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anim-ttrpgs · 3 months

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The Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy Kickstarter Page Preview!

This has been a years-long and very expensive endeavor, but we are finally getting ready to reveal the preview for the Kickstarter page that we plan to properly launch in April of this year!

We’re quite confident we can hit our base goal within just 24 hours of our launch in April of this year. However, there’s quite a lot of things that we think would really improve the end result of the project, but that are well beyond our current budget, so that’s why we made them stretch goals! Maxing out these goals is going to fill up the project with tons of stunning art from lovely femme-fatales @chaospyromancy and @qsycomplainsalot! Check out their art on their tumblr blogs to see what they’re capable of!

This Kickstarter is going to be a big jump for us, and a big risk, it’s going to take a lot of supporters to hit all these stretch goals and make A.N.I.M.’s débute game truly the best that it can be! For me in particular, my disability makes it hard for me to find other work, so the success of Eureka and A.N.I.M. as a whole is really my best shot at financial stability going forward. If you want to see these stretch goals met—and I know I sure do—show tell as many people as you can about us and our work!

While we work on a little video that is going to go at the top of the page, we are also taking feedback from y’all, the audience, both on this tumblr post and on the Kickstarter page itself! (There’s a little comment section for feedback there.) So if anything looks amiss, confusing, or you just think it could be improved, please let us know!

Here’s a little poll to help us gauge how effectively we’re reaching an audience that wants to support and play Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy! Please respond to it after you’ve had a look at the Kickstarter page linked above!

After checking out the Kickstarter page, how much would you want to pledge to the project? Remember, all backer tiers are cumulative, so if you pledge to one, you also get everything below it as well!

If you’re interested, you can also check out our website for more information as well as a place to download the free demo of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy.

If you want to play the full prerelease build of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy, you can support us on Patreon for as little as $5!

If you want a chance to play the full prerelease build of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy with the development team and with no patreon subscription required, join our TTRPG book club!

A Discord invite link to the TTRPG Book Club can be found right here!

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csuitebitches · 3 months

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I apologize for the long ask and if this question is a bit juvenile but objectively, how can one “gain” pretty privilege/gauge how they are viewed? I’ve done well in career pursuits for how early on I am ( I graduated in 2020) but started noticing that the invites to events/opportunities where one can really establish themselves not only professionally but socially, I was getting passed over by some higher up colleagues. In speaking to a female mentor who is related to my field and the same background as me (Black), she alluded that while my race may play a small factor in it, it’s more so my appearance that may be holding me back as the personality and poise is there. Some coworkers of mine who are brilliant and POC have similar credentials and positions as I and while we are all wonderful and hard working, they (who I feel are more beautiful and put together looks-wise) have discussed privately to me they have noticed a difference in treatment between us. While it’s not right, I am adult enough to know not to let things that can be fixed hinder the life I want. Your page is a wealth of information and I appreciate how encouraging you are!!

well. I’m going to be very blunt.

it’s all fun and games to say “oh fuck the beauty standards they’re terrible and they shouldn’t exist” yes, true, unfortunately they do exist and they play a bigger role than we imagine it to be.

the first thing you have to get right is your mindset.

you need to be strong enough to admit that you need changes in X, Y, Z area but not in A, B, C area. You also need to be a little loyal towards your racial identity (for the better or worse) because that’s what is going to make you stand out.

if you have a sensitive, overly emotional mindset and you get hurt very easily / become obsessive by nature, I highly recommend you to STOP reading now.

Understand what is considered pretty in your country and area. Even in one country, beauty standards can different from the north and south. Don’t exactly try to become attractive for the opposite sex but understand what they find attractive because these guys are your primary responders to your pretty privilege. Women will be kind on the surface and so it can be difficult to get constructive criticism from them.

Understand what YOU consider pretty. Who are the women who you think are crazy beautiful? What do they look like, dress like, how’s their hair and their make up, can you replicate any of it? Rule of thumb when it comes to hair and beauty - look at influencers / celebs who are of your racial background for the best fit.

there are always a few things that are universally considered “respectfully attractive” not “you wanna fuck me attractive”- semi modesty/ modesty outfits (my father always told me that when in doubt, go for a more conservative look), hygiene, well kept hair, clean nails and toe nails, soft skin, natural make up, natural hair colour, perfume, clothes that fit, skin care, a workout routine.

pretty privilege is not just the art of looking pretty. It’s also bringing in something of value on the table. Value = money / connections / knowledge/ humour / being the fun social person / whatever value the target group considers to be the most important for you to be relevant to them. Work on your soft skills. It’s better to look half baked but have solid soft skills than to look amazing and not know how to converse.

things that one normally notices when meeting someone new:

Skin - is it clear, is the make up overdone?

hair - is it messy or does it suit your face structure?

how you smell

teeth, when you talk - and dental hygiene

shoes - are they filthy?

shirt/ top - does it fit you well (always check that the seams on your shoulder and your actual shoulder line up), the colour of your clothes

body type, posture, how you carry yourself

start with incremental changes. Make a list of things you think you could improve on (this is not a list of “ugly” things, it’s an “improvement/ potential” list). Sort them according to ease of improvement (is this going to be expensive and difficult or affordable and easy?) and time (can this be done overnight or will it take some time).

Use point 1 and 2 only as launching pads. You do not have to look like Beyoncé, you’re simply understanding what her MUA and hair stylist does for her that could work for you. After a point, you have to ensure that YOUR identify sticks out and is still there, you’re not born to imitate someone else and also, it’s very obvious when someone is trying to be someone they’re not.

again. I repeat. If you’re going to get obsessive and make yourself sick over this it’s NOT WORTH IT. If you’re not mentally capable of making these changes, do not go through it.

#Q/a #pretty privilege

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the-s1lly-corner · 3 months

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Anon who asked about the mpost/the one who had sent the tadc x wolf reader request here... Here's my new and improved version of the request!! And not on anon so I get the notification for it being completed :3

Okay so, tadc characters of your choosing (if you need specific characters then Jax, Ragatha, Caine, and Gangle) x a wolf!reader who is really shy, tends to be self deprecating, is a people pleaser, and underestimates their skills. Preferably platonic but romantic is fine!!

Caine, Ragatha, Jax and Gangle x wolf!reader who is shy w/ low confidence !

writing this then imma go work on my silly art eheheheheh unironically listening to hit my spot by ur pretty (do NOT listen to it without headphones if youre not alone it is literally gay sex song) on loop it has no reason to be so catchy gawd DAMN admins yapping aside i hope you enjoy this !! written more leaning towards platonic !!

CAINE:

i think he would try to hype you up and make you more confident in yourself! i think he would be a little confused on why you arent too.. self assured, i mean he thinks youre cool and talented and skilled and-

he could go on for hours.. i think sometimes you might cave into him and what he wants due to you being a people pleaser and it might take caine a while to catch on to that and try to pay attention to those smaller things, especially if theres something making you uncomfortable... the good thing about being a wolf is that you have ears and a tail, which do a lot in conveying how youre feeling in the moment! usually he pays attention to those things if youre the type to not like.. vocalizing your discomfort. hypes you up to everyone who will listen, stops just short of picking you up and showing you off to everyone/hj

RAGATHA:

similar to caine she uses your ears and tail as a means to gauge your internal feelings about things. ragatha is a lot more low energy and calmer compared to some of the other characters on this list... has the least issues of reading you. pulls you away if youre getting uncomfortable in any situation, and oftentimes stands up for you if someone is trying to push you something you dont actually want to do... a lot of the times those people tend to be jax.. but we'll talk about that in his part. I like to think she would try to give you little pep talks when she notices you're a little down.. makes frequent compliments to you and the things you do (skills, hobbies, ect). her room is always open to you whenever you need an escape!

JAX:

really a lot of his "coercing" is just him teasing you and, in a somewhat mean way, trying to subtly push you to get a backbone and find your limit. he wont say it or really express it, but you guys are friends and he does want to see you be able to speak for yourself... its just how he goes about it can be a little... erlrkgkh.... you know? since HES the one trying to test your boundaries and get you to snap at him. i dont think he would go as far as make fun of your hobbies and interests to make you stand up for yourself.. thats just. a smidge to mean, since youre his friend. definitely calls you wolf/dog-based nicknames, most of them dont fall into the "im trying to make you stand up for yourself" thing and more so "haha i think its funny and genuinely lighthearted"

its a little odd but there are good intentions in there

GANGLE:

she gets it, she really does... you two probably talk to one another about your problems to one another... you both find comfort in it and in a way it makes you both feel better. seeing you uncomfortable or anxious kind of empowers gangle to come and help you out, regardless of which mask shes wearing. i like to think it would to the same for you if the roles were reversed... its kind of like how you stop being anxious momentarily when you see your friend struggling and being anxious themselves and you back them up or speak for them, you know? or maybe thats just a me thing... shrugs. probably gives you bows and ribbons to put on your tail to accessorize it

#tadc x reader #the amazing digital circus x reader #digital circus x reader #caine x reader #caine x you #caine imagine #ragatha x reader #ragatha x you #ragatha imagine #jax x reader #jax x you #jax imagine #gangle x reader #gangle x you #gangle imagine

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louaseau · 1 year

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“Simply astounding!” Stanford Pines for my friend @shadowsheik14. I love doing art-trades with him, helps us really gauge eachother's improvement. I'd been drawing quadrupeds for the major part of the day, so let's say it wasn't easy to switch gears in order to attack my idea of Ford!

I wanted him to witness something that he'd never seen and be absolutely ecstatic about it. To make it sweeter, he's writing it all to my friend in a book with his name on it. Not the most inventive background, but splashes of color like that make me smile nonetheless :)

#Gravity Falls Fanart #Stanford Pines #My Art

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ambisweetiepie · 3 months

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Love Live SIF2

Don't mind me while i rant about Love Live.

I'm so annoyed!!!

I already knew I wasn't going to enjoy SIF2 as much as All Stars, because I had downloaded the japanese version to try it out.

Now that the global version is here, I was able to link my all stars and SIF account. SIF2 is only going to be around until May, but it's supposed to be available afterwards as basically just a gallery for the cards you got. You won't be able to play it at that point.

So I linked my old accounts, and they give a nice gallery for your old SIF cards, but nothing for All Stars??? Just give you some gatcha tickets??? You couldn't at least give me a gallery for my All Stars cards that I loved and cherished?????? You were able to do it for SIF, so why weren't you able to do it for All Stars???

Also! I know All Stars' game play wasn't for everyone. It relied on having good cards rather than having skill. You could play and switch between teams while not actually doing the rhythm game part. I really liked that!!! Even with the rythym game, there was a lot to keep track of (swapping teams, your SP gauge) but as a result they only made you tap left or right sides of the screen for the rythym game.

This was great for me because I can't actually play SIF's dumb rhythm game layout. It has nine buttons all over the screen. It hurts my hands if I try to do it much. It may have been more playable when the game first came out, because phone screens were smaller at the time. None of the buttons were a reach. But screens have gotten bigger and so there's no comfortable way to hold my phone and reach each button. They could've changed things to be like other rhythm games. Bandori, Proseka, and D4DJ all have the tapping section at the bottom. They've all managed to implement gameplay in that that still makes it fun and engaging.

More complaints:

When chatting, the text from the person you're chatting with goes by very fast. There's no way to adjust the speed of this. Once they're done talking and it's your turn to reply, everything other than the reply screen is dimmed out. So you have to struggle to finish reading what they just said.

My BIGGEST PET PEEVE OF THE GAME is that when picking out songs, they give you 8 seconds of song audio. So while you're deciding, and picking out your team, it's replaying over and over and it's so obnoxious. The only way to turn this off is to turn ALL background music for the entire game off. I'm not asking much, I think LLAS had it be like 15 seconds? Just a little longer makes the loop a little less annoying.

Small annoyance, is they tried to improve the mouth movements while talking to make all sorts of different shapes? This was unnecessary, and more immersion breaking than the simple open/close mouth movements they had previously.

Also, the old card art. I understand you don't want to have to start from scratch for cards, but including the old art means a few things: 1) You're asking people to try again for cards they already got in the past 2) A lot of that artwork is OLD OLD. And it makes things look less cohesive, and cheap. 3) When adding Nijigasaki to SIF, they never bothered to draw regular cards for them, instead just using their in game sprites from the visual novel sections. This also looks cheap. Other games have done the same thing (Like Obey Me) and it looks cheap and lazy there too.

I really liked everything about All Stars. It really improved a lot from SIF, but was different enough to warrant keeping both around.

They could have just had SIF2 be a replacement for SIF. If they're going to keep everything around from SIF (playstyle, cards, etc), that would've been acceptable. They've improved they UI by a lot and added features SIF didn't have. I stand by what I said from the "it's rude that people have to re-earn cards they already had" but other than that, it more or less seems an improved version of SIF. If they had let SIF players transfer their accounts over, and not closed down All Stars, I don't think they would've gotten near as much backlash as they did. Since All Stars was such a different game, and had those nice 3D graphics, it can't be considered a replacement the way it can be for SIF.

I like the texting with girls feature, even though it has issues. I like the "Daily Life of School Idol" feature, it's a cute alternative to the normal visual novel style and has nice illustrations.

All of that being said, some of my complaints are things that could be fixed. The game didn't have to close down. It's so disappointing to play a game knowing I'll only have until May. While they've mentioned this publicly, they haven't mentioned it in-game. I feel like it's important for anyone who plays to know that we're already months away from EOS. I don't want people spending big money in a game without knowing that it's not going to be around for much longer.

All of this being said, even though I'm upset, I don't want it to go. It fills that love live shaped hole in my heart. It's not the same having a PNG of Kanata tell me hello, compared to the 3D version of her saying hello, slightly being able to interact with her. But it's something. I don't even know for certain if they plan on making a new mobile game at this point.

#Love Live #SIF2

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fantasyfantasygames · 3 months

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Dollars to Donuts

Dollars to Donuts, Curlicue Games, 2018

Dollars to Donuts (D2D) takes place inside a donut shop where bakers and servers rush to get donuts to patrons. It could easily have been one of those "better as a board game" setups, but there's more going on here than just a simple game mechanic and some talking.

I say "donut shop", but the way it's described the location really sounds more like a diner. The art backs that up. It's black-and-white photos of a 50s-style diner, including bakers, waitresses (and a waiter), and various folks sitting at the bar with their donuts and coffee. The photos are very nicely done. They're definitely not actual period photos. I can tell because there are multiple non-white people in them. Might be stock art, might be original. Either way, they work.

One of the rare features of D2D is "troupe"-style play. The game most people think about for troupe play is Ars Magica. It's not required, but Ars assumes that each player will have three characters: one mage, one companion (a favored, highly skilled non-mage), and one "grog" (warrior or servant). You can thus play scenarios at multiple different levels of power. Normally you all play a particular level of character at once to keep things balanced, but if everyone's ok with it you could have a mixed group.

In D2D, everyone has three characters: a baker, a server, and a patron. You're expected to switch between them fluidly as the game plays out, basically responding with the right character when someone calls their name. I can imagine this getting very chaotic and potentially stressful. However, if you have the right group of improv-friendly players, I can also imagine it really getting across the hectic feel of a busy diner.

The three character types have different game stats. Bakers have three attributes: Quality, Speed, and Efficiency. Servers have three gauges instead - you spend points from them as the game goes along. Those are Kindness, Agility, and Poise. Patrons have two negative attributes - Worry and Trouble - and one negative gauge - Hunger. They also have Issues, each of which is tied to either Worry or Trouble. If you play multiple sessions of the game, the patrons come in with a new set of Issues every time. Any continuity in their situation is entirely up to the play group. Play mostly revolves around resolving the patrons' issues without having their Hunger score go too far into the negative.

The dice mechanic is a simple d6+attribute, with two target numbers. Roll high and things go well, low and they go badly, and in the middle there's either no change or some of each. Points in gauges get spent to adjust the die roll upwards or downwards. There's also a timer involved (one per player, actually) and a few minigame-type setups for person-specific tasks.

D2D is in a weird space that's part one-shot LARP and part board game. I think that pushing it more solidly one way or the other could have resulted in Curlicue Games having a better final product. They threaded the needle, but the thread is a little bare for having gone through. My strongest suggestion, if this were to stay as an RPG, would be to make it explicitly GM-less, instead of just giving the GM practically nothing to do. Really, it just needs to lean in a particular direction.

Dollars to Donuts is available in Kindle format via Amazon's impenetrable AI-filled maze of schlock ebooks. I sent a suggestion that they might want to make it available in PDF, but they'll probably also want to fix up the book's trade dress so that certain major donut companies don't sue them.

#ttrpg #imaginary #indie ttrpg #rpg #america flees from dunkin #review #i feel like the “dollars to donuts” bet would have been a very different thing back before donuts cost more than a dollar each

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pumpkin-spike18 · 4 months

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✨Weekly Progress #51-52✨ +Happy New Year 2024✨

I've been thinking about the past year for the last few days and struggled with how to talk about it.

But, let's start with the weekly progress reports, before I miss the ability to do it for 2023.

Weekly Progress #51

Linearted 4 SYVNH BGs

Answered more BWOBK edit comments

Yes, it's the same image as last time since... the 4 linearts were done by the time I posted the last update.

Weekly Progress #52

Scripted BWOBK S1-S3

Submitted the demo for The Beauty Which Only Beast Knows to Winter VN Jam and Once Upon a Time VN Jam

The demo is now available for download here!

...Oh my god, I forgot I start my weeks on Mondays. My brain got really confused for the twitter version of this update 😅

I'll be making a separate post for it tomorrow (or Akua would), but BWOBK is finally out! ...Well, the demo for it anyways. The last week has been a blur of editing, scripting, and final playtesting. I was working quite frantically so I didn't record all of my tasks for the past week.

...Which, to be fair, didn't amount to much other than working on BWOBK. Our team wanted to accomplish a lot for this jam, but as the final week approached, we knew we had to cut back a bit if we wanted to submit anything to the two jams so we discussed and agreed to submit a demo.

Please look forward to a full release in January 2024!

Looking Back at 2023 ⏳

Visual Novel Development

Last year I made this tweet to celebrate what I accomplished in 2022.

A total of 5 VNs was an amazing feat I didn't think I'd accomplish. I was prepared to never beat this record again. Yet, lo and behold...

This year, I submitted nine projects.

1 Updated Demo:

I counted this as a submission since my update was about 50k new words, all new BGs, and like 14 CGs (I forgot the exact number). Sadly, I couldn't make it to the finish line of a full game. That'll be 2024!

4 Solo Projects:

These are four short visual novels I did for a variety of jams (three of them were for about week long game jams). They're all playable in browser and shouldn't take longer than 20 minutes each to play.

one last time. is a standalone entry.

kill your feelings., spirit killing curse, and Exorcist Killing Lie are separate stories set in the same world of ghosts, unreliable gods, and exorcists. I've been calling it the Kill Series and I hope to work on it more in 2024.

4 Team Projects:

I participated in another four visual novel projects this year! Two of which were demos, and one even won second place in the Spooktober Visual Novel Game Jam!! That was a real surprise! Although everyone in the team worked super hard, I don't think any of us expected it. So it was really a great and amazing surprise that had all of us shocked with happiness!

The Beauty Which Only Beast Knows is a demo I'm the main writer for. I also wrote one of the routes for The Final Prize is Soup, which is the second place Spooktober 2023 winner!

I provided the art for For the First Time.

And I did the programming for Saintess Alasdair is Dead.

All of these visual novels (plus more from previous years!) can be found free to play on my itch profile!

I think, next year, I won't be able to beat this record 😂 In fact, I hope I don't... As happy as I am to have performed such a feat, it was very exhausting and took a lot of energy out of me. I just hope to finish my ongoing projects in 2024.

Other Creative Goals

Here is another tweet from early 2023:

I wasn't able to spend a lot more time animating, and it's hard to gauge improvement on my own, but...

I did it! I completed 24 illustrations!

This has been a mix of OC art, fanart, a couple gifts, and a couple commissions. Hopefully, next year I'll be able to not "cheat" by adding commissions to the mix... 😂 I'm very proud of my commission works, but I did say it was supposed to be personal art.

I actually spend the last three months drawing 10 of the illustrations. To be exact, I drew 14/24 drawings in the second half of 2023... This was alongside working on a variety of CGs and BGs for games, a couple fancomics, and some design work that didn't feel quite "illustration" worthy.

Other

As a number of you might have noticed, or if you're one of my closer friends in devtalk... I quit my job!! Which, may sound like a bad thing, but I'm actually quite relieved. I finally freed myself from something that felt like it had been chaining me down for years.

I did it with no plans, just enough savings for a short while. Hopefully, this will be the wake up call I need to improve my life and find a job I enjoy. I took a few months off so I'm ready and back for the job hunt in 2024! (...So in about an hour from me writing this, haha)

Speaking of the job hunt... I also started accepting commissions on vgen! I don't know if I want to pursue a creative career, but it isn't out of the question.

If you're interested, I'll be opening for a week or so in 2024 before I close to work on projects again until June or something. (wink wonk 😉😉)

Finally, I'm really happy to have joined the Ace Attorney fandom this year. I started replaying the games around September and searched for a fandom discord on a whim. I've met some really great writers and artists since! Everyday getting to talk about gay lawyers have been great and reminded me of an almost lost fun from my childhood.

So if any of you from there see this post, hello! Thank you for giving me such a warm welcome! I really enjoy spending time with you all!

And someday, I WILL kidnap you guys into making a visual novel with me.

I participated in my first online fan event thanks to everyone there and it was a lot of fun. I hope to do more with everyone soon!

Well, that's all! If you made it all the way down here, thank you for reading! 2023 has been an interesting ride and I look forward to 2024.

It's currently 11:12PM for me here (I made it, I finished writing before midnight!) but, this is probably as close as I can get before getting distracted by a video or other work so...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

#vnlink #devlog #visual novel #recap #pumpkin thoughts #indie dev #vndev #happy new year

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lameboysp · 1 year

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Occult Case Files: File One

A few months back we released a demo for a game I’ve wanted to do for a while: Occult Case Files. What started as a simple mock-up went on to become one of our most successful games!

This was done specifically with games like Uninvited, Shadowgate and Deja-Vu in mind. I really enjoyed the style of those games, along with the horror elements found in Uninvited! Although nowadays it isn’t really all that scary, I’m sure for it’s time it was as scary as it could get though. With that in mind I sought out to make a similar styled game that actually IS scary. Overall, I set out to see how far I can get in development over a span of 2 months. I’ve really been trying my best to scope properly and manage time wisely. After a few years of doing this, I’m starting to feel more and more confident with these things. Yet... I still need more work on them haha.

Accessibility

From the mock up to the final build, a lot of things were moved, changed, removed, etc. I think this UI layout is properly fitted and wont have to be adjusted anymore in the long run. Although with that said, accessibility was and is something I’m always willing to fine-tune.

One major complaint I received overall was the constant changing of the selectable actions. Folks didn’t like having to select an option, go back up to the main screen, then going back down to select another option. So to combat that, I had it so hitting “Select”(Shift) would bring the selection you made back up. When that wasn’t enough, I made it so hitting it again would cycle through the options. When THAT wasn’t enough I made it so hitting CTRL would cycle backwards. And when THAT wasn’t enough, I had it so hitting the numpad will bring up the respective action as well. I may sound pessimistic about the above, but overall if it makes the experience for someone that much more manageable then I’m all for it. I get it, some of the design choices back then compared to now are a little archaic and there’s no reason not to improve upon them now. I think the only thing I can do to make it even more accessible is to have the mouse itself be able to act as the cursor as well. I’m kind leaning towards not implementing that though, unless of course there’s a big demand for it.

One thing I really loved about developing this is art didn’t take me too long! The frame in the top right is 116x117. Smaller than the Game Boy’s resolution, but still enough room to work with. I’ve seen folks say I should make that part bigger (One guy suggested I ditch the entire UI and make the screen just that frame) but in the end that just increases my workload and its something I’m dead set on. The size of that part of the screen will remain as is.

What’s Next

I was not expecting the reception this game got. It seems like folks really dig it for what it is and want more of it. It was something that came from a love of retro games, Japanese horror and an excuse to make some creepy art with a larger palette (Getting kinda tired of just using 4 colors hehe) and I’m glad folks are behind it. I was going to use the demo to gauge how folks felt about it, and depending on that figuring out whether I should put it on the backburner or give it priority over other projects. There’s so many games I want to make, and such little time. But thanks to the positivity folks have expressed over the project, it’s been bumped up on my list. I have an plan for story beats, locations and scares all in mind. I’m in the process of gathering it all up and writing it down so that when the time comes to ramp development back up, I’ll have everything laid out and read to work and expand upon. To give a brief idea of what to expect, the game will take place over a week. As a student, you’ll attend school, talk to classmates and folks around your community as well as explore your neighborhood and a number of locations surrounding that. From local shops to shrines in the woods, I hope I can really give life to these locations and give folks something cool to explore.

Once The Third Shift is wrapped up, Occult Case Files will be up next. It won’t take as long as TTS has, so hopefully it’ll be following it up shortly after. I’ll be sure to post progress here when the time comes, and I hope you all look forward to it. If you’d like to try the demo, you can find it on itch here: https://teebowah-games.itch.io/occult-case-files I’d love to hear what you think! Is this game something you’d be interested in seeing us finish? Let us know! In the meantime, please take a look at this marvelous cover art that our friend @sombrepainter painted for the game. They did a phenomenal job with it and it’s safe to say this project wouldn’t be the way it is without their contribution.

Thanks for reading!

#occult case files #nes #nintendo #horror #indiedev #gamedev #devlog

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gible-love-nibles · 9 months

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Eternal Diva Fic (Part 13)

This is where all the Softness (tm) is folks; this is the "Clare is indulging" part lmao. Then again, this entire section of the story is me indulging. This entire fic is me indulging. You signed up for this at this point.

No warnings here, pretty sure! Just a nice soft penultimate chapter :]

Word Count: 1.6k / Previous / Next

“What are you up to?”

I jerked in surprise. It was Descole again, leaning on the doorway.

It had been a couple of days. At least that was what I guessed. Time was hard to gauge when there weren’t any windows, and I was lousy at keeping track of time anyway.

Despite Descole’s advice, I had barely gotten any sleep. Believe me, I tried. But my eyes wouldn’t stay closed or I couldn’t settle down. So most of the time, I took out my notebook and just doodled away, hoping that would help.

“Drawing,” I said simply. “Can’t sleep.”

"Again?" was all he said as he came in. It didn't sound accusatory, but I took it that way.

"I've been trying to sleep, alright? It's just been with... everything! All of this!" I let out a short sigh. "I know that's not your fault, but..." I trailed off.

The masked man just stared at me. I might've been seeing things... but he looked a bit sullen.

"I'm not going to force you to sleep. If you can't, you can't. Simple as that."

There was a stretch of silence. Neither of us moved (not that I could move much anyway).

I could tell Descole didn't want to leave just yet. He had been doing that quite a bit, finding random things to talk about to stretch out these visiting times. I didn't really get why; none of it seemed useful to him at all.

“Could I see what you’re drawing?” He finally settled on that as he sat and settled on the other side of the bed.

I blinked. "You actually wanna see my art?"

"It's something you're passionate about, no? You carried a notebook with you to an opera house of all places, and you're fast at it. How long have you been drawing?"

"All my life, basically? It's just something I've always done."

"Fascinating..."

“…I… guess you can look. If you really want to.” I passed the notebook over to him. I didn't have anything to hide; it wasn’t like there was anything embarrassing or weird in there. “Just don’t expect to be amazed or anything.”

He thumbed through my notebook quietly. He just made quirky little expressions at my work and didn't say anything. After a little while of flipping back and forth— enough to almost make me nervous— he handed it back.

“Hm. You were right. I wasn’t amazed.”

“Gee, thanks—”

“Because there was nothing of me in there.”

I gawked at him for a moment. “Really? That's your only takeaway?”

“The only negative takeaway. Your style is charming and extremely expressive, your linework and handwriting is neat, and you somehow do it so quickly. I'm very impressed, dear."

"Wait, you... like it? Like, really you like it? You're not pulling my leg here?"

His smile softened. "Absolutely." But that softness went away fast for slyness. "But! If you want my opinion, your posing could use improvement."

"And drawing you will help with that. Totally not because you want free art of yourself." I couldn’t help but snort. “No thanks. Your hat looks awful to draw.” I pushed it down over his mask so it would cover his eyes. He chuckled as he fixed it.

“I could model for you, if that would help.” His smile may have been smug, but he was serious.

“I’m sure you have better things to do than be my model.”

“No, my schedule’s all free now with Ambrosia discovered. I'm very open and very available.”

“Well, I heard there’s another lost city out there that I’m sure would be a real head-scratcher for you. They’re calling it Atlantis.”

“You--!” He playfully shoved me a bit (though it was more of a nudge), and we both couldn’t stop from cracking up.

Another random day, I couldn’t sleep again and Descole visited again.

“Is there anything that will help you sleep better? You’re really starting to worry me.”

Asking the masked man why he was fretting over me so much never got me a straight answer. I just dropped it after a while.

“I dunno. Time’s just… weird down here.” I was about to say it wasn’t that bad, but I swallowed it. Of course it was bad; if I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t healing (or at least healing with nothing else happening).

He hummed for a bit, then seemed to get an idea. “When I was a boy, my mother used to read me a bedtime story every night she could. I was out cold right as she finished. Maybe the same will work for you. Besides, it must be dreadfully boring here with only one thing to do.”

“...You have got to have something better to do than read me a bedtime story.”

"Please, dash your concerns. You’re my guest; of course you’re going to take up my time. I'm not going to just leave you alone like some caged animal. And besides… I want to. So, do you want to hear a story or not?"

I was taken aback a bit. He wanted to, genuinely? “Um… sure. Why not?”

A warm smile slid onto his face. “Thank you, dear.”

I liked seeing that smile. Certainly better than... all that on top of the robot.

He went over to a little bookshelf I hadn’t noticed in the room before. He dragged his finger across the spines, looking for just the right one. He gingerly pulled out a smaller book. “Ah, here it is.”

The cover was mainly blue with a blonde boy standing on the moon with yellow stars in the night sky. The title:

“The Little Prince?”

“Have you read it before?”

“I’ve heard of it. I’ve always wanted to read it, but I could never find it anywhere.”

Descole’s smile grew wider. “Well then, I’m honored to be the one introducing it to you.”

And that was how the next few days went: Descole would sit on my bed, reading The Little Prince. He had a voice ready for every character, and it always got a laugh out of me.

Eventually, I’d always fall asleep (most likely leaning on him because I peered over his shoulder to read the words or look at the pictures). He didn’t leave me settled there forever (or maybe even very long), as every time I woke up, he was gone.

"Hey, Descole?"

"Hm? Yes?"

We had just finished a reading of The Little Prince, and the masked man looked exhausted. From context clues, it seemed like he was working on another plan for some ancient site or city or what-have-you.

I figured he wasn't going to tell me anything about it, so I didn't say a word. I was probably going to get roped into it somehow anyway, knowing my luck.

But something had been nagging at me this whole time, nibbling at me. I felt like if I didn't get it out soon, I was going to explode. So... might as well while we were both still awake.

"...How do I say this...?"

"Really, is it that bad?"

Ok sir, this attitude was not helping. "N-No, it's not bad! It's-- the opposite of bad actually."

"And you're having this much trouble getting it out?"

I sighed, and then steeled myself, gripping my blanket. "I just... wanted to say: your voice on top of the Detragan was... really nice...?"

Silence. You could've heard a pin drop.

...Why had I said that? Why did I say that?

Augh god, he was going to be just insufferable now! He was never going to let me hear the end of it!

But, to my surprise... it was still quiet. I hazarded a look at him.

Descole looked stunned. He was staring right through me, all sorts of gears and cogs turning in his head. The great mastermind Jean Descole looked... flustered.

Once he noticed me staring, he puffed up like a startled cat and pretended to cough into his sleeve. For a split second, it looked like his cheeks were flushed. But I wasn't sure.

He stammered. "Yours was... as well."

Silence once more. After a few seconds that felt like a few hours, Descole suddenly darted for the door, not saying a word.

"H-Hey!" was all I could get out before the door shut. I let out a short sigh. "Bad idea. Of course it was."

I settled into some kind of rhythm eventually: eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner; find some way to pass the time in between meals with or without Descole around; and once night came along, listen to him read.

Every meal was cooked by Raymond, though Descole sometimes told me that I ate some of his cooking offhandedly. I always told Descole that I could tell which parts he cooked: the worst-tasting part. It was just me teasing him, and he recognized that. Honestly, I couldn’t tell which parts he cooked, if any at all.

The masked man and I had pretty easy conversations at the start, but things started to get more… awkward as time went on. Genuine compliments that caught either of us off-guard, and then Descole would hurriedly excuse himself and leave. Words way too sweet for their own good. Eventually, we started talking less and less.

After we finished The Little Prince, he didn’t pick up another book for us to read. He'd just hand me one he'd thought I liked and hurried off again.

It felt… hollowing. I wanted to say something about it, but I couldn’t just force him to talk if he didn’t want to.

Raymond reassured me during all this. “He’s… lost a lot, lass. I suppose he’s just steeling himself for when you leave. He’s enjoyed your company, and he’s preparing himself for when it’s all over.”

It… didn’t make me feel better.

Eventually, I was finally feeling better and could move about the sub. Which of course, meant it was time for me to leave.

#🐉🎮.txt #clare's writing #eternal diva au #seen a lot of things; places you ain't ever been 🐉💫#lead me save me from my solitude 🎭🔧#so fun fact: this is the most edited part of the whole story #i thought it was way too short and it didn't flow well so i added a scene and some more dialogue. i think it's a lot better now #this scene was barely below 1k. and now it's 1.6k. which now mneans this *is* a 20k word fic. gotdamn

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crystalelemental · 10 months

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Sync Pair Retrospective - Summer 2022

Summer alts in gacha terrify me. Maybe it's because I'm from FEH, but it always signaled the coming of the most uncomfortable art for your favorite female character you could imagine. Thankfully, Masters is still a Pokemon game, and my initial encounter with Summer alts was pretty mild. The realization that the first ever summer alts, Lyra and Steven, were literally just normal clothes, was refreshing. And 2022 followed suit, basically giving N and Hilda a focus on festival clothes. I appreciate it...so much. So glad they continued this with Tate and Liza.

N (SUMMER) N and Zoroark is absolutely hilarious to me. Dark-type damage at this point felt...underwhelming. At least to me. You had Sygna Suit Cyrus, but very little else in the type's favor, what with most tools being really bad (Grimsley, Karen at the time) or good DPS in exchange for dying (H!Hilbert, BP Karen). Sygna Suit Cyrus was the first significant encounter with a good Dark-type damage dealer, and he was mostly sync and sleep focus. N was the first to feel like he was really taking advantage of Dark as a limited damage type. What he offered was big damage in Night Daze, and utility in the form of Snarl. His sync wasn't the best, but as a DPS unit, he's pretty nice!

Unfortunately time took a bat to the back of his skull.

Night Daze can miss. Yeah, somehow N's kit doesn't solve for the accuracy issue. Moreover, while his DPS is good, it's not exactly life-changing. The accuracy debuffing was nice, but didn't lead into much of note for him, being too inconsistent without On a Roll to matter much. And to top it off, a four-bar move means you need gauge control, which he doesn't really have. N wasn't quite bad, but he's one of those pairs I've never had a good time using.

Which makes the following events worse. Karen got a grid expansion and it was unreal, offering a fantastic 60% flinch rate on her Dark Pulse, better self-setup with double debuff Snarl (N himself only had a 50/50 shot, Karen was guaranteed), and much improved sync damage. Nanu got his grid, and went from mostly a utility bot, to a legitimately astonishing sync nuker of his own. Champion Serena showed up and covered Dark in addition to her natural Water, and while not carrying the same DPS, her sync was unrivaled. And of course, we then got Champion Marnie, who just obliterated anyone's attempt to keep up on Dark-type DPS, and the illustrious SC Zinnia with an absurd Buddy move and some really nice utility for a team.

N was top dog for a very brief moment in the type, and hasn't really kept up with the shifting of the tides. I'd argue Karen is legitimately just better than him at everything he wants to do. Better gauge control, better debuffing, better secondary effect on solid damage and much better sync. And considering Karen is like fourth best in the type now? Yeah, N stands very little chance. I'd say he got the benefit of Lodge Dawn, whose Team Sharp Entry and speed buffs salvage a lot, but she's not exactly a reliable answer to CS, you know? And so, N just kinda...exists. Sadly.

But again, it makes this next part hilarious.

HILDA I love being right. I love it more than anything. And once again, my love of supports does not steer me wrong.

Hilda, by contrast, has done pretty alright for herself. Despite being reviled as one of the worst sync pairs of the last year, Hilda was always pretty good at her job. She's a tank, taking hits wonderfully, and at full investment offering some clutch debuffing of the foe's defensive stats. Among other useful options. The main reason to dislike her is really just...no pop healing. First Aid 4, that's it. She doesn't recover well, and as a pure tank, that's a problem.

What she does have, however, is Topsy-Turvy, inverting a foe's buffs to debuffs. Which some may ask, is that really that good? Yeah dude! Have you never played Gauntlet before? Sudden shits in stats occur on the regular, and do you know how valuable it is to invert the early Bar 1 +2 accuracy to a -2 accuracy? Do you know how sick it is to press a button once and have Latias go from a major problem to bleeding out? This skill was great! Sure, some people considered it niche, but I've always thought it held tremendous weight.

That said, this never caught on as a gimmick, despite being delightful, and Hilda does not offer nearly what SS Morty did as a support. If anything, many would consider her primary competition to be BP units, which isn’t good as a seasonal. BP Morty had the same buffing trainer move, but had Potion and Astonish. BP Clemont would show up with the same trainer move, but also accuracy buffing and Screech for better defense debuffing potential. She absolutely couldn’t keep up with powerhouses like Morty, so what possible chance did she have against a nightmare like Aura Cynthia? There was just no reason to even look at Hilda.

Hilda was largely relegated to Gauntlet, being quite good there, but languished in CS. A little unfairly, I might add. I feel like there were enough stages that Topsy Turvy still had merit, it’s just that no one else agreed.

But as a wise man once said, true genius is never recognized until it’s needed, and I am vindicated once again. The 12.5k Master Mode meta added a few new tools to select from, and one of them was the "All Stats +3" condition for foes. While generally not selected for anyone, Summer Hilda suddenly pops off, able to hit the foe for -3 in every. Single. Stat. Suddenly, you're halfway to a full sync nuke multiplier. Need Relentless support? Great, just pack a Leer ally and this condition, and you're at max performance for sync 1. Devastation? Same deal. Power Play is now 83% charged in one action. Anything is on the table now. To say nothing of fights like Glacia, where she comes in with +2 accuracy and the heavy-hitting Blizzard, and you can just...invert it and laugh.

Hilda and N are great examples of what makes a sync pair good long-term. Sure, N was temporarily a great DPS unit, but without some key elements, he's just waiting to get outdone. Comparatively, Hilda's traits are fully unique. Someone may come along and do it better, like how Lucian now outclasses P!Dawn in every meaningful way, but P!Dawn isn't useless because of this, you know? She's just not the top dog. Hilda will always have this niche. Despite being disparaged as a bad support like so many others, she's just another in an extensive list of sync pairs that showed up with something unique and valuable, and has stood the test of time. Sure, neither of these two were like...meta defining options. But man, you can't always be pushing boundaries, and we just got done with Jotho VA and Sinnoh E4, let people breathe a bit.

#sync pair retrospective #summer hilda

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demonlandline · 2 years

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this has probably already been asked but any tips for learning/improving portraiture? your work is AMAZING i want to hang it up above a mantelpiece btw :]]

Hello, firstly thank you so much!!!

Secondly, some tips! This ended up long and a bit rambly but I hope these are helpful

Highly recommend analysing faces and anatomy and really looking at all the small details as well as the broader outlines and features. Faces are made out of shapes, and those shapes are made visible by how light hits them. So taking your understanding a step further than just 'there's a shadow here so I'll draw a shadow here' to 'there's a shadow here because of the angle and position of this part of the face and the direction of the light.' So you have a bit more control over how you're carving out features from the page. For example when drawing lips it's common to start out just drawing the outline of the edge of the lips, like that's the first shape that jumps out because there's a clear border, but there's a lot of shapes and shadows and different angles and curves and planes within those, and sometimes you can get a better result emphasising those shapes rather than emphasising the border.

I think understanding those shapes gives you more freedom stylistically as well. Like the more detail you can perceive within the borders of larger features the more you can do with them. If you're feeling like you'd like your portraits to be less smooth or less simple then paying attention to those smaller details can allow you to add more defined and stylised brush strokes and lines in ways that make the portrait more coherent rather than less.

Getting proportions right is probably the least fun part of drawing for me but it's super important. My main tip on this is to study a ref image and break the face down into small shapes and parts and angles, and really look at how they relate to each other and what's lining up with what. I tend to isolate each line and shape in turn and say, for example 'okay, this section of the edge of the nose is a mostly straight line, it's almost completely vertical, and it intersects with the edge of the eye here' and then I draw exactly that. I also have a little ruler with a sliding gauge that I use to double check proportions and make sure everything is as accurate as possible.

Also like, practicing and experimenting and going through the whole being bad at it stage really does work. Sounds a little bit silly but I'm always a bit surprised when I practice something and actually get better at it. All the art tips in the world can't compare to what you learn through the process and you'll find your own style along the journey too.

Thirdly, you CAN hang my art up above a mantelpiece! I have an inprnt shop with a whole lot of art. Feel free to let me know if there's a specific piece you'd like a print of that's not in the shop <3

#ask tylar #art tips

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covenstead-tattoo · 2 years

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The Beginning of the Etsy Revamp!

If you have followed or bought from my etsy shop then you'll recognize these little cuties. Back when I first started my Etsy shop, these were one of the few designs I released. I've always been a fan of cute, weird and spooky and also a big fan of mushrooms, the aesthetic of them are so cool and so many varieties! Which led me to draw these little guys!

As an artist, in my mind as I look at older art work, and all I want to do is redraw them. The questions that pop up in my head are: Where are you now, artistically? Did your style change from 2 years ago? Can I make these better? How far have I come? In my mind, there is always improvement, I can be satisfied with my art but there will always be that voice that says "eh, this can be better". Call it my inner critique, my anxiety or depression either way it's always been there. In the end drawing makes me happy regardless of the negative voice critiquing my every move.

I wanted to revamp my artwork for my shop mostly to see how far I've come and if I can make more pleasing designs, I am really curious on what my customers will think, will they like them? will they like the originals better? This is a shot in the dark because I cannot gauge on how people will react, only hope that they enjoy the process as much as I do. The goal is to get you more involved in seeing how my progress works, that includes seeing my drawings from sketch to finished products!

Here is the beginning! The first image is what the product looks like now, and the second images are the first stages of sketches! I honestly am in love with the new designs, they hold more cuteness, a little more shape and fluidity and I can see the potential for lining and color.

What do you all think? Originals or New Designs?

Blessed Be,

Danni

#mushrooms #shroomies #artists on tumblr #female artists #sketchbook #stickershop #wiccan #etsyshop

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tunabuddha · 4 months

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I'm walking toward a large white building on a university campus when I see a guy in a tan suit riding a brown horse. He's riding really fast and I'm rather impressed by it. He pulls the horse to a stop at the bottom of the stairs at the entrance of the building and gets off and runs up the stairs. I decided to go check out the horse but it's not a horse, it's like some goofy inflatable lizard looking thing and its laying flat on the ground. It doesn't have hooves, it has feet with little claws on them. Its eyes are goofy looking like a joke. Makes me laugh. I go up the stairs and into the building. I'm walking down hallways and finally end up in a lounge area. I've got a backpack with some clothes in it, mostly t-shirts. No one is around and I find a place and sit myself down. Nothing is going on. I don't see anyone. Then I decided to take a walk around. I'm thinking I need to go see my old professor Reece. I'm wondering if I should sign up for some classes but I don't really need to do that at all. Finally I make a loop around back to the lobby. More people are sitting around in chairs. I pass a woman by the door to the hallway that leads back to where I started. On the way I see a ramp rising off the floor that goes up to a small square window or door. The wall and the ramp are painted white. The window/door is unfinished and I ask myself should I go up and look through it? I don't and keep moving. Now for some reason I'm stripped down to my boxer shorts I'm wearing and now there's some people there and someone famous has brought a portfolio of large prints. After some moments go by I walk by this famous person over to the table and read one of the posters. It's all a list of suggestions and services that this person provides about how to improve your life. I read through them (all I can remember is they seem sort of ridiculous). As I'm reading through them I glance over at a well dressed woman. I think she is a faculty member and we communicate without speaking. Like some sort of telepathy. Basically we're saying that this famous person should pack it up. I wanted to talk to this famous person but they're gone now. There's a weird stuffed blue and red toy animal nearby. Looks sort of like a dog. Then what happens next is quite remarkable. I'm sitting in my underwear next to a very nice looking woman. She's wearing a red plaid flannel shirt and jeans. Short straight black hair and perfect white teeth. She has a great smile. I think she is a single mom. She has a copper wire. The kind used for electricity and it's coated in white plastic with the copper exposed at the end and exposed about six inches down. She's bending it back and forth. Then somehow I have a copper wire too but smaller gauge, thinner. We both proceed to bend our wires back and forth. If you do this long enough the wire will break. Anyway the whole vibe is just great and I feel we're kind of making a bond together over bending those wires. Maybe it's an art project I'm thinking of. Anyway she's a very pleasant person. Never seen her before in my life. She seems full of good things. I go back to my pack and gather up my t-shirts and clothes. Now she's moved over and is sitting in a chair and I take my stuff over and sit in a chair across from her. The chairs are close together. I start putting on my pants. My pants are jeans too. Just like hers. They're kind of new and hardly faded at all and I show her how our jeans match. I start singing some old Fred Astaire song,

"… I'm puttin' on my top hat, Tyin' up my white tie, Brushin' off my tails. I'm dudin' up my shirt front, Puttin' in the shirt studs, Polishin' my nails, I'm steppin' out, my dear, To breathe an atmosphere

She's singing along with me. She's smiling. We're having a great time.

#dreams

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hbelcherarts246-01 · 5 months

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Course Reflection

The past semester and this class were, in combination with each other, quite an intense ride, to be honest. I started my semester feeling really organized and energized, which was great. In regards to the first day of this class, I felt a little overwhelmed seeing the syllabus for the first time, because there was so much ground to cover. But I was also glad for how clear and detailed it was, and it became a really helpful resource later on.

The first project was a huge challenge for me, mainly because it was a bit of a “culture shock”. It required much more precision, effort, and time than any art/design project I’d ever been assigned before. It was a bit of a trial by fire, but the clear guidelines and instructions in the project sheet, as well as the in-class demos, were extremely helpful. I honestly think the first project was the hardest out of the entire semester, but that turned out to be a good thing. I learned more about how to use a ruler and X-acto knife in Project 1 than I learned in all of my years of education combined. It also let me gauge how much time I’d need to set aside for this course in the future and helped me learn early on how to consult all resources available to me.

As the semester went on, things in the class started to change. The projects became more technically complex in terms of design software skills (as opposed to physical media like the first couple of projects). We shifted to doing a lot of peer feedback during class, conceptual thinking became a focus, and planning projects out clearly and thinking ahead was a necessity. This was especially true for the last two projects.

“Remaking Language” was both one of my most and least favorite projects from the semester. I love typographic abstraction and manipulation and I’m somewhat confident in my Adobe Illustrator skills when it comes to these areas of graphic design. So, I loved that part of the project. However, I absolutely hate layout design and I’m unskilled in Adobe InDesign as a whole. This meant I had a really awful time trying to design my spreads during the final stretch of the project. I will say that I learned quite a lot about InDesign in the process, but I still strongly dislike it. I think this was the project that made me realize layout design is not my dream career.

The last project tied in every project we’d had previously, and I found most parts of it really enjoyable. Working on Adobe Illustrator was, of course, a highlight for me, but I also found a passion for creating brand identities and writing in depth about their archetypes, ethos, and MSCWs. Creating logos was something I’d done before in an earlier GD+I introductory course, but it never gets boring. I found it really cool to be able to look at my logo designs from that course and this course side-by-side. I think I’ve overall improved, based on my comparison of the logos, at least. However, I can see that I need to continue to work on my Adobe Illustrator skills and use of color.

Despite the challenges, I learned so much in this course. I got better at figuring out things on my own, especially with Illustrator. I also got more comfortable asking for feedback, which was a big step for me. Looking forward, I’m excited to keep working on Illustrator and Indesign. I want to get better at managing my time and planning out my projects. I'm taking the next level of this course, so I'm hoping to learn more there.

This semester was hard, but I feel like it taught me a lot about handling stress and juggling different tasks. It was a valuable experience and I’m glad for what I learned and I’m looking forward to applying it in my next classes and projects.

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nandostateofmind · 8 months

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Blue Belt Bliss………

The Joy of Being One of the Big Fish in the Little Pond…….

The guy who rides the bench in the NBA is like Wilt Chamberlain in the YMCA he can drop a 100 on the courts. The guy in triple A baseball was a legend in his high school. The guy on the PGA tour who doesn’t have name recognition is better than everyone you know who is a hobbyist by far. The mma fighter in the amateurs can probably kick the ass of 99.9% of untrained people fairly easily. They all have one thing in common. They all dream of being the best of being in the big leagues. They may never make it to what they believe is their goal. They have however achieved a super high level of proficiency in their chosen field. They are great just not next level great. However, in their world they had to have been really good for their level and that had to feel awesome even if they didn’t achieve their ultimate goal.

Now a black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu that’s someone in the starting five NBA. That’s the starting center fielder in the MLB. That’s the guy who you know on the PGA tour but isn’t necessarily the winner of the tournament. That’s the guy in the UFC who isn’t the champion but who made the roster. There’re obviously levels in all of these fields, the Michael Jordans of the world, the Derek Jeter, the Tiger Woods or the Connor McGregor. However, in Brazilian Jiujitsu being a black belt is hard, like really hard. So being a black belt of any level is something to be respected. It is normally about a ten-year journey. A journey plagued by injuries, becoming stagnant, and lots and lots of getting your ass kicked along the way. Black belt is hard.

I’m a blue belt. I’m confident in that. I’m not confused there’s no real doubt in my mind. I don’t mind it. I train Brazilian jiujitsu this is a life long journey. I hear a lot of guys talk about wanting to get promoted and that is cool. I respect I dream if it, but also, I’m in no rush. Right now, I give blue belts what I consider competitive rolls. I submit some purple belts sometimes and on some rare days I may catch a brown belt who was letting me work a bit too much. I worry that I suffer from imposter syndrome sometimes. As though maybe I think I’m improving and I’m not actually improving. It’s hard to gauge. What I do know for a fact is right now I’m good. There’s no pressure at blue belt. If I catch a purple belt I’m like oh nice I’m getting better. If I get submitted by a white belt I can just say hey I’m only a blue belt.

Right now, I’m riding playing high school basketball, baseball, or golf. There’s no pressure and there is that confidence that against someone untrained and without a weapon I will probably do okay. Amongst my training partners I’m not the most feared and I’m no one’s rest round either. I am just enjoying the ride. All pressure of belt chasing isn’t on me I am in the zone where I love my martial art, I love my academy and training partners, and I love my rank. I get to be the big fish in the little pond right now. The high school player with the nice average. Let me sandbag for a bit. Let me improve my game. I don’t want to really grow into my belt. I want there to be no doubt that I am a purple belt when I achieve that rank. People say there is this thing called blue belt blues. That’s because blue belt is the belt with the widest gap in knowledge so you can spend a really long time as a blue belt. I think that on this matter it is about perspective because right now I am in blue belt bliss. I got my third stripe and I got it from a close friend. Maybe it was nepotism, which I doubt because he is a tough judge. Either way, I love this I don’t have no where to be I think I will stay for a while.

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