#still not near my graphic tablet :(

[ndvydual]

General art advice : if you are having a background, it shouldnt be an after thought .

[atonalginger]

Stowaway Savior

The first day of the latest story starring Goose and Ruby is now live on ao3. The first day is covered by 10 (short) chapters. The story is rated E for graphic depictions of violence.

Ruby always has a good read on people and situations. So when her older brother, Goose, decides to help a Rook she doesn't trust, Ruby decides to tag along, whether her family likes it or not. After she was proven right Ruby must get her and her brother to safety and wait for their family to find them, not knowing the UC has thrown a wicked curve ball into the mix.

You can start reading by clicking here

A preview:

Everyone was gathered around the war table, not a single butt in a chair. Somehow Ashta managed to stand still next to his pastel queen, though the restless energy radiated off of him like a thick fog. Jazz and Voss stood at either end of the table, tablets and slates detailing everything they’d found with the Freestar intel spread out in front of them. The lieutenant was posted up on the wall near the door, his closed off body language telling Delgado that the young pilot did not want to be there. He wanted to be out there searching.  

“He just gave himself up?” Atomic asked, glancing over to Voss.   

“As soon as the alert that we had moles hit our system,” Voss held out his wrists like he was waiting for chrome plated bracelets, “said he was already trying to find a way to come clean and swore he was hampering the team’s efforts, which I buy only because this team is responsible for a lot of previously clean ops with no detection.”  

“He was also able to tell my crew exactly where to look on Stone’s ship,” Jazz added, “and that we found one of their team on her ship was another big misstep for them. Rookie mistakes for such an experienced team.”  

“Our turncoat said the group viewed this job as a cakewalk.” Voss rolled his eyes, “and now they’re in cells.”  

“It was a fucking cake walk for them,” Delgado snapped, “they got balls deep into our systems, sending fuck knows what back home and managed to get the jump on at least one of our captains!”  

Voss shrank back from the table a bit, avoiding eye contact with Del. Jazz simply sighed, shuffling slates around on the table.  

“What are we going to do?” the Freestar pilot asked, “we’re just wasting time while the UC could be tailing them.”  

“We don’t know where they went,” Jazz turned her head to acknowledge him, “I agree with Ashta, no way she actually scatter jumped. Hell most our experienced pilots don’t do it because it costs a lot of helium 3 and can be exhausting.”  

“But then where?” Voss asked, “none of her coordinates make sense. I’d assume she was hiding something in them but right now the data is too corrupted to piece that together.”  

“I already sent a team to orbit Andraste III,” Del looked to Ashta and Atomic, “Samina sent her assistant with them. They’ll wait a few UT week and then return if no one shows up.”  

“I think for now we need to operate like she did attempt the maneuver,” Atomic said as her head dropped, “Ruby is a little stickler for protocol and that’s been the rule since she’s been here: flit through the starfield to shake UC tracking and then make your way home once you’re confident you’re free.”  

“You mean search the systems she listed?” Jazz asked.  

“Yup, scan each rock and comb every series of rings we find to see if we find the Golden Squid.” Lila was staring at the table, the four systems already pulled up.

[owlbelly]

starting to wonder if the reason i've been scratching my head at how seemingly perfect everyone else's line art always looks to me...is because it's all been digital for years & i just didn't always know or recognize it? i'm starting to recognize fancy brushes that mimic trad media as brushes now, like i always assumed everyone was editing digitally like me but i thought a lot more people were starting on paper...

& it turns out if you draw digitally with good tools (an actual graphic tablet or iPad, stabilization, etc.) you can achieve clean, "perfect" lines that just aren't possible traditionally without being an inking master

the ability to immediately undo & rework things near-infinitely also brings out the perfectionism. granted i'm still just learning Procreate (or like. even how to use a damn iPad) but it's taking me a looooong time to draw because i can just fuss & fuss with it. there are things i really like about it but other things i know i need to watch out for. i wonder if it's gonna give me more of an appreciation for the imperfection of my traditional work

[peakwealth]

You Run

Vladimir Putin, flanked by airline cabin crew (reportedly Aeroflot trainees), shortly before ordering the invasion of Ukraine.

Two recent quotes stick in my mind. The first one was by an American woman who escaped from a mass shooting incident after the US Super Bowl in Kansas City. (One dead, twenty-two injured.) Interviewed minutes later on TV, she said: In this day and age, you run.

I forget where I saw the second quote but I thought of it after Donald Trump threatened to pull the plug on NATO, should he be re-elected this year: It's as if the devil had changed sides.

Near panic broke out across Europe. Trump was willing to throw European countries, previously known as America's allies, to the wolves.

Vladimir Putin, do as you please. Ukraine, prepare to be sacrificed. And by extension, Taiwan, your time is up.

I keep coming back to this: the West isn't what it used to be. I think of myself as fortunate to have grown up in a 'eurocentric' world order, or the outcome of the second world war if you prefer. It may have been delusional but it was printed on perfume bottles: PARIS - LONDON - NEW YORK.

In reality, eurocentrism and the colonial empires that created it were already faltering by the time I came into this world. It took, however, a long time to see and accept it. As for the 'American century', it ended in 2001 with the apocalyptic scenes of 9/11 in New York City. As the towers collapsed, the world pivoted into a new era. To put it differently, the world was changing hands.

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

On February 24 2022 I woke up in a small hotel south of Granada and went downstairs to have coffee at the bar. I flipped open my tablet and there it was:

RUSSIA ATTACKS UKRAINE

Until then I - we - had assumed there existed a fundamental contract with European history, immovably rooted in postwar reality and shared by all: never again, no more major wars in Europe. No one in their right mind would want to mess with that contract.

Except that Vladimir Putin had just ordered his army across the border into Ukraine.

Now I wake up every day and want to hit my head against the wall as the Russian war of aggression grinds on. Grind, meat grinder, human waves, trench warfare. The words are all desperately wrong.

After two years of daily annihilation, hundreds of thousands of lives casually erased or ruined, it goes on and on. Both sides, it has been reported, are running short of young men to waste at the front.

We do not know exactly what goes on on those front lines. We hear about Russian soldiers dispatched to their deaths as a matter of course. But we do not get to see that, nor do we get any real casualty numbers. At the beginning of the war, things were more graphic, the bodies photographed where they had fallen. Two years on, we don't know. But the broken, blasted cities tell the story, as they do in Gaza: not many people walk away alive.

And now no one seems quite sure what to do about Ukraine. The war looks unwinnable because Putin does not care about the cost in human lives.

Why fight if you can't win? Is a negotiated settlement still possible? Land for peace would mean the partition of Ukraine accepted as a fait accompli. But can there be peace without justice for Ukraine, which would effectively be sacrificed in the hope of keeping Putin's Russia in check? Putin, however, cannot be trusted, nor can Trump for that matter.

Should Trump return to the White House, a new world order might emerge overwhelmingly inimical to the west or what would be left of it. It might not even be clear where the USA would position itself. As for the loss of Ukraine, in whole or in part, it would be like small change.

You can go on like this, endlessly turning over the options and arguments in your head, none of them acceptable: Ukraine's outright surrender? Or an indefinite ceasefire that would humiliate Kyiv but leave it attached to Europe?

Faced with a historic opportunity to rewrite everything, a moment of dizzying recalculation of how the planet works and who's boss, it is hard to imagine that China would hesitate to seize the moment. Others would follow, like India, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, eventually lining up with Russia in an historic act of opportunism and Schadenfreude.

In this day and age, you run. The devil has changed sides.

A lot is at stake in 2024.

[keaalu]

WIP - ‘Kestrel Kestrel’

So apparently “WIP Wednesday” is a thing? Like I need any excuses to dump incomplete ficbits on the internet.

----

Still feeling sore and muzzy, with 55 lurking quietly next to her, monitoring her vital signs, she’d only been human again for thirty seven minutes but Kate was already on her third plate of sandwiches, crunching her way through Spacehawk’s entire stock of crispy snacks. 101 looked alarmed by how quickly his inventory was dropping but wasn’t hesitating at bringing more when she looked at him in a specific way.

“Growing a whole new skeleton really takes it out of you,” she said, accepting the offering when the zeroid trundled over pushing yet another packet of crisps towards her.

“That’s our last pack of those,” 101 informed her, trying but not quite able to keep all the reproach from his tone. “So if you need anything else you’ll need to pick something different. Like broccoli.”

“Sorry, hon.” She suspected it had probably been Hiro’s favourites she’d been happily munching her way through, if the zeroid’s manner was anything to go by. “I’ll send some more up on your next supply run.”

He chirped an acknowledgement and seemed mollified, for the moment.

“I guess it must have felt a bit like this when you got your body back after Zelda turned you into a cube, huh?” she wondered.

“Oh I don’t think my experience was anywhere near as bad as yours, ma’am,” he demurred. “Mine was more like… maybe just a very unflattering new set of clothes.”

Kate patted him on the head, anyway. “I bet it still sucked. And at least you weren’t a were-cube,” she joked, and winced.

“And it didn’t involve a trash compactor,” he agreed, and gave her fingers a bump. “Would you like a coffee? I just heard it finish brewing.”

“That would be amazing. Thank you.”

He squeaked another little nonverbal agreement, and rolled away to get it. (She wondered if she could get away with asking for more sandwiches when he came back.)

“Tea? Oh, yes please,” she heard Hiro say, and looked up to find the lieutenant in the doorway.

“I ate all your chips, so I think I’m in trouble with your little space husband,” Kate apologised, holding the open pack out to him. Even that small action made her shoulders ache. Perhaps she ought to forego more sandwiches in favour of sleeping for a few days.

Hiro smiled and took a single crisp, but otherwise waved her off. “I once told him I particularly liked these, so now he always buys far too many, then pretends they were on offer. Then we have to somehow store four cases of them.” He settled on the floor next to her, cross legged, and nibbled the snack. “I try not to eat them too quickly, because then he panics that we are running out and buys more.” A little sigh. “There are certain nuances to human behaviour that zeroids don’t quite get, yet, and striking a balance between foods we enjoy and sensible nutritional choices appears to be one of them.”

“Well, you have plenty of ‘sensible nutritional choices’ in the form of broccoli, apparently.”

“And why do you think we have plenty of that?” Hiro gave her an arch look, then relented and took another crisp.

“Yeah, I get it.” Kate chuckled, tiredly. “So do you have an update for me?”

“I do. Not much of one, yet, but we wanted to ensure you were kept in the loop.” He held out the tablet for her.

Kate stared at the confusing mosaic of… biopsy images? “What am I looking at?”

He tapped the first image and it enlarged to a graphical representation genetic data. “Initially, when you arrived and we took a skin sample?” At her nod, he went on; “We thought that Zelda must have done something structurally to alter your DNA, but when we analysed it, it was all still human. We could not explain it. How could you be human, but categorically not human, at the same time? So we did a visual scan of your blood sample, instead. And we found… this.” He touched the screen and brought up a new image.

It was some sort of microscopy of a blood film. Kate could recognise red blood cells easily. The irregular, blobby purplish masses were probably white blood cells.

She had no idea what the scattering of angular black flecks were, though.

She felt a set of cold fingers draw up the back of her neck. “The hell are those.”

“We are still working on our analysis, but they look like very small machines of some sort. They have proved hard to extract to get under the electron microscope. Kiljoy is still working on it.”

---

“The black dots.” She let out a breath in a very long exhale. “Can you remove them?”

Hiro’s silence was all she needed to know.

“We will remove them,” he hastily added. “I just don’t know how quickly we can do it, yet.”

“Can you block them?”

“I don’t know.”

“So what you mean is, I could turn back into a bird at literally any moment. Including at the worst possible time. Like… at the controls of an aircraft.”

He took her hand and squeezed her fingers, briefly. “I’m sorry, Kate.”

The two zeroids had both converged on her as well, leaning comfortingly against her.

“It’s okay, guys.” She forced a smile. “I know it’s not your fault. I just… oh, man. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse.”

[tiredpainednerdandveryveryqueer]

I've been practicing art on a graphics tablet for the first time in over 8 years.

And I HATE my work. I am so bad at art 😭😭

The fibromyalgia and the dyspraxia do NOT help. I haven't practiced anywhere near as much as I should and with dyspraxia I'm likely to need to practice three times as much to get half as good. But look... I'm still gonna try. This is not me giving up.

It'll hurt. And I know it's not good. But I'm gonna keep trying.

[hermitcatlongposts]

What is this game?

I mean it is a video game indeed. What does it really mean to me? What does this game stand for? Why is it being made at all?

What I'm about to say next is gonna be so hazardously cliche that you might wanna brace yourself. The journey of developing this game was a journey of self discovery. Yes I too am cringing at what I said. But not self discovery as in oh I didn't know who I was and now I suddenly do. I always knew who I was since young age. It's discovery of how intense the "who I am"-ness goes. In fact, someone more sane and reasonable than me would say it's so much that it's counterproductive.

I actually did talk about a platformer game I used to work on like a year ago at SubscribeStar. I gave up on it because I was making it just because I was told by my environment at the time that it's the best route for beginners. I like neither "minimalist" graphics nor platformer genre. Also making vector art was so painful for me.

So the significance of my current touhou clone project is that I said fuck you to "minimalist" vector art and started drawing normal, raster art with my mouse. Drawing with mouse was of course equally painful but the difference was that I tapped into my dormant passion for art, like not just a general loose definition of art such as banana taped on wall, but specifically "moving my hands around and laying pigment on a canvas". Digital equivalent, of course. Shortly followed by buying a drawing tablet.

So what this game initially was going to be was just a prototype purely for the sake of learning the ways of programming a bullet hell and a complete game (as opposed to gamejam). But the jagginess of a mouse drawn sprites were just too unbearably and physically painful to look at and it was nothing less than a necessity to redraw with my beloved drawing tablet so at least it'll have smooth edges, easy on the eyes.

hey, amazing opportunity to have a look at old artworks

But, even after all these years of being a game developer I was still hilariously naive. Technically the first game I ever made was in fucking 2015. The first one to be uploaded on the internet was in 2017. It's unbelievable how I still thought foolishly like "Oh yeah I can finish this game in just 3 months. Ha, see ya soon as a proud developer of a released title."

Anyways, the point is that after such a long time of working on it, I suddenly couldn't see myself just throwing it away as a prototype intended for no one to seriously play it. So the game evolved into "at least a proper game". Which was actually a great decision because, I could release an utterly bare bone prototype that only just serves to have the core idea of a bullet hell touhou clone in terms of programming. But if I did that, I would spend ten years on my second project because that would-be prototype is still nowhere near enough of a programming school. What I didn't realize in the past is how enormous the difference between just spewing out prototype code and meticulously developing a full game with all little mini-mechanics and mini-systems working in harmony. So by spending more time on my first project, I will be spending less time on my second.

I thought that's what the game was gonna be. Just a nice and proper game that I won't feel any shame about purposefully making it garbage like I was originally planning to. Someone sane might say that would be very reasonable place to stop but here comes the part where I expand upon what I said at the beginning about it being a journey of realization of the depths of my personality coming at a detriment of productivity, as in how fast I produce products.

You know how the dress of my player character looks. It's a reference to that platformer game. I am a craftsman through and through (please don't take it as I'm jerking my own dick, I'm just trying to communicate myself clearly). I have emotional connection to my creations for I see them as something that is real and has meaning. I'm not a producer pumping out products on a conveyor belt feeding the bottomless vortex of consumerism. So instead of completely cutting that old platformer game out of my life like it was nothing at all, I decided to pay homage to it as elements in my current game. Basically an easter egg that only extremely few, like 2 or 3 people will recognize. Although it was abandoned for legitimate reasons, I respect it as my first attempt at serious, non-gamejam game. And I immortalize it's legacy this way.

You might remember this flipping tile thing was actually made long ago. But instead of having just a random nothing as a texture, I made it a throwback to one of the key elements of Square Heart (the name of the platformer game, btw), the iconic blue crates and outlines that light up when the player walks over them. Btw the loading is intentionally slowed down to show the spinning border lights more clearly. It doesn't load that slowly in reality lol. Wait, that means players are not gonna really see the thing I spent so much time making...

This is how the player would respawn. Just pop right back up. I mean there is nothing wrong with it. It's a classic animation in all the arcade shooter games.

What I decided to do however is a throwback to how the player character of SquareHeart respawned.

This one is gonna appear in only one of the 5 stages because only one has a night sky. This is the iconic minimalist gradient trees that I tried so hard in SquareHeart to be the main attraction. I actually always planned to have no background at all in this game for the sake of not getting way too ridiculously ahead of myself for a first game. Just plop down the skybox I found on the Unity Asset Store. Now that I decided to do this in one of the stages, I have pushed the standard so I have to figure out something for other stages as well. Also the speeding up you see is not the default but just a short section. Inspired by stage 4 of Touhou 8: Imperishable Night, where the boss tries to run away mid-fight and you chase after them. "Chasing" as in just the background scrolling faster, nothing else really.

The bomb, or what's modernly referred to as SpellCard of the player is a legacy that's actually truly lost. Long long ago in 2019, there was an ancestral version of SquareHeart that featured a cutscene that focuses on this circle flower-like talisman thingy. Literally only one person might remember it besides myself.

This one is not part of the SquareHeart. But if you remember, before I actually started to draw, the player character of my bullet hell was a vector art butterfly. In fact, it all started from a game-jam I wrote a blogpost about right here on Tumblr a long time ago. In fact, if I remember correctly that blogpost is the very reason why I created a Tumblr account to begin with. So this butterfly too won't be forgotten. It's now on the other side as a mini-boss. And every other stages will also have butterflies of different design as their mini-bosses.

And, yeah et cetera. There is actually at least one more easter egg to make but I'm yet to come to a final design decision.

I want this game to be actually something more than "just a proper game for the sake of being a proper game", let alone a throwaway prototype. I want this game to have an actual self to stand solid and have meaning to me. And that meaning is that it's the first step of my journey as an artist ("art" as in a form of indie games, not just visual illustration) but also a rightful payment of respect to my first step as just game developer in general. The past should be put to rest respectfully so the future shall flourish in full force.

[mcslobby]

Here's a small dump of some of my artwork/sketches of an OC from my novel(s) I'm currently working on.

25th of January, 2023 I didn't really bother trying out some shading since this was really a quick sketch run. Although, I've gotta say, I got a bit lucky with the sketch.

Redraw - 30th of January, 2023 Original - 22nd of November, 2022 I decided to do a redraw of the original one to see how much I've progressed over those two months, which I do think I improved just a wee bit.

Of course, you can see that I made some adjustments to her design as well. I experimented a tad more on the redraw, since most of my other work don't contain much else other than a simple background.

(If you look closely at the objects further in the back, you may see that I gave up half-way through the greenery).

28th of January, 2023 Not much to say here.

5th of January, 2023 I focused more on the shading of the clothing, which worked out pretty well for once. I'lI admit, I could've chosen a different color palette here.

22nd of December, 2022 As you can see on the bottom right corner, this one shows her in December of 1999, which is closing near the end of the story of my novel(s).

Because of that, I considered both her emotional and mental state at that time and to depict it, I used much more muted colors and shades in this one.

17th of December, 2022 Here, I limited myself to using only black/white to try and push myself out of my comfort zone, which ended up somewhat okay in the end.

5th of December, 2022 At this point, I primarily used much more desaturated colors, especially when it came to the skin color.

This was mostly due to previous attempts at coloring the skin and then promptly shading it looking incredibly hideous to my eyes, which hindered me from improving.

10th of April, 2022 This is a very early simplified concept of Shinja where I was still getting used to using a graphics tablet rather than a pen or pencil on a sheet of paper.

Even so, my drawing skills were HORRENDOUS at that point of time and I mostly lucked out on this one. On this particular one, I used the forbidden power of VECTOR rather than the more common and popular raster way.

Either way, I liked the slick result I ended up with and tried out the vector thing for some time more before ditching it so that I wouldn't be too restrained by this type of art style in the future.

That's all, folks.

[eienshi09]

I'm replying in good faith cause I think this is worthwhile to point out. But I said comparable. Those specs will get you performance close to a PS4 and likely won't run this year's games at 60 frames even at 1080p on ultra high settings. If you want to get performance close to the PS5 or Series X, your graphics card alone is about as much as the console then another 100-200 if you get the absolute most basic for the rest. As for laptops, mine was about 1500 and still isn't comparable to the latest generation of consoles.

I agree with you that a computer is useful for a lot of other stuff, but a lot of that stuff can and are done on phones and tablets now. You'd be surprised how many people just do not have a personal computer and really only ever touch one for work. I have had SOFTWARE ENGINEERS ask if they could buy or keep their work laptop when they leave the company cause they had gotten used to having a computer.

Along those lines, you are also overestimating the technical literacy of the average person if you think putting together a computer is something that's "easy as shit." Near every day I have to show someone how to do something as basic as make a bookmark or find their S drive or how to use "Save as" versus "Save." So while I know putting a computer together is easier than ever before, I do not think it is something that most people would just be able to do.

All that said, I'm not here to say PC gaming bad or console games are the better way to go. The first of my points is, they are all options; options with various pros and cons that I won't get into here. If someone wants an out-of-the-box experience for not as much money, consoles are there. If they have a little more budget, then pre-built PCs or gaming laptops are an option. And of course, they can try to build one if they want to learn how. My other point is, no matter which option you go with, you should then be able to pick and play whatever game you want on that machine.

hearing "the ps5 is in the latter stage of its lifecycle" and laughing myself sick. NO GAMES

[hntedhouse]

closed starter / luna @divinctions location / the hospital ):

in jason goes to hell ( otherwise known as friday the 13th part vi, which is somehow not the most convoluted entry in the franchise, thank you so much new blood and jason x ) tommy jarvis is so afraid of jason voorhees returning from the dead that he winds up indirectly causing jason's resurrection himself. it's sort like the call is coming from inside the house, but black christmas is a completely different franchise, so maybe drew is grasping at straws and he's actually some brand new, never - before - seen type of loser. he quit the graphic novel business, which he hopes will soften some of the shrapnel he's anticipating when luna dumps him. it feels inevitable at this point, but drew still walks into the hospital and asks for their room number. the untouched birthday cake and his tablet are stacked up in his arms atop, perhaps insanely, his clue board game. "swee — luna ? " he nearly grimaces at his own use of their actual name, now unused to hearing it in his voice. "i brought ... " he takes a few cautious steps into the hospital room, finds a clear surface, and clumsily sets down the stack of things he had brought to her. he stands there, nowhere near the bed in which luna is concerningly nestled even though he spots an empty chair right next to them. "are you okay ? " drew blurts out, surprising even himself. "do you want me here ? can i hold your hand ? i'm sorry. that was selfish. do you want me to just leave my tablet and the cake with you ? i'll go if you want me to."

[jonmcbrine-author]

The work that goes into producing a full-length fiction novel is enough for a full-time staff with at least a forty-hour work week. For many indie authors, including myself, it is typically a one-person operation. There are authors with teams, helpers, and roped-in family members, but even for multi-person scribe-squads, the workload can be daunting. The tasks run from the actual writing/typing, editing, marketing, and, among other things, designing the art. When it came to my debut young adult sci-go superhero novel, Unsecret Identity: Eric Icarus - Book One, I ultimately ended up tackling these assignments solo.

Simply because I wear many hats when it comes to creating this particular story does not necessarily entitle me to any special treatment or extra credit. As previously mentioned, there are numerous writers who bear the work weight on their shoulders with not much assistance. My journey so far has seen numerous learning curve-balls thrown my way as I figure out this whole author thing on the fly. I still have miles to go before I can go around boasting about my writing skill—the biggest lesson so far is that you never stop learning. Trends change, tastes differ, and technology advances. As I continue to develop my techniques, I roll with more punches than I hand out hits.

Speaking of technology, my experience as a graphic designer has proved to be greatly beneficial when creating cover art. Utilizing software programs like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, I am able to format the manuscripts as well as include interior art. As of this writing, Unsecret Identity is nearing its completion in transitioning from being only available as an ebook to a printed paperback edition. I was prepared to cross the finish line when I decided to insert more illustrations as part of the book. It’s an exciting concept that could help set the novel apart and further express my vision of the characters and settings, but… it also means more delay.

This is where tech comes back into play. I’ve been drawing my entire life, but as pencillers know, the sketching process can be time-consuming. Digital drawing has changed the game for me: using the Apple Pencil on an iPad while running the Procreate drawing program has drastically improved my illustration process. Don’t get me wrong, I believe I will always prefer the traditional method, but using a stylus on a smooth screen not only allows me to zoom in for meticulous detail (along with an overwhelming amount of brush choices), but the slick glass surface is much more preferable for me. I’m not sure why exactly, but I've always had a sensitivity to the feel of paper. So, naturally my greatest interests are writing and drawing—two paper-based hobbies. Thanks to the digital age, the only limit is my imagination (and battery life).

Well, there is at least one other limit - my time. Similar to other self-publishing authors, my writing time is usually whenever I can carve out a short period throughout a typical day. As quick and convenient as tablet drawing can be, it’s still a matter of how exhausted I am after tending to “real life” commitments. This leads to the reason I do not simply outsource the jobs: cheap labor! I don’t consider myself a control freak, though saying that, it is a bit of a point of pride to be able to complete these mounting tasks myself. The entire book-making process is a gauntlet but it’s something I can use all talents for (opinions on the end result may have some questioning the extent of this talent, but, hey, like I said, it’s cheap labor!). 

As if performing all these duties with a lack of downtime wasn’t enough of a challenge, I intend on recording the audiobook version of Unsecret Identity myself. I am not sure if I’m a jack of all trades or a glutton for punishment, but regardless, I’m ready to DIY.

Stay in the loop for more details by following Jonfcition Blog on Substack and be sure to check out jonmcbrine.com for more info about this and all my books.

Unsecret Identity: Eric Icarus - Book One is available now from the Amazon Kindle store.

https://a.co/2XAtxvH

[fedor-bortnik-digital-media-blog]

7. How can creators use virtual reality to create?

Virtual Reality is still a relatively new type of medium in our existence, in which developers constantly create technological breakthroughs, by making devices require fewer and less of installations, making them smaller, faster and more accessible to the public. 

There are many definitions, for example - Melanie Chan wrote on her blog about virtual reality that “The term ‘virtual reality’ can be used to refer to computer-generated environments that involve some form of interactivity and immersion” (Chan 2014: 1). While I agree with this definition, I would say that many of us have different definitions of virtual reality. For me, for example - virtual reality is a digitalised, synthesised environment, with its own sets of rules, and such reality was created by both machines and humans. In this world, there are unique sets of rules, and anything can be possible.

With that in mind, How can virtual reality be used to improve, or even change the way the creators create?

One of the greatest powers of virtual reality is the ability to shape and construct an entire digital dimension in any way the developer pleases. In the real world, you must physically have the hardware, such as the keyboard or a drawing tablet - and adjust it to make it suitable for the task. In Virtual reality - it works differently: here, it can be done much faster, without obeying the rules of the real world. In other words - you can place your keyboard in any position you please, in mid-air - and it won't fall on the ground. 

I would like to take a quote from an article titled ‘Virtual Workplaces in the Metaverse’, which was written by Professor Gheorghe H. Popescu and other authors. In this article, Gheorghe H. states that “Virtually simulated environments can strengthen employee development by integrating quality tracking systems, spatial intelligence tools, computer vision techniques, and autonomous devices.” (2022, p.2). This quote proves to me that it is possible to apply virtual reality and it could benefit the users with a new, fresh point of view and improved productivity in new industries.

A good tool that could allow the artist to work in a digital environment, would be Gravity Sketch (Gravity Sketch Limited, 2017). This tool allows artists to draw in a virtual world and import images or graphics. You get the pretty familiar tools to draw with, however now you can do that in a 3rd dimensional way. 

When I had my own VR equipment, I tried Gravity Sketch (Gravity Sketch Limited, 2017) and enjoyed it, since the tool allowed me to sketch the environment I desired around me and let me be more immersed in the idea that I have.

The biggest challenge that the virtual world can have as a tool for designers would be the necessity of it. Virtual reality hardware can be expensive, it can be disorienting, hard to assemble and unnecessary, when you can have access to practically the same tools on a computer. However, the virtual world can still open and change the ways the artists work today.

Even though nowadays people in creative industries usually work on computers due to the efficiency of the system, I would say that it's pretty possible that designers today (and in the near future) would use virtual reality in some stages of work, due to the convenience or efficiency in this type of work. I myself consider using virtual reality, for example - to sketch characters and environments in VR to augment my emotional feeling of the ideas. But the virtual reality still has a lot of years of improvement and development to come to become a stand-alone tool for creativity - just like we use the computer today. 

References:

Gravity Sketch Limited (2017) Gravity Sketch (Version 6.1.9) [Computer program]. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/551370/Gravity_Sketch/

Chan, M. (2014) Virtual Reality: Representations in Contemporary Media. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.

Popescu, G.H., Ciurlău, F.C., Stan, C.I., Băcănoiu (Văduva), C. and Tănase (Veisa), A. (2022) ‘Virtual Workplaces in the Metaverse: Immersive Remote Collaboration Tools, Behavioral Predictive Analytics, and Extended Reality Technologies’, Psychosociological issues in human resource management, 10(1), pp. 21–34. DOI: 10.22381/pihrm10120222

[sebastiangrad604]

1- bird bag full of pins made by other artists 2- Custom Furby by nz artist Sani - I love to support nz artists and have an interest in the more alternative style specifically in the way I dress/items I like to collect. 3- Fungi book promotional stand - A piece of design work that I collected from my job that both relates to my interest in books and in my interest in working as a designer possibly within the book industry. 4- Cat figurine - cats are my favourite animal, they inform a lot of my works. 5- 3DS - History with playing video games, relates to having done a game design degree in the past. 6- Crochet Axolotl by nz artist tempestscorner 7- Beetle and the Hollowbones Graphic novel - An area I would like to do illustration work within. 8- The hunger games - Formative book of teen years. 9- Gideon the ninth - One of the recent reads I throughly enjoyed - related to my interest in books especially science fiction & fantasy stories. 10- Animators survival kit - Relating to my first degree and my lifelong interest and inspiration in animation. 11- Lead type - interest in typography and graphic design, a more historical technique for formatting type and and interesting way to bring this interest into a physical representation 12- Mushroom Zines - Interest in both the zine space as a subculture and interest in the natural world. 13- Camera - from highschool, used to have an interest in photography, could I rekindle this? 14- Warrior cat zines - Related to the artistic community I have found myself within and have been in for the last 13 years. 15- Graphics tablet pen - Relating to my craft and how a majority of my work is done digitally. 16- DnD dice - interest in fantasy and creation of characters and stories like often seen in dnd. used to play, do not currently play. 17- Stamps from grandfather - he collected stamps and I have fond memories of looking at them, I also love going and looking at antiques. 18- Vintage cards from grandfather - Only item I recieved that was his after he passed. Have not got an exact date on when these cards would have been made/bought by him but may have been with him when he immigrated into new zealand or have had when my father was a child. Quite worn and missing half the pack - really interesting to me that the jokers are to the side and in near new condition. I have memories of my family enjoying sitting around and playing board games together. 19- Warrior cat book - Very formative book series - still relates to artistic communities I am in to this day. 20- Keychains from various artists

[starshipsofstarlord]

Hi! So I would like to request a Seb x reader one shot if you have the time ☺️ I just got diagnosed with Endometriosis today and am in need of some soft Seb... Could you write smth where Seb finds out that reader is always in pain during sex and never said anything, though he knows she has Endometriosis and usually cares for her during her period... and he then encourages her to get surgery to try and fix it? Only if it's okay though, I know it's very precise, sorry!

A/N; I am so sorry to hear about this hun, i hope there’s something that can be done, no one deserves to go through that kind of pain. I researched endometriosis and it certainly sounds horrible, I’m sending you all my love and support 💙

Endometriosis - Sebastian Stan x reader

Masterlist Link

Summary; based on the request, I changed it a tiny bit so I hope that’s okay, I just feel like if r was in pain seb would notice, I hope you like it hun 🤍

Warnings; endometriosis, smut, oral sex (male and female receiving), 69ing, mentions of sex toys, illness, mention of alcohol, fluff, pain, swearing

divider by @firefly-graphics

It hurt like a bitch, there was no way to put it, or at least it was a simpler revelation of description at the prying of your womb had you near to tears. You laid your head down into the pillow, mushing it into the fabric, as you wanted the pain to dwindle down into nothing, and thus you tried to ignore your own suffering, as you turned over to be on your back, severely wincing by the change in position. A groan came from the other side of the bed, as the man that was laid there began to shuffle, in the midst of waking up.

“Morning.” He spoke with a hoarse voice, the steadiness obliterated by his blatant hangover that was haunting his form. Sebastian rubbed a hand over his eyes as he fully awoke, stretching his back as he reached his arm out, swiftly hooking it around the back of your neck as you allowed yourself to lay on the muscle. “Guess neither of us got laid, did we?” He laughed lightly, shaking his head, as he tipped his chin up, blinking his baby blues up to the ceiling.

“Considering that we’re in the same bed, and that you’re not a stranger to me, I guess not.” You laughed to your close friend, whom was aware of your condition, but not the extent of it. “Looks like you’re going to suffer from no morning sex Stan, I’m sure that sucks for you.”

“Usually it’s someone else doing the sucking.” You smacked his arm at his off handed comment, pulling a smirk out from the man as he turned to face you, pulling you closer by the contact that he had upon you. “I’m guessing your disappointed that you’re not waking up to some muscular, blonde haired and blue eyes patriotic punk.”

“If you’re describing Evans, i swear that I will punch you in the dick, I said he was attractive once.” You put emphasis on the amount of time(s) you had ever mentioned it. A pout quivered his lips, as he shuffled beneath the covers, angling his hips in a more comfortable position so that they weren’t being crunched down on the mattress.

“You can punch my dick, on the agreement that you kiss it better.” Seb allowed a hollow smirk to mull over his handsome features, as you swatted his bicep once more, an unhumored frown conforming its position upon your face.

“I’m not one of your hook ups, I’m not gonna get on my knees for you buddy.” You bantered back, raising a brow at his inquisition. No, you were not a past sexual partner of his; it was a constant of him never having a serious relationship, he opted for flings rather than any long engagements, you suspected that he had feelings for someone else, but you were not sure of whom.

The thought alone of him being endeared with the image of one woman brought a pain to your body, separate from your medical suffering. Though your opinion wasn’t fair, considering that you as well, or had your time of sleeping around before the pain in your inner walls became too much, and that was one of the many things that you had given up, more or less.

To support the montage of your body’s self torture, you had a mixture of hormone and tablets that helped reduce the unexplainable sensation that willed around in your lower half, swarming around like an internal snake bite in your own body.

“69 then?” He joked, but it felt so serious. You knew he wasn’t being truthful, it was the relationship the pair of you had, though his face had moved closer, his breath fanning over your face, making your heart prominently race as you thought about such a scenario. “Having mentioned Evans...” he began to change the conversation, having felt the heat that had radiated from your body.

“Go on.” You pried at him, interested in hearing what his friend had opted to say about the pair of you. It wasn't every day that you heard celebrities gossiping about you.

“He thinks we’ve hooked up.” Sebastian stated, making your neck reel slightly back as you took in the fact, of well, the perceived view point of a world renowned, household name, actor. A part of you was slightly embarrassed, you held your own cheek as the words that Chris had passed on sunk in on you.

“We, no, never. Okay, I’m exaggerating, that would not be so bad, but it would definitely be weird. But like, why does he think that, of all things?” You asked whilst partially laughing. It made you partially aware of yourself, and the prospect of you possibly having made your feelings obvious, but that however hadn’t been the case as Seb scratched over the stubble that he had on his chin, and did that awkward Bucky smile that had became humorous in his new marvel show.

“Of all things; it’s like you’re trying to break my heart babes.” With one diverging look from you, he knew he was done for. It always pained him to keep secrets from you, and this was the one that he had been hiding for so long. “You’re really going to make me say it, aren’t you? Okay, fine. I still can’t believe that you haven’t caught on, after all this time, but this just shows that you haven’t noticed how I try and scare away every guy with my money and power.”

“Yeah, I noticed that.” Lightly you scoffed, having many memories of such a situation. It was a pattern that kept repeating itself, but to you it had just become normal, and to say you were fine with it was not incorrect. It gave you hope that he could reciprocate the emotions that you held towards him, though having a wish like that was altogether hopeless. He was just protective, that was all, he probably saw you like a little sister, or something of the sort, that really put a drab annotation on the prospect of romance.

“Ever wonder why?” Ever, more like all the time, but you allowed him to continue without disruption, by doing so more would be unveiled by that mouth of his, and you were eager to learn more, yet a little hesitant. “It is because I am so tired of being your friend, I love it, don’t get me wrong but...” you were dreading what was to come out of his mouth next, you squeezed your eyes shut, almost as if you were unable to see, the pain would not render upon your specimen. “I love you.”

“You what?!” Eyes snapping open, you were blatantly shocked by his confession. “That can’t be right Seb, you’re you, and I’m me, and-“

“We’re us.” He finished for you. As he noticed you relax from his contingence, which allowed him the time gap to slide closer, his warm and soft hand running up the side of your face as he watched you gasp from the sensation. It was not the first time he had touched your cheek, but it was the first instance in which he done so intimately; you were rather fond of the treatment.

You nuzzled your face into the curve of his hand, your brows lightly directed in a downwards motion as you lulled in his touch, and that was when you realised that he had frozen. “Shit.” You stopped him from moving away, pausing the sadness in his eyes for the current second. “I should have responded, that was my bad. I love you too, I’m not just saying that, so you know.”

“That’s a relief.” Sebastian sighed, falling back onto the mattress, bringing his face accidentally closer to your own. The tips of your noses were touching as your eyes ogled deep within the pools of one another’s, it was impossible not to seek a closer vicinity, and thus, you slunk closer, bracing the tips of your nails against his scruff, as your lips worked their way onto his.

“How would you like another kind of relief?” You pulled away, stroking down the smooth course of his shirt covered chest, prompting a suggestive dialogue in your tone. His brow raised as he thought about it for a moment, but then he remembered a rather distinctive matter he didn’t want to cause any obstruction to.

“What about your, you know?” He was referring to your endometriosis, having the knowledge about the unfortunate illness that interfered with your life. Through it all, the doctors appointments, the encouraging you to take your medication on days that you weren’t feeling particularly well, he was there. Now it made sense why.

To reply, you softly shook your head, combing your hands over his shoulders, as you answered him. “If it gets too much, I’ll give you the signal.” You spoke, leaning down to peck his lips, though you still saw the reluctance that was embedded on his forehead in the form of strict lines. “I promise.” You persuaded him, meaning the sentiment, as his eyes trailed down, his hand scourging a fierce, passionate grip upon your hipbone as his tongue weaved its way back into your mouth.

You moaned into the atmosphere of his mouth, grabbing onto his cheeks as you heaved breaths into the internal beyond of this man, rolling on top of him, as you swept your crotch down against his own, extracting a sinister sound out of his guttural throat. It was only turning you on more, and you knew that if you didn’t do something, even despite the recommendations of your doctor, you would be sufficed with a lack of pleasure, and that was all you currently craved.

It wasn’t fair how you had been dubbed with the condition. So many people in the world could have sex whenever they pleased, yet you were forced to commend under the sentence of experiencing a discomfort when all you wanted was the comfort of being intwined with another human being. That connection, it felt mandatory, however you were denied it, for every time that you proceeded to bed a stranger, or a partner of any sorts, the stretch of anything in your walls pursued you with a fracture of pain.

You’d even had to throw out your vibrator, whilst it felt good on the outside, the clenching of your empty walls sparked physical and mental hurt, and reminded you of the fact that whenever you were filled by any length, your body could not function to emit pleasure, instead it was the opposite that you were tasked with contracting. The thought and reminder often spewed tears in your eyes, but you held them back as you got lost in Sebastian.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He admitted sentimentally, and your heart both became full and broken. It was sweet and scorching to the arousal between your legs to know that he was that concerned about your well being; he wasn’t just prioritising getting his dick wet. He resumed pressing succulent kisses on your lips, he lulled in the notion, he too wanted to be close to you, but he wasn’t willing to do inadvertently so to the expense of you being in pain.

That was the opposite of what he wanted, even as your hand wandered down his firm and pheromone driven body, that bucked in your grip, as your hand hooked around his bulge, your thumb stroking over his round sack as he grew beneath the layers of his soft sweats and underwear. “69 then?” You reiterated his earlier words, causing his pupils to blow wide, and his blue irises to darken into the juxtaposition of stormy skies.

“Will that be okay?” You confirmed it was, even if you weren’t completely sure yourself. The angles, the penetration, it was all elements, that combined gave you an equation that you had yet to figure out. The only way to do so was to try it, even if it concluded in an error, and not a sensible answer. To instigate the next step, you roused your sleep shirt from your body, leaving you in nothing more than your causal panties, but Seb didn’t seem to mind.

In fact he rather preferred the normalcy of your actions and undress, it made the strategy of shifting from friends to intimate lovers into one of relaxation, there was no absurdity nor discomfort yet, for either one of you. Your fingers dipped in the sides of your underwear, teasing the band, as you cocked your head towards Seb, licking your lips as you took in the view of him entranced by your being. “Am I going to be the one naked or...”

You were grateful that he took the hint, and stripped himself from both layers that kept his goods confined. He rapidly removed them, leaving his uncut cock open to your gaze; it wasn’t anything massive which was a relief, but it for now, it was to be attained in the confinement of your mouth, rather than the realm of your cunt, so that slight stretch could await. As you thought of that, you reached your hand out, dancing your fingers lightly over his shaft.

Seb emitted a soft huff from his obtainable lips, he dragged you to be laying atop of him, as your thighs surrounded his length on either side, it was warm, and rested perfectly below your where your cunt was hovering. How you wished to just sink down on it and- “Turn around.” For a moment you took time to refrain your memory to perceive what you had said before. And then, whence your words caught up to you, it was simple to do so, especially with the motivation of what was going to happen.

As you spun around, to be facing his lower half and have your own above his mouth, you watched his cock twitch, as it rested heavily upon his abdomen. You could feel your nerves kick in; it was a substantial difference from anything that you had ever done together, from looking at the stars and watching cheesy movies, to sexual actions, it was quite the leap. But a welcome one, you had waited so long to acknowledge your feelings to him, you'd be damned if you were not going to act on them.

A shiver rippled up your spine as he paved a lick through your slit, it made you tense up for a moment, and you try to register any diagnosis of pain, you coiled when he put one of your lips in his mouth. It felt good, which was a relief, and you took that as a sign to reap your front forwards, and focus on his throbbing hardness that was oozing precum against his perfect skin. The drop of essence looked like liquid moonstone, catching the ambience of the snooping sun that eyes through the crescent opening of the closed curtains, creating a luminescent light against the contrast of his skin.

Leaning forwards, as the initial shock of Seb using his tongue on you had settled in, as a faint plea from inside of you derived away in your eternal being, your tongue glided over the patch of fallen precum, your eyes fluttering at the heavenly, yet rare taste, it wasn’t every day that a man’s cum was relatively nice on your buds. Some perceived eating junk food as a lifestyle, caring not for how the receiver of their sperm would taste within the mouth of a giver on the other end. Sebastian hummed against your slick folds, as he danced his hands around your ass, grasping your cheeks firmly.

His fingers swept through the outside of your cunt, fooling around with your labia as his tongue swirled your bud, making your face grimace on the edge of pleasure, as your warm lips wrapped around the head of his cock, whirling your tongue within his slit, as your hand rested around the rest of his length, jerking it in your grasp, as his hips lightly heaved upwards against your face. He teased a finger around your entrance, running the tip along the wet flesh that mimicked your breaths as it clenched prosperously.

“Shit!” Tears webbed in your eyes as he entered the finger, though he considered that a resonating profanity of pleasure. To your dismay, it indeed was not though, the entry of the digit weighed heavy inside you, prying sorely against your walls as your giving to him paused, as you harshly gripped his thigh. “Shit, that hurts Seb. Fuck!” In an instant, he stopped, extracting his finger out from within you, as it caused you further pain, and helped you turn around, and lay languidly upon the bed.

“Oh my god, fuck, I’m so sorry y/n/n.” He panicked, immense guilt wavering his body, as he grasped your face, staring with sorrow into your seasoned expression. “I didn’t mean to- didn’t want to hurt you, shit, I should never have tried to-“ soothing his conflicting emotions, you stroked his shoulders, kissing him to ease his words into silence. He felt guilty, but so did you, you were the one whom had encouraged to pursue the rhythm of your shared sexuality to one another, deducting the poise of your actions with tear beaded eyes.

“It was my fault; I said it would be fine. I should have known it shouldn’t have, I’m sorry.” You reasoned with him, knowing that you had told him that it was to be something that you could manage, but from experience, you should have had better knowledge of how things would turn out.

“Don’t you ever apologise, you’re perfect, the only thing that I want to ease is your suffering. Is there any news on the operation that can be done, should I get you your medication now?” He wanted to be certain, to ensure that you didn’t put the accountability of your situation completely on yourself, he should have asked if a finger would have been fine, he shouldn’t have been swayed by your persuasion. “I could talk to someone, see if I could get the thing moved up, I can pay for it, get you further up on the ladder.”

“No.” You smiled, pressing an ample kiss upon his scruffy cheek. “I don’t want that, many other people are waiting for the op too, and I can’t have you paying for it. That would just be inconsiderate of me, you have already done so much for me, I can’t ask more. You’ve been there through everything, just wait with me whilst I wait for myself.” You pulled the sheets over your breasts, staring opulently into his serene eyes, shuddering as he swept his lips over your mouth once more, deriving you breathless for a moment.

“It’s okay to be selfish, if any of them had that chance, then they would take it. I can afford it, and I would want nothing more than to pay for it, it’s not just about sex, you know that. I love you so so much, you’re my best friend, the girl of my dreams, I’ve waited for you, I just want the pain that you live through to disappear. Out of all people, it’s not fair that it’s you, but it is, and this is the one way to fix the reductive searing of hurt that you live through.” You gulped, water glazing your irises as you stared at her, trying to diffuse your light sob.

His words brought acceptance to you within the scenario, as you took a deep breath in, confronting the trigger that had set off inside of you. It was difficult to handle and attain to, as you curled in his bare arms, exasperating your soundness close to him, as he competently cupped your face, kissing the tip of your nose. “Okay.” You agreed, nodding sincerely along with your words. “Okay, I’ll do it for me. It’s the right thing to do.” A smile raved his face, as you convinced yourself of doing so. It was to be a long road, but Sebastian would be there holding your hand, travelling down this path alongside you.

[kleiner-detektiv]

I have a problem~~~ :'D

So.. There was me. Drawing joyfully on my piece for this one fanzine. Thinking about nothing bad and just enjoying the day.

But suddenly I got attacked! Out of nowhere flew this dark little shit near to my face and gave me the shock of my life. Full of rage and full of panic I waved this thing away - nearly dropped my pen which is essential for me to draw on my digital graphic tablet!

As I realized that I nearly lost my pen I looked after this harmless moth. I couldn't hit nor catch it.

Long story short: It came back and I (again) threw my pen at it. This time for sure. That happened yesterday and I still miss my pen. :c

[gffa]

You know, as much as I’ve crabbed about Genshin Impact at times, I actually have largely really enjoyed how they’ve rolled out their content over the last few months.  A lot of that has been adjusting my expectations to what the game is, rather than what I keep trying to cram it into the mold of being. It’s a gacha game.  It has incredible graphics and, when there’s new content, plays like a game I would have spent $60 on.  But the pacing of the game is absolutely bonkers, you can go into an event that will have literally two HOURS of cut scene material, broken up into ~15-20 minute chunks of dialogue with MAYBE ten minutes of travel + fighting time in between, it’ll do this three times in a row, so it feels very stop-start-stop-start-stop-start.  And, most importantly, it’s a gacha game.  The FOMO they hype up for their banners is absolutely real and there. But I’ve enjoyed that they’ve been rolling Inazuma out in pieces, so you don’t burn through everything in two days, but instead it ends up being more like a weekly/monthly show, where I can digest the story at a slower rate, and it’s made it less overwhelming and a lot more fun for me.  True, I’m a filthy casual player (in part because the game is nowhere near finished, we’ve only unlocked like three out of the seven regions, so the game’s probably not even at the halfway point) but I’ve still sunk hundreds of hours into the game already. And I’m honestly enjoying the heck out of the Moonchase event!  Yeah, there’s a lot of talking (approximately two hours of talking in this event alone! that’s a whole ass movie right there!) but I love the running around to explore looking for chests and charms, I love zipping from one fight to the next by using the air currents, I love getting a chance to revisit the Liyue characters, after so much time spent with the Inazuma ones. Hell, rolling Inazuma out in stages has made me a lot more fond of it, too!  I didn’t really apprecaite the Sakura Cleansing storyline that much because I was so overwhelmed with how much I needed to do.  And I wasn’t that interested in the rebels’ part of the storyline because I’m here for the bigger plot stuff. But I finally finished up the Archon quest storyline and ohhhhhh lots of new hints about Khaenri'ah and Celestia and I still really love Ei’s design and I’m shipping Ei/Miko so hard and the scene of all the Visions swirling up to make their desires known, to really shake Ei’s will, ahhhhh, I am back in love with the game. I’ve found myself picking up my tablet a lot more often the last few days, just because I like the content right now.  I know it’s frustrating for a lot of people and it was for me, too, when I was thinking of it like a finished game I would pick up and feverishly play to the end.  But it’s a gacha game that rolls things out in stages and I’ve adjusted my playing habits to what it is and found that I do enjoy it a lot.  I have plenty of other games to play if I want that feverishly getting lost in a game, and so I’m now having a great time running around with Xiangling and making beautiful looking food!  (It’s still a gacha game, though.)