#But its been tricky figuring out the style I want to use for it!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

If I was in a lucid dream with a ghost, I would simply impress them with my blunt rolling skills

[qwertyprophecy]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but what was the writing process behind Storyseeker like? I really adored the nonlinear approach to storytelling and it's inspired me to try something similar, but it's been hard. I was wondering if you had any advice?

I wrote a little about in reply to this ask.

Pieces of advice you might gather from it:

1. To start with: Stories are easier to wrangle when you know what their structure is. Nonlinear narratives, too, have structure. Yours might fit onto a map of flowing paths like Storyseeker, or be a classic branching tree, or something else. Figure out what shape yours wants to be and use it as a skeleton to hang your narrative from.

Even the most open-ended sandbox game has design choices in its mechanics that encourage expected directionality from the player (whether literal movement in an explorable area, metaphorical movement through a web of dialogue options). For my current project I'm experimenting with a five-day structure where each day acts as a "container" for nonlinear dialogue, so the story can be a mixture of predetermined and player-driven events. It might work? We'll see.

So experiment! Write a bunch of stuff you'd like to include and then see what shapes they could be arranged into. What mechanics could be used to send the player along those shapes? Don't be afraid to change what doesn't work.

2. The tricky bit: If the player can reach parts of the story (events, scenes, clues to a mystery etc.) in freeform order, that story should work in any order. Eg. "I found a strange calamity and investigated its cause to be an exploded factory" and "I found an ruined factory and discovered its spill had caused a massive calamity" are both valid stories.

This is by far the easiest to do in an "archeological" or "deductive" story like Storyseeker, where the player doesn't change the events but rather uncovers them. If it's the player's actions that create the story, there'll be a lot more work to maintain its chronological logic. I won't go into it since we were specifically discussing Storyseeker, but

3. Most importantly: Listen to the way that you innately want to tell stories, and lean into that. I myself genuinely find it difficult to tell a linear story because my silly ADHD brain is constantly splitting out into different possibilities. Storyseeker in particular reflects that.

You say you've found it hard--what part has been hard? Perhaps that's the part of storytelling that your brain doesn't jibe with. Could you get around it somehow, and create your own style of constructing narrative? Nonlinearity provides so much opportunity for entirely new ways of thinking about narrative!

[crusherthedoctor]

1, 4, 8 and 10

1. do you know how you want the story to end when you start, or are you just stumbling through the figurative wilderness hoping to find a road?

65% the former, 35% the latter.

I have the overall structure nailed down, and I know the general plot beats, the character moments, the end goal, the segues from one scene to another, all that good stuff. It's the little subtleties in-between, like making the dialogue organic without giving everything away too quickly, and letting the characters do things while they're talking so they're not standing there T-posing the whole time, that I find difficult to pull off in a way that comes off authentically. Hence why I double down on these aspects a lot.

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

I suppose the [REDACTED] stuff retroactively counts, since perhaps one of the reasons for my late realization of said curiosity was a subconscious fear of tackling it and how it could be judged.

I guess the use of Grodus in PM:TEE could count as well. I remember back in the mid-00s, I always wanted to do something with Grodus since I liked him as a villain despite him getting overshadowed in the fandom by the Shadow Queen and other Mario villains, but I could never think of what to do with him without it sounding Rise of Skywalker-tier, so it never really came to pass... Flash forward to 2024, the TTYD remake comes out, I get the idea to have Eggman invade and indulge in Marivian shipping trash, and then I realised this was also the perfect opportunity to finally use space pope man for something after all this time.

Three birds with one stone. That's the magic of fanfic.

8. what’s your relationship with constructive criticism and feedback like? do you seek it out? how well do you take it?

What can I say except I try my best to be receptive. Sure, I'm already a perfectionist to crippling effect as is, so I'd be lying if I said that it doesn't sting considering that I obsess over imperfections on my own accord, but as long as it's constructive, and isn't overwhelmingly dismissive and laying it on thick, I'm willing to listen. (I'll have you know that I only cried twice.)

That said, due to the Sonic fandom being the way that it is, I've had to draw a firm line in the sand between what I can see as legitimate suggestions, and what's plain old bad faith arguments, like them complaining about me not explaining something that's deliberately meant to be revealed later on in the story, hence it gets dismissed as bad writing. That gets a wave of the finger from me.

10. at what point in the process do you come up with titles, and how easy or hard is that for you?

I deliberately make my titles fairly straightforward, albeit with no less meaning, so the tricky part tends to come more from deciding what sounds correct and sleek as opposed to clunky. Whenever it's a musical nod, like Second Wind or High & Unbroken, there's always a symbolic reason for it beyond serving as a lazy, IDW-tier reference.

When Beyond the Stars was being morphed into its current updated form, I decided to change the naming convention to the traditional Sonic style for that extra official flavor. Eg: Sonic Adventure, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Rush, etc. I had originally considered calling it Sonic Voyage, but I felt it sounded too similar to Mario Odyssey lol, so in keeping with the starry theme present in the original story's title, I eventually settled on Sonic Stellar.

With Paper Mario: The Eggman's Empire, aside from being equally snappy, it gets the point across right away that this is 1% a crossover, thus not throwing readers off guard when the titular doctor shows up and turns out to be the main villain. His name being in the subtitle also neatly alludes to his ego, and how shockingly quickly the scope of his reach infects the world.

[pixelgrotto]

The Shining Lost Crown

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is finally out on Steam today, and everyone should play it. I'm really hoping that a large audience can finally appreciate this game for what it's worth, because I feel like it received a double whammy of negativity upon reveal and not-so-high sales upon release.

Part of this unfortunate combo is due to gamers being crappy, while the rest is Ubisoft being Ubisoft. When The Lost Crown's first trailer hit in 2023, it initially seemed like it had replaced the long-dormant, long-awaited, long-troubled remake of the most-loved PoP game, The Sands of Time. That remake has since been rebooted for a release date in 2026, but it didn't stop some from lamenting that Sands of Time 2.0 had been ditched for a sidescroller. "Looks like a mobile game," cried members of the YouTube peanut gallery. Others focused their ire on the main character, who is Black, and the trailer's accompanying music, which was a rap song. I read at least two comments that said "More like Prince of Wakanda," which made me want to slap a bitch through my screen.

But then the game was released, and it got lots of positive press. As someone who'd felt the burning need to defend The Lost Crown from folks making "Prince of Wakanda" comments, I was enthused to see them eat crow. Alas, Ubisoft made the decision to release the PC version of the game not on Steam, but on the meh Epic Games Store and on their Ubisoft Connect launcher, a piece of software that nobody uses because they want to. And so, despite strong reviews, The Lost Crown came out of the gate slightly hampered.

At last this error can be rectified, and hopefully everyone can see that this is the PoP revival we needed. Even though series creator Jordan Mechner wasn't specifically involved in The Lost Crown, this game feel like a natural evolution of the formula he established in 1989 right off of the heels of Karateka. PoP started out as a tough-as-nails platformer with an emphasis on exploration and cinematic scenes - it only makes sense that it should transition into a tough-as-nails Metroidvania with style and storytelling influenced by anime.

Prior to this game's reveal, the PoP franchise had been floundering, trying in vain to recapture the mainstream appeal that it had snagged during the Sands of Time trilogy in the mid-2000s. Proof of the struggles to reimagine the franchise have emerged in since-leaked videos showing reboots that were thrown away by Ubisoft in favor of more Assassin's Creed games. (Hi, I'm one of those folks who remembers that the first Assassins' Creed was supposed to be a PoP spinoff, and resents the fact that the Prince floundered in obscurity for over a decade while AssCreed got over two dozen games.)

But the wait was worth it. Ubisoft Montpellier (the one team at Ubisoft that I like, since they made Rayman and seem to rise up every five years to drop a banger before disappearing back into the mist) reinvented PoP by looking at what AssCreed had become and then veering in an entirely different direction. Instead of an overbudget open world experience littered with microtransactions, we have simply a good ass video game that focuses on the trademarks of the Prince - sweet parkour moves, tricky combat, and time travel shenanigans.

That said, you don't actually play as full-on nobility in The Lost Crown - you play as Sargon, a cocky member of an elite team of bodyguards dubbed the Immortals. These larger-than-life anime figures are tasked to go to Mount Qaf to rescue the Prince, and Sargon's connection to the title "Prince of Persia" is interesting and not the obvious "oh, he's just the Prince in disguise" twist that I expected.

All of this is to say that the plot of The Lost Crown is solid, and there's a certain amount of respect paid to the source material that goes beyond the "vaguely inspired by the Arabian Nights" schtick of every other game in the franchise. As should be the case in 2024 for something with "Persia" in its title, actual people of Middle Eastern descent worked on this, and apparently the Farsi dub is excellent.

As for Sargon, his design does boast the Killmonger dreadlocks that have become a tropey shorthand for "cool Black guy" in media. But aside from this, he's great, and he really grows over the course of the story. Everything about his dual-wielding fighting style to his double jump is excellent, and you'll need to master those moves to make it through The Lost Crown's boss fights, which are intricate, multistaged affairs that toss Sargon in arenas against huge foes who have their names presented in ALL CAPS along with a subtitle - for instance, "JAHANDAR, Guardian of the Citadel."

I'd been cocurrently working through Elden Ring for my fulltime job of writing game guides as I started playing The Lost Crown, and after dying for the eighth time against Jahandar, I realized that this game's emphasis on bosses combined with Sargon's ability to quaff healing potions a limited number of times (and take a limited number of hits) was awfully Soulsy. That said, The Lost Crown isn't a full-on Soulslike, but there's borrowed DNA here. Aside from the bosses and healing, collectible lore items that reveal extended backstory lie in abundance, and Sargon's moveset demands the sort of attention and mastery that Soulslikes promote. There have been some stunning combo videos showcasing everything he can do in combat, and outside of fights, expect to make Sargon navigate through some absurd platforming sections replete with spikes farther than the eye can see.

Honestly, there were a few instances in The Lost Crown that made me curse modern gaming's love affair with Soulslikes and grunt, "WHY DO GAMES THESE DAYS HAVE TO BE SO HARD." Then again, I was playing on Hero difficulty level, which is a step up from Normal and meant to be tough, so I have nobody but myself to blame. And the original PoP was no walk in the park either, even if you can speedrun it in less than a half hour these days if you know what you're doing. Overall, the challenge level in The Lost Crown is fair, especially because the game presents you with a wide array of accessibility options, and you can lower the difficulty at any time.

I think if you've played Hollow Knight, which I've seen The Lost Crown getting compared with a lot, you'll be ready for all of the obstacles that Sargon faces. I haven't, despite obtaining it via one Steam sale or another several years ago, but now I want to. Both games share an absolutely huge map in common, and as someone who enjoys Metroidvanias but is mostly used to the two franchises that gave the genre its title - Castlevania and Metroid - seeing Mount Qaf spread out before me on the map screen in a seemingly endless fashion was way larger than anything I'd previously witnessed. Games today, man. They're not just hard, they're big.

I for one am grateful that PoP is back in action with such a big title, and with the recent release of The Rogue Prince of Persia only a few months after this game, suddenly I am inundated with more Persia content than I've had in years. Maybe Ubisoft's gearing up to milk this franchise AssCreed style, which seems to be a possibility that I'll be forced to call them out on if it ever occurs.

In the meantime, I'm just glad to be performing death-defying wall jumps over beds of spikes in a fantasy Persia once again. If you missed it the first time around and love Metroidvanias, platformers, or Soulslikes, don't delay. The Lost Crown shines like headware fit for a prince, and this is a game more than worthy of your time.

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

Hi:) I made a post with the same questions I'm about to put in here, but then deleted it since I thought I'll be guaranteed to get an answer if I just ask you.

I've been playing MLQC since its launch. To be honest, haven't kept up with the story in years and only continue playing and logging in to get Shaw's cards, but I do know how the game works like the back of my hand.

A few days ago I saw Sylus for the first time on X, and the minute I did I began to debate whether or not I should install Love and Deepspace. Just so I can see what he's like. He's very attractive, and he seems charismatic and mysterious too lol

However, before I decide to download and make a potential commitment, I want to know a few things first. 99% of my questions are general questions, while the other 1% isn't :P

What's the game like? (gameplay, mechanics, options, daily tasks(?), currencies, gacha, etc.)

Are there similarities to MLQC? (gameplay-wise, content, dailies, wish tree, events, etc.)

The cards come with stories, right? I honestly feel stupid asking this, but I'm just that clueless about the game and how it works lolol

Is the game F2P-friendly? (tolerable grinding, fairness in stocking up on required materials, cost of cards, etc.) Is it at least similar to MLQC in terms of abundance in materials and currency?

Do limited cards get re-runs? Or is it that once a card is launched and its event ends, the chance to get it is forever gone?

Can cards only be pulled, or can they also be run in MLQC-style shoot/birthday events and bought using in-game currency (i.e. like the gems in MLQC)?

There's probably a grade to the cards, correct? (SR, SSR, UR, etc.)

I saw on the store that Sylus's 'Wish' event is ongoing at the moment; will his card be added permanently after the event ends, or is this a one-time thing (like the time ltd. Wish Tree events in MLQC)?

Taking into consideration the fact that I'll be a noob with barely any resources, if at all: do I have a chance of getting Sylus's card before the event end if I begin playing soon?

Sorry for all the questions, and thank you for your response in advance :D

hello! firstly i’m sorry but my answers will only have necessary info b/c i’m not in the physical or mental state to go at lengths rn.

(1) it's an otome with action elements i.e. different styles of combats. there's also main story, dates, socmed, mini games, photo booth etc.

(2) idk whether to laugh or cry here tbh. in all fairness, PG really just took every feature of lovepro/ MLQC and upgraded them in LaDS (the combats aside LOL). although personally i don’t have anything positive to say on their writing quality, so you’ll have to figure out your feelings on that yourself ahah.

the dailies are quick once you've been there long enough as it is with most games. the wish tree has pity carry over system. they have two types of gacha pools: permanent and limited. and the two pools have different ticket currencies. there is no exchange system for event cards like MLQC.

leveling up the cards is an extremely tricky business here by the way. it's gonna become an essay if i try to explain, but know that you can never have enough stamina here LOL.

(3) yes. the 5 and 4 stars.

(4) nope lmfao. even if you tunnel vision one bias, it'd be difficult have all his cards without spending. they do have free 5 and 4 star card events though and those give rewards + the limited events often offer some rewards (in-game), but still it'd be hard if you have crappy gacha luck plus their stupid 50/50 choice in the pool almost never works lol and since the game is a simulpub, you won't have the advantage you have with MLQC to plan out your spending.

a friend of mine has done an overview, so please go through that to get an idea: ♡

(5) give it some time 😂 the game is only six months old. eventually all limited cards are re-run in these sort of games.

(6) no, there's no currency only card like MLQC in the game (at least not as of now). all cards are to be obtained through gacha (free ones aside).

(7) yes.

(8) QinChe/ Sylus has multiple events going on at the moment. there's a limited pool that ends on august 1 and you won't be able to get that one after the event until further notice. and the permanent pool also has a limited mechanism right now that will end after the event. but every other card except for event limited card will be added to the permanent pool afterwards.

(9) the permanent cards can be obtained later too (though definitely will be way harder b/c the limited mechanism for the permanent pool will gone then). as for the limited banner, it depends on your luck 😂 70x is the pity for 5-stars. i can't remember if there was any newbie pity, but since there's no guarantee or exchange, it might prove hard to obtain the card without spending if you have bad gacha luck. :/

hope these answer your questions~

—

[milcahsmeikerblog]

MeikerBrain: An April Fools Special for 2025

A Recap

See part 2 link:

To all our beloved meikerBrain users:

We're absolutely sorry that we had to shut down all operations of meikerBrain effective April 3, 2025, due to improper funding from our sponsors and benefactors, rather primitive equipment, and low traffic. We also had to shut down our blog, due to the same reasons. We had created this with the best intentions for over the past 5 years, and we sincerly hope that we may return back to the internet soon. April Fools comes but once in a year, and as we look back on meikerBrain, let us not forget on how bogus it was, as April Fools is a day where people throw up hoaxes and pranks and all things fake, all in the name of fun and games. If you were to visit meikerBrain, we've replaced it with a 404 error instead. In short -- yes, it's dead. I killed my baby.

And I, as Meiker's resident prank princess, have no choice but to tell the true tale on how it came to be... really! Sorry AI slopmongers and fake news channels, you're not invited here!!! April Fools is my fave day!!! SCRAM!!!!!!1

Now let us begin.

THE STORY OF PRANK SPECIMEN #4, REFERRED TO AS "MEIKERBRAIN"

It all began one fine March day, and around this month, this was the time I'd plan out a prank or two. I scurried through my brain, looking for the perfect prank, and so I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if I were to throw a prank involving making games through the brainwaves?" And lo, meikerBrain was born! If last year's prank was of a satircal nature, this year's prank was forged randomly. Yep, I even announced it this year.

Creating meikerBrain was pretty much a little tricky, figuring out which tags or order to use, but it turned out to be alright, the way I wanted it to be.

meikerBrain was inspired by 2014's deviantArt hoax, thoughtArt, where art was supposedly forged through people's brainwaves. It even had its own blog too, which I've preserved in the Wayback Machine for your curiosity:

This was the header that I made for the meikerBrain blog. It has been preserved for your convinience, something that the Wayback Machine didn't bother to preserve.

"Using" meikerBrain was quite simple -- all you had to do was to hit the instructions button and "follow" the steps in order. The numbers were arranged in order, with 1 at the top and 5 at the bottom with the Results button below all those.

This was the Welcome screen, the layer that would greet "users" beginning their meikerBrain "sessions". It originally was going to have its own category, but I ditched it to make it standalone.

This was Step #1, where "users" had to think of a theme for their game.

This was Step #2, where "users" had to think of a title, or let the system choose one for them.

Step #3 on the other hand let "users" visualize their dream game's art style, whether it was anime-inspired, gritty noir, or Dadaist.

Step #4 was supposedly the "hardest", due to making sure that users had to mentally "code" up their "items" after envisioning them.

Then finally Step #5, the "most forgiving" part of the "system". It meant having to "concoct" icons for game categories.

Once your meikerBrain session was done, you had to select the results category, then hit this button:

Since I'm using mobile to post up this April Fools Recap, I've run out of images, so instead here's the description of the game itself, which I've also preserved!

Welcome to meikerBrain, a new, experimental piece of dress up game technology and the world's first mentally-generated piece of dress up tech.

meikerBrain utilizes your brainwaves through your device’s interface to create that perfect dress up game in just mere MINUTES! Just follow the instructions, and you’re good to go!

How It Works:

Using the latest innovations in AI and BMI technology, meikerBrain detects your brainwaves through your device’s interface, whether it’s a keyboard, mouse, or touchscreen. Then your brainwaves are then sent off to our special interconnected machines located within our labs, each of which correspond to a step of the process you’ll undergo. Our machines will then convert your brainwaves into dress up game assets, then combine them into your dream dress up game. Once the process is done, you can test out your dress up game and download the PSD file for FREE!

Our Backstory:

meikerBrain had been secretly conceived around the height of the 2020 pandemic in collaboration with meiker.io staff, research institutes, and universities around the world, based on a 2015 study that discovered that people could mentally code games and create art with minimal to no finger-lifting, using an experimental BMI technology. Five years in the making and thousands of coffee cups thrown away later, with some Netflix binges along the way, we’re proud to present the first ever version of meikerBrain in BETA!

For more information or if you are interested in contacting us, please visit our blog at https://www.tumblr.com/meikerbrainblog. More updates to come.

Speaking of the tags, I forgot to preserve them, so I think they may've been along the lines of this: bmi, meikerbrain, brain machine interface, along with all of meiker's preset tags. Apologies if this isn't accurate!

Anyway, that's all for this post. See you in part 2!

[beikonsims]

Hello! I hope you are doing well, it may sound like a stupid question but do you have any advice on how to make sims have a good combination of clothes, hair, accessories, etc? I hope my English is understandable, it is not my first language

Hey o/

I think it's a bit tricky to answer, since everyone has their own taste and preference to how their Sims look. To me personally it's all a matter of finding the right custom content that fits your style. I love the game as it is and I like to stick to its aesthetic, but I also like conversions from The Sims 4, that give the game a more modern touch.

If you want to look at what kind of items I have in my game, I have a WCIF tag on my page where I often answer asks about it. I also have a whole CC Finds blog where I reblog cool items I find. If that's the kind of style you'd enjoy in your game, then feel free to lurk around.

I can't exactly tell you how to dress up your Sims, though. I'm not a designer or anything, I just play around with the clothes and hair I have in game. Sometimes I have one hairstyle I particularly enjoy and suddenly half of my town population wears it. In the end it all depends on what kind of style you like in your game. There's no rule, really. Some stick to the unmodded game, some are strict about using only one style of cc and some like to mix more realistic items with more cartoon-like maxis match.

One thing I can say is that when I'm about to give makeover or dress up to a Sim in my game, I try to figure out what kind of clothes or hairstyle they would wear based on their personality and favourite colour. If it's premade Sims, I look at their default appearance and try to get inspired by it then find something fitting among all the cc items I've been collecting for years.

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 8 Matsuribayashi pt. 61

Once again I can’t help but wonder if anyone reading this is brand new to the series. I figure that most of the people reading this have gone through the series in one way or other, and they want to see the newbie’s reactions. But still I wonder if someone saw the sheer volume of posts I’ve made about the series and despite knowing nothing about it decided to read all this. I’m going to appeal to my own ego and say that yes, there’s probably a few who’ve read this despite knowing nothing about Higurashi. Without wishing to sound mushy I’m just thrilled to death anyone other than me has read any of my rambles.

Smash cut to Akasaka standing atop a mountain of Mountain Dog bodies in a bad ass martial arts pose, with the gaming club behind and to the side just in absolute awe at his prowess. Alternate take: posed like a Frank Frazetta artwork with Rika and Hanyuu clinging to his legs while he possess atop the pile shirtless and with a big sword.

I’m sure Rika would be down for a brew.

Well better late than never I suppose. Although I kind of got the impression Irie was more receptive to the idea that Takano was their enemy. He had a healthy skepticism about it, but he seemed pretty on board when Rika talked about it with him in the school. Or so it seemed to me at any rate.

There’s a moment coming up where Rika talks to the rest of the gaming club about the Bloodhounds unit mentioned here. I find it to be a particularly vexing conversation because in the narrative, there’s no way she should know about their existence. I believe it happens soon anyway, won’t I look quite foolish if that particular conversation doesn’t happen for ten more parts?

The real tragedy of them mentioning the Bloodhounds is there isn’t even any art of them in this chapter. I’m interested in seeing an elite military commando squad portrayed in Ryukishi’s art style. Not to sound cruel, but it sounds like an amusing proposition to me.

This reminds me somewhat of an old internet article (2013 or so) written about how most sitcom plots wouldn’t work in the modern day due to the prevalence of cell phones. This method of getting around a bugged telephone wouldn’t work today due to how most phones just forward you to voice mail or something similar if you let the phone ring for more than thirty seconds. Hell even the mid nineties would be a tricky proposition because of answering machines.

Also, Mion is there because I didn’t get the final line there before it transitioned to the scene with the gaming club. Which you probably deduced, but whatever.

I was going to go on a little mini tangent about Rena and Mion being in their school clothes where Rika and Satoko aren’t, but then I remembered at the start of this section it had Rena, Mion, and Keiichi at school. So it was a complaint that had a logical explanation if I thought about it for longer than the zero seconds when I started typing it out.

Now that we’re more than halfway through the final chapter I’m curious to know which art style for the characters do you prefer? Personally I prefer the remake art style, it’s a bit more detailed and offers a more diverse range of facial expressions compared to the console art style. I also feel that it encapsulates the intended feeling of the original art well enough that it can replicate most of their facial expressions on offer there without feeling like it’s more or less just tracing over the originals.

Without wishing to sound like I’m insulting it, the console art kind of feels the most generic of the art styles on offer. It’s a nice looking style, it’s easy on the eyes to look at, but it just feels the most tame, for lack of a better word. Of course, as you’re aware, I’ve been using that for the vast majority of these playthroughs, but that’s to keep a visual consistency, because the 07th mod adds in these various occasional extra arts the console versions added to the games.

The original art style has its amateurish feel to it that gives the series a rather strong identity if you compare it to most visual novels. But again, that comes with the complication that the art isn’t very good. The remake art style meanwhile really captures the essence of the original Ryukishi07 art but adds in a nice layer of realism on top of it, it feels more like a manga meant to cater to the teenage demographic above a shonen or shojo series, but not to the extreme detail of a seinen or josei manga.

[scourgefrontiers]

so im thinking up a few options for myself:

local art market. it happens every second saturday downtown which is a great frequency i think. however i dont know the type of people attending so i dont know if my merch will sell well or at all, and i dont know if they even allow the type of stuff i sell. so this is an iffy one

finding book authors who need illustrations done. i can def do a childrens book illustration if i needed to but id like to find something within my current art style if possible. i'll have to look around and try and find places where ppl are looking for my type of work

sell at conventions. this one's a little tricky bc 1) i have to invest in my stock which is at LEAST $300 for everything i need, 2) im not guaranteed to get on the list of vendors, and 3) these happen very infrequently and i dont know if i can rely on this for steady income

self publish comics. i had thought of this before and i dont think im Currently fit for doing it bc i tend to burn out soooo easily (thats likely a problem with my workflow honestly. its fixable surely) but im hopefully about to get adderall prescribed to me so maybe it'll work out after all lol. unfortunately this isnt an overnight project either though, and i do need to make money Right Now

get into making either live2d vtuber models or 3d models for both vrchat and/or vtubers. i know i know, i cant charge 8k for my first models, but i can at least make a few hundred on a single model. this would be a new skill to learn but its totally possible. theres tutorials and i also vaguely know how to use blender so i can at least try this. i do have fun doing this stuff anyway. im just a lil worried about the level of detail that goes into live2d models, im not super used to detailed designs just yet but its something ive been wanting to put more time and work into, so..

bite the bullet and start putting more work into social media presence and advertising my commissions. i complain about how rough commission work is all the time yes. but genuinely i do enjoy doing commissions for a living. the ONLY reason i complain is because of the inconsistent/low income, and the only reason for That is because i dont have a huge following to the point of where my slots sell out regularly. im no sakimichan. but if i just put in a little more time and work into building a social media presence im sure things will look up in that regard. i just have to fuckin..do it

so ya. these all have pros and cons and im weighing them desperately LOL. if im being honest? im leaning towards three in particular: the vtuber models, building a better social media presence to up my commission demand, and selling at conventions. i can definitely do all three of course, but i have to figure out how to balance everything while learning to do the new things and get good at them. i have no idea how to wrangle social media. ive tried so many things and i keep falling out of it so so easily, its very hard. but fuck dude if 15 year olds on youtube can have 100k subscribers then what the hell am i doing LOL yknow?

[veesidesandrarities]

adding to this list:

Figure Drawing Without A Model, by Ron Tiner, seems to be a great book for beginner artists wanting to figure out how to draw people. Extensive sections on anatomy, gesture Drawing, etc, and the copy I have is bound in a way that let's it lay completely flat for you so you're not having to struggle to keep the book open while referring to it!

the Morpho: Anatomy For Artists series by Michel Lauricella, from the publisher Rockynook, are petite, focused volumes made with a binding method that, again, lets it lay flat while referring to it. They're slender and practically pocket sized, making it easy to take them with you on the go, and full of valuable advice and examples for different aspects of drawing one might struggle with, including one initial primer volumes, and several individual sequel volumes on:

"Fat and skin folds"

"Skeleton and bone reference points"

"Joint forms and muscular functions

"Simplified Forms"

"Hands and feet" (aka bane of an artist's existence)

One on drawing big muscled bodies that I haven't got my hands on yet (great for those looking to create like, superhero or shounen type stuff)

One on drawing animals (it's on my wishlist)

One on drawing clothing folds (I have this one but it's in my bag and I don't feel like digging it out)

George G. Bridgman also authored "The Human Machine: The anatomical structure and mechanism of the human body" which is about exactly what it sounds like; I personally prefer the Morpho books for ease of use (especially if you're more of a visual person than a verbal one), both for their more convenient physical format and for the clarity of their illustrations, and would recommend both "Joint forms and muscular functions " and "Skeleton and bone reference points " for covering similar subjects...but! this one is still useful for covering how the human body is constructed and moves, has a whole section on hands and arms, covers the topic from a different kind of perspective (literally, the mechanics of a body, including comparing it to mechanical equivalents like hinges and levers) that for some people might "click" more, and Bridgman has a looser, sketchier style to his drawings here than Lauricella does over in Morpho, which might be appealing for some as well.

I have not gotten to go through it much yet, but I own a copy of a book that comes highly recommended by ART INSTRUCTORS apparently, for understanding facial expressions: "The Artist's Complete Giide to Facial Expression" by Gary Faigin, is not like, some purely visual reference book, its meant to teach you how human facial muscles ACTUALLY MOVE to show emotional expressions. It's a lot more technical, but incredibly specific in ways that an artist will quickly find are going to be useful: for example, I just open to a random section (pages 92 and 93) and found its a detailed, and I do mean DETAILED section discussing mouths.

I'm really not kidfing on how detailed, specific, AND technical this book gets: Page 92 is "The Folds Around The Mouth" , discussing the impact of aging on that area over time, with two illustrations provided of the same person's mouth at age 20 and age 60; page 93 kicks off "The Closed Mouth: Five Muscles" starting in on "Levator Labii Superioris: The Sneering Muscle". It is illustrated with two drawings showing where the respective muscles and sections are on the cheeks, Mouth, and around the nose, on both a skull and a face who is not a skull. So I think maybe you get what I mean here. It has the feel of a textbook more than anything else but i could see it being invaluable if read in full. The human face is such a tricky thing to draw without it looking wonky!

I've also been playing around in a new app I got on my android phone, pretty sure it was free, just called "Sketchbook", that I'm already really pretty happy with; I'm still a beginner mulyself when it comes to digital art, but so far my impression is it's intuitive and has a good selection of brushes and effects, easy enough color selection, in depth ways to tweak things like opacity and "flow" and brush size etc when using brushes, and it also lets you work in layers; it's overall pretty fun and easy to use, while letting me do some things that I'd find next to impossible or highly difficult to do with traditional drawing and painting methods and allowing easy undo/redo and what looks to be a lot of customization of the interface if one wanted to fiddle with it. So far I'd rec, especially for beginning digital artists who want to dip their toes in it.

Can't afford art school?

After seeing post like this 👇

And this gem 👇

As well as countless of others from the AI generator community. Just talking about how "inaccessible art" is, I decided why not show how wrong these guys are while also helping anyone who actually wants to learn.

Here is the first one ART TEACHERS! There are plenty online and in places like youtube.

📺Here is my list:

Proko (Free)

Marc Brunet (Free but he does have other classes for a cheap price. Use to work for Blizzard)

Aaron Rutten (free)

BoroCG (free)

Jesse J. Jones (free, talks about animating)

Jesus Conde (free)

Mohammed Agbadi (free, he gives some advice in some videos and talks about art)

Ross Draws (free, he does have other classes for a good price)

SamDoesArts (free, gives good advice and critiques)

Drawfee Show (free, they do give some good advice and great inspiration)

The Art of Aaron Blaise ( useful tips for digital art and animation. Was an animator for Disney)

Bobby Chiu ( useful tips and interviews with artist who are in the industry or making a living as artist)

Second part BOOKS, I have collected some books that have helped me and might help others.

📚Here is my list:

The "how to draw manga" series produced by Graphic-sha. These are for manga artist but they give great advice and information.

"Creating characters with personality" by Tom Bancroft. A great book that can help not just people who draw cartoons but also realistic ones. As it helps you with facial ques and how to make a character interesting.

"Albinus on anatomy" by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle. Great book to help someone learn basic anatomy.

"Artistic Anatomy" by Dr. Paul Richer and Robert Beverly Hale. A good book if you want to go further in-depth with anatomy.

"Directing the story" by Francis Glebas. A good book if you want to Story board or make comics.

"Animal Anatomy for Artists" by Eliot Goldfinger. A good book for if you want to draw animals or creatures.

"Constructive Anatomy: with almost 500 illustrations" by George B. Bridgman. A great book to help you block out shadows in your figures and see them in a more 3 diamantine way.

"Dynamic Anatomy: Revised and expand" by Burne Hogarth. A book that shows how to block out shapes and easily understand what you are looking out. When it comes to human subjects.

"An Atlas of animal anatomy for artist" by W. Ellenberger and H. Dittrich and H. Baum. This is another good one for people who want to draw animals or creatures.

Etherington Brothers, they make books and have a free blog with art tips.

As for Supplies, I recommend starting out cheap, buying Pencils and art paper at dollar tree or 5 below. For digital art, I recommend not starting with a screen art drawing tablet as they are more expensive.

For the Best art Tablet I recommend either Xp-pen, Bamboo or Huion. Some can range from about 40$ to the thousands.

💻As for art programs here is a list of Free to pay.

Clip Studio paint ( you can choose to pay once or sub and get updates)

Procreate ( pay once for $9.99)

Blender (for 3D modules/sculpting, ect Free)

PaintTool SAI (pay but has a 31 day free trail)

Krita (Free)

mypaint (free)

FireAlpaca (free)

Libresprite (free, for pixel art)

Those are the ones I can recall.

So do with this information as you will but as you can tell there are ways to learn how to become an artist, without breaking the bank. The only thing that might be stopping YOU from using any of these things, is YOU.

I have made time to learn to draw and many artist have too. Either in-between working two jobs or taking care of your family and a job or regular school and chores. YOU just have to take the time or use some time management, it really doesn't take long to practice for like an hour or less. YOU also don't have to do it every day, just once or three times a week is fine.

Hope this was helpful and have a great day.

[castlebyersafterdark]

do you think it's fair/wise to dismiss the things actors say outside the show about the show regarding byler endgame? because honestly, more than 50% of my belief in byler is based on the way finn and noah behave when talking about it/thinking about it. but understandably plenty of fans of the show and ofc GA would not have even seen these things. i only ended up following their socials and watching interviews etc because noah's gushiness was addictive - he practically confirmed via facial expressions alone. but so many fans not only totally disregard the things actors say outside the show, but also can't seem to read these facial expressions and things. so they can't parse between when an actor is clearly covering their ass legally at a con appearance, and accidentally letting something slip while drunk in their dormroom on instagram live. noah is the type to let his face tell all, but the anti's go-to is: well he's clearly queerbaiting fans to get attention on his socials and its going to backfire when melvin are canon s5. literally who would be that dumb, esp as a gay man himself? noah, self-owning?! are they fucking joking?!

so i wonder if they truly can't see what he's doing, or if they just deny it because it's easier and more fair to only use evidence from the narrative itself to defend your viewpoint, even though a facial expression speaks a thousand words. honestly one look at noah's giddy face tells you almost everything you need to know - that something romantic and exciting and unexpected is going to happen with this sexuality storyline. plus it's helpful knowing he's a sore loser, and therefore if will got a storyline he didn't like, he'd probably seem a bit cold and distantly professional instead of literally star struck with excitement. idk it just seems foolish to disregard the actor's behaviour if you really want to figure things out.

Honestly, like everything else - nuance.

We're in an era where a big issue for most, no matter subject, no matter situation.... there's a lot of black and white thinking. This or that. Yes or no. When in reality - hey man, I think it depends 🤭

There's absolutely some vital insight I think we can glean from actions outside the show. For multiple viewpoints and wants, when something can be construed for the opposite of your personal agenda, then we disregard the actors and say jusy watch the show, but when it's supportive oh yes see we should listen to them. When in reality - yeah, exactly. There's nuance. You got it.

These people have media training, things they can and cannot say, ways they've been instructed to answer or steer a topic, combined with being very human.

David Harbour, who is a seasoned professional, who performs a specific personality - are we to take him one hundred percent literally? No way. You gotta doublethink and cut through his bullshit and understand he lies and trolls for fun and has this sarcastic interview personality sometimes, with moments of pure honesty mixed in. But the average person who might catch an interview randomly - how are they gonna know that if they're not super fans? And some people just have the issue of taking everything said in general at face value. Detecting sarcasm and recognizing lies isn't an automatic universal skill and that's the truth, and it's not an insult. We are all human, too.

You have someone like Finn, who I feel adheres to his media training well enough, but who also has preferences and anxieties about how he answers interview questions and deflects and disperses info. He's tricky. Just his style to want to discuss his projects a certain way, and I think sometimes we gotta be as aloof as he is about what he's saying about Stranger Things, while also recognizing he's viewing things discussed a certain way. I don't think he's one to spin an agenda into his discussion while the hardcore fans on any side do spin agendas while very often there isn't one. But his words have a lot of straightforward truth. I think Finn these days tries to stay neutral on things until he has opportunity to not. And I think some super fans WANT him and his demeanor to be regarded the same way Noah acts with fans and they have way different personalities anyway.

MBB. Must consider her as the face of the franchise. She represents the everyman average fan. She's designed for wide appeal, deeply media trained, the go-to soundbite. While also not being afraid of deadass giving a personal opinion or viewpoint mixed in just as serious as promotion. I think she's rather good at confidently spinning a narrative while also being somewhat emotionally inaccessible - and that's not a criticism. It's an impressive skillset when you're in the public eye and expectation is placed deeply on your words. Love her or hate her - she's industry savvy and paves her way, to both the charm and disdain of the show's audience.

Noah. Noah Noah. If you're paying deep attention, he often wears his heart on his sleeve. And he's in tune with fans and fandom. With him, that's vital information when considering what he talks about. Everything said above in the ask - accurate. I honestly do think Noah is the best example here of a person with nuance. Situational. He speaks openly, has a lot of opinion, has agenda, must adhere to official guidelines, etc. You see patterns with him. And he's accessible to fans in ways most others aren't. I consider him someone to look to for hints because he does give it away via his inability to leave emotion out. Where does him representing the show end as someone whose job it is to portray a character and just a guy hanging out on social media casually taking to fans outside of a convention setting, where's the line? Where do we hold him accountable for every opinion? I do however feel like it's fair that we do that. He said it. He gave opinion and bias and it never ends, really. How could it? So. Reflection on the weight and benefit/consequence of some of his words were gonna have to wait for the show being out - because if it goes one way, I think many of us will have big questions for him...

[peregrineroad]

B5: 3: 13-15

Thought I'd just do three, since the fourth's a two-parter and I have some work to do for the next week or so which might keep me from marathoning--I don't want to get stuck on a cliffhanger.

A Late Delivery From Avalon: Marcus was fun in his nerdiness this episode. I liked the narrative device of seizing on a myth to cover trauma and I liked learning more about one of the figures from the start of the Earth-Minbari war. That said, I got second-hand embarrassment so bad from the drinking scene that I actually fast-forwarded through its ending. Can't cope with stuff like that at all. First time I've ever wanted to skip a G'Kar scene rather than immediately rewatch it when it's done.

Ship of Tears: Never mind, the G'Kar scenes here made up for it! I almost cried when he and Delenn both did.

Bester! His expression when he recognizes Carolyn is perfect. I loved how generally tricky he was this episode. His dynamic with Sheridan is also fantastic. Immediately stealing the Captain's chair when Sheridan stands! The dignity with which he gets chased out of said Captain's chair! Dog-and-cat-who-hate-each-other behavior.

I enjoyed that we found out about the nastiness of his long-term plans at the same time he became an ally, and I liked that they're not the same kind of nasty as shadow-aligned Earth's activities. If Dust had worked, I wonder, would he have accepted the normals who became teeps as part of his evolutionary next step? Also lovely irony that he's declaring all this to Susan, who we know is there talking to him because she is a latent telepath, even a weak one. Even though much of his job is doing terrible things to other telepaths, he can't seem to conceive that one would truly, fundamentally reject his philosophy, even as his own lover does. What an interesting character.

I thought the telepaths-as-weapons/telepaths-as-shields-in-living-ships was one of the neatest non-character-based plot twists in the story so far. Garibaldi finally figuring it out as G'Kar comes aboard the war council was perfect. The Narn have very much earned their participation already.

Interludes and Examinations: AAAAAAAA

First up, Londo! We knew all this wasn't making him happy, but him thinking back to what did, the time he let go of ambition and what his society told him he should want, and just made a connection with someone who liked him for who he was...are we going to do any introspection about this? No? Okay. I genuinely am curious about what Adira would have made of all the...genocide, and sending people to 'work camps', etc. Would she have disapproved? Would her disapproval have reached him at all? We'll never know.

I have a bit of a fascination with the line between doing the right thing for pragmatic reasons and doing it for moral reasons. Maybe Londo rejecting the Shadows was just starting to shade into that line before his turn. Partly it may have been an objection to being used, partly concern for his world's defenses, but there was also an element of not wanting 'the rest of the galaxy [to] burn'. Of course, it's hard to see moral breathing room when the attitude is 'one genocide is welcome, but not so many', so even though the ending is a descent, I'm not sure it hits as emotionally that much worse than where he's already been.

He's a bit of a sucker here. Morden makes explicit threats, bad things happen on cue, so immediately return to doing what Morden wants? Londo. Mind you, last Adira episode also featured someone using his attachment to her to manipulate him, so he has history there. His swings between effective deviousness and being an easy pawn are interesting. He's good at court-style intrigues in bursts, but wasn't really built to thrive in that environment: he ends up shooting himself in the foot over and over.

Kosh--I was just thinking in Sheridan and Kosh's confrontation that I've seen at least one shipping fic for them and for the first time I could kind of see it, when Kosh beams his last message 'wearing' Sheridan's dad. Which slightly squished that. Always co-opting the dads! I assume that feels authentic to him: the timing here suggests it's not just a gesture towards paternal authority. But it really worked. I'm glad that he told Sheridan not to blame himself, because Sheridan absolutely was right, and after all the arranging for others to die for the greater good, it was absolutely time for Kosh to put his money where his mouth was. But it was genuinely sad, and Sheridan's distress and concern when waking from the dream projection was genuinely touching. There's a sweetness in Sheridan, as well as the steel, which makes him a very lovable protagonist to me. His concern for people always makes me concerned about them too.

Franklin: About the best way this plot-line could have wrapped up for him. No irreparable damage done, his connections with his friends aren't broken, and he's invested in his own recovery. Glad Garibaldi got to support him.

[sciencestyled]

The Mind: More Complicated Than a Soap Opera Love Triangle on Steroids

Welcome, fellow wanderers of the neural network jungle! Today, we’re diving into the wild, weird, and wacky world of consciousness and the human mind. Buckle up, because this is going to be a ride wilder than a raccoon on Red Bull!

Picture this: your brain is like a bustling theme park, complete with roller coasters, funhouse mirrors, and that inexplicably terrifying haunted house. The star attraction? Consciousness—a slippery, elusive concept that’s trickier to pin down than a greased-up pig in a county fair.

The Illusive Nature of Consciousness

So, what the heck is consciousness, anyway? Imagine trying to define a meme to your grandma: it’s kinda like that. Consciousness is that "I think, therefore I am" jazz, but without the snooty French accent. It’s your inner monologue, your self-awareness, your ability to contemplate the meaning of life while scrolling through cat videos at 3 AM.

Scientists have been trying to crack this nut for centuries. It’s like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube while riding a unicycle—blindfolded. Descartes kicked things off with his whole “cogito ergo sum” thing, but modern science isn’t content with philosophical mumbo-jumbo. They want hard facts, baby!

Neuroscience: The Brain’s Reality Show

Enter neuroscience, the Kardashian family of the scientific world—always dramatic, never boring. Neuroscientists poke, prod, and scan brains like they’re searching for hidden Easter eggs in a particularly tricky video game level. Their goal? To figure out how a three-pound lump of squishy gray matter gives rise to thoughts, feelings, and the occasional existential crisis.

One of the hottest theories in town is the Global Workspace Theory. Sounds fancy, right? It’s basically the brain’s version of an open-plan office, where different regions collaborate, gossip, and occasionally throw paper airplanes at each other. This “workspace” integrates information from various parts of the brain, creating a unified experience of consciousness.

Another contender is the Integrated Information Theory (IIT), which suggests that consciousness arises from the brain’s ability to integrate information in a complex way. Think of it like the Avengers assembling to save the world—except instead of superheroes, it’s neurons firing in synchrony. Plus, no one’s arguing over who’s the coolest Avenger (it’s obviously Thor, by the way).

Self-Awareness: More Meta Than a Post-Ironic Meme

Now, let’s get meta. Self-awareness is the next level up from basic consciousness—it’s like upgrading from dial-up internet to fiber optic. Self-awareness allows you to reflect on your own thoughts and actions, cringe at that embarrassing thing you did in seventh grade, and wonder why you even exist in the first place.

Humans aren’t the only ones who are self-aware, though. Some animals, like dolphins, elephants, and certain YouTubers, also demonstrate a level of self-awareness. The mirror test is a classic experiment for this: scientists plop a smudge on an animal’s face, show them a mirror, and see if they recognize themselves. If they try to wipe off the smudge, congrats—they’re self-aware! If not, well, they probably think they’re looking at a weirdly attractive stranger.

Consciousness and AI: Skynet or Silicon Valley Hype?

Speaking of self-awareness, let’s talk about artificial intelligence. Some folks are freaking out about AI becoming self-aware, fearing a Terminator-style apocalypse. But let’s be real—current AI is about as self-aware as a potato. Sure, AI can beat us at chess, write mediocre poetry, and recommend disturbingly accurate ads, but it’s not pondering the meaning of its silicon-based existence.

AI consciousness is more science fiction than science fact right now. However, the idea of AI achieving consciousness does raise some juicy ethical questions. If a robot becomes self-aware, does it deserve rights? Can it vote? Can it complain about the WiFi being slow? These are the deep, philosophical questions that keep AI researchers up at night.

The Human Mind: The Ultimate Plot Twist

Let’s reel it back to the human mind, the ultimate enigma wrapped in a puzzle inside a particularly tough Sudoku. The human mind is capable of extraordinary feats, like composing symphonies, solving complex equations, and making fire memes. It’s also responsible for some less impressive stuff, like reality TV and pineapple on pizza debates.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the human mind is its ability to deceive itself. Cognitive biases are like the brain’s funhouse mirrors, distorting reality in weird and often hilarious ways. Confirmation bias, for instance, makes you see what you want to see—like believing your horoscope was totally spot-on, even though it’s as vague as a fortune cookie.

Then there’s the Dunning-Kruger effect, where the less you know, the more you think you know. It’s why your uncle insists he could totally be an NFL coach despite having zero experience beyond yelling at the TV. The human mind is a tricky beast, full of quirks, contradictions, and occasional brain farts.

Human-Related Science Education: Making Sense of the Chaos

So, what does all this mean for human-related science education? In a world where understanding the mind is more complicated than explaining Inception to a toddler, science education needs to be as dynamic and engaging as possible. It’s not just about cramming facts into our brains like sardines into a can; it’s about making those facts stick.

Science education should be like a blockbuster movie—full of excitement, twists, and maybe a few explosions (metaphorically speaking, of course). It’s about making learning an adventure, where students can explore the mysteries of consciousness and the mind without feeling like they’re stuck in a boring lecture.

The Future of Consciousness Studies: More Twists Than a Telenovela

Looking ahead, the future of consciousness studies is brighter than Iron Man’s arc reactor. Advances in neuroscience, psychology, and even AI are shedding new light on the mind’s inner workings. We’re on the brink of discoveries that could revolutionize our understanding of what it means to be conscious.

Imagine a world where we can enhance our cognitive abilities, like upgrading our brain’s operating system. Or a future where we can interface directly with computers, turning us into real-life cyborgs. The possibilities are as endless as the number of times Ross and Rachel broke up and got back together.

Wrapping Up This Wild Ride

So, there you have it, folks—a whirlwind tour of consciousness and the human mind, narrated by yours truly, the caffeinated squirrel on a pogo stick. We’ve explored the brain’s theme park, delved into self-awareness, and even touched on the sci-fi possibilities of AI.

Remember, the human mind is a marvel of nature, capable of incredible creativity, profound introspection, and the occasional bout of irrationality. It’s a wild, wacky world inside our heads, and the more we understand it, the better equipped we are to navigate the chaos.

Stay curious, stay skeptical, and never stop exploring the zany mysteries of the mind. And always remember: if you can’t explain it to your grandma, you probably don’t understand it well enough yourself. Until next time, keep those neurons firing and those synapses sparking!

[stickytimemachinefestival]

The Next Big Thing in replica bags designer

The duplicate bag craze is almost nothing new.​ I recall Once i was a young teen planning to search her finest, I assumed possessing a reproduction bag was the final word trend statement.​ I bought my very to start with designer replica bag from a neighborhood store.​ It was a basic Gucci tote that I believed was so chic and complex.​ I try to remember clutching tightly on the handles and strutting down the road.​ I felt similar to the belle from the ball!

I've considering that understood the Idea of owning a duplicate bag is a bit controversial.​ In fact, the first designer normally places their blood, sweat and tears into each style, and knocks-off organizations just take the credit as their particular.​ Though I bought my replica bag a few years back, I nevertheless replicate fondly on all the great times I had with that bag.​

Simultaneously, I know how vital it is actually to safeguard the exertions and commitment of designers, so for that rationale I do not buy reproduction baggage any more.​ Continue to, it's tricky to ignore the price tag of an primary style and design, and over and over its just further than our monetary arrive at.​

For that reason, I do think reproduction baggage have their spot in The style field.​ It is really true there are disadvantages to proudly owning a reproduction like very poor excellent and material, but when worn respectfully they can be equipment that help us produce special and amazing appears to be.​ What's more, I feel It can be achievable to find a Center floor - 1 could continue to recognize the first models with no getting knock-offs.​

Although I don't Individually have replica luggage anymore, I am aware Lots of individuals who do, also to use an idiom, ‘it all depends upon the person’.​ For many, the only real distinction between an authentic and duplicate bag is the value tag.​ They do not treatment about recognition or quality, they just want to avoid wasting a couple of bucks what ever way they might.​

I'm able to fully empathize using this type of standpoint.​ In fact, I have been there myself, wishing to feel gorgeous and stylish in my duplicate Gucci bag.​ But I also understand the vital role of a designer and the necessity of protecting their rights as well as their labor.​

I recall The very first time I saw a phony bag.​ I was purchasing in my area shopping mall and stumbled throughout this amazing designer handbag.​ I was so mesmerised by its beauty that I promptly assumed it was legitimate.​ Little did I are aware that it was really a counterfeit! I can however recall the depth with the disappointment Once i identified the reality.​

Initially, I thought to myself, how can someone get away with building copies of reliable designer bags? Then I realised that the desire for designer items has developed exponentially, and counterfeiters are Making the most of this.​ Pretend luggage are everywhere now, and It truly is really unhappy to think about.​

I'm absolutely sure many of us have acquired a phony designer bag without the need of realising it.​ In spite of everything, the counterfeiters have their professional touch.​ It's challenging to tell the distinction between a real along with a faux bag.​ Even expert customers is usually fooled.​

Then again, there are a few notify-tale signs like the price tag, and the caliber of the leather-based applied, which can help determine a faux.​ For anyone who is scared of getting duped, do your analysis and Ensure that the bag you might be shopping for is the real offer.​

I truly feel guilty figuring out that there's an field that will take benefit of individuals.​ But the truth is, quite a bit of customers have their very own explanations for buying phony luggage.​ Some people are unable to afford originals, while others are searching for a good deal.​

Plenty of individuals have been ripped off and duped by obtaining fake bags.​ It is best to steer clear of counterfeits completely.​ Correct, They could seem seemingly reliable and truly feel lavish, but that's only about to very last for thus lengthy.​ Lower-high-quality supplies and weak craftsmanship indicate your phony bag will not likely stand the take a look at of time.​

What is actually worse is, buying a phony bag would not only benefit the vendor but supports a much bigger, felony underworld.​ In addition to that, selling bogus products can stop you up in jail if you can get caught, so It is really often greatest to remain away from fakes.​

So, in case you are ever considering buying a designer bag, I might urge you to acquire only from authorised sellers.​ That way, it is possible to make sure It can be authentic and safe.​ Plus, with all the money you preserve from obtaining fakes, you'll have more than enough to get a quality first.​ So It is generally ideal being cautious in generating purchases.​

I suppose I’m trapped in the middle, owning found both sides of your coin.​ I may not carry a designer tote anymore, but I'm able to appreciate the value, craft and top quality that went into it.​ And when I do see a person carrying a gorgeous authentic fake bags piece, I'm able to’t help but admire the effort and creativeness powering it.​

So, With regards to duplicate bags, what genuinely defines them? Can it be the craftsmanship, the originality, or the bit of thoughts that goes coupled with it? Or could it be merely about the cost tag?

In the long run, I think reproduction luggage should be thought of as manner statements that ought to be revered and appreciated, much like the initial pieces.​ All things considered, they assist us spend less with no compromising our design in any way, and for that they should be regarded as a valuable addition to any individual’s selection of baggage.​

Getting a further look at the make a difference of duplicate luggage, there’s considerably more to them than simply knock-offs of originals.​ Some knock-off brands are getting to be really Inventive, Operating difficult to produce handbags with spectacular craftsmanship and cocktails of resources that wouldn't Ordinarily be located on a conventional designer piece.​ They draw inspiration from the first and come up with styles which are really stylish - showcasing their very own unique magnificence rather than just copying a style from somewhere else.​

Increasingly more, The style marketplace is observing a development of replicated patterns gaining traction, as more and more shoppers glance to add a novel touch to their wardrobe without the need of breaking the bank.​ Of course, the knock-off market place carries its share of very low top quality luggage, but even reproduction baggage occur in different grades now.​

It really is true that designer originals will normally continue to be originals, but the marketplace for knock-offs has grown substantially over the years, featuring the consumer bit of head though nonetheless having the ability to Specific their own personal design and style at a fraction of the fee.​ Individually, I feel there’s a specific appeal to the knock-off industry which can’t be denied.​ Every person would like to shave several hundred of the fee of buying a designer bag, so it’s Protected to claim that reproduction baggage are going to be all around for quite some time.​

As well as, There are tons of different opinions on the issue.​ A lot of people may well argue that buying knock-offs supports the unethical practices of price reduction shops, while others may possibly propose that it encourages creativeness and helps to deliver up the normal of vogue items.​ Some may very well be entirely indifferent for the issue, but No matter, it’s one thing well worth discussing and mulling over.​

At the end of the working day, All people has their unique impression on reproduction baggage, And that i’m no exception.​ Just as much as I’d want to avoid the knock-off industry, I’ll admit that there are occasions when I uncover myself waving for any taxi which has a duplicate bag by my side.​ Little question it’s a personal determination that every of us should make for ourselves, and I’m sure it’s a subject that will carry on to become the source of numerous debates.​

[danimia]

I do actually! I'm not sure how much of my personal writing technique will translate for you, and I am not a professional or accomplished writer, so caveat lector. In my latest work I've actually been having the opposite problem, though, which has been pleasantly surprising to me since I've historically had trouble making up word counts, like you 😅

I'll note that my writing style is closer to pants-er than planner; I know what the whole overall plot arc is, and I know what big events need to happen between here and the end of the story, but I don't have any idea how long it's going to take to get there. I just finished writing a scene in chapter 6 that I figured I'd have gotten to by chapter 4, but my characters were just too busy.

These are my touchstones:

Avoid jump-cuts. You know what I mean; you finish writing one scene, and then you want to write the next one, so you write a pithy scene-closing line, put a big horizontal rule in there, and then you set the new scene. Unless you're doing first-person perspective-switching (which nearly always does require a jump-cut), they're usually unnecessary; bridge your scenes using words, not lines. You can do that over any length of time: "We spent the next three years doing just that." You can do that when switching characters or locations: "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..." You can do that when switching emotional tone: "It was hard. Brutally hard. Even the hardest day eventually passes, though, and before I knew it, I was walking into the office the next morning with a smile on my face." I'm writing my current work with the goal of zero jump-cuts other than between chapters (and often not even then). You probably don't need to go that far, but I've been finding it good practice. And sometimes, the bridging text I write in place of a jump-cut also prompts a new mini-scenelet. Win-win!

Keep a model of the world in your mind. Whether it's visual, textual, or emotional, whether it's in your head or you mock it up by moving objects around on a table, remember that there is, almost certainly, something going on that isn't the action you're focusing on. Even if you're alone on an alien planet, the wind might shift, or a cloud might cover the sun. Remember that the outside world exists, and every once in a while, remind your reader of that too.

Keep the pace smooth. Reread your chapter from the beginning every once in a while; if you can't trust yourself to actually read it properly without skimming, then read it aloud, even if it's just to yourself. The emotional tenor of the scene should progress smoothly up and down, unless you're purposefully setting up a twist or something, which should obviously be rare. Don't take the reader from a slice-of-life moment directly to a world-saving triumph, because that will feel jarring; if possible, try to keep the reader's state of tension at roughly the main level as your focus character's state. When you reread your chapter, if it feels like a windfall or a disaster come out of nowhere, add some foreshadowing to lead into it. Give the reader enough time to join your character on their emotional journey.

Use words to measure time. This can be tricky, but in the same way as you want to keep your reader at the same tension as the character, you want your reader to keep up with the action, and you want the action to keep up with your reader. Decide on a pace for your book, for when your camera is at its closest and you're describing blow-by-blow action, and try to keep that pace as consistent as you can. For a fast-paced action story, you might try and get as close to a one-to-one timescale as you can; going dialogue-heavy can help with that, since the quoted parts of spoken dialogue are, by definition, at a 1:1 timescale with the action. My book is much more cerebral and contemplative, so I'm tending to go way slower than that; I haven't measured it or anything, but I'd guess my timescale is around 5:1. In other words, when I read five minutes of text, it represents an in-world timespan of around one minute, on average. That means I end up breaking up dialogue a lot; there will be a few lines of rapid back-and-forth, and then my character will think about what that means for a paragraph or two, and then she'll say her next line. One thing that means is that if you're zoomed in close and your character starts an action that's supposed to take a while, try not to let them finish that action in the same paragraph. Give your reader something to look at while the character is busy doing the thing. If the action is interesting enough, you can just describe the whole action itself, but that only works the first time. If your character has to shut down four field generators to let the rebel army through, you can tell your readers all about it the first time, but if they're all supposed to take the same amount of time, there should be the same amount of text in between starting and finishing, even if the text isn't directly related. "It took just as long the second time. I couldn't help but remember how my parents..." "The third time was no easier, but at least it was more fun; they'd put the generator in a bouncy house, and it turned out the dark lord has an adorable giggle." "As my hands performed the same task for the fourth time, I finally felt like I was getting the hang of it. This whole mission had been..." That does mean adding filler here and there, but filler isn't a bad thing! Use it to flesh out the world by looking at your world model and thinking, "what could possibly be happening nearby?" Use it to give a lore dump, or to move a character from place to place. If they were sitting on their sofa and shopping Amazon on their phone, have them taking the bus to work, and use the transit time to show how long the shopping is taking. If you're stuck for what to write for filler, then

Remember that your (human) characters are human. Most of your nonhuman characters are too, for that matter, at least in behavior. People get bored. People shift position. People wander off, and daydream, and their stomachs growl, and they think about what they haven't had to eat today. (Oh wait, no, that's me. I should probably...eh, I'll finish the post first.) One of my favorite things to do when coming up with something to fill space or time is to read through the chapter (or at least the scene), figure out how I'm feeling about the story at that moment, and then figure out how to give that feeling to one of the characters. If you're thinking "ugh, I just wanna get to the fight scene already," then make a character impatient with how long something is taking. If you're looking at this and thinking, "okay but nothing's happening" then make your character bored, maybe have them comment on that to someone else, and then they can talk about it. If things are happening too fast and you don't have enough words to make it feel like things are lasting long enough, have your character get overwhelmed with how fast things are happening. That keeps the character off-balance, but it gives the reader a chance to catch their breath. It takes the feeling the reader was already having and says, "Yes, that's a good feeling, here, I'll show you who's feeling it. Now, moving on."

I hope this helps!

As a writer with adhd,

How do you write decently sized chapters for a book?

Like I’m talking about chapters in published books (and some fics tbh!) that are easily like 20 something pages long.

And trust me I know that this is probably just due to a lack of experience on my part, but I genuinely wanna know how you can fill so many pages and still make it entertaining for the reader? Like I wanna have that skill so bad.

In short, does anyone have any tips?

[dragonchris]

Game Review: Crosscode

Imagine if you were playing an Augmented Reality Multiplayer Online RPG but instead of actually playing an Augmented Reality Multiplayer Online RPG you played as a character who was playing an Augmented Reality Mulitplayer Online RPG? Welcome to Crosscode, an absolute BANGER of a RPG and the single game I’ve been obsessed with for the last two months or so.

Story:

Meet Lea, an amnesiac playing through the Augmented Reality game of Crossworlds to relearn her memories. Through the story, you meet incredibly fun characters and explore a gorgeous futuristic world, uncovering the secrets of your past and figuring out who you are in the present. This game’s got some twists and turns that kept me gripped the whole way through. I wanted to squeeze every dialogue option out of all the characters I met to learn everything about them that I could. Man this game has a story that’s so rich and plentiful I feel like I’m wallowing in a five-star course. I love a good lore-filled game.

Gameplay and Controls:

As Lea, you travel through a 2D RPG, exploring new places, solving puzzles, and fighting monsters to level up! The world is vast and well-designed, the puzzles are immaculate, but one of the most fleshed out parts of this game is its combat system. I’m usually more a puzzle gameplay person than a combat one but man the combat just feels good. The enemies are interesting and varied, you’ve got an extensive amount of control over how to build the character that you want to play, and its super satisfying to go back to earlier levels that you’ve toiled through and just fucking disintegrate every enemy in your path. And there’s accessibility options too, for both the combat aspect of the game and the puzzle aspect!

Sound:

The music is a treat and is very intuitive to the mood of the story and the environment, But also, past that, just the sounds in general are great too. I didn’t realize what a treat it was for certain attacks to sound so nice until I was using them. There are places in the game where the waterfall effects are a bit too loud, but other than that, the game is just really nice to listen to.

Art:

Crosscode’s got a nice pixel style which lends a special charm to the game, almost calling back to older games with its style while making a story about a futuristic gaming environment. The only gripe I have with this style is that, due to its 2D nature, it can be hard to gauge perspective sometimes which can make platforming a bit tricky.

Playable, Replayable, or Unplayable?

God, there is so much in this game to do. It’s worth playing it, it’s worth going back and replaying it. For an indie game, it’s so richly made and there’s so much love put into it that I can’t recommend it enough. If you’re looking into this game, I’d HIGHLY recommend also yoinking the “A New Home” DLC, which offers a whole-ass epilogue chapter. And if you’re not sure if it’s the right game for you, try the free demo out! Man, I love this game. 10/10.

Steam