#Animated learning resources

[gdsagorislam]

Visualizing Success: How Graphics and Motion Design Elevate Online Learning

In today's digital age, education has undergone a remarkable transformation. This title explores the critical role of graphics and motion design in this evolution. Discover how these creative elements are not just tools but catalysts for enhancing the online learning experience. Uncover the dynamic ways in which visuals and motion breathe life into educational content, making it more engaging, accessible, and effective than ever before. Join us on a journey to understand how these visual mediums are shaping the future of learning and paving the way for student success in the online education landscape.

[tutorialdrawix]

ART COURSES

PROKO (Youtube)

Dan Beardshaw

Modern Day James

Marc Brunet

Draw a Box

Artstation

Dibujar Bien (Youtube)

The Drawing Codex

[remidiy]

We Don't Gatekeep Art Resources | A Comprehensive List

Here's a list of some of the tools/sites I currently use or have used previously for works/studies. I'll separate it into Software/Utility, Reference, and 'Other' which will be just general things that could help you map out things for your experience with art. **[Free highlighted in pink, paid highlighted in green. Blue is variable/both. Prices Listed in USD]**

Software/Utility:

2D

Krita Painting app (PC) (my main digital art software on PC for 5+ yrs)

Clip Studio Paint [PC] [CSP 2.0+ allows for 3d modelling within the painting app and a lot of other cool features] [apparently allows up to 6 months free trial]

Procreate (12.99) [iPad/iPad Pro] (the GOAT)

Artstudio Pro [iPad/iPad Pro] (An alternative to Procreate if you enjoy the more traditional art app layout) -- I find this app handy when Procreate is lacking a feature I need, or vice versa. (you can easily transfer files between the two, but keep in mind Procreate's layer limit)

2D "Collaborative Painting/Drawing apps"

Magma Studio

Drawpile

Discord Whiteboard

Gartic Phone (Pretty decent for 2d animation practice, but has a hard limit on frames)

3D

Blender [3D Modelling, Sculpting + Layout] (PC)

Sculptris [PC] (it's an old unsupported version of Zbrush, but can help to get ideas out, and functions better than browser sculpting apps

Nomad Sculpt [iPad/iPad Pro] ($20) Works pretty well if you prefer a mobile setup, but it is a bit intense on the battery life and takes some getting used to

References + Study

Magic Poser [ PC and Mobile ] Has both free and paid versions, I've made do with just the lite version before

Artpose ($9.99) [Iphone + Steam]

Head Model Studio [IPhone] A 3D head, with both a basic blockout version for angles, and a paid version with more detail

Cubebrush [simply search "[keyword] pose reference pack"], they usually have good results + they frequently have sales!

Line of Action [Good for Gesture practice + daily sketching], also has other resources built in.

Quickposes Similar to Line of action, more geared toward anatomy

Drawabox | Perspective Fundamentals Improvement modules (Suggested by @taffingspy )

Sketchfab, this skull in particular is useful, but there is other models that can help you study anatomy as well.

Pinterest can be good, you just have to be careful, usually you're better off just finding reference pack if you have the money, sometimes certain creators have freebies as well

Artstation Marketplace can be decent [make sure to turn on the Aye-Eye filter so it doesn't feed you trash], a colleague of mine recommended this head model for practicing facial blocking, there is also this free version without lighting.

Local Art Museums [Unironically good for studying old "master work" if you're into that, or even just getting some inspiration]

Brushes + Other Useful software:

I personally have used both of these brush packs before making my own

(I actually don't know how to share my daily brush set because I frequently switch between Krita, Procreate, and ASP, but once I figure that out I'll be sure to do that lol)

Marc Brunet's Starter brush pack [Technically free but supporting him for this if you like it is ideal, there's some good brushes]

Dave Greco Brush Pack [$3]

Gumroad in general is a good place to find brushes and art resources. *Note; for Krita specifically, brush packs are a bit weird, so it may require you to find different packs, or import them in a particular way

PureRef [PC] - Reference Compiler/Moodboarding

VizRef ($3.99) [iPad] - Moodboarding/Reference Compiler

Artist Youtubers/Creators that helped me improve/guide me along as a self-taught artist from when I first started digital art to where I am today:

Proko

Marco Bucci

Sinix Design

Sycra

Hardy Fowler

Lighting Mentor

Winged Canvas

Moderndayjames

Swatches

Chommang_drawing

Marc Brunet (YTartschool)

+ Observing a lot of speedpaint art by people whose work I enjoy on social media/youtube, trying to dissect their processes

If you've gotten this far, first of all, congrats, you can read a lot, and second of all, thank you for reading and I hope this helps! I'll continue to come back and update this if I find any new resources in the future, or if my processes change :)

Much Love,

-Remidiy

[barananduen]

Art Advice: The Misconception Behind "Study Realism"

Most people who draw anime/cartoons have, while asking for ways to improve, at one point or another been told to "study realism." A common response to this is, "But I don't want to draw realism!"

But, did you know that the purpose behind this suggestion is NOT so that you draw realism? They're not suggesting you change to a more realistic style. What, then?

Let's look at this through an analogy:

Say you don't know music yet and decide you want to learn how to play the Happy Birthday song. You're not interested in playing anything else, just the HB song, and you haven't started learning anything related to music at this point. OK, that's fine, and now we have our situation set up. Once you've decided this, you set yourself to learning the sequence of notes to the HB song. You practice and practice, and, after a while, you can play it really well without a hitch. After a few years, it starts feeling bland to you, and you ask, "How can I make my HB song better?" And someone tells you, "Learn all the other music notes," and "Study classical and other genres of music." And you reply, "But I don't want to play that type of music; I want to play the HB song!" (And that's FINE! It's valid; it's what you want to do.[*Footnote 1]) But without having learned all the other notes and other types of music, you can't make a remix of the HB song, or an "epic version," or a hip-hop-fusion version; you've capped at the end of the first paragraph of this story.

So drawing anime or cartoons is like playing the HB song, or any one song in our example.

And here's where our misunderstanding comes in:

"Study Realism" DOES NOT MEAN "Draw Realism"

Yes, you'll have to draw it to study it (not only your brain, but also your hand needs to learn the skill), but it doesn't mean that's what all your artwork will look like. It is meant to give you more tools to make your anime and cartoon work stronger, more appealing, and more unique.

How will it do that? The more music notes you know, the more types of music you understand and can play, the more original a remix /version of the Happy Birthday song you'll be able to make - and it will be unique. Because you will be able to take all that diverse knowledge and apply it to your song, making it stand out, and the next time you play the HB song, people will go, "Wow! This is a really cool version!"

So now we can be clear: There is a difference between learning something and performing it. You can perform whatever you choose, but by learning all the things, your performance of your "Thing of Choice" will be stronger.

What, Exactly, Will Studying Realism Teach You, Then?

I. VALUES

If you learn how to paint/shade with a full range of values (by learning realistic shading) that properly depict both volume and lighting, you will have no trouble simplifying that to cel-shading or gradient-shading in your anime or cartoon drawings, because you will at once spot when something is undershaded or the shadows are in the wrong spot.

On the other hand, if you try to do cel- or gradient-shading first, you are way more likely to a) undershade, and b) have an inconsistent light source. And when these things happen, you won't be able to tell *why* your drawing looks "off" or bland.

II. COLOR

By studying realistic coloring, you'll be able to learn how color varies across an item (say, a shirt) that is a "solid color." Example: you're drawing a character with a pink t-shirt, standing in the sun, at the end of the school day. The t-shirt is solid pink, however, the colors on it will vary from orange-ish to purple-gray, with some areas almost a bright red (and that's not even considering items around the shirt that would bounce light back onto the shirt and change its color). But you'll only know this (and how to do it) if you study realistic coloring.

Then you can apply that knowledge to your stylized artwork and make it stand out more.

Painting of a stylized pear, where I studied real pears to understand their coloring and texture. See how studying realism can enhance your cartoon work.

III. MAKE BETTER STYLIZED ANATOMY

By studying and learning realistic anatomy, you will be able to make stylized art that, for example, doesn't have one arm longer than the other, because you will have learned how to measure proportions, even if you don't draw realistic proportions. So that if you decide you want to draw unrealistically long legs (eg: Sailor Moon), you'll be able to make them look good and keep them consistent.

You will also be able to draw figures in any position, because you will have learned how body parts are made up and how they move, as well as foreshortening/perspective. Then, when you go to draw a pose you haven't drawn before, it will be WAY easier.

IV. UNDERLYING SHAPES

Although this is one of the least-mentioned aspects of art-learning, it is, in my opinion, one of the most important, because when you learn to see underlying shapes (the quasi-geometrical shapes that build up a figure), coupled with learning how to measure a form using other parts of the same form as reference (measuring the length of one body part by the number of times another body part fits in it, as mentioned in Section III, above), you will be able to DRAW. (Period.) You won't be able to draw just people. Or just wolves. Or just cats. You will be able to break down a new subject into its building blocks and come up with a very reasonable likeness. And whatever's different, you'll easily be able to make relative measurements to spot why and fix it.

Once you learn to identify underlying shapes and how to measure proportions in anything, you will also be able to pick up and reproduce any existing style without much trouble.

[link to Tumblr post with this artwork]

For example, this was my first time drawing anything Peanuts. I didn't have to do practice sketches for it (though there's nothing wrong with doing that). But I knew, from realism, that to achieve a good likeness, you need to measure body parts relative to other body parts, so I looked at Schulz's drawings and was able to determine: OK, Charlie Brown's head is roughly this shape, his body is so many heads tall, his eyes are this % of the head, the ears are this far in, the arms reach down to here, etc. I knew what to look for.

V. FOR THOSE WHO WANT SEMI-REALISM

If you want to do "semi-realism," you'll have a way easier time of it by learning realism and then stripping it down as much as you like, than by starting off with "100% anime" and trying to build it up without knowledge of realism. People think the latter is easier, because it *seems* less intimidating, but it's like trying to drive to a store you've never been to without knowing its address: you'll be driving around forever trying to find it, and it will be frustrating. What people call "semi-realism" is stylized realism, and you can't really hit it without knowing how realism works.

CLOSING NOTES

It also doesn't mean you should stop drawing anime/cartoons and focus solely on realism for X amount of time - you can do both concurrently. In fact, the most fun way to study realism is to do so on your favorite subjects; you can even turn your reference into your favorite character!

Studying realism is also one of the best ways to help develop your OWN, unique style; one which, when people look at it, say, "Oh, that's [your name]'s work!"

[*]Footnote 1: It is fine as long as you are drawing for yourself. As soon as art is a job and you're drawing for an employer, you have to draw in the style they tell you to. So, in this case, it's to your advantage to be flexible.

I hope this was helpful and helps clear up a common misunderstanding people go through when receiving feedback. 💞

MORE ART ADVICE ARTICLES

You can find the index to all Art Advice Articles [here] including:

How to Deal with Art Block

How to Have a Positive Outlook

How to Develop Your Own Style (coming soon!)

etc.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Animal Culture

Social Learning

Aristotle was the first to provide evidence of social learning in bird songs.

Charles Darwin was the first to suggest what became known as social learning in explaining the transmission of an adaptive behavior pattern seen in a population of honey bees.

Social learning - happens when behaviors are acquired through observation or are taught by other members of a social group (e.g., caregivers, siblings) or social institutions (e.g., schools, places of worship).

Social learning among humans is important because it means that we can avoid costly and time-consuming trial and error and at the same time multiply the power of individual learning (Boyd & Richardson, 2005).

Our collective brain power makes it possible for certain behaviors to become more adaptive and spread among groups.

Animal Culture

The actual phrase animal culture was first proposed by Japanese primatologists who discovered socially transmitted food behaviors on Koshima Island in the 1940s among Japanese monkeys.

The scientists observed a female monkey dunk a piece of potato in the ocean. Basically, she washed her food before she ate it and this innovation spread to a few other monkeys in the troop (the term for a group of monkeys).

Over time, the scientists observed gender (female) and age (younger) differences in the monkeys’ abilities to imitate and learn the behavior but potato washing persists on the island today, over 60 years later (Hirata, Watanabe, Kawa, 2001). 

Social learning and transmission has also been documented in whales, dolphins and chimpanzees, as well as other animals:

WHALE SONGS

Male humpback whales produce various songs over their lifetime, which are learned from other males in the population.

Males in a population conform to produce the same mating song, consisting of a highly stereotyped vocal display involved in mate attraction.

Researchers were able to record a series of songs and identified the cultural transmission of these songs across geographic distances (Western and Central South Pacific Ocean) over 11 years (Garland et al., 2013; Garland, Rendell, Lamoni, Poole and Noad, 2017).

DOLPHIN SPONGES

A community of bottlenose dolphins in Western Australia use conical sponges as tools to find food (foraging).

During “sponging,” dolphins break off a sponge and wear it over the rostrum (snout) while foraging on the seafloor (Smolker, et al., 1997; Mann et al., 2008).

Scientists think that the dolphins use the sponges for protection while foraging.

Researchers, using genetic analyses, found that all ‘spongers’ are descendants of a single matriline (mother to daughter) which suggests cultural transmission of the use of sponges, as tools, within a specific population (Mann and Sargeant, 2003).

CHIMPANZEE TOOLS

Chimpanzees also use tools for foraging but different types of tools are associated with specific populations.

This means that not all chimpanzees make or use the same tools for the same purpose.

For example, one troop of chimpanzees plunges sticks into termite nests to gather food and another troupe uses bark or leaves as a kind of scoop to forage for termites.

There is a documented instance of chimpanzees in the Democratic Republic of Congo creating a tool that is like a paint brush or bottle washer that results in more successful foraging.

Source

[inksandpensblog]

Yeah um for anyone needing more evidence that the TvTropes pages for AvA/AvM shouldn't be taken at face value

[oca-rinn-a]

in this world where so many members of our species, with supposed moral agency, are killing small things for nothing but the crime of existing, and so many are blind to the value of any species which does not benefit them in a way they can personally measure... do you ever feel so so panicked and suffocated?

[tealfruit]

it's really a shame I have to sell 40+ of my life hours every week for poverty wages instead of spending all my time and energy on dozens of creative and technical pursuits with unlimited resources

[suzakucastle]

Pronunciation Guide for Fighting Games

A lot of people tend to say words and names wrong. For those who care, this guide should help with proper pronunciation. In particular, what syllables are stressed, proper spelling, and so on. This'll help you not look and sound like ignorant gaijin (gai-jeen) when talking to Asian players.

Again, if this doesn't bother you (and I acknowledge that for the vast majority of the FGC it doesn't), feel free to ignore this guide. Just don't get on everyone else's case, please. Also, don't use this guide to act smug towards your peers.

In short, this is to help people who want to be helped. That's all. Please understand. If there are any mistakes, let me know.

Note: Unfortunately, Mortal Kombat will be ignored for this guide, as saying Japanese words wrong is a franchise tradition, so it'd be a lost cause even trying. If you see any familiar words from that series, just bear in mind the proper pronunciation for everywhere else.

Letters/syllables in bold are sounds to be stressed when saying that word or name, if necessary.

Ryu = Rh-Yoo (See Shoryuken below)

Hadoken = Ha-Dou-Keh-N

Shoryuken = Sho-Rh-Yoo-Keh-N

Tatsumaki Senpukyaku = Tah-Tsu-Mah-Ki Se-N-Poo-Kh-Yah-Koo

Jin = Jeen

Bushinryu = Bu-Shee-N-Rh-Yoo

Kazuya = Kah-Zoo-Ya

Mishima = Mee-Shee-Mah

Kazama = Kah-Zah-Mah

Iori = Eee-Oh-Ree

Sakura = Sah-Kuu-Rah

Akuma = Ah-Kuu-Mah

Gouki = Goh-Uu-Kee

Kasumi = Kah-Suu-Mee

Raiden = Rah-Ee-Deh-N

Ryo = Rh-Yoh

Heihachi = Heh-Eee-Hah-Chee

Jun = Juu-N

Akira = Ah-Kee-Rah

Fujin = Fuu-Jee-N

Ayame = Ah-Yah-Meh

Mugen = Moo-Geh-N

Tenshin = Teh-N-Shee-N

Zangief = Zah-N-Gee-Eh-Voo

Yuri = Yoo-Ree

Chun-Li = Choo-N-Lee

Chizuru = Chee-Zuu-Ruu

Sasuke = Sah-Suu-Keh

Denjin = Deh-N-Jee-N

Shin = Sh-Ee-N

Kyo = Kh-Yoh

Shippu = Shee-Puu

Bounge = Poh-N-Geh

Koehan = Koh-Ah-N

Kaphwan =

Hwoarang = Wah-Rah-N

Raijin = Rah-Eee-Jee-N

Karaoke = Kah-Rah-Oh-Keh

Kazuma = Kah-Zoo-Mah

Kiryu = Kee-Ree-Yoo

Hayate = Hah-Yah-Teh

Shiranui = Shee-Rah-Noo-Eee

Yashiro = Yah-Shee-Roh

Shun = Shh-Uhh-N

Goku = Goh-Kuu

Satsu = Sah-Tsu

Ansatsuken = Ah-N-Sah-Tsu-Keh-N

Asura = Ah-Soo-Rah

Senku = Se-N-Kuu

Naruto = Nah-Ruu-Toh

Boruto = Boh-Ruu-Toh

Kaioken = Kah-Eee-Oh-Keh-N

Kikosho = Kee-Koh-U-Sho

Kyokugen = Kh-Yo-Kuu-Geh-N

Gouken = Goh-U-Keh-N

Saikyo = Sah-Eee-Kh-Yoh

Hibiki = Hee-Bee-Kee

Takane = Tah-Kah-Ne

Sento = Seh-N-Toh

Yakuza = Yah-Kuu-Zah

Sagat = Sah-Gah-Tt

Adon = Ah-Dah-N

Hinata = Hee-Nah-Tah

Makoto = Mah-Koh-Toh

Ibuki = Eee-Buu-Kee

Kolin = Koh-Lee-Eh-N

Messatsu = Meh-Sah-Tsu

Shichisei = Shee-Chee-Seh-Eee

Tensei = Teh-N-Seh-Eee

Ranka = Rah-N-Kah

Tensho = Teh-N-Sho

Senretsu = Seh-N-Reh-Tsu

Asuka = Ah-Soo-Kah

Tekken = Teh-Keh-N

Izuna = Eee-Zoo-Nah

Otoshi = Oh-Toh-Shee

Pokémon = Poh-Keh-Mo-N

Pokkén = Poh-Keh-N

Ayane = Ah-Yah-Neh

Ryoko = Rh-Yoh-Koh

Hattori = Hah-Toh-Ree

Haohmaru = Hah-Oh-Mah-Ruu

Mitsurugi = Mee-Tsu-Ruu-Gee

Nakoruru = Nah-Koh-Ruu-Ruu

Yagami = Yah-Gah-Mee

Daidoji = Dah-Eee-Doh-U-Jee

Hinoka = Hee-Noh-Kah

Karin = Kah-Ree-N

Kanzuki = Kah-N-Zuu-Kee

Konoha = Koh-Noh-Hah

Zaibatsu = Zah-Eee-Bah-Tsu

Xiaoyu = Sha-Oh-Yoo

Mizuki = Mee-Zoo-Kee

Orochi = Oh-Roh-Chee

Karate = Kah-Rah-Teh

Shinku = Shee-N-Kuu

Jinrai = Jee-N-Rah-Eee

Guren = Guu-Reh-N

Kakashi = Kah-Kah-Shee

Sukuna = Soo-Koo-Nah

Tanjiro = Tah-N-Jee-Roh

Hitomi = Hee-Toh-Mee

Raiko = Rah-Eee-Koh

Kuruoshiki = Koo-Roo-Oh-Shee-Kee

Kagenaru = Kah-Geh-Nah-Roo

Mono = Moh-Noh

Kamehameha = Kah-Meh-Hah-Meh-Hah

Hazan = Hah-Zah-N

Kuzuryu = Koo-Zoo-Rh-Yoo

Tenma = Teh-N-Mah

Sie = Sheh

Hashogeki = Hah-Sho-Geh-Kee

Kagura = Kah-Goo-Rah

Yasakani = Yah-Sah-Kah-Nee

Kusanagi = Koo-Sah-Nah-Gee

Yamada = Yah-Mah-Dah

Suzaku = Soo-Zah-Koo

Omake = Oh-Mah-Keh

Ukemi = Ooo-Keh-Mee

Kisaragi = Kee-Sah-Rah-Gee

Shishigami = Shee-Shee-Gah-Mee

Tachibana = Tah-Chee-Bah-Nah

Kaede = Kah-Eh-Deh

Raidou = Rah-Eee-Doh-U

Jotaro = Joh-Tah-Roh

Takeda = Tah-Keh-Dah

Nobara = Noh-Bah-Rah

Honaka = Hoh-Nah-Kah

Kamikaze = Kah-Mee-Kah-Zeh

Decapre = Dee-Kah-Br

That's it for now. I'm always going to be adding to/correcting this guide, so please check back for updates. Again, feel free to correct me if I've made any mistakes. Just don't be a prick about it, please.

~R

[autisticplants]

u ever meet someone new and they immediately rub you the wrong way twice in quick succession and ur like. ok. i guess i dont like you

[luckydoeslanguage]

Immersion Review | スーパカブ（Super Cub）

So! its finally time for me to write down my log of this show. Immersion is a unique experience for everyone cause depending on your tastes in media you may end up watching wildly different things.

if what i say here makes you a little interested in checking out the show, you can watch it here!

A lot of whats recommended to beginners in JP are Slice of life shows because they're usually slow paced, and have easy to digest dialogue (for the most part) which makes them either laid back, easy going dips into immersion, or unbelievably boring snooze fests. Super Cub is definitely a show that falls on that fine line. I think for me, slice of life really depends on the show. for example, I literally fell asleep once while watching Non Non biyori, but were not here to talk about that, haha.

As for Super cub, well, lets get into the review! (more under the cut! this post may be long, i will try and keep it from meandering.)

The show follows Koguma. A highschool student who lives in a semi rural town in the japanese countryside with no friends, no hobbies, no parents, and little money. She lives a pretty boring day to day life until one day, on a whim from her way home from school, she drops by a small motor shop and acquires a Honda Super Cub for dirt cheap from the store owner. From there, her life slowly, but surely, begins to become a little brighter from the new experiences she has while travelling around on her new moped. (not the most compelling synopsis, i know.)

At its core, Super Cub is a show about how changes, big or small can breathe new life into your own. There's a scene in episode 1 where, upon sitting on the moped for the first time and taking hold of the handles, Koguma's world literally gets a little brighter from the experience. up until now the show has had a pretty muted colour pallete. But for a single moment, the drab colours melt away and become bright and vibrant!

As a Japanese learner, the first episode is as accessible as a TV anime get aside form kids shows. Things get a little more complicated as it goes on, there's a fair amount of words related to mopeds, motorcycles and related things that honestly I just glossed over for the most part. Koguma is a quiet (honestly kind of depressed) girl who speaks pretty slowly, and its easy to understand her. Aside from the obvious focal of the show, the dialogue uses a lot of common words you'll come across quite frequently, so it was good practice for me to listen to. There also isn't a lot to miss out on if you don't understand everything. a lot and be inferred form the current visuals on screen, which makes it easier to pick up on new words.　（the show also makes me really want to get a moped, lol.)

I also really enjoyed the sound design of the show. the sound effects for the moped like the engine starting and the clunks the metal make or the textures of cloth are fantastic. i also think the pacing is pretty good. its laid back, but it has this adolescent warmth of discovering a new passion for the first time. the 3D models i will admit are a bit ugly, but they dont show up frequently enough to be bothersome.

The overall tone of the show has a melancholic feel that slowly drifts away as it progresses. Its like and iced coffee. sweet, but a tinge of bitter that keeps it from being all boring. I'm glad the cast is so small cause moe slice of slice shows can easy feel a little samey, despite having larger and more vibrant casts.

My Verdict - ★★★★★

Super Cub is a great show for language learners who want to try out a slice of slice that feels more down to earth. It has an energy of discovering new passions, and the small and large impacts it makes on your life.

the dialogue is easy to follow, and aside from the focal point of the show the word usage is quite easy to digest and get a feel of. while laid back, it has a great atmosphere that feels careful, but caring at the same time.

I hope what I've said today has gotten you to consider giving the show a try! if youve made it this far, thank you for reading my post and i hope to see you all again! またね！

[opossum-by-night]

TW: animal abuse/neglect (maybe??)

So our friends have this piss-poorly-bred corgi puppy that's almost a year old now, and they're fucking r u i n i n g this dog dude. She literally bites them and draws blood almost daily to the point that they wear fucking *bite gloves* to hook and unhook her leash and do any kind of grooming. She literally *begs* for water and will sit and *violently* lick ice until it's completely gone, and will lick the water from the shower off the floor, but they restrict her water access because she will apparently drink until she throws up??? And supposedly their vet said this is "fine" as long as they give her "enough water"??? I have no idea if they've even done any diagnostics!!! The dog is probably fucking diabetic!!! And now they're using a shock collar whenever she barks or is being "crazy" or "a brat." But "oH nO iT dOeSn'T sHoCk iT jUsT sTiMs" - if it wasn't aversive it wouldn't fucking do anything!!!!! And this poor dog is already afraid of her own shadow!!!!! I've made the decision not to insert myself unless they ask for help but holy hell I feel like this poor dog is absolutely doomed. It's gonna fucking bite someone for real someday and be put down because they did not prepare at all to have a dog and have no fucking idea what they're doing. I'm trying so hard to mind my own business but it pisses me tf off!!!!!

[dexaroth]

godddd i WANT to like minecraft so much but theres fucking nothing going onnnnn the biomes are boring the geography is def better than was before but still theres so little variation and even then the core gameplay is just. nothing. the inventory management sucks so much ass ive straight up stopped playing vanilla without bundles and the way you progress in many areas is so dumbb like teehee go find a jungle biome that could be 200 blocks or 20000 blocks away from spawn just so you dont implode of anger trying to build something decent without wasting time on countless dirt pillars. oh and also the only things that look good are structures from the outside because furnishing stuff is practically impossible since theres no furniture. lolz

there are of course many mods that adress this sort of thing but each take it in a new direction and sometimes you just want a branch of the river yknow?

ive been trying to find datapacks for this sort of thing but it doesnt seem like they can accomplish much so it leaves everything to need to be mods.. sigh

[homesteadguide]

Tips for homestead living

Homesteading is a lifestyle focused on self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Some tips for living a homesteading lifestyle include:

Start small and build gradually. You can only overhaul your entire lifestyle on time. Start by growing vegetables in a small garden or keeping a few chickens for eggs.

Learn new skills. Homesteading requires a wide range of skills, from gardening and animal husbandry to carpentry and cooking. Consider taking classes or workshops to learn new skills to help you on your homestead.

Could you develop a plan? Before you start making any major changes to your lifestyle, it's essential to have a plan in place. This should include a budget, a list of goals, and a timeline for achieving them.

Be self-sufficient. Homesteading is all about being self-sufficient and relying on your own resources. This means growing your own food, generating energy, and producing your own goods and services.

I want you to please be prepared for challenges. Homesteading is not always easy, and there will be challenges. Be ready for these challenges by having a backup plan and being willing to adapt and adjust as needed.

Connect with other homesteaders. Homesteading can be a lonely lifestyle if you try to do it all on your own. Consider joining a homesteading community or association to connect with other like-minded individuals who can provide support, advice, and friendship.

[telleroftime]

Deciding between what language I want to learn this year is hard. Japanese, German, or Russian... ah the choices. Japanese would be cool because then I won't need to rely on translations of anime and manga. German is German and damn it König from CoD is still in my head. As for Russian, I'm already fluent in a slavic language so it'd be a matter of learning Cyrillic.

[quillheel]

I'll designate you __ to lovers ━ allies.

what starts off as a partnership by obligation turns into one by choice. maybe you don't think of them that way at first, but after you realize that you two work incredibly well together, the feelings just... fall into place. of course it's only natural that they should remain by your side. of course you would take risks to keep them safe, and they would do the same for you. you can't imagine facing something without them now. it's like they were always there. what's more, the bond you've forged over the years is doubly strong for having made the sharing of mental and emotional states necessary. you've stuck with each other through the stress, the breakdowns, but also the victories, the laughs, the brief moments of frivolity. now those things come naturally. you know nobody more intimately. you are able to take care of each other. you can probably make it through anything. you have so far, at least, even if there were some losses along the way.