#i've been playing with different formats of collage

[prettieststarsoftheocean]

Part 1 of places from H2O: The JuiceNet Café!!!!! If anyone has any suggestions/requests, lmk!

PS be sure to check out @rikkizgf on instagram and tiktok; i got inspo from their posts!!!

[acertainmoshke]

Okay now that I've gotten to do the surprise book review bit, 7 Days for Fae questions

What was the process of getting the cover like/where did the cover come from?

This is such a dumb question, but font size. Do I just read books with tiny fonts or did you make your font bigger than normal. If so, was that intended as an accessibility thing?

Where did the idea from this book come start? Like, there are a lot of moving pieces (Brownie, Aunt Lana, the school stuff) and I'm curious if you started with one of them and expanded outward or something different.

Did you ever behind-the-scenes decide which Zelda game Brownie was playing? Totally cool if not, but as someone who played a lot of Zelda on her 3DS, I was curious

I'm curious where fairy theming with Fae came from? It's such a cool part of her identity and personality and stuff and I'm curious where that idea came from. If that makes sense as a question.

Oh wow, Heartshaven, thank you!! These questions are so great! I don't get to talk about this story much because I was almost done drafting it when I started this blog, so this is my chance!

One: The cover. I use getcovers.com, which sounds shady af but is in fact not. Their covers are cheap because these use cheaply (or free?) licensed images and put them together in kind of a...collage thing? None of that is how to say it right, but they basically photoshop a cover you can legally make money off of, which is cool. You go in with an idea in mind and pay differing amounts based on if you need a back cover for physical books and how many images it uses. I've done this for almost all my books, actually, even the ones that won't need them for years. I like visuals.

Two: The font was definitely bigger than normal, which was 90% because that was what the formatting pages suggested for kids books and 10% because I was fighting with formatting and kept having blank pages because the page break itself took up a line so I may have made it one size bigger to stop that.

Three: This book's story is...different. Usually I have an idea floating around for ages as daydreams, like I'm playing with dolls, and eventually plan it into something coherent. This one wasn't even an idea. It just happened. But you have to understand a few things: it was 2020 (self explanatory), I had just moved out of my parents' house for the first time (...don't do the math on how old that made me, I've always been a little behind), I was a senior in college (overwhelmed constantly so that I was barely learning anything, just trying to pass), and despite knowing for almost a decade had just decided to get an autism diagnosis.

Suddenly I was writing this story to deal with how I was never accommodated as a little autistic kid, and the way my parents treated me, and it was a wish fulfillment. And then I needed a b-plot and hadn't made Fae trans because that felt like too many things, so I made her parent trans. I was actually homeschooled until high school so the story isn't at all about me, but the vibes are what could my life have been like? I don't usually relate to books about autistic kids so I wanted one that was like me, and I never see my full disabled experience represented.

(Fun fact: in the first several drafts, Aunt Lana's name was my mom's middle name as a placeholder, which I think says a lot about how much stuff I had to work out)

I did change two major things when I projected onto Fae. First, I do have ataxia and based her symptoms on mine, but mine is episodic, ranging from a baseline of general clumsiness and poor balance to really bad spells of being barely able to walk, but often with spells in between, at the level I describe for Fae. But that is complicated for a short book, and I wanted it to be clear and understandable for kids, so I made hers consistent. I stretched reality here a little: episodic ataxia is one of the very few genetic kinds that is not progressive. But it's a story, so.

And second, I aged her down. I based her off of what I was like around 13. This is partly because an elementary school story is easier to tell than a middle school one, but also I know that despite being precocious I was emotionally young and on paper this story makes more sense for a slightly younger kid.

Four: I am so sorry, I know nothing about Zelda. I wanted a 3DS but never had one. We got a PS3 when I was like 16 and I played Batman on that and Diablo on the computer, but before that it was mostly PC games like Oregon Trail. Feel free to project whichever game you like.

Five: That was actually me. Mostly. As a kid who never felt like I belonged in the world I was in, I had a bit of a Fae obsession myself. Even more so when I learned about the changeling-autism connection. Cold Iron, my Fae book, has had some version in my head since I was like 14. It's just kind of my thing, between the beauty and terror and isolation and...well, and ice magic because I'm also overheating all the time.

Bonus fact no one asked for: The original story was called Fae and Brownie because I thought it might turn into a series where future books would be like Fae and Brownie Do Things. But several beta readers pointed out that he's one of several aspects in her life so it needed to be named something just centered around her.

Bonus fact again: One person thought it seemed like she was developing a crush when she commented on his hair but since the rest of the book didn't go there I should change that. I thought about it and decided not to because noticing sensory things and wanted to touch them isn't related to sexuality or romance for me, and since that's how I think that's how Fae gets to think.

Thank you, this was awesome!! I hope it isn't too long.

[chornayadrakoshig]

writing update! needless to say, my attempts for have a consistent writing schedule are not doing well lol

the total wordcount for january is 5228 words (comparing to 5895 words in december). I wrote like crazy over the long weekend on the new year's eve (that one week was the biggest contributor to both months) and the rest of the january was mostly spent on drawing and sewing projects I can't show you yet

the thing I can already share though, is this fic in a format of (screen)play I wrote over that crazy week! It revolves around 4th-wall-breaking scenario, where the characters know they are in a fic and they don't like the plot. The chaos begins ;) I really like that trop in fiction but I've only wrote it once before, and I had a ton of fun writing it again!

this year I finally joined the Fandom Kombat fest (for the winter season - the fest is run biannually), which has been my dream since like 2015 or something. Back then it was run on a different platform with different rules, and I knew that realistically I won't be able to join the team for the fandom I want and go through the whole fest. But last spring I found out they actually moved to ao3 and the rules are a bit more lenient now - and here we are! We already went through 3 quests out of 7 (and alas, I can't post my other works yet, since the fest has about 2 week period when the creators stay anonymous after posting). The shared team account is here, if anybody wants to have a look! We post about Code Lyoko with occasional crossovers - and it's not just the fanfics! What I love about the Fandom Kombat is that it includes all forms of fanworks :) and we've just shared our fanarts and collages on friday!

I'll be busy with this until somewhere around early march - but hopefully I'll have a chance to work on fics for other fandoms a bit earlier... If I'll manage to complete all 5 fucking WIPs I have for this specific fest xD

[cleekleequlee]

What is the collage of design*anthropology*(future)

Otto, Binder, T., Halse, J., Smith, R. C., Vangkilde, K. T., & Kjaersgaard, M. G. (2016). Design anthropological futures: exploring emergence, intervention and formation. Bloomsbury. Recommended by Bow since she has "70% confidence" that design anthropology is relevant to my research.

How to understand design anthropology? What is the relevancy to my research?

In fact, I've been interested in design anthropology since the beginning of my PhD study, and has done a little (2 days) research on its evolution as part of my assignment for Design Research Methodologies subject. My impression from the research is that Design Anthropology mainly originated from anthropology, not design. It can be seen as an effort for post-colonial anthropologists who struggle with their identity to turn its orientation from the past to the future, from the exotic and foreign to the becoming self. Design served more as an inspiration and a model of future facing discipline.

But what is the design part, if we are not talking about an anthoropology (or ethnography really) of design practice? Yes, designers can do ethnography, but can it be called anthropology, which touches more theoretical and foundamental aspects of life and living? Or, do "anthropologists of the present" design?

It is with these questions that I turned to the book Design Anthropological Futures, recommended to Bow. This second encounter has reflected how my thought has changed in about one year's time.

On page 4, a quote immediately cought my attention:

"In some cases, historicity (note: anthropology, cartography) becomes a key to reconfiguring futuring, the everyday (note: ethnography) serves as a lab for experimentation, intervention (note: design, futuring, worlding" becomes a path of speculative inquiry (note: futuring), and the environment (note: situatedness, assemblage, milieu) emerges as a philosophical agent"

(Notes in brankets are my own association to other concpets)

Design anthropology therefore takes an evolutionary, process perspective which grounds interventions in its historicity and situatedness, zoom in the milieu where possibilities are emerging. The current, everyday and routine practices are given full attention for their intricate but significant linkage to the future.

This leads to two further questions:

1: How to balance the role between anthropologist (observer; theory heavy) and designer (action-taker; practice heavy)? How do subjectivity and ego play a role in this balancing? (I'm particularly looking for what interventions are discussed here, are they pre-planned or spontaneous?) If we follow the thoughts on agency in a flow, then there is no "interventions" as significant events. The intervention becomes a constant flow, coupling and entanglement.

2: What is the knowledge generated in design anthropology? Is it a static image of explanation, or is it for change? How can it be valuable both for theory and / or practice?

The emerging transdisciplinary field of design anthropology rightfully noticed the similarity between design anthropology and constructive design research, both as action research methods wit its interventionist approach. What differs these from change/activist style of action research is its speculative stance. Design action researchers go into action without a conviction that "this is the right thing to do". Their postures are tentative and curious. The interventions are where the virtual and the actual (in a deleuzian sense) confluences, with each encounter render some tendencies not possible (yet) (either in the self-sensoring in the head of the interventionst, or in form of failures), while in the same time each sparks contingencies and specificites which ignites new possibilities. Thus interventions constantly expand the "possibility space".

That is for the "design" part. As for "anthropology" part, the authors ask, "can the particular staging of possibilities be seen as a new mode of ethnographic inquiry into people's concerns, aspirations and imaginative horizons" (page 7)? I like the words "staging of possibilities", and think this staging and archiving can well go beyond ethnogrpahy.

What is the use of these staged possibilities, after all, if and particularly as they may be not feasible for actualization yet? After all, one of my long-term complaint about various speculative design practices is their obsession with "shock" and "novelty", to a degree that they almost become entertaining (not unlike apoclyptic Hollywood movies). This concern is echoed by the authors too, as they point out that "speculative thinking is fraught with the temptation to lose sight of concrete limitations and constraints, or to gloss over very real controversis and conflicting view points" (page 8). On a positive note, if we remind ourselves that our agencies are not deterministic, rather it form feedbacks and diffractions with a certain assemblage, then we realise the potential this "possibility space" has for de/reterritorialization. They may not be tracable, but are contributors to dependent origination nevertheless.

And then the questions is, how we can encourage this de/reterritorialization? Education is one of the ways but certainly not the only one. This knowing of "whatever I do will create ripples in the world" somehow gave me courage to be more outspoken, to put my "naivety" or "idealism" out there. Like this post - who know where it will travel to.

Design anthropology therefore for me is this narrative including both a cartography of the past to the ethnography of the emerging future (possibilities). The book dedicated one section on the interventionist approach and views each contribution as experimental method of this emerging methodology. Of the 3 or 4 chapters, one is art practice, the other the running of design school at hard times*. I would say there is clearly convergence, but the definition is much fluid and open. I see my research of entrepreneuring also fitting in this framework. The problem is it seems to fit everywhere, all the time!

*this chapter, I believe, has been further developed to the book Everyday acts of design : learning in a time of emergency (Anastassakis and Martins, 2022))

[telugu-girl-13]

♡ Hasini's 150 Follower Event ♡

THIS EVENT HAS ENDED!

Hey, guys! I've been so excited to hold another event, and you helped me get there! I'm officially somewhat famous! And I'm super thankful to every single one of you who has acknowledged my presence in some way. Not just following, but also liking, commenting, reblogging, booping, anything and everything. Every single one of you have a special place in my heart, and I hope you know it! <33

﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖

Back with the theme! If you're new here, I'm crossing my fingers that you love it. And if you're one of the OGs, hope you enjoy the experience of this event once again! I'm obsessed with this, so it's making another appearance! Maybe for my next event, I'll have a few new tricks up my sleeve...

This event will be in the standard ask in my inbox format, with only one request per mutual! All of these requests must be sent between 7:30 AM and 9:00 PM Eastern Standard time, so you're not sneaking out during curfew! (You'll understand in a moment, and if you can't coordinate the timings from another part of the world, it's fine!) This post will be pinned on my blog from November 3 to November 10 and no requests will be accepted after that. Here is the link to my introduction post! Most of these are art-related! Hope you enjoy!

*This request might take a day or two during the school week! Hope you have extra drachmas! (I'm just kidding, the only thing you have to pay is your patience and time!)

﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖

Hello, new camper! You have followed me and passed Thalia's Pine Tree 🌲. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! Where would you like to go first?

🏐♡ - The volleyball court! To play here, send a prompt for a tag game in my inbox! Let's try to keep the volleyball up by keeping the tag game going!

🏠♡ - The cabins! To stay here, submit your godly parent and I'll provide some aesthetics that I think would fit your cabin (blog)!

🎨♡ - The arts and crafts building! To hang out here, submit your favorite color(s), hobbies, animals, symbols, and more, and I'll create a collage for you!*

🔥♡ - The amphitheater bonfire! To hang out here, sing a lyric of a song (in text, not actually) and I'll incorporate it in a moodboard!*

⚔️♡ - The arena! To hang out here, send a controversial or unpopular opinion about an appropriate topic! Make sure it isn't triggering or harmful, and is something like a ship or a favorite character! Let's battle it out! Anyone who wants can join the debate!

📚♡ - The library! To hang out here, send a headcannon for a book I've read and I'll comment on it and maybe even draw it!*

🏖️♡ - The fireworks beach! To hang out here, I'll compliment you and tell you why you I think you're amazing! Request this if you feel depressed or just need a friend to comfort you <3

﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖

While many of these may sound similar, trust me, each is different. I included some of the most popular options from last time and put a twist on some of them, hopefully I get a variety of responses! Thank you for participating, and even if you don't, thank you for supporting my blog through its journey! Love you xx!

See tags 50 follower event and hasini's 100 follower event for past activities!

[shock]

i really like that i can see development in my art style with collages more than i can see it in any other art i do...

1. started by mimicking what i was familiar with, covers of magazines, as i'd worked on them before and was really interested in making fake covers 2. i realized i could make them more abstract in imagery, use multiple mediums like stamps/ink/paint, and create more direct commentary 3. i fully went the direction of creating poetry by cutting multiple articles up to massively change the context and create my own meaning, i got really obsessed with this

4. when i would get tired of making collages with poetry on them i would pick a theme to "highlight", like hands, comic book words, or plants, specific animals, and compile a collection of that thing - these took longer than others and gave my brain a chance to zone out 5. i started tailoring them to people in my life, combining imagery and poetry to give a message for one person specifically who would understand it 6. i move on from just people i know to ask others for ideas/themes/expressions that i otherwise wouldn't think of, which helped me try different formats/shapes/set-ups to make different scenes

7. i start playing more with sensations (ie burning pieces off paper and layering them, collages that had moving parts, different textures) 8. i really want to start stepping away from using larger chunks of other works and make something more transformative, so i come up with roughly most of the poetry in my head to have a thread while i look for small clips that could fit where i want them to, using more than just words to make poetry, choosing types of fonts specifically to convey different tones

9. i start trying to make my own poetry from letters alone, combining the same things i've been practicing (in this case spamming extra letters, burning edges, and multiple layers) 10. now im learning how much writing is too much and how long it takes to make something like this and how i can combine it with other things i've learned to make more fun stuff, possibly more moving parts :)

[th3-z0diac]

How I Make Aesthetics.

Long post ahead, sorry :(

In the past, I've been asked multiple times how I create my aesthetics and where do I get the best pictures for them, so I figured I'd make this master post of what exactly I do. Btw this is coming from a person who has studied graphic design for 4 years and had about 4 years of experience in making zodiac collages here on tumblr. Do what you want with that information.

A few disclaimers

There are different types of aesthetics and in this post, I'm going to be specifically talking about a certain type that I like to make. Here, examples:

My most used format is 6 pictures in 3 rows, but I've also tried 4 pictures, like here for example:

There are other types such as minimalistic photos, dark academia, grunge, and SO many more. Please keep in mind that I'm not hating on these types and when I mention a rule such as don't use photos that are too minimalistic, I am not saying that minimalistic aesthetics are wrong or ugly or anything of that sort!

Just because I don't choose a certain photo doesn't mean I don't like it, it just means that the photo is not exactly what I'm looking for. By me showing you the examples below, I'm just trying to paint a picture. No hate here, okay?

I don't own any of the pictures I use (I've only used like one or two of my own photos in the past) but then again this is just for entertainment, I don't make money doing this or anything. If I ever get a message from an owner of any of these photos and they want me to delete it, I will delete it.

Where to get the photos

Pinterest! Period. AHAHAHA

No but seriously, pinterest and tumblr are my two favorite sources and you will find pretty much exactly what you need there. pinterest specifically.

On tumblr, I usually search for hipster, grunge, indie, and nature, but it also helps to just find specific blogs that focus on photography, follow them and then just download anything from your dashboard that you fancy.

I'll share what I search for on pinterest below👇. My secret tip would be to not always go for the first photo you find but rather to open a picture that sorta has what you like in it and then scroll down, because pinterest is going to recommend you similar, sometimes better fitting photos. On tumblr, I sometimes go to the blog of the person whose one photo I like, and there I tend to find many more of the same kind (since these bloggers usually post a specific kind of aesthetic).

How to choose photos

My number one tip would be to seek texture. Avoid photos that have little going on in them and anything too empty or minimalistic (unless that's what you're aiming for, obviously). Also, don't choose pictures that are very light or very dark, as they tend to stand out in aesthetics and that's not really what you want. At least in the type of aesthetics that I make, I want the final product to be almost a new picture in itself if that makes sense. To show you an example, look at this photo of two sleeping cats:

This photo seems like a good fit; it is well balanced in colours (there are shades of white, beige/ginger as well as some greens) and c'mon, it's two cats, what more do you need!!! However, let's look at it in a complete aesthetic:

While this aesthetic has a nice color scheme to it (well, it doesn't, I threw it together super quickly, but you get the gist), the photo of the two cats just stands out because the khaki background creates this kind of block of color that your eye will automatically go to and it sort of breaks the collage apart. So, by texture, I mean that a picture is filled, for example with trees, flowers, architecture, little people in the background, etc., etc. Furthermore, I prefer when there are more things photographed (for instance, look at the first picture of the aesthetic above; it has a mirror (and a tiny person in it), architecture and leaves all in one picture)

Next, personality. Go to Google Images and search 'Nature Photography' or 'Sunset Photos'. You might get something like this:

Or this:

Look at this absolute angel of a boy💚💚💚💚💚💚Isn't he the cutest freaking thing you've ever seen?????? I just want to give him all the treats and all the pets and — ...ehm, sorry, that's not why we're here.

So I don't quite know how to explain this point, but I guess usually professional photos like this are just so well done that they work perfectly well on their own and you usually don't put them in a set (only with other photos from the same photoshoot maybe). They're obviously well-balanced color-wise and high in quality, but they're just very individual and don't really need any addition in the form of other photos. This point also applies to the previous one (textures, in case you forgot); for example, a bunch of blueberries creates a nice texture, however it might be difficult to pair them with other photos. They have enough personality on their own (and this is not meant in a bad way to the photos I do use).

Related to this, you're looking for a story. Usually, if a photo gives off a certain vibe, tells a story, or just leaves any kind of strong impression, it might be a good indication that this is a good photo to use (given all the other rules as well, of course).

The main themes I search for are:

cities, villages, or abandoned places

related to that — architecture or only parts (details) of it

nature, specifically forests with either road or a body of water nearby, beaches, deserts and so on. plus points for tiny people in the distance

animals, usually with the addition of maybe the texture of a sweater sleeve or some blankets, something of that sort

people, my favorite kind is people turned away from the camera with an interesting background, because by them not having a face, they become a bit more relatable in a sense?

people in a river or some kind of water

museums, sculptures

etc.

Usually, I tend to avoid:

photos with text in it (though as an exception I would mention neon signs or letters/words that are for example above shops, on books, etc.)

heavily filtered pictures

photos with very specific (often bold) colors in them, unless you find multiple photos with that same shade. this again distracts the eye too much

GIFs, animated pictures, illustrations/drawings. also, don't use collages (cause you are creating a collage, duh)

black & white pictures

blurred pictures (or those that are purposely grainy — that goes back to the filters above)

anything obviously photoshopped

When trying to figure out where to put each photo

Squint your eyes. The photos should create a nice harmony, there shouldn't be a corner where it gets too light or dark or where some textures blend together, for example, if using multiple flower patterns, try to place them in different corners.

When to know your aesthetic is done

Actually even before you start, you should be in the mood. I have to admit, there have been times where I've felt pressured into making aesthetics, and now, looking back at them, I'm really ashamed of them. That is why I don't always post aesthetics as soon as I get them requested because I genuinely want them to look good.

Sometimes, it helps to not post the aesthetic straight away but to come back to it later with a fresh look. I'd say go with your gut. You should have a good, satisfying feeling about the aesthetic.

Last note

Rules are meant to be broken. Look at the aesthetic below. I used a minimalistic illustration (two birds with one stone I guess) (and admittedly, that one picture does stand out) and yet the aesthetic still came out pretty nice. So, just play around with your ideas and see what you like the most! I'm just a random person on the internet, you literally don't have to listen to any of the tips I gave you here today.

I know this might seem like a lot (honestly, if you've read this entire thing, you're crazy), but it gets easier and easier with practice, soon you won't even think about it.

Hopefully these tips will help you and please let me know if you decide to make any aesthetics. I would love to see them!! <3

[rpmemedumpster]

Hi, I'm an old Role Playing veteran. I've been trying really hard to get back into the semi literate rp world (do people still use these terms??) but all of my old rp sites and forums have been long shut down. Do you have any advice for me on where I can start my rp journey again?

Hello! I have no experience with forum rp, i only used to rp through private messages on DeviantArt, so if any followers here would like to chime in with more advice that would be superb! I have an rp aid tag that might help as well.

Anyway, tumblr is a pretty good site for rp if you ask me, because of the format. You’ve got your inbox people can send messages to and publish, and the nature of text-posts I’ve always found super helpful. I’m going to go into this assuming you’ve got no knowledge of tumblr rp so I hope this doesn’t come across as condescending or anything but I wanna be thorough!

Firstly! You’ll need info on your character (on tumblr, these are frequently called “muses”). 

A muse can be a canon character from a piece of media, or an original character. This information is best held on some kind of about or bio page, however those who roleplay on mobile cannot edit their blog pages to my knowledge so many have been hosting their bios on google docs, and linking to them in their description! This is the most important thing, because if nobody knows anything about your character, it’ll be hard to rp.

Next, a rules page!

Many will not want to rp with anybody who don’t have one. A rules page includes basically a little bit about your boundaries. Whether or not you rp with ocs, whether or not you engage in sexual rp, if you like to ship your character, things you need tagged, ect. If you don’t know where to start, it might be a good idea to look at some other folks’! I found that very helpful in my start on tumblr.

Get some kind of promotional post, and utilize the tags!

Some people create pretty graphics, I’ve got templates for them in my resources tag. Other people tend to do something a bit more simple, just an icon of their character perhaps and a little short advertisement of their character in a text post. People can find you if you use the tags. Say, if you’re roleplaying as Naruto, you’re gonna wanna tag the post as: #naruto rp, #manga rp,#anime rp, ect. For something like an oc you might want to tag it as: #oc rp, #fandomless rp, and any genres you might want to rp in such as #horror rp, #crime rp, #historical rp

Lastly, reach out! 

Sometimes the tags, especially original character ones, can be super flooded to the point where you might get lost in a sea of posts. Following people in my opinion is a good way to get noticed, because often they’ll check your blog out and maybe follow back. Some people are particular with who they interact with and there are some community specific terms I’ll link below but it never hurts to reach out and ask people if they’d like to roleplay.

Community terms: (some may be missing but i tried my best)

rpc: roleplay community

muse: a roleplay character. Can be an original character, or a character from an existing work. Sometimes real people as well such as youtubers but this is frowned upon generally.

mun or mod: the person who writes the character

ic: in-character

ooc: out of character. Can also be used to say a particular portrayal is poorly written, or not true to canon. (ie: this ___ blog is so ooc)

fc: face-claim, some blogs may used icons of actors or models in place of drawings for their characters appearance. FCs may also be from comics, manga, or cartoons.

mun fc: icons on ooc posts from the mun, different than the blog’s character.

private: (usually) will only roleplay with people who they follow, and also follow back

selective: this person may be choosy with who they chose to write with

semi-selective: this person is more open about who they write with, but will still deny some blogs

nonselective: this person will most likely right with just about anyone

musings: reblogged posts that often are something their character might say or think

thread: whatever particular rp scene that is being written. Usually takes place in the form of a text post.

meme/starters: something to be sent into the inbox for rp. Can be ooc or ic depending.

multiverse: multiple “verses” or timelies. Used for AU’s or for separating multiple ships.

multiship: this blog ships with multiple characters, each existing within separate timelines so that the character is not dating 10 different other characters at the same time.

multimuse: this blog has more than one character.

f2f: face-to-face, the characters are interacting in person

blog or online: a more meta (i guess?) style of rp where the characters are interacting on their tumblr blogs or otherwise online

one-liner: usually just dialogue in a response

para: a single paragraph in a response

multi-para: multiple paragraphs in a single response

novella: very long thread responses

group: a roleplay group! I don’t actually know how these work but that’s what this is.

indie: independent rp, not affiliated with a particular group.

fandomless: usually for an OC, this is an original character not created to exist within a pre-existing piece of media. tldr; not a fan oc/fan chara

self insert: an oc that exists to be the mun within the rp space.

Other helpful stuff:

new x-kit: very very helpful and a must-have as this will allow you to tag asks on desktop, check mutuals right on your dash, and most importantly trim posts so they’re not super long.

sessionbox: if you have more than one character you rp, and have a separate blog for each of them, this extension allows you to be logged into multiple accounts in different tabs

fancy text generator: lets you get text 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘, just by pasting in the plain text!

BeFunky: collage maker for moodboards and such

I hope this helps, if you have any more questions feel free to send another ask!

[kaydeeartworks]

IFY Project 1 Week 2 - Eden Project

Overview

Our overview for this project was fairly simple. We were tasked with creating some sort of animated response towards the Eden Project, free reign in whatever we chose to do.

What is the Eden Project?

The Eden Project was formerly a clay quarry that was entirely desolate of any plant life after it had been abandoned. The goal of the whole project was to explore the role of humanity within nature and what we could do to bring a better world for everyone, human, animal or otherwise.

Inspiration Gathering

I had taken some photos when we had arrived right away as my intent was to have worked on an animatic, but I believe the amount I've taken as well as the composition of the shots speak for themselves.

These three I took on our way down to the entrance - I really like the first two for the big, sprawling shots of the area, the third I enjoyed with the slight asymmetrical nature of the shot and the archs thanks to the bend.

Some big shots of the foliage - I usually love playing with up-close angles or accentuating the size through it, hence why a lot of my photographs may have an upwards tilt. I wanted to slot the pink flowers in especially as I love the sideview and the pink just immediately catches your eye within this set.

These four are more my interest in the textures and formations of the plant life as well as the materials - the scrap metal of the orangutan a wonderful contrast against the wood and leaves around it. The markings on the leaves in the photo beside it had also piqued my interest immediately with the white stripes due to what I believe was a lack of chlorophyll, thought it could've just as likely been natural marking.

Some more random assortments of shots - somewhat basic in their composition, very head-on. I found the little sculpture of crazy little people very entertaining, though. A lot of life and love within them in my eyes.

The final few photos as we hit the end of our trek. I loved the repetition of the bushes so I had to take a photo! The sculptures around the place have been something I've been fairly infatuated with - the use of materials that are eco-friendly to create such warm pieces as well as the utter craftsmanship that went into each utterly astounds me.

Process & Creation

Video Collage

So I had also taken a few videos whilst I was visiting and wanted to put them together for a different vibe. I had slowed down some of the footage to give it a much slower pace with an otherworldly vibe. I tried to give it a little narrative throughout - a journey in and around greener pastures before reaching the great unknown, beyond it a blissful garden. Pushing the idea of exploring our possibilities for a brighter future for all of us.

I had thrown on a tint upon the whole video to give it more cohesion between the clips, which I had done by using Premiere Pro's built-in FX tools. I simply copied the effect across them all and just slowly balanced out the greens that'd replace the lights and darks until it felt right. I went with green for the obvious plant motif, but green is also the colour heavily associated with life and energy, which I feel still really fits the overall vibe.

The fade-ins and outs were another visual effect I had learned to do with their tools, which was made by overlaying the clips on the tracks 1 + 2 and thus allowing the dissolve to be much more natural between the two clips rather than a fade in and out from black.

I initially planned to overlay more average sound effects and the likes on top but I had instead went hunting for some royalty free music to see if it could better deliver the aesthetic I wanted, which is when I found that one of my favourite underground artists had some music that was perfect for it.

'Outermetric Harmonic Cadence', by Post Elvis, 2022.

The slow, relaxed melody really helped sell the whole atmosphere of the video and I was sold on it the second I had lined it up with the opening.

Ditched Animatic

This was the reason sadly why my W2 turned out a little flat! I had originally wanted to do an animatic in the style of the animator Zalinki on Youtube:

The Janitor from Zalinki's music video for his song "Music For Sad People"

However, I had realised after having taken all my photographs for the Eden Project to use as some inspiration, this was a bit much to ask of for two-three days of work. For one person. So I had some write-ups and one little shot of the layout before I had realised I probably should've tried something else.

Of the multiple ideas we could choose from, I wanted to circle on three ideas specifically: the ideas of rehabilitation, rebirth and a captured environment.

The first shot was meant to be an establishing shot, so it was going to be of a factory out in a badlands field. The smokey clouds would be obscuring the setting sun and I'd've went for the complementary colour to green - purple - for the overall environment. The next frame's just the inside I was about to start sketching out but quickly realised I was probably too far in over my head.

The original outline of the idea is below:

Small Life Drawing

I had sat down and spent about 5m drawing what was a Calabrian succulent as I had liked the sort of noodle-tubing it had. My pencils were a little off as well as the clouds making lights shift constantly.

I feel it came out somewhat alright for a very rough sketch, but I wish I did a better job at blending the shades.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this project as it had got me to try video making for the first time as well as try out photography a bit more than just basic gathering for a project like it would be back in college.

It's definitely starting to push me towards wanting to make more life drawings as well.

Though, obviously, visiting the Eden Project was the main part of all this and I really enjoyed the hopeful, inspirational message it wanted to send out to everyone around Cornwall and the world.

[matildasampaio]

Tuesday, 9th of November

I've been super busy this week but managed to do some experimenting for my minor project. As I've mentioned before, I really wanted to work with mixed media – combining both analog and digital formats. I think that the main reason for this choice is because of its universality, I really want to integrate all I can into this project. For this reason, I've started using more of the workshops and figuring out what I can use different methods for.

Something that I really wanted to do was experiment with moving image. I've always wanted to do video and film but never really had the chance, but want to give it a proper go this time around.

Some keywords that I want to materialise in my project:

depth, layers, sentiment, darkness, light, duality, mood-swings, clutter, mess, drawers, hidden, noise, obstruction, creation, anxiety

I think that by using moving image I get time and space to show the different nuances of my thoughts, essentially showing how my brain works, how my thoughts progress during the day – the things I notice, the things I fixate on, what I avoid, my intrusive thoughts, my automatic responses, ticks and habits that I live with. Although I would like to have some kind of narrative in my video, it won't be a direct narrative, but rather a sequence of elements alluding to a narrative.

I've always really like working with collage and that will still be the backbone of my work, but to be able to have a "base" for that layering of images, I will be capturing some video footage myself.

I wanted to show the arbitrary nature of thought, by creating an imaginary space, filled with ordinary items presented in ways that aren't consistent with reality – but true to my perception of them in my head.

I was able to arrange a session in the Photography workshop, so that I could photograph some objects that I have at home – some are unimportant, others have some sentimental value. Essentially I wanted them to float in space, as "beings" that live in my brain.

These are the two objects we tested and that I have edited so far:

I started with 90 frames (so a frame for every 4º of rotation) but because the green screen idea I had wasn't possible (and consequently I had to cut around all the images myself) I ended up reducing it to 30 images. They look quite smooth but I don't actually mind if I can't notice the sequence of the frames, because I think it relates to the concept. Some objects I might make move slower or faster, depending on what they are: how much memory I have of them etc. or some might even glitch – as a representation of the loss of memory of them.

I find myself filling in the gaps of my memory automatically – my brain fools me into believing little details. I think its a human thing that everyone does, but its fun to play with idea of deception/illusion.

for example: when I lose/misplace things, its actually just me forgetting where I left them; when I think I've done a task that I actually haven't, my brain has just convinced me I have by replaying an old memory of some other day when I did; when I think I'm having a deja vu, sometimes it's just me recollecting what I dreamt about some other day.

I'm really excited to photography some more objects, next week hopefully I will be able to be more adventurous!