#<- I don't know if I'll make more... I'm lazy... but making little graphics is pretty fun so perhaps...

[tridentkickflipper123]

little trident dividers I just made for myself because I tried looking for some and couldn't find any... posting in case anyone else wants to use them too. no credit needed 👍 be free

[joonipertree]

tags: fluff, just fluff, kenma being a #streamer. i love streamer kenma it scratches that itch in me that craves a parasocial kind of love.

"Kenmaaaa" you drawled while opening the door, leaning heavily against the doorframe of your boyfriend's office room.

It took you five seconds to register where Kenma was sitting, which was in front of the computer unsurprisingly, and the camera that had a red light on. The second monitor to his left was showcasing Kenma on the screen while the third one had an onslaught of comments popping up.

oh shi--

You jumped back, mostly out of surprise.

"Yes, honey?" Kenma spoke, one side of his headphones off as he turned towards you. "The camera won't pick up on you, don't worry."

You crept back in, feeling nervous even though the camera wasn't even on you.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were streaming."

"Nothing to apologise for. What's up? Need me for something?" He urged you forward and you padded your way inside, the only comfort being in proximity to your boyfriend.

"I-uh- didn't feel like cooking so I thought we could order something?" You were halfway through your sentence when Kenma picked up his phone. He was nodding along, opening an app in it.

"What are you feeling?" He murmured, completely ignoring the eruption of comments blasting on his screen. There was a lot of yelling. You tried not to look at it but it drew you in, most of it was gibberish and question marks. You could make out the words 'WHAT' and 'DATING???' a lot.

"I'm not sure? Feeling indecisive today." You probably had an idea but it had vanished a couple of minutes back.

"Want burgers? Pizza?" Kenma didn't even seem to care at that point, solely focused on his phone. He did take a hold of your hand though, running his thumb through your knuckles.

THAT caught on camera and the gibberish got louder and faster.

"Burgers sound good." You snapped back to him, letting his hand ground you.

"That burger place you like?"

"Yes please."

"Honey mustard one?"

"Yes."

"Mh-hmmm." Kenma dragged out the sound before placing in his own order.

"Wanna get ice cream? Been craving it." He worked quick to add it in, knowing what you wanted but still asking in case you changed your mind.

"I can pay for the---"

"Shut the fuck up." Kenma murmured with only an upward glance at you, a small smile on his face when you pouted.

You finally took a look at the main monitor, a pretty sunset with the main character looking off into the distance on the screen. "What game you playin?"

"It's a fantasy game. Pretty new, haven't even started yet. You'd like it, it's very pretty." Kenma turned the monitor a bit so you could see it, pressing play so some more of the graphics would come on screen. You let out a little gasp, taking it all in.

When you realised that there were a lot of people waiting, you blinked out of your revery and threw an apologetic look at Kenma.

"Sorry, you were busy and--"

"Never too busy for you." Kenma murmured again and scooted towards you till he was just out of frame, his lips puckering up while he craned his neck upwards, too lazy to stand up.

You laughed and gave him a peck on the lips, then the nose and then the forehead. He grinned widely, adjusting back into the same position he was in before.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" You call out and walk back.

"Okay, baby."

You were about to close the door when you head a very disgruntled, 'shut the fuck up.' from Kenma. Curious about what he would say, you listened in from the hallway.

"Yeah I am dating someone. No, I'm not saying their name....we've been dating for a while now. I am not soft for them....okay chat keep the screenshots between us....what do you mean they're already on twitter??? Ya'll are annoying. No, Kuroo I'm not buying you food. Yeah, they are special, dumbass."

You grinned so wide your cheeks hurt, already scrolling through twitter to see if people actually posted anything...

.....Kenma's name was trending

And oh the thread of pictures after pictures, of his eyes turning into liquid, his smile, the hand holding yours that. It was enough in the frame for his thumb to be seen. The person that posted it was SCREAMING about how soft he is.

Then there was a screenshot of him tilting his head upwards and your hair was the only thing that showed up as you kissed him. There was a fire hazard in the comments. It made you chortle. You saved all of them to use as leverage. Seeing as Kuroo was retweeting some of them, he had them too.

A/N: second day in a row im posting kenma hehehehehehhehehehhe hyperfixation tyme

[drop-dead-dropout]

posting a kimharry oneshot here bc i'm too lazy to format it on ao3 rn but I'll reblog with the ao3 link later if I get around to it

so basically I was thinking about how kim is very my partner coded and I had this galaxy brain idea to write a fic where kim is asexual or uhhh. would grayace be the term? sorry idk but it's based on my partner I love him <3. also blink and you'll miss it trans harry but it's important to me that you know they're t4t in this lol. cw for suggestive (non-graphic discussions of sexuality and also it takes place Directly after them fucking), 1.3k words. (please be nice to me I've never posted fic on tumblr lol)

YOU — The air in your apartment is musty with the smell of sweat and sex. Your chest heaves with slightly strangled breaths, face burning with humiliation. You've always been a little (a lot) loose-lipped during orgasm—

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Especially an orgasm like that, holy shit, Kim—

YOU — But you've never, in living memory, said anything quite as ridiculously and unashamedly needy as the complete word-vomit that just exited your mouth a few seconds ago.

REACTION SPEED [Easy: Failure] — Honestly, you were a little out of it and the exact phrasing is already slipping your mind, but it was something along the lines of... What was it again?

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] — Oh my fucking Dei don't stop, Kim please I need you so bad, god I'm so desperate, shit, you drive me fucking crazy, pleasepleaseplease—

SAVOIR FAIRE — Yeah, no, I'm cutting you off right there. He's already about to spontaneously combust, you don't need to embarrass him even more.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — He asked. Besides, I'm not the one who dropped the ball there.

COMPOSURE — Sorry for that, Harry.

KIM KITSURAGI — Kim's hands rest on your chest, tracing circles just below your twin scars with his nimble fingers. "Is that... Really how it feels, to you?"

EMPATHY — It's a genuine question, and he's smiling with an infectious fondness. He's not upset, just curious. Your eagerness is fascinating to him. And cute.

HALF-LIGHT — What does he mean by that, though? Are we too needy? Is it not good for him? Does he hate us and want us to die forever—

VOLITION — No. Shut up. We already agreed you're not allowed to talk when Harry's alone with Kim, don't you remember?

HALF-LIGHT — But! Danger!

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Trivial: Success] — It's Kim. There is no danger here.

YOU — At a loss for anything else to say, you just nod, a bit dumbly. "I mean... Yeah. Is it, uh, not like that for you?"

COMPOSURE [Formidable: Failure] — You try to play the question off as a nonchalant, but you're not even close to being a good enough liar to hide the mild undercurrent of fear in your voice. Especially not from him. (Khm. Sorry again.)

KIM KITSURAGI — "No, not really. It's not you," he quickly adds, seeing the obvious and barely-held back self-loathing in your expression. "It's just the way I am, I suppose. I'm too old to question it now."

DRAMA [Heroic: Success] — He's not lying to spare your feelings, sire. This is truly just a facet of himself that's always been there.

RHETORIC [Challenging: Failure] — By the way, you distinctly recall hearing him talk about having had sex before. Quite a bit, in fact.

YOU — "But wait, I thought—"

KIM KITSURAGI — Already having anticipated this line of questioning, Kim laughs a bit under his breath. "It wasn't a lie; I never said I don't. Actually, sometimes that made it better— without all the messy urgency, I guess I seemed 'cool', to borrow your phrasing. And it's not like I didn't enjoy it, either." He shrugs. "It was just... Something to do. I never really understood the intensity."

SHIVERS [Legendary: Success] — A dozen miles and many years ago, two young men make out in a musty old apartment. "How are you always so— so unaffected," one says to the other with a breathy laugh. In a few months he will repeat these words with a much uglier tone, and they will be the last ones Kim ever hears from him.

EMPATHY [Heroic: Success] — For the record, he was not, in fact, "unaffected" by that particular heartbreak. Don't ever hurt him like that.

YOU — Before you can think better of it, you find yourself saying, "Is that bad?"

KIM KITSURAGI — A twitch in the corner of his mouth interrupts his relaxed grin for a moment. You almost want to mourn the loss. "I don't know, Harry, is it? Why do you think it would be?"

PAIN THRESHOLD — You've hurt him, idiot. We just told you not to do that.

YOU — "I-I mean— it's just—" Your teeth click audibly with how quickly you shut your own mouth. You really, really don't want to fuck this up.

HALF-LIGHT — Too late.

VOLITION [Challenging: Success] — HEY. Back in the corner, you.

YOU — Guys, please help me. I don't know anything about… Well, anything, really, but especially not this. How do I fix it? What do I say to make him feel better?

INLAND EMPIRE — You could start by actually answering his question, instead of rushing to apologize. Why do you think it would be bad? What about the concept is uncomfortable to you?

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] — Kim feels safe with you, in the same way that you do with him. Be honest. He knows you didn't mean anything by it— the only way you could fuck this up is by not talking to him.

YOU — After a moment of pondering, you find the right words. Or maybe not the right words, but the ones that feel the most true: "I don't know. But I know I would be unhappy, if I was... Different to how I am now."

EMPATHY — Kim's eyes flash with a bit of surprise. But good surprise, like an old friend dropping by unexpectedly. The smile returns (yay!)— smaller, but softer, and almost giddy. It's not one you see on him often, a bit too unguarded and juvenile for his tastes. It's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

KIM KITSURAGI — "So would I," he says simply.

DRAMA [Challenging: Success] — He means it.

YOU — "Oh." You blink two or three times. "Oh. Well that's good, then, right? That you're happy?"

PERCEPTION (HEARING) — Something about the almost childish sincerity in your voice must be funny to him, because he keeps doing that thing where he chuckles under his breath, and coughs to try to cover it.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Formidable: Failure] — He's laughing at you.

AUTHORITY [Trivial: Failure] — Exactly. He's mocking you, Harry, he thinks you're an idiot. Make him respect you—

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] — He's in love, you moron.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — As if on cue (or maybe your internal dialogue is just more easily observable from the outside than you thought), Kim leans forward and kisses you. For the first time, you notice how effective he is at responding to your reactions, like he's trying to find and wring out every last happy sigh and spark of oxytocin he could possibly give you.

INTERFACING [Medium: Success] — Because he likes this. He likes pressing all your buttons and seeing what they do, which ones work the best. (Almost all of them work, when it's him. Maybe a little too well.)

ENDURANCE — Hey, don't look at me like that! It's not my fault he doesn't play fair.

SAVOIR FAIRE — Exactly. How are we supposed to be cool in front of Kim? He's like, the coolest.

KIM KITSURAGI — "I love you," Kim whispers, his lips tickling against your collarbone.

SAVOIR FAIRE — See?! He even makes THAT sound cool, a thousand times cooler than when we say it, which is, like, every five seconds!!

EMPATHY — It's true that you're usually the one to say it first. For a time, he hardly said it at all— you learned not to take it personally. You certainly have your own baggage. But lately, it's been nice to watch as he gets a bit more comfortable.

EMPATHY [Formidable: Success] — The cuddling usually seems to help, in moments like this.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Godly: Success] — After all, what is a hug but a way to hide your face?

YOU — You wind your arms tighter around him. "I love you, too, Kim." And you swear he must be able to feel the way your lungs glow.

EMPATHY — He does. Of course he does.

INLAND EMPIRE — For a moment, you think you can feel his, too.

SHIVERS [Legendary: Success] — SLEEP WELL, MY DARLINGS.

[abyssalzones]

What's your comic writing process like? I'm starting to get into making my own comics and I really admire your work!!! Any advice?

Ah, intrepid traveler, you've done well to journey to this secluded mountaintop spire, in search of the answers you seek. I indeed can provide such forbidden comicmancy knowledge... at the cost of your mortal soul...

coughs. anyway, I'm going to warn you immediately that what works for me does not work for everyone else, and in my experience the way I do things can prove very slow and discouraging for anyone who is more interested in the actual "drawing the damn comic" part of the process. I only do it this way because I enjoy weaving a narrative web that feels not only fully contained but re-readable, but my projects are often so long and my memory so shitty that I can't just keep all of it in my head! It would spill all over the place and make a really embarrassing mess of brain-juice. Not ideal.

but as for my own process, uhh... I suppose a comic would be fitting, right?

a little choppy but you get the idea.

as for turning words into art, I've been experimenting with figuring out the best way to do that for a little while now. Originally what I was doing for something like Ad Astra Per Aspera was to take my "script" and sketch it out on paper very loosely, before transposing that onto my canvas and working from there:

...but, I've found that can make it kind of difficult to space everything around on your standard page-size, and the thing I'm having the most problems with currently seems to be finding the sweet spot of panel-size proportions. So, I've taken to printing out standard thumbnail templates (you can just find these on google) and sketching very tiny panels in those, which seems to give me a slightly better sense of scale... (mild chapter 5 spoilers, sorry ad astra fans)

but I have yet to totally pull through on this, so who knows, maybe I'll try something else in the future!

As for advice, this is probably most applicable to me, but as a disabled artist I have a very hard time managing my workload without literally working myself into injury. I don't think I talked about this publicly but when I was working on that ten year anniversary comic I was literally drawing every single day for 3 solid months. Sometimes, in my case, I really can't bring myself to stop once I've latched onto an idea, and sometimes I find the most rewarding thing I can do with my time is to draw- but I seriously cannot overstate: Do not fucking do this.

You will fuck up your wrist, your back, your neck, your eyes, and probably your mental health. It's a well-known fact that mangaka have a lower life expectancy than the average japanese person due to the intense workload imposed on them by deadlines and personal expectations. Comics are a very demanding artform, and even though I'm not on any sort of mandated schedule there are times where I've toiled away at something when I likely should have been exercising or taking vision-breaks. Therefore the best advice I can give you is to chill the hell out.

Namely, find parts of the process you can be lazy about, and embrace the laziness! You don't like digitally sketching? Don't do it! Skip it, or maybe find a way to traditionally sketch things out in advance like I do. Hate lineart? Don't fucking do it. You really don't feel like wasting your time writing 72k words of comic scripts? ...then, don't be like me. skip that part. I'm a flawed human being and what works for me might not work for you.

The second most important piece of advice I could give is to read comics. Of all kinds. The reason for this is pretty self explanatory: In order to figure out your own comic-making style, you should first pick out bits and pieces from the artist's buffet to add to your plate. Manga, graphic novels, american comics, european comics, weird niche little webcomics, funny papers, anything and everything. This advice rings true of pretty much any art form, but I find it to be essential to honing comic-making skills because so many things you feel will just come intuitively often don't. and that's okay! nobody is born knowing how to leave space for speech bubbles or shape their panels in a way that imitates stretches of time. The best way to figure out stuff like this, in my experience, is to study the "masters", and then after becoming well accustomed to the basics, figure out what rules you want to bend or break to create your own style.

I consider myself to be in equal parts a writer and an artist, which lends itself well to making narrative comics, but maybe you're a bit more of an artist and want to focus on panel-by-panel visual storytelling. Or, conversely, maybe your talents lean closer towards writing, and the art itself is more of a secondary skill. Regardless of your unique blend of talents you can and should make a comic, you should just also be aware of your strengths and try to hone in on those- there will always be opportunities to build up skills you lack, but focusing on what you do best will always lead you in the right direction.

Anyway, that being said, here are some recommendations in no particular order:

Monster, Naoki Urasawa (!!)

Bone, Jeff Smith

Witch Hat Atelier, Kamome Shirahama

The first IDW run of Transformers comics (namely More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light)

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (!!)

Through the Woods, Emily Carroll (really any Emily Carroll comics)

Kill Six Billion Demons (webcomic) (!!)

Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo

The Third Person, Emma Grove

Tintin, Hergé (can be super racist please be wary)

Dungeon Meshi, Ryoko Kui

Calvin & Hobbes, Bill Watterson

Maus, Art Spiegelman

Cucumber Quest (webcomic)

Jellyfish Princess, Akiko Higashimura

Golden Kamuy, Satoru Noda (!!)

Note that I did not grow up with manga so I am seriously behind on a lot of extremely influential japanese comics such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, basically any of the original Shonen Jump comics, but they're widely considered building blocks of the genre so if you love the artform I think you should give them a try! Same goes for classic non-shonen manga genres like various Shoujo, Josei, Yuri, Gekiga, ETC.

same as above applies to a lot of classic DC and Marvel works, I unfortunately am just not a big fan of superhero comics... but I'm sure there's good stuff in there. a couple of my mutuals talk about booster gold and the blue beetle all the time so I'm assuming there has to be something worthwhile.

...and many, many, many more that I'm forgetting! I noticed as I made this list that, to my knowledge, hardly any of these are made by black or just non-japanese-mangaka BIPOC artists, which makes me sad about the gaps in my own comic collection. Therefore, anyone is welcome to add their own recommendations in the replies!

now go forth, and combine images with text!!!!!!!!!!!

[jwritestuff]

bad days

cw: depression. that's it. that is the entire story. nothing graphic, just lots of comfort.

summary: you wake up having a bad mental health day, sam and dean are there to take care of you

an: wowww okay long time no see! i love a good hurt/comfort. as you guys know. things have been so busy lately, but in the new year things will die down and i'll be able to write more. ty for sticking w me :) u guys interacting makes me entire day ily

waking up, i feel like i'm being crushed by a thousand bricks. i can't get up. i sigh. i have accepted it's one of my bad days ™ . i close my eyes immediately in hopes of going back to sleep.

truthfully, i'm not tired. i'm wide awake. i bury myself in my comforter more. bring my stuffed animal to my face so i can feel their fur against my lips. i wish i could skip today.

i don't know what time it is, but after a while i hear a knock on my door. it's sam. (i know because he knocks lighter than dean. dean also barges in most of the time) i want to answer, but nothing comes out.

"hey, you up?" i hear my door creak open.

sam and dean have seen many bad days ™ , so they know how they start. sometimes, they can catch one coming before even i can. 

i just stare at the window. the closed window. i wonder if its sunny out. i assume sam sees my eyes open, because he keeps talking to me.

"hey." his voice softens. i feel the other side of my bed drop. "bad day?"

i can feel the tears start to form in my eyes. i nod, hoping he understands that talking isn't what i want to do at the moment.

"okay, that's okay." i can feel his worrying eyes on me. he looks like a sad puppy when he's worried. "do you need anything right now?"

i shake my head. i don't know anything right now. sam sighs. "okay. i'll go make you breakfast." he kisses my head.

breakfast is never a question on bad days. eating in general isn't a question. even if i have no appetite, dean and sam make sure i eat at least one meal and i drink a lot of water. some days these rules make me upset, but i know it's the right thing to do.

i go to grab my phone. my body hurts. where the fuck- oh. okay. it was underneath me. i check the time. 12:56pm. have i mentioned i hate waking up late? i am a morning person through and through. i feel so lazy when i wake up in the afternoon.

i sigh and turn off my phone in frustration. she's going back into the depths of my bed.

i hear a small knock. it's sam.

"hey." i hear him shuffle over to my side of the bed. he has to bend his knees a bit to get to my height. "made your favorite." i look at my plate with a small smile. they really are so sweet to me. tears form in my eyes (again) but before i can start crying, sam speaks up. "dean is making your coffee. a big one today. that cool?"

i look up at him. he still looks so concerned. i nod. i keep the smile on my face. i need him to relax. he grabs my remote. 

he loads up the office. he doesn't need to ask, they know my comfort shows by heart. once it's on, he turns to me.

"okay. food, water, coffee is coming, and the office. anything else i can do?" i start to open my mouth but he cuts me off. "oh! medicine. i'll get that." he does a little power walk out of my room.

time is still blurry, but it felt like seconds until dean came with my coffee. 

"i have your coffeeeee." he drags the last word out and shakes my coffee like i'm a dog and the coffee is my toy. incredibly accurate. he sits infront of where i'm sitting. "okay, how did i do?" he shoves the coffee into my hand. i take a sip, and dramatically smack my lips. 

"hmmm…" i (jokingly) ponder on his question. "it's a 10 out of 10. as per usual." now a real smile comes on my face.

"perfect! starbucks is missing out on me." then sam comes back.

"i have your meds." i look at him and say, "thank you, both of you." 

they both get up and start to leave. "wait." i say quietly. they both turn around (very urgently, may i add.) "stay?" my voice is so small. i hate asking for things.

they know this, so they come back into bed with me. i lean against dean's side. coffee in my hand, my favorite show. bad days aren't so bad when i have my favorite people right next to me.

[darling-keoko]

CAESAR FIC (pt 2)

𓆩Moonlight affections𓆪

Warnings; MLM,

𝘿𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 @firefly-graphics

This part is short because I got very lazy in the middle of writing but I promise that the, third part will be longer.

“So.... Your Serine, right?”

You and your childhood friend who supposedly is Serine sat in awkward silence in the treehouse...

“Yes, Of course I am Serine... Well... Over the pass few years I've figure out some new things about myself... ”

He brushed his hair back with his hand, smiling awkwardly at you.

“It's ok if you don't support me... I just wanted to meet you again... M/n...my best and only friend.”

His smile gradually became genuine when he said that...

“Serine... Uh I mean Caesar."

You chuckled a bit at your mistake.

“It'll take me quite a bit to get used to your new identity... But I'll always support you, your the only person who actually made the effort to be friends with me back then.”

You smiled at Caesar warmly.

“You still have that same smile that you had back when you we were younger..."

Caesar said, Pausing mid sentence looking deep into your eyes with some type of emotion in them. It was indescribable... It made your heart swell in emotion... He put his hand on your cheek. His hand was cold but was comforting, it made everything in the world blurr as you both sat there enjoying the moment.

“Fuck... I missed that smile of yours."

Your cheeks flushed at his statement, unconsciously melting into his touch.

"Thanks..."

You to sat in silence staring at each other like a pair of idiots in love until you heard a rustle in the bushes snapping out of your little moment of emotions.

"Uh...."

You both said in sync. Caesar takes his hand off your cheek both of your faces flushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry!... I didn't mean to do—"

You cut him off with an loud outburst of laughter, he chuckled with you awkwardly not knowing what your laughing at.

"No, it's alright... It was embarrassing for the both of us. But really, I didn't mind it... You can do it more often if you want to...”

You grabbed his hand placing it back on your cheek.

"It's kinda nice if I'm being honest...."

He looked at you, eyes widened, he looked shocked at what you had said that it literally broke him. He froze in place once you rest his hand back on your face, surprised that you actually enjoyed a trans female touch... Usually people would stay away from him, avoiding his touch like he had some type of disease.

“Caesar!?”

You smacked him gently across the face bringing him back to reality.

“Caesar you zoned out for a second there... If you don't like it you don't have to make that disgusted face.”

It's true... Caesars zoned out face is basically a face you would make at someone who just rigged in their noise and tried to wipe it on you..

“Ouch? —”

He held his cheek, groaning in pain.

“You hit like a horse, you know.”

You giggled at his metaphor.

"Seriously? I slapped you softly. Your over dramatic."

You rolled your eyes in a playful manner eyes landing at small window, looking outside. {Well it's a square cutout in the wall that you call a window but still...}

“Ah! The moon is already up?... Dammit... I have to go home before my ma file a report for an missing person... Again... ”

You said the last part under your breath.

“Well... If you have to go home I'll walk you... I mean... I kinda do miss Aunty Smith.”

He said, still rubbing his red cheek... {Yo, you didn't have to slap him THAT hard}

“Oh and also... Can I stay over by your house for awhile... I promise I won't be a freeloader or use your kindness—”

“Fuck you mean, Caesar, Ma would love for one of my only best friends (what about Sammy 😭) to stay over, especially if you help with chores.”

꧁𐂂꧂

@lovelycupid (here's the actual part 2)

A/n: so that's basically the end but the next part will be M/n aka u will be reintroducing Caesar to your ma and pa. I also may rewrite this.

[iztea]

Maybe you have some drawing tips for beginners?

Your style is incredibly beautiful and it just inspires this thing inside me to grab my iPad and start drawing but unfortunately I have no idea where to even begin

Or maybe you have some recs where to look to learn how to draw stuff?

But I understand completely that it’s your thing and artists should never feel pressured to share all their techniques and secrets, you worked hard on it!

I just really really love your art to the point where I just look at it for 30 minutes straight with this big feeling in my chest

<3

ah it was never about being secretive, i'm pretty open about my drawing process since gatekeeping knowledge is a big pet peeve of mine. It was more like,, laziness because writing a cohesive and helpful drawing tutorial is pretty difficult and i wouldn't even know where to start; i'm afraid i'll get maybe too technical and what have you.

As for tips for beginners, i've shared plenty on my couriouscat so you can scroll through the answers there, i also have some drawing timelapses on my twitter account as well (albeit you'll have to scroll a little)

I'm very flattered you feel that way about my art, it really means a lot to me and i'm glad to have inspired you to draw as well that's awesome and i wish you best of luck!

I actually don't know how different drawing on an iPad is compared to a graphic tablet+desktop, so I am actually pretty clueless in that regard. I think Procreate is the most used digital art app for iPad so you can start by getting it and familiarizing yourself with the UI. I think this step is often overlooked. The brushes and the chosen program can make or break the drawing experience. If you simply find yourself not enjoying Procreate, experiment with other apps or maybe try switching to a graphic tablet, maybe that feels better and is more suited to your tastes.

To be completely honest, one "bad" piece of advice that i should probably keep to myself is to draw something you actually enjoy: fanart, Pretty Girl Portrait(tm), your cat, landscapes etc even if it's above your skill level (becoming obsessed/ fixated on some character from a piece of media also works wonders i'm just gonna throw that out there). The main point is to actually care about your chosen subject in order to get inspired and to have that inner desire of "doing them justice" aka drawing them well. The traditional art learning route probably involves studying the fundamentals, shading spheres and cones and simple 3D forms blablbablah which. Yeah ! sure that's probably better advice but i'm telling you what will make you want to keep going and not get discouraged after a few failed attempts.

As for the drawing subject, I highly recommend having photo references to guide you.. you always need refs it's a recurring thing. My fastest artworks are the ones where I have the right references. the less references the more difficult it is to draw something

As a beginner it is also a good practice to draw OVER your photo reference to get the proportions right ( i'm not talking about literally tracing the contour of a face or limb ( just an example ), but moreso identifying the Main shape which makes up that body part and observe how long is it in respect to the other components, how does it connect to the other parts etc - big difference. Tracing won't help you in the long run).

Another thing you can do is to study your favourite artists and see how They tackle whatever it is that you like in their work. how do they simplify facial features? what about anatomy? color/ light etc and kinda reverse engineer your way through their process. ( but i highly recommend to just keep these practice sketches to yourself, and to not share them on social media- unless you get the artist's permission)

This is how i got into drawing and what i did back then, again, for more technical hands-on information i did answer similar CCs before so with a little bit of stalking you'll find them in no time

I wanna finish this with some resources that helped me:

>youtube guys - sinix, ahmed aldoori, marco bucci, and also just speedpaints in general i highly recommend watching those

>for simplified anatomy i found @/ taco1704 's ref sheets to be very helpful but ........... I'm pretty dry here i just look up refs on Pinterest tbvh

speaking of, here's my pinterest i have a bunch of art related boards board cool stuff overall maybe they can help guide you towards some direction or inspire you in some way idk

ok i kinda suck in the resource department listeN. im starving too just.................. watch youtube speedpaints ok

SORRY IT'S SO LONGGGBGGG i hope it was at least a bit helpful? this was all over the place... I'll try to come up with a tutorial as well but i really gotta be careful with how i go about it. I'll leave you with this for the time being. Again, thank you a lot for the kind words, I really am very grateful and touched esp by that last part about staring with the big feeling stuff eeeeeeeeeeeeee really wow T T that's so lovely and a big compliment thanks ty ly

[wromwood]

While I've decided not to buy any more FNaF books, I'm still curious enough to check them out when my local library decides to offer them. And recently, they added the first graphic novel collection for their Tales from the Pizzaplex stories.

To those of you who remember my previous commentary on the graphic novels for FNaF short stories, you'll know that these adaptations are rarely good. They're often riddled with errors, strange design choices, and overall adequate comic making skills that I wouldn't expect from a Scholastic-published book for a popular franchise. But has this changed for the new graphic novel?

... Yes and no.

Overall, the art has steadily improved since the graphic novel adaptations came out. I do appreciate the choice to have a different artist for each of the three stories per installment, and since the artists periodically return across the books, I can see the improvement. However, each story has its fair share of things to criticize.

Let's start with the first story in this volume: "Under Construction."

At first glance, nothing appears to be wrong with this art style. It's detailed, colorful, and there is even creative usage of comic panels. Sadly, there are two areas that are still lacking. First is this font that's used for signs.

Hand-lettering takes effort. I can understand switching to text. But that doesn't take away from the fact that they still used it in a way that looks lazy. The font/lettering doesn't look natural in the world itself. You can tell it's just a text box put over an image, not really text that's naturally on the sign.

This is even more apparent for signs that should be more detailed or unique, like this birthday banner:

Or the sign for the Mega Pizzaplex:

Second, this story makes some weird choices regarding food. This actually isn't uncommon for these adaptations. Food is usually depicted in an either unsatisfactory (doesn't look good) or incorrect way (doesn't match the story or dialogue). But this story's art style is strong enough to make these errors stand out. For example...

The award-winning coffee cake. The protagonist even points out that it should have cinnamon, hinting that this is a traditional coffee cake. However, that's not a coffee cake. There's no crumbly stuff on top, and the icing looks pink.

You'd think they got the second cake right with all the roses. Until you see this...

That icing is white. There's not even a hint of green. I know pistachio doesn't necessarily mean neon green, but any comic should know that "pistachio" equals some kind of green. Otherwise, it just looks like a vanilla cake.

You'd think that I'd give the comic a pass for depicting a store bought cake that's supposed to look disappointing. The more disappointing, the better, right?

OH COME ON.

No store bought sheet cake looks like that!

Oh, don't forget the reappearance of the coffee cake, which looks totally different for no reason. And still not like a coffee cake.

All right, moving on to story #2: "HAPPS."

This art style is the weakest one to me, so I won't go over all of my criticisms. I'll just point out that it either doesn't show what it needs to, or it shows what it needs to in a disappointing way. Like this:

That first page is the only context we get of the laser tag fight that the protagonist was in. But it's up to the dialogue to tell us the important stuff: that the protagonist got elbowed by bullies and that there even ARE bullies. We don't see them anywhere else in the story. "Show, don't tell" is good advice for almost every occasion, but this is especially the case for a GRAPHIC NOVEL.

But it's not like the showing is all that good either.

This is the depiction of the protagonists scaring two little kids away. It leaves a lot to be desired.

Aaaand I've hit the image limit for this post, so I'll reblog with my criticisms of the third story.

[mrmoonytoonie]

Bendy and the Dark Revival Rant (negative and long)

Idk why I'm making this, maybe for just peace of mind and y'all can bash me in the comments if y'all want or tell me your own opinion if anyone actually reads this stupid thing. Warning I might be all over the place and this isn't scripted so expect foul language and emotion and unprofessional things.

So I'll like to start with that I'm a MASSIVE fan of Bendy and the Ink Machine and have since alpha chapter 1. That game is my childhood and what inspired me to take drawing more seriously.

The "Ink Demon"

So Bendy and the dark revival, literally disappeared and came back out of nowhere lol. I was actually excited and hyped as hell when it was first announced, glad to know Bendy wasn't forever dead (literally sobbed my eyes out when we killed him in chapter 5). But then nothing, no updates, no news, NOTHING, but I still had hope even when everyone was leaving. Then yay the game is here! But my stupidity and something I should have done was that I should have watched the trailer and someone play it to save my money. I got the game when it came out for the PlayStation and immediately played it going in there blind, even though I couldn't even see what I was playing 97% of the time due to it being too dark even with all the house lights off in the middle of the night it was fun at first! Then the fucking "ink demon" part came up, I was so damn excited to see him in better graphics only to have that THING show up. I had to do a double take to see if that was even the ink demon and to my disappointment it was, I'm not going to lie I don't see how people like it, to me it stripped him from all his creativity and made him into a basic ass demon to the point it's not even close to being Bendy related. I'm not gonna lie I did like the voice at first but later its so damn annoying! Like spit that shit out dude, there is no reason for you to do all that! Also how the programmed him is so lazy and annoying and broken "Oh no hide the ink demon is coming", now at first I was excited to have the chase of my life but NOOOOOOOOO, literally just tells you and you hope to God he decides to spawn in where he is supposed to because he will spawn when there isn't any hiding places. Oh and the hiding places are another annoying broken thing, when I'm trying to hide sometimes you have to look at it at a very specific angle and pray it works. Anyways, so at this point we saw little Bendy and ... The Thing, at this point we already know the "big reveal" was that little Bendy is that thing, like anyone should have seen that coming. ALRIGHT so the end, WHAT THE FUCK EVEN IS THE ENDING?! Like why is it just the same ending to BATIM?! Also trying to control Beast Bendy was so damn annoying and wacked! Also what was even his motive? Why the hell did he need Audrey to turn into Beast Bendy? He didn't need it before why need it now? But literally everything gave me more questions then answers and you could have made a better ending than whatever the hell Meetly gave us.

Honestly there is so so much about Bendy and the Dark Revival that I absolutely despise but that would end up making a whole book if I continue so imma just complain on how they massacred my boi. Also if you like BATDR then that's great! I'm glad that people can enjoy things even tho I don't. It's just I feel like I'm going crazy because I don't see anyone else who doesn't like it. Also I didn't expect the game to be easy but it was just so unenjoyable, I was expecting to have the thrill of being chased down hallways and stairs, to fight searchers and the butcher gang, to see old characters that I love and adore only for it to have none of that and just becoming a headache and a broken mess. For someone (Me) who played BATIM over a hundred times to only play BATDR only 3 is just sad. Anyways thanks if anyone reads this, this was just something to help me.

[deadn30n-arch]

𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫:          hello, my name is alexandra  &&  i've been writing on tumblr since 2012. i'm AuDHD, meaning i get distracted easily and struggle to hold conversations consistently outside writing. if for some reason i forget to reply to you, please don't take it personally, i promise it's nothing against you, i just suck at keeping my attention span. if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me. my discord is private and per-request only if we're close. as a head's up, i post a lot of ooc ( that i frequently delete later on ) so if that's something you dislike, you can filter out my ooc tag. i am white and will do my best to portray my non-white muses with decorum.

𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚:          just don't do it. don't involve me in needless bullshit, and don't give me an ultimatum. if you see me interacting with someone who's a danger to the rpc, inform me immediately. i am not all-seeing, i am barely around, so i an unfamiliar with all the truly horrible people. do not vague me. i can't read minds. if you have a problem, say something to me privately, ‘cause i can guarantee i will grant the same courtesy. if we can hash it out and fix the problem, i'm happy to listen it. i never want to be the reason someone's upset. i’m too old and too tired to play games. i know all of this makes me sound like a cunt, but if i don't set clear boundaries, they get stepped on.

𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠  &&  𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬:          i literally do not care what you do or how you do it. it's your blog, go crazy. i'm not here to police how you run your blog, just don't be a fucking weirdo is all i ask. as for my blog, i tend to have little to no graphics whatsoever out of pure laziness. for threads, i prefer shorter paragraphis  (  3-4 give or take  )  but am more than capable of writing novella. just know that longer threads will have a longer wait time with me. since my life is as hectic as it is, it's easier for me to write short stuff, but as i said, i rly don't mind longer stuff and happily indulge in it. when it comes to replies, please give me at least one week before reminding me of a reply. if you consistently pester me, i'll probably softblock you.

𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠  &&  𝐝𝐧𝐢:          i very rarely softblock,  &&  very rarely hardblock. if i do, it's 90% probably nothing personal. sometimes i just like to keep a clean feed or i feel we just have no chance of interacting. for dni, i have nobody in particular in the rpc that i have beef with. people i dislike? sure. but it's so minimal it doesn't require a dni list, lol. it's mostly a case of; ‘you’re kinda annoying' or ‘you rub me the wrong way’. however, do not interact with me if you're homophobic, transphobic, a zionist, racist, p*do, sexualize characters that are minors, write fetish porn of real life trauma events  (  ex:  r*p*  )  use AI generated artwork, or steal from other creators. fuck off with that bullshit. black lives matter, stop asian hate, free palestine bitches.

𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠:          i rarely follow first due to a mixture of low activity  &&  just generally being shy. but if i do follow, it means i intend to write with you and can see our characters interacting. it's difficult for me to reach out and make the first move, but i will try nevertheless. a lot of people struggle to do it, so i get it. if we haven't had our first interaction in a month or there seems to be lack of interest, i will softblock. no hard feelings! i don't do follow for follow, and if you constantly unfollow and refollow me to get my attention, i'll just hardblock you.

𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬:          do not mind ‘em in the slightest. in fact, i encourage duplicates and would even love writing with them  /  comparing headcanons  &  ideas! but if you aren’t duplicate friendly, i do understand. there is no pressure from me to follow me, and you're more than free to sb me if i've followed but i write a duplicate of your character and you aren't comfortable with that. remember to always curate your space!

𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐰  &  𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬:          there will be nsfw content here, and not just of the sexual kind. i will not write anything deemed ‘taboo’  (  ex: inc*st, r*p*, etc.  ) so don't even try to ask. some things i do enjoy and will be writing things like gore, cosmic horror, suspense, eldritch horror, violence, biblically accurate angels,  and pretty much anything that goes bump in the night. this doesn't mean i won't write lighter topics, in fact, one of my favourite genre is modern slice of life aus!

𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠  &  𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬:          i'm open to the idea of it, but it must be discussed privately ahead of time. i do not autoship any of my muses. i prefer to build my relationships slowly over time with nuance. if you followed me for the sole purpose of shipping, you'll be sorely disappointed. for everything else that isn't romantic, i am absolutely open to all types of dynamics. familial, friendship, enemies, etc! i love exploring all different kinds of dynamics, so count me in.

if i think of anything else, i'll add it here. otherwise, here are some of my socials to reach me outside of tumblr:

twitch        twitter        ffxiv: solstice maltyr@rafflesia        pso2NGS: solstice cielo@ship 4

[for-the-sillys]

not so super secret catalog of @ruinouslore’s forbidden nonsense lol

Here be stuff I can't share on my main shop (@grackleink-studio) for irl reasons (fam can see it)! I used to go strictly by for-the-sillys, but now my main ruinouslore and for-the-sillys kinda merged.

My business terms still apply. Please also read beginning portion of my guide for care instructions and disclaimers.

Questions/asks about anything related are welcome <3

Please note I am an adult and some of my stickers may be cheeky/potty humor/possibly a little kinky. Nothing visually sexually explicit tho. Follow/interact at your own comfort ^^

Silly Shop (forbidden stuff here) / GrackleInkStudio (general stuff here)

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Currently In-Stock:

Therian, Otherkin, Alterkey, Otherhearted wooden keychains

Therian, Otherkin, Alterkey, Otherhearted wooden pins

Twilight wolf sticker

Rainbow boa holographic snake sticker

Horse "Man" meme sticker but it's Gay

more soon...just gotta get my lazy arse to upload em

Product Tag List:

#keychains --> wooden keychains

#pins —> wooden pins

#stickers --> stickers

(more soon)

Warning Tags: (only applies to tumblr posts, I can't filter my shop site)

"fts: kinky" --> block this to not see kink related things like piss, pet play, bdsm, etc. Some stuff may not be inherently sexual/suggestive in design (like a pup mask).

"fts: suggestive" --> block this to not see more generic suggestive stuff, like a not graphic pin up pose, a saucy joke, etc.

(you can block the tag fts: kinky and fts: suggestive if you don't want to see saucy stuff here, sadly can't do a filter on my shop tho)

Want to Suggest a Design For Me to Make?

You are welcome to send an ask for a design request! I won't respond (unless I have a question or want to do a poll to see if there's interest from others), but I look over and consider each one :3 No guarantees tho!

Please note that by suggesting a design, you're doing so without expecting anything in return (like money, etc) if I do sell something. If you'd like to be tagged if I do make that design, let me know!!

Depending on the nature of the design, I may sell it here or over at @grackleink-studio (my main business) !

Issues with Package/Product?

Please contact @ruinouslore !! I'll do everything within my power (and budget 🥲) to help you!

If your item or packaging comes damaged, pls let me know! Even though I can't do anything about the shipping process, I'm always trying to improve my packing to minimize damage as much as possible, so seeing pictures of damage helps me!!

Random Q&A!

Q: What do you use to make your keychains/pins? A: I use xTool D1 Pro Desktop Laser Engraver Cutting Machine and 3mm basswood, and of course clasps, jump rings, pin tacks, etc. I digital draw the design and upload a png into xTool’s design software, convert it into vector, and connect my machine to my computer, and engrave/cut!

Q: Do you do custom keychains/pins? Can I commission you to do an alterhuman/etc design? A: I do occasionally take custom orders! I’ll post about it on @grackleink-studio if I do. Unfortunately, I can’t do alterhuman themed (and some other stuff too) designs since I would have to make it in secret (as I do with current stock). I sadly can’t just make stuff whenever. I don’t want to make a client wait too long so I rather just not risk taking custom orders of that theme. Alternatively, you can send a request for a generic alterhuman design to my asks, and I may make it in my own time for public sale.

Q: Are you alterhuman/etc? A: Unsure! I resonate with some aspects of it but I prefer to be unlabeled. I do like to think of myself as a dog and/or a grackle if that counts. I started making alterhuman accessories by the suggestion of my alterhuman friend!

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OLD LINKS + BIO for archival reasons

Here be random things I create I don’t want directly associated with ruinouslore or my business for safety reasons 👍 (family stuff…)

So I kindly ask you don’t associate the stuff I post here with ruinouslore or my business. Thank you ❤️

Ko-Fi shop

[cicadaofthelake]

~~PINNED POST~~ [cause it's about time i made one]

HI !!! i'm fox [or ghost. i dont mind either]!! i use any pronouns, but mainly they/them

https://en.pronouns.page/@thatweirdoghost << here's my pronouns page [also if that link doesn't make it obvious: I AM A MINOR]

usually i will post things that i find interesting or of my special interests [progressive rock, entomology, sharks, and more [ask me!!! please!!!]], with a MAJORITY being prog bands such as rush, yes, genesis, emerson lake and palmer, ect. ect., so on and so forth.

how do i tag them all?? UH IDK??? i don't have a very organized way of tagging all of my posts, but i do sometimes [because tagging is boring, and either i'm busy or just being lazy] [or i forget].

here's some common tags on this blog:

#ghostposting - this is a catch-all tag for anything i post, whether it's something that happened irl and i wanted to share; it's a shitpost; or some secret third option [vanilla extract]

#ghost reblogs - a little self-explainitory [albeit a little under-used]. mostly used on polls or anything i was tagged in

#ghost rants - just a little unfiltered thing for something i'll probably delete later idk

#not prog - it's not prog rock related

#ghost scribbles - art post!!

[any other tags are mutually used around tumblr, unless i'm infodumping or flipping out [pos] about my blorbos.] [also i may add more tags. whenever that happens. we'll never know]

anything else??? uh, i'm a graphic designer [nationally certified in the US until 2025], i'm an amateur photographer, and i have a huge collection of bird feathers..? [idk i panicked a little bit]. uh...i sing sometimes, play the guitar sometimes [not well but i'm trying], and i'm beginning to learn bass guitar. [also i know a bit too much about baseball]

i also have a gimmick blog: @totally-official-goodwill !! it's just there!! and i also say things on there!!! [and a writing blog now!! @this-ghost-writes-things !!]

there isn't a DNI; just don't be an arse. or else you're banished to mordor

[kevinvoncrastenburg]

Hi!!! I've seen all your screenshots and they look AMAZING. I know you use the Pixel Shader Modding Framework, I'm using it too, but it doesn't look like your screenshots. May I ask what other shadow/lighting mods do you have? If you don't mind share it of course <3

Hey there! Thank you so much for your kind message. I'm always happy when somebody seems to enjoy my content. It really means a lot to me and keeps me motivated. I'll try to be as helpful as I can. So.. I really had to look into my files, notes and settings and gather the information but here we go: As you already noticed I'm using Lazy Duchess' Shadow Extender, yes, but before I put it into my game I changed the shadow values like it was described HERE. Together it works fine and it's actually what Lazy Duchess mentioned on their download page as well. I changed from 8K to 4K by now tho. It's more than enough for me. Then, I noticed your second message too, I also use Lazy Duchess' Shader Tweaks 😅 It doesn't have much to do with the shadows but it affects the indoor lighting a bit so I thought I'd mention it too. The lighting mod I use is called "California Day Light" by joanschnitzel. Sadly their tumblr is gone but I saw someone requesting the mod on MTS' WCIF so here's the link to that: LINK

I use this lighting mod together with these mods that affect the lighting and shadows:

- Reworked & Improved EA Lights by simsi45 on MTS - Improved Environmental Shadows by simsi45 on MTS ( ! Please carefully read the description of this mod since it explains how you can integrate the shadows with a lighting mod ! ) -  Tileable Items Shader FIX also by simsi45 on MTS Another thing I recommend to you is to look into this post from @potato-ballad-sims about Ambient Occlusion

I'd also like to recommend another lighting mod I used for a veeeeery long time. A little tweaking had to be done to make it work with other worlds but it was worth it. How to do that is in the download's description. Please have in mind you can only use ONE lighting mod in the game. Outdoor Lighting Tweaks by dDefinder on MTS Last but not least: I run my game with the highest light and shadow graphic settings. I hope I could help you with my answer. 😊

Thanks again for your message!

[theamberplumbob]

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage "Tape 1" Review (Spoiler Free):

First off, I quickly want to address performance: I initially assumed it was because I have an older gaming laptop that I was forced to play the game on the lowest graphics setting and still had performance issue, but it turns out I'm not the only one. After looking it up it appears that most people, regardless of their PC, are having issues with graphical glitches and general unoptimization. I've seen people say that's more to do with the engine, Unreal 5, than anything else, which is a shame. Still, that's not really what I focus on when it comes to games like these. I'm here for the story, so lets focus on that.

I really wish this game wasn't being released episodically in 2 parts. i don't think it did the game any favors, both pacing wise and marketing wise. Having finished it, its obvious that the entirety of Tape 1 only really serves to set up Tape 2, and left me feeling a little disappointed, but if Tape 2 is really good then Tape 1's pacing will retroactively not be a problem for me. However, what is a problem is that this game is getting some really mixed reviews by critics who are basing their opinions solely off of the first half of the game, which i don't think is fair, especially since you purchase the game as a whole, and not its individual parts. I also personally would have preferred to have the events of Tape 1 fresh in my mind going into Tape 2, which it definitely won't be, because I have to wait 2 months now...

Regardless of release schedule, i do just generally think that the first half needed more conflict to keep things interesting. I personally am all for the Teenage Punk Girl Friend Group Simulator™, but I also understand why a lot of people felt bored. It's obvious that they wanted save the "main conflict" for Tape 2, but they could have sprinkled some minor conflicts throughout Tape 1. I thought that the "Bully Characters" were underutilized, and if they had appeared more, could have provided a much needed source of conflict for our main cast.

I've seen a lot of people say they don't feel very invested in these characters, and while I personally am, I do think that sentiment ties into the previously mentioned lack of conflict, but I also think its because we don't get a very good look into the girls respective home lives, with the exception of one in particular. While I understand budgetary limitations, it would have meant a lot if we could have seen each girl's respective homes and met their families. Like Chloe from Life is Strange 1, I think it would have given the player a more intimate understanding of the girls respectively. Hell, we don't even see our protagonists parents. We only talk to her mom over the phone or call to her from another room, and we don't hear from her dad at all.

Focusing on the positives: I think despite the lack of conflict and insight into their home lives, the game did a very good job of making them distinct from one another, and clearly displaying their respective strengths and weaknesses as people. Autumn is responsible and the group mom, but is prone to anxiety. Nora is funny and charming, but is also lazy and prone to cowardice. Kat is bold and smart, but is... well... that veers into spoiler territory. Despite Swann being the playable character, she still has a clearly defined personality and motivation, which I appreciate. They all play off of each other really well. You see how they make up for each other's short comings and push each other to become bolder in pursuit of a more ideal life for themselves. You also see how it slowly escalates into something more dangerous... but I'll leave it at that!

I personally LOOOOOOVED the video taking feature and got super invested in finding all the collectibles. I know it isn't for everyone, but I had a lot of fun with it. I found it way more engaging than taking photos in LiS1 or doing the drawings in LiS2, and its probably why I still had so much fun with Tape 1 despite its lack of narrative conflict. I know some people quickly got bored with it, but you are very rarely forced to engage with it if you don't want to, at least outside of major story beats.

I really liked how much focus was put on how your choices raise or lower your relationships with each girl respectively. As idyllic as it would be to be equally close with each of the three, it adds a sense of realism that your constantly forced to prioritize 1 or 2 of the girls at the expense of the other(s), especially when the game incentivizes you to romantically pursue your favorite of the group. You have to be REALLY careful when considering each dialogue option and how the other girls might receive it. I often found myself accidentally losing hearts with a character because I hastily chose a dialogue option that in retrospect would have obviously been taken poorly by them. It's a testament to how well you come to know these characters and how well it emulates the anxiety of being a teenager trying to make friends.

I keep disclaiming my personal opinions, but this part really is likely to be hyper-specific to me: I love how this game handles queer identity. All four of the girls are canonically sapphic, and you can see how each girl handles that aspect of themselves differently, not only to each other, but also to the different versions of themselves in 1995 and in 2022 respectively, which makes the depiction all the richer. There is also the implication that their shared queerness is a part of why the 4 of them forge such a fast and intense bond, despite the fact that none of them seem to be aware of their own or each other's sapphic identities (yet). That is something that I, and a lot of other queer people can relate to.

Tangentially related to that: I really liked the sort of dating sim-esque aspect of getting to choose your love interest. I hope that in Tape 2 we get more unique scenes based on whoever you chose to romance, because I was admittedly a little disappointed with the lack of that in Tape 1.

Overall, I really enjoyed playing Tape 1, but still found it lacking in places. I feel like my opinion of this half of the game is going to be heavily effected by how good/bad Tape 2 is, as well as how well it will build off the choices made in Tape 1. I have a feeling that Tape 1 is the "cause" and Tape 2 is the "effect," where all our choices up to this point will pay off in a meaningful way, at least I hope so.

[outrageousbirb]

On top of everything else that my suicidality impacts; it also impacts my ability to go through my possessions to clear them out.

Like it's extremely difficult to make reasonable rational decisions when your brain responds to almost every question with "why bother? Can't we just die instead" or "counterpoint. We should kill ourselves" or "why would you keep that? So your loved ones have even more of your shite to deal with after you off yourself? How selfish are you?" Or "sure throw that away, then if you need it again you'll have to ask for help getting another bc you're a useless piece of shit who can't do a single thing right, like basic employment, you lazy piece of shit"

So yanno. It's fun.

I tend towards ruthless when it comes to purely sentimental items - mostly bc I struggle to genuinely feel anything bc of how numb I am. I got rid of all the clothing from my childhood and teen years that I was holding onto when I turned like 20, bc I was like "I'm not having kids. I have no room for this stuff. It's all in good condition. Any day now I could off myself and then when mum clears out my room she'll find these and likely breakdown sobbing bc she failed to save me or smth. So if I get rid of them now, I get the drawer space back, and we avoid that whole breakdown also. Cool, a twofer." And handed them to my mum with a "these can go. I'm done with them"

I miss my orange half zip jacket. I wore it for years, until it stopped fitting. I miss my generic superhero swimsuit, it looked so cool. I had this pink striped panda hoodie that was so cute, and I never wore girly clothes like that, so it was something special for me. I had this one t shirt I got from a charity shop - it was recycling themed with this stupid graphic that I thought was so cool. I can't remember what it said now. I wish I had a photo of it. I still remember the day I bought it, and the shop. It was the same year I got my grandma little porcelain cats for Christmas, when I was still in primary school.

I couldn't tell at the time if I was keeping them because I actually cared or just because I knew people usually kept beloved stuff from childhood and I had good memories attached to those items. I figured it didn't matter if I wasn't gonna be here much longer, so I did what I thought was the mature thing, and passed them on myself so my family wouldn't have to deal with them later.

And then I kept living.

Idk. I try to have logical reasons for keeping stuff. I keep things for practical reasons - I only keep books if I intend to reread them, otherwise they go straight into the charity pile. I try not to hold onto clothing I know I'll never wear again, even if I liked it once, or it was my favourite. I try now to be more conservative with my bag-buying, because although I love them, I'm aware how little I actually need tons of bags of similar sizes and colours, and how much more I prefer bags which actually meet my size or wear needs - closures and capacity predominantly.

But this means that I end up with a bunch of clutter that's all theoretically useful, but currently in my way. And I don't organize it or store it properly, bc I'm too depressed and adhd to figure it out. So it just grows like a fungus in drawers and shelves and boxes that now matter how often I remove sections, I'll turn around and it's the same size again. It's exhausting. And I can't use practicality as reasoning to sort through it, bc it's useful, and emotions are out, bc of the aforementioned "but we're gonna kill ourselves" track running through my head 24/7. So I just don't ever make any decision ever.

[dashawfrostart]

This Week In "Time & Again" #13: Lucky Thirteenth Post! And... whatever, i'm lazy 😅

62 layers

is the number of layers that the most complex page currently has in Chapter 5. And mind you, that actually might not be the final number, for some "layer work" might require slight reorganization. All for the sake of ease of turning all this into a webcomic, which is, as you already know it from this incredibly old post, an objective for the near future. Hitting an important and a peculiar stage of work right now, my mind keeps going back to questions of automation I mentioned earlier and... less earlier in regard of a somewhat different problem. Now I dream of a mass layer import algorithm for Inkscape - and PLEASE don't take me for a fool after doing your minute-long google research session on the matter! Yes, I know that mass layer import plugins for Inkscape do exist. But alas, during my last year's exploration of the problem, after spending a whole day trying to find a good plugin like that, I came to a disappointing conclusion that absolutely none of them currently work. But that would probably be a story for another day. In fact, I already have a post draft prepared, for this particular occasion 😁

Anyways,

at this point of time, Chapter 5 is at the stage of "post-production and finalization".

This is truly amazing, and I must admit, overall, I am very happy with the end result. Even though the road was not paved with nice and smooth stones, but it appeared to be sorta bumpy and crooked (or maybe it's just my perception). Even though it took me significantly more time to make it this far with it than I originally estimated - but often that never goes smooth either. Now, my main objective is to complete the cover arts and all the bonus materials that must be included. That would be my goal for the next few weeks ahead. Thus, very little is left to do - but this little stuff is pretty important for a conceptual, through-and-through synergistic endeavour such as "Time & Again". I also intend to make a few teasers for Chapter 5. At least 3, I think. I intend to... but we'll see if it actually happens, because the release is nigh(ish), but I still didn't invest my time into those small teasers. They are supposed to be pretty entertaining though. So, alongside with everything else that needs to be done, I'll try to manage.

As already has been indicated in the previous post, working on Chapter 5 sure improved my drawing skill in Krita - or rather, I found ways to do everything faster, more efficient time-wise. Which is very precious. Aside from the incredibly useful Filter Layer function that I discovered recently, one of my favourite "tricks with layers" in Krita is Erase blending mode that I was finally able to make a good use of 😅. I like to correct certain parts of the backgrounds with it, at times isolated from the other layers in a group, to avoid permanent destruction of the background in case if I want to revert back to its original version without regret or having to redo everything from scratch again. In other words, instead of using Eraser tool to destroy something forever and ever, I use a "fake erase" layer that can be turned off any time, need be. Sweet! Another one nifty layer trick I found long ago - but never used it previously in my graphic novel - is the usage of Destination In blending mode (that, for some reason, isn't even mentioned in the documentation, so I cannot provide a link 🧐). Technically, it's absolutely not necessary to use that trick, and some might even say it's counterproductive. But! - I personally like to use it in special cases when creating a background that consists of a smooth gradient that might be a challenge to fix once done. Because how many times have you tried to correct a shape that has been filled with a nice gradient to make it look like a certain spot on it was not just artificially attached?.. I remember myself from back in the day, in my photoshoppin' years, going through the pains of using Clone Stamp to try and recreate the smooth change of colour on the spots that have been added later, just to make it look like it all was made in one sitting, right off the bat. Oh boy, that brings... painful memories. So, Destination In blending mode resolves the aforementioned issue for me completely.

But alas, if it turns out I did screw up something that requires a smooth colour change - in certain other cases, primarily when correcting shapes of the foreground objects/people - I resort to the magic effects of blurring/smudging tools. Like recently I had to remove the door on the picture of a corridor and turn it into a wall corner. And can you tell it originally existed there, but has been removed afterwards? - not to sound like a stuck-up snob, but I really doubt it.

And that might sound weird, for Krita actually has a wonderful Smart Patch tool that functions pretty much identical to Photoshop's Clone Stamp I'm so used to. And you would think that that would be an ideal resolution to the problem I described just above. But no: for some reason I simply like to repaint the section that requires a correction and then to blend the colours for a smooth transition instead. Why do I do that? That I cannot tell you. Those are the mysterious ways of Frosty's artistic cognition.

Also, I finally returned to using character colour palettes. When I worked on my other, much older random pieces featuring Jade, Alan and Stu under the codename "Trio", sometime between 2010 and 2016, I used to have a special file called "Trio colour palette" that looked like a colour swatch for each character. Kind of like an eyeshadow palette, but for a significantly more important purpose. 🎨😁 I had a file like that for "Time & Again", too, but at some point of time I simply stopped using it, for the reason completely unbeknownst to me (and The Past Me probably cannot explain that either). So I found it, opened it, and decided to use from now on it while working on the current chapter and the future ones. Here's what it looks like right now (obviously, with potential spoiler notes artistically blackened with a marker brush 😁):

Yup, it's terribly messy, but I don't complain. I can navigate it with ease - and that's all that matters. ... And of course, lil old me cannot avoid a nice (and horrible) use of another videogame reference that is circled with red on the screenshot... Well, you know the drill. That's typical for me. And of course, I most certainly did not have to link back to the original, for it's very famous 😁 (dear goodness, that game definitely affected my sanity long ago... good times!).

You know what? That would probably be enough for today. I'm lazy and don't want to invest too much time and effort into writing about something that most people don't even understand anyway 🤣😅 Well at least not right now. So I wrap it up right this once and will ruminate more on some certain other topics in my next post. Cheerios!.. I mean, sorry. Cheers! (wait, what? no! instead of Cheerios, shouldn't it be Chex then, for a Doom nerd such as myself?..)