#I've been trying to learn and follow tutorials

[kirk-goes-to-gallifrey]

Twenty-Five Twenty-One Episode 5

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Month 8, day 8

By popular demand (translation: I asked @magical-game), I'm redoing the river scene! Let's see how much I've learned since the first time I did this :D

[crushedsweets]

CREEPED VISUAL NOVEL Link, tutorial, extra art, Q&A, some chatter

The CREEPED Prologue is completely free and browser-ready. Gameplay is about 10 minutes. Please read the "tutorial" and notes before playing!

Follow Y/N and their dog, Max, through their grandparents' farm and a mysterious forest filled with...less than fortunate people!

PLAY HERE; works best on PC

This visual novel is powered by GOOGLE SLIDES! It has 0 programming and was created by one person in a little over a month, so please bear with any "bugs" and clunkiness!

TUTORIAL

>Click using mouse/trackpad >Go slowly to not break game >Do not use arrow or space keys

EXTRA NOTES:

>Works best on PC/Browser, I haven't tested the full game on mobile yet >In general, clicking the PNGs on the textbox (Apple, Teddy Bear, Hatchet, etc) will lead you to the right page >If you land on a page that tells you to "go back," that's when you should click the back-arrow key. If your cursor disappears, it doesn't register the click correctly >I recommend moving your cursor periodically to avoid it disappearing and sending you to the wrong page

EXTRA ART

some WIPS and the original sprite-style i was gonna choose LOOOOOOOL

Q&A

Q: Is this an x reader? A: This is a reader-insert, but it's not romantic and I try to keep it as neutral and unidentifiable as possible! Q: What's the plot? A: GENERALLY AND WITHOUT SPOILERS, your dog gets you into trouble and you're just looking to help him!

Q: Who is in the prologue? A: Tim, Brian, Toby, and Kate! More will be added in future chapters.

Q: When will future chapters be posted? A: Not sure! This took me about a month to do, and half was spent over winter break. I will try to get chapter 1 posted before summer, but I am a full-time student, employed, have extracurriculars, etc etc

ok thats all i only remember 4 questions feel free to ask more LMAO

CHATTER(because you know i can talk forever)

ok i just wanted to be able to talk about how the process was with this and how i feel about the results and whatnot...

ive been wanting to make a google slides visual novel since i was like 13 LOL it hit the point where i was repeatedly told i should just learn to code but i was like NOOOOO ITS GOTTA BE GOOGLE SLIDESSSS which is totally stupid but hey. i think that gives it some sort of simple charm that reminds me of being 16 and doing little projects in my room LOL i like working with the easiest tools . my bad

anyway. im just very happy LOL. it's not perfect but i feel like i came full circle in a sense?!?! i've been into creepypasta since i was 9 and it comforted me when things were really hard, and when i was 18 i was going through a really hard time and got back into creepypasta as a way to distract myself. i've always had a habit of throwing myself into fiction for escapism when things suuucked.

i'm 20 now but i've met SO many amazing people, had so many fun awesome exciting projects with friends, created tons of stuff im proud of, felt more motivated to create since i was like 13, have been inspired by so many amazing artists/authors on here, etc. just so so so lucky to find community in such a tight-knit cute fandom that thrives off of creativity and playing around! i hope i can keep the momentum and make a couple more chapters this year, but im kinda busy with school and work...LOL . i'm just excited to have this posted so i can have more discussion about it T_T

anyway thank you if you read this far and thank you if you played etc etc yaahhhhhh omg ok BYE THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING im just so grateful to be in this fandom

[mysteryshoptls]

Vil Schoenheit Shared Lines

Tutorial: Stop dawdling, we should be off quickly.

Level Up 1: Not bad. I'll keep going like this.

Level Up 2: I've stepped it up to and even higher level.

Level Up 3 / Buddy Level Up: Don't you agree that there is merit to following me?

Level Max: It's all thanks to your dedication that I can shine brighter than I ever have been. Fufu...... Just watch. I'll become even more beautiful.

Vignette Level Up: Hmph, it looks like you've shaped up a little. I'll allow you to stand beside me as you are now.

Spell Level Up: Every rose has its thorns. But isn't that part of their appeal?

Friendship Level Up: When I’m with you, time just seems to fly by so quickly. It may be because I am so absorbed in our conversations. You’ve successfully kept me engaged, well done.

Friendship Level Max: Do you fully grasp just how much of a sin it is to monopolize my precious time like this? If a fan were to hear of this, they may faint from shock… Fufu. That is fun to imagine.

Uncapped: There is no limit to my growth potential. I'll shine sharper and more beautiful than I have yet.

Groovification: Oh my, I'm so sorry. I may have been too dazzling today.

Lesson Select 1: It's a waste to be so indecisive. Hurry and choose a class.

Lesson Select 2: Without the proper know-how, it's impossible to become top-class. Make sure to study properly.

Lesson Select 3: Whether I'm learning in the classroom, or during practical application, I always put forth my best effort. Let's give it our all.

Lesson Start: Can you afford to let your mind wander like that?

Lesson Finish: Well, I suppose this will do.

Battle Start: Face me with all your strength.

Battle Won: A foregone conclusion. You and I are on completely different levels.

Trouble 1: That wasn’t a very worthy opponent. What a waste of time.

Trouble 2: I’m not the type to leave things unfinished. If you challenge me to a fight, prepare yourself.

GIFT CALENDAR 2023: “How will you be spending the day?” I intend on picking up the spring coat I had on order. I’ll also look for accessories that go with it while I’m out. Hm? It’s too early to think about spring attire? If I wait to prepare everything for after it starts to get warmer, then I’ll completely miss out on the season.

Birthday Login Message 1: Did you come to celebrate my birthday? …Heh, how thoughtful of you. Now, sing praises of my beauty that leveled up higher with another year more.

Birthday Login Message 2: I can’t imagine why you’d call out to me like this… If it isn’t for anything important, I won’t forgive you. Don’t worry, I’m only kidding. Come, I’ll join you for a moment, so hurry and tell me what it is you need. I’m pretty sure I already have an inkling, anyway. Well, of course I figured it out! It’s written all over your face. So? Should I expect a grand celebration?

Birthday Login Message 3: [Yuu rushes at Vil and pops party popper] You look so proud of yourself… If you were trying to surprise me, that was an utter failure. I can completely see through you. Your lines were forced, and you didn’t even hide the party popper. I’d give you 20 points in terms of quality. If you want to successfully surprise me, it’s essential that you can act naturally. I’ll give you another chance next year, so make sure to practice.

Birthday Login Message 4: [Yuu pops party popper] Thank you for the birthday surprise. That was a rather elaborate one, too. I especially enjoyed how you tripped over your lines, despite the fact that you were lying in wait to ambush me for quite some time. That wasn’t on purpose? Obviously. If that was an act, it would be something worth scouting.

Birthday Login Message 5: You… want to be my assistant because it’s my birthday? Oh really, well, if you’re offering, then perhaps I’ll have you help with some of my club tasks. I’d like you to review our next script, specifically for typos and specific phrasing. If you notice anything else off, let Ortho know. …Also, aren’t you forgetting something? That’s right, I’m speaking of a birthday greeting. Come now… How could you forget the most important thing, little spud?

Requested by Anonymous.

[galedekarios]

plagiarism in the bg3 fandom

disclaimer: this post should not be taken as a springboard to harrass anyone involved.

-

as i've stated previously, i didn't want to make this post because i have a lot going on in real life, but i have been watching this being done to others and myself for months now and i can't not speak about my experience anymore.

laiostoudenn (prev urls: lathanderr/spellbooking/wizardblood on tumblr / circleofspores on bsky) is a plagiarist and he has a history of stealing from other creators like @minthara, @mercymaker, @onewingedangels and others.

in this post, i, finally and after much and long deliberation, want to add my voice to theirs.

i'll try to give a chronological overview of what happened as i have come to experience it, through others and myself, and as condensed as possible and to make it easier for myself to tell:

the story

i became aware of this new blog after he @ me and he messaged me. he's been following me. i was slow to engage because i have a lot of things going on in my real life that cost me a lot of energy during the day. i have also grown cautious of too quickly becoming close to strangers online. i became aware, however, that he had been doing this with multiple bigger creators in this space, like my friend @hawke, who is also a creator in the bg3 space, and who has experienced the same behaviour. they asked me if i knew him and i replied that i did not.

that was it for me at that point and i didn't engage much beyond that because i didn't know him and i thought nothing of it - until later.

during that time, whenever i saw his creations pop up increasingly, either in the tags or on my dash, i noticed more and more that they looked familiar to the works of others, from @minthara, to @mercymaker, to @onewingedangels and other creators, including myself.

it was then confirmed that i wasn't simply imagining things when, months ago, two creators were brave enough to speak up about the fact that he has been plagiarising gifsets and edits from them:

@minthara and @mercymaker:

@onewingedangels original set posted on 31st december 2023:

his set posted on 29th january 2024 (now deleted):

this was done without consent, and after he had already copied prior sets from @onewingedangels.

i would greatly recommend reading the posts shared above, and looking at the examples provided in it, so that you get a clear picture of what's happening here. it's not one isolated incident.

if you take a look at the notes in the post, you can also see other creators speaking about their experiences.

@minthara has recently also uploaded a google docs with the screenshots of the sets stolen from them because they either have been deleted, or lead to nothing due to now multiple url changes.

i was made aware today that he, following the first posts detailing @minthara and @mercymaker's experiences, apologised at first and admitted to what he's been doing on 31st march 2024:

but sadly, this wasn't to last, and the opportunity to learn and grow wasn't taken.

instead what happened was now painted as "bullying" from other creators, as "clique" behaviour and as "gatekeeping", despite many of us operating independently from each other. i, myself, have only started speaking to one other creator involved now that i have noticed the stealing and copying still ongoing.

i have in my time on this website never gatekept anything. i have shared metas, gifsets, creations, mods, art, tutorials, and many other things freely.

but back to the matter at hand: after he has been trying to ingratiate himself to me for some time now, following me, unfollowing me, and refollowing me again until i blocked him for my own mental health, i tried to remain civil before this point, engaging rarely if at all, hoping everything would go away on its own - which was a mistake in hindsight, i realise - i noticed that once again he's been lifting entire concepts and frame-by-frame gifs and sets from me.

things that he now claims - likely after he has been made aware of my prior personal posts and @minthara and @mercymaker's post circulating again by being reblogged by other people who have been affected) - were simply "remade" or "expanded" upon, that he may have been "subconsciously" influenced, while simultaneously claiming that he didn't know these sets existed in the first place, that he came up with the ideas independently, and that it's simply inevitable to use the same scenes because it's a limited game.

this doesn't hold up under scrutiny, however.

i want to make clear that i very much understand and that i am acutely aware that i do not own scenes and i do not own mods or outfits. however, what i do like to pride myself on is coming up with concepts and scene choices and captions accompanying these concepts that are unique, inspired by my metas, headcanons pertaining to gale and my own ocs altonaufein and karl, all of which i have seen copied by him several times now.

this is not as simple as simply gifing the same lines of dialogue from a scene as he and others supporting him are now postulating and i want to make that very, very clear.

another reason why this statement doesn't hold up under any scrutiny and, what ultimately confirmed my suspicion that he has been copying me, was when he - after the first post exposing his behaviour by @minthara and @mercymaker was made - reached out to me, asking if it it's ok to copy a gifset i made (note: again, this happened after he was called out for plagiarising the first time):

i didn't respond quickly enough, so he went ahead and posted it without waiting for my response (the response i gave him is pictured above and for transparancy, i responded about a day later bc of work and irl obligations).

below you can see the stolen post and what i managed to save from it:

the set was a 1:1 copy. he wanted a version for his oc so bad that he went ahead and stole my concept anyhow, without even waiting for the permission he asked for.

he went to take it down after my reply, made cautious most likely by his still fresh callout done in march 2024 by @minthara and @mercymaker, and i thought the issue was resolved and it wouldn't happen again, that he wouldn't take again without asking, despite having been told not only by myself, but by other creators as well, no. we are not comfortable.

but no. he "remade" the set, switching out gifs while complaining about how he "had to make it original":

my set in question was made on 1st february 2024, he reached out to me on 22nd april 2024 to "remake" the set. he is well aware of the existence of these ideas and concepts and sets he wants to copy, underlined by the need to ask for permission when it's simply too obvious to otherwise deny.

it's no coincidence.

like others have had the experience, i too noticed that he often would not engage with content he planned on stealing or did go through with stealing. he would sometimes present it as his own "remake" of a set he did, of another he was "inspired" or wanted to "expand upon", sometimes crediting, sometimes crediting someone largely unrelated, sometimes and, more often, not crediting.

as i mentioned above, this was not the first and not the only set/concept, which he copied from me - whether that was before asking or after asking, or not asking at all, if it was ok to copy.

i use this example mainly to show a clear pattern of behaviour that exists across the board: he takes concepts from other creators and inserts his own oc and/or favourite character into it because he wants a version of it so very badly. it does not matter if said creator might be hurt, if they told him no, or if they exposed his behaviour before. it doesn't matter how old the set is or how recent.

it is still going on today, the only difference is that he has stopped asking at all once again.

my story completely echoes that of @minthara and @mercymaker's.

concrete examples

i will now go into more detail about the concept sets he's been copying, include the caption or quote attached to it. i'm sorry that these will not be in chronological fashion. i will add at a later point, just like @minthara has done, a google document to better do side by side comparisons, highlight the similarities visually even more, and preserve some of the sets, which have now been deleted by him as recently as today:

the theme of hands in gale's romance

-> mine posted on 23rd september 2023

versus

-> his 1 posted on 24th february 2024

-> his 2 posted on 17th june 2024

i want to preface this by saying that the theme of hands was and still is incredibly important to story of my oc altonaufein and has concept of romance with gale. again, while i do not own these scenes, i wished to highlight a theme that i identified as poignant and profound within the relationship context. it's also why i added the poetry and quotes accompanying the set.

notice how even the caption format matches. the only thing lacking are my quotes / poems.

the format matches almost entirely: gifs from the same scenes (pulling gale out of the portal, the bench scene in an illusionary waterdeep, the astral sea scene, the boat scene, and more of the boat scene). the only thing that was added in this gifset are scenes that weren't available to me back then, namely the updated proposal scene, the kisses patches, and the epilogue as they came out well after i made my original gifset.

the second re-make even contains a gif that's not only the same minute detail of a larger scene - one that anyone who played gale's romance knows contains a multitude of other parts that could have been used - but also the same frames:

mine vs his:

i suppose adding that one to the original post with the same format i had chosen for mine would have made it too obvious, but that is only speculation.

gale + missing waterdeep/home

-> mine posted on 30th september 2023

versus

-> his (deleted on 18th july 2024) so i will have to include screenshots so you may compare:

same caption format, overlapping scenes chosen, only new additions are of content that wasn't available to me back when i first made my original set (the epilogue, kiss patches and proposal scene).

an attempt at "credit" even though he is only referencing my tags on an entirely separate set of a different creator, not the concept i came up with in my original set months prior.

and even though i have told him no before, just like others have told him no before.

i think it speaks volumes that this set is now, like some others, have been suddenly and coincidentally deleted.

gale of waterdeep vs gale dekarios

-> mine posted on 20th november 2023

versus

-> his posted on 13th may 2024

the concept is entirely the same, the scenes are largely overlapping, again, the caption format is almost entirely identical, with the sole difference of me including the full quote and devnotes as i'm wont to do.

gale + i love you

-> mine posted 16th september 2023

versus

-> his 2 (a "remake" of an "older" set of "his") posted on 13th may 2024

again, the concept is entirely the same, it's same caption format, the scenes largely overlap, some of the gifs added that were not available to me when i made my set (which, again, would include the epilogue, kisses patches, and the updated proposal scene).

mermay gale

-> mine posted on 13th may 2024

versus

-> his posted on 21st may 2024

it's the same concept again, the caption format is similar, it's the same setting (camp at baldur's gate), the same armour, the same armour tint, the same 3/4 pose except mirrored, and, this time, his tags were inspired too:

my tag: #i have the worst art block still and virtually no time but i still wanted to do smth for mermay so have this

his tag: #i can't do art so heres my mermay contribution i guess

copied oc post

-> mine posted on (likely) 30th september 2021

versus

-> his originally posted on may 7th 2024, which has also now been deleted on 18th july 2024:

the only thing different was the font. sadly, i deleted my oc post since i have redesigned some of them and wanted to make an updated version of it in the future.

thankfully i found the link on my friends blog, @ayrennaranaaldmeri.

as you can see, all of these happened after the first cases of plagiarism and after i personally told him that i'm not comfortable with him "remaking" my concept sets as his.

conclusion

there are many other sets that i suspect have been copied or plagiarised, i want to remain objective, however, and include the ones i feel are the most damning examples, supported by the fact that he has been deleting some of them today while again, trying to set up his narrative to his audience.

again, i want to highlight the pattern is here with him. my post is not the first, my suspicious are the first.

he knows what he is doing wrong, highlighted by the fact of trying to ask for permission, by deleting sets in question, by, at first, apologising, whilst now talking about "gatekeeping", "bullying", "inevitable repeats of scenes", "taking inspiration", "scrolling by", being "subconsciously" influenced, etc.

as a conclusion, i can say nothing more on this topic other than that i'm very sad. it doesn't give me joy. it stressed me immensely then and it still does now. i wish he'd have taken the already admitted wrong-doing to heart and grown from it, instead of attempting to change the narrative and doubling down on his past behaviour, not examining what he has done and is doing several times over by now.

i have blocked him now, as have done many others, and will not engage further with him. we have been through this before and at this point, i don't think he will change.

what i do very much hope, however, is that this is the last i hear of this happening.

edit:

updated the links to lead to his "archive" so you can access the stolen sets that he still hasn't deleted and seems to have no intentions of doing so.

[fibernati]

The crochet hook case is finally here!!!

This is my very first crochet project. I made it using two different yarns: Barroco nº 4 (the grey one) and Duna (the green one), both by a Brazilian brand called Círculo. Using the 3.0mm hook. And, it took me about 3~4 days to finish. [you can find the project diary here and here]

At the end of the project, I gave up on making two more pockets and made just one. The one without a closure. The fourth one was supposed to go above the bigger pocket, but I thought it wasn't necessary because I don't have that many things to store.

I sewed the hook holder based on the size of my hooks, but they hadn't arrived yet when I crocheted this part, so I ended up following the original measurement and then I regretted it, because as you can see below, there's a piece left over that's no use, it's simply a raised flap. Besides, if you look at the photo above, you'll see that I sewed it on crooked. Everything here is crooked, that okay.

I also gave up on making a pendant for the drawstring because I wanted a flower and I couldn't make one. I asked my mom, and she couldn't make the flower either, so in the end I said let it go, let's keep it simple and it's useful, it achieves the purpose to close the case so I'm fine with that.

Here you can see the things I wish I had done differently. The leftover tab, and the buttons.

These buttons were made from improvisation, because I still don't understand the concept of the magic circle, and they turned out okay, but I sewed them on in a way that, after a few days of closing and opening, made me realize that at some point they will fall off.

So, I'm going to need new bottons and honestly, I can just buy them?? I wish I had thought about it before.

Basically, this is my first project and I hope to use this case for a long time. Now, let's talk about the feelings about make it, the expectations, the frustations and also the tips and cumpliments!!!

Just showing you what I'm storing in each pocket. That one without closure it's empty for now.

As I said before, I started out thinking I was going to follow a tutorial, but I let the project take me and did what I thought would be best for my personal use and to match my personality.

It was a fun project to do, but I'm also very aware of what I would have liked to have done and what I actually did. Not that they are VERY far apart, but learning to crochet for just one week (two now!), I did the best I could with what I had and it's better than not having made anything at all.

During the whole process, the thing that bothered me most was that it turned out crooked. Everything was simply crooked and I didn't know how to fix it, I redid it and it was still crooked, so I gave up and left it crooked.

One tip I was given was to use stitch markers at the beginning and/or end of each row, because that would help me get everything straight. And I'm definitely going to use that for my next project. They also gave me color suggestions and a tutorial on how to make an easy flower. I'm going to try again, but I need to buy the suggested colors before I do that!!!

My friends encouraged me a lot while I was doing it, and every time I said it was crooked, they lied to me. Which was really nice of them, because I have ADHD and I don't know how to deal with frustration, so there were times when I wanted to give up because it didn't look the way it should be in my head.

The people who know how to crochet and have seen this case, both here on Tumblr or in real life, have been lovely to me. They know it has flaws and I know they know it has flaws, but the messages were all saying that yes, it's a bit wonky, but that with practice, I'll be able to make better things and even if it's not perfect now, I've done a good job and shouldn't be hard on myself!

It's cute, it's useful, it's my favorite colors and they match with me, so, yes I'm very proud of my crooked hook case. 10/10 🎉✨

[yamsgarden]

Ohhhhh do you have any favorite blender tutorials? TBH lately I've been wanting to try but got overwhelmed with where to start!

ooo yes of course dear blender fellow friend

BUT

ideally if you know the basics how to naviagte in the program, i super recommend doing 3D Greenhorn's exercises

They are fast, efficient, go straight to the point and explain every single moves they make

You end up with very cute and simple exercises

super satisfying and it only makes you want to make more and more. You learn tons of new shortcuts and techniques, in super fun and intriguing way

As much as the Donut exercise is popular, i rly don't think it's the best to start personally. It's a bit logn and slow and you lose the rythm with how long the lessons are...

I never really picked up Blender, until I followed specifically 3D Greenhorn's exercises. My skils just sky rocketed after

And, this all for free☝️

by following their exercise, i could create these little guys aaa and i'm still so happy about them... Unlike my Maya projects I look at in SHAMEEE

it's already been 5 years since i started and i honestly could have never gotten where i am without their help

and it's super fun how you have the choice to try to reproduce exaclty their lessons, or take some liberty as you go. You can repeat as many times as you need

AAAAA i talk too much, but hope that can help

[sixofclovers]

saw your recent post (cool as shit btw that's really incredible) but I have to ask if you like ENA Dream BBQ?? I would not be surprised if that game's animation was inspired off of you or vice versa

Anyway, how did you learn to animate? I've tried once or twice but have been to intimidated to actually start. I can draw still images but I feel like it's witchcraft when you animators actually make them move

Thanks so much! I have to say I'd never heard of ENA Dream BBQ before (not much of a gamer, that is a random string of words to me) but a few others have mentioned it too- I can see the similarities! No association as far as I know tho haha, but it looks really cool

I started animating just before UNI and did it for my undergrad, but didn't engage in the environment tbh- I honestly learned to animate by sitting down and animating, I know that's the lame common answer but you really learn the most by doing. I've just started my masters (after 6 years away from school and a whole new attitude) and still have sooo much to learn (exciting). I also began animating in toonboom (a bit intimidating) but apps like flip-a-clip, procreate, even clip studio paint are great for getting a feel for frames and timing, keeping it simple helped me

To actually start out I'd recommend doing studies and the basics, do some small exercises on Disney's 12 principles of animation, do the bouncing ball, try a walk cycle, follow a tutorial you like on YT, do some life drawing. If you can draw still images draw two in different poses and start by adding a single drawing between them to see how it moves, how the timing feels. When you get sick of that try animating your fave character with their hair blowing in the wind, blinking, something small and fun to reset :) Especially if you can already draw it can feel demoralising to not be as good when you first start animating, but that just means you have a good foundation

I also think it helps to enjoy the process, though it can be tedious or frustrating. I know people make jokes about it being a pain but it's like bringing something to life, its awesome. And try to find some pride in whatever you make because you'll have learned so much to improve next time

This was my first animation over 10 years ago, I watched that A Lullaby for Gods and loved it so much I tried my own. You don't have to share your work cause I know that can feel vulnerable, but make what you like and keep what you make hasn't steered me wrong yet :)

[elderwisp]

i still think about your ares edit almost daily - the one where he’s 💦 wet 💦 - and i know you mentioned that you were trying out some new things from tutorials

if you don’t mind… what are some of your fave blender tutorials/tutorial makers?

THE EMOJI I'M DEAD

ok so i have like a combobulation of knowledge and i've tested out cycles and eevee! i don't have a preference just yet because they perform different things, i think of it more like using a pen or a pencil, it just depends on the occasion! but here's a list of different tuts, tut makers and even a discord!

⋆｡°✩ the first is @nepotisim's blender haven discord! there are different tutorials as well as a help section but you can learn finer details!

⋆｡°✩ i used this video to introduce me to rendering and the basics. once i was comfortable, i followed this video and it's just a tad bit more in depth!

⋆｡°✩ @salemssimblr has a tumblr dedicated to blender tut/tips and tricks! I learned about environmental lighting here! Ash has also been super helpful in any questions I've had!

⋆｡°✩ @sikoi has a speedrun edit! it's cool to see everyone's process

⋆｡°✩ @missatan has a skin tutorial as well as a bunch of other tutorials!

⋆｡°✩ also! i just stumbled upon @wistfulpoltergeist's tutorials!

also also! a big thank you to everyone listed in this ask! ˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

[nei-ning]

Gonna rant a bit. I saw one set of beautiful anthro arts on another website. Sadly they were done in AI. I did left a comment, complimenting how beautiful these arts were but how sad it made me that they were AI arts.

The artist themselves was kind and polite, telling they use AI because they want to learn and be able to make game arts one day (but they too, apparently, with AI so...)

But then there was another user, AI "artist" too who replied to me that there's absolutely NO ARTIST who can draw anthros with detailed fur, goat like arm, lights, colors etc without editing or photoshopping. On the whole planet, absolutely none! This person clearly don't believe in people's skills when it comes on arts. Heck, I followed one artist on DA who drew ALL her arts traditionally and she drew, and still does, SUPER DETAILED FURRY ANTHROS! No photoshop, editing, nothing digital. Just her hands, paper and a set of color pencils.

Also, if people's art skills wouldn't had been amazing back in the days through mankind, we wouldn't have cave paintings, old amazing paintings or sculptures, ALL DONE BY HANDS IN TRADITIONAL WAY. NO AI, NO PHOTOSHOP OR EDITING.

Humans can learn amazing skills if they only want to. AI artists, maybe not all, just wants to take the easiest way / be lazy (and get lots of likes - like that other person who straight forward said it. That he uses AI to create furry arts to get hundreds of likes).

They also mocked my style / arts, saying they are not good enough to be used in AI arts - yet.

Like what the actual fuck?! I am pissed! I don't even want my arts to be used in AI arts by some lazy idiot (or at all). At least I draw EVERYTHING in my arts, from first sketch line to the last shade / light. Surely my skills are not as good as they could be. After all I'm self-taught, not gone in art school like some have. Not to mention I draw for fun, I draw to bring joy to my watchers, I draw therapy arts to myself, I like to keep my style easy and simple. My arts are a hobby, not professional thing or to fish a lot of likes. If my arts can make someone's day a bit better, then I've done my job! I never haven't taken my arts or skills too seriously, trying to improve them to the top.

Is there times when I wish I would put more effort to my arts, learn and study more, becoming better? Absolutely! But do I bother? Not really. Like I said, this is a hobby. I know I would burnout myself if I would start to force and pressure myself to do better, to learn more, to improve my skills. I mean I struggle to draw even now!

I do have some saved tutorials on Pinterest what I would like to try, yes, but still not in a way like if I would have a fire under my ass.

[toskarin]

how did you get started making music, tools-wise?

I've talked about this a bit before and I don't necessarily recommend doing this, so skip the following two paragraphs and go right to the one under the break if you actually want the method I recommend

I lied to a girl I liked from my school and told her that, because I could play guitar I could also play piano, so I could teach her to play piano. both of these statements were lies.

I had to panic and learn both guitar and piano one week ahead of the lessons I was giving her as an excuse to hang out. so I self-taught in a haze of panic and "maybe she'll like me" (she did not) (but she kind of did) (but she was bicurious) (but she was wishy-washy on if she wanted to get together and her parents didn't like me) (and her parents were homophobic) (I think she might have texted me at one point years down the line to tell me she had a girlfriend but it was after I deleted our text history and I'm chronically unable to remember to put people's names into my contacts so who knows)

but that's all an aside. that's a bad method.

anyway if you want to start making music in earnest, doing what I did when I got serious about making songs instead of trying to impress girls whose parents wanted to destroy me with their minds here's a better answer

go acquire FL Studio. it's apparently really easy to do this because people have been acquiring it for years, or so I've heard. FL is good for learning because you've got 20 years worth of free tutorials available to you on youtube to dig through and plenty of stock vsts to play with out of the box

FL Studio is, realistically, the only tool you actually need to start making music. you could get away with less, but it's what I used, and as long as you don't pick up Specific Bad Habits, your experience with it will transfer to other DAWs if you decide to switch it later

that's all, really

if you go this route, the golden rule I'm going to impart on you right now is that you need to have a limiter on your songs. the default FL studio song templates have one, so you should keep it until you know enough to know why you might adjust something like that

it doesn't matter if it sounds fine in the editor without a limiter. everyone thinks it's not a big deal at the time, but as you get more experienced, there's literally nothing short of getting in legal trouble that you'll regret more than realising that your old work is almost entirely unsalvageable because you didn't put a limiter on it and now half of the audio is just lost data to clipping

I'm gonna put a few more recommendations for things I've used, just so you can consider them if you need something else to chew on. everything past this point is entirely optional and you'll do just fine with FL Studio alone. in fact, probably don't worry about everything below the line

-=-

items marked with [F] are free.

DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATIONS THAT AREN'T FL

for tracker-based editing and chiptunes, use Renoise. you'll either love or hate trackers, and while they have a steeper learning curve than piano roll DAWs, they might come more naturally to you. I personally think that Renoise is a lot of fun to use. it kinda has an "addictive" quality to it, as funny as that is to say

for quickly sketching songs, use [F]Jummbox. it's an html workstation (multiplatform!) that writes your sketches to a url, meaning it's pretty easy to collaborate on musical sketches. Jummbox is good for making chiptune style instrumentals, but what makes it especially accessible is the fact that it works on a piano roll system, which will be familiar to you if you're working in FL

for writing sheet music, I recommend starting with [F]Musescore. I'll warn you right now that there aren't really any good notation editors and you're making lesser-of-evils decisions when you pick any of them, but it's probably the best compromise out there right now. it's the one I use when I need to hand something to a physical musician. you can also export pieces as midi, although there's better ways to do that lol

-

VSTs

if you can acquire Pianoteq, do that. if you feel uncomfortable with acquiring it, [F]Keyzone Classic is free and can sound pretty nice with a bit of work, but you really have to learn to work with it

if your workstation can handle it performance-wise, go pick up [F]Vital - Spectral Warping Wavetable Synth. there's tons of free presets for this out there and it sounds good. cool synth. Serum: Advanced Wavetable Synthesizer is also good and has plenty of presets, but it's on the pricy side, so consider how comfortable you are with [finding a friend to buy it for you]

[F]Decent Sampler doesn't do much out of the box, because it's just a tool for playing sample banks, but if you go to [F]Pianobook, you can find tons of weird and fun sample packs of just about everything you can imagine. sounds derived from folk instruments, industrial equipment, lego sets, stylophones, choirs, whatever. incredibly useful.

Valhalla VintageVerb. this is the reverb plugin. you want this one. [F]Valhalla Super Massive is also good but it's more focused on alien-sounding reverb effects and enormous spaces, so it's kind of got a niche use case and you should be a little careful with it

if you've heard a lo-fi hip hop song on youtube, it probably used [F]iZotope Vinyl. this one can save you a lot of time if you're going for that sound because it comes with all the little vinyl flourishes outside of compression (like dust crackling) that you'd otherwise have to add yourself

[F]Genny VST is advertised as giving a genesis/megadrive sound, but what actually makes it shine is that it's an actual synth emulating the YM2612 and SN76489 sound chips. this means you can create your own sounds that work within those specs, which is a lot of fun! definitely beats just using samples, if you ask me

-

HARSH VSTS THAT I PERSONALLY LIKE BUT WHICH ALSO MIGHT !!HURT!! YOU. SO BE VERY CAREFUL USING THESE.

[F]Tritik Krush is a bitcrushing plugin. it does a good job of bitcrushing and downsampling. I use it a lot in my songs, but you've really gotta know how to keep this one under control, because it's fully capable of making painful sounds on accident and can completely devour your mix

[F]FSA Latcher is a gorgeous noisebox. it screams in horrible ways and makes dying machine noises in various colours. this is the musical equivalent of working with radioactive material, so be extremely careful using this in anything you don't want to hurt the listener's ears

girlfriend just told me I have to recommend [F]Noise Engineering Ruina to you if I'm making a category with this heading. I don't personally use it, but she likes it (she's better at music than I am) and it's free, so you should go pick it up. "it annihilates sounds very deliciously" (maybe I should use it)

-

hope that helps a bit!

[civilotterneer]

Civsuit V2: Checkpoint Reached!

The Civ head is real!

This has been a very enlightening process! I learned a ton doing this and am excited for the future of my journey in fursuit making!

My honest opinion: it definitely doesn't look the way I'd like it, and there were plenty of errors along the way. Chief among is the head shape, eye size, and my furring job. I almost think I need to work on making the hair look better, though I'm surprised it came out as well as it did! This does give me a ton of things I can do to improve the eventual Head V2, and I've already been taking notes on what to do next time.

However, to give myself a pat on the back: for a person who has in the past said that I have very few soft physical art skills*, this is insanely good I'd think for a literal first attempt at making a fursuit head. I did my best to stick to my skills and use 3D printing to my advantage, and I think next time I'll try and build in even more "artistic assistance" to the printed head.

And luckily, I was able to get it done before the move! I can, in good conscience, put this project down and focus on moving now (I hate pausing projects since I usually come back with much less motivation).

Next on the list of to-dos: the body suit! Which is actually broken down into smaller parts of feet paws, hand paws, etc. That's work I'll begin next year after the move is all done and I can focus in my new workshop space!

Thanks everyone for following my progress on this, and comments, suggestions, critiques are greatly appreciated! If you wanna critique something or are more curious about how I made a specific part or did a specific step, you can check these earlier posts or just ask me! If ya wanna ask, I suggest sending it as an ask so the entire class can see!

Head with eyebrows

Furring

Eyes and Foam

3D Printed Base

3D Printed Base Initial Testing

*Soft physical art skills: any kinda art where the tutorial has a "just shape it until its' right" kinda step, I.E. free handing, doing it by artistic eye, etc.

*Hard art skills: any kind of art where I can use tools like mirror modifiers, math, or computer-aided physical arts like 3D printing.

[stinglesswasp]

Hi! First of all, I think your art is gorgeous and honestly whatever words I put here, they will never be able to do your art justice. I love your visual storytelling! Now for the actual ask part. How could one start learning how to draw? I have a STEM background and I have wrestled many times before with the idea of trying to pick up drawing and every time I see content creators, such as you, posting their works, it makes me even more motivated to get some scenarios out of my head and place them on paper. Right now I do it in writing but I would love to do something graphic about it too. Problem is, it can feel overwhelming to start as there are so many resources and stuff and it can feel like a daunting task. So, how did you start drawing?

Thank you so much and I hope you will always keep your passion for this craft alive and well. Be it CoD or anything else.

Hi, thank you for your kind words! I've been drawing since I was a wee baby wasp, but anyone can start at anytime. You're absolutely right that it can feel overwhelming, but I love that you're motivated! That's honestly half the battle. I can give some general advice:

Start small, like really small… I know it's tempting to immediately jump into drawing your favourite blorbos smooching (yes, this is the entire point of being an artist) but it's like exercise, you need to build muscle bit by bit before you can attempt any ambitious goals. Draw very basic shapes like circles, squares, triangles, followed by spheres, cylinders, prisms. Try to rotate/stretch/skew/slice them in your mind's eye and draw the result. Draw some simple objects around you. You'll find that all objects, including complex organic forms, can be broken down into basic shapes. Here's an example of the types of exercises you can try: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6F5q_5HC3o

There are beginner's tutorials on every aspect of drawing, I'd recommend spending a chunk of time in each area, learning fundamentals like perspective, proportions, and lighting. There are easy rules that you can follow that will make your art look 'correct' and not 'wonky' which might happen if you try to wing it without really understanding what you're doing. This video (though more advanced) has tons of useful advice and a fantastic guideline to follow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T_-DiAzYBc (in fact I think this is one of the best art 'tutorials' ever 🤯)

Be patient with yourself!! Your brain literally needs time to grow new neurons because you're learning a new skill. It can be frustrating to be unable to draw what you're imagining, but go easy and build up a strong foundation first. The more solid this is, the more satisfied you'll be when you finally tackle the stuff you actually want to make.

I hope this was helpful! Just practice a lot, have fun, and be proud of your progress 🧡 (also, sit with good posture, stay hydrated and take regular breaks <3)

[celestial-sphere-press]

That National Geographic leather binding for Yellowstone is fucking Gorgeous!!! (Pardon my Language)

How long have you been binding, and what would you recommend to someone who wants to try it for themselves?

hello and thank you so much!! I worked really hard on that one (and no pardon needed haha)!

I started binding in February of 2021, which means in a few months I'll have reached 4 years. It's been an awesome journey!!

If you'd like to try it for yourself, I'd recommenda few things!

1) You can 100% try out the basics with near free or cheap materials. People typeset in Word or Google Docs or Pages. You can print on printer paper & use regular sewing thread & scavenge board from old books or notebook backs or do a limp leather binding & use no boards at all. You can make paper pamphlets. Any comments I make following this are about my preferences for best results. The most expensive part that cannot be avoided is printing. On the other hand expenses can wildly escalate if you're committing to it; once you are doing leather it becomes somewhat unavoidably expensive.

2) Check out some tutorials from SeaLemon or DAS Bookbinding on YouTube for the physical construction. SeaLemon is really clear for a beginner starting out, but then I'd move to DAS for better technique (DAS also has a beginner series though). I watched DAS Bookbinding videos for three weeks straight before I was able to start, & while that doesn't maybe work out for everyone I do think it gave me a pretty strong basis of understanding for structural techniques. DAS is *really* good at explaining why he thinks you should do something. The structure of the NatGeo bind is basically DAS's video on a rounded & backed bradel binding (but with leather & sewn on recessed cords). There is some good stuff on Tiktok/IG, but watch short-form videos/reels with caution. They move a little fast and I've seen a couple give instructions that can result in structural flaws (not that this is unique to the form, cross-referencing on instructions from any source is a good practice). They are good for if you're looking for a specific technique (particularly modern decorative ones, like cricut use, edge gilding, HTV application). There are also published books you can buy or maybe request through your library, such as Hollander's Introduction to Bookbinding. Renegade Bookbinding Guild runs a whole bunch of technique-specific in-house zoom classes annually.

3) Look to other fanbinders for tutorials on how to format the text (this is because most pro bookbinders do not do both text design & book creation! it's a pretty unique feature of fanbinding). @renegadeguild has some publically provided resources on our website here and more typesetting tutorials for a whole host of softwares (Affinity Publisher is my choice - one time purchase, fuck you very much Adobe InDesign) located in the discord server. Anyone 18+ can join the Discord. The NatGeo inspired book (text & dust jacket) was created in Affinity Publisher.

4) Join a community of fanbinders! It's really lovely. The space has exploded & there are tons of people to be friends with, trade tips, & cheer each other on. I'm part of @renegadeguild and we do a whole bunch of events throughout the year, and we have an in-person retreat every other year. I've met with over 20 different renegaders so far, in three different countries, and it's been such a blast. Definitely the community helps keep up the motivation. Renegade isn't the only community out there though! There's groups more rooted in IG/tiktok circles that have their own discords, plus a number of FB groups. I do think most people who are comfortable on tumblr enjoy Renegade's vibe.

5) While I learned most of what I do online, some things really benefit from in-person learning. If you want to do leather binding I would really recommend trying to take an in-person class. I did two attempts at a leather binding on my own before I decided to hold off until I'd had at least one in-person class. Leather binding can be extremely frustrating, especially when you can easily end up with a book that looks worse than a cloth binding at your same skill level but for double the cost. Imo this is mostly because the leather specific skills like paring, warp management, and assessing a random piece of leather for bookbinding suitability are all pretty tactile experiences, all of which are difficult to assess through a screen and can result in an unpleasantly bulky/stiff/shapeless book if ignored. For example- while this book of mine is a pretty popular post, I don't enjoy holding it and reading it, especially in contrast to the NatGeo bind. Part of this was the material I chose; part was not being able to adhere to the instructions quite well enough; part was just not knowing enough about what I was doing; part is they're different constructions. This might just be a me thing though; I'm sure others have had success with online only tutorials for leather.

6) I'm not going to get into specific tools bc that could be a whole post, but some things are necessary (printer access), some things are necessary depending on style, some things are "makes life easier but only drop the money if it's stopping you from making books out of frustration", some things are just technique-specific tools. Examples - sewing frames are often brought up but are never necessary unless sewing on cords; cricuts & cutting machines are commonly used in fanbinding circles but I don't have one (& don't intend to atm).

7) Don't be shy to offer the author a copy!! Like other fan activities, fanbinding is part of our fandom community ecosystem. Your fanbinding is in communication with the author's story. Giving a bind to the author is a great way of keeping the ecosystem going. I tend to think of binds as a combo of comment, fic rec, and fan art inspired by the fic.

8) Paper grain sounds stupid but it IS IMPORTANT! My personal hierarchy of give-a-fuck for grain: Board grain, spine card grain, endpaper grain, cover paper grain, text block grain, book cloth grain. The only thing I personally sometimes ignore is book cloth grain; but many people will not worry too much about text block paper grain.

Gonna stop there for now. If you've got specific questions or want elaboration, feel free to ask. As with all things, YMMV, this is my own opinions/experience and may not apply in all cases. There's a whole lot of different techniques out there, and it's hard to ever say something is wrong, per se - but I think it's important to understand if a method has an outcome you may want to avoid. Prioritize your goals & adapt for them - what's your goal? Longevity, readability, aesthetics? You might make different choices depending on them. My choices influence the techniques I chose to focus on, the tools I buy, and thus the final aesthetic of my binds.

[plurralthiing]

Greetings! To start of: I ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOUR ARTSTYLE!!! the way the characters look both round/softer yet very adorable, the color scheme, the way you render and so much more!!!

Sorry if this is a bit intrusive but... may you kindly with cherries on top give a lil' tutorial on how you do anatomy? If you want to do it of course...

HI GWAAHHH THANK YOU WHAT !

sacondly..... not intrusive at all!!! i'd be happy to explain (im praying you can follow along though cause im horrid at explaining stuff ashdfkahsdf)

im predicting this post will be EXTREMELY long so it will be under a cut :]

play this in the bg for the Full Experience if you want /silly /not forced

OK SOOOO the way i've learned to draw anatomy is by viewing the body as a bunch of "building blocks". this is honestly the way i've learned to draw like. everything (everything is just made of shapes if you look hard enough!!!!!), but anatomy and organic things in general are a big more complicated in the sense that these shapes connect in really weird ways and sometimes (often, depending on the style) can't just be summarized as "circle" and "square"

the way i view bodies is like this! the numbers are mainly there to show the order in which *i* place these blocks, but by no means is this the order anyone has to follow! fuck up the numbers if you want!!!! start from 6 and head to 1 if you want!! whatever makes you happy :]

but after this base sketch is done, you can basically continue drawing details like clothes, facial expressions, hair, etcetc, and soon you can have your very own gay man like the one here (or. whatever youre drawing)! (you'll also notice i tweaked the arm on the left a bit cause it was messing with me)

obviously though theres other body types out there! and luckily this "building block" thing also applies there too!

(drawing armor is also a series of building blocks as well except its less organic and more rigid/shape-y and requires a prayer to the god you hold dear)

(not very well drawn to scale cause i forgor)

you can draw all kinds of bodies if you view the body as just a series of shapes! obviously, your own personal style may impact how many shapes you see/draw, especially for more realistic styles, but generally i view em like this!

for especially complex poses, especially ones that involve perspective, its good to try to view the shapes in a more "3d" way. you can always grab a throwaway canvas/paper and practice some perspective on the side with some super simple shapes! (like how you mightve drawn 3d cubes n stuff on a 1-point or 2-point perspective plane when you were in like 6th grade or smthn i havent been to high school in years i dont remember what the grade is) drawing on the side, especially when you dont take it super serious and just kinda dick around, helps you learn a surprising amount :] if you dont get it down the first time, thats all good! there's always the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 500th, 1 billionth, fucktillionth time you can do it :]

as for digitigrade/furry stuff, as well as more specific parts of the body (looking at you HANDS.), they also follow the building block stuff, just kinda in a really weird way!!

as much as i love to draw him, beenilla is literally just a mess of limbs and stuff and it takes a long ass time to draw him sometimes (especially with unique poses), but he also follows the general "building block" stuff too! his is more pronounced since his arms have visible joints, and are more divided into basically a bunch of ovals and circles, but the shapes thing still applies!

for hands and paws, they also do as well (again, just about everything out there is made up of simple shapes!). they definitely take! practice to learn! drawing them can be a pain in the ass but learning them is very worth it :] i personally only draw characters with 4 fingers since its easier for me to do (who needs the pinkie anyways)!

a good thing to check out as well are references from real life *and* studying from other artists and analyzing their works and how they use certain techniques! a majority of what ive learned is from analyzing other artists actually, it's incredibly fun to see how different artists do different things and how they execute them! speedpaints can be wonderful sources of learning for this reason :]

lastly, FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM SO SERIOUS sticking with the same old stuff may reinforce the skills you're practicing, but NEVER be afraid of doing new things or diving into new styles and trying a new pose! sure it may look like jank the first couple of times around, but that is the learning process!!!!!!!!!!! to learn new things requires you to *do* new things, and i think theres always time to learn! thats why i think art is such a fun wonderful subject, cause you learn so much from it!!!!!!!!! and you can just do fuckin ! whatever!! just start doin stuff!!!!

i have to leave for work rn so im ending this really abruptly im so sorry but YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my weird tutorial i hope it made sense ajshdfkahsd

[calebslittlecrow]

There is no wrong or right way to shift. No tutorial that everyone will follow and shift with. No magic spell, no method, nothing will work for every single person the same way. Your shifting journey is yours... and yours alone. It's personal and I think, in my opinion, the ideal approach to any shifting journey is experimenting. Yes, it maybe takes a while to find what works for you. A lot of trying stuff that won't work for you, a lot of dropping stuff, learning stuff and forgetting about it again and again. Find stuff that works for you. That 1 tiny step from that method, the 2 steps from another, that low view subliminal no one seems to listen to that works really well for you. You know enough, you are enough, trust me. There is nothing new being said about shifting. I've caught posts on Amino from between 2018 to 2020 saying nearly the exact same thing that is currently going around in the community. We've been telling each other the same fucking shit for years (not meant in a mean way). We know enough. You can't pour more water into an already full glass, it will not get any fuller. Just try a bunch of shit out, mix and match like it's a party, yeet what doesn't resonates with you and roil your eyes when someone tells you "you NEED to do this and that", because you don't need anything. Only yourself and what you feel like will work for you. I believe in you and now go and get to your DR (つ≧▽≦)つ