#there's still more detail I could go into but this is the overall gist of it

[luckycharmer]

hmm the last few days I was thinking of a new au thats kinda inspired by the classic “soulmates see in black and white until they see each other for the first time” type au, but trolls 🤔 Granted I’m using the term “soulmate” kinda loosely here, more like “destined relationship���, but soulmate has that extra oomph to it yea?

I don’t have time to draw anything for it right now but here’s the gist:

all trolls are born/hatched grey (very low saturation of color), each time they sing and their voice harmonizes with their soulmate they gain saturation, a little at a time

some trolls can gain color when they sing solo; most, if not all trolls will have multiple soulmates they can harmonize with to gain color (romantic and/or platonic)

strong family bonds can also work (the perfect family harmony is particularly powerful) so dont worry about trollings, they babble along to their parent’s songs and theyre set until they learn to sing properly

the “morning song” in pop village is a tradition to help keep all trolls as vibrant as possible, since many will harmonize at once

in general, the brighter the saturation, the better the overall health and vigor of the troll

if a troll has yet to harmonize with all their soulmates, there will always be a certain degree of desaturation and they can tell they’re not 100%. The norm for saturation is about 75-95%, either the unknown soulmates are assumed to be from an estranged pop village or lost from the time in the Troll Tree (they don’t know about the other troll tribes yet)

“going grey” can still happen, and if it happens to an already grey troll (one that never or hardly harmonized), they can start to lose even the grey hue and turn pale/white and sickly

other troll tribes like the rock trolls can have a naturally low saturation even at 100%, the gradient is just more subtle

Anyway, for many years Poppy tried her best to harmonize with as many trolls as she could but never quite reached full saturation. Even harmonizing with her best friends could only do so much. After some time she started to come to terms with the fact she may never find her missing soulmate, however some part of her always held on to that hope. Branch has been grey for many years at this point, so long now he’s starting to fade to white. Going so long without singing, let alone harmonizing with anyone, on top of his mission to build and maintain the bunker took a lot out of him and left him grumpy, short-tempered, and tired, so so tired. Most of the first movie’s events happen in parallel to the og.

Fast forward to the True Colors scene, all of the trolls have turned grey, including Poppy. She and Branch harmonize during the song and not only does Poppy regain the color she just lost, but she’s brighter overall. Along with Branch, who is now the loveliest shades of light blue and indigo (he doesn’t regain his full saturation right away, that will take time and a couple more harmonies to restore).

I like to think that Poppy and Bridget’s friendship also gained Poppy some color since they’re practically sisters, but bergans aren’t affected the same way so even though there’s no difference to her, she’s still honored.

will try to draw some for this later but had to get the details down so I don’t forget

[lakecitysilenceme]

my digested thoughts on the reboot trailer!

ALFEA & FAIRIES

Starting off, i want to say that the animation looked very hard, and what i mean by that is that there is a lack of natural motion.

When bloom was riding her bike, it just didn't look very natural;

Also, in this scene the skirts and hair looked very stiff [but i won't take that much into my heart because it's a paused frame]; otherwise, i really love the textures!

And, Stella has her "staff' back! I guess it's not much of a staff now, as it's very small so it would be more appropriate to call it a Wand or a Scepter, but it's there!

I'm a little dissapoited with the background characters here because they all look very bland. Characters in the original were all so fun and unique that even background fairies, who never even spoke, were people's favourites because of their designs.

Through design, we got the gist that they had different personalities and that they all came from different planets all over the magical dimension, where different types of clothing were trendy. It breathed life into the universe without needing tiring exposition about it.

Here, their styles just look very similar to each other, and they all are quite boring.

On another note, i think Alfea looks very stunning as always, and i really do like the design of the castle. I just think it looks a little bit less unique to the original.

Also, this fairy's design looks extremely simple compared to the winx's transformation. This just lowkey makes me upset because, at least for the modern fairy transformations, the background girls always looked top-notch and even had more complex looking desings when compared to the winx.

+ a clearer look of her scepter > I think the intention behind this design was to make it look like the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross or Queen Mary II's Orb, but the colour choices and star at the bottom make it look a bit tacky. I don't hate the idea of the design, but i think a different colour scheme would have made it look more regal. And I say this because thinking back to her original staff, it was quite sleek and luxurious looking because of it.

THE SPECIALISTS!

The scene where they appear is so blurry and quick that there's not much to talk about, but i definitely enjoyed what could be seen during those 2 seconds.

Brandon being with his full body upside down, you go king! We can't see any of them that well, but Sky looks cute, even if he's blurry, and Brandom, they could never make me not like Brandom. Riven looks like he's scowling, so that's good for him.

Also, I think the details of the uniforms look very cool, but something about the Board is giving plastic toy for me. The ship also look alright and other then that, I love that they had some falir whilst coming out of it.

some quick design commentary

I still don't love their daily outfit designs; actually, i think i'm starting to dislike them even more.

Musa and Stella's faces still look very weird (I think for Stella using yellow eyeshadows really was a BAD choice)

I like that their exploring outifts hate different-looking bottoms and that all of them have their hair tied up in different ways [not sure what's going on with Bloom's bangs tho];

Also still on the exploring scene i love that Aisha is the one leading even tho Bloom is on scene :p

The Trix are honestly so iconic that i get very happy just by seeing them, even though i don't love theirs looks. They still look good, and I like that the bit with their initials looks that way, but something is off about the texture for me.

That was all from me. I didn't want to be very negative, and overall, i do think that it looks fine, y'know. And i do have high hopes for the storytelling and for it to be good!

Also, i don't think it needs to be just like the original series for it to be good, but I have set expectations. Because Winx Club was my childhood show, and now, as an adult looking back at it, I can see so many great aspects of the show that still hold up to this day.

And for me it just doesn't make sense how people back then could do such great things, and nowadays they can't produce something that's up to the same standars y'know [Winx Club Seasons 5-8, I'm looking at you].

Anyway, i'm very excited to watch it when it comes out. What are your thoughts?

[girldragongizzard]

Chapter 15: Draconinity

What can I do?

The funny thing is, the police are actually holding my territory for me while I’m away. Whitman is likely in no shape to tangle with them while they’re there. And I can hear that they’re still there.

I can also hear that Wilhelm and Waits are not directly hurting each other, but still facing off, with low cries and calls coming from the direction of where I’d left them.

Maybe I can salvage this?

I’m at a loss.

And I’m hurting more.

I’m hunkered down in the garage, breathing as long and slow and deeply as my body will let me, which isn’t very, and I’m trying to make sense of the messages on my tablet. But there are too many words and I’m too discombobulated.

I can see, though, that more of my humans have joined the group. That’s a good thing.

And I get the gist that the Council sessions adjourned unresolved shortly after tonight’s action began, with notes of alarm and confusion from Council members.

Oh, shit, my back is starting to really sting.

I don’t think it’s as bad as what Astraia suffered at the claws of Loreena, but it makes me think of going to the vet anyway, and I reflexively let out a few nervous knocks of I guess it’s laughter.

Then I fall silent and still and wait for Waits and Wilhelm to zero in on me.

Which it doesn’t sound like they’re doing.

OK.

Shift.

Chapman’s still keeping tabs on me, if more slowly.

A couple moments later, a message from hir appears in our group chat.

“Meg. A child approaches.”

And then I hear the scrunch of gravel under sneaker.

Oh, no.

“What do?” I type.

And just as I hear and see the child come into view, the reply returns, “I’m not Morphius.”

“Oh,” a soft, low voice says, and I look up.

As I’ve gotten older and less human and further removed from my middle school years, I’ve had a harder time gauging the ages of, well, all humans. But if I were to hazard a guess, I’d want to say that this one was around 13 or 14. Voice just recently dropped from testosterone, most likely. Maybe that would be 15.

They’re small, still, though. Mousy brown shag cut for hair, and a T-shirt with a graphic I do not understand on it. Basketball shorts and some brand of garish sports shoes that are probably reasonably supportive and cost more than the amount of use they’re likely to see is worth.

In the night, even in the light cast by the bulb by the back door, they seem to glow to me. Not just the details that are in ultraviolet, but an overall lightness in color than the surrounding world. That’s their heat.

I’m used to that from whoever I look at now, and have been since I first really noticed it, but it’s a detail that really strikes me in the moment for some reason.

“What are you doing in there, little guy?” the teenager asks.

Little. I’m bigger than they are.

I look down at my tablet, hit home, hit the ACC app, and then hit the words, “Am girl.”

“Oh!” They say. “I’m a boy, uh, he/him. My name is Jeremy. You look hurt. Were you fighting those other dragons dad’s watching?”

“Yes,” I say.

Speaking of the other dragons, I hear that squabbling die down considerably. And then, as Jeremy continues to talk to me, I watch as Waits hops into view down at the intersection of the alleyway and the street, looks down at the two of us talking, and then continues on toward their home on foot without a word.

Both choppers are getting quieter, too, and there aren’t any sirens anymore.

“I didn’t know dragons could talk,” he says. “Though, I guess that makes sense, because some of you can in the stories the movies are based on. But, I don’t think anybody has said that real dragons can talk.” He squints and tilts his head. “You were a person once, right?”

“Yes. No,” I answer. Then take the time to type out, “Therian.” I’m making a pretty educated guess he’ll know what that means.

“Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense,” he replies.

“Other dragons AAC?” I ask, and then point at my tablet and tilt my head.

“I guess? I don’t know what AAC is, but I’m guessing you mean text to speech?” he asks. “Obviously, yeah. I mean, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic is literally still leading his country, and done interviews over text, so, yeah.” He shrugs. “Though, everyone says that’s not going to last. We learned that in school, anyway.”

That interests me. That gives me the idea that what I want to do locally should be possible, even if I have no real clear idea about how to go about it.

I want to talk to Jeremy a lot more, right now, so I go to start asking another question.

But he says, “Look, I’m supposed to close the garage door and get back to my dad. And you can’t be in there when I close it. He’s gonna wonder why I’m taking so long. You know what I’m saying?”

“Yes,” I say, and move to put my tablet away.

I don’t really need to interview Jeremy to do my research and thinking. It was just nice to be talking to someone who’s not trying to hurt me tonight, really.

“Can I ask you something?” he asks me as I start to walk out of the garage, with him backing up.

“Yes,” I say.

“What’s it like –”

I interrupt him by saying, “Stop.” Then I say, slowly, “Yes. No.”

“Oh,” he says, kind of glumly. Then cheers up a bit, “That’s why you were using the tablet for the other words. Me dumb. Got it. Um.. Do you like being a dragon?”

I give him a good cat smile and say, “Yes.”

“Cool.”

—

I don’t fly home.

I crawl by way of one of the bridges that Waits hasn’t claimed as their lair. And I’m quiet about it.

It takes me longer, but I manage to make it.

The only problem is that the police are still camped out on my block with lights flashing. Especially in front of my fire escape.

So, if I want to get back onto my roof, I’ve gotta fly. And if I do, they’ll probably see or hear me land. And I don’t know and can’t see what’s waiting up there for me. The heat of the day is still radiating off the top of it and giving me no clues.

Instead, I bypass my building by circling around it from two blocks away and head toward the parking garage that’s a street East and a street South of my building. Well within my territory. It’s not as tall as my building, but it’ll give me a decent lookout.

While I’m making this journey, I’m thinking to myself, “You can never go home.” Which sure is melodramatic, but it feels like it fits anyway. Too much of my life has been never-being-able-to-go-home before this, anyway.

And I’m also out of immediate contact with my friends, because I’m walking and I can’t chat on my tablet while doing that.

But I do feel a couple more shifts from Chapman, and in the process learn that they seem to have figured out where I’m going and plan to meet me there. And when I sneak in via the Southern-most entrance to the structure, from the alley and down a set of steps to the bottom floor, Chapman’s there.

“Don’t go to the roof,” sie says. “That’s where the helicopter that I altered ended up landing, and they’ve got people there guarding it. Please also don’t ask questions.”

“Yes,” I say.

“You’re injured,” sie leans in to look at my shoulder and back. “That looks really nasty. No wonder you didn’t fly.”

“Yes,” I respond.

“I’m worried about the injuries you’re all doing to each other,” Chapman says, almost poking at it. “It’s not good for any of you, and I doubt any doctors or vets will serve you, with the way things are going right now. Those gashes on Astraia looked like they should kill her. I’m hoping they don’t even make her sick, but all I can do is hope. For now.”

Now that I’m in the light of the entrance of the parking garage, which isn’t great, but works wonderfully for my eyes, I can see my injury clearly.

Oh, yeah, this is part of how I know what my markings look like! I haven’t mentioned that in the excitement of everything else, but I can preen myself almost like a swan. There are still a few scales here and there that I can’t reach with my tongue or eyes, but I can reach those with my wing claws. I mean, obviously, I can’t look at the back of my own head.

It’s a gnarly gash and kinda scary to look at.

It’s not muscle deep, though, I don’t think. Looks like it made it to my subcutaneous fat. There’s a layer of white visible that’s marked with red blood. And it did bleed a lot, because there’s dried blood all over my back. But it is bleeding much less now.

Astraia’s wounds cut into muscle, visibly from across the street.

“Yes,” I say again.

“I’m thinking you should go for the other parking garage that’s even further away,” Chapman suggests. “You’ll want a good place to do your morning calls, away from the police presence, with lots of escape options and decent visibility. But it’s still just barely in your territory. When you chased Hippoface out of town, you got their territory.”

Oh, that’s what I had thought might have been the case.

Sie holds up a finger and says, “That’s not like some dragon custom, either. Not from what I’m seeing globally. There is no dragon culture. You all work things out and are making your own cultures regionally, locally to you, based on who you were to begin with, from what I can see.” Sie looks at the floor. “Which is admittedly a lot more than most people can see. But I’m sure historians and dracopsychologists will look back and come to the same conclusions.” Sie looks pointedly back at me. “Most of you were all raised by humans. You have dragon feelings, but you think like humans. You interpret your feelings from a human cultural perspective.”

I tilt my head quizzically. I’m going to have to think about that. It feels like it matches some of my previous thoughts and observations, but now I’m not sure how to untangle it all. What is draconic and what is human?

“Come,” Chapman says and starts heading back up the stairs I just came down. “Let’s get you to your new spot, and I’ll fill you in on the way while I text everyone to update them on your status.”

“Yes.”

—

The next morning. Saturday. August 31. A full week since I first woke up as a physical dragon.

I lead the morning cries again, but this time from the southern parking garage.

And while I’m doing that, I’m thinking about the dreams I’ve been having for the past week. I know I’ve been having them. But I only remember them vaguely. Until last night’s dreams.

It had seemed like the dreams of Friday night a week ago, that ushered in my new life, had been the last vivid dreams of my life, but not anymore.

That night I’d dreamt that I’d gone back to school naked. College, I think. One of those nightmares. Only, when I looked down and discovered that that was the case, I solved the problem by tearing off my disguise, and spent the rest of the dream as the dragon I was always meant to be. And it was great!

Last night, on the other hand, I dreamt that I was touring the world and talking to dragons from different communities, and learning how they did things. It was like a continuation of Chapman’s discussion with me. Maybe like I was processing it, internalizing it, and making sense of it.

It was also, most of it, a really great dream. But it was clearly a dream, because no matter where I went I was able to talk to any dragon just as if we both spoke English perfectly fine. Only, it was dream speech, with no actual words most of the time. We were just sort of conversationally thinking at each other with our dream syrinxes.

I don’t think that itself was a breakthrough of any sort. Just a convention I sort of learned from shows like Star Trek with their universal translator, or other science fiction or fantasy stories where everyone just speaks the same language, which is usually English. I’ve had a lot of experience with linguistic barriers this past week, but it’s still all in the context of English for everyone around me, including myself. So, I haven’t been training myself to think outside of that language, obviously.

But it’s got me thinking about the morning territory calls.

I’ve been calling them challenging cries, or calls of challenge. And, yes, we’ve all been using them outside of the morning routine, and I used my own last night to terrorize two other dragons.

But it really feels different in the morning.

It’s almost more like we’re just calling out our own names to let each other know we’re still alive, still here, and to say something like, “Good morning, everyone!”

And it especially feels like that when every dragon I’ve met personally, plus at least one more, has been injured in some way.

Anyway, to hear it from Chapman, apparently a lot of dragons worldwide do fight upon seeing each other, especially when caught in one another’s territory. But not all of them. There are some corners of the globe where that’s not happening at all. Usually specific towns or small cities in the smaller countries. Where the population is big enough to still pack the dragons nearly as tightly as here, but in a smaller area. But where the local culture is just somehow conducive to not thinking in terms of the whole alpha/beta/omega garbage that got misinterpreted from wolves and spread around so thoroughly where European languages might be spoken, even in trade.

I’ve also read that that garbage is still kind of applicable to wolves. And some – lupologists? – people who study wolves still stick to that interpretation and provide lots of evidence for it from the wild. But then lots of other evidence is provided to counter various claims of the theory. And the general conclusion that is agreed upon is that some sort of anthropomorphization is going on that needs to be kept in check.

Anyway, dragons aren’t wolves!

We are the furthest thing from pack hunters entirely!

Most of us are very solitary ambush predators, from the looks of it. And our instincts tend to make us very decent guardians. Which matches all the myths.

I do wonder, for personal reasons that haunt the back of my mind, if some of those guardian instincts come from the need to protect clutches of eggs as much as needing to claim feeding grounds and chase competitors away.

I also wonder what my hoarding instincts are meant for. Collecting food for lean months? Or collecting something for mating rituals? Or, what?

I’d take the time to look it up for birds, like crows and ravens, that are known to collect shiny things. But less than halfway through the morning roll call, police sirens from around my building start up and, I presume, start heading my way.

Just as expected.

Now to try out escape plan A, as proposed and arranged by Chapman.

Without any humans around, sie felt much more free in introducing me to what sie can do. Sie did ask me to swear to secrecy as well, but not the same kind of vow. Not as verbally binding.

Hir vow isn’t bound by magic, by the way. It’s just a solemn promise to protect hir knowledge and sources of it, and to keep hir practices as secret and hidden as possible. With some strategic loopholes worked into the specific wording so that sie can still function and do hir practices without explicitly breaking the promise. But, failure to comply only leads to being found out.

And, sie figures that that can be bad enough.

For me, sie just asked that I don’t write any of it down, nor tell any human about any of it. Not immediately, at least.

And then sie gave me the most clichéd MacGuffin ever, which I’ve been keeping in my purse. An amulet. Or pendant, really. I’m using the word amulet because it sounds more magical.

It’s really simple looking, though.

It’s a silver chain with a big silver venus symbol on it. Like, woo, feminism!

With an emphasis on the “woo”, though.

It has Chapman’s signature style of sigils engraved all over the back of it. Which is why it’s as big as it is, because these ones are extremely complicated.

When sie’d handed it to me, sie had said, “A lot of my work takes a lot of preparation. And, I’ve been working on this one for a few years, specifically for someone like you.” Sie lowered hir head to look at me through hir brows. “I’m implying a lot there that I’m not going to explain. Suffice it to say, this might be the most vulgar craftsmanship you will witness from me for at least half a decade.” Then sie had looked over at the stairwell of the Southern parking garage and said, “I’ve also spent part of yesterday preparing this space for you, in case you needed it. And there’s a change of clothes in a duffel bag under the stairs back there. You will know when to use them.”

I had tilted my head, just as I am doing now as I pull the pendant from my purse with a single claw. I feel like putting it on is going to be really tricky, despite what sie had said. It’s not big enough to fit over my head, even without my horns. And I can’t work a clasp.

“When you need to use it, just hold the loop open with both your claws and start to slip your snout into it. It will take care of the rest,” sie had said. “It’s been pretty warm in the mornings, so it might not be so chilly. But, from what I understand, the sense of temperature might be a shock to you all the same.”

With that in mind, I do as instructed.

And everything happens exactly as sie had described.

And, realizing that, I run, slap slap slap slap, to the stairwell. On two feet. Thinking as I go, I should have done that in the stairwell!

And something feels wrong.

[zimsrightantenna]

Invader Zim + ZaDr Fan Merch Review

I bought some zadr and iz directly from @banana-zim and the gist of it is that it was very good 5/5 stars would recommend

But here are the details:

Nana was very very accommodating for my horrible financial situation and was able to indefinitely hold items for me and make arrangements with shipping to make sure I had a stable income while making the purchase, and also was very patient and kind throughout the whole process even when things were not stable on my end. I was able to plan this for months! Very trustworthy I'd say

These are the items I bought

[ID 1: A zim pillow in a plastic wrapper, and a notebook with stickers and stickiness wrapped in bubble wrap. /End ID 1]

The packaging had kept everything clean, dry and undamaged.

There was a Zim on both sides of the pillow, the colours were vibrant (though they look a little more saturated on my phone camera, no idea why) and the fabric was very soft. It has a zipper that is almost not visible, and you can open it. Inside is fluff, which you could theoretically remove to wash the pillow case though it didn't come with wash instructions. I will let Nana comment on that if there are questions!

[ID 2, 3: The zim pillow from other angles showing the backside and zipper, unzipped. /End ID 2, 3]

The post-its are cute and easy to write on, they have enough white space to get a few sentences down depending on how small you write. Here is a little thank you note ♡

[ID 4: The notebook laid out on the bubble wrap with the post-it notes and stickers on top. /End ID 4]

[ID 5: A close-up picture of the post-it notes. On the first page there is a heart drawn with a ballpoint pen and the words "Thank you Bananazim!" /End ID 5]

I got the zadr stickers for free. They have a paper-like texture and the colours seem slightly more muted than the pillow but they still look colourful in real life. I stuck one of them to the inside of my notebook and they seem to stick nicely!

[ID 6: Three stickers. The first is the swollen eyeball symbol on top of the irken symbol. The second is a heart with a space background. Inside of the heart Zim and Dib are kissing. The third is square, with Dib laying on a pillow with a blanket over his waist and an open book under his hand. Zim clings to his back. /End ID 6]

The notebook looks like this! It has saturated colours on the front and back, and a protective plastic page on either side. The front and back pages are shinier than the inside, and all pages on the inside are lined. Size A5.

[ID 7, 8: The front page of the notebook, a drawing of the black silhouettes of Zim and Dib in front of the control brains and swollen eyeball screens. The screens and Dib's eyes are coloured turquoise while Zim's eye and the control brains are coloured pink. Zim appears to sit in Dib's lap, and Dib's fingers have turquoise threads wrapped around them that go into Zim's back where his PAK is supposed to be. There is pink text reading "MY LittLE ALiEN". The lines are white. The pictures as with and without the slightly opaque plastic cover page. /End ID 7, 8]

[ID 9: A page of the notebook. It is lined from top to bottom. /End ID 9]

[ID 10: The backside of the notebook. It's black with the turquoise swollen eyeball symbol over the irken symbol. /End ID 10]

Overall I really enjoyed this, and I've already started using the notebook to keep track of my creative projects and everything I need to mend or fix in my room :)

In the reblogs I will link the Etsy shop and kofi because I don't know if tumblr hides posts with links or if that was an old bug?

☆☆☆☆☆

[izunias-meme-hole]

Top 5 supervillains?

LOOK AT THIS DUDE ASKIN' ME FOR MY TOP 5 SUPERVILLAINS!

In all seriousness though, I'll be glad to indulge, though be forewarned that my top 5 consists of supervillains from Marvel and DC, so like if this seems basic forgive me but I am allowed to be cringe in this instance because I've been dragged back into full on purgatory.

Number 1. Doctor Doom -As I've said before, I've always respected Victor, but I've never been super crazy about him. His animated and game adaptations are good but not perfect, and the movies so far have failed to get his character across in a great way, so that might've been a part of why I wasn't a Doom Superfan. Though after getting back into the absurdity and impactfulslness of superhero comics, it soon hit me... Doctor Doom is a villain made for comics. He's overdramatic, grandiose, terrifying, bombastic, egotistical, pragmatic, powerful, absurd, nuanced, insecure, lonely, the whole package placed within a suit of armor and a green cloak. He's an arrogant, tyrannical, cold hearted technological and magical genius who embodies every inch of supervillainy you could imagine, while remaining a genuinely sophisticated, and honorable figure even with his history of pettiness. Overall Doom is just one big magnificent bastard.

Number 2. The Joker - The Joker is a crook who fell into a vat of chemicals and got a clownish makeover, who ended up becoming the nemesis of Batman. While the other rouges have their particular danger levels, they all have some type of cause they're fighting for or they're purely out to benefit themselves. Joker just causes chaos, death, and suffering, for the sake of his twisted sense of humor. He is willing to kill and ruin lives in the most creative way possible, so long as he finds it funny. Yet despite how twisted he is, this evil ass clown actually can be funny. Not only that, but he's the most effective contrast to Batman, even more than the other rouges. Batman is a frightening figure with a semi-demonic visage who suffered one bad day in his youth, yet he is a hero dedicated to the cause of justice and protecting the innocent citizens of Gotham City. Joker is a colorful figure with a big 'ol grin on his face and a jovial demeanor, yet he is perfectly okay with causing as much unwarranted harm to others for the sake of artistic chaos. Ultimately, the Clown Prince of Crime is a villain that's managed to last for decades, despite the ever marching clock, for these exact reasons.

Number 3. Magneto - He's honestly on par with Joker in my honest opinion, and I'm saying this as someone who's been familiar with Erik for a LONG time thanks to the X-Men films and Evolution, and has gone through his history in the comics. Magneto is basically one of the most famous examples of a "Knight Templar" in fiction, a self-righteous figure fighting for a crusade that he deems noble at any cost. As for why he feels the need to do this? He's a holocaust survivor, it's as simple as that. The comics are the legit only piece of media that go into deeper details about Magneto's life in the concentration camps and the aftermath of that hell which only led into more hell, but that's the basic gist of what makes him tick. Magneto's lived in a world where innocent people got killed because of state approval, and he's not letting that happen again.

Number 4. Loki - Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Larry Leibber making the norse God of Mischief, the Poetic Edda's best figure, a supervillain... wasn't a bad idea. The result of that however was a wannabe king in a silly little outfit with devil horns who also happens to be Odin's adoptive son and the brother of Thor. This is inaccurate as hell and shouldn't work, yet it somehow does. He's a delightful trickster at every turn with a lot of gears consistently turning in his head, and while in the comics he's not really a villain anymore and his (in)famous run in the MCU ended on a surprisingly high note, he's still fun. Am I overrating him? Maybe.

Number 5. Lex Luthor - Superman's biggest hater being a self-made millionaire that is the embodiment of the best and worst of humanity will never not be fitting. Though if I'm being honest, I don't feel like DC has gone far enough with Lex. Still he's genuinely a pretty good villain for the man of steel to face.

[crmsndragonwngss]

I've been thinking about this since I answered the ask about gifmaking a little while back, and I've been kind of unsettled about it since. Not because I don't like sharing my process, nothing could be further from the truth, but because I realized that that process isn't entirely accessible. So here I am again with an alternative way to make gifs that's infinitely easier, way more accessible, and just as valid as the other way. I wanna stress that. Anything you put time and effort into is valid and worthwhile. No time spent on doing something you enjoy is ever wasted, not least of all anything creative

That said, this method is considerably more limited. I made gifs this way for years before my brain was quite literally hijacked by an idea I could not get out of my head and I had to learn to do it the fancy way. I was also intensely annoyed at having to rely on my shitty internet to make gifs, and I probably would have made the switch at some point regardless just for that lol

I would also like to stress that this is not necessarily a tutorial any more than the other post was, it's simply a couple of resources and more or less how to use them. Like I said in the other post, never download and install anything to your device without doing your own due diligence first!

details under the cut

So first, you need to get the video. If you're on mobile, your device should have a screen recorder built in. Use that, and be sure to turn on Do Not Disturb so you don't accidentally capture any notifications! Once you've recorded your video, you can use your device's native editing ui to trim and crop the video and adjust color. If you want effects like slow motion, I like Splice on iOS. The big thing is that it doesn't watermark your videos, but it's also just a pretty good app overall for video editing. If you're willing to pay for it, it'll also allow you to make gifs right there in the app, but it's subscription based and the price is absolutely outrageous, so I don't recommend doing that when you could just use a free online converter

Which brings me to the next step: ezgif. You probably know this one, most everyone does, I think, but if you don't, here's the basic gist of it. Select Video to Gif and upload your video there. Be sure to trim it down to seven seconds or less, or else you'll never be able to get it down below 10mb. On the next page, change the size of the gif to 540xAUTO (for Tumblr), then change the frame rate to 20 or 25. More frames means a smoother gif, but it also means a bigger gif, so play around with it to see how the frame rate affects your gif. I don't think there's really a huge difference between 20 and 25, so 20 should be sufficient. If your gif is still too big, you can select optimize and try to compress it a little. The lowest compression level is 5, so start there and go up by fives until you're satisfied. If you get the gif below 10mb and it looks bad, then you should go back and trim your video length down further and try again. After that, simply save the gif to your device and upload it wherever!

PC is more or less the same, you just need to get a third party screen recorder. You can actually use ffmpeg to screen record if you'd like (I don't have the command line for that, however, and at that point, you should just go ahead and use yt-dlp instead to get a high quality video). If the command prompt is too much, you can just use a screen recorder app instead. I like 2-Click Screen Recorder. Again, you can actually use ffmpeg on that video to create frames and then upload those to ezgif, but if you'd still rather go from video to gif, then use CapCut or a similar video editing software to trim down your video to seven seconds or less. From there, the process with ezgif is exactly the same as it is on mobile

And there you have it! Easy mobile gifs! While I do really encourage you to try the "fancy" method of making gifs, this is still a great alternative, and you can make some pretty good gifs this way. Here are some of mine I made this way before I switched:

[buttercup-art]

how did noa and vasquez meet? have they worked on any projects together? i'm also curious if they've ever gone on business trips with each other ^_^

Ooh these are very good questions!! ❤

I know I've already talked about this a bit before (and I'm going to get into more detail about it later on), but the gist of it is that they met when Hugo accidentally walked in on a meeting between Henderson and Noa, intending to talk about his upcoming promotion. Noa was getting a little heated with Henderson about something (she just overall doesn't like him, to the point where she wants him dead. Despite this, she still approaches him in a calm and calculated way, as to maintain her image), so she storms off and leaves Hugo to discuss things with his boss.

When Noa and Hugo meet again later, this time without Henderson around, they have time to properly introduce themselves to each other. However, he ends up lying about himself to her, trying to make himself seem more important than he actually is (he thought she was also a middle manager like him). Because of her ECHOeye, she immediately pulled up a file on him as soon as she saw him. She could tell he was lying right off the bat (and it takes a liar to know a liar). Instead of calling him out on this, she decides to play along and essentially manipulate him into killing Henderson for her. To do her dirty work. Not that Hugo wouldn't also benefit from it, of course. He would have a way to backup his lies by taking Henderson's place, while also getting the promotion he was working towards in the first place. It's a win-win for everyone. Well, maybe not for Henderson.

And they haven't really worked on any projects together, at least when it comes to things that don't involve business deals or any of the other Hyperion executives. Even if they both have managerial roles in their work (though Noa has a much higher position than Hugo), they're in different departments. She sorta deals more with weapons, weapon designs, engineering these weapons, etc. Hugo most likely wouldn't know too much about guns outside of shooting them lol (but maybe he could give his input on how they look? Or test out the protoypes for those new weapons?)

In terms of business trips, they have gone on them with each other! Once they're much further along in their relationship (when she finally considers them to be partners, working together as a team), they do often go off-Helios to make deals and overall discuss business with potential "clients". They usually have to go down to Pandora (those trips aren't really all that long, though. Pandora is a very dangerous place, especially for people who clearly look Hyperion) but sometimes they do go to other planets, such as Hephaestus, Promethia, and Aquator.

[rigelmejo]

So I haven't posted in a while. Little updates:

I finished arc 1 of Guardian in chinese again. So now I wont feel bad reading the book 1 english translation.

I took a break from chinese for a while then came back to read. And its interesting to me how much is stored like "2nd level down" in my memory. I don't recall words when trying to talk, after a long enough break. But I start reading, and my brain subvocalizes the hanzi and I can recall this Gist General Meaning of the words. Some words I recall their meaning and all, some just an overall general idea. But I havent forgotten much, nothing totally forgotten, and then most of the details of words come back within an hour or reading. Its surprising to me that reading chinese, memory wise, seems a LOT like reading french. I didnt expect it to be quite as similar a process. But it seems that remembering hanzi Words is as permanent as remembering french word stems/endings (or english ones). Reading skills have long staying power, and don't degrade much even with long breaks between usage. This is Excellent news. Since I don't have time to study much for the next several months, so I'm glad reading skills will stay as good as they are Or Improve if I read, without needing maintenance study. I'd like to improve my listening skill too, because being able to understand audiobooks would increase the chinese novels I could get through that I want to read (audiobooks would be faster than reading). But I dont have time yet for listening reading combo study, and time will tell if i do that activity WHEN and IF listening skills also gradually solidify then become reliable so one can study more sporadically and still see improvement.

My french skills are. Fascinating. I havent purposely studied in like over 5 years. I dont get that much French exposure (my google is in french but tbh google email and notifications do not use a big variety of words). But I've noticed a dramatic improvement in listening skills. My french reading skills have been fine for years. Theyre at a level where I can read like a high schooler: so i can read fiction for adults, but some words or literary devices go over my head and I have to just guess, the more in depth text analysis of themes might be a challenge, but just getting the story/information/most details is fine. I havent had to limit what i read in french in ages. Its just a matter of in french i feel like i did in high school where some fiction makes me "think hard" to grasp some points, versus english where i dont run into needing to Think Hard like that unless I'm reading something written pre-1800s. Anyway my point is: reading skills have been stable a while in french. Listening skills have markedly improved despite very little purposeful practice. I think I should probably start listening to podcasts or audiobooks some point soon. Through scattered listening to B1 and B2 comprehensible audio on youtube, and french shows, im to a point where if the audio has visual context i can follow everything going on and learn new words pretty easy. So now its just listening to french when i have no visuals to rely on, that's a struggle. I remember a few years back, i could not listen to french shows id just get confused, i needed the subtitles to follow anything. My ears mustve gotten used to french or just gotten used to Listening Better to things. Anyway, if i start trying and French Listening Only materials ill mention some progress.

Anyone have any french audiobooks or podcasts/fiction story podcasts they enjoy???

Japanese. also in a weird place. ToT. My biggest hurdle isnt even japanese: its being too chicken to challenge myself. I can play Yakuza Ishin in japanese and follow the main idea and objectives and main points in scenes. Yet i have NOT played more cause it feels Draining to grasp all that info from context and im lazy. I know if i watch a show in only japanese, with japanese subtitles, i know enough to grasp the main plot. But im lazy and its a LOT of effort to see the japanese subtitles and match new sounding words with kanji and try to remember the new pronunciation AND pay attention to the brand new plot. So i fall back onto english subs. I KNOW i can read japanese novels with a click dictionary, its just such SLOW reading, and if i just read while listening and Guess all unknown words its mentally exhausting even though its faster. I even have the easy peasy Glossika Japanese audio to listen to, but im still on lesson 36 because i have to Pay Full Attention when i listen to new lessons and im too lazy to listen with full attention ToT. I can watch lets plays in japanese, i understand them, but the effort of focusing is so much MORE than it would take if i just went to watch an english lets play where i can just hear in the background and follow it fine not even looking at it.

I am at a POINT in japanese where I CAN just learn by doing now! Which is huge! Its an incredibly useful milestone to be at! And makes future study, in the long run, much less daunting to plan as it can become just Do Stuff In Japanese to study. But since im at the beginning of this Comprehend Enough to Learn More from Context phase... learning new stuff from context still takes SO MUCH EFFORT. ITS SO DRAINING. Paying enough attention to comprehend things ive studied is exhausting, paying extra attention to new stuff and guessing what it means is draining and requires a Lot of focus. I know this is just how this stage goes but. Im so lazy.

What i need is something in japanese im SO interested in, that it drives me to engage with it even though I'm drained because im so Curious and Interested in understanding, so i push through until comprehending gets easier. Ideally, a game or show, something that plays so i am Forced to frequently proceed to the next sentence. Because with books and manga i will just stop and dwell on a paragraph for 2 hours and not learn much new stuff.

This stage is especially grating because im not in the stage with french or chinese anymore. I can listen to chinese shows in the background, check my phone while listening, not use the chinese subtitles, pay half attention while drawing. Chinese audiobooks require More attention, but i can listen to them walking or driving without subtitles/transcript and still follow the plot. With french Im to that same comfortable point with shows and youtube videos, not audio only stuff yet but i dont Engage with french audio only stuff. My point is Japanese is the only one where Im really feeling that INTENSE FOCUS drain whenever i try to engage with challenging new stuff in japanese. I dont feel an intense drain with chinese unless I read one of my harder reading level Print Novels or a higher vocab audio only material. I dont feel it with french unless Im doing it with audio only material. I feel the drain constantly with japanese.

[ms-cartoon]

What do you think of the HH/HB google leaks? Any thoughts on them?

Sorry that it took me a while to reply to this. Had to sort out my thoughts.

Someone kinda asked me the same thing about HB leaks. About what I thought about it or if I've seen it? I've written a few paragraphs containing that question. I'm not gonna spoil whatever I saw in those leaks to the people who are reading this, but the gist of it is that I'm fully convinced that Helluva Boss will possibly NEVER improve. The writers (and you know who I'm talking about) don't seem to care at all about us critiques or what we have to say about this show. They don't bother to look over anything that might need improvement and they probably seem to think they've made the greatest masterpiece of all time. Apparently, the fans seem to think so too, and that's why there will probably be no improvement.

HB might as well be a routine of what happens in these episodes.

A**holes like Blitzo, Stolas, or Loona act inappropriately, how they're acting seems to affect those around them, someone calls them out and they start to realize the error of their ways and the episode makes it seem like they're going to change for the better only for them to not learn a damn thing and go back to being a**holes to everyone the next episode.

Everyone makes fun of Moxxie, Moxxie starts to feel insecure or inferior, suddenly he has one of those moments where gets a change of heart and starts to toughen up, the episode makes it seem like he's going to start being brave from now on only for the next episode to repeat the same plot point and we go back to Moxxie learning how to stand up for himself.

Octavia is a depressed teenager who is bothered by her father and the things that he's done that affected her. Whether or not she runs away, she's pissed off at him for the rest of the episode. By the end of the episode, someone gives her a pep talk and makes excuses for Stolas's actions and she starts to get a change of heart and forgive her father, the show ONCE AGAIN using Octavia as a plot point to make us pity Stolas and make it seem like he's a misunderstood, innocent, uwu sweetheart who doesn't mean any harm and only wants love.

Millie is just Millie....

And that pretty much explains the leaks that I've seen. So yeah... no kind of improvement whatsoever. (Though, the Octavia thing is a bit different).

As for Hazbin Hotel, I'll just speak about the ones that caught my attention the most....

I've been looking forward to this upcoming show for a while. My hype for it doesn't click as much as it used to, but I still would feel excited a little bit every time I see an update or something. Can't say I consider it to be the greatest show ever, cuz it has a lot of flaws that I've noticed too, but I do consider it to be more entertaining and interesting than Helluva Boss.

I'm fully convinced the HH might just falter as a show altogether somehow like HB, but all I could do is just hope for the best of this soon-to-be tv series.

As for what I think of the leaks? Well, for starters.....

Like I said, I'm not gonna give any details about the leaks. However, the first one I saw was Adam's script and sheet and honestly, his character is just as illogical as his character design!

From what I've read, I think he might just come off as this silly, goofball villain that everyone will love. Which is fine! There are plenty of antagonists who are goofy in tv shows. Like Dr. Doofenshmirks (Phineas and Ferb), Bill Cypher (Gravity Falls), Plankton (Spongebob), Izma (Emporers New Groove), Discord (My Little Pony), Even the freakin Joker!! Etc.

But with Adam, it's just... I dunno. Some things just don't seem to fit with his character. So for one... dude is an angel, but he doesn't seem to... act like one? We're supposed to see angels as good characters. We would expect to see them as the kind of people who would do NO wrong and are polite, well-behaved, and overall just good people unlike all the sinners in hell who are not very good people and don't care at all about wanting to be redeemed. And reading Adam's character as well as the script... I don't see any of that. Viv deliberately made him out to be this immature and carefree jackass who likes to rule over people. He's also pretty sexist. If anything, he just comes off to be another one of Hell's demons, looks and characteristics alone. And this is super ironic cuz he's supposed to be head of all the angel military and protector of heaven. You'd think that in that case, Viv would leave out the childish character in him. Plus, I have a pretty good feeling that the only reason he kills and exorcises demons in hell is because he just likes to do it. Like- it's not because it's his job or he feels he's supposed to or anything. He just does it because.... it's fun.

Oh and also, this one likes to cuss up a storm too......

Yeah... that doesn't exactly seem very "Angel" fitting. Honestly, I think Adam needs a whole new character upgrade. For someone who's supposed to be an angel made from heaven, he doesn't seem like one, let alone look like one. Not to mention it just makes Charlie's goal absolutely pointless. Like, she wants to redeem sinners, and yet we have an angel created in heaven who is an a**hole and says offensive things about women. What's the point in turning sinners into good people if they're probably gonna act the same way in heaven?

Of course, not to say that the angels can't at least act like villains. What I'm saying is, they shouldn't be considered evil since we're supposed to see them as good people. But they can just seem like antagonists since our protagonists are demons and we're supposed to side with them in a way. The angels attempting to kill them would just be bad for us viewers since that's NOT what we want. We don't want them to kill our protagonists, but since they're just doing their job as angels, we can't consider them evil or villains. Cuz in the end, they're just doing what they're instructed by heaven to do, and not because they wanna do it if that makes sense.

One of the main things that caught me off guard with Angel's design was his extra pair of arms.

Okay, so you see how his whole skin (or fur, I guess) color is white? Or white with a very faint tint of pink? Looking at his second pair of arms, I thought that it was his bare skin and that it was short-sleeved. But, apparently, his white arms are just his... white gloves! That caught me completely off guard and I was ultimately thrown off by this detail. Like, if Viv was gonna make him wear an extra pair of gloves, why can't they be another color?? Why couldn't they be the same as the first pair??? They legit had me thinking it was a simple short sleeve.... but nope!! He's just wearing really long gloves. For real, does he NOT get hot wearing that???

As for Angel Dust as a character? To put it simply..... well... he's just as flawed as every other character created by Viv. It's a little funny for me to say, cuz I don't even hate him completely? Initially, I did think he was awesome... like he's someone you'd want to be friends with. But now... he's just another Vivzie character I can hardly take pity for no matter what kinda bullsh*t he goes through cuz in the end, he don't deserve pity.

He's like Stolas in a way; he gets abused and manipulated by someone but has no problem acting like a douche to other people around him. And we are expected to take pity on him, cuz "Ooh, he can't help it! He's always abused and raped by Val! He has every right to be an a**, insult people around him, and cause trouble. Poor Angel!!"

Like... no....

As we all know, Angel Dust is a VERY OPENLY gay dude, and proud of it too. He's very sexual, likes to flirt and have sex with dudes (women too sorta, if they pay him more), sex jokes 24/7 with this man, and overall just like d*cks. Did I forget to mention he's gay? Yeah, what's unlikable about his character, and I may have mentioned something like this before, he's your typical gay man who just likes to have sex and is super perverted, and it is NOT a very good representation of the lgbt community. Viv has been doing that a lot with her characters and it's just flat-out annoying. He's just another walking fanservice!

Another thing that is annoying, not to mention confusing, is that he's a sexual character we're supposed to laugh at because he's sexual, and yet at the same time, we're supposed to take pity on him cuz he has a pimp who sexually abuses him? This is the kinda thing that happened with HB too;

Stolas flirts with Blitzo, harassing him and manipulating him. Blitzo does the same thing with his coworkers, stalking them, sexually harassing them, and even threatening to rape them at one point and all that was supposed to be painted as funny, when really it's not. The same thing happens with Angel; he makes sex jokes while also being a flirt with all the dudes around him and we're supposed to find this comedic and funny. But then he has a pimp who is just beyond cruel to Angel, sexually harassing him, raping him, very abusive, and in this case, we're supposed to cry and take pity on Angel?

....So, which is it?? Are we expected to laugh at his trauma or not?? Like, PICK ONE!!!

Why are we even laughing at the one thing that's supposed to depress him???

It doesn't even make sense with him as a character, because he'll go having lots of sex with folks, making sex jokes, brag about how hot he is, about how much he likes to get laid, flirt with other dudes, offer a blowjob out of nowhere, etc. and he'll feel all proud of, would gladly do all that sh*t again. But then minutes later, when someone does the EXACT SAME THING TO HIM, he'll start to feel hurt, harassed, or abused.

Again....Which is it!!!?? PICK ONE!!!

Another thing I notice is that his sheet mentions that he has trouble trusting people he meets. What exactly does Viv mean by that? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if someone doesn't have trust in you, then they would be a bit... standoffish. They would probably be aloof, not even wanting to make small talk, probably wouldn't even want to be your friend. Y'know just someone with trust issues. With Angel? I didn't see ANY of that in the pilot! I barely even saw it in the comic. Angel was super quick to become friends with Charlie and Vaggie. Albeit, he acts like a douche, he's still comfortable enough to crack jokes around them and is quick to accept the free housing they offered. If anything, he just takes advantage of them, causing trouble and making them look bad. Not to mention that he felt a little bad when he saw the sad look on Charlie's face and initially wanted to comfort her.

Then there was the ADDICT mv by the end where Angel scowls at Charlie and turns away from her. Why are we suddenly seeing him acting so mean?? And it's not mean like "It's just a prank bro." kinda mean. It's mean like, "Don't talk to me!". THAT is the only time where we see him having trust issues, and that's it! And then I look back at the pilot, the comic, and these audition scripts where he is having normal conversations with Vaggie and Charlie all the while being a little friendly with them. Does he have trouble trusting people or doesn't he???

And y'all can't tell me "Oh, it probably took him a while to start trusting Charlie and Vaggie." This dude spent two weeks with them! Even in that time, the only communication Angel should have with them is small talk and cold shoulders.

I honestly don't know what to expect from Angel when the show comes out. I'm just hoping he won't be totally botched like the majority of the characters in HB. But considering the rate that it's going, it's more than likely.

I actually like Husk a lot, so I really hope they don't screw up him in this series.

Not sure if there's much I can say about his character yet? All I know is that he's a really grumpy Garfield who likes drinking more than he likes eating.

I will say something about his design though. I don't totally find his look ugly.... and that's kinda the problem. So Husk is supposed to be an old dude. Like in his 60s or something. But the only trait he has to that is his gruff deep voice. The rest of him?? I guess some of Viv's characters just can't exist without them looking like you wanna simp for them, no matter if their designs don't match their character traits. If you want Husk to be an old grump, then make him LOOK like one. Have him be like Grunkle Stan from Gravity. At least give him a beer gut or something since he likes to drink a lot!

While we're on the topic of beers, I kinda agree with Vaggie with her comment about the bar. The whole point of Charlie's hotel project is to counsel any of the guests that come and visit. Help them cope with any sort of trauma or depression they have. Turn them into good people. Help them get over any kind of addiction they have. I really don't think the whole bar thing is gonna help any alcoholics who wanna drink until they sink. If anything they're just tempting them to show up and ask for a drink just by having the bar there.

I've read Val's sheet and scripts and judging by those alone, I just know he's going to end up being another villain we are not going to take seriously at all. I don't even think I could call him a villain. I agree with what @showtoonzfan mentioned in one of their posts, he comes off as a school bully, your typical pimp who considers his prostitutes to be his property, and will be quick to get angry if he doesn't get his way. He'll probably say something like this to Angel, "I own you! I control you!" And I might just end up laughing cuz, of course he gonna say that, he's a pimp. And all pimps act like this (sarcastic voice).

That's pretty much all I could say for now. If you're curious about any others, I can try to think about it and give my input.

[contractbound]

more chen/yu vale thoughts, but specifically related to the main world quest series.

my thoughts unrelated to the questline can be found here

978 words

overall, i found the questline interesting, and a welcome addition to what we already knew. the echoes of an offering artifact set painted a compelling but incomplete picture. much of it was expanded on in the questline, along with other things being introduced, allowing for more clear understanding. unsurprisingly, i came out of the questline still harboring questions, but that can only be expected, so i'm not discontent. having this much to chew on is fine enough for me, for now.

one thing these quests established that felt like a breath of fresh air was how they blurred the line between "adep/tus" and "non-adep/tus". in particular, fu/jin's dialogue about how "no one is born an adep/tus, and no one stays an adep/tus forever" stood out to me. i imagine among mortals in-universe, the divide between adep/ti and non-adep/ti can seem clear-cut. some could consider it a divide between species, lifespans, ability, power, and knowledge — what is second nature to one party may be unfathomable to the other. so, i find moments like these interesting when gen/shin blurs the lines between us.

this is a little tangential, but specifically in the case of mortals, adep/ti have been adep/ti for their entire lifespan and more, so from their perspective, we may as well have been adep/ti forever. since the game follows the perspective of a new arrival to tey/vat as well, it's possible for players to develop a similar perspective. adep/ti were adep/ti long before the traveler had arrived, so we may give off the initial impression that we are eternal, and easily identified. there are a good few cases though, where gen/shin states the contrary.

in particular, hearing the perspectives of other adep/ti is invaluable to me, especially from someone like fu/jin. many of us tend to be proud, and at times imposing, but fu/jin isn't like that. she's modest, perhaps even to her detriment. she has the experience and the humbleness required to reflect on existence as an adep/tus in a more raw and honest way. if only she could have a little more confidence in herself and her abilities....

another individual that stood out to me particularly strongly was ling/yuan. it's nothing earth-shattering or profound; i just relate to her, to an extent. it hit close to home how she was more isolated, and couldn't understand the whims and tastes of mortals. there had been a few times where i too thought about what it might be like if everything "reset", so to speak, and humans no longer interfered with the environment. still, there was never any real desire or effort behind those thoughts; it was only idle musings. after all, the lives and desires of mortals were intertwined with mine for most of my life, whether or not i want to accept it.

still, i can also understand being stuck to one's ways. i can understand going about your life thinking certain behaviours are simply your nature, and you have no desire (or perhaps not even the ability) to go against it. it also resonated with me when she had to come to terms with the fact she'd gone against her "nature", and felt compelled to understand more. i hope to hear more of her perspective in the future.

a final thing that stood out to me particularly strongly was chen/yu vale's former god — fu/jin, ling/yuan, and herb/lord's former master. not much information was given, but it was enough to sound suspiciously familiar. how this "unnamed god" was described makes me wonder if she's the same god i served before mor/ax came along. i don't want to go into too much detail, but i'll write down the gist of my thoughts.

for one, fu/jin described this god as having "made many dreams come true". this is probably the single line that gives my suspicions the most substance. it sounds like something that would have been within my former lord's power and jurisdiction, considering they ate dreams in excess during the war. in tey/vat, "dream" is a word that holds a certain weight — i doubt such wording of fu/jin's dialogue was unintentional. there's also the matter of my personal connection to dreams within my canon, but i'll write about that another time.

another thing that sounded familiar to me was fu/jin describing the god as having "gone mad seeking the position of a god who may rule this world, or perhaps seeking survival". while as of now, i personally have no conclusive knowledge of the reasoning behind my former god's motives (and may never attain it), these sentiments fall in line with some possibilities i've thought of.

the morality of the ar/chon war isn't clear-cut. it's been established many times that bloodshed was the only option. whether i forgive or absolve my former god for what they've done is another story entirely, but we cannot assume certain gods are wholly good while others are wholly bad, especially not during a time like the ar/chon war. i had been considering for some time now if perhaps the prospect of power had driven them mad, or if they simply threw morality out the window just to survive. either way, it was affirming to see fu/jin describe my exact thoughts.

thinking back on their powers, and on their affinity for dreams, i've wondered for some time too whether or not their abilities had a more benevolent use. had their spent their whole reign mistreating their subjects, or was there a time where they treated humans' dreams kindly? could the ar/chon war have changed or corrupted them? if fu/jin and i truly do share the same former lord, i suppose my questions are answered. but until either the game's canon or my own memories confirm this, i can only continue to speculate.

regardless, i feel no sympathy for them. whether their temperament was innate or acquired, that doesn't change a thing.

[lqfiles]

HIII, you have literally inspired me to start writing smau and i wanted to ask if you could give some tips? like what apps do you use, do you just come up with the storyline along the way or do you plan it, etc. BTW I LOOVE U, YOURE MY FAV.

OMGGG you guys flatter me so much 😭😭 I LOVE YOU TOO I FEEL HONOURED TO BE YOUR FAVE <333 idk if i’m even the best person to get inspired by or even ask for tips because this is only my second attempt at an smau but i’ll try my best!!

i use social maker for both my tweets and messages, i know there is also social dummy. unfortunately both are removed from the app store </3. i’ve seen people use alternatives like memi message BUT if you have downloaded either social maker or dummy before, just go to your purchased apps and search it on the “not on phone” section and search it.

i usually come up with a gist of what i want my story to be like. e.g the tropes i want to make and the overall plot of it like the main events (like for score that goal, i knew i wanted it to be strangers to lovers where mc was smitten over jisung and joined his club in order to get w him, while for ptp i knew i wanted e2l in which mc had to deal with haechan disturbing her but eventually grows to love him for it)

for both stg and ptp i did NOT come up with a full plot, i literally only finished the full plot for stg around the winter wonders chapter while i actually still do NOT have the plot for ptp finished 😂😂😅 like we’re going into this story with good vibes and prayers..

i remember i had answered this question before in more detail ughh i wish i remembered what i said but my tip when it comes to smaus specifically is to be as unhinged and crazy as you want, people seem to really love silly stuff and just random events as well as a interesting plot so just make sure to have fun and be as random as you want ^^ the whole reason i even started score that goal was because i read stories that were so unhinged and crazy i wanted to try it myself lmao

[icecoldwilliams]

𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 ( 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐋: 𝑫𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑳 𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑨 ) | ✲・*:✲・*:･･

As per the poll over on my hub (months ago, everyone say thanks life!), also bc my girls been through enough let her be unhinged : For more info on this verse, see: 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑

❄️ - Goes without saying, Nina wasn't naturally born with the devil gene like Kazuya, Jin, and presumably Kazumi. Her DNA was biologically altered to converge with Ogre's, so technically she contains a mutated and imperfect form of the devil gene. (For new lovelies, this verse is based off the old fandom belief that Ogre was the og origin of the gene & the theory that Heihachi spliced Nina's blood w Ogre's during her cryosleep) Bc of this, and oversight on those responsible for Heihachi's experiments part, her body isn't naturally accustomed to it's effects, let alone built to handle them. It's likely each full on devil episode she has takes a tremendous toll on her body and overall health. To what extent however, remains unknown. Due in part to her own stubborn insistence on hiding and pushing through any pain she goes through to the best of her ability, and also in part to how Nina rarely experiences her devil transformation in it's full capacity (y'know, with the wings and the horns and all that good stuff).

❄️ - Bc I'm a sucker for symbolism, Nina's devil form design contains a few hints towards her connection with Ogre. First and most noticeably the markings on her skin - this was not intended to match Devil Jin's design, but actually Ogre's newer Tekken mobile design ( which... tbh I like better than the jolly green giant I'm sorry not sorry 🙏). Hence why she's more covered in them than Jin. — Her sclera turning black upon transforming is another similarity she shares with Ogre as well, to name a couple.

❄️- Oh you know her devil concerns were a big part of why she agreed to help Jin in T6 in this verse. Not just in regards to her devil, but lowkey also bc... if the experiments done on her in regards to the super soldier project are what resulted in her mutated devil gene... you know who else likely has it 😔 She's full on team this gene needs to be exterminated, no matter what. (Not that that can't change per plot of course)

❄️ - Devil Nina probably has an affinity with snakes, bc of the whole.. snake arm thing Ogre had going on. – Yeah she can't do that. But she probably thinks they're pretty neat.

❄️ - No Nina does not remember what happens when her devil takes over. But she is smart enough to surmise the gist of what occurred and realign the jumbled broken pieces of memory and reality. She's grown accustomed to that over the years unfortunately.

❄️ - Devil Nina on the other hand recalls all. Just as she thrives on the emotions Nina's buried over the years, she thrives off of the buried memories tied to them as well. While Nina still struggles to remember parts of her past, you might find that her devil remembers some missing subconsciously buried pieces down to the finest details. And she'd probably love to chat about them too whenever she's in a good mood. Just makes the emotions keeping her around stronger, right? 🤷‍♀️

❄️ - Finally not official per-say, but a thought I've considered: Devil Nina may have her own version of Nina's evil mist attack, only the secret to hers doesn't lie in dissolvable capsules. Since she consumes souls like Ogre, her digestive system obviously isn't... normal. It could be possible it can somehow convert remnants of the souls she consumes into a poisonous vapor? (Still iffy on the idea, but throwing it out there anyway, let me know what you think?)

[silverwolf1249]

Raising Awareness: China's White Paper Protests

If possible, please consider reading and sharing this post.

So my tumblr has absolutely nothing to do about politics, but this is something hitting a little close to home and stuff like this is so important to get seen because it sure won't get the attention it needs, so I want to help increase its visibility any way I can.

I can't even begin to tell you my shock when I learned that the top 2 universities in China (Tsinghua University and Beijing University respectively) were both protesting against the CCP. That the protesting started from people all over China, and once some universities began protesting, the networking between the academic institutes made the protests quickly spread to roughly 175 universities all over China and abroad like Harvard and Caltech which have decent amounts of Chinese international students. I've even seen a few signs about the Ürümqi Fire (one of the major tipping points that started the protests) on my own university campus, which was the reason I started researching the situation.

For some background for those who might not know, the origin of using a piece of white paper to protest comes from a joke when Russia was still the Soviet Union. The general gist of the joke is that a man passes out blank fliers out to people, and gets arrested. He shows that he's only handing out white pieces of paper, but gets locked up anyway because "The fliers may be blank, but it shows your true intentions!". This, by the way, was explained to me by my dad, so it may deviate a little from the original joke. In any case, it's used to represent everything they cannot say aloud due to China's censorship.

But back to the coverage on the situation. I've been searching through most of the major english speaking news sources and read what I expected to see. Police intimidation in broad daylight, entering trains and people's own homes, and accosting people to delete any possible pictures they had from the protests and deleting all social media apps and VPNs which could help spread the word. They also recorded people's personal data, facial recognition, retinal scans, fingerprints, etc.

Several people were grabbed and arrested. There were also apparently a few journalists (including one from the BBC) who got caught trying to cover the issue and got beat up and arrested by the police before being let go after a few days. There's some other stuff as well, but overall it was mostly what I expected, but I still felt like there had to be more. I turned to my dad for some help, who's fluent in Mandarin.

With just one small search in YouTube with the phrase "白紙抗議", I got so much more new information. The phrase translates to white paper protests in traditional Chinese. This helped me find a treasure mine of recordings from a Taiwanese news channel that went further in detail and showed more first hand footage and images that was different than what I'd already seen, and so much more terrible to watch. But there were also videos and images that made me want to applaud the protestors.

Remember when I mentioned that an event called the Ürümqi Fire was a major tipping point to all the protesting? For some background information, Ürümqi is the capital city of Xinjiang, a huge region of China's north west area, and is also know as the Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The Ürümqi Fire was an event where an apartment building in the city burned down, killing at least 10 people. This wasn't even the first incident since China's zero-Covid policy, it just happened to be the event that got the ball rolling. In the english speaking media I looked into, I only saw pictures of the fire, or a silent video of it.

In the video I found? The recording also had sound, people screaming desperately for someone to help, unable to escape their locked rooms, and with no firemen coming to save them until much, much too late; all issues stemming from China's zero-Covid policy. It only gets worse from there.

Currently in english speaking media, most people only suspect more violent police suppression than just restraining people. Well, no need for any more speculations when you can watch two first hand accounts of young women being beaten by the police for not complying. The actual violence is, thankfully fully censored. Just seeing the beginning of the videos alone made my heart drop to my stomach.

But it's not all doom and gloom. These videos also held plenty of pictures of slogans graffitied by protestors all over different college campuses, and lemme tell you, people get creative under rigid censorship. I'm still not clear what some of them actually mean because I'm barely able to speak any Mandarin, there's no hope in me deciphering the word play. There was also a clip in one of them on how one student at Tsinghua University started a protest on her own, until she was surrounded by a veritable crowd of people.

I will be adding both of the videos I watched below, they both have english subtitles and can help explain more than I can. They also go into more detail other major reasons people, especially college aged people, began protesting. Most of them are unsurprisingly, covid related.

Other than that, it's just...so incredibly frustrating and heartbreaking to see what these people are up against. The White House released a statement essentially saying they won't touch the topic because of the potential fallout with China. Apple is apparently helping the CCP by limiting AirDrop time to prevent protestors spreading awareness to other people. And, let's not forget what the CCP did with the last large, public, student ran protest; the CCP sure tried their best to make sure it was erased from their history.

The protestors, the majority being people my age, have everything against them. A much like the Hong Kong protests, they don't stand a very high chance at succeeding. But they're still fighting out there for what they believe in, and have definitely left their mark in history. I have so much respect for all of them, I'm worried for all of them, and all I can do is sit here and write this post and hope more people see this and spread the word. At the very least, I want raise awareness over the situation.

*Just a reminder to watch the videos at your own risk as they contain potentially triggering content*

(the first video is the most recent update

the second one only has english subtitles for part of the video, but they have Mandarin subtitles if you're willing to google translate, and also the first hand clips throughout the whole video are still worth to watch even if you can't fully understand what they're saying)

Some Other Sources:

*If these sources or any of my words above end up being from unreliable sources or later found to contain false information/updated information appears, don't hesitate to send asks or comments so I may edit my post/delete the links/add new or better sources.*

White House Weighs How Forcefully to Support Protesters in China

New Symbol of Protest in China Roils Censors: Blank White Papers

China Covid protests explained: why are people demonstrating and what will happen next?

Apple Limits iPhone File-Sharing Tool Used for Protests in China

How blank sheets of paper became a protest symbol in China

Protests erupt across China in unprecedented challenge to Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid policy

[novel-sugar]

So it’s been roughly a week since I finished all the currently available chapters of Dark Deception, and I felt like leaving my thoughts! Gonna be going in chronological order so let’s begin with:

Monkey Business

This level was definitely a strong start for the game. I remember back when the original demo in 2014 came out, so it felt really cool to see the hotel and the Murder Monkeys now in a higher quality. It serves as a good introduction to the main gist of the gameplay: you collect shards and avoid monsters. The difficulty isn’t too bad even without the insane powers you’ll get later on, but it certainly isn’t easy neither. Overall great way to begin this twisted tale!

Elementary Evil

Coupled with Monkey Business, this level also serves as a great introduction, but this time to the gimmick of powers and Malak as an active threat. This level was definitely a lot easier than the first, probably since Agatha is the only real threat for most of it. Fuck that semifinal chase though. Agatha as a whole is adorable in a weird way, found her gremlin shenanigans very fun. Really gotta give props to Kat Cressida for such an energetic performance!

Deadly Decadence

Fuck this level. Plain and simple. Another “tutorial level” (and one of my least favorites). This one introduces stage hazards and hoo boy they couldn’t have picked a more annoying scenario to place them in. The hedge maze in Zone 1 isn’t the worst and can be done easily as long as you’re not careless, but Zone 2 is just frustrating to say the least and Teleportation just didn’t feel like the right power up to introduce here. All in all not impossible, but it took me forever first time I played. The difficulty spike was like slamming into a brick wall during a joyride.

Stranger Sewers

Fuck this level but to a much lesser degree than Deadly Decadence. The last of the “tutorials”, here we’re introduced to enemies that can stun with the Dread Duckies. Needless to say, teleportation really showed it’s worth here due to the sewer water slowing you down in certain areas. Still had my fair share of deaths (many of which were frustrating) but compared to the previous level not nearly as infuriating. The final chase sequence with Doom Ducky was definitely the highlight of this level and really cool, overall this level was ok just wish it was more interesting aesthetically.

Crazy Carnevil

This is where the game really picked up for me, I was already enjoying myself for the most part but the introduction of the Primal Fear ability was a godsend. On top of that, the areas introduced in this level were much more colorful and diverse than in Stranger Sewers so it felt super refreshing. The Clown Gremlins weren’t the hardest enemy to deal with but still not to be underestimated, especially once you get to the Funhouse.  All in all a good level, not my favorite but a nice breath of fresh air from the chaos of Levels 3 and 4.

Torment Therapy

This level was pretty short and to compensate, they had a LOT of shards to collect. Telepathy and Primal Fear really had their work cut out for them whenever the Reaper Nurses were cloaked. The Reaper Nurses themselves have cool designs and it felt surreal hearing Tara Strong in an indie horror game (something I’d get use to for the rest of the game) Overall this level was alright but it could get a little grating at times, the overall map design was alright but nothing too special but I did love the foreshadowing for certain details we learn in the next level. The Matron boss fight was pretty cool but felt very slow paced compared to the previous bosses, a lot of waiting around for the Reaper Nurses to climb up and stun. If there’s one major gripe I’ve had while trying to S rank this level, the beginning goes on for way too long and after several attempts it just gets annoying. Really hope they can add a way to skip ahead to the actual gameplay in a future patch.

Mascot Mayhem

This level was actually the reason I got interested in the game in the first place. Ever since I began, I had been anticipating this level right from the get go, biding my time waiting until I could play it and by God did it deliver. The Joy Joy Gang were such fun characters (especially Penny) and could be a real bitch to deal with at certain points. I only wish that the other zones just had us unlocking different areas of the park instead of just going inside an office building and a factory, felt like a big missed opportunity. Zone 2 was definitely annoying with 2 of Hangry roaming around, especially when Vanish didn’t feel like working. Joykill was pretty alright, not the most interesting design wise but a tough boss nonetheless. The true highlights of this level for me were Best Girl ™️ Penny, Tara Strong must’ve had a field day voicing her, so hyperactive sweet and bloodthirsty all at the same time! Also the story revelations at the end of the level (after a delightful beating from the JJG).

Bearly Buried

Holy hell this level is good. Absolutely one of my favorites for a multitude of reasons: 1) The first area mixing it up by taking our powers away after getting so used to having them by this point. 2) The general vibe and area design are all so good especially Zones 1 & 3. 3) EVERYTHING ABOUT MAMA BEAR. She’s so cute yet so menacing! Once again Tara Strong brings some impeccable VO work, giving her this nice balance of monotone and motherly. Also her themes are honestly some of if not the absolute creepiest in the entire soundtrack so far. Abso-fucking-lutely on par with Penny for being my favorite character. Like with Joy Joy Land, I kinda wish they got a little more creative with the later zones but that’s just a nitpick. Out of all the boss encounters, I actually think the final confrontation with Mama was the most difficult for me, but trial and error is an effective teacher. All in all a fun time that leaves me thirsty for more.

Closing Thoughts: Overall a good game! It’s definitely not for everyone but I feel like a lot of people can get some enjoyment out of it. One thing I haven’t mentioned that I feel should be addressed is the amount of bugs that are currently present in this game (especially in the last 3 levels), but that’s a whole other conversation and I still managed to have fun regardless. If you have $20, a weekend without plans and the slightest interest, I’d say give this game a go! As for me? Now begins the agonizing wait for Chapter 5 and the epic conclusion it’ll bring.

[notsosilentsister]

The uses of ChatGPT

Research? No. It makes up the facts, and if you ask it for sources, it makes up the sources. Grammar? Sure. Writing assistence? Well... I'm going to expose myself as a horrible hypocrite now, because whenever the topic is brought up among my friends, I'm always quick to chime in on the hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth how auto-complete on steroids is going to fuck up the signal-to-the-noise ratio and help flood the zone with bullshit, something I do deeply believe, from a big picture perspective, because I just don't trust people in aggregate to responsibly reckon with its limitations... but as long as you make sure to get actual facts from actual sources, and that you yourself actually understand what you're writing about and basically just use the LMM for register and grammar and packaging, it’s actually.... kinda neat?

I’m not talking about creative writing of course. I think there should be no debate that ChatGPT and Co. are worthless for that.  But to be honest, a lot of the writing I do/used to do professionally is just not that mission-critical, so factually correct and generic will do, and if you can handle the factually correct part and all you need from the writing is generic, ChatGPT and its ilk can really help you be more efficient. Maybe slightly less effective, but the time-and-effort saving can be worth a minor loss of quality, if the task is just not that integral to overall success. And sometimes doing it fast can contribute more to success than doing it perfectly. So yeah, I sometimes use ChatGPT. Mostly for quick access to useful phrases and boilerplate templates for text genres I'm not terribly fond of writing, but need to service on occasion. Stuff I used to google, back when google was still useful (I'd trade ChatGPT in a heartbeat for still-useful google of years ago). I let it rephrase stuff I wrote to see if there's maybe a more formal, more diplomatic, more conventional way to put it. (More conventional is, where it really shines, and sometimes more conventional is just what you want). I do think you need to be really careful about using A.I for summaries though. Summaries for something you wrote yourself or already properly learned about in the traditional way - Sure. I've found that LLMs sometimes ignore the causal relationship explicated in the original source and instead invent a causal relationship that is quicker to explain, but when it's something I wrote myself or studied in detail using actual sources, I can easily catch those errors and correct them. It can be a convenient way to refresh my own memory of something I engaged with some time ago, if my knowledge isn't buried too deeply to catch potential hallucinations. Summaries for something new to me, something someone else wrote? Eh. If I just need the most cursory overview, to get a sense whether this could be something relevant to my interests and potentially worth looking into more deeply? Maybe, although personally, I still prefer to go to wikipedia for that sort of stuff. Maybe bits I'm most interested in are going to be a bit less spoon-fed (I might have to skim and scan a slightly longer text to get the gist), but I have way more context to assess the reliabilty of the info and that's ultimately more important to me. If it's knowledge I actually plan to use though? As in potentially apply in practice in the near future? I'm afraid that's where the looking-into-it-more deeply part becomes indispensable, and that can never be done with LMMs. If you actually want to process knowledge in a way that allows you to apply it, you need to understand it, you need to integrate it into your existing knowledge, and if that's your goal, you're really sabotaging yourself, if you use short-cuts. You have to actually do the reading, and you have to write your own summaries. Because summarizing something, filtering out the key facts, the basic shape of the argument, picking the examples that are most salient to your own purposes to illustrate an abstact notion, most likely to stick in your own mind - that's already the first test of your understanding, and you need to test your understanding, you have to do your own summary to see if you got the point, or if you need to read it again and ask further questions to clarify. If you think you can skip that, all you acquire are phrases to parrot, not knowledge to use. Alas, phrases to parrot is often all many people seem to get out of their education, and they claim to be doing just fine. Just saying, you need to be aware of your own aims here. Only you can know whether that's enough for your purposes.

[alexbiomonteanimationblog]

Task 2: Christmas Animation

The following animation and it's prerequisite work was done using:

Hardware: An Ipad (7th Gen) and an Apple Pencil (First Gen)

Software: Procreate + Procreate Dreams (12 FPS)

Pre-Production:

I first started off with brainstorming session to decide what I wanted my animation to be about. Due to the fact that I was watching a TV Show named "The Bear" and reading a comic named "Dungeon Meshi", Both being about Food and cooking, I was inspired to make the animation about the process of making a particular Christmas dish. I had to choose a dish that had steps that were easily recognizable and simple enough so as to fit within a 20 second animation. In the end I decided to go with "Coconut/ chocolate Balls". I Wrote down the Steps to making the dish and picked out which of the steps that were the most important and Visually Interesting. In the end I ended up choosing:

The Chopping of the Ingredients

The Pouring of the condensed Milk

The Shaping of the Balls

The Spreading of the coconut Shavings

After I decided which Steps i needed to animate, I story boarded the animation.

My first Draft featured a static shot throughout, only showing the hands of the chef as they went through each of the steps:

I didn't like this Idea however and decided to do to switch the idea to one that had featured a wider variety of shots, showing the chefs full body.

After finalizing the storyboards I did a reference sheet for the character with help of a classmate, Some aspects of the design changed during production of the animation as deemed fit but the basic gist of the character remained the same:

Production:

I first started off with rough sketches for the key frames to get the posing and positioning of the elements correct , Afterwards I went in with the in-betweens to get the motion right whilst still in the rough sketch style. I separated each cut into layers, and then separated each element of each cut into their own. For cuts that featured the full body I drew the body once without the moving limb, and added the moving limb on a different layer so i didn't have to redraw the entire body on each frame. I did the same thing for objects that were moving such as the bowl and the can of condensed milk.

(Side Note: For Each Layer I used a different colour to make them easier to separate) I used a mixture of animating on 1's, 2's, and 3's though I mainly animated on 2's, only switching out to 1's for especially fast movements (Such as the knife chopping) and switching out for 3's to hold on a frame longer than usual.

I Used online videos for reference for certain movements and recorded myself for some that I could not find online (Example shown Below:)

In the end I ended up with a Rough Animatic of the final Piece:

After I was happy with the overall feel of the animation, I Started Cleaning up Each Frame, Adding clean outlines, adding details (Such as faces and clothing) and adding values. In the End the finished Result came out as such:

Final-Thoughts:

Overall I feel quite mixed with the final result. I am proud of being able to finish this animation and having it resemble my original plan and I am quite proud of some cuts that appear on it, yet the overall quality jumps around with some cuts being vastly better than others. This was due to poor planning and thus time constraints, which gives the final animation a lack-luster/Rushed feel which I am not quite proud of. This feel is contributed also due to the lack of background and/or any background imagery. To sum it up, Whilst I am proud of having finished my first ever "full-length" animation, I feel like I could've done more.