#i didn't intend for this to be a tutorial i just wanted to explain that i'm not a 3d artist lmfao

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Espionage [B. R]

Bob Reynolds x reader

wc: 2.5k

summary: a quiet morning on the Watchtower turns into psychic people-watching when Jean, Yelena, and Ava decide to “check in” on their teammates. It’s all fun and teasing, until Jean sees something she wasn’t meant to: Bob, deeply in love, living a secret life no one expected.

an: the reader is the same in these one shot (wrapped around you), but you don't need to actually read them to understand this one. Although it would add a little more flavor! It's narrated in third person this time, for plot convenience.

Warnings: appearance of Jean Grey (Phoenix) from the mutant universe.

masterlist

Jean Grey never thought she'd end up sharing coffee with two former assassins while a Russian pop playlist played in the background on the Watchtower. But there she was, sitting in the kitchen, barefoot and hair still damp, watching Yelena argue with Ava over whether spying on her classmates counted as an ethical violation if it was "just out of curiosity." She hadn't even been living with them for a week, and she was already considering doing something that not even Scott would have approved of.

After a mental breakdown that nearly reignited the Phoenix threat, Professor Xavier decided Jean needed a break away from Cerebro, from the missions, from the constant pressure of being herself. Valentina, always on the lookout for a helpful move, offered the Watchtower as a safe space for her recovery, on the condition that she not use her powers without authorization. Jean reluctantly agreed, knowing that voluntary exile was the closest thing to peace she could afford.

Yelena was the first to greet her, joking about whether she could read minds or was simply silently judging them. Ava, on the other hand, recognized something deeper in her: a contained energy, the weight of a power she never asked for. Without intending to, the three ended up sharing the beginnings of a friendship and a certain complicity born of mutual recognition: women who hadn't chosen who they were, but who were still here, every morning, trying to laugh a little before burdening themselves with it again.

“Valentina won’t notice! I promise,” Yelena insisted, with a mischievous smile.

The night before, while talking at dinner, they had discovered the extent of telepathy's powers. So the idea had become a dangerous temptation among them.

“But what if something bad happens?”

“Nothing will happen. It’s going to be fun.”

Jean sighed, stirring the contents of her cup with a spoon, and finally nodded. Although she didn't want to endanger anyone, she knew it was a minimal use of her powers.

“So, how does it work? Can you, like, see everyone?” Ava exclaimed, holding the cup in her hands, her eyes glowing like they were about to play a game of Ouija.

“Without Cerebro, no. But it’s easier with them because I already know them. It’s like… tuning into a radio signal, or something,” Jean explained, leaning her elbows on the table. “The more familiar a person is to me, the clearer the channel.”

“Start with Bucky!” Yelena demanded, tapping the table. “I want to know what he does when he’s not here.”

Jean sighed, closed her eyes, and the three fell silent.

Bucky's apartment was simple, mostly white, with functional furniture, perfectly aligned corners, and a plant that seemed to live by sheer force of will. A warm, soft light lighted the bathroom, and there, in front of the fogged-up mirror, Bucky held a round hairbrush in both hands. On the sink lay a procession of bottles: mousse, serum, Anti-frizz, heat protectant, argan oil, and a small black dryer with a diffuser tip. On the tablet, an influencer explained how to achieve ‘perfect volume without sacrificing hydration’. Bucky followed the video to the letter, brow furrowed, tongue between his teeth, strand by strand.

“He’s… styling his hair,” Jean murmured softly. “Very meticulously. He has like ten products, and he’s watching a tutorial on how to prevent frizz while adding volume.”

Ava opened her mouth in disbelief. “Really? Volume?”

“He's using a round brush and a hairdryer. Very professional. And now he's rotating the brush... wait... he just stopped the video and is repeating that section.”

“He must be having a meeting in Congress,” Yelena mocked, leaning back in her chair. “He wants to be the prettiest boy in Parliament.”

“How does his hair always look so silky?” Ava added “I feel like we discovered a government secret.”

“For Christmas,” Yelena said thoughtfully, “we’re going to buy him a Dyson dryer. Limited edition. Matte black.”

Jean laughed, feeling satisfied that she was entertaining her friends.

“Now? Alexei?” she suggested.

“Of course Alexei,” Yelena and Ava said in unison.

Jean took a deep breath and dove back under.

The room was vast, with curtains hanging askew and midday light streaming in. Alexei, a red scarf tied around his neck like a cape, held a wireless microphone while the lyrics of ‘Eye of The Tiger’ (Russian karaoke version) flashed across the screen. He sang as if he were in a final battle, his fists clenched, eyes half-closed, lips trembling with emotion. His cat, perched on the back of the sofa, watched him with feline patience. Alexei tried to spin dramatically, but a misstep made him slip on the carpet and land in an impossible split. He stood there, rigid… and kept singing. Louder. More intense.

“He’s… at a lonely karaoke bar,” Jean said, her voice cracking with laughter. “Red scarf around his neck, microphone in hand, singing Eye of the Tiger in Russian. I think he's crying. I'm not sure if it's from emotion or pain from the split.”

“Did he do a split?” Ava exclaimed.

“Unintentionally. But he’s holding it. Like a champion. The cat is perplexed. He admires it. Or hates it. It’s hard to tell.”

Yelena clapped silently.

“God, he’s a complete dumbass.”

“Walker. Come on, I want to see Walker,” Ava said, all excited. “He’s probably training or something.”

Jean closed her eyes, already entertained.

A park, tall trees, ground covered in dry leaves. John Walker was training in front of a makeshift punching bag hanging from a branch. He wore gloves, headphones, and a sleeveless T-shirt that said: ‘No Pain, No Nation’. He was breathing hard, unleashing quick combinations. In his face: total focus. But then… the ducks arrived. A small group. One approached the bag. Another pecked at his foot. John yelled: “No! Get out!” He kicked the air, tripped over a root, and fell like a log, on his back. He stood there, staring at the sky, until he slowly sat up and brushed the dirt off his shoulder as if it had all been part of the plan.

“He fell because of a duck,” Jean recounted mercilessly “And now he’s pretending it was part of his routine.”

Ava put a hand to her mouth. “Is he okay?”

“He’s outraged. But not physically hurt.”

Yelena held her cup solemnly.

“It gives me peace to know that nature continues to win battles against nationalist pride.”

“Valentina?” Ava exclaimed, like a little rascal.

Jean hesitated for a moment, as if something inside her warned her that this was a mistake. But she closed her eyes anyway.

A conference room. Dark. Screens lit. Five agents logged in, all silent. Valentina, in the center, wearing a violet silk gown, a black mask covering her face, holding a bottle of red nail polish in one hand. In the other, a glass of wine. She painted her nails with surgical precision while eating grapes served on a floating tray held by a drone. One of the agents sneezed. She pressed a button, and her image disappeared from all the screens at once.

“She’s monitoring five meetings while getting her nails done,” Jean said, impressed. “And someone’s holding the grapes for her… or rather, a drone.”

Ava and Yelena were silent, genuinely impressed.

“I want to be her when I retire,” Yelena murmured.

“When do you retire?” Ava said “Do you think we’ll survive that long?”

“Well, now that we know Bucky uses serum antifrizz, I believe in miracles,” Yelena replied, taking another sip from her cup “And Bob? What about him?”

“He didn’t get to sleep last night, did you notice?”

“Yeah, he texted me,” she replied to Ava. “He said not to worry. But it’s still… weird. You know, because it's not the first time”

Jean pursed her lips, hesitating.

“I don’t know if I should…”

Ava insisted. “We already saw John get humiliated by a duck. This can’t get any worse.”

Jean sighed, closed her eyes… and connected.

Bob stood in a small but cozy kitchen, bathed in the soft morning light. He leaned against the counter with a mug in his hands, the steam rising lazily toward his face. He was wearing a pair of long-leg boxer briefs and a loose white t-shirt. His hair, still ruffled from sleep, fell in soft strands over his forehead. He had the expression of someone who hadn't fully slept, but he didn't seem bothered by being awake either. Just... calm. Almost contemplative. He stared out the window as if the outside world weren't a threat, but a distant curiosity.

The apartment wasn't luxurious, but it was full of signs of shared life: a sweater thrown over the back of a chair, two used cups in the sink, a knotted blanket on the couch. On the refrigerator were photos stuck with crooked magnets, a postcard from some beach, and in one corner, a small child's drawing was held together with a star-shaped magnet. Everything spoke of someone else.

Bob yawned and placed his mug on the counter. He leaned over to check a cupboard, muttering something under his breath, when arms wrapped around his back. He immediately tensed, startled, but that reaction dissolved as soon as he turned and saw who it was.

It was a woman. She was barefoot, still sleepy, her hair disheveled, and her eyelids heavy. She was wearing only dark panties and an old flannel that was clearly Bob's–something told Jean it was the same one he'd worn the night before. It was too big for her, the material falling to her thigh, one of the sleeves hanging slightly off her shoulder. Bob looked at her as if his breath had just escaped him. A mixture of surprise, affection, and something more primal, something that ignited in his chest and rendered him motionless.

She leaned her forehead against his back and murmured, her voice dragged by sleep:

“Why did you get out of bed?”

Bob turned, wrapped his arms around her, and gently stroked her hair with an open palm.

“Morning,” he said softly. “I couldn’t sleep anymore. But I didn’t want to wake you.”

She looked at him, her eyes barely open, as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. Not a quick kiss, but a long, warm one that lingered there for a few seconds as if he needed it as much as air. She didn't move, just wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder, still half asleep.

“You’re cold,” he murmured against her neck.

“Because I didn’t have this,” he replied, wrapping her tighter.

He took his cup and offered it to her. She took it in her limp hands and took a slow sip, saying nothing, without asking for another cup. Bob watched her with visible tenderness, stroking her back with his thumb as she drank.

“Do you have to go to work?” he finally asked.

She sighed against his collarbone.

“I'm supposed to have a double shift at the store. But I'm considering calling in sick.”

Bob smiled, a little relieved, a little worried.

“You shouldn’t do that.”

“My boss owes me some favors,” she replied with a mischievous smile. “He won’t die if I don’t go today.”

“You’re just looking for an excuse to stay,” he said softly, though inside he wished he would. Every word was a bittersweet contradiction.

"Maybe."

She gave him a playful little push with her hip, and he caught her by the waist, looking at her with that soft, vulnerable glow that very few knew. He lifted her easily and sat her on the counter, still holding her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, digging her fingers into his almost-blond hair, playing with the strands that fell free.

“I like it when you do that,” he murmured, closing his eyes for a moment.

"What thing?"

“Touching my hair like that.”

She smiled, still half asleep, and pulled him a little closer. Bob was slowly stroking her legs, his thumbs drawing circles on the inside of her thighs, as if he were reading her with his fingertips.

“Do you want me to make you some breakfast?” he asked quietly, staying inches from her face.

She looked him straight in the eyes. Half joking. Half serious.

“I want to eat you.”

Bob laughed. A genuine, warm laugh that came from his chest. He leaned toward her, closing the distance between them, just before kissing her.

Jean looked away. Or rather, she withdrew completely. The intimacy was too much. It wasn't the body, or the desire—it was what was between them. It was how sincere everything was.

Jean opened her eyes with a slow blink, as if she were struggling to return. They both looked at her with expectation.

“Well?” Ava pressed.

Jean took a breath, placed his hands on the table, and said in a low voice:

“Bob has a girlfriend.”

Yelena sat up abruptly, almost choking on her own saliva.

"What?"

“They were together in an apartment, I… imagine it's hers. They were drinking coffee and seemed very used to it. She… was wearing his clothes. Well, his flannel at least.”

Ava froze.

“And him? What was he doing? Did he kiss her or something?”

“Yes,” Jean said, suddenly blushing. “They looked very intimate.”

“But who is she?” Yelena demanded. “Do we know her? Is she an agent? Is she a mutant like you? Is she a spy? Does she have combat training?”

Jean slowly shook her head, still processing.

“I don’t think so. She… said she works at a store. She was going to work a double shift today. And I didn’t sense any altered energy from her. No powers. Nothing weird.”

“So it’s civil?” Ava asked, as if it were hard to believe.

“Yes. She looks… normal. Very normal. Like someone you’d pass on the street and not look twice at.”

Yelena blinked. “And Bob’s in love with someone… like that?”

Jean smiled, almost tenderly.

“She makes him happy. I guess that's what matters most to him.”

The three of them fell silent. A silence that wasn't awkward, but reverent. As if they had witnessed something that didn't belong to them.

A few seconds passed before Ava broke the silence with a murmur: “Should we ask him something?”

Jean shook his head gently, still staring at his mug.

“No. There’s no need. He seems… very comfortable in that relationship. I’d feel awful if we messed it up by making him feel exposed.”

Yelena nodded slowly.

“Then let him keep it. That secret belongs to him.”

The three of them stared at each other for a moment, speechless. And then, as if they'd sealed an unspoken pact, they continued sipping their coffee.

The silence didn’t last long.

“But the dryer, the karaoke, and the ducks… we can use that for mild extortion, right?” Ava asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Absolutely,” Yelena replied without hesitation.

Jean giggled.

“Honor is intact. Dignity, not so much.”

taglist: @littlemsbumblebee @qardasngan

[dengswei]

Hii you're so talented!! i wonder if you could explain how you did this gif effect with the squares? and do you have any tips on colouring because yours is always top notch <3333

heyy thank you so much 🥹 and of course! i've never really done a tutorial before but i'll try my best to explain it in a way that makes sense 😅

so i start off with making my two gifs seperatly and colouring them as i normally would, once i've done that i load both gifs into the same project and once i've done all that i started on the grid part:

now go to view -> add guides and this window should pop up:

(it's was so daunting at first when i saw this i was like ????? and started putting in random numbers and was like oh that's how this works 🤣)

here's the settings i used for my gif which is 540px x 500px in size with 5 squares x 4 squares: (if you want more or less you just have to play around with it)

once you've done that it should look something like this:

now the next part is really up to preference again: add a vector mask onto the gif that's above the other one like this: (ignore the name of my folder that is irrelevant 🤣)

and then i used the rectangle select tool (this is because the rectangle select should lock onto the grid squares making it easier to erase certain sections) + a black brush tool to erase the squares to show the other gif that's underneath (you can reposition both gifs to your liking which is what i did)

before & after:

so my vector mask looks like this afterwards

(you don't have to do the squares so close together like i did it was just how i liked it & because of the scenes i had chosen that mine turned out this way)

now onto the grid lines: i used the line tool with these settings

just like with the rectangle select tool the line tool should lock onto the grid line you want to redraw, do this for every line that you want/have for your grid & once you're done go to view -> clear guides and it should look something like this: (added a version with just a black background so it can be seen a little easier)

(i'm ngl idk why my lines ended up kinda faded and not white 🤣 i think it might be because i used a white fill instead of white stroke but it doesn't really matter to me because i got my ideal outcome anyway 🤣)

bonus step: you can stop here if you'd like but i wanted my lines to match my colouring & my intended typography so i put all my line layers into a folder and set the mode to difference & added a yellow fill layer with a clipping mask, like this:

and it should look like this:

you can also play around with the opacity of the lines too which is what i tried out but i prefered for my set the lines being at 100% opacity but it's really up to you with what you want to play around with

now once you're happy with everything merge those layers together (make sure they have the same amount of frames first before merging them) and either save as it is or add some typography like i did and you should end up with this:

for tips when it comes to colouring it really depends on what you're colouring, if you want to manipulate the colours as much as i do i recommend choosing a colour within the scene so you're not having to change too much, or finding scenes that have colours that can be manipulated more easy (any colour that aren't skin tones, unless you're working with red or yellow like i did here, i chose yellow because one of the outfits in the gif was yellow toned and it looked better with the gifset being yellow than my original colour which was blue), also looking for scenes were the people in it don't move as much also is a big help!

i hope this helps :) feel free to ask more questions if you didn't understand or want some more tips i honestly don't mind!

[haruspexd]

so patho 3 quarantine huh? thoughts?

on one hand

the apathy-mania meter is cool, could add interesting weight to decisions in a way that makes sense for Daniil. a lot of Artemy's motivation (and p2's approach in particular) is rooted in the people around him, his friends and family and the Kin and the kids, but Daniil isn't truly integrated into any of these communities To That Extent. not that he doesn't care, but making his core mechanic so inward-facing fits with the contrast point of the earth vs the polyhedron, the heart vs the head, and the ways Artemy and Daniil embody it

it is objectively hilarious to level out by kicking dumpsters and banging on water pipes

graphics look good, for all that it's a little jarring

being able to talk to multiple people at once is exciting

non-linear storytelling can be so fun, I'm looking forward to seeing how they approach it and comparing to p1/p2 where time is soooo valuable. quarantine seemed to imply that you can choose between a few different days to travel to based on accumulation of some resource

the diagnosis mechanic is intriguing. makes it feel more like a video game lmao

but on the other hand

if they've truly done away with traditional survival mechanics in favor of the apathy-mania meter, I worry that they'll really struggle to balance the difficulty of the game around it. as it stands in quarantine, the meter fill rate seems wildly fast. maybe that's to compensate for lack of traditional survival elements, but if so then it's a much less nuanced, much less compelling system. taking drugs or smoking every few minutes so you don't blow your brains out reads as absurd. the frequency is higher than needing to manage hunger/thirst/exhaustion in p2 but again, they might trying to replace all of that with one (1) system without losing a significant part of what makes patho challenging. idk. seems lame. the other (preferable imo) way they could go is still including traditional survival meters and adding the mental health bar on top, but they'd need to severely reduce the impact of the mental health bar for the sake of balance

[cut bc this post ran away from me. more below]

funny as it is and also given that whole spiel about inward-facing mechaincs and motivation, kicking dumpsters doesn't really feel. in character? I don't want to nitpick but some of the voice lines when trying to shift the mental health meter are awful. "thoughts..... more thoughts......" like what?

not sure how I feel about the perspective switches that have you talking to Daniil instead of as him. the patho narrative experience has leaned pretty hard on putting the player inside the head and perspective of one character, that's part of what makes it so interesting to do multiple routes in p1. the bachelor route is restricted to Daniil's perspective and it skews how the player thinks about the game and the town and the characters, then the haruspex route contrasts again those preconceptions and you see Daniil from the outside, then the changeling route in Clara's head and so on and so forth. would the impact hold up if you could get out of Daniil's head in p1 or Artemy's in p2?

Mr. Little is a horribly clumsy execution of a tutorial that honestly didn't feel entirely necessary. what was explained was straightforward and what wasn't explained (like that you can select and cross off symptoms in your notebook for differential diagnosis) got really annoying until trial and error made sense of it. and I think some of that frustration came form "you gave a tutorial but it didn't explain everything" where skipping the conversational explanation altogether would've worked too. it's all just a worse version of Artemy talking to the tumbler human in p2

fast travel is convenient. patho has never been about convenience. it should at least be an optional mechanic instead of defaulting to blitzing you through healthy districts, and should probably be disabled on "intended" difficulty. I also like the idea of being able to place more markers/routes on the map but again. convenient. should be optional and probably disabled on the "intended" difficulty. very mixed on this

I do wonder if we'll get difficulty options. I kind of philosophically disagree with IPL folding under pressure and adding an easy mode that's balanced worse and isn't true to their vision but whatever

[shoklo]

Hello it's me again I wanted to ask how do you draw so good and what gave you inspiration to be a LMK creator?

I do this but I don't know if it's perfect but I think you're ugly very clean

I created these all by myself and I've been working unimproving and I have the time lapse for all of them

Oh, hi! I'm glad you like my work, thank you!

I don't even know where to start... I'll probably start with something banal, drawing requires a lot of experience and practice. Yes, it's banal, but over time I experienced it myself. The same thing with the Lego style, if that's what you're talking about. I've been drawing since childhood, essentially I'm self-taught. I mastered the LMK style gradually, and even now I need more practice to achieve perfection. If you're interested, I can share two pieces of advice from my experience... First, I used many tutorials (not only for the LMK style, but also for simple drawing, shadows, lighting, perspective, etc.), often from Pinterest or YouTube. They help, and over time, drawing happens automatically. The second is clarity and inspiration. You don't even have to draw yourself, but scroll through Pinterest and look at other people's work. The eye itself will begin to remember certain features after some time, notice details. But this also takes time. I can't add more, because it's very difficult to explain "how you draw so beautifully"... considering that you yourself don't know. But in general, draw as you feel. There are a lot of really cool books and videos on YouTube that can help you a lot 🥹

Okay, but what inspired me to be an LMK creator... Oh, and I don't know. Am I passionate about this show? Well, like, it has become my home. And I also like the Chinese theme. I got acquainted with it when the third season just started airing and I'm still here. When I found out that there are OCs in fandoms, it surprised and delighted me so much, but I didn't dare to start a TikTok. For a long time, I just sat and corresponded with bots in C.ai, seriously 😭. Thus, I realized that I wanted to visualize the character, I got... well... this ↓

but I was so happy and wanted to share it with the world. And then I went to TikTok and saw several LMK creators. For example, Auburnitzy and Amber who simply won my heart. Well, in general, they became my inspirations, now I'm here and I don't intend to stop. AND AFTER ANOTHER TIME I REALIZED HOW MANY OF US THERE ARE, DAMN IT. LMK oc rule, guys! There is a whole network of us and everyone is subscribed to each other or at least knows each other! This is also inspiring. I love my ocs with all my heart and I want to develop them.

As for your works, they are drawn very well! Seriously. For example, I see a lot of potential in you, and this is cool. It's nice to see that people have their own style and at the same time it is clear that this is Lego. I really like your oc, the one in the middle, with white hair, I love powerful women hehehe (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

[raisengen]

Design of Strife's design is a real mystery to me.

After thinking about it, I think the intention is:

You play it like reverse CC: fight a hard enemy while helped by a large number of buffs, then whittle down the buffs until you're fighting them au naturel. This then unlocks the next difficulty, rinse and repeat.

Within battle, you're meant to exploit the lava fissures by deploying operators on top of them, managing the burn damage in exchange for bonus damage against enemies.

The thing is, the game is absolutely terrible at conveying this. There's no effort to make sure you know about the buff system, and there's no effort to make sure you know how lava fissures work.

The most the tutorial has to say is "if you use buffs you can't unlock the next set of stages". OK? The buff system isn't even available at the time they say that. It's not even unlocked until you lose a run at that rank (and even then it's relatively easy to miss). And besides, all I've been told is that I shouldn't use them, and since they're off by default maybe I should just ignore them.

Compare to CC, where you have to pass through the contract selection screen every time you start the stage.

The lava fissures have no tutorial at all, forcing you to rely on the poorly-worded tooltips. (Did you know you can long-press on special tiles to bring up a notification explaining them?) And you're unlikely to intuit their interactions, either; the lava only hurts friendlies, unless you put an operator on top, in which case they can scoop up some of the eruption and throw it on your enemies. Of course. They didn't even get a good animation, since they appear to only hit low tiles, but still deal damage to high tiles.

Compare to... pretty much any event with a stage mechanic, where they have dedicated tutorial stages focused on the interaction.

If these are (well, were) meant to be the experiments for new high-end content, then surely you should want players to be able to engage with it as intended, right?

[valle-de-sombra-de-muerte]

Homestuck Reread: Act 2, Part 3/3 (p. 615-759)

Read the previous post here. Read the next post here.

Time to finally wrap up Act 2.

John builds a tent which Rose promptly tosses out the window. Umm... based???

This is Rose's polite way of saying that she's speeding things along since John has mostly been puttering around up to this point.

How many times can Hussie write "listless octoroon" before the NAACP is notified? Seriously, what's his obsession with that phrase? Is it because it sort of borders on being a racial slur without actually being one, so he can use it to his heart's delight and not worry about being called racist? This is the same dude who made Team Special Olympics so I'm not that surprised by his sense of humor.

I'm sure this spurious anecdote of Harry Anderson accidentally chopping off some dude's finger might be amusing for some. I'm not familiar at all with him though, so this does nothing for me.

John's lazy ass sure isn't taking this whole "saving the world" thing very seriously. This is like trying to get your Sim to do chores but they'd rather play video games instead. If only this really was The Sims and she made him drown in a pool or trapped him in a room with no doors.

Rose has honestly been holding his hand the entire way, building up the path to the gate, and even killing most of the imps herself. This is really Rose's game and John is a pawn she has to nudge along toward the goal. I should really accept at this point that John is not the protagonist this story deserves.

Jade's silhouette is briefly teased during this flash where John is asleep. Hussie really wants to keep hyping her up for some reason.

Jade's conversation with John plays out similarly to the one she had with Rose. However, while Rose casts suspicion on Jade's eerie precognition, John is a moron who just goes along with whatever she says. She's straight up gaslighting him here.

Rose and Dave throwing shade at Jade behind her back, combined with the fact that neither of them told her about Sburb, makes it seem like she's an outsider in her own friend group. The way she's able to manipulate John despite the caution expressed by his other friends makes me question again why exactly she wasn't cast as a villain. The pieces are all there!

You know, Nannasprite is also selective about the info she provides to John, but it's explained that the sprites are programmed to act that way. The game intends them to be helpful little tutorial NPCs that dispense info but not too much as to spoil the mysteries of the game. What's Jade's excuse, huh? Is she an NPC too?

And she immediately changes the subject and John rolls with it because he only has one brain cell. I cannot stress enough that Jade's pesterlogs are the most aggravating thing to read thus far.

These ogres have been tailing John for quite some time. We've been getting occasional shots of them getting closer and closer, leading up to this moment. It's some good tension and buildup to what should be John's first big challenge in the game.

But instead of following up with that we go back to Dave for his confrontation with Bro. Okay I guess? I didn't mention it before, but it's a cute detail that Bro makes a reference to Dave's comic in his note.

This is a really good flash, all things considered. Maybe we can execute both fights simultaneously and establish some parallels between how John and Dave overcome their respective adversaries.

The Strider fight is interrupted so we can turn our attention to... the Wayward Vagabond. Oh yeah, there's a brief moment in the flash where it seems like we're going to pivot to Jade's intro, before we turn to WV. I don't know why Hussie keeps pretending like it's going to be so huge when she's finally introduced when all it's going to amount to is a kick in the balls.

Up to this point, we only really got to know WV through his use of the command console. I really did not care for his little "conflict" with John during this time. It wasn't funny, it dragged the pace down while these two butted heads, and it felt like an unnecessary addition to how the storytelling works. What is there to be gained by introducing these command centers where third parties can interact with the characters? If WV can talk to John, who's talking to WV? We had an established third-person, omniscient "reader" that could interact with all the characters, so I suppose it's supposed to be them. But that whole mechanic has become all but obsolete by this point.

Once again, this is not Problem Sleuth. This command interface doesn't work since the reader doesn't have any control over these characters. Hussie clearly had aims to tell his own story without user influence, so this whole storytelling device really shouldn't have existed in the first place.

WV's love of democracy and his desire to be a mayor feels at odds with how bossy he was with John. He didn't try to foster a rapport with John at all, acting more like the tyrants he very much despises.

WV's character is very erratic. He has delusions of grandeur, wishes to be respected and taken seriously, and apparently has no patience for the antics of others. He hates it when John is screwing around and also voices his displeasure when the "reader" inputs a command he finds to be nonsensical.

Yet he is also quite prone to silly behavior and quickly becomes a source of comic relief. This kind of unpredictable behavior can be explained later when we learn of the trauma he suffered on the battlefield. But looking at these antics through that lens does suck a lot of the joy out of them. It's like watching your senile grandfather playing with toy soldiers and reenacting the battles he fought in.

Knowing his backstory and how much of a tragic character WV later turns out to be, it's a little disheartening to see how the fandom at large treats him as this quirky little mascot/pet for the other characters. I don't have anything else to add to that, I just think it sucks.

Anyway, I don't mind the WV stuff too much, but I have to question why we're taking time to focus on him when we could be focusing more on the other characters' plots. This whole section is 91 pages. Surely something more productive could've been used with those pages before the act's end. Why couldn't this have waited for the next act? It's jarring to have this random bout of comic relief at a point in the story where important conflicts should be resolved.

WV finds a stockpile of Tab and becomes enamored with the drink. I don't understand why it's constantly referred to as sugary. It's a zero-sugar soda, so is that part of the joke? Tab is a really dated brand to reference. I don't even remember being it widely available by the time Homestuck was being written. So how many readers would be able to catch that joke? I don't think Hussie knew just how young his audience was going to skew.

Yes, WV's commands were a real waste of time. A rare moment of self-awareness by Hussie, even if I doubt that it registered with him.

It's worth noting that WV considers the green slime unappetizing, even though he previously ate chalk and uranium purely because they were colored green.

[S] WV: Ascend is the End of Act flash for Act 2. It's much grander than Act 1's flash in every way. Lots of great shots, and "Explore" is a really good track. It also goes to show how much more complex things have gotten since Act 1. While the previous flash was focused entirely on John, this one teases the cliffhangers for WV, Rose, Dad, and Dave's individual plots. This cast of characters is ballooning quickly and things are only going to get more convoluted from here.

Is it ever revealed who exactly built the frog temple when the meteor crashed on Earth? This was during the distant past when there wasn't even an ocean, so life didn't exist yet. Did it come into being on its own? I don't care for that.

Enter: Bro. Out of all the cliffhangers presented in this flash, this one is the most hype. Look at the imposing figure his silhouette cuts. You just know this fight is going to be big when we finally get to it.

Act 2 is a mixed bag. I appreciated Rose and Dave's segments, but John and WV's were a big letdown. The plot (or at least John's side of it) is moving along at a snail's pace when it really shouldn't have been. This should've been a big tonal shift where we leave reality and are plunged into the game's world, yet it's mostly trudging along at the same unhurried pace as the previous Act.

The Act should've been very straightforward. It presents us with a clear goal quite early on: John needs to get to the gate that's far out of reach. Okay, how is that accomplished? By John futzing around, arguing with WV, and occasionally fighting imps and collecting grist. Not exactly the most engaging means of solving this problem. And by the end of it, he hasn't even reached the gate! Nothing of note has been accomplished.

We learn about punch card alchemy and more about the cosmology of the Furthest Ring, but I honestly couldn't care less about this world building. It's all so expository and the story takes a great big halt whenever we have to read about it. Yeah Hussie, it sure is cool how you can craft items by combining their cards. It's also great how you made this chess society that's perpetually at war. I sure hope this has some payoff and isn't just window dressing to disguise how little the plot has actually progressed.

I was hoping this Act would lift my spirits and get me engaged with the comic, but all this meandering has left me discouraged. Maybe Act 3 will be better? Oh wait, that's the real Jade-heavy Act, isn't it? Oh fu-

[bunnyboyzyon]

What does it mean to be a therian? And how does one go about discovering if they are one?

Being a therian is believing in some way that you are an animal. Usually this is spiritually or psychologically, or another way that isn't physical, that's what most definitions online will say. (Anyone else seeing this post feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!!!)

It can also be physical, though those who are physically animals will usually label that as physical therian or holothere. From my understanding that is to emphasize that physical therians are real and do exist because every definition of therian that I can find online excludes physical therians.

I personally am a psychological and physical therian that is multiple animals, mainly the rabbit though as my username suggests.

There's a lot of ways to figure out you're a therian, so many that there isn't one exact trick to figure it out. For me, I pet regress but am usually unable to recognize it due to mental reasons, but the first time I did recognize it I was extremely confused so I went on a little research journey.

I'd previously known what a therian was due to youtube repeatedly being like "Here's some tail and mask tutorials because you love looking up how to make a tail so like you're obviously a therian right???" (I'm a furry, I was making a fursuit tail) So I thought okay this must be a therian thing right?? Then I found this helpful little infographic that I lost explaining the difference between being a pet regressor and being a therian. At that point I figured out I was both, although I didn't figure out my theriotypes until later.

I'd never felt a strong connection to my human body, always envying the animals whos bodies I only wished I had in the past which shows up in my *redacted to not fucking embarrass myself* phase where whenever I'd create myself it was always an animal, not a human. As you can see in the posts on my blog back in like May I thought my theriotype was a dog, as that's what I regressed into, but through just generally being around animals a lot I found out I actually felt a connection to the rabbit. That's my main theriotype, that is who I am at my core. But I'm also a polytherian.

See, since I was young I was obsessed with the idea of learning how to modify genetics to give people tails and wings and horns and all these different features the human body lacked because I wanted those features, and that shows up here with both my wings and horns that aren't specifically theriotypes I have, but parts of animals I've connected to.

I'm also a mouse therian though, which is more on the physical side. I feel that my body is physically some combination of rabbit and mouse, not that of a human.

Oh lord that was much more of an essay than I intended it to be, but I hoped this helped

[maryellencarter]

Quick reminder that if you follow me and your profile says "proshippers DNI" I will block you in accordance with your wishes. My pinned post used to say this, but I decided the YT to VLC tutorial was of more general interest.

Note: the term "proshipper" is not intended by those who identify with it to mean "problematic shipper". I didn't even know that was a meaning anyone was giving it until a few months ago. It's supposed to be "pro" as in opposite of "anti", which came first -- "you're anti these kinds of shipping? we are pro all kinds of shipping".

As far as I can tell, the "problematic shipper" meaning gets spread only by antis, as part of the myth that everyone who's not an anti is personally participating in The Bad Kinks like pedophilia, incest, noncon, etc, and just won't listen to reason because they don't want to give up being morally bad and icky for sexy reasons.

(This is exactly the same thing the far-right cult where I grew up always said about The Gays and The Trans.)

Other note: Both proshippers and antis have been known to attack each other with doxxing, death threats, and similarly terrible behavior. I do not support anybody doing those things for any reason, no matter how righteously outraged they are or who did it first.

Other other note: Every so often, I try to have a genuine conversation with someone who's curious why this is the position I take. It's... tiring. I don't feel like I've ever actually gotten through to anybody. I'm not gonna say never, because I only got *out* of that far-right cult because a lot of very kind people on the internet put in a lot of effort explaining things to me, and I feel like I should pay that forward, but... I just don't know if it's being worth the spoons to keep trying.

[avatar-of-the-vast]

Local man finds out that its website that makes knitting patterns actually creates much harder patterns than intended because it's a beginner

So, I make this cable knitting site (explained in this post) after just barely learning how to cable. I figure out 2x2 knitted cables and the rest on my own

And then, after looking at a tutorial to send to someone wanting to learn I see this

My guys, my friends, my pals my patterns have some kind of cables going on in every row

I both knit and purl the cables as needed and I don't find any of them to be more difficult than the other so I didn't realise this was a thing

Is this website wrong or are my patterns just more difficult than I intended them to be?

Edit: I'm aware that the site is incorrect about the leaning direction (you always hang it the same for the front or back regardless of what side you're working on) I was more curious about how common wrong side cables were and if they're actually beginner friendly or not

[farfromdaylight]

some thoughts on the first couple hours of ff13, after picking it up for the first time in a decade

it's fun how much the party 1) doesn't know each other and 2) doesn't like each other! it's very different for a JRPG for the party to just NOT get along to this degree. the only people out of the initial 5 who even know each other are lightning and snow, and lightning has VERY good reason to dislike snow on the outset. the rest are just complete strangers! it's such a fun dynamic.

the dialogue does a perfectly fine job of explaining what l'cie are. like, they explicitly tell you multiple times. fal'cie is a little more murky, but even then, it's not hard to figure out.

that said, the opening is pretty slow in both story and gameplay. not having any magic makes sense for the world, but it makes the game very dull to play for a good 90 minutes. i think if it was remade today they'd streamline it a lot more, because while it's a fine tutorial, there are genuinely too many encounters before you actually get your magic powers.

hope's motivation is pretty thin from the beginning, tbh. watching your mom get killed and being understandably upset about it is perfectly serviceable as a motivation, but then hope runs into snow and doesn't confront him right away. i actually think hope is written quite well, better than i remembered — he comes across as an emotional teenager rather than someone making logical, rational decisions. but if you don't give the character that grace i can understand finding him frustrating.

snow is almost intolerable. i'm really leaning hard on the memory that i liked him a lot more in lightning returns, because he is so fucking annoying in the opening here. calling yourself a hero when there's absolutely no evidence of you being one (and in fact clear evidence that you're NOT a hero) is just obnoxious. also, snow's friend group just comes across as a bunch of weirdos than characters i want to know more about.

vanille is also a weirdo, but at least i know that's wholly intended. i really like the subtle touch of her already having 3 ATB bars when you get to play her initially.

the overall choice to start the game where it does makes sense from a gameplay perspective — it's where the fighting actually starts — but weakens the overall narrative, IMO. FF13 begins in medias res and leans hard on the fact that there were 13 days of prior events that culminated in the Purge... but since the player has no knowledge of all this and a lot of the background isn't immediately clear, it makes for a harder sell. i personally very much enjoy the storytelling in this game, but i can understand why others don't. it requires you to put the narrative together as you go.

once you actually get your magic powers, the game takes off like a rocket. the gameplay remains SO much fucking fun. it's a fascinating evolution of turn-based combat and it works SO well. i do remember how long it'll be until i have 3 party members again, and that part of it is a drag, but the actual combat is so enjoyable i hardly mind.

the game still looks gorgeous. i'm playing on steamdeck and am frequently amazed at how good it looks. obviously the FMVs are still incredible, but the ingame models look SO far ahead of their time, to say nothing of the environments. (also, the fact that i can play a PS3/360 game on handheld and have it Just Work is like magic to me.)

there are so many save points! this is hardly important, but it's making me laugh because i really didn't remember there being a save point around every corner. it's certainly convenient, though!

i don't know how much of it i'm going to play — i'm really supposed to be playing new games right now, not replays — but at the same time i've had SUCH a good time revisiting it that i may carry on for a while yet. we'll see!

[randomthefox]

Thanks for playing my game :P I'm working on the full version now and I appreciate you taking the time to check it out!

Some bits and bobs:

>>I've set up variables on the imagemap so that you only need to look at a certain number of objects a certain number of times in order to trigger progression. You don't strictly need to see everything, but I'd like people to cuz I worked hard on those scenes lol. This technically means a player could examine the same flagged object multiple times and move on without having examined everything. Which, while not the "intended" way of playing, is an option I do want to keep available out of consideration for folks who just want to advance to the next segment. Eventually I will try to open up backtracking, so that folks will be able to see any dialogue they missed on any map.

>>Saving often is highly recommended. Thank God for RenPy's automatic saves.

>> Michael's last name is the same as the surname you enter for your doctor during the survey at the beginning of the game. Recall that the researcher claims his son was just playing there when you examine the toys on the lab floor.

(Also, the reason you always jump to the survey after starting the game is because the game will crash unless you define those variables.)

>>Examining the keyboard pulls up Maria, Michael, and Shadow's progress reports.

>>Examining the poster above the class schedule pulls up one of Shadow's failed assignments.

>>The reason you kept getting a B rank whenever you clicked on the GUN flyer in the classroom was because I accidentally left a hotspot open intended for battle testing, where you would automatically jump into a battle. I was using it to test the rank calculator. My bad lol.

>>If you select "I have Maria.", Shadow will recount a funny anecdote about not speaking to anyone for a week as a form of "meditation" and threaten to stuff Omochao back into his cardboard box.

>>If you wait before Shadow catches Omochao, you'll see Omochao slow down and fall.

>>Omochao has unique lines if you try to flee his battle.

>>I was already kind of frustrated with the 50% flee success rate, so I agree with your point about increasing it. I'm also considering increasing the enemy encounter probability on items to 2/3. Right now, they're all different.

>>You also, uh... kinda button-mashed through the tutorial section explaining that you shouldn't button-mash, or else the game will jump to the return label. It's not that big of a deal tbh, but I did try to include it as a warning. RenPy says you should anticipate people speedrunning your game, so that one is pretty much on me lol.

The way the battle loop is set up is so that RenPy doesn't skip over battles when you're inside the loop; it only ends when either you or the enemy die. But since the game doesn't remember your last action, you can't really roll back on a turn. I think if I implement some kind of way of disabling rollback within the battle loop, though, it'll fix the issue.

This is also why I took away auto and skip. Because again, clicking on unclickable parts of the map will jump you to the label that returns you to the title screen.

>>The reason the enemies outside of scripted encounters don't have animations yet is because there are 24 enemy configurations, meaning I'd have to write animations for each and copy-paste that stuff 24 times. I'll go back and do it eventually, just not right now lol. I was more focused on hammering out the details of the Flying Dog fight.

>>Antigravity is a wildcard effect that has a 1/3 chance of restoring you to full health, one-shot KO-ing the enemy, or resulting in a Game Over... during regular battle. It's not meant to be used in boss battles.

Because I didn't want folks to one-shot KO Flying Dog, I set up a variable where using Antigravity here will always result in a Game Over. But I haven't thoroughly tested the effects of Antigravity (because a lot of shit is happening on the screen), and so the Game Over effect sort of just looks like you jumped straight back to the title screen. In actuality, you hopped for a split second from Flying Dog to the Game Over screen, then to the title screen. Now I'm thinking Game Over could benefit from a disabled rollback too.

Plus, before you make your choice, Omochao warns you that using Antigravity could be dangerous.

>>What else? ...I'm planning on implementing an extra Chaos move, a shield ability that absorbs damage (AKA the enemy depletes 0 of your HP on their turn). This will probably come in handy later when bosses start hitting harder. Like Chaos Heal, it'll take two Chaos Drives.

>>I'm also planning on making an unlockable special boss as a reward for collecting 10 or more A ranks throughout the game (to get an A rank, you need to end battle with 90 HP or above). Hopefully this will incentivize regular battles and using Antigravity.

>You also, uh... kinda button-mashed through the tutorial section explaining that you shouldn't button-mash

I didn't intend to bug test the game, this is just naturally the way I interact with video games. And technology in general. By pushing the limits until it breaks lol.

Yeah I figure most of the ways the game kinda broke out was due to trying to get Renpy to function as a turn based RPG. Still very impressive for what you've managed to do with it so far, my meddling aside!

[rasberryt0rte]

How to cheat in Persona 3 Reload (intended for console players that don't have the time or means to grind money and exp, or simply don't want to)

Tutorial under the cut!!

Disclaimer ; I'm writing this using info from my playthrough bc I didn't find any reaper farming guides on P3R only P5R so my knowledge is limited as someone who isn't good at the game ^-^

Arqa (upper) - Floors 44 to 69 (available on June 14th) needs to be available but you only need to be at floor 62 for the reaper warning to trigger.

Money and exp from the Reaper fight will give you an even easier easy mode that some early players will find useful if they like the Person part of Persona more than fighting (or want to fuse lvl 99s early too).

How to guide ;

Choose 'Easy mode' and you will encounter the Reaper by waiting around floor 62 (let him jump you because he gets 1 turn rather than 4 if it's the other way round) Then all you have to do is press the fast forward button letting your party attack him.

This will be slow, like super slow, my 1st fight took around 2 hours because unlike persona 5 reaper farming you can't use the despair(?) Exploit to kill the reaper after 3 tries.

Personally, I drew the entire time and whenever it said I died I'd click continue then carry on drawing again while my characters got killed over and over.

The exp the reaper gives will go to you and your whole party unless they've died when the kill-shot was dealt, you'll get to lvl 60ish 1st then the increments will lower so to be at lvl 99 it will take maybe 8 reaper kills.

How to increase damage dealt ;

-Once you get to a higher lvl you can use Theurgy attacks which deal large increments of dmg

- I'm waiting till the persona 3 reload+ comes out because the dlc will probs be free then, but if you buy the dlc persona then like P5Royal they'll cost no money and you can equip the lvl 99 at any time which definitely would make it easier to kill the reaper

Any confusion I'll try answer in comments just incase bc idk if I explained it well

[midzelink]

So, as some of you might know, one of my GIFs was recently featured on the Tumblr Radar - which is pretty cool!  I was fairly happy with how that one turned out, especially considering that I made it rather last-minute on a whim to acknowledge Valentine’s Day.  It understandably received a lot of attention as a result of this, and I’ve loved reading through all the comments and tags (especially all the ones about how people want to eat the heart containers from TP); however, I wanted to clear up a bit of a misunderstanding surrounding the creation of that GIF, as there were additionally a lot of tags along the lines of #3d art or #artists on tumblr in that influx of reblogs.  I don’t want to take credit for something I didn’t do, even accidentally, and so allow me to be perfectly clear: the heart container GIF is not something I modeled and rendered myself! It is the original in-game model, recorded in-game using the Dolphin GCN/Wii emulator, with very little done in the way of post-processing in Photoshop.  If that sounds impossible or confusing (which is perfectly understandable, for those of you unaware of what Dolphin is capable of), I’d like to take this opportunity to give you guys a bit of a “peek behind the curtain,” as it were, to show you guys exactly how I made that particular GIF, as well as similar ones I’ve made (such as those in my #items tag).  

I didn’t take screenshots of my initial process (nor did I save the edited textures I used), so I’ll be recreating it from the ground up for the sake of demonstration, but that shouldn’t be a problem.

First thing’s first: finding a heart container! For this particular GIF, I wound up using the one that spawns after the Morpheel fight at the end of Lakebed Temple.  I’m sure many others would work just as well (I think, at the time, this one just happened to be the most accessible to me), but let’s use the same one for the sake of it.  

Morpheel: defeated.  And I didn’t even need Zora Armor! (Seriously, we do that in the speedrun.  But I’m getting off-topic.)  Of course, we’re going to need clean, close-up footage of the heart container rotating in order to do what we want to do, so let’s shift into first-person mode and and get a bit closer to the thing.

Now, because the only UI-element in this shot is Link’s health (and it’s in the corner and relatively non-obtrusive), removing it isn’t strictly necessary - but I’ve already made a texture pack that removes UI elements as part of my Text Free TP project from a while back, so let’s load it anyway, for the sake of being thorough.  This shot is also still a bit too far away, so next we’ll be utilizing Dolphin’s free cam feature (which can be accessed by going to Graphics > Advanced > Free Look and checking “Enable” in Dolphin) in order to get the heart container in a more central position. Now we’re left with this:

And we’re already looking well on our way to making a nice, solid color background GIF.  But how do we get the solid color? Well, that’s where more texture editing comes into play - and here I have to give credit where credit is due, as this is a trick I picked up from 186px, after wondering how they were able to make this GIFset of Link fighting Ganondorf in The Wind Waker in a great, black void.  (Seriously, shoutouts to them, their stuff was and still is amazing.)

But, very basically, we’ll be using Dolphin’s texture dump feature in order to find the textures that need to be edited so we can replace them with pure black ones.  Texture dumping can be enabled by going to Graphics > Advanced > Utility and checking “Dump Textures,” and the file path for these dumped textures by default is Documents > Dolphin Emulator > Dump > Textures > [Game ID].  (In the case of Twilight Princess, the Game ID is GZ2E01).  After dumping the textures in the Morpheel arena, my GZ2E01 folder looks like this:

When editing textures, sometimes you’ll have to endure a bit of trial and error until you find the correct ones.  Luckily, in this scene, the textures making up the sand floor and the stone walls are rather large, so let’s isolate the ones we’re pretty sure are responsible (plus a few others that are obviously environmental, just to be safe).

Now, when loading custom textures, it’s important that the file name you’re trying to load matches up exactly with the original texture that you’re trying to replace.  I have a plain, black, square PNG that I keep on my desktop specifically for this purpose; I copy the file names of the textures I’ve isolated, then rename and drag and drop the black PNG into the folder where custom textures are loaded (Documents > Dolphin Emulator > Load > Textures > [Game ID]).  Like so:

And now, to refresh our custom textures by disabling and reenabling them in Dolphin’s graphics settings:

And voilà! We have something that very nearly resembles the GIF I made (well, a still of it, at least).  I skipped over a few details, such as the fact that TP has a pretty significant amount of bloom surrounding just about everything, which I’m fairly certain I disabled using cheat codes when I made the original GIF in order to give it an overall cleaner look.  It’s hard to tell from this still, but TP’s heart containers also sparkle considerably in a way that’s random and not loopable; I found the texture responsible for this sparkle and replaced it with a transparent 1x1 PNG, in order to remove it entirely (as well as the texture behind the “glow” of the thing).  After that, it was as simple as recording the game with OBS, dumping the MP4 into Photoshop, cropping and cutting it to make it loop, and adding some adjustment layers for contrast and color.  So...yeah!

I hope this has served to clear up any confusion about some of the things that I’ve made in the past.  I’m not a 3D artist - just a person with an emulator and way too much free time on their hands.  This stuff is really, super simple, and also lots of fun, so I would highly encourage anyone with the means to mess around with emulation on their own some time to see what they can do!  (Even if you don’t have Photoshop and can’t make GIFs, there are always edits, such as this one I made of Midna.)  For Twilight Princess in particular, I also highly recommend checking out TPGZ; it’s a patch you can apply to a clean ISO of the original game, designed with the purposes of helping folks learn and practice the speedruns (yes, I had to bring up speedrunning one last time, kill me), but it’s got nifty features like built-in savestates, cheat codes, and HUD removal, as well as the ability to freeze actors while maintaining the ability to move the camera freely, among other things (all things that are very useful as far as making unique graphics go).  Sorry this post got as long as it did, but I at the very least hope that some of you found it educational and/or interesting.  Cheers!

[transgenderteensurvivalguide]

Transmasc tip: get an eyebrow pencil!

I've seen lots of posts about contouring and masculine makeup but I don't own any of that stuff and I don't have the time and energy to do it every day. But I've found that just filling out my eyebrows is actually really effective in making my whole face more masc-looking, and it only takes a few minutes!

Lee says:

When I was younger (maybe in middle school?) I asked for makeup for Christmas, despite having sensory issues and no interest in makeup, because it seemed like something that 'other girls' had and did so I wanted to have it and do it too.

My aunt bought me a compact of makeup (the little box thing that has a few sections of makeup inside it) and I was pleased since I had asked for makeup and received it, but I didn't really know what the next step was so I asked her how to put it on.

She seemed pretty confident when she showed me how, and I thought it was great fun, and we went to show my mom and I showed her each of the little sections in the box and explained what to do with them as my aunt had shown me.

And that's when my mom explained that we had been doing it all wrong-- the stuff we put on our eyelids was blush, not eye shadow, the stuff we put on our cheeks was lipstick, not blush, the glittery stuff that we just kind of applied all over the face was actually eye shadow and not setting powder, etc. and the end result was we both looked clown-ish.

My aunt had some neurological stuff going on so that's probably why she was confused, and she didn't wear makeup when I knew her as an adult anyway, and I had never seen anyone put makeup on so I had no clue either.

I'm sharing this story because I wanted to share a silly experience that I had with my aunt (who I miss a lot because she has recently passed), but also because it goes to show you that if you don't get feedback from someone who knows more about it, you might not know what's goin on.

So to my fellow transmasc folks who have never heard of an eyebrow pencil before but think that they can just walk down to the pharmacy and locate and identify an eyebrow pencil and buy it and go home and draw on their eyebrows and look more masculine but in a discreet way where people don't realize that they're wearing makeup-- please get a friend or family member to take a look at the result before you go out into the world! Make sure they also agree that it looks subtle and won't look like you're obviously wearing makeup.

Some folks might assume that was the look you wanted and not say anything, and others might assume that you didn't intend that look but also be too polite to say anything, so don't assume that people haven't noticed if they don't comment on it-- that's why it's important to get feedback from a trusted friend who will tell you the truth.

You may also be able to tell if it's working simply by noticing whether you get misgendered more frequently (which means you've applied it wrong and it's backfired), less frequently (the makeup is applied correctly and is working), or whether it's the same (it has no effect but you may want to continue doing it if it makes you feel good).

Obviously, this story and warning does not apply to those of you who are not-like-me. If you already know what an eyebrow pencil is and have seen one in use, or are willing to watch tutorials on it, then please proceed ahead!

But folks who are unfamiliar with makeup and had to google the makeup words in this post need to be aware that using an eyebrow pencil to fill in your eyebrow may end up making you look more feminine instead of less.

If you overshoot and apply too much or use the wrong color, the effect can come off as wearing-makeup-but-badly instead of looking natural, and you can't always tell how it looks by taking a selfie-- it may be more noticeable to another person in the sunlight outside than it is in your camera in your room.

Anyhow, thank you for the tip anon :)

[crazybutgood]

The Perfect Gift

Happy birthday Neville and Harry! Here is the finished product of this Drarryville WIP, featuring a nervous Draco trying to decide on the best gifts for his boyfriends. Thank you @curlyy-hair-dont-care for the amazing and quick beta and your encouragement. Thank you fantalf for cheering me on through my frustration (much of Draco's exasperation here definitely mirrors my own 😬) while I folded these stubborn cacti 🙈

Here's the bulleted list of my HC, followed by the image of the origami I folded at the end (please click on image for better quality!) :

Draco has a YouTube channel, posts videos feat. fun creative artsy stuff he likes to do including makeup tutorials, origami tutorials, sometimes with voiceovers. 

Draco's too worked up over thinking of a perfect gift for his boyfriends, Harry and Neville, and before he knows it, there's a week remaining. One night when Harry's cooking a lovely dinner for them, as Draco soaks in the comfort and domesticity of the night, he plans to make something handmade for Harry and Neville's birthday because it's more special and what to get two people who can buy whatever they want? Plus the two also like to occasionally give handmade, heartfelt gifts to Draco too and he wants to do so as well.

With 5 days remaining, Draco films a video to post later, a bday special for his boyfriends: folding an origami cactus. The video has a voiceover. He talks about how the origami part of this gift is a throwback to the paper cranes he folded for Harry back in school, amused at the thought of how they used to fight often then and the antics he did to gain his attention, and now he had it. He goes on to talk about how there used to be animosity between him and Neville too, and how far the three have come from that time, fondly speaking about some memories of how their relationship progressed. He mentions how the cactus part of his gift is because of Neville's love for plants. 

His recounts are interrupted with a few curse words and slight yells of frustration as he tries to get the folds right. He knows he's going to have to edit these out later.

A few hours later, Draco pauses his filming, grumpy, hungry and upset. He's got the cacti alright, but he struggles to fold the flower pot. Along the way of his journey down memory lane, he was inspired to use one of the small candle holders that Harry had placed candles in during their anniversary dinner to use as a makeshift flowerpot. He threw in small stones that the three had collected from their vacation together at the beach.

4 days remaining, Draco tries again to fold the pot and succeeds. He studies his handiwork and can't help the gnawing feeling that this video special and the cacti gifts are inadequate. He's a perfectionist, and doubts if this is good enough for Harry and Neville.

The last few days before 31st, Draco spends miserably overthinking if his gift is ok and gives in and hits the shops to buy Neville actual exotic plants, throwing in a cactus as well. He buys cookbooks for Harry which include cuisines he mentioned he wants to give a try. Draco skims through the book and throws in seeds for some of the herbs needed for some recipes in the gift pile—they can grow those in their thriving garden.

Harry and Neville are delighted by his gifts, which Draco is relieved about. He's secretly sad about not being able to give them the origami cacti. Harry and Neville pick up on Draco's off mood, trying to lighten it with reassurances that his gifts are lovely and also with their usual banter. When it barely helps, Harry asks what's wrong, making a quip about Draco being as prickly as the cactus.

Draco snaps and fires back that he hopes Harry pricks his finger on the stupid cactus, and cacti are just hard to deal with, ok? Lord knows they gave him paper cuts when he— Draco stops talking, realising his slip up about the paper cut, stammering out a half-hearted cover up.

Harry and Neville pick up on it and realise that Draco must've got a paper cut while folding something. While Draco waves off their mild concern about the minor injury, they ask him if he'd actually folded a cactus too?

Draco hesitates before admitting that he did. He goes to retrieve the paper cacti, in their flower pots—one made of paper and one a makeshift pot using the candle holder—and sets them down in front of Harry and Neville, quietly explaining what he'd actually planned to do, and that he didn't think it was good enough. 

Neville cuts him off with a firm yet gentle reassurance about how Draco shouldn't doubt himself and his abilities, and how could he think that Harry and he wouldn't like anything Draco got them? The fact that Draco went through the whole process of making something for them made it all the more special. 

Draco is sniffling a bit and is largely relieved as he's enveloped in a hug from Neville and Harry. Harry lightly jokes that Draco is actually a softie, and he can't believe that Draco was going to keep this secret from them and they've got to watch his video now. Draco lets out a watery laugh as he smacks Harry's arm but agrees to show it to them.

The two absolutely melt over the video and suggest doing a cameo appearance at the end where Harry and Neville tease Draco about being a sap but also seriously say how much Draco's gifts and the man himself mean to them, and it's just a short soft session of the three reminiscing about the past a bit, light-hearted witty banter, and teary declarations of love.

Image description: a picture of two origami cacti, one tall and one short, folded using green paper. The tall one on the left is placed in a candle holder with the quote 'Continue to keep the flame alive.' The cactus is surrounded by colourful pebbles in the candle holder. The short cactus on the left is placed in an origami pot folded using brown paper and a bit of the crushed cream coloured paper balls intended to resemble pebbles are peeking out from the pot.

[minisception]

2021 Summer Painting Challenge: July 17

July 17th? Geeze, what happened? I take a break for like a weekend and next thing I know more than half the month is gone! What happened?

Oh, yeah. Bideo James.

I mean, it wasn't just that, I had a fair bit of house work and work work to catch up on, and my AC broke which left me largely unmotivated to do anything at all until I could replace it, but yeah. What free time I've had so far this month has gone to these two games, one a remaster of a game I loved from the PS1 era, and the other a moody atmospheric 2d platforming metroidvania with a soulsesque feel.

Sadly, Legend of Mana doesn't really hold up. Oh, sure, it still looks good - once you get over the janky mismatch of the clearly-designed-for-CRT pixel art sprites with the crisp, high def, water-color style background art. And the remastered music sounds great. But the combat gameplay was pretty bad by the standards of its own day, and nowadays it's just... I'm sorry, past me, but it's just aweful and absolutely brings down the rest of the experience.

Like, yeah, there's so much to do, so many systems to engage with between skills and special attacks and smithing and pets and spell crafting and robots, and absolutely none of it matters because the core combat system it's all layered on top of, with its sludge-like movement and extremely passive enemies, just doesn't give you any reason to engage with any of it. There's an option in the remaster to turn off the enemy battles altogether, but while the game's various story paths aren't terrible for action rpgs of its era, they're not strong enough to be an entire game in themselves. Such a shame, really. I was hopeing it would be something I could recommend to @retphienix, but while I'd love to hear his thoughts on it, I just can't recommend it as worth the time investment, despite how lovely everything /other/ than the gameplay is.

Ender Lilies on the other hand is actually pretty solid, and it did draw me in enough to 100% it. It's no Hollow Knight, IMO, but for fans of the genre it's absolutely worth a deep dive while you're waiting for Silksong. I'd say it's more on the Castlevania side than the Metroid side, but I honestly haven't played enough Castlevania games to say that with confidence. I do wish it was eventually a bit more clear on some basic details of the premise. Unless I'm mistaken, the game never really explains the 'Rain of Death' that is a core aspect of the premise. Like, does the rain cause the blight? Spread it? Activate it? The blight itself is emanating from the abyss deep underground, how does it get into the clouds to rain down from above? But whatever, the game's more about its atmosphere and tone and themes and gameplay and challenge, and those are all more than strong enough to make up for a bit of murkiness in the narrative, which is pretty common in souls and souls-inspired games regardless.

....

So, anyway. Yeah. With my new AC in place and video game fugue passing, where am I with the Summer Painting Challenge? IIRC my pledge for the month was:

Commission Raven Guard Rhino

10 Zombies

10 Dire Wolves

I had also intended to get some of those sidequest tutorials left over from June done this month, but now it's going to be a bit of a struggle just to finish my relatively modest pledge for July. Not as much of a struggle as the June pledge was, but still. The rhino definitely needs to come first - I was supposed to make commission progress along with the pledge last month and that just didn't happen. The last batch I finished for that commission was so brutally overdue that it's a wonder I can show my face in public. A bit of work yesterday leaves progress here:

A pretty decent start on the internals, which I want to get painted before assembly. The goal for today is to finish the internal painting and basic chasis assembly, as well as assembly & texture painting on the dire wolves and zombies. Goal for the weekend is to finish painting on the rhino chasis - leaving aside accessories like the doors & pintle guns.

The finished product should be something akin to the previous rhino I did for the same commission:

The new one one won't have the same round side doors & fancy modeled front plate, but needs to hit about the same painting quality & style.