#if you have trouble visualizing the background

[heretodefyfate]

ngl, Zeight layout confuse me

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

There has been requests about getting a full body colour for Kook!Ford, so here he is, in all his beige, white, and brown minimalist glory <3 (THERE’S A REASON WHY HE HAS SUCH A BORING PALETTE I PROMISE)

Stupid colour rambles that are WAYY too in depth and probably mostly far fetched but this is my AU and I get to pick how much over-analysis goes into the characters’ colour schemes, fuck you:

Ford:

Characterised by pale, almost pastel-ish colours to emulate a sort of sick, unhealthy look.

The paler colours add to the illusion of Ford lacking presence, almost disappearing into the background, to convey how his existence often ignored or dismissed by most of the townsfolk.

Without any visually striking or contrasting colours in his palette itself, his own features blend into one another, blurring the details and diminishing any identifiable traits that would have typically identified him as Ford, or even a person (<- if that mindfuck of a sentence make any sense)

Hints of yellow to show remnants Bill's past influence on him. Because I’m dramatic like that.

Fiddleford:

Deep, rich forest greens with golden accents (influences of Bill appearing in his outfit) (I need to hammer Fidds out a lil’ more ngl)

Stanley:

Deep, rich blues and purples (opposite spectrum of yellow, aka. Bill's colour, which means = safety to Ford)

The inside lining of his jacket is vivid red, to reference his original colours palette and as a representation of his past self being hidden underneath the layers of his predominantly blue exterior, colours representative of his new identity (also red = warm and blue = cold)

His colours palette will eventually open up into something warmer on the outside, veering into purple.

Extra notes on his character: Stan (in this AU) is colder and quieter than his canon counterpart. After years of being in the mafia business, and years of running it as well, he has long since learned to mask his facial expressions and master the poker face (*cough cough* resting bitch face *cough cough*). But, his intimidating and serious air does not serve him any favours when it comes to literally anything other than his “work”, his inexperience when it comes to emotions all the more apparent with the twins. He has trouble expressing his feelings outwardly, and despises this part of himself, because it reminds him of his own father. He feels as though he is failing the twins by being too cold and distant, and tries his best to open up more.

Mabel:

Maintains her original colours palette with pink, but has more hints of red in her outfit, similar to Stan’s, particularly around her sleeves (allusion to “wearing your heart on your sleeves.” Yes, I know that it’s tacky)

The red shows she is more inclined to trust Stan, as she is willing to see past Stanley’s exterior facade of cold aloofness to see his “true” colours (good HEAVENS that is disgustingly cheesy to say but idk how else to really word this)

Extra notes on her character: Mabel trusts Stan fully. Perhaps a little too much. She I dolises Stan to an almost unhealthy degree, and is constantly plagued with the underlying fear of somehow losing Stan’s “interest”, as their mother seemed to have lost interest in her and Dipper. Deeply fears being abandoned again, and believes she “owes” Stan for having adopted them. She believes it is her fault that neither of their parents wanted the twins during the divorce.

Dipper:

Maintains original colour palette with blues, but pretty solidly lacks red in his outfit. He serves as the opposite spectrum of Mabel, instead being unwilling to fully trust Stan and takes him at face value.

Extra notes on his character: Dipper does not trust Stan, and is far more hyperaware of what kind of “business” their “uncle” runs. He is mostly worried about Mabel’s slight obsession with pleasing him, and fears that if they don’t behave, Stan might use his dangerous power and influence against them. He is convinced that Stan had ulterior motives to adopting them, cannot fathom what he, a seeming stranger with all the power in the world, could possibly hope to gain in adopting two abandoned children. Even more so, when even their parents didn’t seem to want them.

[shepherds-of-haven]

It's here.

The Shepherds of Haven Twine alpha build is live on Patreon!

What's New:

UI! A new UI for the game awaits you, including a range of visual themes to switch between light and dark mode, each with its own ‘minimalist’ version for those who favor strict readability! Stat screens, achievements, notifications, codex entries, newspaper articles, journal entries, storefronts, the day off hub, relationships, the character guide, the inventory, your room, trading cards, gambling, and so much more have been redesigned from the ground-up!

Miss the old look? Switch the font to Georgia and use the "Scholar" theme in your settings. You can even toggle "prioritize stat bars" if you want to change everything back to just stat bars!

A vast range of settings to customize your game! Includes several fonts and ways to read the text, including OpenDyslexic font, as well as toggles to disable or enable visual effects, music, and character art. 

Robust save system! Now, you can not only use 10 different save slots on your browser (including autosaves), you can also download saves directly to your device, arrange and rename them as you like, and even use them to play the game between different devices and browsers!

Interactive maps! Explore and learn about the world of Blest like never before!

Music! A gorgeous custom soundtrack for the game was designed and composed by Ivan Duch and will play at key moments in the story.

Art! New character art, character cards, collectible trading cards, background art, codex documents, bestiary notes, and so much more have now been integrated into the game. Don’t miss the absolutely gorgeous cover designed by Angela Wang!

Fully mobile compatible! Though desktop is strongly recommended for the best gameplay experience, Shepherds is mobile-compatible and feature-rich regardless of what device you play it on.

Other gameplay improvements:

Trouble and Briony are now romanceable by players of all genders.

All players can change their pronouns at any times. Pronouns do not affect romances.

Gambling is now unlocked earlier.

Two day offs is now unlocked earlier.

You can now allocate different points in magic and weaponry training to different skills, not just one at a time.

For now, the new alpha build is only available on Patreon, primarily because this is all new to me and I was working under a severe crunch after the abrupt closure of Dashingdon. Once all the bugs have been ironed out, I feel less nervy, and the dust has settled down some--and I get some semblance of a functional daily life back again--I'll get to work making a public demo available to everyone. It shouldn't be too long of a wait!

In the meantime, please consider signing up for the Shepherds of Haven newsletter: you'll be notified of only the most important announcements--including the release of the public demo, beta-testing opportunities, DLC announcements, and more. Plus, you'll get a free exclusive digital wallpaper based on Shepherds of Haven! :)

Other new links:

manifold-studios.com - official website for my games

@manifoldstudios - this (shepherds-of-haven) is still my main account, but you can follow this one for a cleaner way to receive just announcements as well!

linktree

newsletter

And, of course, if you want to give the new Twine build a try, you'll want to...

Play here!

I sincerely hope you enjoy! ✨

[zazaiafe2]

The power of sensory immersion for shifting

1) Why is sensory immersion so powerful?

Your brain doesn't really distinguish between an imagined and a real sensory experience

When you engage your senses (sight, sound, touch, smell...), you create .almost real signals.

This activates deep neural networks of immersion and facilitates letting go.

-> Sensory immersion helps to blur the line between CR and DR.

2) Do NOT force visualization

-> "I can't visualize" -> It's not a problem

Many shifters have noticed:

The more you FORCE the images, the more the analytical mind stays active.

The goal: let the sensations come naturally.

You don't need to perfectly "see" everything. You can:

- Feel-> Emotions, sensations.

- Hear -> Sounds from your DR.

- Imagine textures-> Your DR bed.

- Create ambiances.

3) Sensory profiles are different

We don't all have the same dominant sense. Find your strength:

- Olfactory : Imagined smells (perfume, rain, food)

- Auditory : Music from your DR, background sounds (cafes, forest, city, rain…)

- Visual: Blurred decors, dominant colors, symbols, your DR room

- Tactile: Skin sensations (wind, sheets, fabrics…)

- Gustatory: Taste of what you eat there

-> Identify which senses are easiest to invoke for you. Start with them.

For example, you can listen to this ambient sound if you shift to Hogwarts.

4) Scientific help, the role of the Default Mode Network

Your brain has a network that calms down when you immerse yourself sensorially.

This reduces internal dialogue and the "critical mind" that often blocks you.

-> The less your mind analyzes, the more your unconscious takes over, and ego identification decreases.

5) How to let images and sounds come without forcing

1) Breathe slowly .

2) Allow yourself to be blurry.

3) Start with small simple scenes.

4) Observe rather than actively create.

5) Don't look for "perfection", just try to "feel".

-> The more you let go, the more details come by themselves.

You can do a short meditation beforehand to relax and help you be in the present moment.

6) The importance of ASC (Altered States of Consciousness)

Immersion is facilitated in ASC (hypnagogic state, deep relaxation, light trance, it's not mandatory but seems to make things easier).

You can:

- Practice before sleep.

-Do gentle meditation .

- Use appropriate binaural sounds .

-> The altered state allows the analytical mind to disconnect and facilitates fusion with your DR.

Just after meditation you can put a subliminal or alpha waves for example

Julia method link

There are even subliminals that mix theta wave, affirmations and Sound atmosphere.

7) Practical examples according to your profile and what you prefer

- Auditory: Playlist of your DR during preparation

- Visual: Very simple scenes (just a dominant color at first, then an object where you are, and a room if you can)

- Tactile: Feel the sheet of your DR bed, the warmth of the sun, the texture of your DR pajamas

- Gustatory: Imagine tasting your DR breakfast

- Emotional: Feel the emotions you will have in your DR

-> The more you rely on YOUR strong channel, the more stable immersion becomes.

Examples of what people who shift on command can use

8) Do not try to control when the shift happens

-> Sensory immersion is a springboard.

The shift often triggers when you are immersed without trying to control the moment.

- Have fun "visiting" before "leaving."

- Release tension about the result.

- Obsession with the result blocks(Or at least decrease the chances); curiosity opens.

Even if you have trouble visualizing, you can rely on other things or your other senses.

9) What we learn from those who shift on command

Many report that this kind of non-forced immersion is key.

It's a balance:

->Sensory engagement + letting go = smoother shift.

Conclusion :Sensory immersion: a powerful tool, accessible to all.

No matter your profile.

You don't need to "visualize perfectly" .

You only need to play with your senses, let the experience build gently.

Remember: your brain is made for this.

[rist-ix]

Might end up redoing this one, but here's Stella's redesign!

Except I couldn’t settle on a color combination, so pls have three more:

We have, in order: saturated oranges and purple gradients, pale oranges and purple gradients, and finally saturated oranges with green gradients. I am not 100% happy with any of them, but I’ve changed them around so much that I’ve given up now. Also I am once again abusing that shiny bubble brush for the background.

Stella's canon redesign, I wasn’t too unhappy with in the trailer, but am absolutely APPALLED by in this final shot. Not only does it melt into the background like she's Stella, the Fairy of Camouflage and Making Me Squint, something about the lighting is bothering me as well. If this were an illustration I would say that they shaded her skirt with black, which is beginner mistake number 1. I don’t know if it’s the VFX of those solar flares (which also look like a flat yellow brush without any glow effects) or my eyesight, but I find it hard to see any detail in her costume. But let’s scrap all the post processing, and focus only on her outfit.

As @wearethewinx has pointed out in her analysis post, the shoes don’t match any color in her outfit. They do seem to be matching the pink in her wings, but it’s hard to tell, and even then, the peachy yellow they fade into remains the only instance of that color.

I like what they were going with for the top! The different halters create visual interest, and mimic the shape of light beams from a rising sun. Where it falls apart to me is the shoulder pads. Just like Bloom's, they look too thin and fabric-y to be armor, but not decorative enough to work as accessories. They actually cut into the shape of those light-beam halters, but since they’re not thick enough to overlap, they just kind of… intersect weirdly? There are so many oddly placed ribbons around her shoulders and neck that don’t really serve any purpose, and I’m not sure where most of them are going. Her lower arms are completely bare though, which is where I miss Stella's silver little wrist bracers from the original.

I also think the colors are. VERY saturated. Her hair doesn’t give a lot of contrast and I’m having trouble telling where her top ends and her hair begins. I feel like I’m staring into a microwave. Or at molten iron. Though I’m not really one to speak here I know I know

The only thing I really fixed in my redesign is adding the silver-blue accents. With her yellow hair and the orange outfit, you need something cold and shiny to balance it out, in my opinion. I tried incorporating that sunbeam shape into her silver halters, and gave her the pigtails back because that’s an ICONIC silhouette rainbow, STOP RUNNING FROM YOUR OWN GENIUS. Plus it gives more room between her orange outfit and her hair.

I tried to make her OG wings more moon-shaped. I failed. If I have to redo them one more time I will cry.

The part I’m actually proud of is the greens in her sleeves, if I’m being honest. It looks a little weird, and the sleeve itself also doesn’t really scream Stella to me, but it does look very bright and luminous. Plus, green is not something that’s usually in Stella's transformation, so I feel like I’m expanding my horizon a little.

All in all, not the redesign I’m proudest of, but it’ll do.

Also:

Get that goddamn rattle orb away from me. What’s she gonna do, bonk Knut on the head with this???

[apollonia4]

How do you think the brothers would handle an MC with auditory processing issues? Like, they can hear someone talking, but the words get jumbled in their brain if someone mumbles or otherwise doesn't speak clearly. Volume isn't necessarily the issue, though it does impact things - "loud enough to be understood, but not so loud it hurts my head" would be the ideal way to speak to them

Example:

"I wanna hang with you."

"You wanna... claim a shoe?"

Or perhaps

"Beel just had a whole cake."

"Beel just had a cool date? Oh my gosh, with who?!"

It's not something they're doing on purpose, just a quirk of their brain / hearing I guess lol

Hellooo, thank you for your request! I did some research and tried my best to write it accurately but if you see any mistakes, let me know! ♡♡

{]MC with auditory processing issues[}

MC has problems with hearing, how do the brothers deal with it?

Genre: fluff, slice of life, gn¡MC, headcanons, established relationship (separate).

Lucifer:

♤ He first learns of it when you two do paperwork together in the council room at RAD. Despite you two being alone in the room, there's much noise outside, disrupting the enviroment.

♤ He had asked you to put the papers on the desk below and got particulary puzzled when you started doing something entirely different.

♤ Upon asking you about it, you explained that you have this issue that keeps you from processing sounds correctly.

♤ When Lucifer learns of it, he takes it seriously. He always makes sure that whenever he wants to say something important there is little to none background noise.

♤ Like the little tease he is, he will on ocassion get really close to your ear and speak slowly so you can understand better but also to see your adorable blushing face.

Mammon:

♤ We know Mamms is a yapper, he often gets caught up in his stories or praises, forgetting about the outside world.

♤ So when he's talking with you about some drama in a casino he's been to recently and you interrupt saying you have no idea what he's talking about he gets very confused. But you are sitting so close?

♤ You explain your issue with hearing and that in this scenario he's probably talking too fast and your brain has trouble processing all of those things at once.

♤ He gets worried but as usual starts bragging about how humans are hilarious but when you give him a stern look he shuts up in a second.

♤ From this point forward he tries to remember (or wants you to remind him) to speak slower and more clearly. If you are in a crowded place, he will wave before trying to say something but if you don't like it, he will just give you a little nudge.

Leviathan:

♤ Levi talks a lot too, you don't mind but when you first met, understanding him was a real challenge. Because when he starts not only does he speak extremely fast but also pretty unclear.

♤ When you felt comfortable enough, you told him about your condition. He didn't judge, he was just curious. How does that work? Your ears hear but your brain doesn't??

♤ It takes him a minute to process but with your explanation he understans how to talk to you so you have it easier.

♤ When you talk in his room it's no problem, the place is quiet and free from any outside noises but in public he will try to provide visual aid and speak louder than usuall (which took a lot cause of his antisocial nature, but everything for you).

Satan:

♤ When Satan finds out, it's probably one of the first times he reads you a book. He must be a very fast reader with the ammount of books he consumes so I imagine that even reading aloud for someone he can get carried away.

♤ That is untill you gently stop him and tell him you can't understand a lot of what he's saying. He asks why and you fiddle with your thumbs slightly, wondering how to explain it best.

♤ When you finally speak, he doesn't interrupt you, focusing all his attention on your explanation. When you're finished, he reassures you that it's okay and that he doesn't mind at all.

♤ Infact it might be a good opportunity to calm down his stormy temper. From this point forward, he speaks slower and with more patience, giving you time to understand. If it's you, he never has problems with adjusting his lifestyle.

Asmodeus:

♤ He would likely not notice untill you tell him yourself, and when you do you are sitting in his room. Asmo is sitting by his vanity, removing his makeup and talking about his day.

♤ You listen carefully but one moment he gets particulary heated on some topic and you start to loose track of what he's saying.

♤ Valuing his silly little rants you interrupt him by saying you were really invested but you can't really hear him well. He looks at you confused, a little worried tilting his head slightly waiting for you to continue.

♤ When you explain your issue he realizes and rushes to you, apologizing that he didn't notice. You reassure him that you pay it no mind and that he's a great boyfriend. Now that he knows, no getting out of it. You're sitting in his lap while he goes on with his routine and keeps talking.

♤ He'll always bring you closer when he wants to talk which is a petty excuse for this big flirt but he also just wants you to be comfortable and be able to understand above all.

Beelzebub:

♤ He suspects something when you two are cooking together and he asks if you could bring him food from the fridge and you come back with something so different he has to double check. He thinks, maybe you are sick? Or tired??

♤ When he asks you about it, you get a bit flustered that you didn't warn him beforehand, you figured you could manage! You explain everyrthing he needs to know and he just nods his head.

♤ You think that's all but then he suddenly wraps his big arm around your waist and brings you close, putting his head on yours and telling you again what he wanted you to get but this time his tone is more clear.

♤ From now he tries not to speak when his mouth is full (not that his brothers haven't told him that a thousand times but he finally got it together for you). When it's loud in class and he can see you're overwhelmed, he just writes you a note as you both giggle exchanging it.

Belphegor:

♤ Belphie sleeps almost all the time so it's easy for him to miss this kind of detail when it comes to you. He also speaks rather quietly and sometimes you can't quite make out what he's saying to you.

♤ You tell him about your hearing issues one time when you're both napping in the attic so you're both close and you can hear eachother well. At first he doesn't say anything and you almost had to check if he fell asleep but then he scoots closer, lips brushing against your ear making you blush like crazy.

♤ He says it's no problem for him if it means helping you with your daily struggles, if he's not feeling up for speaking louder, he'll scoot closer or signalize some things with his hands. It works quite well for you and he's very patient, not getting mad when you don't hear but just muttering 'humans are silly', earning a light smack on the arm from you.

Last three days been kinda crazy, covid has had almost no mercy on my soul but I AM alive and fighting. Anyways hope yall enjoyed the headcanons, I had fun!

[steelheart-redux]

Steelheart Redux: Year 1 Retrospective

I meant to post this yesterday but forgot. Oops. Anyway, June 1st marked the official first full year of Steelheart Redux! For me, at least. While the comic didn’t go public until September, those who have been here since the start remember that I uploaded all of chapter 1 at once. That work started in June, so I consider that the comic’s effective birthday.

With that disclaimer out of the way: what a year it’s been! In 365 days, I drew 153 comic pages. That’s about 0.4 pages a day— a little shy of a page every other day. Granted, those numbers aren’t an even spread. I made all of chapter 1 in three months (68 pages) and then had to take a break for a while because of wrist strain (wonder how THAT happened…) and then the amount of backlog I had fluctuated wildly for a while. Some days I have more time and motivation than others. It happens.

Quite honestly, I’m mainly happy that I’ve stuck with the project. My worst fear was that I’d get a month or two into Actually Doing The Thing, then get bored, demotivated, and give up. Luckily, my brain has allowed me to stick with Redux with a level of consistency that is frankly unforeseen from me, and I’m just as motivated as I was a year ago, if not more, thanks to people's interest. I’ve said it before, but the reception to the story already regularly blows me away. I went into this with the expectation that it would take years for the comic to gain any real traction, if it ever happened at all. But here we are, a year in, with tens, if not hundreds of regular readers across multiple platforms. It’s an honor I don’t take lightly, and as I’ve said, I’m so, so grateful for the trust and support.

Looking back, the comic started on wobbly feet. That’s something I knew even at the time and had to make my peace with. Steelheart Redux is my first original story project, first long-form comic (first colored comic longer than a few pages, tbh), and first time I've ever really left the title of "fanartist" behind for longer than a month or so. I knew I was entering uncharted waters and that whatever I made, I'd later come to see as 'bad', or at least, not executed as well as it could have been. Unfortunately, the only way to get that experience and improve is to do it bad. So I did it bad!

STRUGGLES:

Chapter 1 is way too long. Not in terms of content, but in terms of page count. For some reason, I was utterly allergic to the idea of putting more than four panels on a page. While I do like the pacing of it, and the sort of slow ease-in to the world and the setting, I made way more work for myself than I needed to. I definitely could have cut at least 10 pages by compressing things without seriously hurting the pacing, and it would have saved me a lot of trouble. Figuring out how to "trim the fat" and get to where I'm going as fast as possible without making things feel rushed is still something I'm working on, but I'm a lot more intentional about things now that I know it can cost me time and physical strain. You can see the font size slowly shrinking throughout the comic's run as I pack more in, lol. Honestly, it kind of works.

I have various other nitpicks. I'm sparing myself from the general "I don't like how I drew that"s in terms of anatomy and such, as those are just an inescapable result of improving as an artist and not worth getting in the weeds over. I will raise my eyebrows over some lighting choices-- I went out of my way to plan out a way to make the nighttime section of early chapter 2 read as "night, but not dark", and then the entire bit was annoyingly dark as hell. Trying to get the purple DRACO to visually stand out from the concrete there was obnoxiously difficult. I don't think it's bad-- I like the 'scribble background' gimmick I came up with to save myself from having to do backgrounds there, for one thing-- but I don't think it would have killed me to brighten up that section a bit. Something to keep in mind for later.

Speaking of backgrounds. Maybe it's too early to say, but at least right now, changing the background style was a game changer. That was one of the largest time sinks of early pages, adding 2-3 hours to every page that had at least one or two backgrounds. They were doable, but tedious, and as time went on, I found myself enjoying them less and less, instead of more and more as I'd hoped. You can see details start to disappear as a result, as backgrounds stopped being a "fun worldbuilding element" and "visual element of the page" and became just "something I had to draw to get the page done". Changing the style to a much looser one has brought the fun back, and made it much easier to pack in all the details I actually enjoy drawing without getting bogged down in "is the perspective exactly right". I've written posts before about making things easier for yourself if you're doing a long-form project; this is honestly my best example.

GROWTH:

I feel like, looking back, I can see myself become a lot more confident with drawing various things. Steelheart Redux is filled-- intentionally and not-- with things I'm bad at drawing, which has forced me to improve at those things sheerly through unavoidable repetition. Mainly, this includes backgrounds, mechs (still can't get me to draw cars though LOL), full bodies, and profiles.

It's also interesting to see the way I draw characters change. Going into the comic, I'd already been drawing Arthur for years, but making pages forced me to really lock in his design and get comfortable with drawing it. While it's not too different in terms of content, it has a different 'feel' now. This, too, I know is inevitable, and honestly something I look forward to.

I've become a lot more confident in doing these things, which makes making pages less intimidating and lets me experiment more with layouts and angles I might have otherwise been afraid to try. It's nice! It shows in a lot of the end of chapter 2, which is one of my favorite parts of the chapter. I was worried about hitting those emotional beats, because they're setting up for a lot and really needed to feel meaningful, but I think I landed them alright. My character writing is still something I worry a bit about-- there's a lot of subtlety to these guys and this story I worry I won't be able to get across in a more visual story-- but that's something for me to increasingly focus on going forward.

Away from the comic, I've also improved a lot as a 3D modeler. My robot rigs have improved, and I have much better human bases to work off. I can also slam out a layout for a scene much faster, which is a nice time boost to my workflow.

Overall, despite the hurdles and rough edges of some of the early stuff, I'm incredibly proud of everything I've produced. This is the first time I've ever put my heart, body, and soul so thoroughly into a project like this, and I'd like to think it shows.

While we're still in somewhat of the early stage of the comic's story, I'm hoping I've made a solid foundation for myself. I'm so excited for what's to come, and hoping I can execute it even better, year by year.

[auchrauch]

A (not so) detailed post about the current project I'm working on

Bringing here a slightly more extended version of my post from bluesky.

Please be nice because I might have one more thing to share with TGCF fandom.

I want to make a short visual novel featuring hualian in post-canon. Emphasis on "want to" because with a project of this scale I can't guarantee that it'll end up as a fully finished thing.

The original idea behind me starting this was simply "hualian having a wholesome day", though the mood slightly shifted towards something a bit more melancholic after I picked up a poem after which I named the game. (The poem's "Spring morning" by Meng Haoran). There is no continious heavy plot, just various SFW and NSFW routes which aren't connected between themselves (or are they?)

I tried to include different dynamics, so you can expect to see the classics (Top HC/Bottom XL) as well as versatile hualian (these routes can be hidden if someone doesn't fancy it). I also should mention that my understanding of characters and their dynamic can differ from what's considered the "norm" in the fandom, but I refuse to slap OOC label on my work because that's how I perceived these characters while reading the book and I'll be sticking to it. Oh, and I'm also following the revised version so there could be offhand mentions of events from the new extra or other small details like that.

I'm planning to release the final SFW version of the game for free (if it'll be finished at all), though I'm still not sure if I should hide NSFW version behind a paywall. Maybe I'll make one-time purchase posts for intermediate beta-builds too, so people can have a glimpse of what is in the works. Ideally I'd like to have at least some monetary support while working on this project, but providing consistent updates and materials in the patreon format wouldn't work for me, since, aside from commissions to pay my rent, the other project I'm involved with as an artist already takes a lot of my time.

So I can't give any dates and promises and will be simply working on this at my own pace.

So far, I have a complete (not proofread and not fully edited) script for all the routes as well as a working base for the game in renpy. I'm also almost done with UI and I made a couple of backgrounds, but that's nothing compared to how many more of them I still need. (You'll be subjected to looking at the picture attached to the post over and over again at the every start of the game).

For the next step, I'll probably focus on one route at a time and start filling them with visual assets.

I also can't decide whether I should stick to British or American English because:

1) This stupid gaijin can't differentiate between the two anyway.

2) I already started using "arse" yet I lost all the "u"s from my "ou"s and now I don't know which to change.

I'd like to hear which one people prefer more.

If you want to help in some way—I'm having trouble with sound design part as I'm locked out of purchasing anything from international sites/commissioning someone from overseas, and I don't want to risk commissioning assets for a NSFW lgbt game from anyone local since it' simply not a safe move. If you know any good resources that distribute sfx/sounds/music under a free flexible license please share! I'm using GDC royalty free archives but this obviously doesn't cover all my needs.

Idk what else to say here. Send help? Prayers for my sanity? Donations so I can pay my rent??? God, what am I even doing.

Here's the assortment of some early wips I already shared elsewhere:

[rcsea]

𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐀* & 𝐘𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐀*

Twin single muse carrd templates. Espionage / superhero themed.

✧ Features: A carrd design prioritizing information. Comes in two colors, but you can customize however you wish. Add or delete sections as needed and edit to your heart's desire, just don't remove the credit. The loading screen on the front is actually an image; it can be customized via a PSD file, which will be included along with instructions below if needed (or you can delete it entirely if you'd rather not, it's one element). Tested to be mobile friendly but that may vary by device. Contains a page for guidelines, a dossier with tabs, a biography page, a verse page with tabs, a headcanon page, a mains/affiliates page, a page for links and navigation, and a visual gallery for your muse. If you have any issues or questions about editing the carrds, you are more than welcome to ask me here on my tumblr and I will try my best to help you!

✧ Terms of Use: Like / Reblog if you use, please. Do NOT use this for illegal content or to promote hate (this includes "burn books" and callout / vent blogs). Do NOT remove the credits or make them invisible somehow. Edit as you wish, but no matter how much you change it, do NOT claim it as your own!

✧ Price: $6 for early access , these will be FREE / pay what you want on July 21st. If you want to help a girl out with a tip, I'd greatly appreciate it 💗 ( Important Note! This template requires Pro Lite or higher to use due to the number of features included ! )

【 NATASHA DEMO ✧ NATASHA DOWNLOAD 】 ── RED 【 YELENA DEMO ✧ YELENA DOWNLOAD 】 ── BLUE 【 GRAPHICS DOWNLOAD 】

Instructions on how to edit the password graphic below the cut (it's simple, I promise).

If you want to use custom colors on the template and want the password animation to match, you need to download the file "password customization.psd" from the google drive linked above (graphics download) and open it in an editing software. For the sake of ease and accessibility, I'm using photopea for this, which is a free editing program that can be accessed entirely online.

1. First, open the file. It will looked jumbled in the preview; this is okay, it's meant to look like that, and the animation will display correctly when it's saved as a .gif file.

2. To change the colors, all you have to do is change the "color overlay" on the layer folders to your preferred colors. To do this, right-click on each folder that has "effects" attached to them. You'll have to do them individually but there are only four of them. Click the option that says "Blending Options" and you should see the following box pop up.

3. Click on the setting that says "color overlay". Change the color in the box indicated below to whatever color you want. Do this for all four folders. Then click on the layer that say "BACKGROUND COLOR" and fill that with whatever color you want the background to be. It needs to match the one you intend to use for your carrd or it won't be seamless.

4. When you're satisfied with the colors, all that's left is for you to save the gif. Click file > export as > .gif. BUT in order for the animation to play as intended, you have to save it with a specific setting change. Most of the time, when you go to save a gif, it sets the "repeat" factor to 0, meaning the gif will play on loop continuously. We don't want that. So we're going to set the "repeat" factor to 1, that way the gif will play only once when the card is opened.

And that's all you have to do! The gif should be good to go, just insert it on the carrd in the first image box. If you have trouble editing it on your own for whatever reason, I'd also be happy to do it for you. If you would rather not use the fake gif loading screen, you can just delete that element entirely. But you also need to delete the blue section divider beneath it that says "main", that way links to your carrd will go directly to the menu instead of the fake loading screen.

Enjoy ! 🩷

[queenhunter102]

Damaging Government Property.

I don't know if you have seen the Video on TikTok where the wife had gotten in trouble for 'Damaging Government Property', I.E., she had given her husband a visible hickey, but I sure did. Blurb: Imagine you had just crawled your way into bed, it being the first night with  them being gone on a mission

You had barely climbed into your bed, flopping onto your front, your head hitting the pillow.

RING

RING

Simon 'Ghost' Riley You wonder who could be phoning you at such a dumbass hour; when you check your phone, it says private number, and you sigh, picking it up; it's Price at the other end.

“The Riley Residence” "This is Captain John Price"

You pull back from your phone looking at the number before you put it back to your ear.

"Yeah? Hi John"

"Don't 'Hi John' me, I can't believe that I must talk to YOU of all people, but Don’t Damage Government Property”.

That was all that was said before John hung up the phone, you stared at the phone wondering what that was about, before putting it back on your nightstand and falling asleep cuddling Simon's pillow.

A week later

You are sitting on the very few calls you can get with Simon when you remember the strange call from John.

"Hey Si, I got a question for you," you say, picking at an imaginary lint off the blanket that covered you.

"What's that, babe" came back the gruff reply, the sounds of a base in the background.

"John phoned me like a week ago and told me not to 'Damage Government Property' " you say, the word's damage Government Property sounded unsure and uneven.

There was silence on the line "What?" Said Simon.

You sighed "Yeah, I think he phoned the wrong person, could you talk to him about it”.

"Babe, what time did he phone you?" Simon asked.

"I don't know, like two in the morning" You could practically hear Simon's eye twitch.

"I'm going to kill him for disturbing you at a fucking dumb hour," Simon said as he hung up. Johnny 'Soap' McTavish You lift your phone but are not quite ready to sleep yet. The phone call read as private, and you are confused. You know Johnny won't be allowed to call you yet, but you pick up the call anyway. "Hello, you're calling Soap’s spouse," you say, sounding annoyed; you hear Ghost's tired sigh on the other end. "It's Lieutenant Simon, I know he's your boyfriend--" He said. "Fiancée, you know this, Si. You were there," you say, annoyed that he had addressed you and Johnny wrong. Ghost sighed this time, trying not to bark at you. "Until you and he share the same last name, I don't care," he said, practically growling in your ear. "My point is, I saw that stupid mark you left," He says, sounding annoyed; you scrunch your face in confusion. "What mark?" You say, sounding confused This time, he growled, "The Hickey, you know, the big bruise you gave him." Your face made an awed face, and now that you knew what he was talking about, you sighed into the phone. "I was careful; I made sure." At least you were confident. You knew better than to leave anything visual. "Yeah, well, guess what? We can see it, so do me a favour and don't Damage Government Property." A week later

Your phone began buzzing, it was Johnny. “Johnny! Is everything ok?” you asked, sounding a little worried it wasn’t often that he called you when he was out on a mission. “Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine, Doll. I just found out that Simon phoned you, getting you into trouble for marking me. Honestly, I had my shirt off, and you’re the one in trouble,” he said, sounding pouty. He had gotten you in trouble for something that wasn’t your fault. Captain John Price

You sat in the Rattan Swing on the back porch, looking out to your back garden, your fingers tracing over the letters that John had sent you. You knew it was cheesy, but it made you feel special that he took the time to sit and write to you. Your phone sat off your side as you rested your head on the bars. Your phone began vibrating shaking you out of your fantasy, picking up your phone, answer the call without looking at the caller ID. “Well done, you’ve reached Captain Price. What can I do for you?” you say, your eyes still on the letters. All you heard was heavy breathing before John spoke, “I can’t believe they’re making me get you into trouble for this.” You pulled your phone away from your ear, looked at the number, and found it said ‘Private.’ “John? What’s happening is everything alright?” You ask sitting the letters to the right side of your knee, sitting up on the swing.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just-” He sighs before he speaks again. “Honey, you know before I left…we uh-you-know”, You smile, thinking of when you were lazing around the house, “Yeah? What of it, John?” “You gave me a hickey, and it was seen by one of my Commanding officers, and I need to give you the talk about ‘Damaging Government Property’,” he said, sighing. Well…Don’t damage government property,” he said, hanging up. You rolled your eyes. This was going to be a very long month. A week later “I can’t believe they made me give my own god damned spouse into trouble”, John exhaled. You laughed into the phone. “I know, it’s all you’re talking about in your letters”, you say, as you flicked through the most recent ones, “You still keep those?” he asks, and you smile. “Always.” Alejandro Vargas

You were repeatedly pushing furniture around your shared living room when your phone went off. When you finally reached your phone, you could barely catch the call. “Hello? You’ve reached the annoyed Vargas,” you say, leaning against the couch that was taking up half of the room. “Yeah, it’s me, John. I get you and Alejandro have fun and like to play a little hot and heavy, but not where the rest of us can see it,” John says, sounding a little annoyed. You tilt your head back. “John, I don’t know what you’re on about,” you say. “The Hickey, the one that is a deep purple; it's visible, so here’s the tagline: Don’t damage government property,” he says, huffing as he hangs up the phone. You pull your phone away from your ear as you finally read through your notifications, all from Alejandro, warning you not to pick up any private calls. A week later “I can’t believe you picked up the call,” Alejandro said, annoyed; you giggled into the phone. “He would have kept calling if I didn’t, you know how your captain is” you say, as you lifted the TV onto the TV stand, “Yeah, Yeah, He's a dog with a bone, You better not be re-arranging our flat.” You paused, turning to your phone. “No, never” Kyle Garrick You groaned as you rolled over onto your front, your phone insistently buzzing on the side table; you grumbled as you sat up blindingly, hitting your phone “Hel-lo?” you mumbled. “Hello, it’s John Price”, came the voice over the phone; you made a muffled noise “John? Ky’s Captain?” you answered, your eyes still bleary, trying to adjust to the darkness. “Yes, It’s his captain. I’m calling to discuss the hickey you gave Kyle,” he said, sounding frustrated; your face pinches as you lean over and flick on the light, it blinding you slightly, “Hickey? I didn’t-” you paused as your brain started to wake further “Oh yeah? No, I remember, the night-” you mumbled half out of it. “Ah, Ah, Ah, I don’t want to know, nor do I care. Just don’t damage government property,” he said before he hung up. “I can’t believe I’ve had to make a to all the boys,” he grumbled before the call cut out. A week later “He said what?” Kyle laughed, and you flipped your phone over onto your other shoulder. Yeah, apparently, you’re not the only one,” you said, laughing, as you pulled out the cookies from the oven, the tray clinking on the table. “Oooo, are you making your famous cookies?” came a different voice over the phone, and you rolled your eyes as you hit the speaker. “Yes, Johnny, they are the cookies.”

(If you want to be a part of my tag list, check HERE for specifics)

Taglist: cringeycookies, dneicjefx Remember: leaving a like, re-blogging, and commenting helps in this world and encourages more.

See you around, my little loves.

Kissess.

[canmom]

Animation Night 189: Nonphotorealistic

There is a funny trend in animation-related terminology to define things by what they aren't. Animation is any technique for creating film that isn't live action. Limited animation is any style of 2D animation that doesn't follow the conventions of Disney's 'full animation' on 1s and 2s - a category that includes a wildly diverse range of approaches and techniques, as this wonderful history by Animation Obsessive describes.

In 3DCG circles, there is a similar term: nonphotorealistic. Which describes, naturally, anything that isn't trying to look like a photograph of a real scene. There has been a real boom in this of late, and just like the other terms, it really doesn't narrow it down very much. Other terms like 'hybrid animation' add a bit more hints.

Of course, if you've been anywhere near animation in the last few years, you'll probably know another term: 'Spiderverse style'.

There is no denying that Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018) by Sony Pictures Animation was an absolute landmark for animation. (I wrote about it way back on AN21, focusing more on the cultural angle.) The ludicrously stylish film pretty much set the direction for animation in the 2020s - making a bunch of money and awards and thus finally throwing open the door to 3DCG animation that doesn't look like the style set by Pixar/Dreamworks in the 2000s. Its sequel, Across the Spiderverse (2023), was even more ambitious and successful (despite a troubled production involving a lot of needless crunch). We'll be showing that soon in a Spiderverse double bill so look forward to it!

So perhaps not surprising that when people see the use of graphical styles, 2D elements, limited framerates and the like in 3DCG these days, Spiderverse comes to mind. In its wake have come various films and series that apply these and related techniques: 3DCG animation is more varied than ever, and it's cool.

It isn't really a style, tho.

Here I'm indebted to youtuber Camwing who has made a nice video overview breaking down the animation of recent movies in this vaguely defined paradigm. Among them we have The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021, also Sony), Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022, Dreamworks), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023, animated at the French/Canadian studio Mikros animation), and of course over on Netflix you got the wildly popular League of Legends spinoff series Arcane (2021, Fortiche Productions), and the romance film Entergalactic (2022, DNEG), tying in with an album of the same name.

None of these films has exactly the same style, but they all pull from a related bag of tricks. The core techniques are animating on reduced framerates for a 'snappy', high-clarity feeling, the combination of 2D and 3D elements in some fashion, and taking inspiration from traditional media such as paintings or comic books.

For example, Arcane and Entergalactic both use the trick of 2D backgrounds/projecting paintings onto 3D geometry, inhabited by 3D characters with a stylised shader. Arcane is dripping with 2D visual effects. Puss in Boots drops the framerate during its action scenes - the opposite of the old paradigm of full animation, where fast actions would get more frames. Spiderverse draws 2D expressions onto its 3D models to push them further, and is full of all kinds of colourful stylised rendering - screentone effects, kirby dots, outlines, the works.

It's tempting to link this to 2D-in-3D animation, and certainly many of these films apply this technique - this is the major niche where Blender has found its way into industry pipelines. But using 2D isn't mandatory to count here. For example, TMNT Mutant Mayhem has an incredibly striking storybook-painting style, accomplished largely by clever shader work and a strong sense of graphic design. Genndy Tartakovsky's canned 2014 Popeye project was planning to use a ton of 2D-style posing and squash-and-stretch, accomplished largely with rigged 3D models. There are many paths to take!

And mind you, I haven't even covered one of the biggest angles here. Search for nonphotorealistic 3DCG on Youtube and what you'll probably find most is information about cel-shading - aka 'anime style'. This has also advanced considerably in the last few years, with the techniques pioneered by Arc System Works in Guilty Gear such as editing the normals of characters for more precise control over shading, and minute adjustments to break up the mechanical feeling of 3D, becoming widely copied in both games and films. (And particularly, animated porn.)

Vtubers in particular have really run with this technique, generally speaking using cel-shaded models with edited normals, inverted eyes, etc. etc. to try and get the feeling of an anime character come to life. [You can see a lot of these state of the art techniques if you download Pixiv's free VRoid Studio software and import the model into Blender using the VRM plugin.]

Naturally this kind of cel-shaded approach has found a particular home in Japan. In anime, the biggest champions of it are certainly Studio Orange, whose hybrid approach involves planning out shots with 2D animation before matching them with the rigs. We've covered their adaptation of Houseki no Kuni in great detail on Animation Night 97; their Trigun reboot was perhaps even more popular. But cel-shaded techniques, 3D previs and the like have also made their way into big films like Eva 3.0+1.0 (AN66).

Although this type of rendering aims to recreate the look and feel of 2D animation as much as possible, it always ends up being something new: character models that would be too complex to draw, an ease to 3D movements and camerawork that would be challenging in 2D, and generally a new hybrid style. This is good! 2D animation is already very good at being 2D animation - it's fascinating to see what 3DCG becomes with that inspiration.

So with that brief overview, where does that take us tonight?

I'm not quite ready to do a Spiderverse double bill tonight, so instead the plan is to check out a couple of recent American franchise films that are taking on the new suite of techniques. I've mentioned them up above, but let me introduce them more fully here.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a sequel to a fairly unpopular spinoff about a side character of the Shrek franchise (AN75). Not, on its face, very promising - which is why it is all the more striking that I was told on all sorts of sides that I must watch this movie. I'm finally going to make good on that.

The title character is a kind of feline musketeer type, now facing the end of his swashbuckling career as he's lost 8 of his 9 lives. Not wanting to hang up his hat, he goes on a quest to restore them. What makes it stand out its the action scenes, which go all in on the anime-influenced, extreme perspective and lighting, limited framerate style that we're discussing above. Apparently it looks sick as shit.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a fresh reboot of the venerable TMNT franchise, which pretty much describes itself in the title: four turtles (named after Renaissance painters, of course!) live in a sewer as ninjas, led by their aging master who is a rat. Starting as a comic book, it became one of the iconic toyline-driven TV shows of the 80s - but it's still going! Indeed, Turtles has been on a roll of late (at least going by animator scuttlebutt), with Australian studio Flying Bark Productions turning a lot of heads with their neo-Kanada School style (and for really stretching the definition of 'storyboard').

This new film takes a different approach to the bombastic action of Rise. It focuses on a new origin story for the turtles, telling a kind of coming of age story - but what makes it unique is the animation style and cinematography. Cinéma vérité is not a phrase you really expect to be associated with ninja turtles, but the film seems to really go all out in a way you wouldn't really expect from a franchise movie, shooting the young turtles in a handheld style and focus heavily on character. Marcel Reinhard's shader work, allowing the animators to isolate lights to specific objects and characters and introducing graphical elements of cross-hatching, stippling, etc. etc. to the lighting, gives it a uniquely painting-like feeling, augmented by a lot of 2D creativity in lighting and effects.

Turtles has never really been my thing, but this film looks unique enough that I really want to see it - and I hear it's a good film too.

So that's our bill for tonight! Puss and Turtles. Let's see what the big studios have been cooking of late...

Animation Night 189 will be starting around 10pm UK time (roughly three hours hence) and carrying on til about 2-3am same! We'll be on twitch.tv/canmom as usual. Hope to see you there!

[joc3lynn]

༘⋆🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ ༘⋆🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ ༘⋆🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ

𝐓ɦ𝖾 𝐒ᥣ𝖾ρ𝐆 𝐌𝖾𝗍ɦⱺᑯ !

kind of long blog ahead !

Here I present to you the SlepG method. It is a method I created myself that combines the word sleep and grace into the word SlepG.

What does this method SlepG even do Josie? You ask. It is a shifting method that I tested out myself and I think it could work out good for you too as well. This method could make your body asleep and your mind awake. But our minds are different so you should make your own personalized method that makes you shift the best.

How do I apply the SlepG method? You ask. Well it is pretty simple. Relax, focus on ASMR in the background, and then when you feel symptoms of body going asleep, you simply imagine/assume you are your DR self breathing OR connect your symptoms to your DR.

But let me break it down !

1. Relaxing

You can put on a meditation, focus on your breathing, or just simply lay there. But if you have trouble relaxing I recommend you watch something relaxing like ASMR so you can get into a relaxed state.

2. Focus on ASMR

When you feel truly relaxed like really truly relaxed focus on the ASMR. Studies show that ASMR decreases heart rate which is great for shifting since you’re getting into a more meditative state now as your body falls asleep.

3. Imagine DR self breathing

Once you feel symptoms of your body going to sleep you can now assume you are your DR self breathing they are different ways to do this. Visualization, affirming or just simply knowing you are breathing in your DR.

Or connect the symptoms to your DR like if you feel floaty just assume that your DR self (you) is feeling floaty so that why you feel afloat because your DR self is you right now. And in some time you should be in your DR.

Key Tip :

1. Don’t try to control your symptoms or force your body to go to sleep. Just let your body do their job.

If you shifted with this method or made a variation of it (mini-shifts do count as a shift) then send me an ask or DM me telling me your success if you want to.

- josie

Bye Bye 🫶🏾

༘⋆🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ ༘⋆🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ ༘⋆🌷🫧💭₊˚ෆ

Post inspired by @shimmershifts

[solarusofsun]

Sometimes I have to hold myself to not yap everytime I found any content about Noisette, It just that I love her so much that I want to show everything I found of her Talking about yapping, did you know that there is a Visual Novel about Noisette in development right now?

LIKE WHAT

I discoverd this in Reddit and I ask @jeffandcookies (The creator of said Visual Novel) if I can post about it and not only they give me permission, but they also show me some of the progress they been doing :D Do you know what's the best thing about this? It's a Mystery Visual Novel, meaning, WE HAVE A DETECTIVE NOISETTE OMGGGG

LOOK AT HER, SHE LOOKS SO CUTE IN THAT DETECTIVE FIT, JEFF DID SUCH AN AMAZING JOB WITH HER, AND NOT ONLY HER, LOOK AT GEROME OHMY

HE LOOKS SO SILLY, Poor guy, I wonder on what kind of trouble's he now :0

Oh, and we also have this WIP from a sprite from Bruno :000 Jeff said that maybe they would re-do it but I wanted to show it anyways, also Fake Peppino will be also part of the game 👀

Oh! and they also send other stuff apart from those sprites, we have this background menu

AND THIS TV SCREEN

The Tv screen is supposed to be a contrapart from the Tv screen from the PT menu, I love the idea

IM SO HYPED FOR THIS GUYS YOU DONT HAVE ANY IDEA, JEFF COOKED SO HARD WITH THIS PLS GIVE THEM ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT THEY DESERVE Like, Im so hyped I draw Noisette with the cute fit Jeff did

OMGGG I cannot wait to see what's the future of this proyect, Im genuinely intrigued and I will wait patiently for any progress, hope you guys get as hype as I am :]

Again, show @jeffandcookies some love and support for this, and thank u for letting me post about it ^^

[whetstonefires]

you know how in the thousand and one nights the story of aladdin is putatively set in china?

i wanna see that done, just taken and run with, by one of those chinese studios that put out eleventymillion period dramas, on film lots so crowded the sound has to be recorded separately and dubbed in, because if they tried to do it at the same time as the video, lines from other dramas would keep showing up as background noise.

just take all the specific story beats of 'aladdin' and portray them according to the aesthetics and rules of Period China and see how it comes out.

the bit where aladdin hides behind a door to spy on the princess without her veil is i think doable by the standards of television if not of like. real actual historical china. hits a bit different tho, because traditional persian veiling is you know. kind of a big deal. while chinese traditions of elite female seclusion followed slightly different principles.

aladdin's mom requires no modification whatsoever, except she has to stay in the story past his marriage in some capacity.

i don't think they could stand to keep the princess that one-dimensional though; they'd have to do some character development in order to fit something approximating a decent romance in. modern audiences do not accept love interests with no traits or dialogue.

and to foreshadow the part where she gives the magic lamp away because aladdin didn't trust her enough to admit it was important. that bit the chinese costume drama studios would also have no trouble adapting lmao.

i also want to see how they design the lamp (like, oil lamps were most definitely a Thing in real china but i don't know what visual design approach a studio would go with to represent one so it was both recognizable to a modern audience and recognizably chinese) and how exactly they translate the concept of djinni for their standard milieu.

i would not put it past them to wimp out and just import the lamp and genie (and ring and genie) set entire from a middle eastern sort of setting, in some elaborate mobius double reacharound olympic feat of orientalism.

but assuming they didn't, what would they do instead?

[respectthepetty]

If episode ten of Fight for You was a person, I would have already married it, gone to HR and signed all my benefits over, then went home and gave babygirl everything she wanted because this color coding is the BEST color coding!

The episode began with Xiao Bai in the light and the Da Hei in the dark in their respective color, but Xiao Bai had the little black box over his heart, and Da Hei had the little white box over his heart since they are very much in love with each other.

But not only is the Black x White and Light x Dark dynamic happening, but the red is the background is there as they have entered dangerous territory.

Despite the trouble surrounding them, they are in this together, and the visuals are giving me "theatre"

But the show itself is giving me emo as Da Hei sits in his darkness, which is surprisingly bright.

And that's because he heard Xiao Bai say he is sorry and that he loves him.

Now Xiao Bai is yelling at his grandfather while wearing black, white, and gray because he will NOT let his man go! He is love.

He is Britney Spears in her rebel era, and he is love with a criminal.

And Da Hei is in love with him which is why he imagines Xiao Bai walking through the door in his light blue.

But instead he gets Xiao Bai's brother who tells him he will help these two crazy kids.

But perhaps that's because the brother understands a thing or two about being in love with someone he isn't supposed to be . . .

So now Romeo is outside of Julio's window in a gray/black combo waiting for his love to appear.

While his love is inside getting darker by the second to show he is in love with his Black Brooder and even if he is locked away a thousand years, his heart will remain with Da Hei.

So even though the grandfather questions him about not only falling in love with his target, but falling in love with A MAN, Xiao Bai doesn't budge in his gray(?)/blue(?) shirt.

He is love with a boy and that boy is love with him. Full homo, grandpa!

And his brother supports his in his gray cardigan, so it's time that that the Montagues and Capulets become vegetarians and squash this beef.

Because who can deny these two the love they so rightfully deserve?

So Xiao Bai, forever the fighter, tries calling his man only to get no answer.

Because Da Hei is outside of his window in the rain trying to silence his phone so Xiao Bai won't know he is there!

But the light will always find the dark!

And Xiao Bai gives his guy some of the light and warmth his has been missing.

And Da Hei tends to Xiao Bai's wounds.

Because they are the perfect balance of light and dark, white and dark, and warmth and cold.

They are the perfect color-coded boys in love.

[lawyermurderer]

Here's everything from my part of the POPSTAR'S SUPER ULTRA SCRAPBOOK ZINE @popstarzine!!! Everyone worked really hard on their artworks so check it out :)

First we have the final artwork!

With and without the spotlight :D Everything, except the spotlight, was done using traditional mediums and scanned individually. I'm really glad I could be a part of this and it being my first zine.

Take a look at the process video

Keep reading for details :o

Concept sketches and final sketch before painting

The sketch has the list of enemy characters and a few different thumbnail sketches of Dedede. The gist of the artwork was to show the characters working together to set up the fighting ring for the fight that happens in game with the 4 small paintings. With the middle painting being Dedede in the decorated room. I re-sketched 2 of the small paintings I was having trouble visualizing and some background and foreground bits.

This sketch was the original sketch for my piece before I was told I needed Dedede in it. I plan on coloring this, but I'm busy so it will just have to be a sketch for now.

Background and foreground

The background pattern is the pattern from the sides of the fighting ring, but without Dedede's face and symbol. It was made with alcohol markers and the white lines are painting with acrylic pen.

For the foreground, the light purple drape is from where the crowd sits, and the side banners are from the main fighting ring. Both painted with gouache with the side banners having paper stars I cut out using my Cricut and drew the gold with a pen. The bottom part of the foreground is the ropes and poles of the ring.

Paintings

Top left - The area the Waddle Dees are in is the room before the fight Dedede

Top right - Noddy and Simirror are on the covering the sides of the stage, but Noddy fell asleep and is not being helpful.

Bottom left - They are on top of the stage but looking up at the support beams

Bottom right - Also on top of the stage, but it is angled facing downward

Middle - I thought it would be funny if Dedede used his strength to step down on the ropes. Also, do you notice that Mario and Peach are in the crowd?

Stickers, stamps, & paper

Stickers - I lied when I said everything was made using traditional mediums >:) the stickers were drawn digitally, printed and rescanned. Yes, they're actual stickers and I will stick them on to everything.

Sticky note & breezes - Words on the sticky note were carved out of rubber carving blocks and using ink to stamp it onto a sticky note. The breezes are from the start screen of string breeze and are finger painted on paper with ink

Wax stamp - wax seal was also carved from rubber carving blocks. Scanning the wax stamp was difficult because it wasn't flat, so I took a picture of it instead

Scanner & Editing software

For the scanner, I used a Canon Lide 400 scanner and for the price it's a pretty good, but this is my first scanner, so I'm not sure how other scanners fair.

I used Affinity Photo 2 on my iPad to put everything together. I originally used Procreate, but after seeing the quality I realized I needed a photo editing program. So I used the free trial from Affinity to make the final artwork. Original I wanted the final piece to have a white border but decided against it and instead added shadows to make it look like a spotlight. Also added some shadows to some areas.

Everything but it's not scanned

Ok, thanks for coming to my art talk :D see you next time!