#this is important to my perspective tbh

[3objectives]

a lot of those that condemn cait for the actions she took & feelings she has against jinx seem to conveniently forget that jinx kidnapped cait, tried to kill her, held her captive then killed her mum. like, that girl ruined cait. i'm honestly surprised cait didn't do more in retaliation, tbh.

[heybiji]

ialso love playign superhero ttrpgs can i ask what the Masks ttrpg is? i love finding neww hero themed ttrpgs ^-^ yay!

Ohhh!! Hey! i love getting to talk ttrpg stuff thanks for the question!

MASKS: A New Generation is a superhero ttrpg about teenagers all trying to figure out who they are in a world filled with people constantly telling them who they are and how the world works. It's less about the powers and the fights and more about the emotional journey of the PCs with mechanics that support that. It's a really narratively driven game!

tldr: try it out! it's fun! it's simple! and it's low-prep (apparently, just not for me, but i'm always just gonna do Too Much). you want a system with mechanics that revolve around telling a story? around your character's emotions and how they view themselves? this is the one for you! it's great and i've really been enjoying it!!

First of all, it's a fail-forward system, so the way your character levels (advanced) is by missing rolls. I like this a lot.

There are ten core playbooks that are essentially the classes you can choose from. They each come with their own powers, some intentionally more impressive than others, but it's not about the powers; it's about the core conflict that comes with each of the archetypes. Here are a few playbook examples:

The Delinquent: You've got these cool powers. But everyone keeps telling you how to use 'em. You know what they need? Someone to give them trouble, to make sure they don't always get their way. And hey! You're the perfect her to do it.

The Legacy: You're the latest in a storied heroic lineage, a family that shares a name and a cause. Now, everybody is watching and waiting to see if you've got what it takes to uphold that tradition. No Pressure, right?

The Nova: You're a font of power. Channel it, and you can remake the world into exactly what you want. Unleash it, and you can do miracles. It's wonderful... and terrifying. Lose control for even a second, and other people get hurt.

Your stats are your Labels. They're how you see yourself, and how others see you. The Labels are DANGER, FREAK, SAVIOR, SUPERIOR, and MUNDANE. Different stats help with different Moves/rolls, so for example a high DANGER stat helps you Directly Engage a Threat, while a low MUNDANE stat makes it harder for you to Comfort or Support Someone. Your Labels are constantly being shifted around throughout the game as your character's self-image changes (and that self-image changes a lot, basically the NPCs are just label shifting machines).

The mechanics are fun! Instead of traditional damage, the PCs have Conditions that they take on, and what conditions a character has affects their rolls. The Conditions are Afraid, Angry, Guilty, Hopeless, and Insecure. So if you're Angry you take -2 on your roll to do the move Comfort or Support Someone, if you're Afraid, it's -2 on Directly Engage a Threat, etc. There are multiple ways to clear your conditions but the most straightforward way is to take a particular action, so if you're Angry you have to hurt someone or break something important, and if you're Afraid you have to run from something difficult. These actions lead to some awesome and surprising story beats!

There's some other stuff as well, but that's the gist!

Coming from DND, it took me some time to adjust to something so wildly different in terms of the system, but I've been enjoying it! I haven't gotten to play it as a PC, but running it has been an interesting challenge. I think it's a pretty simple system to work with, and I at least hear it's low-prep (again not for me tho lol). It's mechanically looser than the only other ttrpg I've played (dnd) and requires a lot more decision making from the whole table, so I think in a way it asks more of its players in that way. And the GM role is constantly on in a specific way, because it's up to the GM to listen and call out when a Move is being triggered and a roll should be made based on what the characters are doing in any particular scene.

anyway I can always have more to say but MASKS has been fun. I recommend giving it a shot! And then you should tell me what you thought about it!!

[crescentfool]

having the hc that minato is ace is incredibly funny sometimes when you think about how ryoji is oh so very bi because it's like. "ah. death stole my ability to be attracted to people," in the same way that ryoji stole minato's eye color and energy level. like wow, thanks ryoji, you just keep finding things to steal from minato!

[wackywatchdotcom]

im about to go to bed for the night but after a rewatch im thinking abt smth again wrt episode 4 that i dont think abt TOO too often but like. it IS smth i still think abt a not small amnt

(warning that theres discussion of suicide n such!)

like the thing i talked about earlier, i dont see it in discussion much anymore but i DO still see remnants of it here nd there. the question of 'did gangle intentionally jump in front of the truck.' and like. from what ive seen debate died down eventually bc ppl moved on from that topic but i still have thoughts on that that i dont know if ive seen anyone else say?? it probably has been said but i just havent seen it myself BUT

i think this question is genuinely 100% irrelevant. i think 'did gangle do that on purpose' doesnt actually change anything. fwiw i dont think it was deliberate myself! but i truly think that it doesnt change ANYTHING about that scene if it was intentional or not, and thats because that scene is certainly literally happening in-series, but its MOSTLY there symbolically (for lack of a better word for it, im not sure if symbolically is quite right but its the closest i can think of). its there for the audience

that anyone in the audience questioned what she was doing is part of the point imo. because what the scene is evoking is VERY clear, not because thats what it is literally happening but because of the emotion that conveys. i dont fully know how to explain it but to me the scene isnt about what gangle is literally doing but its about conveying a sense of unsteady and almost unhealthy hope and despair and peace and recklessness. inuniverse she cant die. it doesnt matter in a literal sense. but the scene creates an image for the audience thats uncomfortable and harsh. it creates an image of gangles state in that moment thats stressful and concerning

like many people have written so many different analyses of the episode. i think its depicting many things if you look at it right. i dont think any one reading of the episode and gangles role in it is wholly correct because i think its vague on purpose, and i think the episode is MEANT to be open-ended and able to be interpretted many different ways. and building from that i dont think the ending is supposed to literally depict a suicide attempt but i think it IS meant to call that concept into mind, because it ties into most possible interpretations of the episode, but in different ways

theres also probably a case to be made about the idea that regardless of her intention the end result is the same. she did something reckless because she was doing incredibly poorly and nothing came of it but that moment brought her back to the despair she felt before she got the new mask. the intention doesnt change what it means for her character. the main context that scene matters in is in what it alludes to in the audience (and debatably how it ties into the different readings of the episode), and THATS the point. that people questioned it is because its calling to mind that concept on purpose, and thats the more important role that the scene serves imo rather than knowing exactly what gangle was trying to do

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Love my job but sometimes I'm sitting in meetings with a smile plastered on my face thinking "I should definitely not be the one attending this meeting."

[todayisafridaynight]

ohhhh my god im going to fucking throw up thinking again about the scene where sawashiro almost lopping off ichi's pinky parallels the scene from earlier where arakawa's mom threatens him with scissors

[boyapologist]

I know this should be the least of my worries right now but it's just crazy to think that 8 years ago when this happened for the first time, taylor was writing miss americana and feeling completely disolated by the news. and now she's probably at a party somewhere being ~politically neutral~ about it with her trump supporter football player girlfriend squad

[starbuck]

good things today:

National Park agreed to let us do a year-long research project starting in January which is gonna look REALLY good on my resume (and also be fun!)

difficult conversation with my boss went well (I think she agreed with me and I’d gonna follow my advice/had already reached the same conclusion herself)

fun concert (with banjo!)

made plans with a friend for tomorrow

got school work done

[vampirejuno]

I like to think I've gotten pretty good at ignoring opinions I disagree with when it comes to stories I love, but man. All that goes completely out the window when I see someone read The Farthest Shore and immediately, with full sincerity, go WOOOOO YAOI because there were two guys in a boat. Like. I'm not a "let men be friends!!!1!" kinda person, but this really sends me into a rage because 1) the story is so much more meaningful and compelling if you interpret it literally any other way, 2) given the richness of this book's themes and ideas and questions, if THAT'S your main takeaway from it, we live on separate planets and I truly don't know what to say to you, and last but not least 3) ged is in his 40s and arren is a TEENAGER

[beeseverywhen]

Saw a post talking about how it's stupid that literary analysis is seen as this boring excruciating thing and yep. Couldn't agree more. But it got me thinking about how much I love how ppl on this site talk about ideas that were traditionally pretty inaccessible things, restricted only to an academic elite, so casually. Like yeah there's no running from how there are people here who are determined to be anti intellectual and those that have their head up their own arses and are determined to think that they are way more intellectual than they are lol but there are even more people just talking about these ideas casually and I just think that's so important and so cool and honestly that's what the internets all about??? Its about getting exposed to people and ideas you never would have gotten exposed to irl.

Like its so fun! I love that ppl talk about philosophy and sociology and literature analysis as these everyday things that you can joke about and make memes about. Yeah loads of you are wrong lol and tumblr is the home of net zero information, but acting like there aren't idiots spouting shit in every university worldwide is ridiculous. Sometimes people are wrong and they are really sure they are right! And part of the fun of learning is accepting that and reading between the lines. Being ready to challenge people and challenge your own ideas! Yeah I just love it tbh. I love getting to see ppl sharing this specialist knowledge like it's nothing. I've been introduced to so many fascinating ideas and texts through tumblr. I love to bump in to someone raving about their speciality and let what they've told me lead me in to a total wormhole of research and end up knowing way more about an idea I never would have even considered

[igneouswyvern]

in my heart of hearts edna is always making silly faces at the invisible camera like she on the office

edna is doing this btw if it wasn't clear

[rexxdjarin]

sometimes you just be a little sad bc you feel like people forget about you a lot.

you are the forgotten friend. the one people often feel they don’t have to worry about so they just completely forget you. you’re the one people meet and forget to reconnect with because they just don’t find you someone worth remembering.

it’s hard to shake that identity placed on you when it seems to follow you through life. and it’s really lonely.

[s0m3thingp3t]

I have such mixed thoughts about being trans, like I’m so thankful for the people I’ve met and the things I’ve learned and who I’ve become because of finding out I was trans, but my life would of been a lot fucking easier if I wasn’t. Like simple things like going out in public, using bathrooms, seeing family, etc inspire fear in me. I don’t have the privilege to live life (I mean who really does here in America) but it’s like I never really got the chance to even try and that really hurts. Especially now in America when trans people are, for lack of a better word, a victim of genocide. I’m scared to go outside, let alone go to school, which most everyone already hates, but everything I do gets picked apart, and what I wear and how I act dictates if people will respect my very person. It’s terrifying yk? I have had threats to my life multiple times, you have to understand what that does to a person…

It gets even worse when you go into the directly political sphere, my very existence in the world is simply a question of tolerance to most people. I’m not doubting that being trans isn’t directly political, because everything we experience in our daily lives is as a result of politics, but I find it quite disconcerting that it’s so simple to reduce personhood to label words. We really need to learn, as a society, that people are greater than the sum of their parts. We are all people, we all experience struggle, and we are all united in our feeling of discontent. We are all oppressed but there is a special oppression within this world that comes from putting us against each other, it’s obvious where bigotry comes from, and yet people still fall for the same old “worries” they have for decades. Oppression comes from a lack of understanding and a willingness to blame other people for systemic issues. We have the power and ability to move past this but it’s impossible in a world that has to breed hostility for profit. Our conditions are unacceptable and instead of pointing our anger at the system, a lot of people end up blaming other groups.

I wrote a short essay about a year ago when I was hearing a lot about anti-trans legislation and I think it’s still significant now,

“People constantly preach acceptance and equality, but once things get hard it’s a different story. People will go from posting in support of us, to calling us pedophiles or believing we aren’t real in a matter of months. The same people who say they believe in free speech and talk of themselves as original free thinkers are the same ones silencing us, taking away our rights, and killing us. If that’s ‘freedom’ I don’t want it.

Trans people are the boogeyman of the day. You are allowed to say ‘the quiet part allowed’, in public. We are the group to attack. Any ‘free thinker’ would quickly find that we are NOT what conservatives fear-monger people with. Any ‘free thinker’ would not blindly follow the status quo. Any person ‘pro-freedom’ wouldn’t want or allow our rights to be stripped away. Any person ‘pro-freedom’ wouldn’t want us dead.

I hope people know (and I know for sure they do, it’s their goal) that with every anti-trans bill/law people will die. Wether it’s from back-alley surgeries and hormones, or suicide, people—including the ‘children’ these republican assholes say they are protecting—will die. Our lives will end without satisfaction, without a chance to be ourselves. Our lives will end and it will be the legislators fault, it will be the parents who witheld their child's freedom, it will be the news stations' fault, it will be all the religious pundits who advocate for our death's fault. They will be to blame. They are nothing less than murderers.

This is far from over. We are not the first, nor the last group to face this. As a society we are regressing (you'll never guess why /s). It's pretty obvious what's next but, to distract us from what's at play, there are manufactured culture wars to keep us occupied, so they can further their death toll. They say they want us gone, and they will follow through if they are allowed. They have the power and human life has never detered them before. I encourage you to critically think about what you choose to believe, and don't give in to the Fox News bastards' propagandistic knowledge."

I remember the fear and anger I felt when writing this. The state I’m in is definitely not the worst of the anti-trans legislation but it’s definitely not the best, and it’s not helpful that I don’t live in the most progressive of towns. This shit’s happening everywhere though and that’s probably the worst part. We are retrogressing rapidly and it’s not like it’s a new phenomena, this has been happening for many years.

Passing is a whole other issue. I don’t really feel a desire to be stealth in most circumstances because I feel like me being trans is a big part of my politics and politics is a massive part of who I am. I have a desire to be comfortable in my body but I don’t have a desire to fit into their arbitrary standards.

Ultimately, there’s no winning. Our ‘gender’ is imposed on us from birth and defying that standard isn’t acceptable to a lot of people. I mean at least the politicians have a reason to hate us, i mean it’s in their class interest, not to mention, it gives them something to be mad about.

[orcelito]

Got my score back for my presentation, & it was About what I was expecting. I knew the weak point of the presentation was how dense it was + how much I had to cover, and as a result I did end up largely reading off of the slides. Tried to insert some extra information about the stuff, but didn't have much in the way of discussion built into my slides. So like... I can accept that criticism lol (even if it does sting a lil 😭)

Overall tho I got an average score of 8.6, professor score of 8... I'm not sure actually what will count for my grade. Is he including his score in the average at the top??? Also 8.6 is also not right. When I calculated my score from the tallied numbers, I got 8.31 for class average, 8.29 if I include the professor's rating in there as just one. For some reason, what he wrote is higher than either?? I certainly won't complain about a higher score, though I'm confused lol

But yeah people in general praised my research and preparation. Also video choice. Yay!

I will now try to focus on the good points and not worry so much about the bad. Regardless of any of it, 8.6 or 8 (out of max 9) is generally Pretty Good. Might as my professor for clarification on the grades when I next see him.

[ohcorny]

okay i'm back from the movies let's talk about screen and multiply layers

you can read part 1 of this series of tutorial posts where i mostly talk about gradient maps here.

now we're going to talk about the other layer effects. i feel like these ones are already pretty commonly known, but i've also been using them for like 15 years so it's very easy to assume everyone knows everything but actually i'm just old. anyway.

the panel up top is where we're starting from. i've got a nice blue color gradient applied, and everything looks a bit more harmonious. but...... those inks are pretty harsh, especially in contrast to the background, where there's no black inks at all. i'd like everything to come together a little more.

you can do this with a gradient map, if the darkest value is set higher than black. but since we're not using the gradient map at 100% (it's just 30%) the black isn't really affected by it. so it just stays black.

what a screen layer will do--and this is in practice, i don't know what it's actually mathematically doing--is turn your darkest value into whatever color is on the screen layer. so this is what a screen layer set to 100% would do to this panel. (NOTE: all the layers applied in this post are clipped to a folder containing just the characters. they are not affecting the backgrounds, they'll just affect the characters. the gradient map does affect everything)

That's Pretty Blue! the color that neeta's hair currently appears is the color of the layer. everything else is lightened up and also made a little more blue. and this doesn't look terrible, but screen layers will pretty much always make your art a bit lighter, because it's trying to make its color the darkest color. tbh it's great for fog effects and making your blacks light enough that a texture can show up in them. but let's turn it down a bit, to 40%.

hey nice. everything is still a bit lighter, but neeta and emery's hair isn't as sharp against the background. still enough that they stand out as the most important things in the panel, but not so much that they feel pasted overtop. it's a bit like putting some atmospheric perspective between you, the reader, and the characters. there's air in the image. (and why it's good for fog!)

but i want it just a little darker to make up for the lightening up that happened. i don't think i actually need to explain multiply layers, because everyone has definitely used those for shading at one point or another. but here i'm using a very very light blue over the entire characters. i'm not using it for shadows, but to make everything a bit blue.

now it really feels like they're in a room. the only pure white is the speech bubble and gutters. their eyes/teeth/glasses will still read as white, but they are not white. everything is at least a Little blue, so everything is unified.

and that panel above is what the final looks like! let's look at it side by side with just the gradient map.

neat! it would be perfectly acceptable to stop with just the gradient map, if you value high contrast black inks and characters popping off the page. i... don't! i like the air that's generated by going a little bit lighter overall. it has a nice matte effect, which is why i'm very glad my book was printed on matte paper.

and that's why hunger's bite looks so good. you should buy it and read it

[luna-loveboop]

Wars and Wild as knights in Lu

They have issues.

I have a lot of thoughts on Wild and Wars and their relationship (Order of this post is talking about saluting, Wild and Wars' different perspectives, memory issues, and fire) Rant time.

No saluting!!

So Wild took a formal- almost/awkwardly saluting pose when Wars confronted him in 'Entrance pt.2'

It's similar to the first time Wild addressed Wars as 'captain'. His left hand is up from where a salute should be, and his overall posture is awkward, with his shoulders and right hand raised, but it's clear he's trying to do a salute in the presence of a fellow knight.

In the second example his hand is behind his head, but his posture is very straight and his right arm stiff- he's again attempting a formal saluting position. Which is still awkward

It is less clear but his changes in posture clued me in. He goes from like a deer in the headlights to visibly sweating to straight backed and looking up at Wars- looking at the changes in his body language

Side note but I literally love how Jojo draws the champions tunic so much-

We can't see the action of Wild's body language in a comic, just the positions he went to. But he visibly leaned away from Wars before switching to a straight backed saluting-like posture. He's clearly freaked out, hence Twilight's face: >:(

I think that Wild taking somewhat military poses around Wars is important to their relationship issues because it comes from his struggle with memory and identity

.

So like. All of them have different perspectives

Wars

I adore Wars. He is baby and I love him. I think it is also important to acknowledge that he would not speak to any of the others this way.

And the scarf man cmon it's so pretty they are so cute-

Why is Wars talking to Wild like this? He's called him out and reprimanded him multiple times in front of the others. Wild has taken it well but tbh if it was Legend I think he would be on fire.

To some extent I think he is in captain mode. I think that he has trouble seeing Wild as not a knight. Wars gives Wild respect as a knight who sacrificed for his kingdom, but now it seems he's taking it away as a knight who's not doing well enough since he 'disregarded the plan'

At least I think that's the outside (or Wild's) view of it. But Wars internally really cares about Wild and he saw him run up to a giant and lose it. Different ways of showing concern perhaps?

Who wouldn't want to keep Wild from getting more scars?

I just. Don't doubt for a second Wars really cares about Wild- even if the way he's acting still isn't cool. He has no right to treat him like a soldier any more than the rest of the chain, and right now I think Wild is acting as the more mature person.

Wild

I adore Wild. He is baby and I love him. I think it is also important to acknowledge that although he is clearly making efforts after Twilight's injury, Wild has ignored Wars for the majority of Lu, by not speaking to him much, and not thanking or acknowledging Wars when he directly helped him. (Small example being walking with Hyrule not Wars when injured and not directly responding to Wars)

Wars cares about and respects Wild, but it seems Wild wants nothing to do with him, and he's been cold towards Wars for the majority of Lu. To Wild, Wars reminds him of his perceived failure. Which is valid feelings, but still not fair. And I think that ask is talking about these two.

The thing I love about this is each of them are right and wrong in some ways, leading to the tension between them. So fully blaming either of them is not logical

The rest of the chain is just vibing. Except twilight who's mad and wants them to just grow up, but. Heros of courage not wisdom @uniquevoidflowers ;)

And that ask- '''Are any of the Links ever jealous of another Link for adventures that were less difficult/life threatening?'' ''When you hear Wild say he 'hates' someone you'll have your answer.''' somewhat leads to my next point-

Wild's identity and memory issues exacerbate all of this

In Entrance, Twilight is being stressed and defensive, that's ok. What concerns me most is that Twilight has talked with Wild through stuff like this in his rough moments

Wild has tried to be formal several times- he is not very good at it

Four's face I can't didnwidkekfjej

Wild isn't and can't be 'him'- the same 'perfect' (<actually has crippling anxiety) knight he was before, and Twilight knows this. And I agree with him a bit, I think, that Wars is making things worse in Wild's mind by being that perfect soldier, and seemingly holding Wild to a standard he isn't

Wild's attempts at saluting is symbolic of that- Wars makes him feel like a failure trying to be the person he should be. But Wild shouldn't be anyone but himself.

Anyways. Fire.

Wars and Wild have issues, and I want them to work through all their relationship drama so they can reach their PEAK dynamic, which is obviously this

I mean like. We need these two to be friends

Anyways. Wild is in this constant state of identity crisis, and being around Wars has not been beneficial- neither of them is or has been showing the other the respect they deserve. Not as knights, but as people and brothers. They need a get along shirt.

All this Art is by Jojo @linkeduniverse au!

:)