#atypical layout

[kitchentablezines]

Untitled (Fruit Stickers), 2023-2024

Note: This zine is incomplete. We have yet to fill the remaining pages with stickers.

[brainkeeper-service]

Desircensorswear

[pt: desircensorswear /end pt]

[IDs in alt text]

A desirdae (link) term for those who desire/yearn/want the swear words they say to be censored, for any reason. This term can be considered a subterm of desirvocals (link), but doesnt have to be. This term is pro nonharmful transitioning and anti radqueer.

[pt: A desirdae term for those who desire/yearn/want the swear words they say to be censored. This term is pro nonharmful transitioning and anti radqueer. /end pt]

tags: @desirdae-archive

[sonic-adventure-3]

4-E is insane omg. sonic explodes and dies. also the spindash in levels clearly designed for it goes so hard. the level has a shit ton of paths and rails and shit to spindash off for insane height over the entire fucking thing. it’s so good if i were better at this game and were it not 4am i know i would spend so much time optimizing that. all the cyberspace levels i’ve tried have an indescribable sense of freedom i don’t think i’ve seen in a sonic game. not that i’ve really played enough not-spinoff sonic games to know, but like, it’s a totally different beast compared to the base game cyberspace.

WAIT I KNOW. IT REMINDS ME OF MARBLE BLAST!!!! genuinely while it’s still definitely sonic and you can play it sonic-y, some of these levels almost feel like something out of marble blast. it’s not 1:1 of course, but it’s the best comparison i can think of

unforgivable that it doesn’t restart the timer when you wipe out despite there being no checkpoints though. the difficulty is something i can acclimate to but the lack of a quick restart or restart upon death feature sucks

[g1rld1ary]

Hi! If you're still taking Lockwood and Co requests, can I plz request an imagine where Lockwood finally becomes vulnerable in front of the reader and he lets his emotions out in front of her and she soothes him 🥹🥹🥹?

reaching out - anthony lockwood x reader

wc: 1664

cw: canon typical death mentions, family trauma

thanks for waiting lovely! hope this is what u wanted xxx

Lockwood was a puzzle. You'd been working with him for a while now and still couldn't truly understand him.

As a boss, Lockwood was great. Never too hard on you whilst still pushing you to further your skills, but always putting your safety first. As a friend, he was similarly brilliant. The perfect listener, he always had a smile saved up for when you needed it. Even as a housemate he was perfect; Lockwood never took too long in the bathroom or left messes around even though it was his own house.

As a boy? Lockwood was indecipherable. Always gentle but never vulnerable. Always a listener, never a talker when it came to personal truths. He was your best friend but you knew nothing about him.

It was definitely an atypical relationship you shared, but you weren't unhappy with it and it seemed that neither was he. You proceeded in your usual way for a year while you were in the company until one particular case.

Lockwood had been off all week and you weren't sure why. You were in the middle of a case; a tragedy where all but one in a family had been killed and were haunting their own home. It wasn't one you needed a whole heap of research for, but George still wanted to take the precautions of getting the building layout and checking for the possibility of any other ghosts, and for once Lockwood didn't fight him on it.

George and Lucy had gone to the archives to get the research while you and Lockwood were doing all the other errands; stocking up on supplies, doing a daytime tour of the house then getting groceries on the way home.

Shopping for supplies and weapons was totally fine, the both of you chattering away as normal. It was only when you approached the cast iron fence of the Victorian-style home that Lockwood grew quiet again, retreating into himself. You spared him a puzzled expression but didn't dwell on it there.

A sad-looking woman met you at the front gate, draped in black. She introduced herself as the deceased wife's sister, explaining her red-rimmed eyes. She led you both through the garden up to the house, sniffling quietly as she explained what had happened, a horrific freak accident that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

Stepping through the threshold into the house, you could feel the gloom as if it were a tangible thing. What clearly used to be a loving home was already dark and lifeless, the photos on the wall mocking instead of nostalgic.

You could hear noise from down the hall, glancing curiously in its direction. Your host picked up on what you were looking at and explained it was her nephew, the only survivor.

"Will," She called, "Come here." Moments later a little boy came waddling up the hallway, toy truck in hand. Your heart clenched as you took him in, he couldn't have been older than six or seven, far too young to be orphaned like this.

"We're packing up his stuff today, he's living with me right now. I'm not sure he understands his family aren't coming back." Your eyes felt hot like you were going to cry just listening to their family tragedy. A glance at Lockwood said the same thing. You took the lead for the rest of the house tour, unnerved by Lockwood's silence.

As the two of you were leaving the house Will chased you both down the stone path, tugging on the tail of Lockwood's long coat.

"Please help my mum and dad and my sister," He said, eyes still wide with youth and innocence.

"Of course," Lockwood replied, ruffling the boy's brown hair gently. You thought he sounded uncharacteristically choked up.

"You alright?" You asked a while later, far from the house. You were both on the way to the grocery store, your hands shoved in your coat pockets to hide from the cold.

"'Course," Lockwood replied shortly, eyes straight ahead on the street. You tried to catch his gaze but he refused to look at you, changing the topic to what snacks you could sneak past George. You indulged him reluctantly, not pleased to move past his clear struggles so quickly.

You wandered home in near dusk, not doing much to get home before sunset. The groceries had been spread between the two of you so neither of you was carrying too much of the burden, but you suspected Lockwood was carrying enough emotional weight for the pair of you.

Silently, under the light of a ghost lamp, you looped your arm around his, providing a comforting touch. He didn't say anything, but you could have sworn he was leaning into you more than he ever had before.

You made it back to Portland Row in good time, only braving a few minutes out in the darkness.

Hours later, you crept through the house, painfully aware of each creak of the old floorboards. You peered around the door into the library, watching Lockwood sit in his armchair, bored as he flipped through a gossip rag.

"Hey," You said as you sat, curling up on the couch and surrounding yourself with a blanket. He smiled in response, greeting you quickly before turning back to what he was reading. "Are you okay?" You knew you were coming off intense but you were really worried about him.

"Yeah, 'course. Why?"

"I don't know, you've just seemed really off today. Down." You studied your fingers to avoid making uncomfortable eye contact.

"I'm fine," He said, almost aggressively. Realising his tone, Lockwood backtracked, "It's nothing, just--" Silence.

"Just?" You urged him, braving the jump to look in his eyes. It was immediately intense, a profound sadness replacing what was usually jovial charm.

"I was him," Lockwood said and you were immediately confused. You tilted your head, trying to work it out but Lockwood continued, explaining it for you.

"Will. I was the leftover. My whole family is dead, and I am the one left alive."

"Oh God, Lockwood," You whispered, patting the spot next to you. He followed you over, taking the blanket you offered.

"My parents died when I was really young, about the same age as Will. They were the first ghosts I ever fought." You couldn't contain your soft gasp, hand creeping over your mouth as you took in what he was telling you. "I had an older sister, too, Jessica. She was six years older than me, died when I was nine. An accident with some of my parents' old supernatural artefacts. I've been fighting ghosts ever since."

Somehow you'd started holding his hand, rubbing smooth circles over his palm with your thumb. You could hardly believe what you were hearing, you had no idea Lockwood's life was so devastating. All you'd learnt while working at Lockwood and Co was that his parents had probably passed away, given the house was his. You'd never heard about a sister.

"I'm really sorry," Was all you could say, not taking the risk of misstepping.

"It's fine." His voice broke on the second word, tears rolling down his red cheeks in a moment. You'd never seen Lockwood cry. It was devastating, but also unfairly beautiful. Crystal tears in honeypot eyes.

Before you knew what you were doing you were holding Lockwood, arms keeping him close as he shuddered through sobs. All you did was embrace him for a long time, letting Lockwood express the emotions he kept so close to his chest all the time.

It must have been at least ten minutes later when he pulled away, clearly embarrassed and rubbing furiously at his eyes.

"Sorry," He mumbled, looking anywhere but at you. You put a hand on his thigh to pull him back down to earth.

"Don't apologise. I want to be here for you. You're my best friend, Lockwood, I love you." Lockwood smiled at that, unlike his usual thousand-watt grins, more muted but undeniably genuine.

"Thank you," He said, the warmth seeping back into his tone.

With the moment mostly passed you suggested it was probably time for bed for both of you.

"And you stay home tomorrow. Lucy, George and I will go put Will's family to rest. Take the night off, okay?" While you firmly believed it was in Lockwood's best interest to avoid what was a clearly triggering event, it was also for your own safety. Lockwood and Co was disorganised at the best of times, having Lockwood lose it because he was thinking of Will and his younger self would only endanger every one of you. It was for the best that he stayed home. To your surprise, Lockwood didn't fight you on the order, despite being your boss. He just nodded, lost in thought.

"You remind me of her," He said suddenly.

"Who?"

"Jess," He replied, "She would have liked you." You smiled softly at that, a warm glow igniting in your chest.

"Goodnight, Lockwood," You said instead of addressing the scary genuine feelings blooming. He didn't reply, instead pulling you into a tight hug. His arms around you were warm, holding you in place as his head rested in the crook of your neck.

You realised suddenly how few hugs Lockwood had given you in your time at the company. Partly because it was a little unprofessional, mostly because Lockwood was typically too repressed to manage his emotions in such a healthy way. You enjoyed it though, it kind of felt like you two were meant to be like that, two halves of a damaged whole. When he pulled away his smile was just for you, bathing you in the love he'd never been able to express.

[shorthaltsjester]

if i ever have to see another thought piece on the description of the white picket fence outside of fjord and jester’s place in mighty nein reunited indicating jester’s unhappiness in the relationship i will burn the world to the ground.

a) heteronormativity doesn’t exist in exandria !

b) fjord isn’t your Typical Male Love Interest Guy. if i ever have to read someone say that shit again i’m gonna (correctly) assume they haven’t paid attention at all to campaign 2 and any of fjord’s character arc.

c) perhaps, jester lavorre, woman who was raised on the ideology of romance novels and sexuality as exchange, might just find it uh… not a terrible thing that the white picket fence is falling apart outside since… fjord explicitly does Not feel like those romance novels to her, instead he feels comfortable. the way that a brightly painted but rarely used house might, especially when the couple in question spends most of their time adventuring together… which is an essential part of jester’s motivations throughout the campaign.

d) the reason fjord and jester seem unhappy in the reunion might be because, well, uh, whereas everyone else was getting a “vacation”, jester and fjord’s life together (specifically the fact that Fjord Loves Jester Enough To Risk The World (Momentarily) To Save Her) was the inciting action for an apocalyptic demigod being released - they Were unhappy. who wouldn’t be given those circumstances. jester nearly died, and fjord felt like the god that once saved him had now abandoned him, i am so truly sorry that their romance was not satisfactory for your vision of atypical romance (which, by the way, is literally reinforcing the restrictive romantic tropes you think you’re criticizing, so good job i guess). i would be much, much more concerned if jester and fjord Weren’t clearly dismayed.

e) both fjord and jester are individuals whose entire lives and character are defined by the expectation (both external and internal) that they behave and emote a certain way. that they’re in a relationship with someone who they feel that they can show that they are frustrated with or disagree on the layout of their house with or have different ideas on how to deal with the looming threat of a demigod is incredible. jester and fjord are emblematic of a relationship in which the characters Aren’t meant to be, but they Want to be together and they want to understand and support the other person so they work at it. we wouldn’t have conversations like “you seem disheartened..” “i am very disheartened! you almost died!” if they didn’t take the time and care to communicate with one another.

f) if you want a honeymoon era joyful queer romance, yasha and beau are right there! they are explicitly horny and in love and bright about it! if queerness is your measure of “trope breaking” i am very sorry to tell you that queer people partake in white picket fences, and i’d actually argue that in terms of Lifestyle Metaphor, beauyasha are more adherent to the whitepicket fence, nuclear familyism. this isn’t a detriment to them, just, very literally, beau works a 9-5 where she comes back to her housewife who gardens and cooks dinner and their future includes explicit reference to children. comparatively, fjord wants to address some issues in his past, jester is an artist, and both of them are interested in adventure for the foreseeable future.

g) if you truly think that a single part of laura’s description of the part-time abode of fjord and jester overrides every interaction and choice that both laura and travis make towards fjord and jester caring for each other in a deep and meaningful way that goes beyond the weird fandom constructed Man/Woman characters being portrayed by a married couple i truly, Truly have no idea why you even watch the many hours of content that cr is when you could… play/write your own shit.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Dungeon: Thousand Ends

“-and so you have sinned” said the pearl-laden emissary as the shutters crashed open and the royal court became a tumult of wind “You have trespassed my realm and plundered foreign lands, making me accessory to your slaughter”. The figure rose, throwing aside their moral guise and those assembled said it was as if the sky itself levelled an accusing finger at the sovereigns. “You sought riches, now you shall pay.”

The remnants of a great treasure fleet scuttled in an act of divine wrath, this palisade of masts and reef of broken keels has been collecting the vessels of the greedy and the wayward ever since. The locals got tired of warning folks about “the cliffs of a thousand ends”, so over time the name was worn away just as the sea has worn away at the surrounding land.

In addition to becoming a home for all manner of sealife that now nests within the shattered ships, a covey of sirens now roosts among the nearby cliffs, their songs carried by the wind to ensorcell the minds of sailors and navigators passing by and draw them off course. ( Blame @5ecardaday for the excellent monster)

Hooks:

Driven below deck by of rain while travelling from one port to another, the party have only a few days to notice that more and more of the crew are acting strangely as they fall prey to the sirens’ enchantment, becoming sluggish and uncoordinated as they each drift off into their own fantasy land. If they don’t figure it out they’ll end up crashing on the rocks and having to fight their way through the periphery of the dungeon and then to shore as the sirens pick off the sailors.

Piled high with the fruit of slave mines and plundered temples, the ships of the treasure fleet carried tribute to fuel an empire across the sea. More than just wealth, there are any number of cultural treasures up and down the coast that the party could return to their rightful owners for great renown. 

Even before they were sundered by the wrath of a seagod, there were damned souls aboard the fleet, the blunt instruments of imperial ambition all too used to bleeding people and entire nations for the sake of feeding the royal coffers. Now they haunt the depths protecting their gold from thieves, bound by greed or fanatical loyalty to a long-fallen crown. Should the party REALLY piss them off, they will band together animating the surrounding dredgewood and perusing them even back to their vessel.

Perhaps the only thing that could dissuade a group of adventurers from seeking out what might be a motherload of sunken treasure would be their inability to breathe underwater

Because this dungeon is so expansive and atypical of layout, consider using my system for running large scale dungeons with an abstract floorplan. It’ll be far easier than trying to map out dozens of vessels above and below the waterline.

[notoriousaesthetics]

•✦ [ 11. 𝐎'𝐖𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 ] ✦• a header & character graphic template.

───  𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

a singular header template inspired by @tragedynoir's monthly sprint. working around the concept of candy, curiosity, a fixed color palette and butterfly vectors - this was created in lieu of the prompt. a very fun exploration of color and curiosity, the outcome resulted in a layout that's vastly different from my atypical comfort zone. nevertheless, the psd should be very easy to edit with plenty of adjustable settings. there is no pre-set coloring on this template due to the fixed color palette. enjoy!

───  𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔.

fonts: valky, swis721 blkoul bt

images do not belong to me and are credited to their rightful owners.

do not copy, do not steal, or monetize. [ read my rules ]

tip me at my coffee jar ♥

please credit me if you use the content.

please [ like/reblog ] this if you intend to use.

•✦── 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 [ 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 ] 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤. ──✦•

[aquatark]

kind of randomly spurred post, but i was just wondering how many endless ocean fans knew about the development screenshots we have of the first game... so i figured i'd share them with you all, along with some light analysis for those interested in this game's development history!

so the development photos i'll be going into in this post were revealed to the public in 2014-2015, shared on the twitter account of ichiro mihara, the vice president of arika and series producer of the endless ocean games! nowadays, he mostly just posts food pics and pokemon go stuff... kinda living the dream ngl

below is the complete set of screenshots:

the most obvious difference here to most players would be creatures placed where they shouldn't be, such as the yellow boxfish in an atypical zoom, and the presence of false clown anemonefish in the abyss and ship's rest. while the boxfish photo i don't have any explanation for other than the creature moving around a little at some point in development, the anemonefish photos i have a more interesting explanation for!

we can use these photos, along with multiple other photos of clownfish in eo1 zooms taken during development (which are used on the plaques of eo2's aquarium), to deduce that this clownfish species was used as a test creature for zoom environments! i mean, it's pretty obvious they weren't intending for you to actually find clownfish in the depths... and due to their order in the game's internal d code life system, we can assume they were among the first zoom mode creatures to be added. it all lines up! though i'm glad the little guys don't have to suffer that insane water pressure anymore...

now, another big difference is the lack of water fog in most of these photos! it's especially obvious in the photos taken in zoom mode that this portion of the game had yet to be figured out at the point those photos were taken. for comparison, here's the yellow boxfish photo compared with a photo of the same staghorn coral zoom in the final game:

big difference, huh? this fog would be even stronger if i weren't using an emulator to take my photos - dolphin tends to skimp a little on the fog. but, this lines up with what we know about this game's development: during a post-release developer interview (which you can view translated into english here), they mentioned struggling to make this fog feel right - more oceanic than foggy feeling, and accurately changing with the player's current depth - and these photos illustrate that there was a time where fog in zoom mode spots was neglected entirely!

the screenshot of the open encyclopedia also has a lot of interesting differences from the final game. take a look here, comparing the same page:

(note that of course, the development photo was taken in japanese, while my screenshot is in english: "fish who live in the ocean" is actually what the deep sea section is called in the final japanese release... trust me, i checked)

so obviously, the layout of these pages is completely different! i imagine the details on these small fish would have been barely legible on the average person's tv at the time, so making them bigger was a good call. additionally, the encyclopedia used to be navigated using arrow buttons and a back button to exit! this back button is completely unused in the final game, probably just because it's redundant when in the final game, you can just press the b button to go back. three other small changes are that:

in the dev screenshot, the encyclopedia's page background is just a texture, as opposed to a 3d model as seen in the final game. this means it's likely the pages didn't flip like a real book does at this point.

the scientific names of the giant squid and the oarfish was altered.

there are no page numbers in the encyclopedia.

now, for a quick lightning round of smaller changes!

in the final game, there is only one place to find remoras: accompanied by the whale shark in entryway slope, in small numbers. this contrasts with the whale shark photo, in which way more remoras are seen surrounding it, and in an area deeper than entryway slope allows. since this photo was also an old promotional image, and we have footage of the game from previews around the same time, the most plausible explanation is that this whale shark was placed in the game's unused test stage (which i should also make a post about at some point lol).

the penguin photo was taken with an angle impossible in the final game, as was the polar bear photo and the starck's demoiselle photo.

also in the penguin photo, there are two hatches typically present on the deck of the gabbiano (one on either side of the mast), that are absent.

the water surrounding the gabbiano in the polar bear photo is a different color than in the final game.

the starck's demoiselle photo has a bright cyan water color in the background, which is never visible in the final game without camera hacks.

finally, one fun fact regarding the starck's demoiselle photo: it's actually used in-game, both in this game and in the sequel! in eo1, it can be found occasionally placed in the fake magazine spreads sent to the player for a C grade photo request, and in eo2, it is the photo used to represent "DIVING MAGAZINE" when viewing photo requests!

that's all of my rambling for now, i hope you found this interesting! if this kind of longpost is something you'd like to see more of in the future, let me know! i've got all sorts of topics in the chamber that i just need an excuse to write about lol

[aqours]

What do you think is Curse of Strahd's biggest weakness as a module?

oh there's so many potential answers for this. the racism that they tried to fix later by trying to erase the concept of minorities? the fact the layout of the book is a disaster? that's one of them but i've already talked about that. i think Curse of Strahd's biggest issue, by a very huge margin is:

D&D 5E is inherently a really bad system to use for a horror game and especially the horror that CoS wants to be

i think Ravenloft and it's many spinoffs worked better in 2E because things were different back then. you started off as a somewhat above-average person and became stronger over time. 5E, however, is a power fantasy to it's core. even at level 1 you are an extraordinary person much more powerful than any regular commoner could ever be. and CoS doesn't handle this well. you are extremely resource deprived, you can go from levels 1-10 with that same +0 longsword you have from character creation. it's about becoming more skilled with what little you have over time.

which is fine. but CoS's resource deprivement is atypical for 5E module design. it's about depriving players of the typical power fantasy that D&D usually is for the sake of atmosphere and tone... which is fine, but the game doesn't offer much in compromise. let me use Warlocks as an example. one of (imho) the best spells Warlocks can have is Shadow of Moil. it is an amazing spell. once i am getting near that level one of my priorities in playing a Warlock is finding an undead eyeball encased in a gem worth at least 150 gp so i can cast it. it's amazing.

good luck finding that in Barovia! your DM will really have to work with you if they want to run the game RAW which is also not a bad thing no matter what anyone says so you can use that spell. this is an issue with spells in 5E that require expensive spell components... it's not available.

if i can use something else from D&D as an example, i want to tlak about Masque of the Red Death. Masque of the Red Death was an official 2E gothic horror thing made by people who wanted a more "realistic" gothic horror by making the setting basically a grimdark earth. you can ONLY play humans and are told you use specific classes. it was kinda killed in 2E before the internet made looking up these things easier. it received a fan revival on 5e you can purchase in the link (or i can give it to you), but part of it is you are expected to use it's character classes instead of the standard 5E ones. that's because they fit the setting more thematically, and thus are scaled to the dangers and expectations better. 5E Curse of Strahd tries to achieve this by throwing extremely difficult combat encounters combined with resource deprival, but doesn't give a lot to compensate back for this. the sunword and holy symbol are cool, but that does not compensate for not being able to do a lot of 5E usual power fantasy stuff?

i think there are better systems for what CoS wants to do. if you want extremely deadly combat, some PBTA d6 game probably suits you better. someone on r/curseofstrahd mentioned Hunter: The Reckoning might be good, and HONESTLY one day when i'm more familiar with playing WoD games i'd fucking LOVE to try to a full conversion for Hunter at some point. a lot of people really love making CoS western themed, to which I say if you also want to play as vampires consider checking out Bloodbeam Badlands actually! personally, i think you could even pull off CoS's story using Call of Cthulhu or Pulp Cthulhu for extra power: the SAN mechanic might make for something really great in this game too! one of my issues with Masque is that while i like it i just can't help but think Call of Cthulhu/Pulp Cthulhu is still better for what that setting wants

i'll play CoS using D&D bc it is made for that, but i think rather than trying to stay super true to the horror themes all the time, a DM should consider adjusting it's tone or item distribution to meet the group's fun. i love CoS, a LOT, and I love Ravenloft, but i think there's definitely better systems for what it wants to be, and CoS as it is (especially for when it was written somewhat early in 5E's life) has never been quite the story right for a 5E story

[cheriecherriecherry]

about me!

bella ❄ she/her ❄ autistic ❄ queer ❄ agender ❄ usa ❄ aquarius ❄ fangirl ❄ reader ❄ isfp ❄ uquiz lover ❄ nature enthusiast ❄ music lover ❄ nerd ❄

people i love ♥ taylor swift ♥ gracie abrams ♥ matthew gray gubler ♥ harry styles ♥ paget brewster ♥ aj cook ♥ tucker pillsbury ♥ lizzy mcalpine ♥ emma foley ♥ maisie peters ♥ phoebe bridgers ♥ ethel cain ♥ noah kahan ♥ brie larson ♥ xochitl gomez ♥ daveed diggs ♥ jamie campbell bower ♥ sabrina carpenter ♥ hailee steinfeld ♥ reneé rapp ♥ rhea ripley ♥ andy samberg ♥ boygenius ♥ billie eilish ♥ stevie nicks ♥ fiona apple ♥ brandi carlile ♥ hozier ♥ lorde ♥ ashe ♥ bon iver ♥ adrienne lenker ♥ searows ♥ aubrey plaza ♥

characters i love ♥ matt murdock ♥ spencer reid ♥ carol danvers ♥ wanda maximoff ♥ jennifer walters ♥ kate bishop ♥ yelena belova ♥ natasha romanoff ♥ valkyrie ♥ peter parker ♥ thor ♥ loki ♥ wong ♥ bucky barnes ♥ tony stark ♥ stephen strange ♥ maria hill ♥ darcy lewis ♥ jo march ♥ amy march ♥ jennifer jareau ♥ emily prentiss ♥ penelope garcia ♥ lorelai gilmore ♥ paris geller ♥ lane kim ♥ chris alonso ♥ jake peralta ♥ amy santiago ♥ rosa diaz ♥ anakin skywalker ♥ padme amidala ♥ claire pritchett ♥ daenarys targaryen ♥ rikki chadwick ♥ hermione granger ♥ elizabeth mccord ♥ stevie mccord ♥ henry mccord ♥ elena alvarez ♥ lydia riera ♥ penelope alvarez ♥ leslie berkowitz ♥ monica geller ♥ meredith grey ♥ percy jackson ♥ annabeth chase ♥ nico di angelo ♥ leo valdez ♥ piper mclean ♥ reyna avila ramírez-arellano ♥ rachel elizabeth dare ♥ meg mccaffrey ♥ sadie kane ♥ zia rashid ♥ samirah al abbas ♥ alex fierro ♥ hearthstone ♥ casey gardner ♥ izzie taylor ♥

media i love ♥ criminal minds ♥ marvel cinematic universe ♥ madam secretary ♥ one day at a time ♥ modern family ♥ atypical ♥ gilmore girls ♥ percy jackson and the olympians ♥ heroes of olympus ♥ trials of apollo ♥ the kane chronicles ♥ magnus chase ♥ brooklyn nine-nine ♥ little women (all) ♥ abbott elementary ♥ S.W.A.T. ♥

thank you for reading!!!

credits: @thefootnotes for the layout inspo, @enchanthings for the borders! xx

[therobotmonster]

This Toy Does Not Exist: ReSculpt

An experiment of using Midjourney's Describe and Image Prompting functions to remaster previously-generated AI content.

A ways back I did This Toy Does Not Exist, using LookingGlassAI, by manually training a diffusion model on hundreds of action figure pictures. I was strongly limited by my processor and the resources at the time, and eventually moved to Midjourney as I can only afford so many art tools, and it was the more powerful option.

For these images, I submitted the original This Toy Does Not Exist picture to Midjourney's describe feature. I then generated using the provided prompts, but also included the original image as an image prompt. Settings --s 50 --IW 2 --V 5 (style 50, image weight 2, version 5)

I then picked my favorite out of the sixteen images produced per base image (All AI art is curated, always remember that) . My goal, in general, was to produce stuff that still had that retro figure feel. Most of the stuff MJ produces is very modern, and my previous remaster attempts were similarly a little too polished and glyos-y for my vision.

I've been toying with similar processes on my old style transfer pieces, and a lot of stuff made using the specialized Artbreeder generators.

The limitations are apparent. The wilder stuff that the more basic AI didn't know was atypical gets smoothed out. In some cases, that's a help, as more abstract stuff can be re imagined into something more cohesive, but that AI madness is blunted a bit, and I like that aspect.

Of course, that's where human involvement comes in, as any of these that I might decide to actually sculpt will be changed through that process to fit my druthers of how it turned out. Because that's what AI makes well. Building blocks.

Explanations of the features used are under the fold. As everything here is autogenerated, it does not meet the minimum human expression threshold and is all in the public domain.

Describe is Midjourney's its own version of Clip Interrogator, which can derive a prompt from an image. It's looser than Clip Interrogator, gives multiple options, and generally makes stuff in similar vibes but doesn't match style or even subject matter closely without prompt editing. It essentially has the AI examine a picture, match its observed elements in its token-language, and then translate that back into an english-formatted prompt.

Image Prompting is an older feature that does essentially what Describe does, but it never translates the generated tokens back into words, and instead uses those tokens as a prompt, combined with a text prompt or at least one other image. These limitations are there to force novelty and prevent intentional overfitting/image copying, for the same reason the describe prompts are shorter and more vague than their Clip-Interrogator equivalents.

Image prompting is not the same as overpainting, wherein a base image is used in place of random JPG noise for the generation start. MJ doesn't do overpainting because of fears of its use for deepfakery and plagiarism. Ironically, that prevents people like me from sketching up our own layouts and using MJ to directly fill them in, but there's tradeoffs in every situation I suppose.

Not posting specific prompts because this post is already bloated AF. But anyone can use my technique.

[breakerwhiskey]

246 - TWO HUNDRED FORTY SIX

Please visit breakerwhiskey.com for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.

Transcript under the cut. For more episodes, click here.

[click, static]

Okay, Birdie, we’ve gone North. We’ve gone so far North that we’re quite literally at the Canadian border. I’ve never been to Canada. Well, I guess I have now—the moment we got to the sign, I stopped the car and Harry and I both jumped out and ran for the other side of the border. One of those moments where we both had the exact same idea at the exact same time.

I missed that. The way that we can be in perfect sync. Sometimes on a job, we could communicate with just a look. The whole crew had that ability to some extent, but it always felt…you know. Better. With Harry.

Things have been…better. With Harry. I demanded she tell me anything else she’d left out about Pete and her snitching and…I think I know everything now. Even if I have no idea what to do with it. But it’s cleared the air some. Made me understand her a little more. Even if I’m still furious so much of the time…that fury is not aimed solely at her anymore.

It’s her birthday today. June 30th. She didn’t mention anything to me—it’s not like we’ve got a wall calendar hanging off the rearview mirror or anything, so it was only when I was doing my usual marking of my atlas that I realized.

I didn’t get her a gift, obviously. A trip to Canada, I guess. When I wished her a happy birthday, she just sort of…quietly said thank you and that was that.

We’re both a year older and not any wiser for it. We know more now, about the world, about each other. It doesn’t feel like—I’m not sure what other secrets we possibly would have to reveal to each other. And yet, I don’t feel like I actually understand anything. I’m still just…out to sea.

I don’t know. I miss Donnie. I wish I could talk to him about this stuff, I wish—I wish I could talk to him about Pete. I wish I could have someone else’s perspective on her. On us. And the real problem is that, despite everything, I still—

The look on her face when she got to the other side of the border. We were both out of breath and red faced, like kids who had raced to the front door. And she smiled so big and she looked at me and said “Didn’t I tell you once that I’d take you to another country someday?”

I honestly couldn’t believe that she remembered that. She said it one time, years ago. I remembered it of course, because at that time I was looking for any kind of scrap that she…

We were at a new exhibit at the Morgan Library—rare manuscripts, I think from the renaissance, I can’t really remember. Pete—(voice cracking) uh, Pete, um, loved—loved stealing manuscripts. They were hard to steal, because they had to be so delicately handled, but Harry knew how to do it, which gave Pete an advantage that most thieves didn’t have. With big exhibits of them, we could steal just one, not a whole collection, and still get a really good deal for them. Especially since there is always a wealthy person out there who wants to own one just for the sake of having something rare and won’t fuss too much about where it came from.

Anyway, we were casing the place, her and I, because Harry could spend hours looking at every corner of an exhibit and make it seem totally natural, like she was just looking at the art. She usually went alone, just to get the layout of the exhibits, but we’d never tried robbing the Morgan Library before, so I went with her to get a sense for the whole building’s security. And we…

We had a good time. We had a really good time. We laughed at all the weird margin drawings that the monks would leave in the books of hours, or whatever they were, and Harry would tell me about the history of when and where these things had been written and, if she’d been to the place herself, she’d talk a little bit about what it was like now. I’ve never been…anywhere. And when I told her that, she said, “I’ll take you someday. Everyone should leave the country at least once”.

Actually, I think she said “continent”. That’s…obviously not possible now. Well, I guess we could go to South America but…I’m just happy she remembers that conversation at all. I thought about it for weeks afterwards. What she meant by it. The implication that she would be with me if I traveled. That she’d be the one to take me.

You know, I could get her a rare manuscript for her next birthday—I could walk into any museum in this country and walk right out with one, just like I did with that painting in Santa Fe.

"Her next birthday”…guess I am thinking that we’ll still be, well, that we’ll still be alive and that we’ll still be together a year from now. But I really don’t know that for certain, do I?

Anyway, should we keep going North or…do you want to give us a little direction here? Literal direction, in this case.

[click, static]

[beeps]

[mediaevalmusereads]

Gender Queer: A Memoir. By Maia Kobabe. Oni Press, 2020.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: graphic novel, memoir, lgbt+ literature

Part of a Series? No

Summary: In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.

***Full review below***

Content Warnings: nudity, menstrual blood, graphic sex, references to Harry Potter

Because this graphic novel is also a memoir, my review will be structured a little different than normal.

I didn't know anything about this book before picking it up on a whim at a Barnes and Noble. I'm not really plugged into online book spaces (or even comics spaces), so I decided to read it based on premise alone. I also very much enjoy comics and graphic novels, so a queer graphic memoir seemed up my alley.

While I expected the book to be a powerful coming of age story, I didn't expect it to resonate with me as much as it did, nor did I expect to be fascinated by the new information that was included (about sex drive, about neurochemistry, etc). The way e presents feelings towards eir body (things like menstruation, penetration, not wanting kids, etc) felt like someone was giving voice to my own feelings, and the way e talks about identity, pronouns, fandom, and sexuality was enlightening. As a result, I was both drawn in by the familiarity and intrigued by the novelty of Maia's journey, which together made for an enjoyable reading experience.

I also thought the art was well-done and accessible, as it used fairly bright colors and was easy to follow. Though there are some pages that primarily use cool colors like green or blue, a lot of this book uses warm reds, yellows, and oranges, which helped make the tone feel light (thereby balancing out some of the inner turmoil in the narrative). These colors are all bound by bold linework, which balanced simplicity with detail well, and I think Maia did a good job conveying emotion both by drawing a range of facial expressions and by positioning bodies in different ways.

On a larger scale, most of the individual drawings are arranged into panels with a simple but effective layout, so the flow is straightforward and quick. Occasionally there are more abstract pages, but they come at moments when Maia needs to break convention in order to make a point. For example, I appreciated that Maia used atypical layouts to highlight or communicate feelings that didn't quite fit in hetero- or gender-normative boxes, such as spirals to indicate the endless feeling of going in circles when questioning gender and sexuality.

If I had any criticisms, I might like to see some of the "episodes" wrap up a little differently. There are some anecdotes in this memoir where the lack of an interpretation was effective, as well as moments when I think more of a reflection would have been helpful. But this doesn't ruin the whole thing, this is just personal preference. I also think if the author could have done a bit more to communicate aspects regarding asexual identity to the reader, since it seems like a lot of the narrative is about gender identity (and ends with a denoument about gender identity), but that is also personal preference and perhaps colored by me reading the blurb on the back of the book.

TL;DR: Gender Queer is an important memoir about what it can mean to be both genderqueer (or non-binary) and asexual. Using bold linework, bright colors, and simple yet effective layouts, Maia Kobabe brings levity and order to an otherwise confusing time in eir life, and perhaps by reading this memoir, provides a touchstone for further discussions about queer identities and experiences.

[hannie-dul-set]

dude your headers always look so sick, the first time i read one of ur fics i came for the header but stayed for the fic. twas quite delectable (both thy fic and header)

thank you!! this is really nice to hear bcs i wasn't sure if my layout choices would hit considering they're atypical from the usual kpop fic headers HAHAHAHAH would like yo know which fic u read tho!!!!

[atotaltaitaitale]

.

Monday Metro… St Georges (District 9 - Line 12)

Another atypical metro entrance and one that is often overlooked because so close to more popular ones (Pigalle, Abbesses) to access Montmartre.

The station two semi-circular entrances, framed in wrought iron, follow the layout of the private mansions, each taken from the garden of one of the buildings on the relatively small Place Saint-Georges, and established in a curve – a rare case on the network – in order to respect the architectural environment.

[gts6465]

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