#but i'll probably post some color options on here when i get to those

[dotmander]

How To Get Your Character Models Out Of A Game: Tips And Tricks For Bitches That Have Never Used Blender

(it's me, i'm bitches)

(also ignore how messy that lighting is it's 1am and i should have been asleep hours ago. he's there for proof of concept 💕)

a couple people (specifically @forsaken-constellation and @ratasum) asked for a tutorial on how to rip models out of the game. this is not that, but it is a compilation of resources i used to learn about ripping, blender, and 3d modeling in general. i desperately wanted a post like this to exist when i was trying to figure this out, so here we go! all the resources below are completely free, with the exception of a link to the patreon of the person that created ninjaripper.

disclaimers:

there are probably more efficient ways to do the things i am doing. i watched a tutorial to learn shortcuts and then skipped to character models. if you have tips to add, corrections to make, or other thoughts, please feel free to share! i'll link to your post here. ^^

i do not know if any of this will get your account banned. i've ripped several models, so i'm going to assume it's fine as long as you don't try to make money off of it. use your best judgment, be an adult, etc etc etc

last updated: june 30, 2024

PROGRAMS & WEBSITES

ninjaripper 1.7.1 - there's a newer version on the creator's patreon, presumably with support for newer versions of blender and fewer bugs, but i haven't tried that

blender 2.79 - the import addon that comes with ninjaripper 1.7.1 is outdated for the current version of blender (3.5 as of this post), so 2.79 is needed to combine the .RIP files into a .BLEND (blender) file

noesis - ninjaripper saves your textures as .DDS files, noesis lets you view them and export them as .PNGs

blender 3.5 (optional?) - i just like it better than 2.79. if you're completely new it might not matter to you. all of the tutorials linked later are for later versions, though.

mixamo (optional) - rigs your character for you and lets you put them in Situations (like my guy above.) there's a whole library of free animations and poses you can try!

TUTORIALS

how to use ninjaripper - most of what you need to know about actually ripping the files and using ninjaripper is covered here. do not skip this one.

how to use blender 3.5 - full disclosure i haven't finished this series because it's uhhhh many hours long. but if you are a complete newbie to blender, i do recommend at least the first few videos; you'll learn about shortcuts that will make your life easier, how to unfuck your model when it fucks itself for no reason, and different terms that will help you google things you don't know later on. possibly he even covers some of the things i'm about to link! anyway.

what's a uv map?

how to apply textures

how to apply bump maps (note: for our purposes, you wouldn't add a color ramp node, you would add an image node with your bump map, and attach it to the bump node as the person does in the video)

there should be stuff here about weight painting, cloth physics, emission maps (makes your sylvari glow), and other stuff, but um. i haven't figured those out <3  

TIPS

TURN UP YOUR GRAPHICS BEFORE YOU RIP - if you don't, you might end up missing certain textures/glows/etc. HOWEVER, you should turn animations down, because apparently high animation can make your meshes misplace themselves

rip from the character select screen, rather than an instance, because you will have 100 meshes to sort through instead of 1400. i am not exaggerating either of those numbers. if you are new to blender, please love yourself and start with character select.

your textures will be fucked up the first time you try to apply them. this is because the UV maps (the things that tell your textures where to go) of your models are flipped upside down in relation to the texture image. you can flip them back over manually, ooooor you can just flip the entire texture file in something like CSP or photoshop.

for some reason all eyes are red in the texture files. i have not figured out why. i recommend editing the .PNG to have the correct eye color before applying the texture.

that's all i can think of for now - if you have other questions, feel free to shoot them my way, although i can't promise i'll have a straight answer ^^;;

mixamo only works for humanoid characters with tight clothing (or without clothing at all). if you try to use it to rig a charr or asura, or someone with a skirt or big sleeves, you will most likely be disappointed.

2024 edit: sometimes parts of hair meshes just...disappear. i have no idea why. if you can figure it out please let me know LMAO

information from bookahlogy about character proportions, fixing normals, and other fun tips

[nitrowyverine]

I think I write dating sim/VNs/etc reviews now? Anyway,

LOST IN LIMBO REVIEW/THOUGHTS

This VN piqued my interest, so I gave the demo a shot! This review will follow the same general format as my Obscura/Touchstarved review, except there's 7 (!!!) romance options.

Since I totally loved this game, I'm going to put the conclusion promo up here too: if Lost in Limbo interests you, consider playing it Here, Here on steam, and/or backing it Here!

ALSO! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE DEMO!

My (long winded) thoughts are below:

(Banner image courtesy of the Ravenstar Games tumblr account pinned post. Individual character pics courtesy of tumblr posts from the studio. Individual posts are linked in character titles.)

Gameplay design thoughts:

the plot immediately sucked me in, I'm pretty invested in whatever the hell is going on with the protag, the realms, the lords, etc. I think the setup/land are deep enough to draw me in, but not so intimidating in it's depth that I'm afraid to explore more.

I always enjoy a little bit of nightmare fuel in my games, so the voidbound are perfect. They're so gross and horrible, but not just a stock zombie/nightmare creature design. Whenever the voidbound pop up, it makes the back of my neck itch, which is perfect.

I have no idea whose route I'll pick first. Usually I have one candidate that I can pick out as number 1. This game however? I go back and forth all the time, since I love all of them. I do think I have bias for Ara/Gael/Amon/Envy, maybe?

I really want to design an MC to doodle for this, but I feel like I don't know enough about other people in the realm. (Mostly, I'm assuming that standard humans don't have pointy ears? how close to our reality is the regular world?) I might say "screw it" and design an MC anyway (with some speculative clothing for once they get cleaned up)

The backgrounds have been great set pieces so far. Sometimes I catch myself just kinda staring into space at them. They've got a fantastic flavor.

Misc. Thoughts written during a replay

Fun touch to have Evie's rock image from the beginning fortune shop scene line up with the 7 LI's color schemes.

Each of the VA's does a lovely job with their voices. I've been turned off of certain dating sims because of bad voice acting, but the acting in this game is superb so far. It really helps set the richness of the story.

I have a theory that the LI's (and possibly people in Limbo in general) experience pain differently. The characters seem largely uninterested in the MC's stabbed, weakened state, beyond a "Oh that sucks....we'll clean you up later" mentality. I wonder if they have different pain tolerances, or are just less attached to such things. (Then again, Amon and Raeya have full missing limbs/eyes, so they probably have a decent perspective on pain altogether)

What does wielder/non-wielder mean? Xal says the MC "Can't wield, can't see." What do the LI's see that we don't? Ara mentions that the MC seems "Completely normal". Many mysteries.

I need those monster forms like crazy oh my goodness. Please devs PLEASE SHOW THE MONSTER FORMS

Now, to the lovely love interests!

Amon

WHO LET THIS MAN BE OVER 7 FEET TALL? PRIDE YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO

I only just noticed he also has a few freckles, *chefs kiss* (Waaaiit do all of them have little freckle skin textures??? Oh this is a glorious day.)

It's hard not to love a big friendly guy. I was honestly relieved when he first showed up, because I did Envy's route first, and I was thrilled to see a friendly face in the big dark scary woods.

This does not mean, however, that I'm not excited to see what this guy turns into when he's mad.

I like that he has pity for MC when they first show up, but I do worry it makes his resolve weaker. I'm not as confident that he could handle society/reality breaking down as well as the others. Can he put aside his affable nature for when shit hits the fan?

Question: What level of fight had to happen for Amon to lose his eye? He's already huge, and has some sort of telekinetic powers. My theory is that he was taken by surprise, maybe by someone close to him.....(Envy I'm looking at you)

RIP Amon you would have loved Hawaiian shirts

Conclusion: Most likely to be the camp counselor who hurts his back from always giving piggy back rides. Least likely to keep his composure during a badly timed pun/dad joke.

Raeya

I'm fighting for my life whenever shes on screen good LORD

Similarly to Amon, I GOTTA know the story behind her prosthetic arm. Its so rad looking, but how did she lose a whole arm? (I am also considering that she was also not born with one)

Playing the demo again, she makes a specific comment about the monsters having not "infected a limb" of the MC. My bet is that's how she lost her arm.

I wish I could have spent 1:1 time with her, but it wasn't offered in the demo. I'd love to have like, a sit down discussion with her about history. (Well I'd be fine getting lectured about history and drinking tea and hanging out)

Out of everyone's motivations, I think I understood Raeya's the most. Even if she was against MC, I think her concerns are completely valid. If an alien fell out of the sky from a different reality to earth I'd ALSO be taking every precaution

She and Amon have matching ear chains, that's adorable....

I hope I can take her on a nice date and spoil her and let her relax in the full game, pretty please. Nothing bad will happen right???

Conclusion: Most likely to gently remind the waiter that you said NO pickles with your order, thank you very much. Least likely to admit to being the one who farted in a crowded room.

Envy

every other line from him is "UGGGHHH" and i love that for them.

After playing, I think I've finally realized that I've got a soft spot for grumps. just grumpy lil friends with their pouty faces

I want (vivi's) Envy's nails SO BAD. I need him to do my nails because theirs are perfect. Envy, envy PLEASE

They pretend not to care, but are already getting attached to the MC by the end of the demo. I can't wait to see what they're like when they actually DO get attached

Elephant in the room, what could he have possibly done to get himself demoted so severely? Everyone seems to be fine with him being demoted except Amon, who sheepishly vouches for him when he can.

I just wanna wrap him in a blanket burrito like you do with a spicy kitten. and then give him little smooches

Conclusion: Most likely to be they guy who gets one drink at a party and sits in the corner with the dog/cat all night. Least likely to allow their partner to willingly boop their nose with any regularity.

Pride

Old man yells at cloud? No....old man IS cloud.

The dev's tumblr has mentioned that he's a pathetic old man, but for now at least, I am afraid of his authority and power. since hes like. yaknow. the big god of this world

The VA did some fabulous work for his voice. I definitely got actual chills in certain parts. 10/10

Okay, so WHAT is this guy's deal with mirrors? He looks great, why is he worried about it. I sincerely doubt he's just 52 though, if he's a god. (as a note for all these interests, I have a feeling that the ages are their physical ages, and not their actual ages. Or at least, age relative to ours. I think they're much older in our years than in their years.)

We also didn't get any 1:1 time with Pride in the demo, so I'm fascinated to see what alone time with Pride would be like. Is he quiet? a chatterbox? Just a guy??? does he only play piano and not talk to you. (power move)

Conclusion: Most likely to show up WAY over-prepared for Parent-Teacher conferences. Least likely to understand and survive the cinnamon challenge.

Ara

Certified CUTIE PIE

We got a pretty clear demonstration of everyone's powers in the demo, except for Ara. Unless it was too subtle for me to realize, I'm not actually sure what her cool powers are yet.

If she DOESN'T have plant powers I'd be very surprised.

I keep wanting to think things like "I have to protect her" or "keep her safe at all costs". But then I remember she's likely absolutely terrifying, and I honestly should be actually afraid for anyone who gets in her way.

I would like to remind/inform everyone that so far, she is the only member of the cast who is visibly armed at all times. (Raeya doesn't count even if her arm claws look really really sharp.)

If I have to pick anyone to party with, it's probably Ara. I know she'd throw an absolute rager, but would also make sure you stay hydrated. I wanna hold her hand too. Please?

I'll go butch for her, i'll do it if thats what she wants. I'm weak

Conclusion: Most likely to be able convince you to give her your kidney. Least likely to let you skip a bloodthirsty game of monopoly because you "Have a headache"

Gael

where did he find pants long enough for him.

Okay. So its HIS fault that Amon has the deepest V-cut since time immemorial. Do you think Amon and Gael had an extensive argument about the minimum amount of clothes Amon has to wear at any given time? Because I do.

His powers certainly did not. Awaken anything in me. Nope.

he has the shortest and most perfect arc from stranger -> friendly -> ???? -> BETRAYAL

I am MASSIVELY curious about his dissociation/spacing out during the demo. He was 8 million miles away in the tower for some reason, and I HAVE to find out why. I just KNOW this man is doing some questionable shit with good intentions and I can't wait to find out what it is.

So, he has SOME issue with touch. No idea what it is, but I can't wait to find out what it is. Also noting he's the only one with full-coverage gloves in the cast. Interesting...

Conclusion: Most likely to cry after being sent those sad FB/insta animal stories. Least likely to let you open your own car/carriage/etc door under any circumstances.

Xal

He looks so soft. I have to bully him, in a good way. (Like grim from Date with Death)

I am fascinated as to why he would lie for MC. That's such a great hook to his character. What does a guy who so desperately wants to be left alone have to see to stick his neck out for a stranger?

SOMEONE get this man a NINTENDO DS POST HASTE

THIS GAME HAS TO GET FUNDED BECAUSE XAL SAYS HE HAS A CAT AND I WANT TO SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will do it, I will be the one to tuck him in when he is too eepy. I will carry him to bed and kiss his little head good night

Wait, if he can "Figure something out" by touching it, he could be like, the worlds greatest doctor. Xal please get off the couch and help me diagnose mystery ailments in a medical sitcom

Conclusion: Most likely to injure himself rigging up a Rue Goldberg machine to scratch his back. Least likely take it easy on you once he learns how to play super smash bros. (He's a fox/falco main)

Concerns:

What the Ravenstar team has already been able to accomplish is incredible. I'm worried that with 7 whole love interests (with a possible two more on the way if the kickstarter goes well), i'm worried the devs are taking on a whole lot of work. I think they're fully capable of taking this on, but I hope they don't burn themselves out in the process.

I'm pretty happy to see the kickstarter is moving along, but there's always the chance that something happens, and/or the kickstarter goal isn't met. BY THE TIME I FINISHED WRITING THIS IT GOT FUNDED LETS GOO!!! I still hope this project makes it all the way to completion beyond the kickstarter. Things can always happen, so Ive got my fingers crossed for the Ravenstar team!

OVERALL CONCLUSION:

I loved the demo, and I have now backed the project! The team is trying to hit stretch goals now, so share Lost in Limbo with your buddies! I crave content for this game like nothing else.

[poeticpains]

Poe's Giffing Tutorial (From One Beginner to Another)

Hey, everyone! So, I've been thinking about this for a while, and decided to finally make it happen. This post aims to be a giffing tutorial that isn't a bunch of technical jargon that nobody except experienced giffers understands. This is for the person that I was when I first started out: someone who wants to make gifs, for free, without having to learn the entirety of a new program. As such, if you're already familiar with the basics, this probably won't be super helpful to you.

In this, I'll cover the basics of actually capturing a gif, the how-to of color correction (though without getting into the nitty-gritty detail of it), some basic text effects, and some more decorative effects like overlays and ~fancy coloring. I'll also show you the program I use to resize gifs.

I don't have a fun quip to lead us into the next part, so, uh, let's just dive in.

Tools*:

A PC capable of handling heavy processor loads (I use a mid-range gaming laptop; it's a little slow sometimes, but it works)

Whatever you're giffing (obviously...)

ScreenToGif (a free, basic screencapture program)

Photopea (a free, in-browser Photoshop dupe)

RedKetchup (a free file resizer/converter)

*Note: These are not the end-all, be-all of gifmaking. They may not even be the best tools for the job! But they're free, they work well, and they're relatively intuitive.

Step 1: Capture your gif.

I'm going to use ScreenToGif for this. The first thing I do is open the program and click Recorder, which opens the recording interface.

I click and drag (or manually input dimensions in the boxes next to the recording button in the lower right corner) to set my dimensions, and then I press record. The red "Record" button will change to a blue square that says "Stop," and a timer will appear in the upper right corner, showing how many seconds your gif is.

Generally, I'll pause the video 5-10 seconds before my desired start time, to give myself a buffer (you'll be able to delete those frames later), start the recording, and then start the video. You'll probably find a system that works for you once you do it a few times.

Once the scene that I want to capture is done, I'll click the blue "Stop" button, and the overlay will close itself. A few seconds later, depending on how long/complex/large your gif is, the program will pop up with a new window where you can edit. Here's what it looks like:

You can do a lot with ScreenToGif, but we'll be using the dead simple stuff today. Click the "Edit" tab, fourth from the left, and this will show up.

"Delete All Previous" and "Delete All Next" are our friends here. Go to the FIRST frame that you want in your gif, using either your arrow keys or just dragging the slider, and select it. Then hit "Delete All Previous." This will make that frame the first frame of your gif. Then, go to the LAST frame of your gif, and hit "Delete All Next." This makes the last frame of the scene that you want the last frame of the gif. You can also use the "Delete" option to delete frames by selecting them with your cursor if you want a more manual option.

Now you have your raw gif! Go to the "File" tab, the first one on the left, and select "Save As" from the menu. You want to make sure that it's saving as a .gif file, not an .mp4 or .apng --- you can check this up at the top. Don't worry, though, as .gif is the default, so unless you change it, you should be golden. Select whatever folder you want to put it in, name it, and save it.

You could absolutely stop here. It is by no means required to color your gifs or slow them down or any other number of things associated with giffing. But if you want to, here's how I do it.

Step 2: Edit your gif.

Head on over to Photopea. You'll see this:

What we want is the "Open From Computer" option. Click it, and your File Explorer will show up. Navigate to whatever folder you saved your gif in and select it by double clicking or clicking once and hitting "Open."

It'll open in a new workspace that looks like this.

You may be saying, "Gee, Poe, that sure looks a lot like Photoshop!" Yes, it absolutely does. If you're familiar with Photoshop, you will most likely be able to find your way around Photopea just fine, and can probably go from here. But if you're not familiar with Photoshop, here's the basics.

First thing's first: gifs are frequently pretty fuzzy/blurry. Luckily, sharpening them is easy.

Select all your frames (the list on the right with all the numbered layers) by clicking one end, scrolling up/down, holding Shift, and clicking the other end. Then go up to the tabs and do Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. This will automatically sharpen each frame using a percentage; the default is, I believe, 150%, and this is usually what I use because I am fundamentally lazy.

If you don't select all your frames, only the one that you're currently on (the one highlighted in a lighter color) will get the effect applied to it. This goes for basically anything you do, so it's good to get in the habit of selecting all.

Now that it's sharpened, we can color it. Go up to the tabs again, and go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > [whatever you want to adjust]. Most commonly in Escape the Night, you'll have to adjust brightness, because there's a lot of dark, moody scenes; Season 3 is also especially yellow/orange tinted, so you'll probably want to color correct it, too, using the Color Balance adjustment layer. This is a total guessing game based on the exact scene you're doing and my method is just selecting random things and adjusting sliders until it looks good (remember: fundamentally lazy). Honestly, I'm not an expert in coloring gifs, so I won't pretend to be — especially since people can and do write entire posts just dedicated to it. For this gif, I'm just lightening it a little.

And if this is all you want to do — no text, no effects — you're done! Go to File > Export As > GIF. It will take a few moments to load, so don't panic when your page freezes. A new window will pop up that allows you to do things like set looping, time, etc. but you can also just "Save" and you're done!

But let's say you want something fun. Maybe you'd like to overlay a quote or make it a cool color. If that's the case, continue on...

Step 3: Make your gif shine.

Three parts in this: text, fun colors, and overlays. You can combine these three to do some awesome things, and they're all very simple to do, once you know what you're doing. Think of them less like steps and more like a mix-and-match deal. You can use one, two, or all three!

So, here we go.

Option 3a: Add some text.

The easiest option of the three, this one works exactly like you think it does. The uppercase T symbol on the sidebar will create a new text layer where you can type something and set a font, size, and color.

I'll spare you the lecture on typography that I could give you — you can find better ones than I could make. Generally, though, you have a decorative/display font for headings and emphasis, and then a different, more generalized font for subheadings and other things. In this, the display font is Heavy Heap, which was used on the Season 3 tarot cards, and the general font is a relatively generic serif font.

(Sidenote: you can load fonts into Photopea! Just go to a font website like Dafont, download the font you want, and then open it as you would any other file by going to File > Open and selecting it from your files. You should get a message that says "Font [Your Font Name Here] Loaded," and then you'll be able to use it in your design. That's how I got Heavy Heap in there.)

You can change size and color with these, which will show up at the top when you select the text tool. Keep in mind that if you're making changes after you type something out, you will need to select (highlight) the text you want to change — it won't do it automatically.

I will admit that Photopea's text editor is not the cleanest, simplest, or nicest to use, especially at first. I came from Canva where it was much faster and easier. The downside, of course, is that Canva is highly limited with what you can do.

There are also ways to warp the text, change the blending, and do outlines, but I'll leave that for another time as to avoid making this any longer than it already is.

Option 3b: Make it a cool color.

You have a couple different ways to do this. Probably the most intuitive is to go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter. Select the color box, pick the color you want using the picker or a hex code, select your desired density, and click OK. Boom, color over your gif.

It defaults to this vintage-y orange, but you can pick whatever color your heart desires.

However, I usually use a different method using Gradient Maps. This is also pretty easy; Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map. If you leave it black and white, by the way, you get a B&W gif (you can also just select the Black and White option in the Adjustment Layer menu). Click on the gradient, select the white square on the right side of the gradient line, and then select the square down at the bottom of the window and change it to whatever color you want.

For this gif, I'm leaving it B&W.

(You can have a lot of fun with gradient maps. Play around with them!)

Option 3c: Overlay another gif on top.

Ooookay, so, this is the most advanced and tedious of effects to do (at least of the ones documented in this post), but it's worth it, I promise. For this, you'll need at least one other gif. I usually use a base gif that's relatively neutrally colored, oftentimes B&W but sometimes just faded or pastel, plus one (or more than one) colored, brighter gif. These are, of course, just guidelines — combine whatever gifs you want. The only real requirement, per se, is that they have the same amount of frames. If they don't, it'll look weird. (But if you do end up with two gifs that have different amounts of frames, you can delete the difference right in Photopea, so I don't stress about it too much.)

You also generally want to add text after this step, so if you're planning on doing this, save the text for last.

First things first: color your gifs the way you want and then save both of them. Then re-open them both in Photopea. Yes, this is annoying. I did say it was tedious.

So now I have both of them in my navbar, labeled as "tutorial base" and "tutorial overlay."

Go to your overlay gif and right-click on the gif folder. This is the top layer with a little arrow and folder icon next to the name of the gif.

Select "Duplicate Into" and then pick your base gif in the popup. In my case, it's named "tutorial base."

Now you'll click over to your base gif, and you'll see that your accent has been put on top of your base. Now you get to have fun with blending!

Right click on the overlay gif's folder again. Then, select Blending Options, which is the first menu item. It'll bring up a popup with all sorts of options for styling your layer.

The default setting is Pass Through, which is what we see here. If you want, you could just change the opacity to get your desired effect.

You could also play around with blending options such as Overlay, Color Burn, Lighten, and Screen. Every gif is different, and every gif will look different with different options, so experiment and see what looks best! You may have to go back and recolor it a few times, so I recommend just keeping the project open in your navbar for easy access.

For this gif, I think I'll go with Darker Color at 67%.

One last step, and then you're done with blending!

Go to Layer > Animation > Merge. This will merge each frame of your animation (the gifs) with each other, meaning that they'll play at the same time. If you forget this step, as I do frequently, you'll go to save your gif and find that it plays as a sequence.

Once you've merged your gifs, you can add texts, more effects, PNG overlays, whatever you want! Congrats! You did it!

Step 4: Resize your gif (if necessary).

Maybe you've made a gif, and it's beautiful, and it's amazing, and you wanna show everyone...but it's five million megabytes and you can't send or post it anywhere. Tumblr's max file size is 10 MB, while Discord's (standard) max file size is..7 MB, I think? Either way, if you try to upload something bigger than that, you'll get an error message and the familiar taste of disappointment.

Never fear, Redketchup is here!

This is Redketchup, and it's super simple.

Go to "GIF Resizer" under Animation Tools. Upload your gif, then scroll until you see the Resize GIF section. Input the percentage you'd like to reduce it by (presets are 25%, 50%, and 75% smaller, but you can set it manually, as well).

This is also the step where you can slow it down if you desire if you didn't do it in Photopea — it's in the next section down. Set the speed, if you'd like, and then go down to the bottom and hit Download.

It'll take you to a preview tab where you can check if your gif is small enough. If it is, hit Download again up in the top left, and that's that! Go share your gif with the world!

Conclusion:

Thank you for reading! I am by no means an expert gifmaker, but I want to spread the love and give other people the option to do it. I wouldn't know any of this stuff without the people who taught me, and I'll put a list of tutorials down at the bottom that I referenced when I was first learning to make gifs.

At any rate, if you use this post to make a gif, feel free tag me or send it to me so I can see! And for those of you who are on the fence about learning or starting to gif...

Do it. I double-dog dare you.

:)

References:

Blending Gifs by @the-mother-of-lions

Photopea Coloring Tutorial by @heroeddiemunson

Merging in Photopea by @bellamyblakru

And, though not a specific reference, I frequently browse @usergif for inspiration (they have tutorials there, as well, but I haven't checked them out yet).

[loudn-mcyt]

Superhero AU: Spruce

On the last poll, Spruce kingdom and End kingdom ended up tied. I considered a couple options for a tiebreaker to decide which one I was going to do first.

Then I woke up at 3:30 this morning and decided that I might as well do both since i have nothing better to do.

So, here is the first of those posts, for Spruce. I'll also be posting End kingdom in close succession so keep an eye out for that. (The masterpost will have links to both, as well as all previous builds)

Both builds for Spruce were extremely easy to conceptualize and build for me; they just felt like very natural extensions of the lore within their episodes. Additionally, these builds should be pretty straightforward - if I had to pick any of these characters to give to a first-time player, it would probably be one of these two. First up is Anathra. The colors for this one were taken from his coat and visor.

Anathra's powers center around controlling cold and ice. At the time I built this, I didn't know about his whole visor/hologram lore, which would have been very fun to build, but I like this path forward as well - it's a lot more tied to sbk specifically. He has a few different options, all at range, for single-target or area damage, or some control with the frozen in place affliction. He can also shape his environment with the ice sculpture power. These offensive options are enhanced by his advantages, which represent the precision and control he has over his powers - accurate attack allows him to sacrifice a little power for a better chance to hit, while precise attack allows him to circumvent cover with his attacks.

On the defensive/utility side, he has a pretty robust set of tools. He's immune to any effect with the cold descriptor, including his own powers (well, mostly...that complication may disagree), and can activate an aura of intense cold that harms anyone who comes into contact with him. His lowered body temperature also allows him to hide from infravision by blending into the background, and can sense when other people use similar powers to his. He can also "skate" by covering the ground with a thin layer of ice to increase his speed going forward.

There's not much to say about Anathra's skills or advantages; his advantages not geared towards combat are to complement his analytical nature and his skills as a team player, and the skills I gave him are also geared towards a perceptive character.

Acorn was also extremely easy for me to think of a role for; after all, she already has the mask down. The colors here are from her normal sweatshirt and her mask.

Acorn is the first real 'vigilante' style character, with significantly less put into powers compared to most of the builds I've made. Her powerset is pretty simple, taking some traits from tanukis/raccoons to give her just a little more impact in combat and a lot more mobility and utility to get around quickly.

This kind of build centers a lot more around generally high abilities and lots of skills and advantages, and that's where most of the points went here. Her advantages highlight her training and adaptability, with focus on exploiting her opponent's weak spots and getting out when things get rough, as well as some noncombat advantages to emphasize her investigative traits and skill in stealth.

Skillwise, she has a lot of options. focused around the idea of a stealthy investigator. Three to highlight are Expertise: Streetwise, Investigation, and Stealth: with the Skill Mastery advantage, she can always treat those as though she had rolled a 10, resulting in minimum outcomes of 19, 21, and 24, respectively.

This one was a lot shorter, but it's like I said - these are some of the most straightforward builds I've done, and by far the easiest to pick up and understand.

[legolasghosty]

I blame @latinposeidon for this. This post he made inspired it. I failed in the 'Don't write a ficlet' department. Enjoy!

Hmmmm, which color, Willie wondered, his fingers dancing over the sea of black lids in Julie's drawer. Okay, this probably wasn't what she'd meant when she said he could borrow some of her stuff for the band's gig tonight, but well, Willie had been eyeballing her nail polish collection for like a month now.

What, it was pretty. The little flashes of color always caught their eye in the best way when other people wore it. And without Caleb around to police their wardrobe choices, he could finally give it a try.

Though maybe there was a reason Willie hadn't just asked Julie outright if he could borrow hers. Maybe he was a bit nervous about how it would look. Maybe they couldn't quite shake Caleb's disapproving glares, couldn't always ignore the nightmares of that same expression coming from the faces of Julie or Luke or Reggie...

Willie tried not to think about the dreams where Alex gave him that look.

But those were just dreams and this was real. Willie wanted to do this and they were going to. He just had to pick a color already.

"Everybody decent in-" Julie started, entering the room and cutting herself off at the sight of Willie hunched over her desk. "What's going on in here?" she asked slowly.

Oh geez, this wasn't good. She was going to get mad. Boys weren't supposed to wear nail polish. And they definitely weren't supposed to just take stuff without asking. There went Willie's friendship with the one lifer who could see him-

"Ooo, are we doing nails?" Julie questioned, peering over their shoulder into the drawer. "Perfect, I needed to do something with mine anyways."

Willie just stared at her for a long moment. What? She wasn't upset? Why wasn't she upset? Was she pretending? Why would she-

"Willie, you're spiraling," Julie said softly, touching his arm. "You're doing that same glazed-over thing Reggie does. What's going on?"

Willie shook his head. Right. This was Julie, not Caleb. She'd already let them borrow and tie up her hoodies and oversized band shirts more than once. She hadn't batted an eye when he walked in on Alex braiding their hair. It was fine.

"I just haven't painted my nails before," Willie confessed, voice much softer than he'd intended. "Caleb didn't let us."

Julie bit her lower lip and nodded. Willie didn't talk about Caleb much, so he wasn't surprised that she didn't really know what to do with this information.

"It's fine," he added. "Just got in my head for a second." More than a second, but who was counting? "Well there's no Caleb here now," Julie said after another silent moment. She reached for the drawer, fingers wrapping around one of the bottles. "What color do you want?" Willie was a little startled by their own laughter. "Well that's what I was trying to figure out," they explained, twisting the black ring around their middle finger.

Julie gave him a long, appraising look. "How do you feel about pink?" she asked, after taking in his black shorts and purple and white crop top.

"Isn't pink more Alex's color?" Willie asked slowly. He couldn't stop himself from checking out the options though. That one was almost the same color Alex's cheeks got when Willie kissed them.

"Well yeah, so it'll make him lose his mind," Julie retorted. "Pick a color."

Willie grinned and grabbed a cotton candy bottle of polish.

"Perfect," Julie agreed, choosing a dark purple color of her own. "I'll do you, you do me."

Willie nodded, grinning. They perched on her desk, letting her take the chair. Julie laid out some paper towels in case of any drips and they got to work.

And Alex did lose his mind a bit over the pink on Willie's fingertips. Though he confessed later, when it was just the two of them curled up in the loft of the garage, that it was Willie's grin that got him first. And really, what was Willie supposed to say to that? Alex was just being too cute. All Willie could really do was kiss him at that point, his pink nails tangled in the pink string of Alex's hoodie.

[syntheticmortal]

I got tagged by the lovely @crownedinmarigolds! Thank you so much mate!! I'm absolutely charmed 🥰

Now my rat bastard spouse stole most of my tagging options on their post so to not double-tag I will add:

@skaerdir, @klaciate, @tzimizce and @vamp-orwave!!

If anyone who sees this wants to be an honourary tagee, then go for it XD

For those who don't know - Hi I am Alex! (He/They) and I'm a writer and an English immigrant to the USA!

3 ships: oh mate all of these are OCxOC with @c-n-i-d-a-r-i-a-n

Victor and Gloria – A Nos and his unbound Ghoulfriend. Making your touchstone one of your mission Ghouls is dangerous af but live fast love hard, lads.

Jeff and Lamb – Another of Vic's unbound Ghouls and the Thin Blood Nos that joined the Warren. Disgustingly fucking cute injected into the den of the rejected and disgruntled.

Ventan/Taakur Rig and Rozanin Rig – My and Daz's SWTOR PCs respectively. A Chiss Cipher Agent that ends up having to go hide with his Mandalorian hireling with her Clan and Roz's unrequited love becomes hella requited and suddenly Ventan/Cipher Five-now-Taakur has step kids??

I love it so much.

first ship: Oh god this takes me back to being little. Probably a Sonic one??

Shadow and Rouge if I had to take a guess??

last song: Temptation by Sean Paul! A proper bop

But honestly massive shout out to the second Nostalgia Synthwave mix by Odysseus on youtube

This thing keeps me sane, and has all the songs marked! – that opening one, Realign by Cerulean, can usually just melt my brain into peace whenever I hear it

last film: Snatch – Like VTMB it's a problematic fave that oozes style and characterisation throughout. Watched it as prep for a Setite I'm going to play in a V5 game >:D

currently reading: Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan as part of genre research. Finished The Vampyre recently too! Really I should pick AC up today, I've been working hard on my editing and outlining of my own pieces and neglecting the reading part of the craft for a few weeks >.>;

currently craving: So I'm drinking far less booze to save money whilst I'm out of work trying to get some Proper Writing done. So when I hit a good worthy milestone I'm getting a bottle of whiskey and I am ready.

fav color: Green! Sometimes purple!

relationship status: Maaarriiied to @c-n-i-d-a-r-i-a-n

last google search: I had to double check the spelling of Taakur for the ship section, so it was 'mandoa' :')

and before that I'm pretty use I searched Scryfall last night to go look at MTG cards even though I have no one to play with right now :'D (at least it's saving me money >.>)

current obsessions: Was tempted to add my own work here but I'll tag that on the very end XD

There's a lot of fandoms I don't leave – World of Darkness and Warhammer 40k predominantly as settings I always have another angle I want to see explored in!

I do however have the Magic the Gathering bug, even though I haven't really played in years and years now – but card interaction as a generation for narrative has always kind of captivated me? Like there's a couple big mean Ogre cards that make Rats more dangerous, but due to the way the systems work they also empower the Ratfolk of Kamigawa, the Nezumi, as they count as 'Rat' cards still. So big Ogre spellcasters improving Rat people as part of a contained bit of narrative kind of fascinates me as a concept.

Plus each deck presupposes a Planeswalker character who's casting those spells – and I was always intrigued by that notion and so most of my OCs are representative of decks I played (or wanted to :P) and then in turn each Planeswalker needs a Plane to come from, probably from a still existing culture on that Plane too, and so it can kind of wonderfully reverberate inspiration.

Like how every VTM Kindred OC presupposes a Sire!

BONUS ALEX SECTION

So if you want to get to know me, let me tell you about what writing I'm working on/have made recently.

Out now!

The Mutilation of Finley Reid

A short story of masculine horror, about a young man by the name of Finley who suffers in the pursuit of having his place as a man affirmed by his peers.

The world of Torranham Nights is an anachronistic reflection of England set in the coastal city state of Torranham, drawing from contemporary culture and folklore as well as the legends and reality of the cultures that came before – without being fetishistic about it like a lot of stories will.

Handle It

A short retail horror, about working the cash register of a butcher's counter, and the customer who orders increasing amounts of ground beef...

Inspired by my own work in a same spot, anyone who's done service work should get a kick out of this – plus it's free and only takes 20 minutes to read! XD

On the way!

Defector – name subject to change

A short story of grief, shame, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, and community. On the moon.

A Special Recon mech pilot, “Crash”, from Earth has defected to the Moon rebels, and now lives in Magnolia City, rotting away in her tiny apartment. Then the Provisional Government sends one of its elite commanders, a former enemy of Crash's, to pull her out.

Elhart: Arrival

The first of a short story fantasy anthology about a city of refugees at the edge of time and space, hiding from the end of the multi-planar universe. A super soldier has washed up with a near-fatal headwound and no memory, and she must learn to live in a far more peaceful world than the one her instincts suggest she came from. But who was she? And can she earn the trust of people who fear her potential to kill?

Neon Sun

A novel! Cyberpunk Vampires! If we're mutuals you can come ask about this but I'm not ready to share things too publicly for this one yet, but the outlining has gone beautifully in my opinion, and the worldbuilding is singing.

Speartip

I'm making a TTRPG!! It's a Powered by the Apocalypse engine game, about serving as the primary field agents of a faction of people who need your support and protection. Because if you're going to be a hero, who are you doing it for if not your kin?

Setting agnostic as hell, excluding some implicit need for magic in the class moves – I'm prepping to playtest this in sci-fi and fantasy settings to see how well my mechanics hold up in both swords and firearms based stories. Plus I'm going to explore a variety of perspectives of what the faction can be – from ethnic groups, to gangs, to guilds, to neighbourhoods.

I'm VERY excited about all this!!

[gwydionae]

King's Quest Fan Remakes

After talking about them a bit recently, I felt compelled to play through the old KQ fan remakes (1-3 from AGDI and 3 from IA), and I wanted to share my more in depth thoughts for anyone interested in these love letters to the original games.

King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown Remake from AGD Interactive

A lovely update to the original! While clearly the least polished of AGDI's offerings, it's nice to be able to play KQ1 with KQ5-style graphics and voice acting (the original voice of Graham, Josh Mandel, voices him in all four of the games in this post, ftr). There is an option to turn off any chance of softlocking yourself before you even start the game, which is a welcome feature. Puzzle-wise, this one stays the most faithful to the original out of the three from AGDI with a few updates here and there (like that stupid name puzzle! lol). The vocal performances and sound effects can be a bit fuzzy, but I found them enjoyable nonetheless.

Overall a solid fan remake with limited extra bells and whistles!

King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones from AGDI

Easily the most ambitious of the three from AGDI. Pretty much all of the core elements from KQ1 are further polished here - artwork, acting, music, and sound effects. The story and puzzles, however, have been changed enough that the end product is sizably different from the original. In some cases, this is fun and interesting (more lore and character interactions! new and unique puzzles!), but not everyone will enjoy all the changes. I, for example, find the underwater section kind of fun, but the new content around the count... not so much (for reasons I'll avoid due to spoilers, but know they're more mechanical than anything). There's less freedom in when you can do things, the added story making the game far more linear than it originally was. But then I'm sure many would agree that if any KQ game could do with extra content, it'd be 2, so I can't fault them swinging for the fences, even if not every hit was a home run.

All in all, this version of KQ2 doesn't really work if you're simply looking to experience the original game with updated graphics, but it's a fun playthrough nonetheless, and newcomers might enjoy the added lore/story bits. Just be aware that I could probably sum up the original game's story in about two sentences while this one would take far longer. XD

King's Quest III: To Heir is Human Redux from AGDI

If KQ1 wasn't fully polished and KQ2 was a little overworked, then KQ3 is juuuuuust right! (For anyone who knows the game, yes, this is a purposeful pun. XD) The graphics, sounds, music, vocal performances - all are the best yet (though still with some minor hiccups as any fan game is wont to have - the music was sadly cutting out during the climactic sequence for me). It even has a neat little feature where the timer changes color depending on how close you are to being zapped into oblivion that is not only useful but adds a sense of urgency in it's own way (especially if you forgot the item that makes travel a lot easier for like 2 meals I mean what lol). While it does carry over some of the story threads from AGDI's second entry, this game still works well enough on it's own, with the majority of the new content being added in naturally rather than supplanting whole sections of the original. In fact, personally speaking, I think the added content only enhances the game, your encounters with Medusa and the yeti especially getting a nice boost. And the extra lore only helps you feel for the protagonists plight all the more. The ending is a bit drawn out, perhaps, and I may not agree with the order you're supposed to choose the four items in to get the treasure (insert rant here XD), but those are minor nitpicks at best.

This is easily the best of the three, AGDI having perfected their KQ formula at this point. It works as a remake of the original while still adding in a bit of new content that doesn't feel unwelcome. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in giving the King's Quest series a try.

King's Quest III: To Heir is Human Remake from Infamous Adventures

Look. I know that it's not as impressive as AGDI's version. The time limit is laughably long, the spells are impossible to mess up, and some of the clickable areas can be a bit wonky. But I really like this version, ok?? I like the design and voice of Gwydion, I like the storybook quality that the cutscene art has, I like that it feels lonely when it should. And as much as some of the changes in AGDI's version were really nice, I like that it's basically just the original game without extra stuff added in.

This is like AGDI's KQ1 - a really solid remake of a game that gives you the feel of the original but with an updated interface and graphics. It's not as impressive as the one above, but it doesn't have to be. The original KQ3 is an awesome game, so an update of just that can't be bad. It can easily be played as a standalone game, and I will continue recommending this version 'til I die, lol.

[retropobor]

Ladies, Gentleman, and All Other Colors, I present to thee: Deltarune Parallels

So about a week ago, I put out a poll asking when I should reveal this little project of mine, and with an overwhelming 2 votes the people said I should release now, so I am pleased to announce the existence of the one and only

(It's currently in a very early stage, so not everything is fleshed out, but here's what I have so far)

Parallels is a little side project of mine which takes the current deltarune world, and focuses on a different cast.

The Human: Terro

Terro is an adventurous person. They're often very quiet while in public, but completely change when alone or with friends, becoming drastically more social and friendly.

The Monster: Ruby

Ruby is a jack of all trades when it comes to knowledge. If you have a question about just about anything, she probably at least knows where to guide you for answers. Above all else however, she loves gardening and nature

The Neighbor: Jack

Jack is a simple monster. If someone gets scared, himself included, he's happy. Scaring runs in his family, and he's happy to keep up the tradition. Although being Hallow entails far more than just scaring. After all, a halloween scare contrasts sharply with holiday spirit

The Prince from the pmdw: MT Pqge

Mgfaymfaz Tqxbqd Pqge, mxea wzaiz me MT Pqge ad vgef Pqge, ue m pmdwzqd ymotuzq yqmzf fa meeuef xustfzqde ftdagst ftq pmdw iadxp. Tq ue puefuzofxk xqee radymx ftmz tue oagzfqdbmdf, ngf efuxx nqxuqhqe uz yqdok mxx ftq emyq.

The story would occur during the story of regular Deltarune in hometown, however, instead of playing as kris, you instead play as Terro, accompanied by Ruby on your search to find out what happened to Kris and Susie

Now then, with all those introductions aside, you're probably wondering where this will go. That is a good question, I do not know, but I have some options, which is where you come in. Either:

A Game

Pros

-The intended experience for parallels

-Will probably be the most enjoyable

-Gives me an excuse to finally get into game design and begin something big

Cons

-Will take forever (Look no further than UTY taking 7 years)

-Requires me to learn music design, and game design

-Unless someone actively asks to join, I have no clue how I would expand my team

A webcomic

Pros

-Frequent Content that still follows the plot

-Follows the plot most accurately without being the game itself

Cons

-I cannot draw well and I don't have any art creation software other than aseprite (There is a reason I went into sprite art)

-I'm not sure how I would write this, and I don't think it will turn out that good

You can submit asks, and the characters will answer

Pros

-Can exist alongside other options freely (honestly depending on what happens with my question box, it will probably just come with whatever other option is chosen)

-Takes basically no effort on my end

Cons

-Barely gives any plot

-If used alone, makes certain characters forever unknown

Or I release the info doc I have on this thing

Pros

-Easiest option on my end

Cons

-I genuinely cannot think of a more boring option for all this lore to be revealed. Like seriously, this doc just lists everything out that I have

-Locks out all other options from being usable as it spoils the entire plot and everyone's character -Immediately all mystery is thrown out the window, and the majority of headcanon formation is squashed

Multiple of the above

Pros

-Any Pros of the components

-Gives more depth and interest to the story

Cons

-Any Cons of the components

-Combines the time of the individual parts

I now place the option in your hands, but I should note that if this doesn't get much attention, I'll probably just drop this all, because I already have a lot on my plate (Idk if this is greedy of me to ask, and I guarantee this will never happen in a million years, but just so everyone can have a concrete number I'll guarantee making whatever comes of the result I can get 3k notes on this post if the poll is still active, 5k notes if it's not, at which point I'll repost the poll so all the new people can vote).

Anyways, I think that's about everything on the topic, thanks for reading through this mess, you may go back to your regular scrolling.

oh hey you're still here. Have some art

Okay, that's all for real

U eqq kag mdq dmftqd pqhafqp fa gzpqdefmzpuzs ftue fqjf. Kag dqyuzp yq m xaf ar ykeqxr, pqmd dqmpqd. Bxqmeq, oazfuzgq fa pa ea itqz iq yqqf msmuz. Kag iuxx ruzp sdqmf geq uz pauzs ea.

[arenabreadandbiscuits]

OFFERING COMMISSIONS (Art, Writing, Animations, and MORE) Please Read Full Post If Interested and VOTE

-

Waited a week and maybe a few extra days for this person to pay $50 dollars for this commission (lineart, color, and time) and they haven't yet sooo.. since commissions are a serious thing that I've mentioned time and time and time again here I'm just going to post it and let others enjoy the art since if I'm not getting paid, attention from people who will pay and pay on time are ones I'm reaching out to.

They mentioned wanting to pay with mobile deposit which I mentioned over and over again that I haven't used before and even after I looked into it mentioned that I wasn't comfortable with that method of payment. After waiting I've decided to just move on.

If YOU have the funds, are serious about payment, and happy to help someone trying to heal from their disability while also trying to keep a good head and some money in their pocket in the living situation they are in right now please dm me!

I do art and writing commissions: Art - open to headings, pfps, couple pics, OCS, favorite characters and them x OCS

And writing commissions: Fanfic - OC x OC, OC x cc, cc x reader, reader x OC, smut, angst, fluffy, yandere, etc

My commissions aren't cheap except for lineart but it depends on case. The lowest I'll go for an art commission would be $30 and the lowest I'll go for a writing one would be $5 but the highest I'll go for art is $250 with THIS being an example. (< Hazbin Hotel Banner) And $195 for writing up to 10k words.

Here's the picture of the art I drew but wasn't paid for.

I don't like usually posting the faces but I tried everything for a marker or something to cover it but since it's not working here's the time lapse. Anyway this commission made me want to do more pet commissions are well just for practice so if you want your pet and you drawn and are willing to pay money upfront or midway then my dms are open to you. For the most part I won't post it unless you want me to or unless you're like this person.

Poll for engagement to reach better buyers.

Prices can be debated of course, I'm willing to have prices change depending on what art you want, how much time it takes, and what is included in it. Cases most likely will be unique for certain people and things but as long as we both agree on the price I'm willing to accept anyone. I also wouldn't mind Commissions for smut art (OC x Sebastian Michaelis for example..) but that would probably be extra dollars so yeah.

I've opened animation commissions in the past but no one said anything about them so while these prices may change later at some point I feel pretty okay with the prices here. Imagine paying for smut art but basically animation. They will only be lineart until I grow more comfortable with coloring animations and when I eventually do of course I'll price up for cases to get paid what I deserve for my work. Just be patient with animations since they'll take a couple days to get done I'm sure but you'll absolutely get an amazing piece for commissioning me.

Never send me money unless I say I'm ready for it, with this being said I refuse to be blamed if you don't follow the rules and these many posts I've made for how I take and accept commissions. If you have questions ALWAYS ask them before anything else.

My ONLY Payment methods currently are:

CASHAPP

CHIME

VENMO

ONE

RIA

CURRENT

PayPal is an option too but not one I prefer using really. If you can't use any of these payment methods or refuse to please don't bother here with me. Give space for those who actually want and can help me please and thank you. Also if you are an account that shows up and tells me to DM you with no further information I will be immediately blocking you.

I look forward to hearing from many of you! Just please understand my rules, I'm so tired of explaining them all the time haha.

[unfriendlyamazon]

Find Your Flag (gen fanfic)

i was thinking of saving this but since @kaijous posted their bi pride yugi i'll post my bi pride tristan. a little exchange we did to celebrate our favorite bisexuals in this fandom

characters: Tristan Taylor, Yugi Muto, Joey Wheeler, Anzu Mazaki, Miho Nosaka, Duke Devlin & Seto Kaiba (mentions)

rating: G

summary:

As Domino City ramps up for its first pride event, Tristan can't help but feel a little anxiety.

Tristan took the side roads to Kame Game, his motorcycle puttering along with the increased traffic. Most of the main roads in Domino’s downtown were already cornered off, pushing motorists to wind through the streets. He caught glimpses of the main thoroughfare as it was being set up. Floats were being readied, and workers in bright t-shirts directed pedestrians off the main road. Music blared from all over, and the parade would end at the entrance gates to Kaibaland, which had free entry all day. Domino City’s first pride event was shaping up to be one for the history books.

And of course the crew was going wild. Duke’s game shop was along the parade route, and they’d secured a float, meaning they’d been traipsing around in a full ball gown for a week to get ready. Anzu and Miho had spent the morning at Kaibaland, dressed in oranges and pinks with flowers in their hair. They’d meet the boys when the parade was ready to start, which was why Tristan was heading over to Yugi’s with still a few hours to go. Joey’d slept over at Yugi’s to avoid the disrupted bus schedule, and he’d already gotten plenty of pics of them preparing their outfits. Tristan lagged behind, a little less enthusiastic than his friends. He was happy the parade was happening, and the whole thing had those Kaiba flourishes that really made it pop, but the truth was, he didn’t know if he was ready to take it to the streets. He’d only started admitting he was bisexual last year. Now the whole city was waiting for him to come out of the closet, fishnet shirt and bisexual pasties included.

He parked the bike and waved to Grandpa as he started up the steps to the upstairs apartment. Pride flags fluttered outside of Kame Game, and someone had draped a trans flag over a cardboard standee of Yugi. Some kids were taking pictures with it. He didn’t bother to knock as he pushed open the door to the comfy living space. Music carried from Yugi’s room, where Yugi and Joey were laughing on his bed. Both sat up as Tristan came in.

“The big man’s here!” Joey shouted. “I thought you were gonna bail.”

Tristan gave his best smile. “On Domino’s first pride? It’s a historic occasion.”

“Kaiba really went all out,” Yugi said, jumping from the bed. “He’s grand marshalling the whole thing.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Tristan said.

“Did you see the photos he posted?” Joey nudged his buddy. “He’s kinda hot as a girl.”

Tristan rolled his eyes and shoved him down, earning another peal of laughter. Yugi grabbed a handful of shirts from a discarded pile and held them up to Tristan.

“I went thrifting with Anzu,” he said. “You said you didn’t know what to wear.”

Tristan’s eyes swam with the options in front of him. Yugi definitely had his style, and he’d gone with a mesh shirt pleather pants for himself, crisscrossed with strips of fabric in dark colors of the bisexual flag. He’d done his hair at full spikiness, with enough gel to probably hurt someone if they got too close. A spiked collar and several chains hung down from his throat. The clothes he’d picked out, he’d at least gone more subtle on. Strips of fabric in dark pinks and blues on clothes where he’d definitely guessed the size.

“Thanks,” Tristan said, “but I think I’m just gonna wear this.”

He felt them both sizing up his current look. He’d stripped the motorcycle jacket off, and he’d gone with a simple blue button up and his usual jeans. The two glanced at each other, and Joey shrugged.

“Whatever works, big man.” He slapped a hand on Tristan’s back. “Show me what you got for me.”

Yugi brightened and untangled more outfits. Tristan sat back as they chattered together, holding up clothes, laughing at the stupid stuff they said. It was easy to let them caught up in whatever they were doing, so he could focus on breathing. He wished this whole thing wasn’t giving him anxiety. He wanted to join in with his friends, laugh and share and feel pride, but with every news camera and Instagram post he felt his fear rising. It wasn’t like his parents would see him front and center. It wasn’t like his buddies at the garage would just know. But they might. For so long Tristan had wrapped himself in the blanket of I have gay friends, and that shield was slowly disappearing. Now he’d be in the crowd, with the world watching.

No pressure.

He startled as Joey dropped down onto the bed beside him. Yugi was in the bathroom, applying his makeup, but it was as private a moment as the two were gonna get that day.

“You okay?” Joey asked.

Tristan grinned at him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He tilted his head, but didn’t say anything. After a few beats, he jumped up again, grabbing a tin from Yugi’s bedside and shoving it at Tristan.

“Gramps dug these out,” he said. “Vintage pride buttons.”

Tristan glanced at him as opened the tin. Buttons of varying size were collected among other trinkets. They came in all sorts of colors, bearing slogans like CURE AIDS NOW and GAY POWER. Lesbian and gay and liberation mixed together. Joey reached in, snagging a button and holding it out to Tristan.

“I know you’re not the flashiest guy,” he said, “but I thought you’d wanna wear that one.”

Tristan turned it over in his hands. The metal had tarnished on the back, and it was clearly homemade. The front was black, with a pink and blue triangle intersecting each other. The wording was simple: BISEXUAL PRIDE!

“If you want,” Joey said. “No pressure.”

Tristan wondered briefly where the elder Muto had picked these up, if it’d been a passing fancy, or an intentional collection. Maybe he’d felt the same way Tristan did holding it. Someone had made this, crafted it, shared it with the world, in a time where wearing a button like this was the bravest thing you could do. He closed his fist around it and smiled up at Joey.

“Thanks,” he said.

A knock against the bathroom door made them both look up. Yugi waved his phone at them.

“Anzu just texted,” he said. “She and Miho are heading this way.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll put on some clothes,” Joey groaned.

Yugi helped him worm into a top that showed off his top surgery scars, and he’d switched out the laces of sneakers with rainbow themed ones. He was digging through Yugi’s body glitter collection as Tristan opened his palm to look at the button again. Anzu and Miho’s voices carried from the doorway, and he smiled, lifting the button to his chest and pinning it into his shirt.

“Are we ready?” Anzu called, hands on hips, bossy as always.

Yugi bounded towards her, and Joey glanced at Tristan as he got to his feet.

“Yeah,” Tristan said. “I’m ready.”

Joey grinned at him, and together they all headed out onto the street, hand in hand, ready to face the world.

[wolfsbanesparks]

💥

Thank you so much for the ask!

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

Okay I have two that I'm super excited about. I've mentioned both of them before but now I've officially started writing them! I'm not sure when I'll start posting them but it'll be sooner rather than later!

Check out below the cut for short teasers/excerpts of both!

1. Pretty Little Thing: while searching for missing kids, Billy gets kidnapped by a serial killer. The JL must track down their missing teammate even though they don't know his identity.

Exerpt:

No one was going to save him.

Billy had already come to terms with that a long time ago. He was pretty sure that no one was even looking for him. It was pointless to pretend, to give himself the false hope of a brightly colored hero swooping in to take him to safety. It’s not like anyone had come for any of the others before him.

Billy tugged uselessly at the chains holding him place. His head was pounding and his entire body shook with the effort it took to keep himself upright. The gag they had given him scraped his mouth raw, leaving the taste of blood in his mouth. Tears welled up in his eyes, the salt stinging the cuts on his face as he desperately tried to scrub them away.

Tears were pointless here. Crying just meant that they had won. That they had broken him. It meant that he was just as weak and pathetic as they told him he was. He wasn’t going to do it. He had to be strong. He had to be. He was a hero. They couldn’t break him because that would mean they were done with him. It meant that they could get rid of him. That they could move on, snatch some other kid off the streets and do this to them.

Billy wasn’t going to waste his breath or his prayers on calling for help he knew wasn’t going to come. Superheroes only came for kids that mattered. Ones that people would actually miss. He was nothing and no one.

The only person he could rely on was himself. That much had always been true. If he wanted to survive he had to save himself.

2. One Last Chance: After getting caught shoplifting, Billy is put into a group home and assigned a mentor to help get him back on the straight and narrow. His mentor? One Lois Lane.

Exerpt:

"Billy,” Mrs. Glover sighed as if using his name was a great effort on her part. “We need to talk about your future, about what is going to happen to you.”

Billy tensed at that. Those words were never good. He wasn’t sure what he was in store for but he knew it was probably worse than he had initially thought. “Okay,” he said, trying to squash the flutter of nerves. “So when are my new foster parents coming to pick me up.”

Mrs. Glover pursed her lips into a thin line. She slowly took off her glasses and set them on the table in front of her and then she folded her hands together. When she looked at him he was struck by just how tired she looked. Dark circles under her eyes were still visible under her make up and her forehead had new worry lines etched into it.

“There is no family coming to pick you up.”

Icy dread pooled in Billy’s stomach. “Then what…?” he didn’t even know how to finish that sentence.

“I have exhausted every resource I have. There just isn’t anyone willing to take you in after all the trouble you’ve caused at your other homes.”

“Trouble I caused? They’re the ones who–”

“And now theft? It was hard enough finding you a home when your trouble making streak didn’t break any laws." She sighed again. “I’ve been talking to the officers. I can get them to lessen the charges and get you a light probation, but without anyone to take you in, I’m not sure how much good it will do you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we’re running out of options.”

“So what i’m…going to juvie?”

“There is one other option. It’s a new program looking for volunteers. If you agree to sign up with them, they’ll put you up in a large group home. You’ll be paired up with a mentor and a probation officer. If you cooperate, if you stay put, you can come out the other side of this with a sealed record and a second chance. I promise you that is much better than the alternative.”

“What if I don’t like it?”

“It’s either this or juvie. Those are the only options left for you. I wish things could be different, but they’re not and we have to live with that. Now are you going to behave for once in your life, or are you going to force me to tell those police officers that they can take you to prison?”

[glitch-pep]

Under the cut is a post talking about the designs I made for this Halloween post right here.

Alright I'll explain the thought process behind these, in order in which I designed them in.

1.) Charlie

For Charlie I was torn between two ideas, cowboy or pirate. Due to my bias for cowboys I was leaning more towards that but eventually a certain someone, you know who you are, I ain't gonna tag you >:D reconvinced me to go for the pirate idea due to the thief part and then I realized that an eye patch would cover her right eye so I was sold. Designing her costume was pretty easy to be honest, I just kept adding stuff to make her look cool. Also, I had to make a Hawkshaw reference, I couldn't possibly resist once I thought of it. I'll probably draw her as a cowboy eventually though. Also, I let her have sharp teeth in the final drawing, as a treat.

2.) Cursed Treasure

Due to the lyrics I came up with I needed to give Charlie some sorta cursed treasure, so I thought a cursed golden Barnaboo statue would look cute and do the trick. The eyes and bow are meant to be gemstones and I made the face looks off so that the cursed part is a bit obvious.

3.) Milo

I actually sketched Charlie's and Milo's designs and finished them in the same day. Milo's was a quick one, I knew immediately that he had to be a vampire cuz he would definitely be something that's somewhat elegant. The hair looked a bit weird to me so I put the sunglasses there to cover it up a bit, and honestly he's pulling it all off better than what I expected. Also his teeth are perfectly goofy enough as to where I can't take him 100% seriously, which is how it should be.

4.) Parasol

The parasol was an afterthought after I had already finished Milo's design. It's inspired by the parasols that Draculaura and Poppy Pointer have. Although I screwed it up by making the handle black instead of white in the final drawing, I was going to fix it but when I started doing that I realized that there's already a lot of white in his design so I kept the black handle.

5.) Mina

For Mina I had to go for the obvious option, a witch, mostly due to lore reasons. It's canon that Mina insists on being a witch every year for Halloween because she told the culdesac kids that "Witches show their true form on Halloween." and she has to keep up that story, although her mom doesn't want her to have the same outfit each year, so she makes a different witch outfit each time. It's a pretty regular outfit with a witch hat slapped on top, but for Mina it perfectly does the trick.

6.) Molly and Mr. T. Bear

It was all fun and games until I started to design Molly's costume. The first idea I had for Molly was for her to be the Tooth fairy. Perfect idea, right? It's somewhat sleep related, Mr. T. Bear can be a tooth and it'll look cute. That's what I told myself. After 3 days of furiously looking through the web trying to find some sorta inspiration or color pallete I actually like, I gave up on the idea. I hated all of the concepts I made to the point where I got tired of the idea. Thing is... I didn't know what other costume to give her. The only ideas I could come up with were: a bed bug, sleeping beauty and Molly and Mr. T. Bear as each other. I didn't like any of those enough, so, in a moment of desperation I asked my friend for help. She told me that she noticed a pattern between the costumes I picked, that all of them were some sorta villans. Vampire, pirate, witch... she was right... I didn't do that on purpose. If she hadn't told me I would've never noticed it... Anyways, she basically suggested that Molly could maybe be a wolf. I was like oh she could be a werewolf because of the full moon and she's a moon you get the gist. And then, later on, when I was looking through the web I came across a drawing of the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood dressed as the grandma. That's when it clicked in my head. Molly as the wolf and Mr. T. Bear as Little Red Riding Hood. I was sold and I ended up liking the designs and finishing them on first try. The friend mentioned here wanted to get credited this way, since she doesn't have any socials.

And that's about it! As much as I dreaded the process because it took me ages, I do think the effort paid off. I'll definitely draw these again! :>

[yukidragon]

Is there any picture of Alice’s family? It would be cool to see them or doodle an idea what they look like :0

Sadly, I haven't been able to draw for a while now due to health reasons, and it might be a while longer before I can again. (Don't worry, it's nothing serious.) A friend of mine offered to draw the oldest three King girls for me though, which is super sweet of her.

I have made picrews of some of the family members to serve as a general idea to work from when I do eventually draw them. It's what I did before drawing Alice's concept sheet too. I find picrews to a good place to consider character appearance in broad strokes.

I'll share some of those picrews with you all if you're curious about my current general ideas. Remember, their designs (and some of their names) aren't completely set in stone yet, as I still need to draw them when I can. This just helps me better get a picture in my mind of what they look like.

As a heads up, each individual picrew can be pretty limited in its options. Sometimes skin tone, eye color, hair type, etc. just won't match with the look I'm going for. These are just the picrews that come closest to what I have in mind right now.

First up is Mama King, who I'm considering naming Lycoris or Lily.

Picrew

Soft, sweet, cuddly, short of stature but big of heart, Mama King absolutely loves her family more than anything else in the world. There's nothing she won't do to protect them and what they love.

Mama King is not only a great mother, but she's also fantastic at growing plants and has won many awards over the years. This is what led to a pretty good business online selling flowers that have been made into charming jewelry and other forms of art by her creative and loving spouse.

The family home has a decent sized plot of land to allow Mama to grow as many plants as she likes. Her gardens are truly a sight to behold, and her one of a kind flowers are to die for.

As you might have guessed, Alice has gotten a few features from her mom, such as her height, curly hair, and her wonderfully soft and cuddly hugs. The coloration, however, was something she inherited from her Papa.

Picrew

I'm still trying to decide on Papa King's name, but I've got a pretty solid idea of what he looks like. Tall, slender, and pale, this proud papa stands out in a crowd, though sometimes under some shade with sunscreen and shades on if it's someplace out in the sunlight. Sadly, being albino means you're more prone to sunburns, and his eyes are more sensitive than most. The picrew can't really give what I have in mind justice, but their eyes are a mixture of pale blue and red due to the lack of pigment.

Papa King is a sensitive soul who loves creating stylish trinkets and jewelry. He struggles with conflict, so their wife is his knight in shining armor much of the time, and that's one of the reasons why they fell in love with her. He also loves their wonderful children, as well as all the cats and dogs the family own. Though quite the homebody, his life is very full with such a busy house and their creative projects, as well as running the business he owns with their wife.

The oldest child of the King family probably doesn't really need an introduction. I mean, I drew Alice and mentioned her on this tumblr plenty of times before. Still, it feels sad to leave her out, so here's a picrew of her and Jack holding hands and dressed for a date.

Picrew

Why yes I'm shameless about my OTP. Welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy the sweet vanilla and spice.

Eventually I'll make a post with the picrews that I used to help me make Alice's concept sheet, but that's for another time. Now onto the next child in this big, happy family.

Picrew

The second oldest was named Barbara Anne, but you'd be forgiven for not knowing that, as everyone calls her Barbie, with her siblings sometimes just calling her Bar. (Alice was the one who first started using that particular nickname when they were very little and it just stuck around.)

Barbie is practically the opposite of her sweet and doting parents. She's a prickly, snarky, and sarcastic misanthrope who prefers animals and 2D characters to humans. Her personality and large stature are usually enough to ward people off. She's taken after her dad with her height and her mom with having a larger frame. Though she's a nerdy otaku, if she hits you, it's going to hurt.

Barbie isn't shy to let people know to back off and leave her alone, quick to deliver barbs and tease others mercilessly if they don't buzz off. Still, like any true tsundere, get past her prickly exterior and there's a softer side that's full of genuine love and affection waiting underneath. The only people she cares about currently are her family and the few friends she made online... and eventually a suitor who is going to need to be a good boy and heel at her command if he wants a chance of making puppies with her.

The most striking thing about Barbie is her eyes. She has central heterochromia, which means both of her eyes are a mixture of brown and blue, not unlike how Papa King's are a mixture of red and blue. She practically lives in t-shirts and sweatpants, which often are themed around anime and games she likes, or offensive snark. Her hair is always a mess, and she keeps it cropped short most of the time so that she doesn't have to bother with it.

Barbie is good with computers and isn't above a little hacking or trolling. Though she's moved out of the King house, she's doing just fine in her own apartment, making money by scamming crypto scammers and the like, among other more legitimate and actually legal jobs.

Don't tell anyone about her secret double life as a streamer with a cutesy anime waifu virtual avatar. She'll make your life hell if you do.

Picrew

Next up is Coraline. I already made a post talking about her and showing off a few of her picrews, so I'll just lightly touch on what I have in mind for her design. She's average height (making her a little taller than big sis Alice), with brown eyes, looks very sickly, and while most of her very curly hair is brown, it lacks some pigment in places. She still lives at home due to her health, and every morning Mama braids her hair up nice and neat, only for it to eventually come increasingly undone and messy by the end of the day. She favors comfortable clothes like sweaters and sweatpants.

The most signature piece of Coraline's look is her pendant. I've actually mentioned the pendant before in a previous post... or at least Alice's version of the pendant and the fact that each King child got one when they were born.

Mama King proposed to Papa with a bouquet of blue roses that she grew specially for them . Blue roses are said to be an impossible flower naturally, very rare, and growing them was her way of showing that she loved him enough to do the impossible for them. Papa preserved each one of the flowers in resin and whenever they're expecting a child, he crafts one into a custom necklace for the child, which is engraved with the baby's name and the date of their birth after they're born.

As an aside, if one of the kids ever wanted to change their name for whatever reason, Papa would be more than happy to alter the inscription to their new name.

The rest of the kids are vague as of the moment, but I know there are at least 4 more of them. They'll be fleshed out eventually over time, along with the pets and any other details about this happy family.

I hope you liked what I've got to share with you so far about the King family, and thanks for showing interest in them. I'm always happy to know that people enjoy my OCs. 💖

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

[victorluvsalice]

VITD Sims Lookbook: Smiler

Hello all! As promised at the end of my last Chill Valicer Save update, this week I'm showing off some "Valicer In The Dark"-inspired looks for my OT3 that I made at the end of last year (on Christmas, in fact -- I was in the mood to play with CAS that day). Let's dive right into it with our favorite Slide/Leech (Sleech, if you will) Smiler, shall we?

Starting with another variant on what I consider to be their "standard" VITD outfit (as seen in previous posts like this one), this one without the hat and with belted pants instead of just button-up ones. I think I prefer Smiler having the belt to not having the belt, but *shrug* Well see what happens going forward. That yellow waistcoat and the yellow shoes are always a must, though -- thank you High School Years!

For bedtime, we have some very Smiler pajamas -- and while bunny slippers probably DON'T fit the "vaguely Victorian" aesthetic of Blades In The Dark, I had to give them to them anyway, because come on. XD Though maybe I should give them a different color of bunny -- do they come in black? I'll have to check at some point in the future.

For those parties that require at least a semi-formal look, we have this outfit! Looking at it now, I'm thinking that it may be a little too dark -- the shoes and pants together in particular look a bit too plain -- but I like that purple waistcoat on them. Nice alternative look to the yellow one!

And if you need to go full "visiting Brightstone" formal, here's Smiler in a full Victorian day suit! Specifically, they're showing off one of the outfits from the Men's Day Suit Collection by @simmerofthedawn! (Plus one of the recolored top hats they did with their first collection of men's suits.) I really appreciate that SimmerOfTheDawn made sure to include a healthy number of swatches with all these outfits -- including a few good yellow options, as you can see here. Yeah, the shade's a little darker than I'd normally like for Smiler, and I kinda wish the jacket was black instead of dark gray, but hey -- it still really works for a Smiler-about-town!

By contrast, here's Smiler's extremely casual athletic outfit, for those times when they're planning on doing something that they know is going to make them pretty sweaty. It's just something to throw on, then throw in the washtub afterward! Again, wish I could have found a proper yellow swatch for the shirt, but you can't have everything. And if this is meant as a "don't care about my appearance" outfit, it doesn't really matter anyway. :p

And finally, a Smiler for those chilly days in Duskwall (which -- is most of them, because NO SUN), wrapped up in a nice thick sweater. :) Really like the bit of yellow striping -- Smiler doesn't get enough stripes to play with in their outfits! Mostly because they're almost always the wrong colors. *sigh* We need more good yellows and good yellow stripes in this game! My roller coaster Sim demands it!

[hoardlikegoldenirises]

timeline of Peter Parker's Spider-Man suits for my AU

(part... One...! Handmade Suits)

with copious notes for myself lol

(i made a separate post for his web shooters)

You can see the original versions of some of these designs (here) but this post is now of course the most up-to-date version (though I did trace parts of the original so I didn't have to do too much extra re-drawing, which is why parts of it look wonky 😅(cough cough teen peter))

MANY closeups under the cut:

—🕸️—

First up is Peter's early costumes:

Peter's Very First Costume before he was technically Spider-Man. Now, is it stupid to have the name of your high school emblazoned across your back? Probably. But he only wears this for like... a month, month and a half. Extremely classic DIY shit, scrim eyes, no lenses, stolen tracksuit (no he's not evil in this au he's just a little monster) etc. This is what he's first using his Mk.I web shooters with before replacing them because they suck.

NOTE: TECHNICALLY WRONG: things are constantly shifting. not sure about web-shooters but this tracksuit technically isn't his costume for wrestling, it goes OVER his costume for wrestling, which is just a high-rise singlet over tights + the mask. but when he's not on the mat he's wearing the tracksuit to cover himself.

The shades of colors on this tracksuit match the shades on Flash's letter jacket btw. (posted here)

Some running shoes he probably got at Payless—IDK if those exact shoes I was drawing were actually cheap but they look close enough to a pair I could sort of see on Payless' website in the wayback machine for 2003 so it's good enough for me XD

can see a peek of peter's glove there lol. probably should have drawn him wearing them but he probably takes them off when he wrestles anyway.

And this is Peter's FIRST REAL Spider-Man costume which also uses his Mk.II web shooters (the ones that use a combo pulley-and-lever system) which he probably wears for the first time... the night his uncle dies. It's still very hand-made and the logo is screenprinted which means it is going to start cracking pretty quickly... multiple pieces much like 616... I mean this is basically the 616 costume. No face shell or anything so mouth and nose are kind of visible (and ears...) and it's basically standard lycra... not sports fabric or anything just basically thick-ass tights.

Still using scrim in the eyes but now with plastic lenses. Probably not ballistics grade though so... lol.

he repurposes the sneaker soles from his pre-spidey suit into his new boots, probably just sewn right on (or glued maybe) and he just... wears shoes that are too big so he can fit them in (either that or keeps them in his bag and only puts them on when he changes out of his regular clothes, which is feasible for a guy with a 10 second quick-change time) (I guess he could also wear boot covers made out of the original sneakers that make them look like regular shoes 🤔) (arguably the funniest option)

changed my mind he just has separate boots and puts them on since most solutions require him taking his shoes off anyway and he has that super reflex stuff lol

I haven't really posted much/any fics where Peter's at this age, except "I like our second first kiss better" (though he's not really shown in the suit in the snippets of that) though maybe I'll mention a flashback of him in high school. Oh I guess he was wearing this suit briefly in "These are not the clothes [...]" since that shows him getting the symbiote after fighting Ock.

this is of course the symbiote suit which Peter acquires in "These are not the clothes I had on when I went to bed" and keeps until "Last week [...]" So... 17-18 years old... (rather almost-18 to almost-19 years old as he gets it in the summer before college and loses it the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college)

it's more of a leather look than a latex look (esp compared to peter's black and white ff suit 10 years later) vs. Patricia's being more glossy

This stayed largely unchanged compared to the original version of these costumes I did.

and obv since it's a symbiote it's expressive, in contrast to peter's other suits which all have either fixed lenses or in the case of the diy suit is just fabric lol

not much to say here. sporty symbiote shoes.

This is the suit he makes at 18 during the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college, which I only briefly mentioned in "Last week I started over again" and prob should have maybe mentioned a little more in detail XD

Without the symbiote and being several inches taller than he was at 17 (not to mention more uh... full-bodied) obviously he couldn't just wear his high school spidey suit so he had to make a new one, and this is it. Bonuses are that he's more experienced sewing, used a nice breathable (and textured matte finish) poly-spandex sports blend for all of his spandex (instead of dance lycra) so it's breathable, added under-arm mesh (i stumbled upon that by happenstance and thought it suited this look very well) and used a mix of embroidery and heat-transfer vinyl to decorate his suit. Also perforated vinyl inside his polycarbonate lenses.

I think the back spider is just some high quality spandex sewn onto the other spandex blends, but the chest spider is def heat transfer vinyl.

which means it may or may not melt if he goes into a burning building, now that i think about it...

The plan for this navy and crimson suit is for it to be his standard suit for most of his 20s.

The boots are pretty simple here... They ARE boots though they're a little slimmer than most regular boots and the soles are removable through the magic of Rare Earth Magnets and possibly also his own sticking power and also I decided that he can stick through a few inches of material so I can justify his use of shoe soles but also tbh it makes sense even for regular barefoot wallcrawling to prevent him from just... peeling paint off walls and to not be totally fucked if it's a little rainy or dusty.

really i just like the way sporty spider-men with sporty soles look.

Not sure what the boot fabric is, I wrote "not spandex" but it could be like, lined or something. It's Something.

I didn't write this on the drawing but it's in my notes, the soles are dual-density with a polyurethane (PU) outer and an expanded thermoplastic polyurethan (ETPU) inner for durability, lightweight, good support and cushioning, etc. He doesn't have them like, in BULK but he has at least half a dozen replacement pairs of shoe soles for when they wear out.

Also didn't realize this when I was choosing materials but apparently PU is a thermoset which means it won't melt (only soften or burn) once it's set in shape which is super cool. TPU is a thermoplastic though, so it can remelt, but I'm not sure how ETPU would respond to high heat or flame since as an expanded foam it IS full of air bubbles (aka insulation) (then again, even FR treated foam insulation is usually considered a fire hazard...) —Well either way, I'm less worried about his shoes melting than I am about the rest of his suit (also the soles are removable so he can take them off if he needs to)

So basically, overall, This suit is NOT fireproof. Though polyester has a pretty high ignition and melting point (and polycarb is also pretty tough) it's not fire resistant or safe for fires because once you reach high enough temps it melts, so it's more likely to burn you more severely compared to natural fibers like cotton or silk. As you will see further down, Peter learns this the hard way in 2009.

some material swatches just for vibes and a diagram which is mostly for my own benefit, when I was figuring out how to draw those God Forsaken webs. I think I figured out a way that works well for me though.

the fabric is mostly matte and semi-matte cause I find glossy or satin-finished untextured spandex to look kind of... cheap... (which is why i'm not a big fan of the TASM2 movie suit, even though I love the lenses) (i prefer TASM2 lenses and TASM1 suit even though peter's head looks like a basketball in the first movie) (also the crotch is so low,)

Anyway, Peter's mask is padded with a thin layer of foam as a compromise with the fact that most irl cosplayers use rigid face shells to get the silhouette right lmao but I don't want him to have a hard shell under his mask cause... spider-man kisses... LMAO

also just realized giving him underarm mesh for breathability could be considered an homage to the armpit webs... (which, obviously, are not present on these designs... because they are ugly.) that was not on purpose though.

—🕸️—

Numbah Two

it's only... two... well two and a half cause of the way this worked out XD Actually it was only ONE before but I was like, fuck it, idk what his first electro fight will even be and electro hasn't shown up at all but i'll toss in an electro-proof suit, too, why not.

First I wanted to mention his updated default duds though.

He's been using the same pattern as the one he drafted in mid 2006 for the blue and red for a few years at this point, so if it's damaged he just... makes a new one... has soles (and probably lenses tbh) that he bought probably half a dozen identical pairs of, etc. The life of sports fabrics, after all, is only a couple of years before it starts to lose shape (and also it keeps getting shredded) so. Replacements. and you know he shreds those shoes to bits. He's gonna be so good at sewing lol

But in early 2009, well, he does something dumb—which is, he runs into a burning building wearing head-to-toe polyester. It's not fire-resistant, def not certified FR, and in fact, this is partly due to the fact that it's PTFE (Teflon) treated to be non-stick and those two treatments typically don't play nice together. (Teflon itself is pretty heat resistant but from my googling it sounds like Teflon fabric treatment does not render fabric heat resistant, which i guess makes sense, like, it's still gonna melt in there...)

So he runs into a burning building, ends up with something actively-on-fire falling onto him, and while it's not like, heavy or anything, it is direct heat and flame upwards of 900 degrees, well above the melting point of polyester and above the ignition point as well, so... he ends up with a third degree burn on his leg and many smaller first and second degree burns on the rest of his body from sparks melting tiny spots through his suit (as well as the vinyl heat transfer on his chest—the melting point of vinyl is only 200F, so even if he stays ground level (which he has to, because otherwise his polycarb lenses will hit their glass transition temperature (aka start to soften), and he knows this) it will likely be very hot or near melting directly against his chest (well, he has power mesh lining but that's really not enough to protect him from melting plastic)

So.

(ignore the thong that's from the unstable molecule lineup)

When Peter remakes his suit in early 2009 after getting burned, he does it with some more... advanced materials. (expensive ones, RIP, maybe he stole them) (or, you know, maybe johnny hooks him up)

Still using polycarb lenses, cause they are still the most durable and heat-resistant eyewear protection you can get from what I can find online. AFAIK things like polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and polysulfone aren't really used for eyewear, and a lot of really heat resistant plastic is naturally opaque (or amber in the case of polysulfone) (and much more expensive) or has other significant drawbacks so, he can't just make Teflon lenses or whatever lmao.

BUT

he makes a spare mask with aluminized lenses instead of his perforated vinyl sandwich ones so he can have an Extra heat resistant mask in case of emergencies

looks pretty slick if you ask me

As far as fabric goes, he switches to aramid fibers, which are more expensive but like... More durable than polyester spandex sports blends, more fire resistant, etc. and he knows Johnny Storm (like... budding friendship at this point) so Johnny can also probably hook him up with shit like racing gear, nomex hoods and the like.

I am considering Polartec's Power Stretch FR for later on but that was literally introduced in 2009 so Peter's def not using that yet, but afaict it's a rayon/modacrylic/aramid/spandex blend so I think Peter probably can find something that via like, Nomex/spandex blends and stuff, and Nomex itself has been around for a while.

also decided he switches to sewing the front spider on as well as the back spider.

anyway

next suit is Spidey Formalwear

Peter makes this—well he makes the mask and gloves—to wear to Johnny's wedding when they are still both in their early 20s in 2010.

This isn't exactly the same as what happened w/ Lyja in the comics but Johnny's not in a very good place atm

Peter can tell something's wrong but he can't figure out what it is (and neither can anyone else) It won't take long for Johnny to get a divorce though.

Anyway Peter's approach to formalwear as a weird 22 year old def falls under "if it's shiny, that makes it fancy" LMAO — i just thought it would be nice to take it a step further than tossing a tux on top of his regular suit, like, sure the stretch satin he got wasn't exactly expensive but he made the effort for his friend's wedding. He cares.

Look at him, wearing patent leather shoes.

anyway onward

So in 2013 Peter makes an electro-proof suit 👀

I put what some might consider an "unreasonable" amount of thought into this suit and indeed it's been driving me nuts for like three days trying to figure it out... but I finally figured it out.

it's a wetsuit. (actually, it's not, it's handmade, BUT it is a wetsuit pattern and materials, mainly double-layered neoprene rubber laminated with heat resistant fabrics)

That wasn't what was driving me nuts.

What was driving me nuts was the fact that I was trying to figure out how to get a conductive layer on top of it that didn't look like shit and wouldn't destroy my hand to draw.

Why? Well, it turns out that linemen working on power lines often wear conductive (so, ugly silvery gray) clothing to act as a kind of Faraday cage to protect them from arc flashes and other stray electrical outputs, in addition to usually insulated gloves and boots.

And I thought... I want to do that.

And then I spent a lot of time trying to make it work in a way that wasn't ugly and I was like, oh wow, they make conductive metal screen printing ink? and then i was like, oh never mind this shit is $200 for 100mL MINIMUM and while peter has a real job, spending hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars on nanoparticle ink is completely out of the question, friendship with the f4 aside (that would have been the easy way out XD) (i mean, they still might be helping him out w/ the neoprene hookup etc)

(at least the safety glasses are relatively inexpensive.... >things peter says to himself at 1 am while blind-stitching panels of neoprene together)

so i was like, ugh, maybe stainless steel thread? but it was just ugly.

BUT THEN

I REALIZED

Peter can just make his own conductive colloidal silver (and copper, and carbon black) screen printing ink at home and it will be the correct kind to print on synthetics (plastisol, instead of aqueous) and cost him like. $50. a FRACTION of the price. granted, i didn't factor in the cost of stretch additives etc but it's still significantly cheaper and Peter with a BS in engineering absolutely has the knowledge and equipment to do that in like. his kitchen. so that solved my problem and I solved the ugly dilemma by just having him use three different kinds of conductor for the different colors.

Now, is this a realistic and practical way to make a Faraday suit? I SINCERELY doubt it.

But it's fine. comic books. now he's got a fully insulated base layer with a semi-conductive top layer to guide electricity across the surface (rather than scorching it) (but it IS fire resistant neoprene) and more importantly it looks cool.

(i'm sure that was expensive too but a bunch of neoprene is probably still cheaper in the long run than buying a quarter gallon's worth of conductive ink (several thousand dollars in total) so it feels more justifiable to me that he could save up some side money to custom order nomex laminated rubber)

so basically, tldr it's an insulated faraday suit that also happens to be (mostly) identical to your average double-lined wetsuit.

Here's his shoes. They're grounded (which i think is mostly for anti-static purposes irl but i figured it would fit here well, like, oh the screen printed conductive dots guide the electricity over the aramid surface and to the grounding strip) and the soles are vulcanized rubber like his lens frames.

aaaand johnny gave him some expensive sweat wicking fire resistant racecar driving underwear to wear under there since it's sweaty and i kept seeing websites about linemen's protective gear mentioning FR base layers

it just so also happens to feature several EXTREMELY prominent Adidas logos (this is real btw you can google "Adidas Climacool Nomex racing underwear" and they existed in 2013 which i know because being unreasonable as i am i used the wayback machine to look at a racing supply website to double check because I REALLY wanted him to use the adidas one specifically because of the Climacool part on account of the fact that he is encased in several millimeters of completely non-porous rubber and he IS going to sweat like a pig in there especially in the middle of summer)

(also because i think it's funny to cover him in adidas logos)

lol

oh he also makes a set of Mk. III-E (for electro) web shooters that are double-insulated with a new formula of non-conductive, anti-static webbing (his normal webbing is extremely the opposite of both of those things) (and very flammable) so that Electro can't shock him through his web shooters.

aaaand

that's it for post one

post two (Peter's unstable molecule suits gifted by the Fantastic Four) is >HERE<

post three (Peter's suits after his aunt dies) is >HERE<

[n7punk]

Okayyyyyyyy now the informational version of the doll post is up, I get be all silly casual editorial over here :3c I was gonna do it as a reblog but honestly the doll post is already so stupidly long, I'm just gonna do it separately and I'll link it in the replies on the main post, but this post is Not gonna make sense unless you read that first lol

a) I dont think the bodies coming from two different lines is super obvious, but once you know it, things click. Bow's arms are weirdly narrow for his size compared to the girls’ proportions, for instance, and though he is the tallest in the show, he's especially tall in this line. You can even see it down to their underwear. Often dolls have a few molded lines on their body to represent underwear and give the illusion of "decency" when undressed. The girls have a single thin waistband line, She-ra has none (she needed not to if her Battle of Bright Moon doll was going to work), and Bow has a much thicker waistband with further details like seams and a fly (for some reason, but Bow now wears tighty whities I guess).

b) I know the bodies “came of DC Super Hero Girls” but I really wish I had more details than just that quick comment. That makes it seem like Adora, Glimmer, and Catra all came from the same line. I know Adora and Shadow Weaver are using the same body, and I’m pretty sure Catra is too because I found photos of Adora undressed on ebay and she had a weird circle outline on her back like there was an optional hole that was filled in, but like, why did that line even have a model with a tail hole? We know Glimmer is a “curvier sculpt,” so did that line already have some body diversity or did she come from another unnamed line? I don’t know, and I don’t have the dolls to compare. I'm just assuming it's a different body type from the same line since that’s all that was said (listen, I need to be told things very directly and clearly or I feel like I might be getting them wrong. Remember when I didn’t think I was autistic? Wild).

c) She-ra's accessories (well, her gauntlets and boots) are a little big for her and there's gaping. You can see it a bit even in the promotional pictures and it’s not surprising given the budget on these dolls. It probably gets worse with heat, though, so shipping might exacerbate the issue. Maybe the best time to move these dolls is winter LOL

d) She-ra's peplums are attached to her clothes and not her plastic emblem, which I think you can guess, but putting it out there in case. It's still confusing to me why her peplums are sparkly (and transparent for the core design). It's the one big "miss" in the designs from the show (well, Catra's outfit is also weirdly mesh up top and the color is off).

dd) Honestly all of She-ra's skirts are fucked, but everything about her Battle Armor doll is weird. I did a whole other post about how weirdly budget Battle Armor She-ra was compared to the other dolls despite being twice the cost. I mean I know Swift Wind is in that set so two models raises the price, but he seems pretty budget too, so like… what the hell Mattel.

ddd) Oh yeah, the tulle of the regular skirt is actually shockingly high quality. Like tulle is a Bad Texture for me (go back to the autism bulletpoint) and I don’t mind this. I mean I’m not gonna seek it out, but it doesn’t make me recoil and it’s soft enough to not cause me issues. I can say that about very few tulles.

e) I don’t know if this is a difference between digital model and final production or if SDCC She-ra got a slightly different accessory cast then the regular one, but if you look at the 3D model for She-ra’s chest emblem, it shows one thick bracing bar up her spine. In the final doll, it’s two bars, thinner and a bit further apart, that basically frame her spine, with one bar attached to each half of the emblem. And of course, it hooks together with pegs. Those aren’t shown on the model either and that's why I’m inclined to say that is just an earlier model of it. No stock photos of SDCC She-ra show her back under the cape, though, and checking it would necessitate removing her from the packaging, which I’ve never seen anyone do.

ee) Also, I didn’t know how to describe it well so I just didn’t put it in the post, but her regular cape isn’t straight across in the back. Rather, it has a v cut and “straps” that are sewn to each shoulder, so the top set of pegs and the crossbar for the emblem actually show through, but her hair covers it anyway. Once again, IDK about the SDCC one because I've never seen the back of her.

f) Shadow Weaver’s stand is hot garbage. It’s just a stick between her legs with tiny curves to (supposedly) cup each leg that she’s supposed to essentially balance on. Traaaaaaash. They're assuming no one will take her out of the packaging, ig.

ff) Okay also, Shadow Weaver's top isn't exactly a monastic scapular, but idk how else to describe it. Usually those drape over the shoulders and then are tied around the waist, while hers actually has a sleeve and is sewed together on one side, but then it has the long extension from a scapular, so I'm just going to use that to describe it since it's a fantasy bullshit amalgamation.

g) I know it seems like I have a Monster High bias (and I do) because I mention it multiple times, but since the guys leading the SDCC exclusives were two big minds behind it, it seemed like a valid comparison to draw. I researched what else the other team members did, but when I only turned up 3 out 4 of the modelers (Arpine, Kittaya, & Sean) working on Barbie and I couldn't say "all of them" anymore, I stopped looking since it really wasn't relevant. Monster High ended up being a good touchpoint due to being made by the same team/company, one of the dolls having its body come from that line, and it being the only other doll line I know literally anything about. Since Monster High (G3, anyway) costs nearly twice as much as these dolls (15$ vs 25$), they also felt relevant when it came to things like painted hair. Annalise specifically hyped up the dolls all having real hair? So I'm just kind of guessing that's something that isn't a given on dolls at this budget (and probably, unfortunately, especially so for textured hair). Again, pretty much everything I've learned about dolls has specifically been because of this line lol. I like looking at the new Monster Highs but I really don't know shit.

h) Also, I don't know how doll hair length is measured so I just went with 6 inches in the post, but regular She-ra has 5-7 inches of hair, depending on if you're supposed start at the base of the head or top of the head. Also I was using a ruler so. Not the most accurate.

i) I got kind of ambiguous answers on what counts as an articulation point, but at the end of the day the She-ra dolls have less than Monster High (I can say this definitively) and Monster High is listed as 12 on Dollect while She-ra in incorrectly listed as 13. There are 11 separate joints, with some also including a hinge so you can properly pose them, but I can't give you a list of what joints bend multiple ways or if any are ball joints (IDK how to identify one, I think I’ve made it obvious I'm out of my depth here). The joints are really stiff in my experience but they would probably loosen up if you worked them more, I’m just not going to take that risk.

j) Actually this should be up with the She-ra info so it's out of order but I'm not positive Battle Armor She-ra has the same hair as regular? In listings it looks shorter but it's hard to tell because it could just look different from being played with and when she's in box you can't tell since it's behind her. It seems really weird to me that every She-ra is so similar and so different at the same time so I really don't know. They might even be made out of different kinds of fibers. Like for the SDCC exclusive I'm pretty sure they prioritized looks so the hair might be made out of "worse" material as a result if it displays well (I mean, I know there's reflective strands in it, and those usually feel Bad). There's a lot of upgrades and really cool packaging for only an added 5$ for each doll so cutting some corners on those might make sense. These dolls are made on a relatively tight budget at the end of the day.

I wish I could get hands on with all these dolls because I think I could make the post way better then, and if I ever do manage to learn new info I’ll update the post, but I've done my best lol. Hopefully this post answers any questions people might or might not have about the dolls since they're kind of Difficult to actually get and check out yourself