#...i miss the ux kids

[corishadowfang]

I FINALLY GOT THE CHANCE TO WATCH THE KHUX FANDUB AND. AHHHH.

[loregoddess]

so I've been watching the KH Union Cross stuff (in order, thank goodness, this would be so confusing to piece together otherwise), and like, I knew enough about UX that the appearance of the foretellers at the end of KH3 wasn't confusing bc I knew who they all were, but getting the expanded, explained lore and I'm like okay, actually these weirdos in animal masks are pretty cool, glad to know they'll show up (presumably) in future games

also I'm glad that memorizing the Latin names for the seven deadly sins is finally paying off

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

I'm working on kh3 and, at the moment, I'm in final world, and what if the stars are the wielders from UX, maybe not all of them, but at least one or two. There's one talking about how they miss sparring with "him", and another who may be Master Odin because he talks about telling his student he has nothing left to teach

Also that poor little kid who just wanted their papa! They may not have been a wielder, but I think that was a kid from Daybreak town who got caught in the crossfire

My delusional self heard the heart talking about love and hate being two sides of the same coin and wondering if "he," whom they would fight a lot, was just as lonely. And decided that has to be Vanitas because I want Vanitas to be back and also Ven straight up died and I wonder if that'd cause him to die as well (like I said, delusional)

I do wonder if we’ll ever know who those stars were!! Their dialogue was so profound and they were all grieving over such specific things. You really feel for all of them

ooh Master Odin being one of the stars would be so interesting. I could see him saying “I have nothing left to teach” to Xehanort or Eraqus before his early retirement in dr

I also thought about Vanitas with that particular star! It’s not him but it does sound a lot like what he’s been through

[tickldpnk8]

Yay! Love a good tag game, @marlowe-zara thanks for tagging me!

Are you named after anyone? Yes: my beloved grandma

When was the last time you cried? Man, I cry at everything...happy, sad, stressed, scared. Most recently over a very touching Oscar speech for a movie I hadn't even seen.

Do you have kids? Yup! One kiddo and that's where we'll stop

What sports do you play/have you played? Dance since I was six, followed by flag/color guard in HS/College, followed by swing dancing. I really miss it, but am excited that Kiddo is starting to get into it at our community center and we can do it together.

Do you use sarcasm? sometimes

What is the first thing you notice about people? their attitude/demeanor

What's your eye color? Brown :(

Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings all the way: I hate scary movies

Any talents? art and languages come pretty easily to me

Where were you born? Midwest USA represent (waves to @marlowe-zara)

What are your hobbies? Reading, traveling and doing water color sketches of places I visit, printmaking (letterpress or lithography) when I have the creative energy outside of doing design professionally

Do you have any pets? Nope: too allergic

How tall are you? shorter than most people, but not the shortest: I basically stopped growing at the end of middle school

Favorite subject in school? Chemistry/Geology, German and Art (and of those, I double majored in German and Art)

Dream job? probably doing my hobby of letterpress printing professionally, but it's really hard to make decent money as a stationer so I'm sticking with UX; it makes for a good side gig, though, if times are tough (the tech industry has had a lot of layoffs, but so far so good 🤞)

Not sure who else has been tagged at this point, so tagging @scifrey @tryan-a-bex @lucienne-thee-librarian and @notallsandmen but no pressure if you don't care to (or I missed that you already did this one)

[lady-of-imladris]

Get to know me

Thank you for tagging me @lazymeriadoc, it is definitely time to update this!

Part 1:

Are you named after anyone: Nope, my mom just went with Roman names

When was the last time you cried: Two days ago when I had Cornelia Street queued a little tear ran down my face. But properly cried? Haven't done that in a while

Do you have kids: No, and I probably never will

Do you use sarcasm a lot: All the time

What's the first thing you notice about people: Their clothes, and vibes in general

What's your eye colour: I have blue eyes, and central heterochromia, so they are yellow-ish around the irises

Scary movies or happy endings: happy endings (bittersweet is my favourite)

Any special talents: bullshitting my way through life, gaslighting male professors (during an exam, had no idea, acted like a weak little girl and that dude explained everything to me. shoutout to him 10/10). I am good at fabric related crafts (embroidery, sewing, crochet, knitting).

Where were you born: Austria (the one in Europe, not Australia)

What are your hobbies: Fabric related crafts, reading, drawing (I doodle pretty much 24/7)

Have any pets: I have a cat

What sports do you play/have you played: I used to play tennis

How tall are you: 1.70cm ish. Does my answer change everytime. Yes it does, I have no actual idea how tall I am. My passport says 167, but that was 7 years ago, when I was 14.

Favourite subject in school: French. Had the most amazing teacher. Also English, because I was always good at that.

Dream job: To quote someone else's tumblr post. "I do not dream of labour", but if I have to, UX/UI design.

Part 2:

First ship: Can't remember and I probably said something else last time but Gwyn/Arthur from Merlin??

Three ships: Helnik (Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, Shadow and Bone Netflix), Haladriel (missing them </3), Faramir x Eowyn <3 ("I would not have this world end now, or loose so soon what I have found", seriously read the books)

Last (current) song:

Last movie: Dungeons and Dragons Honor among Thieves

Currently reading: If you scroll my profile, you can find my TBR stack. I am currently reading Pride and Prejudice and David Day's "The Atlas of Tolkien"

Currently watching: Myself spiral into madness as I face the unending horrors (laundry day)

Currently consuming: oat-based chocolate ice cream

Currently craving: Someone who loves me like Faramir loves Eowyn?? Is that too much to ask??? Also I am craving the ability to get my SIX (yes 6) assignments done.

I am tagging @coraleethroughthelookingglass, @thranduilswifesblog and @fenharel-enaste I have no idea who has done this recently, sorry if you got double tagged <3

[adarxmin]

It’s been a long time coming but I finally have all the canon outfits Adarxmin wears throughout the series to current Remind. I made everything to only have base colors to make it easier for commissions (and others if they ever want to make fan art of her.)

UX: She first appears & ends up disappearing before the game even starts. Her name was Miranda Light, She was a promising high level mage in her world as indicated by her cape designed, but being born of Darkness her people found out and her disappearance soon followed. She told the old masters(mainly Luxu) that if she doesn’t return her sentence was death.

DR: Reborn before the events of DR, she was given the name Miranda Light, under the suspicion that she was born of Darkness much like the one during the time of Fairytales. It was a struggle for her to gain a rank in magic as she was treated as a monster, it wasn’t until she met xehanort that she was given kindness. She kept her hair short as she didn’t see the point of managing it until Xehanort mentioned she would look just as cute with longer hair.

BBS: Shortly before BBS, her parents took her off World, erased her memories and cast a spell to change her age appearance to that of a child to better handle her. After BBS her parents let her stay in Radient Garden for the summer as she was interested in the Science of the heart, she became close to Ienzo and the other apprentices. During her time she relearned her magic and found out she had no memory before coming to this world. End of summer her parents took her, erased her memories once more and locked her magic ability.

KH: 3 yrs later she got separated from her parents and ended up in Destiny Island with no memories other than her name. She lived there for 7 yrs, keeping mainly to herself and refusing to go into any foster care to orphanage. She cared for herself and went to school to learn, though she wished she could join the other kids but felt like she didn’t belong. Even with the heat, she opted to cover up, the adults believed it’s some kind of trauma response she can’t remember.

KH Organization: Mid to late KH she joins the Organization XIII after losing her heart with the new name Adarxmin Dark. She was reunited with members that knew her 10 yrs before, but sadly she had no memories of them. She trained and grew her abilities, she realized after some time it felt like she finally belonged somewhere and had people who cared for her as she does for them.

KH 2-3: Mid to late KH 2 she changed how she wore her coat as she wanted to feel the cold burning comfort of the Darkness on her skin. She became proficient in using Darkness especially after she regained all her memories early on in KH 3. When she wasn’t working and off World she would wear a everyday outfit to blend in, even though she is not ashamed of her body she still has a need to layer up. Which she later remembered it was from many sleepless nights in the cold from her time in her home world.

KH Remind: She went missing immediately after KH 3 as her partner and lover was killed and the organization was no more. She reappeared 6 months later in Radiant Garden at night asking for Ienzo help as she was in active labor, she gave birth to Xehanort son which she named Xander. 6 months later Remind happens and Adarxmin with her son live in Radiant Garden under the notion she behaves and works as a scientist, she begrudgingly accepts it for the safety of her son.

[lifeafterthelayoff]

Part II, Day 116

What’s in a name? What’s in a job title?

The topic of evolving job titles popped up not once but TWICE in separate conversations I’ve had this week. It made me think about what I’ve been called, in this ever-changing discipline, so far:

•  Content Manager •  Senior Manager, Interactive Marketing •  Content Strategist •  Senior Content Strategist •  Vice President, Content Strategy •  Senior Content Designer •  Staff Content Designer •  Content Designer

A job search will sharpen your ability to parse job titles like nothing else. Here’s a list of a few of the roles I’ve applied for this time around:

Content Design roles: •  Content Designer •  Content Designer II •  Content Designer III •  Senior Content Designer •  Staff Content Designer •  Senior Staff Content Designer •  Lead Content Designer •  Principal Content Designer •  Content Design Manager •  Director, Content Design

UX Writing roles: •  UX Writer •  UX Copywriter •  Senior UX Writer •  Senior Staff UX Writer  •  Senior Manager, UX Writing Team

Content Strategy roles: •  Content Strategist •  Senior Staff Content Strategist •  Director of Content Strategy •  Senior Director Content Strategy

Do-a-little-of-both roles •  Senior UX Content Designer •  Senior UX Writer / Content Strategist •  Director - UX Content Strategist

I’d like to say that there were clear differences between each of these postings, buuuut…that’s not quite the case. Sometimes the duties and the job titles matched well, and other times they missed the mark, confusing one title for another’s duties. And vice versa.

And what about levels? That was the other part of my conversation this week.

There’s the issue of IC versus manager tracks, how they differ from company to company, and the compensation that goes with them. Not to mention that they all seem to need a re-branding from a naming and clarity POV. It makes choosing the next role that could be a parallel move or a move up that much more difficult.

I was in Boy Scouts as a kid, and I reached the level of Eagle Scout. (That’s my medal in the photo.) The Boy Scouts naming of ranks is equally strange. I spent some time in the military, and I found the same thing there. I always wanted it to make more sense.

I’ve been thinking about what my next role could be, which next step I might take. And which roles I pass up. I’ve realized that I may be at the point where title matters the least in this search. 

What’s more important to me? The people, the team, the product, and the overall vibe. We spend 8+ hours a day working with our colleagues, helping one another out, working towards the same goals. It’s more important to have the respect and empathy of your colleagues, no matter the job title. 

[aiyiyichat]

Week 2

UX is important even for LLMs HuggingFace's Inference Endpoint with GPT-Neo 125m was draining my wallet super fast! I was being charged by the hour without any usage! Shut it down and Created an Open AI account instead. Open AI's documentation and onboarding is much easier to navigate. I couldn't make heads or tails of HuggingFace's onboarding. It was clearly designed for AI devs and not for dummies. Meanwhile Open AI has step-by-step instructions and code examples. Not easy either, but at least they lowered a rope ladder for those of us on the lower rungs of IQ. I spent all of last week setting up my web hosting on AWS (Amazon Web Services). It was much more involved than I'm used to. So many different services have to be individually set up and daisy-chained in the exact right way or else none of it works. Just figuring out how to provide a secure connection for visitors via HTTPS took me 3 DAYS! Thank sweet Jesus for YouTube tutorials - all of which were made by Indian Developers. Shout out to Indian Devs! So far this week I've been setting up my backend infrastructure which will be Python built on Django. WTF is that you ask? Exactly! I didn't know either. I had to ask ChatGPT a bunch of questions and do follow up Google research to understand the different Python frameworks to decide which would be best for my concept. Lowering the cost of intelligence ChatGPT has been writing code for me, but about 20% of the time the code is wrong or has some bits missing. Even with these drawbacks, it is an absolute miracle for someone with even rudimentary code fluency. If there's an implementation error, I can share the exact error message with ChatGPT and it'll troubleshoot the issue with me until it works. It's like working with a senior engineer who has infinite patience for dumb questions. ChatGPT is democratizing abilities previously monopolized by the smartest, most focused humans. But will lowering the cost of intelligence inadvertently violate some kind of hidden ratio Mother Nature uses to mitigate risk? This might just be anecdotal, but it seems the most intellectually accomplished humans rarely if ever leave offspring who match or surpass them. And in the case of geniuses like Nikola Tesla and Alan Turing, no genetic lineage is produced at all (and like, does anyone give a shit about Einstein's kids?). What if this is some kind of natural intelligence rate-limiting function? In tech circles the question that often comes up is "Why can't we create more Elon Musks?". Maybe Gaia would respond with "I'll tell you why you fools! Because if you have that many geniuses, the odds of more Dr. Evils goes up and all it takes is just an extra pinch of those to ruin the whole casserole!". Everyone thinks if something is good, more of it must be better to infinity, but this isn't true. The difference between medicine and poison is... Dosage. Perhaps we should be weary of ODing on intelligence.

[corishadowfang]

WAIT HANG ON TODAY'S THE PERFECT EXCUSE TO TALK ABOUT THE KHUX DIGIMON AU--

Okay. Okay, so, part of the main plot of KHUX is that they're stuck in a digital version of their world, and getting trapped in the digital world is just like...a standard Digimon plot, haha. So it doesn't take too much reworking to make the KHUX plot for this.

Basically, the idea would be that, instead of MoM recruiting kids to be Keyblade wielders, he's recruiting people to play this new virtual reality game. Each player gets teamed up with their own Digimon, and they log on to do daily quests, can join different groups, etc.

Just like in KHUX, Ephemer realizes Something's Up; in this case, he suspects the Digimon are actual, living things (we're really leaning on the standard Digimon plots here), and that MoM is recruiting them for some OTHER reason besides testing the game.

And...he's right! Basically, the digital world has some sort of entity that's slowing destroying it. MoM's familiar with the legends of "chosen children" partnering with Digimon to save the world, and is mass-recruiting people to basically like...brute force that. Like in KHUX, a lot of kids die for this. The Union Leaders end up being the designated "Chosen Children" and end up trapped in the digital world until they can save it.

...Of course, MoM doesn't actually have the power to choose the 'destined heroes,' so this goes awry. One: Skuld and Ephemer rescue the Player and drag them along with them, and Two: the entity MoM's trying so hard to get rid of catches wind of the plan and hijacks it. (The whole Ven and Strelitzia switch thing.)

There's a lot of stuff that plays out similarly to UX after that, with the caveat that they KNOW they're stuck in a digital world this time: they discover Ven's an imposter, the entity manifests to fight them, Ven and his Digimon sacrifice themselves to save the others, the world starts to fall, and they find a way out. The way out's still pretty flawed--it's something that Brain essentially hacked into the game--so people still end up in the wrong places/with spotty memories once they're out.

Skuld, Ephemer, and the Player still get stopped at the end by the entity, and the Player and their partner still fight them. In this case, though, they're fighting them to try and force them out--and staying behind to stall the entity long enough to force them to die with the falling world. It works.

Anyway, the UX crew and their Digimon end up in the real world, but separated, with memories spotty, though with the impression that they're missing something important. They'll probably go looking for each other eventually, but uh, that's as far as I've got for the moment, haha!

As for partners and where people end up:

Player would have Gatomon! (Gatomon -> Angewomon -> Magnadramon line) Partly because the fact that Gatomon is a cat like Chirithy, partly because Chirithy's English VA is the same as Kari's VA (Gatomon's partner in the anime). I imagine the OG Player ends up as like...a digital ghost after they die? Maybe Player 2 and the members of the Baroque Society are friends and end up poking through the remains of "Daybreak Town," and Player 2 starts to slowly pick up memories from Player 1, which starts to make their identity feel...blurred.

Ven's original partner is Lopmon (Lopmon -> Turuiemon -> Antylamon -> Cherubimon Vice/Virtue). Since Ven's a "pure light" in KH canon, I figured it'd be fun if he was partnered with the member of the Three Great Angels that was most famously corrupted. Lopmon is kind of... possessed and rebooted by the entity, and so doesn't get to escape with Ven. Ven ends up being found by Terra, Aqua, and Eraqus and taken in. (Not 100% sure what's going on with Eraqus and Xehanort; maybe they were part of the of the original, REAL chosen children, but they failed because the entity possessed Baldr and his partner and they killed everyone else?) Ven I think later ends up with a Pteromon he accidentally befriends, who encourages him to go looking for the things he's missing. (Maybe Eraqus reveals a little of his history to Terra and Aqua here because he needs to get Ven back? And sends them out with their own, newly-obtained partners.)

(Side note, but I think when Ven leaves the digital world the first time, he leaves behind a digital "copy" of himself that was influenced by the entity. This is Vanitas, who I think inherits a corrupted/reborn Lopmon. He has most of OG Ven's memories.)

@hallowed-nebulae said at one point that he'd probably pair Ephemer with Coronamon and Skuld with Lunamon so they could fuse into GraceNovamon for the final battle, and I honestly LOVE that idea. Alternatively, I could see Ephemer with Dorumon (Dorumon -> Raptordramon -> Grademon -> Alphamon) for the whole "leader of the Royal Knights"/leader of the Union Leaders" thing. Ephemer I think does the best job retaining his memories, though things are still spotty. He and his partner work on trying to rebuild the digital world.

If Skuld didn't end up with Lunamon, I think Gammamon (Gammamon -> BetelGammamon -> Canoweissmon -> Siriusmon) would be a good fit for the connection to the stars. I think Xehanort still finds her? If we go with the "Xehanort was one of the OG chosen children" thing, maybe he became like... obsessed with that and takes Skuld in because he found another one "like him." (Maybe he finds Vanitas, too, even if Vanitas is still trapped in the digital world? And trains him and Skuld together. Vanitas and Skuld interactions have Potential.)

(OH WAIT. Fun partner idea: maybe Skuld had Lunamon originally, but passes her on to Isa to protect her/because Xehanort has implied SOMETHING is going to happen and she wants to make sure Isa and Lea remember her, and THEN she gets Gammamon. Since GulusGammamon has a full line, I could see her having that at first, before moving into the main BetelGammamon line.)

(Also Gammamon's bandana reminds her of someone and she doesn't know who.)

Brain would get Keramon (Keramon -> Chrysalimon -> Infermon -> Diaboromon) because he says he's going to be "the virus that rewrites the program," and Keramon is a LITERAL virus. I think maybe Sigurd works for MoM and gets sent out to bring at least one of the UX crew in and try again? I'd guess that Brain realizes something's up at some point.

Lauriam would have Floramon (Floramon -> Kiwimon -> Blossomon -> BloomLordmon) because of the flower theme, and because Bloomlordmon reminds me of Marluxia, haha. Not 100% sure what happens with him; I kind of like the idea of him and Elrena doing their own thing? Maybe Elrena was part of the game originally, but had to quit playing or something, and she ends up teaming up with Lauriam after he reappears, since she knew his sister.

(Elrena I could see with Herissmon or Pulsemon? A little undecided there.)

Strelitzia gets Leomon. Just so everyone knows exactly what's going to happen to her :). (Okay, but outside of the "Leomon always dies" joke, Pomumon -> Parasaurmon -> Toropiamon -> Hydramon would work.)

The nice part of this AU is that the UX crew can actually all reunite with each other eventually! Since they're just scattered across space, and not time.

[pinerreader]

Starfield game awards

#Starfield game awards update

#Starfield game awards full

#Starfield game awards Ps4

That changed during Xbox and Bethesda's showcase in June 2022, which featured a 15-minute gameplay showcase. Starfield gameplayĮven after two trailers, we still arguably knew next to nothing about Starfield, with only hints given out by that pair of clips. Returning to the good side of that information, the game will also release straight onto Xbox Game Pass, so if you're a subscriber to that service you'll be able to play it at no additional cost immediately.

#Starfield game awards Ps4

That's why it wasn't a great surprise to get confirmation that the game will be exclusive to Xbox consoles and PC when it releases - Starfield will not be appearing on the PS4 or PS5. After all, Microsoft recently completed its blockbuster purchase of Bethesda, and big-name exclusives will surely have been one major motivator behind that. What would have been a simple bit of estimation over the course of years has become more complicated when it comes to the game's likely platforms.

#Starfield game awards full

Eric: “This game should be amazing… I can’t wait for a big Bethesda game.The slightly longer trailer above gave us a bit more to work with, but it was in June 2022 that we got our first full look at gameplay, in a showcase you can view further down this page.

#Starfield game awards update

Game or Big Hame Update You’re Most Looking Forward To Apple can’t dictate anymore that there is only one payment processor system that is their own.”

Niklas: “Finally someone took on Apple and the tail managed to wag the dog.

The missed opportunity part is that they leaned way too heavily on existing UX and systems design from Asian MMOs and mobile MOBAs and botched monetization design.”

JK: “It’s personally my favorite game of 2021 because the gameplay is great – a simplified MOBA that is great for kids to play and something an old dad like me can play with the whole family.

Eric: “Apex is the game that has had amazing resilience in an otherwise struggling market for console engagement.”.

Ken: “Apex has been a sleeper for a while and really took over player attention in the battle royale scene in the last half of the year.”.

As with our past awards lists, we’ll be keeping things simple with a summary of the top ten games spanning multiple systems and genres, along with a few specific shout-outs for Best VR games and Best Remake/Remaster games.

Ken: “It exploded in popularity for a while and surprised many traditional game designers due to its lack of traditional ‘fun’ gameplay.” We reviewed over 230 games in 2021 and 30 of those were good enough to earn nominations for our Game of the Year Awards.

Mainly based on performance relative to expectations.

What an entrepreneurial accomplishment, not only for a game studio but in general.” It is astounding that Iron Gate made this game with only 5 people. Cozy base building, combined with vast (procedurally generated) Map and exploration. Great single-player experience, combined with 10-people coop.

Niklas: “It’s a great game, not because of any particular feature, but because of how it makes you feel, how immersive it is.

Any one of these titles could easily win Most Anticipated Game, which goes to show how insane 2022 is going to be for gamers. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, and Starfield.

Brian: “Step-function innovations on coop gameplay.” The Game Award for Most Anticipated Game is always one of the most exciting categories because it showcases all the great things.

Stock down significantly, brain drain, game delays, poor community sentiment.

Huge Metaverse play.”īiggest loser: Which games industry company was the biggest loser in 2021? Increase of 30% on stock price and up 70% during the year. As a summary here is what we came up with for our awards below: Biggest winner: Which games industry company was the biggest winner in 2021?

[echoheart0324]

I miss the UX kids, I missed drawing them a lot. 😔

[drazavonia]

KHUX & DR FINALE THEORY

Where did the kids in Chi/UX come from?

At first, I thought the Master of Masters may have used Kingdom Hearts to revive life in the form of children, but after the Dark Road finale, I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

I think the Master of Masters and his apprentices gathered children from all over the Realm of Light who lived with their families. These children were brought to Daybreak Town to become keyblade wielders and eventually succeed their Masters (the Dandelions). 

Where did the people from Missing Link come from?

After the fall of Daybreak Town, Ephemer must have used the Master Defender to erect Scala ad Caelum from the ashes. Nomura has confirmed that Missing Link will focus heavily on bloodlines, specifically Ephemer's two separate bloodlines: Regular Descendants and Descendants who inherit the Keyblade Legacy.

But for Ephemer to have kids in the first place, he would need a partner to have them with. But where do these people come from?

I think just like how the Lost Masters gathered children from all over the Realm of Light, Ephemer gathered their families and new families to become the new residents of Scala ad Caelum.

This may explain the woman carrying baby Xehanort, whom the latter identified as his mother. 

Nomura confirmed this woman was not Skuld and that Skuld is not the mother of Xehanort. However, Nomura does state that the woman and Skuld are related. With how much Missing Link is going to focus on Bloodlines and knowing that the people of Scala ad Caelum gathered from all over to become branching societies within the city, perhaps this woman is a sibling or aunt of sorts. To explain further, maybe Skuld's family made it to Scala ad Caelum and the woman in Dark Road is a descendant or sibling of her mother/father making them Skuld's sister or aunt of sorts.

[nyctospoilers]

I honestly think the great-great grandfather was one of these short hands for not saying having to say all the greats myself cause I can’t find the interview but Nomura already said that Missing Link was three gen after Ephemer, still wish that was longer but better then 150 year or whatever. That said I’m putting money on Kid Odin being one our main characters with the player with Sigurd and Brian to tie something’s together.

not-shazam asked:

Sorry misremembered it 4 generations -- What are the "societies that sprawl and branch like veins" mentioned in the trailer? Nomura: KH Missing Link takes place about 4 generations after Ephemer's time. His descendents have each formed their own societies: the main family who carries his bloodline is the "Society of Successors", while the branch family who doesn't is the "Society of Non-Successors".

Yeah I see you, just hitting send on that last ask I was like "wait, does great great grandfather" even cover that amount of time? Cause if I recall correctly, that's just your grandfather's grandfather right? what is that, 120-140 years??

And I don't know enough Japanese to be able to tell what DR says then 😭 damn I really relied on Goldpanner's UX translations for interpretations LOL. Still, I wonder if the Japanese is more clear/specific with the EXACT relation of Ephemer and Xehanort...

[mantacid-art]

Art Mediums I Use/Used:

So I made this post on a whim, because I thought that it would be useful for people who want to get started. I have been doing most of my art on software I didn’t pay a dime for or pirate. You shouldn’t have to spend inordinate amounts of money to explore your creativity, so I will be listing all the artistic mediums I have used, which — if they aren’t completely free — are totally worth looking into.

2D Digital:

ProCreate (IPad):

An incredibly versatile Software for IPad. It costs about $20 to get but it is so worth it. With custom brushes, an animation workflow, built-in color scheme helpers, and a polished UX using quick touch gestures for common actions, this is a must-have for people who want to take their art further. I know professional animators who would recommend this software in a heartbeat. Ive had the software for a little over a year now, and I am still just barely discovering the full extent of its capabilities.

Autodesk Sketchbook (Various Operating systems):

Slightly less versatile than ProCreate, but Free. It also has an animation Framework, but uses less of the gestures that make ProCreate so easy and quick to use. Still a solid choice for artists, and when utilized correctly, can make for some incredible results.

Photoshop (Various Operating Systems):

A classic. Very powerful. Everyone knows what photoshop is, but not many people know what it can really do. In high school, I developed a workflow that allowed me to create realistic fire using only the custom layer blend modes, the smudge tool, and the color white. ONLY the color white. However, expensive as hell, and the IPad version is missing over 50% of the functionality. Also, Adobe is being kind of a jerk. Fortunately, there is a free, OPEN SOURCE alternative that you can run:

GIMP: General Image Manipulation Program (Linux & Windows)

Gonna be honest, I haven’t used this one as much. I had a raspberry Pi as a kid, and managed to use the command line to install this software on there. It does everything photoshop does, for free. Who needs liscenced software when you have GIMP?

3D Digital:

ZBrush (Windows & MacOS):

Made by Pixologic, this software is POWERFUL. I took animation in high school, and they had the industry-standard version of this software on their computers. It was capable of fine topology control, while also allowing for an organic sculpting experience. It had rudimentary key frame animation, Physically-Based Rendering, Boolean geometry, and best of all: the GoZ plugin. This allowed you to — from inside the program — send your model to programs like Photoshop and TEXTURE THEM FROM PHOTOSHOP. Unfortunately, it’s expensive as hell and also very intimidating. But there are plenty of resources that can help you learn, or of course you could employ the age-old strategy of “mess around and find out” (this actually resulted in my teacher walking over to where I was not paying attention, STARTING to tell me to pay attention, and then being taken aback at what I had managed to teach myself, saying “okay, thats cool. We’ll figure something out”). AMAZING software, if you are financially able to get your hands on it, DO SO.

Sculptris (Windows & MacOS):

Okay, so this software is actually no longer available, as it has been depreciated. It wasn’t all that powerful, but it did have dynamic topology (which means new vertices are generated as you sculpt, meaning you can get some insane detail) and was free and able to run off a 2GB USB. Also, since it was made by Pixologic, it interfaces with ZBrush’s GoZ plugin seamlessly. A good budget software for people just starting out. RIP Sculptris.

Nomad Sculpt (IPad):

Costs a bit, but is worth it. Easy to learn, and powerful to boot. There are a few optimizations that could be made, such as better control over topology (for people who want to make a model that can be animated or textured) and better performance (the battery just… disappears), but it is incredible at what it CAN do. It allows for HDRI environments, refractive materials, layers, post-processing, and custom brushes. A lot of the 3D renders I have on my blog were made using this budget IPad software. Granted, some of the more complicated models have crashed the software upwards of 9 times, but that is a mere inconvenience compared to the final products you can get. Also, its very customizable; right down to the size and color of the UI.

Vectary (ChromeOS):

Normally, ChromeOS isn’t known for being able to run any quality softwares. And that is still the case. But Vectary is the exception. It’s less organic than nomad, but is able to be very precise in terms of topology. Sure there’s a paid premium, but I honestly don’t even notice, as the free version has so much to offer that my other software can more than make up for it. Also, Vectary’s rendering capabilities are INCREDIBLE, on par with professional level softwares.

2D Traditional:

Pencil:

The formative years of my art journey were with pencil sketches. I still didn’t have a good grasp of color theory, so pencils were a comfortable medium. Plus, they’re everywhere, and I can use them everywhere, much to the detriment of my school notebooks. Eventually, you’ll want to move on to more diverse mediums, but even then, a pencil can really help you in any situation. When coupled with blending stubs, can make some really cool results.

Charcoal pencils:

Once I got better at shading, I asked for a Midtone sketchbook for my birthday (or maybe it was Christmas I don’t remember). Since the paper is either grey or brown (also known as a Midtone, hence the name), you can use white colored pencils to add highlights, and work in sepia tones as well as greyscale. Ultimately similar to pencil, but a bit more versatile. Also work well with blending stubs, possibly better than graphite pencils.

Alcohol marker:

My first alcohol markers were of a brand called Ohuhu, which were of a surprisingly good quality, good for people starting out with alcohol markers. The pack came with 80 colors, but I had to buy a colorless blender myself. The benefits of alcohol markers is that they can be blended together. Ohuhu markers aren’t refillable, however, so my grey tones quickly ran out.

Eventually, I got my hands on some Copics. Unlike the Ohuhus, which had a fine tip and a chisel tip, the Copics had a chisel tip and a Brush tip. These things are expensive though, so build your collection slowly according to your needs as an artist. I started with the neutral greys (I managed to snag the last colorless blended in the store), then expanded to warm and cool greys. Despite the high price, these things are worth it. They are refillable, durable, and last long enough to be passed down to your grandkids. And the brush tip feels so freaking Smooth on paper. And when used in conjunction with a white gel pen, they also work on Midtone paper. Versatile, fun, and smooth.

Inks:

When I first started college, I took a class called “sketching for design.” It was this class that forced me to use inks for the first time. It can be intimidating knowing you cant erase things. But if you plan properly using — you guessed it— a pencil, you’ll get the hang of it. Over the course of the class, I was able to learn to use inks to my advantage, even participating in Inktober for the first time as an artist (I didn’t finish, but thats not the point.)

Inking pens have so much variety. I — along with my professor — recommend the following brands:

Tombow: Good Quality, high variety. I especially love their Fudenosuke pens. Good for varying line weight.

Copic Multiliners: One of these came with my first pack of copics. High quality of pen, Lasts a long time.

Pigma Brush Archival Ink pens: this is some high quality crap. Hold a bunch of these in your hand and let them click together and you can HEAR the quality. The pack i got had tip sizes from a huge brush tip all the way down to .20mm (you draw it on paper, and it looks like an eyelash). Be careful with the finer tips though; if you push too hard, you WILL bend them.

Pilot Razor point. Cheap, good quality. These were required for my class, and can be bought in packs of 20. They draw well, and last long.

Ohuhu gel pens: not the best quality, but cheap. To be honest, I only use the white ones, as they work well with Midtone paper. Before I got this, I was using WHITEOUT PENS to get my highlights. BIG MISTAKE. Whiteout looks drastically different in sunlight than it does under fluorescent lights. And it’s chunky.

Acrylic paint:

I haven’t worked much with paints, But I did help paint some tiny fairy doors for my sister’s birthday once. They turned out better than I expected them to.

3D Traditional:

Polymer Clay:

My school Had a thing called a senior project, where each senior had to learn a new skill (I talked about it in the clown painting post). I worked with polymer clay (super sculpted to be exact) to make a statue of Christ (I got really inspired by the work of Michelangelo). It turned out… alright. It didn’t help that I didn’t have the proper tools to sculpt with, so I either made my own, or got crappy ones from the dollar store. I am convinced that the only way it turned out as well as it did was due to divine intervention (and I’m only half joking; there was one instance where I just felt my hands doing their own thing despite having NEVER WORKED WITH THE MEDIUM PRIOR TO THAT MOMENT).

Origami:

As someone with ADHD, I had trouble keeping my hands busy (now that I think about it, that’s probably part of what drew me to art). Origami was a way to combat this. I’d just make random folds, making weird shapes, until I had some idea of what the piece was going to be (that’s how I made tiny origami platypodes without any instructions). Easy to get into, easy to learn, helps with ADHD.

LEGO:

I played with LEGO for quite awhile. To me, It was no longer a toy, it was a medium. As I got better at art, I got better at LEGO. The best part about it was that my artworks could MOVE, they could be interacted with. Getting into LEGO isn’t difficult in the slightest, but getting good at it is a bit harder. Think about it as you would building miniatures (which I haven’t done yet but shut up), and learn from the techniques in the instructions.

I know this has been something of a long post, which is uncharacteristic of me (honestly, I don’t even know how I was able to focus for this long). People often approach art with a defeatist attitude, saying that they just aren’t good at it. Yeah, well I wasn’t either when I started. I got to where I am through practice. Practice, and screwing around and finding out. It doesn’t matter if you have the supplies. Cavemen were drawing on rocks with dirt. People banged rocks together into funny shapes. You make do with what you have, and with enough practice, you can do incredible things with even the most basic of tools.

[kessielrg]

[Kingdom Hearts] Shutter to Stutter

Summary: By far, Ven’s got the most boring job at the flower shop; the cashier. Sitting day in and day out for someone to browse along the rows of flowers and gardening tools, then probably walk right out again. Sometimes an interesting thing would happen- but they were few and far between. [flower shop AU focused on UX kids][Part 8 in a series of oneshots][VenxOC][EphemerxOC/F!Player] 

Rating: K+ (mild cursing)

Word Count: 2,062 words

If you liked this story, please reblog!

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Ven couldn’t remember the last time the flower shop had this much activity to it. At least, in terms of what they did for their billboard ads. Most of the time it was some seasonal flower with witty text advertising the store. Apparently this time, someone had requested something a bit more ‘personal.’ Which meant that they needed models this time around. Sabrina was a shoo-in; her face more than once gracing the billboard on I-02. But this time Luca was also being brought in. The two were to pose as if Luca was giving Sabrina a sunflower, and at the moment, the toddler wanted to do anything but.

It probably would have helped if the space wasn’t so overwhelming. Literally everyone was here. Lauriam had gotten a full camera set up- two large lights, a tripod, and his DSLR he usually used for some horticulture club he was in. Brain was his assistant, of a sorts, helping with adjusting the lights every now and again. Strelitzia -and surprisingly, Elrena- was there to do Sabrina’s make up for her. (Luca had been lucky to have Anora’s darker skintone, leading him to not be as washed out as the paler Sabrina.) Since their child was being exploited, of course both Ephemer and Anora were there to coax him to cooperate. And then there was Skuld- pretty much directing everyone, and likely not helping in Luca’s resistance.

No one had really asked Ven to help with this project, so he sat behind his counter to continue being invisible. Although he did wonder- was he still getting paid for this even though he wasn’t directly helping? This was still his normal shift, after all.

“Luca, look here.” Ephemer coaxed his child from behind Sabrina. “Look over here!”

Luca refused to acknowledge his parent. Instead he made do with picking off the petals on the sunflower with rather impressive pinches. It was less impressive when a strand of the toddler’s hair got into his face, and he used his whole hand to wipe it away. He didn’t even bother to look up when Anora started to shake what Ven could only assume was Luca’s favorite toy. The poor thing rattled not far from Sabrina’s face. No envy was lost as Sabrina’s face grew incredibly dark at the annoyance of having Ephemer verbally calling his son, while Anora rattled a toy on the other side. At this point, even if they could get Luca to remotely look Sabrina’s way, it was going to take another five minutes for her to look close to pleased again.

Brain knew his sister was pushing her limit because he gently pushed his way over to Skuld just to suggest, “Maybe we should try something different?”

Skuld looked at him like he gained another head.

“No.” she said to him with a shake of her head.

“So you want Wabi-Sabi to go Hulk when Ephemer calls for Luca again?”

“She’ll be fine.” Skuld snapped. To further prove a point, Skuld shouted at Sabrina, “Sabrina! You’re doing fine with Ephemer and Anora behind you, aren't you?”

Sabrina gave Skuld a glare so dark, it sent a chill up everyone’s (or, at least the people who happened to be looking at her at the time) spine. Skuld didn’t seem phased.

“Hey Sabrina,” Lauriam then spoke up from behind his camera. “Can you look over here for a moment? Cross your legs a bit too?”

Hate turning into an expression of mild confusion, Sabrina turned her body a bit to better face Lauriam. She crossed her legs and sat a bit straighter. Lauriam checked his camera’s viewfinder for a moment before several shutter snaps could be heard.

“Perfect.” Lauriam nodded. “Thank you.”

“Lauriam, stop taking boudoir photographs of my sister.” Brain teased as he went back over.

Lauriam actually looked rather offended at the idea. “I'm pretty sure these photos are taking themselves, Brain.” he informed his coworker. “My finger's not even on the trigger.”

“You have a remote.” Brain nonchalantly pointed out.

“Do I?” Lauriam looked down at his hand. Sure enough, there was a remote there. He looked up at Sabrina who was trying to scoot Luca back so they could maintain the agreed distance. Lauriam didn’t look away as he took another photograph, using the remote to trigger the shutter. He once more looked down at his hand in wonder before saying, “So I do.”

The duo shared a hearty laugh. The sound irking Sabrina’s nerves again as she also gave them a death glare. She was perfectly ignored for the time being. Every now and again, Lauriam still pressed the shutter button on the remote, even if nothing of substantial use was going on. He was going to end up with a lot of junk photos later, but he had always preferred to overshoot for that reason. If none of them had the particular vision Skuld was looking for, then surely there would be something that could suffice. There had to be.

Meanwhile, sitting by the main counter where Ventus was trying not to be seen, was Strelitzia and Elrena. Strelitzia was humming a little tune to herself as she watched over the main chaos.

“I wonder why Luca isn’t paying that much attention to Ephemer or Anora.” she casually wondered, placing a hand against her cheek. “He’s usually so attentive when they’re around.”

“Humph.” Elrena grumbled. “You know what they say, just like with dogs and cats; babies can sense evil.”

“Explains why he won't go near you.” Ventus hissed under his breath.

Both girls immediately looked at Ven- Strelitzia looked partially amused, while Elrena’s face could almost rival how irate Sabrina was. Elrena immediately slammed her hand down on the counter.

“Listen here, Roxas,” Elrena said, emphasizing the wrong name because she knew he didn’t like it, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you recently, but I’m not liking this bold streak you think you have going on. It’s not impressing anyone.”

“You wanna bet?”

Ventus, Elrena, and Strelitzia all turned their attention to Sabrina. She was sitting up straight and giving Elrena a particularly hard glare. Every other sound in the flower shop came to a grinding stop. (Spare for a few camera clicks, but at this point it was out of habit.) Seeing Sabrina defend Ventus made Elrena laugh.

“And what are you going to do?” Elrena challenged.

“Elrena.” Lauriam warned. She just as easily ignored him.

“‘Oh, look at me, Miss Independent.’” Elrena taunted. “‘I don’t care about anyone until I suddenly do. Oh, woe is me, being a cold hearted bi- I mean, witch, there’s a child present, I suppose- is just exhausting. It’s everyone else’s fault but mine. Oh woe!’”

Sabrina got up from her spot so quick, Brain nearly tripped over Lauriam’s tripod just to make sure his sister didn’t go straight for Elrena’s face. But she didn’t have thoughts of smashing the electric blonde’s face in just yet. Strelitzia had moved just as fast to take hold of Elrena’s elbow. Her grip was tight- a nonverbal warning that her friend needed to dial it back soon. But the shots had been fired, and neither one of them were going to let it go unattended.

“Brain, let go of my arm.” Sabrina hissed to her brother, not letting her gaze waver from Elrena. “You guys can keep going with the photoshoot, but there’s something I need to tell her a bit more privately.”

“You’re not leaving the shop to do it.” Brain told her.

“Of course not.” she spat- perfectly paired with a roll of her eyes.

“Luca will probably sit still for the camera better with her gone too.” Skuld spoke up, as if she wanted to remind everyone on why they were here today. “Lauriam, can you make it happen?”

“Of course.” he agreed. He took a look at his sister, giving her a stern glare meant to communicate that she needed to leave with Elrena soon. Strelitzia’s face paled a bit, but she gave a nod to show she understood.

With that, Brain let go of Sabrina’s arm. She very carefully walked around the photography junk to stand right in front of Elrena. Ventus could feel the air on the back of his neck stand up. There was a fury in Sabrina’s eye that he couldn’t tell if he admired or feared. He would have left to further give the girls time alone, but something kept him rooted in his spot. Everyone else returned to trying to take a good picture of Luca holding up a flower.

“You know, Elrena,” Sabrina started to say, “We’re a lot alike- you and I.”

Hearing this, Elrena stood a bit straighter. Ven tried to hold back the urge to shout that they weren’t. Sabrina gave them enough time to consider the idea before she continued.

“We’re both rather harsh to people we don’t like. Quite frankly, I don’t think we have ever liked each other. Sometimes, it’s very gratifying in just watching the world burn. You know what I mean?”

“Pssht. Yeah.” Elrena snorted. “Some people just deserve it.”

“And that’s where we differ.” Sabrina mused, taking another step toward Elrena. “You keep hiding. You keep hiding every little thing until you’re desperate. It’s not even a matter of holding your cards close- you literally can not let anyone in. People always ask who hurt me, but do they ask the same about you? I know where I fucked up in life, but do you? At least I’m able to admit that I like the person standing two feet away from me. By way, Ven? Last week? That was my first kiss. Great job.”

Ven immediately looked down, his face flushing a deep red. The black haired, brown eyed bitch smirked at the reaction. It became malicious when she looked back at Elrena.

“Have you kissed the person standing two feet next to you yet, sweetie?” She turned to look Strelitzia dead in the eye before asking, “Has she?”

For a moment, Strelitzia didn’t know how to respond. “Elrena doesn’t…” she tried to say, but she wandered in looking at Elrena’s face. The electric blonde’s face was a shade of red that it rivaled the ripest of apples.

“You- you just can’t say that!” Elrena spat. “You don’t know-”

“I may hate people, but I know them. But if I’m wrong, then kiss her.”

Elrena looked like she wanted to throw up.

“S-Strelitzia,” she then stammered. “We need to go now. You’re my ride home.”

“Yeah…” Strelitzia slowly nodded. “Let’s go.”

Strelitzia started toward the front door without a second thought. She paused at Lauriam to tell him something, (something he did not look pleased about at all) before leaving the building altogether. Elrena remained in a deadlock with Sabrina.

“You’re a bitch.” she told the dark haired girl.

“Have to be,” the reply came, almost as pure and simple as day. “How else will the person I like know I actually do like them?”

Elrena pursed her lips together. She tried to storm out, but the attempt still seemed rather half hearted at best. Sabrina casually watched her leave as she leaned against the counter. She refused to look at Lauriam. She knew he was giving her a heated glare.

Ven leaned forward on the counter just to whisper at her, “You’re insane.”

Sabrina moved enough to give him an over the shoulder stare.

“And yet, you’re the one that kissed me.” she mused, rather triumphantly. “Guess that makes you just as bad.”

“It was one kiss.” Ven tried to say in his defense. “Didn’t have to mean anything.”

“No, no it didn’t.” Sabrina quietly mumbled. She got off the counter and took her spot back in front of the camera equipment. Her expression was hard as she told her brother that things were fine. She even told Lauriam that she didn’t mean to put Strelitzia on the spot. But then she went back to modeling like nothing had ever happened. Right down to being slightly annoyed at the parents on either side of her trying to get their kid’s attention.

Ventus hummed as he rested an elbow on the counter, then cupped his face into his hand. Only one thought entered his head as he watched the photoshoot, and it was one that sent butterflies to his stomach.

She is amazing.

[chibiranmaruchan]

This has been a week. I'm saddened by Daft Punk splitting up and retiring, but I hope they're still in the music scene, even if it's not at the forefront anymore. I'm also saddened that kingdom hearts ux will be finishing later this year, the game is... something, but y'know what? When it's fun and enjoyable, it really is and I miss it (haven't been able to get into my account). I haven't played dark road to feel any of the same attachment. I'm happy for avatar to likely have a revival, as an animated expanded universe, I loved watching the show as a kid and there's so much they can explore and show. The thing that has caught my attention the most though, which I am super excited for, is gen 4 pokemon remakes. For those who aren't aware, pokemon diamond was my first video game ever, so it holds a lot of memories for me. I have a lot of good memories playing it and seeing the images, gifs, videos and art people have been making since it was revealed, I feel so emotional.