#almost 4 months of ip

[emilyblame]

this is just me but I only started listening to waterparks when funeral grey came out. I didn't seek them out, only ever listened whenever they played in her car but as more and more singles kept dropping, I started liking them more and more. And right around the time intellectual property dropped, I started listening to more of their older albums. Now I'm obsessed. And I like Intellectual Property, even after 4 months!

I can feel the difference in lyrics in ip compared to their older albums like double dare and ent but I don't think it's a bad thing entirely! And I know Intellectual Property only dropped about 4 months ago but I cannot wait to see what waterparks is going to do in the future. I feel so so normal about them, I swear

you were kinda forced into the fandom haha i’m kidding. i also found them by chance.

five years ago, i was letting the youtube algorith dictate what i was listening to, and it decided to play Peach (Lobotomy). i was like, “ok. generic pop punk band. cool.” then, it played Blonde and my overdrive/distortion-loving sorry ass got a little more interested (also there was screaming.) but it wasn’t until it played Royal that it absolutely destroyed me and i was hooked forever.

i too love 'Intellectual Property' a lot! i like it better than 'Greatest Hits' in the sense that it feels more cohesive, more like an album. although, to be fair, the feeling of randomness in GH is probably deliberate. i mean, it feels like none of the songs fit together and it is called 'Greatest Hits'… i choose to believe that was on purpose.

on the lyrical front… there was a huge change between 'Entertainment' and 'Fandom', and it was because Awsten started getting tired of people ‘misinterpreting’ his lyrics— which is more a personal interpretation than a misinterpretation, but you go off, king— and he decided to start being more 'direct' with what he was trying to say. in other words, he sacrificed trying to sound pretty in order to just say what he wanted to say. which is not a bad thing entirely, but when you listen to the albums back to back it feels a little strange to go from this strongly metaphorical lyrics in 'Double Dare' to “i’d unfuck you if i could.”

all that said! i’m also excited to see what they do in the future, but i would love to see them live first. i would also love to see Awsten take a fucking break a let an album live for more than 2 years, but i know he’s probably already 50 songs deep into the new one, so…

[lulu2992]

This interview with Drew Holmes, now the IP Director of the Far Cry franchise, is two months old and I haven’t talked about it yet, but there are a few things he says that I really like and think (hope) bode well for the future of the series!

Like what he said during the 20th Anniversary livestream, the article confirms they’re aware many fans love the villains, but what’s even more interesting is that it suggests they know some people would like to have the possibility to side with the antagonists. This has never been an option (except in New Dawn, sort of) but we know it’s an idea they’ve been considering at least since Far Cry 4. When I read,

“Some players may see that the villains are going too far, but also see their point, and think: ‘If I work with them, I can make them see the error of their ways and change them.’”

or,

In continuing to fight the antagonist, all the woes of the world are not resolved; and in joining them, society does not collapse. “Defeating the bad guy may seem like the thing that you should’ve done,” he continues, “but what are the things that you’ve done along the way to get here? And if you joined the bad guy, is there a glimmer of hope? What happened to the people you met along the way?”

it makes me think they might seriously consider finally letting us join the villain(s) in a future game. As he implies, making such a choice would surely have big repercussions on the story and characters, but it’s part of the reason I would love to have this possibility. I’ve never seen that in any other game I’ve played, and I think it would be a bold and interesting decision if it became an option.

I like this as well:

Drew mentions that [Far Cry 3] holds a mirror to the player and asks: “Look at the things you’ve done. What do your actions say about what you value?” 

It’s pretty much what Jeffrey Yohalem (Lead Writer) and Dan Hay (Executive Producer and basically Drew Holmes’ predecessor as head of the brand) said about Far Cry 3 at the time (for example here), so seeing that they’re all on the same page is great. Of course, you’d expect an IP Director to have a good knowledge and understanding of the franchise, but since I’ve already seen Far Cry 3 devs completely contradict each other in interviews, that wasn’t guaranteed… At least, and even though he wasn’t even working at Ubisoft when the game was released, I’m glad he knows what he’s talking about!

I also really like the parts about how Far Cry games are supposed to make players feel uneasy or are really about how far someone (protagonist or antagonist) is willing to go for what they consider right because what seems “moral” can change depending on the situation we’re in, and everyone, in very specific and extreme circumstances, can potentially “become the jungle” that initially looked so scary and foreign to them.

Usually, in Far Cry, the characters’ motivations are clear, and even if we rarely agree with what they do, we can almost always understand why they do it and even have sympathy for them. As he concludes:

“When we help each other, what is the reason behind it? When we hurt each other, what is the reason behind it?”

These questions have implicitly been asked many times in the series, but no clear answer has been provided because, as the interview explains, Far Cry games are supposed to “evoke feelings and make space for introspection”. In the end, only we, players, by experiencing the stories and meeting the characters, can find out who we truly are.

In my opinion, it appears the franchise is in good hands, and for now, I have hope for the future :)

[davekat-sucks]

I do have to say that anon who soeculated on Dirk’s role does have a good idea for where the plot may be going and the setup for Dirk’s ultimate session, although I never considered the horrorterror session, generally because I have a hard tike taking it seriously. What’s notable as well is apparently it was 48 players that made the 48 zodiac signs of Alternia, but that got retconned to 288 signs of Hiveswap. What I think Dirk is doing is two-fold.

1. Dirk states in the epilogues this is being done to maintain the existence of their Universe. Homestuck is shoulder-deep in metatextual fuckery so of course the characters treat the in-universe existence of canon as real and like a story they exist in. If the story ends, the characters will decay away into unobserved, undefined, and untended void of irrelevance. Without us, the audience to pay attention to the narrative and characters of Homestuck, Homestuck doesn’t exist. Of course, narratives need conflict, and Dirk makes a new session to run a new overarching story that keeps Dirk and Rose in focus, and in a sense the cast alive. It could have gone a lot of different ways but Dirk is better at abrupt action than long term planning, the real plan comes from the second reason.

Earth C is the Cherub’s birth planet. Billions of years after Earth is ruined, a cherub will lay the egg of Caliborn and Calliope inland a ruined field somewhere on the dead planet, with only communications via a radio tower that transcends the narrative… Hussie’s IP server!

Of course, the earth now orbits a red giant with all the water evaporated and food wasted, so they are cared for by Gamzee who got sucked into the black hole caused by Lord Jack’s big-ass head implosion in [S] collide, giving that version of Jack his one true purpose: to die and transport the cherubim guardian to the right place.

Now the next requirement for Earth C to house the Cherubs is all the immortal Gods to be gone. Inevitably over the course of 3-4 billion years the beta and alpha kids, Kanaya, and Calliope are going to have to leave Earth C and never come back. Something happened for them to be gone. The cause doesn’t matter, only the effect is destiny. Dirk was nesting the Cherubs, he just had to pull their biggest threat off the Earth.

One final addendum, I don’t know what Dirk’s successful species is gonna be, and if the HICU will actually let the species exist and build the new sburb session or fakeout kill them in classic Hussie trolling style. What matters is Dirk gave the species a name: Sartyr, amd looking at sillhouettes it looks to be a bipedal anthromorph, much less a squid creature. I don’t think the HICU has the balls to do the horrorterror session.

They don’t have to, they heavily implied Dirk is dating Rosebot and fans on r/homestuck avoided the topic to talk about how good the art is and how the update is finally getting the ball rolling and how the sequel writing is finally good, stuff we’ve all heard before. The HICU posted another 12 pages of a monthly update where something almost happened and fans ate it up. This is Homestuck now. Where something almost happens, and then we wait a month for something to almost happen again.

That really seems to be the case. Before under Hussie and Whatpumpkin, the bad art and story were noticeable within each update. It's been routed in our brains that every update would be this. James Roach and HICU took advantage of it by getting to focus on the pretty art first before the story because most of us would skim through the text. Nobody would actually pick up on what it is going on until they read it 3-6 more times to let it sink in. It was like this before for many new readers of Homestuck. Most would look at the pretty picture or flash and less reading on the text. Vox's Let's Read at least makes it accessible for those who struggle reading, but even they don't update frequently and are at a certain stopping point where others need to go to the webcomic to continue. And I think a person watching the LR Homestuck and having to go back to the webcomic during ACT 6, is probably not a good experience for those entering the series. It's funny back in MSPA Forums, talks of incest was banned despite the themes of said incest being a common thing in Homestuck. And it was TOBY FOX who made The Baby Is You to troll at the mods that tried to cease the topic of incest. People may have known Toby Fox wrote some crazy funny m-preg song and it got relevance again thanks to a modern Pokemon game, but I don't think people actually knew the context and history behind on WHY he made it in the first place. And now we got people too scared to speak about it openly.

[umichenginabroad]

Week 8: Cost Breakdown!

Okay 8 weeks in let's get down to business, how much money have I spent and where. First of all, there is the tuition which was base of $5,205 which includes housing and tuition for 3 months in addition to various trips that were planned by IPE. Through the trips, they likely spend a decent amount of money. However, I got a scholarship for $3,500 which most people in the program got if not more. The most pricy part of the program was probably the plane tickets which was approximately $2,000 for a round trip. Since coming to China, I’ve spent ~12,000RMB (1,500 USD). Here is a breakdown of my other expenses and how far everything can go.

In the first week, I spent a lot of my money on various dorm necessities like toilet paper, trashbags, and miscellaneous expenses. In total, it added up to approximately $300RMB (40USD) which is fairly cheap for all the little purchases that added up. Here is the rest of the breakdown for the past 8 weeks.

Utilities/Essentials: 504 RMB (68.85USD)

This includes hot water which we need to pay for separately which isn’t too bad since it is so hot I don’t end up using the hot water much and this also includes laundry which I do often because the hot weather makes me sweat through all my clothes at a lighting pace.

Food: 2043.18 RMB (279.12 USD)

This is crazy cheap considering I only eat out and I don’t pay attention to my food budget whatsoever (before I decided this blog was going to be a cost report). However, this is just my actual meals, I summed my snacks/drinks separately.

Snacks/Drinks: 1469 RMB (209.86 USD)

How have I spent almost the same amount on snacks and drinks as real food? I am ashamed but also it is so easy to buy snacks here and there when there is a convenience store everywhere (including in our dorm) and each snack is approximately 1 USD but those costs can add up for sure.

Shopping: 2964.3 RMB (404.92 USD)

It is sooo easy to spend so much on clothes when everything here is so cheap and cute. I also have been buying gifts and souvenirs for friends and family back home but I think I definitely need to reel in my shopping addiction.

Experiences: 1261.56 RMB (180.14 USD)

This includes fees and transportation for miscellaneous activities such as watching Inside Out 2 (which was really good), doing an escape room, going to a gaming cafe, or exploring downtown. This I would say was all 100% worth it.

Solo Trip: 3290 RMB (449.45 USD)

A few weeks ago, I went on a 4-day solo trip around Shanghai to Hangzhou and Nanjing. I ended up spending 449.45 USD for the train tickets which were approximately 120 RMB (17 USD) each and for the hotel rooms which were 340 RMB (48 USD) per night. Although, my friend who took a solo trip to Chongqing only spent 150 RMB on a hotel so it can definitely vary a lot. It was definitely worth the experience and you can definitely solo travel for even less money too!

Hopefully this helps put in perspective what studying abroad means in regards to money. To be honest, I have not been the most careful with money, because my parents have money in RMB that they won’t be using anytime soon. Regardless, hopefully my breakdown was helpful!

See ya next week!

Erin Xia

Mechanical Engineering

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute

[destinyc1020]

So Tom can't pull numbers outside Spider-man? Uncharted is looking at you anon.

A movie with not good critics reviews, released in not a good month February, With Omicron still a thing (several theater close or with limited sittings). The movie didn't have a proper red carpet premiere, the promo was very limited. The movie made almost 4 times its Budget at the box office (13th movie at the worldwide box office in that year. It was top 10 when It was released in streaming.

It was confirmed the script for the sequel was written.

That screem success to me, against all odds

Yea, IP or not, Uncharted definitely performed tremendously well, despite the odds.

Gosh, was the Omicron virus still a thing back in 2022? Geez 😬

But anyway, I think it's definitely a sure thing that when Tom performs in action films, he can def bring butts to seats with the box office numbers. 😁👏🏾

I just don't want fans to be defeated if he has a film that does NOT being billions of dollars to the box office like these other IP-heavy films, ykwim?

Like, it's okay if he does just a regular non-action blockbuster film, and it just does decent at the box office. That's OKAY too y'all. ☺️

[howdy-folks-its-showtime]

April Update!

Howdy! Cobalt here, as many of your guys know It’s Showtime and its characters/story are gonna be turned into a horror game by the same title. So for both Gamejolt and this blog I am gonna start trying to do monthly updates on development. I think it’ll be a good way to put into perspective how much progress is being made each month and keep you guys in the know about how things are going. These are gonna be formatted with work made that month going first and then afterwards any other small announcements or thoughts we’d like to share on development. That or things that weren’t created that month that I basically keep stored in case we have months where progress is slow or I can’t show much behind the scenes stuff. These logs will likely contain personal stuff too, since with me and my partner being the main heads of the project. Our well-being or IRL goals are relevant to how much work is being done. Also while developing Showtime I intend to create other games similar to it, to sort of learn and test the waters + Since those ones aren’t tied to an IP I can actually make money off of them. Something I can’t [or at least not without Mike n Meatly’s permission I suppose] with Showtime or its characters.

April was sadly, not my month, I found out I was vitamin D deficient and got a slight fever. So I spent a lot of days tired and recovering from that. Progress has still been made though, mostly on learning 3D modeling more, I’m almost done with a model I’m making for someone else actually and while it is not perfect by any means… I think it looks really awesome for being my maybe fourth or third model and it’ll be my first truly finished model as well. I also have made good progress on writing both dialogue and summaries of Showtime’s story. I did particularly get ideas for a good chunk of Showy's campaign however, which involves a character I was on the fence about including in Encore!... Until very recently... Art wise not too much has been done specifically this month besides some concept art for cycle designs and some progress on textures for the studio. But that’s okay cause we’re not really at a spot where major progress can be made art wise yet. There’s so much more I want to share but I’ll be doing my best to space out those things out between updates. So no update is too long or too short with nothing interesting in there. Also sorry this is all so vague and non-specific I’m gonna try and get in the habit of actually documenting what work is being done on Showtime monthly from now on, so I’ll be able to be more specific about what parts are being chipped away at.

So onto something that didn’t happen this month but is important we have decided to switch to Unity instead of Unreal Engine 4. I’d like to take some time to explain why and also make sure nobodies too anxious over the change. For one thing, not a lot of progress was made on Unreal Engine, you could hear footsteps as you walked, use a buggy animation to enter a miracle station and the map was just a room full of lights. This is due to the fact while working in Unreal Engine was interesting and I learned quite a bit, I found myself often feeling it was not a good fit for Showtime and that trying to make it so was fighting against the engine as opposed to working with it. Unreal Engine seems to be built for realistic, open world or multiplayer FPS type games. That’s not to say you can’t make anything else with it, but finding tutorials for things I wanted to do was. Basically a nightmare because youtube was flooded with videos on how to make those games specifically. Another big aspect however was the general style. Unreal Engine is great if you want very realistic lighting and have a computer that can tank the sort of weight of that too. Neither is true for me however, Showtime’s characters are all very stylized, our humans are cartoony have clear shapes and most of all, I just want Showtime’s overall style to pay loving homage to 1930’s and general 2D Animation. I think both are really underappreciated and god do I love them. Also I’m making this on literally a laptop, a new one and not a janky one by any means, but still not a desktop. Unreal Engine works great for those who know how to use it and want to create the games it was optimized for, but it’s not ideal for my purposes, Godot seems promising but Unity is just great at specifically doing what I want to do with Showtime. It’s great for beginners to Game Development, has plenty of tutorials for all kinds of games and is very flexible in style. Sadly nothing is better at being Unity than Unity right now. I’m still mad about what the CEO did, and I’m glad for those who were able to switch engines to those with better management but it’s not really an option for us currently. Of course, this will put things back a bit but I’ve already been learning how to build a basic map in Unity and so far have only run into a few issues. Still I would love any advice on how to do this, esp from those who had made games similar to BATIM and other mascot horrors. [I have been thinking of building the maps inside Blender first and then importing them into Unity, to see if that’s easier or practical, but mostly I would love to hear what others commonly do to build such intricate interior design in Unity.] Either way while this month wasn’t terribly exciting by no means was no work done, just nothing too fun to show off yet.

[dspdick]

hello everyone. i hope you have some snacks on you because i have yet another thing to rant about. fortunately it isn’t about the bunch of idiots i have the misfortune of calling classmates, instead it’s the cursed place where i chose to continue my education. let’s yell about university.

for starters, i would like to point out that this is an expensive university. like. 900€/month expensive. i get to pay almost half of it because i have a discount due to my high school grades, but you have to keep it up during your stay in college and once it’s taken away you can’t ask for it again.

given the exorbitant price every single of its students is paying, you would think that my class would be in a decent building. wrong. we’re in a prefabricated shitty three-story building in the other side of campus from our labs. because medicine students have their own simulation clinics and the business students get a bajillion brick buildings but fuck the genetics kids amiright?

speaking of labs. the installations are cool and all but the materials need a serious upgrade. I CANT DO A PROPER GEL ELECTROPHORESIS IF THE MICROPIPETTE DOES THE EQUIVALENT OF A DRIVING NEWBIE WITH A MANUAL CAR. also the ph-meters are the bane of my existence and me the bane of theirs.

also. the lab practices are four hours long. which wouldn’t be too bad if they didn’t make us start them at three or four pm when we’ve been in classes from eight or ten am. yes i spend close to twelve hours on campus on lab weeks yes they also pretend that we have time to study.

BY THE WAY. OH MY GOD. studying. i know it’s necessary. but i have EIGHT SUBJECTS THIS SEMESTER. EIGHT. students in other universities have less subjects per year. one of them is a lab subject and we have a fuckin. oral and practical exam. ITS A LAB SUBJECT?? WHY DO I HAVE TO LEARN THE PROCEDURES AND WHY EVERYTHING IS DONE PLUS DO A NiCE LaB nOTeBoOk. SUCK MY DICK.

that and the fact that i not only have science subjects but also philosophy, communication and fucking BUSINESS. yes they’re useful but i frankly haven’t seen a subject with a worse organization than my philosophy class. and on top of that my business teacher just keeps sending projects and questions. maam your class is worth three credits. be grateful i do an effort to get out of bed and spend two and a half bitchass hours to listen to you yap about ip and business life cycles at eight thirty in the morning on a friday.

and now that i mention this, i still can’t believe we’ll have to do 50 mandatory hours of volunteer work next year. yay for volunteer work, i’ve done before and it’s amazing. but you can’t expect someone who spends 10+ hours in college regularly to do the same amount of time as people who only have 3 to 4 hours of class per day.

the worst part of all is the fact that our degree supervisor just expects us to act like phd students or some shit. she literally told to the class presidents that “we can’t expect to have compromises and extracurriculars outside of university. we have to focus on our college life”. this is our first year. i don’t even want to think about how we’ll be treated from now on.

and i guess this is why im so scared. i like genetics. love it, even, when applied to things i enjoy and not a clinical environment. but i want to live my life and be able to truly rest and enjoy and not want to kill myself constantly over the amount of workload that we have to deal with.

i don’t know if i’m going to drop out or keep going but all my options are bleak. either i continue and somehow survive college enough time to get my degree without having killed myself, or i drop out. and from there i have more options. a) immediately switching to a different college and/or undergrad, b) taking an off year and changing my undergrad.

i don’t even know what i’m going to do. i’m exhausted on all the levels a human can be tired and i have no idea if i have it in me to keep going or just take the easy out.

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Chris Answers Asks (2)

The Warpers.

Reaper Leviathans aren't scary the moment I get my Prawn suit since I punch to death. Those squid bastards will teleport me out of my mecha, making me vulnerable.

As for Sub Zero, honestly nothing scared me too bad and I completely forgot the names of everything in that game besides the Pengling.

I don't listen to many of their music.

...Is what I would've answered originally, then I found out Nene did a cover on the Witch from Mercury opening. Now it's got me like:

I don't know many other songs, Suisei with Stellar Stellar, and Calliope and the Triple-Q mashups is all I know.

It'll probably change once again, but it is (as of writing), she and Nodoka are the GOATS

Glad it made people happy, but personally I don't think it should have been remade. Capcom is double dipping WAAAAY too much into remake territory, sets a terrible precedent with AAA games not coming out with any new IP's/not remaking anything that DESERVES a remake, and with their plans to remake 5 and 6 undoubtedly, to me it is a TERRIBLE idea.

As much as I love 5/6 (those were my first 2 RE games), they're what almost killed the franchise to begin with, and to remake one of the GOATs (4) and keep going down is absolutely ludicrous. What's next, a remake of 7 and 8 once they're done?

They've learned from their mistakes in Genshin: Why give the first mommy character for free?

Been loving the second season, the opening's been stuck in my head for a month now. I'm glad you're enjoying the adventures of the Tanuki.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Obituaries and panicking, everywhere... As expected and projected, Memorial Day box office was at an all-time low... What is going on? Are the movies bad? Is the younger generation not into theaters anymore? Too many other forms of entertainment competing with theaters? Is it this? Is it that?

Maybe the way box office is reported and deified above all else, oughta end. It's waaaaay overpowered the movies themselves, for sure.

I think it's simple... The movie theater experience costs too much and is often a big gamble. The chains are like malls, they could be clean or really gross, you could get an audience that you share a great communal experience with, or a completely disruptive one. $12+ per ticket, general admission, sky high snack prices... I think a lot of audiences, especially families and groups, are - in true fashion - saving for the few movies they want to see every calendar year. I know, because I've worked at a movie theater for almost 9 years at this point... I see it in action. Stats have shown over the last 10 or so years that this is the case with many Americans.

That's not to say 2024 has been a total wasteland overall, in terms of the domestic box office. DUNE: PART TWO did really, really good, as did GODZILLA X KONG and KUNG FU PANDA 4. But so far... The Top 10... It's largely recognizable IPs or movies based on well-known people, such as the Bob Marley biopic. Not exactly "original", per se. At #9, so far, is the movie CIVIL WAR, which was an original story. And below that, THE BEEKEEPER.

Last year's Top 10 was also no different. Barbie, Mario, Spider-Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Ariel and friends, Willy Wonka, Ant-Man and pals, John Wick, and the astro-turfed movie about some real-life fraud whose name I won't mention. The highest-charting original of last year was ELEMENTAL, at #17.

But here's the thing... Original, original...

FURIOSA is out this weekend, and it's being *raved* about in most circles, that director George Miller has done it again and it's another excellent entry in the MAD MAX world. A wild big budget movie like few others. DUNE: PART TWO was similarly very well-received and was similarly the work of an auteur.

I like a healthy mix of both, and that there's a passion or drive behind both as well. There are "original" movies, or movies based on untried properties, that kinda just show up and do little for me. Like I wasn't all that big on, say, THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING, WISH, or SALTBURN. A movie like SMILE, I borderline hated. And there are big IP movies that really impressed me. I really dug both of the Denis Villeneuve DUNE movies, GODZILLA MINUS ONE, ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, BARBIE, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, you get the idea? And vice-versa.

Some of this year's "flops", like THE FALL GUY, were pretty well-reviewed and seem to be growing with audiences - even if they won't make back their astronomical budgets within the first few months of their existence.

The theater world needs to up its game, studios need to be smarter with budgets (and also more experimental, at that), and box office needs to become less of an obsession. I mean, it's to a point where the movies are just nothing more than stats, numbers, etc. Box office is a fun race for me to watch - I've been fond of it for at least 20 years at this point, seeing numbers is satisfying, and it's fun to see where the zeitgeist is at and what audiences are flocking to at the given moment - and what the movie's future will eventually be. I like seeing cool stuff succeed and make back its budget, so more cool stuff like it happens. Also what movie is the one to see and thus part of the weekly conversation... But at the same time, the movies themselves matter more.

And it sucks to see them take a back seat, more so than ever before, to this kind of hyperbole... The kind that doesn't seem to read the room.

[questifer]

It's Been A While

Some of you have been following me on Twitter for quite a while now, but for everyone else I'd like to summarize just where I've been and what I have been up to since I left Tumblr. I was going to write this out all in one post, but as it turns out recapping 3 years' worth of dramatic life and career events is a lot. So today, I'll be posting only the first part: Why I left Blizzard and what happened next.

Chapter One: The End of an Era

Last time I was active on here, it was around the 2019 Blizzcon in which I helped create the Bastion Blizzcon Demo. It was a hard Blizzcon and many who were staying with me at the con may have noticed that I was struggling to enjoy myself. As it turned out, the journey up to shipping that demo had been extremely difficult for me. I didn't know it at the time, but I was also in the throes of a 6 month long manic episode. To summarize without going into too much detail, I became extremely paranoid about my coworkers talking behind my back, making choices without consulting me that impacted my work, and dismissing me when I raised concerns. That paranoia manifested in anger that I struggled to contain and so I damaged several important work relationships along the way. I also was barely sleeping, had developed extreme caffeine sensitivity, and ended up at urgent care for gastritis and heart palpitations on more than one occasion. At its peak, I would come home from work and scream-cry on my floor and contemplate either quitting or committing suicide. It became very clear to me that this wasn't your run-of-the-mill creative psychosis that comes over me on occasion when the work itself gets hard. I'll get into the diagnosis, how my psychiatrist and I recognized the manic episode, and how I got to where I am now in a later post. By the time COVID hit and we were all sent home in March 2020, I could not have been happier to get out of the office with people I no longer trusted or thought liked me at all. All at once the social pressure to put on a happy face, respond to people walking up to my desk randomly, and moderate my chaotic emotional state evaporated. With the context of only being perceived while on video calls, I gained the ability to control how I interacted with others. I thought this change in attitude would improve my relationship with my peers, but sadly it didn't. They had already decided I was a horrible collaborator and no longer advocated for me behind closed doors. In truth, I don't really blame them, but I do wish they had given me the benefit of the doubt. It was not business as usual up in my brain-meats. After 4 months of more of the same, I updated my resume and browsed LinkedIn for roles that raised my interest. In truth I had been daydreaming about something new, something with less baggage, but my love for WoW, my team, and Blizzard was still extremely strong. I was very conflicted about leaving. When an opportunity arose to work with a studio in Sweden on an IP that I really liked, it presented a rather romantic idea of what my life could be. I could break clean with all that had been going on at Blizzard. I could live somewhere new and different. I could finally prove that I was not just a WoW quest designer, but a game designer of considerable skill. My friends and family were encouraging but I did not hear them when they brought up very reasonable concerns. Was it too far? How would I do without a support system? Was there another way to accomplish my goals? It was extreme, and I knew it, but a part of me felt that the world would just prevent me from going if I wasn't meant to. And that's how I learned just how easy it was to sell almost everything I owned, pack my life into 3 suitcases, get on a plane, and suddenly live in Sweden.

And with that, I'll pick up with the Sweden Saga in my next post.

[emilyblame]

Intellectual property is my all time favourite parx album!! Awsten really let himself experiment with the sound this album and i love it so much. And the religious meaning behind a lot of these songs really hit home for me because i also grew up being told all these things about sex being sinful and wrong and having to learn to grow past that guilt and shame. It really feels like Awsten gets me and it feels so good to be seen in this way. It takes so much to open up about these things and Awsten was able to. This album really shows how much Awsten has grown and i think that’s absolutely amazing!! Plus this era has just been super fuckin fun!! I love ip and i love Awsten and im so proud of him and this album!!

ah, the other side of the coin!

yes! this is why i love art so much. it’s subjective, it’s personal. this is what i mean when i say you have to have an emotional conection to music in order to love it.

thank you for sharing your story with me!

[fantasyfantasygames]

ZIM

The official Invader Zim roleplaying game, Serendipity Books, 2016

For those of you unfamiliar with it, Invader Zim was a kids cartoon about a child-sized alien invader with plentiful organs and a robot dog, written by the same guy who made a comic called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac which was entirely not for kids but was absurdly influential for only being 7 issues long. You should google Zim. It is very memes.

The official Zim game uses, of all things, the house system from the Chi-Chian official licensed game. You roll and add your stat and skill vs. a target number. If you double or triple the TN you get extra effects. Attributes start in the -1 to 4 range, skills add +1 or +2.

However, whereas Chi-Chian had you rolling 2d10, ZIM gives you 2d6, with the same set of target numbers, making you basically incompetent at anything where you need to roll. Unknown Armies skills are rated at the same % success chance, but that's your "while being shot at" chance in UA. In ZIM it's your "everyday task" chance. You are unlikely to be walking around with your shoes tied in this game is what I'm saying.

But maybe that was part of the point. I mean, it's not like Zim actually succeeded in taking over much of anything.

Your characters are other invaders, their weird robot or biotech or cyborg pets, their hulking bodyguards/bullies, and their diabolical love interests. Totally up to you whether you play all evil "geniuses" or one "genius" and their entourage. Character creation is a simple point-buy affair that's fairly difficult to min-max but seems to have a fair number of options that aren't helpful.

Some NPCs from the show are statted up. There are lots of suggestions for how to adjust those stats for variation on a theme. The setting is "real world", but as much "real world" as any other surreal comic. If you want to toss in a Dracula or two it will work just fine. The assumption is that there will be some sort of evil mastermind NPC who is thwarting you, a few NPC-type NPCs who are also thwarting you, no one who's really there to help, and that's the storyline.

The show ran in 2001 and 2006 (two seasons). Ten years of legal wrangling (you try wresting copyright away from a major network) later and the once-shuttered Serendipity Books reopened to publish the book they hoped would make them big. As is the story for almost every book on this blog, it did not, and they are shuttered once again. Paramount's much bigger lawyers reappropriated the IP in 2 months flat and the game was effectively de-published, with many unsold copies being pulped.

[pandoresque-main]

Ye, please answer all other questions from the yandere ask game o(^^o)

Okay!

1. No I don't have a darling~ Wish I did

2. Already answered

3. Already answered

4. Already answered.

5. I don't think I ever noticed it, I just kinda knew. But when I actually started to pay attention to it, it was when I was with a friend of mine of vrchat and I just kind of became obsessed with them because they helped me out of a really dark time in my life, it was a platonic obsession but I think it counts.

6. Not sure, I haven't been diagnosed with any yet and I'm firmly against self diagnosis.

7. Nope! Law abiding citizen

8. Hm~ Writing poetry about them, I did it a lot but I'd never show anyone.

9. I have never been rejected by anyone, I've always been the one to reject because I flirt with almost everyone, especially on vrchat~

10. I dunno~ Not really good on picking that stuff up, I'd rather them admit it.

11. Just online stalking and getting their IP address(IP addresses are useless so)

12. Don't have a darling yet!

13. Submissive!

14. Violence and ed 💀

15. Idk if it counts but def Jirai Kei or Menhera!

16. I just want to have a chill life with my Darling, they can pick the end goal~

17. Don't have a darling yet!

18. Romantically only one, platonically heaps!

19. A year and a couple of months!

20. I don't care if it's toxic or not, as long as my Darling is happy and loves me, all is well.

21. Don't have a darling yet!

22. Ooh!! I'm looking for a more dominant darling that isn't afraid of blood or pain, and enjoys philosophy and the symbolism in cannibalism! I like guys more than girls, but I don't mind your gender as long as you're taller than me and have a sense of style!

23. I haven't confessed my feelings, people always confessed to me.

24. Satou from Happy Sugar Life!

25. Yes!

26. Scrolling on Tumblr I suppose~

27. Don't have a darling yet!

28. Don't have a darling yet!

29. Don't have a darling yet!

30. Hm~ probably maybe a nice walk in the woods or going shopping! Or just a simple day hanging out and gaming, not sure, darling gets the final say!

Woowee that was a lot, but fun!

[umichenginabroad]

Week 0: Longest Day of My Life

Hej! I am Jiwoo Kim, who is a junior studying Chemical Engineering. I’m so excited to write about my IPE study abroad through the DIS program for the next couple of months!

A picture of me and Melo!

It is my fourth day in Stockholm and I already have tons of memories and tips to share with you all. But since it’s the first post, I’ll just talk about my crazy first day in Stockholm as a teaser for my future posts.

Preparing my flight to Stockholm

As a person who likes to pack EVERYTHING, I had SO MUCH to pack for 4 whole months. I didn’t want to bring too many suitcases that would make me regret my life decisions while I’m trying to walk and pull my luggage through the cobblestone roads piled with snow. So it ended up with one overweight checked baggage (*$65 fee for international SAS flight if under 28kg), a carry-on, and a backpack. 

On the way to Sweden

Arriving in Sweden

When I arrived in Sweden, people from the DIS Stockholm program were right outside the gate to greet me and give me instructions on how I would be going to my housing. When about 40 or so DIS students gathered, we took a short train ride followed by a taxi that took us straight to the Studentboende apartment. All the transportation was arranged and paid for by the DIS, which was easy and relaxing! 

Normal streets in Stockholm looked like this. Can you believe it?

Housing 

My housing is the Högalidsgatan apartment where both DIS and local students live together. It is one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm, rich in history, located on an island called Södermalm. 10-minute walk to the Metro and the ICA, which is a supermarket that sells various goods and food. DIS provided $600 worth of ICA gift cards as a food stipend for the semester, which convinced me to shop for groceries and cook even when I had never done it before. 

Cozy double room with our own bathroom and kitchenette!

Almost right after we arrived, we were given information about transportation, phone, keys, etc. I unpacked a little bit and went directly to the housing tour.

Apartment view from the window. I couldn't believe it <3

I met a lot of students and we shared our excitement for the special semester in Stockholm! Everyone was very friendly and wanted to hang out as soon as possible. I attentively listened to the extensive recycling process (sustainability is THE THING in Europe) and the closest train station. My roommate arrived soon after the tour and we went shopping at ICA with my new apartment friends together. We did some heavy grocery shopping, “cooked” dinner (meaning we toasted bread to make a sandwich with pesto, cheese, and ham), and prepared to go to bed.  Well, we tried to go to bed. 

I swear it tasted better than it looks like...

Well, we tried to go to bed.

All we wanted was clean towels and bedding to wrap up a long long day, so we put them in the washing machine. And guess what we saw when we went back to dry them. All the washing machines (with our stuff) and dryers (with another person’s stuff) were locked! Although this meant we were not sleeping anytime soon, my roommate and I took it as a learning experience and searched for resources. Thanks to the machine breaking down, we learned how to submit a FixIt request! It helped us get rid of jet lag by forcing us to stay up late. And we also learned that the maintenance people are sooo nice and are on top of things. They called me in less than thirty minutes after I submitted the request. Although it was a Saturday night, they responded quickly and assured us that they would resolve our problem. In fact, we did get new sheets and towels not long after the call. We were able to fall asleep as soon as we showered.

This was a summary of my hectic first day in Stockholm. I hope you enjoyed it, and I will follow up with more exciting events next week! 

Hey då,  

Jiwoo Kim

Chemical Engineering

DIS Study Abroad in Stockholm, Sweden

[datoneboardedguy]

Avatar: Legend of Korra Fanfiction - Korra x OC Male Reader.

(DISCLAIMER’S: I DON’T OWN THE LEGEND OF KORRA IP OR IT’S CHARACTERS! & THIS IS A NON CANON FANFICTION THAT ISN’T CONSTRAINED BY THE LIMITATIONS OF THE OFFICIAL AVATAR LOK CANON & ANY ATTEMPT’S TO SILENCE THIS FANFIC IS A BLATANT VIOLATION OF MY FREE SPEECH RIGHT’S!)

Chapter 4: Secrets.

Ricks POV in a small Earth Kingdom village nearby the mountain range prison:

I wake up with the sunlight shining in my eyes & realising I have slept in “oh Spirit’s, I gotta hurry!” I rush out of bed & get changed into my White Lotus uniform as I’m about to head out the door I just then remembered something “Oh, I almost forgot to my water my cactus!” After I finish I quickly head out to make my way to the airship station while grabbing a quick bite to eat along the way from a small Tofu stand, which makes the best in this side of the Earth Kingdom “Here you go Rick, your usual spicy steamed chicken Tofu with no mushrooms!” “Thanks Nox you’re the best, how much do I owe ya?” “Just 5 yuan’s” “here.” I handed him the money as he asked “Why did you quit that Metalbending Task Force anyway?” “I didn’t, I got promoted. Apparently I impressed the Metal Bending Boss herself Cheff Beifong. Sure I’m not in the taskforce anymore & I’ve had to essentially uproot my entire life & move far away. But anyway when you have a family of your own you’ll understand..-” “Alright alright I don’t need to hear your whole life story, now you better hurry off now or you’re gonna be late for work.” “Oh right, thanks for the pick me up!” I said as I started booking it to the airship station. I noticed I’m running behind schedule & use my Earthbending to launch myself onto the rooftops & started racing to the airship I reach the station as it’s about to take off & enter just as the White Lotus Airship Transport shuts it’s doors when another White Lotus guard remarks “Took ya long enough Rocky Rick..” I catch my breath then say “Better late *deep breath* ..that never, heh.” Then the Airship takes off bound for the Mountainside Prison.

Hours later-

As we arrive at the prison it’s nearly late, clear skies & there’s a very bright full moon too, like me & few other guards a couple of days ago there’s a small group of White Lotus guards waiting at the landing zone for the shift changes, i & the rest of the passengers get off while the other guards boarded the airship I quickly ask one of the off duty guards “Hey, has Old Gary Clocked in yet for his shift?” & she says “Yes I think so, he should be on patrol right about now.” “Okay, thanks.” She boards the airship & it immediately takes off, I think on where I saw last him going & head to where he went before I lost sight of him only to find a dead end wall which was odd so I placed the palm of my hand onto the ground & put my echo sense training to good use. After a few seconds I started sensing a void this wall, i stand up & forcefully Earthbended this false wall open & discover a Planning Room, there’s Temple maps, ancient scrolls, there’s even a stack of encrypted letters here & a dairy. Last log entry was two days ago. ‘It’s almost time to act after soo many months of waiting under cover as one of these pathetic short sighted idiots, practicing & honing my skills on the brat you sent for me to train on, just a couple of more days until I can finally liberate our glorious leader & finally without the White Lotus!’ As I finish reading this last passage I turn the page to find this insignia.

I gasped & said to myself “I need to warn the rest of the guards & sound the alarm’s!..” as I’m making my way to the security tower I see Old Gary standing on it’s & decided to pursue him.

Old Gary’s POV:

I’m currently looking over the Prison from the top of one of the Guard Tower’s basking in the full moon light after I finished planting the explosives all around the prison during my patrol, I have my finger on the trigger ready to finally set the plan into motion. I gleefully smile from ear to ear as I say “After all these years of carful planning ..has finally led to this ONE ..GLORIOUS MOMENT TO FINALLY FREE MY MASTER!-” I’m then interrupted by the meddlesome Lotus guard from before as he shouts “HALT! I HEREBY ARREST YOU FOR CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT A JAILBREAK OF A KNOWN SERIAL KILLER & FOR TORTURING A YOUNG CHILD!” “YOU’RE TOO LATE STOP WHAT’S COMING, enjoy the show!” I say as I lift my hand holding the detonator up for him to see “IT’S OVER GARY, THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING ..STAND DOWN!” “..& here GO!” *Click* (Loud Explosions)

End of Chapter..

[phantomswolf]

here, i answered the art questions

1. Art programs you have but don't use

aseprite, krita (nightmare to draw in), i used to have a totally 100% absolutely-not-pirated copy of photoshop but not anymore

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

depends on the day, but usually the left. i hate doing side profiles tho

3. What ideas come from when you were little

A LOT. but my story Nightfall has been a work in progress since I was 11

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

GORO AKECHI PERSONA 5

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

i hardly post most of my art on Tumblr atm, but that’s because almost all of it regards the Kirby Gemini AU and my partner and i are making a blog for that. so, as a percentage for the last few years, i’ve probably only posted maybe. less than 1% of my work?

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

honestly a lot of old emo art fksbfjfbd jhonen vasquez was a huge inspo to me for a while

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

PLUSH MAKING AND FURSUIT MAKING god i wanna learn but i don’t think sewing is my thing

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

i’ve had a lot, but i wanna keep them to myself in case I wanna salvage bits and pieces

9. What are your file name conventions

Depends on the day and the art piece but usually shit like “sorry if this looks gay”, variations of AWOO, “normal”, “k i l l”, “straight people”, etc

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

Uhhhh armor (i say like a fucking freak)

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

this nightmare of a playlist

12. Easiest part of body to draw

Uhhhhhhh depends on the day, usually the face

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

iunno, i don’t think abt that

14. Any favorite motifs

A LOT. i cant think of any specific ones rn but i guess. religious imagery is pretty baller. that and super dark palettes with bright neon highlights and accents

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

my room for digital stuff, but i usually bring a sketchbook with me if i’m going out

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

oughhh coloring and shading

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

usually water. hydration is important 👍

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

traditional, i have no clue. too many. digital supplies uhhh i didn’t break per se, but two art tablets have given out (my first one lasted years, but the second only lasted a few months coz it sucked booty hole)

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

TREES.

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

expression work!

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

my partner’s style!! i love it so fucking much

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

i do a lot of hand stretches. carpal tunnel was too much of a bitch not to

23. Do you use different layer modes

all the time! always for shading and for glowing bits. multiply and add glow layers my beloved

24. Do your references include stock images

sometimes yea lol. i don’t use refs as much as i should tho

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

Too much for me to be happy about it.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

i drew a vent piece and people took it as me just being edgy. wild times

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

somedays i do. usually just shitposts or my sona

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

i have participated in 1 (one) collab

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

uhh ace attorney and persona

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

is it weird to say a lot of my works? like the finished ones. iunno, i feel like i get overlooked a lot and it’s a cowabummer