#I quite literally copy pasted from my deviantart

[cloudroots]

Name: Princess Starspell Sparkle

aka Starspell, Star, Spellsy and your Highness(but please don't call her that)

Pronouns: She/her

Parents: Princess Twilight Sparkle and Guard Prince Flash Sentry

Siblings: Nebula Breach and Pulsar Glint

Bio:

When Starspell was younger, she was full of excitement and curiosity for everything. She would even spend hours researching cutie marks before she got her own. Starspell also had a decent time making friends. Wind Chill and Peachie(both pictured above) are still her best friends. She used to be an innocent ball of sunshine, but then the expectations and responsibilities of being a princess and a daughter of Twilight weighed down on her. She felt the pressure of everyone's high expectations and she cracked. She lost her motivation to do things she used to love. She has many nervous breakdowns, but only in private. She doesn’t want the people she cares about to worry about her, so she bottles her feelings inside. She uses playful sarcasm and the often snarky comment to hide her feelings. She overall isn’t doing great, but hopefully she reaches out to those who love her.

Cutie Mark: Two shooting stars, one in the foreground going up and a smaller one crashing down. It represents her love of astronomy, and how she can fall back whenever she wishes. She got it on a family trip watching the stars with her siblings and her grandparents.

There are three separate sections on this bio, which are: a full body of the character, their closest platonic relationship and expressions to show the character's personality. This style of bio is honestly very extra, and I will only be doing it for the mane six's most important offspring.

[minervamagicka]

sign of life

well, I guess if time’s a circle I’m stuck in it -

With the announcement of the TS4 horse pack, I’m tentatively dipping my toes back into the TS3/TS4 CC community (as a note, though I made the majority of my CC for TS3, I have very little incentive or desire to return to that game; it simply is just too old for me to handle and for it to contain me. If someone ever manages to reverse-engineer it enough to get it to use more than 4GB of ram, though, I’ll happily return home). I’m leaving the moniker of Luke Teth behind, however, so whilst you can refer to me as that I’d really prefer you didn’t. I also have zero interest in joining any Discords or communities related to TS3/TS4 horses so please don’t even try. I’ll be posting the majority of my creations here & they may get cross-posted to DeviantArt as well.

All this means that whilst I’m mostly experienced in TS3 CC creation (granted.... many years ago), I'll be looking into and learning more about TS4′s architecture to prepare for many model conversions and projects related to the new horses, as I plan to do a lot of reverse-engineering (I guess I’m going to try and make another ‘HD’ mod for them, too. The poor thing in the TS4 previews is practically begging for a default replacement base texture). Primarily, I’m eyeing SSO like it’s the last meal on earth and I’m a starving man, as I think there’s a lot of potential when it comes to rescuing assets from that game and showing them off the way they deserve to be shown. That being said, I have a pretty substantial list of games and game dumps for me to pick over.

So, this all means too that I am semi-officially, semi-reviving this tumblr. Unfortunately, I had a drive failure some 2 years past which made me lose the vast majority of my physical copies of the majority of my TS3 CC. This means I can’t really do any semblance of re-uploading or answering any requests for re-uploads because I quite literally do not have those files any longer. That being said, all of my TS3 CC on this blog is still tagged correctly so you’ll be able to find the posts I did for it if they got posted here.

For what it’s worth, a lot of my TS3 equine CC was in a folder on SFS - You can find that here. I really don’t know what’s all in there, or if it’d still be relevant for folks to want access to, but with the old forums and various sites down, I figured sending it out on a raft into the world might benefit someone. Bear in mind that I only ask for credit if anyone ends up using that CC as a starting point for their own.

Cheers.

[transingsomeformers]

I sketched these out over a year ago and I finally finished them!!!

Oc reference pages for my Junkion Oc Free-ware and Her Titan Richterscale! Both belong to the aligned continuity. Storywise their are hints of them in prime and rescue bots. and have thier main story arc in rid2015.

More unrefined notes about the two below, copy pasted from some old discord ramblings:

— 11/29/2021 3:02 PM OK I GOTTA BLABBER ABT SOME NEW TRANSFORMER OCS IM WORKING ON. I don't have her design down yet but her name is Free-ware and shes a junkion who is sort of like a monoformer but not. She used to be able to be a motorcycle but changed and augmented the way her transformations work so she can make more arms or change where the weight

[3:03 PM]of her frame resides so most of it could be in her legs or her wheels could flip to her forearms and act like a shield or as like rollerskates

[3:03 PM]Really good at fighting and rrly

[3:03 PM]kinda sort of hyper. collects old software and programs, and abandonware games

— 11/29/2021 3:06 PM

she lives in and cares for a titan half buried and stuck on earth. The titan is overgrown and in a stasis like state while free-ware tries to repair her. shes names her richter-scale. ricky for short

— 12/24/2021 12:04 PM

free-ware is very protective of ricky. and gave up a lot of herself to aid in ricky's repair, in the most literal sense. taking bits and pieces off of herself that could be used to replace or repair delicate parts that can't be replaced so easily. so much so that a lot of the components in her face are now gone. a sort of self empurata. Leafcutter who befriends her comes to worry about what her friend is doing, and promises to help however she can. (edited)

[12:06 PM]

richter-scales optics resemble that of stained glass after they have been fixed up

due to Free-ware collecting old free or abandoned programs, and from surfing the internet quite a bit. She talks like a 14 year old scene kid on deviantart. her voice also like a  voice sounds like a free vst i found which ill mess around with later.

— 11/28/2021 12:35 PM Richterscale is not Her original name, but its the one she comes to adopt as Free-Ware had named her so when she woke from stasis. Seeing as the Person she used to be had been dead and gone a long time. She also goes by Lorem which was another name from Free-Ware and Leafcutter. 

[beesmygod]

i watched that newest video by that guy super eye patch wolf about the blatant scam business that is selling courses on “how to succeed on youtube” and i have some serious problems with the framing of nearly everything and the lengths it goes to portray people infested with the embarrassing illness of being obsessed with metrics and numbers as pure victims of youtube’s apparent mind control abilities. in order to believe this, you would have to accept that people who go through great lengths to willingly engage with a career that they chose for themselves and maintain unilateral control over are completely helpless. i copy pasted most of this from a forum post right after i watched it lol but ill edit it into a more coherent and cohesive set of thoughts. 1. first of all, the people buying these youtube courses are suckers with money to (apparently) burn falling for a very blatant “get rich quick” scheme with the belief that they can “jump the line” straight into fame and fortune with little effort on their part. these motives should be mocked, mercilessly, without restraint or pity. there is quite literally no other reason to invest in something so blatantly and obviously designed to siphon money from your wallet unless you are both stupid and desperate for attention.

either way, if you spend money you dont have on this crap it's on you lol. its like claiming you got taken advantage of by the guy who sold you the brooklyn bridge. no shit, idiot.

it was suggested that the people buying these programs are “victims of capitalism” and i am confident that this does not excuses their behavior. we all are! the vast majority of us recognize that paying people so you can skip to the good parts of working in entertainment is pathetic, at best. pathological at worst.

additionally, i should add for context that i am a native from nevada, the state in the union with state-wide legalized gambling. one thing you will notice about nevada is, despite being named the #1 state of gambling addicts by the most whack study i have ever seen in my life (it rates states by “casino friendliness”. that’s literally the point of nevada?! anyway), i think you would be very hard pressed to find a local who gambles because that’s for the stupid tourists to blow money on to support us. i do not have a lot of sympathy for the people who throw money away on something that famously “always wins”.

 2. the youtube creators whining about how hard it is to look at analytics pages and how bad it makes them feel should be embarrassed of themselves. if looking at the data legitimately upsets you and has a death grip on your life (like the guy who said his wife hated how much he checked it and it was causing problems) then there are no shortage of extensions and tools to block pages or sections of pages in order to prevent yourself from staring into the abyss.

every artist who was on deviantart has already had this obsession with numbers long knocked out of them and the remaining stragglers who still cling to metrics and likes as proof of their worthiness are viewed as fucked up fame-obsessed weirdos. as they should be. i cannot think of a single other artistic pursuit that has people talk so openly about how data poisoned they are and have it treated like its a perfectly acceptable or legitimate means of measurement. 3. everyone gets less return on projects they worked hardest on. everyone enjoys the lowest-brow entertainment over effort and education. this is not a problem that is unique to youtube creators. visual artists have been bitching about this since time immemorial. it is a frequent, tacky talking point to complain about how your doodles get more likes than the work you labor over. there have been at least 10000000 posts about this subject. the solution is so simply get the hell over it lol wtf. the rest of us manage to cope so come learn from the best of the best.

everyone is going to become irrelevant. this is the reality of the entertainment business. framing it as a fail state rather than an inevitability would eliminate a lot of anxiety about having to be perfect and constantly keep to a schedule and maybe, just maybe, discourage people from attempting to make this dumb shit their fucking job. making your money via ad revenue and sponsorships should be considered a deeply immoral way to make money in the first place but: thats a whole other can of worms.

the k-pop guy who said he would cry if he couldnt do youtube for a living needs to hang it up right this second bc that's such a fucked up way to waste your life lol. 8 years of doing shit he hates just to see the number go up in the miserable hope that some day this activity that he despises doing will be lucrative. just keep it as a hobby wtf. what could he possibly be getting out of this? like, what is his end goal? after he makes youtube, which he hates doing, his full time job....then what?

i dont get it. i dont understand coddling these poorly thought out impulses like they're natural or that youtube is a real or viable career for anyone. i think no one should be talking about entertainment, right now at this moment, with any kind of certainty for what the future might hold. [scary voice] the truth is that it could and likely will come all falling down at any moment. and its possible that there is literally nothing you can do about it. 4. its luck. the secret ingredient to success is luck. you can alter your chances (specifically by being rich and/or attractive), you can do everything you’re supposed to do when it comes to self-promotion, editing, presentation, and information. but in the end its still almost entirely based on luck. he does say this but i was in the middle of my post when he said it lol

this doesn’t mean that no one but the most shining stars become household names. it means that you should not treat a video sharing site as anything more than a way to share information or entertainment with people and expect very little. you’ll either be pleasantly surprised or youll explode and die. who knows. 5. him attributing jake paul and that insane lady who made her kid cry for a youtube thumbnail to a desire for higher views was insane lol. they're sociopaths dude. come on. they are not motivated purely by wanting to see a number go up, the level of deluded self-interest that one needs festering in their body to abuse their child for money or take financial advantage of a stranger’s suicide is extraordinarily abnormal human behavior and does not even remotely compare to people who have just caught the madness after clicking on the analytics page. you have to be able to differentiate between a person who is pathologically ruthless to the point of being dangerous and losers.

the last section where he tries to impart to you what its like to blow up is so unrelatable lol and not just bc im ms sour grapes and im just jealous, which is usually the go-to defense people whip out when you try to criticize the way people interact with their fame, but rather the expectation that other people, strangers would celebrate your financial success is weird. additionally, there are two old maxims that fit the problem of attracting a group of hatewatchers:

if you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

and

if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen!!!! computer send post thank you

[anomalous-fox]

Star wars is really unbelievable. I’m thinking about the Bad Batch as I write this. As a rule, I’m against fan service being the impetus for a story, but I make an exception for big cash cow franchises like star wars because, let’s be honest, that is literally all it is at this point. Pretty much as soon as George Lucas left the scene, that’s what this franchise became. Disney doesn’t want to tell a story with vision, it just wants to line it’s coffers. 

And that’s what makes the Bad Batch so baffling to me. Because on paper, it’s the most fan service-y idea you can get: a show 100% focused on the clones, who are a fan-favorite. Yet, in execution, the show bends backwards and contorts itself to the point of near-dismemberment to avoid delivering on quite literally a single meaningful thing to the fans that it would ostensibly be catering to. 

Hypothetically, with a show greenlit about a squad of clone commandos (featuring Echo) on the run in the wake of the Empire’s rise to power, you would have a few very obvious expectations for the story: 

-The clones looking like clones, i.e. looking like Temuera Morrison and not looking like a white supremacist’s fever dream. 

-Echo being explored as a character, i.e. his PTSD, his adjustment to a new team and his trauma over losing Domino Squad. 

-Cody appearing, which if you were online in the leadup to TBB airing, was pretty much all anyone was talking about. 

-The show to actually explore and go into detail about the commando squad it’s chosen to follow. 

And yet, what has the show delivered? 

-Half of the clones looking like a white supremacist’s fever dream. 

- Echo being tacked on in name only, with absolutely no meaningful exploration of his history coming up at all beyond a throw-away line. Honestly you could have told me this Lobot-copy-paste clone was a new guy they made for this show, whose one personality trait was being “sort of grumpy,” and it would track. That’s how little connective tissue tbb Echo has with the original character. 

-Cody nowhere to be seen. 

-The entire squad is basically just sort of “there”. Besides the angst of Crosshair separating from them, the individual members of the Bad Batch have very little interiority of any kind, and the barest inklings of anything we do get insight into primarily revolve around Omega, who is honestly the most fleshed-out and emotive person in the cast. You’d think we’d have deeper insight into these guys by now, but their personalities are just as shallowly defined as they were in their debut arc of TCW. 

Not to mention, the crux of this show’s drama. “What if there was clone, but clone was girl? WHOA!!!” Of all the things you could explore, of all the complex emotions you could tap into when writing a band of brothers-in-arms who have had their whole world turned upside down by a galaxy-wide regime change, that’s the drama they chose to mine. The most contrived, Deviantart self-insert, cheap nonsense you could possibly think of. 

From top to bottom, it’s like this show has a ludicrously backwards idea of what the clone fandom’s priorities are. It just keeps heaping on piles of manure and looking at us with a big smile like, “Here you go! Don’t you love it? Isn’t this what you wanted?” It boggles my mind, how a franchise entirely based around fan-service can so consistently fail to deliver on anything the fans have vocalized wanting. 

[readyforit]

hiii abby!! can you post a tutorial for how you make edits like your latest one? the url edit fro taylorswifh? it’s so prettyyy

♡ edit tutorial for this edit, requested by anon ♡

hiii so! this is quite long, but that’s because I wanted to capture my whole entire process to hopefully help you! I used photoshop (2018) for this tutorial, and all the resources I used are listed here (everything except for photoshop is free)! I’ve sort of split this tutorial up into sections, by the different steps. thank you and have a lovely day!! ♡

so before I begin, I always think about the edit, like what I want the final outcome to look like (or if I don’t know what that’ll look like yet, what direction I want it to go in, the main themes/ideas/colour schemes that I have). I personally love using a minimalist range of colours, all of them being light and pastel (that’s just my personal liking though). I also consider the main themes or ideas that I want to translate through my edit. you also need to have the passion and desire to edit, I’ve learned that there’s nothing more draining than editing when you really don’t want to. so I think that you should think about all these things before starting!!

tip; put on some music, it gets your creativity and thinking flowing if you’re in a good mood ldkjkl

so! when creating the edit; first of all, I created a new document in photoshop - 540 x 300 pixels for this specific edit (just because that shows up as high quality on tumblr, but it doesn’t really matter!) when you click ‘create’, a white canvas should open up.

— creating the book

next! I used a book psd for my edit, which you can find and download here!! so I just opened that psd up (a psd is just a photoshop file that has like all the layers in place so it’s not just one photo);

when you open the file up, this is how it should look (well not really, because I’d edited it to look like this, but it should have this general layout);

now what you have to do is sort of literally drag the file out and then, drag all the layers from that file into your white canvas, like this;

— giffing

I just wanted to quickly mention that giffing is definitely an optional step. I do it in pretty much all of my edits, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re just beginning to edit, because giffing takes the most time and it can be really draining and messy if not done right ldkjd.

to create my gifs, I use youtube videos, which I download through 4k video downloader (it’s really simple with 4k, you just have to copy the youtube link and paste it into the app!). so to open up a video, go to ‘file’ then ‘import’ and finally ‘video frames to layers’;

once you’ve chosen the video you want to use, open that up (don’t know why that’s so blurry dlkjdlj but you get the idea);

now this should pop up! make sure it’s on ‘selected range only’ and then use the toggles at the bottom to select the specific part of the video that you want to use (I usually gif about 20 frames because it’s sooo much work for me to do more than that lkdjldj)

when you’re in the file, go to ‘window’ then ‘timeline’ for the gif to show up frame by frame;

now highlight the specific frames that you want by literally dragging across them with the timeline bar at the bottom. then click the three bars on the top right of the bar, and click ‘copy frames’;

now go back to your book psd file, and at the timeline bar at the bottom, click ‘create frame animation’;

click on the three bars on the top right of the timeline bar and paste the frames over the selection;

your file should now look something like this! to resize the gif, just press command + t and adjust it from there!

now to give it the effect that it’s a part of the book, you have to create a clipping mask (so it sort of clips onto the book layer like a paper clip). to do this, select all the layers of the gif, drag it right above the layer that you want to clip it onto (the page constraint layer in this case). then right click the gif layers and click ‘create clipping mask’;

as a result, your layers should now look like this. you can use command + t again to adjust the gif size;

tip; press command + g to group the layers together so they take up less space!

now, with your gif, this step is pretty tiring and takes forever dlkdjl, but for the layer to show up in every frame of the gif, you have to click on the box button on the left of each layer so that an eye shows up. you can also press the eye button at the top of the settings, in the unify bar, so that it stays visible throughout the entire gif. I don’t know if I’m explaining it properly dlkdjl but just go through every layer and press the box so an eye shows up.

sometimes the unify button doesn’t work for some reason, and you’ll have to manually go through every single frame just to click on the eye button. it’s excruciating, but it’s worth it in the end lkdjdl

this is how your edit should look now!

now what I do is apply a psd (sort of like a filter) so it looks softer and prettier! these days, all of the psds that I apply come from this lovely pack!

in the same way that you dragged your book psd in, drag the psd *folder* into your edit;

your edit should now look like this!

— adding the photo

now’s the fun part! you can add whatever you want to, but what I did in my edit was I cut out a photo of taylor. now what you can do if you’re running short of time is find a transparent photo of taylor on google or on deviantart, but if you want to take the time to actually crop the photo out like me (even though I’m horrible at it), here’s how I do it! first find the photo you’d like to crop out. I usually use taylorpictures, they have the most high quality photos of taylor!

so find the photo you want to use, copy it;

then just paste it into your edit;

use command + t again to adjust the size;

and now to crop it out, what I do is use the quick selection tool, which is this button right here;

in this mode, you can easily just select the part of taylor that you want to cut out (that sounds weird lkjd);

at the top, there should be a bar with a number of buttons, one of them being ‘select and mask’;

if you click on that, you should be taken to another page, similar to this;

now you can play with the settings on the right, then press ‘ok’ when you’re happy with it (the numbers change for each photo and your style, it entirely depends on how you want it to look);

now you should be back to your edit, click on the ‘add layer mask’ button on the bottom left of your page;

and taylor should now be cropped out from her background!

make sure all the layers are below the psd pack, including the photo of taylor that you just cropped out;

now for the colouring!! ‘selective colour’ is your best friend, and you can find that button here, in your adjustments (if you can’t find your adjustments, go to window > adjustments);

add a clipping mask (by right clicking the layer and clicking ‘create clipping mask’) of the selective colour onto the layer you want to colour, so that it only affects that one layer;

then on the selective colour panel, you can adjust the specific colours in that layer to your liking;

in addition, you can press command + u to change the whole colour scheme, saturation and lightness of the layer. make sure to press ‘ok’ when you’re done;

basically just play around with the colouring until you’re happy with it!

if you want it to look more realistic, you can also play around with the effects (I use layer effects all the time, they’re the best) on the layers bar, so the layer blends into the layers below it, like this;

— adding decoration

now you can decorate your little piece of work with whatever you’d like to, such as a background colour (layer > new fill layer > solid colour) ;

a texture (textures are honestly so amazing and you can find them all over tumblr and google; like you can search the word ‘texture’ up and then paste it into your edit);

I usually place my texture at the top of the edit, then use one of the effects to blend it into all the layers;

final embellishments!! this step is optional you can add anything else that you’d like to, such as pngs (you can search these up on google and paste them into your edit, or find psd packs on tumblr and drag them in). again, you can add selective colour and a layer effect to these layers;

tip; finding already transparent images saves sooo much time, so try doing that instead of cropping the image out.

text;

tip; use a new layer for each line!

and so on. the flowers that I used come from this pack and the wax seal stamp comes from this pack from the beautiful @newrcmantlcs​!! my main advice is to just play around with everything till you’re happy with it. don’t be afraid of deleting something or starting over completely if you’re not.

— giffing again

now to control the speed of the gif, highlight all of the frames, then click on the tiny dropdown button and change the speed to however fast or slow you want each frame to be. I usually make mine 0.1 seconds, but it’s completely up to you (and worth testing it out to see what speed you prefer!)

when you’re happy with everything, it’s time to sharpen it! first, you have to convert the frames to a video timeline, and do this by clicking on the button on the bottom left of the timeline bar.

your timeline should now look like this. everyone’s process is different, like some people like to start off their whole edit with a video timeline, but I find it a lot easier to start with a frame animation then convert it when I’m done with everything.

now to sharpen (in this case at least, sometimes I add a grainy effect instead) it, highlight the layers that you want to sharpen;

then click filter > convert for smart filters. this will turn your layers into one layer.

tip; if you do something you don’t like, command + z!!

now go to filter > sharpen > sharpen;

and your gif should now be sharpened! you can simply go to filter > sharpen if you want to sharpen a layer that isn’t a gif. play around with your edit a bit more until you’re happy, and finally, add a watermark if you’re going to post it online!

finallyyyyy! to save, go to file > export > save for web, if it’s a gif. if it’s a static photo, just click ‘save as’!

and yayyyy, you just finished an edit!!!!!

ahhh so this was my tutorial on how I created this specific edit, I hope it helped! If you create something similar or follow this tutorial, I’d loveee to see it; so if you post it on tumblr, you can tag me with #tuserabigail, or you can just dm me!

my process usually isn’t this rigid or precise, I usually edit on a tangent and in cluttered daydreams, it’s never like “oh, I have to make a gif now” or “ahh it’s time to add a texture!” so really, it’s just about playing around with your edit until you like it! it’s definitely okay to skip some steps or do things in a different order, because like I said, everyone has a different process, and this was just mine for this one specific edit (my process changes all the time too ldkdljk)

anyway, I hope this helped, and thank you!! ♡

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Digging through the archives 1: The ReBoot drama

Hello and welcome to one of the first “subsections” of posts I am going to make on this tumblr for the sake of an easier overview. This one is titlted “Digging through the archives”, because it will always relate to something I will find by literally looking for some of the oldest “opinion” or personal related stuff about Dobson that there is. So think of this here less as me tackling his comics and more of my own version of what the Hypocrisy of Andrew Dobson does.

With that explanation out of the way, lets just briefly talk about Dobson and his idea of fan entitlement; If you have followed Dobson throughout the last year or so, you know he has a very low opinion on fans of the original She-Ra and He-Man, 80s cartoons in general and Star Wars, to the point he thinks the people behind it are all potential alt righters (link red flag comic) or basically man children.

 To anyone who knows Dobson however, it would be no surprise now to learn that he has a tendency to be the same kind of way to other people and creators. Like when he whined to an actual writer on a Frozen related property about the necessity of giving Elsa a girlfriend, which even resulted in Aaron Sparrow being involved at one point, a professional animator and comic writer on the Boom Comics related Darkwing Duck issues. A prime example on how Dobson will literally make himself also unsympathetic to the people he wants to work for/with.

 But then there is what I found in relation to a little animated series by the name of ReBoot and that is really where both his entitlement and egotism kinda shine.

For those unaware: ReBoot was a computer animated adventure show produced by Mainframe Entertainment and ran from 1994 to 2001. It is actually listed as the first fully computer animated cartoon out there and is fondly remembered by a lot of people. Unfortunately, I myself have never watched it so I can’t give a “valid” opinion on it. All I have seen so far are clips on youtube but I will admit that what I have seen in them looks fun and intriguing, even if the animation at parts (especially in season 1 related content) has not aged that well. But hey, early computer animation, that is forgivable. And any media that manages to make an episode that is also in a way a huge tribute to Evil Dead of all things in a children cartoon is a big win for me.

Now, how is ReBoot connected to Dobson? Dobson has been a fan of ReBoot, a fact he made publicly known when in 2007 rumors of a continuation of ReBoot emerged. Something Dobson, again, the man who is pissed about the entitlement of She-Ra fans, has not been very happy about.

But Dobson, what is so wrong about being “different” from the past? After all, let the past die! The original show had terrible artwork! And not everything back in the day was good, right?

 Yeah, it is pretty obvious how his complaining and stands against “modern” fans ring pretty hollow when he himself acted as the entitled brat he thinks critics of new She-Ra and Thundercats Roar are, back in 2007 already. Also I honestly feel that at the very least the creators of that idea gave their fans still more “control” than Rian Johnson did. And we all know how much Star Wars suffered in terms of reputation because of it.

BTW, this webcomic continuation mentioned? It is actually not just a rumor that went nowhere, but one of the most fascinating aspects I found when reading up on ReBoot via Wikipedia. The idea was that of the five potential pitches (so again, there was variety given that even could have been expanded on) people could choose one that would be further adapted. Additionally the people behind the idea were looking for more active input by fans, giving people the chance to apply as artists working on it if they decided to submit samples people could vote on. Something Dobson jumped actually on. And tried to manipulate in his own favor

 The thing that catches my attention at first is how hyperbole Dobson is. Claiming the fate of the show is in their hands and treating voting on this thing like it’s a live or die situation, with pointlessly writing stuff in caps as if we are reading the headline of some trashy newspaper article. It just comes off less as someone who is a fan and more of a fanatic of the show. Second, I just find it hilarious that of all the plattforms online Dobson decided to post that “VERY IMPORTANT” information people should act immediately on, was deviantart. Did he genuinely expect people would flock to what he wrote in order to immediately do something about the vote? Deviantart even back then was mostly for posting fanart, few people read journals and even less people cared for ReBoot. I don’t know if the /co/ board of 4chan existed back in 2007 already, but he would have had more success posting on there and get the information out, than on dA.

 Lastly, the shameless self promotion. Stating he does not care which pitch wins, when only three day prior he whined how they all suck and he wishes the show would be done justice by someone. That someone obviously being him, the person who is so hardcore as a fan, because he already waited 8 years just to watch season 3. Damned be any other artists or pitches that may be better or more popular than him, HE is the true messiah and that is his chance to shine. So don’t be “neutral” and judge fairly based on actual competence, talent and effort, just vote for him blindly or else Trump wins the second term and your beautiful nation turns into the fourth rei- I mean,  Dobson will be a very sad guy who has come to terms with the fact he is not talented enough to work on a reboot/continuation of his favorite children show.

Well, it seemed to have had some impact though, as four day later he posted this

 And obviously Dobson is pissed his favorite pitch did not win and instead of being grateful for the good ratings some of his artwork got he focuses instead on the fact that his Enzo and Megabyte pic had the lowest rating. Which in my opinion it kinda deserved. I mean, look at those artpieces:

Enzo is okayish looking but the rest? That is not Megabyte and a genuine background, it is a cola light version of the entire Ripley disaster with the Samus Artwork commission. Also, Enzo’s hands just look weird. His fingers more alien than they need to be and the position of his legs not really adjusting to how the hip is supposed to move. The comic sample page that Dobson drew being okay overall, aside of the fact that Enzo in one panel HAS FOUR INSTEAD OF FIVE FINGERS ON ONE HAND DESPITE HAVING FIVE FINGERS IN A PREVIOUS PANEL. I am also not really a fan of how Dobson puts emphasize on the word “FAN” and “PAGES” in the post, indicating he thinks he is a better and bigger fan than any of the people who submitted their entries too, off handedly praising them but also making it obvious he thinks he is the most fit for the job, because he can also “copy any artstyle” and adjust to the needs of his superiors. Yeah, sure. That’s why you are nowadays and with even more time and effort put into your work so “good” at imitating Ladybug, your comics look exactly like in the show…

 Now considering that Dobson does not have ReBoot under his resume and likely tried his best to bury any enthusiasm for it, you can imagine how this chance at being an official artist ended up.

 Not even much of a follow up or introspective in why he may have not won. His enthusiasm died within two days.

And honestly, I am surprised that as a result he did not fake depression and rage quit doing comics for a month or so as he did here and there.

And that is pretty much the end of the ReBoot drama, at least as far as I know.

If you are interested what happened with the comic project, here is what I managed to gather:

The project did actually not die in development, but “ReBoot: Arrival” would be reimagined under the name “Code of Honour” and be published online in three “issues” over the course of the next few months. The comic’s status as “canon” continuation of the show is however very much in the air, as quite a lot of people think it is something of a fanfiction, others think it is a good enough continuation that unfortunately still does not deliver on an “ultimate” ending of the franchise. That said, with additional plans like a movie trilogy never been realized and the “reboot” known as “ReBoot: The Guardian Code” having been perceived as an insult by fans and a disappointment by most audiences (which Dobson was surprisingly silent about) this comic seems to be the best thing fans can still hope for and read.

Yeah, I am not even kidding. The comic is still up. Here, have two links to independent pages if you want to either read it for the first time or revisit it for the sake of nostalgia.

As for Dobson, if he reads this, I just have one thing to say to you: Don’t you ever again try to whine about how entitled fanboys are, if you felt entitled enough yourself you tried to manipulate a competition in your own favor in the hope to become a writer and then exploit ReBoot for your own agenda and benefit.

[marksloan]

cristalcarrington’s icon tutorial!

a little treat for day 28 of my filmuary challenge!

i’ve honestly lost count of which one this is, but welcome to another icon tutorial! here i’m going to breaking down my icon creation process step by step. i currently am a mac user and all my previous tutorials have been windows orientated (which unfortunately were all lost in the great url loss of 2017). my process hasn’t changed much since then, but i have picked up quite a few new go-to tricks and i’ll be sharing these tips in this post!

anyway! here’s what you’ll need-

photoshop (i currently use photoshop cc so be aware that options and tools may not translate onto other programs/versions of ps) and yes, i do pay for my photoshop but if you’re in need of a decent, safe download i might be able to point you in the right direction so hmu

patience (believe me some of these icons have taken me a painfully long time to create) just don’t feel discouraged if things don’t work out perfectly right away!

a creative mind. please be aware that this tutorial is only for educational purposes. under no circumstance directly replicate my icons! the one involved in this tutorial is clearly fair game, but please try to take creative liberty with your work. what i’ve found a lot of fun is incorporating bits and pieces of what other people do into my own work.

further resources

if you need more reference/help, here’s an icon psd for you to have a look around while reading the tutorial or instead of the tutorial. again, please do not re-upload or redistribute.

please consider reblogging this if you’ve found it useful. or checking out my resources!

starting off

so today, i’m going to tackle a screencap for my ongoing filmuary challenge!

i tend to get my screencaps from google, so for this i literally just googled “mirror mirror screencaps” and selected a image from google images. when i’m not feeling lazy, i tend to go through the whole movie (great screencaps can be found at screencapped or kissthemgoodbye)

my first move is to open the screencap in the photoshop on it’s default canvas. the one i’ve chosen is normally the sort of screencap i’d go for-- one that has a central focus on the character and allows me to get a solid outline.

i tend to avoid screencaps that cut off the top of the characters head. i also tend to gravitate towards scenes that look easy to colour; if you choose overly saturated screencaps or screencaps that are too dark/light, then you will find it difficult to colour while conscious of the screencap quality.

base colouring

i then duplicate the screencap.

and then i set that duplicated layer to screen.

i like to make my icons super bright so i repeat this. it will vary depending on how dark the scene is. i prefer to do this to the screencaps as i find that it preserves the quality of the cap.

alternatively, you can use a psd-- my favourite as mentioned in previous tutorial is @blairsfelicity‘s icon psd which you can find in her tutorial here. my new method is just a whole lot lazier and i’ve been really enjoying the way my icons have turned out.

outlines

now here comes the menial part-- time for the outline.

remember to add a layer (unless you want to break your own heart by doing it directly onto the cap and being forced to start over (which i would NOT recommend by the way, crying over a screencap is as demoralising as it sounds)).

 i vary between using the pen tool and a brush/eraser for my backgrounds. i like to shake it up depending on what i feel like doing or what the screencap would best fit. it also completely depends on whether i’m feeling particularly lazy or not-- if i have time to burn, i’ll use a brush. if i’m in a rush, i’ll use the polygonal lasso tool and refine my selection area with masks.

in this tutorial (due to my boredom of doing things over and over, this beautiful filmuary) i’m opting for the brush method. but if you want me to talk through polygonal lasso process which is a lot quicker and really streamlines the process-- then feel free to drop me a message and i’ll be happy to make another talk through.

i like to use a brush for my erasing, on 30-50% hardness. i like to use a diffused/low hardness so my icon doesn’t look too sharp and the background and model seem to go with each other more. i’ll go for a small brush size when it comes to detailing (for example, when it comes to profiles, hair etc).

once i’ve outlined the model, i select the area around her with the magic wand tool and fill in the selected area with either a brush or a fill layer. then i merge the outline layer with the new colour layer.

(these two examples are from another icon process bc im dumb and forgot to take screenshots)

there will be a full little line around the model once you’ve merged the layers. i just tend to fill it in manually with a brush.

now here comes the fun part-- the colouring.

make those colours pop!

as you can see, the screencap has a lot of colours, but we need to make them pop. i take one of the colours, make a new layer and just paint until it’s vibrant and bold. once you’re happy with your colour selection, set the layer to soft light and adjust accordingly.

i tend to go for softer brushes when it comes to facial features. the lips, to make them a darker colour, i opt to set the layer style to multiply instead of soft light, and paint over the lip shape with a light pink/red.

i always like to highlight the eyes to aid contrast in the screencap. i also like to fill all eyebrows in with a black (set on soft light) as well as the lashline, just to add further dimension and contrast to the model.

prepping the icon

this is what my screencap looks like with the colouring complete. as you can see, each colour is on a separate layer. this is so i can adjust/duplicate each colour accordingly. once i’m happy, i place everything into a group together.

i make all of my icons on a 100x100px canvas. 

i like to edit the screencaps on their original canvas as it helps with the quality of the screencap as well as allowing me to outline accurately.

i just drag the files from one tab into another.

and then you can size it appropriately. 

my next step is to select the same colour as the background and to paint over the white strip at the top of the icon. i do this directly onto my outline and then merge the two together. you now have the foundations of your icon to build onto!

final touches in the colouring department

there is honestly no direction that i could give you when it comes to these final colouring steps. 

i like my icons to be very bright, so i target the contrast with levels and brightness/contrast layers. I like to also turn up the vibrancy to make the colours pop even more. 

my preference is for the skin to be very neutral, so i try to combat the saturation of the skin with colour balance and selective colour layers (as well as another step i will explain later in the tutorial)

as you can see above, i place the final colouring all underneath the background layer as this makes it easier for me to place textures later on. 

if you have problems with the model’s skin appearing too saturated, i’d recommend taking a solid fill layer of a black/white/grey and setting it to colour. place that layer just above the screencap and adjust it so it combats any saturation you might be experiencing.

textures and finishing touches!

clipping masks are honestly a god send for me. you can find them by right-clicking on the layers and selecting clipping masks. as you can see above, i use clipping masks to place a green texture on top of the icon’s background. i then layer above that by using further clipping masks, adding other textures and even layers to adjust the colouring of the background.

my favourite place to find textures are livejournal and deviantart-- soaked on livejournal is my go-to at the moment and i really enjoy evey-v’s icon textures. i also have my own resouces/textures that you can find here!

once i’m happy with how the icon looks, i copy all of the layers together and paste them under the background.

this is a super lazy way of sharpening the icon-- an alternative method is explained really well by @jennifergarner (aka the god of icons) on her icon faq page. i have used this in the past but after filmuary i’ve found a few little tricks.

i then just sharpen the icon and adjust the opacity of the sharpened layer depending on my preferences.

and then there we go---

my chosen export settings are just to go for PNG every time. this helps preserve the quality of the icon and help it look super clean and tidy for whoever wants to use it.

and with that, that’s a wrap up of my tutorial.

for other tips and tricks, here are some of my asks that i’ve responded to;

do you have any tips for cutting short/curly/messy hair?

hey, would you mind sharing a psd icon?

what are some of your favorite icons textures?

can you break down how to use different types of textures?

[abkdkzine]

A Guide to Making Portfolios

Contributor applications are open, but I noticed that there’s a few people who may be confused or don’t know what certain parts of our guidelines mean. So, here’s a simple guide showing how to make a neat portfolio that obeys our instructions and requirements!

(I kind of refrained from making a bunch of lighthearted jokes or comments though, so I might’ve missed my chance on showing just how dorky I can get, haha!)

I’ll be covering both art portfolios and writing portfolios in this guide, but I also hope this helps out anyone who might need this sort of information in the future because this information doesn’t apply to just our zine! With that said, I’ll start with the very basics: getting to know cloud storage and sharing services, or in this case, Google!

Technically speaking, portfolios are basically any and all of the platforms you post your content into (like Tumblr, Instagram, DeviantArt, etc.). But, when you’re applying for something that requires you to show your works in a professional manner (such as in fanzines or IRL jobs), knowing how to organise your works can help you out in the long run!

Google is such a versatile platform which allows everyone to have access to all (if not almost all) of their organisational and work-related products! As such, if you have a Gmail account, you should also have this wonderful privilege. One of their products, Google Drive, lets you store your files and organise them any way you want them! There’s a little box icon on the top right of the browser which will reveal all of the products you can use too, so if you don’t know what they are, it’s a good idea to explore a bit on your own time. 

Through Google Drive, you’ll be creating a folder which will serve as the place your files will be uploaded into. Keep in mind though that Google is not the only platform that offers cloud services! Dropbox is an example of another popular platform among others.

In this example, I’ll be referring to our zine’s contributor applications. Make a new folder in your Google Drive by clicking on that big ol’ “New” button, and use that button again to upload 3-8 of your works for our zine’s applications. Or, drag and drop files. It’s surprisingly fun to do and watch!

Be sure that your folder’s privacy settings is open! Just activate the folder’s shareable link (as in anyone with the link can have access to it), and it’ll let us look at all of your examples without trouble!

But, why do you want us to do this, you might ask?

Like I mentioned earlier, knowing how to organise your things helps you out in the long run! But in our case, if an applicant chooses to send us a form with a portfolio that doesn’t quite follow our requirements (such as putting an entire gallery or website with all their works)... 

Well, it’s going to be an inconvenience to the moderators because there are going to be a lot of applications to go through within a limited time frame. We simply won’t have the time to look for your best works in a portfolio showcasing all of your pieces. We set a maximum limit of 8 examples for portfolios for that reason!

Any added works will not be considered in the examples, and any applications with galleries or websites sent to us as their portfolios will have a VERY low chance of being considered at all.

Instead, make that neat little folder shown previously and individually add the files you want to share! It won’t take up a lot of your time, I promise. That way, you can make sure you’ve chosen your most quality works, and we can review your application in a timely manner! This method is the most preferred way for us to receive portfolios.

Writers, if you are unfamiliar with Google Drive, this process can apply to you as well. Make a new folder, label it appropriately, and upload your files! Word documents can be transferred instantly, so fear not for your formatting – you’re in good hands. However, if you are concerned about it, I suggest that you take a look at Google Docs. You can copy and paste your works there instead, either all three written examples in one document or three separate documents in the folder. 

Realistically, not following the rules sets a bad impression on the people reviewing your portfolio. We want to see your best work, and we want you to feel confident in your examples! If you show us that you can’t follow simple and easy tasks such as organising your works, then we’ll get the impression that you’ll do the same elsewhere. Regard this as though you are preparing for an actual job interview because this helps with your reputation as well.

So, what can I do to ensure my chances to be considered?

This is a section that is more for art than it is for writings; but here’s a general consensus for what kind of submissions or examples are expected and what is not expected!

A bad portfolio consists of little variety among the shown examples. If your examples are mostly made of your subjects in several different angles, that’s alright, but if there’s a lack of principles of art (such as rhythm, movement, proportion, variety, etc.) then the portfolio wouldn’t really be very interesting to the judges. Sketches, while some look nice, aren’t good examples because zines require complete pieces!

For written stories, the worst possible examples out of so much more that you can present in a portfolio are: bad understanding of characterisation (out-of-character factor), mediocre understanding of grammar (or unedited versions), and uninteresting.

A good portfolio shows a clear understanding of the elements and principles of art. There’s variety among the pieces which shows creativity and thought. Properties like different colour schemes, addition of environments, angles, and etc. are things that make portfolios interesting to look at.

For writing, having a good grasp of grammar, understanding of characters, and personal style are good indicators that your writing is well done and given some thought! In other words, it allows the readers to feel engaged with, which in turn makes it more interesting.

But, most of all:

Your pieces have to be related to the zine’s theme! It’s different for every zine, of course, but generally, application reviewers look to see if the applicant is genuine about liking the concept(s) behind their projects, and that the applicant can portray or illustrate the subjects of the zine well with the skills presented among the examples.

Wanderlust revolves exclusively around BakuDeku, and so, seeing examples with both of them featured in your works will guarantee you, one-hundred percent, a spot for consideration.

Sounds good to me! But, can you clarify what to avoid?

As previously suggested, guidelines are made to make sure the reviewing process goes as smoothly as possible for the moderators or judges. I’ll be using our own guidelines for this example as well!

Since many zines like to request for a number of linked examples in their forms for their portfolios, we understand that it might be a force of habit or something that some people may consider easy to do. But, I’ll say this once again: we require prospective contributors to create their portfolios through a shared folder (lots of cloud services exist!) because it saves us, the moderators, a lot of time from copying and pasting every single link!

When you show us your social media links, don’t do it like this:

Tumblr: @ariririsu

Twitter: @ariririsu 

Give us the actual links to your platforms! This also saves us a lot of time instead of typing it down. We would be ever so grateful and happy if you do this.

Keep your examples up to date! We don’t want to see what you could do back then. We want to see what you can offer us now. It’s like selling a bunch of pastries at a bake sale, but you’re selling us pastries made two years ago. Your most recent works gives us the most accurate and best representation of your skills.

Once again, incomplete sketches or written drafts are no-no’s. If you want to know what I’m talking about when I mentioned the principles and elements of art, here’s a neat little roster that breaks down what makes compositions in artworks more three-dimensional and interesting.

Going over the specified number of examples will not affect your chances of being accepted in the zine. So, if you add two or three more works in your portfolio, rest assured that we will not even look at them. For the same reason I mentioned beforehand: there is going to be a lot of applicants, and we want to get the reviewing process done as soon as possible to maintain our schedule. Less mess, less stress.

Some Pieces of Advice:

Have some confidence in your works! If you feel super shy and you’re still building up that confidence, the judges would be more than happy to supply you with feedback if you ask for it. Their feedback will not be destructive, but it will be meant to help you improve your skills. Take whatever advice they give you and at least put them into consideration too!

Zines and other huge projects like these take a lot of your time. One thing that I’ve seen people commonly do is that they miscalculate the amount of time and commitment they can put into these projects, and they often have to leave them. Doing so will negatively affect your reputation. So, when you’re not sure if you can dedicate a lot of time to the zine, we highly suggest that you don’t apply to keep the game fair to others who want to be in the zine as well.

Communication is VERY important in these projects. Never ever disappear on the projects without saying something because it’s going to cause the moderators to have to find ways to contact you and be very worried if something happened to cause the sudden disappearance. Like the previous point, doing so will negatively affect your reputation.

Just so you know, you’ve got time to make your portfolios if you don’t have enough examples! You can literally apply at the last minute and it would still count!

Again, be sure that your Google Drive folder’s settings are shared to those who has the link!

And with that, I hope I was able to make a nice guide which emphasises certain rules in our own zine guidelines as well as how to make a good portfolio! I’m not sure if there are other guides like these around, but I hope I got a bunch of general zine rules correct.

We look forward to seeing your applications! Our zine applications close on January 12, and we can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!

[fuckshiru]

345rv5 ten year anniversary. Couldn’t upload this to DA for some reason

You know when you're getting older when people start having 10 year aniversaries. But alas. I still await my aniversary (which wont be for over 3 years).

You're delusional if you think I wont be posting about this.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been watching people rant online for a long ass time. I've watched Youtube videos, blogs, and deviantart journals of course. And stamps. It used to be game reviewers (Clement and SomecallmeJohnny), then it was political videos (The Amazing Atheist formerly then Sargon and Hunter Avallone currently). But I've never actually made friends with any of them. Unlike 345rv5.

I've made friends with 345rv5 just a few years back. While he isn't millionaire famous, he has a rather large following on deviantart. And that's because there's a little bit of everything on his page. He started off reviewing anime but then he would he started getting into debates. I think what made him a force to be reckoned with was the fact that he made very long journals and comments. But they wern't long because he wanted to win the debate (just a side note, if you're on a debate online, dont EVER simply write a wall of text or copy n paste from wikipedia. That doesn't work.), he would also deconstruct each of the points of the other side and obliterate them. Lets get into the journal that started it all.

Dragon Fail Live Action Piece of Shit

Dragon fail live action peice of shit

Now, 345rv5 has been around before he made the journal, but in my opinon this was the review that started everything. This was his Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. I've read all of his journals. Anime and video games was his thing earlier on. He didn't start making political videos until around 2012/2013. This day marks the ten year anniversary of him making that journal.

It really set off his channel (or should I say page). I guarentee that if he had a youtube channel, he would be filthy rich, even with youtube's ad-pocalypse and whatnot.

He started off ranting about shows and movies, essentially pointing out all of the flaws. Some notable things he's ranted about were Cartoon Network and Super Mario Live Action movie.

Anime Recaps and Reviews

Weekly Shonen Recap :RECAP !

Anime and Manga was his passion. He almost exclusively watched anime, some of his favourites were Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. Others shows, such as Bleach not so much. There's not much to say on this part, but if you enjoy anime, you'll enjoy his reviews.

Rivalries

As time passed on, he began showing everyone his insane debating skills. This caused many people to hold grudges toward him. He began his series BDTDT/BSTDT (Bigots Do/say the dumbest things) and a subseries FTSTDT (Fantards say the dumbest things) and RFSTDT (Radical Feminists Say The Dumbest Things. He also started shorter series entitled "Concentrated Stupidity", which ended shortly.

Watching him take part in these debates that lasted over months was actually pretty entertaining. He's debated people such as Arrnacar Fighter, DragonoftheEastBlue (which apparently made a youtube video), BrianaBater, Insanity123 (didn't get a journal), Sychtemantis, and Party999999. The debate between him and Party999999 lasted for over a year. It ended in 2016, when Party99999 made a final response, and called it quits.

The topics of these debates covered politics. When it wasn't that, he would literally go in depth on how strong a character is, using math equations and Science to justify his claims.

And no, I'm not insulting any of thse people. Hell for a debate to last that long meant that they put up a good fight and must've good points.

Unfortunately, with so many debates online someone was eventually going to make a page on Encyclopedia Dramatica about him.

https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/345rv5

Before I start, I will say that I'm suprised that I don't have a page on Encylopedia Dramatica. I should've gotten one a few years back when I got into a big fight in the complaints forum, but now that I'm fading away into nothing, I'm probably never gonna get one. That's good I guess. But an Encyclopedia Dramatica page really only shows the worst in people.

Even when he got banned from DA, he still occasionally called people out here on this site from tumblr (such as OddGarfield and Aknaton-II)

The Story, Political Views, and Removal from DA

Earlier on, 345rv5 was a liberal. He was the same kind of liberal as The Amazing Athiest, as in, he wasn't a SJW, they didn't believe in white privilege or any of that garbage. Instead, they only believed in green privilege. (I dont know if TJ still believes that given I haven't watched his videos in months)

He still is a egaliratian, and one of his sickest ownages was his DESTROYING someone who insulted and slut shamed SHE-HULK by calling her a whore.

BSTDT:She Hulk is a Whore!

He was a true EGALITARIAN. Trust me, you will not find a bigger equalist than 345rv5 on the internet. He has stood up for atheists, women, men, people of colour, whites, Religious people, you name it. Every one of those instances I wholeheartedly agreed with.

BSTDT: Brother Dean the Anti Gay, Sexist Pastor

BSTDT: Atheist Pluser Says fuck you to Christans

After time passed, he slowly distanced himself from the left. He is a firm supporter of AllLivesMatter. This however, would cause him to get banned permanently from the site.

RIP 345rv5

I was beyond angry when that happened. But its been over 3 years and it is what is I guess. After being banned from DA, he made a tumblr account. This is where he REALLY shifted away from the left. 1 year later in 2016, He came out as a supporter of Trump weeks away from the election day. At that point I was still sceptical of Trump but I do admit that people have retarded reasons for hating him. I believe he still identifies as a liberal, but honestly, it hard to be considered a liberal or a leftist at this point because the left keeps fucking up for themselves. Paul Joseph Watson said Conservatism is the new counter culture, and I totally agree. Its popular to be left leaning these days.

The arguement The Amazing Athiest had with Hunter Avallone really shows that sides have switched. It used to be a younger liberal vs a older conservative. Now its a younger conservative vs an older liberal.

But furthermore, 345rv5 continued making posts on tumblr. These were very similar to the posts he made here. This went on until Tumblr shot itself and got rid of pornographic content.

After that, he migrated to another website.

What made him great?

I think it was his ability to debate made him great. He would fucking decimate people. But he would only do that if you had horrible opinions. His followers were literally like familiy, everyone digged in to help him stand up to abusive admins. When he got banned, everyone was upset. We all love his journals, which everyone can see, thanks to this link here: https://web.archive.org/web/20150406180849/http://345rv5.deviantart.com/

Yet he was such a nice guy. And that is why he will always be remembered.

[lattetimes]

Callout Post: Commandomal/Creepypastajack

hi everyone, sorry that this post i’m making is not fun but this is incredibly serious. a kind person approached me with some information about a user on Deviantart, and this needs to be shared. i’ve been trying to wrap my head around all of this for the past days and i honestly can’t for the life of me. 

the person who gave me this information will be left anonymous (since the user is scared of being harassed for showing me this), so i will be sharing this on their behalf. i am copy & pasting the information they sent to me, and will keep the warnings for the links provided in case any of the content may trigger someone. links are bolded, and another post will not have the link (to keep the user who sent me all this anonymous), but there will be a transcript of the chats for everyone if you can’t read the screenshots. 

please, be careful around this person. 

the person in this callout is a 22-year old. she is NOT a minor (and there is proof in the 3rd link- screenshot below saying she goes to college). 

Her disgusting little series: https://creepypastajack.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=%2F&edit=0&q=Stainglass (I urge you to read carefully: this is not satire)

Her pettiness after a 16 year old girl she gaslighted (She’s 22) stopped taking crap from her: https://comments.deviantart.com/4/28631558/4454834204

(And just in case you need proof she’s over 20: https://creepypastajack.deviantart.com/art/El-Cadejo-On-Strike-635280479 (it’s in the comments)

Her sympathizing with the Joker (a known abuser) and blaming Harley Quinn: https://creepypastajack.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=%2F&edit=0&q=Joker

Her stalker-ish obsession with that one guy from Eddsworld that hasn’t worked on the comic for 9-ish years: https://creepypastajack.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=%2F&edit=0&q=Tord

Her bringing religion into a F###ING R.P. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.:

https://tdweallstarscamp.deviantart.com/art/Holy-Blackmail-666637195 (check comments)

https://total-drama-reboot.deviantart.com/art/Hell-Break-685927537

The journal entries of her throwing a tantrum and quitting the R.P:

https://creepypastajack.deviantart.com/journal/I-Can-t-Do-This-Anymore-687498888 (check the comments here, too)

https://creepypastajack.deviantart.com/journal/Why-I-Called-Everyone-Out-By-Name-687635692

https://creepypastajack.deviantart.com/journal/Don-t-Feel-Like-Myself-691654970

(This one is just her being ridiculous: https://creepypastajack.deviantart.com/journal/Devil-Won-This-Round-706091885)

(Found some Pseudo-incest-y R.P comments in some of these art submissions: https://creepypastajack.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=%2F&edit=0&q=Loki)

(All of the gallery examples have fetishing examples, but here’s a more recent R.P: https://comments.deviantart.com/1/733320123/4560036205)

(Also, all of her non-white characters (so, like, 4?) are stereotypes)

(I am so sorry you have to see this. If you want, you can post it. I’m still afraid she’ll send her hounds after me. I had to deal with a lot of her bullshit last year.)

attached are more screenshots, with the person giving me the link being left anonymous in order for them to avoid dealing with any sort of backlash. 

anonymous:  I'm sorry if it sounded negative. But it's been a decade. Most likely, He's moved on from Eddsworld, I mean, he is almost 30.

creepypastajack:  This isn’t about Eddsworld, this is about getting Tord to return to doing his artwork again because those were his dreams before the bullies ruined everything for him

anonymous:  Yeah, but look at the facts. It was 10 years ago. If anything, he's moved on. Heck, he could be making art again under a different name.

creepypastajack:  If a bully causes you to give up on your dreams, that wound doesn’t just heal easily under a different name. Tord had full intentions of having his own series after he left Eddsworld but the bullies just wouldn’t quit and caused him to delete his Youtube as well. I’m just trying to encourage him to come back so all of his supporters can help heal the wounds not just because The Lord is leading me to but because I also care about his wellbeing. Have some compassion, why don’t you? He is a real person, not just some cartoon character that left early in the show.

anonymous:  Actually, it does. People do it all the time. You never know. Plus, Ridgewell literally had to tell people to stop bothering him. Larsson's not upset, he's annoyed because both the haters and fans won't leave him alone.

creepypastajack:  Well, if by any means you find an account somewhere with art that resembles Tord’s, let me know. Niether Tom, Edd, Matt or even Tord himself said that the fans who loved him had anything to do with this, they just said that Tord was being harassed without giving much detail. Thanks to The Lord, I was able to find proof that Tord was cyber bullied into leaving, photographic evidence as well as evidence that Tord leaving because of us was a lie fabricated by the same bullies to make him seem shallow. They are of the enemy and they sought to kill, steal and destroy. They wanted to destroy Tord’s reputation as well as his dreams. He is upset, I know he is because The Lord told me and I’m going to obey him and do everything I can to help him. Now it’s your turn for persecution...Why are you trying to push the Tord left because of the fans lie when photographic evidence of the bullying has been presented and just what are doing to help anyone on planet Earth? Why persecute the person who is trying to do something to help someone who was hurt? Are you in on it? Are you one of the bullies? Because after the way you acted on Total Drama Reboot, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a hand in what happened to Tord...

anonymous:  You know art styles can change, right? It literally came out of Ridgewell's mouth that it was all of the fans who were bothering Larsson. I didn't even know what eddsworld was until you started making art? I just looked into it. And those comments are not even cyberbullying, that's a bunch of stupid trolls that can't tell the difference between the character and the real thing. ...What did I do to you? I'm honestly confused.

creepypastajack:  He said people and I quote “people” were harassing him, he never once said the fans were harassing him. Trolls are cybeybullies! If you are saying something rude to someone then you are indeed cyber bullying, especially if you’re saying something about someone behind their backs but of course you would be on their side, you came to T-Mack’s defense too after what she said about me. I’m not even surprised by you at this point...Whether they could tell the difference between real or fiction does not excuse their actions...They still hurt Tord’s feelings and they still made him give up on everything. You know exactly what you did to me, as I previously stated. You sided with a person who said terrible things about me where they thought I wouldn’t be able to see it and you kept attacking my characters when both me and my characters were in the right. I told you I forgave you for that and you completely ignored me then when you finally do say something to me, you’re actively trying to tear down something that I’m trying to do for good but this isn’t about me, you or even T-Mack this is about Tord and God’s will. Now, you can redeem yourself, change your ways, join the group and help us either support Tord or find more information about the bullying or you can just keep being the way you are while I continue to help out.

anonymous:  I... I was just asking a question...I thought we were just having fun in TDR! It was like, the first time I've ever done something with people on the Internet! And that's what everyone was doing! Pixanne, Candy, Manda, T-Mack and DLZ accepted me with open arms, and I wanted to be your friend, too...

And then everything just went so crazy! Why did you turn Bunny into that?! You could've tried to talk it out with T-Mack (He wanted to talk it out), but all you did was start to bully everyone! And it was only the second episode! What did T-Mack say that made you flip the script and start drama?! Please, I just want to know!

creepypastajack:  The fact that you think I’m the bully really shows how you think. I cannot associate with someone I can’t trust and T-Mack has proven to me that I can’t trust her. The first person who ever cyber bullied me started to get on Pixane for being friends with me and when T-Mack asked why I was a problem the person said my art was offensive then T-Mack agreed that I was problematic then when a few, more bullies started to complain about Thorn because their precious, snowflake brains can’t handle gospel, T-Mack agreed with them all and even linked them to some of my art and journal entries so they could harass me even more and you know what the worst part is? You, Candy and Pixane were all supposed to be my friends and you all sided with that two-faced fraud! Did any of your characters even think to ask Bunny what was wrong? Nope! She got the same cold, cruel treatment as me. Well, now both Vivian and Bunny are dead because of all of you so I hope you’re satisfied. You may have made me give up on T.D.R. momentarily but I will not let you keep Tord in this dark corner he’s currently trapped in. Once again, this isn’t about what happened in T.D.R. Tord getting his art back is more important to me than any of this petty drama.

anonymous:  Ok. First off, T-Mack is a guy. Second, Pixane tried to talk to you, but you never explained what had happened to her. Third, I ASKED what was wrong through Waylon, and got ignored. I thought this was just a drama-filled R.P, but I'm a worrywart, so I asked just I case. You brought Bunny and Vivian's demise in order to get back at Candy. Don't blame other people for that. I...I'm just gonna go. Ok? No bad blood anymore. Please.

creepypastajack:  I did explain to her and Candy both but they still sided with T-Mack over me. I wouldn’t have had to do that had she not done what she did. Fine, just no more tearing down anti-bullying groups at least, okay? I just wish you would apologize for what happened...

anonymous:  was just asking a question... I'm a curious person. Goodbye.

creepypastajack:  It sounded rude and you kept saying the same thing over and over after I had already answered you... It made me feel attacked...

anonymous: Sorry for sounding rude. Peace out.

creepypastajack: It’s okay.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

OHHHHH 25 (for the send an ask thing you literally just posted)- 🍮

25. Copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

*sweats* Ohh man…there’s quite a few that I’m proud of. But I’ll just give you this little excerpt from my fic “Someone Worth Saving|Antisepticeye x Reader” on DeviantART.

Basically it’s about Jack being freed from Anti’s influence and him, the Reader, and the other egos offering the glitch a chance at redemption, trying to get him to see that he’s loved, won’t be forgotten, and that he doesn’t have to hurt/kill anyone to get his way:

“Feeling him shaking a bit, you pulled back, surprised to see..tears streaming down his face? Yet he was laughing, too, although it wasn’t the glitchy and demonic kind that haunted your dreams every night.It was humane, genuine laughter. Almost as if Jack himself was laughing.“God you’re all pathetic! Tryna make me feel like I belong somewhere….like I’m..I-I’m loved….like I….I d-don’t deserve to b-be…a-alone..” He continued to giggle for a little bit as he stumbled backwards, before suddenly all of the glitches around his body vanished and he collapsed to his knees, dropping the knife in the process.That’s when he put his hands to his face and his laughter transitioned into hysterical, yet heartbroken sobs.”

[felinecuddles]

11 September 2017

Today is my brother’s birthday, as well as my office manager’s. CJ (office manager) didn’t come to work today because her son’s school closed down due to Hurricane Irma, so she has to be with him today. I know CJ is in her 30s, but I have no clue how old she is turning today. My guess: 36. My brother is turning 14. My baby brother is growing up, and boy does time fly. This brother in particular (out of all my brothers) almost died shortly after his birth, and I guess that’s why I treasure our time together. He contracted Meningitis when he was 2 weeks old, and was hospitalized for 2 months I believe. Felt like an eternity with him and my mom in the hospital. He even quit breathing for 8 minutes at some point, but luckily he didn’t go without oxygen long enough to endure terrible brain damage. He has a stunted growth and speech impediment now, but I would rather have him the way his is than gone. Mom and I plan on taking him out for dinner tonight. I can’t believe how old and grown he has gotten. He’s been begging my parents for a copy of Left 4 Dead for his birthday for a while, so I decided I’m going to give him my old disc copy, since I have it for digital download anyways.

Work is slowish today. We have a good amount of patients coming in for visits, but it feels slow. Some people have cancelled appointments already due to the slight impact we are getting from Irma. We are in the upstate of South Carolina, and we are getting wind gusts up to 55mph apparently, but it honestly isn’t that bad. We are getting a good amount of rain though. Definitely enough rain and wind to make people become dumbasses on the road. I’ve heard more than enough accidents over the radio to know that people don’t know how to handle rain.

Also for the past few days I have been remembering the ones I’ve lost. I have lost a lot of loved ones over the past 6 or so years. I’ve lost 3 really close and good friends of mine. I shared Noah a couple weeks ago and his dedication post is here. His family, friends, and I lost him in a terrible auto accident. I’ve been thinking a lot about my past friends in high school that I lost. Amber & Thomas. I lost both of them to suicide. I don’t wish to elaborate on their misfortune, but I know that they both hurt me dearly. I have been slightly upset over all of them, of course, but I am also reflecting on all the good times and fond memories. I hope they all know that even after the grave, they never fail at making me smile or laugh. What really spiked the memories of Thomas and Amber is that I found my old yearbook the other day. Thomas never got the chance to sign it, but I know he would’ve. Amber wrote me a whole page of things. I literally have an entire page of her scribbling on there. She made me crack a smile and  even cackle a little bit. I don’t wish to elaborate any more, but all you guys, I miss the fuck outta you. I love you all so, so much.

On another, sorta irrelevant note, I got back into my DeviantArt. I guess check it out if you wanna.

[geneticcatalyst]

combination answer post! thanks my dudes

slorestgreen: 1. Are you happy with where you are in life right now? happy, yes, i can't believe how lucky i am. content? not quite, i still have goals and improvements to make beyond this, and hopefully always will. 2. What was most formative in your sense of humor? oh man, i love this question. hailstorrn already said monty python, but like, we were basically raised on Flying Circus. i actually don't remember seeing the movies until i was quite a bit older. i should really ask my parents where their senses of humor come from, because i've noticed that families tend to tell the same types of jokes. but yeah, british comedy- if i stayed up late as a kid my mom would watch Red Dwarf and Keeping Up Appearances too. shoutout to PBS. 3. 12pm or 12am? ehhh, both ok i guess, i'm not usually awake at midnight. 4. Do you believe aliens exist? i'm ambivalent about aliens- if they're out there, cool, if not, whatever. i have more definite opinions on ghosts. 5. What’s your favorite board game? jesus i don't even know what the last board game i played was. like, i literally don't know. trouble? i think it was kind of a knockoff of sorry. you popped the popper to roll the die and you could stick the little game pieces on your fingertips like claws. 6. Do you speak any other languages besides English? no :( i have some conversational french vocab but it's been six years and i never could conjugate very well. 7. What was the first piece of art that really stuck with you? this is a really good question but all i have is a really weird answer? i'm reading this as visual art for simplicity's sake. i used to hang out on deviantart before tumblr, and i followed a painter, and they did this piece that just captured me and i don't know why. so like, to this day that's the thing that comes to mind. https://hybridprocess.deviantart.com/art/Allison-54408850 8. What is one of your passions? i have two great loves in life; women and plants. so, intersectional feminism and plant science. those are my things. 9. Who is your favorite fictional character? sigh. i don't know fam. that's way too broad a category. 10. What’s a skill you know like the back of your hand? uhh. idk. i've been running pcr (polymerase chain reactions) since i was 18 at my first lab job, it's very simple when you know the steps.

hailstorrn 1. how would your friends describe you? i've been told i'm the badass who is actually a sweetheart. that's a lot nicer than anything i could say about myself, so. :) 2. what’s one experience that changed you (positively or negatively)? i guess over time it's been being part of certain groups that changed the way i saw myself. my high school cross country team, summer camp,  etc. 3. favorite fast food chain? oh shit... hmm. i'm really boring... love pancheros, also pretty amenable to mcdonalds snack wrap and yogurt, subway. if i actually want a burger the only one i like is culvers (those cheese curds tho). 4. first fictional crush? ok i don't have a good answer for this, but if i think back as far as i can, robin hood? first the disney movie, then i got really into books about the character. robin hood was always my pretend boyfriend when we played princesses. 5. one thing about you that your followers might not know? uhh if you know me irl you know i was a sorority girl, which is something you might not guess if you didn't know. 6. favorite season? right now. lateish summer, with fall as a close second. 7. favorite place you’ve traveled? hmm i haven't done nearly as much traveling as i want to. the beaches in florida were amazing. i always enjoyed st. louis even though i havent been in years. 8. your most recent ‘best day of your life’ story? this is both really easy and hard. every time i get to hang out with my girlfriend. but sakuracon has been really fucking amazing the past two years, the kind of amazing where it's just like this little window in your life of 72 hours where everything went right, and everything is amazing and nothing hurts. 9. one thing you would say to yourself from 5 years ago? this is a loaded question, five or six years ago i was a mess. i really do wish i could talk to myself from back then. the only thing i could say that would mean anything would be 'you are going to make it. it's eventually all going to be okay, just keep going.' mostly i wish i could give my younger self a hug, because damn that binch needed a hug :( 10. something you’re looking forward to? i'm actually kind of looking forward to the adventure of job hunting when my current contract ends? i love love love my current job so i'm hoping i can talk my way into a different department of the same company.

questions: 1. what is on your perfect pizza? 2. what's your weapon in the zombie apocalypse? 3. do you have physical copies of your favorite movie/album/books or is digital just as good? 4. what genre of music are you most likely to be listening to right now? 5. what do you drive now/what was your first car? do you like it? 6. name a nervous habit of yours. 7. what's a skill that you learned later in life than other people? 8. what do you like to do on vacation? 9. what percentage do you keep your screen brightness at? 10. what are your most valued posessions?

@hailstorrn @slorestgreen @ohlurr @thislittlekumquat @rinthegreat if you wanna, no pressure

[thedosianexplorer]

1, 6, 7, 8, 19, 22, 24, 27, 31, 32, 38, 39, 41, 44, 47, 51, 53, 77, 92, 100, 101

1. How did you get into Dragon Age?I was a fan of KOTOR, but hadn’t played many RPGs. I heard about Dragon Age from @momochanners, back when I followed her on KOTORFanMedia and DeviantArt, and she drew the most AMAZING art from the pre-release info BioWare was putting out. That settled it for me, and Dragon Age: Origins was literally the only thing I asked for as my Christmas gift that year.

6. First Inquisitor (gender/class/race/personality)?Ladwyn’s my first Inquisitor, and my canon one. Female Dalish Knight-Enchanter, who was recently described by @whatthefawxblogs as, “indomitable and giving no fucks”, which is a pretty fair assessment. 7. Favorite DA:O backstory?I take this to mean “origin”, and the answer is female City Elf. Hands down. It’s upsetting, but cathartic as fuck. 8. Preferred class overall?Unrepentant mage trash over here. 19. Favorite mission from DA2?The Deep Roads! I am a huuuuuge fan of anything Deep Roads, and the lore I gleaned from the DA2 Deep Roads segments were fantastic. Fuck that rock wraith fight though. If DLC counts, I absolutely LOVED Legacy. EVERYTHING about Legacy. My only regret is that A) it wasn’t part of the main game and B) Tony Jay is sadly no longer with us to voice Corypheus. 22. Favorite DA2 party combo?Fenris, Merrill, and Varric/Isabela. 24. Favorite main-story quest from DA:I?In Hushed Whispers, hands down. I had such a blast, got backhanded with feels, and it introduced me to my bff Dorian. Seconded only by the Battle of Haven segment, because THEY LET ME PULL A MULAN. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I YELLED ABOUT THAT (it was a lot. Mulan is my favorite Disney heroine). 27. Which did you leave behind (Abyss)?I sort of answered this before, but Ladwyn picked Alistair. It was the most in-character for her, because she doesn’t know about the Dark Ritual and would have thought, “He killed an archdemon and lived. He’s got this.”31.  DLC for the first 2 games: All of it, some of it, or none of it?I bought all the DLCs on sale, with the exception of Shale and Sebastian who came with my copies.32.  Favorite DLC mission overall?Jaws of Hakkon. Meeting Ameridan was genuinely life-changing for Ladwyn, and really helped me shape her character, so it wins out over my other faves Descent and Legacy.38. Funniest moment in the games?Infiltrating Fort Drakon with Sten, Zevran, and Dog, no question. 39. Creepiest moment in the games?Encountering Hespith, but not quite for the reasons you’re thinking. Let me set the scene: I got DA: O for Christmas, but my parents gave my little brother and I a PS3 to share. As the eldest, I was told I need to share my games too, so my brother got first crack at Origins. To avoid spoilers from him I only played between the hours of 11:00pm and 4:00am. I first played the Deep Roads at three in the morning, in an old house in a rural town that didn’t have street lights at the time. It’s pitch black, middle of the night, and so quiet, and then I hear: “First day they come, and catch everyone”Friends, it was really really hard not to scream at the top of my lungs. I powered through, and actually got to the broodmother fight that night, but I did not sleep that night.41. Who did you romance in your first playthrough for each game?In order: Alistair, Anders, and Cullen. Of those three, only Cullen is my canon romance. 44. One romance you just can’t stand/doesn’t make sense/etc?I actually like all the romance options (save Sera’s, but I was playing a Dalish so), but one thing I can’t stand is that Sten calls you kadan and yet he is unromanceable answer my messages BioWare. 47. Best antagonist in the series?The Archdemon. There’s nothing like that fight on top of Fort Drakon, with Denerim burning behind you, and a giant Maleficent-esque dragon bearing down on you. It was and is still an absolute delight to play that fight. 51. Answered53. Answered77. What moment/memory still gives you chills/feels?Every single time Leliana starts praying at the end of In Hushed Whispers. It’s such a great juxtaposition to her first appearance in the Sacred Ashes trailer and dammit, it just gets to me. 

92. Did you get someone into DA?A good chunk of my roommates, past and present, and a lot of people I know. I need to spread the good news. 

100. Circle, Templar, Chantry, Guard, Seeker, Inquisition, or none?Inquisition! The French Foreign Legion of Thedas. 

101. If you could meet your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor, what would you say?In order: “Thank you”, “I’m so sorry”, and “Hey, coulda been worse! You coulda fucked the Dread Wolf!”

[moistvaporeon]

@one-time-i-dreamt

That weird dream I had in April:

Starts off in the Welsh mountains somewhere, hiking school trip but with my family too. We investigate some cool mossy chapel ruins n shit. The road where people park was just below us, and some poor idiot managed to flip their car while trying to park. I immediately jump down to help, righting the car immediately with sudden inhuman strength, though somehow that turned out to be the wrong car, the original car somehow vanishing, meaning I'd just flipped some poor randomer's car upside down. Next we all climbed down off of this hillside to where the beach was. Some people tried fishing, and swimming, but it was mostly uneventful. Until the ride home.

So we're on this cool futuristic bus/train nyooming back to wherever we came from, and the person I'm sat with pulls out a bunch of small golden stars. They're soft, like they're made of that plasticky fabric you see on the shiny parts of cheap plush toys, but they're solid, and definitely not plush. She shows me how they work; they're wishes, and if you gently squeeze it until it flows and make a wish, that wish WILL come true. She made a wish there and then, though I can't remember what it was. But it came true.

Soon we arrived at some services, though I wouldn't exactly call them services. It was a lake with Chinese food. Like, we sat submerged on floating picnic tables and didn't even get to choose the food. I tried to get wings using a wish, but failed as that wish was already spent, that kid dressed as a monkey from that weird kids programme Waybaloo was there and managed to "hack" his into giving him infinite wishes, I tried the same with another but couldn't. Though I did have an epic tattoo in that dream, a whole scene of a black dragon on my upper arm hoarding treasure, which looked like it had been done by an online dragon artist. It was amazing and I wish it was real.

I was having a minor breakdown because my dumb brain wasn't letting me eat any of the food, even the stuff I tried I couldn't eat. I was gutted. But then; tremors began. The water rippled. We looked at each other on my table and thought "uh oh" though none of us really knew what was about to go down. I swam out to investigate and was suddenly accosted by one of the teachers who had somehow shifted into some kind of aquatic panther. Holy shit he was livid about something. I fuckin legged it the best I could in water where I couldn't even touch the bottom, somehow keeping slightly ahead of the enraged beast. As we got to shore, he became more human and started ranting and raving about Viva Piñata, of all things. He was pulling a right Richard* if you ask me, wanting to remove all trace of it from my laptop. Apparently he'd already destroyed my two hard copies of the game and now wanted to delete it from my laptop, even destroying the thing if he had to. I yelled something in return, trailing off when I realised I couldn't remember this man's name. I was sad about that, and slightly embarrassed as he had such a cool name. I apologised, and asked to be reminded of his name, and he suddenly went really quiet. He couldn't even remember his own name. He became completely subdued, forgetting about the scourge of Viva Piñata for the moment. Then he grabbed my forearm and promptly dragged me back into the lake with him, transforming this time into a more anthropomorphic aquatic panther and swimming strongly to a building on the other side of the lake. It was a hydroponics plant, and we walked straight in. We were met by the guy who owned the place, a friendly dude who showed us around. We stood in one section chatting when CLUNK; the areas started closing themselves off. "SHIT!" yelled the dude, "it's rotating! Quick, move!"

We dashed as one following the man, who knew the area better than we did by a long shot. He took us through several sections as barriers began closing, making sure to avoid machine tracks in the floor lest they start moving and trap a foot. We got to an open area with woodchip flooring that to me seemed quite safe, but this man knew better. "Watch out for the monkeys," wasn't a phrase I expected to hear but here we were. Our mad dash continued across the bark floor, attracting the attention of a few chimps he then gave chase. We dived into a small doorway into pitch blackness, but we had to keep going. We travelled blind through a maze of corridors and rooms, all carpeted with the same bark and woodchippings, attracting the attention of more and more on the way. Eventually we burst outside, on the side of a brick building. There were two ropes leading to the next building. We crossed, shuffled across the side of this next building, and piled in through a door just to the side.

There was a noticeable atmosphere change as we stumbled into another corridor. A murky light filtered in through the dusty windows, and a dry clattering could be heard outside. We peered through the windows. There was a literal fucking skeleton army clattering by outside. We let them pass, and wandered up the corridor to a door the other side. We opened it, and we found ourselves on the High Street of Weedon Bec. In 1969. Somehow we all knew this without seeing a newspaper, I mean, I recognised the street anyway but was still strangely aware of the year.

So, riddle me this. Two grown ass men and a 19 year old girl suddenly find themselves 50 years in the past. What's the first thing they do? That's right, you guessed it; they hit the nearest pub. The good ol' Heart of England, to be exact. Now, two rather notable things happen as they cross the threshold of the Heart. First off, my companions change. I'm suddenly with two guys my own age, not the teacher and hydroponics guy. It's not even like the teacher and hydroponics guy suddenly turned twenty. They were just replaced by two complete randomers who apparently I knew anyway, though not very well. So we're sitting here, chillin' in the Heart of England and I'm thinking; god I'd love to take some pictures of this place. It's beautiful. And I'm sure everyone back in 2019 will be curious to see what the Heart looked like in '69. Now, that drew some stares. You see, the first mobile telephone won't be invested for another four years, and the first fully contained camera for another ten. The first device to combine the two, a camera phone, won't show its face until the turn of the millennium. I'm sat there waving around my shiny ass Huawei P20 Pro in front of people who have never even seen a mobile telephone, let alone a smartphone. Hoo boy. We didn't even get a chance to buy any alcohol before shit started switching on us again, which is probably for the best because if they'd ID'd me they'd think it's a typo and by extension, a fake, as technically I won't be born for another thirty years yet.

So, the surroundings suddenly change and we're outside. The scenery is suspiciously pretty and cute video game like. I catch myself wondering if I'm in a Kirby game or something. I take a few more shots of the area and then we have to absolutely leg it again as for some bizarre reason a huge army of video game monsters has just sprung up behind us.

This is the point where I then wake up as I'm suspicious about the amount of sleep I'm getting.

* My stepdad Richard regularly banned me from playing games or using sites that I'd get hyperfocused on, such as OviPets and DeviantART. "Pulling a Richard" is absolutely overreacting to something minor and enacting a stupidly exaggerated punishment as a result.