#i'm trying my best but tbh i am just not that good at programming

[caassette]

on the one hand, codeblr is full of productivity motivation posts and cute bulleted notetaking. and it's cool to see people learning! one of the things i love about programming is that anyone can learn it, there's a much lower barrier to entry than many other stem fields where you need to go to grad school or something to become proficient.

but what i want is like. unhinged system programmers making bootloaders that print "die" and then brick your computer. i want posts written by a transfem in cat ears who hasn't showered in weeks about how they found a bug in opengl that renders pyramids inside out and how they used it to see inside laura croft's triangle titties. i want to see bespoke operating systems written for nokia brick phones that run doom. where is that side of codeblr

[cerealmonster15]

kaveh genshin is so relatable bc i too am in my mid to late 20s trapped in a people pleaser vortex of my own making and having. a hell of a time re: professional career

[yuniniverse]

OH MY GODDDDD YOUR ACCOUNT IS THE BEST TBH ugh i am so lucky i wanna gate keep like girl you are too good to be trueeee i have been reading for a while and now i wanna make a lil request it goes smth like this we all know minjae hates being called short what if he finds a friend that hypes him up and tells him they are the same and stuff like that and they are friends from the same training program and she was under sm like him back then and stuff like that idk sorry if i bothered but really girl i love like I LOVE YOUR WRITING SOOOOO MUCHHHH 🩷🩷🩷

PAIRING !  ━ idol!minjae x idol!reader

GENRE !  ━ Friends to strangers(?) To lovers, fluff, seems rushed I'm so sorry TvT, slight angst

WORD COUNT !  ━ 2445 words

AUTHOR NOTE ! ━ I kid you not when I saw this I nearly cried because of how sweet you are :( I'm so sorry for the delay love uni is shit esp with all my sem end exams but thank God I have a few days off so I can work back on requests~ I hope you like it <3

SONG RECCS ! ━ Stardust Lovesong by Jihyo, Whispers of Love by Lim Hayoung

dm to be in my taglist!!

The speakers blared through the studio while minjae sat in one corner, his head turned to face the computer that lit the dim room and played their debut song, spacing out completely, draining out the noise to muffled sound of the song as his mind thinks of a hundred things, things that made him feel not so great, mad even.

Recalling memories of how excited he was a week back, jumping around like a kangaroo as his members gave him a playful questioning look as they all looked at their first ever concert costumes. Everyone was busy talking about it, the maknaes calling junghoon to brag about how excited they were and showed off a few steps as spoilers for the concert as they huddled together and screamed at junghoon who just wanted to sleep if it weren't for seeun spamming his phone and disrupting his peaceful slumber.

The entire way from KQ to their venue Minjae was the happiest and didn't even try to hide it, he dragged his members around to make tiktoks that he could post later and even dragged yujun around forcing the poor boy, who just wanted to eat in peace,the venue which seemed so pretty to him. But it all dimmed when he saw all the members get compliments while he just got taunted for his height, he loved roadys and sure they were just joking around, but he can't help but feel hurt.

"MINJAE!" He snaps out of trance, jumping on his feet as he hears you scream his name, "you spaced out for a while, you ok?" You asked. Minjae smiled, he knew if anyone only you would understand his struggles, both of you were the leaders of your group and have been training together, transferring from sm to kq and helping each other with debuting. He shook his head and stood up, making his way to you as he put on a forced smile. You on the other hand knew something was going on, your worries only grew when you saw a tear slip from his eye, which he immidiately wiped off, looking away in order to avoid your upcoming lecture. You only hugged him to which he responded back by hugging you, his embrace grew tighter as he did his best to hold back tears but let go as soon as he felt your hand rub circles on his back, his mother would always rub circles on his back whenever he was down or was afraid he wouldn't debut and you stood there watching with a smile, this gesture made him realise he was homesick too but couldn't go back home yet. He couldn't help but cry onto your shoulder to which you could only console him by back rubs. "Sorry" he mumbled as he snuggled and wiped away his tears, backing away from the hug. Confused, you ask why and he says "You're leaving next week for your groups tour and promotions, the last thing you'd want to see is me crying" he says as he looks at you with glistened eyes, you insisted it was fine, he was your friend, someone who you loved even but was too shy to tell him, to see him breakdown shattered you. You held his hand, taking him to the nearest convenience store and bought him ramen, helping him sneak the packets into his dorm before junmin catches him and lectures the two of you how it's bad for your health. It was only after you heard minjae giggle for the first time in that day did you leave him alone, dropping him to his dorm and running back to yours.

You felt happy that you helped him, even happier when you heard his giggles. You wished you could hug him for hours and tell him how much you loved him and how proud you were of him for being so strong when situations weren't siding with him. However all the happiness you had was drained when you saw your members running around the form, packing their stuff, You asked your manager what was going on and your manager said how your group had to leave the first thing tomorrow morning as your schedules got leaked and your company couldn't risk in any of your groupmates or you to be hurt as a similar incident took place earlier when your group first debuted and it resulted to your you get members getting hurt the most and having to skip one or two schedules because of the injuries they had gotten. You nod, following your members to your room as you rush to pack your things. It was when you were done is when you realised you didn't tell minjae. Especially since it would be a month or so till you came back to Korea from tour and individual schedules.

You text him but ofcourse it was way past midnight at the time and with how junmin behaved more motherly to minjae than minjaes own mother, you thought probably he was asleep. Your assumption turning out to be true as you checked your phone in the morning again, before you left you checked one last time only to your dismay as the message left as unread.

It was only after your plane took off and you were allowed to turn on your phone after the plane was in cruising altitude did you see your phone blowing up with messages, you smile at minjaes dramatic messages but also felt slight sadness as you two couldn't say your goodbyes properly.

Minjae, although his texts being way over dramatic, was sad as well. He wanted to be there for you as well. His heart warmed up when you hugged him, the tip of his ears reddening as he remembers the sweet words you said as you rubbed his back. It wasn't the fact that he was homesick or that he was down at roadys remarks about him, he cried the most when he realised he was in your arms. You were his weakness, his everything. He always adored how you would care to everyone's needs, in his eyes you were the perfect leader. His heart melting at how you'd always comfort your members, be it hugging them or calling up their family and making their favourite dishes even if it was your first time just to see your members cherry selves. How you'd always be so soft and considerate with your fans. He saw everything from afar, he saw you grown in his eyes. The first time you came to sm, it was after he had been a trainee for a year. Your eyes shining as you saw your seniors practice, the way you jumped when you got your routines correct, to how you cried and laughed in his arms after your debut. He held every moment he spent with you close to his heart.

So it's safe to say how it would always be like he was missing a part of him whenever you went for tours or just away from him in general. His feelings for you growing more and more day after day, he felt like he was falling in love with you all over again whenever he saw you smile or heard your laughs.

You on the other hand was questioning life, mostly the youngest and the oldest. You caught them eating ice creams peacefully as they watched the other two other maknaes run around, the rest of the members joined in, throwing pillows around the hotel room and causing chaos, at midnight. You slapped your head on your forehead, picking up the fallen pillows, your face defeated at the room being such a mess. You glared at the oldest who was deemed to be the "mother of the group" just standing there trying to stifle her laugh. You threw a pillow at one of your members when they laughed at you, causing another round of pillow fight. All of your hair and clothes being disheveled as laughter echoed throughout the room. It was only when your manager walked in did you guys stop. There was a moment of silence, all knowing they were gonna get their ice cream privileges away again, after all your company was famous for weird bans. You stood up and bowed, your hand swinging around motioning your members to scatter off to their rooms, to which all of them did with giggles. Your manager stood there defeated. Handling ten girls was way worse than babysitting any child. He only sighed, knowing your stylists are gonna be mortified at the condition of your hair being all over the place and trying to fix all ten of you girls.

After what seemed like eternity, you were at the airport back again, waiting for your flight back to Korea. You couldn't help but excitedly text minjae everything that happened, the past month was amazing for both you and your members. Everything seemed too perfect, from how you had fun in stages to late night screaming coming from rooms because you guys wanted to play some games but resulted to cheating and some biting.

It was all too perfect to be too true. You should've seen this come to a stop as you landed back to Korea. Your laughs were interrupted by your manager running to you, telling you guys to hold to each other close as the schedules were leaked again and the entire airport was packed with reporters and fans. You could see your members getting worried. You did as you were told, you trailed behind, holding onto one of the members hand as you tried your best to shield all of them from the mobbing. All your efforts going to vain as stepping outside the airport led to more crowd, your eyes teared up at the sight of your members being pushed down, some having their yanked, you were too scared, trying your best to get out of the situation and keeping your head low, holding onto your members hands tightly. Although you girls managed to get inside the bus, seeing how some cried because of how they were hurt both physically and mentally, some "fans" even cursing at them in the airport. You felt helpless. It was as if the perfect life came to an abrupt stop. You put on a smile for them, trying to cheer them up. Ofcourse your mind was clouded with several things as well. With how people always called you a "cheap copy" of your seniors, your members labelled with even worse names.

You sighed, plopping down on the sofa with your bag, your eyes followed your silent members walk to their rooms and settle down quietly. The silence was too much, especially for a group that always had their staffs running with a baseball bat thinking someone broke in because of how much they screamed. You missed it. They would get better, you knew that, but the fact that you couldn't protect your group made you feel like the worse leader possible. You wanted to let it out, but you couldn't. You felt you were being too dramatic.

But the entire form remained silent, only slight glances were made to your manager who visited to keep track of the girls who were injured. You were scratched too, but you were too caught up to notice. You stand up, telling your manager that you'd be going for a walk, giving a small smile to the girls as a way of saying your ok just that you needed some fresh air to clear your head.

You didn't even notice you weren't speaking to minjae as you two did. You felt guilty for it all. The fear of loosing everyone you loved just because you were 'confused' was too overwhelming. Before you knew it, tears rolled down your cheeks to your chin. You sobbed silently as each step you took seemed heavier than the other. The fact that you thought you were drifting away from minjae made you feel as if your entire world was crumbling down.

Fortunate to you, it started pouring, your tears were disguised as raindrops on your face. "Y/n?" You stopped walking, you could hear your heart beating as you recognised the voice. You couldn't turn around, not when you look like a mess.

Minjae walked up to you, his smile grew wider as he recognised the back of your head, his smile immediately dropped as he saw your glistening eyes, you kept insisting it was the rain but minjae could see right through you. You eventually gave in, you rant out to him, feeling so hopeless, you were supposed to be his comfort and yet here you were having a breakdown yourself. He steps forward to hug you, letting go of the umbrella as he held you so softly, him pushing you lightly towards the streetlight as your back rested against the pole, patting your head as he rests his chin above your head, muttering a bunch of 'its ok' as you first his shirt in your hands and sob into his chest. Only when you calmed down did he break the hug, his hands on your shoulders as he stared at you. His eyes flickering to your lips, his heart racing at how you were pouting, your face best red from all the crying and staying so close to him. He inches his face towards you, his eyes still staring into yours. His hands cup your cheek as he whispers 'may i?' to which you close the gap instead, you feel him smiling against your lips as he kisses you soft and slow, his one hand going to your waist and pulling you closer. Minjae breaks the kiss, smiling as he lays another kiss at the tip of your nose. "You are the best leader I've ever known, don't ever doubt yourself ever again because you are truly one of the best people I've ever met" he says as he kisses the top of your head.

"I wish we were together in all our lives and in all the universes" you say as you held his hand while walking, smiling at how red minjae had gotten hearing your words, he looks at you, kissing the back of your hand that is still intertwined with his, still maintaining eye contact with you

"I know we are lovers in every universe and in every life time" he says, you clear your throat in an attempt to calm your rapidly beating heart. He laughs at you and pulls you with your hand to steal another kiss from you, mumbling 'cute' in between the kisses.

[sburbian-sage]

Hi skepticArbiter!

I don't know how long it's been on your end since you posted that GristTorrent ask, but your offhanded proposal of a Universal Grist Bank has driven my ADHD to heights of hyperfixation that have never been seen before. It has been months. Being a native Smith of Coins that's about what you'd expect, lol. Anyway! I bring it up because the session I'm currently in is serendipitously about the absolute best group I could ask for in making the idea a reality. It really feels like the Shine itself legitimately just manifested itself and forced whatever the infinitesimally small chance of something like this actually happening I swear to dog.

Thirteen of us, all have made it through at least ten sessions (with CERTAIN PEOPLE at significantly more than that-- 32 if she's to be believed and I've seen no evidence to the contrary and lots of proof that it's true) and managed to naturally reroll our native classpects. All of us. Not a lick of vagabouncy. It's insane. Both of our cardinal aspects’ first playthroughs were duet sessions. There's public proof several places on the replayernet going back timestamps that our Bane of Stage, Page of Mist, and Rouge of Sand have been sessionmates before. The Bane of Stage hunts Azurites for Fun and Him Time, 12 confirmed PK kills that I am aware of. Our Waste of Law(aforementioned 32 session legend) is awesometier. Several of us are pre-replayernet loose veterans. Our tactician classes, Flux player, and Mind player have been freaking out like ants when their trail gets stepped on. No major glitches or bugs so far, knock on wood. It feels too good to be true but in discussing it all of us dealt with capital-b-Bullshit scenarios with Light players in our last runs so I'm just trying to enjoy it without ruining it worrying.

I'm sending this message primarily to let you know that this is actually happening, and to thank you for coming up with the UGB in the first place. But also, I have come with some questions. I have never had to deal with the Others before (miraculous in it's own right tbh) and thus have absolutely no idea what to expect. I'm not part of the side that's doing the bartering, but I've known a good chunk of this group over the replayernet for a pretty long time and consider many dear friends(another insane thing to actually happen- us ending up together) and I am. Concerned. Everyone says “oh they do impossible bargins” and “will take parts of your soul” but I've never seen anyone actually SPECIFY what the terms for their deals are. It's not that I don't believe it's really that bad, it's just I'd much rather know than not know, you know? Is it a faux pas I'm not aware of to talk about it? Since you had to do it yourself for your ring journey I figured you'd be as good a place as any to ask and since it's over text it might not be as impactful for you as asking my friends face to face potentially could be for them, I apologize if that's incredibly insensitive of me.

For further context, the group is split so some of us are working on bartering with the others (Rouge of Sand, Guide of Void, Maid of Rage), some of us are actually making the physical server and programming the necessary software (myself, Witch of Time, Sage of Dreams, Heir of Sound), some are doing both (Waste of Law, Ward of Mind, Sylph of Flux), and our Seer of Space, Bane of Stage, and Page of Mist are covering taking care of session stuff where they can for now so the rest of us can focus on getting everything together for the bank.

Thank you again, and in advance for any insight you are willing to share,

snugglySocialist

Holy shit! I'm glad that an offhanded statement I meant mostly as a joke finally led to good things happening, instead of just getting me in trouble. Though that could still happen if I endorse this and it turns into an All Or Nothing situation, so pull through if you can. I said it before and I'll say it again, if you pull this off then not only will you have the eternal of gamebreakers, people who accidentally break their game, and anyone in a Ring Journey, but your handles will be put in the history books right next to the guy who figured out the Alimentator hack.

As for your question, I'm afraid I'm not a good firsthand source of information on this topic. I did not make the bargain for the Ring Journey I'm on, someone else did it. You are right that information is hard to come by, but "it's difficult to talk about" is only one reason out of three. Some people hide the nature of their bargains for protection. Especially if it's a larger operation like a Ring Server, if the presence of the server hinges upon X condition being fulfilled, and some malefactor wants to take down the site, best not to let them know which conditions to break. The third reason is that "not disclosing details of the bargain to other people" may itself be a condition of the bargain. It is, in fact, as annoying as it sounds, and all of these combined (not to mention the fact that writing down anything about the Others is a passive source of corruption) makes this topic a bitch to gain any information about.

For your purposes, the institution of a Ring Server isn't that big of an ask, so I don't think the price will be literally impossible or metaphorically impossible (like "consume the hearts of all of your friends and set yourself on fire", that's basically their catty way of saying "we're not giving you a deal"). However, something like a Universal Grist Bank has significantly more "oomph" behind it than an online archive, social media page, or weirdass elitist bookclub. Standard bargaining practice is to respond to any price they give you with "that is too much", in which case they'll either lower the price, or solidify that the price is set.

As for the actual prices, it varies. The Transamphibian founders can't use their real names anymore. CorpseParty got shut down because someone used the server to try and scry cross-session, which apparently violated the deal. In general though, the prices set seem almost spiteful. "They take bits of your soul" is more metaphorical than literal, like really fond memories, your reputation, relationship with someone important, and in the worst cases your ability to engage in a hobby that you consider fundamental to your sense of being. I think there's at least one case where someone's condition was that they can't use any Replayer Network, which effectively unpersons them (this information was shared secondhand for obvious reasons and thus couldn't be verified). It's impossible to tell what the deal is until you have it, and all of your efforts to establish the UGB are basically bottlenecked into dealing with those guys, who can make or break the entire project. And they know this. And you have no power over them, only than knowing that they will not do anything to you unless you ask them to do it. There's really no further advice I can give you other than...

Lawyer up. Read the fine print, argue for fairness as much as possible, and don't let yourself get worked over any more than is necessary.

Once you accept a deal, stick with it. There are no "grace periods", take-backs, or hiding an infraction. If the terms of the deal are broken, the UGB goes up in flames basically forever (unless you make another deal to "recover it").

Genuinely, genuinely, don't chew off more than you can swallow. If the terms of the contract are unlivable to any of the people undertaking it, don't do it.

There is one other aspect I should mention, which is that if the conditions of the deal only concern one person, the deal will still be upheld once that person dies. So if the condition is "nobody can upload Build Grist" and someone uploads Build Grist, then the website is kill. But if the condition is "none of the founders can alchemize anything anymore, and all of the founders end up dying, then the site will stay up. Though it'll obviously need new administrators. Sorry for the macabre example, but this is a little-known facet of Other bargains that not a lot of people know about, and it's why a lot of the older servers and networks are still up.

[manonamora-if]

April Check-In

HI! I AM NOT DEAD I PROMISE, ANON!

Just... Ugh... It's been a stressful end of the month. I have not kept up with the weekly devlogs at all, partly because I had little to share each week, but also IRL was just too much. Head seems out of the water for now. Though I will be MIA for the rest of the week.

Onto the usual index:

Recap of last month’s progress

IF Events in the Next Month

Plan for the next month

Still long post under the break. If you want a mini version, head on over to itch.io as usual!

March Progress

From last month, what did we do:

Complete my French Comp entry. ✅ Not only did I write it all in less than two weeks (and it was full of typo that was so embarrassing), I also managed to...

Complete my SpringThing entry. ✅ Because that's the same game but in English.

Play more games! ✅Obviously having finished playing the Smoochie Jam AND all the French Comp game (quite a few good ones, voting was so hard), but also the SeedComp! and the Revival Jam (maybe?). The harvest of games for this month was bountiful!

Finish the Code Ch5 ❌ of Harcourt and edit Ch6 ✅

Finish fixing The Roads Not Taken. ❌

Things, it turns out... No, really...

Yay! Still managed to make a decent chunk of stuff.

Let's start with the bummer: still haven't fixed the borked games. Yeah... I really should sit down at some point and get down to it. BUT I did get some feedback for the Egg-game, and got extra code to fix the container issue. So... I just need to get to it.

Still haven't worked on coding on Harcourt, though I finished my part of the edits of Chapter 6. The file, full of comments, is back on his desk which... Well. Herm. MelS's computer just 💥(not like fire everywhere, but sudden forever black screen), corrupting about half of his data... which included his progress on that chapter and the endings. We've been working on getting his data back (tbh this project is the least of his worries, more important stuff is still gone), so hopefully we can get him back to editing and writing by next month (best case scenario). YEAH...

But before that happened, I managed to finish Les lettres du Docteur Jeangille for the French Comp, at the last possible minute yet again. I had the idea for month, but didn't start working on it until I was truly done with Teatime with a Vampire. It still managed to write over 15k words in 18-19th century French style (and full of typo because, only two weeks...) in essentially 1 and 1/2 week. EPISTOLARY STYLE game :D

After that was done, I got to play the Smoochie Jam and the French Comp games (it's on the IFDB), and started with the SeedComp entries (it's hidden because I'm the organiser). Lots of fun little game, some very sweet and humorous, some VERY DARK, some suuuper hot, and some that required a bit of noggins.

And halfway through the month, I sneaked a mini-parser game for the Revival Jam. I wanted to try my hand out with the old-style Speed-IF jams, that ran all the way back at the start of the century, which were just 2h long. TWO HOURS! No preparation, just you starting to code and stopping after 2hs. I tried my hand at Inform but... didn't have time to learn a whole new program and make my mini puzzle work in time. So I switched back to Adventuron, and managed to make something... in just over 2hs... I ended up Reviving old versions of the EctoComp instead (3h limit). Still it was fun to try to make a parser game in such short amount of time. It's called FIA: The Vacuum Cleaner, it will take you maybe 5min to play. And... it was so fun I kind of want to make basic micro-parser in that little universe. Some sort of multi-episode series where you have a small puzzle in front of you to solve. Like an intro to parser type of thing. Maybe in different parser programs? We will see. I might end up popping up here and there as tiny little games.

When THAT was done, I went back to work on the English translation of Jeangille, cutting it so close for the SpringThing deadline I thought I would not make it (for real, my files were sent at 23:58! I honestly don't think this was my bestest translation. It probably would have needed a few more rounds of polish and maybe some beta-readers but... :/ the computer explosion happened in the middle of all this so. I guess it was enough... I hope it was enough... But yay! I made it! No bug! Probably just typos! I didn't manage to make the cool animation tho...

AND I updated my website to add all of these juicy thingies!

AND AND! I was interviewed by the Rosebush Magazine last week!

So that was my month. We did good, we did bad, we are exhausted.

What’s happening in April?

Oh wow, already April. WHAT DO WE HAVE HAPPENING? So much, we have so much happening.

First off, we have competitions looking for voters:

Vous pouvez lire le français ? Venez jouer et voter pour les entrées du Concours de FI Francophone ! La date limite est le 4 avril.

Also on the 4th of April, is the deadline to vote for the SeedComp! (@seedcomp-if) games! You can find the forms here. We really really need voters!

The Spring Thing just released a new harvest of games (including meee :P ), and will open voting in a bit less than 2 weeks. Come play!

Looking to create some games instead?

The next @neointeractives jam just opened for submission! Come participate in the Dialogue Jam!

Looking to attempt creating a parser that is easy enough for beginners? Come check the Text Adventure Literacy Jam! You need a tutorial and 5 puzzles to solve!

If you want a deadline to finish your project, maybe check out : Finish Your Project Jam 2024

And for lovers: Amare Games Festival 2024

On the shorter side, and in May: Narrative Design Awards 2024 (ranked), 🔥 Fuck Capitalism Jam 2024 🔥 (unranked)

Interested in other IF events?

April 1st is Source Code Amnesty. Come share the code of your creations! (I've added a bunch of mine on Github today)

You can now register to attend the 2024 Edition of the Narrascope! IRL or Virtual, there are a lot of great talks this year!

We had so far 10 actual entries for the Interactive Fiction Showcase 2024 ! If you made something in 2024, consider showcasing it there too!

Note: @neointeractives will have jams all year long. One a month/or so. And the next Planting Round of @seedcomp-if will start as soon as the results are dropped.

The PLANtm for April

I, erm... should take it easy this month. But also, actually finish stuff, because the more I start, the more I have to fix/finish and it's becoming A LOT...

Play more games: I haven't covered the Revival Jam yet (I'm getting on it!) and the SpringThing has just started. So I have a lot of new treaties just for me! (And also that 2nd Rank is so close I can taste it!).

Finish the Code of Ch5 of Harcourt and edit the Ending Chapter: the latter should be easy since it is pretty short. The former... I just need to bite my tong and get to it! It should probably take me a day to code those last passages...

Finish fixing The Roads Not Taken. Or An Eggcellent Preparation. Maybe the other parser too (it just needs a smidge of polish).

Complete the TALJ entry. The deadline is at the end of the month. I already have the basic structure. I need: a tutorial, commands to actually make the game work. And words. So many words. (Did I mention here I'm making a maze?)

I think that's good. I'm trying REALLY HARD not to tack on another Neo-Interactives entry (we're doing dialogues and I LOVE THOSE). But I WILL TRY MY BEST TO KEEP IT FOCUSED ON THE CURRENT PROJECTS!

~

The 2024 To-Do List:

LOL, I've only done the website! :D

The hopefully maybe easy to handle To-Do:

fix the bugs in EDOC + overall the French version to match (waiting for Adventuron to get the French language)

fix the bugs of TRNT + find a way to add the missing pieces (giving up on the translation)

fixing the interface of LPM and the popups + check animal interactions

figure out the One-Button JavaScrip/jQuery issue...

edit the loading screens of the completed tiny games to include the program/format logo at least.

The 'Need a Bunch of Content to update but it's planned!' To-Do:

Update my website (bunch new title - also I don't think the logo clicky thing work...) + redo my itch page

Finish TTATEH (MelS dependent - this year should be it - for real)

Finish Exquisite Cadaver (half-way mark by this summer - manif)

Finish P-Rix - Space Trucker (main path at least)

Update CRWL (it's been almost two years... I'm getting ashamed)

The Unlikely But it Would be Dope To-Do

Finish The Dinner as it was planned (and translate)

Finish In the Blink of an Eye as it was planned (and retranslate)

Finish The Rye in the Dark City

Fixing TTTT (at least fixing, maybe try adding some storylets)

And finally The 'It's impossible, but one can wish' TO-DO:

Remaster SPS IH (if I managed to start this after completing the rest... I'm going to eat a whole sheet cake).

Start the IFComp project (2025? Might end up being a ST?)

[tsuyonpuu]

And another question - how long do you draw? What drawing programs do you use and how to achieve the same drawing skill as you do?

Hii!! Here too a big sorry for not answering this ask earlier I simply had no idea it existed haha I'll answer regardless!! I've been drawing more or less seriously since 2012! Which is when I got my very first drawing tablet too hehe ever since then I've been in love with digital art!! I used to draw most with my PC desk setup and Painttool SAI (the first version) with my Intuos Pro M that is also 10 years old by now and i never got a different tables for my desk setup hahaha For the past couple of 2-3 i switched to the Ipad with Procreate! I love how convenient it is and I really fell in love with procreate as a software!

Regarding skill or something like that, I personally don't consider myself a good artist because I lack technical skills tbh! I think i am like average at best lol I lack fundamentals and I never do real studies- I do like to think that I'm pretty good with picking colours!! I like to watch YT videos on other people doing studies or techniques and trying to keep an open mind and eye on other media or styles- I love graphic design, I love video editing, I love concept art, I love brand design and other layout stuff and i think looking outside your own field in art helps you to expand on style and visual understanding. Sometimes i make sketches, sometimes i do lineart, sometimes i skip all steps and just start painting, i think its important to not limit yourself in how you work or what you do! Art is just about having fun!! Which is probably always my main advice for drawing or art. If you have fun, if you love what you make and if you keep an open mind and are willing to expand your horizon, then everything else will just come from alone!! Like I genuinely love what im doing and I love my own art and i think that's more important to me than technical skill :) (and i just want to point out that this is my personal opinion and I do acknowledge that technical skill is not just important but also beautiful to look at and essential at many jobs in the art field, I just personally don't like studying hahahah)

[izicodes]

hey loa! do you have any favorite YouTubers you like that you think beginners would also like? people who maybe talk about their experience, just dumbing/simplifying things and stuff like that and whatnot? :) Or just anyone that you like in general tbh then and now

Hiya 💗

I don't really have like a set of Youtubers that I watch/subscribe to in terms of explaining things for beginners. I like BroCode's videos but usually when I am stuck and want to use YouTube, I just click and try the first few videos randomly, I don't know exactly who's video it is but as long as they explain the concept to my understanding, I'm good. Plus I don't know what coding/programming you're into because I focus on Web Dev stuff 🥲👍🏾

I made a post on "Web Dev Course Videos" and you can try out the channels themselves and see if they align to your style of explaining things to you!

Best of luck!! 😉🫵🏾💗

[bellascarousel]

I am about to get whiny and annoying. Feel free to ignore me. I'm just experiencing a bout of RSD and am hoping that getting my feelings out will help. Though, TBH, I feel weird even talking about it. Fun thing about RSD is worrying that talking about what's causing a bout will annoy people or piss them off. Good times.

Anyway... here goes... I seem to have slammed into a wall of insecurity over something that is probably pretty stupid. But, there are constantly posts about this making the rounds, so maybe it isn't THAT stupid and I'm not alone in getting like this.

Wow, I'm doing a lot of beating around the bush, here. ROFL. All right, Bella. Just spit it out. So, we've all seen the various posts going around about how the best way to encourage fic writers is to leave a comment. And how discouraging it can be to have a fic that seems to get little to no attention. We've probably all reblogged those posts. We'll, this week I learned first hand that it can be a bit disconcerting to have a fic chapter get a ton of hits, but only two comments.

I'm not here to complain. I know that nobody owes me comments. But, there is a part of me that automatically jumped to "the chapter sucks, and nobody likes it." Trying to convince myself that that's not the case. But it's hard when your self-esteem is next to non-existant, sometimes.

This is not a call to action. I'm not writing this to beg for comments. And I'm not going to hold the next chapter hostage. I'm looking forward to meeting this universe's version of Hyacinth, and the only reason I haven't started writing the next chapter is a bit of writer's block in how to start it. I am just trying to get better about allowing myself to express negative emotions. This stupid post was the result.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. Like I said, ignore me. I'm just venting.

[coinflict]

15 people 15 questions!!!!

Tagged by @suzufield thank you yay ^^

This is a long one so it's under the cut and also idgaf I love hearing myself talk I love the sound of my own voice!!!!

Not really, my given name is that of a saint like most names from here tbh, but my mom picked it because it's short and she wanted people from everywhere around the world to be able to say it which is kind of cute. I don't have chosen name I have like 3 nicknames people alternate between, one of them is Ani or AniGC which I use on the internet and I don't plan on picking one I think not having a name is cool!

1. Are you named after anyone?

2. When was the last time you cried?

Nope, too young, and also having my own kids or parenting/fostering is not something I am fit to ever do I don't think I would be a good parent. I'm a lesbian so biological kids are kind of out the window (not really but don't want them regardless, better safe than sorry on this matter I think). I would love to work with kids though at least once in my lifetime.

Genuinely yesterday I love crying I cry all the damn time it helps me fall asleep. What the libs don't want you to know is that depression is actually awesome because you can cry all the fucking time and you don't need sleeping medication! Yay for mental illness!

3. Do you have kids?

4. What sports have you played/do you play?

I did karate for 8 or 9 years from ages of like 6-14, loved it, then I fell down the stairs and fucked up my spine and had to quit. Then I did swimming for a bit but nothing too serious and I quit that because I got bored now I do fuck all.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Yes a lot but I try to not get too irony poisoned lol, I mostly just say outlandish shit but I do use sarcasm.

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

I couldn't tell you if you put a gun to my head. I don't fucking know 😭

7. Eye colour?

Brown! ^^

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

This is a strange one I'm not really big on either of these things. When it comes to horror I'm not really a fan of movies I feel like a thing inherently becomes a little less scary when you show it to me or when it's moving you know? Idk I like some of them but I really do enjoy horror books those are awesome. And for the other thing I don't know is it a happy ending for me or the characters? Like I enjoy all plot threads being tied together well but if that doesn't make my fav happy GOOD. Let that bitch suffer. To actually answer the question I think scary movies lmao.

9. Any talents?

Why yes I'm very awesome. Idk I'm a fast learner genuinely that's the biggest thing I've got going on I think almost everything I know I learned on my own accord, it was never given to me, and idk I'm kind of proud of that idgaf if it sounds corny. I can also dislocate my thumb that's kind of cool.

10. Where were you born?

In the hospital (Serbia but I don't like saying where I'm from too much I want to remain a Mysterious Figure On The Computer and now you have to ignore the fact that I frequently post about this)

11. What are your hobbies?

Running the risk of sounding like a loser nerd I love studying I love learning things if I could stay in school for the rest of my life I genuinely would. I love learning how shit works and I'm gonna be honest organic chemistry has been among my favourite things to study ever it's so perfectly logical and awesome one of the best sciences ever for sure. Besides that I like doing fuck all and taking the piss on the internet.

12. Do you have any pets?

Nope! Small apartment and not enough money or time to take care of them. One day I will get a cat though trust.

13. How tall are you?

184cm that's like 6'0" I think?

14. Favourite subject in school?

Idk probably physics. High school level chem was incredibly fucking boring I didn't even have to fart to get good grades. Math and programming were my original beloveds but I fell out of love with them very soon after starting high school due to bad experiences with teachers. So yeah probably physics idk the only subjects I think about at this point are the ones I'll have next year in college I can't fucking wait for atomistics.

15. Dream job?

I feel like a fucking idiot being at my age and telling people I want to be a scientist but like!!!!!! I do I genuinely do!!!! I want to be a researcher and do cool things I want to be entranced by the work I do maybe this sounds so incredibly optimistic because it's likely that if I become a researcher I'll be eating packet noodles for the rest of my life but!! That's my dream!!!

I cannot be assed to tag 15 people I'm sorry also I think everyone and their mom has done this at this point so I'll tag. 3 take it or leave it! Sorry if any of you have done this already 😭. Also if you haven't but don't want to that's fine lmao no pressure

@k-ru-h @viegoinahoodie @schrodingers-catgirl

[treasureplcnet]

do you have any drawing tips? i'm just starting out and your style inspires me to keep going fr!!

HIYA !!! thank you that is so kind of you, i would say to keep drawing with references and do studies!! typically art studies (in like art school lol) are of old masters (da vinci, etc) but doing studies of styles that you like, like trying to copy a certain artist you like, also helps you develop skills !!

for example, lots of people (especially fanartists lol) do studies of artists like leyendecker while making the models their favorite characters/ocs, so it helps to make studies fun. literally look up leyendecker study on tumblr dot com and you will see hundreds.

(gets a bit long and rambly so i've thrown it under the cut :')

style studies can be anything! above was done while watching wolfwalkers, just loose sketches that copied the style as the movie went along. i love the design and style in that film, wanted to incorporate it in my character design work, so i tried it out myself! it let me know the kinds of shapes used in the construction, the way it moves (wrt to animation) and silhouettes. by copying something, you learn how to do it on the way (so the kinds of colors used, what works best with shading, etc) it's like. reverse engineering

even very loosely copying something to identify what you like about the style helps! these were modelled after the way slimsense on ig paints (her work is 2nd + 4th examples below, my attempts at 'paint' 1st and 3rd lol), but doesn't really look like her work. i'm not necessarily trying to make perfect copies. i liked that her paint didn't blend perfectly, was blocky, and the additional lineart over the painting, so i brought that into my own art. i tried to create a painting style that was 'my own' off of lots of trial and error, and seeing what stuck!

also find brushes you like! adobe has a bunch on their page (if you have photoshop, but i know there's some for procreate and other programs) and if you want the adobe brush files, lmk. i will send a drive link to you LOL (sketches of the same characters, using different brushes below. the two i used the most often, one being a solid inker and the other being a paintbrush)

generally doing figure drawing is good too. i've heard advice about art where you can only start breaking the rules after you understand them, and a good grasp on anatomy, proportions, etc is definitely a good place to start! good sites to use for this are line of action for poses, and the morpho books (if you need pdfs of this let me know, though you should be able to find them if you look lol) !

i would also say learn perspective early on. i have no tips for you here i am so sorry. i didn't and now it bites me in the ass, but there has to be a youtube tutorial for this out there that can help you AND me. same goes for color theory. quickly dropping my favorite van gogh quote of all time:

(quote is from a letter to his brother) just everyone needs the fundamentals first. don't worry about a personal style: that just comes naturally as you develop as an artist, and i was certainly inspired by a lot of the things i watched/consumed and artists i admired which absolutely shows in my work i think (manet. western comics. fma. avatar. pjo fanart. there are tells. you know how it is.)

also flip your canvas !!! like see below ... frankly this marcille is so lopsided (her entire face should shift to the left) LOL !! flipping horizontally makes the anatomy mistakes obvious, and shows you you what you need to fix. i should never have posted this as is but sometimes it works for humor and an artist is lazy </3

AND ALWAYS USE REFERENCES WHEN YOU CAN!! i should use more references tbh!!! it helps with posing, getting anatomy correct, etc, and my friends use pinterest a lot, though i tend to just google when i need to LOLLL

also draw what you like. there is genuinely nothing that is better for your art than getting into something REALLY BAD and then non stop drawing it. time + practice will lead to improvement no matter what the subject is!

i hope this was not too much information all at once !!! and some of it is helpful!!! it's a lot of basic improvement tips that i try to practice and use when i can :) so sorry that this got so long!!!!

[paldean-ranger-brandy]

✘ Your opinion on each regions ranger system

✖️ - no lies ask game

WOW that is a lot! I'm gonna be honest with you chief I will not be doing that. I have proper opinions on the union chapters I've worked directly with, but for the others I can really only give you what I've heard through the grapevine. I'll go in order of where I worked;

Almia: never actually worked here, but I did go to ranger school here, and ranger school involves a brief placement in a local base. Almia's chapter is... fine. They do a LOT of advocacy, a lot of research, test out a lot of new initiatives. Any time there's new tech upgrades Almia gets first crack. There's also no pokemon league here, and a LOT of rangers which means for the most part it is extremely peaceful. I find almia's chapter a bit performative tbh. Almia rangers are the first to tell you how they think things should go, even tho most of them have very little experience with all the problems competitive pokemon trainers bring. Also that's where head office and top rangers are. Yucky.

Fiore: My first REAL ranger job was in Fall City, so most of my experience is in that hub. Kinda similar to Almia, no real league, no competitive trainers, and a fuckton of rangers. They tend to be a lot more chill overall compared to Almia. Not in Fall City mind, Joel ran that place like a fuckin boot camp. I forgive him for it tho, he was finding his feet as a base leader. The union here is fine, but I will say there are a LOT of people-pleasers in Fiore that the citizens just kinda walk all over. Fiore citizens are so fuckin needy, they are most of the reason I don't wanna go back there.

Hoenn: my Homenn. I am extremely biased but this is top tier. Number one. Best of the best. Hoenn has the most knowledgeable rangers in the entire union simply for the fact that Hoenn's eco-systems are INSANELY diverse. Hoenn has every eco-system under the sun coupled with an insane weather system and has a team of dedicated rangers who collectively know all of it inside and out. I'm super proud to have spent most of my career in Hoenn. Rockstars, every one 🖤

Johto: trash region. Competitive trainers everywhere, breeding and releasing pokemon en masse into the wrong habitat. So much burnout among the rangers, especially the leadership. Union is grossly underfunded and disrespected by the rest of the region. There are some rangers out there trying their best to make a difference, but it's such an uphill battle that they end up burnt out in a week. That's just what my experience was tho.

Paldea: this place rules. Not as good as Hoenn, and largely funded by the league itself which is not unheard of but also isn't super common. This chapter is also decently new, Geeta was the one who pushed and negotiated getting us set up here. They fuckin did it right though, our chapter has enough freedom to run all the extra programs and workshops that make us actually able to make a genuine difference. Pretty heavy on the regulations, but most of them are rooted in sound logic so I'm not so bothered by this. The ranger school that's being run through N-U academy I think is gonna end up one of the best outside of Almia, they are killing it over there. Plus Joel is with me again 🖤 yay.

This got long. The only other regions I kinda know about are Kanto (similar to Johto), Galar (brand new and kinda suspicious), and Alola (fuckin top tier).

[amouress16]

RUIN Thoughts!

Under the cut for your convenience to avoid spoilers!

I have seen pretty much everything that is out/widely known about as of day one so I'm just gonna ramble about everything. Starting with positives and then getting into the things I didn't like towards the end. Cause hoo boy are my feeling very mixed about this whole thing let me tell you.

I like Cassie! We have proper context and motivation for her right off the bat. Immediate story improvements there!

The gameplay of the whole DLC looks way better. Personally I've never liked games that box you in to one path too much in a way it's too obvious, but the DLC makes it realistic and gives paths that loop back around to places you've been. The map still doesn't make sense but that's just the SB experience at this point I guess.

Eclipse. ECLIPSE. ECLIPSE CANON OH MY GOD. He's sweet and gentle and acts just like how a caretaker should! Sun pleading for help and Moon expressing their pain being forced to work as entirely separate programs, both of them fighting each other's triggers.... Aauughhhh I love them. The fact that all they needed for so long was a simple reboot and there were just no human workers around to do it.... 😭

AND ROXANNE. Seeing the side of the characters actually being child entertainers is so nice! Even if it was done just to make the moment bittersweet. "Do you still like carrot cake? I like carrot cake." They're all supposed to be kind. They're supposed to be good and wholesome and they've all been twisted into monsters that aren't their true selves.

High tech AR Vanny mask.... but no Vanny... 🤔 sure game, whatever you say

On the other hand, no map bot, but mask bot? Clever sleight of hand Steel Wool, I see you

Bonnie design reveal!!!! Further implications that Monty murdered him!!! I...! I'm not sure I like it. It's difficult because he has no consistency in his appearance. The Bonnie Bowl mascot is purple like OG Bon but the design we see in the gator ride telling Monty's backstory is blue. What are those shoulder pads and how would that work on an animatronic, like at all?? He has no room to move his head! Don't get me started on the inconsistent coloring between his gloves and his outfit. Idc if I sound pretentious for this, the clothing choices hurt me as an artist tbh. If you're gonna make him blue let him wear hot pink or or even yellow. Idk idk it just didn't mesh to me. Oh and his neon sign had the star glasses but his cut outs didn't. Inconsistency is Steel Wool's middle name.

What is with the glitchy shadow rabbit? Why is it shaped like a map marker? Is that supposed to be Glitchtrap? A security system...? I don't understand the point of this storywise at all but sure gameplay go brrr I guess

What the fuck is the Mimic. No seriously. I don't know what it is. Why is it here. What is happening. I am well versed in the canon of these games what is- .......... So it's another Book Thing. Haha. No. Bad. Stop that. Whoever signed off on the "let's add book lore to the games with no explanation or fathomable reason" decision, I am spraying you with a water bottle. Stop alienating those of us who don't have the time/money/desire to buy and read the books. I hate the books personally and have been actively ignoring them since the Plushtrap Chaser one. They are meant to be fun side stories for people who want that, not main game canon!!! Stop it!! I am actually begging you!!

TL;DR I like the characterization given to everyone this time around, it felt right for them. Bonnie's design is inconsistent and kinda mid. And trying to force in booklore most people won't know about is just stupid and I'm mad about it. That's about it.

I definitely wanna draw Cassie with Roxy post game- because I do believe she survived that elevator crash- and maybe make a Bonnie design I'll like better. And I definitely wanna see other people's art. That'll be the best part of all of this.

[tonysopranosfeverdreams]

can u talk more about your time in americorps? if you feel like it. i'm interested in doing it but idk if i can but i want to know what it's like

yes!! i have done americorps twice at different times in my life and they were very different experiences that were what i needed at each time

i did americorps nccc at first when i was 22 and it was probably the most life-defining experience of my life. i got to live with a small group of people and travel around the country for a year and work with different organizations which is really cool for a young person for a few different reasons, for me being:

-exposure to different types of work and organizations that are doing genuinely good work within their community. When I was in the program, we did everything from working hands-on in national and international gardens and parks, construction-type work cleaning and boarding vacant houses, working as summer school teachers and camp counselors for people with disabilities, and there are more im forgetting im sure but it really shows you the opportunities out there and pushes you out of your comfort zone to the point that you realize you are capable of much more than what you may have thought

-free food/housing, which makes it super ideal for a young person with no money and gives you the unique opportunity to actually travel and build career skills for free

-this is dependent on chance, to an extent, but i had a team i loved. we were all very very different personalities and backgrounds but very open people and we built a very strong bond which i think helped all of us learn to grow up by cooking for each other, navigating very tight living situations, having fun together, working together as a team all the time, and that's something i see a lot of people still struggling to navigate even as much older adults. but on top of those skill sets you learn, it's just fucking FUN. you get to go on tons of road trips with your best friends and meet tons of new people have cook outs, go camping, have movie nights, play hide and seek in old houses. its just really really really fun if you get paired with people who are open and caring and you learn a lot from them

There are downsides. The training for NCCC is kind of grueling. It's arguably a cult. But I easily survived on that small living stipend with the housing and food coming free and if you can take the physical training and strict rules and see them as like a way of trying new things and learning new ways to live, its actually pretty fun. I learned I actually like playing most sports and am pretty athletic. Everyone breaks all of the rules (alcohol, especially) and at least at my campus, it was very very very easy to get in trouble. I got in a lot of trouble during my stint tbh we were bad kids lol but i dont even regret that because it was fun and i learned from it and the people i was around knew me well enough to fight for me to stay in. just try not to get caught because they do kick people out at the drop of the dime, and if i had been on any other team than the highest-achieving, most close-knit one, i'm pretty sure i would have been kicked out in a heartbeat. i know multiple kids who got arrested or had other like very intense situations happen during that time, so like, it is as challenging as it is fun. please be more cautious than me if you do it.

I did AmeriCorps Vista when I was 27, after several intermediate years of working at a non-profit theatre and it was a completely different experience, but also really beneficial for me, personally. But I did get lucky again, here, in finding a career path I was interested in and people who were invested enough to put me on track for a job and trust me with some key opportunities. I'd say this is something that this option for me felt comfortable because at this point i was a full adult with expectations for autonomy and independence so it was a nice opportunity to get my foot in the door in field I cared about (for me, I had realized during my first stint that I was really passionate about making sure kids had a safe space to go during summers and afterschool, so I chose to work with an org that did that). If you do good work in VISTA, and if you commit to the work and try new things, I think it's pretty common to make a career out of it. I got the opportunity, as a VISTA, to write a grant proposal for NASA (literally on a WHIM, to give me a first stab at learning how to write grants and grow my skillset), and I got it, which basically sealed a permanent position in the org for me. From there, I was able to get additional promotions, so it was like. an extremely efficient launching point to get into a career i was interested in for me. And I think this happens for a lot of people.

Financially, VISTA Is much more difficult. I saved up some money before I started, and blew threw a lot of it just paying rent. It is possible, but i know first-hand it is very very difficult when you dont have any additional financial support, so I'd recommend trying to save up a little bit before starting or finding a living situation with roommates/where youre paying very little in rent. i do think its unethical and i know they have recently raised pay rates, since i finished my term, but i doubt it's enough to live quite comfortably without saving in advance.

In summary, NCCC is great and I'd recommend it to virtually any kid who loves to travel and wants to try new things.

VISTA is a great way to get experience in a field you think youre interested in and if you do it its very important you take risks to make yourself stand make your resume as impressive as possible

[bigjimbopickens]

Hi! I wanna say I love your art first of all! I just read the message under your last post about Kevin’s art video and you said you’re mostly self taught - I’m curious about how you get into that? I’d love to learn to draw but have no idea where to start!

Sorry for getting back to this so late I am not as active on Tumblr. And yes, I am mostly self-taught because of my circumstances growing up. To those who don't know, I am SnowfallWarning/Big Jimbo and I am currently an animation student. I do 2D animation, concept art and character design and I graduate this year (hopefully). I am disabled both physically and mentally which is why I mostly do digital art. I have a coordination disorder (dyspraxia) and am blind in one eye but that doesn't stop me. For my entire childhood I was discouraged from drawing as I apparently wouldn't go anywhere with it or that I was terrible. Where I lived most of my life had no opportunities for someone like me so I had to leave to continue pursuing art. Because of the poor access, the only things I had was notebooks, school supplies and an old iPad mini to draw with growing up. I learned everything I currently know now from using those. I don't know what got me into drawing still, may have been Warrior Cats and dinosaurs. Like what Jose said in Kevin's video, art comes from the soul. It is human expression and we've always been doing it. Anyone can be an artist and we all start somewhere, trust me. Here's some stuff I usually tell people because I do get asked this often (I'm also not the best teacher): 1: Experiment. Find what works for you. Be messy with it, not every piece needs to be perfect. If you are a digital artist then also trying different programs can be helpful too. Maybe you're better at drawing landscapes, characters or abominations that defy God. 2: Use references if necessary. Not sure why for a while it was considered "cheating" to use references. Everyone in the industry uses references, I would know. If you also want, you can try tutorials but I found I learn more from references. 3: Take inspiration. I'm always adding things I see in other people's art to my own style if I like it. Though try not to copy them. 4: Tracing. I believe tracing is okay for learning purposes. It's how I learned to draw humans after doing exclusively furry art for years tbh. I tend to stick to real-life references for this, this is a great site for practice: https://line-of-action.com (if you're not okay with nudity then do remember to turn that off). "But where do I even start?" Grab a piece of paper and pencil (or open a blank canvas on a digital art program if you prefer that) and just start doodling whatever. If you have an idea then go for that as well. Every class I've had in college so far has started with drawing and rendering a bunch of shapes to see where everyone was at and to get a feel of our styles. So maybe try that too. Draw random shapes with different materials/brushes, colour them in and add details like shadows and highlights. I know it seems ridiculous but I do it every once in a while to experiment and try different methods. You probably won't improve overnight. Hell, it took me 7 years to get to where I currently am. A lot of people quit because they think they're not good enough when pretty much every artist is only proud of about 10% of their work. Definitely the case for me. Not every piece is going to be a masterpiece and the imperfections can be what makes it special, so please don't be so hard on yourself. Don't be discouraged because other artists may be better than you either, they've probably been doing it for longer. So please, if you are dedicated enough, keep trying. I'm sure you will get somewhere :) So basically, - Use whatever material you got and draw what comes to mind, even if it's terrible it is a great start. - Experiment with your style and/or materials. - Reference, take inspiration and trace for memory. - Don't give up but do take breaks to avoid burnout. - Try not to be intimidated by other artists, we also don't really know what we're doing tbh (and just as afraid of you as you are of us).

I hope that all made sense and was somewhat helpful :)

[nadiaxaydin]

2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake "Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?"

whoa! nadia aydin just stole my cab! not cool, but maybe they needed it more. they have lived in the city for one week, working as a/an flight attendant. that can’t be easy, especially at only 25 years old. some people say they can be a little bit fervent and unrealistic, but I know them to be icarian and passionate. whatever. I guess I’ll catch the next cab. hope they like the ride back to soho ! 

►GENERAL INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Nadia Banu Aydin NICKNAME(S): Sunshine ( family & close friends ) LABEL: The Icarian AGE: 25 DATE OF BIRTH: December 10, 1998 ZODIAC: Sagittarius Sun, Cancer Rising, Gemini Moon GENDER & PRONOUNS: Female; She/Her HERITAGE: Turkish SPOKEN LANGUAGE(S): English, Turkish OCCUPATION: Flight Attendant SEXUALITY & ROMANCE: Bisexual; Biromantic

► APPEARANCE

FACE CLAIM: Cemre Baysel HEIGHT: 5'2" WEIGHT: 115 lbs. DOMINANT HAND: Left HAIR COLOR: Brown EYE COLOR: Hazel SCARS: Tiny ones all over from adventures and life wear and tear TATTOOS: None.

►PERSONALITY

POSITIVE TRAITS: Icarian, Passionate, Apolaustic, Loyal, Benevolent, Humorous. NEGATIVE TRAITS: Fervent, Unrealistic, Flighty, Awkward, Naive Easily-Bored. LIKES: Tea houses, gardening, the feeling of sand between her toes, sun-kissed skin, watching the sun set, blasting music to clean her apartment, a nice pair of loved jeans, volunteerism, skinny dipping with strangers, catching last minute flights. DISLIKES: Confrontation, feeling left behind or left out, when people complain about their dislikes, crying, the sting of snow on bare skin, feeling bored in a new relationship.

►MENTALITY

PHOBIAS: Nyctophobia DISORDERS: ADHD, Anxiety ALLERGIES: Seasonal (Pollen)

►BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Adana, Turkey CURRENT RESIDENCE: SoHo, NYC, NY EDUCATION LEVEL: BA in Astrophysics from NYU FAMILIAL CONNECTIONS: - Ayla Aydin - 50, Mother, In Contact - Berat Aydin - 49, Father, In Contact

►FAVORITES

FOOD: Pickle pizza (just pickles in general, tbh) DRINK: Papaya green iced tea MOVIE: Serendipity, The Hangover TV SHOW: The Magicians, New Girl, Friends BAND/ARTIST: Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Lizzy McAlpine, Renee Rapp SONG: 2AM - Anna Nalick

► EXTRA INFORMATION

JUNG TYPE: ENFP ENNEAGRAM: The Pathfinder (7w6) TEMPERAMENT: Sanguine MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good SIN: Self-Indulgent VIRTUE: Charity ELEMENT: Fire CHARACTER PLAYLIST

'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable And life's like an hourglass glued to the table

► BIOGRAPHY

TW; Abortion mention, Alcoholism mention

Adana, Turkey, seems like a fairytale to Nadia now. Once the place she called home, she now can only recall fighting pretend dragons with her father in the rose garden in the back of their cottage. Her father is an accomplished psychiatrist whilst her mother? Well, she was a yoga instructor. Yoga was a constant in Nadia's life, whether she liked it or not. Lucky for her mother, she was enthralled with being able to do cool positions; her mother liked that it helped her hyperactivity as well. From yoga being the start of the day with her mother, to unpacking the day at the end of the evening with her father, mindfulness and wellness was always a part of the Aydin household. Maybe that's what made her so alluring to those who were broken. She always seemed to attract those who needed pick-me-ups; Her best friend suffering from a poor home life and a teen pregnancy that Nadia assisted in bringing her to the abortion clinic at 13. Or there was this boy she was head over heels for that couldn't quite put the bottle down, but he managed to whenever he saw her frown. Nadia thought she was meant to help people. When it came to going to university, she went for Liberal Arts/General Studies to try to figure out where on Earth she belonged. She wound up going with what fascinated her and worked her way into NYU's BA program for Astrophysics when she was 21. Though, it still didn't feel right. She realized that she spent most of her life helping and pleasing others, that she genuinely didn't know what she wanted out of life besides being happy. It was on a whim that she saw the job positing to be a flight attendant, came back to NYC, and she loves it. Not only does it involve helping others, but it gives her the opportunity to experience the world and discover herself.

► PERSONALITY (DEEP DIVE)

Nadia is a ball of sunshine - that little shot of espresso of a person. She never fails to make someone smile, and goes out of her way to make at least 5 people laugh a day. She falls in love at the drop of a hat. No joke. Like, if someone is nice to her, she's suddenly picturing painting their future kitchen yellow together. So, just be warned. But, she can be a bit flighty, and because of her personality of seeing the good in others, she lacks the ability to weed out those who may have ill intentions. She loves to dance, and if you were to walk into her apartment she would most likely be jamming to music whilst cleaning. She loves to garden, but kills everything she touches. She can play a bit of the piano and some guitar by ear. She loves art and dancing in the rain. Very manic pixie dream girl, but will very much break your heart with her boredom. She's just plagued with restlessness and she just will never 'settle' - at least, that's how she feels currently. In actuality, it's just that she's had so many people come and go that she doesn't think anyone would stay so she leaves first. Nadia is super loyal in the friendship vein and makes a great friend to either go out or stay in. She is also amazing at keeping secrets, unless she bought a gift... Then good luck, she's blabbing about what she got. But, she's always there for someone in need. This can be a stranger, to someone who is cruel to her; If someone needs help, she will do everything in her power to help them. Sundays is her designated charity day where she goes ad volunteers out in the community. She's just the sun personified, okay?

[spinoff-antithesis]

[@distinguished-turtle-enjoyer ]

i actually have not stopped thinkin bout your bb!edit like,,,, its so good and scratches my brain right

how long have you been doin edits for? do have any tips for someone, who hypothetically, wants to start doin edits too? what programs do you use? how did you do the cool animated bits?

im so sorry for all the qustions 😭😭 i just think youre very talented and inspirational and i hope you have a good day ^_^

hi firstly oh my gosh you're literally so sweet i am gently shaking you i love you so much /p. secondly, i apologize for the long answer! (it's all under the cut. this got away from me. i'm so sorry apparently i have a lot to say.) (also you're so good about the questions i would constantly be asking one of my professors questions during class to the point where she said i didn't have to go "i have a question" every time i approached her)

i've been editing since 2016! around march/april, i think? loved it so much i went into film & video production in college as a major so i could do editing for a living. (i have done more motion graphics for my classmates than i have done edits outside of class assignments, BUT!)

the program i use is after effects - i started learning it when covid first hit the united states because i had nothing better to do with my time (other than music theory but i failed that bc my professor focused more on the history aspects than the actual theory soooo) and my ipad kept giving me the "no more storage" whenever i tried to use videostar lmao. (vs has, apparently, gotten a LOT of good updates, so if you're looking to start editing and have an ios system, i'd look into it! only downside is you have to pay for some of the cool stuff).

also the program i use for masking (i think i explain this later dwdw) is superimpose. i've been using it since 2014 and it's SO nice bc i can use my fingers to erase backgrounds & stuff instead of hoping i can get it to work correctly in ae or photoshop (photoshop my DETESTED i'll use it but i'll complain the entire time).

for people who want to start editing: tutorials on how your program works and how to do specific transitions are gonna be your best friend when you're first figuring things out! i forced a friend to literally walk me through how after effects worked when i was first figuring it out, and when i had swapped to videostar back in 2017/2018(?) i had watched a Lot of tutorials. that and played around a lot and figured things out on my own - which is also always a good way to start!! it's also totally valid to look at other people's edits for inspiration - most editors don't really care, as long as you don't flat-out remake their edit (some people don't like that!). i have a style insp folder on instagram where i save edits that i like so if i need transition ideas or i'm doing a different style, i can look there for inspiration. at the end of the day, as long as you're having fun with it that's all that matters!

also, starting simple is always okay!! my edits for a year were just me slapping gifs & video segments together on a timeline in cute cut pro bc imovie didn't load them lol & it'd crash every time i breathed. ++ it never hurts to ask people for feedback/constructive(!!!) criticism/etc! (also not to sound like everyone else but practice? good. it's so good. if i showed my 14/15y/o self some of the edits i can make now they would've passed out on the spot bc i was still trying to figure out transitions back then. programs can also sometimes make a difference in edits, but usually it's not super noticeable until you start getting to the Complicated Shit.)

a lot of popular programs i've seen are ones like video star (ios only), alight motion (android only), after effects (i recommend 🏴‍☠️ing it tbh, i only use it legally bc i had to use adobe programs for school), capcut, and i think some people still use sony vegas pro & maybe cute cut pro (i've heard it may have actually gotten better since i last used it in 2018)? i have no idea. programs also depend on whatever device you're using to edit on! since i've been using my laptop, i'm able to use after effects (it's computer-only), but when i used my phone/ipad to edit i used ccp & vs.

for the animation - it's a lot of cutting up the image and masking! more complex animations, like the one i had of leo walking down that red 'hallway' have several different layers that have been masked. (i removed the background & filled in the spot where leo originally was in two different apps - superimpose (taking leo out) & photoshop (filling in the bg)) in after effects, the way i've done this was mask out the specific thing i wanted to move (like an eye) and then put that mask on what i've called a "base" (not animated), and then stick a solid behind the base to match the color of the object. (some of my layers are not named appropriately; base 2 is the left arm & the four "SIX_[...]" layers are the mask/bandana tails)

an example of this would be for any of the eye blink animations i did! this (above) is the same shot, with and without the eye - since it's masked out and i have the background solid behind it, it doesn't look too unnatural/have a black outline/mass where his eye should be.

what it looks like without the solid layer behind it ^ (the red lines are from the null layers - ignore that)

this is what my timeline looks like if it's a more simplistic animation - the only five things being animated here are leo & raph's eyes. (there's only this many layers bc it's two characters in one shot & i was also animating their pupils - typically, an eye-blink animation is about 4-6 layers for me (solid, base, mask, & null to animate with, 6 if i'm animating both eyes & 4 if just one))

in after effects, there's this really cool tool called the puppet pin that one of my friends (lovingly) yelled at me for not knowing about - which. yeah fair she wasn't wrong it's SUPER useful in animating, provided you chop up your image first. if you don't it's a mess.

(separated by layer vs i should've really put the mask tails & leo's head on separate layers and didn't bc that was the 2nd to last animation i had to do and i was losing my mind bc i wanted to be done with the edit lmao)

the way people animate depends all on their style (there's two common ways to do blinking animation - having the anchor point at the bottom of the eye, or the middle of it) and the program they use. it's been a while, but i could probably tell you how to do some basic animations on videostar still even though i've been doing them in after effects for about 2-3years now. ALSO the best way to have an animation be noticeable is to over-exaggerate it/make them Big - which, yes, can mean 'breaking bones' and having the limbs be a little wonky at the start. (if you want it to be realistic though go Just to the point where it looks uncomfortable lmao)

uhm. again i am so sorry that this is so long i THINK this is everything? if not: my inbox/dms are always open if you ever want to ask more questions, wanna follow up on something, etc etc!! (also if you ever start editing please send me your edits!!! i'd love to see them <3)