#this was actually a screenshot from when i was testing out the pose to see if i needed to adjust anything—which i did…

[mattodore]

filed away in my wikipedia after my death

[hasturs-fanboy-number-one]

ok so my friends and i spent a large amount of time discussing whether the invisible creature can pass the harkness test which led to a discussion of what other non-humans in the podcast can ethically be fucked which led to us categorizing stuff

so i present to you

malevolent fuckability tier list

full transcription, tier explanation and stuff below

MILFS tier - gotta pay respect to the lades: shub, the witch, mother darkness (will add lilith once she gets some action)

there are basically no not fucked up humans on this tier list cos it's a) boring and b) this is a creechurs, places and concepts tier list

everyone above grey area passes the harkness test so they can be ethically and consentualy fucked

onto the tiers!

KIY tier - he's a mandatory entry on everyones sex tourism, seeing as he's being fucked over for four seasons straight, also i'm biased towards my dear wife

FUCK YEAH tier - can give enthusiastic consent and be into it: larson, the moss cave from ep 15, horig, prison guards (if they can be employed they can be fucked), lorick, yorick, grand vizier from ep 40 (the tentacle-face thing that was parroting john), scratch, kayne, the three soldiers, mr faust, the dancers (mentioned in ep 20 as the kings heralds, same logic as the prison guards), malam, the creature from the labyrinth in ep 17, the hand of malevolence (can not speak but is literally a perfect toy and is an object), the trader from the dreamlands, that person that was hiding in the mines on the rafters in ep 27

ZOO BUT IT'S OK ACTUALLY tier - butcher is a dog but that won't stop anyone

HEAR ME OUT tier - it's hot if you're not a coward: the forest from ep 14, the dreamlands desert, the big cave, the ship in the desert from ep 15, the dreamlands as a whole, hyadies, greystone, blackstone, the sandstorm, the plateu, the a-frame ceiling from maries house, the wallussy (ep 41 and whatever glory hole in the tavern arthur was looking through at his past self when kayne was explaining the malevolent cinematic universe in intermenzzo), the fog from ep 8, the crystalizer of dreams

HARKNESS TEST GREY AREA tier - we could not determine if they'd be able to consent due to the states of awareness they're in being unclear: uncle (does not speak and seems to have a child-like behaviour at times), the invisible monster from the mines in s3 (can speak but poorly, might be larsons daughter, unclear if it retains speech once disconnected from the people it feeds on), the wraith from s1 (seems out of it mostly), the things arthur said were similar to the devils from the bible in ep 14 in the forest (not clear on what intelligence they poses), the eye tentacle monster from ep 9 (also unclear)

ZOO tier - creatures that have intelligence closer to that of an animal: the widow from ep 8 (she was a mindless ghoul at that point), the two policeman from ep 9 (and all policeman in general), the thousand young, the hound of tindalos from ep 5 (the fucked up fractal dog), the rats that chased arthur in the hotel in ep 10, the spider from that same hotel, thhe snake-electric eel thing from the boat in the dreamlands ep 15, the maggots (season 5), owlexander (he's sus but until further notice will remain in this category), the worm things taht burrowed in oscars arm in ep 37, the tadpoles from the river/lake from ep 11

NECRO tier - frank (more specifically his corpse in ep 18), mr faust again, the prince (dead and delirious). excluded from this tier were arthurs corpse and parkers corpse for the lack of screenshotable transcriptions

[aheathen-conceivably]

1, 10, 12, and 25! - lgl

LGL always a joy in the inbox 😊

1. What’s the last screenshot you’ve taken for your story?

Trying to get them spoilers here, huh? 😜

The last screen I took was actually while testing some pose edits. It is a blessed photo, so please enjoy (and speculate)…

10. Is your story fully planned or are you still working things out? is there a definitive end?

Kind of, definitely, and yes.

More specifically, I have a number of specific details planned out. I always like to ramble about how it’s like scaffolding being built toward the sky. The higher you go the less the structure is there, and you can see all the cracks and still need to figure out how to actually get to the next solid point, which is where the inspiration and flexibility comes in. But overall, yes, I have the final scene of the story written. Imma need a whole ass team if I’m ever gunna get there at this rate though 😅

12. Do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium?

Specifically in the Darlington save? Probably like 20/80 at this point. I play between story shoots to kind of mimic the arcs, so it’s more me just imitating my own story in gameplay vs. actually playing the game and letting it influence my writing at all.

25. What inspirations have you drawn on for your story?

Goodness, gracious. Everything? If that’s a fair answer? 😅

Movies I love, books I read, history I’ve studied, songs that hit, fellow storytellers, tropes that make my brain itch, personal experiences, the color of the sky sometimes, a single word my husband says. Honestly? Fun times out here when you’ve got the Darlington brain rot.

To narrow it down I think that the 1890s/1900s were more inspired by my own aesthetics and decades challenges in general, and things got a little more personal around 1910 (which is why I usually tell people that’s when I start to really like the story). Those years were heavily inspired by Downton Abbey and Titanic (of course). And as broad stroke inspiration, I’m sure y’all know I’m fond of the “it glitters so brightly you don’t even see the tragedy until it’s too late” vibes that Titanic has (cue my other favorite films Cabaret and Moulin Rouge).

The 20s are inspired by New Orleans, I cannot state it enough. By everything I felt in my years there and everything I learned during my MA. More specifically, it was heavily drawn from Mister Jelly Roll and Empire of Sin. We also have some Gatsby in there, of course 😉

Now in the 30s I’m really having a blast, because I feel like I’m pulling inspiration for all the previous decades (Gatsby references coming when?) as well as hinting toward future ones (a certain littlest heiress and her obsession with the Wizard of Oz comes to mind). Combined with that is so much rich inspiration for this decade itself, coming heavily from Route 66: A Cultural History and The Grapes of Wrath specifically , as well as broader ideas of Americana, country and blues music, and the symbolism/beauty of the desert.

This decade has also really made me realize just how much inspiration I draw from place, and how it not only influences my style of descriptive writing (which in and of itself is inspired by Anne Rice), but also makes me so interested in how a location and its history influences people and the path of the story. I feel like it grounds me not just in a time period, but how that time period may have been different in specific locations and how different characters react to those factors.

[ro-valerius]

Meanwhile, in Tuturoko's Hideout...

Not me using misc screenshots of my villains because I don't have any relevant ones and I have a booboo that would make taking a new one difficult.

Tuturoko frowned as an informant of sorts leaned close and whispered the latest update in his ear. A child, huh? And while the rabbit had claimed that the child was just as intent on his death as Tuturoko and his lot, she still helped him get through the fight in his weakened state. An irritated click of his tongue escaped Tuturoko as the informant stepped away. And here, the lalafell had thought that his plan to divert his former rival’s attention and send a separate group after the weakened rabbit was so fool-proof. A miqo’te woman donned in furs smirked at his annoyance and stepped forward from the shadows. 

“Well well, seems my sisters’ killer is proving more difficult by the day, huh~?” she purred. 

The rabbit had taken two sisters from her, and she sought vengeance. Though, she could hardly blame him for the idiot sister of hers that got caught up with pirates, she had warned her, but when her sister had learned that the rabbit that killed their eldest would be attacking the pirates that she had heard were recruiting, she jumped at the opportunity to get back at him. None of them could have guessed that the dark knights that came with would pose such a threat. 

But alas, according to all information she had overheard from Tuturoko, regardless of which of them actually killed her youngest sister, the rabbit was the one to suggest the attack to begin with. Regardless of who did the deed, it was his fault she was dead. Tuturoko leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other and resting an elbow on the arm, holding his head up almost carelessly with his hand.

“No matter, the number of targets we can use to get at him grows by the day,” he said with a smirk. “His family, for starters, that curse breaker, and now, this child that has been seen with him. Clearly, he has the inclination to protect her, even at the risk of himself. We can use that to our advantage.” 

The woman strode over to the chair, draping herself across the back of it with a contented hum, one arm dangling down and twirling a finger around a bit of hair that stuck out of the lalafell’s ponytail. He did so enjoy her unbridled thirst for revenge against their common enemy, and looked forward to seeing her at work. After all, she happened to be a bit unique, caught up in a voidsent attack that took her parents until she was the one to come out on top, successfully protecting her sisters and fusing with the creature in the process. Quite how she had done that, neither of them could guess. But it gave her abilities that Tuturoko found quite…useful. And intriguing. 

“I’m sure even this…’Warrior of Light’ cannot stand against the numbers of beasts I can command. When will you let me set after him~?” she asked with a false pout playing at the corners of her mouth. Tuturoko leaned back against the back of the chair and crossed his arms, not bothering to bat away her hand as she reached instead to stroke the side of his face with the claws of her gauntlets. 

“Soon, but not yet. There is…a nuisance I would have you dispose of, first. Someone is trying to get information on us and I cannot have that. I know you seek only revenge, but think of this as your first test, a proof of your mettle. Can you handle one elezen man?” the lalafell said, amusement plain in his tone. The whole ordeal was as a game to him.

“Well, now, surely if I cannot handle this elezen of yours, I wouldn’t even begin to hope to stand against that Warrior of Light. I will pass your test, I will prove my mettle. Tell me, where can I find this elezen?”

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT ECOMMERCE NEWS (INCLUDING ETSY), Early June 2024

I am really slammed at the moment, so instead of a long intro, I'll hop right into the latest ecommerce news, including a ton of things going on at Etsy.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Incorrect Etsy shop suspensions continue at a hot pace right now; I wrote about another one here on LinkedIn, and made an Etsy forum thread. The shop was reopened within 24 hours of my post. There was also good news in the story of HeatherJordanJewelry. Etsy has decided to refund her the money she lost on the 2 cases opened after Etsy closed her shop. 

Still think Etsy isn’t serious about sellers who ship after their processing times? The corporation is now sending shop owners warnings that they will be deindexed in a month if they do not improve their shipping metrics before then.  

I’ve reached out to the seller for more details but haven’t yet heard back. 

eBay is testing Venmo as a payment option. They are also removing American Express as a credit card option.

ETSY NEWS 

A small number of Etsy sellers are reporting their items showing as sold out when they are actually available; Etsy is looking into it, but upping the quantity (when available) seems to fix the issue. 

In what may have been an accidental early release of a new Etsy feature, sharp-eyed sellers noticed that Etsy was inserting a video slot into some shops’ listings even when there was no video. Here is a screenshot (courtesy PriddeyThings):

When sellers clicked the “Request a video” button, they were told a request had been sent, but the seller did not receive anything. This is such a bad way to encourage more videos. Some sellers already receive pretty disgusting Messages asking for shots of them posing with/wearing the product for sale, and now they get to deal with video requests as well? 

Etsy Ads costs are all over the place for some sellers recently, oscillating back and forth by day [post by me on Patreon]. 

Etsy is testing AI overviews of reviews, and they are about as popular with sellers as you might guess [Reddit thread; includes screenshot]. The good news for OOAK and most vintage sellers is that they only appear on items that are listed in multiples. 

While non-US sellers have been reporting issues with Etsy’s new listing page and the domestic pricing tool for a year now, there are now some US sellers complaining of both listing price changes not sticking, and of shipping profile errors. 

No, the Etsy "new shop boost" does not last very long - and I have the citations to prove it. [post by me on Tumblr]

If you are having trouble installing the latest version of the Sell on Etsy app, make sure all previous versions have been removed from your phone 

Sellers in the EU who have been unable to opt out of Offsite Ads should try again, as this seller in France managed to get Support to help out.

Etsy is surveying sellers on their shipping practices and marking items shipped, but it is unclear why [post by me on LinkedIn]. Some sellers who were asked about specific orders are concerned they might be in trouble due to carrier delays or errors.

An Etsy staff member posted what can be described as a “newbie guide to Etsy Messages” in the Etsy forum. About a year too late to prevent many of the scams…

Sadly, this NPR podcast [podcast with transcript] has a lot of errors in it - e.g., vintage and supplies were on Etsy since the beginning - but it is correct that the fight between investors and sellers is at the core of what is wrong with the site today. 

Any Canadian seller wondering how Etsy deals with GST/HST, provincial sales taxes and even income taxes will find this article useful. My older blog post on the GST debacle is still valid on the GST/HST questions, but it is rather long due to highlighting the issues rather than just explaining what a seller needs to do. 

Is Josh Silverman overpaid compared to CEOs of similar-sized companies? We’ll see what happens at the next AGM. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS (minus social media)

Amazon

Amazon has FAA approval for flying its delivery drones longer distances. “Amazon is set to “immediately” scale its operations in College Station, Texas, so it can fly more drones and make deliveries in more densely populated areas that are farther out.”

eBay

eBay is testing AI searches; at least they admit it may be inaccurate. 

As of July 8, eBay is banning use of Bluecare Express and Aquiline as shipping carriers, which some sellers have used to circumvent dropshipping rules. 

Coming soon: the ability for US sellers to use eBay’s International Shipping services to ship domestically to Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. 

Shopify

Shopify’s “Shop” app - which allows consumers to look through many different sites that run through Shopify - had  a “Shop Cash” promotion in the US last week, allowing users to earn extra credits towards future purchases. The Shop app is getting successful enough to start being counted as a marketplace-equivalent. 

Shopify now owns “Checkout Blocks”, an app that helps with easy customization of the checkout process. It will now be free to all Shopify Plus members. 

All Other Marketplaces

GoImagine has been sending out invites to lapsed sellers, boasting of better dashboards, and offering 2 months free. They still do not seem that interested in seller concerns about poor traffic, as this Reddit thread demonstrates. [It's worth noting that Etsy had only 7 million sellers in the first quarter; GoImagine seems to be using figures based on all 3 of Etsy's marketplaces (including Depop & Reverb), but badly out of date ones, as active sellers on all 3 marketplaces were 9.1 million in the first quarter, not 8.3 million. Not exactly inspiring confidence!] 

Temu’s user numbers mean it now will have to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP). “DSA obligations for VLOPs include assessing and mitigating systemic risks related to their services such as the listing and sale of counterfeit goods, unsafe or illegal products, and items that infringe intellectual property rights.” This might be good news for businesses who have had their photos stolen and posted there.

Payment Processing

PayPal is building its own ad network. “The company plans to expand [“Advanced Offers”] to sell ads to brands outside of its merchant network that could be displayed across the web and connected TV.”

Do you have any hot ecommerce and Etsy news you would like to see me cover? Email me, and I promise to keep the source confidential if you want me to!

Get these updates plus my website blog posts via email: http://bit.ly/CindyLouWho2Blog Get all of the most timely updates plus exclusive content by supporting my Patreon: patreon.com/CindyLouWho2

[bossyuri]

Ima put my random thoughts about SRV in here! It probably won't make much sense but wtv sdfsg

again I haven't placed the last building or conquered the whole map yet, as context, but i did finish the main story aside from that.

So ima start of with thoughts while disregarding how the bugs affected the experience!

Overall, I had a good time! I really enjoyed it. I love the new crew. I loved the focus on friendship. I'd say the story overall is nothing really special though, which I don't think is necesserily a bad thing. Sometimes a chill story packaged in a fun game is good ya know.

I loved finding out bits and pieces about our friends through dialogue, I think that was great, and I really liked that it felt like a solid friend group. Modern Yuri (as I like to colloqually call him lmao) is so much more mellow from having a good support system early on lol. But he's still got some Classic Yuri in him.

The rival gangs I think that thematically, visually, their music and stuff, they were great. I liked them a lot, they had good contrast, their music when you fight them rules. I do think that they were a little underused in the actual story though so they don't quite leave the impact that say, the Syndicate did. The threat they posed felt more theorical than anything you actually see. Again not the worst thing, but I feel like they could've used a bit more time to be more present. (I did like how the Panteros stuff ended because it tied in with other things later though!). Like I think in particular that the collective could have been used a lot more.

That said I did play with looong months-long break for the first quarter of the game so idk how that affected my impression. And the last few missions I think were really, really cool, I really liked them! But I felt like the middle parts after a certain point weren't quite as memorable.

But I don't think it was bad! And the game isn't quite over yet, so I'm looking forward to what's to come.

Also I did like how narratively the game tries to give you a nice fantasy release from a lot of real life issues. I'm sure many people at Volition had to face these frustrations in their lives and it felt like. relatable yknow.

Now though.....so I work in game QA, going on my 7th year, and the game released in....really an unnacceptable state, which was really a bummer and really harmed it. I don't blame the devs. Devs want to give us good games. But they don't control release dates.

and they did not control covid. I know a lot people see covid as an "excuse" to fuck up games but trust me as someone who was working in the industry through it all, it absolutely messed up a *lot* of stuff that you may never know about. My setup from home is still not ideal. And thats not even getting into employee burnout but anyway-

I've had crashes to desktop, blockers in missions (regularly), broken multiplayer (tho i havent had a chance to test it again after patches) needing full game restarts for a variety of reasons (clothes broken, face broken, world stopped populating, quest blocked...) the clothes system still breaks for me after so many months after release (thought its a lot better. i dont fear the stores as much anymore lol). I don't know if it's a quirk of the PC version, but it would have been so much more of a good experience if they had had the time to polish the game more before release. Lots of gamers don't have much patience for this kinda shit, and it's a shame for a game that has a lot of love put into it.

But they're still patching the game, and the QOL changes that they keep adding are really good. The game is a lot more stable for me too so I will definitely keep playing, and I'm hoping that my mental state will allow me to make some fun content from it. I'm still kinda hoping for a steam release sometime so I might get to replay the story again if that happens. Because taking screenshots on epic is a goddamn pain.

So huh anyway. I don't think anyone cares that much but if you've read that far thank you! And also thanks for sticking around with me for so long despite my dropping off the face of the earth in a depression spiral. But I'm still around and Yuri is still around. And Saints Row V is fun!

[nuinindia2023]

Day 26: #roadtrip

Welcome back everyone! For those of you who read yesterday’s blog post, Snehaa and I decided to switch it up a little. Not only was she busy documenting our day for the blog, but she also was busy taking over the Northeastern Instagram page. And I’m not talking about the Northeastern GEO page. I mean the actual official Northeastern Instagram page. Like the one with 109k followers. She did an amazing job by the way- go Snehaa!

Anyway, here we are. A new day, a new blog post. Today’s itinerary was pretty simple. 4 hour bus ride to Agra, Taj Mahal, 4 hour bus ride to Delhi. #roadtrip Yes, you did the math correctly, that is approximately 8 hours on the bus (not including bus traffic!) and we made it out alive. However, I will say those 8 hours felt like an eternity. To show you what our journey looked like here is a screenshot of Apple Maps (not showing the traffic that we did unfortunately hit)

The morning started out in high spirits. Well, as high as they could be for that early 7am departure from the Lemon Tree hotel in Jaipur. Most people took the first hour or so to sleep, and by the time we started unopening the packed breakfast, we were all awake and ready to see the Taj. (Compliments to the wonderful hotel staff who packaged up some breakfast foods for us to eat on the bus!) Please enjoy the photo of Scott dancing along to some song playing in his earbuds. Pictured below is also a photo of us enjoying some toast before the bus left.

Olivia and I also had purchased some fun snacks for this bus ride and filmed a few fun taste test videos. Here is a fun screenshot I took from when we tried the Spanish Tomato Tango Lays chip and were cheers-ing. We even got Prof. Duane to try it with us.

While I will not be putting those on this blog post, please note that we enjoyed most of the snacks we tried and it was a good way to pass the time. We took a quick pit stop to use the restroom and quickly browse the souvenir store, and then were on our merry way to Agra.

As soon as we stepped off the bus the hawkers sprang into action and throwing necklaces, magnets, and key chains in our faces, but no one stopped to buy. At least not right then. A short golf cart ride later and we were at the East Entrance to get a quick lesson on the Taj’s history. Fun fact: it took 22 years to build and there are 22 white domes that make up the Taj. One for each year it took to build! I'm not going to lie, pictures do not do it justice, but nonetheless, please enjoy.

We also learned that the inscription highlighted in one of those pictures is an optical illusion. The writing at the top is written bigger, but because of the longer distance from the viewer, it appears to be the same size as the text at eye-level!

Let’s just say that it’s one of the seven wonders for a reason. It’s absolutely breathtaking, and we were lucky because the crowds didn’t seem too bad. We stopped at several stops to take individual photos, as well as a group shot. The photographer that took some of our photos was very keen on getting everyone one to do one of his guided poses.

I thought about putting in some of those individual photos here, but for all you parents out there- I decided to not spoil the surprise. Ask your kids for their photos! For now, just enjoy a few of the smaller group shots we took :)

By the time most of the Instagram-worthy photos were taken, we were starting to get pretty hot and ready to move on to see the inside. Once we got inside the mausoleum, we weren’t allowed to take any photos. There was a security guard who had a whistle at the ready to tell off any visitors for taking photos. So, in the meantime, please enjoy this photo I got online that shows that the the beautiful inside looked like (below; left)

Once we finished walking our little circle around the tombs, we were ready to wrap this tour up. Like I said, the Taj is absolutely beautiful, but at that point, we were all ready to get out of the heat and continue along on our journey. So we made our way to the exit, stopped to purchase any desired photographs from the photographer, got swarmed by hawkers again, and then finally got on the bus.

We stopped at a McDonalds for a to-go lunch to eat as we continued to drive the 4 hours to Delhi. I’m not entirely sure if the drive was closer to 5 hours or not, but it certainly felt like it. With a full day of traveling, we were all glad to see the sign for the Eros Hotel. For dinner, some people ordered take-out, while a group went to a local food court down the street that Teddy found. (Giving credit where credit is due) We ate at a Pan-Asian restaurant and then briefly scoped out the scene for a potential spot to hang out at tomorrow night. Stay tuned to find out if we actually end up going back to there or not. Well that’s it for me. We’ll see you all tomorrow!

[katherinevalo]

pleased to tell you my stat test is done, probably not successfully but done i flipping hate statistics, anyway here are some more screenshots as I can now get back to my rewatch guilt-free

also, i just realized i can technically put the pics in between the text, but i personally like them up top, it's not like my silly comments are that important and when they are up top you can enjoy the pics without my babble

anyway we have arrived to some of my favourite episodes (arcs?) so expect a lot of screenshots, for example all this here is only from eps 17 and 18

1- omg so horribly blurry, but i just wanted to point out that i really like this outdoor set up with the two separate sitting areas; if i had a garden i'd be so tempted to set up something similar

2- hahahahahahah ye baiyi, you dramatic bitch

3- the sad, gutwrenching face that started this all. i have probably screenshotted it many times at it still hurts to see. i actually thought about it many times and i think one thing that makes it so much worse than some other sad wkx faces, is the contrast with the rest of the scene ie. my mouth is just the right size, and the overall happy-ish time everyone was ahving

4- this pose, it's often used for het couples i kdramas :3 (for example Legend Of the Blue Sea, but there is so many others)

5- same post from even more iconic angle, to they had to put that stupid wood in the way so it's not too obvious

6- i and wkx are looking respectfully 👀😳

7- another very very sad face

8- aww look at his precious face, he is so done with his wife XD also i gotta say that the look here is on point, i really like the soft blue and the hair. like overall this ss looks so good and i wasn't even amiing for that

9- wife in question giving puppy eyes, so cute!!! also i know gj doesn't like this purple robes, but my god i love them

10- and THIS!!! i have seen this scene and her sister so many times and i still can't actually belive it happened like i'm shooketh

[elderwisp]

I wanted to chime in and add some recommendations!

I really enjoy adding in scene descriptions as to how I want to compose the shot. Like something I’ll write is: Have both characters opposing each other, one looks away while the other stares intently. This helps me have an idea of what I want to see in when taking screenshots. I'll even add in what feeling I want to portray for characters as well. For much more serious/climactic scenes, I storyboard those out because visually, I need something to reference

Having a script is also helpful, I did not have a script in the beginning which led to me having to completely redo the first half of my story D: I also like to use sticky notes to come up with timing of events before typing them up into my document of events and character details

Kind of adding to the previous blurb, sometimes things don’t work out. There was this scene between two siblings that actually needed to be scrapped multiple times before the final result. I remember being so incredibly frustrated that my idea was struggling to come to life but sometimes inspiration happens in the most random ways so I went a different route and honestly, it was much better than the original! So being patient with yourself is important!

For coloring, I’ve recently started to use quint’s lightroom shader, if you use gshade, I think there’s an equivalent! So having that specific shader allows me to do that without having to open up camera raw filter every single time

I love really dynamic lighting, but sometimes, TS4 doesn't have that umph that I need so I used these neon strip lights by amoebae

Posing isn't necessary to learn, however if you do want to learn, SurelySims has this amazing video that I used. She teaches from the very basics, to tips and tricks of the human anatomy to the real niche things

I've always found cinematography to be incredibly inspiring, I always love to watch an analysis video after something very moving. I think taking the time to read/watch about your favorite director/show/movies will help inspire you as well!

My favorite dialogue video (I also really enjoy that youtuber's channel, schnee also has some really cool videos as well)

My last piece of advice and I think this has helped me the most is to completely go bonkers with it. Tell the story that you'd like to hear, the characters that you'd like to know and the tone that you'd like to set! There is a group of people that are just as interested as you are or hey, you might even broaden someone's horizon. Try different shots, test different shaders and lighting. A lot of really cool things come out of experimentation! :D

hi hello i would love some mod recs or technical tips n tricks for storytelling simblrs bc sometimes the idea of a story is great but the idea of getting the screenshot to present my ideas in game is uhm daunting!

[celestialcrownsvn]

Scene Teaser - Demo complete! 

Hello tumblr! I have exciting news! 🎉 The demo script is totally complete! There are 57K words of prologue ready for play testing. Sprite expressions have been programmed, and I'm nearly done with the UI.

Overall, massively ahead of schedule! Here are some screenshots of the UI.

The game is really coming together! I'm super excited. All that's left aside from the other art assets is adding some polish. I want to go through one more time for copyediting/checking out any narrative inconsistencies, then I'll be starting on Aalam's route.

Scene Teaser

As voted on Twitter, here is a scene teaser! When King Aalam first arrives at the castle he poses as the ambassador of Andromeda.

There are two choices in this scene, can you spot them? I've chosen "Gentle" and "Impulsive" for this go, as well as a female Terra.

Scene 14

"Sahi is waiting for me. He's removed his sword and bulky armor in favor of a simple tunic."

Sahi "Ready for warm-ups?"

Terra "I'm feeling rather anxious to get started."

"Sahi gives me a disapproving look."

Sahi "Your Highness, you know that a well-lubricated body is an uninjured body."

Terra "Yes, yes, all right."

"I knew Sahi wouldn't allow me to skip procedure, but it was worth a shot. He guides me through some stretches and light exercises. It's not enough to bring my mind to that pleasant blank state the same way the actual lessons do, and I find my eyes wandering around the grounds. I see a few of the recruits standing near the stables huddled close. They speak quietly rather than the usual boisterous voices I hear drifting in through the castle windows in the mornings, and their eyes glance over at me every few seconds. I've been taking blade lessons since I was thirteen, and each fresh wave of recruits takes some time to adjust to being so close to a Royal. Sahi and I started at the same time, and he was the only person brave enough to actually speak with me in our free time."

Sahi "Watch your knees."

"I straighten my legs, breathing through the stretch as my fingers brush my toes."

Sahi "Good."

Sahi "Up now, let's do a few lunges."

Terra "Come now, General, haven't we've done enough?"

Sahi "Just a few."

"I sigh and indulge him. In this arena, I am technically supposed to follow Sahi's orders. He's the teacher, I'm the pupil. It's sort of funny, considering we both grew up training under General Blanchet. Sahi was always better than me, try as I might. I wonder how the old General is doing these days…"

Sahi "Your Highness?"

Terra "Hmm?"

"Sahi regards me with a tilted head and hands on his hips."

Sahi "I said, ready to start?"

Terra "Yes!"

"Sahi fetches our usual practice swords. They're wooden, but still pack a punch when you're jabbed. Or thwacked, as Sahi is fond of. To his credit, I never make the same mistakes after he does that. We bow to each other and then begin. Sahi comes at me quickly, clearly trying to catch me off guard. I block, deciding to stay on the defensive for a time. I let my thoughts empty, nothing but the heat of battle and the whir of reflex in my brain as Sahi and I dance. He's such a gentle man, times like these are the only time I see him with any sort of aggression on his face. I love that he doesn't hold back when we practice. During group drills, whenever I'm paired off with a soldier, they always treat me so delicately, clearly afraid to injure me. Even after all this time, Sahi is the only person who ever truly gives me a challenge. He slashes, and I sidestep to avoid it. As I do, something in my peripheral vision catches my attention." "Ambassador Rift is watching from the edge of the training arena near the castle wall."

Terra "Ow!"

"In my distraction, Sahi takes the opportunity to smack my wrist with the flat side of the blade."

Sahi "Focus, Terra."

"I return my attention to the battle, eager to get him back for that hit. By the time we finish, the score is three to four in his favor. Even still, I can feel the tension that had piled atop my shoulders the past few days completely sloughed away. These lessons always have a cathartic effect. I push my bangs out of my face, grimacing at the sweat plastered across my forehead. While I do enjoy it, the baths afterward are also nice."

Terra "Your game this round, General."

"We bow again, and then Sahi walks closer."

Sahi "You all right? I didn't hurt ya, did I?"

"I nod, rubbing my side where he'd landed an impressive hit."

Terra "I'll be fine. I'm not nearly so delicate."

Sahi "Aw, I know that [title]."

"Sahi walks to put his sword away. Before I can follow, movement draws my eye over Sahi's shoulder, and my lips twitch down."

'Ambassador' "I see you are quite skilled as well. Perhaps we could have a go sometime."

Terra "With any luck, you won't be around long enough."

"The ambassador twists his lips, peering down his nose at me."

'Ambassador' "Very funny. I will remain as long as it takes for you to reach a decision."

"I hum, turning and taking my sword back to the practice rack. To my displeasure, the ambassador follows."

Terra "I don't believe I invited you to gawk at my lesson."

'Ambassador' "I wasn't aware I needed an invitation. Your advisor assured me I was welcomed anywhere in the castle."

"I shoot a glare at the window to what I know is Lune's room."

Terra "Oh did he."

'Ambassador' "Yes."

"The recruits are now staring at both the ambassador and me, and I wrangle back a sigh as I wonder what rumors will start to float through the barracks tonight. With no more excuses, I turn to face Ambassador Rift, standing as tall as I can to counteract our drastic differences in height."

Terra "What is it you want from me?"

'Ambassador' "I am here to—"

Terra "No, I mean at this very moment. Why were you watching me?" 'Ambassador' "Ah."

"He considers the question, folding his arms across his chest in his usual pose. On most people, it looks defensive, but it makes this man look angry."

'Ambassador' "It was…a request from my king."

Terra "Excuse me?"

'Ambassador' "He wants to know the [man] he's going to marry."

"This makes a streak of anger run through me."

Terra "Well, I'm glad he's made up his mind. If he wanted to know me then he should have come himself. Leave me be."

"As I walk away, Ambassador Rift calls out to me."

'Ambassador' "I did not mean to offend. Do you not wish to know more about the King as a potential match?"

"My steps slow. I want to say no, and continue moving, but it is something to consider. As much as I loathe to admit it, I cannot completely write off marrying King Aalam as an option."

'Ambassador' "The King and I are quite close. I assure you I can answer any questions you might have."

"I turn to the ambassador with an unimpressed look."

Terra "And this is why he sent you?"

'Ambassador' "Yes."

Terra "You do not seem like any ambassador I've ever met."

'Ambassador' "Is there a question?"

"I wet my lips and look away. Of course, there is much I would want to know about a man I'm considering calling my husband, but how to ask all of that in a few questions?"

"Part of me is even hesitant to ask because I know I am likely to be disappointed. "It might be better to go in with no expectations at all. Even so, I return my eyes to Ambassador Rift."

Terra "What is the King like?"

"Despite this being a perfectly normal, perhaps mundane question, the ambassador looks a bit confused, like he expected something else."

'Ambassador' "How do you mean?"

Terra "His…personality."

'Ambassador' "He is…a difficult man to describe."

Sahi "I've heard the King of Andromeda is very stern."

"I startle at the sound of Sahi's voice, seeing he looks far more invested in the conversation than I had been."

'Ambassador' "I suppose. He does not tolerate failure or incompetence."

Terra "Most Royals would not."

"Sahi steps a bit closer like he's about to ask a secret."

Sahi "Is it true that he once had someone executed for bumping into him?"

'Ambassador' "Ah…no."

Sahi "Is it true that he has glowing red eyes and can breathe fire?"

"I lift a hand to cover half of my face."

Terra "General, please."

"I clear my throat and lean in to whisper in his ear."

Terra "You are embarrassing me."

"Sahi startles."

Sahi "Oh, sorry Your Highness."

"Ambassador Rift looks at me expectantly, and I realize there is one more thing I'm curious about."

Terra "…What does the King look like?"

'Ambassador' "Average, I suppose."

Sahi "I've never heard of an average Royal."

'Ambassador' "Is that so?"

Sahi "Aren't they supposed to be stunningly beautiful? Like…" "He looks at me and then backtracks."

Sahi "I-I mean, that's the stereotype. Not that you're {i}not{/i} st—I…"

"Sahi clears his throat rather violently and then aggressively punches his fists into his hips."

Sahi "Average, you said?"

'Ambassador' "He is tall."

Terra "Very enlightening, thank you. Did you need something, General?"

"Sahi looks between the ambassador and me, then bows."

Sahi "Uh, sorry. I'll wash out my hair now."

"As he walks off, the ambassador frowns."

'Ambassador' "…Does he normally announce such things?"

Terra "The general just ah, has a few interesting turns of phrases. Pay him no mind. I am still in the midst of drafting the proposal for a new trade agreement, but do not assume that any decisions have been made."

'Ambassador' "I would not dare."

Terra "I do need to be getting to my room. If you'll excuse me…"

'Ambassador' "Seek me out should you have any more questions about the King."

[my-darling-boy]

Genuinely asking, isn't self-diagnose with a condition kind of dangerous? Because legitimizing self-diagnosing opens a door to many malicious people who would want to exploit the fact they can self-diagnose? And in turn, make the space of autistic people worse?

Was going to skip this, but I’m writing a LONG response because I’m VERY exhausted with the amount of misinformation I see on this “self dx is dangerous” take, so buckle up and allow me to info dump.

Recently, authentic_autism_advocacy, an Instagram account run by a supposed medically diagnosed autistic woman was discovered to be a non-autistic woman, Connie Manning, posing as a medically diagnosed autistic person to spread hate and anti-self diagnosing speech. In reality, she is a neurotypical mother who regularly uses her autistic son for clout; she also turned out to have a hand behind CalmWear, a brand of sensory compression products designed for disabled people. Not only had she been spewing hatred towards other autistic people, she had been accusing well known AFAB autistic tiktokers like beckspectrum of faking being autistic and threatening self diagnosed autistics and saying they are a danger to the community, and engaging in other incredibly discriminating behaviour. Yes, she herself was a neurotypical person posing as a medically diagnosed autistic to perpetuate hateful rhetoric about self diagnosed people and used her voice to speak OVER autistic folk for financial gain and exploitation of autistic people, including her own son. If you want to read this roller coaster of a story, an autistic person wrote an entire article on it with tons of screenshots and sources.

So let me make one thing clear to you.

The purpose of actually, genuinely self diagnosing is not done to attract attention or to parade around and exploit other autistic people. Self diagnosed autistic individuals have recognised due to difficult life circumstances, financial hardship, bigotry and stigma within the medical/legal world, being a minor, lack of insurance, lack of proper access to safe care facilities, being denied assessment due to incompetent or biased practitioners, and/or any other obstacle that they may temporarily or permanently be barred from diagnosis. Self diagnosis does NOT instantly mean a person is posing for clout, nor does it indicate a person is trying to wring money from assistance services or exploit other autistics. And nts who use self diagnose with intentions of harming the community? That’s NOT self diagnosis, that’s abuse of something meant to aid people blocked from medical care or financial means to that care. All we can do for autistic people, no matter who we perceive them to be, is treat them the same way we would any other autistic person. Because the moment you start deciding by your own book who deserves respect and who doesn’t, you’ll be on a slippery slope to locking out thousands of autistic people from the community. If it’s discovered a person like Connie is literally abusing the system of self dx to intentionally mislead the community, by all means, we must hold them accountable. But you cannot simply go about granting and revoking access from people just because someone lacks a diagnosis or doesn’t fit your idea of what being autistic looks like, especially if it’s based on stereotypes.

Moral of the story? Isn’t it ironic how anti-self dx people will 100% believe a user who claims to be medically diagnosed but shows no “written proof” of it, yet always demand written proof from a self dx person? It’s almost like even anti-self dx people can’t tell the difference between someone who is medically diagnosed autistic and someone who isn’t. Well, that’s because they can’t. While there might be common traits, autism has no set model, it is a spectrum, no autistic person is alike; Policing self diagnosed people about their self diagnosis isn’t a form of protecting the community. It’s a form of gatekeeping. If you find yourself granting instant acceptance, without asking for proof, to a person insisting they are medically diagnosed like this neurotyical mother, but then prohibit self dx people from entry entirely on the grounds of not showing proof of medical assessment, you are upholding a double standard. This is why policing autistic people’s diagnosis, self or not, is inherently useless.

So here’s the thing... instead of asking people to stop self diagnosing, what you should instead be asking yourself is, “Why do people self diagnose? What kind of medical system could possibly be in place where people feel they need to resort to self diagnosis rather than get an actual diagnosis?”

Well, it’s mainly common knowledge among most of the autistic community that diagnosis is NOT easy to come by.

One of the main reasons why people cannot get a diagnosis is due to financial/insurance reasons. It’s reasonable to estimate that by the end of 2020 almost 30 million Americans alone were without health insurance. I’ve heard costs out of pocket for an autism diagnosis are between $500-$6000. If a person or a family cannot afford health insurance—which by the way on average is around $5,400 a year for a single person and $13,800 for a family here—where are they supposed to pull out $6,000 to get screened?

You might be asking, “Well aren’t insurances supposed to cover disability?” Sure, there are options for disability care through health insurance—not even going to get into that—but like a lot of things in the US, this is a severely flawed system. A lot of private health insurance will stop or limit coverage for an autism diagnosis or assistance services once a person reaches 18 to 21 years old. In most states, coverage has a higher chance of being denied to autistic adults coming with the added age cap or ONLY covering ABA, an abusive, manipulative “therapy” used to force social compliance and trait suppression on autistic people. The fact that ABA, a conversion therapy, is covered, but little else, shows exactly what insurance companies think of autistic people: they’ll only cover us if we want to learn to be “normal”. This can leave many undiagnosed autistic adults who cannot afford analysis, insurance, or safe assistance services with nowhere to turn. If I was not on my parents’ insurance, there is NO WAY I would EVER be able to afford a diagnosis. I don’t have $2,000 lying around. The MONEY ALONE would prohibit me from getting a diagnosis, no matter how many autistic traits I presented.

When I was going through this system years ago to start a diagnosis, I was shocked to find no therapist within three hours of me was accepting adult patients. “Up to 18 only” their websites would say. And in the event I had found one (1) that accepted me as a then 20 year old with X insurance, and that person refused me diagnosis, I would be out of options unless I planned a 5 hour drive which may have also led me to another biased screener. A person seeking self financed assessment can waste thousands of dollars therapist hopping.

People will say, “Well I live in X place, and where I come from, it’s covered!” Well the reality is that everyone in the world does not live where you live. It’s not realistic to assume everyone is in the same position as you or your family to afford care or access the same resources as you. When you say, “Just go out and get a diagnosis! It’s not that hard!”, understand you are speaking from your personal vantage point where screening may be easily accessed or easily covered/is free OR you have no personal knowledge of what that process is like yourself.

The second thing that bars a ton of people from being diagnosed is the fact that when autism was first discovered, its research was HEAVILY centered on white, cis, heterosexual men. The idea that autistic people are ONLY cis, white, heterosexual men carries on to this day. If you are an outlier to this stereotype, your chances of being misdiagnosed with something else or refused diagnosis skyrocket because so-called “professionals” don’t know how to observe traits in any other person besides a cis, white, heterosexual man, and refuse/fail to recognise the endless ways in which a person can be autistic. ALL the time I hear how AFAB people will go in to get screened only to find out their screener does not believe AFAB people can be autistic, because yes, sexism and anti-lgbtq+ ideas play a huge role in the incredibly outdated diagnostic process, because autism is still believed to be an “AMAB only” thing. People report going into a therapists office and being asked questions like, “Do you like going outside? Do you like having friends?” and being told that if you agree with either of these, you cannot be autistic because criteria at some places is so backwards, you can’t even say you enjoy conversation without failing the test. Other things commonly heard during the analysis are screeners telling someone they are too smart/articulate to be autistic, gas lighting them by saying they are mistaking their symptoms for something else/making them up, telling a person they seem normal, dismissing clear autistic traits by saying they’re unique “superpowers”, or intentionally misdiagnosing a person as ADHD INSTEAD of autistic. People on social media have also pointed out what influences racism has on the diagnostic process as well and how lack of research and understanding of autistic POC contributes to under-diagnosis and stigma has only contributed to refusal of care and under-representation of POC in the disabled community, as one autistic Black woman points out on Instagram, “I found excellent articles that support and validate my feelings and experiences, but I could find no research on autistic Black people.” Additionally, because research has primarily been done on young men, this means anyone who is not a cis man and is over the age of 18 and is seeking a diagnosis has a much higher chance of not receiving one because screeners don’t understand how autistic traits may present differently in adults, especially since adults are very likely to mask. Some autism screeners are so against autism they have told clients they would only diagnosis a person autistic if it was their last resort to avoid “placing a burden on their shoulders”. These reasons are largely responsible for why autism is incredibly mis/under-diagnosed. This ask would be the length of a novel if I included every single type of discrimination and mistreatment during the evaluation process alone, but understand it can be incredibly biased, sexist, transphobic, racist, or just flat out ableist. And guess what? Though this process can take as little as a month to get sorted, that is rare. The assessment SHOULD be very short. But a lot of autistic people have reported their diagnosis took more than 2-4 years because of having to waste time, energy, and money hopping from therapist to therapist looking for someone to take them seriously, as many autistic people compiled on the actuallyautistictiktoks page on Instagram point out.

The last thing I want to touch on is this idea that people have that self diagnosing is dangerous. “What if someone self diagnoses and they take advantage of services that are meant for autistic people?” ...The Big Things you think I am going to take advantage of as a self diagnosed autistic person, like scholarship money for instance or SSDI, I do not have legal access to without a formal diagnosis. I cannot waltz into a law firm and ask for a $5,000 scholarship for autistic people without a diagnosis, because they WILL NOT give it to me!

Let me tell you some of things I’ve “cruelly taken advantage of” as a self diagnosed autistic person. I bought glasses with blue light protection, because screen and fluorescent lighting at work and even natural blue toned light from the sky lowers my threshold for some sensory input like noise and social interaction; wearing them to work everyday has improved my sensory thresholds incredibly. I’ve talked to my manager and told him I’m autistic and that I have a hard time understanding vague direction and may need to step away briefly on occasion to tend to a shutdown before a meltdown comes on at work; he had no problem with this. I use subtitles; sometimes I have trouble processing audio or reading facial expressions and tone, and being able to see the words displayed on the screen gives me a significantly better understanding of what I watch. All my life, I have been having meltdowns which I had mistaken for mental breakdowns or panic attacks and having access to resources that walked me through preventative methods and tips on what to do if I have one has been ENORMOUSLY helpful to me. All my life, I was trying to deal with them thinking they were something else; becoming aware of this and accepting that they are in fact autistic meltdowns has helped me not only go through them, but has helped me redirect stims which at their worst previously had me hitting and clawing my arms, slapping my face, and even hitting my head. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait 4 years for a diagnosis to use resources I could be using to make my life more accessible right now!

People will say, “Oh well yeah, I don’t mean You are one of Those Types of self diagnosed autistic people, you clearly sound/look autistic, I’m talking about other people.” The thing is, there is no broad “sounding/looking autistic”, that’s stereotyping, and you can’t demand everyone who interacts with you show you their Autistic Card, because again, not everyone is able to be diagnosed, especially given the mistreatment and stigma present towards autistic people in the medical field! And what made you ask for their diagnosis? Because they “don’t seem autistic” to you? Why didn’t you ask for their diagnosis? Because they “seemed autistic” to you? By denying anyone who doesn’t have a diagnosis resources they may very well need, you are denying assistance to thousands of people who are without means to be diagnosed. And I am SO tired of seeing comments online on self diagnosis posts that “people don’t know what they’re taking about” as if they know us personally, like are you me? Are you my doctor I’ve consulted? Did you watch me academically research and consult with other autistic people about being autistic for over 3 years? I’m tired of “well, one time a self diagnosed person laughed at my actually autistic diagnosed friend...so all self dx people are evil” because there is ZERO correlation between a person being self assessed and their behavior towards a non self assessed person. The fact both those arguments are in use whenever self dx comes up is yet another form of gatekeeping.

Self diagnosing autism is not begging for attention or Evil Criminal Money Funneling Schemes. It is a result of a deeply flawed medical and insurance system that has failed to give proper attention and care to those who need it, it is a result of resources not made available, of safe support systems not there for kids and adults alike. You want to talk about what’s truly dangerous? How the hate group Autism Speaks has been parading itself around since 2005 as an advocacy group for autistic people and has been misusing millions of dollars worth of donation money and promoting stigma and hatred around autistic people; no autistic members are present on their board. How Sia and her new film Music was nominated for 2 Golden Globes despite it replacing the original autistic actor with a neurotypical actor, using offensive stereotypes, and using the main autistic character as a prop, and featured an extremely dangerous bodily restraint scene on an autistic person having a meltdown in public and featured very insensitive content due to Sia’s lack of consulting with autistic people to make the film (spoilers in that article).

Instead of policing autistic people, whether they fit your idea of what an autistic person is or not, redirect your efforts and your energy to dismantling systems and holding others accountable for perpetuating harmful stereotypes about autistic people that are legitimately dangerous on such a scale that they have created insurmountable damage to the autistic community. But I guarantee you, worrying over whether your classmate is “faking it” will not do any justice to the decades worth of discrimination autistic people face still today.

I understand. You care about the community, you don’t want autistic people to be exploited or taken advantage of. I don’t want to be exploited and taken advantage of as an autistic person, and I don’t want that for others! But I also understand that when we self proclaim ourselves as judges of random autistic strangers on the internet or start accusing people of faking or demanding to see medical paperwork from people when the basis of our suspicions is “this person doesn’t look like my stereotyped view on how I think an autistic person should act”, THAT is when you really run into trouble. Because if you are allowed to deny self dx people entrance into the autistic community, what’s stopping you from thinking you have the power to deny ANYONE entrance into that community?

And there is power in self diagnosis for many autistic people. When the evaluation system is literally rigged to set you up for failure and put you through unnecessary hardship, self dx is a self affirming, empowering tool to take back control from a process designed to gaslight and crush you. The evaluation process was NOT formulated by an autistic person, nor was it made to be inclusive of all autistic people. Until the evaluation system in place for autistic people is safe, accessible, and free to ALL, you have EVERY right to self diagnose.

[temporarily-exhausted]

I see each of Luca's major daydreams as the exact point where he goes through a character development milestone and we see his mentality change little by little.

First major daydream: the boat

There's a lot to think about despite how plain and empty the scene really is, which is its own thing.

The view is still from underwater, so everything is wavy, distorted and very blue; it makes sense, along with the emptiness, when the ocean is all he knows. We see a silhouette who is most likely meant to foreshadow Alberto (it's not actually him) coming into the picture, on a boat - a human artifact - looking confidently in a classic hero-pose (conquering his fears like Luca wants to do?).

Luca goes up to get closer and have a better look but is stopped by the barrier of the water. His fears of the land above and the "land monsters" is still very real and present inside him, but he tries to fight the water to push through. The fact that he even tried to get close to this boat is a big deal. We start to see who Luca could be.

Second major daydream: Vespa is freedom

This daydream happens after meeting Alberto (aka the silhouette on the boat and the "owner" of the items Luca found) and after he learns about the Vespa.

Look at how the scenery now gains some color and clarity. He is out in the open air now, he knows what the sun feels like (and what it does to your eyes if you look at it directly... hah! Just kidding, definitely look at it.), he has seen plants, different colors, etc.

He is also flying through the whole thing, through tiny simple land with tiny simple homes, a little greenery here and there... well, flying is often associated with freedom.

Freedom. Luca wants freedom. Freedom that he doesn't have back home (water barrier from daydream 1). However, the water is there below him through the whole sequence as a major feature; it shows he is still attached, still fearful.

Third major daydream: "that's the dream"

This happens after Luca and Alberto have their days making and testing their makeshift Vespa, and with Luca looking out at the town of Portorosso (like the little homes he saw).

Again, look at how vibrant and colorful his daydreams are getting, not to mention the scope of it is getting larger. We get to see a lot more scenery with each passing daydream. The clouds are still flat, sure, but the hills are larger, there are flowers, grass, wild Vespas, and look! No water! Not only that, but Alberto is now in there too, driving the Vespa that is leading the both of them to their freedom.

They even make it up to space with the sardines and the big fish, Luca's driving now and he's the one that speeds up that ramp into space. Yet the dream ends as a nightmare, with the big fish becoming a watery blob, Luca turning back into a sea monster, Alberto is gone, and he plunges into darkness.

This is the point when, arguably, we can add Luca's resolve into the development. Curiosity, a desire for freedom, and a new-found resolve and courage that he doesn't even realize he had in him until his parents threaten to send him to The Deep and essentially keep him underwater forever.

But with this dream, we also see his attachment and dependency with Alberto starting, specially since Luca is so amazed at how much Alberto (pretends) to know and how brave and fun Alberto is. Very much a "just follow my lead" kind of guy at first though, but that's a whole different post.

Final major daydream: L'universo

Now this beauty, his final major dream I wanted to get 2 screenshots for because this is the point where we get the full picture of what Luca really wants to do.

The sequence starts after he looks at Saturn through a telescope, Giulia having explained to him what stars actually were, and introducing him to the concept of planets.

Look at all these beautiful colors, how detailed every item is, how busy the scenery has become. Look at the space behind him in the Saturn scene, the stars are now normal stars, no longer sardines. The land and buildings are more detailed and accurate, there are new structures. The clouds are no longer flat, they are now fluffy and realistic.

Giulia, by the way, is flying next to him, not with him as he was with Alberto in the 3rd major daydream. She has her own little flying machine and is flying near Luca, guiding him and showing him all this new stuff. There is space between them; Luca can follow her to see where he needs to go next, but ultimately he is flying alone. Alberto is nowhere to be found in the dream either.

This is the point in his development where his desire for independence comes in to round it all up.

This is Luca's dream, not that he didn't want to run away in a Vespa with Alberto, because he 100% did, but that was originally Alberto's dream, this is his and his alone. This is what he wants. It also shows him detaching from that sense of dependency with Alberto (Alberto as a leader, the way Guido and Ciccio were with Ercole, not Alberto as a friend)

He wants his own sense of freedom, he wants to go places and see new things and learn new things, he wants to be his own person and do his own thing.

[inkabelledesigns]

Splatoon 1 and 2 Amiibo/Amiibo Cards: What you need to know about using them in Splatoon 3

Hey fellow lovers of Splatoon! It’s your girl Kat Alyst, here with some funky fresh findings about amiibo cards.

These are the mini amiibo cards! Very small, am I right? I got them from ebay (link for those of you who want to see for yourself: https://www.ebay.com/itm/195386966549?ViewItem=&item=195386966549), and I’m happy to report that they work! But there’s a few things I think are important to know if you want to use them on multiple consoles/get the gear faster.

So a little background info: I share my amiibo collection with my little brother, who has a switch of his own, so I had to make sure that I could use these both for myself and for him (he really wanted Pearl and Marina’s gear). We ran into some interesting complications though, with both the figures and the cards, and this is where my advice comes in.

If you have a copy of Splatoon 1 or 2, register your amiibo there first. Here’s why.

Number 1: When you register an amiibo on Splatoon 3, you will only be able to get gear from it on your account. When my brother tried to borrow my amiibo and cards that were freshly registered on 3, he did not receive the option to get gear like I had, he could only take photos. If you want to share you amiibo with your friends/siblings/cousins/pet rabbit so all of you can get the gear, this is crucial. You can just go and delete the amiibo save data every time you want to use it on a new console, but it’s still better to register them on an older game, because of the next point.

Number 2: If your amiibo reads as having save data from 1 or 2, it will give you all three pieces of gear right off the bat instead of having to level up and tap them multiple times to get all three pieces. We found this out because I decided to use 2 to overwrite the data to see if that would be enough to get them to work for my brother’s switch, and unlike when I tapped them on 3 for the first time and got one piece of gear, he got all three of them. The only amiibo we haven’t gotten this to work with are Callie and Marie, and that’s because I never beat the story mode of 2, and you can only use those amiibo in 2 once you’ve done that. I imagine if you have story mode beaten, the same can be said for them. I say this having tested it with regular amiibo from 1 and amiibo cards from 1 and 2.

Here’s the downside: You won’t be able to take pictures with any of your amiibo in photo mode unless they’re registered in 3, which is a bummer, but I get why. Important thing to know: using amiibo in photo mode is the only way you can pose your player character, so that’s one reason why people are searching amiibo and amiibo cards out. So do everything you want to do with them in the way of gear with save data from 2 before you register them with 3, and you should be golden. I’m actually gonna keep mine with 2 save data on them for a bit, since I have a sister that also plays 3 who’s visiting soon, and it makes more sense to re-register them with three once she’s gotten the perks. The only thing I will say is that if you register them with an older game first, you miss out on what the character dialogue is in 3, which is unique and different from the previous games and for each individual character, but if you don’t care about that, then it doesn’t really matter. Though I will say, it’s very interesting on the Octoling amiibo that came when 2 got Octo Expansion, their dialogue has changed significantly, screenshots below.

Octoling Boy in Splatoon 2:

Octoling Boy in Splatoon 3:

I didn’t know they spoke like that, totally missed out on that last game! And it makes sense if you know what the DLC story is in 2, what an interesting detail to tie it all together! Also he is so sweet and I just want to hug this guy so much!

One thing to note if you’re new to Splatoon amiibo is that some amiibo have the same function. For Splatoon 1, there was a second three pack introduced with a green inkling girl, purple inkling boy, and orange squid. I don’t know why they did this, but I happen to have those figures since I didn’t know any better, considered using them for customs at some point. These three amiibo give you the exact same gear and dialogue as the original three from 1 and are completely unnecessary unless you want those colors/are sharing with a friend. Unfortunately on my set of mini cards, the renders for green inkling girl and purple inkling boy are incorrect. They’re both wearing gear that isn’t featured on their amiibo, and the boy has the wrong skin tone. Also, my set of cards includes 17, and that’s because there’s an extra orange inkling girl for some reason? No idea why, but hey, I’ll take it!

In conclusion, the amiibo cards are well worth your time if you want to get the gear and take fun photos without having to pay the astronomical scalper prices for the previous game’s amiibo (or if you just don’t want/don’t have room for the statues themselves). All 17 cards cost me about the same as one regular retail price amiibo ($12.99, not including tax and shipping), that is an absolute steal. I haven’t collected amiibo in a long time, not since Smash Bros where I was casually on the hunt. It’s actually kind of ironic, I first got an ebay account because of Smash Bros amiibo, my other sister found a set of Sonic and Shulk from Japan that was a good price,  so one character for me and one for her, and that was my journey into looking for stuff preowned online. I’m really happy with these, can’t wait to throw on the witch gear for spooky month. Hope you found this helpful! Have fun out there squiddos and octokids, see you on the turf!

[thedevilliers]

this is less a tutorial and more a semi in-depth explanation on my process while taking screenies. my do’s and don’ts about lightning, angles, text/dialogue, close-ups and other!

as a disclaimer, anyone is free to take their screenies however they want and this is just my personal preference and opinions ♡ everything is under the cut! i did say its LONG so dont say i didnt warn u 😳

i use the nobluv2 and noglo mods by luumia! i recommend them 100000%

1. lightning

with its exceptions, this being i’m in a room with candles/chandelier/anything that doesnt naturally produce a white light OR ambiance reasons, my setting with screenies is with the ‘Neutral White’ color. this is for me, more visually appealing than just bathing your sim in yellow light.

EXAMPLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

warmer white:

poor lit:

good <3:

i usually test my lightning before i actually take any screenies so my sim is well-lit but also preventing overexposure bc of the lighting. an example of overexposure is when for example the lighting is SO strong, your sim looks like its ‘shining’

you can see it here on her chest highlights, her arm and her cheeks. i exaggerated it here so its more obvious. fixing overexposure is HARDER than upping the brightness in a poor-lit screenshot. overexposure and makin sims look like they are SHINING is a crime. JAIL

the best light ever tbh. just dont get... to carried away

1.2 outdoor lightning

this is one a bit trickier depending on your location but USUALLY your screenies would look well dark. again, test lightning before actually shooting screenies! i generally look for a lamp posts that have good lightning and shrink them down so if im taking angled shots, it doesnt get in the way. change the color to neutral white and if its too much lightning, just lower the dimmer:

2. just no

just no to all this:

in general, you can ZOOM to the max, and with the scroll-wheel zoom out THREE TIMES. four times we on the edge but its still acceptable. five times and you are goin to JAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

in general i also recommend having a semi-big room so you can move around without any problems. small rooms DO work but chances are while moving around you’re either going to go outside the room, run into a plant in the shot or into another decor item.

for example, this is a ‘small’ room. while taking photos i have run into the bookshelves for over the shoulder shots like 8000 times. still, doable, but why put myself thru the suffering>?????

2.2 fill the room

nothin sadder than, for example, doing a bedroom scene and there just being...a bed. the game comes with so much clutter and theres also a lot of clutter cc to make rooms seem more ‘lived in’. its also a lot more visually appealing than the room being empty.

3. angles for screenies

my controversial OPINION!!!! i dont care for FULL surroundings shots for more than for a singular panel. THERE I SAID IT!!! usually i show the surroundings/scene setting in ONE panel and then i move on to other angles. again, has exceptions. these being a banquet, party, ball, another sim joins the scene, montages, etc! ANYWHERE that has something happening with multiple people in general.

for example, i don’t see why repeat the same angle with different poses. i can do it for one panel, but for the next ones? there’s the option of over the shoulder shots,  detail shots, them looking at each other shots, cinammon tography shots........... more than likely your reader already has an idea of where your characters are so showing it in every single panel is not necessary.

always try and leave a lil breathin room for the heads on top so it isnt all CRAMPED! but this all depends on the pose, if theres a height difference included in said poses and the angle you are taking the screenshot from!

same thing about not just doing...full on surrounding shots for when something is HAPPENING. say, someone is fainting, collapsing...ANYTHIN!! theres so many shot options than just repeating the same angle over and over again. DONT BE SHY!!!! DO VARIETY !!!

we in photography class now. BUT yes keep these in mind ALSO while taking photos so it isnt just the same angle, same distance just different pose. your sim has a nice outfit? showing it once is enough! every panel? ummmm......... your sim is crying?  do a medium close up/medium shot and not a full body shot!

3.1 close ups

your close ups and ALL screenies in general, don’t have to be FRONTAL only. they can be right/left side, a lil angled...

waist/chest level is a good level for a close-up sim wise since if you ZOOM in too much WELL

4. text/dialogue

i’d recommend any SANS-SERIF fonts. serif fonts are so hard to read even if nice looking. usually a font-size of over 40px+ works and you can add outside stroke and even drop shadow!

i personally use calibri (bold italic) for my screenies, but other subtitle fonts like arial, myriad pro, helvetica...really any sans-serif ones work.

my stroke settings:

i also wouldn’t recommend putting 4000 word paragraphs in ONE screenie because it’s just visually exhausting. the MAXIMUM i’d do and thats if ABSOLUTELY necessary is FOUR!!!! lines of text. id keep it to three ONLY and thats if your text is the same size as mine. if bigger then two 😳

yes <3:

another no-no for readability is INSIDE stroke or adding bevel/emboss to the text. pick bright, contrasting colors to the background or even clothes your characters are wearing so it’s not hard to read.

something a lil extra i also recommend is if your dialogue has different sentences and one ends and another one starts in the same line, continue it on another line. DOES THIS MAKE SENSE ok lets see:

the “Yes, maybe I went on [...]” continues on the first line, but to make it a bit easier to read just press enter and move it to the second line so it’s on it’s own line.

same thing for the "Be nice or [...]” line! it gets cut off to the third line anyways, so just put it in a singular line. final result:

for me, this is easier to read, less I GUESS ‘immersion breaking’  and easier on the eyes too.

and just other quick things to keep in mind:

will the post be horizontal or vertical? if its vertical, you have to angle and move the camera around keeping in mind you’re going to crop it later. yes, the scenary might be nice if its horizontal, but a lil vertical photo is cute!

best times for OUTDOOR lightning photos are 2pm-4pm. morning light is a bit too dark, 12 pm is the slightest too bright, but 2pm-4pm is just ENOUGH!!!

and thats all : ) i THINK i talked about most things screenies wise??? if you have questions, my askbox is always open : ) and remember these are just my opinions : )

[accio-victuuri]

Devil Timeline : GG and Web before the official meeting.

Disclaimer that this is All CPN and nothing is really proven. As with all these things, feel free to disagree. Don’t crack your head open thinking, we’re all just clowning here. some info on here are taken from different sources and others I added in. 

What is this timeline/theory all about?

This CPN is all about them liking each other as early as 2015-2016. This is different from the love at first sight theory from 2017 & with them keeping in touch till they meet again in 2018. Part of this speculation is that they are ex-boyfriends. Also that Web was punished (what for and if this is even true, we don’t know.) by his company in 2016 before hosting Day Day Up. I don’t buy the ex-lovers part/punishment. My take on this Devil Timeline is that they were lowkey fanboying each other or have a crush on e/o. Where they in contact or have they met? Yes. possibly. 

Plus, It’s not too outrageous to believe that they know of each other. GG is a koreaboo and he most probably heard of UNIQ. Web on the other hand, most likely heard of XNINE. 

So where are they between 2015-2016?

GG joined the reality program x-fire in 2015 and went on to debut with xnine on 2016 as the main vocalist. Notable acting job was superstar academy. Web on the other hand, was busy with UNIQ. Promoting in Korea, China, Thailand, Brazil and Japan. Notable in 2015 was the release of EOEO. In 2016, he joined the cast of Chinese Odyssey part 3 and was also announced as an assistant host for Day Day Up.

What are some key points to this Timeline? 

1. Love Mole : It all started with this photo. Web holding a picture he drew of someone smiling and with a Mole. A mole on the same place as GG’s.

Another explanation for this is, he was actually drawing himself. there is a fake rumor that says Web is fixated with GG’s mole because he had one on the same site when he was a kid ; then disappeared over time. It goes on to say that Web jokes that GG stole his mole. (this joking tho was done during CQL shooting).

Recently, you can see in his photos that it’s there again. It’s literally the LOVE MOLE! but yeah, going back -- the delulu interpretation here is he was drawing GG. 

2. GG’s dream lover : 2016, On GG’s vlog for Qixi he talks about a “dream lover” and drew it on paper. He goes on to say that he left the face blank as appearance doesn’t matter- It’s about the feeling.

Now onto the drawing of GG, bxg compares the features of the figure to Web.

3. Parallels : Similar posts from 2015-2016. There is not too much out there and we can’t really verify cause of GG’s weibo post restrictions. I can’t find ones aside from the example below cause most of the same posts that we have screenshots of are from 2017 onwards.

On 6/2015, Web posted a picture of himself visiting a spongebob exhibit. On 2/2016, GG shared a picture from his visit of the same place with his friends. It’s too far apart if you ask me and so many people love spongebob, so this could really be a coincidence and not them cueing each other.

4. How long have they really known each other? : The Usually reserved Web was so open with GG during that 2017 TTXS episode. Remember that Web only started being an assistant host on 2016 and is usually very shy. But he interacted with GG in the simplest way by imitating his gesture. Tho the TTXS bros were the first ones who did it, he went ahead and did the pose too. His smile was also teasing.

Compare this with their CQL interviews and GG recalling what he said to his bandmate who was scared that it’s Web who he’s gonna battle with.

I don’t think he said that because he doesn’t know who Web is. Again, it’s too familiar. Like, don’t worry it’s just Web, I know him, he’s good, he won’t kill you. In this interview he proceeds to say that he has faith in his bandmate but after watching Web dance, he knew they could not win. 

Also add Web’s reaction in this interview, trying to wave GG off when he kept on saying he knew of Web for a long time already. 

GG, you just met in 2017, why are you saying you’ve known him for a very long time? “know of” is such a broad term. It can be you know them personally or because Web has been a celebrity longer , that’s why he knew of him. we are betting it’s the latter.

So if that’s what we’re thinking, then why did he say that he knew they couldn’t win AFTER seeing Web dance. If you’ve been a fan and KNOW who wang yibo is- the first thing you will find is that he is an EXCELLENT DANCER. It doesn’t match up. Unless, It’s really GG who first followed Web’s career?

I can go on and on about things these two have lied about from eggplants to carrots and that waterfall scene. They have a say on what narrative they want to put out in this interviews, whether they honestly forgot things or are actively refusing to give information. It’s up to them what they wanna say. 

5. Love clues from 2015-2016 : 

Web’s ideal type : Suzy from Miss A (which was i guess everyone’s ideal girl in the KPOP world during that time) and Taeyeon from SNSD. I know there are parallels of how Suzy and GG look alike and how Taeyeon is kinda like GG. They are both vocalists and are older than Web. 

GG’s ideal type : He said he wants someone who is gentle but can still stand on their own. Also someone with personality. Plus, he doesn’t care if his other half can’t cook because he will do it. When asked what he will do if him and his friend like the same person, he says if he really likes the person then he will fight for it. 

6. The first table read : This is a new entry based on the BTS released last night. We only had snippets of this when they were joking around but this new video shows more. GG just naturally turns to Web and like he’s done it before. There is still some shyness when they were talking about pants but it doesn’t look like two people who have only interacted today. Especially Web’s demeanor, there is a time or two that he hesitates when joking, but that could be because he is testing the waters. 

There was Absolutely no barriers (from GG) in tapping Web’s back a couple of times. If I’m a stranger just watching this, I’ll tell you these two have known each other for quite some time. Not just from that 2017 meeting and beyond.

7. A 2016 drawing - Over the years, we have learned that GG, like many artists put clues in their drawings. with things up to interpretation, as most of the time, he does not explain things outright. One BXG pointed out this drawing he made of a heart + bunny + cat. the Bunny is obviously him, so, love with a cat? Plus the look of the cat, like it’s looking at an innocent bunny. I know power dynamics between the two is a complicated topic, BUT---- 

8. WILDCARD: I know this is a popular fake rumor out there but we don’t really have evidence. No picture and I don’t have a screenshot of a fan account. It says GG went to a Uniq fanmeet on 6/22 in Guangzhou cause he wants to research about idols. This is before he went on xfire. The date 6/22 matches with the 622 coincidence. Consider this as fanfic but this lives in my mind.

That’s it. feel free to add thoughts or some other info you have about this timeline cause I’m sure that I don’t have it all. It feels so good to finally put this out because it’s been sitting on my draft for some time T.T. I am sure there are other explanations for this timeline.This is all CPN anyway. Please don’t take seriously. 

This posted was last edited on 11/28/2020 12:53 PM

[rule-number-3]

Do you mind me asking what programs and brushes you use for drawing?

I draw in Photoshop with actually a mix of different brushes based off of what kind of drawing I’m doing.

The rougher, messier sketches I do with usually the Paint Brush from Jazza’s brush sets or whatever pencil brush I’m vibing with for the day. The first one is the paint brush sketching and the second is a pencil brush. If its something I'm really taking seriously, I'll start with the paint brush to do pose sketches and thumbnails then move to the pencil brush to solidify it and see where things go from there.

One pencil brush set that I've recently been testing out is this one here. It's also the same one that I used for a few of the palette/expression posts. The other that I use often, I downloaded so long ago that I can't even find the original source but I'll try to after work (imma miss my bus if I don't move now).

The last main brush I use this one when I want really solid lines but don't want them to be too clean. I only really use it when doing things like fake screenshots or plan on coloring certain pieces, which are rare occurences.