#i'm not like .... /excited/ by the thought of using colored text and stuff

[tr1cked]

i know a lot of people say graphics & formatting don't matter ... but i feel like to a lot of people they do and it makes me really ... like depressed about writing sometimes.

[ce1estiall]

new look

summary paige x fem!reader paige asks you to do her makeup for her wnba media day. masterlist.

warnings pure fluff, pet names

celestial notes i saw paige's media day and immediately needed to write a fic on it she looks tewww good, enjoy!!

“but i wanna get a new look

the fashion goes well with this kind of character” new look - misamo

you were roaming the streets of downtown dallas, treating yourself to a shopping spree, not only getting stuff for you but for your girlfriend, paige. bags full in your hands while your curly hair is moved by the wind as you are viewing the clear, blue sky, feeling the texas heat on your skin.

ever since the wnba draft, things have been moving so quickly. from the moment you heard paige's name, to her packing her items from connecticut to dallas, you felt like you haven't had room to breathe. you and paige just started moving in last week, and you decided to go shopping to get things you need for you and her

as you exited pandora after buying paige a basketball charm bracelet, you get a ring on your phone. you looked confused for a minute, but reached for you phone in your back pocket. you looked at the saved number, it was paige.

"hey babe, what's up?" you spoke softly into the phone, blushing.

you could feel paige's smile through the speaker. "hi my love. quick question?"

"i may have an answer." you teased. paige cracked a small chuckle.

"so media day is about in 3 hours. and i was wondering if you could do my makeup?" your heart almost stopped. shit, you forgot it was media day for her.

"oh, um, yeah of course paige! are you at home right now?" you asked nervously.

"uh, yeah. i got worried for a sec when i didn't see you wake up next to me until i saw your text. i'll be waiting for you, 'kay?" she sounded quiet.

"i'll be home soon in about 15 minutes, i'm leaving the plaza right now. i'll be home a soon as possible. i love you, p"

"i love you too, see you soon. bye" she hung up the phone.

you walked to the parking the parking lot and unlocked your car. you put all the bags in the trunk, excited to see paige's excitement for some of the gifts you got her. you entered the car and turned on the engine while playing your daily playlist.

you loved driving or just sitting in your car. if you could drive for hours and hours non-stop, you would. it was just the steering wheel, seat, speakers, you and your thoughts. you observed the scenery. flowers were blooming of all colors and all kinds. lilies, tulips, roses, daisies. your favorite flowers were pink roses, and paige's were purple tulips. it made you smile when you saw both flower bushes together, reminded you of each other and your love. you loved crossing over the bridge, seeing the water glimmering from the sky above, reflecting on your eyes.

you eventually arrived home to you and paige's small apartment. keys jingled after you grabbed them from your purse. you unlocked the door and shouted loud enough for paige to hear as you were greeted by the scent of a floral candle burning. "p, i'm home!"

"hi baby." paige walked from the bedroom to the family room, greeting you with a kiss on the lips and a hug. "i missed you this morning."

you pulled your sunglasses off of you face and placed them at the top of your head. "i miss you too babe. i had to run some errands this morning for us." you looked at paige for a second. "are you gonna change first or do you wanna do your makeup first?"

paige took a second to think. "do my makeup first. my uniform's white and i don't wanna get it dirty."

"i'm surprised you were actually thinking." you teased back, smiling.

paige was walking to the bedroom, as you heard a "shut up."

you grabbed your and paige's makeup bag and brushes. "do you want to use my makeup or yours?"

she sat down on the big fluffy chair at your vanity, as the bright light blinded her when she turned the mirror on. she blocked her eyes for a quick second. "your the expert. i don't really wear makeup, just occasionally."

you grabbed your hello kitty hair clips and placed them in her dirty-blonde hair. she smiled when she saw them. "they're purple."

"i know, that's why i'm using them just for you." you smile as you place the other hair clip on her head. "baby since you don't really wear makeup, do you wan't something plain and natural?" paige looked up. "yeah, that would be nice." now, it was time for you to do your magic.

you grabbed your elf hydrogrip primer, squeezing a few pumps into your hands, then spreading it all over paige's face. paige's face was silky smooth for the most part. she had a few acne scars, but she didn't really have time to care. you scattered through her makeup bag to find foundation that was almost empty. you looked at paige, "for someone who doesn't really wear makeup, why is this almost gone?"

you grabbed a foundation brush. you pumped the foundation with the little drops left, you were still able to get something from the bottle. you blended the foundation along her face, making it seem like she never even had foundation on. she looked like she had been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. "you know when brittney styles me, they also do my makeup. thats where it comes from."

you smiled at her. "okay, whatever floats your boat." you picked up a beauty sponge and placed concealer under her eyelids. you gently pat the makeup with the sponge to help it spread evenly under her eyes. even though you were paige's girlfriend and you were doing her makeup, she looked beautiful without it to you. its what made her stand out.

next step was contour. after every step, paige looked amazed. when you grabbed an item, she would ask you "oh whats this for?" like a little kid discovering a hobby for the first time. you looked at paige while grabbing the contour. "p, you should tan this summer. texas heat will get you looking tan in no time." she started laughing. "me? in a tan? baby you're insane, no matter why i'm so in love with you."

your favorite step, blush. you were 100% blush blind when it came to your makeup, but you needed to tone it down for paige. you grabbed a fluffy blush brush and grabbed your peachy pink blush. you got some blush and told paige to smile, explaining you were placing the pigment on the apples of your cheeks. she started looking directly at you. "paige you're distracting me." she smirked as you were still applying the blush. "its just the effect i have on you."

you decided to put setting powder on paige's face, as it would help set her face and prevent from sweating later in the day. you grabbed a powder puff and dipped it in the white setting powder. "you know what i've been thinking about recently baby?" you look at paige, giving her a "hm?"

"how the media hates it when i dress so masculine. it's like they they want every woman to be feminine. i like being both and switching based off my mood. like today i felt feminine, that's why i asked you to do my makeup."

you nodded in agreement. "don't let them get to you. its just them and their own bullshit standards." you patted paige's face with the powder puff. "when you show whatever side to me, just know i love you for you." paige took a deep breath. "i know. thanks babe."

a few minutes later and lots of makeup steps, you curled paige's lashes and placed a thin layer of mascara, then applying setting spray so her makeup wouldn't move throughout the day. you grabbed your lipgloss, applying it on your lips before letting paige see the finished look. paige looked intrigued. "can i have some lipgloss baby?"

you gave a slight smile and placed a slight peck on paige's lips. "i found an opportunity and took it." paige looked annoyed, even though she did enjoy the quick gesture you gave her. "fine" you sighed in defeat.

you applied the light pink lipgloss to her already rosy lips. "i wasn't putting lipliner on you. they always do you dirty with it." she looked puzzled. "whose they?"

"the people who do your makeup for photoshoots." you finished, telling paige to smack her lips together. "you wanna see?"

she nodded, excitedly. you handed paige a handheld mirror. the way you saw her eyes light up and sparkle the moment she saw herself, you knew she'd like it. "babe.... you did so good. you need to be my makeup artist from now on."

paige placed the mirror down and looked at her and you in the vanity. you gave her a hug from behind, placing your arms around her neck. she gave a kiss to your arms as she turned around in the chair. "thanks baby." she stood up, you gave paige a kiss on her cheek as she walked to the closet. "now go get changed and curl your hair. you're gonna look so good."

[swightops]

still holding the silence (2) - thunderbolts* (b. reynolds)

summary - you deal with the aftermath of the gala and find an old friend asking for your help. warning(s) - typical thunderbolts warnings (depression, cannon violence, blood, etc.), language a/n - CA 4, thunderbolts, heavy angst as you delve into old avengers stuff, mc is kinda mean at time but hey she's hurting, i promise we'll see our man next chapter LMAO, the plot thickens oooooo

"Sunwraith Salutes New Generation?"

Famously retired Avenger known as Sunwraith made a surprise appearance at the "Meet the Future" gala, and an even more surprising gesture of support. Appearing alongside Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, the ex-hero smiled for photos and stood arm-in-arm with the New Avengers leader, prompting speculation that Sunwraith might be quietly endorsing the controversial new team.

Comments:

"Wow, I never thought I'd see Sunwraith at a gala again! This could mean big changes for the New Avengers!" "lol no way Sunwraith actually likes this new team" "The New Avenger literally don't compare to the old ones" "I'm skeptical. Sunwraith was a pure Avenger and she's not a part of this new team?" "I think Sunwraith just wants to support the new heroes. Change is always scary but we need to give them a chance!" "I'm so excited for this new team omgggg"

You groan as you toss the tablet to the side, not wanting to remember anything about last night. Your PR team had already given you an earful about the event earlier today, since your name started trending on social media, and the world wondered whether you truly supported the New Avengers. A buzz distracts your attention from the internet storm as you look down at your phone.

Sam Wilson

[Really?] [Attached: 1 link]

[She set me up] [Bitch]

[You okay?]

[Thinking about it]

Your fingers hover over the keyboard momentarily, deciding if you should send your next text. Fuck it.

[Saw Bucky]

The following minutes drag on as the typing bubbles appear and disappear on the screen.

[Have a mission. Got to go. We'll talk later.]

"Ughhh," you groan, throwing your phone away and dragging your hands down your face. The headline still burns in your head like an unwanted tattoo.

"Sunwraith Salutes New Generation?"

Your head falls back against the couch as you glance around the big, sterile, expensive apartment. It's not home, never quite home. You try to make it feel like home by hanging up pictures of your family, adding little knick-knacks around the place, and adding pops of color to bring life to the apartment, but it doesn't help.

The silence returns, settling over your shoulders like fog.

There never used to be silence, not after the Avengers.

You get up, not because you have anywhere to go, but because sitting still feels like drowning. You wander to your office, where work waits. Stark Relief documents. New Light proposals. A sticky note from Pepper in her neat, decisive handwriting:

"Board meeting resched. Monday. Don't forget to breathe."

You laugh, humorless and low. Breathing feels like the hardest part lately. You sink into your chair and stare at the spreadsheet open on the monitor. Profit margins. Logistics. Some initiative sent over by the GRC.

No one trained you for this. You were trained to throw punches, to induce fear in those whom Hydra told you to, to let the shadows consume all. You weren't trained to run a company. And no matter how many zeroes are in your bank account or how many buildings bear your name (or Tony's), it still doesn't fill the space they left behind.

You push back from the desk, suddenly too restless, too full. You walk to the window and press your hand against the glass. The city blurs beneath you, all movement and meaning, and none of it belonging to you.

You're a statue in a world that keeps moving.

You flex your fingers. That soft golden glow flickers to life—your power, your legacy, but it flickers.

Dims.

And then fades.

Your stomach growls. Glancing at the desk, you know you won't get any work done. Might as well make dinner.

It’s almost muscle memory now—this recipe, this dish. The kitchen smells before you even start chopping. You pull out different ingredients: chicken thighs, onions, paprika (the Hungarian kind Wanda used to swear by), chicken stock, and sour cream. You line them up like puzzle pieces and smile faintly when you catch yourself muttering the steps under your breath.

You chop slower than usual tonight. There's no rush. No alarms. No missions. You sauté the onions in oil until they're golden, then add the chicken and let the kitchen fill with sizzle and scent. The paprika goes in next, painting the pan in warm red, and something in your chest settles.

You aren’t making this for anyone.

You let the dish simmer before setting a plate. Just one. But beside it, without thinking, you place a second and third. You don’t sit right away. You stare at the plates and wonder if you're crazy.

Then again, crazy might be the only thing keeping you human.

You finish the dish with a spoonful of sour cream, stirring gently until the sauce is velvety-soft. You taste it. It's still good, still rich, still theirs.

“Ms. L/N,” a voice says from above you. FRIDAY. “You have a guest.”

You blink. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

“It's,” FRIDAY pauses. Although she's AI, a program designed by code, her voice has always been very human and compassionate. "Mr. Barnes is here."

You sigh, dusting imaginary dust from your hands. “Send him up.”

As you stand, you stare at the empty plates, hoping that magically it eases your racing heart. It doesn't.

A soft ding sounds throughout the apartment as the elevator doors open. Footsteps follow—slow, steady, too familiar. Your breath catches in your chest as you turn to look at Bucky. He stands in all black, his coat damp from the drizzle outside. Hair tied back. Eyes unreadable.

“Hey.”

You don’t respond. You can’t. There’s a buzzing in your head.

He shifts, hands still buried deep in his pockets. His eyes shift to the plates on the table. “Were you expecting people?”

You don’t say yes. Just shake your head no. “Why did you come, Bucky?” you ask, folding your arms. “You were perfectly fine with ignoring me before.”

“I didn’t know what to say.”

“That’s funny,” you snap. 

“I wasn’t ready to talk.”

“Well, I’m not ready either,” you say, stepping back. “So maybe you can go.”

“Wait-” He takes a step forward, and the tension snaps, pulling tight around your chest.

“You don’t get to wait, Bucky,” you say, voice trembling. “You completely ghosted. You let me think that you were done with me. That we don't mean anything to each other anymore."

His mouth opens. Nothing comes out.

You scoff bitterly. “No clever line? No excuse? What, no backup from your flashy new team?”

“It's not what you think,” Bucky mutters.

You roll your eyes. "Spare me, Buck."

He sighs, his tongue darting out quickly to wet his lower lip before biting it. “I didn't come here to fight,” Bucky says quietly. “I came because I need your help.”

That makes you laugh, bitter and small. His words sting. It's not about you, it's about what you can do. “Of course you do.”

“I know you met Bob.”

You blink. “What does he have to do with this?”

Bucky steps closer, his hand pulling out a small flash drive from his coat pocket. He places it on the kitchen island before slowly sliding it to you, almost scared that you might run off. "Short story, he can't control his abilities. Powers, memories, it’s all bleeding together. He’s afraid he’s going to hurt someone. And honestly…so am I.”

You close your eyes for a moment. The buzzing intensifies. 

“I don’t know how to help him, and truthfully, there aren't many people I can trust to help him,” he says, and your heart aches. Trust. "He needs someone who understands him in the way the rest of us can't," he pauses. "And...I think you do too...Please, Sunny-"

“Don't,” you say sharply.

He flinches. “I didn’t mean-”

“No,” you say again, pointing a finger at him now. “Don’t say it like I’m still her. Like I’m still that version of me. I don’t even know what I’m doing most days, Bucky. I wake up, I read headlines that praise me or, worse, pity me. I go to meetings for a company I don't think I can run. I sit in boardrooms with people who talk about Tony like he was a brand. And then I come home. And I sit. And I wonder if any of it mattered. And then I wonder if I did."

He swallows hard. “You did. You do."

"And then sometimes I wonder...I wonder if we did the right thing...bringing everyone back. That if maybe we didn't, then they would be here. Misreable, but here!" you admit, and it feels good. To finally say the salty thought out loud.

Silence.

Your watery eyes meet with Bucky's, and you then turn away. "Sorry, that was a lot. Um, if you wanna leav-"

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he cuts in. “y/n, believe me. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. Just...help Bob. Please. If you want me gone after that, I’ll go. I'll make sure none of this "New Avenger" stuff gets near you again."

You don’t say anything for a long moment. Then, finally, you speak, barely audible.

“He’s staying at the Tower?”

“Yeah.”

You nod slowly. “I’ll come tomorrow.”

Bucky exhales through his nose, maybe the closest thing he’s come to relief since he arrived. He moves to leave, and you're letting out a breath that you didn't know you were holding.

"I know you think you're not who you used to be. But to me, you're still Sunny. You're still you, y/n."

You don’t respond.

The elevator dings and the doors open before they close again, and you’re alone again.

You stand motionless. The air feels different now—thinner, lighter. Bucky took something with him when he left. You're not sure how long you stand there, hands curled into fists at your sides.

You're still Sunny. You're still you, Y/N.

You exhale sharply. A broken sound.

“Don’t call me that,” you whisper to the empty room. Your eyes fall to the flash drive, and your fingers grab hold of it before you can really think. They dig into the sides of it as if it’s the only thing keeping you connected to Bucky. Maybe it is. 

The smell of the paprikash hits you, and you’re reminded of your dinner. Almost robotically, you’re serving yourself, and you sit at your dinner table. Just sit and look at the empty table before you. And then, your fingers dig into the flash drive, and with a flick of your wrist, shadows move from the corners of the room, and your laptop is placed in front of you. 

The blob of shadows straightens out before you, and it just stares at you like it’s trying to get deep into your mind and roll your eyes. Deciding it’s better to ignore “it”, you plug the drive in and immediately files pop up. 

SUBJECT: REYNOLDS, ROBERT. aka “The Sentry”

You scroll. Your eyes flick over O.X.E. logs, therapist reports, and medical scans. O.X.E. It rang a bell in your head. Shit, where did you hear about it?

“Extreme power mismatch. Emotional destabilization suspected. Cognitive dissonance under pressure catalyzes the emergence of what is to be described as “The Void.”

There’s a photo of a lab room. There’s a table in the middle of it, but what draws your attention are the two human-shaped shadows imprinted into the wall. Both with their hands up, almost like they were running from something or someone. Another report catches your eye.

“Patient describes the entity as a shadow of the self. A voice. A second presence. Distinct yet intimately fused. The more power he uses, the more it surfaces.”

You swallow.

Your chest tightens. Not because of what’s on the screen. But because of how familiar it feels. You open a video file.

Bob’s there. He’s in big, oversized scrubs, sitting in a doctor's room on some sort of bed. He’s curled up into him just like that night you two met. “It isn’t always cruel,” Bob says. “Sometimes it sounds like the only one who understands me. Sometimes it sounds like…me.”

A long, thin silence follows.

“He came to you because he sees it in you too.”

You jerk your head up. The voice isn’t real. You know that. But you haven’t heard it in a long time. 

“He sees that brokenness in you. Everyone can.”

“Shut up,” you whisper. Your palms burn faintly, powers curling at the edge of your control. The lights in the apartment flicker for a moment. Just a heartbeat.

You clench your fists tighter. “Shut. Up.”

But the voice only sighs—fond, tired. “Don’t you miss how good it feels?”

You slam your laptop shut. Panic clings to your skin, cold and slippery. You rise too quickly and pace around the kitchen, hands trembling. There’s nothing to fight, but your muscles are coiled like you're bracing for impact.

You grip the edge of the sink.

Breathe in.

Out.

The shadows on the floor move with you. They always do. You’ve tried to pretend you’re in control of them. But some nights, you’re not sure who’s following who.

When you catch your reflection in the microwave door, your eyes glow faintly golden, not bright, but unmistakable. A quiet reminder of what lives under your skin. What lives deep down in your core. What calls to you when no one’s around. 

You avert your gaze. You’ve spent so long keeping it in and keeping in control, and yet, it’s slipping out so easily right now. How could you possibly help Bob when you can’t even help yourself?

Another tired breath escapes you before you sit back down at the table and open your laptop. You read more files, watch more videos, and skim over medical reports before a more recent report catches your eye. 

Subject: “Nightfall” Location: New York Casualties: Proximately 4000 people affected, minor injuries reported, no deaths reported Symptoms: Rapid psychological collapse, extreme hallucination, physical shadow assimilation Origin: Unknown energy pulse originating from R. Reynolds, later confirmed to be "The Void" entity. Field Notes: Victims reported being trapped inside 'memories,' often their worst or most shameful. Reports of time dilation, possession, and an unidentifiable psychic broadcast frequency mimicking grief cycles.

You stop there.

You remember that day. You and Pepper had watched from your tablet screen in France, arguing about whether you should take off for New York to stop the madness. At the time, you didn’t know what had caused it, over just as soon as it began, only that it reminded you too much of your own power when it slips, when it pulls too hard.

You keep reading. 

Post-Incident Recovery: Public story reframed as a biological weapon scare. Following the successful suppression of the Void, Director de Fontaine initiated Phase 2 of the Avenger Initiative Reformation. Results: "The New Avengers."

Your jaw clenches.

That’s what this was. Not a victory. Not some earned rebranding. Just a cover-up. A PR move. They turned a tragedy into a stage.

You exhale sharply and look back at your screen. Unable to stop, you keep reading before another file catches your eye. It’s encrypted. “FRIDAY, unlock this one.”

“Right away, boss.”

PROJECT: SENTRY / Source Documentation Archive Authorization: LEVEL BLACK Link Chain: O.X.E. // Archive Root: (REDACTED) Initiative

You freeze.

There’s no explanation. No subject name. No reference. Just:

—secondary prototype derived from archived data. Subject parallels stable. Cognitive divergence unstable. Full severance from original subject history approved. PROJECT CONTINUED UNDER CODE: SENTRY.

You sit back slowly, like any movement might disturb what you’ve just read. O.X.E., no Valentia Allerga de Fontaine, gave Bob his powers.

They built The Sentry. Created The Void. 

You stare blankly at your reflection in the dark screen. Your golden eyes catch faintly again, just for a second, before fading. Deep inside you, the pit stirs again, quiet and knowing, feeding off your unease. 

Bob Reynolds had a darkness within him. Something that matched the one deep within you. And tomorrow, you were going to see it up close.

[allisas]

lovestruck stream thoughts

I really like the "way of life" turn-ons and turn-offs and that they're combined into slightly broader categories instead of being based on single skills. They also include broke, wealthy, taken (already in a relationship) which is nice. 👍

I'm really bummed that the only physical turn-ons and turn-offs are hair color, clothes related. Maybe the game doesn't track tattoos, body hair, eye color etc and that's why they're not included or maybe they just want to push the "the inside is what matters"-part really hard? Not clear to me why there weren't more. I'd also liked to have turn-ons based on different occult states, like attracted to vampirers, werewolves etc.

We're finally getting a copy to all outfits button in CAS as a BG update! 🙌

I'm super happy that lashes are separated into a new category and I'm crossing all my fingers that the CC-lashes will be updated to be compatible with this. I'm not sure if I'm maxis match enough to use those BG-lashes..

The world seems similar to many of the last EP worlds with 12 lots including a gym, nightclub, park & lounge. I wish we had gotten a few new apartments in addition to the penthouses. I'm having a hard time getting excited for new worlds these days, they often feel a little lackluster and empty. With the same tired food stalls everywhere, a lack of things to do and the areas to big to be populated.

What really struck me during the gameplay showcase was how they still to this day can't seem to make the sims react in any visible way to most of the interactions in game. Many times the only way to know if an interaction was "liked" or "successful" is to read the pop-up because the animation wont tell you anything. The first thing that happened was a sim telling (throug a pop-up) that they were super unattracted to another sim and the next second they were flirting with the same sim. I was just like 🤔..

Sims break up via text pop-ups instead of animations. Meh..

The sky gazing animation is cute and picking the date activities seems to be basic enough that it shouldn't be gamebreaking. It'll be nice to have dates with different goals than the BG date which becomes quite tedious after playing for so many years.

Love that the date can ask to continue at your played sims' house the date if it's going well. 😘

Build/buy seems a little lackluster to me personally, mostly new bars, workout equipment & mis-matched windows and doors. I really, really, really don't need another bar in this game.. But, on a more positive note, I like the new decorative items and the collectible, breedable axlots looks fun. 😊

All in all I'm not super impressed or excited. The UI in this game is becoming soo bloated with all the personality stuff that ultimately mostly shows up to you as text pop-ups or moodlets and doesn't result in any unique animations or interactions in game.

I'm still going to try it out when it arrives and see what it feels like when playing. I'm thinking that playing through a scenario with a limited amount of packs might be a good way to do that.

What are your thoughts on the new pack?

[elderwisp]

hi! Im so sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, I've looked for answers for this before so I'm just not sure,,

i absolutely adore your sims and your story! Its completely inspired me to create a story w/ my sims as well! the only thing is I'm quite overwhelmed with it all and I don't know where to start :(

do you have any tips? Whats your process? there's so many things to use and I'm just curious what you use! Thanks in advance and no pressure to answer if this is the wrong place :))<33

HAI :D OMG EXCITING <3 no worries! my inbox is always open for assistance and i'd love to help! here's a bunch of tips ranging from writing to technical to artsy stuff:

the start:

⟡ i should preface this story did not begin as one typically would which is say following the example of how to write a novel in a year. my writing style for this project started out with my interest in the characters created. my desire to wanting to know why certain oc's acted the way they did and that's where it all began. what started out as short stories of certain individuals reworked into something much more authentic. this was the hook for me so you gotta find that one sliver of interest and run with it. you can most certainly utilize tools like character sheets, pinboards, storyboards to assist you but i find that if i'm not connected to the story, it's difficult to use them

⟡ with that being said LOL invest the time in fleshing out your character because when you understand how they work, when you believe in them, the easier it'll be in creating scenes and writing dialogue. for me, it's almost intuitive writing for characters to the point where i will easily check myself and rewrite a scene because it didn't align with a certain character

⟡ while the influence of your own ideals/experiences eventually bleed into an oc, it's important to identify that, otherwise a cast of diverse characters eventually feel the same. this was something i struggled with for years which is why i could never really begin until now!

⟡ it's good to ask yourself what sort of story do you want to create. the best question is is it plot driven or character driven? what sort of tone do you want to set? do you want to blend them? i think there's a huge stress on just doing things for fun and not taking things seriously but i do want to challenge others to consider what that might look like for others. sometimes people like to create grand posts or fun slice of life posts and neither is more valid than the other. it's truly up to the author

technical stuff:

⟡ i'm gonna be honest with you, i'm not as organized as i once was in how i go about plotting things however! in the beginning, i would utilize sticky notes with ideas written on them and then shuffle around how i wanted things to play out. now i use a dingy little notebook LMAO but i've heard good things about milanote! as for dialogue, i do use google docs but i do think they're under fire for using your things for ai training or somethin O_O

⟡ i do use photoshop to edit my photos and that usually looks like cropping, color/contrast enhancing and sharpening. i do add dialogue last because when i sharpen it all together, the font looks cwispy! there's this mini tut by @/stinkrascal on how to format the text so it's all even if that's the style you're going for! anyways it changed my LIFE lmao! right here are some free alternatives. also this is an older post in which i shared my process and it includes some tips and tricks with photoshop (you can also see how i used to format text lmaooo)

⟡ knowledge is power. if i find myself really struggling with certain aspects, like maybe the logistics of a character, i'll set aside some time to learn from certain authors, commentators or directors. even if it's a short clip of seeing how they approach something as simple as their thought process behind how a scene supported a character to something as small as the significance of Isha's hat from Arcane

misc writing tips:

⟡ ooh! because tessellate is such a large group of characters, it can be challenging to structuring a plot. so i started off by slowly introducing characters rather than all at once. i also break up character plots into arcs but with that comes filler episodes to help space out big moments. i like to utilize filler episodes as bite sized pieces that introduces the readers to newer characters while also allowing there to be breaks in between. those filler posts highlight certain events, ways of living, etc that might influence how things play out in the future. a good example is kai, we're nearing the end of his arc but all of those little moments in between really helped shaped how things played out!

⟡ when i think of conflict, i think of it a lot like a boiling pot. it starts out at a neutral temperature (your foundation), before bubbles begin to form (minor annoyances between characters), steam hissing (the lead up) to an eventual lid popping off (the conflict). the build up is the most important part to the pay off!

⟡ my best piece of advice for darker themes is really understand the topic and stray away from stereotypes as it diminishes a lot of depth in certain subjects as well as does more harm than good. recognize that at the end of the day a weakness does not define a person as they are a person through and through. approach it with compassion rather than judgement.

⟡ i know i know everyone says to read your dialogue out loud and that is incredibly important however while doing that, think about the flow too. as a writer, because we are goal oriented, sometimes dialogue can be turned into what will progress the plot which makes things feel a bit unnatural and sometimes lacking the proper flow. remember to consider the personality of a character. how is a line delivered through a character who is brash versus one who is a bit more reclusive? also! here's a great video about the stiff dialogue in veilguard that shows what unnatural dialogue can sound like.

⟡ remember, comparison is the thief of joy. it's easy to get caught up in recognition and likes. there was a time where i consistently got 3-5 readers and that was it. there are moments now where certain posts are incredibly inconsistent in engagement and sure, it can be disheartening but then i think about the handful of individuals that consistently comment, the specific asks about how a certain post made them feel seen and interact and i remember why it's i chose to write. it isn't the recognition i seek, it's the connection. it's important to have that one thing that gives you the strength to continue because truthfully, things can be inconsistent and that's okay.

the artsy stuff:

⟡ i am a huge fan of cinema, animation and photography. i think consuming a lot of media and art has helped train my eye especially if i feel as if my screenshots are becoming repetitive. it's good to see how different directors go about framing dialogue. comic panels are amazing as well since artists find new unique ways of captivating an audience through levels like coloring, framing, posing and such! it's honestly why i introduced some vertical shots to black out bars in story posts because of that unique angle! remember, media is meant to inspire you! after watching the latest season of Arcane (haven't finished it yet tho) it genuinely relit a fire under my ass LMAO

⟡ different angles, lighting and positioning can help elevate a story. the aesthetics of a story can really add another layer of depth however it's important to remember that it is a supporting role, not the entire role

⟡ i do use my own reshade and i've formatted it to have similarities of a film camera as well as my preference of color correcting. i lean heavier towards contrast, colors and shadows however i always encourage for people to look into what supports their vision the best! the lightroom shader by quint and pd80's contrast/brightness/saturation shader help with color grading in game as they do have sliders that tweak certain colors. the sepia shader is great for adding a cinematic tint but it can conflict with relight and the way the lights are presented. relight of course can add those shadows in lighting. i'll sometimes have two presets, one for up close shots to further shots because sometimes zooming out can create inconsistencies in your preset as things might look to muggy or like a disco ball LOL (ps what helps with that is adjusting bloom if used and messing around with shadows/midtones/highlights/saturation with that lightroom shader)

last but not least, a story is a labor of love, it's a tool in which authors can utilize the pen to their own manner whether it's to communicate ideas or to simply tell a tale. don't be afraid to dive deep into the layers of your story and remember each piece can be important factor but it's entirely up to you as to where you want that focus to be. it does take a lot of courage to start but i truly believe if it's something you cherish, it'll always be worth it!

i do wish you the best of luck! thank you for trusting me enough to give you some tips and tricks! i tried to lean more into the more finite details as i felt like this is what truly helped me throughout the years! <3 also here is a complimentary meme i made:

[skinnyminiindustrial]

A warm Embrace

Summary: You go on reminiscing about your deep feelings about Yuji Itadori while walking through your favorite park. Suddenly, you get a text and speak of the devil. Yuji is asking you to meet up for lunch. 

Word count: 1,201

☆*:.｡. o o .｡.:*☆

It’s autumn, and the air is cold and crisp, nipping at your face and making your nose red as you walk through the park. The leaves have changed to vibrant colors of red, orange, and yellow—the ones that have fallen, making a crunching sound beneath your feet with each step. You hugged the coat you had on tighter to your body, still feeling the chill despite the warm, shining sun above. It was a beautiful day, yet your mind couldn’t help but go elsewhere.

I had been thinking about Yuji. Since I met him, life has become more colorful, filled with laughter, and, naturally, a bit of danger too. He strangely always had a way of brightening even the darkest situations. I loved his goofy grin, the way his eyes sparkled when he was excited, and the relentless optimism in the face of everything that tried to drag him down. But more than that, I loved the way he made me feel safe. Lately, Yuji has been busy with missions, leaving little time for the two of us to hang out. It wasn’t like I could blame him he had a lot on his plate, and the weight of Sukuna’s presence was always in the background. Still, I couldn’t help but miss him.

My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket, interrupting your thoughts about the good times that you and Yuji had had. I pulled it out to see a message from Yuji

Yuji: “Hey! Free for lunch? Are you doing anything right now?

A smile spread across my face, and I wasted no time replying.

You: “Oh, hey, Yuji! Yeah, I'm free to not do anything right now! Where do you want to meet?

Yuji: “How about the park? I’m already here, so yeah!”

My heart skipped in my chest at the thought of seeing him finally. Where he was in the park wasn’t too far from where I was. I was so shameless in the way I picked up my pace, eager to spend time with him. As I hurriedly walked, I noticed more and more couples scattered around, holding hands, laughing, kissing, and doing all the work! It made my thoughts wander about Yuji being the same way, doing cute couple stuff as other couples do.

I spotted Yuji almost immediately, I couldn’t miss him with his pick hair in a crowd if I tried. He was sitting on a bench, dressed in a hoodie and jeans. As soon as he saw me, he waved at me and screamed my name like he hadn't seen me in decades, a big grin plastered on his face.

“Hey!” He called out as I got closer. “I got us some snacks. I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I got a little some of everything. He said he was holding up two bags full of snacks.

I laughed softly. “Dude, it looks like you got the whole store.”

He scratched his head sheepishly and chuckled. “I just wanted to make sure I got something you liked.”

One bag was full of stuff I loved to snack on, and half of the other bag was too. “You did, don’t worry!” I reassured him. Stepping closer to him.

His smile grew, and he motioned me to sit on the bench. “Want to sit? And people watch or something.”

I sat down next to him, our shoulders almost touching. He grabbed one of the store bags, grabbed a bag of chips out, opened them, and started stuffing his face. I grabbed the other bag, found my favorite snack, opened the pack, and started stuffing my face. It tasted sweet, and I was savoring the taste of it because I hadn’t had it in a long time. The two of us sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment, but watching the leaves fall around us was magical, so to speak.

After a while, Yuji turned to me, his expression soft. “I missed you, y’know. I missed seeing you and talking to you.”

My heart fluttered again at the sudden confession. “I missed you a whole hell of a lot.”

“It’s been… kind of crazy lately with me!” He admitted that his tone was a bit more serious than normal. “But being with you again like this makes everything feel normal and nice again.”

I felt warmth spread through my chest at his words. Yuji wasn’t one to complain or dwell on the negative things, but I knew he carried a heavy burden on his heart. In my thoughts, the fact that he found solace in my presence made me feel incredibly special.

“I’m glad, you feel that way, and I do too,” I said softly, meeting his eyes. “You deserve moments like this, Yuji. To just relax and chill.”

He smiled, but there was something tender and loving in his eyes. “Thanks, I needed to hear that.”

For a while, the two of us sat there, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and the view. Eventually, Yuji turned to face me more fully, his eyes searching my face. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” I replied, curious about the sudden shift in tone in his voice and the air.

He looked almost shy as he spoke. “Do you ever feel scared? You know, being around me?”

I blinked, taken aback by the question. “What do you mean? I could never be scared around you”.

“Well, with Sukuna and everything… I just— I don’t want to put you in danger,” he explained, his voice filled with sadness and concern. “But I also don’t want to stay away from you. Being around you brings me so much happiness.”

My heart melted at his words. I reached out my hand and placed it gently on his, squeezing it. “Yuji, I’m not scared. Not of you. I could never be scared of you. I know you’ll always protect me, no matter what.”

He stared at me for a moment, clearly touched by what I said. Slowly, he leaned in and kissed me. I didn’t know what to do or what to feel, I felt like I was floating like I was on a rocket ship. I felt amazing. For a moment, the world disappeared— the world around me felt warmer.

When he pulled back, his eyes looked like they had just seen the greatest thing. He stared at me and said, “I’m really glad you're here with me. I’m so glad to be at this moment with you.” He whispered.

I smile softly, my hands finding his face and kissing his lips again with a small peck. ”Me too! Yuji.”

Once it all sunken in with what the future will hold between me and him. The air wasn’t so cold anymore. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, as if to say to me, he’s never letting me go. The warmth that he gave me was all I needed to feel safe.

I can’t wait for what comes next!

[littlelalu]

Stolen Moments | Milo Manheim (Part 1 Fluff)

NOTE: Hello guys! Sorry for not posting for a couple of days now. I felt very crappy and did not have much motivation to do anything. It's a little past midnight, but I did say I wanted to post ASAP.

This first part is fluff. Next is Smut

Hope you all have a great night <3 

Y/N = Your Name

Y/E/C = Your Eye Color

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm so tired. We have been rehearsing almost all day for Zombies 4. Being a background dancer is not easy, but I love dancing. It has been my passion since I was a little girl. I also don't mind it because I see him every day. 

Milo and I have been dating for a month but in secret. We have not told anyone just yet, besides our best friends. We agreed to wait until after filming because we didn't want to draw any attention to us. We have been sneaking around set, late-night secret rendezvous, and constantly texting/calling. It was easy at first, but it's been harder now that my feelings for him have grown.

"Good job everyone! That's it for today. Have a good night. See y'all tomorrow" the choreographer said, distracting me from my thoughts. 

Milo and I quickly glanced at each other, but Malachi shoved him playfully.

"Aye, man! Great job today" Milo said to him. They began talking.

I started to make my way to the table where I left my stuff and began walking out of the building. I had parked far away from the door so others wouldn't see Milo when he got in my car.

I heard my phone buzz as I started the engine. It was a text from Milo.

I'll be out there soon!

I smiled at my phone and replied. 

Okay, babe. See ya soon.

I sat in my car as I waited for him. We don't even have anything "fun" to do today. We just plan on staying in my hotel room. His, Meg and Chandlers, and a couple of other cast member's management got them an air bnb to stay at while they film the movie. I'm so glad no one has caught on to where he goes.

~~~~~~~~~~~ Milo's P.O.V ~~~~~

God... Y/N looks so beautiful when she's dancing. This is her calling for sure. 

This past month with her has been amazing. She makes me feel happier than I have ever been in my life. Sneaking around makes it more exciting and thrilling. I can't wait till we're done filming so I can publicly show her off. Only Mason knows about her.

Y/N and I keep telling everyone we are just friends, but when nobody is around, she is all mine. I love being with her. I keep getting more feelings for her each day. Her smile, her laugh, her eyes, everything is perfect about her. 

"Good job everyone! That's it for today. Have a good night. See y'all tomorrow" the choreographer said.

I looked at Y/N for a bit, but Malachi shoved me. "Aye, man! Great job today." I said to him. We continued talking for a bit, but I kept sneaking glances at Y/N as she left. 

"Hey listen man... I have to head out now. I need to run some errands before I head home. See you later!" I said to him. 

"Yeah, man no problem."

I grabbed my stuff and texted Y/N that I would be out there soon. I began making my way out of the building and to her car. 

I can't wait to spend time with her. She's like my prize after a long day at work.

As I got closer to her car, I looked around to make sure no one is looking. Thankfully, no one is.

"Y/N!" I said a bit too loudly.

"Shh Milo someone is going to hear you." She said trying to keep me quiet. She let out a cute giggle. Anything to hear that.

"Babe it's okay! No one is near here." I reassured her. "Meaning..." I said as I put my hand on her chin to look me in the eyes. Her pretty Y/E/C eyes looking at my brown ones. She is truly beautiful. I leaned in and kissed her. She kissed back instantly. We both sighed in relief like we hadn't been waiting all day to do this.

I pulled back after a minute. We were grinning like fools. "Sorry. I just couldn't wait any longer."

Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "It's fine. You ready to go?" She asked me.

"Yup. I'm tired as hell" I said as I buckled my seatbelt.

"Me too. But hey you were doing great! I can never get tired of hearing you sing." She said as she began to drive.

"You were amazing too! I love seeing the way your body moves. Reminds me of our little meet up" I said and winked at her.

"Behave, Manheim." She joked.

We talked more about the movie and our dance moves. Nothing feels better than the times I'm with her. I keep watching her talk about dancing. Her eyes light up so much. I admire her beauty. I'm falling for this girl.

[livewireprojects]

Pride Month 2024 Sonic Sketches

Second pic made in Procreate, kinda excited about it

Made a few sketches for pride month, kind of started out with a comic were Silver comes out to his mom as bisexual along with a pic of Blaze after telling her dad then decided to draw everyone at a pride parade & showing their pride

Everyone here is kind of based on my own ideas for the characters especially Mephiles since anything involving him has to do with the version I made for him for post-06 reboot. Also some stuff is in color(Blaze's forehead gem, Cosmo's necklace, Amy's headband, Sonic's hair clip, ghost aura stuff) cause it seemed fitting due to the meanings behind the colors on the pride flag.(Like purple for soul)

Middle row

Like the text says Blaze told her dad & he made her a frog hat to support her. He's a nice/friendly guy that cares a lot, it's unfortunate that Blaze's late mom was so terrible & left with Blaze for her own intentions.

Rouge & Knuckles at pride, I was a little worried about how well I got Rouge's bisexual flag makeup. I eventually fixed up the lipstick & added matching earrings. Knuckles unintentionally looks like a pirate cause I can't draw his hat at angles. So yeah my version of Knuckles & Rouge are bi, Knuckles use to date Sonic(in my ver) & Rouge has some interest in women in the past.(Especially Topaz at one point)

Here's Blaze & Silver, Silver has a bi flag cardigan. Pretty much at some point the two realized together they're bi. They eventually told their parents(well Blaze's mom is gone so she only told her dad) & they luckily have supportive families.

Surge isn't in my Lost Prince stuff but I thought she & Amy were cute together in the fanart people made. I also think Metal was interesting with Amy, at some point gets with her in the future in my Lost Prince AU. Metal at some point stops working for Eggman & tries to make their own identity after a talk with Sonic especially since they were becoming more sentient. Metal wasn't sure what he wanted but eventually figured things out.

Right row

The context of the sign is that this is meant to be Tails, Cosmo(revived as a plant/mobian chipmunk hybrid) & Cream when they're older & in their teens or later. The time skip is mostly cause at the moment Cream is pretty young in present day, Tails is too but he's slightly older. I guess you could say Tails & Cosmo had a puppy love or something then things got serious when they were older when Cosmo returned then later Cream joined them.

Cream is pretty accepting of who she's into, I dunno what Cosmo is into(I guess technically bi since she's dating Tails & later Cream when Cream joined the couple), Tails I think maybe straight but I dunno. At the very least Tails is supportive of his friends & brother.

Context for this is just I wanted to add Vanilla & her late spouse so them from the future. Added Vector cause him & Vanilla are kinda cute so he's her relationship from the future. So Vanilla's late partner is my OC Cake who despite willing to be called a dad by their kids(Cream & at some point Sonic cause I like the idea of the rabbits adopting him) & only them, Cake was nonbinary. The rabbit family is pretty accepting of people.

Decided to bring in Gadget & Zero/Infinite, the guy in the corner is Zero's late dad who I'll explain at a late point

And then there's these three. I'm not entirely sure what my thoughts on Shadow & Mephiles are, at some point I think I realized demisexual felt right for Shadow. Like I said before any of my thoughts on Mephiles are specifically for the version I made of him for post-reboot in Sonic 06. I was originally thinking of giving him the male gay pride flag but given what I've done with him in Lost Prince AU I kinda realized he fits in with demisexual too. While my version of Sonic identifies as male he likes dressing in whatever he wants & isn't exactly gender-conforming.

Sonic mostly dressed up for pride & tied a pride flag to his neck like a cape. For some reason Mephiles is the only one I tried making designs for on his outfit.

Here's a cropped version of the comic. Pretty much Silver & Blaze realized they were bisexual, at some point Silver got the courage to tell his mom & later his dads.*

For some context Silver's mom is male & in a relationship with men*, he's pretty accepting so Silver doesn't need to worry much. However his worries are understandable because of being around Blaze a lot & seeing how her mom treated her. Blaze's mom was strict & caused a lot of issues that Blaze is still recovering from. Blaze left with Silver & Venice at some point leading to meeting her dad & becoming estranged from her mom. Her mom is gone now but as said Blaze is still recovering. Silver's family(along with Blaze's dad) understand & reassure Silver, Venice & Blaze that the three are accepted/safe.

*I dunno if the marriage is legal at best I know Silver's dad & his mom's marriage is legal. Venice's(Venice is Silver's half brother) dad went missing for a few years(Eggman was behind it) & ended up joining the relationship after being rescued/talking things out. Venice's dad was able to be part of the wedding as another groom but I dunno if this counts as official/legal by human standards.(I guess technically official by Mobian standards)

Thought I'd make a version without the color for everyone to see. The text about the frog hat is missing because it was connected to the frame I made for the comic involving Silver & his mom.

[claire--delune]

I'm a creator for the Rhythm Doctor Sight Reading Tournament 3 (RDSRT3), and I made the level "For The Goat" by one of our wonderful in house musicians, 3xp0 (song link)

I'm very proud of it, and I'm excited to share it with you all.

You can find this level, and many other great levels at rhythm cafe and the Rhythm Doctor Lounge discord, and future RDSRT3 streams (and VODs) on the Rhythm Doctor Lounge youtube channel.

recording by Random Guy JCI (twitter)

Super rambley levelmaker commentary and other wacky stuff below the cut

So this was originally going to be a story driven level. I some dialogue planned but i didn't like how it sounded and no one else was particularly interested in helping me write

The general story was as following: Cole would be telling Hailey (who's doing an interview for school) about a friend of his that he met on an old music production forum he frequented when he was younger. They were this niche internet microcelebrity called ballfart2001. They became friends, and generally just hung out and whatnot. At some point though, Cole would do some shit that pissed ballfart off, and they stopped talking to each other. At the end, there was originally going to be rank text, being a message that ballfart sent to Cole before the messageboard went down. If you did well, it would be the two exchanging discords so they could keep in contact, and if you did poorly, it would be ballfart telling Cole off, or even blocking him.

Now for what's actually in the level, starting with ballfart themself.

I worked hard ballfart's custom character (raw sprites below). Their neutral and missed expression are based on (new) Cole's neutral and barely sprites. I was trying to give the implication that these mannerisms of ballfart rubbed off on him (though i realize it may have been a bit subtle). I designed their outfit to be simple, but "cool" (but also like. a bit slobbish (they're wearing sweatpants and a half tucked shirt for fucks sake))

Now the vfx part.

Depending on how familiar you may be with rd, you may be familiar with the kaleidoscope from 2-2, 2-2n, and 2-x. You may also have noticed that I have something similar in the level, but it's a different color, a different amount of divisions, etcetera. These are done through custom methods, an advanced technique which allows you to do a lot of really cool stuff. Most of the custom methods I used for this (kaleidoscope roll, offset, repeat, symmetry, and color iirc) were released relatively recently (aside from the colors, that method has existed for ages). IN FACT, this level was created BEFORE those custom methods were released, I added kaleidoscope specifically so I could use them (because they're awesome)

Anyways the rest of the vfx yeah fuck. The custom hitstrip was added because I thought it looked cool. ditto... most of it really.

Now, for the gameplay. Act 5 had recently released, this song was unveiled to the rdsrt levelmakers as a priority song, and while listening to it, I noticed that sometimes there would be a second snare, but earlier then the regular snare. And I thought "oh dope kinda like subdivision beats. but like reverse". (Normal subdivision beats require you to hit after the snare). That's where the whole gimmick came from, and the rest of the charting sorta stemmed from trying to compliment that and fit the song as best as possible.

FINALLY, we can get to the notorious ballfart incident.

So for clarity, since I removed the dialogue, no one would normally know that that character is named "ballfart" unless they heard it from me or went inside the level folder.

HOWEVER.

I did something really stupid.

I left the placeholder thumbnail in.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Thinking about a scenario where the Ink Demon/Ink MK/Curse the gang encounters in S4 accidentally forms an outer conscieness.

I feel like it gains sentience partially from MK refering to the Curse as a being separate from the Scroll - and not solely as a tool created to torment it's prisoners. Almost like a magic artifical intelligence.

I could see MK finding a way to contact the demon, mostly to gain greater insight on things he's mentally avoiding. Like by writing with an enchanted ink set, or with the ink left behind by the Curse's rampage.

MK, putting ink brush to paper: "Hi?" *The ink begins to blob and shape itself into words* Ink Curse, as writing on the paper: "You could have just used a pen, idiot." MK, excitedly writing back: "It's you!!" Ink Curse: "Why do you seem excited? Are you a glutton for punishment?" MK: "So, I know your whole thing is to pick people apart mentally, right?" Ink Curse: "Yes. I was spawned from the ink used to detail the crimes of those written into the scroll of memory. It is my purpose. Like how you were made for-" MK, writing over the response: "Yeah yeah chaos and destruction and stuff I know that part. But like, when I got home... I started thinking about the other stuff and... you seem pretty good at voicing thing people don't want to know about themselves. It almost feels I dunno... catartic almost? (is that how you spell it)? Ink Curse: "It is spelt Cathartic. And If you take any comfort in what I did, then I have failed my purpose. Or you are hopelessly dense." MK: "But thats the thing! I didn't feel comfortable! You dragged me out of my comfort zone and made me think about junk. It's actually helping me a little in coming to terms with... what I am." Ink Curse: *doesn't respond for some time* "You are strange." MK: "I mean, I guess. I'm writing to a demonic ink curse instead of going to an actual therapist. Hope to talk to you again soon Mozhi*!" Newly dubbed "Mozhi": "Excuse me?"

*"Mozhi/Mòzhī/墨汁" - meaning "squid ink" or the ink used in traditional chinese calligraphy.

And since putting a name to something gives its power, "Mozhi" begins to manifest beyond ink and paper. Ink stains and monkey handprints litter the apartment. The magnets on MK's fridge start rearranging into swear words. The menu at Pigsy's shuffles to critique minor flaws in the kitchen. Mei starts recieving scathing texts from an unlisted number. The tv starts glitching in the viewer's insecurities.

Eventually the gang break down MK's door to figure out wtf is going on, only to see an Ink!MK physically pull itself into the 3d world from the Cursed ink. Everyone starts screaming.

Macaque, laughing: "Oh my gods, I know what happened here - I've heard of it happening before in shadow demons. MK gave the ink Curse a name and that gave it power to, quote a little puppet made of pine; become a real boy." Ink Curse/Mozhi, stumbling like a newborn fawn: "Why is my body being pulled down?" Wukong: "It's called gravity, spot. You get used to it." Ink Curse/Mozhi: "You are actively floating." Wukong: "Yeah, doesn't mean I have to like gravity."

In his "physical" form, Mozhi looks like monkey!MK with inky black fur and colder toned skin - his facial marking a smeared grey color with a distinct heart-shaped outline. He reduces to his inky form when physically damaged or when he wants to "hop into" a book or artwork. Dislikes sunlight/heat, it dries him out.

And because he is no longer within MK's head/the scroll, he's a lot less all-knowing. He is however scarily perceptive of others thoughts and fears, and loudly narrates his opinions on things.

Red Son: "Is that a sentient ink curse?" Mozhi, mockingly: "Is that an emotionally-constipated daddy's boy who almost destroyed the world with a toddler temper tantrum, and still refuses to admit that he's more morally righteous than he lets on?" :3 Red Son, flames up: "Oh its on, you glorified Rorshace test!" MK: *sprays water bottle at them* "Down! Both of you! Mozhi, I said no commentating on people's inner thoughts!" Mozhi: "If y'all actually went to theraphy, then there would be nothing for me to talk about."

This also makes Mozhi the best person to roast somebody when the others are too busy/emotional to do so on their own. And since he mirrors the power of the person he's roasting, it gives him Jester's Immunity to damage from angry Celestials.

The Jade Emperor: "Why is there a loose ink demon in my throne room?" Mozhi, giggling manically as he morphs into an ink!Emperor: "Hahahahahaha~ wow. Ruler of all beings, mortal and divine. And you can't even recognise yourself. Disappointing really. Then again, can't expect much from a glorified intern that was gifted the throne and hasn't done much else since." *Vicious Mockery continues for many hours*

Mozhi is however... kinda bad at admiting and recognizing his own feelings? He's never had any before that weren't projections of others. Is this what true sadness feels like, or does he just need to get some sleep? Can come off as cold, even when trying to be geniune. He's just not used to having emotions or empathy yet.

Enjoys fictional works that dive into the concepts of meta-fiction and medium awareness, ex; Deadpool, Bandersnatch, and Doki Doki Literature Club.

[huhwhuhs]

I made a little part two to the day in the life of surface Melinda thing!!! :D also because I feel like people need a small break from the angst

`GOOD MORNING!!! :D`

`Today was awesome! I'm getting so good at the human stuff!`

`I went out to that cafe, and they weren't open yet, I was really scared that I accidentally missed the time because I was a minute late, so I just stood out there until I did so I could ask!`

`And everything was fine! The people there thought I was funny, and said nobody had come in yet but them. One of them gave me a "scone"! It tasted like a really sweet (but kinda dry) biscuit!`

`I stayed in there for a really long time, turns out most people only work for a few hours, then switch with other people. I just thought everyone worked at the same time so they could get the most done. But that just means I got to meet more people! Some of them gave me weird looks, but I didn't care!`

`When the lady who asked me out here, Lilacia (I found her name by checking her wallet! :]), came she was super happy to see me there! She got this weird look when the people who worked there told her how long I waited, but I'm just going to hope it meant something good.`

`I ordered us a bunch of sweets! And she helped me pick off a coffee in return! (It tasted really good for once!!! :D) She looked a bit surprised at how much I got, but we both liked them! We spent our time talking about her, and maybe a bit about me, but I don't have as much because most of my life was underwater. :<`

`We have the same favorite color! And we plan on reading a book together! I'm really glad I took a phone from someone a while ago, because she asked for my number, so I was able to give her that one!`

`She got a but iffy when it was time to go, but I just gave my new server friends a bunch of the money in my wallet and she seemed more surprised instead, apparently it's not normal to carry around certain types of green paper, and also not normal to tip uh, I think it was something like 300 extra, but I just said it was fine and we left!`

`I walked her home and we said goodbye, and she wants to "text"(what does that mean?) to schedule another time for us to hang out! I don't know how she's gonna do it, but I'm excited anyway!`

`I don't have much else to talk about, so I'll end it here. It was another really good day today!`

`oh, I think I had work. Uhmmmmm I'm sure it's fine!!! :]`

[bahamutgames]

AFTERTHOUGHTS - ROUNDUP ROUND 19

April - May 2025

Hello once again!! The last few months have been a little weird for me, gaming and hobby-wise. I was in the middle of my next rpg when I suddenly got hit with some brutal burnout from all my hobbies. And I haven't really been able to shake it, sad to say.

BUT I am still playing stuff here and there even if they're smaller games. Mainly a lot of indie stuff and fighting games. So let's get to it!

As always these aren't reviews, just random thoughts. Please play anything I talk about that interests you. Yadda yadda. You know the drill by the this point.

(updated a few hours later to expand on my thoughts about Cave Story cause they were really barebones)

Annalynn MD (April 1, 2025) - PC

April Fools day had a LOT of games release during it. At least 3 (though one, by Siactro, has been taken down sadly. Brutal.) and they're all very fun and cute! I REALLY love April Fools gags that are just "I made something genuinely cool, enjoy :)" So I will gladly take these types of games!

First is Annalynn MD! The long awaited follow up to Annalynn! I quite enjoyed the original so I'll play any spinoff they throw at me (Annalynn Grand Prix when?) I also LOVE Dr. Mario so I was very excited to give this game a shot and it didn't disappoint. This does NOT feel like an April Fools joke, it's like, a full game. Annalynn MD is similar to Dr. Mario in that you have to put viruses and medicine together, but the most interesting thing about it is the fact that the playing board is 3D. Meaning you have to spin it around to find the viruses and best place to put your blocks. It's REALLY neat and while I'm sure it's been done before, it's my first time seeing it! It took a minute to get the hang of but when I did it really clicked!

The game also has REALLY good visuals and music, and it's free so I can't recommend it enough if you want a new little puzzle game to toy around with!

Gurina (April 1, 2025) - PC

A certified Friend of Bahamutgreen game if I may say so. Gurina is another cute game that launched on April Fools that I got a big kick out of. But while this is a more one-and-done adventure, there's actually a lot of secrets to find in this game! Wootinaboot is really good at creating games with lots of secrets and cyphers that can be deceptively hard to 100%. I don't wanna spoil it but like, there's a fight in it at one point is all I'll say and it's similarly deceptively hard.

I like the graphics, I like the music and sounds, I love Woot's character designs. And this one is similarly also free you should play it!!

ART SQOOL (February 5, 2019) - PC

Around this point it when I got burnt out, and just kinda... stopped playing stuff? But I had a couple of small indie stuff on my computer I downloaded for such an occasion! First and foremost was a game about drawing. Hey, I love games and drawing!! AND you walk around in it. It's like it was tailor made for me!

So yeah Art Sqool is kinda what it says on the tin, you're in Art Sqool and each level is the Headmaster giving you an assignment. And you just go off and draw it! It has a nice aesthetic, trying to be like an old PC program with pastel colors and text to speech voices. It's interesting that it uses limited pallets not just for art but for the whole world. And interestingly the bizarre campus is open world! And you can find more tools to draw with! It's cute and I like that it can be as involved as you want it to be. You can walk around campus to find tools and get inspiration if you want, or you can just quickly draw whatever comes to mind. There also seems to be a LOT of assignments to do that are randomly picked. So there's reason to replay.

However, I do have some issues with the game. Particularly, in how assignments are graded. A few times I'd take time making a nice piece, only to get a failing grade. I'd be sent back to do it again, draw some stupid bullshit and get an A. I can't tell if it's random or if it looks for specific things, but it's certainly frustrating when writing "FUCK YOU" gets an A but an actual thing I drew gets a D. Similarly, the ending was a little messy for me, it skipped the final cutscene which sucked. And when you're done you're free to explore a town. But there's nothing to do in it? I feel like after I finish the game maybe I should be allowed to do the rest of the assignments I wasn't given during my playthrough as jobs or something? Idk.

There's some other stuff like the controls being kinda crazy, but I can forgive it since you can walk and draw at the same time and you can customize them. It's a neat game, and I got a kick from it. But I feel like I wanted more from it too.

Shutter Stroll (September 6, 2024) - PC

Next up is a game I also had saved on my computer for a while: Shutter Stroll! And WOW what an impression this game left on me. If you know me you may know I LOVE taking photos in video games, and walking in video games. Two mundane tasks that I just get a lot of joy from. So I was very interested in playing a walking simulator where your goal is to just take photos.

And yeah this game rules! You enter coordinates on a map, get out and just take photos. No enemies, no time limits, nothing scary. No nonsense. Just go out and take pictures of nice environments. It's great! I loved just looking around for perfect shots. And I think the whole set up is BRILLIANT with each island being on a specific coordinate, and your photos coming with the island's coordinates so other people can find them! I explored a TON of islands and still barely scratched the surface, and I only found the sword island at the end of my play time! Who knows what other cool stuff is hidden in it!

As for negatives, I did get soft locked by falling into a pit on the sword island, so I do think having a way to soft reset back onto your current island would be nice. But that's kind of it. Honestly I just really enjoyed the simplicity but surprising amount of content in this one. And I swear there's more stuff to do in it that I'm forgetting, so I'll absolutely have to give it some more play time soon! Maybe one day I'll visit every island if I'm crazy enough.

Nightmare Kart (June 5, 2024) - PC

Full disclosure before we begin: I've never played Bloodborne. BUT I do love Kart Racers and edge lord macabre stuff so... YOU KNOW ME!! I've been interested in Nightmare Kart even back when it was Bloodborne Karts and while I did start it a while back I just couldn't get a hang of the controls and for some reason remapping them didn't work for me. BUT NOW THEY DO AND I HAVE FULL GRASP ON THE CONTROLS AND NOTHING COULD STOP ME JUST SHORT OF A FINAL BOSS.... wait what?

So for positives, edgy kart racer where you use guns instead of items just RULES as a concept. I fuck with this game's premise SO hard. I love that you can kill monsters on the track to help you gain boost, and I like that this game's coin equivalent can be spent whenever to boost. I'm really enjoying seeing this type of mechanic pop up in a lot of indie kart racers, it always reminds me of F-ZERO in a very good way. I liked the weird roster of freaky characters and vehicles, I know they're all based on Bloodborne stuff but I think it's cooler that they're original. The mummy main character with the fucked up bloody claw RULES, the snake women were cool, I loved that you could play as generic mob monsters, and the weird cage wheel car in particular is SUPER cool looking. The soundtrack rules, I do like the PS1 graphics, and I LOVE that it never is like "lol isn't this so weird??" NO it's just super straight with its delivery regardless of the absurdity of it and I LOVE that.

BUUUUT I do have some issues with the game. For one, I know the PS1 graphics is the creator's style. But I just feel like it doesn't really make sense for this? Bloodborne isn't a PS1 game, and I think it can make some tracks a little difficult to have good visual clarity on them? Some story missions felt clunky like the swamp capture the flag match was weirdly brutal and the battle against the cage head guy I just permanently lost him at one point and had to reset. And then the final boss... Idk man I could NOT beat that thing! And not for a lack of trying. For some reason even just the road leading to the arena was IMPOSSIBLE to get across, and then the fight itself is super tedious with you having to properly dash through them over and over. And I wanted to beat it cause you can unlock the cool Dragon in a tiny kart right? No. I think you just get their baby form. Which is funny. But like.... if I went through that whole boss and that was my reward I would've been PISSED...

BUT REGARDLESS I THINK THIS GAME OWNS! And I'm VERY excited to see the next update with the train boss fight. But also, I would LOVE to see a sequel eventually that maybe goes for a different graphics style, greatly expands upon the concepts presented in this game (I'd like some more robust combat idk how but I just think you have a winner with a weapon based kart fighter), and doesn't tie itself to Bloodborne ever. I think what the team created here is really special and I'd love to see them lose those chains and just go insane with their own concepts!

Yume Nikki (June 26, 2004) - PC

Around this point it REALLY became clear I was having some form of burnout. I just didn't really wanna play much of anything. But I still wanted to play SOMETHING, if that makes sense? So I decided it would be the perfect time to play some classic indie games I've been long overdue to try! For one reason or another I just never took the proper time to give these a shot. Starting with Yume Nikki!

Now Yume Nikki I avoided because, I'm a coward. I was afraid this game would be too scary for me. But it turned out there really weren't THAT many jump scares. So I decided to take the plunge. And yeah! I enjoy it! Like I said earlier I like walking simulators and I've been a fan of LSD: Dream Emulator for some time now. So I was pleasantly pleased to see this game was fairly similar! Wander around, meet strange characters, and then wake up and do it all again tomorrow! While there's some things LSD has over this game, like 3D naturally being weirder to walk through than 2D. I do think Yume Nikki has a leg up over LSD in some ways. For one I do think it looks nicer, and I actually think the end goal is easier to do than playing 365 days of LSD.

That's something that really impresses me about this game actually, the visuals. Overall Yume Nikki is a REALLY polished and well made game. I wasn't expecting it to be bad or anything. But I was also not expecting it to just have so much polish? Lots of costumes, some of which have gameplay features, all of which have unique little animations and are even drawn in a handful of art styles at some point of the game. All sprites are nice and detailed, environments are nice, it does REALLY interesting things with RPG Maker like Parallax scrolling to create weird backdrops. I was surprised with my time with this game!

My only issues I can really remember are 2 things. One, the effects are weirdly difficult to find. But I do think this is kind of the point so it's silly to critique the game for it. Two, what was that ending? I know everyone will come out of it with different feelings, and maybe I'm looking at it wrong. But it just comes out of nowhere and feels kinda, idk, try hard edgy to me. I had to see what others thought and my favorite interpretation of it is losing sight of what's the dream and what's reality. But it still just feels jarring to me. I was not a fan of that ending.

ALSO I WAS RIGHT THIS GAME IS FUCKING SCARY I'M NOT PLAYING THIS AGAIN I'M TOO FRIGHTENED FOR THIS REAL GAMER STUFF!!

Cave Story (December 20, 2004) - PC

Next up is another indie I am SO overdue to play. Cave Story has been legendary for YEARS. And unlike Yume Nikki, Cave Story didn't really seem like it would be scary. In fact, it seemed more up my alley with platforming and robots and weapons and stuff. So I was excited to finally sit down and give it a try.

And yeah I liked it! Again similar to Yume Nikki I'm blown away but the level of quality in this game. I wasn't expecting it to be low quality or anything but I wasn't expecting an indie from 2004 to be THIS well made. Awesome sprites, fantastic music, it feels GREAT to play. I like the characters a lot, Quote and Curly are absolutely my favorites, probably to no one's surprise. But even other NPCs like Mimiga and the villains have great designs and are all fun. Everything just looks really good from enemies, to the areas the game takes place in, to all the bullets and what not going off. I also liked the story a lot, I was expecting it to maybe answer more questions but it didn't feel disappointing that a lot of it, like how Quote and Curly got to the island, goes unanswered (maybe it was? or maybe it was answered in the best endings idk). The game also just feels REALLY good to play. It's snappy and responsive and I LOVED getting to do stuff like use Curly's machine gun to hover. The weapons in general were VERY cool and while it was a bit annoying to have them downgraded on hit, I still thought they were all fun. The machine gun was my favorite, and King's sword felt a little useless BUT FUCK was it ever cool? There's a lot to love about Cave Story and I can absolutely see why people adored it so much! I think of all these games Quote and Curly are the 2 I'm most excited to draw!

My only big issues is that some areas can be a bit of a headache. The desert area with the dogs just SUCKED to get through imo. The final boss is really weirdly long with 3 phases and no healing in between. One thing I will say is that this game was remarkably more sad than I thought it would be. Like, lot of character deaths and generally sad themes like war and slavery. I know some of those character deaths can be reversed, but I don't think all of them do. Like, King is dead. Full stop. Bro's gone. It didn't ruin the game or anything, but when I came in expecting something kinda happy go lucky, seeing newly hatched dragons dying was... not what I was expecting! Very sad game overall.

But regardless I did enjoy it a lot! Very cool game and I'm really happy I finally made the time to sit down and play it!

東方靈異伝～Highly Responsive to Prayers - 東方怪綺談～Mystic Square (August 15, 1997 - December 30, 1998) - PC

And the final old indie game I was SUPER long overdue to play were the Touhou games! Now, I have played SOME Touhou before when I found cabinets of them at conventions. But I never played any of the main core games. And not for a lack of trying, I struggled to figure out HOW to play them. But I randomly stumbled upon a PC98 emulator with all 5 original Touhous preinstalled into it (click the title of the game to get it yourself!!) and I just knew I had to give it a shot finally! I love bullet hells so I was excited to see what the hubbub was about!

I'll probably write about them all as one unit here since they're all similar excited for Highly Responsive to Prayers. Which is interesting because it's like, a Break Out Bullet Hell? Which was neat but REMARKABLY difficult because you have to babysit the ball. Similarly, Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream is a weird battle bullet hell where you can send bullet patterns to the enemies. Which took a bit to figure out but I actually liked it a LOT!

But the other 3 are traditional bullet hells and play similarly. I love them! They're fun, and while it's tough to maneuver super well with a keyboard, I got through good enough! These games are also really well made, I was NOT expecting to see Touhou is from the 90's!! I didn't quite realize big indie games on this scale were coming out back then! I have a lot to learn, clearly! Sprites look good and are for the most part very readable, I like the big cast of characters, I have to applaud them for making Reimu a lesbian in the 90's, the music obviously kicks ass, and it's SO satisfying to make it through tough bullet patterns. And I really appreciate that even if you play like shit, you're given an ending. Even if it's a bad ending, I don't like it when games just give you a "play better" instead of a real ending lmao.

My only issues are that. FUCK they are kind of too fast. I hate to say it, but full disclosure, the emulator I played them on had 50% speed. While I didn't play the full games on 50% speed, I did play a lot of the levels and bosses at 50% speed. It's tough! I know for a fact I wouldn't have beaten some of them (like Highly Responsive to Prayers) without the use of slowdown. And the games are still hard! Story of Eastern Wonderland is the ONLY game I beat without getting a single game over. AND THE GAME STILL CALLED ME A MEDIOCRE GAMER AT THE END!!! Similarly, I remember one of them being weirdly difficult to see the bullets. It was either the 4th or 5th. But I can't recall, I apologize lol.

BUT YES, overall I really enjoyed these games! These were cool and I'm glad I FINALLY got to play them! I'll certainly be checking out more of them in the future. But 5 in one month is already a lot for me lmao. And I'm REALLY interested in the fact you can just... make your own Touhou games? That's super cool, i'd like to try some unofficial Touhou games eventually and learn more about how Touhou fan projects work cause it's such a neat concept to me. Touhou is cool :)

LiEat: The Lie Eating Dragon and the Vermillion Vampire - LiEat III: The Lie Eating Dragon and the Gold Thief (April 26, 2014 - August 2, 2014) - PC

Another collection of games. My burnout hit in the middle of an RPG, so I thought maybe playing a really short RPG would help get me out of my funk. And you don't get much shorter than LiEat! This collection of 3 RPGs are like, 4 hours combined. I'm not kidding lmao.

But they're VERY interesting I actually got a good kick out of them. They're incredibly short stories that follow the same 2 characters, a detective and a little dragon girl he watches over. Each game is about them trying to solve a case wherever they are, so each game takes place across an incredibly tiny map. Only 2 teammates, you can get through it really easily at only level 10, and the maps are tiny. These are bite sized RPGs. But I kinda like that. It's interesting that they're so small. I like the characters too, the main characters are great and I LOVE seeing Theo warm up more and more to Efi. I think they're so cute and I'm a bit of a sucker for edge-lord guy who works with random child he found on the side of the road. The side characters are neat too but they're cops so idc. I like the dragons and the idea that they're born from people's deep wishes, that's cool. I like the art a lot, I was so shocked when it had animated cutscenes. I like the macabre look and feel of it and the characters too, while still having a lot of color. I like that it's an RPG with proper combat and skills and stuff. And I like the story, it was neat to learn about Theo and Efi as we went along and the whole concept of a "lie eating dragon" and how the only enemies you fight are the lies were neat!

My only real issues are that I wish it leaned into the RPG stuff more! It feels a little tacked on? Like, once you unlock triple knife for Theo in any of the games, it's over. Triple Knife and Efi's moves that buff the team? Nothing can stop you. Similarly, I didn't even realize you could equip stuff until the 3rd game lmao. And I understand they were made a few months apart from each other, but I do wish you could maybe transfer your save data across the 3 games. And the games got progressively harder as you went? So you had more incentive to grind? It's not bad by any means, I just feel like there's so much more here than what it had, in terms of its RPG side.

But regardless I really did enjoy this series! I was really surprised by my time with it and got a good kick out of it! There's very few real issues with it, maybe there's some iffy lines here and there but generally I'd say it's well written and I liked the characters a lot. I won't spoil anything but there's some small touches across the 3 games I think you'll get a kick out of them when you play it. They also seem to be kinda popular? There's a novel, for example. So I may not be done with LiEat just yet. These were neat :)

Killer Instinct Gold (November 25, 1996) - N64

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, KILLER INSTINCT IS BACK ON THE MENU, BABY!! DID YOU HEAR KILLER INSTINCT IS IN THE NEWS AGAIN!? BIG DAY FOR KILLER INSTINCT FANS!! I was NOT expecting this to appear on NSO any time soon, so I was SO excited when it just randomly was announced to be appearing. I've been a KI fan for pretty much my whole life. Grew up with the first on SNES, and 2013 was a big deal for me through Highschool. But I just never got into Gold. I got a copy of it way after 2013 was long out. And by the time I tried it I just couldn't get the hang of it. Yeah, I beat Killer Instinct Gameboy before I properly went through Gold.

And I hate to say it... But I'm still kinda not that into this game. I think it feels like cool to play than the original for some reason, and maybe it's just cause N64 NSO controls are GARBAGE (please readjust your controls in the in game controls settings menu best you can lmao) but I just feel like moves didn't come out as nicely or combos didn't feel as natural here. I think it looks fine but I think it might still not look as cool as the original did in some ways? Though it's not bad at all and it has some great stages like Spinal's in particular being a highlight imo. And while the roster still has some heavy hitters with the weirdness, Glacius, Spinal, Sabrewulf. It still feels a little toned down. Like. You're telling me you axed the raptor and the fire guy and added THREE humans!? Come on now. I'dunno, I hate to say it cause it's not bad by any means. I just... don't like this even nearly as much as the original on SNES. And of course compared to 2013 it's not a fair contest.

BUT it's not all doom and gloom! It still looks alright, I actually do kinda like the weird fucked up zombie Sabrewulf idea. The edgy vibe is still there and it's awesome. And, holy shit, that ost. Like, it's a fucking GOOD soundtrack!! Jago's theme and Gargos' themes in particular just go fucking nuts! If you haven't heard this game's OST yet (I hadn't actually) then I really recommend giving it a shot, it RULES! Killer Instinct have a bad OST challenge (impossible).

So yeah, even though it's still not my favorite. I'm glad I played through it and I certainly would love to try it with some friends if I ever get the chance. PLEASE Y'ALL PLEASE PLAY KILLER INSTINCT WITH ME THERE'S 2 OF THEM ON SWITCH YOU DON'T HAVE AN EXCUSE TO NOT BE PLAYING PEAK!!

[little-red-fool]

OMG YOU'RE SEVENTEEN?? (I've been following you for months and I didn't once read the pinned message beyond the line about no AI and NFTs lmao) YOUR ART IS SO CRISPY I THOUGHT YOU WERE A PRO ARTIST AROUND 30 WTF

(sorry for the yelling via text)

HOW DID YOU GET SO GOOD!! (Tips on lineart please?) WE'RE THE SAME AGE, BUT HALF OF MY ART IS SHIT AND THE OTHER HALF IS FART

ALL HAIL LITTLE RED FOOL, BESTOW THY GREATNESS UPON THOU MERE MORTAL SERVANTS

But in all seriousness, any tips on, like I said, lineart or just digital art in general? (I just started digital, and... Ten hours of work and I'm just on base colors 😎🕶️🤏🥲) I love, LOVE your style and especially COLOR! How do you tie it all together? Like, I'm 17 too, but I'm not even close to your stuff?? I'm scared as fuck from ever trying color traditionally because I spend SO MUCH TIME ON A SKETCH, so I just picked up digital and HOURS LATER IT'S STILL AWFUL

Sorry for the rambling and repeating, man, it's been a long day and it's late in the Balkans... Don't let the rambling force you into answering tho

Have a good one. ->excited fellow artist

(tip of the day: did you know that in Romanian, moon and month are the same word, with the same pronunciation, spelling and plural? It's called: lună [loonuh] and I think it comes from latin, since Romanian is a heavily latin language, with bits of french and turkish (HEAVY bits), dacian, slavic, italian)

OUAHFSHD THANK YOU SO MUCH I’M REALLY HAPPY YOU LIKE MY ART!! Also I’m sure your art is better than you think it is (we generally tend to view our own creations as worse than others because we’re the ones that made them, don’t worry I’m the same as well ajdbsjd) but yeah I’ll be happy to give you some tips and stuff! (and yeah I never colour traditionally either I just leave everything in plain biro because I don’t want to mess it up lol)

(I haven’t seen your art so these will probably be more general tips but hopefully they’ll help a bit, also keep in mind that I’m not a professional so this will be more about what has worked for me but I hope it might help you a bit)

So for stuff like lineart, avoid using chicken-scratches—it might seem easier or less daunting to do shorter overlapping lines like that but it will give your sketches and drawings that overall fuzzy look, the trick is to have longer confident strokes. It might seem a bit tricky at first if you haven’t done it before so don’t worry it happens but if you keep practicing they’ll eventually look smoother and less shaky. For the longer lines it better to draw from either your elbow or shoulder, and by that I mean keeping your wrist still and letting the larger parts of your arm do most of the work—this will also help your wrist in the long run. For things like shorter lines and smaller details then absolutely use your hand to move the pen, but generally try to use your elbow and shoulder as it will help you get those longer smoother lines. Also this is just a personal preference of mine but I generally use brushes that have a bit of pressure sensitivity which helps add some line weight. If you don’t have pressure sensitivity another way you can get line weight is by taking an eraser to some of the edges and narrowing some parts.

For colours it mainly depends on the lighting—lighting is everything and will affect how the rest of the colours will look, so it’s important to have an idea of the brightness and colour of your lighting. The background also plays an important role in picking colours for me as well as it helps provide colour context and makes it easier to pick colours by eye if you want a certain mood. If you want a more dependable way on getting colours to match up then I’d recommend having a layer that’s just colour on top of the rest of your piece—you can play around with the blending modes and opacity, I mainly use either an overlay layer with a medium colour that’s slightly desaturated or a colour burn layer with a light saturated colour; most of the time I use colour burn because if you put it over your lineart then it will also tint the parts of your lineart or sketch that’s at a lower opacity too. But with figuring out colours I’d highly recommend researching some stuff about colour theory, there are a lot of good and easy to understand explanations and art tutorials on YouTube so I would recommend starting there (unfortunately I can’t link recommend specific videos because my playlists are a mess ajdbsjdbsj but some good channels to learn from are Sinix Design, Marc Brunet and Marco Bucci).

In terms of general digital art tips, ALWAYS FLIP YOUR CANVAS. You will not believe the amount of times I’ve looked at a drawing and thought it looked pretty good, flipped the canvas and found that everything’s wonky. In cases like these the liquify tool is your best friend, as well as the lasso tool and transform tools, as well as just manually fixing them by redrawing some parts. Also use as many layers as you need, and by this I mean if you’re working on your sketch, lineart or colouring or whatever and you want to do something you’re not sure you’ll like, duplicate the layers so you have a backup in case it goes wrong and you want to go back. When I say use as many layers as you need I mean use as many as you need, these are some of mine and they’re all from just one sketch because I get really anxious about messing stuff up lol, also don’t be afraid of drawing separate parts on separate layers and merging them afterwards if you want.

Also take your time, unless you have a deadline don’t feel like you have to complete a drawing within a certain timeframe, if you want to get faster at drawing then that’s great but don’t feel like you need to push yourself, especially if you’re just starting. Practice takes time and patience is your best friend, and you probably hear lots of other artists saying this but trust the process. You might get to a bit you’re struggling with and not like it and want to abandon the drawing, but I found that rather than saying “this is bad” or “this is wrong” start asking “how can I make this work” because a change in mindset can help you a lot with art. Also don’t feel like you have to reach certain milestones with your art by certain points either, like with the age thing and comparing your progress with other artists of either the same or different ages, because it can make you feel worse about your art. Trust me there are some artists younger than me who are like 14 or 15 who’s art I envy and—again with the mindset thing—instead of getting down that your art isn’t similar to their’s or worrying that you’re “behind” in your artistic development (there is no such thing btw everyone learns at different ages and speeds so don’t feel bad if you haven’t progressed as much as you would have liked to) it helps to ask what you like about their art and what you would like to incorporate into your own—this has helped me learn and improve a lot faster.

I don’t know if I have any more tips at the moment, but I hope that answered some of your questions! (also sorry it’s a bit long or some bits don’t make a lot of sense I like to ramble a bit lol) (also also thank you for the little fact as well!)

Have a nice day anon 🧡

[otakween]

Digimon Tamers: Digimon Medley - Part 1 Impressions

Another Digimon game for the Wonderswan color. This is probably the most low effort game I've played yet. Super repetitive dialogue and the dungeons are all like 8 screens of boringness with vending machines being the only thing you can interact with. The game has "episodes" and goes through all of Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02 in a condensed fashion. It feels really similar to .Hack//Link. I wonder if there's a name for this sort of genre...

Anyways, I'm expecting this game to be pretty short, but I thought I'd get my thoughts in at the halfway point.

Notes:

I do enjoy playing as a different digidestined every episode, but they all play relatively the same, so it can only be so exciting.

Every single battle and boss fight have felt equally easy so far, zero challenge. I feel like they couldn't make it too challenging because there's no leveling and no equipment you can use, so everything has to stay pretty much static.

The dialogue is practically the same every episode. "X bad guy controls this area and the digimon are suffering!" and then "Mwahaha as if you could defeat me chosen children!" and then "Yay! We defeated X bad guy! The digimon in this area are free." Ground breaking stuff. If anyone wants a ridiculously easy translation project, it's free real estate lol.

The Japanese text has spaces in it, which suggests to me that the target audience for this was very very young. It kind of feels like I'm playing one of those McDonald's kids toy games at points lol.

The chibi character models are very cute. Seeing the Tamers characters crucified is also kinda hilarious.

Here's a screenshot of Piyomon calling Sora "Mimi." Oops! She calls her Sora shortly after though...

[pbandjesse]

I am really nauseous all of a sudden but I am sipping water and I hope that it passes.

Today was a really good day though!! I had been so worried and anxious but it ended up being just such a good day. And like yesterday when I was feeling so anxious I knew logically it would all be okay. But it was still tough to feel so stressed.

When I got home last night I had to tell James all of my big feelings. And it made me feel better and now I am not as frazzled about feeling inadequate. I would even reach out to Jules today and she said I was a star of a person and it was great. Called us sunshine girls.

I didn't sleep very good though. For how long of a day I had, I had really hoped to sleep well. But baby was lucky. Absolutely not. Every time I turned over I had to pee so stupidly bad. I am excited that I am feeling her more often. It's like rubber bands being plucked. But still. Would like to sleep!!

I set my alarm for 930. But even though didn't feel like enough sleep and I felt pretty bad when I got up. James was sitting on the floor and came and hugged me. They had already gone on a bike ride and done a bunch of stuff in the house. Busy bee.

I went and washed my hair and trimmed my bangs. Which made me feel a lot better. My hair has been bothering me so bad so this was good. I would even get compliments later on. Excellent.

I would sort of make some plans for the morning before my awah class. James had already gotten my folding table out. So I only had to pull out some supplies. No rush there. Instead I spent an hour eating breakfast, cutting my cuticles, and picking outfits for the week.

When I did finally make it downstairs I got those few materials out. And decided to use the hour I had to finish the bears I had sewn yesterday. I got all their eyes placed and arms stuffed and sewed. And since I still had time I sat in the basement and got them all stuffed. I felt so productive. I would sew them closed later in the day.

James was upstairs painting. And I love the green. I also love that we are painting the bookshelves to match. I think that was absolutely the correct call.

I went upstairs to see the progress and gave James a smooch before I headed to class.

And it was a really good class. Though it started stressful!

When I got there I couldn't find our class bag! No lesson, no nothing. I spent about ten minutes walking around the offices checking all the bags but I couldn't find them. I texted Sophia and was like. What should I do?? Cause like I'm perfectly competent to create a lesson on the fly. But also I didn't want to pull materials if that wasn't okay.

But when she didn't get back to me by 1245 I just had to make the call. And decided we would make cards. Fall/holiday/thankful cards. With collage and pastels. And this went so well. Everyone seemed to love it. I loved it. And when Sophia got back to me she apologized for the confusion and thanked me for being able to pivot.

The teen class was good. Naomi (student) was very funny when she thought that Kelly didn't have a leg (she was sitting on it) because she had crutches. And that lead to conversation about my dad not having a leg. Which the teens thought was fascinating.

Xavier was very sweet to. Last week his mom told Mary Ellen that he loves our class because he can be himself and doesn't have to pretend like at school. And this week I would make an extra point to hang out with and help him cut some pieces for his mistletoe collage. And at the end he very clearly didn't want to leave. He's moving to Virginia for a bit. And might not be able to come back for our next session. And he seemed slightly emotional, in his way. It was very sweet.

The adult class went really well. We basically had a full house. And they really liked this project. I learned that it you give Brian more dark green he will make more art. Turns out it's his favorite color, this is now the second fully green project he made! And I learned that Dan Taylor really loves collage. He made multiple cards and he even took my gift of extra collage paper at the end. He was also wearing a very snappy cobalt blue suit today. Very fashionable.

I also also found out that his mom is a post partum doula! I got her contact info. I have thought about having someone come through after birth to help, like a night nurse or something. So this is great because I already know her.

We would get everything cleaned up. Wished everyone Happy holidays and reminded them when our next session starts. And then we were off. A students mom gifted me and Naomi subway gift cards! And Mary Ellen had flowers for us. It was so sweet. Everyone wished me luck on being pregnant and hoped to see me more in the spring. And then we were off.

I was anxious about getting back home for my private lesson. Which started at 330. I would get home at 315. Stress!

But it ended up being such a lovely couple hours. Rosalie was such a sweetheart. Her parents came along but would leave us until 530. James would also head out to bike to federal hill and see the sun set. And we just worked.

She brought her own sewing machine which was slightly fancy and it took me a few minutes to figure out. It also has a strange presser foot and since I had some extras.of the standard door I switched that out and let them keep that one.

I was worried about making this totebags in two hours. But it was legitimately perfectly timed. Within 30 seconds of us finishing her parents were back! It was incredible timing honestly. But the whole two hours went so well.

We walked through the whole machine. Loading the thread and the bobbin. I had her use pinking sheets to cut some canvas for a lining, and then regular fabric scissors for the heavy cotton she chose. We sewed each side like a pillow case and the. Those two together. I also showed her how to do a ladder stitch to close the parts we had to leave open to flip. And it came out so super nice!

We finished the straps. We actually used the iron to press the folds. I tried to do everything as close to by the books as I could, but I also explained that this isn't necessary the best or only way, that this is just one way. And we didn't even actually use a pattern. And using a pattern would be different for sure. Plus the next bag wouldn't take two hours, because now she had practice.

When her parents came back we chatted for a minute. And they paid me. And thanked me. And then they were off. I wished them a happy holiday and a safe drive home.

I went to find James who was in the living room and I was just like. Ah! That went so well! And they were very encouraging.

They would run back out to get pasta to make us for dinner. Picked up some donuts too. Which ended up being cinnamon buns that they put chocolate frosting on but they were very good still.

While James was making the pasta I was working on finishing those bears. And once I was done that I started working on designing my new market sign. I wanted something smaller, more straightforward, and had a place for my business cards.

This small folding song was pretty perfect. For some reason my chalk markers did not show up at all though and I was pretty disappointed. So I had to pivot. I would cut some wood to make a little box shelf for my cards. I painted it so it would match. And then wrote out my sign on paper and just glued that on. I think it looks really good! I want to add some of my stickers but they were in the car so I'll do that later on.

James brought dinner to the studio and we ate together. And once we were done they were laying on the ground with sweetp. And I was slowly glueing letter beads to my sign. It was a nice night.

My back started hurting from sitting at my desk. James went to play a video game and I came upstairs to lay down. James would join me and we watched TikToks for a long time. But eventually they fell asleep and I went to take a shower.

When I came back from the shower James was sitting on the side of the bed and I teased them about falling asleep and talking in their sleep. They called me their little tiny wife. Despite being round.

James is back to sleep now. And I am ready to lay down and rest. Tomorrow we have an ultrasound. I'm excited to see baby. I am hoping we can get a 3D image but it's okay if not. I am just happy to see her at all.

I hope you all have a good sleep, and a good day tomorrow. I love you all. Goodnight!!

[gamebunny-advance]

Sorry~

I feel like I've been doing a lot of b*tching and moaning lately, which aren't really the vibes I wanna be putting out (at least not without balancing it out with stuff I'm actually happy about).

So here are a couple of things that are kinda cool for me~

I recently had to get a new phone because my old one was very close to exploding (the battery was swelling). I don't really bother with top end models because I hardly use my phone except for texts and calls and looking up coupons when I'm shopping. But even nowadays, a relatively cheap phone has so many new features~

I won't use most of them, but it's cool that they're there, and I always have fun setting up new tech with all my customizations~ (Even though I don't use it much, I still want it to be cute!) I'm mostly just happy that the camera is an upgrade, so my photos won't be as shitty.

(New | Old)

Well, a better camera isn't gonna do anything for my lack of photography knowledge, but at least the pictures are a little clearer (The color balancing is still off, but I'll figure it out eventually.)

Also, kinda excited about a newish OC that I thought of.

Right now I'm calling them "Mascot Businessman" or "Yuru" (named after "Yuru-Chara") but the details aren't finalized. I don't like any of these mask designs yet, but I think the title is more or less self-explanatory: it's a businessman that wears a mascot head everywhere he goes. At first, it was just gonna be the one head, but I like the idea that they have different ones for different moods.

It's a simple idea, but somehow I'm actually pretty excited to work on them, which I haven't felt since I made Kun3h0~

I'm torn between leaving them as an actual mascot type character - they only exists for single pieces of art - or if I want to actually develop their story, because I do have an idea for them being paired with a coworker that's constantly trying to catch them with the mask off even though no one else in their workplace seems to acknowledge it. It's really about boundaries and accepting the strangeness of other people to live a happier life, but I dunno if I wanna go that deep with it.

I called them "newish" earlier because strictly speaking, this is a theme that's appeared in my work before.

A LONG time ago, I think even before DSYNC was conceptualized, I had an idea for a rogue abandoned 1010 that wore a mascot head because he lost his old one. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that that idea was what eventually turned into DSYNC B-Side.

There's also The Prince Formerly Known as Frog, who also has a big mascot head, but the execution for him is kinda different (he's supposed to be a guy stuck midway in a mascot costume and his original clothes because his curse was only half broken). And I don't draw him that much anyway~

So I consider Yuru to be an evolution of those ideas.

Hopefully I'll have some finished art of him soon after I figure out how I want all their heads to look~ (Because otherwise it really is just someone in a business suit.)