#its wild to think about how much i've changed since i started this blog like i was a little baby when i posted that first photoset

[obliviousriki]

I finally finished Future Connected. The game has been out for over two years at this point

[f1shart]

the amount of times i've drawn clowns on this blog is absurd. yes it was twice but that's twice too much

ANYWAY personality swap verona au anyone? its more of a personality inversion since i didn't swap their personalities with one another (og idea by @quejicadelapulpa)... more info ⬇️

idk why when i invert their personalities they become depressed, evil, or both but 😭 i'll go in depth on each of them

Tybalt: he was always a clown but swapbalt is quite literally a clown (he prefers jester). his personality is basically mercutio: playful, friendly, but still prim since i don't see why that would change about him i mean he's still absolutely loaded 🤑 also he loves annoying mercutio, especially since it's not like he'll get his ass whooped if he starts to throw hands (since, yk, tybalt is JACKED)

Mercutio: what i meant when i said they turn depressed when i invert their personalities 💀 swapcutio is a man of few words. he probably speaks very quietly too, only ever getting loud when he's pissed at tybalt. speaking of, he's not as hot-headed as og tybalt mostly cuz i didn't want to just swap their personas and call it a day. nah this is much funnier. i feel bad for him though i mean he's got this fucking clown constantly bothering him and there's nothing he can do about it

Romeo: he's giving pascal and i'm so sorry ab that. anyway this is where i delve more into personal hcs about personality since some of these sims weren't given much originally. i see romeo as a pretty smart kid so i didn't change that about him. i also see him as a bit immature but his wit makes up for that and that's how he's able to charm people. while swapmeo is mature, he is unfortunately quite uncharismatic so who tf knows how he pulled juliette. he's still a romance sim tho so he has his ways...

Juliette: not too much about her. i originally saw her as a little hot-headed similar to tybalt, so i decided to commit to that and make her a very mellow and chill individual. no more raging at online shooter games for her ! swapiette also wears very comfy clothes unlike juliette and dont u worry i kept her uggs. they're simply too iconic 😩

Miranda: she's basically more like her mother. this is where i was conflicted like do i swap the adults' personalities as well?? regardless, swapiranda (i need to stop) is a good christian girl 😌 as you can see she did not dye her hair in this universe and same with hermia but we'll get there. i also removed her beautiful shades SORRY but they're still there in spirit with the blue of her nails. i think swapiranda has that sweet exterior but a snakeish interior in terms of personality

Hermia: i exchanged the goth aesthetic for something more pastel and trendy for the time. you could say swapmia is a bit like og juliette in terms of personality. ooh maybe she doesn't dislike her brother in this universe! though i can see her and juliette getting tired of his smileyness. also yess swapmia's hair is her natural blonde it fits her vibe more.

Puck: last and certainly not least, evil puck 😍 the poor residents of swap veronaville cuz this kid... to me, og puck is kind, shy, dedicated to their tasks but dreadfully incompetent. you'd think he's the media's idea of a fairy- playful and mischievous, but he is surprisingly the opposite. THEN THERE'S SWAP PUCK. absolutely devious. despicable. he plays pranks and they are fucking mean pranks (not as far as battery acid in pop tho 💀 that's one of their cruel jokes. pls tybalt is not actually drinking battery acid) who KNOWS what swapmia sees in them. maybe she's evil too lmfao

anyway that's what i got. tell me why typing this drained 54% of my battery. apple is wild. maybe i'll do st but that's a hell of a lot of work

[letstalkwhump]

Let's Talk Whump No.5

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community! ! I’m Malice and I’ll be your host. 

Today I’m talking whump with the wonderful @painsandconfusion! 

So good to have you here today, @painsandconfusion! Tell us a fun fact about yourself!

I'm a lawyer but don't seem like a lawyer at all - everyon'es always confused when I say so. I'm a fan of jumping between fluffy pink dresses, standard hipster vibes, emo styles, and who knows what else. It's different every day. I just like variety!

What does whump mean to you?

Oh dear, tricky to answer...

Whump is when a character is at their highest stress point (or...at least higher than average). I suffer from severe and vivid nightmares, but I found out that when I write whump, I can process my fears and anxieties through those characters and their experiences. I can only go about two weeks without writing before the nightmares start again. It's kinda amazing to see just how effective and healthy it is for me. I live vicariously through my whumpees for a moment, and they help my brain keep its shit together. Then I get to meet all these lovely people online and it just makes my heart so happy!

Wow, that’s really great to hear! Whump can be really cathartic at times. How did you find the whump community? What made you want to join? 

I think this is a standard story, but I discovered the hero x villain community first, and it wasn't /quite/ my cup of tea, but it was close. After I saw a few people reblogging things with #whump, I checked it out. 

I have a vivid memory of skipping class for the first time in my life, just sitting in my apartment, all but crying as I scrolled through everything. I was so relieved to find that I wasn't alone. I spent so much of my life hating myself and hating whumperflies and hating that I was drawn to violence and not understanding why. After I found this community I felt so much more at home. 

I made a blog and started reblogging.

Then of course, I relapsed into hating myself and deleted it.

Then I made another. Started posting gifs I made from my favorite whumpy movies.

The kink community kinda took it over - which is fine and lovely and I'm happy to share content, but....they were the only ones who saw my blog. So everything I made was taken in a way I didn't mean and I felt very isolated and unheard.

So I deleted it again.

A couple years ago, I tried again. I started just reblogging, then I impulsively added to a prompt list in one of my reblogs and people really liked it? So I made more. And more and more and more- eventually I started posting scenes, and I've been having a lovely time here ever since! 

Do you think your view on whump has changed since you joined? Are there tropes you now love/hate that you didn't at first? 

Absolutely. Like. Wow so much. I used to dislike pain a lot and only enjoy the fear leading up to it. While I still prefer the suspense, nothing really squicks me out anymore. I used to hate pet whump but now I'm a fan. 

I have started making whump art as of late, which has been a fun new adventure! I picked it up almost solely because there's so many fantastic writers in this community who deserve some good fanart. I'm having fun working through a list of my favorite creators!

Tell us about your favourite whump trope!

Dear goodness, do I love a chin tilt.

No no...hmmm.....I get to run wild with this question and there's nothing you can do to stop me! Muahhahahhaaaaaaaa~

Okay so. Picture this.

Whumpee stumbling slowly backward, breath catching in their throat and burning at their lungs. Their feet drag against the ground as they stare up at Whumper, eyes shaking and sparkling with tears that cling to their lashes, refusing to fall. Not /quite/ yet. 

Whumper strokes a knuckle down their cheek, drawing a twitch - not quite a flinch, no no, Whumpee wouldn't dare to pull away. Whumper's hand flips softly as it reaches their jaw, pressing to their throat instead.

Whumpee finally lets a sound pass their lips, a soft whimper as their back hits the wall. The momentum topples the wetness from their lashes, and Whumper's eyes roam down to follow them as they soak hot into the fabric of Whumpee's shirt. 

Whumper's hand turns up just /once/ more, curling a finger under Whumpee's chin to tip their head up, drawing hiding eyes back into place.

Then they say something whumpy, I guess - you get the picture.

LOVE that shit. 

Intimate whumpers? Slow pacing? Vivid sensation? Yes!

Absolutely loving the detail in that! It’s all about the sensations! And speaking of favourites, do you want to share a piece you've written?

Hard Question!

First one that comes to mind is The Party. It's one of my favorites because my hands were shaking so hard while writing it. It was a great way to kick off that event (@thewhumperssoiree) which I'm inadvertently yet shamelessly plugging by answering with that piece I guess! It's very very fun, I loved what that piece created. Everyone who wrote for it did such a great job! (Event is still open, I don’t know why I'm talking about it in past tense)

Do you have a standard writing style/routine or does it vary?

I absolutely change up my paragraph style depending on the intensity of the scene or the place in the scene. I'm a big fan of elaborating and writing moment to moment so the oc's sensations and emotions bleed into the reader. I don't write much on visuals at all - almost entirely on sensation, which I think works well in this medium.

When I'm writing, I kinda forget everything else exists, so I don't have food or drink or if I do, it's neglected. If anyone tries to talk to me, tough luck to them, I'm in the Write Zone and I cannot hear them!

I write solely when inspiration strikes which.......is a lot!

Is there a noticeable difference in how easily you write things? Do the words always flow or do you have to beat them out sometimes?

There's characters who don't get in my head nearly as easily, and ones that are effortless. Getting fucking Alec in my head? Impossible. He's a bitch, then does bitch things once there. Ethan? Dream. Miracle boy. So easy to write that emo little shit. For clarification, the seven chapters of Alec's series vs the thirty of Ethan's. Alec is a bitch. End of story.

But, I also do much better describing little moments rather than full scenes. I'm good at scenes, but it takes so many spoons. Hence why I have three hundred or so random drabble posts or lists, but only like fifty total from my series. It just takes more effort to have to think about plot and pacing and all that good stuff. 

Fun? Yes. 

But hard.

Is there anything you're working on at the moment? Finalising the final chapter of your series? Starting a new au? Trying a different style of writing/pov? Revisiting fanfiction? Maybe you've really gotten into poetry....

Oh dear goodness, I'm working on everything all at once and I need to stop!

I also need to roleplay less and write more for you lovelies! I’m so sorry I’m just really distractible…

Give us some writing advice. Bless us with your wisdom!

I have posts for this but:

1. Keep your descriptions to the textured senses. Less visuals, more sensation. Caretaker has brown hair? So what? Tell me about how Caretaker's hair curled at the ends, just barely tickling at the corner of their eyes until they flicked it away with a twitchy shake of the head.

2. Personify the shit out of your nouns. Whumpee bled? No. The blood soaked through Whumpee's shirt. Make it an external factor that's affecting them. Much more engaging.

3. Pacing. Whumpee got dragged into the car, then into a house and chained in the basement? That's not one scene, that's at least three. OR. It's a two sentence summary that Whumpee is musing about while already in the basement. 

4. Speaking of, don't start with the boring, just get right into the action. You can weave the 'how we got here' bits in after a few sentences, but get your reader hooked right away. Don't start with "Whumpee got out of bed, glancing at their blaring alarm". Try instead "Their hands were shaking so hard they had to try three times to dial the number, fingers as clumsy as they were that morning, trying to slap their alarm off through the fog of blissful sleep." Or just don't mention it at all! Skip to the good stuff!

Lastly, let’s hype up some of your favourite blogs! Any friends, writers or just really cool people you want to shout out?

@whumblr was like my idol before I started! It's so cool just casually knowing her now? Still not over that, to be honest.

I always tag her but @distinctlywhumpthingmpthing is so good? Seriously, you want to see some god-tier writing, go over there. (minors read tws well please, its not all for you.)

@brutal-nemesisemesis is always a delight. Castys gives me life.

And of course,  I'm gonna give a shoutout to @wormwritinging, my beloved. We met here and as much as I adore this community, they're hands down the best part of it. 

Anything you'd like to add? 

I can't think of anything but thank you for doing this. This blog is so cool!

It’s been a honor to have you here, @painsandconfusion!

And to all you folks at home, have a whump-derful day!

[amadeusgame]

Devlog: NEW OPENING CINEMATIC & Release Timeline

The most important announcement I'd like to make in this month's devlog is that Amadeus now has an anime-ass opening that will play after the prologue.

...but all you cool gamers who follow this blog already knew that, because I announced it here early. ;)

The final version may be tweaked, but please enjoy the current version, now as a direct upload:

I think this does a better job of communicating everything I'm excited about coming in the new demo, to be followed shortly by the full game release, than talking about it in prose. Most notably the Witch's new design!

This opening will be implemented in the new demo build.

Want to know when you'll be able to play it? The rest of this post outlines the timeline between now and release. Read on below the cut.

More on Amadeus: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

MAGWest, September 27-29 ~ New Gameplay Demo

What: short, new gameplay demo Where: MAGWest only... or ask me nicely (Discord server, Tumblr blog) When: September 27-29

This demo will be the first public showcase of all the work I've put into this game since February. All of the new mechanics - text scrolling with pauses, rich text, point-and-click improvements, a glossary menu, save & load - will be included. The demo will also feature new assets & narrative changes to reflect the direction of the full game. However, it will NOT be a replacement for the current demo, as it only features a few scenes. It will NOT be published on the Amadeus store pages. It WILL have the cinematic OP.

You can play it either in-person at MAGWest, or online by asking me nicely, after September 27.

October ~ Full New Demo

What: new demo of the full game's complete vision Where: itch & Steam When: October, date TBA

This will be a complete update and replacement to the currently published demo. The changes showcased in the MAGWest demo will be implemented in all scenes correlating to the current demo, so you can experience the introduction to the story in its near-final form. This demo will be published on the existing store pages. It will accurately represent how the full episode will read, sound, look, and feel. Pay careful attention to the story, as many details have changed!

You can play it on itch or Steam, where the current demo is live, in October. Date TBA in next month's devlog.

November ~ Episode One Release (tentative)

What: Episode One ~ Waltz Where: itch & Steam When: November (tentative), date TBA

This is it! The full episode, part one of five. While that "tentative" may not inspire confidence, I want to avoid announcing a date that I can't meet. November is the goal, and I will let you know after the full demo is complete if I am still on track for it.

You can play it on itch or Steam, but it will have a price point. The month will be confirmed after the new demo release in October.

The free demo will stay up indefinitely after release!

Final Notes

If you'd like to see some of the new visual assets I made for the opening (such as the full art for Amadeus, Solea, and the Witch), those will be posted on the Amadeus Tumblr blog in the coming weeks.

You can find that, and all other resources pertaining to the game, here: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

Thank you so much for your sustained interest. Development is in the final stretch, and it's all starting to feel very real! After working on this game for about 2 years now, I certainly understand why the conventional wisdom is to not make your first game a hugely ambitious and deeply personal project. But I'm proud to have ignored that wisdom. I'm making something that means a lot to me, and perhaps more importantly, something that I think is awesome.

I've stubbornly refused to compromise on the self-indulgent core vision of the game, and at long last, it is all coming together.

Please look forward to a pretty wild journey.

[rookmeo]

Welcome to.... Rookfes2024!!!

Where we celebrate the awesome super cool beloved beautiful magnificent elegant wonderful enjoyable hot editor in the entirety of tumblr (and perhaps the world), me >:3 ! Rook 'Rookmeo' TumblrEditor and several other names.

Thank you all for your continued support of my stupid ass, it genuinely means a lot to me lol ^_^ ! Because of several delays due to irl stuff + not having energy, what was supposed to be a 600+ event has now become a 1k+ event which is. An insane number. If all of us are in a single room right now there would be casualties. Its so awesome, right?

I'm glad to see how my editing has improved throughout the time I've been here and I hope to improve even more. I'll become a better me everyday and I hope you all get to see the best I can ever be.

I wanted to do something more special but due to me having school rn I'll just do a simple prompt event + a raffle, hope that's okay with you all haha

Without further ado, event details are under the cut ★ !

Rules:

- the event starts on August 5 to 9 + bonus 8 extra days (10 - 17) for people who want to catch up.

(edit: its now extended till august 23)

- completing 3 prompts will automatically have you entered into the raffle. All 5 prompts will give you an extra entry. the challenges are optional but they allow you to get more entries. Just like bonus points basically.

- you can only do a challenge once, doing it again will not get you any bonus entries.

- when posting your submissions, please tag me or add the tag #rookfes2024 onto your post.

- feel free to ask for clarifications or questions

Prompts:

1 - Celebration ☆

Since this is an event celebrating the fact that i have reached a milestone here, this is a prompt for that. It could be about celebrating anything! Doesn't have to be abt my gayass lol 👍 It could be life changing or something mundane, just make something that celebrates it.

2 - Theatre ☆

A huge interest of mine is theatre, mostly the technical stuff and directing (im so normal about that. btw). For this prompt, make something that aligns with whatever pops into your head when you think of 'Theatre'.

3 - Collaboration ☆

As said by the wisest women of our time: friendship is magic. So for this prompt, you must make an edit that's a collab with someone! However that works is entirely up to you. Go insane. Go wild. Collab with God for all I care.

4 - Rebirth ☆

To test if you're improving as an creator, you remake an old work of yours and compare the two. So let's see how all of us have improved. Feel free to comment on what changed between your old editing style to your new one. I love seeing how people view their own work :3

5 - Amalgamation ☆

Create something that consists of things that you like and only that. Frankenstein that thing. Make a collage. I don't care. Create an abomination just for you and you only baby!!! Self indulgence is key!!!

Challenges:

1 - Use a colour/colour palette that you dislike prominently in your edit (+1 entry)

2 - Use shapes that aren't triangles, quadrilaterals, stars, heart or circles. (+1 entry)

3 - Write an essay about how cool i am with a minimum of 100 words (no bonus point, this is just a joke)

Actual 3 - Make an edit based off the three emojis you get from this emoji generator. Make sure all three emojis are unique. (+1 entry)

Prizes:

3rd Place: 3 types of edits (graphics are allowed)

2nd Place: 4 types of edits (graphics are allowed)

1st Place: 5 types of edits (graphics are allowed)

Once more, thank you so much for becoming patrons of the Rookmeo Edit Blog where i Make Edits and Be Gay. Love you all ♡ Have a great day (ゝω・´★) !!!

[p-receh]

Its understandable people to get upset but sometimes the reasons for them to get upset is the wildest thing imaginable

Sonic fandom:

Like there is a good chunk of people that absolutely hate the idw sonic comics, they read it. But they hate it.

But the complaints sometimes are just ridiculous or plain unserious at this point

"This is such a bad character, they're so annoying" and thats the point.

"This character is so mean for no reason what a bitch" and its a regular character flaw plus you're only upset cause its you favs they're being mean too

"Ugh its so different than the games and the characters are all different" its called a different medium.

"Sonic in prime is so annoying the show is awful" ITS A DIFFERENT TAKE ON THE CHARACTER, HAVE YOU SEEN THE OLD SONIC SHOWS

(No but seriously sonic x was a wild ride and Boom was just a nice slice of life hilarious mess)

Bbb fandom:

"They made yaya dumb!" That isn't dumb thats unhinged did you all suddenly forget the original series.. also smart characters can make dumb decisions excuse me.

"X character have so little screentime" get in line with the rest of us, i love Z character and they appear once in a blue moon. Also heres a magical thing you can do, its called ✨️creation✨️ make fan content the way how you'd like the character to be, the power is yours!

"The animated version is nothing like the comics" say that sentence again :), "animated" "comics" DIFFERENT MEDIUMS PEOPLE, also highly recommend stop comparing things, you'll get an aneurysm

Am i upset they made Gopal a bigger idiot? Yea, its a problem. Am i annoyed with the changes? Yea sure but i've long accepted that it would be highly different since the first time galaxy s1 comics roled around (they had Fang's backstory while the show didn't)

I may be upset but i'm not gonna complain in the smallest of things, those things i can fix myself, i'll write what i want. I'll fantasies it. I'll even draw it myself even if it looks terrible

And its not even just sonic or bbb fandom, all fandoms are like this. The more years have passed the more I'm not taking complaints seriously. I'm enjoying this media whether you hate it or not.

Sorry for the sudden rant to you, you're the only bbb and sonic blog i know. Feel free to ignore and hope you have a great day :D

I dare you want to see my answer when you write that essay. Don't think you want me to ignore it when I know you want to read it, anon. hehe😏

I treat Sonic and Boboiboy a bit different nowadays. In the past I might get over excessive, but I know I said this before, my view of Sonic fandom change recently and I blame internet because of that.

It felt exaggerated but that fandom genuinely damaged my heart and soul for sonic. I'd rather be a silent enthusiast rather than engaging or contributing to the community. It sucks cuz I want to share my love with people, sharing art, thoughts and discussion....

But I cannot differentiate which one is satire, constructive criticism or straight up hate.

Everyone wants to be the voice of reason and It's... Exhausting to watch. I have my pen friend who emotionally broken after he went online debate in the fandom. He even gave up to the fandom and the franchise itself. At first I thought his response was dramatic(no joke), but then I witness the same thing and almost caused me a mental health problem.

Karma I guess🙃

Therefor, for the sake of my sanity, I don't want to engage too much in every fandom.

That's also includes Boboiboy. Different fandom treatment, same war.

I already talked this much on this site more about the fandom anyway. Here in case you haven't seen it

[peacespun]

obligatory, hello i love you ask, because I need to just sit here and talk about how amazing you are. starting from the beginning, can you believe it's almost been 12 years since we've known each other and how much we've grown together. I remember when we first started talking, you wrote me a starter that i NEVER replied to and then I messaged you like, hey so........ plotting instead please. and I picked abraham for dean and its been a very happy roller-coaster of plots, and characters and blogs and we've just been inseparable since. you've stuck by me for so long, through all my ups and downs, all my rants, all my mental health crisis, not once have you treated me differently because of it, you've always treated me with the utmost respect and have been nothing but my rock for so long. I can't imagine my time on here without you, I can't imagine my time offline without you even though we're still slowly getting to moving in together part but we'll get there. literally happy almost three year anniversary 💚💙💜

taps the mic like -- ahem..... warning: being sappy on the main !!

my darling!!! these messages honestly always make me start to get emotional on main because gOD-- i'm ridiculously in love with you, you have no idea. you have easily become the light in my life, and sometimes its so wild to think about how i've had you, my light, for almost 3 years. crazier to know that we've known each other for basically 12 years. thats INSANE!!

time is going by so fast and yet, still not quite fast enough to get to the moments we want to get to. they always say "patience is a virtue" and "good things come to those who are willing to wait for them," but god if i'm not attempting to will the clock to spin just a liiiitle bit faster so that 1) i can see you again, and 2) that we can finally be together and move in and have our own place !!!

you have no idea the impact you've had on my life just within these twelve years alone. you have completely changed my life for the better. knowing you has made me a better person, through and through. knowing you has allowed me to understand so much about myself, believe it or not, and about us, and then how to support you in nearly every avenue you need. mentally, emotionally, through rants: good, bad, and purely out of excitement (those are the most adorable btw for peoples that don't know it yet, just you wait).

you've taught me so much without ever realizing it. and it might be HELLA cheesy of me to say this but i haven't been as awake as i feel that i am now with you in my life. i see in color now. there's so much i understand and makes sense with you. i notice and learn new things with you every day, and i truly cannot wait to experience that for, god willing, so many more years.

i've said it multiple times before but having you in my life, especially in the way i've gotten to love you these last few years, has totally changed my life and it will never stop. even long down the road, wherever we are, you are going to be the one thing that makes sense.

you are my sunshine, my north star. my cutie lil future man! i am forever grateful to the shy girl that literally got so nervous when she first followed you that she'd actually closed the laptop and threw it to the other end of the bed because the idea of you following me back was bonkers to me then. i'm forever grateful to her and forever grateful to whatever nonsense it was that made you, the bestest bean, to follow me back. those kids had no idea back then.

i love you so so so so much, my darling!!! forever and always. 💜💚💙

tl;dr:

[batri-jopa]

The year 2022 is almost over and I see some ppl making their summaries. I never tried to make that kind of thing for myself before and it seems like an occassion for some self-analysing exercise, so...

I don't feel like just simply summarising #my art works and skill progression throughout the year - I may do that anytime just taking a glimpse at my deviantArt gallery:

Now summarising what changed in my way of thinking and how I pushed my mental limits in 2022 is much more interesting:

So first of all I beat my lifelong fear of drawing birds and feathered wings. I made more birds pictures this year than in my whole life and really good ones too (like my #bird version ATWD). Now I actually love to draw feathered wings! With all those parallel lines it feels like writing a poem or a song with its rythm, accents and rhymes... And since now I can draw roosters I'm almost not sure what so cool about dragons was any more?😆

Then I beat my fear of drawing faces of actual people / actors, especially those that I like... I learned that when I care deeply if a person looks similar and neat it is not the thing to be afraid of - on the contrary, it's the biggest motivation possible! And actually the only way I can make progress in drawing faces properly...

Meanwhile I accepted that I've been really colours-starved drawing mainly grey pencil sketches for years - and so in 2022 I gone totally wild with the rainbow in and out!🌈

I also decided to start sharing my pictures "for adults only" (on my other blog: @co-ma-piernik ). Thinking that someone might see those pieces gives me more motivation to work harder on human body proportions than when I was just doing it for myself

I finally shed the "I don't do fanarts because I am better than that having my own OCs" way of thinking. In the last 9 months I made 22 quality fanarts of the movie And Then We Danced / და ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ solely, what's more to say? (Only that I feel kind of bad for not working on my OCs in 2022 as I initially planned... But they waited for my attention for 12 years already and it only added to their characters's developement - so I think waiting just a little more will not do them harm either. Especially when I use this time to explore other characters from movies and books and gain my inspirations... I guess further developement of my OCs is inevitable)

Any progress in my real life? I accepted who I am, what brings me pleasure and satisfaction, stopped judging myself with other ppl's social expectations and instead allowed myself to feel comfortable and happy with my life and my passion. It may not seem a lot but it does make a HUGE change: whether you think of yourself as a "nobody wants me" lonely loser - or "aware of my aromantic-asexuality" single person. So I finally gave up to force myself into "finding a boyfriend at last" (especially as I always prefered to speak with girls honestly) and now I'm willing to explore friendship and heading up to all the possible other human interactions that I can get myself involved with instead💚💜💛💙 I cut out with constantly trying (and failing) to follow recipes for heteronormative "happy family" lifestyle and decided to find and explore my own way through. Might not be as easy as following that wide path everybody else is walking but... I'm still young and strong and hopeful. Walking with my eyes and my mind open!👍

[theit-girl111]

Hey Love!

I was really happy when I got your friendship consent!, so excited that I completely forgot to hit you up I'M SO SORRY!! now I can't seem to DM you but it's all good this is better than nothing 🌺💞

Our timezones are crazy different but that'll change real soon since my dream life includes living in SK (my dream location since I was 20 (which was in 2017 I think 😭😭) I'm a 97 baby if you're WONDERING but I swear to you.. I'm such a baby lmao

I hope you're doing real good besides the real shady and unnecessary anons I've seen man... they're wild 🙄

I have been real up and down lately it is exhausting , the transition is quite challenging for me what's funny is this is not at all new to me after many attempts and failures throughout my journey since I found out about both reality shifting and law of attraction 4 years ago. I chickened out, half assed, beat myself up to the point that I chose to surrender to my 3D and kept experiencing the same cycle over and over but enough of that...I REALLY DON'T WANNA START SPIRALING NONSENSE.

I feel much better now though! l am trying to be more strict with myself cause I just want to be real proud of myself for once and constantly remind myself "Yup, I really did that shit" to be a living success story, living my dream life, Knowing it was all worth it you know!

I'm grateful that I found you and your beautiful blog, you're such a breath of fresh air and you're so so sweet! I hope to hear from you soon please take your time (this was really long omg 😂)

- ♉ anon

Now you can dm me! And dw its okay!

ヾ(＾-＾)ノ

frl, our timezone really changes! I remember being in south korea & sleeping the day while living my life the night till I got used to the new horary （┬┬＿┬┬）

I also had a law of attraction phase LMAOO 😭

Btw you are so funny omg! And I completely understand how new and different everything can feel like ! Im proud of you & you should too! YOU ARE A LIVING SUCCESS STORY!!! DON'T FORGET IT!

I really love asks from you!!!

And i hope to hear more from you too! You are really entertaining!

[blysse-and-blunder]

in lieu of daylight savings time

mid-feb to early march, 2022

for the last three weekends, i've gone into campus on a sunday and had a really lovely long focused work session + bubble tea-- but this has thrown off my ~blogging rhythm~ and we can't take it any longer! if i tried to capture everything since the last time i did one of these, we'd be here all night. so this is the start of the late-feb / early march rounding up, with more to come (hopefully) sooner rather than later.

reading late feb saw my hold on patricia highsmith's the price of salt come in at the same time as i was finishing giovanni's room (see the previous ilcb post), so late feb / early march 2022 has been abt foundational works of queer fiction i guess. turns out the price of salt is incredible, ms highsmith thank you for your service, the biggest lasting impact from reading this will probably be thinking so so much about how communication/travel/relationships have changed in the last sixty years, but also i am obsessed with therese's rebirth at the end, very delighted by the choice to have her be an aspiring set designer, and still getting over the tension of the road trip-cross country chase. and finally, now i can watch carol (2015).

pull quote:

In the middle of the block, she opened the door of a coffee shop, but they were playing one of the songs she had heard with Carol everywhere, and she let the door close and walked on. The music lived, but the world was dead. And the song would die one day, she thought, but how would the world come back to life? How would its salt come back? (p. 288)

listening @madonnavenus sent me the link to chappelle roan's single pink pony club a little while ago, and it has been on repeat in my head and on my phone since then. the opening jangle of saloon piano, the mounting combination of, like, delighted and also scandalized confessional energy, before bursting out in glitter and dancing. the heartbeat BA-duh and everything that comes next in the bass and synths under that first 'god, what have you done?' it feels like it echoes out in, like, this cosmic way--occupying this huge space with shimmer. the video is also good:

because of this song i now have a sptify playlist entitled 'i'm gonna keep on dancing' with two whole songs on it, the other by orville peck. watch this space for more gay country thoughts coming up next.

watching well folks, we did it, we beat the rona for good and all, mission accomplished, good game, everyone can relax--and the way i know is bc i went back to the movies in february, for the first time since 2020. all joking aside, i did give my housemate a birthday gift of a year's membership to this tiny beautiful historic cinema in our area, and we did go to see paul verhoeven's benedetta (2021).*

taking three medievalists to a medieval film is always going to be a wild ride, but for this movie in particular we all had so many thoughts. generally positive! the costumes, locations, everything visually (hats! hurdy gurdy! medieval drama in multiple forms i'm gesticulating wildly) worked so beautifully. the film is based on actual historical events, and i have the book (immodest acts by judith brown, 1987) which i will eventually do more than look at proudly on my bedside table aslgk;lkj;lkg-- but perhaps even more so, because of its many successes in adapting something ~historical~ and in seeming to respect the source material, i had big questions about other directorial/writing choices. there was so much about the 'romance' that wasn't...romantic. an awful lot of entirely un-erotic nudity (which by itself isn't a bad thing! bodies just bein bodies, etc), and sexy moments that were shot like they were just. transactional? there was a big Energy between the two women, but it wasn't tender for most of the time they were involved-- which, again, perhaps that's a choice! the film stopped showing us things in benedetta's subjectivity right around the time that there start being significant doubts about her visions and miracles, so that we can't know if she's faking or not, so the mystery about that is preserved-- but it also meant we didn't really get a lot of her emotions or thoughts around bartolomea either. she clearly gets tender, see the teaching her to write scene, but we the audience didn't get to witness the steps to that feeling. also bartolomea's whole character got so little time to reveal itself (the actress is extraordinary, very intense gaze, very strong opinions happening with no real expression of them in words) aside from the abuse just like piled on her, and sure maybe her behavior is ~accurate~ given what she lived through, but it's still a directorial choice to depict that, to use that, and i'm just. still questioning it. 11/10 for lay piety and plague panic behavior, medieval entertainment and performance, loved the mother superior and her absolute clear-eyed calculating behavior, loved the incredibly awful papal nuncio, i truly believe a medieval audience would have seen jesus come in on a white horse to slay some demons and just hooted and hollered. minor deductions for excessive lactation.

*(granted, the cinema had at the time one of the better vax passport / mask policies in place; as our area loosens restrictions i may go back to uhhh not seeing movies in person for a while)

playing dnd took a brief hiatus at the end of feb because one of our party members became a parent (!!), but i got to hang out with a different party member and one of my housemates taught us this boardgame. it's a bit like scotland yard in that one player is in hiding / on the run and the others have to strategize together to find them, and i had so much fun being dracula and avoiding having to use teamwork and just cackle to myself while doing dastardly things and causing problems on purpose.

making there’s a post out there that I saw again relatively recently, and which I will link here EDIT: link as soon as I can lay hands on it again bc in this house we pay tribute to original artists, but it made me so happy that I ate it a la the Maurice Sendak quote did my own version. have oil pastels, will commit color crimes you know?

working on Spent an unconscionable amount of time last week and the week before prepping for a 15 minute mini lecture on one of my research topics, gave it on Tuesday last week, and have basically done nothing since this isn’t true I did grade (also for an unconscionably long time) and spend like five hours today trying to make some order out of the chaos that are my ra-ship transcriptions. meeting with research supervisor on friday whomst?

[zedecksiew]

Kriegsmesser

When I received Kriegsmesser in the mail I finally googled "kriegsmesser", and found out it meant "war knife". Which makes sense; Gregor Vuga's ZineQuest 2021 project is a tribute to "roleplaying games named after medieval weapons".

I love Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay's piss-renaissance Old World setting. I tend to pick up WFRP-a-likes sight unseen:

Warlock (quality);

Small But Vicious Dog (yesss);

Zweihander (which I have come to hate); etc.

Anyway: I backed Kriegsmesser without really knowing anything about it. So Kriegsmesser surprised me.

+

Kriegsmesser grew out of a Troika! cutting. Its 36 backgrounds are compatible with that system: each come with a couple of lines of description; a list of skills and possessions; an a visual cameo cropped from actual 16th-Century woodcut art.

Cohesive and competently flavourful. My favourite is the Labourer, who always starts with "an empty pine box":

"You've spent your life breaking your back, working hard for other people's profit. You have nothing to show for it but a spectre of the future."

(The obligatory ratcatcher-analogue , called the Vermin Snatcher, is here -- check that box!)

+

Kriegsmesser also comes with its own ruleset. Hits all the notes it needs to, with lots of orientation and advice for how to run a game -- but ultimately super-simple, mechanically:

Roll d6s equal to the value in a relevant skill, look at the highest result. 6 means you get what you want; 5 or 4 means you get what you want, at a cost.

It's not quite a dice pool, since only the highest result matters. No opposed tests.

+

Kriegsmesser intends to have this base mechanic handle fights, too. The combat rules - with armour, toughness and weapon values -- are nested in an optional section.

For a WFRP-a-like, this feels like a purposeful departure.

Many of WFRP's most celebrated adventures are celebrated for bits that their underlying ruleset does little to support: the investigative structure of "Shadows Over Bogenhafen"; the complicated timetable of "Rough Night At Three Feathers".

Ludwig von Wittgenstein never needed a statblock to be memorable.

Not to say that lethal, hyper-detailed fights isn't super Warhammer-y. (Kriegsmesser includes an injury table, broken down by body-part -- check that box!)

But here it feels like Gregor is saying: "I'm not Games Workshop and Roleplay isn't an ancillary of Warhammer Fantasy Battle; we can evoke grim-and-perilous-ness even if we fork away from heavy combat rules."

+

It has become ritual for me to read my partner Sharon to sleep.

Sometimes I read her RPG things. The other night, after I read her Kriegsmesser's introduction --

" The Empire wages an eternal war against Chaos. Its priests preach of Chaos as an intrusion, something unnatural ... These men see Chaos in anything that does not buttress their rule. They call it disorder, anarchy, corruption. They say that to rebel against their order is to rebel against god and nature. That the current arrangement is natural, rather than artificial.

" Meanwhile, the common people look to the Empire to deliver the justice that they were promised and they find none. They look to the Empire and do not see themselves reflected in it. They look around at what they were taught was right and good and see only misery.

" Their world begins to unravel. Chaos comes to reside in every heart and mind sound enough to look at the world and conclude it is broken. "

-- Sharon remarked: "Nice one."

The RPG things I read her generally leave Sharon lukewarm. She has enjoyed a couple -- but, yeah: for many of these books, text isn't their strong point.

Kriegsmesser is the only time I can recall Sharon praising the writing of an RPG book without my prompting.

Nice one.

+

That introduction surprised me. It underlines Kriegsmesser's biggest departure from its WFRP-a-like pedigree: how it characterises Chaos.

Corruption, a mainstay of most grim-dark-y games, is made an optional rule, like combat. Explaining this, Gregor writes:

" Kriegsmesser partially subverts or deconstructs the traditional conceit of Warhammer where the characters are threatened by the forces of Chaos. In this game it is the player characters who are the agents of 'Chaos': they are likely to become the 'rats' under the streets, and the wild 'beast-men' in the woods bringing civilisation down. It's the Empire and its nobles and priests that are corrupt ... "

Describing the Empire, Gregor writes:

" The Empire encompasses the world yet is terrified of the without. It enforces itself with steel and fire yet considers itself benevolent. It consumes the labour of others with bottomless hunger yet calls its subalterns lazy, or wasteful, or greedy. "

Holy shit this is the first time I've seen the word "subaltern" in an RPG thing, I think?

I love this.

+

Rant incoming:

With every passing decade Warhammer abridges its Moorcockian roots more and more; nowadays it is "Order = Good" and "Chaos = Evulz", pretty much.

Gone are the days when chaos berserkers are implied to grant safe passage to the helpless (because Khorne is as much a god of martial honour as he is a god of bloodletting); Or that the succor of Papa Nurgle is a genuine comfort to the downtrodden; Or that Tzeentch could unironically embody the principle of hope, of change for the better.

As Chaos is distilled into unequivocal villainy, Order goons get painted as Good Guys by default --

Giving rise to Warhammer's contemporary problem, wherein fans are no longer able to recognise satire.

+

When I was introduced to 40K, it seemed pretty clear that the Imperium was a Brazil-esque absurdist-fascist bureaucratic state: planets are exterminatus-ed due to clerical error; the way it stamps out rebellions is the reason why rebellions begin in the first place.

Tragi-comic grimdarkness. That was the point.

Nowadays that tone has shifted -- and you're more likely than not going to encounter a 40K fan who argues that the Imperium's evils are a justified necessity, to prevent worse wrongs.

We went from:

"Space Nazis because insane dumbass fuckery, also chainswords vroom vroom rule of badass!"

To:

"Space Nazis because it makes sense actually, and also chainswords make sense because [insert convoluted rationalisation here]."

+

Even Fantasy Flight's Black Crusade line, which ostensibly offers a look at 40K from the perspective of Chaos, never truly commits to its conceit.

With prep you could play a heroic band of mutant freedom fighters, resisting the tyranny of the Evil Imperium --

But I don't remember Black Crusade giving that kind of campaign any actual support. Its supplements service the relatively more conventional "You can play villains!" angle; the Screaming Vortex is a squarely Daemons-vs-Daemons setting.

+

This tonal drift culminates, in my mind, with Age of Sigmar, Games Workshop's heroic-fantasy replacement of the old WFRP / WHFB setting.

Here's the framing narrative for AoS's recently-launched Third Edition. Let's see whether I've got things right:

A highly professionalised, technologically-superior tip-of-the-spear fighting force (the Stormcast Eternals);

Backed by an imperialist military-industrial complex (Azyrheim);

"Liberating" rich new territories (Ghur) for exploitation by a civilised settler culture (Settlers of Sig-- I mean, Free Cities);

Justified because the locals are irredeemable heathens (Chaos and Kruleboyz).

I mean, that's a sweet-ass Warhammer setting. It's contemporary, laser-guided lampoon. Except it is played totally straight.

In AoS, a literal crusade is justified as the moral good.

+

I think Kriegsmesser surprised me because its framing of Chaos -- as a promise, as the light of hope shining through cracks of a broken world --

It feels so fucking right.

Yes: its a subaltern deconstruction of the conventional moral universe of Warhammer -- but it is a take that is also already implied / all but supported in the various depictions of the setting: from WFRP to the modified title-crawl of Black Crusade.

I'm annoyed I didn't think of it, myself. Damn you, Gregor!

And I'm annoyed that more Warhammer fans aren't thinking it, also.

+

lmagine if Kriegsmesser's perspective stood on equal standing as the GW orthodoxy. Imagine if, instead of simplifying stuff into "Order = Good" and "Chaos = Evulz", GW did a Gregor Vuga.

You'd have a Rashomon-ed Warhammer, where villainy depends on perspective:

You are fearful villagers, huddled around your priest, muttering prayers against the wild braying coming from the trees beyond your gates.

You are Aqshyian tribeswomen, defying the thunder warrior towering over you, the foreigner demanding you bow to his foreign god.

You are a Tzeentchian revolutionary cell, desperately trying to disrupt a Inquisitor's transmissions so your home planet isn't destroyed by fascist orbital fire.

+

Get Kriegsmesser HERE.

+++

( Image sources: https://theenemywithinremixed.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/thoughts-on-the-4e-death-on-the-reik/ https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/59-brazil https://www.deviantart.com/faroldjo/art/Warhammer-40k-Black-Crusade-273596035 https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/06/09/fancy-a-new-life-bringing-order-to-the-mortal-realms-join-a-dawnbringer-crusade-today/ https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/team-america-15-anniversary-south-park-2558750 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palestinian_children_and_Israeli_wall.jpg )

[lizziesquire]

liz, do you have some wisdom about romance in 2022? your current thoughts/emotions about romance?

hi, bb!!!!

I watched my papa eat his dinner as my maman sat next to him, telling him about her day, down to the most minute of details. he chewed away, listening carefully, nodding along as she told him about things so immaterial that they escape me, now, just as they would likely escape her, were she to be asked about them now—and i thought to myself, then and there, "so, this is love."

your mid-to-late twenties is such a strange time to be—well, anything. it's a strange time to be. i've talked about it a lot on this blog before, but. up until college graduation, society sets up this path of elementary, middle, high school, then college. not saying that it's the only path, nor is it a "proper" path—no value judgments (actually, never mind. value judgment: it's messed up!), but simply stating that regardless of whether we like it or not, this "college degree as the ultimate end goal" path is considered what is conventional and thereby the measuring stick by which we mark the "big moments" of our lives.

but then college graduation comes. some people get married. some people take fellowships. some people go to grad school. some people have children. others move abroad and start entirely new lives. this "roadmap" to refer to of counting milestones via graduations and degrees is suddenly ripped away with no guidance whatsoever on what we are "supposed" to be doing. which is so liberating, on the one hand—and so strange, on the other, as you watch people start families while you're still living by the academic calendar, looking forward to your next seasonal break.

and romance.

for me, romance has been the strangest to grapple with, of all. i've been blessed enough to know that i've wanted this jd, ever since i was in first grade and the thought occurred to me that i'd love to stand up in a courtroom in a suit, a briefcase by my side. but romantic love? 1 year and 4 months out of a 3-year relationship, in the middle of a pandemic, in my verging-on-late-twenties?

god. where are the words.

my first relationship was an absolute blessing. even though breaking up is that much harder when you find someone who loves you with all of their heart, respects you with all of their being, hears you when you tell them how you feel and always, always follows up promises with actions and change, and was constantly learning and bettering themselves to be a better partner for you, it gave me the greatest gift of all in that i would never be able to settle for anything less, despite knowing that many, many people have married for far less. my relationship taught me that love, real love, is a steady and constant rhythm, just as that of the beating of our hearts—and that it is safe and reliable, warm in its unwavering simmer. i look to my parents, 26 years into marriage, still telling each other about their days down to the tiniest details, and i think to myself: i want that. i want that.

but there's still a part of me who grew up devouring books—in particular, fantasizing about a grand romance. the all-consuming, want-you-need-you-right-here-right-now sort of passion that burns tall, even as it holds the potential to crumble to ash, for one reason or another.

and i think to myself, i want that.

i want that, those last-minute red-eyes booked to random countries because we're young, in love, and wild from the bravery that passion brings us. i want that dancing-in-the-rain, twirling-under-street-lamps-in-the-dead-of-night sort of love, where it doesn't matter that we have to get up early for work the next day and we'll be bleary-eyed and sipping on caffeine just to get by, because we want, we need this moment right here, right now, with you. i want that love that burns with the flames of a thousand suns—the kind you read about in novels and could leave you devastated and broken and hurt but is delicious in that possibility, all the same.

but then, i'm afraid.

all this talk about the thirties being the new twenties; whereas it is true, and i love and embrace all of the discourse regarding how life does not end in your twenties, how getting older is not a curse but a blessing, that life gets better and better with age, that there is no set timeline to abide by, i think our generation still has that ingrained into us, and it somehow feels like. time is running out. by the time we get out of this pandemic, how old will i be? will i have time to have a whirlwind, passionate romance, be heartbroken, heal, then find that steady sort of love that will provide friendship and partnership forever?

it sounds silly. i know. but they're the undercurrents i feel constantly, whenever i think about romance and the void i feel in my life while trying to learn who i am as an adult attending her last semester of school, on the precipice of starting her Actual Career ^TM.

but at the same time, i realise that i don't want passion or security. i want them both, in the same person. i want to be dancing under street lamps with my love when i'm old and grey, our passion still making us brave and spontaneous and giggly—because this break-up confirmed for me that i am terrible at letting people in and, consequently, also at letting them go. i don't want to love and to lose—i want to love and to keep, all while the concept of forever freaks me out, especially at age twenty-five, even while standing by and watching the steady stream of engagements and weddings and pregnancies happening around me.

what a strange thing, to desire forever more than anything, while fearing it just as much? to want to make most of one's twenties and to want to casually date everyone and anyone, while not wanting to give any part of yourself away—especially not to temporary people, all while being afraid that you'll find someone you'll want to keep.

but i tell myself that no amount of worrying will change things; love will come when it will. my job is to focus on myself and my loved ones, and the rest will figure itself out, and i will be ready for it, when it does.

this question made me think for a long time—thank you so much for asking it, bb. please let me know if you have any thoughts to share <3

lots of love xx

[chaos0pikachu]

I haven't seen KP discourse in the tag since that person who said it was bad representation of LGBTQ+ people and had a problem with the way queer men present their sexuality 🙄 but I won't get into that. The only other posts I've seen are people who are complaining that it isn't serious and don't like the comedy of the show while others were complaining during the first episode (on Twitter) that it was too serious, that they didn't like Kinn, etc., ironically.

There's no way to please everyone.

If people read the novel, they would understand that the chaos and Porsche fucking everything up, and the guards not liking him, and Tankhun's character in general, is exactly how it started in the book. Obviously the whole water thing, pantsing Ken, and the mermaid thing weren't there, so some things aren't exactly as in the book, but that's to be expected. It's a TV series and they need to fill in the time whilst also not diving too deep into the plot since its only episode 2 of 14, like, people need to chill.

People not liking the show because its comedic or they don't like (or understand 👀 full shade intended) Porsche's character... the best you can do is block them. I think the reason people are very protective about this show is because people have already been shitting on it since before it even aired. If you were in the tag before March 2nd you know... and on top of that, people have been waiting for this series for 1 or 2 years and then it got dropped, so people have gone through a rollercoaster with this series and to get it to even air on our screens after so much uncertainty has made people a little hostile with any criticism against the show (Apo, Porsche's actor even got depressed, I heard, and left the country to decompress with Mile, Kinn's actor after the show got dropped by the previous production company. So imagine, it been rough for everyone).

That's not to say the hostility is justified, but I think if people are only hate watching the show, then others have the right to tell you to fuck off. Don't dampen the excitement for others. If you're hate watching it either keep it in your blog or tag it #KPcriticism or #antikinnporsche or whatever, people just need to chill with the hate, the show's only just begun.

Firstly, hot DAMN asks got long this isn't a knock on you Anon I'm just surprised b/c the last time I used tumblr asks could only be like 200 words lmao this is WILD I'm impressed damn tumblr y'all finally were annoyed to death by users to give us something

ok on to the ask:

some things aren't exactly as in the book, but that's to be expected. It's a TV series and they need to fill in the time whilst also not diving too deep into the plot since its only episode 2 of 14, like, people need to chill.

so here's a thing folks need to understand, things will change in adaptions because you are changing the medium in which the story is being told.

The Producers is a good example, originally it's a film, then it was adapted into a musical. I recommend Sideways video on the subject (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXjK50kEgvo) but to sum up his thesis: one of the reasons the Mulan live action movie sucked is it didn't replace any of the music with moments of equal emotional weight. In adaptions you also have to account for things like audience expectations.

Kinnporsche's novel is intended for Thai readers, not international readers. Kinnporsche the TV adaption, is clearly intended for both a Thai audience, but also a broader international audience. So adjustments have to be made to take that into account. Also, you tend to have more hands involved with film productions over book ones (speaking from experience on all of this btw).

Novel changes are to be expected simply b/c internal monologues aren't really en vogue anymore in film save for rare cases, so all the internal thoughts of Porsche you'd get in the novel have to be cut.

(Apo, Porsche's actor even got depressed, I heard, and left the country to decompress with Mile, Kinn's actor after the show got dropped by the previous production company. So imagine, it been rough for everyone).

JFC I didn't know that and that's horrible I hope Apo is ok no, depression is no joke.

That's not to say the hostility is justified, but I think if people are only hate watching the show, then others have the right to tell you to fuck off. Don't dampen the excitement for others. If you're hate watching it either keep it in your blog or tag it #KPcriticism or #antikinnporsche or whatever, people just need to chill with the hate, the show's only just begun.

yeah I agree with this. Like, I'm not gonna stop anyone from disliking KP like honestly who fucking cares you don't like a show trust you aren't changing the world by not liking KP nor liking KP. I think folks have all the right in the word to not like KP and talk about why they don't like KP. It's your blog man.

But that's the thing, either keep it on your blog aka tagless, or tag it something outside of the main tags so fans don't have to see it.

Like, ok I don't like the show 1000 Stars, nor To My Star two shows I know are like really popular in BL spaces. I have my reasons for not liking these shows. But even if I did ever get the firey chaotic urge to write an essay on why I don't like these show I wouldn't post it in the fucking main tags.

Why? Why would I? Fans who love the show are in those tags! Why am I coming into their house while they're chilling, having a good time, enjoying their party to bust down the door and say "well actually your chips and dip suck balls and your punch taste like mildew".

Idk about how others grew up but that's a quick ass way to get my ass dog walked lmao it's picking a fight - however unintentional - for no reason. Just invite a new tag! KPcritical or KPNegative or whatever it's all good.

And it's not even like you can't have disagreements in fandom, I didn't agree with a take that Porsche is depressed but the user and I were really cordial about it b/c we're both fans and we just enjoy the show. No big! But folks are posting outright just negative shit or hate watching the show and posting it in the tags like, my dude, keep that snaps on your blog there's no reason to tag it and if you tag it to organize your blog just do so with different tags cause otherwise you're unintentionally bringing the party down. And the rest of us are just trying to jam.

[pawpadink]

Art Feedback Session - Spookydoesstuff

"Our task was to make a mock intro to a show using our own original stories, either ones we had in the past or ones we made in class. I used Adobe Animate, which isn't very traditional for art to begin with.

I wanted something dramatic and more anime-esqe (inspirations being Persona 5's 2D animation, as well as the Cowboy Beebop intro.

The render itself didn't turn out as high quality as I had hoped, but that's on me for not figuring out how to render in a higher quality. With my time crunch (I had put off working on this until I had 1 1/2 days left, on top of a project for another class.)

I feel this could have been better? But I'm satisfied with it. I just wished someone had said something, even just asking about my characters (I dont generally ask here, at least about these specific ocs, just because I've had them so long and I want to give out more of their story through context and art. But in that class no one had seen them before and I would have loved explaining their story better than just 'alien cats')"

-- Spookydoesstuff

So! Let's start with the good. The color contrast is lovely, the bright red against the monochrome is a classic high tension color combo that really sells the adversarial stress of the scene. The characters themselves each have their own unique silhouettes, which means if you just filled each of the characters in with pure black and then showed me their reference sheets I could easily identify which character is which. The line work here is very crisp and clear, which for animation lends very well to streamlining and simplifying things. Your style itself applies very nicely to an animation style, again, thanks to its general simplicity will make the whole animation process much easier than a more detailed or complex style or design.

When thinking of areas of improvement, the first thing that is brought to my attention is expression. With the four-eyed cat in the second image, at a glance it's hard to see he's furrowing his brow a bit and his current expression comes across more as a neutral expression than a concerned, worried, or frustrated expression. I would recommend here adding a bit of emphasis on the expression with the eyelids or eyebrows so that it goes into the general shape of the eye instead of just above it or add a stylized eyebrow so it is more visible against the dark fur. Due to the thin line art, the line that marks where he's furrowing his brow is hard to spot.

Your art would also benefit from expression through body language! Cats, in particular, are incredibly expressive through body language. The ears in particular here are showing no emotion- Cats when anxious, scared, or angry will pin their ears back. Perhaps a bit more emphasis on bristling fur too- in the nape of the neck and the tail. Fluffing of tails is not just fear, but also aggression when raised high or thrashing. When curved it's fear. The nervous cat in the second picture might want to be keeping her head a little lower, as nervous cats will duck down, especially if submissive. Of course, since these are not standard cats, you are welcome to take these cat behaviors and alter them to your alien culture's standards! Go wild!

Also, look into playing with the line of action a little more. Even with characters that are standing still, exaggerating some curves in their body will add a hearty dose of personality. Plus, look into the 'law' of stretch and squish- I use the term law here loosely, it's more of a guideline.

(Here are some image scans from a book called Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair, and there's a lovely tutorial on expressions from the comic Lackadaisy here!)

Next I'd like to mention the shading. There is a bit of an inconsistency between the way you shaded each character. Although lighting direction was ignored for style here, the particular techniques used for each piece should remain the same throughout each frame of an animation, each panel of a comic, or between related images in general. In the second photo, the highlights on the four-eyed cat almost looked like fur patterning, so maybe refining that highlight by making it a little darker would make it more obvious it was a highlight and not a change in fur color?

I think if you were given a little more time you would have managed with the shading, but still something of note to keep in mind for the future~

Finally I would like to address the environment... or the lack of it. The bright red background is lovely, especially in this grey scale-pop style of colors. My only issue is that it feels like they're floating in some red void- you have the darker red to denote the ground, but it doesn't feel very consistent with where the characters are placed and there's no shapes in the background to denote any kind of environment- no tree silhouettes, no building silhouettes, or any other objects that could denote where the characters are.

Above is an example from Persona 5 which kind of shows what I'm talking about. Looking at some perspective tutorials will actually show you a way you can manipulate the floor or gradients to help add some solidity to the ground. With this style I wouldn't even say you would need to add nearly as much detail to them as Persona 5's art- just some dark shapes and perhaps a gradient of sorts to give a sense of location to the scene would help.

Overall, wonderful job! My first impression was 'Oh hey this looks like something from Persona 5!' so you really got that feel you were looking for. You also immediately get a sense of relationship here- from an outsider's perspective with zero previous information on who these characters are or how they are related. You can clearly tell the four eyed cat is protecting the female cat in the back, and there's a sense of either accusation from the one-eyed cat or threat, and that the other two almost seem to be distressed as if they were once close to this character.

Keep up the good work, don't feel discouraged with the lack of feedback from your class. I really feel with a bit of practice in terms of expression and body language you can really make some great waves with your art! You have a great foundation.

In terms of art program recommendations, my wife and I both use Clip Studio Paint. You need the EX version for feature length animations unfortunately, but the PRO version is much cheaper and lets you do some very short animations however it is a very powerful illustration and comic tool as well. Krita is a totally free program that will let you animate as well and has a pretty robust illustration feature itself, but I'm not sure if it has anything specific for comic making.

A big thank you to Spookydoesstuff for being our first review and for being so pleasant to speak to! Please check out more of their art and their blog by clicking here to go to their tumblr!

[bosspigeon]

:V I've never sent you an ask from your blog on PC before, I like the talky face. 1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it? 4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like) 19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

fhdkjsahj i always forget about the little face. that’s me telling u to yell :V

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

I have SO MANY goddamned docs all over the place, but my current big WIP is my AWAU (Arlo Werewolf AU) which has grown well beyond what i thought it would hfdkjasdg. i’ve written OUTLINES for it!!! i don’t write outlines for anything!!! i’m rewriting the first part entirely, bc that bit is gonna be a standalone (the transformation from adam’s pov) and then i’m plotting out what is probably gonna wind up a bigger, multi-chapter thing? i haven’t written a multi-chapter fic since the fo4 fandom days!!! (eurydice’s fall was a wild ride hfdkjsg) i’m just. doing a lot of stuff i haven’t done in AGES and it’s as exciting as it is stressful lmao. but i’m having a lot of fun coming up with the way Arlo’s story changes, to the point where i legit feel like this is his canon, now?

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

hfdjhd well this is a little more than a paragraph, but i like it bc its just my fuckin oc rambling about a trope in werewolf/monster fiction that’s never made sense to me hfdkjhaskjlg. what are ocs but a vehicle for your own gripes?

Arlo almost starts chewing on his lip before he remembers his teeth, and starts chewing on his thumbnail instead. “I don’t know how to really explain it? But while I was changing, it was like I wasn’t all there? Something of me was, but it felt lost. Disjointed.” He furrows his brow, chewing harder at his nail in frustration. It doesn’t seem to want to give way, even to his much more powerful teeth. “There’s always been this weird idea in, like, monster fiction, that a person who becomes something else suddenly has another entity living in their head, essentially. There’s this dichotomy of ‘Man versus Beast’ but in his own head. I never liked it much, because it felt reductive and never really made sense to me anyway, even before all this, but if I could explain it using that example, it’s not like something else just moved into my head, but more like a part of me was just… woken up? If that makes sense? But it was separated from the rest, and that split made it hard to focus in any sort of meaningful way. Like those pieces needed to slot together for me to be able to think at all beyond...”

Beyond the fear. Beyond the pain. Beyond the rage.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

hfdkjshjg oh this one is hard... uh, well, i like alliteration a lot? so i tend to do that when i’m trying to put some intensity/urgency into a moment so it flows. i also tend to like describing things as “___, and ___, and ___” if that makes sense? im also always worried the way i describe things feels dull and repetitive. it’s hard to think of specific examples in the moment bc ADHD hfdjkshkg

[nihilnovisubsole]

My fashion queen, incredibly important question: How would one go about figuring out fashion *style* for characters? I've noticed your OCs always have a Look(TM), and I've gathered from your blog (and fics) that you've got an eye for aestethics - please, could you give me advice at least where to *start*. I'm completely unaware of fashion and, frankly, completely overwhelmed at the prospect of just starting..

Ah! Previous Anon again - forgot to add a more specific question about fashion (I’m squeezing in 2 quesiton in one xD). Do you have fashion advice for sleek/distant female character’s clothing that doesn’t hinge on formal dresses? (as is discernable, I have literally NO idea what a Grown Ass, Self Respecting Woman would wear)

wow. that’s high praise. when i got this yesterday morning, i knew i wanted to give it the answer it deserved. this is over 1500 words long, so apologies to anyone on mobile, but i wasn’t letting go until i’d really sunk my teeth into it.

unfortunately, since you’re anon, i don’t know enough about your character to suggest anything specific. instead, i want to take a step back and see if we can solve the root of the problem - “where do i start?”

when i was a teenager, an english teacher told me this: “the biggest constraint in writing is no constraint at all.” when you have the whole spectrum of something - in this case, clothes - to pick from, it is overwhelming. the natural human instinct is to freeze up. so while it may sound strange, if you’re just starting out, you might feel better if you have some constraints to work within.

with that in mind, you can treat finding a ‘signature look’ for your character like solving a murder mystery. you eliminate all the suspects that don’t fit until you know enough to narrow it down to the one that does. that’s going to involve something else you’ll recognize from murder mysteries: you’re going to have to interrogate the character. open them up and get to know them - their background, their likes and dislikes, their quirks, the role they play in the world around them. every answer will give you clues and weed other things out, and eventually, you’ll get a box small enough that you feel comfortable working in it.

now, i love fashion, and i love using clothes to send messages about a character’s personality. so as someone who’s had that interest for my whole life, i work from the other end. the constraints happen, in large part, without me thinking about them. i tend to zoom right to a certain aesthetic or item of clothing, say, “okay, what outfit can i build with this,” and go from there. but since you’ve said you’re “unaware” of fashion and it’s intimidating to you, i’ll try to ease you in through a different route and see whether that helps.

so, if we’re going to pick your character apart, let’s think about some practical questions first:

what setting does your character live in?

if you’ve narrowed your setting down to a historical decade, you’ll find most of the style questions already - firmly! - answered for you. for example, a victorian woman would, by default, wear skirts. if the character is contemporary, you’ve got a lot more wiggle room. if you want to mess with historical fashion rules for symbolic or story purposes, awesome, but i think that’s probably more advanced than you’re looking for right now.

if the setting is fantasy or sci-fi, what’s its dominant aesthetic? is it cyberpunk? sleek ~apple~ sci-fi? or is it more like star wars? is it medieval fantasy? woodsy faerie fantasy? JRPG-style fantasy? you get the idea.

what does your character do?

speaks for itself. what’s their job?

what is your character like, just in general?

this is where everything you know about their personality goes. if they’re a fussy courtier who’s worried about their reputation and appearance, they’re probably not going to be comfortable in plain, casual clothes.

what can your character afford to wear?

again, speaks for itself. do they buy designer brands? are they trying their best with what they have? or are they super strapped for cash and just have to get the job done?

does their social scene have an easily-identifiable aesthetic that you could work with?

does your character wear urban/street fashion or preppy rich-kid clothes? are they part of a subculture that dresses in a certain way, like teddy boys? do they have the desire or freedom to go all-in with that style, or do they have to play it down, like being corporate goth?

do they need to wear something they could travel, do hard work, or fight in?

goes with the job question above. do they need some kind of outerwear or accessory where they can hide weapons? do they always need to be ready, or is it situational?

basically, where does the character’s aesthetic need to sit on a chart of form vs. function?

what do other characters who are similar to your character wear?

look at your favorite movies, games, and TV shows and see what professional designers are doing with characters like yours. what colors and cuts are they using? what other elements do they choose? do you like them? if you don’t like them, what would you change? sometimes you can learn more from what you hate than what you love.

hopefully, you’ve already culled a huge swath of fashion ideas that you Know You’re Not Going To Do. you may still not know what you do want to do, either! that’s fine. let’s move onto some more artsy questions:

are there any colors your character would prefer or avoid?

it sounds silly. it’s not. a limited color palette will go a long way toward making a character’s outfits look unified and purposeful. obviously, in real life, most people don’t restrict themselves as much as fictional characters do. but if you were a costume designer, you’d want to have some guideposts to work with.

are there any motifs you associate with your character?

animals, elements, religious or cultural symbols, plants - you can sneak all these into their clothes’ details. maybe their dress has beading in the shape of a peacock, or rose earrings, or icy sparkles, or a bear pelt for a cloak.

have fun with meanings! moon motifs for mysteriousness, poisonous flowers, etc. let your inner lit major out.

do you want your character to have a certain silhouette?

this may seem odd if you’re just going to be writing your character and not drawing them, but think about it anyway. do you want to emphasize that your character is tall? is everything they wear skintight? do they have a large, unique hat?

a great example of this is maleficent. not only does she have a horn-shaped headdress, her huge, flowing robe tells us there’s a much bigger power in her than her body would suggest.

is there a certain ethos you want their clothes to project? what, in their world, would do that? what in our world would do that?

let’s say you want your character to look very powerful, to the point where people would find their looks alone intimidating. should they wear sharp, simple, severe clothes, maybe in dark colors? or should they wear very embellished clothes, like royalty? what are your setting’s ideas about beauty? modesty? does your character play by the rules, or do you want them to stand out?

what colors, shapes, and styles appeal to you personally?

for all the time i’ve spent talking about restrictions and guidelines, it’s important not to lose the fun of it, either. use your favorite color! give them clothes you’d want to wear in real life! character style is a playground where you can let wish fulfillment run wild.

at any time, feel free to turn to google or wikipedia if you’re not sure how to answer one of these questions. if you see an interesting idea, pick it up and follow it - what you’re doing here is training your eye, and that’s how you’ll learn. that said, if you’re already intimidated, i wouldn’t dive too deep into couture/aesthetic blogs until i had a more solid grip on how i wanted the character to look. it comes back to what i said earlier - there is such a thing as too much to choose from, especially when you’re not sure what you should be looking for yet.

there’s one other thing i want to mention that can help bring a character’s wardrobe together: repetition. if you’re planning several outfits for a character instead of just one, echo some of the motifs, shapes, or colors from one to the next. they don’t all have to be identical takes on the same thing, but if they have certain traits in common, they’ll feel less like separate outfits and more like a matched set. they could all be in members of the same color family or have similar patterns on them. maybe your character has a certain accessory that they wear with everything. you get the idea.

while i may not be able to plan your character’s wardrobe outright, i hope this makes the whole process seem more straightforward. or that it gives you some ideas to work with, or any other kind of help you might take away from it. this post is getting unfathomably long, so i’ll wrap it up, but i’d be happy to put any of my own characters through a “question test” like this one if you’d like to see how it works in practice.

finally, if you can find an interview with an artist or costume designer who worked on something you like, those things are worth their weight in gold. i read an interview with colleen atwood when i was in middle school, and it revolutionized the way i thought about fashion and storytelling. and when i say “revolutionized,” i mean “i owe basically everything i just told you to that article.” dig into them and see how they think and talk about their art! they’re more qualified to teach you than i ever will be.