#ok i can’t add a read more on mobile sorry i’ll add one later. suffer for now

[catdays]

been thinking extensively about my dragon age inquisition rewrite. again.

first major restructure: fen’harel is an elven trickster deity as he is in the first two games lore, and the elven gods are NOT slaver kings or whatever. their status as a deity/mythologized mages OR old gods (like the arch demons) is something i’m debating. but they’re not evil.

corypheus isn’t the main villain but red lyrium is still a huge plot point, but it factors more into the mage/templar wars

the beginning of the game is pretty similar? the rift is blown up from solas’ failed attempt to bring the fade down i just think it takes way longer for it to get closed, but still pre-well of sorrows

the first chunk of the game is about the mage/templar war, and the inquisition trying to stabilize thedas again. pretty similar to the actual game at first, except there are more political missions, and caring for the people, etc. basically a lot of war table missions that you’re doing yourself INSTEAD of just time locked missions with rewards and no actual gameplay

one of the more major roles that’s made a big deal in the game is dalish-human talks, the inquisition protecting dalish camps, etc. i’m biased bc i played as a dalish inquisitor so i’m waiting to expand on this after i think a little more on it, but i think they deserve a bigger (positive) role in inquisition

instead of corypheus, haven gets corrupted by red lyrium and the inquisition has to mass evacuate and you have to choose between leaving infected members or killing them. stuff like that.

all the warden stuff is pretty similar id say. instead of being told to do blood magic by corypheus or whatever they’re trying to use red lyrium and the rifts to fix the blights resulting in corruption and possession through a lot of the ranks. i think the fade mission stays purely bc i liked the emotional impact of it and i wanna wiggle around with it. hawke is there bc of their experience with lyrium instead of corypheus (alistair was the other warden in my save Btw idk who that other guy was)

over the course of the game solas becomes closer to the inquisitor, and eventually ends up being a member of the war table instead of morrigan i think. he tells them abt the eluvians + leads the inquisition to the well of sorrows bc he believes he can tap into the pure magic of the old elves there, and tells the inquisition it could be a cure for red lyrium

bonus: if a dalish elf drinks from the well they hear elven voices...possibly mythal herself?

tbh idk what i wanna do with flemeth/morrigan. i’ll figure out later.

umm skipping ahead cuz i can’t think of what to fill here. maybe solas summons a dragon and runs off in an eluvian.

the inquisition has to go hunt down the fen’harel temple thats in trespasser or whatever. funny fade antics as you figure out fen’harel is trying to open the seal between the fade again so he can get back his magic and like destroy humanity idk

the final boss battle is against a giant 6-eyed, 6-legged black wolf (fen’harel) and its prety cool actually. fuck you. you dont kill him though after he gets down to like 20% health or something he shifts back to humanoid form (doesn’t look exactly like solas, it’s like his human-god form, but is still clearly the same dude) and is basically the same ending as trespasser he cripples the inquisitor and monologues and then runs off through an eluvian tht shatters behind him. it’s a very inconclusive game that would set up for my ideal da4 which would resolve the mage/templar wars, red lyrium, and fen’harel

[stressedspidergirlsfandomblog]

You asked for prompts, so maybe a scene from the Modern Herbalist AU (chapter 3 of Because the Night) ? I’ve really love the ideas you put into that AU. Maybe Geralt spending particularly good and/or difficult days with Yen while Jaskier is away? Having stuff stuck all the way up your nose sucks, but I hope your test goes ok, it’s not too awful, and that you aren’t sick!

It wasn't too awful. But I won't know for about a week :/ so that sucks a lot.

But thanks :) and I enjoyed that idea so here we go (pre Ciri):

Yennefer noticed that Geralt hadn't come in for two days now. Somewhat concerned, he was usually in like clockwork, even when Jaskier was in town. He had told her some of the tea blends helped his stomach and various other problems he suffered from. She had even tweaked a few blends specifically for him to address days he had migraines or especially bad vertigo.

This was two days now that she'd prepped his tea and muffin and had it ready and he had not come in. Concerned, they had recently exchanged numbers and she'd spent a few wonderful nights at his apartment. Checking her phone she doesn't see any messages. Frowning, she slips her phone back in her pocket and decides to stop by his place after she closes up for lunch. The shop opens early in the morning and stays open till noon. Then she reopens around six for the after-dinner crowd. She should have plenty of time to check on him and make sure he's okay. He hasn't missed a day in months.

In a lull, she packs up a small bag of loose leaf tea, and a muffin. She can at least drop them off if he doesn't want company. She's never fallen for anyone as hard as she has Geralt, but he puts almost no pressure on her. He doesn't care about her sharp edges or odd interests, and doesn't try and force her to change. The least she can do is check on him.

After closing up, she finds herself outside his door, knocking, paper bag full of a few different tea blends and two muffins clutched in her hand. She isn't sure what to expect, and is startled when the door opens partway to reveal Geralt, barely able to keep his feet. He looks more haggard than she's ever seen him, and she holds up the bag.

"Haven't seen you in a bit, I should have called or texted first, I'm sorry."

"Should've called," he admits weakly, wincing at the light from the hallway. "Y'can come in, if you want," he offers, backing away from the door.

"I hope you don't mind me saying, but you look awful," she informs him, taking in the apartment as she steps in. She's been in several times and the place is always near spotless other than the coffee table he likes to read at. That's usually covered in books and papers. He tends to leave the blinds open to let in air and light, but everything is dark and closed. Worry settles lower in her stomach.

She's never seen him leave such a mess, there's trash all over. Dirty clothes, and a blanket half on the couch and half on the floor.

"Sorry about the mess," he tells her, hobbling back to the couch. He settles painfully in the seat, dragging the blanket up around himself and hunching miserably.

"I brought a few different blends," she says briskly. She came here to check on him and he's clearly in need. "And the muffins you like."

"You didn't have to do that," he tells her, rubbing his temples and closing his eyes.

"But I wanted to. Migraines?" She asks sympathetically.

"Bad one," he grits out.

Yennefer nods to herself and heads into the kitchen. She adds water to the kettle to make him some tea. She knows which mug is his favorite and takes it out of the sink and washes it while the water boils. A few minutes later, the blend is in the strainer, steeping in the mug. She brings it over and sets it in the coffee table, shifting some trash aside to use a coaster.

"Too nauseous to eat?" She asks him gently, keeping her voice soft, and gently squeezes his arm when he shrugs. "I can stay until a little before five," she offers.

"Don't have to," he says, leaning into her. She puts an arm around his shoulders and encourages him to relax. After a few minutes pass, he leans forward to lift the mug and sip the tea.

By the time he finishes it, he's feeling marginally better and starts picking at the muffin. "Thank you, Yen," he kisses her cheek gently.

"Of course." She squeezes his knee.

"I'll clean up," he starts to move and she pushes him back gently.

"Don't bother, I know you don't live like this," Yennefer reassures him. "If you did I would have seen it by now and wouldn't have come back."

He snorts.

Muffin and tea finished, he finds himself with his head in her lap, her fingers carding through his hair. The pain finally manageable, he sleeps for the first time in two days.

(this is getting out of control and I can't read more on mobile. And I'll try and add another one with good days but I guess I was in a melancholy kind of mood. Thank you :) made me happy to know ppl liked the herbalist idea.)

[inky-thoughts]

Hello there! I read all of your how to zine thing and I've been thinking how to organize a portfolio online... Do you have any suggestions or tutorials on how to do one? I use Google drive but I don't like it anymore (it seems unprofessional) so I was wondering if you have any tips óvò thank you in advance and sorry for my English!!

aaaa it’s ok I’m no native English speaker either, so don’t worry!!

For your question, I personally have started using the Adobe Portfolio (it seems to be free?) as I have the Adobe CC for uni purposes and thus already an Adobe account. I innicially wanted to have it for design stuff only but then discovered I could make a second portfolio so I made one for my internet illustration/art stuff as well and used it as portfolio for zines (idk if it interests you but in case you want some inspiration, here’s the link.) I’m still kinda unsatisfied as it doesn’t really have a gallery option where you can click through the images individually, it really is catered to mobile users and the images look uncomfortably large on the desktop for me, but in general building them is kind of intuitive even if the layout options are rather limited.

I personally don’t have much experience with other portfolio websites (I only tried deviantart’s portfolio before and wasn’t really satisfied with it either, but that’s been years ago.) I would recommend doing some research (maybe some of my followers also has suggestions?) and maybe also consider using a general website from a website builder like weebly or wix (I think there are also free options?) as they are a bit more flexible in their layout.

EDIT: I added a list with some website builders and portfolio websites on the How to Apply post, if any of you have more suggestions, I’ll add them to the list as well. Just a note that I don’t have experience with every website on the list.

Some of my study friends also from other universities used a PDF file with their best works and sent that to agencies, so that might be an option, too, especially if you’re only allowed to a very limited number of pieces. With programs like InDesign it’s fairly easy to make a cohesive and nicely designed PDF (I recently got some suggestions for similar programs as a lot of people suffer from Adobe raising their CC prices but I haven’t tried any of them so I can’t vouch for them.)

For me, it largely depends on what specifically the portfolio is for.If I were to apply for an agency job, I’d try to fit in as much of my range as possible while still trying to focus on what the specific job is for. I think that tactic works for zines as well, even though it’s more illustration-heavy than necessarily corporate or editiorial design. I started to categorise my works more by projects/purpose so that the individual concepts are gathered together instead of having “sketches” “illustrations” “typography” etc. as throughout time, you’ll get more and more interdisciplinatory projects so you can’t sort them that easily. Of course you can sort them also on the main focus for the individual projects (a magazine might be sorted into editorial or typography for example.)

I made an extra category for my comic project to have everything together, currently most of them are just some illustrations but I’ll add more concept art and stuff like that later on.I also like displaying commission or zine works in a seperate category so it’s easier to see what people can expect from hireing me, plus it also shows that I actually already have experience with zines and commissioned work. Of course you don’t need to put all your commissions/zine works into it, especially if you don’t like them/don’t find the result very pleasing anymore. A portfolio is always courating your own works by what you consider your personal qualities.

As I already have mentioned in the portfolio post, I also try to kick out works that are older than 3 years from the portfolio staples that I use when zines only ask for a few of my best pieces (like 3-5) but I keep them in my online portfolio site if I still like them on a general basis, especially if the style is something I still can pull off. I also never use pieces I never published anywhere online so I usually just link to the tumblr post if there’s only a limited number of pieces allowed. I just try to keep my tumblr organised and aesthetically pleasing and check if all the links still work.

For the layout, I recommend using something simple and neutral as the work itself should be the focus, not the very fancy design around it. This especially should be the case if you want to display several styles and/or moods/colour schemes. If your style is very pastell-y and cute, of course a more cute and pastel design compliments it well. But if you also have very dark colours and for example gory designs, it most likely will clash with the works and thus isn’t a very wise descision. Safe colours are always white and any completely desaturated greys that are somewhere in the lighter and mid-range shades. Black can look good, too, but imo should be handled with a bit more care. I probably would recommend a darker grey instead as it doesn’t swallow too much light. You want your work to pop but having too much contrast between your work and the background can also get uncomfortable for the eye.

I also would recommend not using too fancy and playful fonts as they easily distract you from the actual work. I also wouldn’t use Times New Roman and Arial as they aren’t very comfortable to read (and don’t have a very good design.) Calibri is always a very safe and well-designed font that most likely is an option everywhere, but of course just look through the font options and test what suits your works the best.When picking a font colour, please always check the contrast to the background, especially when you use more saturated colours. I also wouldn’t recommend using 100% saturated colours as they are also very uncomfortable for the eye.My prime example of very little readability is bright red on pitch black background. It’s one of the most uncomfortable combinations to read as red is very aggressive to the eye and through the very high saturation also is difficult to distinguish in front of the very dominant black. Having a red-ish grey would work much better, especially if it’s a lighter shade, and not using black but a darker grey would take away the tension as well. Just play around a bit until you get to a visually satisfying result.

Always be aware that starker contrasts also always draw the eye, so you want the most contrast in your works and not in what surrounds them. If you have especially light works with maybe a very delicate lineart and little contrast, you might want to use a white, pastel colour or light grey with a fairly light font (that still has enough contrast to the background to be readible)

The most general advice I can give is focussing on displaying your works and not distracting from them. I would try to have a very simple and cohesive site that puts everything together in a harmonizing way and also doesn’t have too many subcategories so that navigation is easy and smooth.

I hope that helped in some way? ^^;