#I didn't even know where to start when it came to adapting your style

[gingermintpepper]

They got interrupted on their date 😔✊🏾

Had to draw the very talented @namidew 's designs for Apollo and Hyacinthus after their most recent post of them!!! I'm SO in love with these designs y'all!! Absolutely want to kiss both of their cheeks!!

[brazilian-girl02]

~ Vlogger!Reader and Future yandere!Batfamily Part: 2 ~

Warning: This is where some yandere stuff shows up.

🦇 It was another normal day at Wayne Manor. Tim was walking to the kitchen to get one, or maybe the fourth, cup of coffee;

🦇 He arrived in the kitchen and noticed the absence of the butler Alfred, as well as an old notebook on top of the kitchen island. curious, he turns on the notebook and an email addressed to Alfred appears on the screen;

-dear Alf... It's been two years since we've seen each other in person, two years since our last book club meeting and without your wonderful tea. I came here to say that everything is going well with my studies and I am adapting well in (city of your choice). and I continue to post my videos, I know you watch them, but anyway, I hope you come visit me one day. a big hug, {You}

🦇 Tim read the email again and again.... "who are {you}?" he asked himself as he went to his room. Once there he started going through the files and even found his college's files;

🦇 Tim was so immersed in taking in every piece of information that he didn't notice that someone was at the door watching him;

🦇 it was Bruce... they started talking and Tim asked incessant questions about you, but Bruce had no answer. soon Alfred appears, he accompanies Tim to your old room, with a mournful Bruce behind;

🦇 When they got to their old room, the walls were your favorite color but in a more worn tone and an old computer on the desk. Tim quickly stops the computer to search it;

🦇 while Bruce looked around the room in a daze, how he forgot about you, and soon he started searching the closet and with an Alfred watching;

🦇 At dinner, Tim was very focused on watching his videos, which he discovered by searching the room's computer. Dick asked him what he was watching and Tim started pouring information about you, sparking curiosity in the others, except Alfred;

🦇 Dick started watching all the videos almost religiously and he always comments on all the videos. If you have a public mailbox on your social network, it will certainly send Nightwing merchandise;

🦇Jason, I would read any book you recommended or appear reading in a photo or video... perhaps you noticed that classic books and a box set of Jane Austen's works mysteriously appeared in your apartment;

🦇Tim has scoured every corner of the Internet looking for information about you, from your Amazon account to an old social media account you no longer use. Maybe he hacked your phone and cameras from places you frequent;

🦇 Barbara would be a little like Tim, but in a milder way. if you have a disability of any kind, you can be sure that she would have researched it, perhaps she would have become a little more protective;

🦇 Cass was happy to be able to watch your videos, she even started to have some of her quirks that she sees in the videos. If you practice some dance, she will definitely improve in that dance while dreaming of doing a ballet duet with you;

🦇 Stephanie is so excited to have someone to share trends and memes with. if you are part of a specific fashion style or subculture, she will research everything about it, from the clothes to the political or historical views of it;

🦇 Duke is surprised how the others didn't notice you, he watches your video game reviews and plays them from start to finish. I hope you notice your energy bill dropping suddenly;

🦇 Now there is a very thoughtful Damian, how could you hide from him for so long. he wonders if you would like to paint with him or if you have a pet, he would love to introduce you to his clan of animals;

🦇 Bruce pondered many things. he really loves you, don't get him wrong but his duties as Batman were a property and he wasn't sure how to approach a civilian like you, his beloved daughter. but rest assured that he will protect you... so don't worry that he has researched everything about your friends and girlfriend, after all it is for your safety;

🦇Alfred is pleased, they finally noticed the amazing girl he created and maybe you'll come home;

-Don't worry Young Miss, soon everyone will be paying attention to you like you always dreamed of.

----------------------------------------------------------

This is chapter 2, I hope you all like it. And yes, my Barbara have a wheelchair. kisses

part 1:

[himasgod]

Can I request a leona x reader where the reader is like really smart in a out of the box why like the reader can throw him off in chess or something (sorry I’m really bad at explaining stuff I hope you have a good day/night :])

Leona x Reader

Where he can't beat you at chess

Where you are the only person who has ever been able to compete with him at chess, the only person who has ever truly captured his attention.

I used to know how to play chess but when I was little, I've forgotten it now so I couldn't describe the moves very well sorry 😿 but I hope you like it!

Under the awning in Savanaclaw, a group of students watched with growing amazement the chess game unfolding between Leona and you.

Leona, with an expression of absolute confidence, rested one arm on the back of his chair as he analyzed the board. From the start of the game, he had tried to play with his usual tactics: aggressive moves, baiting, and ambushing. However, every move he made was dismantled by you with an ease that irritated and amused him in equal measure.

"Tch, I've never seen anyone play like that," he murmured, resting his chin on his hand and squinting at the new position of your pieces.

"I'm playing with you, Leona, I'm not really playing chess." you replied with a smile, moving a piece.

The spectators let out a murmur of surprise. Jack, who was also watching the game, frowned.

"What does it mean, not playing chess?" he whispered.

Leona clicked his tongue and gave a crooked smile.

"Hah. Don't tell me you're manipulating the game on purpose."

"Technically, no," you said, your expression amused. "But I know how you think. I'm not looking to win the traditional way. I'm playing in a way that makes you doubt, confuse you, and force you to change your style. Basically, I'm making you frustrate yourself."

Leona rested an elbow on the table and covered his mouth with his hand, hiding a husky laugh.

"Interesting."

The murmurs among the students intensified. Everyone knew Leona was a born strategist, someone who used his intellect more than his brute force, and that very few people could even match him in a mind game. But here you were, not only dismantling his strategy, but also pushing him out of his comfort zone.

With a heavy exhalation, Leona moved a piece.

"Fine. If you want to play with me and not chess, then I'll adapt."

The tension in the air increased. Leona had accepted your challenge, and although it seemed like the game was merely a contest of wits, you both knew it went much deeper. It was a battle of perceptions. A fight seeing who of you were the most intelligent.

And, for the first time in a long time, Leona felt someone could match him at his own game.

Maybe, just maybe, he'd found someone worthy of his attention.

The next few plays grew more intense.

Leona completely abandoned his carefree attitude and began analyzing you with those sharp predatory eyes that made many tremble under his gaze. But you just smiled back, unperturbed, enjoying his change of attitude.

"You know," he murmured, crossing his fingers under his chin as he studied the board, "you're quite annoying."

"Thanks, I try hard," you replied with a smile.

Leona let out a low growl, as if he couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or amused by your attitude. Then he made an unexpected move, one that seemed like a trap, but actually hid a deeper strategy.

This time, it was you who narrowed your eyes. You recognized the change: Leona was no longer testing you, he was taking you seriously. And that, somehow, made you smile.

The end of the game came with an unexpected draw. Not because either of you could win, but because both of you, at some point, had decided ypu didn't want the game to end yet.

"Oh, tie," you said, leaning back on the table with a satisfied expression.

Leona held your gaze for a moment, and then, with an almost imperceptible gesture, his tail swished lazily to the side.

"Let's play another game," he suggested with a half-smile. "But this time, without spectators."

The students around you let out surprised gasps, but Leona didn't even pay attention to them. He only had eyes for you.

"Oh, you want a rematch?" you mocked, leaning slightly toward him.

"Hah. Call it what you want," he murmured, resting an elbow on the table and looking at you with a different intensity. "But I have a feeling I won't get tired of playing with you."

So, having scared the others off with Ruggie's help, as night fell, you spent a few more hours playing, with neither of you giving in to the choice of winning or losing.

Neither of you wanted to end that game.

So Leona ended up yawning, showing his large teeth and raising his eyebrow at the board again, saying, "So I guess we'll have to continue tomorrow. Don't go running away, herbivore."

"Run away? Why would I? You couldn't even beat me. It seems you're running away like a cat with its tail between its legs."

Leona gave a lazy smile before yawning again.

"You've got a lot of nerve, herbivore. No one dares to talk to me like that."

"No one dared to challenge you in chess either, and look at us, we've been playing for hours."

Leona got up to go to his room, but not before turning around, analyzing you with his green eyes and letting out a lazy smile

"Get ready for tomorrow, because this time I'm really going to beat you. I'm going to devour you, herbivore."

"Whatever you say, scaredy-cat."

And with a wide smile, you returned to Ramshackle, dreaming of the next hundred plays you would make against Leona just to hear his concentrated growls or his eyes fixed on you.

[sakrafka]

I love your art so much, it inspires me to draw in my own style that isn't influenced by other popular styles typically liked. I love how you use vibrant colors, and the silhouettes of the critters you make are so fun. I also only got Tumblr so I could view all the art you post. 🤭❤️ But, I just wanted to ask how you developed your art style, if you had any influences growing up, and generally how it came to be. THANK YOU‼️‼️

Thank you so much for the kind message :DD I really appreciate you!! Multiple people have asked me this before so I'll try giving a more detailed answer!

I have been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil, I'm autistic and drawing has always been my "safe-space" and the only thing that really relaxes me! I think my main inspirations that affected my style the most were the Dragonology books, I had them when I was little and I was obsessed. I kept tracing over all the art and mimicking the style (around 8-10 years old). Petson and Findus is another one! I first started sharing my art and seeing online artist at the age of 17; I made a Deviantart and I really loved Z-doodler and Picolo-kun (I think those were their names?). I'm also obsessed with Károly Reich, I grew up on books illustrated by him! These things specifically don't really inspire my art anymore, but the basic foundation of it was, I think, built on these styles!

Then, for some reason I got obsessed with trying to develop an art style that is unique to only me, as much as that's possible. I regularly sat down, and tried to create new stylistic choices by forcefully thinking of new ways of drawing. I tried to forget everything I know, and come up with new ways to convey something.

I also have an "inspiration folder", with random pieces of art. I sometimes took 4-5 pieces that were my favorite, and tried to adapt little stylistic choices from their art to mine, and combine them. I did this very sparingly, because I don't want my art to look like anyone else's (again, as much as that's possible, since styles overlap and stuff)!

I developed certain characteristics in my art style that I have never seen before, for example the way I shade with these little triangle shapes. This is something that I "came up with" and didn't see anywhere before. They only started appearing a few weeks after I started sharing my art with this shading, and all the people who did it were followers of mine haha (it is completely possible that someone else did this before me as well, though - I'm only saying that this is something that, as far as I know, I came up with!). I'm attaching a screenshot of the shading I'm talking about:

So yeah, I would really love to try and make up new things that are unique to me (again, as much as that is possible), and I don't have any specific inspirations as of right now; the most inspiring things to me are totally random things, like a nice leaf, a song, or anything really! I have that type of imagination, I don't know the name, where I can rotate the apple in full HD 4K and even smell it lmao. So it often happens that random pictures just pop up in my head, completely unprompted, and I often draw these.

Also, I know my current art style is not very unique; this is because in recent years I focused on making my art style a bit more "digestable". I started selling my art, and I became a bit forced to make things that *most* people like. So, it is very hard to balance my will to make an art style that is super unique to me, while also drawing in a way that is nice for most people and easily consumable. But if you srcoll back to the beginning of my blog, you can see more unique pieces where I really tried to experiment!

Here are some artists that I like, aside from the ones I mentioned! (all instagram handles)

esztter_t

sournoodl

artkaisucks

lillaboleczillustration

foliveli

salamispots

clarelewlew

tudi.juli

gyunyuya

clara_winnie_

apple_toast And many more probably!

[chambersoflight]

Nero DMC4 rewrite!!

When i first watched the cutscenes for Dmc4, we had a slight dislike for Nero. Which was mostly based on the fact that he feels a lot like another Dante and didn't really fit the Games premise. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact this kid with a demon arm and white hair came around and they were like "oh yes your allowed into this church" yes. He fights demons (which could be them using him as a knight) in the beginning yes he hides it in a cast but come on. He couldn't have been doing that forever so We came up with a worse idea. (This ofc isnt hate on og Nero he has slightly grown on me as a charachter but this is just a 'darker' take on it if you wanne be edgy)

A Child washes up on the lake behind The Order of the Sword, Where Sanctus finds him, crying, blood flowing from his tiny body.

Similar to stories of the Messiah, they take him in and take in account his impressing healing abilities. 5 sisters are assigned to raise him while they pledge they know of their new savior, but that he must be hidden away from the public eye. Praising the heavens and the Father for this gift of divine.Until around the age of 7. The child's arm begins to grow dark blue unnatural veins starting at the finger tips, morphing into sharp claws and glowing tendons. It's then they realize the full demonic power of the boy, his arm glows and holds power inhuman, sharp razor teeth (that has something to do with my redesign of all the sparda family in general). Thinking he may have been cursed by some unholy force, they baptize him repeatedly, every day for hours. Praying over him, doing everything in the highest power they can to try and reverse the curse he's obtained. As we know though it's not a curse, and the veins continued to spread until his entire arm glowed blue. The boy was claimed to be under demonic possession. In attempts to 'exorcise' him, they cut off his demonic arm and hurt him, refusing to give him real treatment, only patching both of his eyes and arm stump with dirty bandages never to be cleaned orLike goblin children usually do behind the backs of the harsh sisters, they ridiculed him at any chance. Calling him the antichrist, throwing rocks at him and even as he grew older, Credo used him at training practice. But by the second his senses became stronger, even if he couldn't see he started becoming more sensible to noise. The feeling of sword swings, steps. As more time passes and he isn't removed like they said he would be, he's able to detect movements of meters away based on vibration. He grows to adapt to fighting styles and learns to fight back. redone, blinding him. To keep him away from people, he must be even more isolated. So they did the most rational thing and chained him behind the Main Sparda statue, guarded by gates and hidden from the public eye still.(The thing with the Order of the Sword here is that they don't worship Sparda directly, they use him as a symbol of overcoming sin but they still worship God and condemn demons.)Sanctus baptized the rest of the children they took in and the idea of not being around him was branded into their minds. But that didn't stop them.

[isadollie]

hi! i saw that your reqs are open and i really wanted to ask if you could write something for manjiro! the reader being adopted by the sanos and you showing their friendship and how mikey acts like a big brother (by 1 year c:) its okay if u dont wanna write it!!

big brother, again

— [manjiro sano]

platonic, mikey as an older brother, gn!reader

When Manjiro first met you, he wasn't sure.

He had a feeling that you appeared almost out of nowhere; he used to run around causing chaos with Baji, exploring the world together. But when he got back home, tired after spending a whole day with his friend, the house suddenly felt smaller.

He became a brother? Again?

Manjiro wasn't the tallest kid in area, yet you seemed so small to him. So little, so... different.

He already got used to Emma, he started to like, even love her and take care of her. But now he has to adapt to a new situation all over again.

When Manjiro first met you, he wasn't sure.

He talked about it to his friends, even introduced you to them, but you seemed so shy it was almost frustrating. His friends just greeted you politely and didn't think much of it. But Manjiro couldn't quite understand it.

He saw how you play with Emma, making cute little bracelets together, for each other, and for different people as well. He saw Shinichiro laughing with joy as you handed him his own little beaded bracelet.

Manjiro couldn't help but scoff. How come everyone accepted you so quickly?

When Manjiro first met you, he wasn't sure.

One time when he was practicing his fighting with Baji, he wanted to shout at you, when you entered and disturbed. He became speechless though, when he saw how you offer another of those little beaded bracelets to Baji. It even had his name on it.

After you quickly ran off, Baji just laughed, throwing the tiny piece of jewelry to the ground. Manjiro's eyes widened.

How dare he treat his little sibling like that? How dare he throw your work, your courage, your feelings to the ground like they mean nothing?

Manjiro didn't feel like explaining his reasons. He simply told his friend to leave. He couldn't understand his own behavior.

When Manjiro first met you, he wasn't sure.

After wandering around the town for a few hours, he came back home. All he wanted was just to shut himself in his room and think about his feelings.

He saw a little bag on his desk; something that wasn't there when he left earlier. His eyes widened dramatically as he opened it.

A bracelet. Just for him.

The small beads were shining in different colors. Some of them had tiny letters on them, spelling the words "big brother".

Inside the bag, there was also a little note, written in an unprecise handwriting.

"I'm sorry you had to wait for so long. I wanted the one for you to be perfect"

Manjiro looked down on his wrist, where he put on the bracelet just a few seconds ago. It's not the prettiest, not his style, not in his favourite color. But he couldn't care less. And he won't ever want to take it off again.

When Manjiro first met you, he wasn't sure.

But now he is.

He knows he has another little sibling, another addition to the list of people he promised himself he'll protect, no matter the cost.

Another person he will fail to protect.

hello anon!! i know this isn't exactly what you wanted but i hope you like it anyway:)

if you want to request something too, check out the pinned post on my blog!!

[rat-and-chupacabra-inc]

Nero Sparda Rewrite (Devil May Cry)

When i first watched the cutscenes for Dmc4, we had a slight dislike for Nero. Which was mostly based on the fact that he feels a lot like another Dante and didn't really fit the Games premise. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact this kid with a demon arm and white hair came around and they were like "oh yes your allowed into this church" yes. He fights demons (which could be them using him as a knight) in the beginning yes he hides it in a cast but come on. He couldn't have been doing that forever so We came up with a worse idea.

A Child washes up on the lake behind The Order of the Sword, Where Sanctus finds him, crying, blood flowing from his tiny body. Similar to stories of the Messiah, they take him in and take in account his impressing healing abilities. 5 sisters are assigned to raise him while they pledge they know of their new savior, but that he must be hidden away from the public eye. Praising the heavens and the Father for this gift of divine.

Until around the age of 7. The child's arm begins to grow dark blue unnatural veins starting at the finger tips, morphing into sharp claws and glowing tendons. It's then they realize the full demonic power of the boy, his arm glows and holds power inhuman, sharp razor teeth (that has something to do with my redesign of all the sparda family in general). Thinking he may have been cursed by some unholy force, they baptize him repeatedly, every day for hours. Praying over him, doing everything in the highest power they can to try and reverse the curse he's obtained. As we know though it's not a curse, and the veins continued to spread until his entire arm glowed blue. The boy was claimed to be under demonic possession. In attempts to 'exorcise' him, they cut off his demonic arm and hurt him, refusing to give him real treatment, only patching both of his eyes and arm stump with dirty bandages never to be cleaned or redone, blinding him. To keep him away from people, he must be even more isolated. So they did the most rational thing and chained him behind the Main Sparda statue, guarded by gates and hidden from the public eye still.

(The thing with the Order of the Sword here is that they don't worship Sparda directly, they use him as a symbol of overcoming sin but they still worship God and condemn demons.)

Sanctus baptized the rest of the children they took in and the idea of not being around him was branded into their minds. But that didn't stop them.

Like goblin children usually do behind the backs of the harsh sisters, they ridiculed him at any chance. Calling him the antichrist, throwing rocks at him and even as he grew older, Credo used him at training practice. But by the second his senses became stronger, even if he couldn't see he started becoming more sensible to noise. The feeling of sword swings, steps. As more time passes and he isn't removed like they said he would be, he's able to detect movements of meters away based on vibration. He grows to adapt to fighting styles and learns to fight back.

By the 4th Game, he's grown to 17. The chain never changed, leaving a gaping scar on his neck (its damage done over many many years which makes me think it wouldnt heal? Well yes heal. But stay deformed) Dante arrives to assassinate Sanctus. With a sword from a fallen soldier, Nero attacks him. With the swing of Dante's sword, his chains are cut from his neck(ripped off and bleeding) and he's free. Dante escaped and Nero goes after him, still holding the belief that Sanctus is a loving higher power. Also getting an in my head cool game mechanic, where the games vision blurs at points if not goes out for seconds as Nero moves along his mind, to simulate his blindness to the player and his mental state becoming more and more messed up as he feels more in control. His final main weapon became a giant great sword that encased the Yamato hidden inside. (Part of Dante's mission to find)

While fighting, his objective changes. From revenge for Sanctus to learning about their deceit, instead putting the pain he has felt for years on someone or something not him. Leading up to the end of the game where after rescuing Kyrie and she promptly rejects anything to do with him, he loses it, getting the church together to declare himself as the new god to be worshipped, reclaiming his lost title of the savior he once had. He begins threatening and hurting civilians in the process with weapons he got on his way through the game.

The final battle is of Dante fighting Nero instead of the weird plot of a giant statue. Once he's down, Dante picks him up and chooses to fix him up instead of killing him. A very slow and painful process which often takes more efford than Dante is willing to give him but it works out also Nero is uh. A Healer now bc he finds that helping people brings him joy. Yes, he can fight but prefers to help civilians out of the situations he follows the crew in 5. (Long hair DMC4, buzzcut DMC5)

There's many more lore plot details but they're secret<3 We hope you like this weird au we've been waiting for a little while. We've been working on it for a while and are proud of it. It's not 100% finished but we're proud.

-(Rat the blue one)

{R&C}

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff: Orion and the Dark

You know? I remember playing Pajama Sam 1 many moons ago and to this day I find it lovely to play. Great characters, incredible artwork, the differing routes each playthrough which I didn't even realize until then, and the ending which really stuck with me. That what was kept me anticipating Orion and the Dark, as I felt it was that spiritual successor I never knew I wanted. It sucks that Dreamworks dropped this onto streaming like it was nothing, not even on the site they own no less, but I genuinely looked forward to this and that's what matters. Now that it's out, let it be known I can't believe this will be the first Charlie Kaufman film for me. Just saying, any interest in his previous movies is gonna feel like whiplash.

Just imagining some kid loving Orion & is eventually in awe for a movie called I'm Thinking of Ending Things

To truly start this review, this might be the best kino non-Pixar Pixar movie Dreamsworks ever made. I didn't think of it having the whole "what if X had feelings" factor until now but I actually like that they take it not only in a reasonable direction, but twists the dynamic in a way Pixar honestly hasn't done since... Toy Story 4 I guess? No spoilers, but I enjoyed that Darkness and his entity friends have their insecurities, this is before they all met Orion, and they take that in a very great if offputting direction. Plus I love that they were able to personify these elements I didn't actually think about when it came to night time. They also present the biggest problem with the movie and that's the lack of real camaraderie with the entities and Orion. You enjoy the friendship between the boy and Darkness, but they streamline the bond Orion has with the others and that really makes the story hit or miss depending on if you grow to care about them. I brought up Pixar and yeah, while they have their great individual moments they don't have the same effectiveness dynamic wise as the emotions from Inside Out. Also small nitpick, but I didn't like that Dark's name is "Dark" and not "Darkness"; doesn't roll of the tongue, you know?

Plus we didn't get Orion and Dark playing Cheese & Crackers like missed opportunity of the year

Now again, this is my first Charlie Kaufman film, but I was familiar with his writing style and I gotta say I loved what he does with the structure of the story. It's a story within a story where as soon as the curtain is pulled, I was fully hooked. I love how Orion essentially helps himself overcome some of his fears both thanks to unexpected but welcomed help and developing his own confidence. It was clever how when you put a face on a fear, that fear slowly fades but the film shows that it's not something capable of a cure. Orion's neuroses dilate thanks to this adventure, he probably wouldn't have lived to tell it if otherwise, but it presents that growing up doesn't mean everything will work out perfectly or immediately. Does it do a lot to get to that point? Yes, but I felt the risks paid off in a way I don't think I've seen before in a story like this. I know as a kid I didn't have constant paralyzing premonitions regarding the worse outcomes imaginable like Orion, but on some level I remember what it's like and how it'll still fester your mind as you get older. This film, pun unintended, gets dark on a personal level and will probably stick with me long after watching it.

Can't say this scene broke me, but damn did it get close

Orion and the Dark impressed me as something thought-provoking, that does a lot more than being another adapted storybook. Is it an insanely masterful modern Dreamworks movie like Puss in Boots 2? No, even with its great subversions the movie doesn't juggle everything as well as I hoped. Then again, I highly appreciate that this was a risky movie Dreamworks was willing to release, that got both Kaufman and Werner Herzog of all people on board, as opposed to shelving it like some companies I know. A movie that doesn't spell everything out, that gets to be a family movie not constantly upbeat but colorful and optimistic in all the right ways. Orion deserves a chance where I think everyone will have interesting takeaways even if it won't be their favorite Dreamworks film in recent years. I'm overall glad I saw it and kinda want to see it again soon for missed details.

4 Out Of 5; The night truly shined with this one.

[marciabrady]

Sorry if you've already answered something like this before but I'd like your thoughts on cinderella 3? As a huge cinderella fan I can see the appeal it has to the wider audience but idk I've never gelled with it?

No worries! I'm in the same boat as you, for a multitude of reasons. I still remember, when I saw the third movie for the first time, thinking it was okay but then never wanting to watch it again. Something about it didn't ring true, but it just wasn't on my mind much and I never felt compelled to revisit it (as opposed to the original which I rewatched on a daily basis at a certain point of my life). Then, later, as an editor, I returned to it to continue engaging with the Cinderella fandom by giffing things that hadn't been made before. I tried to admire it for a while, because that film brought many people to Cinderella that otherwise didn't like her but...the more I sit with it, the more I realize how much it isn't for me. Now, it isn't that it's bad. That's a subjective thing, obviously, and it has a comparatively higher production value for a film of its kind. However, I think the way the film presents itself as blending with canon is extremely flawed and I think it's led the fandom to a lot of conclusions that I'm downright uncomfortable with. It's fine as its own thing, but I'm growing increasingly uneasy with it being considered a canonical part of the fandom.

Cinderella herself. No adaption of Cinderella ever gets Cinderella right (the live action is the worst offender) but I think, in some ways, it's more glaringly obvious here because it's supposed to be a direct continuation of the one media that did get Cinderella right? No one could ever live up to Ilene Woods' Cinderella, and I know that's an impossible assignment, due in no small part to how natural she was in the role and how it overlapped with certain areas of her personal life. Jennifer Hale is fine enough but her performance doesn't ever feel distinctly Cinderella and seems more suited for the video game performances that she's amassed a ton of critical and commercial success with. While she's given interesting responses regarding her view of Cinderella, I don't think I'd trust her with carrying the mantle (again, she's said intelligent things but she downplays Cinderella by insinuating she was limited in the first movie and how her own portrayal is more of a 'warrior' and how Cinderella is everyone's favorite princess until they grow up and 'rightfully' start to like more action oriented princesses). The film itself doesn't even understand Cinderella and just gives her a Belle and Ariel redesign, along with a soaring Broadway song where they completely change her singing style. It also changes her entire motivation to be fighting for love (a step back and not how she was in the original, I also think it lends credence to criticisms saying she's silly for only falling in love after one dance unfortunately whereas the original, in my opinion, didn't fall into that trap) and there's so many instances where they frustratingly make her slow ("Lift the spell- make him remember!! Bi- ahh!!"). I also think she's relegated to a side character in her own film and Anastasia is treated infinitively better, which is an issue to me. I also hate how they robbed her of her greatest victory. Cinderella producing the slipper and being her own savior might be my favorite scene in film history. Taking that away from her and making her openly stumble in front of Lady Tremaine, someone who just locked her in the attic and abused her her entire life, was...a choice. Just like her almost handling her *glass* slipper to Lady Tremaine, only for it to be broken, was. It just made her look dense and the entire thing came across as un-cohesive with what was previously established. Like, I'm sorry but...

This Cinderella was so raw, so layered, gritty, real. She grew up in an abusive household with no resources, skillfully masterminding her own exit. She understood the nuances of her captor, and always kept one trick up her sleeve. When she descended upon the staircase, she made her way through her stepfamily actively discouraging her- an orphan with no one else in the world- to the visiting nobility. They called her ridiculous, impossible, out of her mind, just a scullery maid from the kitchen- an imaginative child. She made her way past them, knowing that- if the grand duke believed them or left or if any detail of her plan fell through- she'd forever be stuck with these three women that would practically kill her once the door shut. But she persisted, and even when Lady Tremaine thought she was the one with the trick up her sleeve, smashing the glass slipper, Cinderella pulled a reverse uno and produced something no one else thought possible- the slipper's mate. Compare that to...

The third movie where Cinderella has to run down the stairs, escaping from her attic entrapment, and waves around her glass slipper in front of her stepmother, explaining to her in full detail that transpired the night previously at the ball, putting herself in a position that 4 seconds later allowed Lady Tremaine to crash that slipper and gaslight her into forgetting. Like...why??? I have so many issues with the way Cinderella is depicted in the film, but we'll leave it here (not even going to get into why people only like her in this version more because she displays more masculine strength by "fighting" and being physically combative which...again, there's more than one way to be strong and the fact that they tried to make her just like any other modern Princess is disappointing to me).

The Anastasia problem. This is something that only continues to upset me more and more as time goes by. In the original film, it's established that Anastasia actively abused Cinderella for the better part of her life. She taunted her, lead to Cinderella being punished multiple times, and blocked off Cinderella's escape or pursuit of a healthy life so many times. The way she's enabled the cycle of abuse to continue and actively, not only participated it but, spearheaded it on a few occasions, explains to us why she's the antagonist. I think it's dangerous that she appears in such a sympathetic light, especially without ever once offering a substantial apology to Cinderella. All of Anastasia's actions in this film, too, are completely self-motivated and I just think it lead to this trend where a lot of people see Anastasia as the protagonist (because she has the most screentime in this movie) and I just think it's poor form to sympathize with an abuser and, frankly, a dangerous moral to espouse. Like, even in the finale where they show Cinderella trying to reason with Anastasia is so toxic. Someone who's been on the receiving end of an irrational abuser's whims their entire life should never try to reason because "they know a good person is there, deep down." And I've seen a lot of people call them "sisters" and talk about how Anastasia had it worse than Cinderella because she's considered conventionally unattractive...which. I could write essays about this and how it's projection, but physical beauty doesn't go that far in this universe. Walt even had an animator redrew Anastasia's smile to be more attractive because he wanted all the characters to be somewhat sympathetic in favor of realism, as opposed to 'all good' and 'all bad.' Again, in this universe, the Prince sees an endless line of beautiful women in amazing clothing so that isn't what attracts him to Cinderella. However, I do think it's worth noting that Cinderella ceases to exist in her society when she doesn't appear 'eligible' by having markers of wealth. She's symbolically stripped of her dignity and hidden away, all of her opportunities taken from her. You know who never suffers that lived experience? Anastasia and Drizella. They're slovenly, over-privileged, and completely self-motivated and this sudden rewrite that they're poor victims because, in our world, they wouldn't be seen as beautiful and that qualifies them for a more traumatic upbringing than an orphan they helped abuse is ridiculous to me.

The disregard for the original characterizations. There are so many things here that just don't make sense. In the original, the King was hellbent on getting grandchildren and even displays a delightful meta commentary multiple times (when it's touched on how ridiculous it is that the Prince would marry any girl that fits the slipper, since that's been a critic of the original story, the King shrugs off that his son said it in a lovesick stammer and sees this as an opportunity to get those grandchildren "that's his problem; he's given his word, we'll just hold him to it). All of a sudden, this King is telling his son it's ridiculous to marry a girl who wears a size 4 1/2 and that's no reason to choose a bride??? And is showing Anastasia his late wife and trusting the clumsiest person I've ever seen with a delicate seashell? OKAY. Not only that, but just so many things that made the original characters unique are eroded so they can be like every other Renaissance character. Like, Lady Tremaine was such a great villain because of her presence and charisma and her cunning virtue. To omit all of that and how her waving around a magic wand and yell Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo was unnecessary.

Too much mice. I know many feel that way about the first film, but I think they were skillfully intertwined. It was way too much here and there was no place for them.

The art design and color palette is more gaudy and unappealing to me. I could keep going but lol

[earl-of-221b]

Hi! I love your writing, so i wanted to ask you for writing advice, if its okay with you. I regularly see writers say stuff like "the story just went there" "the character took over" or things in that vein which basically mean that they let the story flow. I have never felt that. My story doesnt flow, it goes specifically where i want it to go. My characters feel what i feel, they say what i would say. Which is to say that i'm having trouble separating me and the character, but in a bad way. How should i go about fixing this issue?

Hi, hope this reply doesn't come too late! I can share my thoughts on this below, but you have your own writing style, and you know what you want best from your work!

'Going with the flow'

I understand both instances when writing. I frequently feel "the story just went there" or that even "the character took over" and write what comes flowing. This happened to me in most of my earlier pieces of writing, but less often now that I - at least compared to before - have a better grasp on the kinds of stories I want to tell, including what themes, subtext, and dialogue I want to show. I think that letting the story flow was easier for me when writing things where I didn't have a clear goal in mind, or a set ending, and that's why things are able to meander. What's really happening is that we're making it up very fast as we go, according to what we think characters will say or do.

'Directing the story'

While letting the story just flow is a great exercise and it's good to write anything to progress a story, I think I see much more value in the other way. My ongoing fics right now (Noblesse and Ruroni Kenshin) are all products of extensive planning. This is because I had a clear narrative in mind I wanted to tell, even a pace to the story where major reveals need to be unveiled before going onto the next part. My more recent chapters have a beginning, middle and end (Strangers), or try to balance multiple povs with equal weight (12 Knight). Some may find this writing style too prescriptive, but it's that prescriptiveness that lets me direct exactly where I want to go and what I want to say. Each chapter must progress either the plot (things are Happening) or character (characters must change or learn something new). Or both! Every scene break must have a point, convey something useful to the reader.

What type of work are you trying to do?

Drabbles and oneshots - shorter works - lend themselves more easily to going with the flow. I find longer chaptered works do need some level of planning and forethought in order to be well-structured. What I mean to say is that both writing styles have their merits, and it's fine to favour one or the other. You may also find you adapt writing styles according to what you are writing - an introspective character piece in someone's head - or something thick with plot.

Examples

Time when going with the flow was helpful.

When I wrote ch 1 of Pair of Strangers (I have a feeling you're on the Noblesse side of things, but let me know!) I did not have clear ending in sight. So most of chapter 1 is actually 'go with the flow,' with only a vague plot (find the missing nobles) and character goals (Franken and Rai are able to understand each other). It was only until ch 3, once I had mapped out the rest of the story, that I could begin really driving the story. So going with the flow certainly helped start things off, towards directing a long story.

Time when directing the story improved on going with the flow

In ch 12, the final scene just came flowing out of me, but the key points are entirely different from the version that was posted. In fact, all the major choices in the final scene were changed. For example, both Franken and Elena are hit by the foreman. I changed this to ensure Franken shoves Elena, thus saving her from the foreman. This is more consequential because it tells us something about Franken - he chooses to save Elena, despite what happened in earlier chapters.

In the go-with-the-flow draft, Rai frees Franken and then commands him to leave Elena and save the child. Upon review, why would Franken even hesitate to save the child over Elena? And why should Rai make this decision? This occurs right after their 'argument,' where Franken's faith in Rai is at his lowest. So I changed the choice. The choice in the final version is between the Alderman -- and the child. Now Franken has a huge stake to go and kill the Alderman -- a choice he previously would have no issue making. Fix the root of the problem, do preventative action, instead of going for the short-term, sentimental choice.

But he reacts differently, he goes to save the victim. Moreover, it's Franken that makes this choice. He isn't commanded by Rai. Rai doesn't successfully command Franken in the final scene of ch 12. This is to show the consequences of their 'argument' the scene before. They're all split second decisions - Franken makes every single one to show how things have changed.

That he, at his heart, loves and cares for fellow humans. But Rai...has lost his trust.

All of this was much weaker when I just went with what first flowed out on the page. Now the chapter reinforces the main themes and demonstrates the characters new headspace.

Happy writing

"Which is to say that i'm having trouble separating me and the character."

I hope to lighten your mind on this one, because we are all writing from our own experiences, unique points of view, likes and dislikes. All the characters you write are ultimately voiced by you, the writer. It's the great illusion that writers do - to give life to these characters, as though they are speaking themselves. But don't worry so much if it sounds like you. Why should that be a flaw? It probably sounds like you because you are behind the Wizard of Oz contraption seeing all the bits and bobs behind the scenes. When we read other people's work, we are quite happy to suspend our own disbelief. You don't have any trouble separating you and the character, the character can only be because of you.

I hope this helps you enjoy your writing and not feel afraid to experiment and write bad stuff to get to the good stuff. Happy writing.

[arzen9]

✨ writing interview tag game!!! ✨

Thank you @nerdallwritey for tagging me in this, yay!! I love talking about writing lol. Mind you, I'm not a fic writer, but I DO have an MFA in Creative Writing, and I did JUST start writing my first novel after BG3 came into my life & basically jump-started my healing journey. It is in fact a literary fiction vampire novel, ahem ahem. Here we go!

When did you start writing?

I learned how to write when I was seven just like most people I guess, and started with little poems or stories as I had always loved reading and wanted to imitate what the writers I loved were doing. That is still good advice to anyone who wants to become a writer- to start by imitating (not copying!) the style of those who you enjoy reading. Whenever I wrote something for a school assignment my teachers would compliment them, and child me definitely needed the encouragement lol. So I started very young, and the passion for writing never went away.

Are there different themes or genres that you enjoy reading than what you write?

Big YES. I read the themes and genres I write about as well, but I also enjoy reading differently because I think it improves my writing. Even if it didn't though, I truly enjoy reading different genres. For example, I don't write romance but I do enjoy reading it.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I don't know if I want to be compared to them necessarily, but I do have lots of writers that inspire me: Toni Morrison, Harper Lee, Flannery O'Connor, and Gillian Flynn are some I have off the top of my head.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I live in a very small studio apartment with my boyfriend (we even call it a hamster wheel lol) so I don't really have a space per se, but I do like doing a few things to get in the writing mood. A nice candle, some nice music. I have playlists for every different writing idea that I work on whether it be a short story or something else. My biggest dream is something I wrote to get adapted into a movie or a TV show so I tend to imagine scenes and pick out songs for those so-called scenes. Place doesn't really matter for me, in the sense of where I write- as long as I have a strong idea and some music to back it up.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

More professional writers don't really believe in inspiration, they believe in sitting down and getting to work, but I'm not one of them unfortunately lol. Writing without the strike of inspiration is difficult for me, and forcing that inspiration even more so. However, it can strike anytime, anywhere. My notes app is FILLED to the brim with one-liners that came to me at 3 AM.

are there any recurring themes in your writing? do they surprise you?

YES, and they don't really surprise me because they are semi-intentional. I like working with the struggles of minority groups (the LGBTQIA+ community specifically), difficult relationship dynamics especially when it comes to dysfunctional mothers and daughters, and metaphors for love (vampirism is probably the biggest one). I also write a lot about trauma.

what is your reason for writing?

Sappy answer incoming! I had a very difficult childhood (I have CPTSD thanks to it yay me) and my only escape was reading, reading and reading. Once I realized I needed to start dreaming about a future career I immediately decided I wanted to become a writer, because the words of the writers I love literally saved my life, and I want to be able to do that for other people.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Any feedback or piece of constructive criticism is more than helpful. Just knowing someone read something I wrote, spent time on it and engaged with it makes my heart flutter.

how do you want to be thought about by your readers?

As someone relatable, above all. Or someone who wants to help.

what do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I'm pretty good at approaching difficult subject matter in a way what one of my professors called "cool to the touch". I don't like sentimentality and I'm usually pretty good at avoiding it in my writing. I write about difficult, borderline dark themes with flawed characters and I think that requires a particular way of writing to get right. I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at that!

how do you feel about your own writing?

I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or anything, but I believe that I'm a good writer. I've never had another dream in my life than to become a writer, it has always been everything to me, so it was never just a hobby- it's all consuming lol. And I like it that way!

when you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I guess I'd say it's more for myself- I of course want people to enjoy my writing but I won't change the way I write just for that reason. I write so that people will read my stuff, but the writing itself is never too influenced by trends or anything like that. On top of that, I know that my stuff can be difficult to read, and I tend to enjoy that part of my writing.

I don't really have anyone to tag, so anyone who sees this and wants to join in is more than welcome!

[00yunje]

I see someone else has already posted a transcript, but I'd like to still include mine, just as another source.

The Capitol Crawl - Witness History

NARRATOR (STEPHANIE WOLF): BBC World Service and now Witness History with me, Stephanie Wolf. I'm taking you back to March 12 1990 — a day when disability rights activists gathered at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to fight for the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA.

(Archive footage of activists protesting; one is heard asking, "What do we want?" Another responds, "Access!")

ANITA CAMERON: I remember we were lining up those of us who were gonna do the crawl, March 12 1990. It was hot.

NARRATOR: About a thousand activists including Anita Cameron were there.

CAMERON: We were so busy chanting, like, "ADA now! Access is a civil right! Access now!"

(Archive footage of crowd chanting "Access is a civil right!")

NARRATOR: What you're hearing is actual footage captured by a documentary film producer, from a protest that came to be known as the Capitol Crawl.

(Crowd chanting "ADA! All the way!")

NARRATOR: The chant is a demand that the US Congress pass the ADA after lawmakers had sat on a version of the bill for almost 2 years.

(Crowd chanting "Vote now!")

CAMERON: This is landmark legislation, it has to pass. You know, it's meant to highlight the struggles that we had to go through, being like second class citizens. We were getting, for lack of better words, like, desperate.

NARRATOR: Activists were frustrated by the inaction, and on this day, in a dramatic, symbolic protest, hundreds pulled themselves from their wheelchairs and began to crawl up the stairs.

(Crowd chanting "Access now!")

NARRATOR: The legislation aimed to extend civil rights protections to people with disabilities in the US, a portion of the population that was largely left behind at that point. It was all about access, access to everyday life and opportunities, explicitly prohibiting discrimination against disabled people in many areas of public life including the workplace, transit, and businesses. And mandating the removal of barriers to these spaces, from wheelchair ramps to accommodations for people with hearing or visual impairments.

Anita was born with multiple disabilities and remembers what life was like before the ADA. She had friends in wheelchairs who couldn't get down from curbs or even through the door of a business. For Anita, no ADA kept her from finishing medical school.

CAMERON: I'm ashamed to say, but I got kicked out. And that was because there was no ADA. There are all kinds of disabled doctors because of the ADA but back then it was like "Okay, find another career path."

NARRATOR: They did find another career path, and that would be advocating for people with disabilities. In 1986, Anita joined ADAPT, what would become one of the preeminent disability rights groups in the nation. At the time, ADAPT was only a few years old. And Anita was drawn to the group because they did things in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

CAMERON: I was born in 1965, too late to participate in the civil rights movement for Black folks here in America. And I read about the civil rights movement that there were children involved, fighting for rights, and I wanted to do that and felt guilty that I was born too late. So at the age of nine, I made a vow that I would work to make the world a better place for all.

NARRATOR: ADAPT made a name for themselves quickly, through a specific style of protesting that some criticized as overly aggressive and disruptive. Anita loved it.

CAMERON: We were seen as militant and radicals. We were often compared to the Black Panthers, which to me was a badge of honour. Ooh yeah, tell me I'm like the Black Panthers, yeah! And you know, ADAPT, we were fiercely, fiercely non-violent. But we were in your face, and people didn't like that.

NARRATOR: The day of the crawl was a Monday, and it started with a rally near the US Capitol Building, where Congress convenes.

CAMERON: There was lots of speechifying, as we call it. Talking about the importance of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and how we would finally be able to "boldly go where everyone else has gone before!"

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE OF RALLY SPEAKER: "We will not permit these steps to continue to be a barrier to our rights and equality."

NARRATOR: After the rally, they moved closer to the building.

CAMERON: People then got out of chairs and started climbing.

(Audio of protestors cheering on the climbers, chanting "Go! Go! Go!")

NARRATOR: Anita was surprised her ADAPT colleagues let her participate.

CAMERON: I wasn't in a wheelchair. I mean, I was disabled. I had my tactile cane, my blind cane, my white cane. I started out carrying my friend Frank's wheelchair. And that wheelchair was heavy. And I found an attendant, "Hey, can you take Frank's wheelchair?" and I just sat down and I started going up backwards, on my butt. Like a lot of people you saw, they were like actually crawling up, hands and knees. I back-butted because I didn't want to like, put my hands on the hot ground and whatnot. I was exhausted by the time I got up there and I remember I was a little nervous but then I was excited, I was very aware of what we were doing. I felt like we were crawling into the history books. And as much as people talk about the Capitol Crawl, 'cause that was so visual, I think it was the rotunda takeover that was truly responsible.

NARRATOR: The day after the crawl, protestors returned to the Capitol. They chained themselves together inside the rotunda, a domed circular room in the centre of the Capitol Building. They forced legislators to confront the activists' demands face-to-face. Anita was there.

CAMERON: The chanting and everything was so loud, it reverberated throughout the building.

(Audio of activists inside the rotunda, chanting "ADA now!" with prominent echo)

CAMERON: And we had politicians telling us, "Oh, you gotta be patient," and we didn't let them speak. There were 104 of us arrested, I was number 81. And that's usually what happened. I've been arrested 140 times in ADAPT in 38 years.

NARRATOR: All of this action wasn't for nothing. When President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law on July 26 1990, a few months after the protest, he credited the millions of Americans with disabilities.

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE OF GEORGE H.W. BUSH: "You have made this happen. All of you have made this happen." (CROWD APPLAUSE)

NARRATOR: The ADA remains the most comprehensive disability rights legislation in the US.

INTERVIEWER (STEPHANIE WOLF): Do you think the ADA would have gotten passed had it not been for that direct action by you and other members of ADAPT?

CAMERON: No. No, it would not have. Not at all. If we had done nothing, we'd probably still be trying to get the ADA passed now. I am grateful for it. We wouldn't have as many disabled students graduating, disabled positions, disabled people out there living life and having fun, not just going to doctor's appointments. We still have a ways to go.

NARRATOR: All these years later, Anita is making sure this history isn't forgotten, and that the stories of the Black activists are told as well.

CAMERON: Uplifting the participation of Black disabled people. People like us existed. We were out there in those streets. We were out there getting arrested. So that's what I want to do — I want to contribute to history.

NARRATOR: Anita Cameron was speaking to me, Stephanie Wolf, for Witness History. It was a Written in Air production. Rebekah Romberg co-produced it. Archival audio courtesy of documentary film producer and director Linda Litowsky.

On 12 March 1990, dozens of disabled people descended on the US Capitol and carried out a protest which became known as the Capitol Crawl. Participants were protesting against the stalling of a proposed law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which would prohibit discrimination against disabled people. Around 1000 other protesters watched and cheered while dozens of members of ADAPT, a group campaigning for public transit access for disabled people, abandoned their wheelchairs and mobility aids and began crawling up the steps of the building housing Congress. It was a powerful illustration of the difficulties faced by many disabled people faced with a hostile environment which had been constructed without their needs in mind. Michael Winter, one of the participants later reflected: “Some people may have thought it was undignified for people in wheelchairs to crawl in that manner, but I felt that it was necessary to show the country what kinds of things people with disabilities have to face on a day-to-day basis. We had to be willing to fight for what we believed in.” In the wake of the protest, Congress passed the bill and it was signed into law in July 1990. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.1819457841572691/2229212140597257/?type=3

[athena-the-undestructible]

I have finished Portal 2, yes already, I did most of it yesterday, I played this game so much that I can do these puzzles on instinct.

Anyway yeah it is weird because in gameplay it expands and refines the first game pretty naturally but in story and tone, it is so so different.

The first game places such a heavy emphasis on your loneliness, the music is melancholy and won't even play all of the time, GLaDOS is pretending to be an automatic response system and the only hint that anyone is actually watching you is the cameras all about the place.

The Companion Cube is meant to play on this by being your only companion and letting you get attached to it despite it just being a cube and then at the end, you're forced to burn it and afterwards is a little hint that maybe this voice is a bit more alive than you thought.

Even after GLaDOS tries to kill you and sheds all pretence that she isn't intelligent and actively watching you, the game continues the loneliness by leading you through the facility to find that it's completely empty, everyone is gone and all that's left is an AI that is trying to kill you at every turn.

She's not omnipresent, sometimes she'll stop talking for a bit and suddenly place you in a death trap, the game turns into a light horror and I find it legitimately creepy.

So it's very surprising when Portal 2 completely and utterly does away with this.

The engine has been upgraded and the art style has been updated to remove the remaining traces of Half Life, the first Portal was built on top of Half Life 2, used a bunch of it's assets and inherited it's horror aspects so those all being gone is a start.

Anyway so the Art Style is less Gloomy, the sound design has gone from creepy ambience to feeling alive with the music never shutting off and actively adapting to your actions and the facility itself has gone from cold and sterile to also feeling alive with even the panels having slight intelligence and often moving about.

You're almost always accompanied by a character directly talking to you like the newly introduced Wheatley or GLaDOS who is constantly hurling insults at you and the only time you're properly alone is for a solitary chapter and even that is undercut for several reasons.

Also the humour has become a lot sillier (and worse with all the fatphobia), the first game derived most of its humour from Aperture's blatant disregard for human life and how detached the testing experience is and takes a slight backseat when you're in the escape portion with a few remaining jokes coming about when you tear apart GLaDOS

Portal 2 is constantly throwing different kinds of jokes at you (they literally got in Stephen Merchant, a comedian) and it never lets up at any point, they're clearly intending for humour to become the main takeaway above anything else.

The closest we get to what Portal 1 had is in Chapter 7 where you find out more of the fucked up history of how Aperture collapsed and how GLaDOS came to be and it would be disturbing if A: she wasn't with you for the whole chapter to react to stuff herself and B: they didn't play so much of this for laughs but the lack of Problem A would do a lot for this anyway.

It is a Valve thing for a sequel to go back a bit on what the original did but this feels like the most blatant example due to the sheer notoriety of the first game and it's themes.

Also I promise I do like Portal 2 and a lot of what it does, it's just a bit weird how different the tone is to the first game, especially since the current fandom is largely built off 2 which I reckon is probably gonna get me shot for this post since a lot of people I know are attracted to Portal for something that is pretty much mostly present in 2 but I am too much of a coward to say.

[caramelcroissant]

28 feels like waking up from a coma you didn’t know you were in

i used to think adulthood would come with answers. like turning 28 would flip a switch in my brain and suddenly everything would feel fair, or right, or at least make sense. but what really happened is i just got tired of being mad at my past. and started trying to understand it instead. that’s when everything began to shift.

when i was a kid, i used to wait at school, hoping maybe today would be the day my parents picked me up. but nope. it was always angkot, sometimes ojek, and me praying the driver didn’t talk too much because my social battery was already dead from school. they never came for my report cards, never helped me register for school. i did it all myself. at the time i thought, damn, maybe i’m just invisible. turns out, they were out there surviving. building something for me. in the most silent, invisible way.

they missed everything. like, actually everything. competitions, school milestones, parent meetings. except that one time they showed up, and i swear i performed like my life depended on it, just to prove to them that i was worth noticing. i didn't get why they were so distant. why i felt more seen by my babysitter than my own parents. but now i realize—it wasn’t distance. it was desperation. they were working themselves to the bone so i wouldn’t have to later.

they were hard on me, too. like real hard. i wasn’t allowed to mess up. i became the overachiever, the golden kid who didn’t have time to be tired or sad or... human. and now i know that when your worth is measured in achievement, you grow up believing love has conditions. and that belief? it seeps into every relationship you’ll ever have.

my parents eventually split. i didn’t even know they were that unhappy. they’d been together for years. you start to think permanence = peace, but sometimes silence is just the sound of people giving up slowly. it broke me for a bit. and then my dad passed away. that broke me more. grief doesn’t hit you once. it loops. a random t-shirt, a smell, a memory—suddenly you're crying in the grocery store over a cereal brand he used to buy.

and then there was my ex. god. i did everything. loved him in all the ways i thought were right. stayed loyal through storms. showed up, even when i was empty. and still, he betrayed me—over and over. and i stayed. i thought if i just loved better, he’d stop. that’s the thing about being a people pleaser. you keep handing people knives hoping they’ll use them to protect you instead of cut deeper.

i found out later that being a people pleaser and an overthinker are classic symptoms of emotional neglect. there’s actual psychology behind it—when kids don’t feel emotionally safe, their brain adapts by becoming hyper-aware of moods, tone shifts, and body language. it’s a survival mechanism. that turns into anxiety. that turns into adult-you spiraling because someone took too long to text back.

attachment issues? oh, i’ve got the whole collection. anxious-preoccupied style. always waiting to be abandoned. always asking if i’m too much. not because i want drama—but because my nervous system got wired to anticipate pain before joy. it’s exhausting. but now, at least, i know. and knowing is step one.

i’m not saying i’m healed. please. i still have days where my inner child cries in the shower. i still get triggered by things that don’t make sense to other people. but i also pause. i breathe. i say, “hey, this isn’t happening again. you’re safe now.” and sometimes that’s enough.

what’s wild is how the worst parts of my story turned me into someone i actually really like. i’m empathetic. aware. strong in ways that don’t look strong on the outside. i feel things deeply and love even deeper. and i know how to spot red flags from a mile away now. it’s like pain gave me X-ray vision for bullshit.

28 brought me back to myself. not the polished, perfect version. the real one. the one who survived despite it all. and it’s weirdly comforting to know i’m not who i was, but i carry her with me. i don’t hate her anymore. i want to hold her hand and say, “thank you for staying. thank you for not quitting.”

if i could, i’d go back in time and hug that version of me. the one who sat alone at school. the one who walked home crying in the rain. the one who thought being loved meant being perfect. i’d cry into her hair and thank her for every single time she chose to keep going, even when she had no reason to.

because of her, i saw beautiful things. because of her, i met kind souls, had deep conversations, laughed until i cried. because of her, i get to sit here now and write this post with hands that used to tremble from fear but now tremble with power. i became the version she dreamed of.

i’m not done growing. not even close. but i’m here. and i know better now. and that’s a start. a solid, beautiful, painful, powerful start.

[kyrodo]

Did finally get let go from the unity job. Again it felt like I was constantly fighting at tasks that were way over my head, and very little of the unity knowledge I did have from making games could be reapplied to the aura project. Especially with the social media project, and then further slammed down by the tutorial bubbles. Being told to throw it into a scene which Unity complains I can't put components on gameobjects that don't derive from monobehavior. Which I never had to not do that. It's been brick wall after brick wall after brick wall. Not a single one of my projects even when faced with building a smash style fighting game from scratch did I run into so many dead ends with every last thing I was told to do. I do not regret dipping out of that, because it was not enjoyable or confidence boosting in the least. At least avatar work makes me happy and my knowledge of it feels more thorough.

Ideally you should be able to google your way out of anything with programming challenges. Not with the stuff I had to deal with at aura. Especially when it came to dealing with api tokens and meta and trying to connect to any manner of social media, it felt like all the stuff I was looking at I didn't even have the basic fundamentals for.

If I was building a game and I wasn't working under metal cage of how things should be organized and structured like I have always done for every other unity job I've ever had, if all the stuff I was doing had any correlation whatsoever to the platforming and such that I did on my old projects, I wouldn't have had as much trouble. I would have been able to pull my weight. But this isn't for me. I know what the expectations would probably be at a big company like EA or something, including with code organization, and being strict about what inherits from what and doesn't inherit from even if it makes everything harder, but I also know communication would have been less abysmally infrequent. I know I probably would have gotten some context here and there and not wait nearly a whole month waiting for responses to even the smallest questions sometimes. It felt like working at disaster management systems who would go radio silent for several months while I'm left in the dark wondering if I'd be paid if I kept building their prototype or not. I can live without feeling like that.

But beyond that the simple fact that I was working purely with ui and not third person/first person gameplay of some kind already clipped out a good deal of my usefulness. I've done ui sure, not with css/uss. OnGui I made health bars, I made flashing effects, I made menus completely out of ongui and update events, but I couldn't use any of that here. I would have been better off making my own game. At least then I could figure out where to start and just build and figure out the organization rules as I go like I've always done as a solo contractor. And team? what team? Skadoodle is the team I'm just one of the many +1's that got let go.

Mana always has me handling difficult tasks. But if he decided to go through with doing something like swapping out the head of the khnfucat with an owl, I at least immediately know where to start.

I know how valuable adaptability is to the skills of a programmer and all, but the things I was challenged with was unreasonably out of my orbit. I could have figured out skadoodles no monobehavior script by calling it in another script or something that does use monobehavior as a class type or something. But after the social media bullshit, I got tired of ramming my face into the concrete, especially after spending 12+ hours dealing with mana's bear trap that didn't like working right because he chose to put it on the head instead of anywhere else, a use case it wasn't initially designed for. On top of that work has me working 3 days always a week instead of 3 2 3 2 3. So the schedule I had planned when I joined pretty quickly stopped being what I thought it would be. I appreciate skadoodle's misplaced faith in me, but my skillset doesn't work for his project and I can't focus on it when I'm dealing with main work eating up a majority of my week, Choskey eating up 2 hours of my at-home days with nonstop speech in discord whether or not I'm working on anything, and the fact that I stay up late and sleep during the day whenever I can.

If I'm going to have a second job it should be doing something that I deeply enjoy instead of two jobs that I hate. One for stagnance and the other for pure difficulty level while also juggling commission work and free time. The commission work that I get some kind of endorphin rush whenever I achieve something or make something look nice or make someone happy should be my second job.

[gamesbyguava]

gameplan

so i've shown off progress, that's cool! what's not cool, however, is that i haven't explained *how* the game even works! it would be beneficial for you, the reader; and me, the developer; to both understand the gameplay in order to explain future progress more easily. matter of fact, i was typing up a post to showcase a new mechanic only to realize it made no sense to anyone except me! so fair warning; this will be a bit of a crude and shallow explanation. if something doesn't make sense, reach out! enough of the formalities though, let's dig in!

we'll start off by explaining exactly what you're seeing right now -there are two sets of six units, one for the player (blue) and one for the opponent (red). each unit has a health and stamina value, as well as a spread of statistics and movesets (the last two are beyond the scope of this introduction; just know they exist!). -these units are currently resting on their respective benches. the bench is where units that are currently not on the field stay. benched units regain small amounts of health and stamina per turn, as well as some other bonuses depending on the unit's build (once again, out of scope) -the green square is the map, which contains four bases. if a unit tags a base (that is not of their respective color), they will obtain a base ball (no, not a baseball; there's a clear distinction!)

your objective is to have a unit tag all three bases successfully and return to your home base to win. from the diagram above, a unit is sent from the bench to the purple base, netting them a purple base ball. this continues until all three base balls are obtained, and the unit tags home to secure the victory. (of note, bases can be tagged in any order, not just the standard baseball order) base balls themselves can also be used to power up actions or can be thrown to other units, creating strategic opportunities.

with this explained, let's walk through two turns of simplified gameplay. i'm going first, with my opponent going second. i have no units on the field, so i send one out from the bench. i then boldly move this unit to the yellow base in order to secure the yellow base ball. an aura of smugness radiating from me, i end my turn.

it's now my opponent's turn. likewise, they send out a unit from the bench, but go directly to the middle of the map. are they planning to strike?

oh no, i was right! my opponent's unit directly attacks my unit, and- bigger oh no!- it was a critical hit, depleting my unit's health to zero and forcing it to retreat! units that are retreating return to the bench and drop any base balls they are currently holding. dammit! i'll have to rethink my gameplan!

...scenery chewing aside, i hope this serves as a basic introduction to the tactics side of things! to shed some light on the conceptual phase of development, this project started out as a joke about how the battle them in persona 4 golden sounded like it would fit in some hype scene in a baseball anime. i didn't let the joke go, and ideas started formulating in my head, and, well, here we are! obviously, the setting came first, so i had no clue how to adapt a baseball style gameplay in a way that seemed fun and interesting. after much trial and error, i came up with a tactics baseball fusion after getting a bit too into dnd haha. we're still taking baby steps though; things are subject to change! hopefully, i can get good feedback from players when i have a suitable demo ready? well, this post was longer than usual, ha... if you made it this far, thanks for reading! it means a lot! until next time!