#And also figuring out how to style the frames and negative space

[vabonesyart]

And now, completely unrecognizable! The hard part begins: deciphering where the mosaic patterns are again.

[kradeelav]

so one of the technical bits i challenged myself with this gunter/corrin doujin was to:

(a) figure out an efficient process for professional multi-page artistic works in linux/true OSS programs - from ideation all the way to printer hand-off.

and

(b) a process that fit well with my brain and kept me from spinning my wheels endlessly redoing pages. it's a common problem with longer projects (aka why you see reboots of webcomics all the time, and also why i haven't been able to get "what greater sin" out for three years cuz i sucked at this lol).

why the focus on process though?

after mastering a certian degree of technical proficiency. it's what separates the hobbyist artists from the pros. not to toot my horn, but i'm quite good at project management process at work, and about two years ago it dawned on me to take some of that learned knowledge and actually apply it here if only to save eyestrain/wrist-strain time.

work lazier smarter, not harder etc.

before i get into the process outline, there's two programs that are doing the heavy lifting since i gave them a trial run with the last anthology and they worked great in tandem. (both cost no money and are available on all major OS's btw)

krita, my main drawing program. sketching/inking/speech bubbles/coloring/vector stuff can all be done here.

libreoffice writer - basically microsoft word for linux. i use it for arranging multiple pages, reordering, and exporting as .pdf to give to the printer (while amazing at rendering, krita can't export as pdf or show multi-pages)

so!

process wise, it occurred to me not too long ago that i needed to consolidate my multi-page creative projects into 3 major gates.

thumbnail sketches

proof of concept layout

"last 10" final

thumbnail sketches

thumbnails are a common concept in comics, but they're great for print front/back matter too. thumbnails ain't here to look pretty, their sole purpose to get the idea from your noggin to on the page.

here's a completely unaltered spread from my journal with a ton of thumbs and notes for this doujin.

so what's the kind of stuff i think about with thumbs?

how panels in a comic fit together with the major emotional beats + line of action. does the eye follow the pages naturally? do you "feel" the emotional impact?

does the compositions work with each other? negative/positive space, weight on top or bottom or diagonally, etc. do the pages feel claustrophobic or too empty? do they breathe?

decorative framing elements that reflect the tone you want + how they generally lead the eye across the page

random notes about overall tone or potential future pages

etcetc

at this point i import that digitally, and start drawing a proper sketch off of it.

fast forward from that sketch to:

"proof of concept" layout

i'm calling this proof of concept instead of a draft as they serve different purposes. a draft is a half-finished work you can just screenshot and show to anyone for feedback (like comms). proof of concept here is showing a certian level of completeness across draft pages to measure consistency.

lack of consistency is the mind killer killer of comics.

proof of concept is specifically meant to nip the 'fizzled out halfway' issues in the bud. it's to show you how cool it looks altogether already, but also shed a light on problem areas that are potentially popping up on the earlier side, so there's less time wasted.

this is a little premature in the process for a proof of concept screenshot, but you get the idea here in a later strip, shown here as screenshots imported into libreoffice writer:

another reason that made libreoffice writer essential is the accurate 2-page spread view. between that, being able to resize the page to whatever you need, and the very easy pdf exporter (with customizable compression), i don't know if i could do this kind of project here.

now, backing up - what kinds of consistency are we checking for here?

does the inking/coloring style change noticeably in a jarring way?

is there one comic strip that the pacing/paneling sucks in comparison to the others? or feels awkwardly added in tone and perhaps better saved for a different project?

is there one panel within a sequential series that's torturing you? what's the best way to throw it out and redo it even faster?

do the front/back matter support the meat of the inside in a clever, on-tone way?

did you accidentally change the font halfway through after you liked your new shiny toy? which one works better?

etc

keep in mind we're not just checking the consistency in one strip, it's for the book as a whole.

and then lastly,

"the last ten" final

"the last ten" is a mental concept i've used for the last ten years for single comic pages. it's especially tempting to noodle over endlessly making one comic page perfect, when you could have done ten reasonably good ones in the same time, and so i made this my last step making IC pages.

once when you approach a level of reasonably done, but kinda hate the page and are procrastinating on getting it out, stop, rest your eyes overnight, and list the last ten minor things you'd change.

once when you've changed those? out the door it goes.

i'm gonna switch to a different project but here's a good example of a "last ten" stage applied to illustrations when i did fallen!gunter's FEH mockups.

looks pretty complete, right? WRONG :D

i can't remember the exact last ten i used, but it was something like:

too much of one specific glowy purple on both, i wanted more contrast with the red glow + "water" texture

needed more effects on the first image to better match FEH's aesthetic

change Leigh's credits after they got a chance to see it and give the thumbs up

knee/shin on left looks unfinished painting wise, clean up

missing chest plate silver decorations on left, clean up

etc

this is the last hail mary check to hack your brain into being satisfied with the page. you've had your say, onwards to the next one.

now, you can also have an additional 'last ten' for the project as a whole. but it's especially critical for comic pages to help keep the momentum/tempo/pace going.

anyway!

we'll see how all of this actually works in practice depending on how fast i can get this doujin out. :)

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

The Winchesters - all of them

I think that in the light of the prequel, we can say for certain that the title “the Winchesters” is purposely ambiguous - you think that it refers to John and Mary, as this is presented as their love story, but then you realize that it also refers to the Winchester family as a whole. Three generations of Winchesters are featured in the episode, Henry, John and Dean. It’s their connections that drive the narrative: Dean is narrating in virtue of the story being his parents’ and something that sits close to his heart (presumably for both “regular” sentimental reason and for whatever reason we’re going to figure out - and be surprised by - later), Henry puts the narrative in motion by being the force that moves John in general (by his own admission he’s been journeying through the world to connect with his father somehow), and the author of the letter that literally moves John to the place where the plot starts happening. (There’s also the mystery of the man who gives the letter to John, but we don’t know who he is yet, so it’s impossible to really speculate.)

Not to be that person, but there’s also a negative space, or better, spot: we finally meet Henry’s spouse, John meets his own future spouse, but Dean is alone on the road. The last shot of him, before the very last shot of the car driving off, is interestingly taken in a way that sort of highlights the empty passenger’s seat, as though to highlight the absence of a combination where Dean is concerned.

I am not saying that Dean necessarily needs to be coupled up by the end of the show - and definitely I’m not making promises - but in an episode about connections the visual narrative absolutely makes a point to show that Dean is alone.

But wait! Dean is shown alone on-screen by the visuals, but... he is not alone off-screen. He’s talking to someone. He’s addressing someone and presenting the story to them. It’s us, of course, but I’ll eat my hat if Robbie Thompson isn’t doing a Metatron-style situation where Metatron is framed as addressing the audience but eventually is revealed to be giving the speech, in-story, to a fellow character.

(Again, don’t jump to conclusions I’m not making.) (Or do, I’m not the boss of you.)

(The missing person is Sam, one could argue. He’s the one usually in the passenger’s seat. Yes, but the others are coupled to their actual wives, and Sam is present by amulet. I don’t think any of the people producing this show are interested in framing Sam as Dean’s wife. Especially since the finale did that via Titanic-style ending, and this show is being made to fix the finale. The fact that Dean is now alone and not hanging out with Sam in heaven confirms this.)

Let’s return to the concept of the title of the show. I’m led to imagine that the core of the narrative will be a sort of cross-shaped thing: the intersecation of the John-Mary relationship (and its outer belt of their relationships with the rest of the gang) and the Winchesters intergenerational relationship(s). The generational curse, if you want, the way the generations relate to each other, both in the “natural” way of father and son and the “narrative” way of Dean’s story and how it intersects with the past. And this will be coupled by the Campbells’ own generational situation, of course, Winchesters by marriage (Winchesters by sharing the curse of the grand divine plot, we can add).

Of course the Winchesters and the Campbells have the same narrative structure in the pilot: Samuel is the force that moves Mary, his notes the writing that bring her to the plotty spot. Both fathers are present in the episode via handwriting - and Dean closes the episode by writing his own thing.

It’s an intergenerational and inter-timeline narrative jigsaw. It is the story of the Winchester family, in its entirety, in what makes it what it is.

I’m tempted to expect that the resolution of the show will be Dean breaking the generational curse once and for all, but how exactly I can’t tell yet. I mean, I’d say I know - by living, by living free, by living out his relationships freely - but hey. Let’s sit and watch.

(Oh, look at that. One episode and this show is already keeping up the narrative of the main show that the main show wasn’t able to wrap up.)

[neige-leblanche]

😏

😏👑

vil time

thisll be quick bc i have like negative vil cards

No notes!! They knew what they were doing here!! The the trees frame him really well, and the torsion + layering of his jacket's folds help make his position really clear!! (Now that I'm looking at it, I think the lighting might be what sells the pose best, like the blocks of light on his thighs are a lot bigger than on his shoulder) He's in shadow but still saturated enough to pop out against the blue cast over the rest of the picture; I think that was a really great choice to contrast with the orange in his jacket :3

This specific art. I love it so much. The high contrast background, the darkness in his umbrella that makes his face stick out, the bold saturation and bottom lighting are all so Halloween. My one complaint is that his hands are not very clearly defined, but the position he's in is still obvious to the first glance, due to the definition on his purple clothes + high-contrast highlights on his boots + black clothes. There are also lots of details to notice the longer you look at the card (PRESIDENTIAL ALERT HIS UMBRELLA STICK IS BETWEEN HIS LEGS). His face is located in the upper left focus point if you divide the picture by the rule of thirds, and the foreshortening on his legs combines with the sweep of his cape to draw the eye over his pose. 10/10 this art is everything.

and

0/10 WHY DID THEY DO THIS TO THE SAME CARD. This and Dorm Riddle are like thee biggest downgrades. There's nothing making his left arm pop, so it looks like the hand in the foreground is just floating there, while his right hand is in line with his head which like. I'd be more okay with if the rest of the card wasn't such a flop, and it didn't just feel like another weak part of a weak pose. His head looks barely situated atop his shoulders. He's only backlit in a few places; there are mood lights in the back, but they don't seem to be incorporated onto the figure at all, so a lot of his cape and right hand stay dark and hard to see. The big slab of blue light from the coffin draws the focus away from Vil (jail for artists for 10,000 years) and washes out the colors of his hair and clothes. Like they're still relatively saturated?? but it doesn't even matter?? Anyway, illustrations with high value contrast Can be so good, but I feel like they needed to cram so many details into this one that, if they were going for a dramatic and high-contrast piece in the first place, that intention did not carry through. Vil deserves so much better like Vampire Vil Schoenheit of all things cannot be so swagless. Sorry this was mean but I'm right

God. The Heartslabyul interior decoration style is not my taste at all. Vil looks great though; the lighting is very well-executed and his expression is clear from a quick glance. The flat angling is actually good here; it's a more static composition that creates a peaceful vibe, and a more tilted angle in any direction might make me dizzy with that interior design 😵‍💫

This actually reminds me of Kalim's ceremonial robes card!! I think it's a more successful execution of a similar concept; the angling is fun, and the purple does pop as an accent color here (not to mention coordinates with Vil's hair). It is in daylight so it's easier to include more contrast, though. I like how much space the candelabra on the right takes up without drawing the eye away from the human figures; I'm thinking it might be because its hues and values are not very bold when in front of the green-tinted background. Obviously Vil's eyeliner helps create a central focus at his face, and I also love how well-rendered his sleeve is; it has very lifelike depth :3 My one note is that the coalescing lines of the the other figure's robes make it a bit unclear at first glance how and where Vil is holding them open, but giving them more space and definition might take some prominence away from Vil, so I think the illustration is pretty successful nevertheless!

[what-if-nct]

this is a little bit of a debate take, but i think black people (particularly the heavy left-wings on twitter) should know when and where is the best time to talk about cultural appropriation so it doesn’t invade other people’s safe space.

like i made a comment where it was my raw reaction realising that the thrust dance which is called “mama pesa sima” was a dance move that i saw a lot of kpop idols do. since it came from my country (🇨🇩), i felt represented since i never got to see it shown on the media, let alone on the for you page.

i used to feel so insecure about my culture since the news were always in a bad light. so i would say that i was from brazil not only for that but because it was a backstory i made up so people at my new secondary school since i wanted to make my life look more interesting than talking about my autism since it was my biggest insecurities at the time. i tried my hardest to make it as relatable as possible, but they eventually caught up with my lie.

i had recently started coming into terms with my culture and even proudly waving my sister’s congo flag (which made me feel sentimental for some reason). so yeah… that was why it meant a lot to me when i figured that out. however, there was someone at the comment section that was a big party pooper and wanted to destroy my joy by saying “especially when kpop idols aren’t supposed to be black” which… you’re speaking under a video that was supposed to be filled with joy and positivity— we don’t need your bitterness here!

i grew up with stuff like international day at school, so you could imagine that i’m quite open with sharing cultures and don’t take cultural appropriation way too seriously, unless they actually cross the line by insulting the culture which i don’t really see it happening very much. since there were so many false alarms and allegations, now i wouldn’t know if it’s being framed or it was just a video from 20 years ago coming to haunt them like a ghost. at this point, i’m worried i might get cancelled over a 2 year old me saying the onomatopoeic c word just because i heard it being said a lot by my dad growing up. so me learning all of those stuff are racist isn’t enough anymore because i did that thing 15 years ago? really?

but that’s besides the point. what i’m saying is that black kpop fans has became so unbearable on twitter and tiktok that i felt those platforms thinking that it was for the best. i hated cultural appropriation being mentioned all the time and i hated people who whine about how they don’t like xyz group anymore because they did blackface when they were 10 it’s just getting annoying when i can’t even go a video without one person ruining the vibe and making me feel unsafe.

and i’m speaking as a black guy myself.

(the video)

Yeah, I think the line between Cultural appreciation and appropriation has to be better defined. I think intent is a huge factors, like if they've met someone or traveled to a different country or just is actually interest in a different country's culture and they're doing it out of respect and genuine appreciation and love then cool, love that but if it's done in a mocking, joking, attempt at being cool or saying a certain item or style makes someone look a "negative characteristic" then ya know just explain, hey this isn't okay. Also I might hold idols born in western countries especially america to a high standard. Though I do make exceptions like everything Yungguk had going on. Cause I genuinely believe he was probably black in a past life and he'd take African American studies in ucla. So I'll let that slide sometimes I'm like eh just explain why it's not okay.

[lighthouseborna]

Psychology & mental health deep dive.

General mental health related trigger warnings apply.  Feel free to include more or exclude those facts / test results that take too much time or don’t apply, you can check out this list for more personality-related quizzes to include!

I decided on a page break for the trigger warnings but also because I couldn’t stand how squished up this meme was and put in spacing (and answers ;sdlkfgjdlskf) that made it. Quite long.

tagged: @detectiveconnor​​ tagging: @tiderider​​​​ @piraticblood​​​​ @darlingflight​​​ @dvarapala​​​​​ @loetise​​​​ @irrfahrer​​​​ +I encourage dash theft because I cannot think who else I have seen tagged or not

QUICK FACTS

Diagnoses: Anxiety for sure, with his dislike for being kept out of things and his capacity to “if” himself to death; some post-traumatic stress but I’m not sure if that’s something that’s going to stick..? I have mostly written him within a year (or a couple) of the significant trauma event (or re-traumatized him) so it’s completely possible the symptoms could clear with time and not warrant the “disorder” part of that tag. (You could... probably put a ADHD in here and not be wrong, per se, but I’ve never deliberately written him with that intent/framing.) Triggers: Feeling trapped- he’s always been a little don’t-box-me-in, but after the possession he is especially sensitive to (and vigilant for) situations that would trap or restrain him. He’s had trouble with some particularly nasty nightmares and the development of occasional sleep paralysis: the paralysis in particular will always launch a panic attack. There are an assortment of environmental triggers (auditory and touch-based, largely) that exist but he has an incredibly difficult time identifying them. Being cold tends to make him more sensitive to other triggers; very rarely will it fold him over on its own, but it just puts him in a state that makes it easier. (I think it doesn’t tend to trigger him on its own because he wasn’t actually cold. He was cut-off from his senses, which manifested to him like he was cold, when it was more accurately an absence of input that he processed as “cold” due to having no other way to interpret what was happening.) He also has a sixth-sense that, if that is activated in a way he can’t place or identify, can send him spiraling. Positive Coping Skills: He is, in a lot of situations, very capable of talking himself down; finding the grounded parts of his thoughts and using them to level out. He’s also typically proactive about seeking out trusted persons to give him grounding physical contact or reassurances. He has realized that managing his breathing can help, but his consistency with it isn’t very good. He also readily and without hesitation removes himself from situations that make him uncomfortable and I consider this a good coping skill (I don’t know if it actually is? s;lkfjgslkdfg); he will not just sit there and ignore something he’s identified as making him want to crawl out of his skin. If he knows what’s causing it, he’ll get away from it and / or it away from him. (The trouble is figuring out what’s causing it.) Negative Coping Skills: His ‘find someone who can help’ can easily feed into using physical intimacy as a crutch and a distraction without addressing the root issue that drove him to seek reassurance. I....I think that’s it? He has some other bad habits but I think this is the only one that’s specifically a coping skill? --OH well. Sometimes if he can’t find help, he seeks grounding physical sensations that border on being harmful, but he’s never cause significant damage to himself and there’s never any intent to damage himself (just to land.) These are also usually borne of intense panic, where he’s not necessarily thinking clearly. Attachment Style:  Secure. He’s got.... a lean for anxious/preoccupied that exists, where he can talk himself into some fears, but ultimately he’d be very likely to bring the fears up so really he keeps pretty firmly grounded in the secure style. He trusts his people. Love Language... -to give: all, but in particular Acts of Service and Physical touch; he is least likely to use words, but does more when he catches on to a person’s want(/need) for them -to receive: Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Gifts (in that order); he tends to resist accepting Acts of Service (that’s his job, getting things done) but if it’s presented in a ‘we’ll work together’ way things go better The “love language that probably falls into one or more of the official ones but is specific to him” one is: sharing/learning. He likes to be taught things he didn’t know, and learning about the person in the process of being taught something. Taking the time to teach or explain things will always win you points with him. Myers Briggs / MBTI: ENFP-A Enneagram: Type 7

HISTORY EXPLORATION

Are their diagnoses formal ( via a doctor, therapist, etc. ) or informal ( self diagnosis, a hunch, unrealized, etc. )? No formal diagnosis, partly because there’s not really a dedicated name for or study into any of it (that I’m aware of) in the time period of his main verse? But also he’s not likely to pursue something like that. A couple of AUs have people who have suggested some of this to him, informal diagnosis only in the sense that they don’t have PHDs but they do have eyes and understanding. He would not individually seek out professional advice, I don’t think. Someone would have to suggest it to him. (I’m not sure...he needs it? He wouldn’t think he does. I am unsure.)

Have they ever been treated / medicated? Not for the anxiety or stress no. For the physical injuries from the same events, yes.

Have they ever been hospitalized or treated on an inpatient basis? No.

How old were they when they first started experiencing / realizing symptoms? Probably the anxiety began mildly in his youth, when he was around ages 9-12; a lot was going on between the pirates of Shipwreck Cove and the EITC and it planted that early knowledge like...sometimes people leave and don’t come back. Which is, of course, just...a part of life. But the way it permeated his early childhood may account for some of the anxiety he has now with letting loved ones out of his immediate vicinity, especially if he knows they’re entering potentially dangerous situations. Add to that the part where he finally gets to meet his father only to immediately be separated again... he can get a little clingy. The trauma-stress probably appeared a couple of times before in brief fashion after some of his more harrowing experiences, but resolved; he never had significant problems until after the quest for the trident, when he was 19/20. The panic attacks, sleep paralysis, and other symptoms appeared then. He’s really not sure what to do with any of it. There’s still the possibility these stresses will lesson (again, I’m not sure if it’s enough to file as a disorder, just something he’s dealing with in the place I put his main verse.)

Do they have a family history of mental illness? That. Is a very good question, actually. There’s a lot of avoidant attachment and anxious attachment styles around him, and lots of mistrust, and abandonment, abuse, and neglect. I don’t know that any of it is.... strictly definable as mental illness (some of it was grief driven, but some of it very cognizant and aware, and some of unintentional, but some of it based of a bad understanding of what a person should be--) but there’s a lot of bad communication that distinctly resulted in trauma that feeds unhealthy mental attitudes. There’s certainly a history of hurt, at any rate. Henry is very much manifest of several broken cycles of abuse and neglect.

How was mental health handled / discussed in the family / community? Pirate society is more or less as “there are some things we don’t talk about” as any other established society in this regard. So, in other words: it isn’t, really, discussed, in his community. In the family tends to...waffle. Henry’s definitely the most willing to table the conversation, point at things and say out loud “that’s not okay”, but the others have their ways of getting to things. Usually, that saying-one-thing-and-meaning-another that works for them. Meaningful Looks™. It’s not his favorite, but he understands it. He’s pretty comfortable with just bringing it up if he’s trying to figure things out, and when it comes to his family, if he’s straightforward in his questions he tends to get straightforward answers.

What are their thoughts on mental health / their diagnosis? He’s really not sure. He doesn’t spend... a lot of time just in contemplation of himself? He’s used to trusting his instincts and his body just on principle. That those things are suddenly less stable has tripped him a bit, but he doesn’t tend to sit there and ruminate on it.

In what ways has their diagnosis shaped their life or experiences? He’s always been a fairly self-aware sort of person as part of his identity, knowing that he’s different without being bothered by it, seeing the pieces of himself through the people around him and coming to understand what kind of person he is. Realizing that something has changed, but not  having a clear understanding of why or what to do with it has left him a little bit... scattered. He drifts, sometimes. Finds himself somewhere else entirely. And he finds himself looking up, a lot. Looking up like he’s stuck on the floor of the ocean and trying to find the way out.

SYMPTOMS

note that all of the below are, on their own, normative and typical aspects of human functioning. they become “symptoms” when they last longer than “normal” or when they pose a significant impact on someone’s life / functioning. BOLD all that are present,  ITALICIZE those that are resolved or in the history.

depression. anxiety. panic attacks. dissociation. derealization. depersonalization. suicidal ideation. self harm. homicidal ideation. psychosis. auditory hallucinations. visual hallucinations. delusions. mania. hypomania. racing thoughts. hyperactivity. attention difficulty. flashbacks. nightmares. hyperarousal. hypoarousal. hypersexuality. hyposexuality. psychopathy. risky behavior. catatonia. somatic / bodily concerns. mutism. phobia. agoraphobia. hoarding. obsessions. compulsions. body dysmorphia. hair picking. skin picking. amnesia. illness anxiety / hypochondria. sensory loss. speech difficulty. comprehension difficulty. communication difficulty. tics. defiant behavior. irritable mood. vindictiveness. aggression. pyromania. kleptomania. paranoia. attention seeking. narcissism. avoidance. dependency. pica. rumination. food restriction. food binging. purging. soiling the bed. insomnia. fatigue. sexual dysfunction. delirium. developmental delays.

Explanations / elaborations on any of the above symptoms:

His anxiety most often manifests in result to being separated from loved ones and/or when they are under threat of harm, as well as when he cannot act on his own or their behalf to change something; it has more tendency to make him irritable and somewhat aggressive than to send him into unreachable panic

He has always had some issue with racing thoughts when he gets worked up (he avoids the word ‘if’ when he knows he’s beginning to panic), but it wasn’t until after the possession that they gained the ability to spiral into fully realized panic attacks with all the physical effects. He never had them before, and when he has them now it is almost always because something has triggered a traumatic association or concern, though sometimes (far more rarely) can be caused by his other anxieties. 

The dissociative spells are also a direct result of the possession; he, literally, has experienced thoughts and emotions that do not belong to him and it’s been. confusing. to deal with. It’s made some of his own thoughts and feelings feel foreign. The derealization is more something of his own body’s defense mechanism; removing some of the reality spared him a lot of agony in the moment. Now that it’s a precedent that has been established, though, he finds himself struggling to stay grounded. Things just start to seem unreal, not always for an identifiable reason, and it’s not comfortable for him.

He does not have insomnia, but he’s developed a variable aversion to sleep. It has more to do with the sleep paralysis than the nightmares, but both factor into it. The dreams tend to temporarily unsettle him, but a paralysis episode will have him avoiding sleep for as long as he can physically manage it afterward.

On the subject of fatigue, he has a tendency to miss —not ignore but miss— the way that these things make him tired. He’s more likely to drift into that state of derealization when he’s worn out and overtired.

He’s also prone to migraines though whether that is related to any of his trauma or not is somewhat unclear.

[joesanimationblog]

Developing... More Ideas

I had my storyboard and so wanted to draw myself as a kid, this was the only character which I had not yet established. The transition between current times and me when I was younger was part of the film so I wanted to keep it simple and keep it consistent so it would read well, using my previous drawing of the man in his canoe I came up with these two character designs.

I really liked these as they felt pretty accurate and consistent in their style. They were also vanilla enough to allow me to sponge up any design choices and style changes which crafting my palette and style would involve.

Style Frames

I moved on to developing my style, I chose a palette based on my memory of the pink sky and greeny blue sea, to contrast I used black to provide negative space where needed. I used this palette as it was pretty versatile in its tones and because of this I had options when it came to choosing darks, mids and lights. Keeping the relationship between colours was important, I couldn't switch up the function of one colour for 2 close shots unless I made transitions which smoothed out and visually justified these changes in function.

The first frame I drew was to help me figure out my palette and how I would use it to illustrate music.

I then drew this to take that palette and learn how it can be applied to the landscape, making sure it would get the right atsmophere

Finally I redrew the geezer using this style, I wanted to try and keep my original linework as a guide and then use a softer, lineless style to give the memory more fluidity and help it feel like ideas and images mixing up when it transitions from background art to character animation.

The 3 style frames helped me understand what my palette could do and this really helped with my animatic and with how I would visualize the memories. My focus changed from accuracy of setting to accuracy of my experience, I used the colours and the way they moved to try and connect this sequence together in a disjoined way which flowed like a thick honey, holding shape for very little time before going flat.

[fozmeadows]

race & culture in fandom

For the past decade, English language fanwriting culture post the days of LiveJournal and Strikethrough has been hugely shaped by a handful of megafandoms that exploded across AO3 and tumblr – I’m talking Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Dr Who, the MCU, Harry Potter, Star Wars, BBC Sherlock – which have all been overwhelmingly white. I don’t mean in terms of the fans themselves, although whiteness also figures prominently in said fandoms: I mean that the source materials themselves feature very few POC, and the ones who are there tended to be done dirty by the creators.

Periodically, this has led POC in fandom to point out, extremely reasonably, that even where non-white characters do get central roles in various media properties, they’re often overlooked by fandom at large, such that the popular focus stays primarily on the white characters. Sometimes this happened (it was argued) because the POC characters were secondary to begin with and as such attracted less fan devotion (although this has never stopped fandoms from picking a random white gremlin from the background cast and elevating them to the status of Fave); at other times, however, there has been a clear trend of sidelining POC leads in favour of white alternatives (as per Finn, Poe and Rose Tico being edged out in Star Wars shipping by Hux, Kylo and Rey). I mention this, not to demonize individuals whose preferred ships happen to involve white characters, but to point out the collective impact these trends can have on POC in fandom spaces: it’s not bad to ship what you ship, but that doesn’t mean there’s no utility in analysing what’s popular and why through a racial lens.

All this being so, it feels increasingly salient that fanwriting culture as exists right now developed under the influence and in the shadow of these white-dominated fandoms – specifically, the taboo against criticizing or critiquing fics for any reason. Certainly, there’s a hell of a lot of value to Don’t Like, Don’t Read as a general policy, especially when it comes to the darker, kinkier side of ficwriting, and whether the context is professional or recreational, offering someone direct, unsolicited feedback on their writing style is a dick move. But on the flipside, the anti-criticism culture in fanwriting has consistently worked against fans of colour who speak out about racist tropes, fan ignorance and hurtful portrayals of living cultures. Voicing anything negative about works created for free is seen as violating a core rule of ficwriting culture – but as that culture has been foundationally shaped by white fandoms, white characters and, overwhelmingly, white ideas about what’s allowed and what isn’t, we ought to consider that all critical contexts are not created equal.

Right now, the rise of C-drama (and K-drama, and J-drama) fandoms is seeing a surge of white creators – myself included – writing fics for fandoms in which no white people exist, and where the cultural context which informs the canon is different to western norms. Which isn’t to say that no popular fandoms focused on POC have existed before now – K-pop RPF and anime fandoms, for example, have been big for a while. But with the success of The Untamed, more western fans are investing in stories whose plots, references, characterization and settings are so fundamentally rooted in real Chinese history and living Chinese culture that it’s not really possible to write around it. And yet, inevitably, too many in fandom are trying to do just that, treating respect for Chinese culture or an attempt to understand it as optional extras – because surely, fandom shouldn’t feel like work. If you’re writing something for free, on your own time, for your own pleasure, why should anyone else get to demand that you research the subject matter first?

Because it matters, is the short answer. Because race and culture are not made-up things like lightsabers and werewolves that you can alter, mock or misunderstand without the risk of hurting or marginalizing actual real people – and because, quite frankly, we already know that fandom is capable of drawing lines in the sand where it chooses. When Brony culture first reared its head (hah), the online fandom for My Little Pony – which, like the other fandoms we’re discussing here, is overwhelmingly female – was initially welcoming. It felt like progress, that so many straight men could identify with such a feminine show; a potential sign that maybe, we were finally leaving the era of mainstream hypermasculine fandom bullshit behind, at least in this one arena. And then, in pretty much the blink of an eye, things got overwhelmingly bad. Artists drawing hardcorn porn didn’t tag their works as adult, leading to those images flooding the public search results for a children’s show. Women were edged out of their own spaces. Bronies got aggressive, posting harsh, ugly criticism of artists whose gijinka interpretations of the Mane Six as humans were deemed insufficiently fuckable.

The resulting fandom conflict was deeply unpleasant, but in the end, the verdict was laid down loud and clear: if you cannot comport yourself like a decent fucking person – if your base mode of engagement within a fandom is to coopt it from the original audience and declare it newly cool only because you’re into it now; if you do not, at the very least, attempt to understand and respect the original context so as to engage appropriately (in this case, by acknowledging that the media you’re consuming was foundational to many women who were there before you and is still consumed by minors, and tagging your goddamn porn) – then the rest of fandom will treat you like a social biohazard, and rightly so.

Here’s the thing, fellow white people: when it comes to C-drama fandoms and other non-white, non-western properties? We are the Bronies.

Not, I hasten to add, in terms of toxic fuckery – though if we don’t get our collective shit together, I’m not taking that darkest timeline off the table. What I mean is that, by virtue of the whiteminding which, both consciously and unconsciously, has shaped current fan culture, particularly in terms of ficwriting conventions, we’re collectively acting as though we’re the primary audience for narratives that weren’t actually made with us in mind, being hostile dicks to Chinese and Chinese diaspora fans when they take the time to point out what we’re getting wrong. We’re bristling because we’ve conceived of ficwriting as a place wherein No Criticism Occurs without questioning how this culture, while valuable in some respects, also serves to uphold, excuse and perpetuate microaggresions and other forms of racism, lashing out or falling back on passive aggression when POC, quite understandably, talk about how they’re sick and tired of our bullshit.

An analogy: one of the most helpful and important tags on AO3 is the one for homophobia, not just because it allows readers to brace for or opt out of reading content they might find distressing, but because it lets the reader know that the writer knows what homophobia is, and is employing it deliberately. When this concept is tagged, I – like many others – often feel more able to read about it than I do when it crops up in untagged works of commercial fiction, film or TV, because I don’t have to worry that the author thinks what they’re depicting is okay. I can say definitively, “yes, the author knows this is messed up, but has elected to tell a messed up story, a fact that will be obvious to anyone who reads this,” instead of worrying that someone will see a fucked up story blind and think “oh, I guess that’s fine.” The contextual framing matters, is the point – which is why it’s so jarring and unpleasant on those rare occasions when I do stumble on a fic whose author has legitimately mistaken homophobic microaggressions for cute banter. This is why, in a ficwriting culture that otherwise aggressively dislikes criticism, the request to tag for a certain thing – while still sometimes fraught – is generally permitted: it helps everyone to have a good time and to curate their fan experience appropriately.

But when white and/or western fans fail to educate ourselves about race, culture and the history of other countries and proceed to deploy that ignorance in our writing, we’re not tagging for racism as a thing we’ve explored deliberately; we’re just being ignorant at best and hateful at worst, which means fans of colour don’t know to avoid or brace for the content of those works until they get hit in the face with microaggresions and/or outright racism. Instead, the burden is placed on them to navigate a minefield not of their creation: which fans can be trusted to write respectfully? Who, if they make an error, will listen and apologise if the error is explained? Who, if lived experience, personal translations or cultural insights are shared, can be counted on to acknowledge those contributions rather than taking sole credit? Too often, fans of colour are being made to feel like guests in their own house, while white fans act like a tone-policing HOA.

Point being: fandom and ficwriting cultures as they currently exist badly need to confront the implicit acceptance of racism and cultural bias that underlies a lot of community rules about engagement and criticism, and that needs to start with white and western fans. We don’t want to be the new Bronies, guys. We need to do better.  

[tetsuuji]

Congratualtions! Can I request prompt 1 from angst for childe?

Pairing: Childe x gn!Reader

Prompt: “And that's how you ruin a life. Congratulations.”  1k Followers Event Post

Style: Scenario; Angst

Word Count: 629

Warnings: Anger, swearing, pinning, slapping, dubcon kiss

Notes: This is one big brain moment, considering Childe's personality/title/actions. Love, love, love. Thank you, anon!

  “You bastard,” Name cussed at him through their teeth. Childe deserved to be called like that, yet he craved more. He wanted to see them fight. He needed to see what he did to them, what other emotions they were hiding.

Rising anger took over Name’s mind as Childe showed up on their doorstep. With his hands inside his pockets, he leaned on the wooden frame gazing into their furious eyes. He was aware of the incoming reaction. After all, he was behind their unfortunate situation. He was in charge of Northland Bank and its doings. If the Bank took over something for whatever reason, he was the one signing the papers. Even if Name’s family establishment was in question, he ought not to do much about it.

It also made it all the more interesting when he saw them worked up like that.

“Now, now; no need to hurt my poor Snezhnayan heart like that.” A playful smirk that formed on his glistening lips made them think of bruising it just so it disappeared the same way it showed up. But they knew Childe would enjoy that side of them. They knew he wanted them to inflict pain, and Name would lie saying how they did not want to do the same. But they put the growing aggressiveness aside, deciding he was not worth the amusement.

“You ruined my family’s business! You ruined my life, Ajax, my life!” Name was thankful enough their neighbors were not around to hear them yell at him, not noticing his lip tilting on a mention of his real name. Nobody knew about their struggles, but Name hoped the Bank could help them. They hoped he could help them. “You want me to congratulate you on that? Well, congratulations! Now fuck off.”

They were ready to slam the door in front of him, but he stopped it with one swift move of his foot. His eyes became a tint darker, as he hovered above their shaky figure. Name’s breathing got shallow, the anger overtaking what was left of rationality within them. However, they could not ignore his intimidating face; the same face that pulled them closer just a day before.

Oh, how they wished everything ended up differently.

“Mm, that is not how you talk to your boss, Name.” His husky voice filled the space between them, causing vigorous shivers to race across Name’s skin. Although they groaned, his words triggered the annoyance that was pilling up inside them. And just like that, they raised their hand and slapped him across his left cheek, making his head turn a bit. A burning pain spread across the side Name’s palm connected to his face, causing the bright irking redness to float out on the surface.

As another shameful grin graced his expression, Childe grabbed both of their hands and raised them above their head, only to latch his lips onto Name’s. His tongue found its way inside their mouth, exploring every inch of them for the nth time. Like he had never kissed them before. While holding them in place, as he felt Name’s legs starting to tremble, his ego inflated on the thought they were still weak for him after everything. And the returned kiss proved him the same.

Part of him felt guilty it was them who had to suffer, but he was just doing his job.

“Tartaglia for you,” Childe whispered into their ear as he broke the kiss, and kissed their flushed cheek before leaving them buried in the same spot, waving away. They hated themselves for enjoying his lips. They disliked how they fit in with theirs, even after all the negative he just put them through.

Why did they still want him, although he did not care enough?

[emsartwork]

i forgot to add: how do design ????!?!??????

So I’m not expert but this is how I think of character design! (also sry if you were asking about clothing/outfit design thats a little different)

under the cut because this is long im so sorry

So in my opinion there are three really important aspects for character design!

AESTHETIC: obviously everybody’s aesthetic is different, but this is more about what vibe the character has, what makes them THEM design wise. 

INTENTION: who is the character supposed to be? this can range from their personality, their back story, their occupation, or their role in the story, but the design need to fit that intention.

COHESION: does the design go well together? or do certain aspects clash too much? obviously you can have disjointed parts of a character design, and if those serve a purpose then thats fine, but if its so disjointed its distracting from the character as a whole you might need to tweak things. 

AESTHETIC: the contrasting part of the design (white flowers in dark hair, dark trim on dress, and dark shoes) provide interest to the eye. The mixing of round and sharp shapes also keeps the design from feeling “boring” even though its relatively simple. 

INTENTION: so what role would this little doodle character have? according to her design elements, shes cute and friendly with her round shapes (bouncy balls, babies, etc), but could have a sharp/fast/active or even dangerous edge to her with the triangles (arrows, knives etc). of course the design doesn’t limit her possible roles. She could be a bubbly younger sister who teases the older protagonist, or maybe she’s the villain hiding in plain sight. the shape this character design doesn’t really have is squares(think bricks and rocks), which communicates that she might not be really strong, steady, or reliable. 

COHESION: repeating the curves across her whole design builds cohesion, it communicates that “yes, these are all part of the same character”, it also allows the eye to “rest” on a familiar shape or line. 

NOW LETS LOOK AT SOME DESIGNS

(Boku no Hero Academia) so both of these characters are super heroes, but have vastly different design elements. so lets analyze them.

OCHAKO(the pink one) is all rounds, with a few pointed shapes in hair mostly, but a little on her costume as well. Her personality is cute, bubbly, and friendly which perfectly suits her soft and bouncy design. Howevre she also has a very slight edge to her, which is seen her determination and drive to improve herself over the course of the anime. 

KIRISHIMA(the red one) at first glance, seems to be super pointy!! shapes that are usually seen on villains or really dangerous characters, but while he IS sharp(literally sometimes) and sometimes aggressive, he is also made of squares, which perfectly suits his loyal “i gotchu bro” attitude towards most of the other characters in the anime.  

ISSUE AREAS: so the only problems i have with Ochako and Kirishima’s designs is that their costumes each have one area that clashes a little too much for my taste. With Ochako, the belt over the color blocking stripes down her crotch are......questionable taste wise. I think the design would be better if the pink chest ended above the belt in a shallow v. not only would this mirror the triangle aspects of her hair, it would fit the belt outline, and continue the trend her costume has of being “grounded” or “heavy”. Kirishima has those.... gears??? around his shoulders??? and while the gear teeth are technically squares, the gear shape itself is a circle, which is a shape that isn’t present anywhere else in his design. I think changing the gears to something similar to his boots or his mask/headgear would create a more cohesive design(also the gears just look hard to move in)

These two characters are presented as individuals so their costumes don’t have to match at all even though they are still seen as “connected” because of the art style for the face, hair, and body. 

In a group giving the outfits cohesive motifs is an easy way to present a strong team image! In Yuki Yuna is a Hero, the girls all have colored lines(usually princess seam placement), armor or fabric hip accents, covered arms, and similar flower shapes in their hair. The Aesthetic of each girl is strong in a monochrome signature color, but not over whelming as the black+white connects them even in color so they aren’t out of place. 

Speaking of color! if your characters are all similar looking (like same body for all of them) you can communicate their personality and aesthetic just with color! (only gonna talk about a few of the ponies) Pinkie Pie (the really pink one) is energetic and playful, so her color scheme is a variation of the primary colors(happy, child like), and have one of the more saturated colors(high energy, intense) of these characters in a large quantity. Apple Jack (the orange one) is a down to earth farm girl, and her color palette is accordingly, mostly earth tones, its also warm analogous colors, which makes her appear un-complicated and warm personality wise. the pop of red is a nice touch to add interest, but notice that its uses sparingly in her cutie mark and tail accessory. Rarity on the other hand is elegant and fussy, her high contrast scheme of white and dark blue/purples gives her more visual interest and is something that makes her appear more “complex” in addition to the gradient thats included in her hair. the colors are also all cool colors, bringing to mind cool glass or water which both have connotations of grace and beauty.

however all the characters here are unified by their colors being on the pastel side, which is also important for a cohesive cast.

another, short, note on color; making the color/line/shading of your figure different from the background can help them stand out, this is used ESPECIALLY in children’s media, but can be applied to any illustration or animation as needed.

Color can also help your characters “read” quickly on screen, the powerpuff girls are a prime example, of having a distinct color blocking and silhouette. even the color blobs at the top and my crappy hand silhouettes STILL read as the characters despite being broken down into abstract elements. I also really enjoy the thick outline in the powerpuff girls, it really makes the characters pop to the foreground even though they have pretty simple designs and are often in a colorful setting.

Also, for a lot of animation, silhouette is INCREDIBLY important for your characters, some designers sketch silhouettes and then design the particulars its so important to nail the shape. These examples from Coraline are some of my favorites (though Laika wins in my heart every time no matter what lmao) because the simple shapes are SO CLEAR and indicative of the character, you literally don’t need to have watched the movie to know these are each different characters with different personalities and roles. 

silhouette can also help tell the story. In Kubo and the two strings (another Laika film) the above three characters are sisters. One has chosen to leave her home in the heavens to live on earth, and the other two stay in their roles as “heavenly” warriors. This is even shown through their designs, the two sisters are weighted on top and their cloaks don’t even touch the ground, while the first woman has trailing, heavy sleeves, hair, and robes all grounding her and emphasizing her connection with the earth.

another example of shape/silhouette reflecting the story, In The Croods, the family of cavemen are for the most part very top heavy, with large torsos and arms, usually in a more hunched over position, while the newcomer, Guy, is bottom heavy with thin arms and stands more upright. In the plot, the family represents the old ways, the strength and rules that have helped them survive, they look like very stereotypical “cavemen”, while Guy resembles the modern man, and appropriately is associated with new ideas and forward thinking.

MORE SHAPES, in DC super hero girls each girl has a distinct personality emulated by her shape language. Zatana is dramatic curves and edges, Super girl is hard, straight edges against curves, giving her a solid muscular shape. Wonder Woman, though also strong, is taller and leaner, lending to a confident leader type. Green Lantern is slim, her lines all flow into each other giving her a go with the flow look. Bumble Bee is, of course, tiny, but her boots and gauntlets add weight and strength to her otherwise small frame. Batgirl is lanky and has a lot of pointed style lines, reminding the viewer of a skinny cat (ironic what with cat woman i know) or weasel which mirrors her preferred “sneaky” crime fighting style.  (also yes this was just an excuse for me to gush abt how much i love the dcshg designs shut up)

so in my opinion, Cartoon Saloon’s The Secret of Kells is PERFECT in aesthetic, intention, and cohesion. Kells focuses very strongly on creating silhouette WITHIN the larger figure shape via color and line, most of the characters pictured here have no neck, the one who does, Brendan, is the main character and the use of negative space that cuts into his shape is used to draw attention to him. Kells is also very strongly inspired by Medieval Illuminated manuscripts (namely, the book of kells lmao). The characters still manage to stand out against outrageously detailed backgrounds via their simple shapes and strong color blocking. 

Aisling, a secondary but very important character, is not human, and has a totally different shape language from the rest of the characters. She is thin and pointy, while most of the others are round or square. Aisling also has the most negative space making up her silhouette, compare the triangles made by her arms and legs in the above picture to the figures in the first image where everybody’s body is self contained with no negative space. She is also very different color wise, very pale and cool colored, as opposed to the warm saturated colors of the human characters. (yes this was another excuse to gush abt one of my fave pieces of media deal with it)

hopefully that wasn’t too rambley and actually helps? if yall have more specific design questions lemma know lol

[afishlearningpoetry]

Still seeing people call us a cult in 2021 😑 🚬 Is there anything that broke this blogging website's brains more than a 2010s BBC show?

Tbh and I’ll get to why it connects to what you’re saying but what really broke this website’s brains is the crab bucket culture of disposability and cycle of online abuse that it nurtured for years until it spread to the rest of the internet... like the early social justice awakening to the yfip blogs and call out posts and anonymous stalking and commenting (that carried over partially from livejournal/older fandom, tbf) that’s translated into like, faulty, second-hand sourced fanwiki websites tracking the perceived dancing with the devil transgressions of some person, a random stranger essentially, has made in their online life, and for what reason, really? For what purpose? Like I think a lot of us gained some awareness at a certain point that these tactics were thinly veiled guises to harass and take personal shots at basically random people for mostly petty reasons (clearly plenty of people are pretending that’s not what it is and went back to it), but I also wonder what it did to the brains of like the youngest people on here, who started using the website since they were children, not just high school age or close to, but even younger people.

That frame of mind is everywhere now, especially with younger fandoms, not just on here. Twitter is pretty terrible. I was watching the Mask Off video from Lindsay Ellis recently and it’s just horrifying to me the way this website essentially birthed that form of harassment. Every step of the way, the way that she (and Natalie, in her own video) detail how it happened is absolutely identical to how it happens on here, except it’s happening in daylight where public figures are in the same fight-to-the-death arena as the rest of us, which is what makes it easier to articulate. This is not to dismiss anything someone like Lindsay has to go through, considering what she disclosed in the video and that she’s been harassed by the alt-right for years, but she also has enough of an online standing to publicly face those charges and refute the majority of them. Like Natalie also said, but what happens to someone else? Someone with no name, or social or financial security, and that’s basically what I’m getting it. That kind of online abuse happening over and over and over and over again trickles down to everybody else. That’s what broke people’s brains. That’s what ruined this website.

And it isn’t just the reactionary, cringe culture post-fandom nihilism that shifted into online culture in 2016 and onwards (I’ve mentioned this before, like, the constant jokes about bad and infamous moments from tumblr), but harassment that still happens on here. You can accuse people of being a pedophile with no credibility, harass them about their eight year old fandom history, or dox and shame them out of public life without much effort, granted there are enough people willing to hop in the crab bucket with you. It has nothing to do with genuinely caring about anything but being an asshole. So for most of that to be distilled into people hate following tjlc (which was named such as a self-aware joke) for literal years when it was largely one of the most fun, positive, creative and dedicated fan spaces I’ve ever been in, and then finally having the wind at their backs to essentially cut everyone down and collect some heads because series 4 finally got the critical backlash they were waiting for to do so with widespread permission (they tried this with series 3, but it just didn’t take because the quality was too consistent), is severely aggravating.

I’ve had plenty of other, smaller negative experiences on here, whether they be trends or staples, and I’ve certainly contributed, but there’s always been enough good for me to stay. But after series 4 that was no longer the case. I just hit a breaking point where I couldn’t be as personally invested anymore, it got so bad. As much as I still want to come here for specific reasons and contribute what I can, I have a lot of trouble engaging with anything because I’m ready to see any new blog or topic I follow to dip into those same habits all over again, which is inevitably what happens. To watch anti-intellectual post-fandom nihilism — and if you’ve been here at all between end of 2016 to now you know the kind of attitude, posts, rhetoric and style of speech, and blogs I’m talking about — kind of dominate this website, has been a large part of why I only pop up sporadically. After Nov. 5th it’s been ironic watching so many people I’d describe that way unironically get into the paranormal show again. Not because I think that’s bad, I follows blogs that talk about it and think it’s cool, I made an edit at the time, or that anyone should be “above it”, we’re on tumblr after all, but because that kind of venomous behavior is still there underneath, like we’re not all also blogging specifically about superwholock shows.

A few months ago when someone accused me of being part of a q anon-level conspiracy and that we’re all “monsters of your own making”, this being before the capitol riot where dozens of members of the US house were nearly murdered en-masse, one of the things they said was that we couldn’t admit that our show was bad, but it was fine what they were doing with the other show because they were just having fun, and that we couldn’t, I don’t know, do anything or whatever about it until we were ready to admit our show is also bad. Which is a pretty revealing look into how that line of thinking, all the way from the early tumblr days, to other places like twitter, all the way back to here again has evolved despite staying the same. This bizarre blend of ironic detachment, self-deprecation, moralizing over a show’s perceived wrongdoings as perceived personal transgressions, bullying, rumors, fan wikis, and years of witnessing or being in on online harassment rewiring people’s brains to the point where not only is it impossible to do anything without jumping through twenty mental hoops before you do it, it’s essentially a both a constant threat and entry-level trial by fire into having any kind of existence in an online fandom space.

Of course it’s not just the barraging from people on here that’s contributed to that kind of culture, it’s everywhere else, because it spread everywhere. Think pieces by people not involved in the space, summaries of what happened mostly written by people who were hate following it to begin with, academic papers by ex-fans, faux-investigative pieces from wanna-be media critics trying to canonize their version of what happened into definitive internet history after preemptively blocking everyone involved so no one can respond to what they say — it’s extremely exhausting every step of the way. I can’t blame ex-tjlc people for just abandoning this place or any online space completely, because it’s still relentless four years later, and if the initial experience of series 4 wasn’t already distressing enough, whatever you think about it now, everyone’s faced the same challenge of being gradually smothered into relinquishing any ties to it through that cycle of shame that’s been perfected and streamlined right down to quick and recognizable beats on this website for over a decade.

[craftmanatee]

Dread X Collection: The Hunt Review

Me and my friend binged another Dread X Collection, this time is a 7 game "The Hunt" spin off!

I will be quickly reviewing each game from worst to best. The "review" is mostly kind of like an impression and hopefully will not spoil much even if you choose to play it, but I hope this will be a fun read.

Game X: The Hub (Alright)

Before starting the list... lets chat about the Hub.

An isolated snowy base is kind of underutilized as a setting for horror and being lonely. In DreadX hunt, this new "The Thing" inspired Hub area is kind of good, kind of meh and pretty new. In previous Dread X hubs, it is either a puzzler (Second collection) or a Point and click with too much story (Third collection). This one is an inbetween the two, which is nice and has some proper gameplay.

We recommend after each game that you put in the codes rather than all at the same time. Play a game, put the code in. There is a nicer pacing to it that way.

Anyways, this Hub is both good and ok. Lots of negative space to explore, but the actual gameplay that it insists is pretty cool for a Hub World.

Seraphixial By Vidas Games (Come on...)

What a pain.

I was not the player for this one.

Seraphixial is a pretty bad shooter, it was pretty nonsensical and there was a lot of unnecessary crap. The irritating noises, the re-used gimmick scares from their previous game. The shooting. It had some neat design ideas, but not really... At least it is not just a jumpscare fest, but it is definitely awfully annoying and looked pretty easy.

Not much else to say that this sucked, im sorry...

Black Relic By TorpleDook (Boring)

Im sorry, but it was boring, maybe not entirely.

I was the player for this one.

The black relic is a bit campy, gothic cult slaying action. But it does not really make anything threatening for there to be "action". It does have some world building and the campy nature does come off as funny. The enemies who are never a threat, made themselves to be entertaining by being so bad. Aesthetically is also nice from their game in the second collection, since now, they opted for a pixelated filter which hides the cheap polygonal look. I think this one is... barely passable.

Rose of Meat By Mr. Pink (Neat)

Nothing great, but it was a neat experience.

I was the player for this one.

Rose of meat is this surreal game about... I dont really know. Theres stuff here you can interpret but I didnt make the attempt to go so far. I did really like the behaviour of everything, and the dynamic of multi-use weapons. I feel as if Mr. Pink tapped into a bit of gameplay that a lot of shooters is missing.

Anyway, the game looks like a trip and is pretty hard to understand. It is also a bit funny and I think it was pretty alright.

Axis Mundi By Philip Hesselbäck (Alright!)

I was the player for this one.

Cool fatal-frame like "shooter". That even teaches you something. The game generally is not scary, but you can get caught by surprise here or there. I also especially liked the picture book puzzles, kind of reminded me of pokemon snap in a way.

There is not much to the game other than running around and defeating ghosts, each with their own level. But it was not bad and was diversive. I am certain that there is a final puzzle to the book that we could unlock, but it required going out of the museum hub to capture the picture. We never figured out how we would do that so we left it at that.

The House of Unrest By Dan McGrath (Nice!)

I was not the player for this one

A funny, point and click-ish action game about a priest taking down a demon that haunts a house. I loved the style, its quips were funny, the puzzles were a bit hard to figure out. Not so much FIGURING OUT, but rather Finding stuff. Not really scary, but pretty entertaining.

Quality wise, I wouldnt put this above Axis Mundi, but the fun in House of Unrest and its themes is what put this as third best game in the collection.

Uktena 64 By KIRA (Poggers!)

I was the player for this one

This is the most complete feeling game in the list.

I love the attitude for this game, it has some scary moments, ngl. The silence kinda makes it. But it is mostly a very arcady like hunting game. The style, the attitude and even the buildup in levels is great. The gameplay is fine. It has a bunch of secrets and references, and I cant believe they put that all together so fast.

There is a lot of secrets too, I wish I could revisit this game to see if there is more.

It was quite the journey (On heroic difficulty) and is rivaling the Top Spot with the next game.

The Fruit By Christopher Yabsley (GREAT!!!)

I was not the player for this one.

The only reason why I put this game over Uktena 64 is because it has unique horror themes and does them well, has great ideas for a Survival Horror game and ends great.

The rifle mechanic, exploration and spell book is all great, they also combined it with some good immersion with light and physics (Even if its not that particularly amazing). Simply seeing a patrol lit up in the dark approach your building has this tenseness to it (be it ready for action, or an oh shit moment). The story is also nice and has a good journey building up to the ending. It is not as "perfect" as Uktena 64, but it is absolutely refreshing and new.

You see, the best Dread X Collection games to me are the ones that try something new. In style, in mechanics, or in horror. This is why I put the Fruit up there as it did them together mostly well and felt like a proper game should take notes from it.

In conclusion

Dread X Collection: The hunt was... not as diverse as the others. It had a general FPS theme to it and only 7 games with more time to make them. I kinda like the Quantity over quality as some of the developers just nail it with something unique.

What was odd is that, many of these games had a Plant-based theme to them. I dont know exactly what it is but, thats what it had. It was definitely the weirdest running theme amongst the games because The second one had a "Fear of God" or "Lovecraftian" theme, while the third one had a theme surrounding Death despite being cutesy in aesthetic.

This one has themes surrounding roses, and plants and stuff. I cant quite wrap my head around why that is. Nature? Is the theme Nature?!

Oh well. This Dread X Collection imo is not as strong as the Third collection, so far the Second Collection is holding itself up as the best one despite having extreme bads and extreme goods.

[aspoonofsugar]

Nen and Characters: Morel and Knov

Morel and Knov, just like Knuckle and Shoot, are an older version of Gon and Killua. In other words, they are partners who efficiently complement each other and they have similar traits to respectively Gon (Morel) and Killua (Knov).

It is interesting to compare these three generations of partners. As a matter of fact both Knuckle and Shoot overcome their flaws/make progress, while, in Gon and Killua’s case, Killua grows, but Gon almost dies because of his unsolved issues. Finally, Knov is not able to face his flaw and leaves Morel to struggle alone:

It is as if the three couples of hunters offer different outcomes to the same kind of dynamic. In the meta about Knuckle and Shoot, I have written about the younger generations:

Shoot is meant to stay level-headed and to stop Knuckle from doing stupid things. This is how their partnership works, but here he completely gives up the role he is supposed to have and is simply honest with his friend. He feels humiliated by the fact that his opponent has not shown any respect for him and he wants Knuckle to avenge him because of this. It is not logical and it is surely not what Knuckle should do, but it is still what Shoot feels and this is why it is important for him to convey it and to make it known.

Shoot’s choice is the opposite of Killua. As a matter of fact Killua too has a moment where he has to choose if to be honest with a friend or to repress his feelings for the sake of the mission and he chooses to keep silent and not to convey how he feels to Gon. This ends up taking a toll on Killua and on his dynamic with Gon. He acts the best he can and avoids the mission to be compromised, but he also loses a chance to communicate with his friend and this leads to the both of them suffering later on.

Shoot’s choice to share his emotions with Knuckle might have been irrational and might have led Knuckle to put himself in danger, but is also something which strengthens the bonds between the two.

In this meta, the focus will be on the older one, so Knov, Morel and their bond will be analyzed.

KNOV: THE WORLD FROM A WINDOW

Knov’s ability is called Hide and Seek (Fourth-Dimensional Mansion)  and it says several things about the character.

First of all, its name perfectly describes what Knov does during the Palace Invasion. He basically spends the whole mission hiding from the ants and bringing his comrades to the safety zone once they are too wounded to keep going.

Secondly, it conveys Knov’s contradictions. As a matter of fact Fourth-Dimensional Mansion is a teleportation ability which conjures a home.

On one hand Knov can move both himself and others. It would appear that this power is built around the idea of bringing a little bit of every place one has been home. This seems confirmed by the fact that Knov’s portals can be open only in places he has visited himself.

On the other hand it was shown that Knov would use his power to drag people inside the mansion aka a place he is comfortable with, so that they can be imprisoned and killed:

In short, Knov’s ability seems to superficially represent freedom of movement, but it actually hides within itself Knov’s need of a comfort zone. Knov can go everywhere he has already visited, but he always takes a break home while doing so:

 This need is at the root of Knov’s breakdown:

As a matter of fact Knov is a victim of his own words:

He tells Killua that people tend to overestimate what they can’t comprehend. This is essentially what he does when he experiences the Royal Guards’ aura. As a matter of fact Knov is the character who has the worst reaction to the ants in general. Let’s highlight that the story makes clear that the ants are both monstruous and human. Whoever sees only one side of them is wrong. This is made clear by characters like Gon and Knuckle. On one hand Gon only sees Pitou as a monster and is distressed when he sees evidence of the contrary. On the other hand Knuckle’ s ideal of solving the conflict peacefully is naive and he must give up on it.

In short, the ants have a mix of negative and positive traits, just like the humans. Knov is a character who only sees one part of them and he is not able to face them and to better comprehend them:

It is not by chance that he is the one countering Knuckle’ s line of thought. It does not matter if Knuckle forged a bond with Youpi. This bond is destined to be broken because Youpi has a monstruous side which is unescapable. Knov does not care that what he has just described (a person hating someone who has hurt a loved one) is the same personality trait multiple human characters have.

Knov is too scared to see the ants as people and is stuck with the image he has of them as monsters. This is why he is not able to progress. All in all, Knov is a character who is not good at facing “otherness”:

This is mentioned even recently. Knov is the paradox of a hunter with a perfect ability to explore the unknown, but who is too scared to do it.

At the same time, him calling Killua out only to end up worse than him is important because Knov shares Killua’s flaw. In a sense, Knov is who Killua is scared of becoming:

Knov is a person who runs away because of fear and leaves his loved ones behind. He does not go to save Palm and lets Morel fight a monster alone. This is exactly what multiple mentor figures have told Killua he should not be like. However, the way Knov’s story plays out in the CAA suggests something interesting:

First of all, even if Knov is not able to fight, he still comes back to the palace to save his comrades. His breakdown does not stop him from saving Shoot and Morel. Later on, he also does his best to save Gon. So, him having limits as a person does not make him a bad friend, but only a human being. Different people have different breaking points. This does not make them unworthy of friendship and love.

This is also supported by others’ reaction to Knov. Nobody resents him and everyone appreciates his help in the mission. In the end, Knov’s bonds with others are not broken by his flaws:

MOREL: THE ACT OF LIVING

Deep Purple lets Morel change his aura in smoke with the help of his giant pipe. Once he does so, he can obtain different shapes and effects by manipulating the smoke itself.

It is a rather simple power, but it is also extremely flexible. In a sense, Morel, with the act of breathing (so with the act of living), changes a part of himself into multiple different things. This ability fits well in an arc about human potential because it conveys the persistence and creativity of humans. It might not be the strongest power ever, but it is still practical and adaptive. Moreover, if there is something Morel has shown he can do is to adapt to different situations. Knov always needs a familiar place nearby to feel safe, but Morel does not.

This difference is highlighted also by their fighting styles. On one hand Knov is not above using his house as a trap for his enemies. On the other hand Morel often ends up trapped in enclosed spaces by his enemies:

This is what happens both when Morel fights Cheetu and when he is up against Leol. Both times Morel is able to turn the tables and to win. These two battles can actually be read as representations of larger conflicts in a nutshell. In short, they can be seen as simplified explorations of the themes and the more complex dynamics of the arc.

Firstly, Morel’s battle with Cheetu is paralleled with Meruem and Komugi’s gungi game:

Both competitions have the chimera ant apparently take the lead. On one hand Meruem comes up with Kokoriko. On the other hand Cheetu successfully traps Morel in a game of tag. What is more, he is also able to use a new power to escape a dire situation. However, both Komugi and Morel are able to easily win because they have more experience than their opponents. Komugi explains she herself had invented Meruem’s move and a way to counter it. Morel shows Cheety how naive he is and how is using his own talents in the wrong way.

When it comes to Morel and Cheetu, it is interesting how they part in somehow friendly terms:

In a sense, Morel acts as some kind of mentor to Cheetu despite the two of them being enemies. This is strengthened by Cheetu being portrayed as childish and naive. The story makes clear he has talents he could use, but he is too immature to properly express them. Despite Morel’s advice, Cheetu is not able to overcome his flaws and ths is why he dies before being able to show his new ability. Both times he fights, Cheetu is not able to finalize his ability.

In summary, Morel’s fight with Cheetu shows two things.

a) The hunter’s strength lies in his intelligence and experience. This ability to evolve and to face unforeseen circumstances is among the qualities, which will lead to the victory of humanity.

b) Morel is a mentor figure to the point that he ends up mentoring even an opponent.

What about his fight against Leol?

Leol, differently from Cheetu, is framed as an equal to Morel:

Morel looks forward to the fight precisely because he recognizes Leol’s power and respects him as an opponent. This is highlighted also by Morel and Leol sharing similar musical tastes:

In other words, Morel more or less consciously sees humanity in Leol and this is why he is able to enjoy his fight with him. However, things change when he discovers Leol is using his friend’s power:

In this moment, Morel decides Leol has to die. What is ironic is that we, as readers, know Leol’s power is not even about stealing abilities, but it is about borrowing them. All in all, it is not even an ability too damaging to its victim. Despite this, Morel becomes more determined to kill Leol once he discovers he has targeted one of Morel’s loved ones.

This is basically what will happen with Youpi later on, even if the parts will be inverted. The Royal Guard will grow to respect his opponents, but he will later on refuse these feelings when his King is almost killed.

In short, Morel and Leol’s fight foreshadows how the conflict between humans and ants will end. After all, Leol himself is on of the “fake kings” who are trying to take Meruem’s place, so his defeat can be read as an anticipation of Meruem’s one. In particular, the two opponents’ conflict shows how complicated the relationships between ants and humans are. Even when the individuals show respect for each other, these emotions can be easily overridden by hate when loved ones are in danger. Finally, the difficult reconciliation between the two species is shown also by the way the fight ends:

Morel wins and kills Leol just by breathing. This means that the two species are destined to fight each other to the death just to be able to survive. There is simply not enough “air” for both.

Of course this happens because of how the world works:

Morel himself is frustrated by some of these laws, which go against his feelings and chain him to duty. He wants to act to save the people killed by the ants, but he must wait for the Palace Invasion, in order to maximize the chances of success. This necessity to chain one-self to duty is something which reaches its climax in Morel’s fight against Pouf:

Interestingly, this is the only one of Morel’s fghts where he is the one trapping his opponent and not the other way around. However, Morel is trapping himself as well:

But, in the end, he chooses his feelings for his mentees and lets go of Pouf. He might have done the wrong thing strategically and loses his weapon. Still, he is able to save Knuckle just in time and to fight freely.

In conclusion, Morel represents the best of humanity. He has all the positive qualities celebrated in the CAA. He is resourceful and able to learn. What is more, he greatly values his comrades.

This last trait is also ironically what goes in the way of him bonding with his opponents. This is interesting and contradictive. Bonds with others can both help in overcoming differences, but can also make these differences deeper. Like Knov has stated, people may become monsters for the people they love.

SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF THE OLD GENERATION

Knov and Morel are two adults and as such they are in a different point of their lives from our protagonists. This has both advantages and disadvantages.

On one hand they have a more solid sense of identity, like Morel. On the other hand, they struggle more to face their flaws, like Knov.

However, they are also stable enough that they can accept each other’s shortcomings without entering in a conflict. While both Knuckle/Shoot and Gon/Killua change their dynamic during the mission, Knov and Morel’s one is solid enough not to be modified by the experiences they live. It is a bond strong enough to support them both.

At the same time, as adults, Knov and Morel are less free than Gon and Killua. Gon and Killua act to change things they disagree with, like the association’s decision to sacrifice thousands of people. Knov and Morel are too conditioned to accept such sacrifices, even if they dislike them.

Finally, it is interesting that both Morel and Knov do a lot in the beginning, but leave the mission early. It is as if their role is to prepare the terrain for their students who will succeed in completing the mission.

Thank you for reading!

If you are interested in other analysis of HxH characters through their nen abilities here is a list of the ones I wrote up until now:

-Nanika

-Kurapika and Chrollo

-Killua and Illumi

-Gon and Hisoka

-Meruem and Komugi

-Palm Siberia

-Neon Nostrade

-Neferpitou and Shaiapouf

-Kachou and Fugetsu

-Menthuthuyoupi

-Ikalgo and Welfin

-Knuckle and Shoot

-Razor and Genthru

-Pakunoda, Senritsu and Biscuit

[vividracing]

New Post has been published on https://www.vividracing.com/blog/top-8-best-mods-for-the-ford-f-150/

Top 8 Best Mods for the Ford F-150

The Ford F-150, often called America’s pick-up truck, boasts a best-selling record and solid reputation. The F-150 consistently delivers impressive power, performance, off-road capability, and attractive styling. Over the years, Ford’s flagship truck has continued to exceed customer expectations to become what is it today. The latest F-150 is purpose-built to be relentlessly tough with a military-grade, aluminum-alloy body and torture-tested, high-strength steel frame to get the job done and get it done smarter. Ford combined premium muscle with fine-tuned intelligence and a rugged design to check all the boxes truck owners want in one complete package. Even with that, many owners browse the aftermarket for ways to customize their pick-up to either set it apart from the rest or enhance its natural DNA. There is a plethora of options to take the F-150 even further in terms of looks, sound, efficiency, and proven power gains. The following is a list of the top 8 mods you can to do your Ford F-150 to bring it to the ultimate level.

1. Tonneau Cover

  Add some versatility, along with a slew of other benefits, with a tonneau cover for your Ford F-150. While having a big truck bed can be great, it can also come with some negatives. Sure, you can haul around a large volume of gear, cargo, and equipment back there, but then comes Mother Nature and passersby with sticky fingers. It can be hard to protect your belongings when they are just out in the open like that in terms of both keeping them dry from the weather and secure from onlookers. An unprotected truck bed can also become damaged, itself, and corroded easily from exposure to harmful UV rays, heavy rain, and snow. Heavy winds can also blow some of your things out of the truck and cause debris to blow in and collect there.

A tonneau cover lets you have the best of both worlds with options ranging from soft and hard variants, rolling, retractable, or folding bed covers. Also, having one of the most popular trucks in the world, having a slew of options to choose from when it comes to functionality, styling, and price points is amazing. A tonneau cover will also add a sleeker and more streamlined appearance for your F-150’s back end and can even add an aggressive look depending on the material you choose. On top of all that, an open pickup truck bed generates aero drag which can cause the engine to work harder and consume more fuel. A bed cover is a great investment for all the aforementioned reasons and improving your fuel economy too.

Shop Tonneau Covers for Ford F-150 Here. 

2. VR Tuned Flash

No matter if your Ford F-150 is equipped with the 2.7L EcoBoost V6, 3.5L EcoBoost V6, or the 5.0L Coyote V8 engine, a VR Tuned ECU flash can be highly beneficial. Our ECU upgrade transforms your truck to a whole new level offering a more enhanced driving experience. With a VR tune, you will experience quicker throttle response, increased torque, and more horsepower with top-end pull to redline. All in all, the driving characteristics and drivability of the Ford F-150 are vastly improved while providing you with additional benefits that your truck craves. After all, an ECU flash gives you reliable performance when you need it most and helps squeeze out the potential power of your vehicle – especially when paired with other mods.

The Ford F-150 has untapped resources and VR tuned can help get more power out of it with improved performance and dyno-proven gains. And, while dyno sheets are great to show where power is actually made, what is more important is how it drives on the street. Enjoy better throttle response, quicker 0-60mph times, and a stronger pull on the highway. For automatic F-150s, their shifting is cleaned up while the rev limiter on both is raised to give you faster acceleration times. This is the optimal tune for 93 octane vehicles. 91 octane vehicles can expect similar performance but with slightly reduced figures. VR Tuned alters the factory timing and fueling maps to offer reliable, safe, and strong peak performance gains. All tuning is done via the OBD2 port using the new HPTuners MPVI2 system.

Shop VR Tuned Products for Ford F-150 Here. 

3. Air Intake

There is a reason why upgrading your vehicle’s air intake is one of the first mods most enthusiasts look into. That’s because it boasts a healthy list of benefits at a reasonable price point and is super simple to install. Swapping out the restrictive stock air intake system on the Ford F-150 is one of the cheapest ways to gain additional horsepower and torque while also improving overall performance. While an air intake alone will not add quite as much power as other engine products, it will help your engine in a number of ways like delivering better airflow, reducing air temperatures, and increasing fuel economy. On top of all that, it will also add a nice, throaty growl to your F-150 when you step on the gas.

Due to where your Ford F-150’s factory air intake is located under the hood, your engine is breathing air that has been warmed by the heat of the engine. Warm air is less dense and has a lower oxygen content, while cool air is denser and contains more oxygen. More oxygen means a more complete combustion cycle and more power. This is why cold air intakes are so popular. They are designed to bring in cooler air that is not heated by the engine to improve performance and deliver added power gains. Other advantages include better acceleration and vehicle responsiveness, improved gas mileage, less frequent servicing (because of better filters), and a burly soundtrack. 

Shop All Air Intakes for Ford F-150 Here. 

4. Exhaust System

While Ford’s EcoBoost V6 engine promises better fuel economy together paired with satisfying performance and adequate capability, it lacks in the aural department. Thankfully, the automotive aftermarket can improve the sound of your truck, and the easiest way of doing that comes in the form of an exhaust system. Upgrading the stock restrictive exhaust can really elevate your driving experience and provide better airflow that translates to additional horsepower and torque along with higher fuel economy figures. A cat-back exhaust system is a common upgrade for the Ford F-150 as it is an affordable way of gaining better performance and sound with enhanced looks to boot.

Traditional exhaust systems are designed to be quiet, unassuming, and restrictive. Keeping in mind that the EPA focuses on virtually everything leading up to the catalytic converters, changing out the stock cat-back system for an aftermarket upgrade is a fast and easy way to transform the overall personality of your truck without sacrificing emissions. Implementing a cat-back system will allow the engine on your F-150 to breathe more freely, increase power, and improve gas mileage while adding a more stylized appearance and bolder exhaust note. They are also usually made from lighter materials that contribute to fuel efficiency and maximum acceleration while holding up to the elements better than the factory system.

Shop All Exhaust System for Ford F-150 Here. 

5. Sliders/Nerf Bars

We can all agree that trucks have gotten much bigger within the past few decades. Even an average F-150, today, sits higher over traffic than it has before. So, if you aren’t the tallest, have hip or knee issues, or have young kits that need to climb up into your truck, a set of nerf bars can come in handy. After all, they do say work smarter and not harder, right? The aftermarket offers a wide range of nerf bars, drop steps, running boards, and rock sliders for your Ford F-150. There are even power ones that drop down when the door opens to give you a step up, and then tuck back away once you close the door again. No matter what your needs are or budget it, there are plenty of options out there for you.

Nerf bars are popular because of their sleek, yet rugged appearance. Compared to running boards, they have a narrower stepping surface. Standard nerf bars tend to be two to six inches in diameter, with a round or oval shape. Drivers can choose between different materials and finishes, including polished stainless steel, carbon, matte, textured, plastic, or aluminum. No matter what material or length you choose, you can be confident that nerf bars deliver a perfect balance of aesthetics and functionality.

Nerf bars make it much easier to enter and exit the truck while providing a stable place to step when accessing items on the roof or in the bed. Since nerf bars stick out slightly farther than the wheels and body, they offer a level of defense against scratches and other damage. For example, if the vehicle next to you accidentally flings their door open or a runaway shopping cart comes your way, the damage will be on the nerf bar rather than on the door or paint job. In the same fashion, nerf bars protect against rocks, branches, and other debris that may come up when traveling down the road or out on the trails.

Shop All Nerf Bars for Ford F-150 Here. 

6. Lift Kit

A lift kit (or leveling kit) can elevate the handling, overall capabilities, and ride height of your Ford F-150. This is a great mod to do if you are making cosmetics changes, like new wheels, or if you want enhanced off-road performance. Typically, lift kits are used to create more space to fit meaty tires as well as increased ground clearance for the trails. With a lift kit, you will experience anywhere from 3 to 12 inches of additional ground clearance which allows for wheels that measure up to 35 inches in diameter (or more)! Lift kits are certainly the best option for heavy-duty off-road enthusiasts, as they can greatly improve your truck’s abilities in the mud, sand, snow, and other rugged conditions. Apart from the functional benefits of a lift kit, this package will also change the appearance of your F-150 to give it a more aggressive aesthetic at a mere standstill.  

So, whether you are looking to upgrade your tires for more traction and wheel travel or you just want that meaner look without altering the towing capacity, lift kits are a great way to go. The aftermarket offers an impressive range of options and sizes from trusted brands that will have your Ford F-150 looking and driving its best. Body lift kits are designed to lift your truck two to four inches higher by using a high-grade nylon spacer between the body and the frame. Suspension lift kits, on the other hand, are designed to lift the vehicle as high as the owner is comfortable with. Choosing between the two mainly depends on what you are looking to accomplish with your truck. If you just want to sit up a little higher behind the wheel, body lift kits are a more affordable and practical option. However, if you are looking to really take on the great outdoors and add some massive tires to your truck, go with the suspension lift kit instead. 

Shop All Lift Kits for Ford F-150 Here. 

7. Wheels/Tires

The Ford F-150 is America’s top-selling truck and, for that reason, can be spotted virtually everywhere you go. If you are looking for a way to make your vehicle stand out among the rest of the herd, switching out the factory wheels is a simple and quick way to give your ride some added personality. Incorporating some new wheels gives your truck a customized look that makes a bold statement because we all know that the wheels can really make a vehicle. Just think of it as the shoes on a person – it can tell a lot about them. Whether you are in the market for a set of super-aggressive, rugged off-road, timeless classic, or minimalistic style wheels, there is something out there for everyone. 

While browsing the aftermarket for wheels, you may also want to pair up that set with some beefy tires – especially if you have a lift kit. You need to decide how big of a tire you want, which will depend a lot on the type of driving you will be doing. For example, 33-inch tires are a great entry-level option for trucks that will spend most of their time on highways and paved roads. This size provides a more aggressive look and some off-road capabilities. Going up to a 37-inch tire will give your rig an aggressive lifted stance with added ground clearance and offer great off-road performance. The type of driving will also influence the type of tire you purchase, i.e. all-terrain vs. mud-terrain.

Visit the Vivid Racing Wheel Shop Here. 

Visit the Vivid Racing Tire Shop Here. 

8. Custom VR Steering Wheel

You spend hours behind the wheel of your Ford F-150 truck when commuting, at work, and for road trips, so you may as well take your driving experience to the next level! A VR steering wheel will do just that, providing added comfort for your hands and an elevated interior look that goes to show that the little details can sometimes make the biggest differences. Your new VR custom steering wheel will be based on the Ford F-150 or F-250 OEM steering wheel cores. So, no matter the year or buttons your model has, Vivid Racing can make an upgraded steering wheel for you. Our factory alters the shape while keeping the original inner ring for safety. The upgraded product features beefier hand grips at 9 and 3 positions to deliver a more enhanced and in-control driving experience. 

The VR steering wheel shop boasts several different options to choose from so you can configure your wheel, including colored 12 o’clock rings, matching stitching, leather, carbon fiber, perforated leather, Alcantara, and more. And because these are crafted from a factory steering wheel core, you retain your original buttons and trim along with reusing your airbag. It’s important to note that this is not a simple cover but a completely re-engineered steering wheel based on your personal taste and needs.

Shop Ford F-150 Custom Steering Wheels Here. 

[ikkos]

﹅   000   ✩     一    THE SILHOUETTE !

“See the horizon. See the sun that’s coming awake there, or perhaps it’s retiring for the moon now; see the golds and pinks and the promise of a sunny day’s blue, or perhaps the indigos and violets stark behind stars. See the one that approaches, their gait and their pace and the clothes that hang off their figure. Most details are lost to the distance, but if you look and listen hard enough, you might be able to discern their identity…”

⠀

TW: Death.

—  Describe your muse as best as possible in a single sentence.

“She’s standing on a line between giving up and seeing how much more she can take.”

—  Describe your muse as horribly as possible in a single sentence.

“I just gotta kiss myself sometimes, I’m so f*cking pretty.”

— Describe your muse’s voice.

Honey drips at the seams every time her lips dictate any form of noise. It’s sweet, delicate, gentle - perhaps, formal. She has been trained since a young age to maintain posture and reduce aggressiveness or excessive negative language due to her growth of rank. The classes have always been about creating a purr as opposed to a stuttering, unconfident statement. As, for a woman, in such an industry, one must be taken seriously by the way they stride or maintain themselves. Maybe if you leaned a little closer, listened a little more, there could be something seething in her undertones of dishonesty and toxic intentions.

— Describe your muse’s fashion sense.

Fashion to her is more than cute clothings, but rather an expression of personality, uniqueness, and showcasing her own self-confidence. From pleated skirts, thigh highs, short dresses, and high heels - she’s maintained the typical ‘rich girl’ aesthetic by the amount of high end brands endorsing her look. However, she enjoys a twist, her own sense of self in her clothings by either: cutting, restyling, recoloring, or repurposing.. which makes all of her closet options simply distinctive to only her. Nothing about her fashion sense would be found on anyone else, but her. It is what she has taken the most pride in over the course of several years as her style continuously evolves into something of a more formal business woman. No, you won’t ever catch her looking basic, even if she’s dead.

— Give a quote of something your muse has said before.

“How many funerals can someone attend before they’re twenty?” Black adorned her frame a little too perfectly for the event, at least, if you ignored any dark circles coated underneath her eyes that were negligent to constant appraisal; yet the mirror mounted in-front of her paid no mind to highlighting all of those small details to her. She knew she looked like a mess and didn’t need the untrustworthy reminder. “Miss. Jeon, that’s inappropriate.” Komi’s eyes rolled at such a statement since she nearly forgot someone else accompanied her in the tight space. “But, it’s true.”

— What fable, mythic, or fairy tale character would your muse best play the role of?

Sleeping beauty; her favorite princess.

“Princess Aurora (also known as Briar Rose) is the protagonist of Disney's 1959 animated feature film, Sleeping Beauty. She is the daughter of King Stefan and Queen Leah. On the day of her christening, Aurora was cursed to die by the evil fairy Maleficent. Due to the efforts of three good fairies, the curse was altered to instead draw Aurora into a deep sleep that could only be broken by true love's kiss.”

— Which archetype best describes your muse?

The Lover.

“The lover archetype represents play and sensual pleasure. They like to live in the moment and are appreciative of the physical environment. They try to be more attractive physically, and emotionally. They crave intimacy and enjoy being in a relationship with people. The lover archetype is also known as a friend, spouse, team builder, partner, and sensualist. The lover archetype is probably the most passionate, but they have a tendency to lack discipline. They want to stay young, innocent, and pure. They remain one of the most likable of archetypes.”

— Which temperament does your muse have?

Sanguine 21, Phlegmatic 12, Melancholic 6, Choleric 8.

“Your temperament is Sanguine. The Sanguine temperament is fundamentally spontaneous and pleasure-seeking; Sanguine people are sociable and charismatic. They tend to enjoy social gatherings, making new friends and tend to be boisterous. They are usually quite creative and often daydream. However, some alone time is crucial for those of this temperament. Sanguine can also mean sensitive, compassionate and thoughtful. Sanguine personalities generally struggle with following tasks all the way through, are chronically late, and tend to be forgetful and sometimes a little sarcastic. Often, when they pursue a new hobby, they lose interest as soon as it ceases to be engaging or fun. They are very much a people persons. They are talkative and not shy. Sanguines generally have an almost shameless nature, certain that what they are doing is right. They have no lack of confidence.”

— Describe your muse’s favorite memory.

Four years old, a memory at its earliest stage, yet so delicate and precious. The young girl trotted after her father in a near skip, smiles echoed on both of their features. This was the first time she found herself glued to the man’s side in endearment rather than fear; something of a new emotion for her to experience. But, It was only given that her attention faltered onto the beautifully decorated frames of different generations alongside the wall by her. Curiosity at its finest, one that her father indulged in while they toured the vacant manor. “One day it’ll be your’s, darling. Your own castle that you can protect.” At the time, of course, she didn’t fully understand the definition behind his words, yet the idea alone gave nothing but a euphoric feeling as her fingers laced together with his. “You can do that for me, right?”

— Name something your muse will always believe in.

Destiny & soulmates.

— Name a song that would play during the opening of a movie about your muse’s life.

Worst Behavior by Ariana Grande

— Going out or staying in?

Going out.

— Read the book or watch the movie?

Read the book.

— Talk during a movie or absolutely not?

No. What do you think this is?

— Sing to a song, hum along, or people should just stay quiet and enjoy listening to the song?

She wouldn’t be able to decide herself.

— Windows up while you’re driving or roll them down?

Wait, she’s allowed to drive?

— A wizard casts a spell on your muse that reveals their true colors. No, literally. The wisp of an aura is beginning to form around your muse. What color is it?

Crimson twirled around her in a deep fog. It felt suffocating as if air was forced out of her lungs within mere seconds, being replaced by nothing but the encasements of red. She knew very well that she deprives herself into two different personalities. She just didn’t expect the full showcase to cause such an intense pressure down against her chest. Red..? The color of love, creativity, passion, adventure, energy, and so many more beautiful things. Although, all she could think about were the color’s relativity to danger and aggression. There’s no way to tell which is the true or honest tell of her character.

— A wizard casts a spell on your muse that reveals their true nature. Smoke curls around your muse, accompanied by distant sounds of wildlife. When the smoke clears, what animal is standing in your muse’s place?

The previously suffocating smoke finally cascades from her senses. Opposed to the expected, a small fox appears in her wake, sounds of birds and leaves in the wind peeking from the distance. Many appeal to the fox as an ideal spirit animal by the way they follow signs of loyalty, independence, adaptability, beauty, and positive signs of luck. This is something she felt she could agree with as well as understand despite the strange circumstances. It’s what she didn’t know is the entire reason behind her revealed spirit; that the foxes are the royalties of mischievousness and tricks.

— A wizard (is this still the same wizard?) casts a spell on your muse that allows them to see what they most desire right here, right now, right in front of them. What do they see?

It seems these strange events never stop. This realization dawned on her the moment a figure shaped in-front of her, a figure so familiar yet unknown. The figure reached out to her with worry printed on their ghostly features. She didn’t know how to react at first, it was only natural that her hand reached out to his, an unforced smile tugging at the edges of her lips. When their fingers touched, all shades of color and light became possible. It became easy. It felt like fireworks plus all previous negative emotions or pressures ceasing to exist in his wake. She believed that this was her fate, the one she’s destined to be with. At least, until the figure lifted her small frame off the floor in a more maternal stance. Her eyes grew wide while everything around her froze. “Fa-..”

— A wizard (why haven’t they given up yet?) casts a spell on your muse that forces them to see what they are most afraid of. What do they see?

Within an instant, everything vanishes from her line-sight. Nothing but pure darkness surrounds her, not even indications of time or location. Her heart begins to pound inside her chest as panic shivers its way down every nerve and fiber of her being. Where is she? Where did everyone go? The girl paces back and forth before eventually running anywhere she could go without truly feeling like she’s moving at all. In the end, her body falls down to her knees as weakness or hopelessness settles into her bones; a broken sob stuck in the back of her throat. Being alone is the most tragic feeling anyone could experience.

[couriersiccs]

i finally got diagnosed with ADHD.

it has taken. twenty-five and a half YEARS of my life to understand and achieve.

it was never noticed growing up because no one knew what the fuck ADHD even WAS. it was a little boy who couldn’t sit still and that’s like IT that’s all anyone knew.

it wasn’t me having a stutter because, quoting my mom, “my brain goes too fast for my mouth to keep up.” (that is LITERALLY ADHD.) it wasn’t me being, quoting my dad, “silly-dally Sally” in the morning, getting distracted and taking forever to get ready on time for school. it wasn’t me in 2nd grade loudly saying “i already KNOW THIS” and falling asleep in class. it wasn’t my theater director WATCHING ME SPACE OUT while she talked to me. it wasn’t me lashing out against kids who bullied or teased me. it wasn’t me being the kid that everyone only knew as “quiet” and “nice” and “weird.”

i got good grades, and i had a couple friends, was “conscientious” and a “pleasure to have in class.”

but i didn’t get good grades through conventional methods. i found other ways. i figured out how much homework i needed to do to pass and did ONLY that much. i figured out how to write well, mostly because i loved writing, so i could make an essay SOUND nice even if it was 100% bullshit. i didn’t study - i NEVER fuckin studied. my notes were incomprehensible and usually incomplete. instead, i figured out how teachers wrote the quizzes and tests. i wrote what i thought THEY thought was the right answer. figured out how often they hid answers in previous questions. how they framed the correct multiple choice answer within the wrong ones. memorized facts, didn’t necessarily understand them. didn’t necessarily learn what they were teaching. i relied heavily on hard deadlines for the pressure as motivation, and usually turned shit in late, but not too late too often.

so because “nothing was wrong with me” my mom had certain expectations. and no matter what i did, i couldn’t live up to them. they always felt out of reach. part of me wonders, if i didn’t have ADHD, maybe i could’ve. but she was also an emotionally abusive alcoholic with undiagnosed BPD, so probably not. but still.

so then her fear-based, controlling authoritative parenting style, excessive criticism, and repetitive reminders of what i wasn’t accomplishing for reasons that were beyond me but still definitely my fault, and i GUESS plus being raised a repressed catholic, came the guilt, the depression, the anxiety. which, fueled by ADHD, became negative, shaming, cyclical rumination, which became intense self-loathing and hopelessness that went on for years. and YEARS.

my relationships suffered. my creativity suffered. i suffered, tremendously, and i didn’t even know why. just that i was hurting and the only culprit was myself.

and then i moved out at 19 and realized my mom had abused me. and then i fully accepted that i was gay. and then i had friends who really, truly supported and loved me, watched them grow. i had a teacher who showed me how his life and his work changed dramatically after addressing his mental health as an adult. and i decided that, if i was going to survive, i would need to do the same.

i’m going to start medication after next month’s appt and i’m so excited that it might help and so scared that it won’t because it just seems too good to be true, that everything that’s hindered me thus far will start to fall away and i’ll be able to live the life i want to live. i’m working with my therapist on the trauma front and i’m hoping to pick up new, healthy habits along the way, but it’s terrifying to imagine a future where it all works out and i’m happy and thriving because i’m still just worried it won’t happen because what if it IS just me, maybe it really IS ME, this is how i’ll ALWAYS be, and there’s NOTHING i can do to change that.

and then i hug my dog and breathe and then continue to take it one day at a time. i wanna get better by bleachers plays from the other room. i take a nap and schedule time to write fanfiction and take care of myself in the ways i wish i’d been taken care of before, but i wasn’t, so it has to be done now, and i’m the only one who can do that.