#it will not be a very good tutorial but it will at least be somewhat helpful I hope

[eachuisge-cc]

would you ever consider making horse hooves/fur cc in the future?

I am doing so as we speak, check further down the blog and you'll see a couple WIPs

[cripplecharacters]

Hi! I’m working on an original character project that I want to include a lot of casual representation in (“casual” meaning that the characters don’t need a justification for being disabled/fat/POC/etc, they just are because people can and do exist that way in reality!)

I was wondering if you had any suggestions for finding resources for drawing facial differences(and maybe other visible disabilities), especially in a cartoony style. I’ve looked through the Facial Equality Week tag but would like to see more examples, and since my art is so… goofy, for lack of a better word, I would love any help I can get in integrating differences without being offensive or upsetting.

Sorry if this is a bother, and thank you for all that you do!

Hi!

I'm not aware of any guides for drawing facial differences specifically (or at least, good ones. There's 1 billion tutorials telling you that scars are just a Singular Line, always, but that's not... correct), but perhaps someone in the notes could help out?

For my own advice, you could check out this old post I made. Because you mentioned your art being cartoony, I would specifically urge you to not overexaggerate facial differences the way they often are. Prime example would be how a lot of cartoons portray strabismus;

It's just a funny gag to them rather than, IDK, how some of us look like. Not to mention that one of these is also a mockery of intellectually/developmentally disabled people with "Derp" in the name, but that's beside the point here.

It's the whole "the character is crazy/stupid/wild/whatever and that's why they have it" that's the problem with how it's often shown. You can also see it in how characters who don't even normally have it will be shown with it for a scene where they're saying something nonsensical, etc.

Another example that's nowhere near as rampant is the like... split-face thing with various facial differences being used. Mostly vitiligo but sometimes also facial palsy. I'm talking about this weirdly perfectly halved face that looks extremely different on each side, often used to signal that a character is two-faced or that the author doesn't know how vitiligo looks like.

[note: vitiligo also shows up on lighter skin. I wanted to make sure it's visible here for tutorial clarity purposes.]

This one is just weird because it straight up doesn't look like that? I have no idea where it came from, but it should go back there. Facial palsy doesn't make someone look like the antique comedy/tragedy theater mask.

Unless I'm forgetting some other annoying cartoon trope, these would be the big ones that you should stay away from.

Outside of that, it's really on a case by case basis on how a specific FD should be drawn because they're so different! A birthmark can just be a differently colored patch of skin, but a craniofacial difference would require some more changes to be included. Alopecia is well, lack of hair, and can be done very easily but ectrodactyly can be more complicated to show properly because of the limitations of a cartoony artstyle when it comes to hands. And while I do think it would be great to see more of those facial differences that tend to not be included in art at all, there's nothing wrong with deciding to go for the things you can represent more faithfully, especially if you're just starting.

I will say that if you're making an honest attempt at being respectful and trying to get it right, most of us will still be excited to see your work. Even if it's not perfect or has some inaccuracies. I will take a "'yeah more or less' correct with a happy, human character" over a "Very Technically correct but tagged as #tw burns and with blood splattered on them" any day.

Lastly, I wanted to share some art featuring characters with facial differences (and other visible disabilities) that are done in a cartoony, or at least somewhat simplistic artstyles (I'm using both terms very widely here, but like. Not Realism) - maybe it will give you some ideas!

Man with Treacher Collins syndrome (also one of the first pieces online where I saw a character with an FD portrayed in such a lovely way! A fav of mine) Girl with Pfeiffer syndrome Too many characters to count! Woman with burns Woman with a limb difference Multiple characters again Animation featuring people with Down syndrome [youtube] Multiple characters, including a girl with neurofibromatosis, a burn survivor, a girl with a cleft lip and another with TCS! [twitter]

If you have a more specific art question ("how do I draw a person with XYZ facial difference?") you can send me an ask on @saszor! I prefer to stick to the writing theme on this blog but would still like to help if you need it:-)

Hope this helps!

mod Sasza

Edit: apologies for the lack of alt text on one of the images, it has been fixed!

[eddiediaaz]

Hi! Can I ask how you did the double exposure gifs for your merlin set? They're beautiful btw!

heyy, thank you!! of course!

it's actually not very hard, the trick is to find the right shots for this. here's how i did it (reference gifset), under the cut.

for this tutorial i will be: — using photoshop cs5 on windows — assuming you know how to make gifs using the timeline — have basic coloring, sharpening, groups, and layer masks knowledge

I. CHOOSING THE RIGHT SHOTS

the ultimate trick to pull this off is to choose the right image. in order to do the double exposure, you need a silhouette shot that has these:

a defined and dark silhouette with a background that is not too busy

enough contrast between the silhouette and the background

the silhouette should take at least 50% of the space

not too much movement

here are a few examples of why they work and why they won't:

gwen: perfect example since this shot is already quite contrasted with a defined silhouette. there won't be a lot of work needed to make this one work.

merlin: not a great example because even tho there's a somewhat good contrast between him and the background, the silhouette is just too bright, not dark enough.

arthur: another good example, even if there are some bright spots on his face and armor. since he's not moving too much, you can definitely brush some black over him to make his silhouette darker (i'll explain/show later)

morgana: this one could work because the contrast is great, but of course her skintone is very bright against the black clothing. that being said, since the movement is not too bad, it could be possible to brush some black over her and move these layers with keyframes (as mentioned for arthur's example). i haven't tried it tho, but i think it would work well enough.

once you have your silhouette shot, you need another gif for the double exposure. what works best, in my opinion, are:

wide, large shots

shots with no to little camera movement (no pan, zoom, etc), but the subjects in the shot can have little movement of course

pretty cinematography/scenery shots

i find these are easier to find and make it work, it's not as "precise" as with silhouette shots. it's mostly just trial and error to see what works best with the silhouettes.

II. PREPPING THE SILHOUETTE

for the effect to work, we want a silhouette that's dark as possible. i'm gonna use the gwen and arthur shots as examples.

for the gwen gif, i started by sharpening, and then upped the contrast by quite a lot so her silhouette is mostly black, while retaining some nice details. i've used only 3 layers here:

selective color layer: in the blacks tab, playing with the black slider (value: +10)

brightness/contrast layer: added a lot of contrast (+61) and a bit of brightness (+10)

black and white layer: on top, its blending mode set to soft light and at 20% opacity. gives a bit more depth and contrast

then for the arthur example, i've also sharpened it first, and added contrast layers in this order (the skintone looks horrible, but it won't matter soon lol):

levels layer: black slider at 0, grey slider at 0.76, white slider at 104

selective color layer: in the blacks tab, black slider at +10

brightness/contrast layer: brightness at +1-, contrast at +47

black and white layer: on top, its blending mode set to soft light and at 20% opacity. gives a bit more depth and contrast

as you can see, half of his face is still quite bright. to correct that, create a new empty layer and put it between the gif and the coloring layers.

using a really soft brush and the black color, brush some black over his face and body on that new empty layer. you can edit the layer's opacity if you want, i've set mine to 71%. since arthur doesn't move much here, there's no need to keyframe this layer's position. for the morgana example, this is where you'd need to play with keyframes to make it work. here's where i'm at now after this:

you can always edit this layer later if you need, after doing the double exposure blending.

once the silhouette is all ready, you can put all layers in a group and rename it (i've renamed mine silhouette).

III. BLENDING

now the fun part! import the wide/scenery shot in photoshop, then resize it to the same height of your silhouette gif. make sure the gif is a smart object layer, and sharpen it. finally, bring this gif onto the silhouette canvas (by right clicking the smart object > duplicate layer). once you have both gifs onto your canvas, put the wide shot gif layer in a group, and set this group's blending option to screen.

you can then position the wide/scenery gif the way you like it in the canvas. this is how it looks for both examples after i've done that:

if the blending mode screen doesn't give you the best result, so you can play around with other blending modes (such as lighten and linear dodge in these particular cases), but generally speaking, screen is the real mvp here haha.

IV. COLORING

now that the double exposure effect is done, we need to color the gifs to bring them together. i went with simple coloring here, simply enhancing the colors that were already there. just make sure that the coloring layers for each gif are in their respective groups. here's how i've colored both examples:

gwen silhouette group: i added a gradient map layer on top of the contrast layers in black to green and set the blending mode to color

scenery shot group: multiple coloring layers, with a green color fill layer (blending mode set to color), with a layer mask so it only affects the top half of the gif

for the arthur gif, i did something very similar but with warmer colors. i didn't use a gradient map for arthur though:

arthur silhouette group: i made the yellow warmer, closer to orange/red, with a hue/saturation layer, and added more vibrance. didn't feel like it needed a gradient map layer here though.

wide shot group: basic coloring layers to enhance colors from the merlin & daegal shot, and an orange color fill layer set to the color blending mode.

at this point you're pretty much done. just need to add some final touches and typography (if you want).

V. FINAL TOUCHES

a small and completely optional detail, but i wanted to soften the edges of the wide gifs. to do so i've duplicated the smart object gif layer and removed the sharpening filters (right click on smart filter > clear smart filters). put this layer on top of the other smart object layers (but still below the coloring).

then with this same layer still selected, go to filter > blur > gaussian blur... > 10px. this will give you a very blurry gif, but we only want the edges of the canvas to be softer. so add a layer mask to this layer. with a very large and soft brush (mine was at 0% hardness and about 800px size), brush some black onto the layer mask to remove the blur in the middle of the gif.

you can play with this layer's opacity or gaussian blur amount if you want (by double clicking on the gaussian blur smart layer filter). here how both examples look with this gaussian blur layer:

you can also mask some of wide/scenery gifs if you'd prefer, so it shows less outside of the silhouette. just put a layer mask on that whole wide shot group and brush some black or grey on the layer mask. it's what i did for the gwen gif, with a very soft brush and i set the mask density to 72% (i kept the arthur one as is tho):

and that's how i did it! hopefully that was clear enough :)

[theenbyroiderer]

One more tutorial. I think this is the last one I have for now.

Here's how you stitch a 3D jellyfish. This is a more advanced tutorial. Prior experience with most of the stitches is recommended.

Materials: You'll need several needles, at least one shorter and one really long. I've used sashiko needles in three lengths, 4 cm, 5.5 cm and 8.5 cm. As for yarn, I think you can use whatever you have. Most of it can be done with six-stranded floss, but you'll need some thicker woolen yarn for the fluffy turkey stitch. I used fine d'aubusson (a fine wool embroidery yarn) for the body, six-stranded floss (2-3 strands) for most of the tentacles, a shiny silky embroidery floss for the edge of the body and a couple tentacles, and knitting yarn scraps for the turkey stitch.

Stitches: satin stitch, bullion stitch, padded satin stitch, buttonhole stitch, drizzle stitch and turkey stitch. Please look up stitch instructions on youtube, and do a bit of practice beforehand. This project is probably not a good practice run for these stitches.

Time: depends on the size of your jellyfish. I made quite a large one and it took me about 5 hours to complete.

1. Make a sketch of your jellyfish. At least of the body. Fill this body from edge to edge with bullion stitch, make them a bit longer than the body is wide so that they are somewhat loose. You should be able to get a finger underneath the bullion, depending on the size of your jellyfish.

2. Then it's time to satin stitch the body. For this part it's important that the needle goes through the fabric as close to where it came up as possible. The goal is not just to make a 3D body, but to make it a hollow 3D body. Don't just stitch over the bullion, stitch around it. It's also important to not pull too tight. Bullion stitch of this lenght is rather malleable, so it's a bit tricky to keep the satin stitch even. Hold a finger in the hollow underneath the bullion as you pull the thread tight. This will stop it from getting to tight, as well as make sure you keep the hollow. As the stitching gets thicker the hollow will get smaller, but that's ok.

3. When the top part of the body is fully stitched it's time to do normal flat satin stitch for the bottom part, the inside of the body of you will. Leave an opening in the middle though, you'll need some space for the drizzle and turkey stitch later.

4. This is a good time to give the edge some definition. Do buttonhole stitch around the top edge, then you go around and do another row of buttonhole stitch, kinda the other way around, through the loops from the first row. Hopefully you can see from the pictures what I've done. The bottom edge of the body doesn't need defining and won't be very visible anyway, so I just did some sloppy stitches along there and called it good enough.

5. Now it's time for the tentacles. Start with the drizzle stitch, because the turkey stitch will just get in the way if you start with that... but do remember to leave space for the turkey stitch underneath the drizzle stitch. This is where you need the loooong needle. Pack as much drizzle stitch on that needle as you can. You'll notice that the drizzle stitch wants to rotate around your needle as it gets longer, do let it, that will just help you fit more stitch on there, as well as give the finished stitch a nice curl.

6. When you think you have enough drizzle you can move on to the turkey stitch. You will not need to do a lot of it. You'll probably overestimate how much you need, but that's ok, you can always give the fluff a bit of a haircut later. Do a few looong loops of turkey stitch, a little bit longer than your drizzle stitch. Cut the loops to slightly different lengths, otherwise you'll get a very blocky bit of fluff... tapered is better. Untwist the yarn and separate the strands, draw a needle through the strands to fluff them up.

7. As a finishing touch you can add some long and thin strands around the edge of the body.

Edit: Tfw a post has been up for years before you notice that you forgot a whole-ass step. Apparently #4 has been missing all this time. Oh well.

[larkingame]

so, i don't usually crosspost these posts, but this week's update on patreon is available to everyone and I know I have a bit of a larger following on tumblr, and I'd really like everyone on the same page so I'm dropping all I have to say here too.

good evening friends!! i hope you're all doing well! welcome to the first update of 2024. momentous for me personally, because this is the year we finish larkin. i am making this post available to all patrons, (paid or not) because I'd really like to start 2024 on the right foot with everyone aware of the road ahead. i am so determined to get it done you have no idea. this is my year. 2024, i christen thee: the year of the vampire cowboy.

okay, so big things ahead, lets talk about the update, explore some of the features we have in the game, plans for this weekends release, the schedule and a couple other things.

so, if you've played at all with the new version of the game, you'll take notice that it's a little bit different than my first image of the game. at first larkin was just a straight interactive fiction following the likes of cog like games, with choices and avenues and split stats and the like. but now, as of 2024 (crazy) we're seeing a game that is more reminiscent of a ttrpg, like dnd or cyberpunk, with stats, classes and dice rolls. admittedly, the very first encounter of the game is well (it's a little rigged) the game, of course, could not really get started if the preacher gets cooked before they've even made it to nevada, so, the odds are a little bit stacked in the players favor this round, but at least, it gives you a little bit of a taste of whats to come. to dive into the specifics of what's important with this first encounter (or just, how to avoid getting your ass really kicked) these first few rolls give bonuses to players with high dexterity and athleticism—-but that's not to say you need to make your character beefed up in these departments. each stat will get their time to shine later down the line.

but let's talk about what i'm really excited to discuss: classes. so with the new version of larkin, i've introduced a system of classes that operate somewhat like your standard dungeons and dragons class, but with a little bit more of that classic background from the original ttrpg mixed in—coloring the way your character sees the world of the game, sort of how a race might effect a dnd character--(a dwarf player is going to have a much different worldview than say, an elf.) for this i was heavily inspired by games like dragon age origins and baldur's gate, and while I do have those original background ready to be dropped a little bit later on the game in relation to your character's perspectives on the abrams family, I really like how these have come to form.

in total there are seven new classes: con-man, outlaw, healer, thief, gambler, showman and slayer. each of these classes warps the perspective of the player character, giving them new motivations, dialogue options, and affects their relationships with the other characters in the game and the world around them. to illustrate this, I'm thinking of making a little bit more of an in depth explanation screen to be added to saturday's update to really get that point across, but I'm still toying with how I want to phrase the specifics of it. what i might do is something similar to baldur's gate with little pop-up tutorials that can be turned off/on depending on how you'd like to play.

to give an example of some of the more in depth motivations/choices each class offers lets talk about the thief and the outlaw classes. the thief class i am especially excited for, because like the con-man class and similar to a few others, it really allows your character to be very money/materialistically motivated. it opens up routes later in the game, like romancing one of the sokolovs—with motivations reminiscent of gold-digging (hehehe very excited for that—i think it will be very fun to write—because you have this idea of a cold hearted player who is entering into a relationship with them strictly for business, versus a cold hearted player who is in it for the cash but also. might be falling in love with one of the sokolovs? ((a lot of fun dynamics afoot here.)) the outlaw class is also one i'm excited to work with because it really puts something of a strain on the preacher and wyatt's relationship—-mostly because you see a strong division in terms of their ethics—the preacher in that case is very 'do what you gotta do to survive,' whereas wyatt believes (key word—believes) he's living by some sort of moral code—that he's failed to instill in the person he views as his child. so like there are layers here boys. layers of resentment, failure—to connect, to teach, to bond. a final tidbit about the slayer class before I move on: if you would really like to play into the enemies to lovers trope with one of the vampires, I would highly recommend giving your player this class ((that's all I'll say))

so: saturday, that takes us to the bar, where each class will get a unique scene, similar to how the scheming tactic section worked in the original game. we're gonna finish up the encounter with the first vampires, meet our guild pursuers and move to the bar. I'm planning also to implement the character customization here—(sort of a way to prep before the player heads out to the bar.) most likely won't get to all classes by saturday's code, but after that, I'm planning to release again on next wednesday, so we're keeping on track. I'd really like to give a full picture of customization for the player character, with all the original options for physical appearance (i might keep clothes vague for now though and let you dress your character later on, until you get a taste of the inventory/bartering system-—you have to deal with MY poor fashion choices for a little bit.) but that being said, about character customization, if there's something that's lacking here and you'd like to suggest an addition I'd be all ears. This is what I'm planning to implement so far:

skin tone

body type*

hair color

hair texture

hair length

hair style**

height

skin details (acne, scars, vitiligo, rosacea)

facial hair

make-up

piercings

eyewear (glasses, no glasses, eyepatch, prosthetic eye)

gender-affirming customization (for ex. use of binding)

* a note on the body type section, I kind of had this idea of digitally drawing some silhouettes of different heights, shapes and sizes, and allowing the player to click through arrows to select a rough estimation of what their body-type might look like. I'm going to do an art dump later this month, and I have a few sketches of what I'd kinda like to do with that, but I'm still toying with it, because even that could be a little limiting in terms of options. if any of you had thoughts on that, I'd love to hear them.

**I think it might also be cool to kind of have drawings of different hairstyles available to the characters, arranged in the card formats like the previous gender options in that same red colored sketch format.

speaking of art though--and this is purely tangential so I apologize, I'm sure you've taken notice of some of the art being repetitive--for the moment that's purposeful. I'm planning to commission some work for the cards to be implemented in a later update--so what you're seeing are just placeholders for now.

okay! with saturday's notes out of the way, plans for the rest of the week. I need to finish the timeline and then I need to make it readable to people other than myself. it is currently incomprehensible and of the few people that have gotten their eyes on it only one (1) could make sense of my mad ramblings. (shout out to friend of the game bianca from exiled from court if any of you are familiar with her or her stuff, we are  big bianca fans here.) After that I need to do some edits with the new update and such, and poke at the code.

Tonight after I post this, I'm specifically working on sending a few more emails to betas (know that sending emails is. my personal hell because of intense social anxiety. BUT we must persevere. emails will be sent tonight.) after that, I have to work on the phillip/kc/sam schedule + calendar for this month, just to keep the three of us on the same page. I'm in the process of looking at some stamps.com printers for sending out packages with this next round of physical rewards and ordering the merch (hehehe)

okay. super long update for our first one of the year, but I am so excited to get to keep working with you guys :) i'd like to thank you all for your continued support and I can't wait to show you more of the little universe i've crafted :)

until friday! i'm gonna be posting some cyrus asks/scenarios for you all to enjoy, so look forward to that! <3

[cerastes]

I've seen people before saying that, in terms of presentation, NIKKE delivers it better than Arknights in telling what they want to tell. And I still see this occasionally whenever people start comparing stories in gacha games. Looking at your post, seems like that wasn't a lie at all.

Right, this is an interesting topic for me, so let me give my two cents on this.

I would say that statement is generally true. Nikke's main strengths are its presentation and knowing how to leverage its strengths in general, but let's focus on presentation: It's story is nothing to write home to (note that I am up to Chapter 18), neither are its events (on this regard, take me lightly, I've only read three), but what Nikke wants to say, you will very clearly understand. It's good at telling its story. Sometimes the localization will have Localization Moments (Chatterbox is described as female in the first cutscene he is mentioned, male every time afterwards; there's a lot of clearly literally translated little expressions that make no sense in the flow of the conversations), but overall, even though you're looking at a story that in a lot of ways you've seen a lot of times, its particularities stand out because Nikke tells them properly, concisely, and clearly. Characterization is consistent, and there's a good amount of care clearly put into both consistency and overarching important parts of the narrative; a favorite example of mine is how, in the tutorial, if you pay close attention, you can actually see Marian's eyes glow red during her reload animation, foreshadowing something pretty important that happens with her later.

So even if the story beats are not particularly good or intriguing -- and sometimes, outright terrible, like in Chapter 18 oh god I hate Chapter 18 -- you at least can tell with clarity what's going on and why it's going on.

Arknights has the yang to the yin here, somewhat: The stories on Arknights tend to range from okay to great, and AK events have a habit of going pretty damn hard, either as a whole or at least parts of them. Sometimes, however, they have a weakness, and this weakness is that the actual story telling can be dense. Density is often attributed to good writing, but the truth is, sometimes, the text isn't advanced, it's simply clumsy, and the prose in Arknights is decidedly clumsy. But when you actually untangle the spaghetti of clumsy prose, you find some strong story telling, strong characterization, and topics you don't often find discussed in video games, less so in gacha. You kinda have to work for it, basically.

Something Nikke does good is also that it keeps its relevant cast at any given story beat low, giving it more cohesion, or rather, making it easy to stay cohesive, because Arknights can handle larger casts pretty well sometimes, but I'll be frank, the current main story has so many literal whos to keep track of that I'm supposed to be invested in that I don't really bother. I'm sorry, but I can't really feel a damn thing about Outcast when she showed up for a few scenes and then got nuked off by a contrivance while fighting some faceless nobodies we are told we should fear.

But on the other hand, Nikke narrative, again, despite its strong delivery, is still built on a feeble base for the most part. I only think of a few characters I care about in Nikke, because a lot of the cast is just fluff and Obligatory Archetypes (bunny girls, school girls, maids, etc), whereas in Arknights, I care about a whole damn lot of them, even those without events, because their files and modules paint a very integral and intriguing picture of them. Even smaller scenes in Arknights sometimes can have a big emotional impact, due to its extensive and well crafted worldbuilding and its clever use of its elements in every event, something Nikke cannot claim, because worldbuilding in Nikke is almost non existent.

They both have their strengths, basically, and it's fascinating to me, a writer, to take a deeper look at them.

[bisexualbaker]

Crochet Patterns for Palestine

Making a new post for this; I'll still accept donation receipts from all organizations linked on the previous version of this post, but my focus has shifted and/or concentrated somewhat.

[Alt]

This crochet pattern is for small cats, of a good size to make into keychains, magnets, or even hair clips! There are six PDF versions available:

- US stitch names in 12 point Atkinson Hyperlegible - US stitch names in 22 point Atkinson Hyperlegible - US stitch names in 22 point Comic Sans

- UK stitch names in 12 point Atkinson Hyperlegible - UK stitch names in 22 point Atkinson Hyperlegible - UK stitch names in 22 point Comic Sans

Between those six options, that should cover most pattern accessibility needs. If you need something else, though, let me know! I’m prepared to offer a .doc or similar file on an individual basis if you need a screenreader to access crochet patterns, and have a sheet I can use to translate things to German stitch terms (though more in-depth instructions would still be in English). The pattern is worked primarily in (US) single crochet/(UK) double crochet, with the ears in (US) double crochet/(UK) treble crochet popcorn stitches, and is bundled with similar file options of a popcorn stitch tutorial PDF (no stitch names used).

“Socchan,” you say, “These cats are super cute! And you said that this pattern is for charity? How does that work exactly?”

I’m glad you asked! Simply donate a minimum of $3 or close-enough local equivalent to a related charity, then take a screencap of your receipt/proof of donation. Block out any information that could doxx you; it’s nice if you trust me, but it’s not impossible that my email could get hacked, and I want you to be safe! Finally, email the altered screencap to socchan (at) protonmail (dot) com.

Once I get and check the screencap, I will email you back with a password-locked zipped folder of all six files, as well as the password. I will do my best to respond to all emails within two days of receiving them. Please be respectful of both my work and this donation incentive and don't upload the patterns elsewhere!

As a bonus, if you take your donation up to at least $5 (or close-enough local equivalent), I’ll throw in an additional link and password for a very cute little flower pattern!

[Alt]

“That sounds pretty easy,” you go on to say, “but where should I donate? There are so many options to choose from!”

No problem! Check out Operation Olive Branch: A spreadsheet collecting lots and lots of links to fundraisers in Palestine.

Too much information to sort through? Here are some good general options:

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund - Focuses on medical aid to children in Palestine Medical Aid for Palestine - “[H]elp MAP respond to the ongoing emergency in Gaza, as well as provide medical supplies, support healthcare services and deliver long term development to healthcare in the occupied Palestinian territory and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.” MAP reportedly has a team on the ground in Gaza, providing critical medical aid. Anera - Providing food, hygiene kits, and medical care in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Palestine Red Crescent - More medical support in Palestine; the rest of the webpage is in Arabic, so be prepared if you want to click around at all. Basically the Palestinian Red Cross. Crips for eSims for Gaza - This organization is raising money to buy eSims in bulk, to help Palestinians in Gaza to communicate with the outside world. Help Gaza Children - Organized in part by Tumblrite @fairuzfan, Help Gaza Children provides food and toys to children in Gaza, feeding bodies and hearts.

"Socchan," you say, "I heard about this other person who is offering something else in exchange for proof of donation to Palestine-related charities. If I make a donation to get a drawing of a dragon, or some neat music, or a book of international vegan recipes, or something else I've found, is it okay if I also use that same donation or purchase to get a crochet pattern or two?"

Absolutely! What matters to me is that the people of Palestine get the aid they need. One of the reasons I made my minimum donation request so low is because I know that money is tight for a lot of people right now; even small donations are still very welcome to many of these organizations, and I understand if you need to make your money stretch as far as it can.

Thank you so much for reading this far! Please consider boosting this post, so it can reach more crocheters and crocheter-adjascent people.

[muchinternalscreaming]

A Not Particularly Comprehensive Recount of my experience painting me first digital art piece

Created an ao3 account to gift writers fanart, Created a tumblr account to gift writers fanart,

Turns out this trend ✨️has yet to end✨️

Delved into the world of digital art to - once again - make fanart and gift it to writers.

Also I am making this post to procastinate on WIPs and coursework.

This piece of fanart was inspired by a throw away line (the one about Sam in a suit, Danny in dress) in the lovely fic :

Also available on tumblr @jaewritesfic , though the ao3 link is the one that updates

I: The Beginning, A Sketch.

Ignore the figure on the left, the half-done (quarter-done?) Figure on the right is the subject of interest.

II: Lineart

Hell yeah, you can correct any anatomical mistakes on a totally anatomically correct body (eraser, my beloved).

III: Colouring (My Beloathed)

Ew.

Had to take a few hours away from this puece to recover from the psychic damage, watched approximately 2.5 colouring tutorials, absorbed 0% of the information shared, then proceeded under the modus operandi ✨️fuck around, find out✨️. Anddddddd

It paid off :D!!

But value-wise, the it was v boring. (fixed it l8ter)

IV: Details are the Devils

Pain. Also involved way too many layers (is what I thought at this stage, only to exceed that amount by over 50% 15 mins later) (gave up labelling and my memory is somewhat akin to swiss cheese so for the duration of this journey I worshipped the visibility button)

Anyway, time to fix the boring range of values, simply by mighting the light lighter and the shadows more shadow-y (very technical, such jargon, i know. Plz don't use this as a guide for digital art, I only knew about 0.37% of what I was doing at any time)

not enough shadow, kind of boring. Also need to clean up the areas where the paint overlapped the lineart but that is a problem for future me.

Better!! (At least to me) Also, would probably have to redo the hair b/c it is def stylistically different from the rest of the piece (I did not do that for one very good reason; 'M lazy :) )

If I decide to go w/ this version, I'll probably have to put some shadow on his teeth.

V: Conclusion

What did I learn? Colouring takes way too long (even excluding the time spent procastinating on it), I am sticking to simple colouring for the nxt few pieces. (The full art piece will b posted with those)

[tornioduva]

A thought on Botw's items

So, first of all, if you were left dissatisfied and somewhat angry by Totk, go watch this wonderful video and enjoy your catharsis:

So, after watching this my mind started to fix upon this godforsaken series again and, a thought about how the wild saga handles things and why.

Now, i'm not a seasoned game designer, i don't know shit on how to deliver these massive projects, and i'll admit i haven't done proper research like in interviews, manuals, artbook, ecc., this is all very much a stream of consciousness.

What i reflected on is how many of us struggled to really bite deep with criticism into the structural exploration systems of this games, because it apparently "works", and in a somewhat elegant and cohesive way. It's much more difficult to critique the decision of adding shrines, of the dungeons, of the pad tools, of the rewards, because it easily justifies itself with the various "time limits, sacrifices needed to be made, streamlined exploration" and so on; it's much easier instead to go to the throat of the story, or characters, or the durability, because it's a much more direct frustration i think.

But then again, thinking about Botw: was giving the player all of their tools right away really the only right decision?

I honestly think that having the player roam around hyrule, letting them explore and find obstacles for which the tools are required, and then giving them said tools, would've been much better. You would accumulate small frustrations here and there, places to return to, for which you would use those pins in the map, and then you'd have the satisfaction of having finally found the solution to your troubles and a unique reward from wherever you might've taken them.

"Sure", you might say, "but then all the major dungeon and "story areas" should take into accoutn wether you have them or not". ....Yes. what's the problem in that? maybe a character, like one of the descendant could say something along the lines of "if only we had a way to freeze the water to resolve this issue that i feel might be present in the divina beast" or similar, that way the beasts would be centered around fleshing out one mechanic. i guess that might make them a bit more monotonous, but i think not; they are already kind short and boring, they might as well be a a dungeon designed around fleshing out just one of your tools in a satisfying way.

That to me would've resolved a good amount of issues i have with it with the game already, because part of the joy of exploring, at least in the first like 10 to 20 hours, would've been the anticipation of finding a tool and to finally use it! and i'd have something more memorable to remember while roaming around than just pretty sunsets.

Also, this would resolve the B I G issue i have with the intro of both of this game, of it being an unskippable slog. If you remove all of the tutorial aspect out of it, and outsource it to a later, further away area of the game, you can reduce all the time the plateau takes out of you to like, an introduction to combat, crafting, effects and that's it, you're free after that.

plus i always found stupid that the game won't let you have the paraglider before finishing it. like, just leave the tutorial there if someone wants it, but le me find the paraglider as an object and then let me go down, it's not an essential item, just a convenient one; plus, if players went around hyrule without the paraglider, you could just remind them in other ways later on that they might find one on the plateau, or let them find another one in other areas of the game. that could've been fun: "where did you find the glider? here? really? wow, these devs really thought of everything, i found it there instead, and mike down south".

i dunno, i just don't want to think about botw as the only correct way of doing this kind of game.

[gayleviticus]

It’s interesting the role that Peter's confession that Jesus is the Messiah (and the subsequent journey to Jerusalem) plays in the different gospels.

in Mark, it comes at the exact halfway point, chapter 8 of 16, after a whole book of Jesus performing miracles but swearing people to secrecy. We honestly don't know that much about Jesus, and neither do the disciples; but at least we, the audience (and the demons) know he's the Son of God and Messiah.

The question is what that means - what is the Good News he's preaching? What is the Kingdom? What is Jesus' endgame? We don't know, and Jesus has been playing his cards very close to his chest; binding demons and swearing people to secrecy, teaching in enigmatic parables, performing feats that should be reserved for God alone. Is he a prophet? Elijah? John the Baptist? A demoniac?

But then Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah - and suddenly we discover that his fate is to suffer, die, and be raised again. His destiny is to be put to shame - and Peter is scandalised and tries to talk some sense into him! And then atop the mountain, Jesus is transfigured and Peter, James, and John discover he's the Son of God too.

We get about a chapter and a half of miscellaneous episodes, mostly teachings of Jesus capped with a healing. And then we enter Jerusalem, and the final act begins; his triumphial entry, cleansing of the temple, various conflicts with the chief priests and scribes, the Little Apocalypse, and then his betrayal and Passion. For Mark, Peter's confession is the turning point from which we start barrelling towards the cross, the only way by which we can truly understand who Jesus the Christ is. Not through his teaching, not through his parables, not through his miracles; Jesus is Christ through his cross.

Matthew is similar, although it doesn't have as heavy a emphasis on Jesus' secret identity, and we get plenty of teaching discourses before Peter's confession in ch 16 (57% thru the Gospel). We get a somewhat more substantial 3 or so chapters of parables and teaching before Jesus heads towards Jerusalem, and then he finally arrives in 21. matthew i think is like the extended addition of mark; in its excess it loses something of the narrative tightness of Mark, but it's not trying to do something fundamentally different.

Luke, however, is a bit different. For him, Peter's confession comes in ch 9, 37% through the Gospel. maybe not quite early enough to be still in the tutorial, not late enough to be the half-way plot-twist, but the end of Act 1. The Passion is predicted, Jesus' glory is revealed in the transfiguration, and by the end of the chapter the time has drawn near for Jesus to be taken up, and he 'sets his face' for Jerusalem.

And where Mark and Matthew kind of have a two-act structure of 'General ministry' and 'Holy Week in Jerusalem' (with the nativity as a prologue in Matthew), Luke has a three-act structure; 'General ministry' (ch 3-9), 'Journey to Jerusalem' (ch 10-19.27; heavily populated by Luke-exclusive material), and 'Holy Week in Jerusalem' (ch 19.28 -24).

Maybe Luke just wanted a way to structure all his added material, maybe he wanted to emphasise the significance of Jerusalem as the holy city and centre of Israel. But it's interesting how this changes the shape of the story.

For Mark and Matthew Peter's confession and the first Passion prediction kind of serve as an end to the fun and games, the moment when a darker story arc starts to emerge from what has otherwise been miracle/demon-of-the-week shennanigans. And this transition happens quite rapidly; by ch 11 of Mark, Jesus is in Jerusalem tearing up the Temple, by ch 14 plots are being hatched to kill him. Matthew maintains the same fundamental structure, altho stretched out simply by his tendency to add more Stuff.

But for Luke the pace is much slower, and it's as if the story is lingering with this sense of foreboding. Peter's confession is not gearing us up into endgame, but a tragedy that hangs over the rest of the narrative. Luke's insistence on maintaing this episodic structure for another good third of his Gospel accentuates the sense of fatality; Jesus is casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and yet he must be on his way, for it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem. But he must be killed.

And for John - well rather than having Jerusalem as the final dungeon, it's the hub city. Jesus returns here time and time again for enigmatic discourses and feuds with the Judeans, and his cleansing of the Temple is one of his first acts, not one of his final. And the confession that Jesus is the Messiah comes not from Peter, but are the very first words from his brother Andrew: "We have found the Messiah." (John 1.41).

The Passion of the Lord hangs over the entire narrative, but in subtle ways:

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,” “He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him,”

“I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” “You do not understand that it is better for one man to die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed!”

“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

The other three gospels play on a sense of dramatic irony, that we the audience know who Jesus is and where this story is going, but his disciples don’t. And so, then Peter’s confession and Jesus’ Passion prediction comes as a moment of revelation, of releasing this tension; the disciples know what we know, and yet they don’t quite understand. Peter tells Jesus off for being a doomer, and the men scatter when he’s put to death. The prophecy of the Passion comes a shocking reveal within the story of the Synoptic Gospels.

But there’s no such moment in John. Instead, we just get hints, allusions, enigmatic lines that only make sense in hindsight. There’s no apocalyptic moment of revelation, no moment when the penny drops; right up to Ch 14 (3 chapters before his arrest) Thomas is still saying stuff like “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”

In the Synoptics, Jesus’ Messiahship is inseparable from his Passion; in John the irony is his disciples know he’s the Messiah from Day One, but until his resurrection still don’t understand the meaning of the cross.

[transhuman-priestess]

would you happen to have a flight sim recommendation? Ive seen you post about using them and wondered which one you thought would be best

Depends what you're looking for.

The two big players are Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane.

MSFS is very pretty, it has some decent tutorials built-in, and there's a huge array of content for it, but, at least on my computer, it runs somewhat unstably. It's also very accessible, bordering on hand-holding, which can be good if you're new to flight sims but can also get very old very quickly once you know what you're doing. It's also designed for a gamepad primarily, and you can play it on Xbox. I think its a a little over-designed actually. There's a ton of aftermarket planes available, mostly thru the in-game browser. There might be freeware, i haven't really looked into it.

X-Plane is less pretty, the graphics are maybe a tiny bit more dated, you don't get the photorealistic scenery, but the flight dynamics are much, much more realistic. The difference is hard to explain succinctly but the long and short of it is that, on average, a well designed aircraft for X-Plane will feel "more real" than one in MSFS. X-Plane is also usable on Windows, Mac, and Linux. There's a lot of aftermarket content for it, but less than MSFS, although last i checked there's a larger portion of freeware. It's also a little more persnickty vis-a-vis installation and management. X-Plane also comes with a utility to help you make airplanes for it, though you have to provide the 3D modeling software (like blender) yourself.

Overally, it really boils down to what you want in your flight simulator

MSFS

Pros:

Photorealistic Scenery

Wide variety of assistance

Highly accessible tutorials

Lots of aftermarket content

Available on Windows and Xbox

Cons:

Less realistic flight dynamics

Pretty graphics means higher system requirements

Can be overbearing if you're experienced with flight sims

Designed for a gamepad first and foremost, feels somewhat awkward with the old fashioned joystick, mouse, and keyboard

X-Plane

Pros:

More realistic Flight Dynamics

Built-in plane maker utility

Runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac

Slightly more generous system requirements

Takes up waaaaaaaaaay less space (my install, which has a shitload of aftermarket content in it, takes up 30gb less than my vanilla MSFS install)

Great if you're familiar with flight sims or flying in general

Cons:

Finicky installation and content management compared to MSFS. If you're used to digging in folders and installing mods that way, you won't have any trouble with it, but if you're not experienced with that its got a bit of a learning curve (and you should learn that! it's a great skill!)

Scenery is more generic than MSFS, particularly outside of major cities

Requires a computer, not available on PS5 or Xbox (Imo this is a pro, not a con, but if you don't have a gaming computer its obviously a problem)

Less aftermarket content available

Requires a bit of manual configuration to get going right

Fewer tutorials

Now, I understand it sounds like MSFS is "better" but i really feel that X-Plane is the better choice if you're going to get seriously into this stuff. That being said, i have both, and I play both, but I play X-Plane a whole lot more. If you're brand-new at flight simming, i'd recommend getting MSFS, but don't splurge for the super-deluxe editions. If you've simmed before, i can't recommend X-Plane enough.

TL;DR: MSFS is good for beginners, X-Plane is better for anyone beyond beginner level.

[masiethewriter]

Honored Eternal Path of Demise CH. 3 - Skip Tutorial

Ignoring it for now, Shen Qingqiu instead investigated the coffee table. It had a small drawer to one side, but he wasn't able to open it. Getting down on his knees, he tried to look under it. Nothing of particular interest except... From this angle it seemed like there might be something underneath the armchair. If he just moved over- The spiritbox came alive with scratched static. Shen Qingqiu almost screamed, but instead turned the box off. Throwing himself underneath the couch, he curled up as tight as he could.   A few seconds later, the door he came from bursted open. 

Previous Chapter ~~//~~ Next Chapter

Safe rooms have two major assets that make them unique. 

The first, and arguably most important, was the hiding spot. The closet in this case. Investigating it didn't lead to any particular interesting or useful items, but the huge space, big enough for more than one person, was what mattered. 

Of course, Honored Eternal Path of Demise offered a vast variety of hiding spots around the mansion. Most rooms had one or two places that could be used to avoid monsters. Usually places you could hide under, like a bed or table, or somewhere you could crawl into. Like the closet. 

Now, hiding always came with a certain risk. As in, a hard number set as the chance of getting revealed is assigned to each spot. Some spots had a high percent of staying hidden while others were next to useless as a hiding place. Notable, no spot was a guarantee to be safe nor a guarantee to fail. The fear of getting found in a good hiding spot or the excitement of getting away on a bad one worked well for the game. At least in the beginning. It would become tedious soon afterwards.

Basically you would just never use the bad spots and get frustrated every time a good spot failed. 

Using the same hiding place too many times in a chase also increased the chance of getting found. So a place that had a 2% chance of getting found could increase to 50% very quickly if used three or four times in too quick a succession. Which meant that places to hide in were somewhat limited. 

The exception to this was the safe room hiding spot. While few and far between, all safe rooms had one designated hiding place that was a 100% guarantee of staying hidden, no matter how many times it was used. The price for using it was usually the required backtracking to get to it, but that was always worth paying compared to dying. Another benefit of these hiding spots was also that they always had enough space to hide companions, so there was no risk of them accidentally going to a rotten hiding place instead.

Now, there were some rules that had to be taken into consideration.

If the monster was in the same room while you hid, they would always find you. No stupid or blind AI's (Except the ones that were narratively meant to be stupid or blind). And differently from other games, the monster could actually get inside the safe room, though only when they were in a chase. So you still had to act quickly. No doing a Resident Evil and running back and forth through the safe room seeing the enemy constantly gain amnesia the moment you were out of sight. 

Luckily this also meant that if you hid somewhere outside of a chase, all hiding spots were almost guaranteed to keep you hidden. Only when the storyline required the player to be revealed or if there was narrative logic for the monster to check that spot could you be found. So if you were careful and good at sneaking, you didn't have to participate in more chases than necessary. 

Keeping all of this in mind, Shen Qingqiu left the closet door slightly ajar for easy entry, and went over to investigate the second unique asset the safe room provided.

The hint book.

In an attempt to keep players from cheating using game guides, most progress required assets were randomly spawned across the mansion. So the important key you needed to unlock the secret door could be hidden in the kitchen for one player, while it was inside the library at the other end of the mansion for another. With many item spots being traps that could get the player insta-killed, this made for nightmarish gameplay, as the game simultaneously required and punished the player for exploration. Therefore hint pieces, that would guide the player to the correct spot, were made.

While they were incorporated into the game in many different ways, the safe room always kept a book that could be used to guide the player towards their next objective. Sometimes boringly direct, other times ambiguously useless, the Hint Book was still one of the best in-game tools to be used when dying with no progress one too many times.

It also served as the manual saving point, so players didn't have to force themselves to die to activate an auto save.

Opening the book now, it was blank. Shen Qingqiu had expected this. Having just started the game, there were too many areas he hadn't explored for any hints to be relevant right now. Also, he was just checking the book out to be certain it was there. He had no intent to actually use it for himself. 

Why waste his time? He is a walking and talking cheat guide, already knowing every story point and every secret this game has to offer. He knew what his current goal was and were already planning out his route, so who needed the Hint Book? Certainly not him! Knowing it was there was enough and since saving was useless in his situation, then really, he was better off moving on. No, what really mattered in coming to this room was the item that he now held in his hand.

The spiritbox.

The old wooden box with clockwork pieces and electric components built into it might not look impressive at first. But this was the best item to use in order to avoid the monsters. 

Turning up the switch, the spiritbox releases strangled static before it goes quiet. Satisfied with this, Shen Qingqiu leaves the Safe Room. Internally, he offers an apology for Ning Yingying as he just took the item she is meant to use to survive. 

Back at the entrance, he begins by checking which doors are unlocked. He finds that only one door on each floor can be opened. The one on the ground floor he is quick to dismiss. This is clearly the area where Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying first woke up. While later in the game more parts of the place will unlock, currently there shouldn't be anything of note to find there. Shen Qingqiu will have to return later.

Going back to the upper floor the only door left is the one he arrived from himself.

From a game design perspective, this wasn't a bad decision. While playing as Ning Yingying, the player would have seen Shen Qingqiu arrive and leave from this door. This way, it would be signaled to the player that the door is unlocked, naturally leading them to progress in the game. 

From a narrative perspective, it made no sense! Just why would Shen Qingqiu go back the way he just came? Without checking any other rooms first? And okay, it was logical that Ning Yingying would try to follow him, naturally not wanting to be alone, but after his first cutscene he would just. Be gone! No matter which way the player went, trying to track him down would leave to nothing. Like he just disappeared into empty air! Just waiting for the next time the plot felt like remembering he existed!

The ludonarrative dissonance of this game was a sin that would repeatedly be committed. Again and again it would become clear that the developers didn't make decisions meant to give a coherent and meaningful experience, but instead just went with the easiest solution. 

Have a character go through a door to show it is unlocked! OMG so smart! Our job here is done!

Of course from Ning Yingying’s perspective this was an entirely new area so it didn't feel as obvious while playing as her as it felt for Shen Qingqiu being here in person. Returning to the long hallway with the fake doors, he could only continue by backtracking.

The hallway hadn't changed since he last was here. None of the fake doors had become real. The decoration was still boringly mansion-esque. Candlesticks still give off frustratingly low light. Walking back was such a waste of time!

Passing the room he woke up in and walking a bit further the game finally opened up more places to explore. Splitting into different directions, Shen Qingqiu choose the right-is-always-right method and went that way. 

To save time checking each door for being fake, he also kept to the wall on his right. Letting his hand gently glide against the wall and doors, it was easy to feel out. The moment his fingers hit a slight bump he checked, and lo and behold, this door was actually real.

And not only that, it was unlocked!

Though as he stepped in, it didn't look like a particular interesting room. Not much more than a larger broom closet, really. 

Lots of shelves, some empty, others with old fashioned maintenance supplies. A few empty boxes were stacked beside the door that could be hidden behind, though Shen Qingqiu didn't feel confident about their staying-hidden-chance. He did find some oil that could be used to light a lantern if needed and a few bandages. 

He also found a bigger box that was locked. Shaking it gave a thump thump sound that revealed something somewhat heavy was inside. Whatever it was, he wouldn't be able to get it without a key. A key that clearly wasn't in this room, though Shen Qingqiu had expected as much.

The box was too big and awkward to bring, but the rest he took with him. He realized he might start missing a backpack if he kept finding trinkets like this. His school uniform only contained so many pockets. 

Leaving the room, he kept going, using the same strategy. Keeping to the right and feeling out for real doors as he went. 

A weird thing about video game spaces is how they don't have to actually be realistic as long as they feel realistic. The architecture of a building doesn't have to make sense in real life, as long as the player feels like there is logic while they play. Many gamers talk about realism in a game as if that is the ultimate goal to strive for, when in many instances trying to force realism can ruin an experience. 

Take for example a Studio Ghibli movie and the way characters will cry. The big bubbly tears aren't how tears work in reality, but they are how tears feel while you are crying in reality. Therefore the crying seems more relatable. 

That is all to say, while playing Shen Qingqiu didn't have an issue with the long empty hallways. In the setting of an unknown horror mansion with monsters, the space created for running away from things feels real in the context of everything else. First of all, chases will last longer than two seconds, as players have to run for more than five steps to get to the nearest door. The long hallways allow for the camera to zoom out so the monster designs can be shown off in all their horrific glory. This also means that players can see the monsters catch up to them, heightening the terror or relief when getting away at the last second. 

Long empty hallways are a great idea when building a space where it feels realistic being chased by a monster. In reality there is no logical explanation for hallways to be this long in a mansion seemingly made for people to live in. 

Shen Qingqiu already knew he was going to be tired of going back and forth through this place. 

Yay, another real unlocked door! So lucky!

This room was a smaller living room. Likely a place to keep guests until the host had time to greet them. Why make a room to greet guests this deep in the mansion and not at the entrance? Please, this game wasn't built by logic. 

A two-person fancy couch and armchair surrounded a simple coffee table. To one wall was a cabinet for keeping alcohol. A rug with a complicated pattern laid across the floor. The room didn't hold much else, with not even a window to it. There was a door that let further in, though.

A quick check of the door revealed it was locked. Something to return to later, then. 

The cabinet held a lot of different drinks. some recognizable. Some completely strange. All way above the quality Shen Qingqiu was used to from his previous life. 

Trying to open any of the bottles, it was like the corks were glued on. There wasn't anything hidden underneath any of them and neither underneath the cabinet as a whole. Potentially just a set piece or something that would first be revealed later. 

Ignoring it for now, Shen Qingqiu instead investigated the coffee table. It had a small drawer to one side, but he wasn't able to open it. Getting down on his knees, he tried to look under it. Nothing of particular interest except... From this angle it seemed like there might be something underneath the armchair. If he just moved over-

The spiritbox came alive with scratched static. Shen Qingqiu almost screamed, but instead turned the box off. Throwing himself underneath the couch, he curled up as tight as he could. 

A few seconds later, the door he came from bursted open. 

First, he could see nothing. The sound of deep breathing. Not Shen Qingqius' own. One hand is grasping the spiritbox tightly, while the other is used to cover his nose and mouth. 

Heavy steps. They stop in the middle of the room. Through the coffee table, Shen Qingqiu is able to discern thick boots. They are covered in dark mud and leave puddles behind. He is not able to see more of the owner wearing the boots from his limited vantage point.    

Seconds tick by. Shen Qingqiu notices his hands shaking, pressing the one holding the spiritbox closer to his chest. He can't risk it hitting the ground and alerting the Killer to his hiding spot. 

He feels sweaty. His breathing is straining against his clammy hand. Why doesn't it move?

As if reacting to his thought, it takes a step. Shen Qingqiu instinctually closes his eyes and holds his breath. Four more steps. A key going into a lock, followed by that lock being unlocked. A door opening. Then closing with a loud bang!

Shen Qingqiu doesn't move. He doesn't move for what feels like forever. Even as his body shakes in complaint and his hand hurts from strangling the spiritbox. He thinks he feels tears against his cheeks. 

A few seconds? An hour? Days? Weeks? Shen Qingqiu has no concept of time. It is first when he can take a breath without it rattling his chest, that he is able to push himself out from underneath the couch.

Standing on shaky legs, he looks at the door the thing must have left through. He barely stares for a few seconds before he runs out the room. 

Running down the hallway, he doesn't stop until he reaches the broom closet. Showing the door closed, he throws himself behind the stack of boxes. Trying to control his breathing, he huddles into the corner, trying to appear as small as possible. 

The reason the spiritbox is such a powerful tool in the game is because of this: while turned on, static will play while a monster is near. It had stayed quiet until now because the Killer wouldn't spawn until Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying found the first corpse. 

Taking the spiritbox and keeping it turned on was a way for Shen Qingqiu to know when the game would truly begin. When he could no longer act recklessly and would have to be ready to sneak around and hide. When every action could now trigger a monster appearance or a trap. When death was possible.

Shen Qingqiu thought he had been ready.

Having already died twice, death should not scare him. The entire premise of this game was death! It literally couldn't be beaten without dying a few times! He knew this! He had already played through it countless times!

But playing a game is nothing like experiencing it for real. 

Being in the same room as the Killer was an experience almost as horrible as death itself. The uncertainty. How defenseless he felt. How powerless he was to why he was here. This was worse than any nightmare. A nightmare he could only wake up from by continuing. 

Shen Qingqiu didn't want to continue. He wanted to stay here forever, in his corner, with a stack of boxes keeping him hidden. Living out this miserable nightmare until it forgot about him or decided to let him go. Until some overpowered and handsome hero came to save him from this terror. 

Forcing in a deep breath and then another. Slowly Shen Qingqiu uncurled from his corner. Doing his best to focus on rationality. He isn't a heroine. Definitely not a love interest. He was the scum villain. Lowest on the food chain. No one would come to save him. So he had to save himself. And the faster he did it, the faster he could escape this nightmare. 

To distract himself, he focused on his spiritbox. When he turned it on again, it released weak static. He turned it off again.

The risk of using the spiritbox was that depending on proximity, monsters might also hear it and use it to find the player. And like the risk/chance mechanic of the hiding spots, having the spiritbox turned to its lowest sound setting, the farthest away from the monster's range, still carried the risk of being noticed. So better to keep it turned off and only turning it on occasionally to check if a monster was near. 

Weak static meant he was in the monsters range, but that it was far enough away that he didn't have to hide yet. Just stay vigilant. Be on the ready.

And really, he had to stay positive!

This wasn't the worst situation to find himself in. While he had been surprised and terrified by the Killer, it meant he now had an idea of where they were. So if he went in the complete opposite direction, then he should be safe again. At least for a while. This would be easy, as this was just one section of the mansion. There were many more to look into at this time, so he wasn't forced to stick close to the Killer.

Keeping this in mind, Shen Qingqiu prepared to leave. With his confidence back, he stepped out, already planning for what to look for and remembering what he would have to return to investigate later. 

It was right as he returned to the hallway that he had to keep himself from screaming a second time, as he came face to face with Ning Yingying.

[pdouwes]

Hi, I'm a big fan of your blog and your gifs in general! I was wondering if you had any tutorial on how you color? Particularly your Wicked and Hadestown gifs look incredibly gorgeous and the colors really pop, and I'm so curious as to how you achieve those effects. Amazing work overall :D

hiii, oh my god thank you so much!! 🥺❤️

i'm happy to show you how i color my gifs but pls note that i basically have no idea what i'm doing, everything i know i taught myself via trial and error and this is just something i found works for me.

that being said, here's a quick (and very messy) bootleg coloring tutorial under the cut!

okay so, when it comes to making gifs and coloring in general, good source material is key. bright and clear videos make the coloring process SO much easier.

i picked an old 2010 wicked oberhausen boot for this tutorial. it doesn't have the highest resolution but the colors translate nicely and the lighting is pretty good as well.

now, this is our base gif cropped and sharpened. i usually want my gifs to look as natural and as close to their base version as possible with just colors and contrast enhanced slightly. baby steps are important here!

first thing i do is add a brightness/contrast layer. these are my settings for this gif:

i rarely ever go above 20 with either brightness or contrast. adding too much early on will make your gif look grainy in the end. our gif now looks like this:

not much has changed but a little goes a long way, trust me. next up is a curves layer. i click the little arrow to open the drop down menu and select increase contrast (rgb). afterwards i reduce the opacity. for this gif i set it to 52%.

this will darken the gif again but it also gets rid of these white spots on elphaba's dress which is great.

next, we start playing around with colors. i usually use 3 color fill and one or two selective color layers. this really is just playing around until you find the settings that you think look good. for this gif i wanted to enhance the green and neutralise some of the yellow, so i went with two color fill layers first.

green to slightly enhance the green of elphie's skin and blue to neutralise the yellow in glinda's hair.

next we're going with a selective color layer. think of the colors you want to pop. for this gif the obvious choices are elphie's skin and glinda's dress.

i added a second layer to further adjust the greens

and ended up with this gif

i then added another color fill layer, set it to multiply and reduced the opacity to 12

followed by a color balance layer

the purpose of these layers is to slightly "cool down" the gif, meaning they decrease orange/yellow undertones while enhancing the blue and purple ones.

next up is a levels layer to add a tiny bit more brightness

followed by a vibrance layer to make existing colors pop

and another curves layer for more brightness/contrast with the opacity set to 50%

our gif now looks like this:

almost done! we're finishing up with a black and white gradient map layer for some more depth

and a cooling filter to further reduce the yellow/orange tones of glinda's face and hair

and that's it!

so, here you go. this is my coloring process most of the time. sometimes i add more layers (on top or in between), other times i use less, it all depends on the specific scene and the mood i'm in lol.

now, could you leave out some of these steps? yeah, definitely. some layers probably don't even make that much of a difference but i like adding them anyway.

you can download the psd here. feel free to play around with my settings and add or delete layers as you see fit. hope this was at least somewhat helpful!

[oodlyenough]

aa4-1 turnabout trump

alright i finished the first case of aa4 last night!

despite my efforts i think i'm more spoiled for aa4 than i realized, or at least most of the hanging mysteries from the first case are ones i think i already know the answer to. kind of a shame but i don't think there was any way to avoid it. oh well, this case was fun anyway. i think 3-1 is my fave tutorial case still but this one was great even if i embarrassed myself by hitting the wrong button. also after banging my head against the wall through aai for five months it was nice to play a case where i could just use my brain and solve it because all the logic made sense and clues progressed naturally lmfao. i know first case are usually the easiest, but still.

apollo seems fun enough but the real draw of this case for me was FINALLY getting to meet beanix, whose characterization i know to be somewhat controversial lol. i've enjoyed him so far although fandom primed me to expect a weird secretive asshole -- will see if that changes as the game goes on. i missed phoenix a lot playing AAI so i am clinging to his ankles. was very exciting when his musical cue started in court. get his ass nick

the forgery ace stuff is... hm. i'm reserving judgment until i finish the game. also, lmao not to reference AAI for the thousandth time, but the conclusion of its grand finale was "illegal evidence is good sometimes" so i guess we already crossed this moral event horizon.

i've also been eager to meet trucy, who didn't do much in this case but have a bug-eyed stare. one thing i'm glad to be spoiled for actually is trucy and her approximate providence because the game trying to tease that as a mystery would've bugged me so much LOL and it's very funny to play when everyone is like "you have a DAUGHTER?!" and phoenix is just like :) yeah and as the player i am probably meant to be asking all kinds of questions about what happened there when i know the truth is just

i think the biggest hurdle this game is going to have with me personally is the level of suspending disbelief i have to do that maya and edgeworth are just totally uninvolved and unhelpful while phoenix is embroiled in whatever kind of conspiracy plot is going on. on a real-world level this is almost certainly the result of the franchise wanting to pivot to new characters, so there's not much explanation beyond that. but it's a bit hard to rationalize in-universe, especially because i also know the franchise immediately goes "lol lmao nvm" in 5&6 anyway. phoenix said something in this case about needing a lawyer he could trust, in reference to apollo, and i was like yeah if only we... knew one of those....

but whatever i guess. the true gift aa4 will give me is finally being able to read all the 7yg fics i have marked for later on ao3. onwards to 4-2!

[a-lonely-dunedain]

Starting out with an out there option -- Margim!

(for this ask game where you send in one of my OCs, and I give you a synopsis of what it would look like if they were the main NPC in a tutorial quest)

oh interesting! torn on weather this would make the starting zone Mordor or Dunland (or somewhere in-between). hmm I think we'll go with Dunland, bc Mordor would basically just end up as either "Bitter Ash and Stubborn Flowers but You are Celeair" or "Stout-Axe 2: Electric Boogaloo" lol

So your character is traveling through northern Dunland, as one does, and encounters a gleaming white stag. It runs away when you approach, but stops before it gets out of eyeshot and looks back at you, almost as if it's expecting you to follow. So you do follow it, briefly lose sight of it, and find yourself on the outskirts of an encampment of clanless Dunlanding brigands. You see someone else besides you lurking outside the camp and quietly approach them

She introduces herself as Margim, and you learn that she was led here in the same way you were. The quest text would make note of her strange and somewhat unnatural appearance, but weather or not your character actually knows what the yellow eyes and ashy skin mean is left ambiguous. (she is still wearing her armor from Mordor, but at this point she's scuffed off any eye emblems denoting it as such, so the PC would only notice that it seems badly damaged) Regardless, the quest tracker would read "remain on guard" while you're talking to her.

She will tell you that she has been watching the camp for a little while now, and saw that the brigands seem to have captured some people from a nearby village. While she's not sure exactly why the stag led you both here, she guesses it might have something to do with that. She will mention that she has not been in Dunland for very long and has found very little welcome from its inhabitants, but that "it's understandable" and she holds no ill will towards them, so she wishes to help the captured people. Your character, of course, agrees to help her rescue them. Because even if you don't trust her, There Are People Who Need Help and what kind of adventurer would you be if you passed that up?

(This bit is unnecessary, but it would be funny to have the classic "let's have a quick sparring match to see if you know how to fight, here's my spare [Your Classe's Weapon] you can use, just [Right Click] on that satchel-" etc etc. while you're like, right outside the camp presumably trying to be sneaky. It's somewhat immersion breaking but also I think it would be funny)

anyway, you go in, kick ass, [untie prisoners: 3/3] and regroup outside. The people, who you learn belong to the Stag Clan, are grateful but still seem a bit wary of you, at least until learning that you were both led there by a visage of a White Stag. They don't know exactly what that means either, but evidently the White Stag is a Big Deal to them and one showing up is almost always a good omen. They then invite you to Lhan Tarren so they can properly thank you for helping them.

short timeskip, you've arrived in the village and had a small feast to celebrate the return of the captured villagers. Margim will mention that she found it a little overwhelming to be around so many people, but she is grateful that, for once, she seems to be welcome somewhere. "At least for the time being", she adds. Now that everything is winding down you're both getting ready to leave, but are approached by Elain, who offers to let you stay in her house if you would like to remain in the village a bit longer. (They just get so few visitors you see, and she's very excited to hear about all your adventures!)

the player character respectfully declines (they have to go Looking for Adventure), but Margim just looks genuinely shocked and goes

"..." "...I'm allowed to stay?"

and the instance basically ends there.

it might actually work similarly to the River-Hobbit intro, being a short adventure your character does on their way north that eventually ends with you arriving in Mossward (although for it to work with the timeline your character would need to stay in Mossward/somewhere between Trum Dreng and Mossward for a few years before the orc attack that sets everything in motion lol)

[exoticalmonde]

Part II. Hortus de Escapismo Dr. Evealia's Reaction

Well, first of all, my snake sandwich gets his skin before anything else happens.

Second, SPOILERS up ahead about the entire Hortus de Escapismo event, including the story, art and the full blow of my tears.

I think this is covering HE-1 through HE-4.

God in the basement has spoken and it says that something is wrong. A totally normal day in Laterano where your robotic diety is getting haywired from the inside. Surely this isn't going to be another cliffhanger where we never learn about whatever the hell this is since I may or may have not... skipped... Guiding Ahead story-wise.

Transcribed: [Raise your head and stand by my side, Saint Federico Giallo, the first Chosen of Laterano who does not come from the ranks of the popes.]

AYO IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING WE GET TO SEE HIM BECOME A SAINT???

The reason for that is that Pope Yvangelista XI got the threat responce from the MachineTM, but how does he plan to stop that, whatever it is, from happening if he just... baptises everybody? I agree with that other knight a moment ago, this sounds like a bad idea if that's the procedure for every account. Of course, we know Executor is the perfect personification of clean-cut justice, so how could it go wrong?

---

Transcribed: [Eating]

Ah.

---

Transcribed: [ Delfina: You always have that gun with you. You got it from your dad, right? I thought it doesn't work anymore.

Fortuna: It doesn't. Maybe it's a parts problem. And I don't know how to use a gun myself...]

Can we just very shortly mention the meaning of their names? Delfina is Dolphin and Fortuna is Good Fate; Luck, but Delfina keeps calling Fortuna just Tuna. So they're Dolphin and Tuna.

---

I absolutely need everybody to keep in mind that this is a fragment of a city that drifted away from the main city 60 or so years ago and got stranded. This is a city on wheels in the middle of ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY NOWHERE. And it's winter. These guys here are going to perish.

---

... Great. Wonderful. Bleed me to death why don't you?

Where are they even come from? Are those Iberian beasts that are prowling the streets? Is it just a random angry wolf that's evolved in some bizzare way from the wastes and stalks people? Do they have any way to defend themselves against those canonically?

---

Can i insert a spoiler from the me that played this on my own for the second time? These are useless. It says that they can help relax the panicking residents but it left me with the impression it was meant to do it somewhat passively.

Not even a smitherine. If anybody tells you they do, they're lying. 20 DP for a resident whose bar raises faster than DP regenerates on 70% of the maps is a terrible introduction into the overall gameplay.

Maybe I was bad, but it's so... Not meant to force me to replay the tutorial twice, you know? Not this one at least.

---

It does remain a funny act though. They run from statue to statue looking for something to pray to. How... futile. At least I don't have to defend them from enemies.

---

The maps are gorgeous though... I love what they're doing for everything after spending way too long in chapters 4-8 looking at literally nothing. I enjoy this a LOT.

---

Raimund huh?

I'm not a nun but I'd be on my knees for you in a second. Lord have mercy on you or whatever.

---

BABABABABABABABY BIRDS LITTLE FLOOFERS WHAT ARE YOU WHY ARE YOU SO CUTE EXPLAIN YOUR SMOLLNESS!!!

---

I love them so much... I hope the children are not doomed by the narrative.

---

Oh I like Gerald as well... Him and Reimund are such father figure/son figure I hope to see more interaction between them. He seems pretty trustworthy though. Like, seriously just cares about his people and considering so far we saw a peace between Sarkaz and Sankta that has never been in the outside world... you know he has authority that matters.

---

PFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LEMUEN IS SUCH A MIPY YOURE A GOOD BEAN

---

Me: "Don't you love it when people in the story talk about plans they have previously made in such a way that doesnt tell me anything just so they can agree upon actions and or warn each other of consequences to actions without ever mentioning what they are and then I end up not understanding a single thing when the story ends, like… Isn't it fun?" Pinkie: "Ok, Fiametta." Me: "No, I'm being serious this is all over Arknights, I hate it." Pinkie: "I really can't tell if you're sarcastic right now, but this is really why Fiametta is so pissed." Me: "Well, call me spicy chicken." Pinkie: "Call me a Fat Duck then, because I'm about to go off."

---

HA! Throwback to Guiding Ahead. Very nice.

---

Transcribed: [The average conversation between the two of you is about as entertaining as 'What did you eat last night?' 'Dinner.']

THEY DO TALK LIKE THAT THOUGH HEFHFNAHGOINAGN

---

Transcribed: [

Spuria: Federico, how much do I have to pay you for a few extra words? You name the price, and I'll send the bill to His Holiness.

Federico: I have never considered this question.]

They have the funniest banters and Federico probably doesn't even understand that it's happening, this is simultaniously the funniest and saddest outcome to any conversation ever.

---

...

...

Transcribed: [The dim light finally illuminates the girl's face, revealing spotty traces of blood, as well as the black horns protruding from her forehead.

Sankta blood drips onto the chapel's floorboards, giving off a dull sound. It is a deafening sound, one that opens all eyes wide.

The patron firearm used for prayer finally slips from the hands that were clutching it tightly.]

Oh... My... Fortuna...

---

Transcribed: [

Twisted Monster: (Indescipherable howling)

Lemuen: Nuh-uh, just because I'm physically handicapped doesn't mean you can pick on me, visitor!]

I love Lemuen, she is the best bright pink-haired girl ever.

---

Oya, welcome to Rhodes Island, uh-- *nervously looking around as there is not a single Sankta on my ship* -- feel... feel uh-- at home... Not Laterano home uh--- Sarkaz are not allowed there haha, but uh-- Just take... I mean your room is down the hall, di- mm dinner is at seven o'clock.