#most of the thumbnails are blank

[divadollcreations]

In Honor Of (Possible) Burglars In Sims 4, Meet Cassim, King of Thieves

And have some selfies with his son Aladdin by the pool because pose player is hard

[puppycheesecake]

None of the eyebrows in my game have thumbnails anymore. 🤔 Does anyone know how to fix that?

[comicaurora]

I just finished creating the outline for a short comic (6 pages) and I found a lot of difficulty with actually scripting it. Trying to just write down what happens and what each character says was incredibly difficult, and I got stuck. So I basically skipped the scripting phase and went straight to layouts and had a much easier time. Do you have any advice for writing comic scripts, or any tips for this thumbnail/layout first approach?

Congratulations, that's exactly the same strategy I use! I figure out and list major plotpoints in a little bullet-point file before I start any storyboarding, and sometimes I'll do a little writing exercise like "at this exact moment what is everybody thinking and feeling and thus what are they most inclined to do next" but when I start doing dialogue I bundle it together with storyboards and layouts. It's just easier for me to think of them as part of the same process.

If I hit a wall storyboarding, I'll pull out a sketchbook and basically freeform doodle the key moments and visuals I've got floating around in the chunk I'm working on. It can help shake things loose or let me reframe something I'm stuck on.

I will also sometimes hit key points where the exact phrasing of a moment of dialogue becomes very important and I'm not entirely sure what to do, and in those cases I'll basically load up another blank bulleted list and just write down every conceivable thing I can think of for the character in question to say at that moment.

[stuffnonsenseandotherthings]

CityBoy_Log: Blurring the Lines Between Fiction and Reality.

I was doing my daily scroll through YouTube one day when a thumbnail (this thumbnail) caught my eye:

Now, at first glance I'll admit there's nothing exceptional about it. In fact, it's so perfectly run of the mill that I actually thought it was a vlog from a new K-pop band that I hadn't heard of before at first. The name, the picture they chose, the title.... all of it checked out and I had no reason to be suspicious that it was anything other than it seemed.

Anyway, I was bored, it had been a while since YouTube had recommended me anything K-pop that wasn't a group I was already subscribed to and I was feeling nostalgic for a good K-pop vlog.

It was only 5 minutes

What harm could it possibly do?

So I clicked on it.

And then I feel down a rabbit hole.

CityBoy_Log: The Drama

So it turns out that "CityBoy_Log" is not, in fact, a K-pop group's travel vlog series, nor is it a vlog series at all...

Well, it is...

But not really.

It's actually an 11 episode BL drama.

Summary:

Idol Lee Jae Jun, model/actor Lee Ji Han, actor Seo Byuk Joon, and rookie model Ahn Hyo Sang start a vlog channel about their trip to Okinawa, Japan for a photoshoot. The four meet for the first time (aside from JaeJun and Byuk Joon, who are longtime friends) when they learn they will be sharing a home during the trip. Though Ji Han's introduction caused some tension within the circle, the group's feelings towards each other start to change and grow as they keep vlogging. The vlogs show how their individual friendships develop by the end of their stay and after coming back to Seoul, some even beyond just platonic. (Mydramalist)

On the face of things, "CityBoy_Log" is a pretty straight forward drama (some might even call it mundane). Four friends navigating their relationships with each other on a trip. There's a main couple and a side couple and plenty of pining and love squares to keep the audience and the characters on their toes. Really nothing standout in a world where Semantic Error, Love for Love's Sake, and Eighth Sense exist, right?

Except the format.... the format is something else.

Because when the summary says "the vlogs", it really means the vlogs.

"CityBoy_Log" is a BL drama told entirely in character.

Like your typical k-vlog, the majority of the content comes from hand-held cameras carried about by the characters, only occasionally interspersed with aesthetic shots from their "camera crew". The characters talk openly to the audience, updating them on what's going on and what they're thinking and feeling; transitions between scenes are choppy and periods of time are missed due to "unfilmable" moments that we either only catch glimpses of or are told about later (or in some cases, have to fill in the blanks ourselves); dialogue is choppy and sometimes even awkward (especially as they're still getting to know each other) and voice cracks, nonsensical lines, and awkward pauses are all over the place.

It is feels messy, lightly edited, unscripted, and, for the most part, very very real.

Blurring the Boundaries Between Fiction and Reality.

Seeing how far the creators of the show have gone to make this drama feel realistic is fascinating. All the episodes are posted as vlog episodes on the show's YouTube Channel, they post additional shorts that follow the latest trends, and even have celebratory lives where they talk to fans. And all of this is done in character.

They also have an Instagram page and on MDL there is very little information about the actors (who use their real names for their characters) and no information about the team behind the scenes (although I suspect they're linked to whoever made Semantic Error because that show gets name dropped a lot and they even "audition" for the upcoming drama made by it's creators) .

Given how much effort has gone into making "CityBoy_Log" pass as real it shouldn't be surprising that there are quite a few people who believed it was real for a time.

Now personally I am a huge fan of innovative storytelling techniques and "CityBoy_Log" has really hit it out of the part creatively (it reminds me a little of SKAM in that respect). I applaud the actors for just how realistic their characters feel (I actually can think of anything harder than having to pull off "act like you're not acting" and they do it flawlessly at least 90% of the time) and whoever came up with and executed the show really did something special too. It's an incredibly compelling watch (I binged it) and I immediately felt connected to all the characters in a way it normally takes a drama a few episodes to set up.

Do I have my doubts about how wise it is to blur the lines between fiction and reality so much? I won't lie, yes, especially as this show is rooted so heavily in 2 fandoms where those boundaries are already heavily blurred but for now I'll trust that they know what they're doing (perhaps more so than many other shows that draw heavily on fan service). It does seem like, at least for now, while everything feels real and in character, that it does exist in its own little bubble and that the actors involved are able to leave it behind when they get off work.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how it progresses, given that a second season has been confirmed and there was.... a very interesting reveal at the end of the last episode. I'm looking forward to how they continue to play with the format and getting to spend more time with Jae Jun, Ji Han, Byeok Jun, and Hyo Sang

🔗Here's a link to the channel if anyone wants to check it out:

https://youtube.com/@CITYBOY_LOG?si=CKqz8QdfzySCqRyL

CityBoy_Log: The Vlog

Team Hyo Sang all the way. All this puppy wants is for his hyung to notice him and he is adorable about it.

Tagging @lurkingshan @twig-tea @respectthepetty and @rocketturtle4 because I don't know if you guys have seen the show yet!

[matchesarelit]

Imagine If You Will...Garrett Unfiltered (Spencer Agnew x gn!reader)

Warnings: secrets, embarrassment, dirty memes, suggestive,

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Word Count: 1711  

Working at Smosh was pretty cool, you were however perpetually surrounded by and involved in strange doings. Such as the current situation that had you encircled by what could only be referred to as a swarm of Chosens. You stood centre stage in an incredibly oversized referee uniform; the bottom of the shirt reaching mid-calf and the shorts engulfing your shoes.

a/n *edit*: changes detailed at bottom of work.

You fixed your eyes on the instructions in your hands, nevermind that the words had almost immediately turned to garbled squiggly lines. You refused to let your eyes flitter to the man in front of you, who was impassionately explaining the rules and how to play the game. His speech was the reason you couldn't bear to look up at him, knowing the glow that he gives off when discussing things he enjoys and knowing that in moments like these you often find yourself watching him in an all but day-dream state. 

Forcing a long and exaggerated blink you attempted to readjust your focus, mainly because you wanted to pay attention to his gushing as you always did, but also because you did actually need to know how the game was played.

“Ten cards…prompt…blanks…card Tsar pic-” in your haze you managed to register the call from Kiana that interrupted his description, but you failed to catch what she said. Yet as he started again; ‘I-uh should go, dont worry youll get it when you start playing!’ you watched him move to leave, muttering a quick goodbye and thanks to his wishes of good luck, you thought about the video to come. If anyone knew the chaos that was the Chosen videos it would surely be him; after his appearance in many and his editing of many more.

Welp you were substantially boned and those scraps of instructions would have to do for the filming. Shifting focus; you attempted to get into character, although being the referee wasn’t a complicated position, it did require you to keep a straight face throughout the antics of the chosens. 

As you took your spot beside Shayne and the video began, it all came so naturally and the filming passed in the blink of an eye. Until, of course, the time came to pose for thumbnails; at which point you were caught off guard by Garrett’s voice calling out from beyond the set. 

“Y/n don't look now, but all your dreams have come true you are surrounded by Spencers!” 

As your cheeks grew hot, the cast and crew released many sputterings and guffaws at his declaration. Thank fuck that Spencer’s desk was on the other side of the building.

The only thing that nagged at the back of your mind as you all tidied and prepped for the next filming, was that Spencer would most definitely be the one editing this video and he would most definitely witness that embarrassing and incriminating moment. 

Sadly that was all there was to do, that and wait for the fallout. So you pushed on.

As lunch rolled around with only a few more shoots to do, everyone was pretty knackered with only low idle chatter echoing throughout the shared space. You only had one video left to film; a ‘Who Meme’d it’ that consisted of yourself, Spencer and Amanda as well as Shayne (of course), and then you were free to go. Sitting with Chanse and Angela you’d maintained a conversation around the latest shows you’d seen, attempting to keep your mind off the impending doom you knew was coming.

Dramatic? 

Yes. 

Wrong? 

No.

There wasn’t too much to do after lunch to set up, mainly getting yourself done up for the camera in a new outfit. Excited for the shoot you were the first one mic’d up and ready, already sitting in your chair as the others stepped onto set. This was your first time on this particular game, but you’d seen most of the other episodes and always thought it looked like good fun, not to mention you were able to submit some memes of your own. The game went by peacefully, you’d managed to gain a few points amongst your colleagues, however at the halfway point you’d found yourself in last place. As the man to your right leaned back in his seat, you took him in, making sure to keep your eyes fixed forward you utilised your peripherals to the best of your ability. His eyes lit up, he was swaying as he laughed and his hair created a fluffy halo around his head. He was always handsome, but like this, enjoying himself so thoroughly and comfortably he was beautiful.

Picking up a few points in the next round, after finally regaining your focus, giggling to yourself about the joke at Shayne’s (exasperated) expense what came on screen next almost made you choke. 

Shayne immediately lost it, leaning against the wall for support as his chest heaved, Kiana and Greg were offscreen releasing statements of “there is no way this can stay in” and “what in the world” respectively. Although, their exasperation was clearly forced; as smirks blossomed on their faces.

With a scoff you started writing your answer, trying your hardest to avoid the eyes on yourself and the man at your side. That was harder as Spencer’s eyes were also fixed on you even as his hand scribbled across the whiteboard. At the end of the round you’d all gained a point with Garrett creating that meme, you muttered curses just loud enough for him to hear as he stood in the wings sending him the meanest glare you could manage all the while failing to wipe the smile off your face. Despite the situation his teasing put you in Garrett was undeniably funny and this occasion was no different, so your grumpy expression faded soon enough for the next meme. 

Suddenly, however, your stool was inwtolerable and you were unable to remain still. Continuously fidgeting with the marker and board you were given, you failed to take note of the eyes tracing your hands and hips, sitting amidst a slight frown upon the face of the man beside you. You’re attention was set, for a time, on Shayne as you tried your darndest to win. You did not win, you came second to Spencer and as you looked to congratulate him, you found his eyes already set on yours. Until Shanye began to outro the video and you were forced to turn towards the camera; a wild grin pulling at your mouth as you gestured to the outfit of merch you had chosen to rep.

Following the conclusion of filming you gathered some things and moved to leave, before a call of your name stopped you in your tracks. Turning to face the voice, your eyes fall on Spencer who had returned to his desk and donned his oodie, twisting back and forth in his chair, his mouth pulled into a small smile as he gestured you over with his head. You complied wheeling over an empty chair to nestle yourself by his side, relishing in the soft warmth he gave out. The video on hin monitor was an old style mlg compilation of your favourite game, a game you had mentioned only once in an old video.

He laughed along with you as the video played and when it finished the two of you were stuck in a quiet awkward space.

Both of you searched for something to talk about, ignorant to the mutual nature of your desperation to further the interaction, the heartache over the seemingly unattainable.

As the seconds stretched to minutes Spencer snapped through the quiet as he hit a few keys on his laptop. Glancing at the screen you recognised the still image of the chosen video from that earlier, before you got the chance to speak he had panned through the footage to the last minute. He looked into your eyes as he hit play, as the playback continued he held your gaze, faces inches apart, shoulder still burrowed in his side. His facial expression remaining blank until those familiar words hit your ears, at which point he simply raised an eyebrow and began to smirk, allowing the video to end before he spoke up.

“So, does this mean I’m in your dreams?” His tone was jovial but the question seemed genuine and suddenly ,there were too many and too little thoughts running through your mind, how were you meant to respond? There was no way to get out of this…

Unless…

“Nah, honestly its a little embarrassing but theres just something about the chosen, that makes me all giggly.” You forced your tone to match his as your hand found his chest and you pushed to move away from him.

Welp that was the stupidest choice, honestly a rejection would have been better, the look on his face was near unreadable, at least for you. To anyone else, especially the small gaggle of cowrokers listening from the kitchen, the falling of his face was painful to watch. 

But maybe…

Just maybe this is salvageable… because losing Spencer in any capacity filled you with such dread as you could never surmount.

“And I mean it doesnt hurt that he shares a name with the cutest and most funniest guy I know.” looking at the man infront of you, you took notice of the plum colour of his cheeks not to mention his newfound inability to meet your eyes. Taking a moment to soften your eyes and move your hand to his arm “Seriously Sep, they were messing with me, I’ve kinda had a thing for you for a while and Tommy, and everyone else, kinda sussed it out a while ago. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable, I can keep my distance if this is too much.” leaning away from spencer you stood from your chair, your momentum soon cut off as a tug of your arm had you toppling backwards.

Arms creeping around your waist, he held you in place atop his lap. His head tucked into your neck as he spoke softly. “Please never even think of it, there is no such thing as too much when it comes to you.”

A/n *edit*: "crimson painted your cheeks" -> "your cheeks grew hot" I always attempt to keep my descriptions of the reader vague so that anyone can slide into that place, I apologise for the mistake. Thank you for making me aware of this.

[funkii4-blog]

So about half an hour ago the stream changed and there’s quite a bit different with the loop now;

- Mario’s Mysteries: the music is off key and Mario is no longer there

- Once Upon An SMG4: Luigi and SMG3 are looking at the camera scared + their movement is lagging

- Western Spaghetti: texture errors are in place of where most props and characters previously were

- Scooby Mario: characters shown are either glitching out quite a bit or missing entirely

- Wheel Of Fortune: expressions of the characters on the wheel have gone blank, PV’s screen is now black and he’s impatiently tapping his foot

Things will presumably get darker same time tomorrow (3pm EST)…

Edit; additionally the thumbnail has changed.

[blueepink07]

Okay, so I'll make a compilation of all my random thoughts about Amane's MV. (it's very messy and the wording is lazy) If I feel like it, I will explain in much proper words... I will try to write some symbolism, but idk when it would be finished. (mentions of child abuse, murder!)

Title

First, let's start with the title of the MV: Purge March

Purge in dictionary means:

->rid (someone or something) of an unwanted quality, condition, or feeling;

->remove (a group of people considered undesirable) from an organization or place in an abrupt or violent way.

->physically remove or expel (something) completely.

The title summarizes the cult beliefs: erasing the people who don't accept their religion, those considered unwise, unpure by them. It can also symbolise Amane's unwillingness to change her ideals, ignoring the voices and Es:

"I disavow you, eyes corrupted must be crushed

So nary a sound can be uttered a second time, I’ll crush your throat too"

Moreover, a march has the purpose to spread an idea, an belief. Amane is expressing her attachment for her religion and the cult's beliefs, as well spreading it, in order, for other people to accept it and join.

March members

(they are in order of their appearance)

We start the march with the drum captain:

"The Drum Captain or leader of the drumline plays the center snare and will tap or count time in order to set the tempo and lead the band in marching and following the drum major. This is the most recognized member of the drumline with exceptional playing skills as well as strong leadership skills."

Amane drum captain is doing her work very well, because she is the one that starts the song and sets the tempo. (an experinced member)

Continuing, the color guards are next:

"Color Guard or Flag Corps are teams of performers who combine the use of flags, sabers, rifles, and other props or equipment to perform choreographed dances and routines that enhance the visual effect of a Marching Band or Drum Corps."

Interesting, the Amane that receives punishment is a color guard. However, why such a harsh punishment?

"Flags have always been an important part of history. They often represent the pride and unity of a group or nation. They are respected and revered as a symbol of beliefs and values."

By messing up the choreography, her action was demeed as disrespect to the cult beliefs. It is pretty much prestabilated that the cult is teaching by giving punishments, so the Amane with the blue flag was "erased" from the blank space to learn.

Next, the most important member and the heart of the march, the drum major:

"A Drum Major leads the band in Marching, rehearsals, and performances. Their job is to follow directions given by the band director, be an example to the other students or members of the band, and help the program run smoothly. Generally, the Drum Major is a senior member of the band."

No wonder why Amane drum major appears in the thumbnail, but is also the one that gives punishments! The band directors are most likely the adults in the cult and her mother, so based on their teachings, Amane drum major is behaving and acts accordingly to the circumstances. She is an example, a perfect member of the march, who needs to be sure that everything goes smoothly. The color guard Amane made a mistake, so in order to learn and to not mess up she needs to receive punishment to learn.

Victim

I honestly was torn between the little girl and the mother, but ultimely I believe the murder victim is the mother. And I will give some reasons for my reasoning.

->First: this interrogation question

"Tell me what your family consists of."

"It was my father, my mother and I."

The use of the past tense never made much sense to me. It could imply, that she is talking like this because her father is not a lot at home. However, the question is pretty straightforward, so for Amane to use the past sense just to imply that her father is away at the moment, doesn't make much sense? Unless if of course, one of them is already dead. Even with only the first trial interrogation question we can already guess that Amane respects and loves her father more than her mother, so if we have to chose between those two, whose the one dead, I think the choice is obvious...

->Second: the victim's hand

I find it difficult to explain why the little girl would be in Amane's home. Yes, she goes once, but there is an adult with her. I find it hard to believe that the girl will come on her own will. I believe this scene more likely shows that the man and the girl went to Amane's home to tell her mother about Amane's actions of healing the cat.

Moreover, the hand looks bigger than Amane's. The little girl and Amane seem to be the same age, if not, younger, so the size difference is really questionable.

->Third: body parts

The little girl has all the body shown, with the exception of the face features.

The mother has just her hand shown, nothing else. Not only it implies that Amane remembers her mother just for the abuse, showing the hand with which she caused her harm, but it is also the only body part shown of the victim. So why hide the victim and only show the hand? It makes harder to find who is the victim, but it also can lead us to the reasoning that the mother is the one murdered...

-> Fourth: lyrics

"If you're going to break you vow/Here and now/It's my turn to tear you apart/ So there is no second time/ I'll give back the judgement you gave to me/ After you cry, repent and kneel/ It's now your turn to say that hopeless "I'm sorry" /You are sorry? I don't care! / Please go ahead and die already/Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of "I'm sorry" / that I said to you"

This part is clearly directed towards the murder victim. Who do we see abusing and hurting Amane in her MV? Her mother. She is the one who is tearing Amane apart by hurting her. Also, these lyrics:

"Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of "I'm sorry" / that I said to you"

I don't think Amane will apologize to this extent to a random little girl. Also, it's more likely for her to cry, repent and apologize if she was beaten up at that moment. Because she wanted the pain to stop, the punishment to be over.

The mascots

With the new MV, I don't think the mascots represent real people anymore. They are just beliefs, rules of the cult.

The poster pretty much shows that they are used as advertisers, and so it explains why in the first MV, Amane was watching them at the TV.

The beliefs in question:(colour=mascot)

"Tis ordained, thou shall follow thine destiny"

"Tis ordained, thou shall discard vulgarity"

"Tis ordained, thou shall deliver unto those thou believest in"

"Tis ordained, thou shall stay thine course, then perish"

Why Amane killed her mother?

To answer this, we have to go to the scene with the cat. It's pretty clear that Amane wasn't the one who killed it, in fact, after helping it, she goes next day and notice that it's gone. The man and the girl who are most probably part of the cult, only watched from afar and told the mother what Amane did.

Let's take a look at the rules of the cult, shall we?

From those four, the ones which seem to be againts Amane's actions are the first and the last one.

"Tis ordained, thou shall follow thine destiny"

Meaning that if the cat was injuried, only the destiny will tell if it will live or not. Amane shouldn’t intervene and heal the cat.

"Tis ordained, thou shall stay thine course, then perish"

Quite similar meaning, the cat has to remain on the path that it taken (what caused it to be harm) and then perish. Amane prelonged its life, and such the rule was broken.

The cult members only told Amane's mother what her daughter did, but they never were shown approaching the cat, they went straight to Amane's house. If you think about it, it makes sense for them to not hurt the animal. It will again be against the rules. The second rule implies that they are against vulgarity, it's not socially accepted to kill an animal, it's rude and violent. The first and last rule will also be broken, because by killing the cat, they wouldn't let it to follow its destiny, to see if it will heal or not. How Amane will tell "it's a trial from God". If the cat was killed, it wouldn't have the chance to overcome this trial.

This means that the only person who killed the cat was her mother.

When Amane comes home after healing the cat, she is punished by the mother for her actions.

But if the mother killed the cat and broke some rules along with it, doesn't that mean, that the mother also deserves punishment...?

Amane was taught that with a proper punishment she will learn. Combined with some feelings of resentment towards her mother, for the pain she caused, and the knowledge that her mother also broke the rules, she has all the reasons to give her mother a punishment.

"If you're going to break you vow/Here and now/It's my turn to tear you apart/ So there is no second time/ I'll give back the judgement you gave to me/ After you cry, repent and kneel/ It's now your turn to say that hopeless "I'm sorry" /You are sorry? I don't care! / Please go ahead and die already/Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of "I'm sorry" / that I said to you"

These lyrics really start to hit harder and make even more sense...

The weapon

The transition between Amane with an umbrella and the thumbnail, implies that the main murder weapon is most likely the umbrella.

(the quality is so bad...)

Not only is shown in the last sequence with the victim, but it is also very similar with the weapon in undercover.

After Amane sees the dead cat, she comes home with a weird expression: she is happy and the eyes look hypnotized. It can symbolise how the only thoughts that she has in her mind are the cult rules. Moreover, in the white world created by Amane, the march is no longer organized, the members are chaotic, enthusiastic that they found the bad person, as described in the first lyrics, in this case, the mother. (I will explain in the next section!)

It means, that the murder took place soon after Amane saw the dead cat, most likely the moment she came home. In the last scene, there is water on the floor. In that day, it was raining. If she used the umbrella during a rainy day it could explain the water on the floor when she was beating up her mother.

Ok, ok, but why did I said main weapon? Realistically, a single blow will not be enough to knock a person unconscious with an umbrella (At least with her umbrella, as it looks pretty cheap and mostly made of plastic). Also, the mother could easily see if Amane was approaching her with such a big item. So, what other weapon do we see in her MV? Well, simple, the taser... The object that the parent uses to punish Amane.

"Tasers (and stun guns) are designed to temporarily incapacitate a subject, not knock them unconscious"

Amane doesn't need to knock her victim unconscious. A simple blow with a taser will be enough to incapacitate her mother, shock her, being unable to process what is happening. After that, the more Amane hits her with the umbrella the more damage she is doing to her parent's body, to the point the victim will be unable to protect themselves.

Also, this thunder from at the end of her first MV:

The way she was swinging the wand in her first MV may resemble the hits with the umbrella.

The march

The march at the beginning is very organized, strict and serious. I believe this strictness is the way Amane perceived the mother's behavior. The color guard Amane with the blue flag is punished, because she messed up and broke the blue rule. It's interesting that the one who punishes in the white world is the drum major, the same Amane that kills the mother. I think this symbolise how Amane changed her views of her parent. At first, as the drum major, she is making sure that the march is going accordingly to the rules, as the "band director" (the mother and the cult) wants to.

"A Drum Major leads the band in Marching, rehearsals, and performances. Their job is to follow directions given by the band director, be an example to the other students or members of the band, and help the program run smoothly. Generally, the Drum Major is a senior member of the band."

However, once the mother hypocrisy is is brought to the surface, as she is also breaking rules, the drum major Amane no longer finds her worthy of being a band director. The march is no longer organized and strict, Amane no longer wants to listen to her mother.

Moreover, the reason why the members lost control is because they found their target, the reason why they were marching.

"However, there are blasphemers and silent by-standers/ Who would have it otherwise/ We must not give in to them/ they are the ones that should be judged/ With pure, unsullied body and soul/ Let us preach all that is true and right/"

Of course the lyrics can also imply Amane's hatred to the voices and Es, basically us, voters. However, if the mother broke the rules, the one that should have been an example for Amane, that means betrayal and disloyalty to the cult. As the parent never fully believed in the religion.

The colours of the confetti

At the beginning they are white and bland.

White -> symbolises purity, certainty, illumination and insight; it is associated with knowledge and learning

Considering what white symbolises, I believe the beginning of the MV is when Amane first started to learn the cult's teachings. She is still innocent and pure at this stage, as she never killed anyone and was not indoctrinated with the cult's rules. She is clumsy, inexperienced, but determinated to please her parents. (the fact that the drum major Amane gives punishment to the inexperienced member, might show that Amane is very hard on herself).

At the end, the confetti change colours in the mascots colours: pink, blue, yellow, green. Amane already learned everything that the cult has to offer, and is the moment when she decides to murder her mother.

The clouds

The clouds appear in both MVs, and they are really interesting!

First, I want to point out that in the first MV, Amane is shown together with the mascots on top of the clouds, after the murder, while in the second MV, Amane is under the clouds, before the murder. The clouds may represent, again, Amane's experince as a cult member, but also how she escaped from her mother's punishments. Notice how when she is under those clouds she gets hurt, but when she is at the top, she is happy, because there is nothing that can hurt her anymore? It can also represent that Amane found confort in this religion, because while it harmed her, it was also the reason for why she escaped from the abuse.

Rain

Rain -> symbolises unhappiness, rebirth, determination, cleansing

Rain represents one of the punishments that Amane received from her mother. Considering the symbolism, we can say that it represent Amane's determination to learn more and how the mother thinks that punishing her daughter, she is "erasing her sins".

Rainbow

It appears before every punishment. It can symbolise Amane's "rebirth", as she is considered to be redeemed after every punishment, the fact that Amane should be happy, because she is slowly becoming a better person.

Also, a reference to the flood and the Noah's ark: Noah was instructed to build an ark, and in accordance with God's instructions he took into the ark male and female specimens of all the world's species of animals, from which the stocks might be replenished. Consequently, according to this narrative, the entire surviving human race descended from Noah's three sons.

The reason why God wanted to flood the Earth was because there were to many bad people in the world.

Amane's shown drowning -> represents her mother's opinion on her -> a bad child for not following the rules

The hand

It's the last one, I promise!

This is mostly an observation...

Because of the hand placement, I think in both scenes the mother uses her left hand when she is punishing Amane. The second one is more obvious, than the first one. In the first one, because of the big thumb, it's very unlikely to be the right hand, at least I can't imagine how it would work. However, when Amane kills the mother the weapon is in her right hand. Not only when she is punishing the mother, but also when she is punishing "herself".

(somebody tell me why I can only put 10 photos in a post💔)

This detail can show the mother and Amane's opposing ideas and how Amane's mother was a hypocrite when it comes to the cult rules. Also, if we take the literal word "right" hand it could imply that Amane was respecting the cult beliefs, while the mother wasn't.

Symbolism of the right and left hand

"The right hand is often associated with dominance, strength, and good luck in various cultures. It symbolizes power, blessings, and positive actions, often considered the “Hand of God” in religious contexts."

"On the other hand, the left hand is linked to subtlety, intuition, and feminine energy. It may represent creativity and emotional expression but has faced negative connotations and taboos in some cultures."

Considering that Amane's mother was abusing Amane, the symbolic meaning that it is associated with evil forces makes sense. Also, i know that is pretty much clear that the hand belongs to the mother, but it's interesting that the left hand is associated with feminine energy.

The right hand symbolises Amane's kindness and good intentions by heliping the cat. In the context that she killed the mother, it can symbolise how she got rid of an evil person, who didn't actually respected the cult's beliefs, such why she is a hypocrite.

Thank you for reading!

[nicholas-the-paleomancer]

I gotta say, YouTubers photoshopping game designers’ faces to look beaten and bloody on a thumbnail belonging to a review proclaiming things like “total failure” or “is this even a game?” is an ad hominem and certified Dick Move. I don’t know what it is about Critical Role projects that attract the worst of culture war B.S. At worst, I can say that it makes a good faith yet inelegant attempt to deal with sensitivity and inclusivity. Compare that with DnD, and I say that it passes well. (Honestly, Old Gods of Appalachia or Bluebeard’s Bride deal with that best - consent checklists and content warnings.)

That out of the way, the game is actually good. Super rules-light, narrative heavy, and with very cool lore. It’s halfway between one-page RPGs like Lasers and Feelings (or a fifteen pager like Skyfarer) and Powered by the Apocalypse systems. If you like the improvised storytelling of RPGs but hate the crunch of most examples of the genre, this is the game for you. Find an experienced GM, though.

The scar and gilded dice mechanics are really neat, and the open-ended worldbuilding is like a blank canvas for a GM to go nuts with. I plan to use this as a gateway drug to drag more people into the hobby. Also, there’s an en-cyphered story in the book that I haven’t taken the time to work out, yet. Someone should get on that.

[ID: Candela Obscura is a decent game, you guys are just mean.]

[disruptivevoib]

mx voib how on earth do you go about designing your hmsw variants, i'm so jealous

Oh I feel fancy now!

Anyhow, I don't have any distinct go-to process but generally having a good idea for the au or the concept I want to design them based on and stemming from there.

Many of my more baseline Aus are close to my canonical designs. With the re-designs of Eleutheromania having a half/half Heart to match the Mind design and make him more distinct.

Then there are the more abstract things like the "Death Thirds" Which is an au I've not really spoken on, and I don't recall if I've posted them here. Though I know I have on Twitter. (I recall CJ liking the Soul design)

Those are meant to be more ethereal, uncanny and inhuman designs. They are VERY self indulgent and more an experiment than anything. Though I knew I wanted to use the Mind design off the album cover for CCCC as baseline inspo for Mind. Soul happened kind of accidentally tbh. I was doodling and he came about.

Theres a set I'm drawing right now which have been far more in-depth. But thats because they stem from an existing media. But that's all I'll say on that one!

As for the smaller guys... I wanted to draw an HMS which was closer to 'canon' in some ways or just different from my typical used for the Song Pieces! They actually well exemplify some thematics in terms of square mind, circle heart, triangle (with rounded edges) soul. Which is a motif I've had since even my VERRRRY very very first concept ideas for my HMS designs!! Shape language is very important to me, and its something I highly suggest learning about or messing with.

I also like to take their canonical clothing; Mind's leather jacket or black vest, Heart's hoodie, Soul's jacket and apply or manipulate it to fit a design. The stripes in my Soul jacket I believe aren't how the real jacket CJ owns is but more so ripped from Kai @/calamarispiderart ?

But yeah! Overall. Themes, motifs, things like that are key in my designs.

Pluto is also a good show of that. I wanted to make sure he looked as faded and washed out as he felt. So his hair is white and his colors, even his Heart and Mind's colors are desaturated and a little off. Lacuna Mind leans into navy and teal while Lacuna Heart is nearly pink!

The Swap designs are also a good example. Viscera is a Whole with nothing in him, and while now I see Soul as more exemplifying that- Whole needs to exist in this au more physically. So— Viscera takes that place. He's a husk and a shell. The half mask with an empty void on the otherside showcases just as much. And for as uncanny and blank as he seems, he is soft. His face is always very soft and maybe a little bit sad. Ennui, Swap!Mind maintains the half/half motif of my Mind designs if only to keep him recognizable. But, his source is a jagged and sharp edged heart and the strings run in a simplistic but sharp form of a heartbeat. Electricity forced to be another way. His features are also softer still from the typical Mind design! Even in what he wears! Judge I have fewer notes on other than his blindfold is not present and in its place is his brain source, obscuring both his eyes if he technically has them at all. Astray, Soul, is faceless. For what is Soul supposed to even be without the mask? Especially when he doesn't know much of anything at all.

Sooo yeah! Just. A big ramble that boils down to the answer of... I try most often to make sure the designs convey the personality or story of the character in some way. Themes and motifs or ideas from or for the au also play that same part.

Course I cannot tell you why the au where they are in eternal snow, Mind has white hair. That is far more a "felt like it" moment than anything else.

Sorry if this is too broad or non specific. I can probably go more into depth on particular designs but yeah! And sometimes a design is one and done. Other times they need many thumbnails or concepts to cycle through. My own designs for the canon HMS have changed a lot in little ways since I began drawing em!

[kicktwine]

wanted to ask, could we get a look in to how you put together your animatics?? I've been toying with the idea of trying to make one of my own, but I've got no idea where to start

oh yeah totally

though to be fair, a HUGE chunk of my time is spent listening to about 20 seconds of a song and imagining how the images move around like a little movie, and I refine a ton of stuff in my head before starting to actually put scenes down on paper. This happens with non-music boarding too, imagining different versions of how the scenes line up with dialogue/music. So step one: put a song on repeat and daydream for at least two hours. But, if you aren’t sure how to do this, I’d suggest looking at animatics, MAP projects, AMVs, animated musicals, fight scenes, etc. what do they do that’s cool? Imitate them.

after that, I have most of the main images with some blank spots im not sure how to fill until I put them down. I make something like this and get the compositions of each main image looking more or less okay in this form. This is also the stage I figure out the in between blank spots. I try not to have weird camera moves or other storyboarding don’ts, but some storyboarding donts are completely valid to break if you know what you want aesthetically. As usual. This one was actually pretty clean, but check out all the framing edits. i always have to make the frame bigger

If you really don’t know what goes in between things, don’t be afraid to focus on some little details of the scene, pull out and show us the setting, put some flowery symbolism on screen, give us some fun little comedic anime inserts, or do what cowboy standoffs do and build tension. What we used to do was draw paws stepping across the screen or eyes blinking, lol

next comes audio sync! I like to get the timing extant on copies of these rough thumbnails before moving on. It helps my brain work through smaller more animated movements + testing if the things I came up with for the blank spots work. and also just makes it happy. And also, most importantly, it tests if the compositions work. If you can see it, the whole sequence with mom was a blank spot until I sketched it. I usually do this step in roughanimator even if i don’t finish it in roughanimator. Keeps it very rough.

after this is just a lot of polishing and layers! For lots of small animatics, I just use roughanimator and leave it like that. It’s surprisingly good for a very basic program. But, for things that need tweens or lots of camera movement, I use toon boom harmony. It’s more powerful and is actually supposed to be used for animation, which. Yknow. I do. I tried storyboard pro, it wasn’t my favorite.

Here are some, I guess, miscellaneous more technical tips for making your animatics feel nice!

If you’re going for lots of movement, try out timing it so big movements or scene transitions line up with the spikes in the audio WAV. If it doesn’t feel right, move it a few frames BEFORE the spike/audio beat. Your brain usually wants to see something move barely before it hears it - this works for dialogue especially. BUT! Don’t feel like you have to do this for every beat. unless you want to feel like Wes Anderson, which you can do and I will not stop you.

If you’re going for something slower with not that much movement, try motion tweening! or adjusting something very slowly so we don’t linger on one still image for forever.

you don’t need crazy camera angles for everything, but put a few in there for spice. This all depends on your mood you want to cultivate. Slow = flatter, spacious, details; fast = lots of moves, weird angles, perspective; disorienting = slow/jerky weird angles etc etc. the camera has emotions built into it. Because the camera is you! surprise!

watch storyboarding tutorials. lots of people zoom in too much when they draw and I am not excluded. Also, keep in mind the eyesight rule. It’s hard for me to explain concisely but… you as the artist are always leading the viewers eye somewhere, with every shot you make. Don’t make them dizzy by having the center of attention jump around to six different spots for six shots straight - if you find yourself unhappy with a sequence, especially a fast one, see if your line of sight is going all over the place and try moving the subject of a shot or two somewhere else or having them move/gesture towards the new shot’s focal point so the viewers eye moves there naturally. I’m actually not great at doing this when words/lyrics are involved, pmv makers have my respect.

contrast is your friend. If you want to emphasize a big fast move or big bright image, put little slow moves or simple images right before/after it. and vice versa! this counts for camera too!

easy camera shakes are just 3-4 frames of cam down/up/down less/up less, a blank tween or two (easing back into normal), and then a key for your desired normal camera location. Or left/right, whichever.

your brain needs about six frames to fully register an object as being an object. If you want someone to see and really See it, rather than just get a glimpse of it and go "What was that!" It needs more than six frames.

don’t be afraid to experiment!!!!!! And don’t get overwhelmed! Everything I just described I MOSTLY do off instinct, which you’ll get a sense for after you make one. Or like…. Ten. Does it feel good in your heart? Then that’s what’s important. Find an idea you want to make move, figure out your limits (programs, attention span, drawing capability, make sure not to commit to a minute long amv if you dont KNOW you wanna do a minute long amv), and plan around that. When I was A Child, people on youtube were just making like three amvs per second and cringe hadn’t been invented yet so they were all mostly untrained unpolished and so so important and based to me. Stop thinking so hard about it. You gotta get that animatic out there into the world or it’ll start fermenting in your brain and make you sick. So what if it doesn’t turn out exactly the way you imagined it? You’ll have another idea tomorrow. And if it matters that much, you can always do it again. Go make! Good luck!

[plushmayhem]

Progress talk thread

I like to take a lot of backups as I draw so we I can show off my widdle Lilly wips!! I'm drawing again that means I get to talk about drawing again yahoo

Lately when starting a drawing I've been trying to block out very rough thumbnails as seen above! I usually just start drawing like, the head, and trying to then figure out a body under neath and line by line it all ends up pretty similar to my past stuff because it's just not planned out! I don't know where the road is taking me!

So by starting out and trying to throw together the general pose with just a blown up light brush I'm coming up with much more interesting piece! I can figure out the general shape of the entire piece and then start working on top. No making a shoulder then drawing the hand over it and then erasing the shoulder and getting frustrated because it just doesn't look connected right because I didn't plan it out… where does this drawing end? where's the limits?? where am I going?? So my current workflow involves

Make the dimensions of the piece roughly (just throw a coloured rectangle down) -> very roughly block out the shape of the body within it

This also has the benefit of inspiring me to fill in the blanks with a pose I didn't initially expect! The body is reversed from my initial vague idea because seeing the blobs made me go OH IT'D BE COOL IF I DID IT WITH THE BODY FACING THIS DIRECTION ACTUALLY LET'S MAKE THAT WORK!! If you look at the initial you can kinda see it looks more like she's looking down at you with the raised arm being the one facing you.

Anyways after doing my personal Holiday pic the other day, I was like, it would be cool to do a small run of postcards to send to people yahoo!! I checked the sizes of postcards and none were even close! They all had like an extra inch on of extra space on the bottom whoops! I free style my rectangle sizes when planning an illustration and I guess they're closer to square than the ideal rectangle! Whoops!

So for this one after getting the initial sketch down I thought, hey how close is this to 5x7? AND LO AND BEHOLD IT WAS THE SAME ISSUE!!! So I took filling out the extra space as a challenge. I'm trying to be more dynamic with my art after all!

I spent time adjusting the piece in sai2 using the transform tool with it's perspective skewing on. I wiggled and rotated and pushed n pulled and you get what you see above. A much more dynamic piece filling out the canvas!

The thing that took the most time in this phase was getting the skirt to a shape I found acceptable.

Up next was moving towards making it a finished piece!

Thick lineart is something I've been deciding if I want to stick with or not but honestly it's my natural state! I love thick lineart!! I grew up on manga I wanna see some black lines!!! In the future I wanna go back to colouring lineart as well but for now I believe I need to lean into my natural tendencies for thick lines!

I threw down my lineart to a mostly acceptable state, and brainstormed ways to fill the empty space surrounding Lilly. I found there was just a lot of empty space in the bottom left and I didn't really solve that in the final, but that's ok. It's something I'm trying to be aware of as I actually attempt illustrations. I want to finish pieces right now, I'm not in a place where I can let perfectionism slow me down.

Currently my layers are (face) and (lineart) I throw down some flat colours, a light layer above and for once I tried a shade layer too! It might of been a multiply layer. It was probably was. Anyways this is what I was happy with before moving forward with refining it. I'm currently going with more focus on like, backlighting/rimlighting because it's easier to make it work with my no context existing in da void illustrations haha.

To refine it, right now, I'm playing around with mainly using one layer. So I slammed together my layers other than the face (I made that mistake with my previous piece and that's how we ended up with the eyebrow incident. I wasn't going to put myself in a place where I had to erase an eyebrow again) and started sculpting!

I think sculpting is the best way to describe it, really. It's a lot of slamming down chunky lines, and since the lineart is on the same layer, I'm constantly pushing colours out and finding the ideal shape of both it and the lineart. It helps me push my shapes even farther and let the colours take priority when they need to. Instead of them being separate things I worry about they're all just one big piece!

I was a bit worried about merging the plaid pattern down as well, but I did my best to get the skirt in a place I wasn't going to adjust much after the merge. That was the biggest priority of the previous step really.

It's a lot of fun! I recommend people try it! Try sculpting your lineart a bit!

I added the necklace accessory after since I knew trying to fit it in earlier would also be a pain in the ass haha. I'm not a one layer purist! I'm just having fun!

The background, I went in with no idea for a bg. So this is what we get. I think it works fine for this piece, it's a vtuber attacking you with big fluffy bear claws with no context other than that they are a bear and they're going to fucking get you. Red fits, Lilly has a very orange/red hued design and it's an aggressive attack so the mood works. I could of even gone harder and made it look a bit more splattery but I wasn't sure if I was going to fill up the bottom left space or not.

Looking back maybe I could fit in her name on a cool blood splatter there but I am not a graphic design major my brain is growing slowly in this department thank you

Also fluffy claw gloves usually have much less defined fingers but I couldn't make mitts look good with my initial plans so I stuck with my initial idea!!! Thank u.

Anyways follow Lilly [Twitch]

[nerves-nebula]

In my trek to move my iTunes playlist from one computer to another I have somehow activated a

JACKSON 5 METADATA CURSE

So here’s the thing: nearly all of my songs are downloaded off of YouTube, so most of them don’t have album art.

Recently, though I’ve started using a downloader that takes the thumbnail of the video and makes that the album cover, which is cool! I like that!

So, my most recent downloads do have cover art, but all of the MP3‘s from years ago don’t.

Now, one of these newer downloads is ABC by the Jackson 5, and somehow no matter what I do, nearly every song on the new laptop shows up in iTunes as having ABC by the Jackson 5 cover art. even songs that already have their own cover art.

Curiously enough, there are a few songs that are exempt from this end. It isn’t just songs that had album art already. Plenty of songs with album art show up as ABC. There are also a few songs with no cover art that stay blank.

Furthering my confusion, when I look into the metadata some of the newer downloads, it says that the album art is still the original thumbnails from their YouTube videos. So it hasn’t actually replaced the album art???

I have no idea how this happened or how to get it to stop. Songs downloaded on the new laptop have their video thumbnails as their album art.

Why have I been cursed this way? Why are some songs exempt from the curse? why does the curse not transfer to new downloads? Why Jackson 5 ???

[comicaurora]

As someone who’s thinking about creating a webcomic (largely for myself but may potentially make it public), can you provide advice on outlining and panelling? Those are the things I think I’d need some of the most help with other than backgrounds which… I can figure that out myself. Probably.

Good question! I've answered a similar one about paneling in depth here.

Outlining/storyboarding is a different animal, and depends strongly on your personal writing style and how your brain works.

There are a few ways you're "supposed" to write/outline comics, but pretty much all of them start as a script, similar to a screenplay. You note down character dialogue, the panel it takes place in, what the character is doing at the time.

You describe the panel like a shot in a movie - establishing shot, long shot, close up - and contain within that panel the script for what you'll put in the word bubbles. You might also include a thumbnail for what the page layout you're envisioning would look like.

This is because most comics are made by teams of more than one person, and the person who writes the plot/dialogue is not the person who does the layout and sketches - and usually that's not the same person who does the inking, the coloring or the lettering. So each stage of the process needs to be clearly laid out.

This is not how things work for comics made by a single person, and this is also not how my brain works in specific. If I try to write a script first, the characters inevitably end up being incredibly wordy and go off on philosophical tangents, and the dialogue doesn't fit right on the panels. And once I start drawing the actions I've choreographed, half the time I'll only get a few panels in before a character wants to do something unexpected but much more interesting that completely derails all my best-laid plans. None of my scripts ever survived contact with the page.

Fortunately, because I make art digitally, I can do things like "write all the dialogue straight onto the blank page" and then move/edit the text however I want. So the process I've developed that works for me specifically involves me storyboarding out the dialogue and paneling straight on the page rather than starting with a screenplay or script.

That's not to say it goes straight from my brain onto the page. If I'm stuck on a scene I'll usually crack open a little notes file and write out things like "what just happened, what is this character feeling, what do they want to do next" or just spitball possible dialogue options or write out a little mini-timeline of events in linear order. This gives me a guideline to reference when I sit down to storyboard, and it can help me work through a little knot of writer's block. Even then, the dialogue I hash out there isn't going to be as well-paced or as good as what I end up putting on the final page. It's a first draft of a scene - translating it onto the page, it'll play out differently.

This works well for my storytelling approach, which is flexible and character-driven. I like to give myself a lot of options - a toolbox to play with - and that means my outlines are often very loose, and can change a lot before I put them on the page. But this is a strategy I developed for myself through trial and error - it's not going to work for everybody.

I recommend you start off by reading a wide array of comics with an eye for how they were laid out and scripted, and test a few methods for yourself to see what works best for you. And also read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, it's an incredibly valuable crash course!

[leenfiend]

I thought the Two Slow Dancers comic would be a fun opportunity to break down my process a lil bit cause this was a lot of undoing and redoing and adding so for any ppl curious it will be under the cut!!

So to start off I actually only thumbnailed what is now page five and six, the original image in my mind was them reaching out to each other in different seasons clothing, I considered just making an animated version of that but then I connected it to the two slow dancers scene I had imagined in my head a month or so back and wanted to make it part of a small narrative:

(I actually did page six first - u can tell by the way my writing is nearly incomprehensible that this idea came to me like a vision in the night)

But then looking at that i said - well surely that doesn’t tell the story enough. I need more. And then I played two slow dancers on repeat for probably an hour while I thumbnailed a surrounding narrative for those two pages and ended up with this mess:

And from there I actually started working on the lineart two pages at a time - I like working on freakishly large two page spreads because to me it helps the flow feel more cohesive, I don’t look at them as isolated pages until I get to the shading part of the process.

But once I sent it to some ppl for feedback and reread it myself a million times I felt like the story still wasn’t reading the way I wanted it to - two out of six pages were “flashbacks/memories” pages and that ratio didn’t really allow for the other four pages to read as a cohesive story in my opinion so I kept trying to workshop two more pages for the front and I went through a few iterations:

I thought at first I would show the outside of the garrison, give the audience more of a setting, and then show the flyer so we know Keith is getting ready for this celebration. But it was too literal for me (even though what I ended up doing was still pretty literal lmao). So then I started with the phone/text messages as a story telling device:

Also this is an example of how I almost always draw the comic panels before I decide what goes in them haha, unless I’m really sure what images I plan on focusing in on the panels almost always end up informing what goes inside if that makes sense. But I finally ended up here when I decided “that’s good enough”

I even did most of the lineart for this composition before I decided the imagery of the jacket was just too repetitive, like we don’t need THREE PAGES of keith putting on a jacket.

So i kind of just moved the left page over to the right, and left the right page blank for most of the rest of the comic process. I finished most of the lineart on the rest of it before I finally circled back and decided to go with a tweak of what I originally thought was a lame idea (I had this image in my head of the lions silhouette against the glow of the Earth for the first page, but with the lyrics “the ground has been slowly pulling us back down” I thought it was just too cheesy, especially because that’s not what the lyrics mean either in the song or in the context of this comic and I didn’t want them to be perceived as so literal)

So this is the thumbnail I landed on for that which eventually turned into the actual final page.

Once I had all of the thumbnailing done the rest was pretty fun work! Just lots of going back in and detailing out the scribbles I had first put down. Now in terms of color, I actually have a secret. Most times I don’t color much at all? It depends on the piece but for most of my comics what I do is this -

I flat greyscale color everything and then use a color curve adjuster inside of procreate to pick a color pallet:

color adjusters are ur friend for picking color pallets i'm TELLING YOU!! I used to have a lot of trouble with cohesive color comps but it's a lot easier for me even without using this method now. Anyway I usually leave it here, in my other comics I don't have any shading or background elements outside of the panels but I figured since I was working so much on this comic anyway, I might as well light it a bit. So I basically just scribbled over the whole composition with a purple marker set on a multiply layer and then erased out the places I wanted light to hit, and then added a soft light layer with colored lights to give it more of a party look:

The only hang up I had during the coloring process of all this was how to color the "memory" pages. I originally just wanted them to be more pastel/blue, I thought that would make them look distinct enough. So I painted/shaded this whole page before looking at it within the rest of the composition and deciding it didn't read well at all and ended up sliding the saturation down to zero and calling it a day:

But I'm happy with that decision because it allowed for the "coming into color" moment with the other memory page and I think it connects better to the rest of the comic visually that way. And that was the whole process! There were tons of other little adjustments I made along the way and other composition things I tried out but I do tend to erase instead of iterate in layers so this is the process I have to show you! As a little bonus behind the scenes, here's the time lapse replay of that initial thumbnail for all eight pages! (it is sideways just because it's so large so if you're on a phone/tablet/laptop just turn ur screen sideways otherwise I'm so sorry lmao)

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Four (Part 2)

The next day I’m late for life drawing class as usual, and everyone is already laying their sketchbooks out on the floor as I burst into the studio, already halfway out of my raincoat and gloves. Ida doesn’t say anything, she just glances around at me, pauses, and then keeps talking to the rest of the class, which is obviously a thousand times worse than a scolding. I hastily unzip my bag and wrench my sketchbook out of it, only slightly wet around the edges from the torrential rain soaking through the flimsy canvas of my bag. I race over to lay it on the floor amongst the others. 

Marnie shoves a sharp elbow into my ribs as I take my place beside her, and I glance at the side of her face to see her smirking. Yes. I want to hiss. I know I keep doing this, apparently I’m just completely unable to get my life together and be a functioning person, Okay?

“Like I was saying,” Says Ida, as it dawns on me that I have interrupted her, and instantly wish I was dead. “I wanted to see improvements from all of you in the anatomy of your figures last week, so I’m very interested to see what you’ve done for today.” She bends down and begins to slowly flip through the pages of one sketchbook. “What do we think about this work?” 

“Nice sense of movement.” Says one student. 

“Yeah, the sketches of the man with the glasses are very nice.” Says another, while I desperately rack my brains for something to say. What do I think? Do I have a single opinion in my head about anything? 

Ida moves from one sketchbook to the next, and everyone discusses their work. I watch who’s speaking, and slowly, one by one, everybody eventually speaks up. Except for me. I have nothing to say. I am blank. I bring my thumbnail to my mouth and chew on it anxiously, feeling tension and shame growing inside me like a lump in my gut. 

She reaches for a sketchbook full of dark, confident lines, and I know immediately who it belongs to. I watch as she flips through the pages, all moody sketches of silhouettes in windows, backlit by street lamps, a whole page filled with a scratchy portrait of a man in a jacket, hard lines and planes on his face. 

“They’re good.” I force myself to say, at last. My voice seems to echo extra loudly in the studio and I have never been more aware of myself but I push through the fear. “But I think they’re messy. The anatomy is lost among all the smudges. I wish they were done much neater.” I glance up to meet Dean Cullen’s eyes, and quirk my eyebrow at him. How do you like it? I want to tell him. Doesn’t feel that good, does it? 

Ida says my opinion is fair, and we spend some time discussing it, but I’m not really listening. I’m focussed on the way my body feels, the way the blood is coursing through me, the slight weakness in my legs from the adrenaline of speaking out for the first time in front of the class and taking Dean’s work down all in one fell-swoop. 

I never prepared for what would happen when we got to my sketchbook however, and as soon as Ida starts leafing through its soggy pages I find myself stricken with anxiety. I keep my eyes on Dean the whole time as the class discusses my work, waiting for him to come up with something, watching the gears in his head turn, formulating whatever unhelpful, unconstructive comment he’s about to spew. 

He finally opens his annoying little mouth. “Nice, as usual, but needs more refinement in the hands. Would have liked to have seen more detail.”

Doesn’t he know how hard hands are? I make a scoffing sound, out loud, and then immediately burn up with embarrassment as a few faces turn to stare at me. Dean is looking too, a questioning look on his face as though he doesn’t quite get my indignation. If Ida hears, however, she ignores it and starts telling me about how to draw hands in a more considered way, which I only half listen to, because I can’t keep my eyes from flitting back and forth between the sketchbook and Dean. I loathe him. I decide. He must be the most irritating man alive. 

During the afternoon in the computer lab I listen intently to our lecturer guiding us through the steps of creating an image from scratch in Photoshop, when I hear the sound of computer chair wheels glide towards me across the floor. I assume it’s Marnie, coming to start some conversation that’s not even loosely connected to the classwork, so I prepare to shrug her off immediately. All these menus have me confused enough, I don’t need to add some post she read on Tumblr to my mental load. 

“Can it wait until after?” I whisper tightly with eyes glued to the screen. Where the hell is the Modify menu? 

“Eh, not really.” Comes the response, and I’m immediately thrown by the male voice. My hand practically spasms off the mouse and I whirl around to face Dean, altogether too much into my personal space, slumped back in his chair and idly spinning himself from side to side. 

“Oh.” I say, then pause, unsure what to say. “Did you want something?”

“I’m lost.” He admits. “I’m not that great with, like, the tech stuff. I saw that you kind of looked like you knew what you were doing so I was hoping I could take the computer beside you and look in on your screen.”

“Well I don’t know what I’m doing either.”

“It seems like you know more than I do.” He wheels into the empty desk beside me and boots up the computer. I stare at him the whole time in bewilderment. Doesn’t he realise that we hate each other? Or is he just messing with me? 

I turn back to my screen and try to ignore him, but the lecturer is already talking about something else. Now I have to find the expand button. God damn it, where’s the expand button? What the hell does that do? The way that Dean clicks and clacks on his keyboard is about ten times louder than the way any normal person does it. And he sniffs really loudly. And his giant stretched out jumper smells like cigarettes and the inside of a charity shop. 

He leans over to me. “Where’s modify?”

“I don’t know.” I hiss. “I was trying to find it when you interrupted me.” 

He goes back to clicking for a few minutes, and when he nudges me gently with his elbow, I’m forced to look at him. He looks like a TV villain. No good hearted men have faces like that, or hair bleached that horrendous shade of Slim Shady blonde. He looks like he should be riding around town with his car windows down and his middle fingers up. “It’s in the select menu.” He advises. “You go Select > Modify > Expand.” 

“Thanks” I say, begrudgingly following his directions, which are tragically correct, and go back to following the lecturers demonstration, but it isn’t long before Dean starts talking again. 

“I like your drawing.” He whispers, nodding towards my digital line work of a girl floating in space with Saturn for a head, and his compliment makes my heckles rise. “Oh, do you actually?” I whisper back accusingly, which seems to take him aback. 

“Eh… Yes?” 

“Hm. Alright.”

“Why? Do you think it’s shit or something?”

“No, I’m just surprised you don’t have anything smart to say about it.” 

“I can say it’s shit if you want.”

“You might as well, sure you always say that about my other work.”

There is a long pause, where I can see from the corner of my eye that he’s turned to stare at me, but can’t bear to meet his gaze. I go on clicking around through all the menus so that I can look unbothered, and it seems like an age before he decides to speak again. “I think you must be talking about the life drawing critique sessions.” He leaves that statement hanging in the air as if he expects me to respond to it, but I just ignore him and drag my mouse through the colour wheel, trying to decide what shade of navy blue I should make the sky. I shouldn’t have to say anything. It’s obvious. 

He sighs. “You know it’s just critique, it’s not as if it’s a personal attack on you.”

“It’s more than a critique.” I bite back. “It’s rude. The way you talk about my work is rude, that’s just what I think and how it comes across to me.”

“Would you prefer if I said it was perfect?”

I turn to him to launch into a response, but the lecturer beats me to it. “Dean and Evelyn at the back there, please, if you want to continue your conversation can you please do it outside the classroom?” 

I snap my mouth shut and spin back around to my monitor. If I still had long hair, I would have flipped it over my shoulder right about now. He can rot. 

Prev // Next

[kaijous]

Fic: Buddyshipping spice

It's been approximately 84 years since I last posted any fic but I owed @unfriendlyamazon a very specific buddyshipping prompt and I finally did it! Read it here on AO3 or down below! Title: The Sexual Education Of Tristan Taylor

Rating: E

Words: 1,820

Warnings: Blowjobs, first time, bisexuality, guys being dudes

Pairings: Honda Hiroto | Tristan Taylor/Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler

Summary: Tristan Taylor is bisexual, and he's finally ready to admit it, but he's never actually been brave enough to watch gay porn. His best friend happens to be a gay porn expert, and offers to take him on a whirlwind tour. What other lessons could Joey have to teach?

Tristan clicked shut both locks on his bedroom door, ignoring Joey’s shitty laugh from where he sat on the bed nearby, scrolling rapidly and clicking around on a laptop. He did feel a little stupid for being this paranoid, but his sister and both parents had the annoying habit of popping up or barging in his room at the most inconvenient and usually humiliating times. Luckily they weren’t supposed to be home for hours, but you could never be too careful when it came to watching porn, especially with your best friend. He walked across the room and twisted shut the blinds. “You wanna make sure the room ain’t wired, too?” Joey groaned and let his head fall back against the wall. “This porn ain’t gonna watch itself.”

“Don’t make me regret telling you.” Tristan folded his arms.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, big guy.” Joey sighed and patted the comforter next to him. “You’re a blossoming bisexual flower, and I promised you—”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“And I promised you I would be your gay porn tour guide. Now sit your ass down and help me pick a video.”

Tristan exhaled and crossed over to sit on the bed and scooted back next to Joey. He brushed his palms on his jeans and studied the wall of lewd thumbnails. Dicks, balls and assholes as far as the eye could see. His mom would have a stroke.

“Alright, how about starting with Swallowing My Own Cum?” Joey offered and pointed at the screen.

“Uhh, I don’t think I wanna start there.” Tristan gulped and crossed his arms. His face was already getting hot.

“Yeah, I hear you.” Joey nodded sagely and tucked a lock of blonde behind his ear. “S'kinda like, then where do you have to go?”

“R-right.” Tristan stumbled. “What else is there?”

“Here’s one,” Joey hovered the mouse over a guy ass up on the ground. “Asian Twinks Flip Fuck In The Forest’.”

“What the hell is a flip fuck?” Tristan scratched his temple. “Anyway, I don’t like when they specify they gotta be Asian. Sounds racist.”

“Okaayy, then let’s just do Heteroflexible: Closeted Virgin Gets Passionately Barebacked.” Joey cut his eyes over to Tristan’s blank stare before scrolling away. “Alright, tou-chy. Fine, here’s the winner. Hot And Randy Twink Sucks His Buddy’s Huge Dick.”

“I don’t know, seems kinda—” Tristan started.

“Dude!” Joey shook his hands in frustration. “Are we gonna watch some goddamn porn or not?”

“Fine, just click it. Do it.” Tristan huffed and clamped his mouth shut.

Joey clicked the thumbnail loudly before setting the laptop on the bed and leaning back against the wall with a thump. They watched the production company logo scroll for a few seconds of awkward silence until the screen filled with a shot of two young guys with a lot of piercings and tattoos furiously making out and writhing against each other on a couch. They were  both skinny — really skinny, not Tristan’s usual taste, but the punk look was kinda cool he guessed. Were these the kinds of things guys thought about when they watched gay porn? Probably not. He cleared his throat and watched for a long time as the two dudes played tonsil hockey.

“Is this gonna be the whole thing?” Tristan muttered out of the side of his mouth. “My parents aren’t gonna be gone that long.”

“Shut up, man. It’s picking up.” Joey nodded at the screen.

Sure enough, things were getting heated between the two porn stars. The one with a big tattoo of brass knuckles on his shoulder was obviously taking the lead as he unbuckled the one with the swoopy bangs’ studded belt. The camera drew back to show them both eagerly wriggling out of their skinny jeans and pressing their naked bodies together while they made out more. Their fingers danced across each other’s skin while they rolled their hips in time and panted breathlessly between kisses. Tristan had made out with more than a few girls by now, but even the most heated kiss didn’t match the energy on the tiny laptop screen right now.

“Not gonna lie, a lot of these clips are like half making out ‘cuz they want you to buy a subscription.” Joey’s voice snapped Tristan back to reality. “I can fast forward if you want,”

“No.” Tristan said stiffly. “I mean, uh, I don’t wanna deal with finding another video. This is fine.”

“Cool.” Joey sniffed and went quiet. 

Tattoo Guy finally broke off the kiss and Tristan’s eyes bulged as he watched the man drag his tongue all the way down Swoopy Bangs’ narrow chest to lick his pointed nipples. Tristan noticed immediately that the guy had a tongue piercing and had to wonder how the cold metal would feel against his heated skin. He guessed he could ask Joey, he was the only person he knew crazy enough to get one.

“Finally!” Joey clapped his hands together when Tattoo Guy started jerking and licking Swoopy Bangs’ half-hard dick. “We have liftoff.”

Tristan’s mouth went completely dry. The guy on bottom’s cock hardened up quickly, springing away from his body before the man above him took it in his mouth with an easy bobbing movement. The slurping sounds that filled the room made Tristan’s cheeks light on fire, and that was before the guys started moaning. Gradually and then all too suddenly, Tristan noticed his pants feeling really, really tight. He chanced a look at Joey, but his brown eyes betrayed nothing but casual interest. Tristan’s dick was getting rock hard from five seconds of a couple of twinks giving each other blowies, and Joey looked like he was watching baseball.

“I um, feel like I probably got the gist of it.” Tristan blurted. 

“What, seriously?” Joey raised his eyebrows. “They’re just getting to the good stuff.”

“Yeah, for real, it’s cool. It’s uh, very interesting. But I’m good.” Tristan shifted on the bed uncomfortably. He longed to reach for a pillow to cover his raging boner but that would be a dead giveaway.

“Uh-huuuhh.” Joey’s voice lilted. The moaning on screen got even louder as he eyed the bulging fabric of Tristan’s jeans. “I think you’re doin’ a lil’ more than good.”

“Joey, I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not a good idea.”

“When’s that ever stopped us before?” Joey snorted. He reached over and casually bumped his knuckles along the ridge of Tristan’s hard dick trapped under denim. 

Tristan shuddered, but he didn’t move away. The situation, as usual when it involved Joey, was getting out of his control.

“You want me to stop?” Joey asked, his voice kept husky and low but sounding deafening over the moans and cries coming from the laptop speakers. Tristan shook his head and let out a shaky breath as he leaned back and let his knees fall open.

“Just watch the show, big guy. I got you.” Joey murmured.

Tristan turned his dizzying attention back to the screen while Joey rubbed the front of his pants for a little longer. He quickly moved on to pulling down Tristan’s zipper and he wasted no time getting out his dick to start stroking. He swiped the precum that had already gathered from Tristan’s slit and spread it down his length.

“Fuck, man.” Joey breathed out, puffing air over Tristan’s bare skin. “You got a big ass dick.”

“Y-yeah?” Tristan asked dumbly.

“Yeah, man.” Joey whispered, sounding awed. “The biggest I’ve ever seen.” 

Tristan wondered briefly just how many dicks Joey had actually seen, but the train of thought was lost as his friend licked a long line up and down the underside of his dick. He gasped out loud and looked down in time to catch a silver glint of metal flick out of Joey’s mouth. So that’s what a tongue piercing felt like.

“Fuck,” Tristan hissed.

“That feel good?” Joey asked. His warm brown eyes glanced up coyly, like he didn’t know he was rocking Tristan’s shit right now without even getting his whole dick in his mouth. “Then you’re gonna love this.”

Tristan gasped and let out a truly embarrassing noise when Joey suddenly dropped his hot, wet mouth down his cock. Somewhere next to them the goth twink was overacting his heart out, but the high moans and cries sounded far away as Tristan’s eyes fixed on the real life pornographic sight of his best friend going to town on his hard dick. He watched as Joey’s blonde hair bounced along with the movement of his head bobbing up and down. He expertly sucked on him without a hint of teeth, just soft wet skin taking him impossibly tight and deep. Tentatively, Tristan reached out a hand and curled his fingers in Joey’s hair. Joey’s own hand raised up to clench over Tristan’s and he somehow knew exactly what he needed to do. 

Tristan squeezed and tugged tight on Joey’s bleached strands which pulled the nastiest, thickest moan from his best friend’s throat. Tristan panted and bucked his twitching hips up into Joey’s tight, soft mouth as his pleasure mounted.

“Joey, I gotta stop or I’m gonna—” Tristan groaned, but Joey didn’t stall for a second. “I’m serious, I’m gonna make, hah, I’m gonna make a fucking mess—ahh, fuck!”

Tristan came down Joey’s throat. There were no two ways about it. His best friend had just sucked him into oblivion, and he happily swallowed every drop of come Tristan had to give. Holy shit.

'Holy shit' was the only coherent thought he could form. That, and the fact that Joey was really fucking good at sucking dick. That was one bathroom wall rumor confirmed. 

Joey wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled up at Tristan blearily. They sat in silence for a beat. Tristan’s hand twitched and he reached out to brush a drop of slick that had collected on his friend’s bottom lip. Joey’s smile turned wry and crooked, but the warmth never left his eyes.

“Not half bad doin’ gay shit, huh?” Joey sat up and stretched his arms over head. He reached into his pocket to check his phone and yawned. “Wanna split a pizza?”

Tristan blinked. Leave it to Joey to break years of sexual tension and move on to dinner in the next millisecond.

“Uh, yeah. But we’re getting pineapple.” He declared and started wiping down his crotch with tissues from his bedside table.

“So demanding!” Joey crowed. “Who sucked who’s dick today?”

“You are not holding that over my head from now on!” Tristan jabbed an accusatory finger.

“Pft, if you think I’m annoying now wait ‘til I eat your ass.” Joey rolled his eyes.

Tristan sputtered for a response, but Joey was already on the line with the pizza place before he could think of what to say. He still had a lot to learn.