#Illustrating for the press is kinda fun

[heuffopla]

Another illustration of mine was recently published in the french newspaper CQFD, this time for an article about afrofeminism in Marseille!

(one on top is the one that got picked after some changes, version on the bottom was the first pass for it, I quite like both)

[meiliarotten]

i need the insight of the tf2 smut expert (complimentary) on this one... which of the mercs prefers tits and which one prefers ass?

First off- I am honored to be considered the tf2 smut expert. Now- on to the ultimate question.

🍑 or 🍒?

🔞MINORS DNI🔞

The Masterlist

👟 Scout 👟

Oooooh I had to ponder this one for a long while. Now, I personally headcanon Scout as bi (like me), so I finally decided he likes both, but specifically tits for women and ass for men. If you’re non-binary it’s a coin toss. As in he’ll probably literally flip a damn coin.

🦅 Soldier 🦅

My reasoning here literally had me looking up muscle groups in the human body. Soldier strikes me as a man attracted to strength. Literally look at Zhanna. She definitely pegs him and he’s not ashamed of it. As such, I think he’s an ass man- largest muscle in the body, y’know? Yeah. My high school biology teacher would be proud to see what I’m doing with that hard earned education.

🔥 Pyro 🔥

Pyro likes any squishable soft part of your body- tits, ass, belly, it’s all fair game, but if they had to choose, they would go with tits. They’re the easiest to squeeze if they hug you from behind, they like the way they feel when you’re cuddling and they���re pressed up against them, big or small, breasts are just perfect! Plus, if you have an especially sensitive chest, Pyro will definitely take full advantage of that during foreplay

💥 Demo 💥

For Demo, it comes down to what’s easiest to grab in the moment- and that tends to be your ass. It’s easy to give it a quick squeeze in the corner of a bar or even in passing on the battlefield, just to tease you a bit- tits aren’t nearly as subtle. So yeah, it’s ass all the way for this one.

🥊 Heavy 🥊

I struggled with this for a long while but I finally settled on tits. Heavy is much bigger than most of his lovers, and so he prefers for them to ride on top so that they can take him at their own pace. This position makes it pretty easy for him to caress your chest or simply watch the way your tits bounce as you ride him. It’s a view he can’t get enough of!

🔧 Engie 🔧

Ass. I had to consult a fellow smut expert on this one cause I was stuck, and they’re reasoning basically boils down to a particular smutty scenario where Engie bends you over his desk and goes to town- hence resulting in the ass preference. I also personal feel like he wouldn’t be shy about spanking either.

🏥 Medic 🏥

Assl Tits. THIGHS. I will perish on this hill, Medic is a thigh appreciator above all else. Mans will go down on you for hours just to be cushioned between a pair of thighs. He’ll leave bite marks on the soft flesh. A pair of thigh high stockings will fucking slay him, as illustrated in this fic by lil ol me.

🦘 Sniper 🦘

Ass for sure. This might have something to do with the “wild man” energy Sniper gives off. Something about him just screams feral, and that includes taking you ass up and face down whenever the mood arises.

🌹 Spy 🌹

Tits, especially if they’re accentuated with some fancy lingerie. Spy will gladly worship your chest if you want him to. He’ll even buy you outfits that show off your curves with plunging necklines just for him to admire you in. Kinda like a sugar daddy

So yeah, those are my hot takes on what each merc prefers. You want a source? My source is that I made it the fuck up

Jk, this is all in good fun, and I’d love to see y’all’s opinions as well! These are the discussions we should be having, people!

[swifty-fox]

HI so for the mota hockey au:

any out of pocket viral moments of the boys? magazine photoshoots press tours etc what are they like? are clegan out and proud or are they more like go on keep guessing?

Bucky has a LOT of notable moments. He's just a teenage girl and puberty is so hard it makes him so hormonal.

He gets sent to the penalty box for BLATANT hooking one time which is a pretty iconic out of pocket moment you dont really get tendys serving penalties. usually another play subs in for their penalty but refs are prob like Fuck you Bucky you're such a menace you pay the price.

He drops the gloves with a rival teams goon that absolutely boards the fuck out of Gale a la Scheifele/Evans hit. Normally we love a good Goaltender fight but this hit was too scary. people still take notice bc they're like look at Bucky defending his BOY

John is a very Seguin type character. As I mentioned he has a similarly nude sports illustrated photoshoot. But also very messy party phase with Curt much like Segs and Marchy

theyre messy bitches who know how to have fun okay.

He's got a LOT of really famous soundbites, just the most out of pocket shit professional yapper w the cameras fr. it's mostly him hitting on Curt and Gale. There's a mic'd up clip of him singing "Baddie Friend" by kevo jefe perfectly word for word.

Gale's really bad with the cameras he clams up a ton and just kinda defaults to hockey mumbo-jumbo. he does get one Hockey social media clip where he gets to talk about space and that gets him a little excited. The clip of his one skate goal does some pretty big numbers just because Holy Fuck Dude.

he gets gif'd a lot for chewing on his mouthguard like Tkachuk. nasty boy. the fangirls go a little feral over those ones.

In terms of their relationships there is some plot stuff I'm cooking but John doesn't really care for the most part. he isn't ashamed but hes also like well im here to play hockey and im single nobody needs to be privy to my sexuality so he's kinda just closeted bc hes too lazy to do otherwise. you bet ur ass he wears pride tape every game and practice after Gary fucking shittman tried to institute the ban

(Shoutout to Travis "It had to be done" Dermott who called garys bluff like a PRO you my number 1 bbygirl i have a puck signed by him)

Gale is definitly closeted and it's a plot point in the au his journey with it. hes not closeted to himself but there are factors making him NOT want to be open with things.

I do think once theyre established in their team, they both have the C and a couple cups under their belt; when gale is ready - yeah they sit down with management and draw up a coming out plan. The team is so supportive of them they love their Bucks squared.

It's internet breaking

Please bear in mind hockey is REALLY homoerotic like these straight men kiss and hug and call eachother handsome and pet names constantly so theres a LOT that Clegan can actually just get away with and have plausible deniability

( a few seasons ago Marchand started licking other players and the NHL had to release a statement like 'its not against the rules but wtf bro stop')

[bratshaws]

through the hourglass 141. brb x oc

a/n: I had a good time with my dad...it was good to take this break. Thank you for everyone who messaged me and checked on me, really, you guys are incredible and I couldn't thank you guys enough. Kinda short because of shitty connection but I hope you guys like it. Smut coming soon(reblogs and comments are super encouraged <3)

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: none uwu

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

1/

/100/101/102/103/104/105/106/107/108/109/110/111/112/113/114/115/116/117/118/119/120/121/122/123/124/125/126/127/128/129/130/131/132/133/134/135/136/137/138/139/140

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! )

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @novastories @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2

@emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads @bigpoppajes @taytaylala12

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-

“So this is your school.”

“...it was.”

He sounded disappointed, with reason considering his high school looked…nothing like he remembered. He holds onto the front gates with his brows low, eyes moving at every corner he could find, hoping to see something that was similar to his brain, something that could wrack his memory. “They removed the old gym,” he mutters, pressing his face harder against the iron bars and squinting under the gentle falling now “And built it so much farther from the school building. Look,” he couldn’t even put his arm through the bars to show it to Beatrice but his wife approached him with Nicole nonetheless.

“That…gray building was your gymnasium?”

“It was rich green back then,” he mutters “They painted for St.Patrick’s day in 1956 and never changed it…until now I guess…at least the tree is still there and they added a pathwalk around it.”

“It wasn’t there before?”

“No, it was just fuckin’ hard earth.” he chuckles as he reminisces, “And some grass that looked like someone just spat it on the ground…” he walks to the left a bit, trying to see more of the glass doors that were covered with cards and ‘Merry Christmas’ signs on it…alongside a large vinyl illustration that Beatrice had to squint her eyes to see better.

“Is that a bobcat?”

“Yeah, we used to call him Bob but I’m sure that wasn’t his name.” he frowns more, “They gave him a goatee, that’s terrible.”

Beatrice felt a bit bad because of Rooster’s constant disappointment in showing her about his past, when in reality it was actually really fun. Their schools weren’t that different, except, well, hers didn’t have a tree…and the gym wasn’t that big…and of course the school building had two floors and the basement of her school was haunted but it was still good! She approached her husband, keeping Nicole wrapped inside her jacket and smiled up at him, “You are pouting.” she giggles, seeing that he immediately pouted more, “Roos, things change, I mean, it’s been over ten years since you’ve been here,right?”

“I mean,yeah.”

“It’s okay honey,” she kisses his covered shoulder, then his jawline, “I still like your school…did you have fun here?”

“I did.” he pauses, “A little.I got in a lot of trouble here too. I fought,” he sputters, “I don’t know, half of the bullies? No one bothered me once I started working out. I know most of my teachers hated that I did that…’You are good boy Bradley’ ‘Don’t let your anger control you,Bradley’, my mom was called to school too often.”

“You mentioned that.”

“She did get mad.” he mumbles, eyelids lowering, “You know? She’d get mad at me, she’d scold me and we’d fight for a few seconds then we’d make up with ice cream or she’d take me to the movies…we never got really angry at each other for too long.” until that day after he was refused entry in the Navy. “...anyway, let’s move on.”

“Where to?”

“I can’t show you the inside because, well, it’s closed…I dunno if they’d even let me do it.” he murmurs, holding the bars tighter then pushing himself away with a light impulse, “We can take a walk around the park I used to go, but-” he looks up with a frown, “Maybe we should go back to the cabin, we spent a good chunk of time outside.”

Beatrice follows his gaze to see the clouds were getting darker and darker, meaning they’d better go back or else they’d be stuck in this area and wouldn’t be able to return. Nicole, who was just having a blast, bounced on Beatrice’s arms as they walked back to the car, making her father smile towards her once he opened the back door so Bea could latch her in, “I swear, she has so much energy for a six months old.”

“She does,” Nicole’s cute little ‘mama!’ when Beatrice kissed her and placed her on the seat made her mother laugh, “My mother said that if she’s like this now it means the terrible twos won’t be so bad.”

“Really?”

“Well,” she pushes the door closed,”She said the same about Sabrina and she set my nonna’s curtain on fire when she was one and a half.” she blinks at him, “And she was considered a ‘calm’ baby.”

Rooster didn’t know if he should be worried or surprised, then he chose to turn the subject towards Bea, “But you were a calm baby.”

“I was.”

“Did you ever set anything on fire?”

“No,” she giggles, “But I used to bring insects into the house, I especially loved ladybugs.” she heard him whisper a ‘of course you would’. “And…maybe I brought some birds, some…cats and dogs I found on the street, abandoned…the cats never stayed ‘cause Leo is allergic, but the dogs? The dogs did.”

Rooster chuckles, his chest moving for a brief second, “You’d do that, you are just a Disney princess in real life.” her cheeks immediately turn red, “Every day I think you’ll wake up singing and the birds will help you get ready.” he wiggles his fingers, the gloves creaking when he does so, “Like Cinderella–wait, no, Cinderella has a shitty family life…who’s the best one? Oh,I know, Belle.”

“Belle?”

“I had a crush on Belle.” he smirks, “What can I say? Brunettes are my one,” he steps closer, “And only,” his arms wrap around her waist and hers go around his neck, “Weakness…and if their names start with ‘B’?” he whistles lowly, “Don’t even get me started.”

Beatrice smiles at him even more, cupping his cheeks with her gloved hands and bringing their lips together in a repetitive flurry of kisses that left the two blushing harder, a mix of their own teenage like feelings and the cold, ‘We better get out of her before it gets too cold to move,Roos.”

“I agree…one more kiss tho.” he does kiss her one final time, loving how her cherry chapstick left its taste on his lips when he licked them, “Alright, atta girl.” he swats her ass cheek as she turns around, opening the passenger door for her and waiting until she was inside fully.

Bradley entered the car a few minutes before the snow intensified so he wasted no time  stalling, driving off from his school towards the cabin. It was quite a trek to go there, but it was fine, the snow was only getting stronger behind them so it was easy to reach the cabin without worries.

Well, of course it was much better to stay inside once the snow landed heavily on the roof and the outside turned one singular color instead of the different shades they were seeing before. Beatrice held Nicole to her chest, their daughter laughing happily when she saw the snow piling on the window, stretching her little arm towards the glass as if she wanted to touch it “Wow, good thing we left,Roos, look.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be bad,” he murmured,”The weather app said it’s a red alert for this region.”

Beatrice turned around with her eyes wide, panic in her green irises, “Wait, really?”

“Yep, but don’t worry,we’ll be okay. It won’t be as bad as the first time we got here.”

“Okay-” she was about to say more but she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket, pulling it out one handed to check who it was “...oh it’s Evelyn.”

“Yea?” he calls from the kitchen, ripping a cocoa packet open as soon as he poured the hot milk in his mug, “What does she want?”

Privacy, Beatrice thinks,”Just to talk…can you stay with Nikki for a bit?” he stops what he was doing and Bea has to chuckle at his boyish grin when he walks over to the two, picking Nicole from her arms and kissing her cheek over and over, “I’ll be right back.”

“Alright,” he didn’t want to pry but Beatrice left the living room area in a hurry, locking the door behind her once she reached the master bedroom, leaving her husband looking in the direction she disappeared into with a frown on his face.

Beatrice licked her lips once she was alone, then frowned, “Weird.” two missed calls…wasn’t it around seven in the morning in California? Beatrice blinked, then shook her head before pressing Evelyn’s name, almost jumping in surprise when her friend picked in the very first ring, ‘...Ev?’ she asks after a few minutes of silence.

“...hi,sorry for bothering you guys during your holiday week.”

“Um no, no it’s okay. What happened?”

Another pause, longer this time, “...I just wanted someone to talk to.” she whispered, “I’m in Jake’s family home in Texas.”

“Oh I didn’t know you were uh…traveling.”

“Me either.”

“...are you okay?”

Beatrice hears her friend sigh, then her feet walking around the room, “...I…I got kinda sick these past days, while we were here.” she explains, “And so I went to the doctor, a family friend of Jake’s…to…check.” Beatrice felt a cold claw coming up in her stomach, the fear palpable, “And see if the Pumpkin is okay.”

“...and?”

“He is okay.”

Beatrice sighed out in relief, almost falling on the floor but managing to do so by sitting on the bed, falling onto the mattress as she rubbed her forehead, “Oh thank God.” she whispered, “I’m so happy to hear that,Ev.”

“...Yeah.Me too…it was really fucking scary,Bea.” she says softly, “I thought–it was scary. The doctor told me it was normal, nothing to worry about, that it was because of the plane and the jetlag and whatnot…he said if it were twins it’d be much worse.”

Beatrice’s eyes snapped open, her body rigid, ‘...what?”

“Yeah, if it was twins and I was feeling like this,he said it’d be worse. I didn’t want him to elaborate as you know I wasn’t really in the mood to do it. It was just a random comment, nothing more.” but that made something within Beatrice panic. What does that mean? What sort of thing was she feeling? Should she be worried? What was she going to do? 

‘But…um…what exactly were you feeling?” what should she look for on the trip back?

“Just really heavy nausea, some headaches.My body hurt too, that was all I was feeling.”

“Ah…I see.”

Both of them remained silent for a second, then she hears Evelyn walk around again, “...Bea.”

“Yeah?”

“You got quiet.”

I’m worrying about the little beans inside of me so there’s a reason I’m worried but I don’t want you to worry “It’s nothing,Ev. I’m just…well,it’s scary. I didn’t know that it could happen.”

“The doctor said stress also fucks you up so…that could be why? I’ve been really tired ever since my parents found out about it.”

“Oh…I’m sorry Ev.”

“Oh it’s okay…I’m okay now.Jake’s mom is making me uh…I don’t know, something that smells nice and I didn’t want Jake to worry and I couldn’t call Shells because you know how she’d get.”

“Haha,yeah.” but her laugh sounds so nervous, she really didn’t need that right now…stress…stress causes a lot of things. So what should she do? What could she do? Maybe she should stay…quiet inside the room and not move at all- even if she planned things this week, hell even if Rooster had things planned- no, no she shouldn’t let the paranoia take over her especially since it’d be a good week…

Maybe she should tell Rooster later, he’d understand…right? Yeah, of course.

“Anyway,I’m sorry Bea…for the sudden call and message.”

“It’s totally okay,Ev.”

“...can I ask you something,though?”

“Sure,anything.”

“Do you think you can call your aunt? The witch lady?”

“...sure? Why?”

‘Just so maybe she can give me some tips on how to not freak out so much during my pregnancy,” she laughs “You know,I’m glad you already had Nikki, it’s a terrible feeling to have when you are pregnant, it really is.” she didn’t hear Beatrice’s hard swallow, “Anyway.I’m going to go now,I’ll talk to you soon okay?”

“Y-Yeah,sure! S-See you!” they end the call and Beatrice stays seated on the bed, mind running miles per minute before she sighs,rubbing her face with both hands, looking down at her phone for a few seconds…Only for then decide that maybe she should call her aunt now.

[archandshri]

The vision for an illustration breakdown from Shri - 27/04/2024

Hey Archie and everyone!

It's lovely to hear you taking control over your health and not letting anyone/society's expectations of a working/hustle culture control your life - leading to burnout. It really does feel like directly fighting against the capitalistic view when we value fun and rest above work and their view of 'success'

I also couldn't agree more with you - fairs are such a magical place, I've definitely got the best compliments and feedback from them, it always reminded me of the importance art has on people sometimes; always leaving me a bit dazed.

As promised my slightly late blog post is here. (It didn't allow me to edit my original post so)

I mentioned I just did a really big hand-in yesterday with Third Bear Press, so I don't want to go to ham on this post.

I did think about talking about my recent hand in but it's still too soon (I've been staring at those pages for two weeks straight and many weeks before that)

But if you want to have a cheeky look at it go check out the Kickstarter with Third Bear Press!

link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdbearpress/boxes-2

Anyway actually getting into the blog, I wanted to talk about something I've been pondering recently.

Archie and I were talking a while ago about how they're a bit frustrated with the difference between their vision for an illustration and their skill set - when your skill set doesn't match your creative vision.

And I indeed, I had some thoughts about it.

(also this is not supposed to be an @ at you Archie, I just went on a really long thought tangent).

My first thought was "I used to feel that all the time" Then I was like "Wow I haven't felt that for a long time" Then I thought "Wow that kinda sounds a bit fullhead?!"

But then I was like "Hold up, back up. I don't think it has to do completely with the skillset, it also has to do with the visions/expectations itself?" because I can't remember the last time I had that experience of having that illustration idea the same way I did a few years ago.

They're different, so it got me thinking why?

Breaking down my thoughts

Also, slight disclaimer: I did no research whatsoever for this so it's literally just my thoughts. Anyways, enjoy!

The vision/idea of an illustration

I don't have the same vision for an illustration anymore as I used to. Before I used to start illustrations/projects with a distinct image in mind, and then draw from there.

Nowadays I think of the idea/image and then clarify it with the message/thing I'm trying to convey through the image. Having this clarification on what you are trying to say is so helpful when hitting issues because you can always refuse back to that as a touchstone.

Without it shit hits the fan then it's harder to take that step back and reevaluate the image.

The minds-eye and the vision/idea

So this section of pondering reminded me a lot of the book I read What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund (very good book with a lot of nice pictures). This book discusses what we see when we read (hence the title), one of the main points of the book is what our brain actually images/pictures when reading text.

Here is an extract because it explains it better:

These readers contend that the success of a work of fiction hinges on the putative authenticity of the characters. Some readers go further and suggest that the only way they can enjoy a novel is if the main characters are easily visible: "Can you picture, in your mind, what Anna Karenina looks like?" I ask. "Yes," they say, "as if she were standing here in front of me." "What does her nose look like?" "I hadn't thought it out; but now that I think of it, she would be the kind of person who would have a nose like .. "But wait-how did you picture her before I asked? Noseless?" "Well..." "Does she have a heavy brow? Bangs? Where does she hold her weight? Does she slouch? Does she have laugh lines?" (Only a very tedious writer would tell you this much About a character)

pg 24 of What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund

This strangeness of the brain of feeling/believing we can see a character in your mind's eye in full clarity - but at the same time, not actually seeing any details?

This is what I think also happens when we have an illustration vision/idea for a piece of artwork, being able to 'see it' but at the same time not.

This then can cause a lot of issues in the fulfilment of this vision for an illustration, because how can you ever go to the standard of your idea if you don't even know what it is exactly your idea is?

The skillset

This I wanted to touch on because although there is more to it then a skillset, skillset does have a play in this - but maybe not in the way you expect it. Although yes if your skillset is better it's easier to meet these expectations for an illustration, I also believe it has a lot do to with processes and how to handle issues in illustration pieces.

So before university, my process for illustration was very simple.

idea for illustration

Sketch out illustration

Line the sketch

Colour the illustration

Finished

And if at any point in this process, the illustration won't working or I run into an issue - I kinda just gave up on it?

My process now:

Idea on illustration (along with what I'm trying to convey through it)

Research (sometimes, depending on the project)

Thumbnails

Initial sketch

Fleshed out sketch

Line

Colour

Texture

Finished

And at any point I run into an issue I solve it, for example, if the hand passion is wrong and just resketch it until I find one that's good.

Obviously, these a big elements of being skilled enough to be able to identify how something is wrong and how to fix it - so there is a sense of drawing mileage by being able to identify those things.

Anyways those our my thought on it - let me know if you guys have any thoughts/ideas on it too!

Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts

Hope everyone has a lovely dinner (I had a really nice roasted cauliflower with other picky bits)

All the good vibes

Shri

[yowlthinks]

Good Omens s2 thoughts and impressions

Below is sort of a dumping ground of my thoughts and impressions of S2 after the first watch. Hiding under more in case tags didn't work

SPOILERS FOR GOS2 BELOW!

OK, so I'll try to go by theme...

I really liked Gabriel's story arch and the probing into how past actions and experiences form who we are and what we do next. Removing his memories and making him this big, naive child, slightly irritating but also sort of noble at heart was a nice exploration of this theme. Him very readily offering himself to the demons shows that there was some good in him, it just got lost through years of bureaucracy. And his chat with Crowley was absolutely genius because then we can see Crowley really forgive him, make peace with this new version of Gabriel, give him a second chance, and I think that is very valuable. Also, on Gabriel, we see Aziraphale do that too: tell him that he previously was not a good person, and when Gabriel asks about now, Aziraphale honestly replies that he doesn't know. That is a very honest way to treat it.

Job and other historic excursions: I also really liked these, even though some parts felt very chaotic.

Crowley's love of kids (goat and human) is so heartwarming, and his performance of the "birth" was on par with that cut bookshop opening scene (in terms of comedic effect and how earnest he takes to saving what is believes to be good).

The overall Job storyline also leading to the scene on the rock, with Aziraphale having a good cry and being ready to go into hell over lying, and Crowley comforting him... that was really touching.

The pre-fall interaction and Crowley being the first one to shield Aziraphale with his wing... well, I am already in love with Crowley, now I love him even more.

"Our side" - there are lots of things I am sure I missed and will notice on re-watch and also want to think through, but so far I of course loved them both highlighting "our side", that whole "our car, our bookshop " interaction was lovely.

I am a but upset Aziraphale does nothing to acknowledge that Crowley lives in his car, doesn't offer him to officially move into the bookshop. That felt like he would only be generous and kind to Crowley when pressed, while Crowley is there for Aziraphale unconditionally. You can also see that when Crowley says "you only call me when you're bored, when you've done something you're proud of or when you're in trouble". And we again only see Crowley rescuing Aziraphale, not the other way round. And wtf was that after the graveyard scene, when he perfectly understands that Crowley was punished by hell, but offers no reflection, acknowledgement or commiseration. I hope in S3 we are going to see him come to the realisation that he needs to step up and win Crowley back!

Overall, this season was very much about Aziraphale having fun, while Crowley is going through an existential crisis.

Also this whole message of high stakes with erasure from the book of life and them protecting each other got kinda lost. Perhaps it serves to illustrate that they do indeed not talk about how each one would die for the other, so again, high hopes for S3!

Also, what was cool is that moment when Crowley wants to watch Aziraphale get people to come to the ball: he is basically delighted because he gets to watch Aziraphale TEMPT people. He is really having fun with that, until, of course, Nina starts asking questions and triggers yet another crisis.

So speaking about their relationship, I think while this season they are both all about "our side", Nina's questions for the first time ever make Crowley realise that they are de facto a couple. And perhaps gets him thinking of how they can take this forward. And then Nina and Maggie's little chat with him afterwards seals that thought that he wants their togetherness be recognised, in the open, official, as it were.

I wish, I really wish Nina and Maggie caught them both, and had that talk with both of them. Things would have probably gone very differently...

I also think Metatron is playing his own game and he certainly is manipulative. Who is thwarting all Heaven's plans? It's these two, so dividing and conquering is the way to go. If Aziraphale is directly involved in bringing the big plan about, he won't have the chance to sabotage, and they can press his knowledge of the Earth. Also, notice how Aziraphale does not give an answer to Metatron straightaway. He says no first, gives excuses and then noncommittally goes to discuss it with Crowley. Only Crowley gets all emotional, asks if Aziraphale has told them to bugger off and Aziraphale who under Metatron's influence imagined them two working together to reform Heaven gets defensive... It still does not excuse his behaviour, and I am still angry at how ge treated Crowley, but I hope (seriously hope!!!) There will be a huge reconing for him in S3. A little apology dance would not do it, it'll have to be a full-on apology musical, tears and genuinely saying how stupid he was and how sorry he is and that he wants nothing more but just be with Crowley.

Also, it is curious that we see Aziraphale say no to authority a little more.. not that it helped at the end, but some growth, I guess. I will probably think more about that, with notes. And note the years that Aziraphale did the apology dance (we need to see it next season we must!

[killian-whump]

Honestly kinda wanna throttle some folks on Instagram right now.

Like, I don’t recognize any of the names, so I don’t know what neck of the woods these folks wandered out of... I guess they’re Instagram fans? Is that even a thing? Like, if we’re Tumblr fans... and then there’s Twitter fans... these are... Insta fans? I guess?

Anyway...

I want to throttle them, whoever they are.

I mean, look, I get it. Roasting your fave is lots of fun, given the right opportunity and knowing that fave is cool with it and laughing with you at whatever boneheaded thing they’ve done.

This isn’t... any of those things???

Like, who thinks a heartfelt RIP post about a recently deceased fashion designer that dressed Colin for a few major events is a good place to make jokes of any kind??? Doesn’t even matter what the jokes are about or whose expense they’re being made at. It’s just fucking uncouth.

Secondly, Colin isn’t really cool with it. He’s more the kind of guy who takes stuff to heart. He’s not like Rahul Kohli who laughs it off like, “Hahaha, fuck you guys, my grandma thinks I’m cool.” Colin just... goes quiet, says nothing, and disappears off the face of the earth for weeks/months at a time. He was bullied as a kid. He’s actively spoken out about teasing and nastiness online, in fandoms, and on social media. What part of any of that says, “I like it when my fans roast me over hot coals for the slightest mistake I might make.”

Thirdly, lemme just emphasize the first two points by adding: This shit isn’t funny. It’s just mean. This isn’t like when he retweeted himself saying “Nice” and added “Nice” on it and people replied with, “Nice.” That was, objectively, kinda sorta funny. I mean, he still went silent and didn’t speak to us for weeks, but it was pretty funny - both the mistake itself and some of the responses to it. This... I mean, what’s so funny about him using low resolution images? It’s not really like this was too good of an opportunity for humor that folks couldn’t help themselves. He was obviously on a phone and didn’t realize the images were that low of quality - and really, who the fuck cares?

They were old pictures, anyway. We’ve all seen them dozens of times. Hell, most of us probably have HQ copies of them sitting on our hard drives right now! And come to think of it, they’re also all press shots. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to use HQ versions of them in any way unless you’ve paid the licensing fees to do so. And sure, people might not care much what we do with them, since we don’t have money for them to take, but they sure as shit care what Colin does with them. Might even be why he used LQ shots. Who knows?

But again, who cares? The point of his post wasn’t to show us those pictures. It was to illustrate the designs of Vivienne Westwood’s that he’s worn, on a post meant to express sadness at her passing.

And those Insta fans, or whoever they are, just totally made a mockery of that in a mean-spirited and cold-hearted way.

And I want to throttle them, because I don’t know if Colin’s internet silence is due to real life issues or just annoyance at ~ gestures vaguely ~ shit exactly like this. And I don’t care. Either way, the best way to make him regret posting at all and make him want to post even less than he already doesn’t... is to do shit like this to him when he does post something. Either way, he doesn’t need this kind of nonsense. Nobody does.

[voxofthevoid]

Ao3 Wrapped 2022

Tagged by @joeys-piano 💙

Works published: 11 works, a mixture of oneshots and short multichaps. Some are complete, some are in progress

Word count: 130,163. This is half of what I wrote in 2022, but the funny thing is that a good chunk of this 130k is stuff that I wrote in 2021—or maybe even 2020. Yes, my backlog is insane. I also don’t post in order of writing.

Hits: 62,109

Bookmarks: 2,112

Fic with most kudos: memory that presses like a blade against my throat (kinda surprising because I was sure it would end up being an MCU fic; Bleach fandom, you're very good to me)

Fic with most hits: devour me with certainty (Bleach yet again! And the omegaverse pwp at that. I love fandom.)

Fic with most comment threads: he said, there’s a paradise beneath me (she said, am i supposed to bleed) (there you are, MCU; beats memory by two threads)

Longest fic: devour me with certainty: 22,285 words

Shortest fic: Among the completed fics, it's you feed off the bones of angels (4,151 words). Among the WIPs, it's (you'll whisper, serpent tongue) what you fear you have become (2,806 words)

Fic that made me cry: Of the ones posted, only memory that presses like a blade against my throat. It’s always the content rather than the writing process that makes me cry, and even that usually occurs at the outlining/conceptualizing stage.

Fic that made me smile: Every single fucking one, though “grin and cackle like a serial killer” is usually a better description than “smile.” I also admit that the more fucked up a fic, the more likely I am to look like the Joker while thinking of it. Masks are a blessing, lemme tell ya.

Gifts to someone: None, I believe.

Gifts from someone:

Steve as Devil Dinosaur by darkrhiannon (hilarious illustration based on realities that kept the music silent, the dreams in a box

Contingency Planning by MumbleBee19 (set in my silver fox!Steve verse)

There was also one random gift by someone who seemed to be figuring out how Ao3 works and another that was a...well, a plagiarized version of my own fic. That wasn’t fun, but the author seemed just misguided, not malicious, and took it down without any fuss.

Events: None. I never participate in any. I’m allergic to deadlines outside of work, for one, and I can’t write based on anything but my own mad whims, for another.

Resolutions: None. I want to write every month, as I somehow managed in 2022, but I’m not framing it as a resolution. If it doesn’t work out, that’s also fine.

Tagging (no pressure, as always) @eusuntgratie @dreadlockholiday @thelionshoarde @backwardshirt and anyone who wants to give it a go, really.

[salsakiyoomi]

hi! i was wondering if i could get event matchup for spiderverse?

i'm new follower but i already love your blog! your theme is so pretty and your writing brings me sooo much joy!

i'm 20 y.o woman, my pronouns are she/her

i'm demisexual panromantic

i'm enfp 7w8, leo

i'm 6'0 and have amber eyes, long gold blond curly hair and hourglass figure

i'm positive and upbeat person, i try to see the bright side in most situations

i'm friendly, energetic, confident, sarcastic, responsible, maybe a bit chaotic, cheerful and bubbly

i care about my friends and family a lot, and go out of my way to show it

i enjoy having fun and living life to the fullest

i'm very competitive and passionate person

i really like puzzles, riddles and crosswords

i love making people smile

i have morbid, dark sense of humor

sometimes i randomly say a weird obscure fact in the middle of conversation

i can play on violin, cello, piano, guitar, saxophone, harp and drums, i'm currently learning how to play on trumpet

i like poetry and sometimes i write a poem or two, also i'm writing my book

i'm ballet dancer since i was a kid and i love performing

i'm working on my own cartoon

i never quite grew out of the fantasy phase, and i'm still enamored with tales of changelings and witches

i work as illustrator for fantasy books and books for kids

i'm kinda struggling with taking rest, doing nothing, because there is always something to do, something new to learn, etc.

i'm afraid of stagnation

i overuse this kind of emojis→(⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)

my style is something between whimsigothic and cryptidcore

i love: found family trope, summer, sunflowers, collecting things, colors yellow, maroon, blue and green, astronomy, tea, making and watching movies, forests, making jewelry, cooking, baking, d&d, horrors, animals, plants, gardening, traveling, art, history, world mythologies, works of J.R.R Tolkien, learning new things, psychology, handicraft

ideal type: someone who truly understands me. someone who i can go on and have deep talks with them. i want this magical ✨connection✨

sorry if it's too chaotic

i hope you have a fantastic day (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)

HONEYMOON MATCHUP WITH : MILES MORALES

— honeymoon

— miles is not exactly sure how the two of you met — the one thing he vividly remembers about the first time he had seen your face though was the one time he bumped into you in the school hallway— you were carrying a stack of papers and he tripped over his own feet and the two of you fell to the ground — he apologized profusely while helping you gather your papers — he was a mess, blushing and stumbling over his own words and you laughed and he paused — the sound was like music to his ears. you'd smiled at him and told him that it was okay and he shouldn't worry about it — he might've said something along the lines of "uh, uhuh, yeah, i'm so sorry." because he truly couldn't manage anything else out, too awe-struck by you — you could say he literally fell for you.

— you became close friends quickly after miles found out the two of you share art class — by heart, he was an artist, so it was no surprise when you found sketches of yourself in his sketchbook and teased him about it, it was all good fun with the two of you laughing and then comfortable silence fell over the two of you after, and almost as if on instinct, miles leaned in, pressing his lips to yours in a soft peck — it was like he was drawn to your lips ( actually, he always has been ) and he pulled himself towards the attraction instead of resisting it, it was only to his surprise when you kissed him back.

— and then, when it was summertime and you were sitting atop a roof and miles swung right besides you — laughing at how you yelped in surprise before taking off his spider-man mask and handing you a bouquet of sunflowers he had handpicked for you himself, grinning at how happy you looked, you were laughing as you inhaled in the scent of the flowers, before hugging him tightly and thanking him, he laughed — his heart skipping beats in his chest as he leaned in to kiss you, to savor your sweet taste that matched the sweet words you always spoke to him, and he couldn't help but think about just how lucky he was.

— what's on the radio : stop the world cause i wanna get off with you, the arctic monkeys

a/n : this man is literally so dhuwhjdsh i love him so much, ty for the request <33

[jupitercl0uds]

please for the love of god talk to me about fonts. please i’m so serious i need to get infodumped at about this

this is mostly technical stuff but then again i am obviously an artist so i might bring up more artsy stuff

also this is going off the top of my head so some aspects may be inaccurate!!! particularly the stuff about pre-digital fonts!!!

while fonts have kinda existed as long as writing, they really started to properly exist around the time of the printing press, in the 1400s. then, in the victorian era, they invented the typewriter. these obviously had plenty of benefits to society as a whole, but i'm kinda gonna just. overlook that. cause it doesnt really matter here.

while the printing press didn't really have 1 font, typewriters did have a standard font, as i'm sure youre aware. in america (and plenty of other countries), this was american typewriter, which you can still use today!

fun fact: there's a good change your favourite font predates digital fonts!!! some examples are times new roman, papyrus and (as i said earlier) american typewriter

in the 80s, paste up, a long tedious process where you would have to cut out and paste everything onto a grid by hand, was rendered obsolete, because of the growing use of home computers. 3 companies (apple, microsoft and adobe) play a giant role in everything because capitalism.

while apple was the most popular at first, you probably already know that microsoft would then dominate the market, offering alongside itself all those wonderful little microsoft office programs i know so well. all of these companies had a big design rivalry, and like most rivalries of that kind, they've definitely died down a bit by now. don't get me wrong, they're still competitors, so they're still gonna have their discrepancies, but microsoft and apple aren't design companies, so they're kinda just. eh.

they also had SO MANY BAD THINGS about them. did you know that arial shouldn't exist? oh and by the way, i HATE arial. its so ugly. its an eyesore. same with helvetica, though i think i prefer arial.

arial was created specifically to imitate the ever-successful helvetica, which is why the two fonts look so similar. you see, apple owned the rights to helvetica and microsoft wanted it for themself, so, they commissioned a very very similar font instead. i believe there was a legal issue over here in europe that never happened in the usa, because if you can create the same product in a different way in the usa, you can get the same patent. the same rule does not apply in the eu. there are differences between helvetica and arial, but they are predominantly in the way they're drawn. i dont have my graphic design program installed right now, so i cant give a good visual demonstration, but i'll try to explain.

basically, in vector graphics, there's always multiple ways to create the same image. for example, if i want to make a circle, i can use 4 rounded vertices or i could use 5 and still get the same image.

anyway, this is what microsoft did for the majority of the letters, with a few exceptions, such as capital G. also i believe the kerning and spacing is slightly different??? btw, kerning is like complicated spacing. it's specifically the space between 2 characters rather than the entire body of text.

then theres the file formats.

it's important to know the difference between bitmap and vector. if you draw, you're probably using bitmap, if you design, you're probably using vector. in adobe terms, photoshop is bitmap while illustrator is vector.

bitmap is typically easier and more standard for general images, for example when a vector image is exported as an image, all the most common image files (png, gif, jpg, hell even webp*) are bitmap.

*i hate webp files a lot.

however, vector can give you a more crisp image in a more lightweight manor. whats more, no matter how large you make your bitmap image, when you zoom in enough, you will eventually start to see the pixels. that isn't the case for vector graphics, because it specifically stores the instructions for how to make an image rather than the actual image itself.

so, when everyone's been using bitmap fonts and then suddenly adobe come out with these amazing new otf files, which use vector over bitmap, everyone wants in. the main issue?

what is always adobe's biggest problem? that's right,

CORPORATE GREED 🎉🎉🎉

adobe paywalled otf files, so what did apple and microsoft do? apple created ttf files, which is basically the same thing as an otf file, and also gave them to microsoft for completely free. this then pressured adobe into releasing otf files to the public, too. funnily enough, while both file formats are commonly used, it's probably more likely that you use TTF files in your everyday life.

while i have more to say (because i ALWAYS have more to say), that's all i can at the moment. as i said, fonts have a very rich history and that's only the tip of the iceberg!!!

[frogsandfries]

I started practicing on my graphic novel last night. I've been struggling to figure out how I want to color my graphic novel, and I've figured out that at least one of the things I was lacking was the language of what I wanted to improve on.

I started watching digital illustrators share their coloring process, and I was like, sure that's great for a one-off. I need to color a graphic novel and I can't spend twelve hours on one frame if seven, almost eight, hundred frames is just getting started. I tried to find some graphic novel and comic illustrators, but for a while, all I was able to find was guys who were still doing old-school today on modern computers. The methods they showed seemed painstaking and incompatible with the programs that I have on my android tablet.

It makes sense that I was facing a skill gap, since I have no fucking idea how to color digitally. But I finally, finally found this one guy who was addressing what you're supposed to do with your colored flats. Watching that, first, with all the lassos and aliasing, seemed way too complicated to be quick or quicker, but the way he explained the interplay between highlights and shadows, some things just clicked. Flats should be quick, it's kind of like priming your canvas with specific colors to assist your shading and highlighting. I'd been neglecting my highlights. I could be more aggressive with my actual shadows.

Since I haven't been coloring anyway, what better time to go over aaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllll the issue one coloring that is done, and improve it.

So I started. Then I had just a little bit of an edible ands got distracted doing on-the-ground investigation into why someone would bind a fanfic and started reading the fanfic in question.

So far, I still don't understand. Is it....... like a library of Alexandria thing? Like, is it the having something you treasure, and now it's in real-space, and maybe it's safer-ish from the internet? Is it a tribute?

I guess this particular fic has been hand-bound more than a few times, and those individuals did it different to the person who inspired this line of first-hand, serious inquiry. So I guess that's something to think about: Each of these individuals, since they don't have the creator of the fic or a publishing house team to tell them all to do the same thing, with their varying skill levels and patience levels and access to like, printing resources and maybe even formatting resources, are all going to create a unique book. It is kinda pre-print-press, when if you wanted a book, you had to know the owner of the book. If you wanted a copy, it had to be hand-copied.

I'm just trying to imagine going over to a friend's house and pulling a book that maybe looks only slightly out of the ordinary and finding that it's a fanfic, and this book is handmade. I'm trying to imagine what, in some areas, could be the utter frustration of finding a printer to run the job. Like, the city I live in is hardly a printing mecca. We have Office Depot, Office Max, and some over-size printers, and that's about it. Not to bring up my ex-girlfriend like I always seem to do, but in Milwaukee, it felt so easy to find a printer to do quality prints. I guess I'm a little frustrated to live in a city that, while creative, isn't artsy, y'know? Like, there's a creative culture here that is deep, deeply rooted and will resist essentially gentrification. I guess that's essentially what I'm asking for.

I don't make enough time for reading anything. It's usually not fun for me, since I have a bit of trouble focusing my eyes on the specific way you need to do to read. But last night, slightly high, with very interesting content that I probably couldn't personally find on a bookshelf, was pleasant. Of course, I was mostly reading out of the curiosity of why this would be bound.

On the other hand.......... shouldn't most fics get bound offline? Y'know, for the library of congress or other archival purposes.

And then I'm trying to think, like if I'd never had an inkling to try to publish my graphic novel and people were out there, one day in the hypothetical future when it's done, binding my graphic novel so they can pull it off the shelf one day long after I've decided to pull it from the internet or the sites I put it on have become defunct. How would I feel? Would I feel charmed, flattered, embarrassed, annoyed? I can't see myself being angry; that's not really my thing. Someone hand-binding any kind of book is really cool, whether it's a simple journal, an artist book, or a fic. Anything that gets people creating. Making and doing is so good for the soul, especially in a world that wants to make it quaint and out-moded to make and impossible to repair. No one should make, everyone should consume.

Speaking of making, no one is ever going to fan-bind a graphic novel that's less than fifty pages and incomplete, and it isn't going to color itself--although, if it could, that would be fantastic. I used to hate drawing. Now I hate coloring.

I think I will grab some colored pencils next paycheck. I was thinking, if I clean up the lineworks digitally, maybe resize them just a little bit, and especially, turn down the opacity, so instead of being full black, they're more like a ghost-line. Then I could still have at least a lineless look/effect.

[kabannoneko]

Game Thoughts: I commissioned some bees 0 by Follow The Fun

So, we watched someone play A Building Full of Cats quite a while back, and we kinda wanted to play something similar. Searched on Steam and found this free game! With 1000+ bees to find, what could possibly go wrong?! - Gure

What’s It About?

Well, it’s not really a story-based game, so I have almost nothing to say about what it’s about… But if ya gotta know, it’s a hidden object game where you gotta find bees hidden in various illustrations which were commissioned by the dev. That’s pretty much the whole premise, hence the title.

And this is only one of a whole series of (really affordable) games!

Art

I would consider the art the main draw of this game. After all, they did commission some art with bees, right?

The art looks like what you would expect in hidden object games, and in a good way! All of them get pretty surreal, and that’s cool. There’s so many little details that I can’t help but take a good look at. Definitely a must if you’re gonna be searching for little bees in them.

Music

Not really much to say when it comes to the background music, since they did purchase it from a stock music website and I couldn’t play it on stream as a result… (Although I did play some music that’s also pretty much not in the VOD lol) But the ambient sounds that they used did fit the images, at least. Liked the spoopy one a lot in particular.

Also liked the little bee sounds that played whenever you clicked on the bees. It’s cute, hehe.

Gameplay

It’s what you would expect for pretty much any hidden object game. You simply click on the left mouse button to get any bees you see on the artwork. Additionally, you can use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out, click and drag the left mouse button to move the image around, and press H to momentarily show an arrow pointing to an area with a bee in it.

Aside from the bees, there are also other bee-related items that you can find and click on per stage.

From my experience, it all flows smoothly, nothing complicated, except for the times when I meant to click but dragged instead (that’s pretty much my fault lol). I thought it would take me a really long time to find all the bees and items, but it’s pretty quick, in my opinion. And it looks like you can replay the whole thing again just to challenge yourself to get better times, since the game does take note of how long you took to find everything.

I wonder if it would be a better choice if it was the right mouse button to pan instead…?

Overall

It’s a nice, short game that you can play if you’re bored and don’t have that much cash on you. Not to mention that you can get to appreciate some art that really talented people made! Not sure if I just didn’t look for it, they didn’t do it, or I didn’t remember, but it would be nice if I could see who made the nice art.

Either way, you can find it on Steam.

[televinita]

Library Triage! kinda?

I have soooo many library items checked out right now and I’m making progress on returning none of them; between working overtime and spending way more of my downtime than usual just incessantly watching the same clips on YouTube, I am not reading very much. But I can’t seem to let anything go. So this (even more than usual) is just me trying to make sense of everything so I don’t lose any items this time...

Part 1: DVDs

No Escape: I have watched this already (twice now in this checkout period, including the one with commentary!) so really I should be done with it, but I’m not. I want it close at hand. It’s too good.

The Hollow Crown: Complete Series: the gifs have been promising so we’re gonna have fun with this. Eventually. Right now my ability to handle it is taking one look at a still from any of them and immediately turning into a cartoon with eyes/heart ballooning out of my body, so I am not yet calm enough for that.

The Night Manager: I’m pretty sure this is actually the project I’m going to target next. I know what I gotta shield my eyes about but I also think I can manage the rest of it, and I’m finally interested in the larger story.

Thor 1-3 + The Avengers: for when I’m ready to continue my Loki journey.

(And yet, I’m still over here like, “I gotta go check out those other two movies I want to see. I gotta.”)

================

Part 2: Books

After Perfect -  Maan Gabriel: 2 months ago, I pulled several titles off my Goodreads TBR that I thought I might like to try soon. And then...Hiddleston Spiral. Library is already down to 1 copy of this small-press 2021 release (they started with 3 or 4), and I’m genuinely afraid it’s gonna get weeded entirely very soon. But still, I think I’m too far off course now to be in the right mood for this particular romance, which is rare (age-appropriate student/creative writing professor, except the professor is the younger one), so I want to save it.

Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix (illustrated): I’ve decided not to reread this one yet, I’m just looking at the pictures, but even that I can’t commit to doing. I have been waiting more than a year for this release to get into my hands; I have to be ready to appreciate them. Block out an hour or so to observe/maybe reread select passages/jot notes on my faves.

The Hungry Place - Jessie Haas: a children’s pony book by an author I like that I really thought I would be more excited about/devour quickly, but instead I’m kind of blocked up about it. Like. There is some sadness here before the happy parts, IDK if I’m ready for it!

Just Gus - McCall Hoyle: speaking of children’s books, a cute one about a dog, companion novel to Stella. It really won’t take me more than 90 minutes to read. Why do I keep putting it off.  [edit: go me, I actually started this one in the brief interim between queuing this post and its appearance]

The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry: still haven’t even opened it, but I WILL whether I fully read it or not.

(Meanwhile: those 20+ books I just bought and was kinda planning to read at least some of soon...) (p.s. I actually have my latest sale post written up! I just wanted to take photos)

+ 5 books I’ve technically read but don’t wanna give back because I love them and love paging through them

+ 3 Taylor Swift CDs -- Reputation for Getaway Car (I don’t think I’m ready to explore further yet, but I have as yet been too lazy to rip it); and Folklore and Lover to play in the car, the former’ cause I don’t own it and the latter ‘cause IDK where I put my copy and am frankly too lazy to look. :P

[insertdisc5]

Devlog #3 - Musings About Text Speed

Hello everyone! Welcome to this month’s devlog! This one will be about what I did this month, and also text speed in video games.

Anyway, if you just stumbled upon this, I am Adrienne, also known as insertdisc5! I’m the developer, writer, artist, main programmer, etc of the game. The game being In Stars and Time, which is the next and final game in the START AGAIN series, following START AGAIN: a prologue (available here!).  You can find out more about In Stars and Time here!!! 

ALRIGHT LET’S GET TO IT

I've had quite the productive month, mostly because I took a one week break from my day job to chill and rest and work on the game. Which means…

Act 3-4 is more or less complete and implemented and tested!!! I say "more or less" because I'm still missing a few illustrations, and a few sidequests I'd like to add. BUT!!! The main story for those acts is complete!!! YAHOO!!!

I've also been drawing a bunch, which hasn't happened for a little bit. After months of not drawing, I hung out with a friend and we drew together, which helped me unblock myself art-wise! THANKS, FRIEND!!!!! Anyway here’s one cryptic illustration, just for you guys.

(Siffrin goes ^u^)

I’ve also been playtesting the game from beginning to (temporary) end! I haven’t done that in a while, so it was interesting to play it in its entirety and see what works, what doesn’t (and needs to be fixed), and also the parts that are broken code-wise and I need to jump into and figure out. There’s less of those than I anticipated though, so: YAHOO

I do want it on the record that while playing through I knew what was going to happen (of course I did, I wrote the damn thing), but I did get some very fun moments that made me go “oh god!!!! That’s really good!!!!!! Who wrote this!!!!” I wrote this. It’s always fun to feel surprised by your own work, and it happened a bunch, so I’m very happy!!!

And now it’s on to scripting the few things for Act 3-4 I have left, and then finally jump into scripting for the final acts, Act 5 and 6. I’ve had the base for the events written down for a very long time, as well as countless notes on “ok we GOTTA MAKE SURE that this thing happens”, so it’ll be a matter of sitting down and making sure all those notes become a cool thing. Which it will, because, come on guys (I strike a pose) it’s me.

What else, what else… Oh! Somehow I found myself wondering about text speed this month.

I’ve asked my followers on twitter what text speed they preferred in their games, (buzzfeed voice) AND THE ANSWERS WERE SURPRISING (not really)

A few random ramblings about text and dialogue in video games:

-I found it very interesting that most people set text speed to fast-but-not-instant (FBNI speed!), and that people using instant speed were relatively low. It almost made me wonder if I should just force the player to play the game at FBNI speed (kinda like how Ace Attorney forces you to use one speed), but hey. If I can add options, might as well add them. 

-I did leave instant speed in in ISAT, but it IS kind of sad to see the text appear all at once when I already made sure the text appearing would pause slightly at every comma or end of sentence (see above!) One of my gripes with instant speed is that it sometimes kills the pacing. Can you really feel the WEIGHT of a sentence if it appears all at once?!?! Thankfully, I did find out how to add very slight pauses with the instant speed! Heck yeah! Even at instant speed, you will go at MY pace, player!!!!

-Many people also love when, if your text speed isn’t instant, you can press A while the text is still appearing to make the text appear all at once! Thank god this is already a thing in RPGmaker and I don’t have to figure it out myself. What I DID figure out is how to make this NOT happen, for important moments! Again, you will go at MY pace, player!!! It’s a fun, subtle way to catch the player off guard, so I’m glad I figured it out, teehee.

-One of the reasons I was wondering about text speed is that I’m a very fast reader, and I didn’t really take that into account when I made START AGAIN: a prologue! I had a few dialogues where the text would advance to the next box on its own, without player input, mostly when a character would interrupt another or something like that. Because it’s fun and cool! Haha they interrupted this character so the text box advanced on its own! How realistic! What a good use of video game code powers!

    But here’s the thing: some players (especially streamers, who read everything aloud) did not have time to read what was on screen before it went away! And if they had the text speed on instant, the code made it so that they would get literally one frame of text before it went away! AND THAT’S NOT GOOD!!! So for ISAT, I made sure I would add text that advances automatically VERY rarely, and when I did (because, again, it’s fun and cool), I made sure the text speed would slow down significantly, and the text would stay on screen for as long as it took me to say aloud a few times. So you are welcome, slow readers everywhere. Sorry it took me so long!!!!

That’s it, that’s all for today! Let me know if you have any questions, or if there’s any aspect of the game development struggle you’d like me to talk about! See you next time!!!

AND DON’T FORGET TO WISHLIST THE GAME ON STEAM ALSO IT REALLY HELPS BECAUSE STEAM’S ALGORITHM IS MORE LIKELY TO SHOW OFF GAMES WITH A HIGH AMOUNT OF WISHLISTS THAT'S THE REASON WHY GAME DEVS ALWAYS ASK TO WISHLIST!!! OKAY BYE!!!! 

[kaunis-sielu]

October Challenge: 14

A New Hobby

Steve has been practically glued to you since he got home after the fire. You understand, he got a horrifying glimpse of what it would be like to lose his children and his Omega. What it would be like to know he hadn’t protected you.

“Where are you going?” Steve mumbles from the bed as you get up.

“I have that art class today.”

“I’m coming with.”

“You don’t have to Alpha.”

“I’m sorry.” He says getting out of bed, “I know I’ve been a lot since yesterday. I just, if you’d have seen him Omega. The complete anguish, Sam had to pin him to the ground to keep him from going inside and it looked and smelled like an arson.”

“I understand I just don’t want you to be bored.” You tell him and it’s the truth, you can’t imagine losing him. It’d be like cutting off a limb or two and you’re not sure you’d survive it.

“I’ll survive.” He tells you before getting ready.

When you get to the studio the woman running the class adds Steve to the list and he pays the fee. You sit side by side then start to draw out the fruit sitting on the pedestal in front of you. He keeps glancing over at you.

“What?”

“Why are you in an art class when you’re a published illustrator?” A couple heads turn toward you at the question and you give a little shrug.

“I like learning new techniques and I don’t do much outside of digital drawing anymore so it’s fun to be able to put the paint on the paper.”

“What do you illustrate?” The teacher asks and you can feel the eyes of most of the class on you.

“Oh, children’s books.” You try to downplay it but Steve isn’t having it.

“She’s F. Forest,”

“I thought F. Forest was a man.” One of the other students says with a frown at you.

“That’s kinda the point of a pen name.” You say glaring over at Steve who gives you a small smirk. You look pleadingly over at the instructor who seems to take pity on you and claps her hands for attention.

“I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable but I’m not sorry for bragging about you.” Steve says softly pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“I don’t like people knowing.” You say in the same quiet voice, “I don’t like the expectations.”

“Honey I’m your biggest fan. You’re so talented.”

“Steve.” You sigh swinging sad eyes toward him. “This was a place I could just, try shit with no expectations.”

“You still can.” He says but you see that he doesn’t get it. You sigh and doodle Cooper rather than the stuff in the middle of the room. Steve finishes his own work and when the teacher comes by she gently touches his shoulder and smiles. Her hand lingers for longer than you’d like and when Steve tenses, she removes her hand like he’s on fire. Steve takes the paper he’d been drawing on and rolls it up before tying a piece of string around it. You leave your work on the easel and take the hand that Steve offers you as you leave the small studio.

“I’m sorry.” He says, “I ruined a space that felt safe to you.”

“It’s fine, I’ll get over it.”

“But you shouldn’t have to.”

“You meant nothing by it.” You assure him, “can we get lunch at Quiver?”

“Of course.” He says pressing a kiss to the back of your hand. You walk there and have lunch in a little corner booth. When you get back to the car Steve passes you his rolled piece of paper without looking at you. You unroll it and are stunned by his drawing, it’s a sketch of you. You’re lost in thought, your lips are parted and you look so damn soft.

“Steve,” you breathe before climbing into the car and pulling his lips to yours. “You never told me you were an artist.” You tell him your lips a breath from his.

“I’m not really.”

“Excuse me. I have never in my life looked more beautiful than I do in this.” You tell him shaking the paper in your hand.

“That’s how you always look to me.” He whispers and you kiss him again.

“Alpha. This, I can’t even tell you how sweet this is. How beautiful it makes me feel.”

“You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen and if I haven’t told you that enough times for you to believe it I’ve failed you.” You climb into his lap, bumping the horn causing you both to laugh softly and you wrap your arms tightly around him.

“You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Don’t you ever doubt that.” You tell him softly, “I love you.”

“I love you too Omega. I’ll do whatever I need to keep you happy.”

“You already do.”

“Good. Can I take you somewhere before we go home? Just for a little walk in the woods?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“It also means you have to get out of my lap.” He says with a smile and you laugh.

“Oh, right.” You slide out of his lap and buckle, it’s a short drive to the trail he wants to take and you walk up the small hill covered by the changing leaves.

“God, Cooper would love it here.” You tell Steve as you walk, he pulls you to a gentle stop and kisses you softly.

“We can come back with him any time you want. But first,” he sinks down to one knee and tears fill your eyes. He pulls a ring box out of his pocket and opens it. “Omega, I know that we’re already Mated but I want it all with you. I want the wedding, the engagement, the kids. I want it all. You’re already the center of my world but I want the world to know it. Will you marry me?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” You tell him and he stands and crushes his mouth to yours.

[elljwalker]

Some illustrations I did for the amazing Stout Stoat Press’s Apawthecaria book! It’s a GORGEOUS chunky solo-journaling RPG book full of beautiful art - you should get it if you’re into that kinda thing! I had so much fun doing these.