#currently in the 'i've already got one foot fully in this project but i need to stop and make sure it's actually a good idea' phase

[ilovedthestars]

So i was bitten by the zine bug this semester and i keep thinking that a collaborative zine would be really fun to organize, especially one i could open up to my little corner of the internet. Not the shiny polished fandom zines that are really cool but also more of an anthology than a zine. I'm talking DIY photocopier and scissors zines--or as close as you can get over the internet, as the case may be.

The most fun and low stakes idea i have at the moment is a doodle zine. Like, what kinds of scribbles or shapes or little creatures do you draw in the margins of your notebooks? Fill a zine-sized page with them and send me a photo! Zero expectation of artistic skill or effort, just fill a page with marks and have fun.

And then i could stitch them together into both a digital zine file and a printable version you could use to make a paper copy. I think that would be a cool way to get as close to the physical collage vibes of a traditional zine as you can in a project that would obviously have to be conducted over the internet, where we can't just hand each other pieces of paper.

Anyway, i finally have both the motivation and the energy to potentially dive in to making this happen, but only if other people are actually interested. And this would look very different if 8 people want to participate vs. if 40 do. So:

Please feel free to reblog/spread this if you know others who might be interested! Right now this is just an idea i'm playing around with, but it might become a Real Thing very quickly if other people are also excited about it.

[lamp-up-my-ass]

A Man, a Snake, and a Rat Chapter 1

((Hi! So I've written out a few chapters for the Intruloceit AU, and have been posting them on AO3 but not here. So I finally got around to it, hope you enjoy!))

Tags: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Morality | Patton, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Deceit Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Trans Logic | Logan Sanders, Fluff, Angst, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, Descriptions of Nudity, Remus draws some slutty things

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day was beautiful, wind sweeping away the first dying leaves of fall and clouds shielding the earth from the bright rays of the sun, casting small shadows around a tall brick building. In front of said building stood a tall nineteen year old holding one of the few boxes that laid around his feet. A paper sat on top of the box he held, as he glared down a it and re-read the words printed on it.

Dorm room 133c, third floor. Room to Remus D Grimm, Logan B Reed, and Dimitri P Zolotov.

Dimitri was the one who stood in front of the building and was currently glaring at the paper. He had specifically asked for a single dorm from the very beginning, two days after receiving his acceptance letter in April. From the responding email to his original request and the one he received after checking in two weeks prior, he was assured he would have that wish granted. However, it appears that he has been placed with not one, but two roommates. After checking his email to bring attention to this matter, he found that an email was sent to him that morning notifying him of the change.

Steaming from the sudden and unpleasant situation he was placed in , Dimitri placed the box on the ground and rubbed at his face. He needed a bit more time to think this over. Luckily, the parking lot was quiet and devoid of any other people, the majority of them having arrived early and we're settling into their new dorms. Unluckily, this meant that the two other people who were to be his roommates most likely were doing the same, meaning Dimitri will run into them and be expected to interact. He despised talking to others.

Deciding that he had stood there long enough, Dimitri gathered all of his minimal belongings and began his trec up to his room. After walking as quick a possible to the elevator ( while ignoring the peppy greeting of the college staff) and riding the elevator to the third floor, he stood in front of room 113c.

The realization that he did not have the keys to the apartment dawned on him, causing the man to groan frustratedly. His only hope of getting in was to knock and hope one of his roommates would answer. Therefore there was truly no hope of avoiding these people . And so the man stretched out his knuckles and knocked on the door four times.

After a moment the door opened, revealing a man both taller and darker than Dimitri. His hair was short, shaved with the hair on top beIng slightly longer. His eyebrows sat furrowed in confusion above dark gray eyes, which were protected with rectangular thin rimmed glasses. His face was narrow and skin smooth. Before he could look down and fully take in the man in front of him, his own voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hello, I am one of your new roommates."

His voice was steady and smooth, however that did not portray how he actually felt. The intimidating man slowly nodded and stepped aside to give him room to enter.

"Yes, I gathered as much. I am simply confused as to why you knocked when the door was unlocked" he spoke, pronouncing each word clearly and in a slightly monotone way. Dimitri's face heated up as he cursed himself for not checking. He stepped passed the other and into the dorm, mumbeling "I totally knew that" under his breath as he walked in.

The door led straight into a small yet open kitchen area. To the right of the room was a small hallway with three doors. Past the kitchen there was small couch and an outdated TV, making a very bland living room. Lastly, there was sliding glass door in the back wall that lead to a deck.

Sprawled out on the couch was a smaller man, his feet propped up on the wall and head hanging upside own of the side. He seemed to be struggling to figure out how to work the decade old television, the arm holding the remote stretching in different positions to try to get it to change the channel. Upon Dimitris entry, he stilled and craned his neck to look at the newcomer curiously.

"My name is Logan Reed and this is Remus Grimm. We decided to take the shared room as we already are familiar with each other. You are free to set up your room on the left or you can-."

Before the man ( apparently named Logan), could finish what he was saying, Dimitri has already speed walked towards the mentioned room and entered it, closing the door behind him with his foot. He was not in the mood to socialize, still feeling anger at the circumstances along with the other feelings that grew from that interaction.

The room was bland and terribly krampt, with only enough room to fit the pre existing twin bed and deck. After spending some time to shove all his clothes into the doorless closet and place his supplies on the desk, he dropped his body onto the bed and sighed. Having nothing else better to do, he rolled onto his side and scrolled through his phone, distracting himself from the small pit that formed in his gut when he thought of the events that occured.

~~~~~~~~~

"Wow, mysterious and hot! Aren't we lucky?" Exclaimed Remus, before falling from the couch and rolling into a criss-cross sitting position. His face was split in a wide smile as he looked up at Logan. "I would get down and dirty with him all night, if given the chance!"

Logan shook his head from where he stood, looking down at the man sitting on the ground. He's known Remus passingly since high school through his brother Roman. However, he only ever interacted with him when he would spend time at the Grimm house, as they never shared classes nor knew each other well enough to seek the other out. And now he would spend at least the next two college semesters living with the loud, intrusive man.

"I'm sure Dimitri wouldn't appreciate someone he has yet to communicate with lusting after him." Logan argued, walking over to and lowering himself onto the loveseat. Remus threw his head back and cackled, finding it hilarious that he got the tall, proper Logan to describe his want to fuck as 'lusting'. He plopped back on the ground, placing his head inches away from the others feet. His smile still plastered on, the maniacal man looking up at Lo with a wink.

"Step on me, mister professor man." he purred while biting his lip, before once again bursting into giggles.

Logan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, proceeding to give the short latino a deadpan look. This caused Remus to laugh even harder, wrapping his arms around his stomach and rolling on his side. Half way through his fit he sat up suddenly, whipping his head to look at Logan with a serious stare.

"We need pizza so I can get to know my hunky new roommates!"

[askagamedev]

Hey dev, can you please explain how networking works in the game industry when you can't afford to go to the big conferences in the US? I was told at some telephone job interviews that they believe I'm not fully there yet, I should look for a mentor, network more and work on my LinkedIn. I have no idea how to do that, I mean... can I just add people on LI I've never met or talked to? My country has no games industry, I don't know people who work in games or use LinkedIn to begin with...

Let me start by saying I understand how frustrating it must feel - you need guidance on how to improve but don’t know where to obtain that guidance. I’ve been there. It sucks. It can especially feel hopeless if there isn’t a significant games industry in your locality. However, we have the greatest communications tool yet invented at our fingertips - the internet - so leverage it to get you the sort of guidance you need.

There are two main points to internalize:

You need to understand that game development is an inherently social activity. It’s really really hard to build an entire game solo, so most of us gather teams to make the magic happen.

The best way to get better at something is to do it.

What you need to do is find a group to work with and make some games happen. I suggest picking up an off-the-shelf engine like Unity or Unreal if you haven’t already and joining the dev community. Start by learning the basics of how things work by working through the tutorials provided. Once you’ve found your footing, volunteer for a dev team that is recruiting. Don’t go into it thinking “this is going to be the game I always wanted to make”, but view it as “This is how I will learn how to do some stuff”. Get to know your team - how to communicate, how to deal with roadblocks, how to work together.

Participate in community discussions on the forums, but view it as a learning experience and not an argument. Why do these other developers hold these views? Why is this choice better than that one? If you don’t know the answer to these questions, ask. Don’t take what they say personally, distill their statements into actual useful advice. Some of these folks will be amateurs, but some will be professionals who have been doing things for a long time. Listen to them.

Look for local talent. You said there isn’t a games industry in your country, but that might not be as true as you believe. [Click here for a list of all of the professional IGDA chapters out there]. Maybe they aren’t doing AAA games, but shipping mobile games looks a lot better on a resume than nothing.

Participate in Game Jams. Game Jams are short (1-7 day) sessions where you get together with a small team and try to build a working game prototype within the time allotted. You don’t need to bring your own team; the goal is to introduce people and get them working together. These don’t even have to be local. There are online game jams you can participate in as well. 

As you meet people and work with them, reach out to them on a social level as well. Maybe you can discuss a new game that just came out, or play a few matches of Overwatch or Street Fighter together. You can also try asking them for their LinkedIn contact information. You build a network with people and that means establishing and building relationships of mutual respect with them first. As you improve your skills and build a portfolio of things you have done, you should also naturally build up a network of relationships with others who you’ve worked with, who you can talk to about development, and whose criticism you trust.

Further reading:

[How do I get started if I don’t know anything?]

[What is the absolute minimum I need to know to be useful to a team?]

[What Yugioh taught me about social networking and getting a job]

[AAGD’s Game Career FAQ]

The FANTa Project is currently on hiatus while I am crunching at work.

[What is the FANTa project?] [Git the FANTa Project]

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