#this pattern is fun tho so far its like just challenging enough to have a good time

[exculis]

My stepdad was like 'is knitting actually fun for you or do you just do it cuz you're bored'. Man.

[hanymelon]

Hi! Your art is *chef's kiss* and the ways you draw Mammon solo or with your MC are super cute and I love the way you detail his blushes and expressions so much. I get excited everytime I see you post a new drawing 💕

I was wondering if you had any tips for a beginner artist on, like, anatomy or just starting off in general? I usually just write and stick to that for OM, but some ideas feel like they should be drawn. I get confused with where I should start practicing and usually just drop the idea altogether.

Sorry if that put you on the spot or anything, don't feel bad if you don't wanna answer. I also really just wanted to gush about your art and ty for drawing so much good stuff!

Hi! Awwh thank you so much! ;v; Im so happy you get like my art enough to say that <333 💕💕💕 I know what you mean about getting ideas that feel like they should be drawn. Sometimes i get ideas that i think would be better done in writing. If you wanna share what you've written, id love to give them a read :)) No pressure tho! Ah, i get excited when someone is starting to pick up drawing. It can be challenging but super rewarding. Before i give specific tips, firstly I'd say if you are just starting out, have fun with it and dont stress too much about the technicalities. If you get too caught up with how something doesn't look right or how your anatomy is wonky, you'll bog yourself down and end up not creating at all which is sad :( In the end, its really about getting your ideas down on paper and it shouldn’t be something too too stressful since youre doing it for fun anyway! I have to remind myself that no one is holding me at gunpoint and forcing me to create drawings with perfect anatomy or proportions, im still learning! And thats okay!

[More under the cut bc this got kinda long!]

With that out of the way, here are some tips you can hopefully use. Im not that great at anatomy either, but what helps me a lot is references. Its pretty typical advice, but it really helps me understand form and what the human body can and cant do. like can the arm twist that way? Idk, look up a reference. Although it is the best way, sometimes its really overwhelming to look at actual pictures of humans and trying to translate that to a cartoony anime-ish drawing so you can start out by referencing anime (or cartoons) instead. When i was starting out i used to do little studies on styles that i liked. That can help a lot with seeing how artists you like draw certain things. For example how they make the arms and legs not look stiff, the specific curves they use for the waist, the folds in the clothes, etc etc. (Goes without saying here, but just don't upload your studies or copied drawings on the internet and claim it as your own and you're all good) I’d insert pictures of my own studies but i dont have them with me where i am rn so i cant do that unfortunately sorry! So lets say you have this super specific pose in mind and you cant find a reference for it or youre just too lazy to sort through hundreds of pictures on google or pinterest to find that one perfect ref img. You can just pose and take a picture of yourself. i do this a lot and sometimes get my friends (who are also art students so that makes things easier haha) to help if i need it. If you really dont want to do that tho, something i also do a lot is to do the pose while drawing it. Feeling and seeing where my body naturally leans and where body parts are relative to each other in a certain pose really helps. for example if im drawing someone waving, how far away is the hand from the head, should the elbow be out or close to the body, how long should the forearm be etc etc. Yknow the thing where you make the same expression as the character you're drawing? The way you kinda feel the way its supposed to look? Yeah its like that but for poses fjsv i hope this makes sense. Personally im not a big believer of the "Draw everyday!! Even when you dont feel like it!!" advice. But If youre really enjoying what you do, youd wanna be doing it every day anyway. And the more you draw, the more comfortable itll become and the more things will kind of make sense when you notice patterns as you practice. I guess what im trynna say is make the practice fun and not feel like a bother so you'd wanna do it more and in turn improve more. Its a cycle haha.  Im not the most qualified to give advice but i hope this helped a bit? There are plenty of sources on the interwebs that are very useful and can probably help you a lot. I hope you keep drawing anon! Tldr; Draw what you want, use references, strike the pose and feel your body, make practice fun (whatever that might mean for you), the more you do it the better you’ll get

[dariadraws]

and my final piece so far for @geekinthecorner‘s @batfam-big-bang fic Bats Of The West, it’s Jason Todd! ngl i think this is one of the ones i had the most fun with, and also the one i crammed the most details into that no one but me will ever know exist, but i’ll share a few of them under the cut, along with the image description. plus, a list of all of Jason’s scars in this au, and how he got them.

also, like i said, this is my final piece so far but i fully intend to come back and round out the batfam, draw all the other characters i havent had a chance to get to yet, so keep an eye out for that, and in the meantime here’s some fun facts!

alright so. first off, just some general overall thoughts on Jason and some of the details i added here.

 his gun in the first pic is super expensive and pretty, but i imagine he doesnt use is as often as some of his other ones, simply because when he’s out in The Wilderness tracking down criminals for weeks on end, it’s not really the kind of place you want to bring your prettiest, most expensive gun. when he’s on the ranch or in town tho, or really just anywhere where he doesnt anticipate needing to rough it for more than a couple days (which isnt the same as not expecting the need to get rough), he’s probably got this gun.

his gun belt and holster are a whole other story tho. he spent exactly zero dollars and zero cents on them, just assembled them from some spare leather they had lying around, which is why theyre in such Not Great condition, and also why the belt itself ended up so long. he could cut it down to a more reasonable size, but it’s not like there’s anything else he could make from those scraps anyways, so why bother.

that big gun in the second image isn’t technically his tho, it’s the Communal Ranch Rifle. mainly it’s just used to scare away coyotes (or, yknow, actually hit coyotes) but it does occasionally see real action as well, tho not often.

also. does it even need to be said? his hat.. holder... bead... thing. with the turquoise inlay. is a gift from Dick

alright and now the fun part! i go through all of jason’s scars, and how he got them. there are quite a few and a lot of them are. Sad. so be warned, and take care of yourselves! (also just for the record, i promise the fic itself isnt actually as dark as this will make it sound. basically none of this shows up in the story, i was just given free reign to design whatever i wanted, and poor jason ended up paying the price)

ok so. scars. 

first off, the claw and bit marks on his arms and shoulders are from getting attacked by some coyotes back when he was still just a kid. to quote my explanation back when i pitched this to Em, “bc as a Young Human with minimal supervision and not necessarily having someone to call him inside once it gets dark, he was unfortunately Very Delicious, if somewhat scrawny, by coyote standards”

next up: a bullet scar on his abdomen, on his lower left side (our right), from some kind of shootout with a criminal. this one is middling-recent; after bruce adopted him, but before the joker thing. i dont really have anything concrete for that one but it was a through and through, and somehow, miraculously, missed hitting any bones, and any organs. just missed his lower rib by like. an inch. that one messed bruce up more than jason, honestly. if anything, he was just surprised it took him that long to get shot, with the life he's had

the ones on his cheek and on his chin were just Regular Childhood Shenanigans scars, no real story.

the one through his mouth is from his time with the joker though. there's also the J brand on his right bicep, also from the joker.

also joker related, hes got a lot of scars on his hands, especially his knuckles and fingertips, from trying to fight his way out of his captivity, and scratching his fingers raw trying to pry open the door to his cell/untie the rough rope he way tied with/whatever the specific situation was. also some minor rope burn scars on his wrists from the same deal.

also some blade scars across his palms from trying to stop/block knives. definitely with the joker, but probably at some point in his youth as well

a few faint lines across his neck from being a temporary hostage a few time while helping Bruce on cases when he was younger, but none of them ever went deep or caused any serious damage

oh and also, whip scars on his back from his time with the joker, which arent too prominent, and mostly cant be seen from the front, except for a couple of spots where they crest over his shoulders and the very tail ends of them can be seen, but they’re there 

and also some kind of straight scar on his left forearm, which was a carry-over from my usual Jason design, that i like but dont really have a story for, so that one’s purely aesthetic, lol

and that’s it! i think? that’s all my notes on that? either way this post is getting Way Too Long, and i still gotta do the image descriptions, so i’m calling it there. 

[IMAGE ID: two images of Jason Todd in old-fashioned cowboy clothing. He has red, curly hair with a streak of white running through it at the front. his skin is pale but sunburnt, has deep-blue eyes, many freckles both on his face and on the rest of his exposed skin, and his body is broad and muscular, and he has many scars. he has small round metal piercings in the lobes of both ears, as well as an additional two in the top cartilege of his right ear.

in the first image, he is facing directly at the viewer with his arms crossed, and a challenging look on his face. he is wearing a maroon cowboy shirt with checkered red accent at the chest and the sleeves rolled up to his upper arms. he has a dark blue polka-dot bandana tied around his neck, and over that pass two strands of red braided cord holding his tan cowboy hat, which is visible hanging off his neck behind him. the cords are tipped with small metal beads, and pass through a large, dark brown wooden bead inset with turquoise, which regulates their length. he is wearing dark-wash blue jeans with prominent yellow stitching, pulled over his cowboy boots up to the ankle until only the foot of each boot is visible. the boots are dark brown with pale seams and red stitching, and light brown heels and soles. fastened around each boot are embossed red spur-straps, with metal spurs extending from them behind the boots. at his waist are two cracked leather belts. one is dark brown, with a pale silver buckle stamped with vine designs, and it is threaded through his belt loops. the second belt is hanging diagonally over his hips and holds his gun and holster. this belt is a reddish tan with a pattern of darker brown, overlapping rings down its length, and has a darker silver buckle. it is long enough that the loose end of it wraps back around itself several times before hanging down. the holster is simple brown leather folded over the gun, with two straps to tighten it. the gun itself is an ornate and expensive-looking revolver, black metal with intricate gold detailing and a mother-of-pearl grip.

in the second image, he is facing slightly to the side, with a long shotgun propped over his shoulder with one hand and an unimpressed expression on his face as he looks somewhere to the right of the viewer. he is shirtless, and his torso is muscled, stocky, and as sunburned and freckled as the rest of him. his cowboy hat is hanging off his neck again behind him, once more held in place by the braided red cord and round wood-and-turquoise bead. he is wearing tan, high-waisted pants tucked into his cowboy boots, which are the same as in the first image but now fully visible, with red pulls at the top. the pants are attached to red suspenders, though they are not on his shoulders and hang down around him instead. his gunbelt is once more around his hips, but the holster is obscured behind him, and isn't visible. the hand not holding the shotgun is down loosely at his side, and has a red and white bandana wrapped around the wrist. END ID]

[survivor-kuwait]

Episode 11 - “i am the balrog elder gay” - Kait

i am the balrog elder gay 

Losing Chloe BROKE ME. listning to Bye Bye mariah carey and crying!!! this is for the people who just lost somebody... SHOOT. I wanted her to blurt out more of her votes in tribe chats. RIP. a fallen Goddess...

SWEET BABY JESUS I GET A SECOND LIFE IN THIS GAME!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! OMG I LOVE THE LAGOON RN! BUT HOPEFULLY I CAN MAKE IT TO THE POINT WHERE I CAN RETURN BECAUSE I HAVE A FEW PEOPLE TO STRIKE BACK AT.

I’m so dumb, completely missed the voting deadline, in my defense i was teaching, but still. Never again, its merge (maybe) and im not gonna jeopardise my game like that.

I'm glad we merged but two people are returning to the game? This has been the most cracked game I have ever played.

Renee and Chips have a chance to return. Between the both I hope Renee comes back. She was an ally for me and most probably work together again.

Go rennee!

---

boo chips

MERGEMERGEMERGEMERGE!!!! glad my zodiac sign is known for being loyal cause I sure ain’t. 

This challenge is always weird but i think if people tell me the truth i may have cancelled out some of my stuff im getting. M&M&M are good standings hopefully. I also trust kait thomas and timmy. Hopefully i can make itndeep in the game.

---

This challenge was a total meh i guess this works. Hopefully i win immunity. If not hopefully im not a target. My relationship with Madison may be rocky right now cuz i blindsided her tribe friend in another game. So im kinda nervous. Hopefully she doesnt pass it her vengence here and tries to take me out.  Im slightly worried a but for this tc.

This merge is a little different from my norm game, I usually have 2-4 alliance chats going but I don't have a single one so far this game.  All my deals have been side deals so far, I do not know if that is a good or bad thing as of this moment in time.  Corey did fill me in that there was an alliance being formed that included him, at least it's indicative of him wanting "The Bull and the Lion" to continue to work. I am also way to mentally drained to give a damn, I just needed to make a confessional to not strike. I worked for 14 hours today but I made 325 dollars and now only owe 4k on my student loans.  Thassss a win in my book even if I get voted out, I'm just gonna drink some beer, hold Jenifer and go to bed.  Good night Moon.

THANK GOD I WON IMMUNITY. You have no idea how good it feels to not have to stress out too much this round. Considering there are 14 of us, really anything could happen, but it's great to know that I will make it through at least one more round. The only key here is just making sure that I stay on the right side of the numbers. The line will most likely be drawn in the sand, so it's important that I stay on the right side of it. So far, I think the people that trust me the most are Ian, Corey, and Matt. I talk to them the most out of everyone, and I do trust them all to an extent, Corey and Ian the most. I would love to find a way to get all three of them on the same page, but I know that will be a heard feat. Next in line would probably be Maynor, Madison, and Kait. I talk to these three a good amount, but for some reason I am having a hard time putting my full faith into them. I talk to Owen a good amount too, but he is a MAJOR threat, and someone that I do not want to be in the game for too much longer if I'm going to have a chance to win. For this round, in an ideal world, Thomas would go home. But that seems too easy. I am hoping someone starts throwing names around, but if not, I guess it will have to be me.

WHY DOES MATT HATE ME SO MUCH?!?!  I genuinely wanted to work with him after first impressions, I bet he was the one who voted Taurus now.  My idol now has a name attached to it, so thanks for that Matt.  In a way, I guess you did end up working with me in some fashion.  Ideally this round goes down with a clear majority on Stephan and Corey can get his save a vote activated and I play the slow burn on good ole Matteo, I wanted to butt heads with Owen at merge, but Owen has been a delight while Matteo has been nothing but a thorn in my side.  

Phew child this merge! 14 people is so so so many and I did in fact vote out Adrian and Chloe, both people who I’ve worked with. I’m left in a really interesting spot because of the warzones it’s still hard to see who has a pattern of voting together. I feel that I’ve positioned myself to be in a lot of threesomes, and hopefully nobody really catches on to that? I know Kait is my number one currently and I have trust with Madison and Devon and Corey. But I’m also fully aware that everyone is a huge threat, and I have to downplay myself as one as well. Hopefully a stepehen vote will provide me with good positioning, as we’re removing someone I personally can’t reallt work with, and lessening the numbers. I also wanna really work with chips but I’m sure everyone was chomping at that bit! Who doesn’t want a bite of chips!

I wish I could put an image in this form bc the joke I’m about to make is so funny Anyways lol I told Kait about the idol I felt like I had to or else I’d break her trust if I ever used it. But THEN LOL SHE TOLD ME THAT matt also has one LMAO THAY HE NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT!!!! So that meme I linked above is literally me and matt with our idols Here’s my prob tho I like l.... I have to tell matt bc he knows I guess the coordinate. So I guess that’s a thing that’ll happen

Finally have an alliance chat with Kait and Owen...it’s been so many rounds in the making tbh, it just needed to actually be made. I feel safer having that as well as us going to make one with Matt and Maynor as well, making sure that Matt is okay with it...Maynor already seems to be on board. The only name that’s been going around is Stephen so that kind of sucks because I wanted to work with him, but he isn’t around enough to try and rock the boat for in this game unfortunately. 

I found a hidden immunity idol which is awesome! Also, everyone has been silent this round after we decided on Stephen so that’s a bit suspicious 

This is a really hard round because I really like everyone. If any good came from it, it's that I solidified myself into a strong alliance that should be able to keep me safe for at least a few rounds. Corey did not seem to bite on my idea to vote out Owen. Matt says he is most threatened by Ian and Timmy. And everyone just seems to want to vote Stephen. I think this round will be pretty easy, but from this point on it just gets harder. I assume that Chips is in a bad spot and most likely will go next. But at final 12, it's going to be a doozy to see who can stay on top of the vote.

So thisrounf there is an alliance of 6 however I have 0 faith in Thomas. He is a wild card and will be hard to judge and work with. No idea what’s going to happen tonight. 

Aight a lot happening this merge!!! Fourteen people we losin our minds. First of all let me say half these ppl were kinda boring to talk to but I’m liking it a little better today. I came in wanting Stephen GONE because I lied to him during the taylor vote and we haven’t clicked since and I promised I would get out whoever lied to me in this food challenge and his bitch ass didn’t submit so I didn’t get my perfect ZERO!!!! So I was all ready to press him but suddenly Devon had already thrown out his name! Easy as pie. I rlly trust Kait and her and corey get along. I was branching out to some others too like madison is bae, Devon is fun, I like talking to Ian. My FAVORITE is Maynor I rlly like him but I’m scared matt has a hold on him. Anyways I helped set up some alliances today that I hope are solid. One is me Kait madison corey and then they wanted to add Devon and tommy which is cool. Still kinda pressed at Thomas because yesterday I said ily to him and he replied with lol but other than that it’s a good group. But then suddenly Timmy wanted something with Kait and I so I took that as an opportunity to solidify something with Maynor! Precious angel. Kait and I are worried because the tension between corey and matt lmao which is honestly kinda stupid. Matt was sus about corey after he spearheaded the renee vote which like I understand. And I stirrred the pot a little because I told corey that matt was after him lmao. But for now I’m rlly working hard to keep them from targeting each other and so is Kait. Idk how long that can last tho. Ummmm trace’s THOT HOE ASS told corey he wanted me out?!!! So he gotta GO! And Kait and matt think Ian is dangerous which I’m like ok maybe..., sure. Ummm Cullan is just mind boggling. He ate tater tots for breakfast who does that. But he’s sweet I guess. Id prefer him and Ian and trace gone soon but corey likes all those people oop. I rlly think Kait wants to stick with going to the end with me and matt which like.... I rlly will keep allegiance to Kait but matt? Idk. He kept his idol secret from me and it’s clear he doesn’t trust me as much which is fine, I wasbsure Stephen would target me tonight but apparently now he’s going for Thomas. Hopefully it’s an easy vote and Stephen goes and I get what I want and next round I’ll figure out what to do when it gets harder

Well. Tonight the vote is Stephen. Well, for the majority of us. For little young me, I will be voting for nobody! We acquiring a save vote. Hopefully, at our next tribal, Timmy leaves! Woo! I am in 2 alliances: Mighty Happy Meal (Owen, Kait, Madison, Devon, Thomas) and Queer Eye-ish (Madison, Matt, Trace). Period... I am loyal to my own people. Madison, Owen, Ian, Devon. Kait too, to an extent. The rest need to go at their time. I do what I can. Matt is a priority for me to get rid of. Unless Timmy wants Matt gone, I want him gone too for next time. x

Ep 11: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-fEEBtT8R4hk_587qknbxwLmB8yhN_lt/view?usp=drivesdk

This is my placeholder confession for until I am at a computer and able to type something out. I got back in the game!

alyssa said put ep 11: just a quick recap bc i have to play this silly flash game now before i pass out - corey and matt allegedly not liking each other is still a problem - owen found an idol - i told owen matt has an idol bc i have a big mouth - corey told owen all this shit about the vote and idk just other game sensitive stuff and not me and - there's an aliens of trace, matt, madison, and corey that trace allegedly made. this is a big question mark bc either it's just really random and people that trace wants to work with despite what they said or this beef??? between matt and corey is fake which i wouldn't be too surprised by - corey told all of this to owen before tribal but told him that he was going to wait until after tribal to tell me like.... i don't appreciate that. - i think that kind of solidifies that if/when corey v matt happens and i have to pick a side i wanna go with my matt. - im sure i will think of more tomorrow oh also i want ian to get deleted from skype thx

EP 11 Confessional: I got an idol this round which is cool. I heard the vote was stephen however it’s been kinda quiet. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. 

Aight a lot happening this merge!!! Fourteen people we losin our minds. First of all let me say half these ppl were kinda boring to talk to but I’m liking it a little better today. I came in wanting Stephen GONE because I lied to him during the taylor vote and we haven’t clicked since and I promised I would get out whoever lied to me in this food challenge and his bitch ass didn’t submit so I didn’t get my perfect ZERO!!!! So I was all ready to press him but suddenly Devon had already thrown out his name! Easy as pie. I rlly trust Kait and her and corey get along. I was branching out to some others too like madison is bae, Devon is fun, I like talking to Ian. My FAVORITE is Maynor I rlly like him but I’m scared matt has a hold on him. Anyways I helped set up some alliances today that I hope are solid. One is me Kait madison corey and then they wanted to add Devon and tommy which is cool. Still kinda pressed at Thomas because yesterday I said ily to him and he replied with lol but other than that it’s a good group. But then suddenly Timmy wanted something with Kait and I so I took that as an opportunity to solidify something with Maynor! Precious angel. Kait and I are worried because the tension between corey and matt lmao which is honestly kinda stupid. Matt was sus about corey after he spearheaded the renee vote which like I understand. And I stirrred the pot a little because I told corey that matt was after him lmao. But for now I’m rlly working hard to keep them from targeting each other and so is Kait. Idk how long that can last tho. Ummmm trace’s THOT HOE ASS told corey he wanted me out?!!! So he gotta GO! And Kait and matt think Ian is dangerous which I’m like ok maybe..., sure. Ummm Cullan is just mind boggling. He ate tater tots for breakfast who does that. But he’s sweet I guess. Id prefer him and Ian and trace gone soon but corey likes all those people oop. I rlly think Kait wants to stick with going to the end with me and matt which like.... I rlly will keep allegiance to Kait but matt? Idk. He kept his idol secret from me and it’s clear he doesn’t trust me as much which is fine, I wasbsure Stephen would target me tonight but apparently now he’s going for Thomas. Hopefully it’s an easy vote and Stephen goes and I get what I want and next round I’ll figure out what to do when it gets harder

[builtinadaygames]

Scratch the itch: what I played last month #2

Hi, I'm Kevin Beissel and I make games under the name Built In A Day. I also lurk on Twitter @builtinadayKB and have a space shooter on itch.  This is the second itch game post I've done, you can read the first here.  I'm including this preamble from the first post since it lays out the ground rules:

The purpose of this post is to cover some of the free games on itch.io, from a developer and fan perspective.  I'd like to make it a recurring series, maybe a monthly breakdown but who knows.  Like Douglas Adams said, the best part of deadlines is the great WHOOSHING sound they make while flying by.

Before we get to the games, I just want to clarify why I'm doing this and what I hope it accomplishes.  So here's the what, why and how:

The WHAT

Discuss free games available on itch.io

I've got a list of profiles to check out, but please send along any recommendations.

There are no restrictions on genres.  The whole point of this is to be curious and ask questions.  So no dumb rules like "No walking sims" or "No puzzle platformers", which would prolly eliminate half of the available games anyways.

The WHY

I want to become a better developer and playing experimental/small/art/trash games could help.

Getting an audience is hard and getting constructive feedback is even harder.  I can't help the devs covered in these posts with the former but maybe I can with the latter.

The HOW

There is no rating system.

There is no alter ego here, these are not 'angry' reviews.

These aren't even really reviews.

The goal is to focus on the design choices that were made and discuss the reasoning behind them.

I don't really care about being right, I don't really care about sounding smart ("Yeah, no shit" the reader grumbles), I don't really care about agreeing with you.  I'm more interested in looking at the hierarchy of ideas (to borrow a phrase) that form game design.  By working at the ends and working in the middle we can find out more about it, right?

Enough with the formalities, let's get started.

Profile: Bedstuck (@bedstuck)

Game: White

Genre/Style: action, wave-based brawler, melee combat

I've been seeking out lots of action games lately and 'White' has a lot of the things I'm looking for in this genre.  You play through waves of enemies, with a black-and-white art style and fast-paced melee combat.

The visuals are immediately appealing, with great character design choices and fluid animations.  The art style manages to be simple but expressive (it was made for a jam in less than 17 hrs).  Looks like a cool ink based style, like a comic book.  One of my all time favorite movie fight scenes is from 'Book of Eli'.  The opening fight scene is under a bridge and shown only in silhouette, much like the style here.

Spoilers for 'Book of Eli' real quick, so skip to the next paragraph if you haven't seen it:  I saw that movie opening night and took a lady friend to it.  It was our first date together (sadly it was also the last) and she had wanted to see 'the Lovely Bones', that godawful looking Peter Jackson snoozefest, but I'm occasionally charming and persuasive so we saw 'Book of Eli' instead.  After the movie we're walking out to the car and I ask her: "Pretty crazy how his character was blind for the whole movie, huh?" and she goes "What do you mean?"  In her defense, she thought it was weird and boring, but it's still made explicitly clear at the end that the main character is blind, yet she somehow missed that.  None of this pertains to the game 'White', but that's what happens, man.

The combat is intuitive but challenging.  It is melee-based, so you have to get good at timing your jumps and slashing in the correct direction to get the airborne enemies.  There's a dash ability that is crucial for getting to wave spawners and taking them out quickly.  Using the jump and dash abilities in concert has so much potential, both offensively and defensively.

The enemy behavior is nicely varied between melee and ranged types.  There's some square enemies that shoot smaller squares.  At first I thought they might be targeting the player, but after watching them for awhile my guess is that they are based on some randomized pattern.  If they all targeted the player with each shot then even a small amount on screen would be deadly.  Not sure I'm right about this, but my first instinct would have been to target the player; based on what I'm seeing here, the random pattern is a better choice.

I was able to beat the easiest difficulty setting (health regens), but only got to wave five on normal (no health regen) and wave four on original (one hit kills you).  Of course balancing difficulty is a notoriously hard task and, while I hate a challenge in real life, a challenge in a video game is actually appealing.  The tiers of difficulty make sense here and ramp up nicely.  But don't get me started on the "tears" of difficulty, we've all been there.

===

Profile: Hempuli (@ESAdevlog, hempuli.com)

Game: Baba Is You

Genre/Style: Puzzle

If you grew up reading Roger Ebert movie reviews (you know, the ones that were scrawled across the cave walls), you're prolly familiar with the kind of review where he refused to talk about any plot points after the first act, so as not to spoil the joy of seeing it unfold for yourself.  He would go on about the atmosphere, the performances, latent/manifest content and other such things, but would not spoil the mechanics of it.  I'll have to use that format for 'Baba Is You', because you're better off finding out for yourself.

Each level has a set of obstacles and hazards that block the goal.  There are three-word phrases placed in the level as well, and the phrases can be rearranged to create new types of interaction.  For example, "wall is stop" could be changed to several things.  That's all I'll say, because the solutions and the mechanics of it all are so much fun that any more would spoil it.

If you enjoyed something like 'Stephen's Sausage Roll' or if you're a fan of NES/pre-NES visual styles then you should find something to like here.  Just a great concept, superb puzzle design, fun aesthetics, wonderful "eureka!" moments, a must play for puzzle fans.  Hmmm, can I do some more 'pull quotes' or is that enough?  It's a white-knuckle thriller, like nothing you've ever seen, if you play one puzzle game this year make it this one, a non-stop thrill ride, edge of your seat entertainment, breathtaking, gripping, an ending you won't see coming, Harrison Ford has never been better.

I guess you could describe this writing style as "talking to yourself", since this is clearly not written for an actual audience.  But it's important to differentiate between "talking WITH yourself" and "talking TO yourself".  There's a pretty big difference.  Who else am I supposed to talk to?  I'm the only one here, right?  Maybe this writing style is better known as "non-sequitur internet bullshit".  Hey, if Mark Prindle is retired, who else will keep the spirit alive other than yours truly?  Who else?  Maybe this giant peach over here, this giant peach that is wearing a top hat and a monocle, perhaps he can.

But yeah, please do check out 'Baba Is You'.  It communicates its ideas clearly, introduces new elements in a fair manner and controls easily (thank you for the 'undo' button).  I'm usually pretty harsh on puzzle games, put this is great work.

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Profile: Managore (@Managore, daniellinssen.net)

Game: Walkie Talkie

Genre/Style: side-scroller, level-builder, chat room

Every once and awhile you find something that really comes "off the top rope", so to speak, and conceptually 'Walkie Talkie' does just that.  It is side-scrolling level-building platformer presented as a chat room.  The levels are messages that users type in and most keyboard characters have preset behaviors.

So using the right set of symbols a user can create a solid platformer level, with ramps, moving platforms, turrets, bouncing boulders, disappearing platforms and other hazards.

The game's creator has gone through and marked some levels with a heart, and those are worth checking out for sure. But it's also fun to scroll through and look for random goodness, and some users are good at pointing out fun levels.

I'd recommended plugging in your X360 controller, since keyboard input was a bit tricky.  Even with a controller the movement gets a bit wonky, but two things: this was made for a jam and I'm unbelievably picky about platformer controls, so perhaps I'm overstating this.  And even if I'm not, this game is still worth playing for its conceptually audacity alone.

I was a day one fan of 'Mario Maker' and still enjoy it to this day.  But some of those levels are prone to cutesy bullshit, especially levels using names that scream "Hey, play this because its Pokemon themed!" and pointless levels based on Rube Goldberg-meets-auto-runner non-gameplay.  While 'Walkie Talkie' has plenty of useless entries, that's the result of having user generated content and not the result of authorial missteps.

And like David Mamet once said: "Everyone makes their own fun.  If you don't make it yourself, it isn't fun.  It's entertainment."  Of course, David Mamet has said a lot of things, many of which suck.  'Walkie Talkie' doesn't suck tho, far from it.  Unless you mean it sucks in all the praise, which is true, just really poorly worded.  

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[heero-yuy]

About Keith probably starting things w Lance at the Garrsion, I don't really think Keith likely just not noticing/ ignoring him is a legitimate reason for any of Lance's antagonism. I get that for Lance he might have taken being ignored by someone he respected/ looked up to personally, but that's actually fairly immature for him to have held onto that feeling for so long. For Lance he thinks he's known Keith since before Voltron, while for Keith Lance was a stranger -two different situations.

gnotblue replied to your post “I know Lance can put his bias towards Keith aside when their's an...”

disagree. maybe as leader it's Keith's responsibility to encourage Lance, but as peer? whatever happened in the garrison, Keith doesn't remember- & Lance just doesn't stop picking him as target for his personal attacks. Keith reacts and sometimes starts it, but he also tried to get out of their pattern more than once. s. the bonding moment.

I already said this before, but I think if Keith didn’t remember Lance, Lance would be lying on the floor together with the doctors in seconds, for trying to interrupt Keith back there and get his hands on Shiro.

Like, Keith is not the most trusting person, you know... He’s like super suspicious of everyone at first and is very careful, no matter how harmless or friendly the strangers might seem. (And Lance didn’t even look friendly when he walks in on him, he literally goes “nonono you’re not taking Shiro”)

Which makes me think Keith not only clearly remembers Lance, But he also trusts him. (with Shiro, his “most prized possession” haha, so that means alot.)

I really don’t think Keith would let them come along with him to his secret hideout with a guy he just stole from the Garrison, if he didn't trust them. 

So he probably knows alot more about them than he lets them believe.

(Also unlike Shiro, he could have totally recognized Pidge as Matt’s sister right away, maybe even at the Garrison, maybe he even somehow knew about what she was doing to find out what happened on that mission, because he might have been doing the same thing, and then just kept quiet about her identity because he wanted her to reveal her secret when she was ready)

Bottom line, if he was ok with taking them with him, he probably knew all three of them well enough to really trust them. (Or maybe even just trusted Lance enough to also trust his friends)

And this line “oh I remember you, you’re a cargo pilot”

Like it sounds so freaking condescending. And I don’t think Keith is someone who looks down on people’s jobs or has some “I’m a fighter pilot” ego thing. 

That’s a clear jab at Lance. Why? because he knows Lance really wanted to be a fighter pilot and ended up in cargo. And Lance walks in there all like “nononono IM saving Shiro” like trying to one up Keith and not like actually just give him a hand, so Keith gets pissed and is all “new phone, who dis?” cuz he knows it would piss off Lance and will kinda get him off his high horse. But also it might totally go a bit deeper than that.

Because I think it’s like Keith always pretends like he dun care about this rivalry thing. BUT HE DOES. 

Lance gets to him. 

No matter how many people say their rivalry is just in Lance’s head and he’s the only one that pushes this rivalry on them. It’s not. 

I think Keith wouldn’t respond to him like that or try to get back at him and annoy him if there wasn’t something to it.

This wouldn’t have happened if it was just in Lance’s head:

Keith would’t crash his lion there, he would play along and just let Lance crash his lion. But he obviously was really serious about showing Lance who’s the better pilot or that he’s just as daring as him.

And like when they are training, he makes Lance walk into walls and a dead end on purpose!!! And is all “why you’re not listening Lance??”

He doesn’t exactly tries to be the bigger man, he gets back at him for everything! Keith picks on Lance just as much as Lance picks on him, he’s just kinda more sneaky about it, so he doesn’t gets caught on it, so it wouldn’t appear like Lance actually gets to him. 

Or I dunno, maybe he does it cause its just fun to annoy Lance.

Like this shit here, was totally uncalled for (and this was after "bonding moment”). And Keith started this one.

There’s like alot of little things he does to annoy Lance for no good reason... And the only time he kinda tried to reach out to him and put a stop to this I think was in the comics, when he says “Good job, Lance!” 

(The bonding moment was Lance reaching out to Keith, by kinda showing him what he is really hoping for, for them all to be a good team and for him and Keith to kinda be you know “space ranger partners” and not rivals I guess). Keith just smiled approvingly but then he was back at picking on Lance again!)

I don’t think Lance is the kind of person who is looking for strife. He’s super friendly and he really wants to get along with people, so I really have my doubts about him starting this whole “not getting along with Keith” thing. I feel like he most likely just responds to Keith’s attitude towards him. 

And you know, I don’t think Lance was lying there in the first episode when he said “You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.”I dun think Lance is a bad pilot. I think he’s a reckless pilot, a daring pilot, but I think he’s not as bad as the team makes it seem in terms of skills.

So my theory is that Keith finally had someone who caught up to him in flight school, and he didn’t really like that. (probably liked Lance, but not the fact he can potentially be a better pilot) I think Lance challenged him, and that was the source of their totally real rivalry. (And why Lance would be the perfect person to take over Red)

(I mean Keith and Lance are kinda similar after all, they both sometimes do reckless things and act like hot heads and then kinda get at each other for doing the same things..)

And like I have to say that I personally think Keith and Lance have the most brotherly, sibling like relationship if there ever was one (no, it’s not Keith and Shiro, I actually find it odd so many people see THAT relationship as brotherly because I literally have never met two siblings or bros that act like that..)

Like to me Keith and Lance are like siblings that have like a year, two years or so apart. And Lance is kinda like the younger sibling that can’t quite catch up to or really get back at the older one, And Keith is the older sibling that just has fun teasing the younger one all the time but really wants him to succeed and yet still gets super annoyed if the younger one beats him at anything.

And like since I’m sure it’s very important for both of them to get recognition and praise from Shiro (who’s gonna be the parent figure in this case), So Lance is kinda like the child that always feels like Keith is the favorite and dad always takes his side..

(Even tho space dad does love all his kids equally.. I think Shiro deals with Lance in a good way, I hope Keith learns from him)

Like I mean, the drones thing was such a siblings thing to do! Like Keith just pushes Lance’s drone out of the way and is all “Sorry! Gotta be quick" and they start fighting

And Dad is all “Knock it off, you two! Play nice!”

And Lance is “KEITH STARTED IT!!!"

I dunno, if you have siblings (im not sure how its with sisters tho) but if you have brothers who are close to you in age I’m sure u can understand exactly what I’m talking about here.

So I dunno, it’s very clear to me they both really love eachother and care for eachother. And will show it, but won’t actually like, admit it to eachother.. 

Like even the bonding moment

Keith did not punch Sendak.

Lance did not shoot his arm off.

So I think it’s safe to assume Keith didn't actually cradle Lance in his arms at any point.

This is them still bonding by just making shit up and teasing eachother. It's not as serious as ppl make it out to be. It’s a very friendly exchange, a blossoming bromance. (and yes, so far it does seems like just bromance to me, ofcourse it might change in the future, but so far these two seasons that’s all I’m getting form them)

They both know they kinda bonded back there and had this very uncharacteristic tender moment and are kinda backtracking on it but in a sibling kind of way, like “ew I would never get along with you” but I’m sure they both know they are just messing around there.

Like Keith and Lance to me are the epitome of your common sibling relationship.

They are the “I love you to death and would die for you, but I would never admit it toyour face, and i'll only talk shit to your face but will beat anyone else whodoes, and will only say good things about you behind your back”

Like, it’s clear Keith and Lance really like eachother. Keith doesn't actually hate Lance and Lance doesn't hate Keith. They’re just you kno... bros in the making. And they both act like idiots sometimes.

But for them to get along better, Keith (as the person who’s kinda in the position of the older sibling the younger one really admires and wants to be friends with) has to stop doing this shit where he purposely insults and picks on Lance, yes. Specially as the team’s leader.