#but then. i was like well. its a chibi.... i may as well line it......................... it takes less time....................

[vvirtue]

back on the artfighting grind o7

Yasumu & Yuto: @bwsdragon

Sebastian: @/leafs-kid (on AF)

Cxlico: @ilostnachos

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Rsync corrump linkdump

I'm coming to DEFCON! On Aug 9, I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). On Aug 10, I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

As per the uje, I've arrived upon a Saturday with a backlog of links that I have not managed to squeeze into the week's newsletters/blogs, so it's time for another linkdump, 22nd in an erratic series. Here's the previous 21:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

Let's start with some seasonal material, and by "seasonal," I of course mean Hallowe'en. Yes, August is the official start of Spooky Season, and yes, I am a monster for insisting on this, but being a monster is the point of Spooky Season (which is what differentiates Spooky Season pushers like me from the creeps who insist that you need to start prepping for Xmas in late September – they're monsters, too, but Yule Monsters are bad) (with the exception of Krampus).

I was a monster kid and now I'm a monster adult. It all started when I was bitten by a radioactive Haunted Mansion at the age of six:

https://memex.craphound.com/2012/10/22/how-a-haunted-mansion-addict-fell-in-love-with-the-greatest-ride-on-earth/

I am a sucker for all things monstrous, and so I was intrigued when I got a book of "creepy-cute" stickers in the mail from a publicist at Simon & Schuster:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Creepy-Cute-Sticker-Book/Gaynor-Carradice/Creepy-Cute-Gift-Series/9781507222515

"Creepy-Cute" turns out to be an official designation, embraced by the illustrator GaynorCarradice, who has created several books on these lines, featuring her chibi/monster crossover creations, which do exactly what it says on the tin, by which I mean, there's some genuinely creepy stuff in the mix, along with the cute.

It's when the cute pastels rub up against the gore, skulls, eyeballs and other visceral viscera that these illustrations really kick off some heat – I've rounded up a few of my favorites here:

https://craphound.com/images/creepycute.jpg

One of the surefire signs that Spooky Season is upon us is that the (sometimes NSFW) Tumblr account Halloweenlandmotherfucker emerges from dormancy with a stream of images of vintage Hallowe'en cards (these were a thing!), photos of people in costume and other delightful visual novelties:

https://www.tumblr.com/halloweenlandmotherfucker

Monster culture isn't just for Hallowe'en, of course. The ancient and noble tradition of compiling and publishing bestiaries is alive and well, thanks to RPGs. In the beginning, there was the D&D Boxed Set, with its Monsters and Treasure booklet:

https://www.americanroads.us/DandD/ODnD_Monsters_and_Treasure.pdf

Then came the Monster Manual, the first hardcover D&D book, succeeded by the Fiend Folio, which featured Charlie Stross creations like the githzerai and slaad, Indeed, there was a whole, iconic library of hardcovers that fit perfectly in an oversized backpack that I dragged everywhere so that I could obsessively read and re-read them.

Eventually, these gave way to new hardcovers with new rules as well as new corporate owners (Wizards of the Coast, then Hasbro), culminating in the release of the Open Gaming License, an "open content" license that was a) grossly defective; b) largely irrelevant; and c) hugely controversial in 2023, when Hasbro terminated it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/12/beg-forgiveness-ask-permission/#whats-a-copyright-exception

The Open Gaming License purported to license out game elements that weren't copyrightable (rules, tables, etc), as well as material that you could likely use under copyright exceptions like fair use:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/01/beware-gifts-dragons-how-dds-open-gaming-license-may-have-become-trap-creators

And worst of all, it was revocable, so games publishers who tooled up to publish supplements and sourcebooks based on the OGL could have the rug yanked out from under them at any time (that time turned out to be early 2023).

Hasbro's OGL rug-pull had three salutary effects:

I. It gave gamers a crash-course in what was – and wasn't – copyrightable in an RPG design;

It encouraged game developers to look beyond D&D's OGL rules and into truly open (and often superior) alternatives; and

It inflicted so much reputational harm on Hasbro that, 20 months later, they announced that they would release a new set of D&D rules under the Creative Commons Attribution Only 4.0 license:

https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-5e/news/dungeons-and-dragons-2024-srd-wont-be-another-ogl-fiasco

Now, CC BY 4.0 is a real-ass license. Notably, it corrects a defect in the earlier versions of the CC licenses that gave rise to a class of predatory copyleft trolls like the odious Pixsy:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/24/a-bug-in-early-creative-commons-licenses-has-enabled-a-new-breed-of-superpredator/

If Hasbro follows through on their promise, the new CC materials will kick off with the 2025 release of the next edition of the Monster Manual:

https://dungeonsanddragonsfan.com/new-2024-dnd-monster-manual/

It's wild to think that tabletop RPGs are now a cutting-edge way to learn about digital policy, but on the other hand, D&D arrived in my home around the same time as my Apple ][+, which was also around the time I first heard the name Ronald Reagan (rest in piss).

The legacies of the 80s – RPGs, digital technology and Reaganomics – cast a long shadow. Last month, many of us discovered the hard way that Reaganomics – specifically, the embrace of monopolies as "efficient" – has produced a world of unimaginable brittleness. Millions of people around the world found themselves cut off from ATM cash, flights, hospital care, and many other essentials thanks to the Crowdstrike Blue Screen of Death outage. While many of the explainers have focused on how Crowdstrike fatfingered a software update that crashed all those computers, there's been a lot less commentary about how it is that one company had it in its power to do so much harm.

Writing last week for EFF's Deeplinks blog, my colleague Rory Mir tackled that (far more important) issue:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/07/crowdstrike-antitrust-and-digital-monoculture

Market concentration – monopoly – is the common thread wound around so many of our daily horribles. Think of the tech billionaires who threw in their lot with Trump last month. How did they get to be billionaires? Monopoly power. Remember back in 2017, that notorious photo of the tech industry meeting at the top of Trump Tower, with Peter Thiel at Trump's left hand?

https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/14/donald-trump-meets-with-tech-leaders/

People were appalled that this group of corporate leaders, who between them controlled virtually all the technology in our lives, would debase themselves by paying fealty to this buffoonish would-be dictator.

But far more consequential was the fact that you could fit everyone who controlled all of our technology around a single table. Once everyone important to an industry can fit around a single table, it's only a matter of time until they find a table to sit around, and that's when it all starts to go wrong. As the Communist firebrand Adam Smith once wrote, "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."

Enshittification starts with market concentration. This is a subject I'm going to be going very deep on next Saturday, when I give my Defcon keynote, "Disenshittify or die! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification":

https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=54861

When I give that talk – and afterwards at my book signing – I will be wearing an N95 mask, just as I did last year. Why am I wearing a mask? Two reasons: first, Long Covid is a horror. One of the best writers I know – a living legend – recently told me that their book-writing days are likely done because of Long Covid brain fog.

A new Lancet article gets deep into the science of Long Covid:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014067362401136X

The principle author of the Lancet article is Oxford health professor Trish Greenhalgh, who gave an excellent lay summary in her newsletter:

https://independentsage.substack.com/p/long-covid-a-dystopian-game-of-pinball

In particular, Greenhalgh describes why some people don't get Long Covid, and some people do – and, most important, explains why the fact that you didn't get Long Covid last time doesn't mean you won't get it next time:

https://independentsage.substack.com/p/long-covid-a-dystopian-game-of-pinball

So I don't want to get covid, and so I'm gonna wear a mask. Because masks fucking work. A new study reveals just how well they work:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(24)00192-0/fulltext

The study shows that wearing any mask, even without knowing how to fit it well, offers substantial protection against both contracting and transmitting covid. Even better: wearing an N95 (even without paying attention to correct fit) offers "near perfect" protection against covid:

https://today.umd.edu/n95-masks-nearly-perfect-at-blocking-covid-umd-study-shows

I didn't get covid at Defcon last year, and I didn't get it at HOPE, and I didn't get it on our family vacation in July – all events where friends got sick. The difference? I wore a mask. Which works.

OK, I need to go work on my Defcon speech some more, so I'm gonna sign off, but I will leave you with just one more link, the wonderful new public domain image search tool, Public Work, which crawls and indexes the Met, the NYPL, and other sources:

https://public.work/

I rely on public domain, CC and other freely usable clip art to make the collages that accompany this newsletter/blog's stories. While I have very little talent in the visual arts, I'm getting steadily better. I mean, look at this amazing image I womped up for last week's story on Bitcoin bros' election campaign finance fraud:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/53893519593/in/album-72177720316719208

You can see a collection of my recent collages in my Flickr gallery for them:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/albums/72177720316719208?sd

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/03/smorgasbord/#creepy-cute

Image: Anne Lindblom (cropped) https://www.flickr.com/photos/kajsawarg/3600415175

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[fumifooms]

Did you notice that in the anime chilchuck blushes when he sees marcille in the red dress? I skimmed through the marchil crumbs master post and from what I saw you didn't mention it

Also its not from the ale since he wasn't blushing right before that

Ah yeah, don’t worry it’s because part 8 of the crumbs masterpost isn’t out yet, I’ve been lazy with it but it’s been overdue ever since the second half of season 2 started, and it does have a buncha stuff don’t you even worry lol my god… I just need to get out some stuff for it first. Ahh good times

On this though: I personally don’t give it much weight but it’s valid to read into it.

What we know:

Against: - Kui does make characters blush both when they’re drunk AND when they laugh. - Chil is confirmed drunk/tipsy in that scene because in the picture above his little mood chibi is drunk lol. - The point of the scene is that he laughs at her, the joke is that he laughs at her. If there’s subtext it’s still very much secondary and easy to miss and ‘besides the point’ anyways, buut does this subtext exist? Well…

For: - In the dating sim cover, the other option was "tell her she looks pretty". None of the choices seem outrageous for his character so it’s not random throwaway lines, though of course the reasoning behind it may be as simple as ‘it’s formality’. In the chapter cover, Marcille’s section is the one on top of every other one at center stage, which makes sense since it’s for bicorn chapter and bicorn chapter is THE Marcille & Chil chapter. In all of the choice dialogue bubbles on the cover, out of the 7 ones the hand is always over the choice he picks except for Marcille’s and Falin’s, indicating he might have hesitated. - Short of being a half-foot with a sultry face, Marcille is Chilchuck’s type. - The face he’s making in his little mood emoji in the dating sim picture lol? You may be drunk but pull yourself together omg - Chilchuck does deflect his more compromising feelings so this would be in character. Marcille is the only character he teases so much so often and it’s implied to be because he finds her reaction fun, full with shojo filter and sparkles all around her with his mind. Do with this what you will… Schoolboy pulling on the pigtails of the girl he like’s pigtails.

Neutral: - we don’t see the milisecond of realization on Chil’s face in the manga. - we don’t see his face after spitting out all his ale in the anime lol. - what could be "canon" in the manga may not be in the anime and vice versa.

Also whatever the hell this is. We all know not to give too much weight to VA’s takes but also what!! I always thought in the manga that Chilchuck wasn’t the one calling frogsuit Marcille cute so that was already a steel chair to me but lol the point of him saying that in the scene was still very much to follow through on the bait she took lmaoo. I don’t thiiink Chilchuck would think the frog suit genuinely makes Marcille look cute idk. Kigurumi enjoyer Chilchuck confirmed… And I feel like if this is true then Chilchuck wouldn’t have much problem giving her a casual compliment over her looks in the golden kingdom scene either. But also?!! 👁👁

Chil’s jp VA has also said that Marcille is cute (Marcille’s jp va said Chilchuck is cute too but that’s besides the point. 16:05 here). And got into some trouble for acting overly familiar with Marcille’s VA, somewhere in this haven’t looked myself yet. So there might be a whole unrelated thing there?? I’ll cover it more fully in the crumbs masterpost hopefully, after some more investigation. Gdbdg so yeah several layers of putting crumbs under magnifiers like they could be fake gemstones to appraise their authenticity and thus value

Stare. Play it cool.

I love it when he does this it’s so cute. Cheers, raising my cup to you

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (March 24-30, 2024)

A coworker asked tonight me how Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire measured up to Godzilla Minus One, and I responded, "Almost as good, but in a completely different way." If you like monsters (and if you're following me I have to assume you do), see it, no questions asked. There's about a million of them and they're all delightful. The franchise has long struggled to recapture the specific charms of the Showa era, and I think this comes closer than any of them. (It's the climactic tag-team battle... also Mothra returning to knock some sense into Godzilla). Pure junk food, but you can't just watch Oppenheimer all the time.

Godzilla x Kong tore up the box office this weekend, performing well above expectations. Its $80 million opening Stateside was the second-best of the Monsterverse (after Godzilla). It added another $114 million internationally for the best overall opening of the (still-young) year. China was a big part of that with $44 million; giant monster movies are among the few Hollywood imports that still play well there. With a $135 million budget, lowest of the Monsterverse by a wide margin, it's a matter of when, not if, Legendary announces the next one.

The Oxford English Dictionary has added an entry for tokusatsu, defined as "A genre of Japanese film or television entertainment characterized by the use of practical special effects, usually featuring giant monsters, transforming robots, and masked and costumed superheroes." It's part of a group of 23 freshly-acknowledged Japanese loan words; unclear if the timing is coincidental. Oh, and if you're curious, they added kaiju in 2018. As someone who remembers when the only English-speakers who used either word were in fandom, it's pretty wild to see.

French company Extralucid Films will release Gappa on Blu-ray in June. The impressive-sounding bonus features are naturally all in French, but there's one that transcends language: 17 minutes of extra monster footage. The U.S. version of Gappa, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet, only has about 7 minutes worth of shots absent from the Japanese version, so I'm pretty curious about the other 10. It's also the first time this footage has been released in HD (Tokyo Shock blew it in 2020).

Season 2 of Chibi Godzilla Raids Again is indeed receiving official English subtitles, starting the same day as the Japanese premiere, April 10. Godzilla Battle Line also added a hilariously busted joint Chibi Godzilla-Chibi Mechagodzilla unit, along with a Destoroyah variant. (Maybe Godzilla x Kong units are next month?)

A new Monsterverse movie means new books to buy. The prequel comic Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted is out already (not recommended), but officially you'll have to wait until April 23 for the novelization and May 14 for the art book. Chalk that up to the late release date change, maybe. Unofficially, people are already getting the novelization from Amazon, because they're a monopoly that can afford to pay the fines from publishers for breaking street date. The audiobook version also released on the same day as the film. I don't have intel on what it adds and changes yet; adding everything from the film itself to Wikizilla is all I can handle right now.

The San Francisco Giants are offering a Godzilla VIP Experience on May 17, a long-overdue acknowledgement of the savior of their city. Tickets are almost gone, though I think it's a shame that the promotion is opt-in to begin; what happened to giving these tchotchkes out to the first thousand fans? Well, figures that they'd make getting merch of the Minus One Godzilla in the States a hassle.

[yorutsuki]

「 ✦ Artistic Notes ✦ 」

↳ It started with a small drawing and a compliment, which then grew into a anonymous friendship.

Michealangelo x Reader

Tags:

──────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──────

Adding the finishing touches, you sighed with relief as you stood up—some joints cracking from the sudden change in movement.

You looked down at your chalk-art masterpiece. It was probably one of the most detailed pieces you've done with the compressed powder. The lines were smooth and the shading was just the right color and opacity—the features were visible and at the right proportion and angles.

You grinned, satisfied with your work but frowned as you checked your clock. It was already around 1 am.

Quickly giving a small prayer to whoever rules over luck, to grant you the luck of it not raining before heading off the roof and to your apartment.

Yes, you lived in a small apartment fit for one, though you had got lucky as you managed to snag the penthouse room which granted you access to the roof where you could thus spread your amazing skills.

...

Unfortunately, the next morning you realized you had forgot to bring the chalk down with you before heading to bed.

Quickly you made a dash upstairs to make sure nobody stole it. Even though you were the only one who had access to the roof, there had been news of sightings about some gang named 'the foot', honestly, it was a stupid name.

Who'd wanna be referred to as a foot? That's one of the most sweaty and disgusting limbs on the body...—well for most.

Yeah, the clan could have better things to do than steal chalk, but you didn't want to take chances as chalk these days are expensive as shit—with inflation going on and all.

Finally making it up to the roof, you quickly spotted the box of 24 pieces, though you also spotted a colorful piece next to yours.

Quickly scanning the area for anyone, you made your way towards your supplies and the new addition.

It was a little drawing of a chibi turtle with a orange mask saying, 'That looks sick 10/10!' with a thumbs up.

Your heart warmed at the small message though you didn't know how to feel about it. How did someone manage to get on your roof?

....

I meannnn...Is it really that bad? They left you a cute message and they seemed to be quite the cute artist.

With a small smile, you took the box of chalk and went down to your room once more—waiting until the night falls once more.

-----------------------------

With a giddy feeling, you quickly made your ways towards your roof (yes, you've claimed it as yours 😈) and starting drawing another piece under the old one, though this time with a small message.

'Thank you, thank you! I quite like it myself :)

U don't seem too bad either.'

You were contemplating if you shoudl change it or write something more. Not wanting to dote on it any longer, you ignored your overthinking before heading back down stairs—a excited smile plastering your face as you were eager for the next morning to come.

-----------------------------

Your smile grew as you made your way towards your roof and saw that there was a new message.

':O

I tried it out, it may not be the best but its something? :')'

Right beside the messy writing, there was drawn the same orange-masked ninja-like turtle. The drawing was much more detailed though as it had more shading and colorful highlights. The chalk piece itself was a bit messy but it made it look like a fun collage piece.

...

Later in the evening, near the same time, you were on the roof top thinking of what to reply;

'Dang, you ever heard color theory? Also, you seem to really like turtles' You wrote, drawing a small chibi version of your oc—just a bit underneath the anon's chalk piece.

'now we wait.' You thought.

...

The exchange of notes between you and anon had been going on for days at this point, and soon a few days had turned into a few weeks.

The two of you had gotten closer and learnt more about each other; Anon liked the color orange, had three other brothers and a cat, loved dancing and skate boarding, etc. At this rate, it was safe to say you were like very good 'online' bestfriends.

It also seemed like luck was always by your side on the roof at night, as not once had it rained before either one of you got to see the others message.

Unfortunately, that would also be cut short as your luck ran out this night.

You waited on your couch, catching up on some good series that you procrastinated on for a good chunk. Finally, it came to quite a exciting scene, but thats when you heard small taps on your windows—it eventually growing from single small taps to multiple patters at a fast rate.

You decided not to pay mind to it as the rain never really bothered you. Well, until now.

Quickly realizing your naivity, you threw your blanket to the side and headed towards the roof—wanting to make sure your messages were preserved.

As you made it to the roof, you had a hard time navigating as the rain poured down harder by the second, though it didn't hinder your vision to the point where you couldn't see the dark silohuette on your roof.

You carefully grabbed anything within your reach before carefully making your way towards the said figure. With each step, the outlines became clearer until what you saw before you wasn't a human, but a mutant turtle.

You stood a bit aways, leaving space between the two of you, and fortunately, it didn't notice you yet. Though something about it made you feel..sad?

The mutant kneeled down to the ground, seeming to inspect the once beautiful chalk pictures before it sighed and got up.

You furrowed your brows, squinting your eyes to try getting a better view of it, though it seemed to beat you to it..

You froze in place, tightening your grip on your 'weapon' as the mutant's gaze stayed frozen onto you.

"Uhh...This is just a dream!" He said before slowly backing away.

You snapped out of your daze. For some reason your body inched closer towards him, something felt...familiar? And that's when it hit you,

"Mikey?" You spoke, dropping your weapon.

The turtle was taken aback before inching just a bit closer. "{Y/N}?"

.

.

.

A/N: UDVYUWBIUVUYAVD, I can't, it was sooo much better in my head. This fic was supposed to be short, concise and sweet but it wasn't. 😭, My boy doesn't deserve this.

I promise i'll make another one. Feel free to comment any character suggestions or scenerios, my inbox is always open!

[popping-greenbean]

hello I am here to appreciate your art thoroughly like I’ve been meaning to for weeks and am finally actually doing here we go 

this is my favorite of your recent works and the only thing I can think about when this image is in front of me is (well, my brain turns to mush in awe mostly) but THE SHAPES. i will now point out all my favoritest little details because I’m obsessed w your art

first we have poofs. these shapes make my brain so happy it’s like my favorite shape ever and that’s why I love Venti’s design so much AND YOU JUST MAKE THAT EVEN BETTER!!!! 

like just look at that perfect curve!! it’s so pointy in it’s roundness and it’s so voluminous and just the epitome of *poof*

your clothing fold lines are also incredible the convey so much while being so simple it makes me rrrrhwhrhbwbsbnsnfnf this sleeve in particular

and can we talk about how you do the corset shape. PLEASE can we talk about it my brain goes nuts for it because like corsets are stiff and they bend strongly AND THE ANGLE OF THIS LINE!!!

ITS SO SHAPED!!!!!! and the crease I can do distinctly imagine this sharp bend making in the material of the corset uuuuuuuuwhdhsnnfndnf urgh I love art so much I love artists so much I love thinking about art and shapes so m

next I have to focus on how amazingly you shape legs and your anatomy in general because. just look how gorgeous????

the shape of the knee. the smooth transition from knee all the way down to ankle the way the ankle bones are shaped, EVERYTHING. I am obsessed. I am GOING to do a study of your style one day I swear your style makes me so happy and your anatomy and how you stylize your shapes is everything I want in my art which I why I have so much to say 

anyway a moment to appreciate this little guy and especially this shape 

yes it may be just one line and a scribbly one at that but it is so. shaped (apparently that is the only word in my vocabulary but like what other way is there to describe it. it’s like a really nice texture but for my eyes it makes my autistic brain so very happy) and also his eyes and his face in general look so cute and squishy here I want to bite his cheeks

and can we take a moment to talk about these wings. I am in so much awe at how gorgeously shaped and detailed these are I want to stare at them for literal hours I’m not even joking I absolutely could and would

I’m also soooo obsessed with your expressions grins like this one are my favorite ever I swear and yours are so shshhdjsncjfkwjfnfnf

okay I only have room for one more image on this ask and I’m saving it so I’ll just mention how much I love the way you shape Venti’s braids without an image to accompany it. they’re so flowy and you can tell they are actively being blown by the wind at all times and I love with all my heart did i mention I love your art

OKAY!! last image is to mention my probably favorite piece of yours of all time you have no idea how often I think about this image I have so much to say about it

this Heizou spread right here. THIS!!!! IT MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME!!!!! what I adore about your style is that you can so easily do both very squishy chibis and more realistic and more detailed in anatomy and stuff while still being very stylized and it’s so clearly the same artist and ough. I want that so bad when I stumbled on you it was insane because somehow your art is everything I wanted for my style (mostly in terms of anatomy and expressions and things you are SO cool) and now I can study your art!!!! (also I don’t want to sound like I’m gonna go copy your art style I just love a lot of the elements you put in your style and I really want to learn from you and how you stylize so :] thanks for being on the internet where I can see your amazing work because every time I do I’m reminded of how much I love art!!!!! and I have so much love and appreciation for you you have no idea) also that shoe is gorgeous and so shaped and your hands are so pretty they make me want to trace the shapes with my eyes and make weird little gremlin noises in happiness 

alright that has been me thoroughly appreciating your art!!!!! I will continue to adore you probably from afar and through way too deranged tags because I’m shy but anyway one last I love you and your art okay bye

HELLO I OPENED THIS UP AND I WAS SO SURPRISED AT HOW IN DEPTH THIS IS HI THIS IS THE SWEETEST THING I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED????? WHAT OMG THANK YOU SO SO MUCH ??

no bc like literally all the things you've pointed out are some of the things i especially love to do when drawing characters!!! i love folding and creasing fabric to emphasize a pose, i love the complex elegance of muscle shapes on bone structure of the body, i love drawing facial expressions!!! and your wonderful detailed remarks being done on a page of venti drawings i did makes me so happy too frfr because even though i've sort of moved away from genshin-posting here, he's a character that i've really loved and loved to draw since the start, and all the things you've commented on from this page are little things that i had at some point made conscious decisions to do when i draw venti in particular fjdjhghh little things like the hair and clothing never falling straight down bc i want it to seem like hes always moving or drifting or theres always a little breeze surrounding him! and giving him rlly big smiles and expressive faces because of how wide his range of emotions is in the story and his voices !! and wings and feathers are things that i'm constantly doodling and messing around with in my sketchbook so it .im just :)) reading this has made me feel very warm and fuzzy inside and like actually i cant thank you enough for taking the time to just?? do all this??? ;o; not what i expected to see today

[the-dragon-girl-27]

Fun fact since i just posted some fanart of this song

at one point i considered making a fanmade music video of Where Shall We Go by Mellowcle

I didn't get very far, like at all, but i may as well show off the assets I did make.

gunna add a read more cuz this is a looooong post lol

In the official video Rin and Len have their default outfits so i decided to make my own desins for this, I'm actually really happy with these minus the chalky color of the hair.

I tried to give them a cozy feel because thats the emotions the song gives yknow and i think i pulled that off, the color scheme is also reddish brown because the song is about a coffee shop so i think that is a cool detail. I tend to avoid color schemes like these but I think i managed to make it work. Also I was cookin with Rins hair its so nice, I allways like messing around with the Vocaloids designs when I do this sorta thing I think the curls and making it slightly longer really work with this song. I've never made a len desin for anything so his is more meh lol.

anyway heres one unfinished drawing

this was for the "eiga mite mo ii ne, karaoke demo ii ne, aiteru ka mite miyou ka" part, rin was gunna do a little bounce and len would pop up when his line happens. The mv mostly would be in my normal style rather than this chibi one I think i also planned to use chibis for the part about rain idk

anyway heres some animations these 2 would play back to back

the bell ringing would be.... the bit where the bell rings at the start. IDK why this is so well animated but it is good job me.

imediatley would be followed with Rin's ribbon bouncing cutley

and thats all the assets i finished lol yeah i wasn't kidding when i said i didn't get far but still may as well post em lol I have lots of scrapped animations and video ideas lol for every finished one you see theres a dozen scrapped ones

[epicocat]

I realized i haven’t been giving any GunplUpdates to the, like, 3 people that care, so I’ll just do a quick review of the nine kits I’ve built since the Zeong

Real Grade Sazabi

Probably one of the best RG kits I’ve built so far, at least in recent memory. It’s big, it’s articulate, it’s detailed, I love it!

High Grade Gundam NT-1, AKA Gundam Alex

This one was certainly an older kit. It builds the same as any other HG RX clone, and absolutely needs panel lining with all the molded details (good thing I picked up a pen recently). However, despite all its limitations, the HG Gundam Alex turned out better than I expected, and poses quite nicely!

I’m not at all biased because we have the same name :P

High Grade Mobile Doll May (Gundam Base Color)

This is probably my first official step into the Mecha Masume genre of model kits, but not my first girlpla (I’ve built the Figure Rise Sulleta Mercury the Artery Gear Fusion Guard Spider Feidy kit [highly recommend] before either of them). I doubt I‘ll end up buying anything more scandalous than this, I really don’t care for the half naked robot girls of Frame Arm Girls or Megami Device.

That all being said, this was a really fun kit! It was my first run with waterslide decals, and I think they turned out… mostly ok. The articulation is really good, the sculpting is well detailed (especially in the areas meant for other fans) and I just like kits that come with stands.

I will say, i do not and will not understand the appeal of battle stilettos (it’s hard to see in the pic but her feet are basically pointed straight down in the heels she’s wearing)

Sakura’s Edge

Another of my few non Bandai kits, Sakura comes from the Armored Puppet line of kits from Number 57. It’s another 1/24th scale kit, which means she is very very smol. Her most stand out feature is her third giant buster-arm, capable of wielding a sword twice her height. The bright pink, gold, and white go really well together, and she just looks really nice! Unfortunately her armor is more of an afterthought from the creators, as some parts need to be filed and trimmed excessively to get them to fit (I was in a VC with a friend, he can testify I was almost brought down by the shoes), and other parts just sit loose, ready to pop right off after the slightest tap, touch, or pinch.

30 Minute Missions Spinatia (Commando Type)

This kit was my intro to 30MM and I wish I bought more of them sooner! It was a cheap impulse purchase from a “local” hobby store I was checking out and it was a really enjoyable experience! It was simple and relatively fast (I failed the mission, it took me an hour), but using all the extra parts and mixing and matching equipment was so fun to play around with and experiment with what looks cool, something I hope to see more of as I build more Hexa Gear kits. In the meantime though, I have a 30 Minute Custom to plan >:3c

Transparent SD Gundam and Char’s Zaku II

I dont own many SD kits, and I think these are some more I’ll snag more of as I shop around. They’re simple and cute! They’re both Cross Silhouettes, but only the Zaku came with the CS frame, so the Gundam is just really squat and even more chibi in comparison. Overall not much to write home about, but still fun!

High Grade Gundam Maxter

The only red white and blue I’ll ever stand for

That being said, this was a really great kit! It’s a shame it’s P-Bandai limited, along with Gundam Rose. It absolutely needs panel lining for its literal abs of steel and face, but it still looks quite nice. It’s very articulate and it was hard to pick just one photo that truly sums up the insanity of Gundam Maxter, perfectly captured in gunpla form. It comes with everything seen in the picture, along with its flying surfboard shield, guns, and an effect part for its bursting machinegun punch. It is such a great kit, and comes with enough ham to justify its $30 price tag, despite the fact that Maxter is in fact very small.

High Grade Messer F-01

I love The messer’s design. It feels like a true successor to the Zaku series of suits. I know canonically it’s built off of the Sazabi, but it’s design is 100% Zaku. It’s got that respirator like mouthpiece, and the spiky asymmetric shoulder armor. Is just so cool! And did I mention this things size yet? It, like it’s predecessor are big boys, snd both stand almost as tall as many master grade gunpla in my collection. Overall an amazing kit!

[hydez-artz]

New art challenge: post all of your souyo tf art :D

Honestly, not sure I can as I have so many of them, and a lot of them are old sketches I'd want to clean up before sharing, but of the ones I've made over the years, here are the most finished ones, ordered into a somewhat organized set

Neko Effect

a series of drawing from mostly 2020-2021 involving a fanfic I also wrote (and kinda left of an infinite hiatus. sorry bout that), involing the two of them getting cursed with a rare new status effect "Neko" which seemingly slowly turned them into cats. Yu adjusts to it pretty well, as he is want to do, while Yosuke has his more panicked response that is both super cute and what makes him a way too fun TF target.

2. Birthday Gift

what started as a birthday drawing of Yosuke for his B-day in 2021 kinda turned into this silly little sequence. of them turning into cats (with me as a cat playing an extra, cuz why not). I think this one was set in the Quirk AU I made? short version, basically going into the TV world and conquering your shadow gave you a super power similar to the quirks of MHA, but with the fun added twist that they were usually based in some way of the persons insecurities.

iirc, Yosuke has a power called Malleable, which was basically shapeshifting, but without the ability to directly control it. or at least, the people around him and his environment seem to have a greater control over what form he takes than he himself does. Yu has a power called Mirror, the ability to copy other people's power, holding only 1 at a time, and usually without the downside. for copying Yosuke's Malleable, Yu is still quite susceptible to outside influences, though he does have a small bit better at controlling it while he has it.

a lot of my random, usually less explicable TFs of them can prolly be tossed into this camp somewhere.

3. Commissioned Colorings

so, I have literally hundreds of sketches and doodles, all posted to my Patreon as one of my rewards. I draw 1 doodle (more closely a finished line art) a day and post it to my Patron discord, and every month post that months collection of doodles to Patreon for record keeping. I have been doing this more or less every day since 2021, so that's nearly a thousand sketches that can range from more tf sequences like the dogsuke sequence i recently colored, to more general ideas for one of my game projects I work on. if a patron likes a specific daily doodle and wants it specifically finished up, like these above, they can commission me at a significantly reduced price to take the drawing from a doodle to a completed work. because otherwise its left to my whims if I feel like coloring them

4. Seriously, so many doodles

seriously, sooooo many doodles. here's just a few i feel like sharing, plus one of my livestream sketch sessions (oh yeah, I do a free sketch request livestream every 1st sunday of the month over on twitch btw) which got a monkey-yu and batsuke, plus a chibi sketch of them being silly.

and that's just art of Souyo being cute and silly and tfable. i also have a fair amount of just Yu and or Yosuke solo getting tf'd into stuff in general. (you may have stumbled into one of my hyper fixations X3)

Hope i passed your challenge ;3

[fraeuleintaka]

Introduction to Mind Chess

This is the 52nd post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 29 days left until release!

Today's topic: Introduction to Mind Chess!

While Little Thief is the special game mechanic introduced for the 1st Investigations, fittingly Mind Chess is the one chosen for the 2nd game. Its description is also pretty straightforward; it's a technique used for particularly tough opponents who refuse to talk for some reason or another, you have multiple different dialogue paths you can take and a time limit to decide which option to pick, there's only one correct move in most situations and you can tell how to proceed by paying attention to the words and facial expressions of your opponents. Short and accurate, and a lot of fun to play!

We also get a few game images of the improved graphics of the Mind Chess "board" and the pieces that Miles envisions and it looks great! I love how they included them in the framing of the game mechanic on the website as well, right under the title we see a part of the Mind Chess background, faded at the edges, with miscellaneous white pieces scattered around it. Fancy! Miles always has the white pieces when "playing" Mind Chess (as you can infer from the 2nd image) so these are his which makes sense. Chess has the rule that white (the player using the white pieces) always begins so that lines up nicely with Miles always making the opening move in Mind Chess (asking the first question) before his opponent responds. The game mechanic may not have all that much to do with actually playing chess but I still love it when details like this fit so nicely.

Unlike with Little Thief's introduction, there's no chibi sprite animation in the corner but that's likely because there's no specific animation associated with Mind Chess like there is with Kay starting up Little Thief.

The chosen German name for this game mechanic is "Mentalschach" ("Mental Chess") which is not 100% the same thing (something like "Gedankenschach" would be a more direct equivalent) but still has the similar meaning and sounds better and snappier. I like it.

[hazelthevixen]

Sakura Blossoms

Been wanting to draw chibis of other ocs besides my mains so here we are! :3 Sakura the pink champagne fox is chilling under the cherry blossoms, while Tiny the gryphon is relaxing on one of the branches above her I love chilling under blossom trees while they're in bloom, it feels so nice ^-^ I also enjoy sniffing all the flowers :3 That's what I love about spring and summer ^w^ That and the nice hot weather! Summer is just the best season ever and I just can't wait to enjoy all the funfairs and beach days ahead >w< I may of accidently made Sakura look a bit like the boykisser meme by accident XD oh well lol X3 she's a boy and girl kisser cos she's bi :3 I originally used these lines for some other character but that last character was ugly af XD Its colours were dull and boring, besides what even is that hairstyle? lol XDD Sakura is superior, she suits these lines way better than that ugly mess lol =P Aaanyway, this pic took alot longer to make than expected so please enjoy! I know for sure I enjoy ^w^

Please do not steal my character(s)! They belong to me, not you. Don't add offensive tags cos ya know, it's just unnecessary.. ­ ╮(╯-╰)╭ And please do not criticise! I refuse to be criticised so please accept that. Oh and don't steal any of my artwork in any sort of way. ‾ʌ‾ Pleease be nice when commenting! Yep, fanart is welcomed as I truly appreciate gifts! ≧◡≦ Feel free to check out my other works too! I work so hard but it's always fun :3 If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all. Thanks for checking out my works! meep meep! ヽ(◕ヮ◕)ﾉ I'm on other places too! ^-^

Posted using PostyBirb

[chaoticallyfragmentary]

Meet Cute--- Gojo Satoru x Reader

                             I know I’m late mais voilà! Happy birthday Satoru!! 

It contains T.A Gojo arguing with lit.major reader about their essay. I’m not a literature major but I share an inordinate amount of love for reading. So, don’t take any of the opinions expressed here seriously. If any of you haven’t read it, Babel: An Arcane History is a wonderful book. 

Falling in love with Gojo is falling in love with bright smiles and loud laughter, with high energy and the warmth of a fond look. It is the loud music from a boom box, the hugs that fit perfectly, the stifled giggles and the whispered secrets. It is the enemies to lovers, the vinyls and the pressed flowers.  

“That is not what Babel intends to portray at all,” the man next to you says, boredom leeching all impulse control from his brain, voice rougher than he’d intended, fingers tapping against the desk next to you.

“Robin Swift is a tapestry of contradictions, held together by —”

Ocean eyes focus on you as he ran his tongue along the inside of his teeth, “If you recall, the protagonist is a Chinese man  who’d believed translation would unite people, only for the bitter realization that, according to those he’d left behind, in his colonized homeland, translation is betrayal.”

“A puppet who constantly pirouettes between ideologies—-”

He lets out a puff of air, partially stunned but mostly exhilarated by the way everything about your posture speaks of barely contained fury.  He arches a brow, engaging in an an impressive display of restraint by not rolling his eyes.

“Well, it is a work about something sinister that reared its head under the surface of scholarly propriety—”

Your jaw flexes, squaring your shoulders, eyes narrowed at him preparing for a fight and Gojo Satoru is inordinately pleased to have irritated you, to have wound you up, even if just a little. He eyes your essay, in an idle attempt at casual disinterest.

He returns to his work, a distinct sort of satisfaction settling around him as he leans back in his chair, stupid distracting arms crossed once again. “You could try submitting it chibi-chan,” he smirks, shrugging in a non-committal kind of response, observing you, your challenging posture and the determined stare.

You find you rather want to know how that smirk tasted, the intimacy deprived parts of your brain reminding you your dry spell was more of a biblical pestilence at this point. Moot point because it was wrong.

Oh, he looks far too pleased with himself. A huff of disbelief leaves you as you grab your things and leave, without acknowledging his words. He could gloat all he wanted, you wouldn’t let him have the last hurrah.

“Gojo Satoru, third year by the way.”

You stop dead in your tracks, to find him smiling, a secretive one that seemed to straddle the line between amusement and annoyance. He’d taken his glasses off, the ones that made him look like such a dream of academia. The golden rays of the setting sun filtering in through the blinds caress his face, casting it in a warm glow.

“Ne ne senpai,” bottom lip jutting out in a truly impressive pout, you twirl an errant curl around your finger, suddenly hyper-aware of how utterly enticing he looked. “Oh, and I’m also your T.A” he said in a low voice as his words spilled beneath his breath. He watches a myriad of expressions flit across your face, finally settling on a grimace in the aftermath of that confession.

Whatever composure had been holding him together shatters, shoulders shaking as he laughed, the warmth of terrible decisions in that smile. It shines like starlight, the sound floating through the space between you, coasting across your skin with the softness of silk.

[nadianova]

~~trans goetia may dev log~~

so idk why or how or when but i just straight up managed to delete the entire spritesheet for all of fufus expressions. no backups or anyhting because of course not. but that being said i had already been staring at the project long enough that i felt that i could do better. while i loved how the sprites looked i was running into MASSIVE problems when i was posing both of the chars together and trying to come up with stuff for the actual horny scenes. their heads were just too damn big. how you gonna even hug when your arms cant reach the other? as cute as the big chibi heads were its just not really that suitable for a horny game?

anyway i think i really like my new models just as much if not even more than the old ones. the previous ones clearly have their own charm but i cant use them anyway so from now on its this. i even made some fun test renders to get a feel for how they could look before i realized the dither shader i made was entirely useless since renpy doesnt scale stuff like that at all lmfao!!

the models have some whacky outlining that looks weird in some places so when im closer to actually having all the sprites done ill go through them and manually draw over to fix weirdlooking stuff. since its just solid colors and lines it will be way easier to modify them manually

i still have some kinks i need to iron out when integrating this new style especially in regards to all the animated bits i did, but as far as progress has gone ive done SO MUCH this month. if it werent for this remaking of the models id have a new build to share about now but that is going to come later. HOPEFULLY next month.

once the dressing room funny business arc is finished the next day will be about... circe gathering ingredients for the ritual to get herself some curves!!! things totally will go smoothly and nobody will be spanked or bullied in the process........unless?

thats that for this time! well, what do you think about the new models?  i think theyre cute. especially fufus hat. its probably the best thing ive ever done in 3d. super proud of that one. its so cute on her when she look all smug

this is post was brought to you by nadia nova real text edited from my official itchio & patreon devlog

[art-of-tek]

Did some (hopefully final) redesigns of Aphria and Morfran from my wolf book which I wrote when I was 16, Aphria being its protagonist and Morfran the deuteragonist for book one.

Aphria (left) is a young wolf-dog hybrid (primarily gray wolf with a little bit of German shepherd, as is shown in her larger ears and mask marking) who has trouble fitting in with her pack due to her heritage. Unlike other wolves (as well as her father and brother, also wolfdogs), she has no fear towards humans and has a hard time respecting pack customs and ranks. Due to this, as well as the fact that she's the most dog-like in appearance in her pack, her Leader Cadeyrn refuses to let her train to become a fully fledged pack member.

Aphria is very disgruntled at this, especially as winter is nearing and her going into winter unskilled might be a death warrant. One day, she meets up with an older wolf from the Moss Pack, Morfran, who decides to help her out and train her in secret.

The duo soon form a close friendship, and they also share a different connection (aside from being related): both have a special gift where they can receive visions and visit the world between the living and the dead in their dreams. Both, especially Aphria, keep receiving mysterious visions in this world, and soon they leave their respective packs behind to go on the quest set out for them.

A lot of things go down from there. More characters join their little group, Aphria grows and learns more and more about her visions, and finally in a climatic scene she and Morfran are separated. They both survive, however Morfran is left with his lower body paralyzed and thus cannot make the journey north over the mountains as is their group's mission by that time. From then on Aphria has to take up the leadership role of the group and stand on her own four paws for the first time all the while traveling north to fulfill her role in it all.

I never wrote that much of book two (only fifty pages or so) but book two was going to focus more on Aphria's struggles of being on her own now and of course the journey-prophecy thing as well as defeating the evil wolf king Hawk.

May do a reboot of this story sometime down the line because I still like some of these characters and elements of the story.

[ID: Two digitally drawn images of canine characters. The first depicts a young and slim brown wolfdog with a distinct dark face and large eyes. Her eyes are green. One fullbody and one headshot of her are shown, the latter with a grumpy expression and the former with a happy one. The second drawing depicts an elderly dark gray wolf with a single eye and ear, his remaining eye being bright green. He has a scarred chest and a graying muzzle. A fullbody and a headshot of him are shown, as well as a smaller chibi of him with his lower body paralyzed as of the river scene. The background is a forest stock photo. End ID.]

[tako3]

hey friend, may i ask what ipad u use to draw/what pencil? thank u !! love ur art

Hello there 😌

I use a ipad air 3rd gen that I bought in 2019. I mainly use the default soft brush in airbrush to paint/color and the round brush in painting. I just lower opacity depending on how I want it. I use them to doodle/line as well like my last post.

Recently I downloaded a free brush pack by kylecreates and use the hair detailer brush.

For line art like for when I draw chibis, its the studio pen…or did you mean my gen 1 apple pencil lol

Uhh…atleast i think their default…i keep switching my ipad region to Japan and it displays some in jpns now but I dont remember if their downloaded…I dont think they are but Im sorry if it is 🫠💦

[shadowcrash10]

GAMES PLAYED IN 2022 - RANKED

11) Knack 2

Boring, standard gameplay, visual presentation, music and story. Not much here, but a kid may be into it, especially with the co op carrying a lot of the weight.

10) The King of Fighters XV

More King of Fighters, it's solid but lacks innovation and single player content, while also being very expensive as of now. The visual presentation is a stark improvement from XIV, and the roster is very strong.

9) Chibi-Robo!

Cute and unique, provides a lot of cool ideas coupled with genius sound design, a surprisingly cool story and memorable characters. Could have done with a more focused second act, but it never stops being fun.

8) Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

The peak of the series to me, with amazing art direction and great combat led by a simplified control system that still gives all the depth you want. Mechanically engaging all around, with a great roster to boot. Online isn't so hot though.

7) Final Fantasy VII

The glowing reception paints an accurate picture of a touchstone of the medium, with one of my favorites storylines in an RPG, alongside a dynamic, customizable fighting system, great music and a fun world to indulge. Only criticism comes from the lack of a few quality of life implementations, omissions that were common at the time.

6) SoulCalibur II

A great showcase of a single player-focused fighter, with fun controls and mechanics, a cool roster and great music, with lots of content to explore. Weird and funny mission design is coupled with light RPG elements to provide some extended playtime, and it very much works.

5) No More Heroes

A very funny game, maybe the most funny I've played in a while. It has simple combat controls that shine through in the focused, challenging boss fights, pitting the protagonist against a great roster of characters. Everything is punctuated by banger music and stylish visual direction. The loop of doing part jobs in a hub world for money to enter in new levels might turn some off, but it helped me further connect with the story. The ending is also great, a complete left turn.

4) Sonic Frontiers

Sonic's next 3D formula kicks off to a great start, with controls and level design that complement each other to create open stages that are just fun to move around. The combat is also surprisingly varied, carrying along some of my favorite boss fights in any game. An emotional, fascinating storyline and amazing score complete the package. There's a noticeable lack of polish, and the latter half of the game feels rushed, but the strong pacing and base gameplay manage to hold the game and carry it to the finish line, which - while controversial - absolutely satisfied me. Looking forward to what else they can do with this take on Sonic.

3) Resident Evil (2002)

Couldn't ask for a better introduction to survival horror. While the creepy atmosphere and jump scares are absolutely on point, the strength of the game is on its replay value, making sure it has a shelf life long after it stops being scary to the player. The puzzle design is smart and the story is fun to figure out. An absolute masterclass.

2) Doom (2016)

Provides old school design sensibilities with a modern touch, making a game with the best of the past and present. Everyone already knows about the soundtrack, but it's still worth noting what a classic on its own it became. The gameplay loop is extremely well calibrated, leading to an aggressive play style fitting of the story and main character. Everything in the presentation helps solidify the core feelings of the work, in what feels like a very focused, hand crafted piece. A joy from beginning to end.

1) Rayman Legends

Everything I could have asked for and more. My expectations were quite high and I came out as satisfied as I wanted to be. No bad levels, no lesser moments, a game that left no aspect of it without oozing polish and creativity. Absolutely recommend it.