#used gradient mapping again and man… i could get used to this. it’s like magic. the ‘make my art look good’ button

[k1tty5]

May I request a doodling of Postal PET? Also 🫂 I hope your life gets better

i adore these three,, super fun to doodle !! thank you thank you <3

w/out text, closeups + pearl and etho individually since theyre both a bit covered up ! vvv

[sunshine-zenith]

So I recently rewatched “Gem Glow” and “Laser Light Cannon,” and I know I keep saying this but we really have come so far since the first two episodes.

Here’s just a few thoughts I had while watching them.

I tried to imagine how “Gem Glow” would look from the point of view of someone who has never experienced anything Steven Universe before. Like, how does it stand as an introduction to this world? It establishes Steven, the three main Gems, the monsters they fight, and Lars and Sadie. We know that Steven, our main character, is like these Gems and is presumably half-human, though this episode doesn’t give us his parentage or relationship to the other Gems. We know that these monsters the Gems fight have “gems” themselves. We know that Steven’s gem, and that Gems themselves, are presumably common knowledge, given the fact that the two teenagers at the convenience store talk about it in a casual manner and react to Amethyst’s destroying a dumpster with an “again?” We know Steven likes ice cream sandwiches and wants to join the Gems on missions.

And that’s about it. And I kinda like that- “Gem Glow” is pretty small, as far as things go (especially with how Big things get from here). It’s not lore heavy, it doesn’t give you much information, there’s no anime-like opening monologue to set the stage. It’s just a silly kid who has the potential to summon magic weapons from his weird belly button, and his presumably guardians who fight monsters and love him enough to buy up his favorite ice cream sandwiches when they’re discontinued.

“Laser Light Cannon” is the episode that introduces some lore- mainly Steven’s parents and the rest of the town. “Gem Glow” gives us our core four players (and a couple of teenagers who get quite a bit of focus later), and even if it doesn’t set a large stage, it sets up enough that we can hit the ground running from episode two onward. (I guess you could call it a post-pilot pilot in a way).

Now onto more general thoughts about these episodes using the context of the rest of the series.

You can tell the Crewniverse hadn’t roughed out a complete map for the corrupted Gems- I mean, a Centipeedle mother? Corrupted Gems being able to create smaller copies of themselves really shows a video game influence, like how you have to fight a weaker enemy that’s just a smaller version of the boss before actually reaching the boss itself, is a fairly interesting idea, but I guess I can see why it was dropped. SU is more plot-heavy than battle heavy, and if every corrupted Gem fight was preceded by a bunch of mooks, it would get old pretty quick, I can imagine.

Also given that “Gem Glow” is like the first episode ever, not counting the pilot, and it's a small one at that, its forgivable that certain elements wind up abandoned or swept under the rug.

Greeeeeg! And Rose (but at this point I’m sure most of us are more excited about Greg. At least, I am).

I believe it's been said that Rose being a diamond was planned pretty early on. It's pretty remarkable to think of, know that as they were slowly introducing us to the upstanding leader and beacon of hope that was Rose in those early days, they were already waiting to unveil her controversial past as Pink Diamond. Rose/Pink is very much a morally gray character (how dark that shade of gray seems can very from viewer to viewer), and that’s not something you can forget, when you go back and take a look at the time when she was seen as pretty darn morally light.

Rose is not a character I, and I know many others, can see in a completely black and white way. To me, it just makes these early episodes, knowing what’s coming, more fun to dig into. 

That said, Greg has always been my favorite character (right after Pearl).

It takes a while for the audience to see just how great (in my opinion, heh) Greg is, but like with Rose, once you know what you know, you can’t unknow it, ya know? Greg is introduced as a balding fat man in what are clearly in his pajamas. He’s homeless, living in his van and has a messy storage unit. He’s described as “a mess” by the Gems (ha!), who at this point are just fun warrior types with magic weapons who clearly care for Steven. We have no reason to doubt that he’s just another stereotypical Dumb Cartoon Dad.

And yet…

His advice to Steven, which roughly translates to “It’s okay if things don’t go right, we can still work with what we’ve got,” is pretty darn uplifting. He’s constantly rooting for and trying to help Steven, even if, as far as he and the Gems are concerned, he shouldn’t get involved in areas where he’s clearly out of his depth. He’s also got a pretty chill dad vibe to him, even this far back. So Steven breaks his picture, no big, they can always reframe it, haha. Shoot, not to bring Personal Issues™ into this, but that kind of gentle, logical response still catches me off guard when I experience it IRL. Greg’s always been a pretty good dad, even if he wasn’t Steven’s primary guardian at the start of the series.

I can’t help but wonder if it was decided yet that Pearl was in love with Rose at this point. With the way they speak about her, you’ve think Amethyst was the closest to Rose.

Shame they didn’t do much with the Laser Light Cannon after this. I can’t help but wonder if Rose just like. Changed the activation password every few decades? Because if she used it during the war, she absolutely would not have used Greg’s catchphrase- as far as we can tell, Garnet (and Sapphire, technically) was the only Crystal Gem with future vision, and therefore the only one who could have possibly known what a “hotdog” even was.

I can’t help but wonder just how much of Homeworld Amethyst knows about at this point- she was able to identify the Red Eye right off the bat. 

One thing I didn’t really touch on is the songs- “Cookie Cat” and “Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart.” Since both episodes had songs- the long titled latter of which playing in the background of a fairly tense scene, seriously complementing it with its contrast- it definitely sets the stage for how much music plays into SU. That said, you could say there are two types of sung music numbers in SU- the Sudden Straight Out Of A Musical type (“Strong in the Real Way,” “On the Run”) and the Realistic type (“Haven’t You Noticed I’m a Star,” “Disobedient”). The latter being like if I were to sing along to the radio. While there isn’t a strong difference between the two- it's more like a gradient where most of the songs can be pinned in the middle. However, “Cookie Cat” and LMDMVIYH are firmly on the Realistic side. Something like, say, “Do It For Her/Him” is radically different when compared to these two.

Overall, I think these episodes combined serve as a pretty good base to have started things on.

[infinitylester]

GIF TUTORIAL

i’m finally getting around to giving the people what they want!! i hit 2.5k like 3 weeks ago and asked you guys what you would like me to do in honour of that...the resounding answer was ‘gif tutorial’ !!!! 

so!! in true dnp fashion i’m merely here to give the people what they want and the people have demanded a gif tutorial, so here it is!

we’ll be learning to how to create this gif right here!

please keep in mind that this is how i make gifs!! everyone does things slightly differently and what i say and do may not match up with other people or your own personal style and that’s okay! editing is all about creative freedoms and you may use this as a basic starter so that you can branch into your own thing or you might really like how i do things and use the same methods. point is, it’s perfectly okay either way!!

right so!! let’s get the basic bullshit out of the way! i use ps cs6 but it’s basically all the same, so this should work perfectly fine no matter what ps you use. 

1. we’re firstly going to choose our video to gif. for this tutorial, i’ve chosen pinof 10! pick a moment you like and get the timestamps from when the moment starts and finishes. i usually get a second before and a second after to make sure i’ve got it all!!

2. we’re now going to copy the url of the video and go to clip converter. clip  converter basically is going to give us an mp4 version of our little timestamps so that we can put them into photoshop and make gifs from them! paste the url of the vid into clip converter and press enter once. once you’ve done that follow my settings and press start

(of course you can name it whatever you want and put whatever timestamps you want in!!)

once it’s done converting, it’ll give you a download of your mp4 clip, which you’ll click! 

3. now open your photoshop. go to file, import, video frames to layers, like shown and select your video

once you’ve done that, put these settings in and trim the clip to your liking (the little black place holder things trim the clip!) 

4. okay so!! we now have our gif imported and open on photoshop! we have to make it much smaller because right now it’s like...huge (that’s what she said hehehe)

simply click on image at the top of your computer and press ‘image size’, like shown

then make your settings like shown

5. so that’s done!! now, we have to change the pace of our gif to be a bit slower. i make my gifs real slow apparently but,,,,,personal preference man. click on the first frame of your gif and then scroll to the end of the frames of your gif. hold the shift button and click the last frame. this will select all your frames. press the little arrow thingy near the time of the frames. this will allow you to change the pace of your gif. press other and change the timing of the gif to whatever you want! i make my gifs like 0.07 normally but for this gif, i made it 0.09 because they’re moving so fast and it was giving me whiplash. anything under 0.1 is great!!

6. cropping time! you don’t have to crop your gif if you’d like, but mine is a little big for me, so i’m going to and show you how to do that! so basically press the cropping tool and put in the measurements you’d like, as i’ve done.

7. now we’re ready to convert our gif to the timeline method! select all your frames again, like before, as well as your layers. selecting your layers is the same as selecting your frames, so nothing new there, don’t worry! once everything is selected, press this lil guy.

once our gif is in the timeline method, right click your layers that should all be selected and turn them into a smart object, as shown!

8. righty-o! we’ve done all the boring, dumb shit! time to use an action to make our gif look a little nicer and sharper! i really can’t be assed showing you how to use an action in here because i suck and this is long as fuck as it is but!! i am nice enough to link you to a basic tutorial on how to use actions and how to download them! you can find that here! right so, i use a certain action on all my gifs and then edit it slightly, which i’ll show you! you can find a download for the action i use here !!! 

i play that action and now my gif looks much nicer! however, it’s not quite the way i like it, so i push the gaussian blur layer to the bottom and i adjust the strength of it to this!

9. i lied. now we’re up to the fun part!! colouring!! colouring is my best friend and i love her dearly!! technically you could stop now and save your gif and be done but....that’s boring as fuck!

right so, colouring really, truly is your own preference, loves. you can do whatever you like, you do NOT have to follow what i put here. this is simply the colouring i chose for this gif. i do literally whatever i feel like every time i make a gif, so it’s forever changing!

i gave a bit of thought to what kind of colouring i’d do in this tutorial. did i want to do something extra basic and like...no colour changing? did i want to do something wildly vibrant? and then i decided not to do either of those things! so today, i’m going to teach you how to create a soft, almost pastel blue/purple colouring for the ap room *cough* set *cough*!! 

firstly, here is the adjustment panel where all the tools you need for colouring reside !!

we’re firstly going to start with the boring crap,,,,,so i lied again....oops. firstly, we’re going to adjust the brightness, the levels and the curves. here are my setting for each, if you’d like to copy them!

here’s how the gif looks without all our colour layers!

10. and now all that crap is done, i promise it’s actually the fun stuff!! selective colour is where all the magic happens! i sometimes do two, three or even four selective colour layers, depending on just how heavy the colour changing is going to be in my gifs, as well as using hue/saturation, colour balance and gradient maps!!

firstly, we’ll start off with our first selective colour layer! here are my settings for it (sorry for all the pics rip)

once you’ve got all those sorted, onto a hue/saturation layer! this basically drastically changes the colours, if you’d like it to but it’s not quite as accurate or smooth as a selective colour layer, so i only really use it for small things or if the colour i’d like can be acchieved nicely with it. i didn’t change anything in the master setting, but here are my settings for the things i did change!

aaaaaaaand now we do another selective colour layer! i’ll just show you the layers i did change...everything else, leave as is!!

11. next is a few gradient maps and a layer of vibrance!! i promise, we’re almost done!! i add a bunch of probably unnecessary bullshit to my gifs but i like how it looks with all the extra stuff so!!! yeah!! make your first gradient map black and white, as shown and set the opacity to 10%

next step is to create a vibrance layer! when making a bright, colourful gif, i use about two or three vibrancy layers. i never EVER adjust the saturation, only the vibrancy. adjusting the saturation makes everything too heavy and it just looks kinda icky to me. the first layer, i normaly adjust the vibrancy to 100% and the rest being between like 20-50%, depending. i just thought i’d tell you guys because that’s vital if you’re making bright gifs! 

we however are not, so i only adjusted the vibrancy to +14%, leaving the saturation alone....nasty saturation !!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaand finally, we are up to our last adjustment layer!! it is yet another gradient map oops. this gradient map is a light golden colour and i downloaded it in a pack somewhere ages ago. i do not remember where and i know that photoshop’s default gradient maps don’t have something like it so if you’d like, you can definitely just skip this last layer!! it’s not vital, i just think it gives the gif a nice touch! 

for reference, the gradient map looks like this and i set it to 6% opacity!

12. that’s it!! the gif is complete! go to file, save for web and press on that! you might have to wait a little bit for it to load...photoshop is a really shit program sometimes, guys. once it loads you’ll see all these confusing settings. simply copy what i have here!

this is also the moment i realise my gif is over 3mb and go to fucking smack my head against a desk. tumblr basically has a thing against gif makers and will NOT allow gifs over 3mb to play once posted. this can be fixed though! i’ll show you how to shorten a gif right now because well...if you followed this tutorial, you’re stuck in the same boat as me and need to know how to fix it!!

so basically save your gif as is right now! now, we’re going to open the gif we just saved into photoshop. go to file, open and select your gif. it’ll open as a frame animation which is perfect! now, delete whatever frames from the start and end that you think you can live without. never delete frames from the middle because that’ll just disrupt the gif altogether. the less frames, the better!!

i got my gif down to 40 frames by deleting the first 15 frames of the gif and the last like 6 or so. now go back to ‘save for web’ and save this shorter gif as a whole new gif! this should be under 3mb. if it is not, go cancel the save and delete some more frames!

once that’s done....you’re done!!! congratulations!! you’ve made your very first gif, my dear!!!! here’s the finished labour of your hard work!! 

i hope i wasn’t too confusing and i hope you now have a sound understanding of how to make a gif! if you’d like me to make another tutorial on something specific related to gifmaking or even to do with edits and edit-making, just send me an ask and i’ll see what i can do for you! happy giffing, loves!!

[hallura-goodness]

Second @allurashipweek

Pink & Blue/Colors

“Red is the color of luck,” Hunk explained, helping Allura fasten her Hanfu. They were matching, both red and gold, and Allura’s hair was pinned up with Hunk’s grandmother’s ornaments.

“I just thought that it was a lovely choice,” Allura said, admiring herself in the mirror. “Are all Earth festivals so brightly colored?”

“Depends on the culture,” Hunk said, placing his hands on her hips and smiling at her in the mirror. “My dad’s holidays are all pretty festive, though. New Year’s is his favorite so we all make a big deal out of it.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m happy you could be here for it.”

“I am, too,” Allura said, leaning against him and placing her hand on top of his, their fingers reflexively twining. “I’m looking forward to learning all about your holidays. All of them.”

Hunk smiled, more bashful this time, and kissed her temple. “Yeah,” he said, “and I’m looking forward to sharing.”

—

Allura sneezed, hard, and blew her nose again. Ugh, she hated this.

“Knock knock,” Hunk said in the doorway, his hands too full with a tray to do the knocking.

“Come in,” Allura said around her ridiculously, stupidly stuffed up nose.

“Breakfast in bed for the sick princess,” Hunk announced quietly as he set the tray down over her legs. More juice than she thought could be stored in one fridge was available to her, most of it this opaque, orange kind, and he had orange and red fruits in a bowl next to a small bowl of hot brown cereal.

“Tell me what all this is?” Allura asked, smiling around her bleary eyes.

“Oatmeal, orange juice, apple juice, oranges, and strawberries,” Hunk said, pointing to each one. “Oranges and strawberries boost your immune system and help fend off colds, juice is good because sugar and fluids, and oatmeal is easy on the stomach.” Hunk kissed her sweaty forehead and she swatted him.

“You’ll get sick.”

“I have more cousins than you can keep track of, my immune system is undefeatable,” Hunk countered, kissing the top of her hair.

“You have fruits that are just called their color?” Allura asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah. Only those, though. Just oranges.”

Allura began to peel it with her nails and smiled. “That’s cute. I like that.”

—

“Alteans are a spacefaring race of diplomats and trade facilitators,” Allura said, half idle, watching clouds roll past on a windy afternoon. “I’ve seen many, many planets. And I’ve seen many places blossoming into spring.”

She held the yellow daffodile up with a smile, cradling it like she used to hold the blooms of her own planet. “But each planet, the vernal season is always my favorite. Everything bursting back into life.”

“It’s beautiful,” Hunk agreed, leaning back on his elbows. Daffodils sprung up around him and swayed lightly in the wind. “Fall’s always my favorite. Everything finally cooling off again.”

Allura lifted the bloom and tucked the daffodil in the line of Hunk’s headband. He smiled at her, and looked so irresistibly beautiful in that moment that she simply had to lean in and kiss him.

“I can see how summer heat would bother you,” Allura said softly, hand placed over top of Hunk’s. “Your heart is so warm, your hands, your whole soul.”

Hunk laughed, blushing lightly. “What’s got you in such a mood?”

Allura leaned her head against his broad shoulder. “Just happy, I guess. In Altean color theory, yellow is the color of joy, you know.” She stroked a hand over the small of his back. “And you are my yellow paladin.”

—

“Are we lost?” Allura asked, sounding more amused than alarmed.

“No,” Hunk said immediately, looking between his map and his compass with a bead of sweat down his temple. “I’m just, calculating.”

Allura laughed, high and airy. “I don’t believe you” she said, fingers gently tilting the map down. Her eyes were maybe mischievous, maybe teasing.

Hunk breathed out slow, shoulders slumping. “Yeah, we’re lost.”

Allura kissed his cheek, which made him feel a little less terrible about getting them lost on what should have been an easy hike through a local forest.

“Here, give me the map,” Allura told him gently, slipping the paper from his fingers. She looked pretty with her hair tied up for hiking and stompy forest boots.

“I don’t understand it,” Hunk whined, “I can reconfigure alien technology with a high school—well I mean I guess technically college since the garrison was an advanced track of militant education for the gifted—I can do wild, amazing things with my humble earth education and advanced technology far beyond my scope, I can build a geiger counter out of an antique gameboy and some random wires that were seriously damaged by sand and wind, but the moment I want to take my girlfriend on a hike I get lost.”

“Hunk, it’s alright,” Allura said, placing her hand on his forearm. “There are worse places to get lost. And if I’m reading this right, there should be a lake just ahead.” She took his hand and led him, like she had since the day they met. So confident, so capable, Hunk still felt dumb and twitterpated every time he saw her, like he was 14 all over again.

Sure enough, the lake was right where she expected it to be, and he swore to himself he would always let her keep the map from then on. She delightedly made her way down to the water, which was coated in a thick film of algae.

“Oh, look at this,” Allura said delightedly, sun filtering through the trees and patterning leafy shadows across her skin. “There are so many bugs in here!”

“Oh, that is so cool,” Hunk agreed, getting close to the water’s edge himself. Springy, native grass cropped up around them, and active birdcall sounded just outside where the two of them were. “Man, I haven’t gone bug collecting since I was a kid.”

“We could do it here,” Allura suggested.

“Considering this is a wildlife preserve, I think people would get mad at us.” Hunk brightened suddenly, “Oh, but I can show you the best place for rolly pollies back at my place.”

“Sounds fun!” Allura said, skimming her slender fingers over the surface of the algae. She lifted her eyes, and caught him smiling at her. “What?”

“You’re just really great.”

Allura laughed. “You make me feel wonderful, Hunk. Thanks for bringing me here.” She smiled at the surrounding forest. “It’s been a while since I’ve been surrounded by so much green.”

—

Allura was gorgeous.

That was obvious, all day, every day, every week and month and year.

But it was especially obvious right then, with Allura’s dazzling blue formal dress. They were attending a diplomatic party with the other leaders of the coalition, a fancy kind of event that left Pidge complaining about bowties and uncomfortable shoes and Lance positively preening like a bird in mating season. Allura, while always stunningly, breathtakingly gorgeous, had really outdone herself.

The blue fabric cascaded around her like an elf, like a fey from some ancient story, luring Hunk himself to a death out in space. Blue earrings and a matching necklace draped over her satin-smooth skin, glinting in the soft lights around them. And the most devastating of all, her bright blue eyes, smiling at him.

“Wow.”

Allura smiled, the curve of her lips setting Hunk’s heart aflutter. “You look fairly sharp yourself, yellow paladin of voltron.”

Hunk glanced down at his borrowed Altean attire, soft, thick yellow and bronze cloth that flowed off his shoulders and hips like water. Cottony water.

“Thanks,” he said, eyes going back to her, where they would inevitably stay the whole night, locked on. “But I mean you… wow.”

“Wow?”

“Wow.”

Allura laughed, slipping her arms around Hunk’s, settling in against his side. “You’re a poet,” she teased.

“You’re too breathtaking,” Hunk protested, “Not my fault.”

“Well, I’d like you to find those brilliant words of yours, Hunk. You’re my only diplomatic backup in this band of hooligans.”

“Shiro’s pretty decent,” Hunk countered.

“Shiro’s going to be staring open mouthed and stuttering at Keith all evening. I need you to resist doing the same for me.”

“Okay, yeah, yeah, fair point, fair point,” Hunk agreed. He kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry princess, I’ve got your back.” Hunk stared at her blue, blue eyes a long moment more. “But first, just…. wow.”

—

“Purple is the color most frequently associated with the soul,” Allura explained while Hunk listened raptly. “And, more than that,” she said, light flowing off her fingers.

“Magic,” Hunk finished for her, breath full of awe.

“Magic,” Allura agreed. Brilliant shapes flew off her fingers, an array of light and strange creatures Hunk had only heard of in Coran’s lengthy and complex swears. Whorls and shapes, geometric lines and fading gradients, brilliant figures and strange runes, bright lights and dim glows, all of it swirling and pulsing and in the center of it all, Allura.

Allura. Confident Allura. Competent Allura. Brilliant, headstrong, empathetic, capable Allura, who breathed magic and whose heart beat fire through her veins.

How many times had Hunk fallen in love with her?

Countless. Countless. In every determined glare, in every barked order in high stakes situations, in every cunning move against the Galra, in every riotous speech given to hopeless peoples. In every laugh, in every quiet moment when she let herself rest against his side, in every silly voice or goofy impression, in every game of M&M, in every sparkling croon at something shiny or pretty. In every heartfelt tear she shed for those they couldn’t save, in every moment when her open, bleeding heart proved Voltron’s greatest strength, where their enemies thought they would find weakness, in every sympathetic hand placed on the arm or shoulder of someone whose suffering she shared in, in every embrace she offered to the hurting.

In every moment, Hunk had loved her. Endless, continuous, an infinity of starting agains stacked so close together it formed a perfect line.

So why should it be different, now, with her face cast in the light flowing from her fingers, eyes shining with her own ability and lips shaped around the words she shared with Hunk.

Yes, Hunk thought, he’d fallen in love with her countless times, in moments just like this. And he would fall for her a countless more.

[drundertalescum]

11 Questions... x3

I was tagged by @sharada-n @audaciousanonj and @esmiden in that order

If anyone else tagged me, tag me again because I missed it!

1. Which are your favorite hot and cold drinks?

Cold drinks: Usually either milk or vanilla coke. I also like birch beer, root beer, and peach-cranberry juice, but usually I just stick with the milk and coke.

Hot drinks: TEA. Specifically this nice vanilla black tea that I've cracked the code on preparing in the microwave so it's both hot and very convenient. This is my go-to drink of any type.  Also coffee, hot chocolate, matcha, and just various types of teas. I prefer hot drinks over cold.

2. What’s your favorite color scheme/combination?

Usually I kind of default to dark turquoise/cyan and lighter orange/gold. It's the most common gradient map I use when I'm being lazy with coloring and also evident on my main blog's colour scheme. Toss in some red and you're in for a good time. I also really like maroons and pale greens but I don't use it that often.

3. Windows or Apple?

PC FOREVER

4. Do you believe in astrology?

Nah, I do find out kind of funny sometimes since my sign (Capricorn) is such an over-the-top dethawing ice queen in anything relating to “what the signs do when ___”  My Smart-People Astrology Sign (my Meyers-Briggs) turns up very similar content. I mean, granted, that runs truer than a hyper happy bubblegum type but it's still a bit boring.

I don't really buy too much into any of that sort of thing.

5. Would you punch me for 10$?

Wait are you paying me to punch you or am I paying you to be punched by me? Either way no.

6. Do you have any guilty pleasures?

HONESTLY in my main online community my guilty pleasure that I hide from the world is being Undertale trash.

To a lesser extent: my guilty pleasure that I hide away from this community is that I’m reality show trash. Specifically one particular reality show. It's 17 years old and Actually Very Good, but no one will ever believe me.

7. What’s your favorite flower?

We grow snapdragons sometimes. They're really neat! Otherwise it's hit or miss with me and flowers. Despite the main blog name that I've been using for like 10 years I've only recently started to kind of like roses. Mostly for the a e s t h e t i c.

8. What would you name your theoretical kids?

I change my mind on this one a lot. I usually like names that aren't common but also could sort of fit in in an old novel. Like Orville or Evander or something like that. I had a list once but I lost it. I also like Emily or Alma.

Some angry part of me wants to name a child November even though I know the awful fate I would be leaving them to by doing it.

In the end I am almost definitely not having kids so the most likely name I'm gonna pull out is naming a pet Papyrus someday.

9. Sweet or savory?

Depends, but I usually go for savory. Sweet drink-savory snack is my go-to.

10. Do you wear socks in bed or nah?

I don't wear socks at all unless it's very, very cold.

11. Could a horse fit through a window?

If you removed the panes from my windows a horse would just barely make it through. Probably needs to be a smaller horse though. It can't be too wide.

1) What’s your favorite holiday?

THIS IS HALLOWEEN THIS IS HALLOWEEN HALLOWEEN HALLOWEEN

But truthfully i haven't been feeling it the last few years. I can't think of any holidays I have.

2) Loose clothes or tight?

As loose as possible. Though I'll take tight underlayer loose overlay.

3) Chrome, Firefox, or Safari?

I had a weird bug a few years back where my computer was constantly freezing up and crashing. I knew it was some sort of graphics issue but the word thing was it never crashed when I was playing a game, which lead to me using Portal 2 and Skyrim as ways of keeping my computer from crashing whenever it was idle, bumping up my times in both games to a ridiculous amount (though I still play both a lot). Turns out it was Firefox causing the crash, but I didn't realize because if I don't have a game open, I always have a browser up.

I had to switch to Chrome at that time and now I'm pretty settled on it. I do miss some aspects of Firefox though.

4) Favorite style of humor?

I love humor that's based around people and their habits. Not necessarily observational and I don't like it to actively mock people, but I like humor that's based around people and their attitudes and interactions, especially if it makes people feel more like characters or caricatures, but not stereotypes. I have a sort of dry sense of humor but that's not really required for this. It's hard to actively explain and I'm blanking on any great examples.

This definitely plays into the previously mentioned guilty pleasure.

5) Fluff or Angst (Reading)?

ANGST. Angst got me into this fandom when I solidified my terrible obsession with this game by reading I'm Feeling Fine, Kid and since then I've read close to every Papyrus-centric angst fic this fandom has put out.

Pretty much any I haven't read yet are in my read later list because I haven't been in the best heavy-angst mood lately.

I always take recs.

6) Fluff or Angst (Writing)?

Writing angst is so much easier for me. I think it's because I have a very introspective style which lends itself better to letting the sadness flow. It usually works out to angst with a side of fluff. But with art and comics, it's a lot less introspective so it ends up being fluff with a side of angst.

7) Do you make -sonas?

I kind of actively dislike making -sonas. It never feels right. I made one when I was about 16 (which I now dislike) and haven't really made one since. I generally just stick with a blob or stick person to represent me. Maybe a seahorse.

8) What are you gonna dress up as for Halloween?

A patient recovering from a cholecystectomy. Maybe one that also has spoopy face paint on and blogs about Undertale.

…I wish I was doing something for Halloween ;;;

9) What are you pickiest about?

Food and fonts. It's the ultimate irony that I fell so far for Undertale.

10) Have you seen my au Name the Fallen and if so what was your favorite part?

Save him Flowey, before he falls too far.

11) Papyrus is cool?

That's not a question. Nothing has ever been less of a question.

1. Favorite literature or movie genre

Hmmm… I really like mystery novels! Other than that, I’m a big fan of dramedies. Anything that mixes comedy or fantasy and feels is great.

2. Top five animated cartoons

This is going to be my knee jerk list and not necessarily accurate. It’s also not in any particular order.

Moana

The Incredibles

Wall-E

Lilo and Stitch

The Princess and the Goblin

3. If you could choose a fantasy land to stay in for the rest of your life, which one would you chose? Ps. You won’t be able to get back to the real world.

I would honestly head down to the Underground and let some monsters try to steal my soul. I think it’s the perfect blend of interesting but also not everything-trying-to-kill-me(-forever).

4. Favorite song at the moment?

Hopes and Dreams played backwards. Also Frozen Pines by Lord Huron and Ground Control by All Time Low and Walk Off The Earth’s cover of Heya

5. What is good design for you?

Oh man, this is a tricky question. I’m actually a designer but I’m very much a master of none. The most important thing in any design is readability and ease of use, though. No point in having a product you can’t use because the A E S T H E T I C is in the way. No point in a document or website you can’t read. No point in a gallery you can’t view. Good design should make things MORE usable, not less. Functionality should ALWAYS be the number one goal.

At the same time black and white helvetica minimalism is boring and terrible for most things. Gimme some COLOR, some LIFE. I don’t care if it’s cheesy or weird or quirky or outdated. I want things with detail and personality. 

(Note: you can totally have black and white minimalist helvetica and still hae personality. But I’ll take a “bad” design with some life to it over a mediocre design that follows all the rules)

6. What’s your favorite color scheme/combination?

I am a blue/orange shill, but theres a lot of schemes i like. Usually Cyan + any warm color

7. Which feelings effects you the most in literature/music/film etc.?

Tricky! I actually get the most into films about the connections between people (usually not romantic) or about identity (or loss of identity) and insecurities. I dunno why, they just effect me the most. They just do.

8. Favorite game?

Undertale (2015 Video Game). But also: Portal, Skyrim, the Fallout games, Kingdom Hearts, Bully, 7 Days to Die, The Forest, Friday the 13th, Stardew Valley, Reigns, Alto’s Adventure, Pixel Dungeon, Plague Inc, Life Is Strange, Tabletop Simulator, The Long Dark, What Remains of Edith Finch, Tropico, The Stanley Parable, The Flame in the Flood, Contagion, and The Sims.

I like Games.

9. What’s most important for you in a good movie?

I’ll enjoy any movie with well-concieved characters but the real gold medal goes to anything with post modern reality fuckery and/or magical realism. I like movies about movies or about storytelling. Big Fish, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, Stranger Than Fiction are some of my favorite movies that sort of adhere to that. Gimme all the post-modern plotlines with likable characters and let me pretend there’s a happy ending. That’s all I’m looking for.

10. What’s your favorite time of the day and why?

Dusk. Everything cools down, the sky turns gorgeous colors, but it’s still not considered weird to go walking around or running errands. It’s just nice!

11. Extra because I’m out of ideas, if you got a painting. What would you want on it? XD

Nice colors and a good subject. Like Papyrus with huge biceps.

Here’s my questions! I’m going to tag the 3 that tagged me if they feel like doing this, plus anyone who wants to do it. Just tag me on the post so I can see!

1. What was your favorite fairy tale growing up?

2. Were you ever traumatized as a child by a movie or TV show?

3. Whats the weirdest dream that you can remember?

4. If you could be or do anything you wanted for a single day, anything at all, what would you be?

5. What is your favorite anecdote?

6. Have you ever painted your nails? If so, what’s your favorite polish/color?

7. What is the scariest thing you aren’t afraid of?

8. Are there any snacks that you like that most people probably haven’t heard of or tried?

9. Have you ever gone stargazing?

10. Tell me about your favorite idea you’ve had, whether it be a story or a game idea or anything else along those lines.

11. Whats your least favorite color?

[roxannarambles]

Top 5 Favorite Characters - Fire Emblem Echoes

Iiiit’s that time again! I completed another FE game, so it’s another list of favorites. As usual, expect spoilers!

“Then you'll finally have the truth in your grasp!”

1.) Lukas

I’m fairly certain 90% of my love of Lukas is directly related to his talented voice actor. Because Lukas serves as the ‘faithful guide’ role that’s often slung with heavy exposition, he talks a lot in this game. And it’s wonderful, because his voice is like buttered velvet. When I commented about this online, I realized I really, really, really was not the only fan to comment about Lukas ASMR.

However, the actual character is excellent as well, not just his voice. You may recall from other posts that I adore Kent from FE7. I do have a fondness for the lovely serious fellows at times. Their calmness is soothing to me. I’m a naturally neurotic person, so perhaps that’s why I am drawn to calm characters. Lukas is a steady, reliable touchstone to help weather any storm. The voice of reason.

Clive making these observations, in fact, troubles Lukas. Lukas worries that he is perhaps too calm, to the point of detached. He notes few things stir his passions. Yet as any fan of stoic characters knows, these gentlemen do have a fire beneath, even if they feel out of touch with it at times. Perhaps my favorite moment of the game is a rare moment where Lukas’ temper flares when being railed against by Fernand. It’s proof enough to me that Lukas is certainly capable of fiery emotion, and it’s just a matter of tapping into it. 

“I am Clair. The young man may address me as 'Lady Clair,' or 'milady.'”

2.) Clair

The moment I saw Clair, I thought two things: (a) oh, I’ve seen this character in FEH, looks like another boobywoman to pander fans, and (b) oh shit this is gonna be another Clarine-high-society-snob character, I hate her.

My opinion did a 180 and I am now putting her as my second-favorite character of the game. What changed? She isn’t just a Clarine clone. Clair is written with actual depth and complexity, and I am grateful for that. She’s a high-society girl but she doesn’t make me want to punch her in the face. She actually learns and grows as a person, and she is genuinely kind and caring. She has poise and grace but more importantly she has compassion and treats people honestly. Her interactions with Alm are genuinely sweet (so much so, I kind of wish they paired off instead of Alm and Celica, heh!), and my favorite support conversation in the game. She also has a lovely support with Mathilda. Clair was an unexpected favorite, but I am very grateful she is one. It also helps that her unit is truly useful in-game. She was very, very often my right-hand woman for Alm’s maps.

“There were others my age in the village, but we were never close. I suppose I never felt the need to get to know them. However, I had a most excellent relationship with one of the cats.”

3.) Luthier

Okay, you all know I like my mages bookish and introverted as fuck. That does not mean I like them all, though. I did not like Ricken, Miriel, Hayato, etc.

I do like Erk to bits. And I liked Ewan.

Luthier may fall into the introverted geek who reads too much category, but he also has his own distinctions. For one, his beautifully color-gradiented hair is fucking amazing. For two, he has a prodigy little sister who’s very mean to him (because, well, siblings can just be that way) and serves as a constant reminder that his skills will never match up despite all his diligent work. 

I wanted Luthier to succeed. I liked him. I used him in my game. Sadly, though, his stats and performance in battles seemed true to character. It was servicible, but it never quite matched up to Kliff or to the raw power of Delthia. (and this was after I dropped a couple pegasus cheeses and a few other items on him)

I’m not sure what the takeaway lesson here is. I still think Luthier can find his own niche, in the team and in life, despite not being able to out-compete some of the other mages. At least, I’d like to think so. I also hope he was able to reach out to more people and develop some friendships. It feels like the story of his character was left somewhat unfinished. 

"I dedicate this victory to you!”

4.) Mathilda

Simply put, Mathilda is a badass. And I love that. She’s the best calvary-unit in the game, and I leaned on her heavily. Her good Res especially made her stand out when compared to the other calvary and that, combined with great attack and reliable, steady criticals made her mow through enemies, somebody I could always count on-- especially in a game full of magic units.

Her VA is wonderful (she delivers her lines so forcefully and fantastically), I love her battle pose, and she truly does embody that Amazonian warrior. To be honest, she’s out of Clive’s league-- and I think Clive is fully aware of that. But I enjoy that they actually have a pairing where the woman is a clearly superior fighter to the man. And I really, really enjoy the fact that Clive is not threatened by that fact. Honestly, it makes me appreciate Clive all the more. Their over-the-top sappy dialogue about romantically murdering their foes is cute, too. 

I was disappointed at reading her epilogue-- that she stepped down from being a knight to just “support her husband”-- as the game seemed to be chickening out on the entire point of making a female character that didn’t simply subsume herself to the husband. But Fire Emblem has long had that problem. They can write some good female characters, but they still have a long way to go. Alm and Celica are supposedly sharing the roles of main characters in the game, for example-- but it’s clear Alm’s route still received more attention and Alm was treated as the main hero. Also, Celica’s character had an emphasis on traditionally “female” roles of peace and nurturing. 

Still, at least we got something. It’s a starting point.

“I knew. I always knew. None of my misfortunes were anyone else’s fault… Yet if the world is rotten, then who permitted it to be so? It’s me…and no one else."

5.) Fernand

My affection for Fernand is not rooted in anything particularly deep. I think his character design looks cool, I like his VA, and he was a pretty good villian in the story. It’s not as though his story was very complicated-- “Peasants killed my family so now I hate all peasants”-- but I enjoyed his character nevertheless. Clive’s character was far more complex, truth be told; it explored concepts of leadership and subtler shades of classism. So why aren’t I placing Clive in this slot? I dunno, man! Either one of them would be excellent for this slot. I guess I just like Fernand’s smirk. 

And that’s it for Echoes. Enjoyed playing, but it was a lot shorter and easier then I was expecting, with rather simplistic maps (and very annoying enemy respwans). Some very interesting novel mechanics, though. I thought the dungeon-crawling, the fatigue/food system, Mila’s turnwheel and other things were neat. Even the magic consuming HP was a system I kind of digged-- added a layer of strategy I enjoyed. 

And you have to admit, the voice acting was top-notch, adding so much more depth to what was a fairly straightforward plot (and sometimes very minimal support convos). Anywho, on to the next game!

[katef-m]

California, month six | that great strong land of love

Apartment twenty, early January 2017. C arrives in a rainstorm, late the first evening, and we brew tea immediately. The new place is a mess: floorboards awash with scattered q-tips and dustballs and broken clothes hangers, strange objects huddled in corners (a china monkey money box, an elephant-shaped watering can, a half eaten bag of cough drops, a dented can of chopped green beans), the rooms heavy with the cloying odour of a four-week full bin. All day I'd cleaned and unpacked. I wiped, dusted, sprayed, filled bag after bag with rubbish, and swept the floors with a plastic orange brush I bought at the Japanese dollar store. When I'd arrived that morning, shoulders burning after carrying my bags up to the second floor, it took all my willpower not to sink into the bottom bunk's bare rubber mattress and sob. Everything was so dirty, and I was adrift in unfamiliarity again. But instead I put on some music, rolled up my sleeves, and got to it. By the time C's at the door, the rooms are a little more habitable, and when I hear her moving about in the living room, putting the kettle on, it already feels like home. Peace and sun, those first few days. Golden hour is ridiculous from the window of our new room. Last semester I could see the Sather Tower and used its hourly peals to structure my day; now I can watch the hills behind campus, the way they reflect the sun at dawn and dusk, the way the small houses at the top wink in the dark. Day trips to the city. Waiting for the bus with 7-Eleven coffee and donuts. Loafing at the top of Bancroft with thermos flasks as the sun dips. It's warm enough to sit outside, though you'll need a scarf. It doesn't feel like any January I know. Getting tangled in freeways on the first few half-marathon training runs. Saturday afternoon at the farmers' market. Everybody outside in warm blue. Herb bundles in bicycle baskets, a girl in dungarees with fruit under her arm, that sort of thing. Fresh bread and sunshine. So far, January in California feels like April in England, and I am very much ok with that.

When Trump's sworn in nobody wants to look. I'm at work, anyway, and I have to make smoothies for a bunch of Trump supporters. The peanut butter scoop shakes in my hand. Later we race down Telegraph towards Oakland to catch the tail end of the inauguration day protest. Police in riot gear wait along Oakland's peripheries as the protestors head towards the city centre, yet all is peaceful: downtown we're met with free pumpkin pie, not tear gas or stun guns. The air isn't charged the way it was on election night, not raw with pain, yet the voices are louder, more defiant. The following morning we make signs from cardboard boxes raided from the recycling bins. NASTY WOMEN UNITE. VIVA LA VULVA. GRAB 'EM BY THE PATRIARCHY. The San Francisco bus is full of students: it almost feels like a school trip: there's not much traffic on the bridge: a parade of children forced on a pro-life march drift past the bus windows and we all get angry: and then we're in a one-hundred-thousand strong crowd at Civic Center, a damp fierce knot of umbrellas and battered signs and fists. It's International Women's Day. In the dusky rain we march and sing, and are filled with hope. 'I refuse to call him president,' says the elderly lady sitting next to me at Caffe Strada a few days later. Solace, as ever, is sought in the words of my favourite poets. Thousands of miles away in Australia, Bruce Springsteen speaks out against Trump's Muslim Ban. 'America is a nation of immigrants,' he says, 'and we find this anti-democratic and fundamentally un-American'. And then there's Langston Hughes:

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed -- Let it be that great strong land of love

Alternative coping mechanisms are also available: homemade cocktails (White Russians and hibiscus gin), playing every song that ever existed, dancing on chairs into the wee hours. Federer winning the Australian Open, his eighteenth slam at the age of thirty-five. Saturday evening at the marina with friends, sitting on the rocks by the water to witness a sunset too beautiful to hold on to. Faces and hair lucent with golden light.

Most of all though, a visit from my mum. Spring semester is relentless. The workload is final-level-Tetris heavy. 'I don't know what I'm writing,' I complain to C one night. 'I'm two letters into a word and I don't know what it's going to be yet.' Classes almost doubled, I take the early morning shifts at work. The alarm's set for that pre-7am no man's land, but as a night owl, sleep is unavoidably sacrificed. I learn to survive on five or six hours, but this hallmark of adulthood won't stay with me long: as soon as school ends and life slows down in June, my nine hour nightly dosage resumes. For now, though, daily life has changed hugely. Yet the change itself occurred unnoticed, giant and silent in the corner of some room I might've walked through once. I no longer have time to burrow deep into the frivolous recesses of my brain; every scene passes by too fast, like trying to take a picture from the window of a speeding train. I think I like it this way, though. It's true: the busier you are, the more you do, and the more you do, the more you want to do. Mum arrives the night of the Milo Y riots. As I open belated Christmas presents in her Airbnb apartment we hear the rumble of helicopters over Telegraph. My social media feeds erupt with footage of fires and bangs. 'Berkeley's not always like this,' I feel compelled to point out more than once. The streets are scattered with debris and people smoke against makeshift wire fences, eyes bright, bodies still charged. Walking to work the next morning, the physical effects of the riots are clear in the cold eye of dawn. Anti-Trump graffiti embellishes the walls of the bank, a building made 'riot-proof' in the sixties. On campus, trees are singed black at the tips, the Amazon locker room windows smashed in, and the hulking jumble of burned tech equipment sits sooty in the middle of Sproul Plaza like some kind of contemporary art sculpture. Mum's staying in the 'Purple House', a wood-walled ground-floor apartment in Elmwood. I love staying there with her, love the non-student perspective on Berkeley life it provides. We shop in Whole Foods and cook together, finish morning runs with coffee. I show her the campus, the streets, the city across the bay. I introduce her to my friends and my favourite bus routes. She keeps me company on coffee shop study dates and buys me the enormous slice of apple pie I've been eyeing all year. It is a special twelve days.

After days of rain, the sun returns and Mum finally sees the California I've been raving about, the clear blue skies, the dazzle at the ends of streets and hilltops. We spend her final weekend in San Francisco. Resistance posters have appeared in windows both sides of the bay, and in the Mission District, Four Barrel's coffee cups come stamped with the words 'Resist Fear, Assist Love' in rainbow ink. Catch the bus to Haight-Ashbury. Get coffee at Stanza, or Flywheel, which sits at edge of the neighbourhood where Golden Gate Park looms dark. The Goodwill store is messy, and 80% junk, but if you hunt hard you'll find things at a tenth of the price of other Haight thrift stores. There's a real good bookstore somewhere along the street: you'll find it. Buena Vista is all steps, but catch another bus a little south, as the roads start to climb. It'll only take you halfway up; when you alight, follow Twin Peaks Boulevard as it snakes uphill, and eventually you'll reach the carpark and viewpoint at the top. Most people drive up to Twin Peaks but it's better to watch the view unfold gradually, angles and gradients shifting, until the rusted tips of the Golden Gate Bridge poke out above buildings and cloud to your left, and the entire city arranges itself around you, better than any virtual map could. You'll finally understand the confusing geography of San Francisco, how the multiple grid systems shuffle against each other, the dance of streets and hills. You'll note the physical relief of the landscape, from the smooth natural contours of the earth to the tall stubbed cluster of the financial district. The white buildings shine pristine in afternoon light, so that the entire city looks celestial. And all of it held by the water beyond. From the peaks of the city, move to its edges: ride the Muni all the way through Sunset out to Ocean Beach, and watch the sun sink softly into the water. Everybody will stand motionless on the sand to watch, as if it's a drive-in movie. Colours will drift about and alter the look of the water, sand, and air. Deep sky blue, viridian, turquoise, champagne pink, peach, apricot, tiffany, pale indigo. To heighten the liminal magic, you have the beach's routine haze and majestic scale: the height of the waves, the sand's expanse, how the scene looks both stretched out and zoomed in, like so much of the American landscape.

* * * Songs: month six Fluorescent Adolescent  /  Arctic Monkeys Get Lucky  /  Daft Punk Wild World  /  Cat Stevens Christmas in February  /  Lou Reed Pacific Theme  /  Broken Social Scene Stolen Dance  /  Milky Chance Mother & Child Reunion  /  Paul Simon * * *

California so far:

California, month one | in and out of the game

California, month two | the dust settles

California, month three | your lows will have their complement of highs California, month four | throw comfort out