#tried to make an actual one but im not used to the software and got super frustrated and gave up

[organised-disaster]

Just got a laptop and the software lets me make timelapses

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for wanting to stay in an important team position?

(For reference: 🎮🎮🤖)

(Sorry for the long post and any bad grammar!!)

So i (16F) am in a robotics team at my school, we take part in a pretty big national and global competition called FIRST.

recently my team got through to national stages, which is a MASSIVE deal, not exactly an everyday occurrence.

Our robot requires two drivers, one for the main body, and one for the arm. The whole time we’ve had the robot working, i have been the arm driver (apart from a couple lunchtime sessions where other people tried it out briefly) and took part in the actual qualifying rounds. I’m also the CAD designer so i designed the claw part and know what i have to do to make it move in the correct fashion and not damage it. My friend Pen (not any real names ofc) is the main body driver and has spent so much time working on the robot no one is disputing her driving.

The problem comes in with two people - Plane and Bolt. I’ve never particularly gotten on with Plane, while ive been kind of neutral with Bolt. There’s no active hostile feelings with us at the moment, but they have been pretty aggressive to people in the past, gatekeeping roles and new people joining - they had a huge fight on the team group chat over it with my friend Keyboard. They also tried to stop Pen (who was originally doing software) and another person in our team (ill call her Remote) from being engineers, but im the end Plane and Bolt did none of the hard work, doing very easy things while Remote and Pen were left doing all the manual work on the body, while i attached the arm.

Both Plane and Bolt decided in the week before the qualifying event that they wanted to drive the arm, and that we should rotate at the event. Thankfully the supervising teacher got involved and told them no, i had put in the time, he guessed maybe they could try do some more practise before the national event. Me and Pen were drivers in that and are now in the top 19% of global drivers, which i am insanely happy about. Despite being ill the day of the event, Plane was the human player, which means you still get to be around the field while not directly touching the controllers or the robot, but can help.

The first session after the event, Plane comes up to me saying how badly she wanted to be the driver and she was going to put in the practise. I told her that I didn’t want to be mean, please don’t take this the wrong way, but it depends on what our teacher says, and really, it’s a matter of skill. Me and Pen have had the time practising together, it’s not a personal attack on you. The next event is only 8 weeks away (a lot of that is holiday) so im really sorry, but it’s not up to me. You’ll have to take it up with the teacher.

She was obviously not happy with this and walked out of the room without saying anything else. I’m panicking that I was too rude but she’s been far more aggressive to me before and I haven’t got super pissed at her for it?

The rest of the team apart from Plane and Bolt agree with me, and I really want to stay driver because honestly I enjoy it. It’s something im good enough at as well, and I don’t super enjoy just sitting in the audience feeling useless.

Tumblr, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[sadesluvr]

heyy saw that you take requests again xx

i NEED some william/steve fluff nothing in particular its really up to you🥹

im so soft for him��

A/N: Hi Anon, TY for the ask! I went with the Steve persona just because I feel he's a little nicer (despite the obvious XD). This is more of a drabble but I hope you like it! :)

Working in the public sector was extremely tiring, especially now, at the turn of the millennium, where more people were beginning to lose their jobs to computer software that was slowly on the rise. Luckily, you had Steve, one of the career counsellors at the local governance department, to help you sift through the workload.

Steve had been in the business longer than you (considered a ‘vet’), and had even won an award for ‘Social Worker of the Year’. Higher ups respected him, colleagues invited him to work dinners, and you certainly liked him - which was why you’d spent time in the office into the late hours of the night. It was 11:30PM when you’d both decided to call it a night, switching off the desk lamps and shutting down the copiers, completely oblivious to the fact that it had begun to snow outside.

“Damnit..” you muttered as you tried to start the engine of your car, desperately wanting to get home, make a warm mug of cocoa, and fall asleep. It seemed the universe had other plans, as no matter what you did the car didn’t start - and to make things worse, the sheer cold had caused your key to get stuck, ultimately breaking off in the ignition.

You were screwed.

A knock on your window signalled that help had arrived. It was Steve, painted with a warm smile spread across his cheeks, accentuating his dimples. 

“Need a hand?”

You weren’t entirely sure why he hadn’t dropped you home, but you knew that you were far too tired to care. You woke up on a chequered, albeit slightly worn yet comfortable couch with a blanket draped over you. What struck you the most was the fact that you were still in the majority of your clothes from the day before, but your top had been replaced with a large jumper, which smelled faintly of black coffee.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t see anything,” a voice chuckled, and Steve strolled into the living room holding two mugs. He looked like a different person entirely - dressed in a sweatshirt rather than a button up, cosy socks and slightly ruffled hair.

“You used the bathroom before you crashed last night,” he continued, placing a mug down onto the coffee table. “That’s how you got the sweater. It’s a little stained, but it’s all good,”

“Oh,” you said, rubbing your eyes. What time was it? “Thanks…”

“I hope this isn’t weird,” he said, smiling down at you as he perched himself on the armrest, sipping his own drink. “Gas was low, and the roads were icy…It just made sense to come here, you know?”

You nodded, savouring the taste of the drink on your tongue. It was your favourite; Steve had clearly remembered it from all those mornings at the office. 

“I get it,” you shrugged. “Your couch was kinda comfy, actually…I won’t be long, I know you’re not a big fan of having people over…” you finished, pulling yourself from your slumber. Steve may have been a well-liked guy, but he’d always been rather shielded when it came to his personal life.

Instead of being met with rejection, the man shook his head and raised his hand. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled. “Half of the office has called in. It’s basically a day off,”

You raised your eyebrows and stared at the man in shock. Days off were basically foreign, let alone to someone as hardworking as Steve. Glimpsing out of the window, you could see that the snow had settled; a thick white layer lined neatly on top of the man’s car. Considering yours was still down at the office, and travel was likely dangerous, it meant that you were going to spend a whole day at his house. Just the two of you.

The thought made your heart flutter. Steve was rather attractive; mature, bright eyed, and most importantly, divorced. You wondered if your feelings for him were mutual, but judging by the way he was staring at you, you got the idea. 

“Are you sure you’re gonna want me around?” you teased, smirking. “Work and home life doesn’t mix…”

“I’ll take my chances…” he whispered, gaze unwavering as he walked over to the small fireplace opposite, lighting it so that it produced a few embers before joining you on the sofa, his long legs and large frame taking up most of the space. Whilst some may have found this claustrophobic, you found it rather inviting. There was something about him that was cuddly. 

He lifted up his arms, and you instinctively snuggled under him, burying your face in his chest as he lazily flicked through the channels of the television. It was an unexpected, yet perfect start to your winter.

If you were lucky, you’d spend the rest of your seasons like this.

[eternalshadeart]

I've been doing digital art for almost 2 years now, with little to no practice on actual paper for these 2 years, and that got me thinking did I Lose my touch with traditional art, Haven't picked up an actual paint brush in so long. Its easy to get lost in the vast possibilities that digital painting softwares offer, ranging from hundreds of brush textures, to tools to make your shaky lines smooth, making the perfect circles, filing a solid colour in an instant.

Where you absolutely dont have to wait for your oils or watercolor to dry up before going for the next layer, and most importantly no need to spend dollars on art supplies and if you make any mistake the undo option is always there for you.

It did make painting easier in a way, but it also comes with its own cons, when I started digital painting I felt like I had to learn from scratch how to use the particular software, and had to learn to paint all over again. Tho it catches up quick but still figuering out how to use each tool, how all the functions, brushes, layers, blend modes work. It does take some time.

Nevertheless I ventured from my point, so since I've been painting dgitally for 2 years I figured its time to indulge in some traditional work, touch base and see If im still worthy.

I tried painting a couple of small canvas and got stuck figuring out what to draw, to have the exact outcome planned out because if I decide halfway through coloring my background that I dont like how it looks, I dont have a ctrl Z to help me this time, I'll have to paint over the whole thing and start from scratch. Painting on the canvas directly is a commitment and theres a looming pressure that the outcome should look beautiful and completed, and I already have enough anxiety, not really excited about been anxious about the thing i love.

One warm afternoon I picked up a tiny notebook I had, bought it on a whim last year and it has been sitting on my shelf since then, its a 4"x4" pocket notebook with decent paper quality, perfect to try out the random black gel pen I found lying around. And I got to it, found a cozy warm place and made a small pen sketch of a tree. The texture looked nice, i did mess up a couple timeson the leaves but since its just a disposable paper I didnt worry much on it, just covered it up with more scriblings. It felt pretty good, ad I realised with digital art the one thing I'm missing is customisign how I organise and decorate my work collection.

With digital software all your art is stored as mere .png or .jpg or whichever format you prefer, but thats it, its just a photo album, unlike a sketchbook where you can decorate the cover, add a couple of sticker or notes to it, stick a dried flower you found, or just about anything creative.

The overall feel of a sketchbook is entirely different and I dont have to worry about each page looking like a finished work.

I love painting digitally but painting on a sketchbook is almost nostalgic, so I finally started one.

Got myself a small A6 sketcbook with a pretty floral cover,cut out the pen sketch i did and glued it on the first page, and thus started to fill each page with totally random unrelated paintings.

So anyway this was a lengthy way to tell you how painting on a sketchbook somehow made me improve my art, and felt incredibly amazing, tho I've completed just couple pages, each page looks beatifull in its own way, and i got to try out a couple of pens, and paints that I havnt used in so long.

got to try doing simple portraits, tried to double tap multiple times on the page (stupid muscle memory).

so anyway here are a few pages that I have completed, and if you did read till the end, thanks for bearing with the (rant)?

[fallish]

i will absoluely take this baton, thank you for tagging @fairlylokai 🥰

1 ) do you make your bed? the truth is i tried for a while and i still do try occasionally but a majority of the time it ends up with me sleeping on top of a comforter because my brain cant put together the effort to pull it back and actually get in. im going to go with no (despite the state of my very made bed that i am currently sitting on at the time of this post)

2 ) what's your favourite number? two-way tie between 58 and 87. iykyk ;)

3 ) what is your job? im a software developer, its kinda a boring title but im getting good at it!

4 ) If you could go back to school would you? it really depends on the day you ask me this one. like generally? fuck no, it was hell on my adhd. on a particularly self destructive day? yeah and i might finish a college application before deciding to sleep on any major life decisions (and then i wont do it! 10pm rule that shit!)

5 ) can you parallel park? yes! i used to be the only one of my friends who could but i live on a street with only parallel parking and i think theyre getting better at it :D

6 ) a job you had that would surprise people? i used to be a camp counselor for one summer! everyone used to always tell me id be bad with kids because i didnt really like them, and i actually tried failing this interview but i guess they needed people, so i got the job. i got on swell with the kids! uh. not so much with the other adults tho. i accidentally made the ice tea spiked at the end of the summer and needless to say i was not invited back. i look back on it fondly :)

7 ) do you think aliens are real? of course. its unthinkable that humans are the only ones around in the whole universe. as they say, life finds a way

8 ) can you drive a manual car? nope. dated a guy who did once, and im ngl i was kinda into it, but i never learned myself.

9 ) what's your guilty pleasure? k pop photo cards 🙈 while I agree that guilt is for the weak, I do think I spend an unreasonable amount of money on those

10 ) tattoos? not yet, but ive got plans. my mom is super against them so while im at home, i cant. when i move out tho, i really want to get a set of wings in honor of ffvii (the first video game i finished)

11 ) favourite colour? i like yellow, like the mustardy kind but im partial to green and black

12 ) favourite type of music? i spend a lot of my attention on the punk/rock so like fall out boy and mayday parade and i listen to a lot of indie shit like glass animals and basement punk like the front bottoms and mobo, and recently im into kpop, particularly zerobaseone. also! i suspenct that no matter what, if i like the rhythm of the rap put in front of me, its highly likely ill enjoy it

13 ) do you like puzzles? i like puzzles so much i made it my job! one could absolutely say i like puzzles lol, me and my sister used to do them a lot and for her last birthday i got her a 10 pack.

14 ) any phobias? im not fond of men with raised voices, but on a lighter note, i wont go more than 5 feet into the ocean because i grew up in jersey on movies like jaws that made me wuite scared of shark attacks

15 ) favourite childhood sport? i uh didnt play sports 🫡 i liked watching hockey though and i still watch nhl hockey now! so that might count?

16 ) do you talk to yourself? oh yeah. all the time. i cant do tasks if i dont talk myself through them. it might not be out loud all the time (i respect public spaces and the quiet associated with them) but theres a constant running monologue i promise.

17 ) what movie(s) do you adore? cheesy answer but i LOVE inception its one of my all time top 5 movies i could watch it in any mood and it would amaze me.

18 ) coffee or tea? i like both, i prefer tea, but im not allowing myself to have either right now. im trying to get myself off of caffeine again because i recently started going back to work and drinking more coffee and what do you know? my migraines made a comeback

19 ) first thing you wanted to be growing up? i wanted to be a famous singer, and sometimes i still want to make music but i dont know, i guess it got away from me at some point. i still make little singing audios and send them to my friends and my mom always says i have a nice voice so the dream stays alive :)

thanks again for tagging! im going to tag @doomcannotbethisadorable @alittlebitofrainbyyourside @sherlockholmeson and anyone who wants to do participate!!

[smute]

the ios app is such a disaster honestly. idk how many posts ive made on here complaining about the performance and overheating issues but i do know that ive tried to tell @staff about them multiple times, both through apple's report an issue thingy in the app store and directly via the tumblr support page. ive been through every troubleshooting step. i cant even tell you how often i reinstalled the app. i have tested it on wifi and cellular, with 5g on and 5g off. its always the same thing. the app draws insane amounts of power whenever it is active/open, even when im not scrolling, and my phone gets warmer and warmer until it eventually shuts down with a temperature warning or gets too hot to hold in my hand

a couple weeks ago i actually upgraded to a new phone (for context: my previous one was only 2 years old, not some ancient underpowered thing, and apart from tumblr i NEVER noticed any performance/temperature issues so i wasn't really looking for an upgrade, i just got a really good offer from my carrier). the tumblr app also makes my (older) ipad overheat, so i already knew that the problem here wasn't a particular device, but given the chance i was ofc curious to see if things would improve with a newer one. they didn't 🤪

anyway i conducted a little informal experiment with the new phone to figure out exactly how bad the problem is. didn't even install the tumblr app when i first set it up, just to see how the phone would perform without buggy software (the answer is really well)

under normal usage the battery lasts for at least two fucking days. texting, playing music, surfing, fucking reading ebooks, watching youtube videos, we're talking like close to 30 hours of screen time on a single charge. SCREEN time, not standby.

on saturday morning, while using the tumblr app (and only the tumblr app), i went from 90% to 50% in TWO AND A HALF HOURS. that is insane.

like not only is it super uncomfortable to hold a piping hot thing made of glass and metal in your hands, im also genuinely concerned about the health of my battery lmao

until a few months ago i had NEVER encountered this problem, not even on my old iphone 8 that sometimes struggled with other apps as well. tumblr always worked fine. idk what they changed or which weird new feature that nobody asked for is responsible for this but something is drawing power like CRAZY and literally FRYING MY HARDWARE.

honestly its like the world's shittiest screen time reminder lmao. after 30 minutes the temperature starts to get uncomfortable and after an hour i literally have to take a break, close the app for 5 minutes and let my phone cool off. WHICH IT DOES BTW. like almost INSTANTLY. idk what else to say except that this seems to be a feature not a bug. in the sense that it happens no matter what i do

lmao sorry this turned into such a long rant. like i said, i already messaged tumblr support about it but this has been going on for months at this point and i am P I S S E D

[selamat-linting]

if yall think that department store job is bad wait until you hear about the stock broker job i almost had.

so, i recently turned 19 at the time and was desperate for employment. there's this walk-in interview ad on the local job site. i went there, hand in my resume, and without looking at my file the HR told me im accepted for a three day training program. it should be a red flag, but i came in anyway.

our trainer is a man in a fancy suit. the first thing he said other than the over-excited greeting was thanks. thanks for not believing the naysayers who said this job is a scam.

i might be stupid, but im not stupid enough to ignore that. immediately i was hyper aware of everything this trainer was doing and saying. our first day was all motivational speeches and bombarding everyone who dared to question their scheme with noises and covert shaming so they'd get in line. the actual product we're selling, the daily operation, he either sidesteps the question or explain it in such a vague nothingburger way that you couldnt understand it. at least they gave us free lunch though.

when i get home, i began looking up the name of the company. theyre formally certified as a broker company, but its hard to find an actual job desc or the benefits. there's even accounts of costumers who felt theyre getting scammed out of the whole deal. i still came in the next day.

i dont know what i was thinking tbh. i guess there is a part of me who wished it was all a misunderstanding, or a part of me who thinks i can actually make a sale and get money despite the circumstances, and a part of me who wants to convince myself that im not a quitter. i was a mess. i went on my second day, and at least a quarter of people are gone. we did our training, this time we're taught how to trade stocks, using software we barely understand with principles we dont even get. and ofc when we get the job, the money we use for trading would be our customers' money.

during break time, they told us to get comfortable with the workers who have been there for months. i was friendly with them, but i realized they're the ones i could actually get a straight answer from. i basically cornered and made one of them to admit this is a job with no base pay, just a commission scheme. and some havent closed anything for months since the day they start working. i admit, i did it for myself, but i hope other people who enrolled in training with me heard it too.

it was then i made the decision to drop out. dont get me wrong, commission only jobs are a standard practice for a lot of sales industry, and i respect people who do the hustle. actually, i might even try it one day if (big IF here) im skilled and financially stable enough to weather the rough months. but its wrong for that company to avoid explaining that aspect especially when the job is convincing people to fund your trading business and you cant even educate your workers on the product properly! its predatory and scammy as fuck.

and for years after that sometimes i hear a story of a coworker who tried their luck. all of them failed. well, one girl i know manage to close a deal. except she got screwed by her seniors and she didnt get her earnings. one guy i know even end up drowning in debt because of that job. but then again, i dont feel sorry for him because i overheard him confessed to raping a girl at a party once so he deserved it lol!

anyway, the office of that trading company was soon shut down around 2020. i heard they got sued, or they cant pay the rent for the building, im not sure. they were closed though. and everyone who knows that place but doesnt work there, recognized they have a not so stellar reputation. however, they recently reopened under a new name. different company name, same business model. thats capitalism.

[fantasmafanta]

chipspeech rambles so i dont explode

hi this is prolly gonna be a long post that makes no sense srry i just need to brainrot dump. but most important thing if ur not weird and you like chipspeech PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE dm me here so i can give you my discord or instagram where i am actually active more ahhhhhh.

ok anyway blue robots woohoo. these little bastards have been stuck in my brain for like a month now and its just gotten worse. the cool thing about chipspeech is it like doesnt entirely go with the rest of the vocal synth/vocaloid fanbase but rather than being its own seperate things its like this neat little extension of it in like multiple ways. it not only is just a really cool software that tried a lot of new cool things that we dont really see with like vocaloid and synthv and stuff but it also kinda shows the history of how we got to the point of modern vocal synth software in a cool way! even if you dont dive into it like i have you still get the basic “oh well voder was made in like 1939 and it had to be operated by hand how cool” and like through chipspeech you kinda get to see the evolution of how we got to where we are now and i think that thats really neat. 

but then if youre a nerd like me you get to have a ton of fun diving into all of the history and cool old tech stuff. liking chipspeech has made me find a new interest in old computers/tech/software/videogames do i fully understand how they work? hell no! do i love looking at them and having them explained to me by some dude on youtube? hell yeah!! and like its just so cool to go in and research the machines/softwares that inspired the chipspeech bots because even though its difficult sometimes you get to see these advances made and how each one differs from each other in how it was made, how it was operated, its function, etc. and thats SO. FREAKING. AWESOME. like dude have you seen the video of one of the tests for the votrax?? (the one that bert gotrax is based on) if you havent basically it was made so that people with disabilities so they couldnt talk could have conversations over the phone. they tested it by trying to order a pizza using only the software. it took like 3 tries before someone took them seriously and they got the pizza. and the moment they were like “yeah deliver that to the msu computer center” i got so excited cuz that just felt so badass!! like put yourself in their shoes, its 1974, you’re testing your new speech program, and it finally worked. a room full of people, a camera, a news broadcast (iirc), theyre all watching you struggle to order this pizza and then you finally do it and get to tell them to deliver it at the lab you just proved your intelligence to and fehjvddsujfs i cant explain my thinking but DUDE its just so cooooooolllllll!!!!!!! 

but like yeah i need to rant cuz in one of my lovely friend’s words i need to “GET THESE QUEERS OUT OF MY BRAIN!!” (a silly thing my irl said) also like i love the way the voices sound. like yeah sometimes i have no clue what theyre saying but thats not the point of chipspeech!! like vosim has such a nice buzzy voice and like dee no matter their range just sounds so.... great. i dont even know how to describe it it just makes my brain sooooo happy. like sam to most people would be like static weird... idk man but i loooove the staticky sounds theyre just so neat. but its so hard to find nice chipspeech covers/songs. luckily im starting to find how to discover chipspeech stuff but its still so difficult :(

and like fanart and general fan content toooooo how do i find it?? i think the answer is i dont but that makes me sad. cuz the twitters are no longer active and its never been very popular so it doesnt seem like we get much. and literally the only discord server for chipspeech is run by... not-so-great (from what ive seen/heard) people in the fanbase. even if the main accusations arent true it still seems to be a safe space for proshippers which makes me feel icky sooo. help. 

anyway im not re-reading through this so like sorry its so long and makes no sense i just need to get chipspeech thoughts out. if you like it PLEASE TALK TO ME!!!! im losing my mind ahhh

[lossie92]

hi lossie hope u get better soon and hope u dont mind me asking but if u do, ignore this, or if u would like to come back to this later im very patient haha! basically im looking to get back into art and im thinking of trying out digital but not sure about what tools are good so im asking around some artists i follow what they use and if they’d recommend it before i spend any money. thank u in advance n best wishes <3

Hi anon 👋

I'm feeling better and getting released on Monday (hopefully). Really excited about that. Nothing against hospitals, but I hate them 😶

Hmm when it comes to physical tools, I use a Huion Kamvas tablet and that's what I would recommend to everyone asking tbh. A friend of mine actually got one of them bc of my recommendation and they love it.

As for tools as in the type of software I use, the current ones are Krita and PhotoFiltre (the 2nd is just for editing and I use it to clean up my traditional art pieces too) when it comes to stuff that's free, and Rebelle Pro 5 when it comes to software you need to pay for.

I want to do a trail of Clip Studio Paint at some point, since so many ppl have said good things about it to me and I've watched a few vids that made me curious about it, but I haven't gotten around to that yet so I can't make a personal recommendation on that one. Just putting it out there though that it's probably a really good program too.

I hope that helped in some way. Unfortunately, I'm much better at recommending traditional art supplies 🫣 but I tried my best.

Good luck with your return to the art world! I hope you have a blast ❤️🫰

[journalofsorts2]

what happened to simple ui? im not talking about things like social media, they already have simple ui and if they didn't, they wouldn't be popular. im talking about shit like any adobe program or like a game making software. why is there like a full novel on how to use these types of software? i don't want to spend hours learning how to use photoshop just so i can make some crappy pictures, i want the layout to be easily accessible where im able to tell what the buttons do. and like there's nothing wrong with a complicated ui, sometimes its necessary and after you've gotten bored with a dumbed down ui you might want something more complex. my problem is that no one is making those dumbed down softwares anymore. so my only option is to jump straight into this super complex shit and get overwhelmed immediately because im super out of my depth. like game makers, i want to make a visual novel cause they're fun and i have a story idea, and everyone everywhere says ren'py is the way to go. problem is i have to know basic coding knowledge for that. i don't want to learn a skill to learn a different skill. i want some shitty software like powerpoint where it's super simple to do what i want and maybe i can't do super complex shit but that's fine!! i just want to make something for fun!! and i tried tyranobuilder and that is also a little overwhelming too. it's just game design seems super fun and cool but every time i try and get into it i can't because all the stuff made for beginners is stuff i already know but the rest of the options is way too advanced for me. i just want simple softwares again man. this is why i got discouraged with animating too. there wasn't a simple program for pc. like sure flipaclip is super simple and i actually really like it, problem is im not a phone artist and i use my computer to draw. but there's not really a flipaclip alternative for pc. i also really like flipnote on the 3ds but the coloring confuses me. i just wish people made simple ui programs again. idk rant over

[hemihr12005]

W1D2 fundies:2 (software)

We started out with making sheet 2 "straight line shapes". We then drew our new shapes and created every shape. The shapes were a little harder today but still quite easy.

(i changed the lighting bolt shape - mentioned down below)

This was my finished results. I will show the points i used while also talking about each "shape".

For this shape i used P tool to create the shape and then i used A tool when i was done to create a more symmetrical shape. I used the least possible points. This was the easiest shape to make symmetrical. i liked doing it online better then paper because it was easier to create straight lines that were parallel to each other.

this shape ended up being a little less symmetrical because one of the three main column going vertical was larger than the others, and i found i couldn't fix this while using the A tool without moving the entire form of the shape.

I used P to create the shape, but wanted to change the shape mid way through so i made the lightning bolt more on a slant to create a cleaner look. I did this through the A tool. The above shape is the original shape and below is what i changed it to. I think the below shape turned out better and looks more like a classic lightning bolt.

the dog had the most points, but i used more different slants on corners to make the shape more interesting. I again used p tool to create the shape and then a tool to correct. I created the eye after i was finished with the rest of the shape.

The star shape i used pen tool for the original shape and then used A tool to reposition the star points to make the star look more like the a star. This one was really hard to make even. (still easier than paper though because i cant rub out pen).

The last shape was quite fun, i drew a square first with the pen tool and then used that as a reference when i started drawing this shape. I tried to make it evenly spaced and i think it turned out quite good.

Started page 3 "single arc curves" they are terrible. Im currently not a fan of beizer curves. I did - through a lot of effort and anger - make a pretty okay circle though.

To show direction handles to further edit your curves: drag select on A tool - select (on top bar) - object - direction handles

Editing direction handles helps, but its still very hard to get a good looking curve.

(please ignore the circle in the corner i am just so proud)

Drag with line , and then drag with line again to make a "standard" curve. first attempts very difficult so i need to practice.

Keep your handles short.

The handles tell line how to bend so shorter has more control over segment.

1st attempts:

changed curve to 2nd design. adjusted through starting again.

finished curves

you can make handles longer by dragging them to make hings more or less harsh

final closed curves. ^

hybrid curves:

P > draw line > hold down mouse & hold down option> drag line across> let go of mouse> let go of option = should have curve now!

Make curve> go back and click last point (instead of option)

broken point make shape: drag upwards keep hand on mouse, put down option and mimic angle of other handle, then finish the curve.

option= click on anchor point put option and u can edit handles.

shift c: will convert curve anchor point into corner and vise versa.

Got a little over whelmed when we first learnt the beizer curve but doing the harder stuff actually helped me to realise what was going on.

[jelliestar]

Project 04

Dear GOD.... this project was HELL

like genuinely the sheer pain i went thru was insane... i will go thru this... hope whoever is marking this will enjoy my very traumadump-y retelling of it bc. GOD.

(i am so sorry lmao)

OKAY SOOOO

we got given the brief and itwas loke 'this studio is visual authourship and space' and my big brain went

'omg waittt i own varuyama what if i made a space where people could have some kind of interaction with them? like a game?'

the only time, btw, i did smth smart. which even then not really because why did i do that to myself actually?

ANYWAY.

I started by deciding I wanted to make a cutesy maze game, so I began to sketch out the sprites I would use, and began to dl some ides for javascript (so i could just make a small web game)

I was going to have really small, cute sprites but the actual point of the game would be to help Yama get all her dismembered limbs back and then go back to Varuna, who would, yknow, cause them to fall off again

(me when the doomed lesbian romance i am SO sorry for turning these projects into my OC brainrot but also no im not)

Ok so here's a pic of the yama sprite, half done because I was sharing my idea with friends and one of them (who studies CS) was like 'star why are you doing this to yourself just make a vn??" and I was like omg ur so right?!

ok yeah here is yama... erm...

so anyway this is the message i got from the cs friend:

this was so based of them all hail Meej.

So after i received this, I sat there and was like. yeah. yeah I should make a visual novel on this software.

So uh, thats exactly what I did! or tried, anyway.

[mangofmoon]

wait ive never shared this on here—

this is the first animatic Ive ever posted (and im still quite proud of it? weird). The way I made it tho… is uh… probably unconventional (click the read more thing to learn how ;3)

OK SO I firstbtried using flipaclip. but after the sketches and figuring out timing I realized that exporting the video caused the audio to be offset and that bugged the shit outta me so I changed plans i screen recorded the preview in flipaclip, imported the recording to procreate, and COUNTED THE FRAMES. INDIVIDUALLY. Finally i could match the number of frames to the actual nice ones I made in procreate. sweet! i had a video! i think! then i realized: “wait how do i add audio” PANIC

then I remembered the iMovie app my brother and i used to make home movies with. That could work! (i have no computer so no actual nice software, and less features in imovie) (sad) so i put the video into imovie and added the audio it… it was off. like very off. i tried editing it but it was so bad i got tired and gave up. i forgot about it completely.

like a month later i found it again, and being less sick of looking at it, I was like: yea sure i could upload this. I asked my brother, who had a computer, to add subtitles. But the program he used made incredibly crusty subtitles and i couldn’t match them completely with the frames. oh well. i uploaded without the subtitles and carried on my day.

until a few days later I realized I could make it BETTER I went back to the timed frames and added subtitles individually to each, according to the original music video, so us english speakers could know what the lyrics are (which i wanted because the korean lyrics are mostly the reason this song resonated so strongly with my story) so I tried to edit the timing in the frames better, but in imovie it again sucked ass. so, i finally gave up, and slapped the “timed” frames in so I could split the video in imovie and cut out extra time and get the timing PERFECT! it took like 3 hours cus i didn’t know what i was doing but I did it! i sure did

anyway ask me if u wanna know any lore stuff :) ill try not to give away too much

(also apologies if this is hard to read) (probs gonna edit it for clarity later)

[kisskissgotohell]

hey if you're still struggling with the youtube layout thing (i literally went to tumblr to see if anybody else was complaining lol)

i don't think we can send links but googling for the youtube minitool software article "How to Go back to the Old YouTube Layout?" they have an easy walkthrough on how to temporarily fix it back to the previous one. i'm sure their minitool probably makes it permant but i haven't downloaded or tried it. the walkthrough is just a quick step process

youtube does have a feedback feature to yell at them :) hit the hamburger icon (to get to settings/playlists/etc) on top left corner, scroll all the way down, should have a feedback option. i told them if it doesn't change back or i can't personalize it i'll stop using youtube, but i'm not sure how much that actually works.

anyway! hope this helps, delete it if not. have a good night!

this was super helpful and im so glad someone else had the same opinion!! unfortunately i suffered under the curse of Answering Asks Scary for so long that by the time i got around to answering this youtube is back to normal lmao

[endo-lies]

around 2013 onwards i met an "Endo DID" / "DID without trauma" / faker irl. i was open about my DID online (which i self diagnosed then, it was actually OSDD), and she had my social medias because i was stupid and gave it to her, so i guess thats how she found out. we got into a relationship. i was 14, she was 25. she groomed me, was very physically/emotionally abusive, r*ped me multiple times, tried to use dissociation to defend herself / "didnt remember" r*ping me, tried to implant fake memories, tried to make my alters switch when she was r*ping me, tried to convert me from trans to cis, tried to convince me syshopping was real, and that she was "system hopping" / "had hopped" into our system and used that to control me for a couple of years. she admitted she was faking DID at one point, near the end of the relationship. she also said she lied that she was trans FtM to get closer to us. it was all a lie. and when the relationship was over she stalked me for another few years, watched my house, kept track of my location, volunteered at my school, worked there for a little bit (she installed spyware/parental control software on my phone when it was confiscated), and then doxxed me. all of that only caused more trauma for me. endos caused my trauma and r*ped me when i was a kid. im STILL extremely traumatized from it.

endo "systems" and supporters. this is what youre supporting. sure hope youre glad you support abusers, groomers, stalkers and r*pists. fuck all of you.

.

[masterjedilenawrites]

Blueberries and Cowboys: Chapter 2

A choose-your-own-adventure style fic. First, 2 platonic chapters for set-up/build-up. And then, the story will split into 2 paths depending on your romantic pairing preference: You and Thrawn, or You and Eli.

Chapter Masterlist

Chapter 2: The Plan

Pairing: None...yet...

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of bullying

Length: 2k

AO3 Link (In case you like it better over there, it’s okay, no judgement)

The rest of the week saw the three of you using every bit of free time outside your classes and studies to gather information for Thrawn to build a solid plan.

Eli tailed his pesky classmate Arden everywhere, even skipping a class one day to break into his dorm, trying to learn anything about the guy that could be useful to get him involved in the plot. Thrawn analyzed the simulation software and protocols that would be used to administer the tests, mapping out every possible way Commander Burdick could hijack it. And you were the one spying on the Burdick himself. Since the commander didn't seem too interested in your grades, you were able to shadow him without suspicion, and had been able to slip a bug into his offices to eavesdrop on any potential conversations about his plans for sabotage.

Your classmates and the staff were none the wiser. That was the advantage of being social outcasts. Half of them avoided you all like the plague, and the other half already thought you were weird people doing weird things. So it wasn't long before you'd all gotten enough intel to work with.

It was late in the evening at the end of the week. You found yourself in Thrawn and Eli's shared dorm, which looked identical to your own in the opposite wing, because the Empire couldn't bother with things like individuality or comfort. Eli sat on the edge of his top bunk, his legs swinging casually, and his coat unbuttoned to reveal a wrinkled undershirt you knew he hadn't bothered to wash all week. Thrawn paced about in the middle of the room, his long strides only allowing him about four good steps before he had to turn around. He still had his uniform on, boots and badges and all.

You leaned against the railing of the bed, watching Thrawn as he went back and forth. Sometimes he sat still when he was scheming, with his fingers steepled and his gaze seemingly reaching into some unknown dimension beyond your comprehension. That usually happened when he was running through variables that didn't concern you, at least from his perspective. You and Eli had accepted long ago there would always be parts of his plans he would never share with you. He was kind of a control freak like that.

But tonight, he seemed to be more welcoming of collaboration, hence his steady rhythm of pacing in front of you.

"Only one variable remains, as I see it," he was saying. "We understand how the commander will manipulate the system to cause a redundancy in the simulation, thus rendering the test impossible to finish successfully."

You and Eli shared a glance; the only person who truly understood how that was going to happen was Thrawn. He'd tried explaining numerous times but when it came to codes and tech, the two of you weren't able to fully keep up.

"We also know through your investigating," Thrawn motioned to you with what you thought was an impressed look, causing you to feel a little pride, "that the commander plans to only sabotage my test, believing it will be too suspicious if Eli also fails. He will also manipulate his false code to originate from the computer of his former lover Eva Carroway, who currently works in HR. So if an investigation does ensue, it will be traced to her and not him."

You and Eli chuckled under your breaths. It had been a little amusing when you'd discovered Commander Burdick was using this plan to not only undermine Thrawn, but also get revenge on his ex-girlfriend. But even more hilarious was how awkward Thrawn treated the subject. He had been quite perplexed to learn people could be so vindictive after a break-up. And any time he explained that detail of the plan, like he was doing now, he hesitated over his word choice. You couldn't tell if he only pretended to be confused about romantic relations, or if that was truly an area he found himself lost in.

If Thrawn noticed your snickering, he didn't respond to it, only continued to recap the plan. "We have also determined how we will expose the altered code naturally, so it does not cast suspicion on us... What was the word you used?"

"Backfire," said Eli.

"Yes. It would not due to have anyone suspect that we altered the test ourselves, or to have our concerns disregarded altogether. Thus, arranging for the maintenance crew to get a mild case of food poisoning so their performance checks are postponed to occur right before the tests will take care of that variable. At the least, they will fix the altered code and I will take the test as normal. At the most, they will report it and the commander faces expulsion."

"So..." said Eli through a yawn as he stretched. "What's left to work out, then?"

Now it was time for you and Thrawn to share a look.

"Were you not interested in involving your classmate, Arden Fey?" asked Thrawn in his soft, contemplative voice.

Eli shrugged. "Yeah. But Burdick's already got his scapegoat, his ex. So it'll be easier to keep him out of it. Whatever."

You could tell he was trying to be nonchalant. But just this morning, he had spent the entire walk between classes ranting about some new insults Arden had come up with, and how badly he wanted to show the guy up once and for all. You knew your friend wasn't feeling "whatever" about it.

"It's not a matter of ease or difficulty," Thrawn stated plainly. He had stopped pacing and was standing with hands behind his back, highlighting the broadness of his shoulders and the height of his stance. His presence seemed to fill up the whole room, and not for the first time, you were glad to be his friend and not his enemy.

"Yeah," you added in encouragement. "We just have to get creative. Find a way to make Arden a more appealing scapegoat than Burdick's ex. In fact...."

You trailed off as an idea occurred to you. You darted out of the room, surely leaving your two friends perplexed, but you would only be a second. You sprinted down the corridor toward the lifts, where a bulletin hung against the wall with fliers and pamphlets. One notice was a bit larger than the others, a promotion of an upcoming gala event to celebrate the Academy's anniversary. You ripped it off and went racing back to the boys' dorm room.

Eli had come down from the bunk and held a concerned look, probably prepared to follow you if you hadn't returned so quickly. Thrawn was still standing composed, but there was a curiosity in his eyes that made you smile.

You held up the poster in front of your chest. "What do you think the likelihood is of us playing successful matchmakers this week?"

Thrawn understood your idea almost immediately, looking down on you with a pleased smirk. It made you flush a little, to know the Chiss was impressed. You rarely had a chance to contribute good ideas when his mind worked so much faster than yours.

Eli caught on next, and he started to grin, the happiest you'd seen him in a while. His smile was infectious and you grinned back. Happy looked good on him.

"We know Eva's not shy with younger guys," you explained. "Before Burdick, she was fooling around with some intern in the med bay."

"And Arden's vain enough," added Eli. "If he thinks anyone's interested, he'll go for 'em."

"So we get him to ask her to the gala as his date...." you said.

"Burdick sees the two of them together...." said Eli.

"And realizes he can get back at his lover in another way, by pinning the sabotage on another student...." joined Thrawn.

The three of you stood together, proud and satisfied that yet another plan had finally worked out. It was almost worth the stressful studying and petty bullying and all the other unpleasant things you had to endure at this god-forsaken school, just to have fun moments like this with trusted friends.

"We should attend this gala as well," Thrawn said eventually, holding out a hand for the poster. He inspected it thoughtfully. "It is only a few days before the tests, so I hadn't planned to pay it any mind. But now...."

"Yeah, we should make sure Burdick's as jealous as we want 'im," nodded Eli.

You were secretly pleased. The plan was already a win-win, but now you would be able to go to the event yourself, too. You hadn't mentioned your desire to go to either of them before, figuring they weren't interested and not wanting to sound silly if you suggested it. But you did love dancing, and it was so very rare you got a chance to wear something other than your Imperial uniform.

"It's a dance," you noted, in case they couldn't tell by the details on the poster. "We'll need to go in pairs."

"I suppose it would make the most sense for you and Eli to go together," said Thrawn quietly.

You looked between the two, realizing both of them were flushed slightly. Eli's cheeks were dotted with pink, standing out amongst his dark brown features, while Thrawn had more of a purple tint to his face now, a color you'd never seen there before. You could feel yourself growing warm and uncomfortable as well. It was only a dance... only a way for you to enact a much more important plan... but it was the first time your trio had had to engage in anything other than platonic friendship. The balance of your group seemed to be shifting ever so slightly in this moment, and you had no way of knowing if it was for good or ill.

You cleared your throat, pushing away any feelings that might have been brewing in your chest, and instead calling focus back to the mission at hand.

"Actually, I think I'd better go with Thrawn. Whoever doesn't go with me would have to find their own date, and no offense Thrawn, but I think Eli has the better chance of asking someone else."

You hoped they hadn't noticed how hollow your voice sounded, how hard you were trying to keep yourself emotionless.

Eli was pinker than ever. "Uh, I highly doubt that..."

"You're not completely hated around here, you know," you said quickly. "Definitely not with the girls. You're not bad looking, you can be charming if you try, and you're... you know, human." You glanced at Thrawn and added again quietly, "No offense."

Thrawn shook his head. His color and demeanor had already slipped back into his usual neutral self. "No, I agree. Those are the dynamics of our peers and we must work with it. I will take you to the gala, Eli will find his own date, and all three of us will push Arden and Eva together as well. It's a good plan."

You all nodded in agreement. But there was a knot in your stomach, a nervousness you didn't quite understand. You cared very much for both Thrawn and Eli. They were your best friends, your only friends. As a group, you were bonded by your ostracism, protecting and supporting each other on your journey out of this hell-hole.

And separately, you had something special with each, too. You and Eli came from similar backgrounds, and had the same need to disconnect from your surroundings and just have a bit of fun every once in a while. The two of you had spent many late nights together, either hopping between bars, exploring the city, making each other laugh uncontrollably, or quietly sharing the honest thoughts you both buried far too deeply inside. Some nights you'd done all of the above, and returned to your dorm feeling both exhausted and renewed.

But Eli didn't always appreciate the finer things in life, and that's where you connected with Thrawn. He wasn't necessarily an optimist, but he had this way of noticing the beauty that existed everywhere around you, even in the most simple or mundane of moments. Everything had the potential to be interesting. His calm but strong presence had kept you grounded and sane throughout your studies here so far. Sometimes you would talk, other times you would simply be in the same space. And either way, you felt better about life.

You didn't exactly want your relationship with them to change. But you couldn't help but feel this gala would do just that....

Next Chapter: The Preparation >

Blueberry Path | Thrawn x reader

Cowboy Path | Eli x reader