaningful.

I just don't think I should have to shake my head and go "nuh uh" every time my Rook speaks in order to build a character that I find enjoyable to play. And I say all of this as someone who genuinely enjoys this game. The game has its issues, but I truly do find it such an enjoyable experience. Except for Rook. My Rook in my mind is so different from how I can make them due to how limited the rp is, and that's never been the case for a Dragon Age game before.

That's it, that's the post. If you got to the end, I'm SO SORRY you had to read my whining. Have a random Emmrich for your trouble 🙏

[hezuart]

Btw have you seen Disney’s wish and if so what’s your review on it? And how would you Rewrite the story? To me it had interesting contact about your Wishes being a part of yourselves and without it you feel hollow but too bad it was written poorly. The “Villain” Magnifico kind of had the point of not all of the wishes are supposed to be granted Example “My Wish is to get a Rocket Launcher to aim that Talking Goat and the rest of This Freaking Kingdom!” With that said next is Asha! There is no reason for her to be “Adorkable” or “Quirky” we already have Princesses and Characters like that! let them have their own Personality Already!! One problem with Asha is she should have been Magnifico’s Apprentice for a long time in the start but instead of selecting her to Be His “Apprentice” throughout the Movie 🤦🏻‍♀️ and have you seen the Concept Arts?👀 Spoilers! King and Queen are supposed to be Evil Together! and The “Star” is supposed to be like a person or it? That comes from the stars? it would’ve been cool to named it “Stardust” instead of “star” the concept art looks so Amazing than the one we have now and Also No Comedy in this movie it’s to Boring and so as the Songs 😴 we’ve been ROBBED! (The Animation is Nice but I wouldn’t compare it to Spiderverse or TMNT or Puss in boots or The Bad Guys🤔) Anyways what do you think? I want to know your opinion, see you!🙋🏻‍♀️

I might write a review if I have time, but omygod Disney's Wish is SOOOOooooo bad. SO bad. The characters are flat, its nothing but forced in references to other Disney movies, the plot is boring, the songs have all this bravado and make them not catchy- the setting is supposed to be in the Mediterranean but all the animals are from the USA implying they are all invasive species brought over from the settlers of other countries- the comic relief characters aren't funny- the goat himself should be deleted he is so annoying- The star is like, ultimate magic. He made animals sentient, he can make things fly- he can change the size of things like a giant chicken- but he can't open a fcking roof? He can't grant people's wishes? He sort of implies he left that power to Asha, but she sucks at magic. She's the worst person to be handling it. The entire marketing campaign for this movie was about how the villain is "classic Disney". He's NOT???? He's just a narcissistic traumatized(?) control freak King. But then he touches a dark book of magic and now suddenly he's 100% evil and there's no going back for him. Even his wife implies that the book changed him, that the dark magic corrupted her husband beyond repair. The dark magic influenced his personality to make him darker, but he wasn't a legitimate true villain. Classic Disney villains have always been full of themselves. They always manipulated and abused people. They aren't afraid to hurt and kill people. They relish other people's suffering. This King is not like them. They were trying to make him sympathetic from the beginning with actual real reasons to control the kingdom as he does. They do a 180 on his personality. Dude fled from his previous homeland ravaged by war, and has been serving his kingdom for years, he's basically customer service and people can be demanding and needy. Asha herself takes the opportunity to try and weasel in her grandfather's wish through her apprenticeship application and the King is like "Yep. Here we go again."

But the way they show those reasons make his entire operation look stupid. They're like "Look how evil he is for not granting wishes because his judgment is slightly skewed. Look at how evil he is for not returning the wishes because he's------- idk, a control freak? Due to his trauma?" The concept art is definitely better than the final product. I feel like it would have been a decent movie with the original concept. But what annoys me the most is that Disney thinks this is a celebration of 100 years of Disney. It's not! They're only really celebrating the last decade of quirky flat characters, mostly 3D animation, and poor storytelling. The thing that makes me the most angry out of the whole movie? The wishes. The entire concept is nonsense. The bad guy claims that Asha's grandfather's wish is too dangerous to grant. The wish? He's singing to people. fcking WHAT. "I want to be an exclusive tailor." "I want to be a sailor!" "I want to sing to kids and inspire them-" THE PEOPLE OF ROSAS ARE SO STUPID.??????? THEY CAN ACHIEVE THOSE CAREERS ON THEIR OWN. THE KING OF ROSAS. IS A SORCERER.

We have TWO wishes that are actually physically impossible and magical. "I want to talk to birds!" "I want to fly!" ARE YOU TELLING ME. THAT NO ONE WANTS TO BECOME A FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON AT WILL? HAVE TELEKINESIS? BE A STRONG BODYBUILDER WHO CAN LIFT BUILDINGS? READ MINDS? SEE THE FUTURE? OWN A GIANT CHICKEN THAT GIVES GOLDEN EGGS? WISH TO BE A FAIRY TO CHANGE THEIR SIZE AT WILL?

THOSE. ARE ACTUAL DANGEROUS, UNACHIEVABLE WISHES WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU HAVE A WISH OF WANTING A CAREER AS A FARMER WHEN YOU COULD WISH TO HAVE TOTAL CONTROL OVER PLANT LIFE AT WILL? THE PEOPLE OF ROSAS ARE SO DUMB I CANT WITH THIS IM SORRY IM SO MAD AT THIS MOVIE And the wishes themselves like- people don't have the same wish forever. Someone in the crowd even asked, "Can we change our wish?" It's implied maybe they can even have more than one. They also straight up forget their wish when they give it up to the King? This whole thing feels like a weird metaphor for real life in a magical setting. It doesn't make sense to me.

One of my friends said they heard a theory that this entire movie is secretly a jab at Corporate Monopoly Disney, how they won't let anyone else be magical (monopoly), how they only choose 12 wishes a year to grant (Internships), and how the wishes they choose to grant are useless to the kingdom because anything else more creative or inspiring is a threat (regurgitated sequels, uninspired stories, boring formula) and how the ending is about defeating the "villain" (Disney) and moving on to try and achieve your dreams yourself (Form a Union, start your own businesses, take back animated media) and viewing the movie through THAT lens is actually incredibly metaphorically genius and made the movie less terrible for me, intentional or not But yeah anyway, Wish is bad. I keep telling people. Disney is so dumb. THIS is what people want for a Disney celebration: CROSSOVER. DISNEY CINEMATIC UNIVERSE. Disney will probably do it badly but I'm telling you, people have been wanting this for YEARS.

They did it with House of Mouse, they can do it again.

[feelrush]

fast .mkv (to .mp4 / .mov / etc) conversion

are you sick and tired of wrangling with .mkv files when you want to make gifs? are you mad at all the online converters having a 1gb limit?

download amvpack from amv101.

little tutorial under the cut because some friends have reported a little confusion on what to download! (**note, as far as i can tell, this download will expire by the end of the year, 12/31/2023)

download the appropriate software for your operating system. the website offers windows & mac.

install the package as you usually will, continue through the screens. install which programs you want from the package. you will need AMVtool.

now you should have this application. open it.

4. rename your .mkv file to something short & simple so that it converts easily. i usually choose to do the name of the person i'm giffing. open that file in amvtool by clicking add or dragging the file into the window.

5. you'll want it to say 8bit sdr. for me, 10bit videos have never worked. idk i'm not a computer scientist. we're going to click on configure all now. (*note, you can do multiple .mkv files at once)

6. awesome, now you have this window. choose whatever output location you like. make sure you check copy compatible (recontainer). feel free to mess around with the other settings if you have the time. you can also convert video to .mov if you want. on the audio tab, i change use stream to none, as i don't actually watch what i'm giffing and find audio to take up needless space. click ok to save the settings and the window will close.

7. click start ! this usually takes a minute max for me, depending on how big my file is.

8. celebrate, because now it won't take ages to gif !

[rayroseu]

actually all this talk about sebek or silver fighting against malleus makes me sad akdhkhwod because if you think about it its the very thing that lilia was trying to avoid happening... a conflict between faes and human yk 😭

on another thought, i cant entirely blame malleus, the reason for his overblot is an effect of how dark faes are treated by the other species, feared, excluded, and labelled as strange and too powerful to be even considered as equals/be treated normally.

i think its ironic that the person who should've embraced that reputation is their ruler but he's the first one to feel that it isnt right, i think its been implied by now that human morals like shouldn't be applicable to faes as they have vastly different morals but when consider malleus, hes actually alot more humane based on his what he wishes (a friend, to be invited, have fun) but ig thats what sets him and meleanor apart....

sebeks personality says enough about how dark faes naturally think of themselves: because theyre so powerful and superior, its natural for them to be alone, but all that power leads to loneliness... as what was implied in Book 7.1 where Yuu asks Malleus if the Thorn Fairy (or rather Malleus) was lonely after years of exclusion...

also i want book 7 to reveal why levan, an assumedly dark fae, was desperately trying to make peace between humans and faes, even at the cost of (accidentally) endangering briar land--- (i think briar land lost at the human fae war bcs theyve weakened their defenses against silver owls😭)

maybe Levan's mission isnt just a general "faes and humans should get along"--- as we know, faes and humans DO get along but its only the "light faes" that humans accept (i.e knight of dawn and the 3 good fairies), but their treatment and view with the dark faes is that theyre villainous and should be defeated bcs apparently they're terrifying (implied in lilia's dream)

(even though silver owls was the first to offend them kshdkwj i truly think there was a time that silver owls and briar were "at peace," as henry says he first met meleanor and saw princess glow during a visit (?) at meleanor's castle)

so maybe Levan's actual mission isnt "humans and faes should get along" but rather "for dark faes to be accepted and treated kindly",

plus its makes more sense to center his ideals on dark faes- as we know that Meleanor hates humans and he's her wife so---for now, i dont think she'll approve of a plan that "caters to humans" but she could consider a plan that could give "dark faes more acceptance to the world" so they could be safe

idk where this word vomit is going lol this is just a simple interpretation but i think its just saddening that dark faes are making an effort in understanding humans yet the humans barely make effort to understand faes,,,

there are exceptions like silver and yuu, yet whenever they express their thoughts to others that (their) dark faes are "kind", they get shrugged off 💀💀💀

but ig the conflict never ends until one makes amends lol (sobbing about what mrs zigvolt and lilia endured just to believe in their dream that humans and dark faes can love one another djkdj)

(((i was just wishing twst wouldn't go all out in writing malleus as the “evil overblot villain that must eradicated” then boom a little essay about the profound relationship between dark faes vs other species lol (its the malleus apologist in me guys😭😭)))

[moe-broey]

Okay. Split. May or may not be setting up the Alfonse quotes blog.

I feel like what makes the Guy Is In Some Sort Of Situation dialogue blog (using @/ryoubakuraquotes as a frame of reference) so funny to me is the complete lack of context. I have no idea who he is but he is just having A Day. All of the time. Constantly. And he seems so Normal about it. EXTREMELY funny to me, to see in passing.

Okay. But I'm Split. Esp because there's so many different areas to pull from... Books, Paralogues, Forging Bonds, Tempest Trials (TT is lowest on my priority, but I should absolutely grab the winter Bruno one at very least). Plus unit dialogue in general (castle dialogue, level up, lines you get when you give a unit a skill, 40 convo, voice lines, summon lines when applicable -- "when applicable" bc the base Askr units don't have any!)

LIKE......... there is a part of me that is very tempted to set up an organization system. It might even be a good resource, if everything is properly tagged...

HOWEVER. This is already a massive and stupid endeavor and ABOVE ALL. (... Special trigger dialogue too can't forget that!) ABOVE ALL. It's supposed to be funny to me. Enrichment. Also a way to study his voice. Which makes me think hhgh maybe I Should organize it... AUGH

LIKE ALSO ACTUALLY. ALTS TOO. LIKE. Maybe I should tag alts too... but the zero context...... guy who is just in some sort of situation............ Plus the. Workload. Like. It is... daunting.

What are we thinking.

I also just. I say No Context would be easier, and that may be true in some ways. But. But. My deep Need........ to categorize things........... and also how in the world am I keeping track of any of this. I'm sure I'll develop a system that feels balanced, but like. I feel like.... esp if I'm not doing everything "in order" (maybe I pause during a Book to switch to unit dialogue), it would be SO easy to lose my place.

IDK IDK. I am ready and willing to rawdog this but any thoughts/feedback would be appreciated!!! 🫡

[teardew]

-

im thinking about making a patreon because i .. uh .. i cant justify drawing for myself anymore and its killing me lmao

it takes me really long to draw so any time i hav should be spent on comms... iv been trying to fight off burnout by drawing things i like inbetween commissions like that sv anatomy practice and vampire/werewolf mngling was just for me but it still ended up setting me behind schedule because i had to rest my eyes and wrist afterward. but not only that i also wanna like. make a lot more things ...

like i wanna do animal, insect, architectural, jewelry studies and fashion and character design explorations and try designing icon packs and branch out trying embroidery with mixed media and clothes making and get into making like 3d things with clay and soft sculptures. i wanna make historical fashion coloring books with việt phục and fashion zines ...

also theres a lot of stuff i dont post bc im not sure if anyone would be interested in all the design concepts and notes i had for example the homestuck dreamer outfits or the various sha hualing designs and sketches i had before getting to the thing i posted? like i hav a bunch of different sqh outfit and hair designs but theyr more clothing based and not detailed character/face art ...

idk !! it sounds like an excuse. its like, who cares just post it ! i know i shouldnt value my art by the amount of numbers i get from posting on social media and i dont mostly but its kinda unavoidable ? to me ? i know i only post fanart and ppl follow me for that and its not a bad thing ! being realistic i just dont think anybody but me would be interested in it ??

i dont know. god. i dont know what this post is about. ''i dont think anybody would be interested in the things i really wanna make'' but im thinking about making a patreon for things i really wanna make anyway because thats the only way i can justify it is if i can profit off it in some way. i dont really want to, but with my financial circumstances i dont know. i never wanted to make my livelihood off my art. i dont even consider or call myself an ''artist'' really, i just want to MAKE art

i dont know why i still cant find a steady job after 5 months applying to everything and its making me miserable. its embarassing, they say to be persistent with jobs but calling and even walking in to check on applications and watching employers awkwardly try to turn me away without just flat out telling me no even though none of them hire me is an exercise in public humiliation. how bad do you want a job? bad enough to make a fool of myself with nothing to show for it. and i want to make art for myself to cope but it takes too much time and time is money

maybe this post is about my art anxiety under capitalism. i dont know

i think im safe enough now to admit my friends gofundme i was posting about months ago about helping their friend escape their abusive household was actually my gofundme because i was worried about them finding out and preventing me from leaving or internet stalking me afterwards. i did hav a scare when i got a phone call i thought was from my brother but ended up being a police officer, whos my mother's friend ...

but anyways. me admitting this is just to give context that. i ran hundreds of miles away from financial security and everything i ever knew and im still struggling to find steady income nearly half a year later. i just dont understand what im doing wrong. is it my name? is it because im not from here? iv been working continuously ever since i could legally my resume isnt BAD. am i just stupid? should i have just tried to make peace with my lot in life?

i thought getting away from my family would let me be in a better place to create more art, thats one of the things i was so excited about but this feels just as stressful as when i was the only earner supporting my family during covid. i just want a stable job so i can make art. i dont want making art to be my Job. i dont want to be a ''starving artist'' begging for people to care about my art i just want to make art. but fuck i dont know how to sustain any of this

sorry for this mess. insurance is different out here and i havnt been able to find a psych either so its not like i can talk about this in therapy instead of venting on my art blog. all my life i wanted to make things without the fear of it all being destroyed. the main reason i havnt branched out from illustrations is because its entirety can be saved digitally even if its physically ruined. my sketchbooks were thrown away or ripped apart by my family either from carelessness or anger to hurt me but now that im finally enough safe to have them again or make something i can hold in my hands without the fear that someone will come in break it and make me clean up its corpse i cant afford it

i dont know what to do. is it worth it? is making art worth it? i mean. its worth the rent this month. and i still love drawing god this is probably bad for business because i dont want people to feel bad for commissioning me or anything but not to be dramatic why does it feel like im fucking dying

[astrohkid]

very likely going to flunk one of my classes from this semester and ultimately have no one to blame but myself. just couldn't be bothered to hand things in, start assignments, was never happy with finished assignments. really had a near impossible time adapting to this course and while i take responsibility for not just toughing it out but i also can't help but feel like teaching an observational drawing class online and doing another class entirely self-directed is a recipe for disaster and also feels... scammy. like i wouldn't have chosen this program if i had known ahead of time that those two classes would be taught that way, on top of another class of mine that is all about potential career paths in the various design industries but really has only managed to push me further and further to suicide watch. an entire two classes were dedicated to pushing straight-up propaganda about AI to the point where my prof said outright "do not listen to what the media is saying about AI," and encouraging a group of bright-eyed 18 and 19 yr olds to test out ChatGPT by using it to make schedules and grocery lists and like...... kms. already feel like an insane cranky old person bc how the fuck is this setting up the next generation for anything other than utter failure and further alienation from like, their own habits/skills/practices? are we not alienated enough. i think the reason why i didn't get it together at all is because i felt such a disconnect from the learning systems and it's really like damn... college is truly different than university. i've never had a teacher actively discourage critical thinking before and i think that paired with the lack of evidence that this program will actually transition into graphic design has left me completely disjointed and depressed and anxious 24/7. admittedly i feel less than enthusiastic about a career in graphic design bc all i really want is to know how to use the adobe suite and make video game advertising which is entirely possible as a career i expect but like idk i fear i am weak. next step in my journey is contacting a psychologist and securing some kind of prescription and/or treatment for my anxiety which i am certain stems from adhd. idk. just feel a bit trapped by all potentials atm and scared that i will never be able to self-actualize in the way i think i should be able to. at a real low point rn and feel entitled and stupid for thinking this would be easy and failing to live up to my own promise to myself ahhh

anyway i have some solutions. going to reach out to student success coordinator to see if i can double apply to graphic design - once in jan for general applicants and again in april as part of my program to ensure i get in, but if i flunk this class idk. i will have an exemption for a comms class next semester so it does free me up for a make-up course... i will have to see what's up. i did get two jobs that i'm juggling too, which has been good bc i actually like them and it's good to have money again after almost 6 months whittling down my savings. so i think that like... idk yesterday i was genuinely looking down the barrel symbolically and questioning everything about the future. i think i'm too obsessed with mitigating regret but i think it's bc i'm wired to naturally... avoid making tough choices which inevitably leads to regret. i think i just need to start caring about myself and my future!! why is this the arc i have been stuck in for the last 4 years ugh

[poppyandzena]

Yeah, Saige is very done for me at this point. Her willingness to editorialize the narrative just to support her abusive partners is disgusting.

Saige. Read the doc. Actually read the doc. Your words make it clear you didn’t. Because everything you say is barely applicable to what Spawn went through.

“I exchanged harsher words with my ex-spouse on occasion.” Yeah, and I’m sure Zena and Poppy did too- sorry you can’t have voice recordings of everything. You think Poppy/Zena would admit to harsher? Or even fully recognize it? If I recall, your own partners admit to making Spawn cry on multiple occasions. They just paint the story as “oh they cry in such a way to make me disassociate. So manipulative.” Hmm, bo red flags? To blame their kid for being driven to tears from their actions? Alright. Sure, whatever you say, Saige.

“If drawing boundaries and setting expectations is abuse, idk how you function with others.” This is just proof you didn’t read the doc more than anything. If you think having narrow (less than 10 minutes in some cases) windows for bathroom, food making, JUST GETTING WATER is boundaries and expectations, then you are delusional. And, more importantly, If you think ‘the kid’ should have to follow expectations/boundaries, but Zena and Poppy shouldn’t have to (the document makes it clear they didn’t- they skipped on dishes/chores, took up the kitchen way longer then Spawn ever did, and more), please detail why for me. I’d love to hear THAT excuse.

“I suppose it was abusive to have to check in before making purchases that weren't already budgeted bc they kept spending our income on shit we couldn't afford.” No, that’s not abusive, and also proof you didn’t read the document either. There’s a huge difference between ‘the kid’ and your ex/you- the kid had their own bank account/job/trust fund. That was only their money. Not Poppy’s. Not Zena’s. Your ex and you? Joint money, most likely. If Spawn was on their bank account/using Poppy/Zena’s money to buy things? Yes, completely reasonable to monitor and discuss buying things. The kid’s own money? No, Poppy/Zena had literally 0 rights to control that. You would tell a 18 year old that if their parents are trying to control their kids spending- you’d say “fuck them” I bet- you should in most cases. Why not Poppy/Zena’s kid? Literally just because it’s Poppy/Zena? The only way you could argue this point at all is if you could prove, actually prove, that the kid spent enough that it affected Zena/Poppy (by forcing them to cover for rent, utilities, food, something on Spawn’s behalf).

"Saige Alexis was an abusive spouse bc fae asked her spouse to do things for themself & not constantly expect faer to do everything for them” Saige. Just scroll through until you find Spawn’s chore list for one day. You articulate to me what is POSSIBLY left for Zena/Poppy to do. Spawn did everything FOR Poppy/Zena. Your precious partners are the ones that could afford to do more for their kid WITH A LITERAL, DIAGNOSED HEART CONDITION

I notice a distinct lack of mention of internet restriction. So just because they have physical and mental disabilities, Poppy and Zena had a right to completely restrict internet access? Restrict Spawn from friends and support systems? Reminder- Spawn is an adult that was paying bills too- paying for that internet. But they were still allowed to be punished and have it taken away completely? I have a feeling you and your ex spouse never turned off the internet for each other. “Oh but Spawn had a hot spot.” 10gb. That’s literally nothing. If it was enough to do anything? Spawn wouldn’t have had to go to the library for job applications. So please, give me an excuse for this one this time. Love to hear it.

Just… Saige, either actually read the document, or stay in your fucking lane. You talk a big game about not being believed on your abuse and experiences yourself, but when there’s an abuse victim that’s right there, right in from you, basically begging to be believed- you continue to just blindly believe your partners. You’re no better than everyone you have villianized for not believing you.

You don’t deserve awful shit to happen to you as you are a fellow human being. But you don’t deserve to put victims names into your mouth and minimize their stories just to try and validate your path and make yourself feel good about your life choices.

Read and actually learn or go away, Saige. Live in denial about your choices, or bother to learn your partners may not be these perfect, do no wrong people they try to pretend to be.

^

[superaznchick]

i had a whole rant typed out like 2 days ago that i made while emotional but it will rot in my drafts forever now because i have now spent the required amount of time in the timeout corner and properly digested my emotions to come back and make a fresh new post

idk what corporate girly out there slaving in front of a laptop needs to hear this AGAIN, because i certainly have heard this before but subconsciously dismissed it because Surely That Won't Happen To I, but it DID so i am now yelling at you from the other side

DONT FUCKING TRUST YOUR MANAGER!!!!!!!!! the nuance here is that YES they can be nice, and they can 100% be the best person ever, and they might not even consciously manipulate you. but you are never safe from subconscious manipulation or just straight up incompetence.

if your manager does their job well, it means you are manipulated. BUT if they do their job BAD, you STILL get manipulated!! this is because even if they are incompetent, you will always end up bridging the gap for their incompetence and it will weigh you down and you will NEVER get credit for your work. in fact, you are in danger on both ends of the spectrum - if you manager is good, they'll take credit for your work. if your manager is bad, they'll STILL take credit for your work AND make you suffer for it because they won't even have the skills at least get you the reward you deserve.

ive spent the last 3 years under my do-nothing manager always giving him the benefit of the doubt, "oh he's just a silly lil guy this is his first management job he doesnt know what hes doing" type shit, and i have nothing but stress and resentment to show for it.

i have LITERALLY been DOING HIS JOB FOR HIM. i revamped our meetings, i put sprint processes in place, i drew our team scope/borders and weighed in on who should staff projects. and on TOP of that i did tech lead and regular ic work. i was doing both my job and at least 50% of his because im not a fucking manager and theres only so much i can do.

but all this time my actual skill set as an engineer is deteriorating because ive been begging for mentorshop/coaching since day one i joined the team, which is 100% the manager's job to coach and level up their engineers, but these needs were completely ignored in favor of me trying to get this dumb fucking team together because my manager literally does nothing. he doesn't do his fucking job, and he gets away with it because he has high soft skill!!!! his boss likes him!!! so he will not be punished!!!!!!

i on the other hand am severely punished because i have revealed my hand as a do-all "superstar", im the one that gets 3 projects with the same deadline that i have to do all by myself, im the one thats expected to do all my work and more AND i am the one that takes the brunt of flack when external teams are ultimately disappointed that the deadlines are not met. i get no protection from any of this shit because my manager is fucking incompetent and refuses to step up. whether he consciously or subconsciously does this DOES NOT MATTER!!!! you will ALWAYS eat it at the bottom line!!!

treat your manager like your enemy, never trust them. size them up in your first few 1:1s to see how much they can do for you in terms of your career. if they are NOT delivering results within the first 2-3 months, CLOCK OUT!!!!!! decenter work from your life, shut the laptop at 5pm sharp, put in your bare minimum to not get canned and turn your brain off from all work problems. sometimes the corporate grind is worth it but ONLY if you have someone competent managing you and they are smart enough to recognize that engineers under them need reward and respect to be retained. if they won't or can't retain you, just let it happen!!!! dont overextend yourself it's never worth it

obv im yelling this from my jail cell as a software engineer so idk how much of this is applicable to other fields, but that's my two cents. i have spent way too much time being upset and angry these last few weeks to not vent about it. if this applies to you, pls save yourself the heartache and learn the skill of decentering work for when it comes in handy. im not advocating for indiscriminate quiet quitting bc that can actually be harmful to your financials, but the art of quiet quitting should still be mastered for when the appropriate time arises. use your discretion

[aibouart]

So I’ve had an anon in my drafts for like a year now asking how to get better at being fast at art since I can be a bit speedy (I used to be faster but I’ve slowed down in some areas to take my time BDBDS)

Anyways, I have been thinking abt it constantly since then and decided to just make a video about it, but Vegas cONSTANTLY crashes on me and when I was doing it, I couldn’t upload it anyways due to my terrible internet and the length

SO I’ve decided to just say a summary of it, cuz like, ultimately it’s a lot of things but the primary thing is:

Keyboard shortcuts (and tools)

Fr, you can get super fast at digital art just by navigating your program efficiently. You don’t even need to be fast at the art thing itself (that part is just practice unfortunately). If you learn and apply shortcuts in your program (sorry mobile users I can’t help u there rn) then you can easily become a LOT faster without even needing to get better at art itself.

For example:

We already know ctrl-Z, ctrl-Y (or ctrl-shift-z for some programs), ctl-X, ctrl-v, ctrl-c

But some other shortcuts I use (this is in Paint Tool SAI, so you can look up your program’s as it might overlap!) are:

Holding space: bro this shit works for like every single program i swear. hold space and click and drag to move the canvas around, a lot faster than going to the scroll bars or using the preview (unless you want a large movement)

Ctrl A: this will select everything on your canvas, it won’t select all layers though but in conjunction with ctrl-x, ctrl-c, or your fill shortcut (ctrl-f for me) it means you’re lightning fast to do what you’re doing without having to use magic wand tool or selection tool. ctrl-a + ctrl-c + ctrl-v is super fast to just, select it all, copy it, and paste it. 

ctrl-alt: idk abt other programs, but holding ctrl-alt on SAI brings up the brush size wherever your mouse is. you can adjust the size on the spot itself without going to brush tab 

ctrl f: i don’t even use the bucket tool i just use this. it’ll fill anything in your selection (or the entire screen if u don’t have anything selected)

alt: holding this down while using a selection tool will make it deselect. no need to use a deselection tool or anything if u just hold this down (really good in conjunction w magic wand tool). I use this to go even faster by being sloppy with my selection tool, going to my lineart, holding alt and deselecting the areas that go out of the lines. a lot faster for me than trying to get the perfect selection right away.

ctrl d: deselects

c: this auto selects the invisible/eraser setting for any tool you’re using, so I just use this when using a pen or something to erase instead of the actual eraser tool

v: this swaps between the primary colour selected and the secondary one

ctrl-e: merges selected layer w layer below it

ctrl-shift-e: merges all layers (can get funky w folders, but if you select the very top layer it should work) this is esp useful if you’re sharing art by pasting it into stuff like discord, ctrl-shift-e, ctrl-a, ctrl-c, all copied, no need to screenshot it at all.

right click: eyedropper tool, you can hold alt as well but i use right click

there’s even more than these (pretty sure there’s one u can hold to rotate the canvas for example but i never use it). honestly, half the battle w digital art is getting used to your program. if u have access to keyboard shortcuts, using them will allow u to just go ham once u have them memorised (note that these took years for me to figure them all out, i def didn’t memorise them all in one week or anything. over steady application to my habits i got them down)

here’s a fast tutorial on filling in lineart stupid quickly!: https://aibouart.tumblr.com/post/182793937136/using-the-magic-wand-tool-to-try-and-fill-every

filling in ur colour now becomes as easy as click, click, click, invert, ctrl-f. u may need to clean some corners but otherwise it’s basically instantly filled. if ur program has magic wand tool it’ll prolly do this

https://gyazo.com/a5efd8695e7e0bda6667063168612823 (really quick example of selection tool, magic wand tool, alt, ctrl-f)