#I'm planning on posting the concept sketches I made for the second one because I'm real happy with them

[usmsgutterson]

Hi!! Wylan x reader who’s an inventor of sorts & just made a camera for the sole purpose of taking a picture of him <3 👾

Wylan x male! inventor! reader headcanons

hi!! Thank you for sending in the requests that you have and I'm sorry that they've taken so long to come out! I will say that tumblr has been very glitchy on my end lately and I've been losing requests and not seeing them for a bit--or ever again, some of them have been missing from my inbox for a couple weeks now--so if there's anything of yours I've missed that you can recall that you really wanted me to write please don't hesitate to just plop the idea into my inbox! If I end up deciding to write it I'll put it into my drafts to ensure I don't lose it but if I decide not to, I'll let you know!

I went ahead and did this as headcanons, which I hope is all right!

Fic type- this is just fluff straight out the gate

Warnings- this was written and then posted almost immediately after it was done, so there's not much to speak of as far as editing is concerned

Okay, so!

Photos as a concept were something that was being discussed just generally around Ketterdam a lot

Mainly in circles of the stadwatch because if they could get photos they could have evidence through more than some very shoddy paintings, sketches, or word of mouth

and with a lot of effort, a level of planning by which even Kaz would be impressed, and a bit of practice in being startlingly quiet footed, you wormed your way into the rooms where those discussions were taking place because you had an idea of your own.

You took the words spoken by government officials and inventors under the Kerch Merchant Councils employ and went home. You drew up a plan that was completely different to the sketches you'd seen while you observed from a point high in the ceiling, the back of your head pressed against a wall as you willed yourself not to breathe too loud and to avoid being noticed

You developed the first camera that Ketterdam had ever seen across the weeks to follow, something different to the sketches you'd seen from afar while you listened to the government drone on about how much of a benefit to society cameras would be while they were in the hands of the stadwatch

The ideas that the government were circulating all involved relatively clunky cameras, ones with tripods that came out the bottom and were exceptional only in stationary situations.

You developed a camera that you could take anywhere. It was lightweight, could fit between ones hands, and had the option of attaching a strap so that it could be carried while slung over ones neck.

The entire motivation behind the project made you feel a bit silly, but Inej found it to be rather romantic and Jesper thought you cheesy, as they were the only two you had told until the first prototype of the camera was complete.

They were your best friends, and they'd both happened to walk in on you planning out the invention at different points, ask what it was out of curiosity and receive your honest answer.

The entire reason you'd liked the idea of cameras was not for the gang related purposes most would've assumed had they known of it. You were not developing a portable camera to help Kaz and Inej gather intel for their schemes and their battles that would eventually have lead to a gang war.

You liked the idea of cameras because it meant you could take photos of Wylan, your boyfriend.

You could capture the moments where he looked so at peace while the two of you watched the sunset in the garden, the look of focus as he worked on an explosive, the sight of his head tilted back as he laughed.

You could capture all of the unforgettable moments that you were scared of forgetting anyway, seconds in time wherein you felt infinitely happy and needed something to remember that.

So, it was the first night you'd let yourself exist with the final product that Wylan finally discovered it.

He discovered it while he and Inej were laughing, glasses of wine in their hands when suddenly--

click!

Wylan glanced in your direction, where the sound had come from, found you yielding the camera with a grin on your face.

He would ask you how you got it and nod when Kaz observed that the government had unveiled prototypes that looked completely different at a discussion only open to those living in the merchants district.

You would shrug and tell him you invented things, and that you needed an excuse to get five steps ahead of government inventions anyway.

You were smarter than the lot of the government idiots combined and they wouldn't start shrinking camera sizes for a bit by your predictions, so you had time before a government official got wind of it all and approached you, offering to give you money in exchange for the patent and you said no.

You told Wylan the opposite of the truth in that moment, not wanting to get called a hopeless romantic or face any of Ninas teasing for the romantics right then and there.

You told him and the rest of them it was for intel gathering purposes and that it was the first prototype--Kaz would get the second, maybe the third, and he would get it for a price because you weren't going to sell one of them off for cheap.

Wylan knew you were lying but didn't push it.

Later that night, you told him the real reason you'd bothered to invent a camera that was so far ahead of the one that the Merchant Council was unveiling in fits and starts.

You'd done it because you didn't want to forget even the most unforgettable moments, and upon learning that, Wylan nearly melted.

He kissed you, and he told you he loved you, and he called you an absolute sap before he grabbed the camera and looked at the photo you'd taken.

He loved it. He'd never quite anticipated loving anything of that sort, but he looked genuinely happy in that split second, and knowing that you were the person behind the camera made him love the photo that much more.

In short, he loved you and he loved that you created a camera just to take photos of him and to not worry about forgetting the unforgettable moments you both lived through.

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

What do you think a feline elf design would look like? Like an elf race that evolved from felines?

a very fun idea! to start, i know this is different, but i have a post on anthro lion anatomy which may be a helpful start for the general body plan and some skull anatomy in various felines.

I don't know if you're looking at any specific felilne ancestry, but for the sake of simplicity I'm going with a cougar for visual reference, since their skull shape is easy to adapt. Also because i just like them.

They're a lot more arboreal than some other big cats (and they're actually closer related to cheetahs than the "true" big cats. Which means they cannot roar and they can meow)

you may have already seen it, but I did answer the question about humanoid hands with retractable claws, it's over here.

to start, just some studies of cougar anatomy

(image description: simple outline studies of cougar skeletons and a few cougars in trees. The skull is short and rounded, the body and tail are long, and it's a very flexible and well muscled cat. Two of the skeletons show different poses, as if it is stretching or fighting. One of the cougars in a tree is climbing downwards. end description)

the other reason I'm picking a cougar as a good example for cat elves is because they're really good at climbing and have a pretty arboreal lifestyle, which fits some common tropes for elves. So now here are my sketches for how you might adapt this anatomy to make some elves.

(image description: three simple drawings of a bipedal skeleton and a close up of the skull. The first image is just the skeleton, which looks mostly humanoid but has no collarbone, shifts the neck bones further back on the skull, and has a tail as well as digitigrade legs. The skull is almost the same as a normal cougar skull, with a rounder cranium.

In the second image, the skeleton is a faded red and the body is outlined as an anthropomorphic cougar. they're furry and their ears are situated on top of the head, like a normal cat.

In the third image, the skeleton is white and the body outline shows a more humanoid facial structure and hair, as well as ears situated on the side of the head. the nose and feet are still very cat-like. They also have eyebrow whiskers. end description)

Eyebrow whiskers are fun. I encourage the use of any facial whiskers in fantasy people design, even though I don't put them in all of mine lol.

You can go more cat-like or more humanoid. Keep the digitigrade feet or flatten them. I'm leaving the neck bones further back like that so they can shift between a bipedal and quadrupedal stance, which will help them retain the ability to climb directly down a tree as shown in the previous images of real cougars. so here's a final design concept.

(image description: three flat colored drawings of feline elves, mimicking the poses of two climbing cougars and the fighting cougar skeleton. There is a line of fur down the backs of these elves, connecting to the fully furred tail, while the rest of their bodies remain hairless except for the head. they are all wearing simple clothes made of leather/hide with a lot of bone decorations and some feathers. The main dye colors here are red, brown, grey, and green. the elf climbing vertically downwards is able to turn his neck to keep his line of sight parallel to the tree, and both he and the younger looking elf clinging to a different tree are able to flex their ankles so they can use their feet to cling to the trees. end description)

this was a fun one, I hope that's all helpful! Of course, you do not have to use cougars as your base, this was just my choice. More fur would also allow for fun things like dyed fur patterns to convey things like social status, if you want a little extra culture flair. Feline elves would be obligate carnivores, most likely, and they'd probably stick with an ambush hunting technique.

Have fun with your cat elves!

[your-local-uwu-artist]

how's the smurfing going?

it's going good! my google doc is at over 5 pages, I got some nice sketches and the responses have been very helpful and fun >:D (shout out to isopod guy) the only problem is trying to not make my bias of who's my favorite smurf to be tooo obvious fndkjsa

plus the constant struggle between needing to do research and rewatch episodes and read wikipedia articles and the fact that i get what i call 'withdraw-l'... bassically I can only go so long before I just gotta doodle fdnjak

anyway: I SUPPOSE i might as well explain what the fuck I've been doing (if anyones noticed a lack of posts in the past handufl od days: the reason for my absence is that I was busy iwth my smurfing fdja )

bassically I've always had a LOT of questions regarding the smurfs, (many of which I've had sense childhood) and it's been plaguing me because nobody else seems to care to answer these questions, I'll be like 'what chemichal do you think makes them blue?' and 'what form of asexual reproduction do you assume they use' and 'i don't think it makes sense that they'd crush on smurfette, i'd imagine their mono-sex mono-gender society wouldn't really have those concepts or well, be heterosexual for that matter' and everyone responds with 'what aere you on' (the autism spectrum) 'why are you asking me this?' (i want to here your answer) and 'it's just a cartoon' (AND SOMETIEMS YOU GOTTA ASK SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT CARTOONS) so I decided if I must do everything myself so be-it.

essentially I'm planning to make a very silly half video essay half my nonsense 'if i was in charge of a smurfs reboot' video. heres some of the doodles so far!

vanity's always been my favorite so i'm having a hard time convincing myself to draw some smurf other than him fndasjkfnask (Azrael has always been my second favorite lol) I'm really excited to draw more fo smurf village! mushrooms houses my beloved <3 tbh the village is def a plus for the live action films, while giving the smurfs eyelids and lashes and pecs did not work I do enjoy seeing cute fantasy mushroom village in a photorealistic style <3

anyway one very fun thing i learned about while researching is about these really pretty very epic and pog mushrooms that are native to new zealend and just the most brilliant shade of blue

these things are blue-tiful! And there are actually pigmented! (a lot of things in nature aren't actually blue and rather the structure of it refelcts light and shit to give it a blue appearance) the thing that gives em the blue pigment is a kind of 'azulene' but somehow just a brighter varient: they're so whimsical looking!

a funny thing I've found just through research is that a LOT of people aren't aware of smurfettes origin story, or thought that the origin story was from the live action films, this is so strange to me cause like ????? it's been there sense the begining comics, and theres plenty of episodes where it's mentioned

I'm also suprised by how many people seem to be fond of the new female smurfs: so I guess I'm on the unpopular side here, I've always imagined them as sorta sexless and generless, and that female smurfs (excluding artificially made ones like smurfette) just discovered and decided they preferred feminine gender expression/presentation. (i do wish i included a question asking if people as kids assumed them sexless, cause i always have)

idk I'm still working through the new cgi series and my cartoon pirating site doesn't have the second season, so maybe I'll change my mind on them

ufdnsjafnsdk sorry for rambling the hyperfixation has taken hold lmao

[silverskye13]

6, 8, and 29 for the ask game

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

Incarnate Inchoate -- underoriginal (unfinished)

Anything to Hear You (Say It One More Time) -- mgrnn

To Convey A Certain Brilliance -- Bee_4

Devil Town is Colder in the Summertime -- BananasofThorns

Hellfire -- Renwhit

[squints] I think that's every fic I've read more than once lol. I'm a Book Devourer so I normally just read a thing once really quickly and then promptly forget it exists. I Have Brain Like Swiss Cheese. AO3 bookmarks and digital libraries are the only reason I stay sane XD

8. What project(s) are you currently working on?

Redstone and Skulk Ch 20: ~ 1300 words, all of them from this week

Monsters Splitting Hairs Ch 28: ~ 2000 words, about 500 of them from this week

Unnamed Superhero AU with OverlordPink: No idea the word count XD less then 1000 I think

Before I Wake (original comic): Pg 27 finished, Pg 29 sketched

I keep a rotation so I don't get bored XD means overall less work on a single project gets done but! Everything gets done eventually.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

Nobody asked for this but I have 5 chapters of Nailmaster's Folly [a Hollow Knight fic] I dropped, just done and languishing in my documents. I'm not going to subject you to all 5 of those chapters, but I will make you read the 2 I'm most proud of. So uh, here's a very out of context chunk from Nailmaster's Folly I guess.

Oro was halfway down the canyon when his guilt got the better of him and he stopped in his tracks. His insides were a tangled web, and no amount of grousing and grumbling to himself would soothe the knot it made. It bothered him a great deal, apparently, that Mato was scared of him. 

Was Mato scared of him? No… surely not. It had been years since -- and honestly Mato was so much more capable -- sure Oro was pretty abrasive but he wasn’t--!

Oro shook his head.

Maybe he’d misread. It had been years, years he’d been in his solitude and Mato had been in his. Maybe they were both just so extremely culture-shocked and awkward that he’d read it wrong. Maybe he was just tense because of how suspicious he was, because of how stubbornly he held onto the idea that Mato must be here for some kind of… retribution? But Mato was never the type for things like revenge. He believed in accountability, yes, but not maliciously so. All of this was ridiculous.

And he’d looked so happy cheering him on while watching his fight.

Oro groaned up at the sky.

Maybe, like just about everything else in his life, the problem wasn’t Mato. Maybe the problem was him. After all, Mato had invited him to join him after his fight was over, and Oro had just gone trudging off down the canyon without a second thought. He was always so… antisocial. Maybe if he actually gave Mato a chance…

He’d been living alone for a long time.

Oro sighed. He ran a hand across his mask, then turned and looked up the direction he’d come. He couldn’t see Mato among the cliff faces above, but he knew he was there. Somewhere.

“I hate this, you know,” Oro protested out loud to a nearby boofly, “You know how much easier my life would be if this weren’t my problem?”

Of course the boofly didn’t answer. It just bobbed its head and flittered its tiny wings frantically, its big black eyes looking back at him vacantly. Frustrated, Oro smacked it away with the flat of its nail, sending it spinning further into the canyon. Then, huffing another grumble of a sigh, he turned and began walking back up towards the Colosseum. 

“Mato, Mato, why is it always, always Mato,” Oro griped under his breath as he walked, “At least Sheo understood the basic concept of personal space. He knew how to leave me alone and not do stupid things like… like…! And he’s always so emotional it’s like trying to reason with a scared grub for Wyrmssakes--!”

He ushered to the air around him, as though the ambient noises of wind and hoppers and wings could grant him the validation he was looking for. Of course, none did. But the flurry of movement did attract the attention of a nearby primal aspid as it buzzed threateningly close to the canyon wall. And Oro, so lost in his grumbling, so lost in his slow progression up the paths of the cliffside, didn’t notice it’s presence until it was spitting bright orange in his direction. The flash of color was enough of a warning in his peripheral vision for him to lurch to the side in an attempt to dodge it - only for the scatter of its spray to catch him in the mask. Cursing, Oro staggered to the side, wiping furiously at the acid-like spit with his cloak. His shoulder caught against a nearby wall, and then abruptly Oro felt that wall give way behind him. 

There was an instant where he realized he was going to fall. An instant where he realized there was nothing he could do about it. An instant where he resolved if he didn’t go tumbling down the side of the canyon wall and crush himself against the ground, he was going to come storming back up here and cut the wings off of every aspid he laid his eyes on. And then, Oro promptly tumbled off the ledge he’d been standing on into whatever cavity had opened up in the wall behind him.

He’d expected to fall longer than he did. 

There were two, maybe three seconds where he was free-falling and it was incredibly dark, and his eyes still stung from the aspid spit. And then with a heavy oof! he landed hard on his shoulders on uneven ground, knocking the air out of his chest and leaving him wheezing rather ingloriously on the floor. When he’d managed to start breathing normally again, he felt around for his nail and once he found it, staggered to his feet. Above him, he could hear the echoing buzz of the aspid’s wings as it searched the hole he’d fallen through for any sign of him. As soon as it felt the cooler, wet air of the cavern he’d tumbled down, it turned back the way it’d come, hissing furiously.

“I hope you get eaten alive by something!” Oro shouted after it as it went, “Stupid, angry thing!”

If it heard him, it didn’t turn back to investigate.

With another frustrated sigh, Oro squinted into the gloom to survey his surroundings, finding mostly what he already knew - that it was dark in here. Some pale light filtered in from the hole he’d fallen through, casting the space immediately around him in washed out greys that very quickly faded into oppressive murk. The floor here was made of carapace and chiton, old and stoney. There was a smell of damp age about the place, like the air had been still and undisturbed for a long time, and there was a weight to it, like eyes in the dark. It felt very much like he’d stepped into someone’s grave, or just inside the toothy maw of some ancient carapace. If he weren’t so irritated, Oro might have even had the common sense to be scared here. 

Instead his shell itched and his stomach turned itself in angry knots, and he thought of course of course he would fall through some damp, dark, probably beast-infested pit while walking up to find his brother. Of course this would happen to him right now. It was always Mato wasn’t it? Always the source of his chagrin, even when he wasn’t trying to be. This might as well happen.

After standing still for a few minutes listening to the sound of moisture dripping off the ceiling and the hollow echo of droplets onto the floor, Oro’s eyes managed to adjust enough to pick out another source of light in the darkness. A dim light, so distant that for a moment he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. But no it was there - a curve in the tunnel ahead giving off the subtle hue of an outline. It was hard to tell just how far away it was. His depth perception wasn’t fantastic when he was near blind from darkness and aspid spit. It was hard to stop himself from blinking every few seconds to try and clear the remaining fumes of the acid away. Not that it would help at all.

Oro cast his gaze up the direction he’d fallen. It was a long, sheer stone face to climb. He was sure he could if he gave it enough effort. But it would be hard work, and all in pitch darkness until he was near the very top. And while he could, he definitely didn’t feel like standing at the base and calling for help for however long it might take for a bug to come this direction. He had a match to get to tomorrow, after all. And pride in his belly. So, stepping carefully on the uneven footing, Oro made his way towards the light he’d seen further in the tunnel. 

The sound of his own footsteps echoing in the silence itched at his nerves. He was loud and unwieldy, it seemed, and it made him paranoid that something might hear him coming, or try to ambush him. Swinging a nail in the dark was a dangerous idea. You never knew when you’d hit a wall, or perhaps even yourself, if your swing went too shallow.

When he reached the curve in the tunnel ahead he stopped, taking a moment to survey the slowly brightening light ahead of him. There was some bioluminescence here, sickly looking roots that sprouted in tangled patches from the ceiling, and reached like limp claws towards the horns of his mask. It was barely enough light to see by, and a pale shade-like purple. As Oro took a step down the lit tunnel, there was a soft hiss as the roots seemed to respond to his presence above. For a moment Oro crouched low, nail over his head, expecting the roots to reach for him. Instead he watched as they slowly shriveled and curled towards the ceiling, flattening themselves away from his touch. The light from them dimmed even further but remained.

Tch. Weird. 

Oro straightened again and, eyeing the ceiling suspiciously, continued walking, trying to ignore the creeping noises of moving roots above his head as he went. When he passed by them, the roots slowly unfurled themselves and dropped back down again, a curtain of slowly brightening claws guarding his exit. It was… unsettling... claustrophobic. He didn’t like the idea of walking into something that could sense his presence. 

Further down the tunnel he went, one hand on the wall as if afraid it might suddenly fall in on him, his other hand clutching tight-fisted around the hilt of his nail. It was incredibly still here, the air dead. Unlike the open hole he’d fallen into where noises attempted to echo, the sound in the tunnel ate itself up in the roots over his head, making his every movement seem muffled and abrupt. He checked his progress every handful of steps, making sure his way back hadn’t magically disappeared - and it hadn’t, though it was obscured by those twisting roots. Where in the Wyrm-cursed World was he even heading? Should he turn back? His sense of direction was tangled in the darkness somewhere, caught in the shifting roots over his head. He had no idea where this tunnel was or where it was winding.

There was a murmur… a soft sound on the edge of his hearing. Wait… what was that…?

Oro stopped walking abruptly and breath held, he listened. 

There was… a noise… coming from up the tunnel. Stifled and faint. It didn’t carry well here but he could still hear it; persistent and quiet, wafting toward him like mist. First it came in bits and pieces, but as he continued forward he made it out a bit more. Humming, haunted almost. A song...?

 Was there another bug down here? Maybe there was another opening somewhere then, some outward-leading tunnel he could scramble out of instead of trying to make the climb up the way he’d fallen. That would be grand. Sure, he’d be a bit lost when he got wherever he was going, but that was a problem for later.

“Teeth… and claws….”

“A mind of teeth and claws…”

Oro felt a creeping prickle of nervousness crawl its way up his shell. He didn’t like the sound of that. But he kept walking - he’d gone so far now it didn’t seem worthwhile to give up now. Besides, he was a strong bug with a great nail and enough light that, though it would be tedious, he could at least see a fight if it happened. And fight he would, if it came to it.

“Dreaming Wyrms, a bed of nails…”

“A hunger still beneath us wails…”

Just as he resolved this in his mind, the path before him yawned open into another opening. A cavern, smaller than the first he’d fallen into and tangled across the ceiling with more of those roots. Their thickness made their glow brighter, and some of them even managed to worm their way down from the ceiling and into the ground below, burrowing further into depth incomprehensible. It was probably a trick of his eyes but they seemed almost to pulse, faintly, that sick violet hue.

“A mind of teeth and claws…”

Oro noticed with a flash of horror like a lightning strike that the floor was covered in broken masks. Slashed cleanly in half. One eye broken. The ground beneath a slurry of crushed chitin and whatever moisture it was that dripped from the ceiling. It seemed nearly to be moving, breathing, churning beneath the fragile surface. A phantom of crawling legs shivered beneath Oro’s shell and he stumbled back a step away from the chamber, unable to stifle the choked noise that rose in his throat at the sight of it. In Hollownest there were many floors made of petrified chitin and old discarded masks. Resting grounds. Old battlefields. Place where once the life of the world was thick. This was fresh, moving, alive, grotesque. Wrong.

Crick. Crack. 

“Oh, hello Nailmaster.”

Oro snapped his gaze up from the floor to the center of the room. Standing in a circling of broken masks was the Announcer, seemingly unperturbed by the ground on which it perched, despite the fact that Oro himself could practically hear it’s writhing. The bug’s eyes glinted pale in the dim light, and silhouetted against a background of those burrowing roots, they looked both pitifully small and sinister, like some small weaver who just lured a bug into its tangled web of a lair.

“You may enter,” it said, a smile in its voice, ��There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Yeah,” Oro muttered, gaze sinking back to the floor, “And beasts don’t bite.”

The Announcer laughed, a thin, frail sound, like it was unused to the sensation. It turned its back to him, and Oro saw now entwined in the roots it stood near was… something. A shape he couldn’t quite make out in the dim light and the distance. Though the glowing roots were thicker here, their light was still low.

He should leave. Being here was… a bad idea. But Oro doesn’t run. Not from enemies. Not from his brother. Not from this.

Tentatively, shell still crawling with shivers and nerves, Oro took a step forward. He expected his foot to sink, for the mask to give under his weight and crack and sink into the slurry of mud and chitin below, but it didn’t. In fact, he couldn’t even feel the ground moving. Emboldened by this just barely, he took another step forward. And another. And another. Until he was standing just behind the Announcer, towering over the diminutive bug and staring down at what it stood before. 

It was… an egg? A large one, nearly as tall as the Announcer, and as high as Oro’s chest. It was hard to tell it’s color when the only light to see by was tinged in the bruised blue-purple of the roots above them. But it was an egg, large and spiked and cracked in half, whatever creature born inside it long gone. Inside the remains of the shell, there was a curling of sickly roots that spiraled about themselves before burrowing into the ground, thick and twisted. 

“Interesting, isn’t it?” the Announcer hummed, “Even here at the edge of the kingdom, Hollow Nest hosts its mysteries.”

“What in the Black Abyss is this place?” Oro asked abruptly, hoping the shortness of his tone sounded more angry than scared.

The Announcer shrugged, “A place of beginnings. A place of hunger.”

It tilted its head in his direction, “A place of nothing, perhaps, if that’s what you want it to be.”

“Well that’s gross and cryptic.”

“You’re doing well in the Colosseum, Nailmaster Oro,” the Announcer said, disregarding his grumbling and turning its gaze back to the massive egg, “The place seems to suit you. You have a powerful spirit, a strong sense of ambition.”

Oro squinted down at the bug and backed up a pace, “There’s a lot of strong bugs entered in the tournament.”

It hummed noncommittally in return, the sound not unlike the voice Oro had heard humming its way towards him down the tunnel, “I suppose. But strength alone doesn’t satiate the Colosseum, does it?”

It looked up at him again, those pale eyes glinting, “I always thought the Colosseum of Fools was an interesting thing. It almost seems alive sometimes. Watched after and hungry. It so loves a crowd, and it loves its Champions and legacies. God Tamer was its favorite for a long time, and it’s quite a shame the one who struck her down refused to stay. I’m sure it would have made an interesting Champion all its own.”

“It’s a Colosseum,” Oro snapped, irritated by how unnerved the conversation was making him feel, “It’s a bunch of bugs in the shell of an even bigger bug hosting a tournament for a prize. It’s not alive.”

“Of course not,” the Announcer chuckled patronizingly, its voice sickly sweet with a grin that didn’t find its way to its pale gaze, “After all, if it had its own voice, surely I wouldn’t be here.”

It turned away from him and finally moved from its spot before the rooted egg, “I do wish you luck, Nailmaster Oro. I did mean what I said about the Colosseum suiting you, sir.”

It stopped at the edge of the room where Oro could barely make out the gaping darkness of a tunnel - probably the entrance the strange bug had used to enter the place. It flashed him one last smile, this time showing those unnerving teeth, “And doesn’t Nailmaster Champion have such a glorious ring?”

Then with another of those curling, whispering laughs, the bug disappeared down the tunnel ahead of it, leaving Oro alone in the dark. With no one to watch him, Oro allowed himself a shudder. 

"This whole place is just a pack of shrieking belflies isn’t it?” he snarled under his breath. A pack of shrieking belflies indeed. All pretty noises and deadly dramatics. Oro shivered one more time and then, grimacing, dropped his gaze to his feet to figure out where best to step next - only to find the ground normal. 

What?

Oro glanced around the room, casting about the floor for any sign of the writhing floor, the broken masks. But… it wasn’t. It was just fossilized chitin, like the floor he’d fallen into when he’d first dropped here. It was all old stone and solid ground and--! And it was all just gone?

Hesitantly, Oro knelt and placed his hand against the floor, and waited. He didn’t know what he waited on exactly. For the floor to shift? To feel the moisture of churning mud where his eyes were clearly seeing none? But… it was just stone. 

“Wyrmssakes,” Oro grumbled one more time, getting back to his feet. He cast a wary glance over to the rooted egg as if it could somehow explain his surroundings. Then, gathering up his courage, he followed down the tunnel he’d seen the Announcer disappear down. He was walking for a handful of moments before a familiar roaring caught his ears. Cheering. And then light, bright and pouring across the tunnel around him. And Oro was suddenly in the pit beneath the Colosseum, blinking dazedly at the resting forms of combatants. Behind him was a solid wall, as though the ground had opened up to spit him out and closed itself behind him.

Shell itching with nervousness, Oro climbed back out of the Colosseum and made his way home. It wasn’t until he was sharpening his nail late in the evening that he realized he’d forgotten his brother.

[amadeusgame]

Amadeus Devlog 1: from Concepts/Ideas Into An Actual Demo

Well, as of this past Saturday, the demo for Amadeus is live. I hope it's a good introduction to the world, story, titular character, and general atmosphere/ambience of the game.

Over the next year, I'm going to be shifting my sights toward getting the full release of Episode 1 ready by next summer. I'm planning to post at least monthly long-form development updates, both here as well as devlogs on the itch.io project. I'm considering a newsletter, but that hasn't happened yet - in the event it does, I've created a Linktree to track all of the resources relevant to the ongoing development of Amadeus. Give this a bookmark and check back: https://linktr.ee/amadeusgame

Without further ado.... the first update about the ongoing making of Amadeus! Or, in this case, a retrospective on making the demo. If you're curious about how this project started, and how various inspirations and circumstances helped me see it through to a released demo, give it a read! It's a bit long, so if you'd rather skip it, you're not missing anything but context on what's already done. Future devlogs will be shorter and have more news looking forward.

Amadeus the character has existed in my brain for several years, now. Solea - who is mentioned in the demo, but has not yet made an appearance - was conceptualized at the same time, but she was originally named Solaris. I changed her name because it felt strange to have both main characters' names end with the same sound. Now that it's changed, I think Solea fits her better.

Below are the first sketches I made of these characters. It's interesting how little Amadeus changed, but Solea on the other hand is almost unrecognizable. Her characterization changed so much that I felt she needed a new design to accompany it. As for what that design is... that's something to be revealed later! I think she's an incredibly compelling character, and I can't wait for everyone to meet her.

What motivated me to turn these characters into protagonists of an actual, real video game, was a series of concurrent Things during my second year as a grad student studying music composition, last year. At the time, I was:

Taking an elective course on C#/Unity, and learning how to Actually Make A Game

Writing a music piece for solo marimba and electronics (for a different course), and using Professor Layton music as inspiration

Thinking about a particular scene I had just come up with involving Amadeus

#2 is extremely relevant here. There was one evening when I was listening to a WIP of the marimba composition I wrote, and realized it evoked the exact kind of melancholy that might fit my story - so, as a form of fun procrastination, I played the track back on loop and sketched out a title screen for Amadeus's story in a small notebook.

Yep... the very first thing I made for this game was a title screen. Not exactly the conventional way to do things. (That marimba piece eventually turned into "Spellbound Mischief," the BGM track during the largest interactive/investigation scene in the demo. It was greatly inspired by the "Kodh" BGM in Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, and "Bewitching Puzzles" from Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney.)

Meanwhile, in the Unity class, I had just learned how to make a very basic title screen with a button to proceed to the game on it. So I opened a new instance of Unity, imported a phone camera picture of the drawing I did as a title screen asset, and made a "proceed to game" button that deactivated the title screen. I went ahead and put the in-progress version of the marimba piece as background music while I was at it.

And so the development of Amadeus began.

The very first build was made in one weekend, after I had finished my actual Unity/C# homework for the week, and wanted to apply what I had learned to building a game. Unfortunately, a game needs art assets. I found that it was incredibly difficult to motivate myself to work with pure greybox assets, so I sketched up very placeholder-y assets (a background, a walk cycle) and played around with them. As a visual artist, I find it easier to work in pencil and paper than digitally, so I sketched the assets in the same notebook as before.

Behold the glory of Prototype Amadeus:

I ended up building out a very rough skeleton version of the first scene in the demo, almost exclusively using Unity buttons as functionality, because that was what I understood best at the time. The portraits for Amadeus and the Witch are used in the final game, as well as the hand sprite and the door scene (all of which I put considerably  more effort into than the placeholder walk cycle and manor, seen above.)

...In fact, if you're REALLY bored, the prototype still exists here on itch.io: https://arcanaxix.itch.io/amadeus-prologue-demo (password is "werewolfdepressionsim").

If you're not that bored, you can hopefully still appreciate how much better the released demo version of the text UI looks, compared to this:

At this point, the professor of my Unity course introduced us to our final project: we were to create a Game Design Document for a game, a timeline with finishing major benchmarks to complete the game as proposed by the day our final project was due, and then have a fun party where we would all play each others' games. The game didn't have to be anything very involved at all (it was music school, expectations were not very high), but I was getting excited about actually making a game with MY CHARACTERS, and I wanted to use this assignment to build a playable point-and-click chapter.

I also wanted to learn how to try and code a drag-and-drop puzzle mechanic, not just for this game, but also to try and help with the ongoing development of another exciting project I am part of (Project DuskPuppy). At any rate, I used the final project of this class to build a very janky "chapter" of Amadeus.

I learned so much working on that, and at the end of it, I had something that was Technically Playable, an absolute nightmare in terms of user experience, and in which half of the assets were scribbles. But I shared it with friends, and one of them gave me the following feedback, which (thanks ZeroJanitor) basically directed my continued development of the demo:

"i love the whole tone of this game, the paper cutout sprites and somber music set a really cool tone, which compliment the character dialogue and theming really well! also it functions from start to finish which is always nice"

I'm including this because I think it's important for people to know just how much their comments can influence and motivate creators. Hearing just one person say that the paper sketch visuals - which I was using originally NOT out of any aesthetic direction, but literally just because I personally find it easier to draw assets on pencil and paper, and needed assets to implement - set an interesting and unique tone? Well, that settled it! I decided to double down on the pencil sketches from then on, and have used the same notebook that I sketched the original title screen in to draw every single art asset in the game.

This has come with its share of difficulties - a couple of the sprites I needed to entirely re-draw, because they were drawn at a different scale in my notebook, so the line thicknesses didn't match up with the other sprites. This would have been much easier to tweak digitally, but for pencil-on-paper, I had to just start over.

The second version is an improvement anyway; but I ended up using the "rough" version as an in-between frame in an animation, and by sheer luck, it happens to flow pretty well. So the original still made it in after all!

Anyway, that all came later -- at the end of 2022 I simply had a technically playable version of the game that was extremely rough and was mostly held together with Unity buttons deactivating and activating things, but it was Enough of an accomplishment that I started to feel like I could see this through into a real release.

I had learned:

The basics of how C#/Monobehaviors work, and enough of an understanding to be able to look up answers and resources for further learning

How to make a game design document and break a HUGE task like "make a game" down into every single small task within it, and prioritize/schedule those to get something made

That no matter what you will never actually finish everything on time, and to make peace with that

(Regarding Point 3: my original script for the movement could not handle the upper limit of movement on a screen being anything except a horizontal line, so for the scene with the grave on a hill, I just.... rotated the camera and Amadeus' sprite. I figured out a more elegant solution later, but sometimes, deadlines mean you have to slap on a band-aid that sort of works!)

And, crucially, I had the OK from my professor to continue asking him code and Unity questions after the course was finished, with the caveat that he would respond when he had the time. This is probably the only reason I actually finished the Amadeus demo. Being able to ask for help when you need it is invaluable.

The next important thing that happened was over winter break I spent 2 weeks obsessively binge-reading the visual novel Umineko When They Cry. This was, I cannot emphasize enough, THE most motivating thing I could have possibly done. I was struck by several things: the insanely catchy soundtrack, the fascinating abstract sound design choices, and the CHARM of the MS-paint graphics. I had been surrounded by an obsession with big budget games at school and the idea that music that's too melodic or looping distracts from the game, but here was an example of a soundtrack with some of the catchiest tunes I've ever heard that hit incredibly hard during key narrative moments.

(The development of Amadeus had to take a brief pause while I painted the Golden Witch Beatrice on my laptop. But this means that the majority of serious development for Amadeus happened on a laptop with the Golden Witch Beatrice on it:)

Playing Umineko was exactly what I needed to completely throw the "soundtracks should support the game but not draw attention to themselves" value out the window. I had just played a masterpiece of a game in which the soundtrack hit you over the head with itself and it ruled so indescribably hard. Moreover, I had just played a masterpiece of a game in which almost all of the art assets were clearly drawn by one person doing their best, and it ruled so indescribably hard. So I doubled down on my values: I was going to create a game, with my own hand-drawn assets, and my own music, and it was going to be chock full of certified bangers if it was the last thing I did.

(May as well plug the soundtrack again while I'm on the topic: https://arcanaxix.bandcamp.com/album/amadeus-demo-original-soundtrack - I was studying music at music school during the majority of this game's development, so unsurprisingly, the music and sound are by far the most polished part of the whole affair.)

On the subject of music-! My last semester at school I didn't have a C# course giving me deadlines to work on the game, so I had to learn how to make my own deadlines. I drafted a calendar that originally scheduled the release of the demo for the end of May, 2023. I broke down the remaining tasks for a "complete" demo and scheduled them across the remaining months.

I did not follow this calendar at all. What I did do, was learn more about myself, and how to motivate myself. As you can see, the demo got released - so that means I managed to find a way to keep myself on track! And that was to take advantage of the fact that I was in music school, making music.

The whole project was started because of a piece of music I was writing. So it made sense to me to channel that, and to use my remaining time at school to create the perfect soundtrack, and to draw inspiration for the game itself from the music I was writing. Sometimes the game inspired my music, and sometimes it was the other way around! The point being: I still had deadlines, but they were music deadlines now, so I used that to motivate my development of the game.

A few examples:

Spellbound Mischief: I worked alongside percussionist Jay Lee on this composition, and engineered the recording session. Because of that, I had the backing track and the marimba recording split into two different audio stems. This gave me an idea: what if I had the marimba stem fade in and out? The actual nature of the dynamic soundtrack in the scene changed a lot over development, but it was inspired by the fact that I had multiple audio stems to work with in the first place.

Fugue ~ Interlude: The underlying composition of this piece is just what it says - a fugue. My final project in my counterpoint course was to write a fugue. The nice thing about fugues is that, once you understand the process, fugues more or less write themselves; this was written entirely divorced from Amadeus. So I wrote this fugue, and a different friend (thanks monstrman) gave me the feedback that it sounded like a Final Fantasy villain theme. I started thinking about it and I realized it had a ton of potential as a theme in my game... and much later, when I created the "Amadeus opens the notebook and thinks to himself" scene (added after playtester feedback that the narrative flow was hard to follow), I realized that I could use it there.

Deal With a Witch: I knew I needed a witchy theme. I didn't have one. So when I got assigned to write a contrapuntal ABA form piece, I wrote one in minor on the harpsichord, and it felt suitably witchy. The clarinet was added after, and I don't even remember why I added it other than that I know someone who plays a mean clarinet. It was definitely the right call.

A Riddle for Thee (Demo Version): I'm being a bit rude by including this one... this piece was written as a final project, a "Theme and Variations" for a course on 20th century harmony. However... this piece is going to manifest very, very differently in the complete game. I won't tell you what that is, but I will say this much, and hint at it very heavily: I hadn't quite figured out how to structure the complete narrative of Amadeus, other than that it would be in episodes; but writing this piece finally gave me a very compelling idea.

So I continued to work on the audio assets while I was in school, and resolved to have a mastered version of every track before I left campus for the last time. Once I graduated, I took the "end of May" deadline very seriously and focused on knocking out all of the remaining tasks to get the demo ready for private playtesters. Privately, I extended the actual demo release to the end of July, to give myself some time.

And here is where I have learned the most about keeping myself on track, as an individual with ADHD, no formal deadlines, and a lot of passion for this project:

Make your own deadlines, and make them ones with accountability.

I didn't follow my calendar because there was no accountability. What I DID do was finish a private-ready demo by end of May, because I had announced that it would be ready by end of May, and had a handful of people ready and excited to playtest it. And I finished the public version by end of July, because I had announced that it would be ready by the end of July.

You may be suspecting something... that's exactly what these monthly devlogs are going to be! I have a private calendar with benchmarks to meet in order to ship the finished Episode 1 of Amadeus by next summer, but the best way to be sure I meet those benchmarks is to write about them each month. This also helps keep you all informed too, and hopefully, excited about the project.

I know this has been a long write-up, but hopefully you gained some insight into how this project started, and how I as a musician-slash-multimedia-artist with one semester of C# under their belt managed to cobble together a game demo. And I hope you're as excited as I am about the complete game. I can't wait to make it so you can all experience it!

[fantasiac]

Flashfire Info Dump

So when I was 11 - 13 I came up with this superhero concept, and I changed the story alot over the years and it's basically become unrecognizable, but I have 3 seasons worth of lore written (It was planned to be a TV show on cartoon network) and alot of it is really good, so I've decided to turn it into a Sakuga Anime / Manga, since I think I would fit the style more, anyway I remembered it existed the other night while I was listening to my JRock playlist, and (idk if this is normal or not so I'm about to word this like it's a unique thing) when I listen to JRock I basically make up Anime Intros in my head, and I used to do it alot with this guy, but to those cringey motivational rock songs, like Zayde Wolf and The Score, but seeing as he isn't really going to a be an American style superhero anymore, I am going to redesign him, he's going to look kinda like a mix between Izuku from My Hero (general proportions and face style), and Shizuka from Zom 100 (big jacket and backpack), so, seeing as this design is not going to be used anymore, I thought I'd post it bc I don't need to worry about people stealing it as much :)

Keep Reading for other character designs I may never use, also these designs are BAD (I'll probably change most of the names, so don't get too attached

Spoiler Warning (?)

So in my clear folder where I stored these drawings, I had tabs, for "good guys", "gods", and "Villains", but I might cut the entire concept of Gods out because they aren't even mentioned in any of the story (except Heratiss but they are less God than Phariah, it's hard to explain), I just wanted to include them because I liked designing them

Little more about the main guy (his casual design is so boring omg)

Definitely going to change this guys name, but one of the better designs

there are aliens, but they will probably be heavily redesigned, also you can probably see the skill gap in my art between Erion and Krast

Heratiss (awful name) has a big role in the story, and Deepsea (bad name aswell) has a neat design, but the design doesn't fit what his character is supposed to be (also he may be cut entirely because you can probably guess his whole concept)

I didn't know how to draw women at the time, but she will probably have the biggest design change. Because her design is awful and I was half asleep when I drew it and never changed it but she has a huge part of the story and I hate this design so much omg

I hate this one so much, bad weapon design, bad character design, bad name, bad concept aaaaa

Anyway, there are more characters, but they weren't in the "current design" clear folder, over the 4 years of this mess I had already redesigned characters way too much, to the point where I had a second clear file full of "yet to be redesigned" but thats for another time

Also when I was drawing these characters, I didn't know what concept art was, so I literally made up their designs in one go, instead of doing sketches and trying things that didn't work, I just drew them without thinking (I learned from that experience)

[appleciderp]

for the ask game I'll have a number 7, a nr 15, 16 and a 25 thank you <33

I feel like I'm working at a drive-thru window.

7. Favourite works of all time excluding your own?

How pretentious do you want this answer to be??

Because the real answer is We Walked the Earth by Uffe Isolotto (TW: Suicide, and a bunch of other things I cannot explain but I'm sure will upset people. I'm not gonna put the examples here) though it's more of an exhibit than an illustration.

The sheer desperation that looking at the photographs give me is outrageous. I want to see it in person. But it's kind of pretentious.

Keaton Henson's work has always affected me, from the second I first heard his songs, to the first time I read his poetry, to the countless times I've looked at his sketches.

There's just a perfect imperfectness to his drawings.

15. Biggest artist pet peeve?

Anybody trying to tell anybody what to do. Yes, ideally you'd need to learn anatomy before bending the rules. Do you HAVE to? no.

Art, to me, is made from love and emotions and especially when you enter more classically trained areas, I feel like they say "Oh you can do that, once you learn the basics."

That only turns people off the idea. Do things that annoy you, THEN you can have fun. For example: Do I understand composition? Fuck no. Would it better my art? yea, definitely. Will I do it? Maybe when I feel like it.

Any time you create, you better your art. Whether that be writing, drawing, playing an instrument, or whatever.

The only rule to me regarding art is to create.

Another one is regarding pricing. Whenever I've taken commissions in the past, I've always done Pay what you want prices. I always see posts saying to not undervalue yourself as an artist and to at least ask for minimum wage as a pricing guide. I ain't charging anybody 15$ an hour for my drawings.

Art for me is a hobby, that I rarely do for money. I don't care that I'm valuing my work at less than 5$ an hour. Hell, I did a 6 character scene with a background a few years ago for about 20$, just because the concept seemed fun.

Not everybody who draws should make it a career, and I feel like telling everybody to treat as if everybody taking commissions for their living wage is not the way to go.

IF you want it to be your sole source of income, go for it. But I don't feel like saying that every artist needs to follow those rules.

16. What’s the most daunting part of your process? Ex, planning, sketching, lineart, rendering etc

Lineart, shading, and backgrounds.

Linearts are mostly due to my struggle with accepting the imperfections in my art. I used to have a very crisp and bold lineart with the smoothest brush you could ever imagine. It's just when I sat down and looked at the art that I enjoyed (both online and offline) that I realized I always preferred a thinner lineart and sketchier overall. I always used to think my sketches were so much better back then.

Shading pretty much follows the same vein. Thining my lines made imperfections in shading stand out more. I prefer lighting, and I have no idea how tf my brain makes those two completely different to me.

Backgrounds I believe are nearly universal. Everybody hates 'em.

25. Based on your recent reference searches, what would the FBI assume about you?

Guns, bombs, and kilts. BUT I frequently pop on a little (It's for a drawing, I promise) or (I'm writing something, I'm not killing anybody!) Which either amps my suspiciousness up or it makes me seem sane.

The worst is when I did the Midas piece and I wanted refs of oozing liquids, and like, blood was the obvious choice, but nothing was popping up exactly and it was frustrating to just have to google "blood oozing" "real blood oozing" "blood oozing wound" "Nosebleed" "hands covered in blood"

[unnatural-transformations]

Quantum Groups & Knot Invariants [6 of n]

Some general points first (addressed to anyone who's actually trying to follow these posts). I've not been too concerned with rigor up to this point, and I've generally preferred to take for granted that the concepts I'm interested in are well-defined so that I can focus on some example calculations. But I'm going to try to be a little more formal for these next few posts, because we're getting to the material that I'm most interested in teaching myself about.

From now on, all definitions and all major results will be given as screenshots of LaTeX (with the LaTeX used to generate them given in the alt text). I will reserve plain text for discussion and examples.

This post is all about category theory, specifically about monoidal categories. [Originally it was going to be about braided monoidal categories, but I'm splitting the planned post into two parts.] If you're reading this, I'm to going to assume you know what a category is [and that you're familiar with the concepts of functors, natural transformations, some basic limits and colimits and the general concept of diagram chasing]. I won't, however, assume you know much more than this.

The first book on category theory I ever read was Sanders Mac Lane's Category Theory for the Working Mathematician (often referred to by the implausible claim 'Cats Work' for short). However while this certainly is a very informative book (and its second edition adds a chapter which covers exactly the topic of this post), I do not think it is the ideal introduction to category theory. It would work much better for most people, I think, as a second (or even third) book. Certiainly I'd have been happier with something a little less dense; your own mileage may vary.

Depending on how comfortable you are with pure mathematics, and how much exposure you have to topics like topology, group theory, vector spaces and abstract algebra, I would recommend instead [in roughly decreasing order of assumed mathematical sophistication] any one of Emily Riehl's Category Theory in Context, Tom Leinster's Basic Category Theory and Brendan Fong and David Spivak's Seven Sketches In Compositionality (the last of these is an introduced to applied category theory so actually builds up to introducing monoidal categories). All three books have been made available to read online for free by their authors.

Monoidal Categories

This post will mostly consist of definitions and examples. (There will be a handful of results, but I won't bother to do more than sketch the ideas of the proofs.)

Let's start with a definition.

Note that I refer to a category as a collection of objects and arrows. It is somewhat more common to speak of objects and morphisms, but to my ears the word "morphism" is a little too suggestive of a map between sets. Of course the objects of many categories are exactly sets (with some additional structure), but many non-concrete categories also exist and several will be important to us in what follows. Therefore I prefer the slightly more neutral-sounding word "arrow" (although, of course, I still talk about "isomorphisms" and not "isoarrows", so perhaps this is a distinction without much of a difference).

The definition above can made simpler if we focus on strict monoidal categories (as, in fact, we will often do).

As Paul Halmos is meant to have written, "a good stack of examples -- as large as possible -- is indispensable for a thorough understanding of any concept". Let's look at some examples now. We will come back to some of these as we go on.

The motiviating example is the category of (finite dimensional) vector spaces and linear maps between them. The tensor product is the usual one for vector spaces and the unit object is the underlying field itself.

More generally, if R is a commutative ring, the category of (finitely generated) R-modules (and ring homomorphisms between them) is also a monoidal category.

The category of sets (and functions between sets) is another example. The tensor product is just the ordinary Cartesian product, and for the unit object we can pick any singleton set.

In fact any category with finite products (like the category of sets) can be made into a monoidal category if we can choose the tensor product to be some product in the category and we choose any terminal object to be the unit.

There is a category Δ called the simplex category with objects finite sets of the form {1,...,n} with the usual linear ordering and arrows the ordering preserving maps between these sets. Consider the category whose objects are the objects of Δ together with the empty set and whose arrows are the arrows of Δ. This larger category can be given the structure of a monoidal category if we define the tensor product of two sets {1, ..., m} and {1, ..., n} to be the set {1, ..., m, (m+1), ... , (m+n)} and define the tensor product of two maps on these sets in the obvious way. The unit object is the empty set.

There is a category C whose objects are finite sets and whose arrows are the bijections between those sets. In enumerative combinatorics, a species is a presheaf on C [i.e. a functor from C to the category of sets]. The category of species has presheaves as objects and natural transformations as arrows. C becomes a monoidal category with tensor product the disjoint union and unit object the empty set; and the category of species becomes a monoidal category with tensor product the induced Day convolution. The category of species is a categorification of the concept of formal power series, and the generating function associated to the product of two species is the product of the two generating functions associated to the original species.

Given any field K there is a category whose objects are the positive integers and where for any m and n the set of arrows from m to n is equal to the set of n by m matrices with entries in K. Concatenation of two arrows X : p -> q and Y : q -> r is given by the usual matrix multiplication: Y○X : p -> r is the r by p matrix YX. The tensor product acts on objects by multiplication and on arrows as the Kronecker product. The unit object is the number 1.

Sticking with categories whose objects are the integers, recall that any preorder (S, ≤) can be thought of as a category where there is either one unique arrow between objects s and t (if s ≤ t) or no arrows. In particular, for the category (Z, ≤) where Z is the set of integers and ≤ is the usual linear order, we can define a monoidal structure where the tensor product acts on objects by addition and which sends pairs of arrows a -> b and c -> d to the arrow (a+c) -> (b+d) [clearly a ≤ b and c ≤ d implies (a+c) ≤ (b+d)]. The unit object is the number 0.

For another example, we can return to the braid group from earlier posts in this series. The braid category is the category whose objects are the natural numbers [ie the set {0,1,2,3,...}] and the set of arrows between two objects m and n is empty (if m≠n) or equal to the set of braids on n strands (if m=n). In this second case concatenation of arrows is given by multiplication of braid diagrams in the braid group The tensor product acts on objects by addition and on diagrams by (horizontal) concatenation. The unit object is the number 0.

Somewhat similarly, there is a Temperley-Lieb category (over a field K(δ)) whose objects are also the natural numbers. Unlike the braid group we do allow arrows between distinct objects: the set of arrows between m and n is empty if m+n is odd, and if m+n is even it is the set of K(δ)-linear formal sums of (m,n) Temperley-Lieb diagrams [generalizing the diagrams we introduced earlier in the obvious way to allow the number of marked points on the top of a diagram to be different from the number of marked points on the bottom of the diagram]. Concatenation of arrows is given by the same rules for concatenation of TL diagams we described previously (using δ as the factor when we remove a closed loop). The tensor product and the unit object are defined just as they were for the braid category.

Combining the last two ideas there is a larger category of framed tangles whose objects are (isomorphic to) the natural numbers and whose arrows may be represented as a tangle diagram. By a tangle diagram we mean something like a knot diagram except that (i) the number of points on the top of the diagram need not be the same as the number of points on the bottom [though the total should still be even] and (ii) while each point should be connected to at most one arc, there may also be any number freestanding closed loops that are not connected to any point. Two diagrams are considered identical if they are equivalent under regular isotopy and a particular variant of the first Reidemeister move. As a monoidal category, the tensor product and unit object are defined in the same way as for the braid group and Temperley-Lieb category.

If G is a finite group and K a field then there is a category of represenations of G over K. The objects of this category are pairs (V, ρ) where V is a vector space over K and ρ is a representation of G acting on V. The arrows are the intertwiners: the linear maps from U to V which commute with the action of the representations. The tensor product is the usual tensor product on vector spaces and linear maps and the unit object is the pair (K, 1) where 1 denotes the trivial representation of G (for which all elements of G act like the identity).

Although we will not define "quantum groups" for a few posts, another example of a monoidal category -- the example, in some ways, as far as this series is concerned -- will be provided by the category of representations of a quantum group. These behave, in some sense to be made precise later, like the category of represenations of a group (although, despite the name, "quantum groups" are not a type of group but rather a more general object).

It will be important for this series to be able to talk about fuctors between monoidal categories that preserve the monoidal structure.

For example, the forgetful functor that maps group representations (V, ρ) to the vector space V can be made monoidal in the obvious way (here the natural isomorphism η is just the identity and so is the arrow ψ). Equally the free functor from the category of sets and functions to the category of R-modules is monoidal.

The definition above is not too difficult but there is a lot of notation to keep track of. We would prefer to work with strict monoidal categories -- which make a lot of the diagrams we will draw simpler, if nothing else -- but sometimes this is not possible. For example, in the category of sets and functions with tensor product the Cartesian product (A ⊗ B) ⊗ C is not identical to A ⊗ (B ⊗ C). The former is by definition a set of the form { ((a,b),c) | a ∈ A, b ∈ B, c ∈ C } while the latter is a set of the form { (a,(b,c)) | a ∈ A, b ∈ B, c ∈ C }. However these sets clearly are isomorphic in a very intuitive way.

We can show, however, that every monoidal category is equivalent to a strict monoidal category. We first recall the basic notation of equivalence before giving the relevant definition of monoidal equivalence. It is tempting to want to work with isomorphisms of categories (i.e. isomorphisms in the (meta)category of categories) but this is a little too restrictive. Instead we define an equivalence of categories as, in effect, an isomorphism up to isomorphism.

For example, the category of all finite sets and bijections between them which we introduced previously is equivalent to the subcategory whose objects are exactly the empty set and sets of the form {1, ..., n} and which has only trivial arrows. The appropriate pair of functors map any set of cardinality n to the set {1, ..., n} and, conversely, map the set {1, ..., n} to itself. The definition on arrows is obvious. More generally any category is equivalent to its skeleton: the category whose objects are equivalence classes of objects under isomorphism.

It is sometimes more useful to give a direct characterization of the sorts of functors that can form part of an equivalence of categories.

In light of this result it is common to talk about a single function as "an equivalence". What is meant is the pair of functions and a natural isomorphisms, but these can be recovered from either of the two functions.

We have seen that it is possible to give different monoidal structure to the same underlying category. Therefore, for our purposes, it is not enough to know that two monoidal categories are equivalent. We need a notion of equivalence that respects the monoidal structure we are interested in. Fortunately this turns out to be straightforward to achieve: it is enough to make the (functor defining the) equivalence a monoidal functor.

For example [check this!], the category whose objects are positive integers and whose arrows are matrices with entries in a field K and the category whose objects are finite dimensional vector spaces and whose arrows are K-linear maps can be shown to be monoidally equivalent. (This is, in essence, why linear algebra works as a subject.)

We end this section with two closely related results, both due to Sanders Mac Lane. I won't post the proofs here (unfortunately I think we're hitting the limits of what it's possible to do without proper LaTeX support), but they are fairly straightforward.

The key result is the following lemma:

The proof of this lemma amounts to checking that the given data really does define a category, and that this category is strict monoidal.

The proof uses Lemma 8. We construct a monoidal functor L that embeds our monoidal category C into its category of endofunctors and show that it is full and faithful. We then consider the restriction of this full subcategory of this category by taking only the objects in it which are isomorphic to L(c) for some c in C. This restricted functor is essentially surjective on objects by constuction, and hence L is an equivalence (by Theorem 6).

The strictification therorem in turn allows us to prove the following

This theorem tells us that the original pentagonal diagram for associativty that appears in Definition 1 is in some sense the only such diagram we need to be explict about. All other reasonable (or 'well-typed') diagrams, built up from the defining natural transfomrations α, λ and ρ in sensible ways, will also always commute. The point of all this, in short, is that we can afford to be sloppy with parentheses when talking about monoidal categories [and going forward we very often will be].

Next time: we will actually introduce braided monoidal categories (as well as the related notion of a ribbon category). We will also reformulate all the above in the language of string diagrams and spend a bit more time on some examples.

[angeliqueshelleyartist]

Major Study

Production Post #2

Concept Design: Hover Vehicle

After my thumbnail exploration, I had a look at some other artists approaches to thumbnailing and came across concept artist Dylan Pharaoh-Whitney's work. He created these during a mentorship with heavy-weight Anthony Jones. What I loved most about the thumbnails were the great shape combinations, but also being able to see more detail with the plating and general construction of these bikes.

Thumbnails by Dylan Pharaoh-Whitney

I also had a look at Destiny 2's Sparrow designs as they are very similar to what I would like to produce for my game idea - a personal hovering craft that isn't too large.

Destiny 2 Sparrow designs

I began adding some more detail to my thumbnails thinking about the animals which inspired them, but also aerodynamics, shape, and solar sail deployment and positions.

After a peer review, the most popular vote was the Elysia 2, there was also interest in the first two Manta Ray designs which I also plan on revisiting if there is time. One of the points of interest of the Elysia is the animation of the solar wings for movement, which could be animated in a wave-like formation.

After being inspired by Dylan's work during his mentorship with Anthony Jones, I revisited some of Anthony's painting videos and thought I would try some of the techniques I saw there while developing my Elysia 2 concept. I really enjoyed this way of working with light and shadows as opposed to line, I've used this technique in the past, but I think I will probably continue to use it for this study.

When detailing this design, I made some alterations to the functionality of the craft - it changed from being a bike-like craft to having an enclosed cockpit. This was because I couldn't find a comfortable position for the rider allowing space for the solar wings. At the moment, I'm basing the solar cell designs on this solar fabric. I plan to create a proper design as I've already briefly explored in my pre-production.

I asked for some peer feedback for this design and there was some confusion about the solar wings being a single row beneath the vehicle, or a pair. I had opted not to include the second row on the far side because of visual confusion, but it was the wrong decision as it caused the confusion I was trying to avoid.

I wanted this vehicle to be affectionately referred to as "The Slug" in-game as an ode to the origin of it's design. I wanted to create an acronym to give it meaning so I took it to ChatGPT which came up with some excellent solutions. In the end, I felt the shorter "SLG" worked best for it's brevity and also the branding as "SLUG" felt too on-the-nose.

I combined the feedback and branding elements to the design. For the sake of allowing some space for the eye to rest in the design, I opted to outline the large "SLG" on the rear of the craft.

I would still like to create some exploration sketches showing the opening mechanism of the cockpit (split along the top and sliding backwards over the rear of the craft), and some animation options for the animation of the solar wings as well as deployment.

References:

Bungie (2017 - 2024). Destiny 2.

Pharaoh-Whitney, D. (2019). Motorcycle Sketches. [Online]. ArtStation. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lV5QoO [Accessed 02 June 2024].

[omaano]

Commission art I made for @ribbonkandy and their amazing OC, Rahn. I had an absolute blast working on these, and all the designing and planning I got to do with the second one ^^ Thank you very much for trusting him with me :)

Commission's are still open :)

[bookwyrminspiration]

Okay! Rereading wings au because I can’t remember anything from the last time I read it!

Chapter 1 thoughts:

-The Neverseen letting them win is such a good concept, it takes the kind of chessmaster image Shannon’s given them in canon to a whole new level and I’m here for it!

-oh we got monsters already? How did the Neverseen create them? Did they create them? I have so many questions /pos

-Are the monsters maybe normal animals the Neverseen infected with a virus? That’s what the mushroom create is making me think of.

-oh they found where the monsters are coming from! This plan is going to go terribly horribly wrong and I am so excited

-Mindbubble is such a neat word and a cool concept I love it

-who is this kid? Why is she with the Neverseen?

-ooo monster room! These descriptions are so good, I can see the vats in my mind like a movie

-Oh I love this ending, it creates such a dramatic image and I’m excited to see where things go now!

(warning: I am very excitable when it comes to the wings au because people don't send asks about it often, so this got long as I take every opportunity to ramble that I can)

Excellent! This is a great way for me to also remember what happens because it's been a lot and the wings au is coming up on one year of consistent posts and some of the chapters I haven't looked at in months!

thank you! We haven't really seen the Neverseen or other enemies in the au aside from very briefly given that for a good while now the kotlcrew's enemy has been the monsters everywhere and also themselves, but I've always really liked the idea of them being more cunning than they are in canon. Not to say they aren't smart or secretive, but there's always this element of like...childish villains? to them. I don't know how to explain it. Where they're dramatic and have monologues and their mistake is explaining their plan at length, that kind of thing. Which isn't bad, I just think they could be elevated and more strategic and cold-blooded, so I tried to give them a sense of that while keeping parts of their personalities.

Also the idea of you thinking you've won and are finally safe after years only to find out that was all part of the enemies plan and they've been in control this whole time and you victories have just been given to you to convince you you were winning sounds super horrifying and I loved it.

yes! monsters from chapter one! I mean, they're a very central part of the story and also I love them so I wanted to include them as soon as possible. What's that one Guillermo del Toro quote? because I want to share it hang on. Here: "Since childhood I've been faithful to monsters. I've been saved and absolved by them because monsters are the patron saints of our blissful imperfections." Monsters and inhumanity are very important to me, and so capturing that and giving these horrible, awe-inspiring creatures a world where they could reign over it is very rewarding.

How they were created and by who is relevant and important to the story, but more than that I find monsters are the most ambiguous, understanding kinds of creatures.

Wait I'm getting off topic we're talking about the au. I can't straight up tell you how the monsters were made or what they are without spoiling things, but I love that you're asking questions! Though one that I can answer is that Sophie and her friends believe that the monsters were created and released on the world by the Neverseen and another group. the second group is represented by a broken chain and they don't know who or what they are, just that they're involved with the monsters.

Also I love that little mushroom guy so much. I originally wanted to draw a little sketch of it to go along with the chapter but it's been over a year since I wrote the description of him and I forgot a very important detail which is where?? the mouth is?? I know I mention it but my description isn't clear enough for myself, so unless someone else draws their interpretation of the small mushroom thing it will only exist mentally.

They did find where the monsters are coming from! It is going to go horribly wrong! it is very exciting. that's one of the things i love about the au: where it starts. Because the beginning of the wings au is the end of another story gone awry. it's the ending to an apocalypse story where everyone's been forced underground and are fighting monsters and where entire species are being killed (the gnomes) and the kotlcrew are trying to stop the investation. And they've become a solid unit, knowing each others minds, planning things. And the breeding facility in chapter one is their final battle. it's the climax of another story. In another story, that's where everything ends and winds down from there.

but I've made it the beginning. That story doesn't end well and I used it as the setting for something new. That's why the first chapter is so much more tense than some of the following, why it's faster, why it's more coordinated and specific. It's the climax of another story but without any build-up. Which was super fun to write btw.

And thank you! mindbubble was a word I came up with on a whim and wasn't sure whether or not I'd stick with it. I wanted a word unique to the au, and I kinda just stuck to a bubble theme after that. The mindbubble, healing bubble, probably more I'm forgetting. It was a moment where I also had to let the characters name it, as it's the word they use to refer to it. And given keefe is in the mix something a little more light hearted seemed appropriate.

as for the kid...well, lets just say that is not the last you will see of her! she pops up a few more times and is actually a key part of the story. Which happened entirely on accident. Originally she was just a throwaway character who existed to be a distraction so Sophie's group wasn't caught and also to give them a moral dilemma because she's just a kid. But then I think it was Ed who made a comment about her and wondering who she was and what her importance was and I went "oh. I can actually do a lot with her." That's why you may notice a change in her demeanor later on that doesn't fully match chapter one, which is because her personality and backstory was created after that scene where she screams and runs away. Still trying to make it smooth enough to be excusable, but it's fine!!

She actually fit perfectly into the story, so i'm very glad ed commented about her. I've got the main ideas for the au planned out already, but as I go and as people comment I keep finding ways to make it tie together and more detailed and it's super fun.

that's part of why I really appreciate comments so much!! You guys notice and latch onto things I wouldn't think of, and then I get to turn it into fun things in the story!! Like Linh being connected to dragons. That wasn't originally planned, but someone made a comment theorizing about Linh having dragon wings (might've been Synonym!) and i went...well she doesn't have dragon wings but I can do something with the dragon part.

I've getting distracted again oops!!

Monster room!! I think that was the first glimpse of the monsters and the horrors Sophie had been talking about mentally to give the reader background. And I'm glad you like the descriptions!! I think the imagery from chapter one might be my favorite because it just feels so poignant. I mean, it was the first introduction to everything. I had to give you all the details of what the world was like! I had to describe everything to give context. Later on in the series the state of the world has already been established and we have ideas on what the monsters are like so I'm more recycling descriptions, but that first chapter? it's all new and where i am establishing the things!! idk maybe it's just me but whenever I reread the first chapter I just get so caught up on the imagery I love it so much.

I'm glad you like the ending as well!! That marked the beginning of my evil cliffhangers, and I look back on it fondly. it was like...okay, the story this should've been has gone wrong, now I get to tell my story. And i have been telling it for the better part of a year now and it has been. So much fun! So thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of the chapters!!

[talakhouri]

Reflection - Methodology.

Materials produced.

The methodology of everything I work on differs depending on what’s the nature of the project I'm currently working on. whether a short animated film, sketch or a research paper. First, I see where my confidence stands in the work I’m working on and start from there. For example, I am least comfortable working on papers and most comfortable when working on animations or sketches and I use a different kind of approach for each. my main work focus is animation and all the things that come with it form scriptwriting all the way to post-production, and that’s what I am going to talk about in this post. First, I begin by dividing my work into three sections that are mainly self-explanatory and what all animations rely on, which are the pre-production phase, it’s where all the ideas start, scriptwriting, storyboard, character and environment design, the production phase, it’s where all the magic happens where everything is executed from outline animation to clean colored short sketches, and the post-production phase, it’s when the short animated clips are edited, color corrected and merged together with sound. I tackle each phase apart using different attitude for each.

Coming up with an idea and collecting references.

- Pre-production phase:

Everything starts with an idea, which is the brain’s reaction to a given statement or a task. Every person imagines things differently and it all starts depending on what the person has gone through. The ways the things are perceived are highly affected by the experiences the person has seen throughout one’s life. There is no such thing as someone creating or inventing something from thin air. It always comes from a source of inspiration such as analogous designs, prior experiences and previously done work on the matter that one is working on. I always start with the things that pop into my mind and always steer clear from the First thing that does because that’s probably the first thing that came to a thousand others’ minds. After deciding on what idea to develop I start my research, I see previously done work on the matter, how they are done, what structure they follow and the most important part is on what part of it the audience most reacted on and related to. I usually wait for my idea to be solid and satisfactory to do this step so I won’t get sucked into the idea that has been already made and end up doing something really similar and meaningless. After this part, I start with the scriptwriting, which at this point is the study of the timing of each scene and shot in my movie, it’s the starting point for the storyboard which is basically the comic strip version of the script. It’s at this point where the drawing, camera angles, and shots are decided. I usually put a lot of my time into this phase, for if it is done correctly, it can smoothen all the rest of the process in the production phase. To perfect it, I shift my focus from the drawing and aesthetic part and focus on the camera angles, the rule of thirds and transitions and the overall mood and messages I want to convey. For that, I use a lot of references that are related to what I'm looking for. for example if what I want to show authority in a shot, I use a worm’s eye view, however, I would use a bird’s eye view to show submission, etc...                        when the storyboard is done, I start with the design, mood board and overall feel of my animation. This is basically my second favorite part because character design has been always a hobby of mine, I use references and geometrical shapes depending on the traits of my character and how I want the people to perceive it. same goes for the environment design.

- Production phase:

This is where the fun truly begins, animating is the most rewarding and fun thing to do for me. If everything went according to plan in the pre-production, this becomes basically drawn out. I start by drawing the key poses with the character geometrical shape and then connect the dots to have the finished result. when I have trouble getting the character to do what I had in mind, I try my best to act it out and use a lot of real-life footage for reference. I can’t even begin on what the Animator’s survival kit has done for me in this phase and it’s the first thing I go to when I’m having trouble.

- Post-production phase:

This phase is the least tiring but the most important of all. It’s when everything is put together and when I can finally see everything I built up in the previous two phases. With that in mind, I start searching for sound effects and ambient sounds. The overall feel I want to transmit is usually when all of the sound design is done. After that is done I sometimes put my whole video under experimentation to see what kind of color correction and color balance I should do in case I did some mistakes in the production phase.

This is basically what i follow to do my movie.

Reviews and evaluation.

This is the part I dread the most, it’s when I want to show people around me my work before submitting it or showing it to the rest of the world. I usually have two or three people on standby to ask their opinion on each phase I accomplish, to see where I stand, whether move forward or take a step back and rethink some things. These people usually are professional people in the field, so they know what they are talking about, and their comments are usually relevant and from the same perspective. What I recently started to do, is posting everything I am working on online, the process and progress, and take every comment into consideration, because eventually whether related to my field or not, they’re my audience and it's them I want to satisfy.

Some of the references I use.

 Chan, J., Dow, S.P., Schunn, C.D., 2018. Do the Best Design Ideas (Really) Come from Conceptually Distant Sources of Inspiration?, in: Subrahmanian, E., Odumosu, T., Tsao, J.Y. (Eds.), Engineering a Better Future: Interplay between Engineering, Social Sciences, and Innovation. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 111–139. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91134-2_12  

 Rall, H., 2017. Animation: From Concepts and Production. CRC Press.  

 Lambert, J., 2012. Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community. Routledge, London, UNITED KINGDOM.