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oddmerit · 2 years

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heres a few links from my bookmarks folder full of HTML and CSS resources that i used when first making my neocities website because i want other people to make their own sites as well because its fun :)

how to actually do html and css

web design in 4 minutes - this is the site that really made HTML and CSS click for me, following along as the author describes what’s he’s doing to the webpage and showing how it changes the presentation (you don’t need the book he shills at the end. i did without)

w3schools introduction to html - takes you through the very basics of creating a website, lesson-by-lesson. big goldmine for code to grab and scaffold off of once you have some basic skills

mozilla’s html guide - also a great beginner’s guide by the people who made mozilla, although i didnt use it as much as w3 schools

brackets.io - this is the program i use to write the files i use for my website. lets you do splitscreen to work with two files at once, gives you a breakdown of all the files in your website’s folder, and will let you autofill commonly-used tags and files in the code. supposedly has a live preview function but it doesnt work that well for me when i’m using a second monitor, which i normally do when coding. just save the file and refresh the page instead.

(side note: i work in a software external to neocities instead of directly in the neocities editor because 1. local files update with a refresh and neocities has to update the cookies AND download all the website info again once you update, and 2. it effectively gives you a mass undo button if you fuck up because you have your files hosted in multiple places (local and online). yes its kinda annoying to have to manually upload all my files especially bc you cant upload whole folders AND you cant move their locations once uploaded but i prefer it to working directly on the site. if you have a neocities pro subscription ($5/month) you can mount your website directly on your machine as opposed to the neocities dashboard, which basically means you dont have to manually upload the code every time you change something -- it’ll update automatically)

codepen - if you prefer something browser-based to work in then try codepen, i used it a little bit at the beginning when trying to troubleshoot some code i didn’t quite understand. you need an account to actually save your work and im not sure if it actually lets you upload folders bc i never signed up lol

premade engines/sites/themes/etc etc

neothemes or eggramen or templaterr - if you wanna get a quick start on a neocities site, you CAN use a theme generator/premade theme. if you go this route i would still heavily recommend trying to learn HTML and CSS, and then go into the guts of your own website to try and pick it apart and change it to your liking

zonelets - a static blogging engine that uses HTML, CSS, and javascript. made for use on neocities but theoretically useable elsewhere. takes about 15 minutes to set up (if you use a default theme, but its pretty customizable if you know what you’re doing) and requires you to 1. write blog posts in html and 2. modify some code in a script file every time you want to upload a post, but it will automatically let you browse posts in order once you get everything uploaded

rarebit - a neocities webcomic template — havent used it yet but looks cool, and seems to operate off of the same principles as zonelets.

glightbox - this is the lightbox javascript code i use when i want to display a lot of images on one page. i found this code via clicking “inspect element” on a neocities fanpage that the webmaster drew a lot of fanart for. you should click inspect element on neocities pages that you like so you can understand how they do what you like (you can even look at their css by clicking the style.css link you have to include at the top of your page)

plus a couple masterlists/directories:

yesterlinks

sadgrl.online’s webmastery directory

#unidentified gay noise #html #neocities #i took a 2.5 hour nap today and drank coffee at 4 pm and im still sleept #edit oct 22: removed the anti-t*rf disclaimer bc i havent seen any sus reblogs in a while and i didnt wanna keep seeing it in my notifs #but it still stands :)

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scrimblz · 2 months

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Part 1 of me, an art student, assigning fears to random artists you've probably never heard of: Louise Bourgeois - The Web

If Louise Bourgeois isnt an avatar of, or at least marked by, the Web i dont know who is. Most well known for her large-scale sculptures of spiders, Bourgeois has described how these sculptures were inspired by her own memories and experiences.

Just read this passage from my artist research:

Bourgeois uses the Spider, both predetor and protector, to symbolise a mother figure. The spinning and weaving of the Spider's web links to her own mother, who worked in the family's tapestry restoration busines, and often pushed Bourgeois to follow in her footsteps.

I rest my case.

#the magnus archives #tma #magpod #the magnus protocol #tmagp #the fears #the web

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aropride · 3 months

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how to install dashboard unfucker (for desktop)

hi i use desktop and i use the dashboard unfucker extension by dragongirlsnout and you should too because it's awesome. i don't know much about computers so it was intimidating to set up but ended up being really easy.

but first:

what is dashboard unfucker?

dashboard unfucker is an extention that makes being on tumblr bearable again.

(ID: 2 screenshots of tumblr with urls/posts etc censored. the first is with the new layout, with labels on the left, the ad-free button, "check out these blogs," "explore all of tumblr," the radar, and no easy way to access your own blog. the second is with the extension enabled, the left hand side of the screen is empty, posts are wider, navigation icons are back at the top right, and the only thing on the right-hand side of the dash is the dashbaord unfucker and limit checker and tag replacer from xkit. end ID)

i got it for layout changes like these- the first is cramped and ugly and i feel like i'm on twitter. the second is warm and comfy and i can make my posts wider (i dont like all the empty space). (limit checker, tag replacer, and post color were done on xkit and palettes respectively, not unfucker, btw)

with the dashboard unfucker you can:

hide the following/blog subs/for you etc tabs

get rid of the changes/staff picks/etc carousel

hide recommended blogs and tags

add profile pics back to posts

hide the radar

hide the explore page

hide tumblr shop

hide user badges

highlight bots in ur activity feed

show who follows u in the activity feed

make posts wider/slimmer and move the dash posts position to the left/right

revert messages design (and make the messages box bigger)

revert activity feed to the old design

display vote counts on polls

show poll results without clicking (no more skewing polls or "see results"!!)

disable tumblr domains

add polls to reblogs

disable "post without tags?"

show ns.fw posts

and other things that i probably missed copying this from the settings!!

so how do you do it? it seems scary but it's easy actually. take my hand

(note: i did this on firefox and tested it on chrome, i'm not familiar with other browsers, also use firefox if at all possible fuck chrome)

how to install dashboard unfucker

step 1: install either tampermonkey, tampermonkey beta, greasemonkey, or violentmonkey (if you don't already have it)

note: im using tampermonkey as an example because it's what i use

step 2a: go to firefox extensions/chrome web store/your browser's equivalent

step 2b: look up "tampermonkey" and click "add to firefox/chrome/whatever" and confirm

step 2c: you're done! yayyy

step 2: click this link. look under "installation" where it says "Click on unfucker.user.js to install or update". and click that

(ID: a screenshot of the tampermonkey install page, showing dashboard unfucker v5.7.8 installation information, the source code, and the install/cancel button. end ID)

(it should open in a new tab and look like this)

step 3: click install! (when i did this it didn't look like much happened and i got scared. dont get scared take my hand)

step 4: go to www.tumblr.com and to the right of the dash it'll have the dashboard unfucker label to the right!

(ID: the default dash again, but with the dashboard unfucker title at the top right of the right-hand side of the dash. end ID)

step 5: click the little gear icon and all the options will pop up! u can fuck around with em to ur heart's content. i recommend exporting after ur done and saving it somewhere in case u have to uninstall/reinstall to troubleshoot or smth

you're done! now u can see the results of polls without clicking them and other such things

(ID: a poll i have not voted on. it has 17 votes and 23h 56m remaining. the title is "poll :)" and the answers are "answer 1" "answer 2" and "see results". there are no percentage labels, but the amount each answer has is indicated by light blue bars in each result, as they would be if i had voted. end ID) note: i'm not sure how/if this aspect of the extension is indicated for screenreaders

THIS POST IS TRANSGENDER BTW!

#text #polls #dashboard unfucker #tumblr #long post

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born-in-hell · 5 months

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q!BBH's Desert Lore is eerily similar to a scene in Salad Fingers Episode 10 "Birthday" ─ and other coincidences

WARNING: Salad Fingers is a gore web series. Therefore, All pictures here are going to be censored as to not havily disturb anyone. The links for the original pictures will be listed at the end for whoever wants to see them in full.

While reading this, its good to keep in mind that cc!Bad has made references to gorey underground web series before, such as "Llamas With Hats". Therefore, it wouldn't be a big stretch for him to have used Salad Fingers as inspiration for his character's lore, or as reference.

Also huge huge huge thanks to @demodraws0606 for listening to my insane thoughts and helping me w this go give them some love !!

On the day 26/nov/2023, Badboyhalo opened stream in the desert for the last time. Most people started comparing this scene to the Pinkie Pie birthday scene. But i could not help but think "huh, this reminds me of that salad fingers scene. I might be insane". so i went to look and.....:

U can't say they arent similar. An immense desert with a clouded sky and a wooden table with 6 places, which are taken by copies of the main character. The only difference is, besides the obvious gore, that one of the chairs is empty for q!BBH, while all are taken in Salad Fingers.

Another simmilarity is that Salad Fingers tries to interact with the clones, but just as q!BBH's, they neither aknowlege him nor respond.

Demo noticed how the scenery is really similar between the two:

Despite all this, the episode has no narrative connection to q!BBH's lore. It revolves around Hubert Cumberdale's (a finger puppet created by Salad) and, later on, Salad Finger's birthdays. Generally, i understood it is about the passage of time, together with childbirth/motherhood.

But, right before this scene, still on episode 10, Salad Fingers goes to the doctor. Eventually the focus changes, and the doctor is now examinating a horse while Salad Fingers watches. The horse seems to represent Salad Finger's child. When q!BBH lost his memory, he kept talking obsessively about taking Dapper to the doctor.

Another curious coincidence is that, on the same episode and same scene as the table, "Birthday", Salad Fingers is gifted a tophat as his birthday gift:

Demo pointed out, aswell, how on epidsode 13, named "Harvest" salad fingers is walking through the deserted wasteland towards a glowing circle in the sky (the Sun). During the first desert stream, q!BBH is seen walking towards the Sun aswell. Here are some screencaps from said Salad Fingers episode:

The "Edge of Forever" name is also funny considering q!Forever's and q!Bad's close friendship. But i personally think the usage of the word "forever" is only a coincidence. Or it could be related to q!Bad's immortality, the Edge of Forever, than, being where bbh goes to be reincarnated.

On the end of this same episode, "Harvest", Salad Fingers dies and is substituted by Boy Fingers, who is essentially a clone of Salad. This might be relevant, regarding q!BBH possibly dying, but i dont really know how to fit this into a complete theory. Although, since Salad dies from being boiled in a soup and consumed by Boy Fingers, there might be some connection to q!Bad's theme of gluttony.

The way both Salad Fingers and amnesiac Q!Badboyhalo behave also overlaps a bit. The constant jumping from subject to subject, a certain level of innocence and naiveness, a detachment from reality and unacknowledgement of death and violence.

Overall, the themes that Salad Fingers explores ─ birth, motherhood, fatherhood, conflituous familial relationships, some may say xenofobia or racism, and the 1st World War ─ arent at all related to q!Bad's story. I don't believe cc!Bad used Salad Fingers for anything other than inspiration ─ if it was even used. But, i still found all of this curious and interesting, and i wanted to share with all of you.

If u have any thoughts, feel free to share them! I personally am not a fan of gore, so i haven't seen all of Salad Fingers. This is another reason i'm writing this, so ppl that know more than me can share what they think.

Ty sm for taking ur time and reading this !!!

Uncensored Pictures:

─ Table Scene

─ Tophat

Banners/Dividers by @/inklore

#pls rb<3 #u guys can tell im losing my mind starving for lore #but idk this was fun to think abt #qsmp #qsmp theory #qsmp analysis #qsmp badboyhalo #qsmp bbh #qsmp lore

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fedoraspooky · 3 months

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In light of tumblr shooting itself in the foot, I've been thinking about what I should do with my art from now on. Obviously, deleting my old posts off here isn't gonna do shit, it's essentially locking my door after my house got emptied out by burglars. Especially with my old rp account I no longer can log into, they're just gonna steal and sell my old art that I posted there and I can't even flip a questionably-affective toggle about it.

Thing is, I dunno how many people are gonna actually leave. I'm not even sure I will, since I have a lot of friends here... And after so many shitty updates a lot of people are just hanging on out of spite at this point.

That said, I'm considering that for art posts and stuff, maybe I'll post them elsewhere and just link to them here so they're not on tumblr's servers? Idk... Tumblr tends to kill the visibility of links but I'm not really sure what else I can do.

Also, there's the question of where to actually post new stuff. Bluesky seems the most active but I dont know if old posts cut off after a certain amount of posts like twitter does, in which case that would not be a good archive in the long run. xnx

Cohost is functionally pretty close to tumblr, but ngl it seems super isolated on there bc of its commitment to not showing any likes on your posts. I get that its to combat the social media numbers game, but the downside is that it looks like nobody's even seen your work. If people like something of yours there's no way outside of notifs to see it, so scrolling down on your page and seeing only zeros after zeros of comments on stuff (comments are the only visible number), it's easy to feel like you're just posting into a void.

Pillowfort is pretty good, and they just added tag blocking and the ability to queue/schedule posts. Still kinda quiet and invite only, but if you sign up for the invite queue you can get one pretty fast. Also i probaby have a ton of invites sitting around if anyone wants one. I wish it had an app, but mobile web version works well enough I guess, and I'm already used to doing that with sheezy and newgrounds, so I just have those open in mobile tabs together.

Speaking of, Newgrounds has been pretty good, but due to the nature of the portal system and stuff you're more encouraged to post only your better-looking stuff there. You CAN post doodles if you want, but only outside of the portal, which limits their visibility. Kinda like dA's scraps system I guess.

Sheezy looks super promising customization-wise so I'm thinking of posting there more when it opens up to more peeps.

Toyhouse also looks really good for OC and story things too, and also has a good degree of customization.

There's probs options I haven't even thought about, but its good to know there ARE options. I may post in several of those places for now and see how it goes. Test the waters a bit.

If you're thinking of moving your art elsewhere lemme know where, I'm curious to see where people are going :o

Especially you moots, i need to refind my pals in these other places!

#tumblr #tumblr alternatives #alright where we droppin boys?

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captainmera · 7 months

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ello mera,

I wanted to ask how you post your comics online because i was thinking about making my own web comic series but i dont know where to start hehe

I think the website you used for IBWR was called Hiveworks but im not to sure how it works...

Also if you have any other tips when it comes to making comics like time management, planning, or even how draw those gorgeous backgrounds, it would be much appreciated :D

Thank you for your time ヾ(•ω•`)o ✧.*

Sure thing buckaroo, get in the backseat and let's hit the comic road!

ヾ(•`ω´•)o ✧.*

this is all from my perspective though, some stuff may not work for you, but hey - no knowledge is bad knowledge.

Hiveworks is a... Publisher! of sorts! Kind of. They're not like webtoons or Tapas when it comes to comic hosting, you have to be invited to Hiveworks (like me!) or apply to join them! :) They also have Hivemill which is a place where they sell merch for the comics. Either Hiveworks helped making the merch, or the artists themselves made the stuff and Hiveworks helps distribute it (I THINK, don't quote me on that. I haven't made or sold merch with them before. But it's what I understand. They have explained it to me, I'm just kinda dumb).

However! Comic control, of which Hiveworks uses to make the websites are free for anyone to use! :) So if you want your own website, go ahead and make one!

I'd still recommend you buy the URL you'll use in that case though. I pay a yearly fee on GoDaddy.com for mine. It's affordable and honestly worth it as a precaution, lest a dirtbag buy it just to ruin my day and give me distress for a year(s).

But my recommendation is that you mirror your comic in as many places as possible.

Now, my website has ads on it, so if you switch off ad-block when visiting IBWR, I can get ad rev from it! :D (thanks to Hiveworks, that is, they added the ad stuff on there. Idk how it works but it's nice passive income that I really need. It pays for my food).

That means I will prioritize the website over the secondary mirrored places. So that's the place I always link to first. So if people REALLY want to get the next page sooner, they can always check there first.

However, mirroring is great because it is very difficult to get people to read the story you've put so much love into. I want people to enjoy my story as much as I do. The more places you update it to, the more people will discover you.

I've noticed that people like to follow the artist/author on social media for update announcements and general news of what's going on for the comic - so know where your presence on socmed is at! If it's instagram, well, then prioritize instagram but don't forget bluesky or tumblr too! Just know where you're at.

BUT!! And I cannot stress (lol) this enough - but don't stress (lol) about it. which is easier said than done.

It can feel super overwhelming to constantly make each update of a page feel like a check list of "okay, posted announcement to insta, tumblr, twitter, I have scheduled a mirrored post to comicfury and tumblr, I have added all the links in the author section, uuuh, I gotta add a cropped panel sneak-peak in each and I gotta--" that shit gets tiring quick. Work smart not hard. I copy paste from a document and I print-screen crop a panel from my comic on my phone kind of flimsily and that works. Nobody cares if it's fancy. It's just extra energy on my part that I can't be arsed to worry about.

Like Webtoons require that you to always have a preview icon for each update. That's as complicated as I'm willing to get tbh. If it requires more than that from me I'm gonna hate it. But that's just me.

you want to be able to do something consistently.

Which brings me to..

MANAGEMENT

bro, it's a job. It takes work. Work is not always fun, but you gotta show up for it. you're the only worker here. If you don't show up, it doesn't get done.

And people are not going to read it until there's at least pages enough for them to catch on to a story. If you're here for recognition right away, stop. You'll hurt yourself. I know we live in a time of quick-positive feedback through likes and shares, etc. But that's just not reality most of the time when starting up.

So, you got to want to tell the story more than whatever you are expecting to get out of this.

Which will also help you with managing your feelings if your reader count grows or declines. Just remind yourself of why you even want to tell your stories. It's easier said than done, but I found it to be a helpful philosophy to try stick by.

Everything I gain from sharing my story is just a plus. Not the reason.

What I did, also, was to just post whenever I finished a page. I had no readers, only commitment to myself and the comic. That's it. You'll find it easier if you don't force yourself at first, at least I did. And then as you gain your own momentum and work-pace, you'll be able to be like "Oh yeah, sunday works for me. I'll aim for that." Aim for it, don't promise. But show up. You're not a machine, shit happens, life comes in. If you have a deadline that makes you feel guilty, you might start avoiding it etc. So maybe just cut yourself some slack and go "whenever I'm done with a page is a good day."

You are your own boss. You make your own rules.

Yes, there is an algorithm to it all - when's the best time to post, getting new readers through memes or what have you. You might discover that the best way for you to get readers is to make funny videoclips on instagram or tiktok - there is no wrong way.

However, it shouldn't feel like too much of a chore. You should enjoy it at least a little bit. Like, maybe you kinda like making goofy vids of your comic, or draw memes, whatever, right? But you should enjoy some of it. If you hate making vids, but you know it is a good pond to fish in.. well, like... I'm sorry but you're gonna get frustrated with it.

I like posting THANK YOU FOR READING doodles of my characters on instagram stories! :D <3 I like that! That's not too much trouble for me.

BE CRINGE, BE FREE.

who gives a shit.

enjoy yourself you goofy ass little comic artist. Blast your story everywhere, be proud, have fun. People enjoy having fun, they usually want to join in with the fun.

If you have fun, others have fun being with you.

DRAWING COMICS

dawg I wish I had any better tips than... Fuck it, poke at it however you want.

I usually have ten pages flimsily sketched out with speech-dialogues so I know what's gonna happen in the next pages, so I can pace the scene somewhat.

I say that, like I'm some kinda professional, but I jump between pages. Whichever page seems a little more fun. Sometimes I stare myself blind on a page and gotta draw on something else.

Some pages are super well sketched, others are just bald stickfigures making faces at other bald stickfigures.

BACKGROUNDS

Get references. Either look at photographs or take the yourself. Start getting into looking at buildings in real life. I, myself, spend quite a lot of time looking at different windows and brick buildings going "Dang, so that's a widow huh? Architects sure just make windows like BAM ENJOY THIS ONE huh?"

Basically, start appreciating the world around you. There's art everywhere. Someone has put thought - however big or small - into that sidewalk.

Is it a shitty sidewalk? Well, that's really grounding isn't it? Someone, at some point, looked at this space, sighed and thought "fuck man I just wanna go home. That's good enough." and that really grounds you visually into that this world is a place where people have been before you.

Sometimes I get lazy and at the same time in a mood to challenge my memory, and I'll start inventing what the heck a building or street looks like. And you can probably easily tell in a page when I, too, am going "fuck man I just wanna get this page done with, that's good enough."

AND THAT'S FINE!!!

Not everything have to be an awestriking master page! Damn, the pressure I'd be under if that's the only thing I had to produce asdfghj! if anything, great pages look better because some pages are shite.

It's okay.

It doesn't have to be perfect every time. Learn what didn't work, what worked. Post it. Move on. You can't sit on this forever or the story will never be told. Just post it, it's fine.

THERE IS NO PERFECT TIME TO POST YOUR STORY.

Post it in chunks or page by page. It doesn't really matter - new readers are going to read it all in one sitting anyway.

-------

I think that's all I can think of for now??

Hope that helped!

Oh also I have this side blog I've been neglecting a bit, but feel free to check that out: @comicartistcentral

#comics #comic #webcomic #comic tips #comic creating

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ellierenae · 9 months

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hey guys you probably already know about "dark patterns" as a web design term so i'll just cut to the chase and say amazon appears to be collecting data on your kindle reading habits and has hidden the option to disallow data collection DEEP in the settings on their website where almost no normal user would venture

here's a really quick link directly to the kindle privacy settings so you dont have to descend the madness of submenus but i'll also break down how you'd get there yourself

> amazon.com

> click your name at the top right to open a submenu

> scroll and click "See all account" to open a submenu

> scroll to "Account settings" and click "Manage content and devices" to open a submenu

> near top right of page and slightly off screen on mobile, click "Privacy Settings" to open a submenu

> click "Amazon Devices Privacy" to open a submenu (this is where the aforementioned link takes you)

> click to select an individual device, in this case your kindle to open a submenu

below is a screenshot of the submenu you will have opened

click the orange switch maked "On" (may read strangely with text to speech as it came out as two unicode symbols i hadn't seen before when i used google lens) and you will be greeted with this pop-up

finally you can click "Turn off", the switch will be grey and (in a few minutes, according to them) they'll have to stop mining your data

woohoo.

i hate this company

#privacy #booklr #bookblr #kindle #readers community #trying to delete your account is WAY harder oh my godd

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rongzhi · 2 years

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Hi! Sorry if you dont answer this kinda question and feel free to delete if you dont wanna answer but how would one go about learning Chinese? Are there any tips or sources you could direct to? I want to surprise my dad one day by learning Chinese since I grew up without learning it (been Americanized 😔) but I have no idea where to start at all. I would greatly appreciate the help if you provide any.

Nonetheless I hope you are well! Love your douyin translations! Thanks! ♡♡♡

I'm not reaaally a good person to ask since I'm not truly actively pursuing language studies. You'd be better off searching up language resources/communities or looking for Chinese langblrs tbh. I think they'll probably have a lot more actual learning resources that you can check out. If you're real serious, I'd look up getting into HSK levels (standardised testing levels basically)

However, my general advice is to probably just immerse yourself more if you're already a little bit familiar with Chinese. It sounds like your parents or at least your dad is Chinese, so you must know a little bit already. I've said as much in previous asks before, but my current Chinese language skills are basically all from just getting more into watching dramas/movies/web videos (like douyins) over the last ~2 years. Personally, my listening skills are still better than speaking/reading, but I used to be practically illiterate and now I can indulge more in my love of reading comment sections and forum drama lol.

There's tons of drama/movie recs out there including from me (check my FAQ/answered asks) so I won't bother with that here.

Everything I link below is just going to be based on my own experience/some resources I use/have used. Idk how helpful it will be to what you're trying to achieve.

If your goal is only to get better at speaking Chinese, I'd say learning songs might help? Or just when you're watching any language videos, repeating things out loud helps. I also just mutter out loud to myself anytime I find myself thinking in Chinese these days, since I don't really talk to anybody but I still want to improve my speaking skills.

Video channels:

The Mandarin Corner - a language youtube channel has varying levels language videos on various topics as well as vocab.

每日中文课Free To Learn is also a nice language youtube channel, though it may be a little bit more intermediate learning. 唐真探【唐唐說-每週更新】- True crime channel in Chinese. If you have interest in true crime, I think watching ones in Chinese are interesting because they offer more diverse case coverage, including cases from China and other Asian countries that you typically just don't find in western true crime channels. Subtitles are in Traditional so if you're like me, you'll probably rely mostly on listening. I think these channels also help me learn some modern vocab. 英大吉來了 - another true crime channel in Chinese. Subtitles are in Traditional. 脑弟说电影 - movie/drama recap channel in Chinese. Subtitles are in Simplified.

Some apps that might be helpful (based on my experience only):

Mobile:

Pleco - a Chinese-English dictionary). I would install a Chinese pinyin keyboard and handwriting keyboard on your phone in order to look up words or phrases. A similiar app I've heard people talk about before is called Anki, I think?

HelloChinese - This can take you up to HSK 4 or something like that for free. It's better than DuoLingo, I hear. I haven't actually used DuoLingo before but I'm told their Chinese program is a little bullshit. I used to use HelloChinese reading/writing practice on and off but since I'm not interested in paying for stuff, I don't really use it anymore. However, I think the practices that are available are pretty good and the example sentences and whatnot actually make sense.

Desktop:

Zhongwen pop-up dictionary - browser extension. This is pretty useful extension that lets you look up words by hovering over them (unless it does that thing where it just tells you to look up a different entry 🙄). When I encounter words I don't know while reading, I'll turn this on.

Yellowbridge - an online Chinese-English dictionary. I honestly just use this to double check brush stroke orders sometimes but it's a good dictionary for desktop.

Again, probably not that helpful but that's all I really have personally!

#text #answered ask #long post #language ask

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motheatencrow · 1 year

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BUG GAME MASTERPOST (AS OF NOV. 2022)

heyhey! this isnt actually anything "official"! i just thought i’d make this for fun and to also spread around bug video games that others, who like the silly little critters as well, might enjoy!

(remember that this is as of nov. 29 2022 so if any game unreleased game on here is now released, it may have been after the date that this was made)

there will be 3 categories: released games, games to be released/are being developed, and honorable mentions

under the released games, i will also be stating if i have finished the game, played them, or simply heard of them (can range from "i have the game wishlisted", "owned but not played", literally only heard of it, etc.)

these bug games will also only list games where most invertebrates are the main focus of the game

other than that, i will be doing the following if possible!:

- i will be providing brief comments for what i think of each game (this is my opinion of each game!! everyone has their own tastes and its alright if you dont agree with what i say! and in no way is my comments for each game professional/an attempt to critique the game in any way ksfhskjd)

- what the gameplay is like (sort of. im not really good at explaining LMAO)

- where you can find these games (game websites may be linked if available instead!)

visual warnings for this post: gif/image heavy, bright imagery click here for the text-only version!

let's begin!

released games

hollow knight - website; finished - a challenging metroidvania! i personally found this game really fun though i did have to take breaks from the game due to some difficult fights and events lsfhdskj. its definitely the type of game thats fun to replay and see how much you've improved since first playing it! i also think the world building, implied lore, and characters are really well done! (i highly enjoy reading people's analysis posts of this game jksdfkj)

overall, i suggest this game if you enjoy challenging fights and platformers, creative characters, games with deep lore, and/or emotional osts!

bug fables - website; finished - i am emotionally attached to the blue moth. anyways! bug fables is a paper mario rpg inspired game (used to be called paper bugs actually!) and it has charming characters and a good story! this game has a very fun ost and you definitely fall in love with the characters as you learn more and more about them. i find the sidequests very much worth doing and also really fun as it makes you go around and interact with a lot of the npcs in the game! you'll end up seeing that a lot of them have unique personalities and are loveable in their own right :] !!

i suggest the game if you like rpgs, bright characters and settings, bubbly osts, and/or perhaps even learning a dark secret or 2?

bugsnax - website; finished - silly game about catching and eating bug-shaped foods! or food-shaped bugs? food bugs!!!! the horrors. all the bugsnax designs are super fun and some of them are challenging to catch which i think makes the game pretty fun! there's also a bunch of ways that u could catch a bugsnak, its just up to what you can think of! the horrors. the characters are also pretty loveable and they have really neat stories and getting to know them can change the course of the game (just the ending really actually)

highly suggest the game if you enjoy being a little creative with how you perform a task/solving puzzles, characters that are more than what they seem, and silly creative creature designs!

creepy castle - available on steam; played - i have yet to finish this game! but from what i've played, its pretty fun exploring around, reading lore tidbits, and doing the duel minigames! it has a neat retro style and you can change the colors/gui settings if i remember correctly!

i suggest the game if you like rpgs, pixelated style games, and/or minigames!

webbed - website; finished - super cute spider game about saving your bf, swinging around on and crafting webs, and making new friends! did i also mention that youre a spider that shoots lasers from their eyes? webbed is a really charming game that can be completed in just a few hours, even with all the bonus/side things that you can do!

i suggest it if you like pixelated style games, are a completionist, want a shorter game, or just want to be a silly little laser spider!

apico - website; finished - a relaxing game about keeping bees and restoring bee populations! recently they've added an update where you can help repopulate solitary bees and butterflies, and there's a bunch more content that they're planning to develop and release!! the characters have silly bee pun names and have neat dialogue! (they also have pronouns next to their names when you talk to them <3) bee management is not super demanding and with some mods, you can enhance your experience in the game. personally, i have not played with mods, i really enjoy the base game alone! you can also build pretty bases, listen to the relaxing ost, or trap yourself in menu hell!

i suggest the game if you want something that's more laidback (though there is a bit of management), like reading silly dialogue blurbs, want to have a calming ost to listen to, or just wanna do some beekeeping! (proceeds also go to charities that help repopulate native bee populations!)

grounded - website; played - grounded is an open world survival sandbox game (theres also a literal sandbox in the game) where you're a teen that's been shrunken down and must survive in the backyard while finding a way to bring yourself back to your original size. the game actually got a full release in back in september and i have yet to play it because my partner has not been able to play kfhskj. but we have played when it was in early access and it was super fun! there are giant spiders in the game but there's an accessibility setting that allows you to make the spiders more blobby in case you have arachnophobia! other than that it's really fun to go running around the game screaming and crying because the giant mosquito is about to 2-shot you. the base building is also pretty fun with a variety of materials you can make your base from as well as decor. there's also a variety of weapons and armors to choose from and create a build to optimally destroy bugs that are not so friendly. you can also tame some of the passive creatures and become extremely overprotective of them. (im not speaking from experience [lying]) there's actually a storyline to follow as well that helps encourage exploration and progression in the game!

i recommend the game if you enjoy open world sandbox survival games, being scared out of your mind when something you didnt see gets aggro'd on you, making neat bases, and/or strategizing and making builds to suit your playstyle! (i also highly recommend playing with friends!)

space moth dx - available on steam; played - an arcade-like shoot-em-up bullet hell where you play a moth shooting lasers at other laser shooting bugs! this is actually a fairly tough game if you're not familiar with these types of games. i personally have not gotten that far and have yet to play it again kslfhkjs but i think the art is super neat and the gameplay is pretty fun!

i recommend it if you enjoy bullet hells where you literally don't see anything But bullets (there is also space moth: lunar edition!)

bug academy - available on steam and switch; played - a pretty fun physics puzzle game where you control a swarm of bugs! there are different levels with different objectives and a star-based score depending on how well you do in each one! the only reason i havent finished this game is because im a completionist for it and got stuck on a level i have yet to get 3 stars on ksjfhkj. if you ever get this game, i highly recommend playing with a controller!

i suggest this game if you like puzzles, timed/stopwatch levels, trying to see how far you can chuck something, destroying buildings by chucking items, crying when you knock over your tower on accident, and/or being a silly bug swarm

crustacean nations - available on steam and itch.io; finished - woah moth!!! a game about crabs???? yeah they're getting a spot on this list, they're sea bugs to me. but anyways! crustacean nations is a fairly short game with only 3 levels (if i remember correctly) and a sandbox mode. you're essentially commanding a kingdom of crabs and you must defend your sand castle while destroying the other crab sand castles. there's also a pit where you can sacrifice crabs and summon a Big One. it doesn't take too much strategy to win each level but you still need to think about it a bit!

i suggest it if u want to play a brief n short army-building game! with crabs!

kill it with fire - website; finished - a silly game about exterminating spiders. as you progress through the game you get a bunch of new weapons to um. delete spiders with. there's also a bunch of challenges you can do and achievements to get! i've completely 100%'d the game just because it's kinda fun trying to do the challenges and collect all the achievements. the ending is also. a little messed up.

i suggest the game if you're a bit of a completionist, don't like spiders for some reason (i think theyre pretty neat), want to have a stress-relief game (or would it be stress inducing??), or want to see how goofy it gets

social moth - available on steam; heard of - a lot of my mutuals talk about and adore this game! i have not played it yet but it's wishlisted! here's a copy n pasted excerpt from the steam page: "Social Moth is a narrative platformer where you play as a small moth contending with social anxiety. Set in a close-knit community on the forest floor, the game allows the player to explore themes of mental health, relationships, and finding a sense of belonging."

i think i can suggest this game if you have social anxiety/want to understand social anxiety while also playing a puzzle platformer with an endearing art style and characters!

buggos - available on steam; heard of - ive had this game wishlisted for a while! here's a copy and pasted excerpt from the steam page: "Buggos is an RTS Auto Battler where you evolve your army into the perfect bug fighting force. You control a young hive mind bent on world domination, and your swarm will mostly listen to your every beck and call. Guide your swarm’s evolutionary path and breed your best bugs for world domination!"

i think i can suggest this game if you like the idea of world domination and slaughter, want a bug army building game, or enjoy pixelated style games.

i commissioned some bees - available on steam; heard of - did you know there's 10 of these games plus an advent edition?? these games are essentially just where's waldo bee edition and multiply those by like 1000. i've had this game wishlisted for a while but it hasnt been a priority pft. here's an excerpt from the steam page!: "The brief was simple. I commissioned artists to create a fantasy world, and hide as many bees as they can inside it. Now it’s your job to find them all! With 10 art pieces to choose from, and 1000+ bees, you will have a lot of searching to do."

bee simulator - website; heard of - i own the game but havent played it yet. the most ive done is watch markiplier play it hfkjsd. here's an excerpt from the epic games page: "The hive awakens as the sun's first rays warm the horizon. It's time to test your wings, receive orders from the Queen and begin your first mission. And that's just the start of your adventures. Humans want to cut down the tree that holds your hive, so your fate – and that of the whole swarm – rests on your tiny shoulders!" i think this game is more of an educational game aimed towards families and children but who knows! maybe some of you will enjoy it too?

i think i can recommend this game if you like bees :) and doing minigames/tasks/challenges!

black widow: recharged - website; heard of - an arcade shooter where you play a spider! i own this game but havent played it yet. here's an excerpt from the site: "Aim for a high score in the old school arcade mode and earn bragging rights with your name at the top of the leaderboard. Or test your skills and rank on the boards in one of 30 intensely creative challenges, which twist the gameplay in new and exciting ways. Collect cash from downed enemies to charge a powerful web blast, or pick up one of a dozen new power-ups including explosive blasts, spread-shots, and fear, trapping all enemies in your web. Every mode and level is playable in local co-op mode with a friend."

centipede recharged - website; heard of - i've played centipede in an actual arcade but it was not this specific game so i dont know if the experience is around the same. (i own it but havent played it) centipede recharged is similar to black widow: recharged in terms of an arcade shooter as well as the description given

empires of the undergrowth - website; played - an army building game about ants! in the "main zone", you're an experimental ant species that seems to be able to take on traits of many other ant species. you play levels as real-life ant species and try to grow your colony and complete objectives that are given to you. the rewards you get from these levels are used to upgrade your lab species and after completing a set of levels, you'll be given a challenge using the lab species. i havent completed this game due to being stuck on one of the challenge levels fhksjd but i think its kind of fun

i suggest this game if you like army building games (similar to starcraft or warhammer) and the idea of making a huge ant colony and competing against other colonies

yoku's island express - available on steam; heard of - there's actually a lot more places where you can purchase yoku's island express (epic games, switch, gog, etc.) but their website is down so i decided to resort to linking the steam page. i currently own the game but have not played it! it's a game about you being a tiny postman exploring around islands, delivering packages, while also making new friends and saving the islands where you reside. it's a pinball platformer adventure game and it seems really cute and fun to play!

earthtongue - available on steam and itch.io; heard of - this game actually just got recommended to me after this was posted! earthtongue is a game where you watch over a world inhabited by fungi and bugs. here's an excerpt about the game!: "You will spend most of your time watching life grow and eat each other to survive. Your subtle nudges will be required to maintain the balance of this world, but it can handle itself much of the time. Player given goals are limited, aside from maximizing the health of your ecosystem. You may choose to try to create a fungal garden to your liking. You may try your best to breed as many beetles as you can. You might use those beetles instead as food stock for the mantises. You might instead just peacefully watch the story of Earthtongue unfold on its own."

stonefly - website; heard of - stonefly is an adventure game where you control a bug-shaped mech! here's an excerpt from the site: "Harness the wind and soar through the wilderness of Stonefly, a chill and tranquil action-adventure game about self-discovery, legacy, and belonging. Glide your mech strategically among beautiful flora and dangerous fauna, confronting hungry bugs, adventures, and memorable characters."

to be released/in development games

hollow knight: silksong - website - the game that the hk fandom says doesn't exist and is actually a collective fever dream (it is 100% a real game, we're all just very excited for it to come out! /srs) the game is going to be like hollow knight (a challenging metroidvania) but this time the player plays as a new protagonist, who was a character in the first game, hornet! this game will have a new world to explore, new mechanics to master, new faces to meet, and much more.

bugaboo pocket - website - a really cute pixelated game about raising bugs! an excerpt from the site: "Bugaboo Pocket is a digital pet game where you raise bugs from egg to adult. How you care for your pet influences their personality and impacts the ecology around them. Inspired by real bugs!"

another crab's treasure - website - a game where you play as a hermit crab! you use trash in your surroundings as your shell and each "shell" provides a different effect that affects how you play the game! an excerpt from the site: "Another Crab’s Treasure is a soulslike adventure set in a crumbling underwater world. As Kril the hermit crab, you’ll need to wear the trash around you as shells to withstand attacks from enemies many times your size. Embark on an epic treasure hunt to buy back your repossessed shell, and discover the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean." (i recommend checking out their tiktok, some of the posts there are extremely funny)

dewdrop dynasty - steam page - a pixelated style metroidvania where you play as a gunslinging bee who lost their wings and finds themselves trapped in an unknown place. you'll meet interesting characters, challenging enemies, and also learn new skills and mechanics as you play the game. goodgis, dewdrop dynasty's dev, also posts a bunch of videos on youtube regarding game development tips and devlogs. (that's how my partner knew about the game and introduced it to me) a fun and charming game that will have mysteries to discover!

i am a caterpillar - dev's twitter - a game where you play as a caterpillar!: unbothered. slimey. thriving. in your moss. squelched up. wriggling. an excerpt from one of the dev's tweets!: "Become the squidgy lil' caterpillar you've always wanted to be, on a quest to stop your own metamorphosis. Crawl & wriggle all over anything in your path and explore the canopy."

a webbing journey - website - a cute 3D game where you play as a spider! you'll explore the world, making webs and slinging around on them. you'll also meet some friendly faces to talk to and do quests for them! an excerpt from the site: " You control a little spider equipped with all the typical spider abilities and a little bit more as you travel through various stunning islands searching for the most exotic flowers for your spider date. Along your journey you meet other spiders and animals who provide additional side stories and quests which challenge your spider abilities."

invertipets - dev's site / toyhou.se - a petsite game being made by @shadybugdev where you take care of bugs and bug-like pets! there's not much on it publicly available yet other than some pet concepts (which can be viewed through the toyhouse link!) but it's something to look out for! (the picture provided is some of the pets and their possible morphs!)

honorable mentions

an isopod game(?) being made by riley neville (part of sbuggames/made webbed) - this "game" has not actually been announced to be a game that will be published but it looks neat!

a worm game(?) being made by riley neville - same thing as the previous one!

all the games in my bug game collection on itch.io! (if i added all the ones in here i would be making this post forever. but please please check them out!!)

woah its the end!

that should be all i know! most of these games, if not all, are made by indie devs so i highly suggest checking them out and supporting them if you can!

thanks so much for reading and i hope i've helped you find a new bug game to pick up and enjoy! (or to wait for!) <3

#image heavy #gif heavy #bright colors #i will be making a version where it's text only for the people who may not be able to read this one!!!#man this took a while but im proud of it :)

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zoroshonkingbazonkadonkas · 2 months

Text

✰ about me ✰ ao3 ✰ fic masterpost ✰ send me zosan fic requests<3 ✰ spotify ✰ goodreads ✰

small very tiny intro: Navya, she/her (they/them is chill too) adult, in name if not game fair warning: there are a Lot of spoilers on here (especially one piece since im on my rewatch) a more expansive intro's here

Tagging system was so far non existent, but i'm trying to be a Little bit more organised so here's some tags:

#my beloved - for things i like- art, fanart, some beautiful post etc

#one piece rewatch 2024- the tag im using to tag one piece posts bc im rewatching it

#toe & aftg hell yeah

#things im so fucking grateful for - self explanatory

#letters - for asks

#imp - for things that are important

#save- for. stuff? interchangeable w imp

#whoa (for whoa)

#nav shenanigans- a tag i will be using when ive done something (it could be funny or horrible or something im proud of, def one of those)

#later- for stuff i need to read/ watch later

#avi shenanigans- for stuff my brother does

#cute

#nav rants lowkey- for tiny rants

#nav rants highkey- for major ones (there will be colourful hindi cussing involved in both most times)

#art ref

#achievements

Links I find important under the cut >:]

Daily click for palestine

Fundraiser masterpost

Resources for palestine, sudan etc

Dealing with executive dysfunction

important reminder wrt creating

Hacks to feel better physically quickly

basic cooking

A bunch of very very important links

Life advice??

expressing frustration

Pain scale, Fatigue scale, mental health pain scale

cute little VERY important writing post

essay writing

i. dont know how to explain this. cat and writing

writing advice

writing fight scenes

more writing advice (imp)

something (writing)

ao3 filter guide more ao3 filtering

how to google effectively

commenting on ao3 when you dont know what to say

murder strut

dealing with worst case scenarios

this blew my mind. multiplying kudos on ao3!!!!!

you can leave FAN ART in the COMMENTS of a fic on ao3

becoming an adult cheatsheet

interesting games to play improv

what to do when you see reposted art without credit

FREE online courses

things to eat when u dont have a lot of food at home

cute pokemon reminder stickers

WRITING NEEDS this looks very promising

stuck on a writing scene

kudos crab for when you need it (to bless ur writing endeavours)

how to format your story, a crash course

bongo cat

resources? for artists i think

cat candleholder

dialogue tags

for writer's block

colour thesaurus!!!!!

writing skin

southern accent

gemstones

CRACK PROMPTS SNDXWS D

how to navigate web pages having paywalls etc

documented historic names

search engine alternatives

pro tip for trans ppl that kinda changed my life

disney + pirating

things u can do on ao3!!!!

#add-ons are nice and appreciated #my beloved #letters #imp #save #later #whoa #avi shenanigans #dad shenanigans

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cattytheartcat · 5 months

Text

Ok ik this is old drama, but it seems rlly important now

'Bug Enthusiast or pest enthusiast?' A thread documenting some disturbing content from Pitaya, who could possibly be IdolMantis.

First, I'd like to announce two things; first, don't FUCKING harass anyone involved, and DONT harass Idol himself despite his predatory behavior. I don't condone harassment, witch hunting nor death/suicide baiting. Second, this thread is for, specifically, this reblog chain with a mutual and myself because of some alarming anons talking about Idol and his dark past due to an accidental like/reblog.

This is going to become a thread, as there's a shit ass 10 image limit aughg-

Now, lets dive in. These are from a wayback machine archive, which I can provide links to at the end.

As you saw in the original reblog chain, IdolMantis seems to have had multiple names in the past. Raisinrat, UnicornMantis, Bugcore, Ackee, Pitaya, all these names seem to be connected to Idol himself. Now, Idol is STILL active to this day on Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter, however he posts for his two web comic series; Monsters and Girls and Bugtopia.

As the two comics aren't anything harmful, they do involve quite alot of implied sexual content with mainly lesbian couples, some of which are drawn to look more androgynous or masculine. If you are under 18 I advise NOT to search out these comics, just to be safe. Idk I don't feel like minors should really get involved in that stuff but someone can correct me if needed. I do not know Idol's gender identity nor sexuality, and it doesn't seem like he's tryna sexualize lesbianism, so I won't speak further on these comics as its not my place to dictate what's good or bad rep.

However its good to keep these 2 comics in mind as we see what he used to be involved with.

The full callout was made by a Tumblr user titled AckeeLoveMail, which seems to be deactivated by now. The blog is pretty much a "critical" blog, or a callout blog, dedicated to a person named Pitaya, who used to have a blog named Bugcore. Bugcore has been archived, but no other info or images were archived correctly.

Remember, Idolomantises (IdolMantis) calls himself a "Bug Enthusiast" on Twitter. I don't know if these two pages are the same, though considering Idol's obsession with bugs... its an alarming possibility.

[Lol remember how we could customize our blogs]

Anyway, there's two main links here; the Bugcore blog link, and "The Callout". That link takes us here;

Notice how its said that he deletes posts and claims people just hate him for no reason.

Hmm....

Also, the beginning of the callout sounds familiar....

Lil offnote, but its said here that he identifies as non-binary. Currently he draws very sexual content of predominantly feminine identifying characters. Again I can't say much, but I do know that I've seen alot of people show concern on masculine ID'ing ppl consume or create content that sexualizes lesbian couples. Again, someone can correct me on that.

Anyway, second part of the callout.

The evidence:

This one is just... weird? Idk. Anyway bc of shitty image limit this is part 1 of... god knows how many posts.

#important #Bug Incident

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commonwealthcass · 1 year

Note

Could I have the mobile story and archive link please?

Hey, pasting from an older post:

Normally, you can access the archive via this URL on desktop or via any other web browser (aka chrome etc): https://commonwealthcass.tumblr.com/story-archive Otherwise, here are the current list of chapters under the Keep Reading. Unfortunately tumblr’s mobile app doesnt load the sub page so this is the current work so Im sorry for the inconvenience. You can use the Previous and Next links to navigate too.

Hope this helps and I hope you guys like it ^^

Commonwealth Cass

The Travels Begin

Walking Disasters

Baked Bloatfly

Super Mutant Suiciders or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Getting Down To Business

Daytripper

Blood and Thunder

Sins of the Father

Respite

Don’t They Know It’s The End of The World?

Where It All Went Wrong

Knife

Contract to Kill

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Don’t Be Afraid

Jet

Riot

Getting Closer

I Dont Want to Fall In Love

Reel Me In

Girl, Look At That Body

Don’t Go

A Shot in the Dark

Unravel

Can’t Pretend

Lunchbox

So Long, Brother

One More Tomorrow

Desire (Easter Egg NSFW)

He’s a Tramp, But I Love Him

I Don’t Want You To Get It On With Nobody Else But Me

I Believe in Yesterday

Political Suicide

I’m Only Human

I Just Want To Die Anywhere Else

A Hole In The Earth

We’ve Got A Score To Settle

One Step Closer

Honest

The Writing’s On The Wall

Reluctant Heroes

#story archive

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corvidry · 1 year

Note

Hi! I am working on an assignment for school, and I am trying to find information on how animal crossing is styled. Through my scrounging of the internet I saw a link that lead me to your website that was a "Animal Crossing Style Guide" but it no longer exists. I was wondering if you might have some pointers that I could learn from for my project?

Hi there,

You're about 2 weeks shy of that link working. I just changed web hosts and rebuilt my website and ended up taking down the blog section, which is where that content lived. The Animal Crossing Style Guide was an article / blog post I wrote a few years ago around the time New Horizons came out discussing the topic of animal crossing character designs for artists. While the post no longer exists online, I did archive it to hopefully host again in the future, but I havent gotten around to remaking the blog yet. In the meantime here's literally the entire thing in a tumblr post, and if I remember, I'll try to update whatever links I can. Sorry if it reads or is formatted a little weird on tumblr, but rest assured it's identical except for some shopping / sponsor links that dont need to be on this version. No idea if this is the sort of thing you need for your project, but good luck and enjoy!

Animal Crossing Style Guide: Artist Tips for Drawing Your Favorite Characters

Apr 24 | Written By Birdy

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Fandom Friday. If you’re like every Nintendo Switch owner right now, you’ve been playing Animal Crossing nonstop for the last month. And who can blame you? This irresistible chore simulator has no trouble winning the hearts of the masses by helping us fall in love all over again with our favorite animal neighbors. Nintendo found a way to make tedium fun by implementing a fun reward system and fully embracing the rule of cool, or rather, the rule of cute if there is such a thing. Why do I like it? I don’t know, man!! It’s adorable! It turns my brain chemicals into a relaxed, happy soup.

If you’re an artist it’s possible you’ve seen these cute character designs and thought “I want a piece of that for myself.” I know I have. If you love to draw the Animal Crossing cast or have some OCs of your own who you want to mesh with the AC universe, read on for some mini tips for drawing in the Animal Crossing style. I’ve been studying the style for the past few weeks and this guide is a pretty compact version of what I’ve learned, but feel free to let me know if you guys want more. It was fun to study these characters and I’d love to expand upon this with a more definitive guide or deep dive into more specific aspects of the style!

On to the basics!

Villager Bodies

In the graphic below I describe that most animals are a little over 2 heads tall. That’s because the characters in animal crossing tend to have very large, bulbous heads as part of their appeal. You’ll find that certain species, such as eagles and gorillas, do break this convention slightly, often appearing with their anatomical midpoint lower on the chest than most smaller animals.

That said, this isn’t a hard and fast rule necessarily. While the height and shape of AC bodies is generally in the neighborhood of what’s stated above, there is some variation between installments of AC. Compare the following images and you’ll see what I mean.

As you can see, Bob’s shape and proportions vary between Wild World and New Leaf, as do many of the other characters. While many current players likely think of New Horizons as the definitive style for now, I would encourage my fellow artists to experiment here. Play around with height in the 2 to 3 heads tall range and see what you like. Stylize the torsos to your taste. It’s entirely possible to remain within the AC style of drawing while still making some details your own.

Heads

Heads of AC characters are a bit of a complex subject because there are literally so many different species of animals who all have their own goofy, lovable little faces. I’ve done my best to break them down to the basics without getting too specific about one species or another.

As you can see, even the the more complicated animals can be broken down into these simplistic, bulbous shapes that Animal Crossing loves so well. When designing a new character, it’s wise to plan their head and body using basic shapes before you tack on any other extraneous features. By doing this you can ensure that your character has the round, soft features that are key to Animal Crossing before you ever have to decide what their face looks like or what their personality should be. When in doubt, round it out. You’ll be drowning in the cute in no time.

Speaking of faces, feel free to let me know on social media if you’d like me to expand upon this guide in terms of facial features and placement. I avoided the topic in this case because I wanted to focus more on foundational elements, and animal faces felt it a bit broad for that scope. The sheer expanse of animal individuality in this game allows for quite a lot of different faces with quite varied placement. And that’s not even including the human character options!

Limbs

Arms are perhaps the simplest section of this guide because there are so few styles of arm in Animal Crossing. The vast majority of characters you encounter will have the cylindrical arm style, or something close to it. At that point, all you’ll have to do is vary the length to suit the character.

Birds and octopi are one exception to this rule, with birds in particular being the more complex of the two. In most instances, bird characters will have those flattened out oar shapes for forearms with a simple texture stretched over the shape, but on occasion some birds will have distinct feathering as part of their model, which can at times distort the underlying shape for the artist trying to make sense of it. Our owl friends, Celeste and Blathers, are good examples of this.

With birds and octopi in particular, don’t be afraid to experiment a bit with the design of the limb. Some birds, like Blathers and Celeste, have wider forearms, and many octopi have interesting textures for their suckers. In addition, don’t be afraid of extending or shortening the standard cylindrical arm shape, as this shape can be applied to all different sized animals, from cats to hamsters and beyond. Some animals will have very short stumpy arms while others will have longer ones. Some villagers have slender, delicate arms, while others have bulkier ones. You can adjust the proportions of the shape to suit the character you’re drawing.

Legs on the other hand….those are a different can of worms. I’d like to preface this by saying that legs are another topic I’d love to go into greater detail on if there is interest because this graphic could afford to do the topic a bit more justice.

As with arms, most animals have the same simple cylinder that can be widened and extended as needed to suit the body of the animal. Birds once again have a unique trait in this department, but beyond that, leg styles vary widely. Mostly in the foot department, I should say. When starting off you’ll find that most animals maintain a cylindrical leg even if they have a unique foot, and in most cases the foot can be constructed out of a dome shape attached to the cylinder. Not unlike a plunger, if for some reason the stick was on one side of the plunger rather than in the center. On top of that, human characters can now wear a large variety of shoes, making this a second topic that I felt went beyond the scope of this exercise. If you’re interested in a more thorough explanation of Animal Crossing legs and feet, feel free to let me know. I just might write about it in more detail in a future installment.

But never fear! Feet, like most unique animal traits, do share similar design elements across the entire game even when they don’t look particularly alike.

Designing Unique Features

So you’re an artist who wants to draw a specific character, or maybe you want to design a brand new character. You can construct a simple animal body, but then what? What makes this character Your Character™ rather than Bob or Molly or Flora?

Despite how similar these animals all are in basic constructions, each animal and human has their own unique design elements that set them apart from one another. It is nigh impossible to cover every single interesting design element of every single animal in every single game, so here are some tips that will aid you in drawing any element you decide to apply to a character while still keeping them cute as a button.

Just like up top, I reiterate. Big, round, soft shapes. Even the most hardcore animals in Animal Crossing look soft and huggable to some degree.

Take for example, these animals who all should be at least a little bit scary. Animal Crossing’s art style keeps them appealing even with their rougher traits on display. Alfonso the alligator should logically be among the most feared of reptiles, yet his sleepy eyes, gently sloping snout, chubby cheeks, and tubby belly give him all the charm of a stuffed animal. His pointy teeth feel more like a clumsy after thought than a mechanism for killing prey.

Coco the bunny is designed to look like a haniwa figure, an item commonly buried with the dead during the Yayoi period of Japanese history. Coco’s Japanese name is, in fact, Yayoi. In addition, many items in her house are reminiscent of Japanese funeral decor. She’s supposed to be a little unsettling. Her facial expression does not change like those of other villagers, so she can’t smile at you or put you at ease the way other characters can. Indeed, Coco wears a permanent somber appearance, but even so, she looks sweet and pleasant to touch. Her face is completely curved and she is given the body of a bunny villager. Her huge, round ears and tiny, dainty paws evoke the charm of a little rabbit even from a villager whose whole design is meant to remind one of death.

Rasher the pig and Spike the rhino have similar charm. Both of them don scars all over their bodies and in some cases wear aggressive looking shirts in their rough or rustic homes. Still, with Rasher’s big sleepy eyes and friendly round belly, he could almost give you a Winnie the Pooh vibe if you squint hard enough. Spike, meanwhile, has had his horns rounded ever so slightly at the tips and his curved hooves and short tail make him seem far from threatening. Even the most edgy creatures in the Animal Crossing universe can appear somehow friendly by making use of these softening design elements.

Go Forth and Draw

And that, in essence, has been my broad overview of Animal Crossing’s art style. I consider that last tidbit to be the most valuable tip of all. By closely studying the way Animal Crossing characters use round bodies, gradual slopes, and pleasant curves, you can make even the most threatening of animal characters look cute and perfectly cuddly for your town, village, or island.

Once again, please let me know if there are particular elements of the Animal Crossing style you’d like me to look into more closely. This has been a very broad and very general overview of the character designs, but I would absolutely love to dive deeper into this art style. If you use this guide to improve your Animal Crossing drawings, feel free to tag me on Instagram, Deviantart, or Tumblr, so I can see what cool art you’ve made!

Have a great weekend, The Internet! Can’t wait to see you again for the next Fandom Friday. If you need me, I’ll be waterscaping a moat around Raymond’s house.

#animal crossing #acnh #animal crossing new horizons #honey-blob #birdy words

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