#made this mainly to try an increase the speed at which i draw

[eggswords]

Dark beginnings my beloved 🖤❤️

[twstfanblog]

It's live people

The fabled main story rewrite fic is finally posted. I will mainly be posting it on my AO3, which I'm officially dropping here. But I will also try to give you guys the first chapter of each book as like an announcement of them starting. And as such here you go!

Yuu never remembered her dreams and this was the same all things considered. Echoes of voices calling out in desperation, the sounds of stones breaking and the phantom heat of what seemed like a fire. As usual, whatever she dreamt about started to fade away the lighter their sleep became. Half-baked thoughts and visions drifted into nothingness, leaving her blinking slowly back to the waking world.

She was breathing slowly and it was dark, was everything a dream then? Rubbing at her eyes, she yawns, hands moving carefully to find her phone where it should be placed lower on her bed. Instead, she feels the cool touch of foreign fabric under their fingers. Eyes snapping fully open, they start to trace their hands along their surroundings and body, "What is this…? I don't…" 

Silk. She hated silk. 'Fabric of Luxury' her ass, silk was hot and always felt weird on her skin. Any pair of silk pajamas were quickly given away since she couldn't even comfortably lounge in the material. But now, Yuu realized she was standing, everything was dark and she was covered head to toe in a silk outfit that kept her pleasantly cool.

Reaching out she feels the smooth texture of a wall, hands roaming around she feels another three walls. A box. She's in a fucking box. Was she buried alive? No, that wasn't possible. They had to, like, remove her organs to bury her, didn't they? Oh fuck. Was she about to be cremated ?

Her hands reached out in hesitance, making sure she felt the cool wood under her palms before she started to hit the surface. After a moment of silence, her hits start to increase in speed and force, “Hey! Hey, someone’s in here! Hello!?” Open palmed slaps turn to closed fists banging on the unmoving wall, “Hey!”

Every moment she spent hearing only her voice made her panic more and more. At the very least her banging was slowly inching the lid of whatever she was in. She huffed, fingers just barely squeezing through the gap. Luckily enough, the outside of the box was brighter, giving Yuu some sense of relief. Sadly it was short-lived, still seeing little and no one around, “Hello!?”

“Man, I need to find a robe fast…”

Yuu wiggles her fingers, hoping to draw the attention of whoever she had hoped she heard, “Hey! Over here! Oi!”

Quick steps echo in the room before the voice hisses at her, “Be quiet! You’re gonna get me caught!”

“Fuck you! I want out of this box!” She tries to move the lid again, groaning when it barely budges. This felt like a basic wood lid, why was it so hard to move? “Just help me!”

Whoever was outside was quiet for a moment, only to speak with an audible smirk, "Only if I get that robe you're wearing."

" I will - fine! I do not care! Just open the fucking box-"

“DEAL!”

It sounded like an explosion, the force of it ripping the lid away and a scream out of their throat. Their fingers felt uncomfortably dry yet sweaty from the intense heat that had suddenly enveloped them. They pulled their hand close, checking it over to make sure they still had all of their digits.

Once Yuu was confident they weren't missing any fingers, they stepped out of the box, "Thanks. You could have given me more…warning...Where are you?"

Yuu looked around the room, full of ornate coffins creepily enough, in confusion. Creepiness aside the room was large and decorated with gray tasseled flags sporting some type of blackbird as an emblem. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, nothing outside of a storybook anyway. Old, yet polished stone brick walls lined with green fire torches, dark. It looked pretty fancy.

They had started to walk, eyes tracing along the walls in unashamed curiosity before a voice jolted them from their stupor.

"Down here, human!"

Their eyes move downward, widening at the angrily pouting ‘cat’ sitting just in front of their feet, a three-pronged tail lashing around in annoyance.

"I let you out, so hand over the robe or you're gonna get it!"

…

Whatever confusion and surprise that had gripped them faded away. A talking cat, with blue flames coming out of its ears. They were clearly either dreaming or their brain was giving them one hell of a last chemical horah.

Yuu looked down at themselves. The robe was really nice now that they could see what they were wearing; silky black and lined with complex patterns of gold along the sleeves, a wide purple belt fastening it closed with an ornate golden buckle. Looking back to the cat, Yuu raises an eyebrow, muttering under their breath "I don't think this is gonna fit you, kitty."

The cat poofs up, blue flaming ears bursting out briefly from anger, "I'm not a cat! And you better hand it over if you don't wanna be extra crispy!"

" I will punt your ass, try me ." But, Yuu still started to unfasten the belt. Threats aside, they did make a deal and the ‘cat’ had helped them. Slipping the robe off their shoulders they were pleasantly surprised to see they were wearing a long-sleeved button-up, the sleeves ending fingerless with a loop around their middle fingers.

Picking the belt back up, they refasten it around their waist. They didn't have a mirror, just the general feel of their new outfit was plenty, "...Cute."

The robe was tossed onto the cat, the larger fabric engulfing the smaller creature's body easily, leaving it to hiss and scramble underneath it.

Yuu raised an eyebrow, watching the fabric shuffle and jolt around before taking pity on the poor thing. Taking the sleeve of the robe and lifting it off, they smirked at the frazzled cat, “Need some help?”

“No! I don't need help from some cruddy human! I'm Grim, master of magic and mystery! You should be bowing to me!”

Yuu will admit, the fire the cat spat out in anger was a little formidable. But they had a clear three feet over the beast and much stronger legs. If he actually attacked, the fight would be quick.

Tilting their head, they teasingly waved the robe around, jerking it out of Grim's reach whenever he tried to grab at it. Only when the cat had sat still, ears drooping in a truly pitiful display did he mumble out.

“...Fine.”

“...” Yuu shrugs, holding the robe out in front of them to give it a once over, “I'll take it. Hold still.”

The robe was not only too big for Grim to wear properly, but also had no way to close it. While they could give him the belt, it made their current outfit too cute to lose, so they had to come up with a new way to style the top. Rolling it up from the top, keeping the sleeves free until they had shortened the body of the fabric. Taking a gamble, they folded the sleeves in half to shorten them as well. Kneeling they tied the sleeves into a faux bowtie around Grim's neck. The way it was folded gave the illusion of four loops, leaving the rest of the robe to act as a cape.

Checking over their knot, they smile, patting the cat on the head a bit roughly before placing the oversized hood over his head. Though silently they wondered how his ears didn't set the fabric on fire, “There! Now you'll look dapper when you threaten to burn people alive.”

Grim smiled back, silently happy that this human had taken their time to help him, though he'd never say thank you, “Hmmmm. There may be more use for you yet, human. When I'm a great mage, I'll remember you when I rule the world!”

“Yeah, I doubt it. But, go have fun. I’m gonna…fucking leave, I guess.”

Yuu and Grim parted ways once outside of the room. They stood still, watching the creature scurry down the hallway and out of sight behind a corner, the shiny gold-laced robe flapping in the breeze. They let out a huff of a laugh, hands managing to find the pockets of the, strangely, perfectly tailored pants and walking in the opposite direction of Grim.

Wherever they were, dream or otherwise, was nice. It was nighttime, the sky empty of a single cloud and full of glittering stars and a massive greenish moon, the clean and crisp smell of ozone just barely noticeable. The grounds were like a castle; regal, old, and somehow effortlessly classy. This place was fancy, fancy . A fact that was only set by the number of tapestries and ornate portraits framed along the wall with shiny metal plaques resting under them. Their eyes tried to look from a distance at the details before turning away to gaze out the open arches, missing the paintings tilting their heads in confusion at their back. They pass by an open door, seeing what looks like a lecture room. It seemed lifeless in its empty state, but with designs carved into the wood of the built-in desks and rich colors, it was hard to call the room as such. There was an indescribable zing of something in the air here, like the feeling she'd remember having as a little kid on Christmas morning.

They found the exit to the building after wandering into a few more lecture rooms, leaving the empty halls through two large double doors. Pushing them open, just enough to squeeze through, they marveled briefly at the sight before them. A long stone staircase leading down to a perfectly manicured landscape. More buildings were stationed neatly on the flattened mountaintop, they could see what looked like a large iron gate blocking off the seemingly barren mountains outside of them. The glittering lights of a town far off in the distance, just barely covered by fog at the base of the mountain. Yuu smiled, looking up at the crystal clear sky full of stars as they leisurely descended the large number of stairs. As they looked at the bright green moon, they simply nodded their head in confirmation; a dream then.

They walked along the landscape for tens of minutes, reaching up to pluck an apple from one of the trees scattered about. Looking it over, they could only think about the old wives' tales of not eating the food in your dreams, a rule Yuu was never sure if they actually followed or not. They study the fruit, wondering if they could decipher the type from looks alone. It was big, like a Honeycrisp in season yet had the bold red coloring of a Red Delicious. Turning it over in their hands, checking for blemishes and finding none. Shrugging, they bring the apple to their mouth and bite into it.

Sweet, like a Honeycrisp, but had the lingering tartness of a Granny Smith. The combination making their mouth water and demand another bite while still leaving them satisfied with what they had. The skin was snappy, giving way under their teeth with ease yet filled with that ‘apple skin’ flavor Yuu couldn't help but love. They finished the apple in record time, tossing the core into a nearby bush and reaching for another; this one they would save for later.

They frowned, realizing they didn’t have their trusty shoulder bag with them. Then they realized they didn't have any of their possessions with them. Not their phone, their bag, the only thing that seemed to have remained on them was their underwear. Well, this was a dream anyhow, into the ‘Boob Pocket’ the apple went.

They look around briefly, seeing no one had spontaneously popped into existence the second they chose to be indecent, they undo the first few buttons of their shirt and shove the apple into their cleavage. Big boobs are good for one thing and it’s holding items. They’ll eat the apple later.

Seeing the brick path led farther away from the building, they looked behind them. Yep, still there. The castle hadn’t disappeared or become impossibly far away the second they left it, so maybe it was a more permanent fixture of the dream. They turn back to the path, giving the castle one last glance before continuing on their walk. It looked…weirdly familiar though Yuu wasn't sure where they had seen such a castle.

The ground level held more buildings to explore. Tall structures stood in the distance but there was a large building sitting just to the left of the stairs. Curiosity peaked, they walked toward the front and pushed open the door, wincing at the long squeak it produced. But, looking inside, their budding fear was quickly gone at seeing the rows and rows of towering bookshelves. Yuu steps into the room, glancing around to see if the area was really as empty as it appeared. Seeing no one around, not even a hellish prep school librarian, Yuu tip-toed into the room and closed the door behind them, breathing in the distinct smell of pressed paper and old leather.

Yuu walked through the shelves, not looking at the titles yet but enjoying how bright and vibrant the spines were. Some even had a gold lining! Just how much money did this dream school have to burn? They tap at one book, pulling it from the shelf and reading the cover before repeating the title aloud.

“The Great Freeze of the Northern Isles: A Personal Account from Olaph Christenson…” Yuu shrugs, tucking the book to her side and walking farther into the shelves. Before long Yuu had amassed several historical fiction books, even one that seemed to be a fantasy book about potions. They walked to a cluster of tables, just as ornately carved as the desks were in the main building. Sitting down, they crack open a book and start reading; not much else for them to do in this dream it seemed…

Yuu had surprisingly made their way half through one book before abandoning it for another. They did always love reading fairy tales; the ones in these books simply wrote about them in a more grounded manner. They had opened the potions book, reading the introductory paragraph and glancing at the table of contents before hearing doors slam open and the sound of yowling. They couldn’t see anything from their seat, at least not until they watched Grim scrabble his way through the aisles, yelling over his shoulder for an overgrown bird to leave him alone.

…

Not her monkey. Yuu turned back to the book in hand, trying to refind her place only to jump at the sound of a whip cracking. The book was forgotten for a moment, eyes looking around in bewilderment trying to find the source of the sound. 

Soon, they found the source; a tall man in a lavished blue and black suit combo with a black feather boa collar walked from between the shelves. Grim in his grasp via a black whip that held the cat yowling and squirming around.

The man sniffles, slacking the whip only to tighten it and silence Grim’s whining, “Consider it tough love …now just to find- Ah!” Black-tinted lips pulled into a pleased smile as he seemed to lock his sight on them, “There you are! I was growing worried I wouldn't be able to find you before the night was up.”

Yuu jolts lightly in their seat, not realizing they had made eye contact with the masked man. They couldn't actually see his eyes, the dim lighting of the room only showing bright glowing orbs from black pits. They quickly grabbed the book they were reading, standing from their seat.

The man sighs in relief seeing them stand, starting to walk over to them, “Oh, good! You're not going to be as troublesome as- AH! Wait!”

Yuu started out in a light jog away from the strange man, their pace picking up as they heard him following after them. Soon they and the unknown man were sprinting around the library, the masked figure calling out for them to stop.

Their response was to turn around and blindly launch the book at him. They tilted into a full run, turning sharply into a new section hearing the heavy thud of the hardcover book connecting and the man's squawk of pain. They duck behind a large desk, hiding in the opening underneath and hoping the man just assumed they had escaped the room.

Instead, they nearly screamed and kicked at Grim, the cat scrambling under the table with them. Yuu looked at the cat in surprise, noting his hair standing on end as they hissed out, “The fuck, don’t you go here or something? Why'd you bring that crazy guy here?”

Grim huffed, glaring up to them as he tried to press himself tighter against their legs to hide more under the desk, “I'm- I'm trying to be admitted here…I don’t know who that crazy bird is though…he saw me in the hallway and started throwing a fit-”

The man suddenly leaned in front of them, “There you two are-”

“AH!”

“ AH!” Yuu screamed along with Grim, their leg shooting out and connecting hard with the unknown man's chest, sending him crashing into the back of another sturdy desk.

“OW!” the man groaned, rubbing the back of his head.

Yuu and Grim scramble from under the desk, the pair making their way to the agape double doors of the library. The bird man couldn't hope to chase them both down once they were out of the room. It was going to be a matter of luck once they got out whoever he decided was more important to chase down.

The sound of ice crunching suddenly filled the air. A bright blue light sailed over their heads and hit the ground in front of the doors. Yuu's eyes widened, watching ice form, grow, and completely consume their only exit. The ice didn't stop at just the door, a patch had raced toward them and Grim. They slipped, gold-heeled feet quickly leaving the floor and sending them hard onto their back and sliding into the wall of ice.

Yuu looked behind them, eyes widening as they saw the man still standing a good distance away with his cane held out. At the very tip of the cane (Does it say RAVEN???) they could see the fading bright blue light that had shot out the ice, “The fuck?”

“Enough of your running! We have places to be and I'm not going to let you cause any more havoc on my campus!”

Yuu turns to Grim, the cat creature equally panicked, “Dude, don't you have, like, fire powers or something to melt this!?”

Grim perks up, ears twitching as he grins and turns to the ice, “Oh yeah! Watch as the Great Grim melts this lackluster magician's ice- ACK!”

Yuu scrambles away just as the whip wraps around Grim, the cat being yanked toward the mysterious masked man. Grim squirmed around, yowling and trying to escape the wrapping.

“WHA-WHAT IS THIS!? I CAN'T USE MY FIRE!?”

“Honestly…” The man sighed, swinging Grim loosely as he walked forward, “You're in a library, fire should be the last thing you use in such a place. The money to replace all these books would destroy my vacation fund…”

Now that he stood in front of Yuu, they realized with an unsettling feeling in their stomach they actually couldn't see his eyes. Behind the fanciful face mask of a crow were nothing but two actual voids of black with pinprick lights of yellow. He stood right in front of them and tilted his head with a slight click of his tongue.

“My, my! I'm not sure if you're a troublemaker or simply an overzealous student.” He smiles, updating his gentle swing to twirling the cat creature in a slow circle, fully ignoring Grim's whines, “But, I am most pleased! We need more students who enjoy studying. Surely, we'll be able to out do- OW!”

Yuu swears under their breath, they missed the man's knee and had only kicked him in the shin. Not the fully devastating attack they hoped for, but it was something since the man took his time to bend down and nurse his leg. Time that Yuu took to push themselves up and make a break for it. Hopefully, this library had a second entryway somewhere.

They sadly didn't get far. Another bright light shot out from behind them, this one being green. It hit just before their feet, sprouting vines that easily snatched them up by the ankles and held them upside down. They flailed only a bit before the vines had stretched them back to the now frowning man.

“Stop. Kicking me! I've made my decision, you are a troublemaker . As such you will be properly punished once you are sorted. And another thing-” The man took care to grab them by the bicep, holding them as the vines slowly weakened and disappeared to leave them feet back on the ground, “You must learn to control your familiar. It's not even the first day and you've already violated the school rules multiple times!…”

The man goes on and on, not seeming to realize that Yuu had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. He went on about gates and orientation, claiming Yuu must have the ‘temerity’ to open their gate before he called for them (whatever the hell temerity meant…). They try to make eye contact with Grim, only to see the creature simply struggling in the whip wrappings and doing great heaving breaths as he tried to summon his fire.

“Are you listening!? Goodness, you are shaping up to be quite a poor student. How disappointing…”

“...I don't go here…”

The man blinked at them. He leaned in closer, humming softly as he brought the head of his cane to gently tap them on the forehead, “Oh. You must have gotten disoriented during the journey. Not uncommon…but not an excuse either. You've wandered very far from the main building and have brought such an unruly familiar on campus-”

“That thing ain't mine.”

“Stop interrupting me!” The man huffs, shaking his head before twirling his cane. 

Yuu watches in surprise as the metal rod disappeared, vanishing from sight in a show of navy-colored sparkles like it had always been some type of optical illusion, “The fuck?”

The man taps them again on the forehead, clicking his tongue before forcibly turning Yuu around and lightly shoving them toward the thawing ice blockade, “No foul language. Come along now, let's get you to the mirror chamber before everyone decides to leave. Goodness knows you've already wasted so much of my time…”

“Can you hear me? I don't go here!” Yuu tried to wiggle their way out the bird man's grip on their shoulder.

He laughs, easily gripping Yuu by the back of their shirt and pressing against the center of their back, forcing them to walk out of the library, “I shall help you regain your wits as we walk. Aren't I such a kind and compassionate educator?”

“ Get off of me!?”

Yuu had all but dropped themselves into dead weight after they had been forced back up the stairs to the courtyard. Sadly, all it managed to do was have the man drag them with no effort. The man who they learned to be called Dire Crowley, the headmaster of Night Raven College.

Groaning, Yuu punched at Crowley's arm again. It didn't help the first few times but it was all they could do to show their frustration, “I'm not even old enough to go to college! I didn't sign up for your damn school!”

Crowley frowned, with one hand keeping Grim in a tight hold, he wasn't able to properly deal with his new unruly student, “Nonsense. You were brought to our campus and are dressed in our ceremonial robes! You clearly are to be a student of ours. Age aside, as long as you are 16 by the end of the year, you qualify for your first year here.”

Yuu let out a growl that slid into a throaty scream. Gripping their arms onto Crowley's, they actually dropped their weight to lift their legs and kick at him from behind; not very strong in the long run, but he didn't have room to dodge them, “I. Dont. GO HERE!”

“AH! NO! STOP!” Crowley cut his losses and released them, frowning heavily at the panting figure on the ground, “I will say, you are impressively physical for a magician. Perhaps you will be more useful in sports than academics …”

“...” Yuu lifted their head from the ground, staring into Crowley’s voids with a stunned expression, “I’m sorry, I'm physical for a fucking��what now?”

“...A magician-”

“ A magician!? Like, an Alakazam kinda bullshit!?”

“Bless you?” 

Yuu pushed themselves off the ground of the courtyard, pointing to their person in quick motions, “I ain't no fuckin’ witch!?”

Crowley perks up, tapping a clawed ring to his chin, “Ah! Do you use female pronouns? That's not normally seen here these days, but I will make sure it is added to your student file. Aren't I truly so understanding and-”

“ I AM GOING TO ACTUALLY SHIT, SHUT UP FOR LIKE TWO SECONDS!”

The only sounds were of Yuu's controlled breaths, the fading echo of a flock of birds fleeing for their lives in the distance. Crowley merely blinked at them, sharing brief eye contact with a still bound and gagged Grim before shifting his sight back to them.

Once they were back to a sense of calm, Yuu pressed their mouth to their clasped hands. Blinking, they looked around, eyes lingering on the full green moon before turning to Crowley, “There's been some kind of mistake. I don't…I'm not from here. I can't have, like…signed up for classes here or something because, I'm not from here .”

Crowley only huffed, rolling his eyes as if Yuu was the one not listening, “An ebony carriage should have met you carrying your gate. It was the vessel that brought you here.”

“ Carriage? Like a horse-drawn buggy?” At Crowley's nod, Yuu sputtered, “I didn't see no fucking horse! Let alone a carriage!”

“Hmmm…But you awoke in a gate, did you not?” Only now did Crowley seem intrigued, yellow orbs focusing on Yuu in a new manner, “You were in a gate and you are in the ceremonial robes. Unless you want to admit to breaking onto the campus and stealing a set of robes, you are clearly meant to be a student.”

Yuu groaned, face falling into their hands, “I didn't break in anywhere! I woke up in a coffin- fucking weird by the way-”

Crowley perks up, smiling as he makes a pose as though to say ‘Eureka’, “Yes! That is the gate; it was shaped after a coffin to signify the ending of one life to begin your new life here on campus as a Night Raven student.”

“...” Yuu stared at Crowley, the man taking full notice to see how she suddenly became subdued, “I don't remember a carriage…I was…I was inside before I woke up…I wasn't…I don't…”

“...” Crowley placed his hand back to Yuu's shoulder, gently and to be the comforting weight they seemingly needed, “The gate transport can cause gaps in memory. You may start to remember more once you complete your orientation. But to do that we must make haste to the chamber. It'd do no good to have your dorm leave you behind.”

They both stand in silence, only Grim's ever-constant struggle a sound before Yuu took a deep breath. She looks up to Crowley, nodding their head; they didn't have much of a choice.

“Ok…”

Crowley smiles, eyes turning to crescents through his mask, “Then off we go!”

The walk back to the school seemed so much shorter. What had taken them nearly half an hour had ended in only what felt like five minutes with Crowley's hand pressed on their shoulder in support. Yuu wasn't entirely sure where they were in the castle; It seemed so small in the few halls they had wandered through earlier. But now they were able to fully grasp the sheer massive size of this unexplored location. Soon, their small group came to large double doors; the bustling sounds of multiple people closed behind it.

Crowley gave them a glance over his shoulder, either to silently tell them to brace themselves or to make sure they didn't bolt the second his hand left their shoulder. Either way, he gets his answer and turns back to the doors, pushing them up to hear a bright voice speaking loudly.

“-be his stomach was upset and he's taking a long bathroom break!”

Whatever serious air the headmaster had around him was instantly broken, the masked man stuttering and nearly stumping onto the large stage, “I was not having stomach issues! I will have you know I was not lollygagging around the school; I have brought back our wayward final student and their familiar.”

Yuu looked around the room, hundreds upon hundreds of masked individuals sat in what could only be described as a ritual room. Tall ceilings and branching archways of stone frame the room yet still draw attention to the grand oversized full-length mirror in the center of the cleared area. Yuu stared at the face in the mirror, it seemingly staring back with a look void of all emotion. From behind the ornate mirror, Yuu could see a small ensemble of other cloaked figures sitting in raised seating behind the mirror, a clear way to set them apart from the lower seated masses.

“...” Yuu blinked, “Oh…I get it. This is a fucking cult. ”

…

The room was silent, the stray and strangled laughter of a few students quickly being snuffed out. A few of the students on the raised seating looked completely scandalized, expressions angered yet stunned in their silence. Crowley turned around to face them, his face finally showing the correct amount of confusion, “ What?”

[mi5018tomberry]

Photography 1

Here are the notes I took during the Photography lecture. In the past I've never been able to warm up to photography as a hobby so I've not learnt about the technical terms which I've used during Arnold rendering in Maya projects. I made sure to take notes about anything I needed to memorise and it was interesting to finally learn what all these terms meant and how they impacted your photography. It's important for me to study this because of the influence this knowledge has on capturing the right aesthetic for your animation as the mimicry of real photography results in more compelling animation.

This is the PRO photography setting my phone has which we used to learnt the impact these settings have in practise rather than just in note form.

I paired up with Harvie for my photography and these were some of the earlier photos we took. Adjusting the WB (White Balance) gave the effect of changing the images temperature so that's why some of the images above are blueish. Harvie managed to mess around with the focus on my face and blur the background which I need to figure out because blurring is as crucial as composition when it comes to draw focus to a certain part of the photo.

We messed around with the panorama effect on our phones to get some stupid photos and making a lot of mistakes along the way.

It was fun playing around with perspectives mainly because of the stupid results we got but I've always been drawn to images which incorporate foreshortening. It exaggerates the depth of an image and thus emphasises a sense of motion and intrigue within the photo like the image from Magnum force above. Forced perspective mixed with a dynamic pose helps push the leading lines in the image which elevates the image bringing it to life.

I decided to mess around with the shutter speed of the camera to try and create a motion echo of a speeding figure like the flash. I noticed that when increasing the shutter duration, it took in more light and thus the first two images in the studio room we used for the other photos were fully blown out. When attempting the long exposure images, the EV (Exposure Value) skyrocketed and went into the red on my phone so I realised that for this sort of photography you need to be able to control the lighting so we went to the Dragonframe room to try it out in a darker room. In all of the images of the Dragonframe room Harvie was walking across the room towards the camera but wasn't being picked up at all. We tried again with Harvie standing still for the full duration just to see if it would pick him up in this lighting and it worked.

We kept messing around with the phone torch to create these echoes images light a dementor or a ghost. Eventually we figured out that Harvie needed to stand still for a couple of seconds throughout the 30 second duration to properly pick up his face instead of the previous blurry mess. Finally just by changing the direction of the lighting of Harvie's phone torch we got the last image which, whilst its a mess, it looks really visually interesting.

For this module I need to keep experimenting with these settings to better come to grips with their impact on an image and how these settings can be manipulated for better results. I need to start thinking of how I want my camera footage to play its part in my final compositing project. I already know about shot composition and framing and creating leading lines within an image from storyboarding and drawing in general but figuring out the impact of these photography settings will hopefully end in a better final shot.

[doublerainebow]

Artist Resources (Part 1?)

This is basically just going to be a bunch of resources I have found to be useful. I can’t say that I’ve used all of them, but I’m sure they’re all worth checking out.

I’m also gonna try to put a detailed description for most of the links so you have a better idea of what you’re getting. I apologize in advance if some of them are redundant lol

(I put “Part 1″ if in the case I make another one)

~Links to Tutorials, Tips, Resources, etc~

Another Resource List -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Apparently, the post isn’t mobile-friendly, so it’s suggested to view this on Tumblr browser. Has a bunch of other links. I’ve checked out a few of them (mainly the copyright stuff lol), and it seems that some of the links may be a bit outdated. Still, it doesn’t hurt to check out the links.

Arms and Legs -- Leads to another Tumblr post. A handy tutorial on elbow and knee placement.

Art & Game Dev -- This leads to my personal playlist of a bunch of YouTube videos. Has a bunch of tutorials and interesting videos that I’ve collected over the course of a few years lol.

Blamblot -- A website that contains resources and tutorials on comic lettering. This is primarily in reference to western comics, but it doesn’t help to take a looksie.

Commission Calculator -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps artists to stop selling themselves short.

Comparing Heights (hikaku-sitatter) -- A height comparer for centimeters.

Comparing Heights -- A height comparer for feet and inches.

Mouth Shapes and Lip-Syncing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Useful for... drawing mouth shapes.

Reference Angle -- Useful for when you’re trying to map out a face from an odd angle.

Soft Proofing for Printing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps when you’re trying to make prints of your artwork.

Textures -- A website full of different and mostly free textures. While this website is made for 3D texturing, it can also be useful for 2D drawings. Signing up gives you 15 free credits everyday, and you can use those credits to download some textures for free.

The Models Resource -- A website of models ripped from a wide array of games.

The Spriters Resource -- A website of sprites ripped from a wide array of games.

The Textures Resource -- A websites of textures ripped from a wide array of games. 

~Links to Stock Images~

Please check out whatever policies they may have for their images before using them!

(not sure if any of them are active anymore as I followed some of these accounts a long time ago when I used to be more active on Deviant Art lol)

adorkastock (formerly senshistock)

anatoref -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Has a bunch of hand photo references

charligal-stock

HumanAnatomy4Artist -- Does contain nudity

null-entity

PhelanDavion

RobynRose

~Links to Other Artists~

Akihito Yoshitomi -- Yoshitomi is a mangaka who has tutorials on manga making. He also has an insightful series in which he drafts and draws a 30-page manga in 18 days. Remember that every artist works differently and his process may be different from another’s.

Drawfee -- Drawfee is an improv drawing show of four artists: Nathan Yaffe, Jacob Andrews, Julia Lepetit, and Karina Farek. While they don’t have tutorials in a sense, their videos explain the different processes they go through as they draw. They also occasionally provide tips, tricks, and resources in their videos. They do have another channel and a Twitch channel where they host drawing classes in addition to other fun shenanigans.

EtheringtonBrothers -- Has a bunch of useful and eye-catching tutorials called “How to Think When You Draw”.

Mark Crilley -- Mark is a comic artist, specializing in manga, who has a bunch of tutorials about anatomy, perspective, comic making, and other things.

Miyuli -- Miyuli is an artist who posts tutorials on their Twitter. Their tutorials range from anatomy to clothing to other things. They even have a few books of art tips. Currently (as of the time of posting this), their 2018 version is free for download, so I highly recommend you download that. Some tips may be outdated, but they should still be helpful.

Whyt Manga (Twitter/YouTube) -- Odunze is a comic artist, specializing in manga, that has a bunch of tutorials on manga making and drawing characters of color.

~Links to Free Programs~

Blender -- A free 3D program if you’re into 3D modeling and such. I also personally haven’t used Blender (I use Maya lol), but I know it’s a respectable program.

Krita -- A free painting program if you can’t afford Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint. I personally haven’t used Krita, but I have recommended it to a few friends and they have positive reviews about it.

Paint Tool SAI -- Okay, this one isn’t free, but it’s a significantly cheaper painting program where you don’t have to pay a subscription. It’s 5,500JPY (~50 USD). I’m not sure how well it still works on modern computers (the last update was 2016), but I still use it here and there because I love the pen tool feature it has, and it still works like a charm for me.

~General Tips From Raine~

Raine admits that she’s guilty of not following her own advice, but Raine hopes that the tips that she does know will be beneficial to someone who will follow them. She’s also going to keep all her tips under the cut so as to not make this post a huge wall of text (even though it technically already is lol)

Also, if you have some resources, tutorials, tips yourself, please feel free to send them to me and maybe I’ll make a part 2 to this post!

ALWAYS LOOK FOR REFERENCE. This should really go without saying. You can’t draw from life if you refuse to observe life itself.

If you can’t find the exact thing you need, MAKE YOUR OWN REFERENCE. Time and time again, I can’t find something exactly that I need. So instead, what I do is that I take pictures of my own reference. Sometimes I even grab a friend and take pictures of them doing whatever it is I need.

Have a mirror handy when you’re drawing. Sometimes what you need is actually right there in front of you.

Having trouble drawing something? Do some studies. Take the time to understand what it is you’re drawing. I can’t remember the exact story, but I heard that the people who were working on Tarzan were having a hard time drawing his hands. So, what they did was spend a few hours looking at hands to try and understand how they work.

IT’S OKAY TO STUDY THE ART OF OTHER ARTISTS. Just as we look to the old masters as a reference, it’s definitely okay to look at modern-day artists for reference. Just don’t go copying exactly everything that they do, or worse, trace what they do. Just don’t do it... at all.

Not every line needs to be realized. The viewer of your work will automatically connect the dots.

DO NOT TRASH YOUR OLD DRAWINGS. Please, never ever do this. Your old drawings have value to them, even if they look terrible to you. Old drawings may hold ideas for things you could do for the future. They also serve as a way to see how far you’ve come as an artist.

GETTING BETTER AT DRAWING TAKES TIME AND EFFORT. You’re not gonna get better overnight. It’ll take months, or even years, to feel like you’re a competent artist, and even then, you’ll still have room for improvement.

DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOURSELF IF YOU’RE TAKING A LONG TIME TO GET BETTER. It’ll be better for your mental health in the long run.

Alternatively, DON'T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER ARTISTS EITHER, ESPECIALLY TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER. You know the struggles it took for you to get where you are, so don’t go putting down other people when you’ve been in their shoes once.

KEEP DRAWING. If you’re not making an effort to get better, then you’re not going to be better. I get that it’s hard to find the inspiration to draw (I’m very guilty of this), but just keep trying. It doesn’t have to be big or spectacular. You don’t even have to post it if you’re the type who likes to post their art stuff.

Try to find references from real-life. It’ll help you better understand form, lighting, shadows, etc., especially if you’re going for a more realistic kind of art style. Otherwise, finding reference from things like cartoons, anime, comics, etc. are just as good.

Try new things. Try new art mediums. Try a different art style. Switch up the way you do things. Maybe you’ll hate it, maybe you’ll like it. Who knows if you don’t try.

Watch time-lapses (or speed draws/speed paints) of other artists!

Pinterest and Google are your friends if you need tutorials or references or whatever.

If you’re offering commissions, DO NOT WORK UNDER YOUR LOCAL MINIMUM WAGE. You are literally devaluing the work you actually put into a piece.

I like to think I’m an aficionado of Photoshop, so feel free to ask me questions on how to achieve something! I’ve used Photoshop for about 11 years now and know my way around the program. On another note, I do recommend setting custom keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop because the default shortcuts are terrible (in my opinion), and because having custom shortcuts increases the speed of your workflow.

Because I’ve been seeing this a lot lately in Twitter, you’re never too old to start in art. Art is just one of those things that anyone can pick up at any age because the only thing you really need to get good in art is time, diligence, and patience.

Try not to post hi-res images of your artwork to prevent art stealers from selling your artwork in high resolution.

Always, always, always add your signature and watermark on your artwork. I like to add my signatures and watermarks in places that’ll be hard to erase or crop out. I’ve also seen people add their signatures and watermarks in creative ways (ex. on a character’s shirt). You need to protect your work in an era where people will just blatantly steal it and make profit off your work.

Tag List

@reality-is-often-disappointing

[typewrittenluck]

Sorry General

AN: Okay hehe this is my first time ever posting a fic so be nice :/. It’s basically just self-indulgent Obi-Wan angst-fluff because I miss him and I’m excited for the new show. This takes place during The Clone Wars, Season 2, Episode 10. But you don’t have to watch it to understand what’s going on. Anyways enjoy!

Word Count: 2130

Warnings: None, Anakin being a lil’ shit

(gif creds to owner)

General Grievous had escaped yet again. It seemed as if every time the Jedi came close to capturing the sleaze ball, he would slip right through your hands. You could sense the tension in the air as everyone onboard the landing craft shared your anxiety, which increased your frustration by every person that you could feel through the force. It of course didn’t help that you were sent down to capture Grievous with none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi, who always had a knack for making you agitated.

As soon as the ship's doors opened, you began to take long strides out, already beginning to scope out the area and make mental notes of factors that might be influential to your mission.

At General Kenobi’s command, you and the troops began to move towards the wreckage of Grievous’s ship in hopes of finding something that would lead you to the General himself. 

After scouting out the ship, Rex determined that the General couldn’t have been far off.

“We’ll split into teams. Rex, take Jesse, Hardcase, Kix, and Y/N and search those wetlands.” Obi-Wan said, gesturing vaguely in your direction.

“Actually, Kenobi,” you spat, “Seeing as I am a General, and therefore rank above Captian Rex, I will lead the troops to conduct a search of the wetlands.”

“Oh, right, of course General Y/N. I wouldn’t want to undermine your notable past with leading battalions and strategy missions.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Why I ought to-”

“Excuse me, Generals, if I may,” Rex stepped in between you two. “we really shouldn’t get distracted from the situation at hand.”

“Yes, of course Captain.” you replied, still glaring at Obi-Wan. “We should get going”

“Right. Cody, you, Crys, and I will pick it up from here.” said Obi-Wan. “Oh, and one more thing,” he said, turning to face you. “If you get a visual on General Grievous, for the love of the force Master Y/N, make contact before you make any rash decisions to engage.”

“From the two of us, Master Kenobi,” you replied, “It is not I who have a track record of making rash decisions.”

Once you were out of earshot, Cody spoke up. “Forgive me General, but you seem worried. I’m sure that General Y/N and Rex are capable of handling this. They are both very wise individuals.”

Obi-Wan stroked his beard, apparently deep in thought. “Yes. Wise indeed.”

                                                  -----------------------

You felt a tug on the force and turned around just in time to see Rex get shot by a Commando droid. 

“REX!” you screamed, as you and the clones rushed over to him.

Jesse and Hardcase finished off the last few droids before joining the small crowd gathering around Rex. It was deemed that the safest plan was to find shelter for the night, so that Rex could heal.

You and the clones made sure that Rex was as comfortable as possible and well-taken care of in the barn that you had secured a place in before you hopped on your speeders and continued your search of the wetlands. 

“General, if it’s not too personal to ask, why do you and General Kenobi seem to fight about everything?” Jesse piped up after a little while.

“That is an extremely inappropriate question to ask your commanding officer soldier.” you snapped back.

“Right. Sorry.”

But it was too late. The question opened the floodgates that you worked so hard to keep closed. The overpowering emotions that you trapped behind a wall came rushing out and now, that was all that you could think about.

The constant questions. Why did Obi-Wan hate you? Why did he feel like you were inferior? Why is he so adamant that you shouldn’t be in charge of battles?

The constant anxiety. What if it’s a reflection of what the council thinks of me? What if everyone else feels that way too and they are just better at hiding it? What if I pass on my incompetence to my Padawan?

And above all, the crippling guilt. You were guilty because you felt responsible for him not liking you. You felt guilty because you broke the code. You felt guilty. Because you loved Obi-Wan Kenobi.

                                           ---------------------------------

Obi-Wan had been a Padawan for a mere two weeks, when a young girl from Dantooine had opened the doors to the Jedi temple, leading the way for an amused group of older Jedi. She had begun her training not long thereafter. On her first day, she walked into the training room and looked around, scoping out the area to decide where she would be comfortable. To Obi-Wan’s surprise, she picked a spot next to him. 

Since that fateful day, their friendship blossomed, mainly due to the fact that their masters, Qui Gon Jinn and Ki-Adi-Mundi, were good friends. Obi-Wan and Y/N became very close. Closer, in fact, than any member of the Jedi order should become to another lifeform. But it was inevitable. The two were so alike and their personalities clashed together perfectly, as if the force had made it so that the two would meet. All of the older Jedi sensed the rising emotions in the two young apprentices, and they felt the need to take preventative measures. So when a mission with an indefinite length popped up on the faraway land of Mandalore, the council saw it as the best opportunity to give the two a break from each other. They sent Obi-Wan on a year long trip to ensure the safety of Mandalores sovereign ruler, Satine Kryze.

Y/N spent her time away from her best friend meditating on her emotions, and came to the conclusion that she had fallen for him. It was against the code. It was against her plan. But she had fallen, and fallen hard.

Obi-Wan ended up with a similar conclusion, after realizing that his emotions towards Satine were anything but new feelings, and he had experienced those same emotions a hundred times stronger towards Y/N.

The problem was that the two apprentices dealt with their feelings in completely different ways. Y/N became awkward and always on edge, and Obi-Wan saw it best to cut her out of his life as much as possible.

Which led them to where they were now. Grown members of the Jedi order who were still harboring childhood crushes on each other, buried deep, deep down.

                                      --------------------------------------------

You were cut out of your train of thought by Obi-Wans voice.

 “Captain Rex, come in please.”

“This is Y/N, Rex was injured.” you replied, still a little dazed by your sudden surge of emotion.

“What’s his condition?”

“He’ll be fine, but we had to find him shelter for the night.”

“Grievous is on the move. We’re headed to the West.” said Obi-Wan. “Swing around and we can meet up at the final escape pod. We’re going to need all of the firepower that we can muster.”

“Alright, we’re on our way.” you said, sharply turning your speeder around as the clones did the same.

                                       --------------------------------------------

You arrived at Obi-Wans position just as you saw a ship attempting to land. You ran into the fray of flying bullets and disembodied droid limbs, jabbing and parrying with your lightsaber to get to Obi-Wan.

“Concentrate your fire on that ship!” he roared to the tanks.

He got distracted by his wrist-com and didn't see a laser ray coming straight at the back of his neck. 

“Keep firing. Don't let that ship land.” he said, as you jumped behind him, drawing your lightsaber to deflect the bullet. He seemed shocked by your sudden appearance.

“I believe a thank you, Master Y/N, is in order.” you dead-panned.

He rolled his eyes, but mumbled an unintelligible thanks.

“The guns are overheated!” you heard a clone say from his wrist-com.

“It’s always something.” Obi-Wan grumbled in response. “Cody, Jesse, cover me!”

“Wait!” you exclaimed after him. “Where are you- oh nevermind.” you sighed as you saw him speed towards Grievous. You sprinted after him, knowing that he would need help.

He began fighting the foul droid General, their battle just a blur of blue and green light.

Just as you arrived at the fight, Grievous was climbing up the side of the ship. “Forget trying to land.” he growled in his raspy voice. You, however, were preoccupied with Obi-Wan who was knocked to the side. He groaned as you knelt by him, reaching feebly behind you as you heard Grievous say “Fire the engines.”

He was lifted into the night sky, narrowly dodging clone bullets as he laughed maniacally. “Jedi scum!”

“Are you alright?” you asked him.

“No.” he sighed in frustration. “We’re right back where we started!”

He called back to Cody. “Call the cruisers, see if they can stop that ship! And tell them to send someone to pick us up.”

You sensed his frustration and heard the defeat in his voice.

“Obi-Wan,” you started tentatively.

“What?” he snapped, his anger evident.

“I know it seems like a total failure-”

“Oh but it is!” he cut you off with contempt. “I’ve lost countless troops, just trying to capture Grievous, and now he’s right there. And I let him slip right past my fin-”

“No!” you cut him off this time. “This kind of talk is what leads to anger. You and I both know that anger leads you down the path of the dark side. This isn’t your fault Obi-Wan.”

Calling him by his first name is what, over all the other things, seemed to get through his head. “You don’t,” he stopped, looking into your eyes. “Blame me?”

And in that moment, standing in an empty battlefield in the middle of Saleucami, you both knew that he was talking about much more than this lost battle.

“You’ve done all that you can do. You did what you thought was right.” you replied.

He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Cody, saying that the transport had arrived to take you all back to the main ship. You two held eye contact for a brief moment before turning and heading in the direction that Cody had gone.

                                        ----------------------------------

You stood in the bridge, looking out of the enormous window with Admiral Yularen right beside you. A droid came up behind you two and tapped you on the shoulder.

“Jedi Master Y/N, Jedi Master Obi-Wan requests your presence.”

“How is he?” you asked.

“He is doing well! He has sustained only minor injuries and will heal very soon!” the droid replied chirpily.

“That’s a relief. Where does he want me to meet him?”

“His private quarters, I believe.”

“Top secret Jedi business, I presume.” chuckled Yularen as you blushed a bright red. You had a sneaking suspicion that this had nothing to do with the Jedi order.

                                     -----------------------------------

“Y/N.” He greeted you, bowing his head and using the force to close the door behind you.

“Obi-Wan.”

“I’m sorry.” he blurted, taking you a little by surprise by his bluntness. “I know that I confused you and I make you feel unwanted at times and I am the reason our friendship was ruined and I promise I have an explanation which is no excuse but you deserve to know why I-” he stopped rambling when he saw your raised eyebrows and caught himself. 

He took a deep breath before beginning again.

“I had a lot of time to think when I was on Mandalore. But I kept thinking about the same thing. You. I couldn’t stop. And it was all that got me through each day, the thought of your face, and your smile, and your laugh. But that’s against the code. And the only way that I could get over you was to cut you off. But it didn’t work because by the stars and the planets Y/N, I love you. I care deeply for Jedi traditions and maintaining the code, but I love you Y/N. I’m sorry.”

“Oh Obi,” you sighed, stepping closer to him. “I realized it same as you. We have been drawn to each other since we met. It’s almost as if the force wanted us to be. And every day since that day that you left for Mandalore, I have looked at the sunrise, hoping that one day, it will bring light to what we once had.” You placed your hand on his scruffy cheek and stroked his jaw as he leaned into your touch. “I love you too.”

He pulled you into a hug, burying his face into your hair as you wrapped your arms tightly around his waist.

“Master- Oh! Sorry!” Anakin walked in, making you and Obi-Wan leap to opposite sides of the room, both of you burning a bright crimson color. Anakin’s eyes darted between the two of you, a smirk growing on his face. 

“Not a word, Anakin.” Obi-Wan said sternly, already having an idea of the things that he knew that his former Padawan would say.

AN Again: I just really want a hug from this man 

[george5259999]

Week 5 - Sketching

This weeks activity was definitely the hardest for me mentally. The previous weeks of content were quite technique based, in the sense that once you learn the rules, the results are straightforward to replicate and ideate upon. This week's content was much more skills based than it was techniques based, and that lead to a lot of frustration and challenges - mainly around the fact that my drawing skills weren't as developed, making it harder to replicate my ideas how I initially saw them in my head.

The warmup exercises were a great start to the tutorial, they definitely brought the skillset of hand drawing into focus; immediately making me realise how reliant I was upon the tools in the previous classes. I felt like the exercises definitely increased in skills and difficulty. The lines exercises (Image 1, 2) made me realise how important grip, posture and positioning is when drawing. I played around with the speed and control of the pen, and I noticed that holding the pen further down the barrel helped reduced my shaky motions.

Along with the other exercises, the ones I enjoyed the most were the contour lines (Image 5), and the circles and ellipses (Images 3, 4). The circles exercise was really difficult, and at times I found it very frustrating when the circle would look more like an ellipse, but I think it was the most rewarding as I forced myself to complete the page. Sometimes I find that completing something is more important than refining it. As someone who can be overly critical of my own work, completing a task where the result may not be perfect is a great way to improve. The circles in perspective exercise was also difficult for the same reasons. The contour lines exercise was definitely my favourite (Image 5), because it really taught me to visualise forms on a 2D page. I think I gained the most from this exercise because it amalgamated all of the skills from line confidence, ellipses and circles into one.

Moving on from the warmup exercises, the task for this week was to redesign an Olay Moisturiser bottle. I found myself trying to consider the brand identity and constraints, as I think they are a great way to come up with inspiration. Doing some research on the Olay line, their bottles have very simplistic and curved form without many extrusions and harsh edges. When undertaking the first task (Image 6), I wanted to focus on the overall silhouette of the bottles, rather than supplying detail for each concept. This exercise allowed me to quickly iterate on ideas, and gave me immediate reactions to what I liked and disliked as I put pen to paper. There were times I drew the first line of the bottle and knew I wasn't going to like it (for example, bottom left). Not devoting too much time, and overthinking allowed me to produce bottles which I thought had a lot of potential for the next stage.

When it came to add shading to the bottles, I started to experience some issues. Having never worked with alcohol markers before, I bought a couple of Copic markers in two shades of grey (C4, C5) to try and do some shading. I quickly learned that I should have purchased some lighter shades of grey as well, as they can be layered to increase the richness of value. I found that I wasn't moving the markers across the page fast enough, and it caused some ugly bleeding, so I smoothed over the marker with some graphite pencils which were more familiar and easier to control. Eventually, I would like to not rely on pencil for correcting my mistakes, especially if I decide to buy coloured Copics in the future. My corrective efforts are definitely a bi-product of being a beginner, but it was a great lesson to learn early on.

The second exercise started off very similar to week four's content. Drawing the boundary box template using the perspective techniques worked well. When transferring the boxes to other paper, I used thin mechanical pencil to lightly place them on the page. When drawing the three forms I liked from task 1, I found that the construction of the form was relatively ok during the straight line sections. When constructing circles and ellipses, I found that I was still too shaky and lacked control, so I drew them with the mechanical pencil, and then went over them with pen. When adding marker to these concepts, I once again found that I was not happy with the results. Unfortunately, because marker is rather permanent, my mistakes were immortalised on the page. I don't regret using the Copic markers, because I know that I will develop control with practise.

I wasn't completely happy with these three concepts (Image 7), so I wanted to create a final concept which was more visually interesting. I think I set my constraints too early, and should have allowed myself to make anything that came to mind - so I could rein them in when it cam time to develop them into final drawings. With this concept I went back to sketching without considering the proper dimensions. I made annotations on what was good, and more importantly, what I didn't like (Image 8).

When it finally came time to finishing the activity, I placed dots on the corner in thin mechanical pencil so I could remove them later. I liked this technique because it still gave me guidelines to work from, but kept the page clean and legible. I focused more on the detail and creating interesting forms on the bottle, and used these guidelines to create curved shapes and lines which tapered and chamfered the bottle, which I tried to highlight with the markers (Image 9). Overall, I wasn't entirely happy with the final product (Image 10), but I could definitely see my improvement with the markers from my first and second attempts.

Confidence is definitely something I lack when drawing, particularly with ellipses and circles; and it is something that can only be developed with practise and time. If I were to redo this activity, I would really focus on the circular forms and improving them, as well as practising with the markers more before using them in my linework. Using the YouTube Channels from the Pre-Class activities, I want to keep developing these skills and create my own style. It really is the skill I look most forward to developing for concepting as an Engineer and as a Designer.

[itsuki-minamy]

“TAPIOCA”

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

There is a lot of fashion in the world, as for the trend of sweets for young people, there is plenty of room for turbulent "tricks". Quickly disseminate information through a SNS, create a new flow of assets and funds, and interact with an unspecified number of people in the form of "mobile stores popping up in urban areas and general customers who flock to them." These features can be said to be similar to the popular stirring technology used by "Jungle", or mechanically follow the same process.

That is why Fushimi Saruhiko was in the row of mobile stores for tapioca drinks.

Moving on to a line focused on young women in plain clothes, buying a drink with a fixed price of ¥ 8 and a cost rate of 10%, and sitting at a simple table in the street, Fushimi looked around with a messy look.

Fushimi hates fashionable people, processions, and young people of the same generation, but he is not stupid with his duties. Like looking for gold dust in the mud, carefully look for the secrets, intentions, and signs of malice hidden in the trash.

Currently, the target is the pastel green kitchen store vehicle, it is from the emerging sweet brand "TapitsuCHA", whose main product is tapioca milk.

For the past few weeks, it has been a hot topic for guerrilla sales, mainly in the downtown areas. In other words, "find" and "catch" this kitchen vehicle is attractive as a kind of location information game. This "incitement to play" is also one of the usual "Jungle" methods.

However, at first glance, there appears to be no conspiracy or incidentally around TapitsuCHA. A harmless fashion item that draws the interest of the masses, and is forgotten just for a moment. Seems to be calm every day. Of course, "seems" doesn't mean complete innocence, but...

(As of today, there seems to be no tail that can be grabbed.)

Fushimi stood up. He put the tapioca milk untouched on the table. Someone in charge will get rid of that. Originally he doesn't like the fresh look and texture of tapioca. He thinks it's like a fish egg.

There,

"Oh, Fushimi-kun."

Seri Awashima, Lieutenant of "Scepter 4", who called him. Today she is dressed in civilian clothes, but she has an atmosphere that is the same as always. She has an L-size tapioca milk tea on hand.

"It's weird, you're not interested in these things."

Sitting in a chair across from Awashima, Fushimi wasted time leaving.

"Lieutenant…"

Awashima picked up the drink that Fushimi had left.

“On vacation, I try to strengthen the power of girls, who tend to be thin every day. You have to keep fashion items.”

"Oh, feminine power."

"I wonder if it's okay to take a photo before drinking."

Awashima, taking a photo of the milk tea with one hand holding his PDA, wondering where she had heard that, she lifts her face and turns to Fushimi.

"What should I do to" upload photos to the internet"?"

"I don’t know."

Fushimi responded immediately. In this situation, it is doubtful that Awashima has an SNS account. If she inadvertently deals with such a thing, she will be asked "What does this mean?" After spending a day talking about the registration of personal information, security settings, lectures on methods of operation, etc.

"Do you specialize in this?"

Fushimi replied again to Awashima, which was more mysterious than saying she would eat.

"No, I do not know."

There,

"It is awkward, Fushimi-kun."

He hears a familiar voice from behind. The captain of "Scepter 4", Reisi Munakata.

"It is…"

Munakata controlled Awashima, who stood up and waved with her palm.

"No, how is... I'm also in civilian clothes today."

In fact, today's Munakata had a slightly different impression than the "Blue King" impression, which is highly revered.

Maybe it's because of the slightly rough plain clothes, or maybe it was because of the brilliant blue of Tapioca Blue Hawaii that he got... no, mostly, it's probably due to the ridiculous feeling of "drowsiness" with a cup of drink.

"I ran into you by chance while walking through the city."

"Chance?"

Awashima bowed her head at a word she was unfamiliar with, nodded.

"Maybe... Awashima, Fushimi, walking together."

"Then I took a photo. It looks good, right?”

"Eh?"

This time he didn't know. Looking at Fushimi as if to ask him, Fushimi walked away from the beginning.

"In other words, it's a "challenge"..."

"…Challenge."

Awashima saw Fushimi again. Fushimi places his elbows on the back of the chair, turns to one side, and refuses to communicate.

He still doesn’t understand the meaning. He doesn’t know, but...

Defiance or "challenge". It is a word synonymous with "Katsumi" in the Awashima Seri values.

Training, challenges to overcome. Awashima cannot turn her back on that.

"What is the challenge?"

Awashima, who corrected her spine and turned into a face that was completely on duty, asked again:

"Fufu..."

Munakata looked at Fushimi with a smile.

"Tsk..."

Fushimi made a small click with her tongue.

And…

"This is..."

"That's right, Awashima-kun. Very good. Without moving…"

Awashima put her arms and tapioca milk tea to her chest. On both sides, Munakata put a cup of drink in his hands.

Milk and Blue Hawaii on both sides of the tea with milk.

"Oh, I uploaded it!"

"I put three."

The crowd gathered around the table increased.

"Now, Fushimi-kun!"

(Do not say my name.)

Fushimi held his PDA on top, and snapped photos over and over.

++++++++++

Fushimi's photos from "Awashima's Tapioca Challenge" are known as "Three Sample Attractions" and "Unexplored Triple Challenge," and were widely shared online. Answered on multiple social networks, she was favored, and it was already a great buzz.

But that was about a week. A photo of a single non-expansive shot was replaced by the next in the next week and quickly disappeared from the network.

"However, is there a good result?"

Munakata asked Fushimi, whom he called to his office.

"Yes."

When Fushimi uploaded the sample photos to SNS, he set up an electronic tracking tag on the image data. Labeled photos circulating on the net reveal the route and speed of information transmission of current affairs on the net, like a buoy launched for current ocean research. In particular, he was able to obtain a large amount of detailed data on personal connections and information links on "TapitsuCHA".

"From the conclusion, "TapitsuCHA" is like "white to gray". Due to the nature of the operation, it can be used for "Jungle" missions, but there is no connection between the person in charge of management or practice with the core of "Jungle" or the higher clan member."

"Well then you can either continue to watch freely or use it to catch "Jungle" from here."

"We will respond appropriately."

"It's okay."

They nod while the two look at each other,

"The captain is said to have had that idea..."

Awashima, who was waiting aside, nodded.

"Fushimi too... I'm sorry, I didn't know he was part of a secret investigation and I spoke to him carelessly."

"Ah... no."

Fushimi vaguely replied to Awashima, who bowed diligently.

"Anyway, I wonder if the captain had a 'deep thought'."

As a result, although it led to the identification of online personal connections, when Munakata came out and said it was a "defiance" or a "challenge," it just seems like "he just wanted to say a keyword like that."

(In fact, what was that?)

When Fushimi looked at him, he found Munakata looking at him.

"Fufu..."

Munakata smiled. With a mysterious smile as always, Fushimi is marked with a slight sense of mischief.

"…Yuca."

Fushimi was nervous.

[fanartfunart]

I really love your art and your stories, so i thought you'd be the one I'd ask this. Do you have any tips for new artists that would help us improve our work? Any tutorials you recommend? Any insider tricks you've learned that could help us? Thank you so much and have a good day!!

hmmm... these are the kind of questions that make me ramble on for eternity... (I’d say I’m better w/ more specific questions but those actually tend to make me ramble MORE)>w

ok, I’ve found that every person has a different way of looking at things- so:

Look at the world around you and turn it into art.

Anything that catches your interest. Just observe and draw and practice and explore.

Do life sketches whenever you can/feel like and if you caannt draw, try to visually ‘sketch’ something- like, look at a tree and trace it with your eyes or finger (its a rather good way to pass the time if you’re waiting in a line or something) 

(tbh tho I’ve made this such a habit that idk how to explain it better than this.)

sketch and don’t be afraid of ‘messing up’ just doodle and you’ll find things out better than any artist can teach you.

Challenge yourself, but don’t jump too far.

I think one thing that discourages most new artists is, they try to do difficult things right off the bat.

Just, start simple, and once you get comfortable, increase the challenge level a bit.

Ex) Drawing from your imagination is hard- use references. Sketch something out a couple of times before you try to paint it

Try different mediums.

Sometimes, when you try one medium, you’ll learn techniques that can work with your old medium and you’ll improve in both OR, you’ll find your New Best Friend.

There’s a lot of things that you’re really only gonna get from lots and lots of practice and study.

which leads me to: some of the tutorials I personally learned a lot from:

Youtuber- Mark Crilley (he’s mainly a manga artist- I mostly liked his perspective drawing work....)

Youtube- speed drawing videos, I mainly gleamed certain motions, layering techniques, shading techniques and stuff from those, but they are a fun way to try and figure out how something works on your own. 

a bunch of library books, (the one I best remember is Mythical Beasts: An Artist's Field Guide, I think I checked it out like, 10 times as a kid)

like seriously get any library book that catches your eye and practice away.

there’s LOTS of internet tutorials and- tbh, you really just gonna look up things on google sometimes. (I’ve got mine under the tag ‘tutorials’ if you’re interested, & I reblog a few art tutorials onto my main whenever I come across some good ones.

Go to art exhibits- look at your favorite pieces and figure out What makes them your favorites. Sketch them if you can.

if you’re interested in doing comic-art, I doooo think there was a few books by Stan Lee, & I found a library book that went IN DEPTH about DC’s Shazam’s history and it also went into how many of the comics were made, showed storyboarding, all that stuff- (it was super cool & I learned a lot from it despite it not aaactually being any kind of tutorial book... so... look for books like that too.)

Draw your own tutorials (&/or speed videos, if you can.)

No seriously. I’ve found that, every time I’ve tried to explain my process, I’ve discovered those little stumbling points I would just gloss over normally. Slowing down and really examining Why you do something the way you do will help you refine where you might want to improve!

... .. anyway Yea. I think I’ve done my best to provide tips and references. (tho if you want me to ramble about like- the actual drawing part, you’re gonna have to ask something a bit more specific, cause I could PRobably write a whole book about it.) :P

[bohrapbois]

Full Marks

CHAPTER 6 Description - Ben just so happens to fall head over heels for a Mysterious Man who loves baseball and cracking terrible jokes. Mysterious Man also turns out to be the father of one of Ben’s students. Warnings - Full blown relationship Hardzello, with plenty of angst, fluff and future smut. Word Count - 1,712

The paramedics took another ten minutes to arrive, but Ben hadn’t moved much. Allen had helped him move to sit upright against the filing cabinet, and although he was breathing unaided, his chest was burning from a shortage of oxygen. Although he tired, he just couldn’t get enough air in.

He was lifted onto the ambulance trolley, kept in a sitting position but strapped down across his lower abdomen and legs to hold him upright. An oxygen mask was placed over his face, and Ben couldn’t get enough of the cold air coming in. His nose had clotted up and his mouth wiped to ensure he wasn’t breathing in any dry blood. They began to wheel him out of the class.

Headmaster May stood there waiting, tears in his eyes as he smiled softly at Ben. Someone in his family was hurt, and he couldn’t do anything to stop the pain. Annita stood at his side, holding her husbands arm in comfort. Ben raised a heavy arm to let him know he was alright. They continued down the hallway, and Ben heard a familiar voice call out his name.

Craning his neck, he saw Beth clinging to Joes neck, sniffling as she watched through tearful eyes as Ben wheeled past her. Ben felt his own eyes well up, and it wasn’t helped by the obvious tear tracks staining Joe’s cheeks.

As they went through the main door, Ben caught a glimpse of Rami rushing from the car park, probably coming to comfort his family, but what caused more surprise was Gwilym running from the same parked car.

“Ben!” The Welshman rushed to the trolley, grabbing one of the barriers as the paramedics continued to walk. Another set of eyes scanned his injuries, and Ben wasn’t surprised by the chocked gasp. Everyone had the same reaction. Allen couldn’t even stop from wincing at each wheeze.

Ben grabbed Gwil’s hand, still not willing to talk, and nodded slightly at the paramedics question if he was to travel with them. Gwil and a paramedic climbed into the back, the other paramedic moving to the front with the driver. They didn’t expect his condition to worsen suddenly, so there was no need to crowd the back.

Ben eyed the equipment shuffling to the side as much as the restraints would allow him. He wasn’t overly fond of needles or medicine, would much rather sleep off a headache or cold rather than take a pill. Ben’s heart rate increased as the male paramedic began rifling through one of the draws, not calming when Gwil held his shoulder. He sighed in relief once a heart rate armband was pulled out. The medic made swift work of getting his blood pressure, muttering to himself as he made notes when he tested Ben’s pupils.

It wasn’t long until they arrived at the hospital, and Ben was wheeled into the E.R. Gratefully, Gwilym was allowed with him as they wheeled him into a spare section, pulling the curtain around to offer privacy.

“When I got a phone call,” Gwil fell into the uncomfortable plastic chair next to his bed, “from school saying you got attacked, I was about ready to hijack a car”. Ben chuckled (which turned into a wince) at the mental image of Gwil breaking the law. “I started running there instead”. The house was close enough to Animal Ark that Gwil saw no need of an extra expense of a car to get to work, rather he just walked. “I just got to the end of the road when a car stopped next to me, and low-and-behold, Green Eyes from the other day was leaning out of his window and telling me to get in”.

Ben raised his eyebrows as he continued to stare at Gwilym. He hadn’t been expecting that.

“I don’t know how he knew where I wanted to go, but I didn’t even say anything as we sped towards the school,” Gwil fiddled with the sleeve of his jumper. The thread was beginning to become loose from his distracted habit, and the blue material took all the taller mans attention. Ben hummed next to him, eyes also focusing on the sleeve and the two sat there for a moment, comfortable with one another.

Gwil was used to Ben needed company, and understood that sometimes it worked better when they were both silent. Just having a familiar presence near him would sometimes be enough to calm the blonds nerves. Ben would take the weight of the world on his shoulders and would never burden anyone else with his own, pressing problems. If he was in a bad mood, it has been known for the blond to purposefully look for the worst to give himself a reasoning. It was bad during university, and he missed lectures and seminars due to it, and although it’s gotten better over the years, he still needs that calming mind in stressful or hurtful situations. So here they sat, two best friends on foreign ground, one in need of medical aid and the other there for support, doing what they do best: being there for one another.

--------------------

A nurse had come around and done a brief medical overlook, followed by a doctor and another doctor. They all were shocked at the scales of the injuries but were relieved at the lack of deep damage. “You’ll be fine within three weeks-” doctor Two had said, “won’t be any long term side effects”.

Ben was discharged seven hours after first wheeling through the doors after some observations and blood tests. The oxygen levels in his blood weren’t cause for alarm and the medical staff were happy for him to leave with some prescribed medication and a check up appointment scheduled for the following week.

It was only when Ben and Gwil blinked into the dark outside that they realised that they had no way of getting back to theirs. “Shit,” Ben croaked out, having begun trusting his vocal chords and throat when they had been there for hour two, and could near enough speak normally if he ignored the shooting pain of bruised muscles. Nothing louder than a stage whisper at the moment but he’d get there.

“‘Shit’ indeed,” Gwil mumbled before pulling out his phone and looking up the local taxi service. Uber and Lyft weren’t in use around these small towns, but there were plenty of other taxi services around that would be willing to come pick them up at nearing three in the morning.

Gwil wandered off a few meters as he talked to the driver and gave the address, but Ben was just focusing on how cold it was. Wearing a dress shirt was a good idea for the disaster of a parents evening but not so much for standing outside an isolated hospital in the middle of fucking nowhere. If it wasn’t for Ben’s anxiety surrounding hospitals, he’d suggest that they go and sit in the waiting room, but most of the red plastic seats of the small room were occupied and Ben didn’t feel like sitting in a room with people in pain or on their deathbeds. So, shivering outside was the option.

His taller friend returned, and gave the estimated time of five minutes to him. They both knew that five minutes was being optimistic, and they were correct, because seventeen minutes later, a little silver Honda civic pulled up in front of them and they climbed in. The driver eyed the hand-print bruise on Ben’s neck but said nothing as he began driving back to their house.

It wasn’t long before they scraped together the right amount of change (and a little tip for the late night) and climbed out the car, shivering their way up the front porch and into the familiar presence of their home. Frankie went ballistic, sprinting from Ben’s room and colliding into her owner at full speed. Ben stumbled backwards as he rushed to grab his dog launching herself up his body, and he collided with Gwil, who also then stumbled back out the house. Now holding a wiggling dog in his arms (who was both whining at the absence of Ben and the smell of him whilst also wagging her tail so much that it was hurting Ben trying to hold her), Ben turned and apologised to Gwil, who just shrugged and made his way back inside and into the small kitchen. He placed the bag of medication on the counter top, far away back that Frankie wouldn’t be able to get to them, even if she climbed up again, before making the two of them drinks. Lemon and a generous amount of honey were loaded into Ben’s cracked Jurassic Park mug, and once the steaming water was added, the two shuffled the short distance to the sofa. Found in a charity shop, like most of the rest of the furniture, the old sofa had stains and dog fur embedded deep into its material. Frankie stayed close to Ben’s side, tucked between him and the arm rest and her watchful eyes viewed Ben’s hand movements every time he took a tentative sip.

They didn’t talk about much, Gwil mentioning how Lucy was trying to convince her boyfriend to adopt the three legged, half an ear kitten which had been brought in the week prior, but mainly they watched some of re-runs of a show that neither of them cared about. The only light other than the TV screen on was of the lamp in the corner of the room, placed carefully between the TV stand and bookcase. The warm light reminded Ben of how tired he was, and with heavy eyes, an hour after coming home, Ben uncrossed his legs, wished Gwil a goodnight, placed his mug on the counter and shut himself in his room, Frankie weaving between his legs the entire time.

The blond shrugged off his shirt and dropped his slacks, toeing off his shoes and socks before climbing into bed. He shifted around under the duvet, body aching from the events, but eventually he curled up in the corner in a nest of pillows and blankets and settled down for sleep. It was only then, when he was alone, that he let the tears flow.

I’m so sorry you’ll had to wait so long but thank you for sticking around! Although I am back, I’m afraid it won’t be scheduled posting as I’m unsure when I’ll be having the free time! BUT it would encourage me greatly if you were to leave encouraging messages/reblogs/tags to remind me to keep going

[wwwps4]

Just Cause 4

For me, Just Cause 4 was in the top ten expected games of 2018. Since the release of the first game on the PlayStation 2, I have loved this series for the freedom and dynamics of the gameplay, with each new part increased thanks to innovations, mainly tied to the hook-cat of Rico Rodriguez, the main character of the series. From the third part of the franchise began to change noticeably, adding serious notes to the previously crazy action, often devoid of meaning, logic and laws of physics. Actually, for which the series was loved by fans. But the degree of seriousness in Just Cause 3 was kept within the bounds of decency and did not destroy the cool atmosphere of madness — we had a charismatic dictator, not devoid of a sense of humor, a huge world and a wide Arsenal of tools of destruction.

From the fourth game it was quite logical to expect only the development of an established formula, and we got it. Partially. With the evolution of some game variables, unfortunately, others have noticeably degraded.

Looking back at the past, on the review of Just Cause 3, today's I wants to meet myself from the past and hit the head with a poker. Because the estimate is too high. But today's I also understand why this happened: against the background of the second part of the previous game looked and played much better, even despite performance problems. The new mechanics looked great and encouraged the player to use them. In Just Cause 4, the situation is different: new mechanics are curious, but experiments with them get boring after an hour or two, and you only return to balloons with boosters when you perform numerous and monotonous tests that make your eyes ripple. Finally, the game itself does not encourage the use of innovations.

Yes, the developers have tried to add some variety to the tasks that are set for the player, and now the mission to weaken the influence of the enemy in the region is not to destroy their bases, but to systematically capture them. On some bases, you need to disable and hack guns, on others-to steal drawings or weaken the protection, opening important rooms for passing with the help of specific models of cars, tanks and boats. But this is where all the diversity ends, because the mechanics of performing different tasks are still the same: find the switch — break the switch, find the generator-destroy the generator.

Story tasks and side activities in the game are tied to completely similar tasks, the variety of which is even more than in the previous parts of the series, but does not save you from the routine. Disabling switches and blowing up generators would be much more interesting if the developers had improved the artificial intelligence of their opponents, because in their current state, only some types of enemies pose a threat. And even then, not the biggest. A much more dangerous enemy of the player in Just Cause 4 is crazy physics, which can suddenly give out some stupid feint, turning the car over on an even spot or blowing up the helicopter from touching a tree branch with the rotor.

Helicopters in Just Cause 4 are your best friends, even though the body kit and weapons available to the player often don't match (for example, we see two types of projectiles and a machine gun, but we can only use one type of NUR and a machine gun). With them, you can perform most speed tests, clean up almost all the necessary enemy bases, and even destroy an enemy General trying to get away on a jet fighter. Yes, you can catch up with him by helicopter and shoot him. Not ask...

But it is worth paying tribute: the shooting in the fourth part is several goals higher than all previous releases in the series. Finally, Rico has learned to fire from the shoulder, which makes it much easier to aim and makes the control more comfortable. You can only praise the work on weapons and opponents. The hero's Arsenal grows as you progress, and each barrel now feels unique: different rate of fire, accuracy, alternative fire mode, reload speed, and so on. Worthily. Types of enemies also pleased — "Ghosts" and "Titans" can not only spoil the nerves of the player due to its elusiveness and strength of armor, respectively, but also send the invulnerable Rico to the next world.

Transport management has also improved, and all at once. The weight of the cars seems large, although they continue to be cardboard boxes, judging by the impact of game physics on them. Even tanks and armored personnel carriers take off here, like Chinese cars made of chocolate foil. Examples are in the video below! More pleasant than in Just Cause 3, was the management of air technology, but this is more due to its ease. But water transport is frustrating clumsiness, although it is most likely just quite realistic. Other things amuse: boats and jet skis sometimes feel good even on land. See for yourself:

There are also outright deterioration compared to Just Cause 3! For example, the tone of the project changed from casually playful and jaunty on "complex SSI", which has a negative effect on the atmosphere. The share of humor in the narrative and side activities has decreased, and attempts by some minor characters to dive into the pool of jokes ends with a painful blow on a newspaper spread out on the water. Alas, in Just Cause 4, there is no charismatic dictator, no cool boss battles, and most of the potentially cool moments are closed under a video lock. Seriously, instead of creating spectacular battles with the elements, the developers have translated all the "victory over bosses" in the format of videos. It turned out even worse than the battle with the final boss in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. And there are few things worse than her.

The plot of the game... Yes, someone will now say that the game Just Cause has never been, and so on. True, but the developers themselves decided to change this and tried to take the "new height", which they did not submit. And since Avalanche Studios themselves decided to bring the story of Rico Rodriguez to the forefront, they gave carte Blanche for appropriate criticism. But it is not worth much to crucify and complain about this, either, it is more expensive for yourself. In General, the story has a good potential, but little attention from the authors, who are constantly confused about the details, dates and events of the past.

Moreover, some of the game dialogs simply do not correspond to the events that follow them. For example, in one of the videos, Tom Sheldon, who decided to make peace with Rico and help his precious student, says: "I will lead", which causes an entertaining skirmish with references to the past. But he gets behind the wheel of an armored car, and Rico climbs in after him. And what do you think? The car, of course, is controlled by the player. Either we were temporarily given power over Sheldon, or the developers and writers again forgot to sync the project's cloud.

When performing tests in Just Cause 4, remember that most of the necessary vehicles for "through the ring on a particular vehicle" tests are located near the test itself. From a few meters to a couple of blocks. For example, if the marker indicates that the test at the top of the mountain requires riding through the ring on a motorcycle, do not rush to look for the bike and attach the balls to it, as I did-climb the mountain using a winch and you will surely find a bike waiting for you there.

As for the technical part and scripto, they are a good source of high mood. However, not when you once again can not get the local "fultons" or jet mini-engines of the hook to work humanly, and they begin to turn the raised objects against any logic. Unfortunately, there will be most of these situations. The Avalanche team came up with interesting chips, but it did not work to implement them in a human way, as well as to encourage players to use them. The entire game, story - wise, you can go through, almost without using hook modifications. So what's the point?! The variety of the "set it yourself" level has always worked in Just Cause, but before that, the game mechanics did not go beyond the daily combat comforts.

Even for most of the tests where you need to deliver a car to an island or the roof of a high-rise, it is much easier to use a cargo helicopter with a magnetic grip than to play with balloons that behave as inadequately as possible most of the time they are used. After completing half of the tests, of which there are more than four hundred, I met only two where it was necessary to use balloons. Here just came to the rescue modification for them, allowing you to control the direction of flight crosshair sight.

The moment just got into the video below, which also says a lot about the technical part, artificial intelligence, stupefied since Just Cause 3, and the gameplay in General:

However, I repeat - fans of the franchise will be more satisfied with the new game, because the basic gameplay is thoroughly prettier. Another thing is that game innovations are mostly meaningless, and if they are simply thrown out, Just Cause 4 will not lose anything. The weather conditions that Avalanche was so proud of look great and even work, but have a strictly plot-based meaning. Without the technology developed by the local dictator, Solis seems to have no tornadoes, no winter blizzards, no sandstorms, no rain and thunderstorms. I just want to start packing my bags and looking for air tickets! After clearing objects that control weather conditions, we can turn them on and off with a single button. What for? To complicate your life, for example.

And there is no need for more. Storm and Blizzard limit the field of view, once in them, the enemies become absolutely stupid and blind. And since computer idiots and so ... idiots, send their intelligence to negative values once again do not want to, because the game becomes not interesting. Tornadoes destroy some objects, but only in specific areas. As well as the storm does not go beyond its limits. It turns out that we can again subject to spontaneous rape already cleared and captured areas. What's the point?! Oh, deja vu…

[thearkhound]

CEDEC 2018 talk: 20 Years of Game Graphics Evolution and Beyond

The following is a translation of a speech that was held on the second day of the CEDEC 2018 conference held on August 23, 2018 at Kanagawa, in which three veteran developers, Takashi Atsushi of Sega Games, Yuji Yamada of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide and Yoshihito Iwanaga of Bandai-Namco Studios reflect on their various works in the industry during their past 20 years, focusing mainly on the sixth, seventh and eighth console generations, as well as their expectations of the upcoming ninth generation. The speech was moderated by Kazunobu Uehara of Konami Holdings (who returned to the company in 2017 to research new technology).

You can view the original article at the following page:

https://www.inside-games.jp/article/2018/08/28/117005.html

Looking Back At Gen 6

The session started with Mr. Uehara asking a different question to each speaker and getting an answer from each.

How do you feel about the transition from PlayStation (PS1) to PlayStation 2 (PS2)?

Yamada: The PS1 was a system that lacked features such as perspective correction on textures, so it still couldn’t 3D all that efficiently. However, the PS2 finally implemented them and had way better 3D capabilities. While the PS2 had simple functionalities, it also had tremendous bus width and access speed, so as a creator it was a fun machine to learn how to use.

What kind of platform was the Dreamcast (DC) like?

Atsu: The Dreamcast was capable of the perspective correction feature that was mentioned just now, so I’m proud to say that the Dreamcast was root of all the modern 3D consoles! Nevertheless, there were still some aspects in which the Dreamcast lost to the PS2 in terms of raw numbers. When I read that the PS2 was going to feature a DRAM bus width of 2560 bits, I thought that was a typo. However, the PowerVR2 GPU employed by the Dreamcast has pixel-sorting feature for semi-transparent polygons, which is a feature not available in modern consoles. In that sense, the Dreamcast truly a dream-like hardware.

How do you feel about working on all three of the aforementioned platforms (PS1, DC, PS2)?

Iwanaga: I was involved with the original arcade version of SoulCalibur released in 1998, which ran on the PS1-based System 12 board. We ended up porting the game to the Dreamcast, where every aspect of the game was remade from scratch. Then the PS2 came and I became involved with yet another completely different platform. We desperately build a program which could create beautiful graphics using the same algorithms... It was that sort-of era.

At this point, Mr. Uehara brings up a comment posted at the “respon” page which claims that the PS2 only had a hardware manual at first, so it took time for the developers to prepare the polygons.

Yamada: That’s right. The developer would be given a book containing all the commands of the current graphics driver as well. The developer would flip the thing page by page until they got to the command that they needed. (laughs) But back then I was glad to just have that book.

Iwanaga: It was a dictionary-like document that we nicknamed the “Blackbook”. I desperately wrote a program to control all the functions written there, since it was a pretty difficult book to memorize.

Atsu: Since the Dreamcast was based on Windows CE, it allowed for multi-platform development with Windows, but very few games utilized that feature. But if you think about it now, this Windows-compatibility would be carried over to the Xbox. Considering  “blood” is the only thing that’s being left on the current consoles, there’s something deeply moving.

It seems as if graphics advanced a lot during the PS2-era. But what about struggles and breakthroughs of those days?

Yamada: It’s pretty surprising to think that we used to program the nearClipping of polygons myself... I did the best I could at the beginning, but then a compiler came out halfway during the generation that made it easier to program .

Iwanaga: I wanted to create visuals with a bit of elegance, so I created a pseudo-gradient by using alpha-blending on two screens and blurring it upwards and downwards, which made it possible to display 180,000 semi-colors. SoulCalibur III was made with such a strange method.

The colors of the Dreamcast feels a lot different from those of other consoles from the same generation. Why is that?

Atsu: The Dreamcast has a very bright output. The startup screen looks very gray if you use an RGB connection, but when you use a video output it will look bright enough to be white. That creates the impression of producing vivid colors.

Looking Back At Gen 7

What are your thoughts on the transition from PS2 to PlayStation 3 (PS3)?

Yamada: I was concerned over what to do use the added computing powers for. With the added memory and pixel shaders, the creative width expands. Most things became feasible when we asked “can we made this?” That’s why the deciding on what to create and what direction to take became important.

Atsu: Although it was possible to use shaders on the original Xbox during the previous generation, it became a characteristic feature of the 7th console generation. The degree of freedom during development changed tremendously. Up to that point we worked really hard on making the graphics by combining fixed functions, but now we were only limited by a programmer’s skills. Of course, resources were still limited, so we had to decided on what was effective.

Iwanaga: If you try to output a 6th gen game on 7th gen hardware, the results are pretty strange. What resembled depth of field (DOF) on a blurry CRT television set suddenly became voids of space thanks to the increased resolution that made the graphics sharper and clearer. (laughs) From that point on I was told not to adjust the DOF too firmly.

It seems Deferred Rendering became popular around that period and that felt like a real turning point. What are your thoughts on that?

Atsu: Our company (Sega) took a while to come to deal with Deferred Rendering, but because the PS3 is capable of anything as a hardware, many developers had a problem with combinatorial explosions due to gradually increasing shaders. Deferred Rendering became the solution to that issue.

Yamada: I was shocked at how much Deferred Rendering changed visual-making. Until then lightning was something you focus on when design the appearance, but afterward it became an actual element that you had to be conscious of.

Iwanaga: When Deferred Rendering became too commonplace, I had to think of another method to devise unique graphics... To that end, I wanted to employ more Forward Rendering... It was an age in which I felt conflicted about many things we did.

Were there any western-developed titles that made a strong impression to you?

Atsu: Everything Naughty Dog was putting out by the end of the PS3′s lifespan. There was a point where I felt troubled over what I’ve done thus far when seeing their games.

Yamada: I was also impressed by Uncharted, but Killzone by Guerrilla Games, which employed Deferred Rendering, was pretty impressive too. I felt strongly that I had to make something that matched.

Iwanaga: Even though it just came out, when I saw Horizon: Zero Dawn, I thought it was over for me... But then I realize I must go on and keep trying my best no matter what.

The Current State of Gen 8

What are your thoughts on the transition from PS3 to PS4?

Atsu: While the PS3 was pretty flexible, it was also pretty difficult to work in terms of performance, so we had to rely on tricky techniques during development. So when it came to finally develop for the PS4, it felt like an era  where we can finally focus only on the content creation finally came.

Yamada: The things we can do now has since expanded, so the direction of what to focus on has become difficult. One of the current trend in graphics is physical-based rendering (PBR). As for game genres, open world is what’s popular now, so the amount of effort in development is pretty tremendous. We now struggle to create efficient assets and building the flow on an actual machine.

Iwanaga: The method of development is now the same as it is on PC. The difference in performance now depends on recognizing the limits of your hardware.

What are your methods of creating visuals?

Atsu: The visuals we aim for are photorealistic, so the first step is to have proper PBR. It is our company’s policy to aim for what direction the post-processing will be done from there. It’s just like the post-production of a movie, in which you create and edit visual effects on already-filmed footage.

Yamada: The introduction of the Unreal Engine also made creating realistic imagery much easier. The big issue now is how to differentiate your visuals. Do you do it by post-processing? Or by your camera work? The strength of your own content has become more important than ever.

Iwanaga: Because there will always be developers in Japan who to express everything in their games like how they envisioned things in their mind, I believe it’s crucial to know how to draw in your own visual styles after mastering realistic rendering techniques such as PBR.

What about the possibilities of non-realistic and toon-shaded graphics?

Yamada: Our company (Sony) released a game titled Gravity Rush, which has a strong fan-following. Many people, in Japan in particular, like that sort of graphic style. I think there’s room for even non-photorealistic styles through the use of photorealistic technology.

Iwanaga: I think you can only use photorealistic technology up to a certain point for non-realistic imagery. Although it’s not necessary to do everything from scratch, I think it’s important to add your own flavor too.

Atsu: Here at Sega we prefer the term  “manga dimension” over “toon-shading”. We came up with the term “manga dimension” in Jet Set Radio, which we like to think as the originator of modern toon-shading. Anyway, regardless of whether the final seasoning is non-photorealistic or anime-style, the raw ingredient underneath is always PBR.

What To Expect From The Future

On August 21, Nvidia presented the raytracing technology that will be employed in their GeForce RTX graphic cards. How do you feel about raytracing?

Atsu: I felt satisfied that we couldn’t achieve what we couldn’t see (on-screen) before, but after seeing Nvidia’ s presentation, I feel like we have no choice but to start our research and learn how to do raytracing.

Yamada: I think raytracing will become commonplace thanks to Nvidia’s presentation. As a developer I am looking forward to the new platforms that will bring raytracing to the market and how it will affect the industry.

Iwatani: I’ve been doing things similar to raytracing lately, so I’m not particularly intimidated. Perhaps raytracing is not that far off into the future.

Is it better to make your own game engine or use an existing commercial one?

Atsu: We at Sega are doing our best with our in-house engines. You could say that as a former hardware manufacturer ourselves there is a sense of pride that if you want to do achieve innovations ahead of everyone else, you must take the reins ourselves.

Yamada: The game engine we used tend to depend on the title we’re working on. However we want to create our own game engines as our technological capabilities expands.

Iwanaga: If a game needs massive reworking then a new engine will come into play. I believe new game engines had to be made on a regular basis for such situations. If you’re working on a game that isn’t suitable on an existing engine, it’s best to create one as quickly as possible, if you can.

What are your expectations for the next console generation?

Atsu:I think games will be easier to make, not just in terms of graphics. The leap from PS3 to PS4 was tremendous, which is why I love the PS4! In the future, when 4k or 8k become standard and raytracing is commonplace, I hope that there won’t be an era in which machine power is insufficient.

Yamada: Many developers have told us that the PS4 is easy to develop for, so we want to maintain such an environment for our next console. What we need to do next specifically is something I want to know.

Iwanaga: Since graphics have improved considerably, I want to focus on other aspects, such as sound. The HD rumble employed by the Nintendo Switch is another thing. I would like to make better games by using the machine power for such “feel.”

The session eventually ended with the speakers giving words of encouragement to the young audience.

Atsu: There was a sense that the generation has moved on to a younger one during the transition from 2D to 3D presentation. I think we will feel such a shift again as new technologies such as raytracing are introduced. The younger generation are currently training and preparing themselves for such an era. I’m looking forward to it. (laughs)

Yamada: There was a time when using only 20 or 30 polygons was enough to create a character, but I feel tired as an old man, having to use thousand of polygons and applying techniques such as a PBR. (laughs) Now the boundaries between videogames and movies are gone, as there many overlapping aspects in terms of technology. I think it’s an exciting genre in which new cutting-edge technologies are being developed every year, so I encourage more people to join.

Iwanaga: You may find it difficult at first, since there are many things you might need to learn. But the progress of technology has made things a lot easier too, so I wish you would face those challenges. People who can render are in great demand, even within corporations. I hope all sorts of companies will make great games.

From left to right: Takashi Atsu of Sega, Yuji Yamada of Sega, and Yoshihito Iwanaga of Bandai-Namco

[the-canary]

Pastel Colors - B.B. (Epilogue)

Summary: If only the cute teacher would stop pestering you for a pen.(Library/Teacher AU! Reader/Bucky Barnes)

Prompt: you’re always asking me for a pencil because for some damn reason you don’t know that there is a whole store for stationary—happy birthday here’s a gift card to that store. wait, you work there? what the hell?

Masterlist

A/N: This is for @bithors writing challenge.  the end.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and these two geeks in love! 

Feedback is always appreciated.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 |  Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 

Several Months Later.

The new school year had passed you by and you found yourself getting pulled into various new activities, while trying to keep up with the Library Club and what you had already established. You were working more on how to improve the school with Mrs. Potts-Stark that you were basically her right-hand woman, but you were also thinking about going back to school for your Master’s degree, though you didn’t know in what yet, and while you loved the library, there were just so many options opened to you now. James had been in the same boat with working on papers and his increased amount of time with Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark. Together you had it hit close to year and half when Bucky had exclaimed he had a surprised for you over summer break.

To Florida – to visit his family. You remember how that went when you first found out.

“James, are you sure about this?” you pause looking at the little drawing in your hand declaring your trip’s destination, at least it wasn’t anything crazy, “Do we have time? And what about your parents?”

“I set time aside for both us, doll. The Starks know, even pushed me too it,” he laughs while grabbing your hand gently, as your eyes flicker up to see his smiling face, “And you know my parents are ecstatic, especially my mom.”  

“But, are you okay with this?” you murmur softly, knowing by now the story of why he had run away and why he didn’t exactly like thinking about the Sunshine state. You frown in concern and he can’t help the lovestruck smile on his face over how much you care about him.

“I wouldn’t have suggested if I wasn’t,” James explains, as he leans in closer, pressing your forehead against his, “We deserve a break, starlight. Just think the nice weather, barbeques at night, sunny beaches—”

“Buck, are you just trying to get me in a bikini?” you question in laughter, as his face brightens up just a little at the thought.

“Maybe,” he explains shyly, as you put your hand on his stubble before dragging him into a quick peck on the lips. You shake your head.

“Haven’t been to the beach in a long while,” you say as blue eyes light up, “And you always do have the best ideas.”

“Is that yes?” he asks, looking like an excited puppy dog.

“Yes, Mr. Barnes.”

 The both of you decide to take the week following July 4th as gateway time because it was relatively slow following such a big holiday, but you were still in New York to celebrate Steve’s birthday. It’s a little confusing to pack because you hadn’t done it since you had moved to the big city in the first place, but Pietro was there every step of the way – even when you picked out swimsuit, though it was all in gest, so he could send some hilarious texts to Bucky. You head out two days after Steve’s party, and you can’t help but still be a little nervous at the thought of being with the Barnes family for an extended amount of time.

“Sweetheart, it’ll be alright,” James tries to soothe you, as he holds your hands with his, as the two of you walk out of the Daytona Beach International Airport terminal and while he was right, it was still a feeling you couldn’t let go off. Yes, there had been a splattering of dates and boyfriends in your young adult years, but nothing as serious as spending time with his family -- this was a little nerve wracking, but also a little sad in a sense because you knew James would never meet your own mother, who you knew would have just loved him.  

“I hope so,” you let out an unsteady laugh, hoping that he doesn’t notice the sudden sadness you might be feeling, as you notice two very familiar people standing on the side waving at you and Bucky.

“Ma! Dad! ” James picks up speed, but never lets go of your hand until you end up standing in front of a smiling Mrs. Barnes. You give her a smile, James catching up with his father, as the older woman returns it. Her eyes wrinkling in the corners, which make you think once again that James really does take his look after his mother.

“How was the school year?” she questions, as the four of you proceed to leave the airport. The two Barnes man watch you and Winifred still walking on eggshells around each other, though they both knew the truth.

“It went well!” you laugh and James watches in awe, all over again, from the back as you go into your area of explaining how you were doing in your classes and just life in general. A sweet smile sweeps over Winnie’s face and she instances on riding in back with you for the rest of the car ride back to their condo.

 Your time in Florida is mainly spent around Daytona Beach, an area that the George and Winnie had fallen in love with when James still lived there. You didn’t ask much of the past, but you knew there were moments that is still bothered him, but you said nothing and spent your time going to the beach, checking the local popular spots with the Barnes woman, and the occasional barbeque-- though both of you were you wanted to go the most.

“James, where are we going?” you ask, wearing jeans that stopped at your knees, a good pair of running shoes with a light sweater -- just as he had asked of you earlier in the day. It was just the two of you this evening, and he wasn’t telling you anything as he drove the car a bit farther from the beach area you had hung out in most of the week.

“It’s a surprise, starlight,” he explains, using the words you use so often against him, while grabbing your hand and kissing it. He’s nervous, but he was trying his best to make it up to you.

James knew in his heart of hearts that he had wanted to take you to the Kennedy Space Center. He wanted to show you everything that he had loved so dearly once, however deep down he was still scared -- he didn’t want to look back at his failures, at what could have been -- at least not now. However, you never said anything, just smiled and planned your days at the beach with Rebecca and the rest of the Barnes family. He knew you were too good to him most of the time, and now it was his turn.

“Bucky, is that a lighthouse?” you look up at the tall red building in front of you, as James parks the car. The sunset is splattered in front of the ocean as you look at him with a glow that takes his breath for the moment.  

“It’s the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse,” he explains after getting out of the car, while walking towards the lighthouse with his arm around your shoulders, “One of the best place to sees the skies in all of Florida, if you don’t mind the 2,000 step climb.”

You look at him with an excited glimmer in your eyes, in which he knows he made the right decision in the end, as you tighten your hold on your water bottle, “Then what are we waiting for, starboy!”

It takes you two a good long while to reach the top and while there are moments when you complain and murmur that you regret the decision in your fatigue -for Bucky to laugh- are thrown into the window when you see the view of the Atlantic Ocean from the lighthouse, as the sun finally gives out its last bits of light to the cloaking darkness that the two of you love so much.

“This is beautiful, Bucky,” you exhale, looking for all the constellations you are familiar with while leaning into his warmth, as it was significant colder than when you had started the your journey up the lighthouse.   

“It sure is,” he breathes out before kissing your temple, though you never see that he is staring at your awestruck expression the whole time.

While, you had been spending your vacation days on the beach, you didn’t really wear a swimsuit or bikini for the occasion. It was usually shorts or a beach dress, even though you had spent an entire weekend searching for one with Pietro. However, it wasn't exactly you, which lead to you and Rebecca looking for a proper swimsuit towards the last two days of your trip. Thus, leading James to play with baby Nina (alongside her father) as he waited for all of you to show up since you had gone shopping earlier.

“They’re planning something,” William declares as he grabs his daughter and bounces her on his knee, “Rebecca had that smile on her face this morning.”

“I think it’s something she is still getting used to,” James laughs because since you had started dating and even more so after Nina’s birth the two of you had gotten closer, you even spoiled his niece with outfits and toys from time to time.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” you state, as James looks up only to have his jaw drop. You’re standing there in a red, polka-dot pinup style swimsuit with a floppy white hat and matching sunglasses. There’s a timid smile on your face, as he knows deep down that he’ll have to thank either Rebecca or Pietro for this later, as much as it kills him.

“Is it okay?” you ask taking his brief silence the wrong way, though before you do anything else, Rebecca speaks up.

“You can’t blame him. He’s been waiting 3 years to see you like that,” Becca teases and while she expects Bucky to say something back, all she is welcomed with is two pairs of widening eyes, as you turn from looking at her to looking at your boyfriend, who seems to be glowing brighter by the minute though not because of the Florida sun.

All thoughts of your swimsuit are gone, as you declare loudly.

“You liked me for 3 years?” you look at James from where he is sitting, as he rubs the back of his neck and lets out a sigh, “I mean...how did you even know me?”

That’s the million dollar question, as Rebecca smiles behind her baby’s hat while William shakes his head. James gets up and slings his arm around your waist (as you give him a curious look), too embarrassed to tell you the story of how he fell in love with you indirectly, but maybe he would one day. For now, all he would say is:

“Your pens, sweetheart.”

And wasn’t that the truth.  

[scftuan]

All In The Family (part 2)

Genre: romance/angst

Rating: M

Characters: Kyungsoo x reader

———————————

Well this was proving to be your stereotypical awkward family dinner.

After stumbling over your introductions, you and Kyungsoo had both been quick to avoid any further conversation, choosing instead to silently take your seats at the table; which is how you found yourself sitting across from your sworn enemy, eyes downcast as you pushed your food around with your fork. Occasionally you’d hear your mother say something and you’d nod in agreement, but your mind was too full of just what kind of twisted situation you’d found yourself in. There was no way in hell that Kyungsoo was actually the son of your mom’s boyfriend, surely this was all just a terrible misunderstanding or a bad dream you’d wake up from, but looking up from your plate to see Kyungsoo avoiding all eye contact reminded you that it was not.

As no one was currently focused on you, you took the opportunity to get a closer look at the boy across from you. He’d combed his hair back from the occasion, and it was unfair how he could manage to look so good in a simple blue dress shirt and black pants. You hadn’t realized you’d been staring until Kyungsoo’s gaze flickered up to your own, his eyes flashing even as he gave you a half smile. You promptly lowered your gaze back to your plate, hoping he hadn’t caught the mild flush on your cheeks. ‘Why does he have to make this more awkward than it already is?’ You thought miserably, the endless droning on of the adults conversation enough to drive you insane.

“So Y/n, your mom’s told me so much about you, but I feel like I still hardly know you.”

You startled out of your revelry, looking up to see Kyungsoo’s dad offering you a warm smile. “Well sir, theres not much else to tell as I’m sure my mom has left no detail out.” You blurted, your mind drawing a complete blank on what else to say (it didn’t help that Kyungsoo was currently smirking at you from across the table). You opened your mouth to apologize for the unthought out statement but were interrupted by a friendly chuckle and a shake of the head.

“Perhaps in the future we can get to know each other better, but for now, I think you should get to know Kyungsoo, after all you do go to the same school.” Kyungsoo’s dad said, nodding towards his son before giving your mom a knowing look.

All protests were silenced as both of the adults left the table, leaving you alone with a rather bored looking Kyungsoo. You watched helplessly as they left, your mind racing for an escape.

“Well at least now that they’re gone we don’t have to pretend we don’t know each other.”

Your attention quickly turned to Kyungsoo who was now leaning forward, his elbows on the table and his hands clasped together. “I don’t know what you mean Kyungsoo.” You said nonchalantly, ignoring the smug look that seemed to light up his features.

“Look Y/n,” he began, his gaze seemingly boring into you no matter how hard you tried to ignore it, “you don’t have to pretend to like me, just as I don’t have to pretend to like you.”

Part of you wanted to be offended by his bluntness, but a much larger part wholeheartedly agreed. You’d hated each other since middle school, why should you start now? You gave him a overly fake smile and nodded, “Sounds like a plan to me, but how do you propose we deal with the parents?” You asked, inclining your head in the direction your parents had gone. Kyungsoo grinned at you (and if you were anyone else you would have thought the expression cute), “First off, we act as we did tonight, not necessarily close, but at least civil. Second, I’m only in this for as long as my dad is, should things not work out...well.” He shrugged, leaning back in his chair and letting out a long sigh.

You frowned, the idea of your mom losing possibly another boyfriend (and one she’d been especially fond of) did not sit well with you, but neither did Kyungsoo as he sat across from you.

But as you examined the boy you hated, you supposed you would just have to do.

——————————

Kyungsoo and his father left without much fanfare, and you had easily avoided your mom’s bombardment of questions which revolved around your thoughts concerning both your enemy and her boyfriend.

At school you and Kyungsoo remained detached, occasionally finding yourselves in awkward or competitive situations where you both determined not to be the loser. Around your parents (who had begun increasing the amount of family get togethers), you were still detached, but at least you were both civil.

It was only when your parents decided you and Kyungsoo needed to ‘get to know each other,’ that things took a turn for the worst. Somehow, you’d gone from seeing Kyungsoo occasionally throughout school to seeing him just about everywhere. Your mom began hiring him to do random ‘handyman’ jobs around the house-though watching Kyungsoo stare confusedly at a wrench was admittedly amusing-meanwhile, she’d also find excuses for you two to be in the same room together.

“I really don’t see the point in all this,” you grumbled, crossing your arms defiantly, “its not like my mom is playing matchmaker for someone.” Your mom had found really no good reason to leave you alone with Kyungsoo as he tried to figure out what size nail to use for hanging up a picture (her excuse had been something about keeping him company). Kyungsoo chuckled, tossing the nail back in its box before turning to you. “Maybe thats the point Y/n.” He said cooly, giving you a half smile before he went back to his job.

Frowning, you sat up from your lounging position on the couch, “And what’s that supposed to mean?” You asked incredulously, your mind racing for what he was trying to imply. Kyungsoo merely shrugged, continuing his work as he replied: “I’m not referring to us if thats what you’re worried about, I’m referring to our parents.”

That made you even more confused, now you were standing up and pulling Kyungsoo away from his work-which he claimed he was actually succeeding in-and dragging him to the couch. “Kyungsoo, you better start making some fucking sense or I swear-“ Kyungsoo cut you off with a laugh and a shake of the head. “Oh Y/n, you’re so naive, don’t you realize why your mom’s doing this? She wants us to ‘get to know each other’ and ‘get along better’ because she’s planning this to be longterm, and my dad is equally as guilty.” Kyungsoo’s statement left you gaping, the possibility of this becoming something more was unfathomable.

“N-no,” you stuttered, trying to find the right words, “there is no way...”

But Kyungsoo’s pointed stare said it all.

There was a high possibility that you were screwed.

——————————

School had become even more unbearable with the thought of Kyungsoo possibly becoming your stepbrother looming over your head, it didn’t help that he had started giving you knowing looks every time you saw each other, and to your horror he even began to spend more time with you.

“Why the long face sis?” He asked innocently, plopping himself down on a chair the table you were trying to study at. You grimaced at his nickname, the urge to flip him off growing stronger the longer he stared at you with that half smug look (but you were in a library and would have to withhold). “Shut up Do.” You grumbled, pretending to actually focus on the math problems in front of you. Kyungsoo placed a hand over his heart and rolled his eyes, “Back to a last name basis already? I wouldn’t use it as an insult considering it’ll be your’s soon.”

Something about the comment made you snap. You’d held in your growing annoyance for the whole ordeal long enough. Screw your mom’s happiness, you were just going to have to tell her that she couldn’t develop anything further with Kyungsoo’s dad.

You gave Kyungsoo an innocent smile, batting your eyes at him as you began to gather up your things, “Well, my dear Kyungsoo, we’ll see about that.” A frown began to form on Kyungsoo’s face, but before he could stop you you were rushing out of there, determined to get to home and tell your mom exactly what you thought.

And not even Kyungsoo’s protests after you could stop you.

——————————

You knew Kyungsoo was after you (probably to find out what your dastardly plan was), but luckily for you he didn’t have a ride and you at least had a bike. Pedaling with more speed than necessary, you arrived home in record time. Racing through the door, you eagerly called out for your mom, ready to get everything off your chest. “Mom! I have something I wanna tell you!” You called, walking around the house in search of her. As you wandered into a kitchen, a bright yellow piece of paper sticking to the fridge caught your eye. Humming to yourself, you walked over and snatched the paper off, your eyes scanning to words that had been hastily scribbled down.

Dear Y/n,

I went to the store to get a few things but should be back soon. Kyungsoo will be arriving at some point so I want you to let him in when he comes.

Love,

Mom

You groaned, crumpling up the piece of paper and tossing it into the trash. What you had needed was some time alone with her, which was exactly why you had ditched Kyungsoo in the first place, unfortunately it seemed your plans had all been for not.

Luckily, Kyungsoo was in no hurry to get there, but unluckily neither was your mom. Two hours passed before a knock finally echoed through the silence in the house, startling you from your lounging position on the couch (though you’d never admit it had been bad enough to make you literally fall off with a yelp). You scrambled up from the floor and nearly yelped again when you caught Kyungsoo standing in the door, looking at you with an almost amused expression.

“Kyungsoo!” You exclaimed, trying to give him your most shocking glare (mainly because you knew he had most likely seen your ungraceful landing on the floor), “How did you get in?”

He shrugged, opening his hand to reveal a silver key in the palm. “Your mom gave me one the other day, something about ‘you’ll need it’ I think.” You wanted to ask him just what she meant by that but bit the words back, knowing he’d probably just roll his eyes again at your naivety.

Before either of you could do much else, the opening of the front door followed by a ‘Y/n, Kyungsoo? We’re here!’ Interrupted you.

“We’re in here Mom!” You called, shooting Kyungsoo a look before plopping yourself down back on the couch, the example of which Kyungsoo quickly followed.

As your mom walked in (followed by Kyungsoo’s dad), you noticed something different about her. She was smiling much more brightly than usual, and she was holding her hand funny. “Oh I’m so glad to see you two together, you don’t know how much it means to me to know you’re already getting along so well.” You wanted to scoff and almost mumbled a ‘if only you knew’ under your breath but stopped yourself at the last minute.

“Mom?’ You asked quietly, suddenly growing nervous at the way the adults were both beaming, even Kyungsoo had grown still beside you. “What’s going on?”

Your mom grinned and suddenly stuck her hand out, whatever she wore on her fourth finger catching the light and throwing small shimmers around the room, “Well dear, Kyungsoo’s father proposed and I said yes. We’re getting married!”

Yep, you were screwed.

[rerwby]

RWBY: Combat Ready Demo Review

Turns out GenCon was going on the same weekend as RTX. So while y’all were on edge for RWBY and Gen:Lock trailers, I was present at the Best Four Games in Gaming trying out some new games, one of which was RWBY: Combat Ready. Before I get into that though, let me tell you what a mess the demo’s situation was. Please note that nothing here is set in stone and is entirely based on how I perceived the game’s instructions.

This is the Arcane Wonders booth. AW is a nice developer that has made some fun games, and at their booth this weekend they were mainly showing off GoodCritters, a mashup of Zootopia and the 1920′s mafia scene. I played it a couple times and had a great time; I recommend it. Anyway, I looked around and noticed a distinct lack of anything RWBY-related. No signs, no Rooster Teeth logos, not even a single box on display.

This is an image of the back of their booth, the only sign of RWBY in the entire massive exhibit hall, other than like one overpriced figurine at another booth. I asked one of the people working the booth, who told me that there was a miscommunication with the convention at the last minute and that their play area had been cut in half. As a result, they allocated half of their demo setups to one of the game halls not far away. I suppose the plus side to this was that the game would be available to play once the exhibit hall closed, but I could be wrong.

People are playing the RWBY demo on the table to the right. it’s kind of messed up that they didn’t show off this big-deal game they were made to develop at their main location. There was nothing indicating there was any RWBY in the game hall; you had to be told directions. This is especially surprising given the way AW advertised the game in their coupon book.

Yes, that was what AW used their spot in the coupon book for. Not for a coupon, not even as an ad for their other new game(s), but to simply advertise RT’s Kickstarter lovechild. And that’s not me being overly-critical because like 90% of the pages in that coupon book either save you money or let you redeem them for free stuff.

An employee made it clear that they were not selling the game this weekend and were just doing the demo. In fact he had no idea when it would release or how much it would cost. He only gave the estimation of “mid-October.” Apparently there had been multiple issues in the production process, but whether or not this was due to RT or AW was not disclosed.

About two employees at any given time were the only ones who knew the game, but they were pretty well-informed. If you were lucky you played with one of them. I had the misfortune of being led by this dude who didn’t work there but seemed to know how the game worked. He was kind of fuckin annoying and kept unironically referring to Jaune as his waifu. Next to him was a gentlemen who didn’t know Grimm Eclipse existed (suggesting they make a video game out of RWBY) and some cosplayers dressed as Ozpin and Qrow who were actually pretty chill. Their Oobleck was off to the side with the instructions.

I attempted to get in on another play session later that weekend but it proved difficult. Mind you there was only a single box on-site. If that didn’t make it hard enough, it turned out this was a ticketed demo. This means you had pay money for event tickets in order to play. It was only a couple bucks, but for demos, that’s unheard of. Nearby, the Final Fantasy TCG required tickets for its demo but it also had a tournament attached and gave you free cards with entry. RWBY: Combat Ready’s demo gave you nothing. There were free play sessions in between the ticketed sessions, but you had to hope no one else was crowding the table to get in first. That’s what happened to me Saturday, so I snapped all the pictures I could and prepared to do a write-up of my experience based on my hour of play.

The game is part deck builder and part board game with RPG elements tossed in for good measure. The goal is to defeat the villain characters, not controlled by any player specifically, without them defeating all of you first. They got big health and are backed up by RNG, as well as an array of Henchmen. Each player gets a character (Team RWBY and Penny were available, no sign of the new character, though they are allegedly a villain) and a large card to go with them. The card details their Semblance and keeps track of their Experience and Aura with counters. You also have a little figurine of your character that goes on the board during your turn.

Each character has an associated deck of cards. These all have different attacks and/or effects. Each one has a speed and damage rating. Some have effects that work when you attack or support, while others have effects that only work when you use that card to combo. Usually the better the effect, the lower the speed, as speed is what dictates whether or not your attack is successful. On the other hand, Weiss in particular (who I played) had a 10-speed (the highest) attack with no effects.

You draw 6 of these cards and at the start of each round, or “Duel,” you refill your hand back to 6. Notably, there were not an awful lot of cards for each character’s deck, which meant we would shuffle our discard piles back into a new deck every other Duel. You also have an Ultimate card which you can use under certain circumstances, and finally, a smaller deck of “upgraded” cards. You can spend Experience between Duels to swap out a card in your hand for one of a higher tier. At the moment there are only tier 2 cards, and none correspond to specific weaker cards; you just turn one into any other. You can also upgrade your Ultimate.

The board is fairly small and simple. There is a “Fury” meter across the top for both a hero and a villain. As the players inflict damage on the villain, they move their figurine up the Fury meter, gaining Experience along the way. Once they enter the “Ultimate” zone their Ultimate ability becomes available for play, and once they get to the end they receive a huge power-up. The villain’s meter acts similarly, granting them bonuses to their Speed and Power that are kept track of on the board. Once they get far enough on their meter, they can “Bash” a player, knocking them out and ending the Duel and starting the process over again with the next player. It’s at this point I realized why the rounds are called Duels; because each player takes a turn dueling the villain, with the other players providing Support or Combos. I may have those names mixed up but their functions I’m sure of.

When the Duel begins, the turn player picks a card from their hand to play. The card’s Speed is what tells us if the attack will succeed, and the Damage tells us how much damage the villain will take if the attack succeeds. Each other player can add a maximum of one card to this attack. They can either stack their card under the initial one (Support) increasing the damage and providing a corresponding effect, or place their card to the side (Combo) which adds different effects. Notably, if the Speed of a combo card is lower than the initial card, the net speed of the attack will lower. Lowest Speed is the Speed of the attack. The Ultimate card is unavoidable, but if Combo’d with it will be brought down to the Speed of the added card.

You can also use Semblance once per Duel. I was only made aware of Weiss’s and Blake’s. Weiss simply adds a Speed point while Blake has to specifically be used before the attack and lets her or an ally avoid taking damage. Weiss’s is called “Propulsion Glyph,” Blake’s is “Copy Cat,” Ruby’s is “Super Speed,” and Yang’s is “Rage.” I didn’t catch Penny’s. It’s unclear if these are supposed to be the specific names of their Semblances or just the names of abilities provided by those Semblances.

Then you flip over the top card of the villain’s deck. We had Roman, but Cinder and Adam appear to be present in the base game. They have a nice hefty deck that’s much larger than those of the players. He has his own Speed and Damage just like the others, as well as effects. You take into account his bonuses, match his Speed up against your Combo’d and Supported hero, and dish out damage accordingly.

Then you shift focus to the Henchmen. I wasn’t terribly clear on these dudes because I was at the opposite end of the table, but they are a random batch of NPC bad guys you flip over and fight. A player can choose to fight off a Henchman instead of providing Support or a Combo. The purpose of the Henchmen are to have another source of damage in case you really beat down the villain. You can stop Roman, but if no one kept an eye on his goons you’ll take some damage. We faced off against Roman’s mooks from Episode 1, but there are also Grimm. I don’t know if the Henchmen correspond to a specific villain.

Adding to what I was unclear on, there were two other cards present. A yellow and green one. To my knowledge, the yellow one has to do with an objective or something. I think it gives bonuses to the Henchmen or rewards the players for taking them out. The green has something to do with Zwei. Zwei never came up during our game, but I think I heard it mentioned that he has something to do with RNG.

My impressions of the game are lukewarm but I didn’t dislike it. It isn’t fair to blame the developer on things I don’t like about RT but at the same time it makes no sense to blame RT for anything weird in the game’s mechanics or rules. I highly doubt they did anything more than sending an intern to make sure the property isn’t disrespected. I do find myself wondering if the devs aren’t totally enthusiastic about the game. While the people demoing GoodCritters wore trilbies and spoke with New York accents, I didn’t sense much excitement from anyone involved with RWBY.

I think a deck building game fits. The show’s homages to fighting games and other video game elements translates well to the cards. I also really like the use of the Supports and Combos because it adds to the feeling of the show’s teamwork aspect. Maybe it reminds me of like, the DC deck building game too, which lends to that super hero feel.

There is original art for every aspect of the game and I think that’s wonderful. Even the massive deck of Roman cards appear to be drawn specifically for the game when they easily could have chopped scenes off from the show. It also doesn’t have the inconsistencies of Amity Arena, which for some reason gives us V4 Blake next to pre-V4 Ruby, Weiss, and Yang.

The cards with Experience and Aura add to this, and I like the inclusion of Semblance, even if the Semblances themselves are pretty flat and lame. Like wow, Weiss can +1 Speed someone? Blake ignores some damage? Real creative. The Ultimates are likewise pretty boring and seem to have 0 percent chance of failure unless someone willingly screws things up. I don’t know about the board. I don’t think the game totally needs it. I feel like it also says a lot that I could totally ignore the stuff with Zwei as well as much of the Henchmen thing and we still won the game.

The cards bug me a little. Like I said, there are surprisingly few cards for the players to use considering how many cards you draw and how many the villains get. Also, the backs of the normal cards, upgraded cards, and Ultimate are non-distinct. I accidentally combined everything together at first, only to learn I needed to keep the upgrades separate. Things can get messy and confusing with so much stuff on the table.

Some more details involving expansions and such. Penny is apparently an expansion. JNPR is likely a planned expansion. There is also an expansion that allows a player to play the role of the villain, upgrading them from just being a game construct and possibly letting them pick from a hand of cards rather than relying on RNG. My problem is the cost. We don’t know the price of the game but from what I gathered the Kickstarter goal of 100-something dollars gives you Penny along with the base game. I know it’s just a reward but it makes you wonder how much future installments will cost.

You also have to wonder if there will be additions to the game. It needs to sell well, after all, and this is just a game. A single sale will provide for multiple people. RT hasn’t done a great job of expanding RWBY’s influence so I genuinely wonder how much money this will make. Not to mention many future owners of the game have basically already paid for it.

It also does not bode well that there have been errors with the production process and that the employees seemed to know so little given that the game is slated to come out in October.

[netmaxims-technologies]

What we have Learned about eCommerce Website Development from our 18+ Years of Experience

E-Commerce Website Development – The Fastest Growing Platform:

eCommerce is one of the fastest-growing platforms and has become a joint investment decision among most business owners, retailers, and entrepreneurs. Commercial enterprises choose this platform to transform the competitive benefits of online shopping into a compatible revenue source through a professional eCommerce online store. The invincible comfort over in-store shopping has paved the way to attract a wide range of consumers to eCommerce websites.

Due to this increased demand, the number of eCommerce development companies has increased. Starting from budding firms to experienced companies, the field currently has a high population rate. Despite this enormous number of eCommerce development companies, only a few companies got flourished. Successful companies have their tales of struggles and accomplishments that led them to reach their current status.

Things to Consider during eCommerce Website Development:

One major factor that needs to emphasis is customer trust. You can never flourish in this competitive market without gaining user trust. Some companies have become the best platform for eCommerce website development by choosing a trustworthy pattern of procedures. It is commonly believed that if the eCommerce website development company keeps the shady practices in the e-learning eCommerce development confidential, then customers are more likely to distrust them.

Appropriate communication is the key. Proper communication is the key to solving every issue with customers and will also help gain more reach. If you take our eCommerce store development company as an example, we have become the most promising and best affordable eCommerce website development company from the past many years. Proper communication has boosted us a lot to reach this level of success.

Our communication is more likely to be in an open manner. Yes, we talk straightforwardly regarding everything that needs to be communicated. And it includes all the shady practices that many big eCommerce companies are doing currently. Because we believe that we have to respect our customers who are investing their money and trust in us. Our responsibility is to guide them appropriately regarding eCommerce website development or eCommerce mobile app development based on their requirements. It is always better to choose to be open and transparent in communication to lay our first step towards trust.

Each website you craft on the internet is a piece of hope for the customer. They are investing mainly in the hope that this website can be a compatible revenue source for them. And hence it is evident that customers will expect the website to stand unique or stand as a benchmark in the competitive field.

Other Important things to consider when building an eCommerce website

·    eCommerce plug-in to make adding features easier

·    Choosing the best platform for eCommerce website development

·    Appropriate design

·    Safety

·    Search engine attractions

·    Site speed

·    Guest check out

·    Mobile optimization

·    User reviews and testimonials

·    FAQ section

·    User-friendly approach

More than talking about our learning, we would like to draw your attention to some dark practices that eCommerce website users typically do to get more business. As a reputed, promising, and affordable eCommerce website development company having 18+ years of experience, we believe that it is our responsibility to bring the dark practices performed by website owners to public attention.

The Beginning of Dark Pattern:

A dark pattern is not a new terminology now. It was the brilliant Harry Brignull UI specialist who first brought up the term dark patterns in 2010.

Dark patterns are consciously made user interface (UI) design choices that falsify the user into performing a behaviour that users don't want to do, finding difficult to do and aren't aware they are doing.

The use of dark patterns is not encouraged. They demolish trust and take benefit of the people using that product.

Brignull has recognized a myriad of dark patterns, precisely 12 in numbers, and interestingly, each has unique names. It includes;-

1.    Bait and switch

2.    Confirm sharing

3.    Disguised ads

4.    Forced continuity

5.    Friend spasm

6.    Hidden costs

7.    Intentional misdirection

8.    Price comparison prevention

9.    Privacy suckering

10.     Roach motel

11.     Sneak into basket

12.     Tricky questions

Also read: https://netmaxims.com/blog/learning-in-website-development-in-18-years-do-not-make-dark-patterns-part-1/

Why are they bad?

Dark patterns are considered harmful because they create a deceptive design that nudges users to make forceful decisions on what they don't want to make.

The Current Situation of Dark Pattern

As per researches, dark pattern practice has increased. One of the essential studies held in 2019 by Princeton University researchers and the University of Chicago has found 1in 11,000 uses dark patterns.

Standard Practices on Dark Patterns:

Standard Dark Pattern practices that are practised by many big and small eCommerce websites

Here is a small glimpse of various dark patterns, especially those which we have experienced on many eCommerce websites from our 18+ years of experience

1- Sneaking Items or Charges into the Shopping Cart

Adding additional charges at the time of order placement is a prevalent thing that we all might experience at least once. An array of undisclosed charges or other charges will show up at the end, which is big trouble for many customers.

This is a common problem. Some websites will add additional products without user consent or add up some undisclosed extra charges just before the checkout.

Charges such as service fees, surcharges, etc., are a typical example of this. Many researchers have already spoken about this and are explained it as the method used for exploiting the user. It is tricky which users are confused about order placement because they feel so invested in the process and waste their long effort to select the appropriate one and add up in that cart.

2- Hidden Subscription

Most of the customers typically used to fall for a free subscription offer. But this is again another tricky method that is used to gain recurrent fees. Users will fall for such things believing that they have the option of unsubscribing after the trial period. But hidden subscription charges are another threat where users will only know about the hidden charges at last once their money got deducted.

3- Countdown Timers and Limited-Time Messages

Limited time messages generate a fear of missing out among the users. They make users think about losing that offer after some time and are indirectly forcing customers to buy the things if even they are not necessary. So recommendations can make customers fall easily. The product might not be an essential thing for the customer, but the unbelievable offer showing for a particular period pulls customers to buy those.

The irony is that timers of many such offers will reset after a timeout, or the deals will remain the same after the timeout.

4- Activity Messages

Some eCommerce websites are very open and frank and show some real-time values of customers who are life or the number of customers who have added the item in their shopping bag. This is to create a tendency of buying among the users.  (affordable eCommerce website development)

Websites use fake number generators to fool the customers and make them buy the product. These are randomly created without any authenticity just for the sake of boosting the brand.

5- Low Stock or High Demand Messages

These are again some ill methodologies used to fool the customers. Website creators typically use some random number generator to show the decreasing stock or increasing demand. The purpose of these is to create a fake impression and thereby force the customer to buy the product.

We believe those who use such tricks generally exploit the users and never have loyalty to their customers.

6- Misdirection

Some websites used to pressure their users to choose expensive products. These are commonly achieved by asking unnecessary questions like "yes, I like the discount" or "no, I don't want any discount."

Or even "no, I will take it for the full price". Misdirected questions are very tricky to make customers expensively buy the product.

7- Obstruction

One of the popular dark practices is the frustrating procedure of cancelling subscriptions. This is again cheating the customers by initially showing up as simple as just a click away from unsubscribing. In reality, it will take a reasonable amount of time and many frustrating steps. The hardships in unsubscribing may force some users to continue their subscription at least for a few periods.

8- Forced Registration

This is a very hateful dark pattern. Website Owners know this fundamental trick of increasing account users. They make it compulsory to register to add items to the cart. Every time users try to put items on a cart. Maybe even just for price analysis, the website forces them to register first. This is hateful because the website can get helpful information such as email addresses and contact further, especially to send offer notifications.

9- Harmful Trials

These are deducting charges after trial without even asking the customer whether they want to continue or not. As soon as the trial expires, the website will remove further money and not refund after subscribing.

For an experienced professional, it will cost only some minimum eCommerce tools and basic e-learning eCommerce knowledge to perform that.

10- Extra Small Buttons

The use of extra small buttons is another cheap dark pattern to lead the customer to the website. A widespread trend is via ads. The website owners purposefully keep the extra small size to make the user click on the ad and lead to their website.

Big Brands using Dark Patterns:

If you thought small-scale owners use these dark patterns to boost their business, then you are wrong. Many big multinational brands still use these dark patterns to flourish their online business. Here are few examples of such brands.

Google's Dark Pattern Usage

In the case of Google Ads, these dark patterns are used to maximize the revenue from the platform. In Google ads, we can advertise on the display network as well as search network.

The most extensive dark pattern is less information on search and more unnecessary ads when we search for something. Nowadays, it's becoming tough to discern between ads and search results. That is how their design has become. They focus more on ads based on user's previous search results to distract their minds, increase their revenue, and make money for their stakeholders.

The Dark Patterns of Bing

The eCommerce development process is different for the Bing search engine. The opaque behaviour of Bing makes its dark patterns a way other than Google. And hence the eCommerce website development tools also vary. Bing uses a very different method that keeps the AD disclosure under the header section to get massive attention from the users. Through this method, only a faint outline is shown to develop curiosity, and they are by gaining the user's attention.

The Dark Pattern of Amazon

The eCommerce website development process of Amazon uses very tricky dark patterns. It has been found that Amazon users face difficulty leaving prime after the trial period. Joining prime is way more difficult during the free period. They offer a free trial period to attract customers as well. But if you like to leave from prime subscription after that trial period, it is hectic.

Confirm shaming of Amazon is very evident. Amazon has a sophisticated navigation menu, skewed wording, repeated nudging, etc., making their users stay long on prime subscriptions. They will never forget to warn you once you find out the cancel option. They will list all the super benefits and try to persuade you it is a tremendous loss.

Government Vs Dark Patterns:

It is unfortunate to know that even the government has started supporting shady practices nowadays. Still, in many countries, the government is interested in shady practices to fulfil their gains. But California government set an example for all these. In March 2021califormia government banned companies from using dark practices and involved it as a part of privacy as per law.

Conclusion

Everything is marketing nowadays. And every day, everyone wakes up with a thought on how to gain more money. The lifestyle is changing, and demand for money is increased as well. Hence everything can be reasoned. Finally, the question of many eCommerce websites regarding their dark pattern is, the established sites are doing it, and why can't we?

Choosing the best platforms can always bring miracles along with an appropriate application of eCommerce website development solutions. Affordable eCommerce website development is always popular among small-scale enterprises. Having a prominent e-learning eCommerce development knowledge can also significantly contributes to making the best eCommerce websites development company.

There is nothing correct or wrong. Just do your work and go with the flow. Yes! Dark practices are commonly done on every eCommerce site. In one way or another way, there is the reasoning for it. After our 18+ years of experience, our most extensive learning was that we all are a part of such reasoning.

This is eCommerce website development. There are vast business and dark marketing strategies that make them one of the most popular revenue investments among entrepreneurs.

[nwestmars]

Phenakistoscope Inspiration

 Phenakistoscopes were the first widespread animation device that created a fluent illusion of motion, it was also regarded as one of the first forms of moving media entertainment in which shaped the way of the film industry and future motion picture. The appearance of phenakistoscopes also are like GIFs because of how it can only show a short continuous loop, and in order for this to happen there would be a small hole in the centre of the circular material in which the phenakistoscope was done on and then a pin would be placed in the hole and then when spun at a fast paced speed it would create a moving appearance as the phenakistoscope is divided into equal sections.

I like this phenakistoscope because of how the figures don’t just go upwards from the black circle in the centre as they appear to crawl from the circle and then jump up into the mouth of what appears to be a lion, I also like how it’s quite minimal in terms of colour which gives off an interesting appearance as well as the background being a tea-stained colour. I have been inspired by this phenakistscope to not not use lots of colour within my work and to keep it quite simplistic.

I really like this phenakistoscope because of how it links to the theme of the multiverse as in the centre is what appears to be the moon and then there is a shooting star cartoon being distributed from the centre outwards, I also like how there is a bit of text in this piece stating “they flare then fade” in which is coming from the outside to the centre and decreasing in size. I have been inspired by this phenakistoscope to use type within my work as it looks different in comparison to others due to images mainly being captured instead of type.

I like this phenakistoscope because of how there is a repeat pattern in terms of the same image being continuous throughout yet the only thing that changes is the size as it increases from the centre outwards as well as the fact that the eyes and mouth open from the centre outwards too, I also like how the colour of the background is a similar shade of the one used for the images showcased as well as the fact that there is only one element to focus on. I have been inspired by this phenakistoscope to keep as little elements as possible in my own one because I don’t want mine to appear too overcrowded.

I think this is one of my favourite phenakistoscope because of how it links to theme of the multiverse in terms of a figure being lifted into a UFO which is what I did for my poster due to it being one of the main things which come into my head when I think of the multiverse in terms of aliens and UFOs, I also like in each segment one of the lights on the UFO have been coloured in so when spun it appears that the lights are turning on one by one like shown above. I have been inspired by this phenakistoscope to use only 3 colours along with monochrome so then it’s not too overwhelming in colour as well as how the lights on the UFO turn on one at a time which I might use in my own phenakistoscope because I would like to use my drawings from my poster.

I like this phenakistoscope because of how it is very simplistic in terms of there being no colour and only one shape in which has been positioned to make a bigger circle, I also like how when moving the phenakistoscope appears to be stationary and the white circles appear to be the ones moving due to there being nothing else to focus on which I like because of how different it is in comparison to some of the others I have seen. I have been inspired by this phenakistoscope to try and give the appearance of only one element moving like the one above and have the background somewhat stationary.

I like this phenakistoscope because of how there appears to be a snake which loops through the mouth of the skull and how it has been made up using one colour but going from a lighter to a darker shade, I also like how there are somewhat dancing skeletons which are holding hands below the skulls and then below the skeletons are rotating bones. I have been inspired by this phenakistoscope because of how there is a theme of bones as there are bones, skeletons and skulls in which are featured above.

I like this phenakistoscope because of how there is a cartoon appearance due to the colour choices used and also how the doughnut reminds me of the famous Simpsons in terms of it being animated, I also like how weird the facial features are in terms of their own movement and it sort of juxtaposes the doughnut because its overall appearance is visually appealing whereas the facial features don’t look somewhat “glamorous”. I have been inspired by this phenakistoscope because of how there are no segments in which separate the movements like some of the ones above.

I like this phenakistoscope because of the concept being a circle going through a hoop but I feel as though to make it more realistic the artist should have made sure that when the circle is going through the hoop they should have drawn a line to make the hoop continuous as it looks like the circle is going over it more than through it, I also like how there are overlapping hoops in the centre as it has a cool appearance. I have been inspired by this phenakistoscope because of its overall concept despite it needing a small change in order to achieve the circle looking like it’s going through the hoop.