#and I wanted folks to know more about my design process

[thatbadadvice]

Dear Advisor,

I tend to be a very reserved and shy person so making friends is super hard. Recently I’ve been wanting to socialize more , but I genuinely don’t know how. Is there any advice that you have that can make me look more approachable and not be scared to talk to people. I’m so stressed about being alone and not having any friends, but I just find it so hard to go up to people and make a conversation. I tried once but it became super awkward. I just really need good advice from someone on how to approach a person and continue a conversation.

Dear Awkward Anonymous,

It would be so easy to get into a whole deep let's-skeetshoot-therapy-on-the-internet session and try to help a total stranger unpack all of the GA-FUCKING-ZILLION ways in which social awkwardness shows up in a person's life. It seems easy, and it even seems meaningful and worthwhile, but to do so I would have to presume a bunch about your life, and make a bunch of assumptions about the ways in which my own experiences maybe/probably track with yours, and it would be a whole big wank-fest, and frankly ... it would be awkward. I'd be like you, standing there at the party, hoping that what I'm saying resonates or lands or even vaguely tracks with anything a stranger has ever known or experienced, presuming (probably rightly!) that it doesn't, and then flailing and blaming myself when I didn't emerge from the interaction with all the world's gold stars.

So here's what: stop talking to other people as a primary social occupation. Going up to people and just talking is fucking terrifying. The Bad Advisor says this as a Certified Extrovert™ who rarely shuts the fuck up.

Instead, find a thing to do with other people that involves some sort of task or goal or activity. Talk about the thing you're doing together, when you're doing it. If it feels okay, maybe introduce one or two of your own relatable-to-the-activity experiences in the process. See who picks up on it. Ask the people who pick up on it genuinely interested questions in response. This is what we awkward people call: engineering a conversation. It is the way, I am told, humans make connections with other humans. I have seen it work in my own life.

Depending on where you live and your ability level and skill set, I bet you have some options! You could seek out an open board game night, pub quiz session, knitting/quilting circle, or mutual aid meetup that's looking for volunteers. Especially look for social activities with strangers that involve a dedicated, pre-prescribed activity (such as a hiking or mall-walking group, stuffing envelopes for a political candidate or cause you care about, planting trees at your local park, or tasting tea/wine/beer/etc.). (Somebody is going to say join a ballroom dancing club or suchlike; I am personally terrified of this, but if you have a higher tolerance for strangers touching you and fewer than two left feet: it's literally an option. Line-dancing, on the other hand ... absofuckinglutely.)

Even if what's available in your area isn't your precise and specific interest, it might be worthwhile to check out something you are decidedly meh about -- you might not be the only meh person there. You can bond over shit that's boring or shitty with other people who find it boring or shitty! Some of my best friends, arguably my very best friends, came out of experiences we mutually loathed or found at least moderately and mutually miserable.

Consider especially finding an activity where you yourself are the manager of operations and/or have a designated task to take care of that is unique to your position! This doesn't have to be complicated or skill-dependent; can you become a voter registrar in your area? Well, bam! You've got paperwork people have to fill out and a good reason to jibber-jabber with folks who have to ask you the questions. Other ideas: join your local neighborhood association board, become a notary public, or see if your local pet rescue is looking for intake line volunteers. Do you have a trustworthy, especially outgoing friend who might agree to play "social glue" for you a couple of times at their activity-centric events? Make it explicit! Ask them if they'll play friendly wing-person for you at their D&D game, fantasy sports league, or some such.

Alternately: Do you have a unique and fun and shareable skillset you can share with others? Are you pretty good at drawing, programming? Simply a font of endless Merlin or NFL or Real Housewives knowledge? You might start a local Discord or other online social group to discuss and share your interests, then move it to the real world in a few weeks once folks get comfortable. You get the idea.

Most of all: Look for stuff that has more-than-just-talking opportunities available outside the designated group jam for you to maintain connections. Perhaps a group chat, a Discord, a Slack, what-have-you, where you can take more time to consider and draft your responses and posts? Connections with humans get made a thousand ways, and talking raw-dog with strangers is but one.

It takes a true social unicorn to be simply good at talking and only talking to other people. There are some of these one-horned wonders out there, to be sure — but let me assure you that the vast majority of folks want to be accepted and seen just as much as you do, and they're staring at the ceiling at night thinking just as much (more, probably) about all the weird, wonky shit they themselves threw at you than they are anything you ever said to them.

#good advice #good advice interlude #socializing #awkward #introvert problems #shy #shyness #get out there we're all fucking squares

[mcmansionhell]

hark ye oakland county

Howdy folks! Today I've decided to return to a long-neglected place of terrible vibes, Oakland County, Michigan. The house on special is, one could say, fit for a king but like maybe one of those kings that sells used cars on tv in the wee hours of the night. Anyway:

This house, built during the ripe housing bubble era of 2002, will only cost the good sir a marginal $3.2 million. For such a pittance, one receives 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, and around 5,000 square feet. Princely!

Now, you might be thinking that this house will be decked out in the cheesiest middle ages decor imaginable -- yes, Kate, surely you shall be showing us a cromulent McCastle specimen. Alas, nay, it is worse than that.

Here is my theory: the people who live in this house do not understand what houses are nor how one behaves in them. It's like Mark Zuckerberg trying to be human. Nothing, and I mean nothing in this house matches, coordinates, flows, or makes sense. It's subtle, yes, but when you start to notice it, it becomes infuriating.

yeah, you know what would look good in this mostly neutral room? a painting with a clown palette. good for the digestion.

Tbh I wish they stuck with the hokey castle thing instead of making a house that looks like a bank lobby.

There's a weird Dracula subtext going on here and it makes me uncomfortable.

I am trying to understand the thought process here. First: tray ceiling. ok. normal mcmansion stuff. Now we need the two narrowest windows WITH a big fanlight on top. OK SO instead of doing a tray ceiling in the middle of the room, what if we did like, a double soffit with recessed lights. Ok. BUT THEN WHAT ABOUT THE WINDOW?? Well we could move the window down two feet or replace it with a more normal window shape, you know one that makes a modicum of sense. However, for some reason that is unacceptable. Hence, moldus interruptus. And yet (and yet) we still want that tray ceiling look because this is 2002. So i guess?? nail on some moldings??? but they're brown because they have to match the doors instead of the white baseboards??????

???????????????

As a bonus, this room is the easiest for dressing up for Halloween.

You've got to give them credit where credit is due here. They had to find some kind of use for the McMansion foyer interzone despite the fact that it is a "room" with no walls that is clearly an oversized traffic area. It's like putting lounge chairs in the middle of an airport hallway.

Finally, the back side of this house which is marginally better than the castle stuff.

Anyway, thanks for joining me on this confounding journey. Bonus posts will be up tomorrow, and there's still time to catch me livestreaming terrible home design shows from the 90s on Thursday:

If you like this post and want more like it, support McMansion Hell on Patreon for as little as $1/month for access to great bonus content including extra posts and livestreams.

Not into recurring payments? Try the tip jar, because I live in Chicago and winter heating bills are coming

#mcmansion #mcmansionhell #mcmansion hell #architecture #2000s architecture #2002 #michigan #ugly houses #bad architecture #design #2000s design #2000s interiors #y2k

[kaeyats]

Can we see the Liyue characters reaction to the marriage rumor 👀 I can absolutely imagine Ninguang going all out while Xiao has no idea what to do but knows he should do something to catch your attention. All the while poor poor Zhongli is suddenly regretting not having access to the same luxuries he had as an archon so he could spoil you

SAGAU,, the creator's bride/groom (part 2)

a/n: was actually in the process of writing this, but i was so happy to get some interaction from my genshin blog. this is my very first ask, ackk! i got so excited i wrote everything down in one sitting. thank you so much for the ask!!

a rumor that the almighty creator of teyvat is in the process of choosing a spouse spreads like wildfire. and all their acolytes start sucking up to them like insane. liyue edition! mondstadt edition here.

reader's gender is not specified, as with most of my works. requests and imagines in my ask box are appreciated, but will take a while. :D

warnings: none

way before whispers of the creator's newest affairs were heard in mondstadt, way before those very words that caused a ferocious storm even reached the ears of the anemo archon, the rumors of the creator's supposed interest in marriage had already been quite rampant in liyue. trending was an understatement, not when every tongue within the lands of geo had spoken about their god's affairs regarding engagement and such.

everyone in liyue was buzzing when they heard the news. some feeling quite happy for the creator and some gearing up for the absolute war that would come the next few days. after all, the creator was currently staying in liyue harbor which practically screamed "OPPORTUNITY" for anyone in liyue who was interested.

safe to say, a certain former archon ended up choking on his food when he heard the news from the director of the wangsheng funeral parlor. zhongli didn't know if he was dreaming or not, the recent rumors too similar to one of his many fantasies with you. the only thing he needed now was for you to bust into the funeral parlor and propose to him, then he'd be fully convinced he was dreaming. but alas, no creator had appeared and no busting in had occured. and seconds later, his mind foggily returned to reality. he processed the information, at least he tried to, unable to grasp much for the next few minutes. immediately, he stood up, heading towards the direction of the hotel you were staying in. hu tao was a bit confused when the usually-composed-man left the room and said nothing, looking rather dazed. he originally intended to ask you if the rumors were true, wanting to take a rational approach, but the sight of all your acolytes clinging to you in a pathetic attempt to win you over had his head empty with jealousy. he was all too tempted to take the form of morax and persuade you with his endless and very valuable resources.

ningguang knew before most common folk, a characteristic move for the opportunistic businesswoman who had connections in almost every street of liyue. however, she did not expect your other followers to know as well when she descended from the jade palace to pay you a visit. behind her were many of her servants, carrying boxes decorated with intricate golden designs. it was quite obvious that whatever was inside each of those boxes cost quite a lot. the boxes themselves looked like they cost more than any of liyue's merchants' organs. however, they were barely acknowledged by you when the 11th harbinger stole you away once again, distracting you from ningguang's elegant presence with his mindless chatter.

the moment childe heard of your supposed interest in marriage, he decided then and there to make it his mission to bother you until your other suitors would eventually fend off. at first, it was questions about your interests and things you liked. he kept a mental list of all he learned that day, disappointed in himself for not knowing any sooner due to how busy he was all the time. the job of a fatui harbinger wasn't the easiest, after all. he considered the possibility that maybe if he got married to you, his service to the tsaritsa would be allowed an end and he could spend the rest of his years exploring the world by your side. he was quite content with listening to your ramblings and daydreaming about what it'd be like to be your lover, even more so your spouse. the moment the tianquan entered your room though, childe decided he would be a menace, wanting to push the rich woman's buttons until she would eventually give up on pursuing you.

ningguang was usually a very patient woman, but something about the ginger irked her in all the wrong ways. she couldn't handle the way he blatantly flirted with you, leaving subtle touches on your body. she could only glare at his hand as she took quiet sips of her tea from across where the two of you were seated. ningguang internally praised you for being such a kind and understanding god because if she was in your place, she would've smacked the fatui harbinger away by now. it was like she wasn't even in the room anymore with how much childe had been hogging you. she couldn't begin to imagine the pain of zhongli whose presence you haven't even noticed yet.

matters were only made worse by the fact that ganyu, someone ningguang thought she would never view as a rival entered your room without knocking, a faint blush on her cheeks. "[name], i happened to stumble into your favorite flowers and thought that maybe-" instead of your happy and accommodating smile, she was greeted with the three harshest glares she had ever encountered in her whole life. ganyu had heard of the rumors, yes, but she wasn't one to believe rumors so easily, so she paid them no mind unlike the three other figures in your room.

"oh, ganyu! what brings you here?" you left your place next to childe (an action that warranted a rather bitter look on his face), giddily wrapping your arms around ganyu to greet her. it seemed that she was much too flustered to answer your question and had completely forgotten how to form coherent words when you wrapped your arms around her. not that you minded. her facial expressions were quite funny to watch.

"ganyu, it's a pleasant surprise meeting you here. although i must say, it's quite rude how you just barged in here and called the creator by the first name. i'm sure you have better manners than that." ningguang spoke from her seat, directing her gaze away from you and ganyu, knowing that she would only get angrier by the second if she did. venom, rather poorly hidden, dripped from her words and it seemed to intimidate the poor girl next to you.

"no! no! it's fine, i told ganyu she could do that."

"barge into your room? or call you by your name?" childe asked from his seat, sounding sarcastic, but truthfully unable to stop himself from wondering.

"both. also, i've been asking all of you call me by my name, it just so happens that ganyu was the first to listen."

zhongli seemed to have more luck the next day when he happened to run into you in the streets of liyue harbor early in the morning.

"oh? [name]? i didn't expect to see you here so early in the morning." just uttering your name felt like violating a forbidden taboo to zhongli. but after yesterday's encounter, he thought that maybe you truly did like to be called by your name and you weren't just saying things as a test of respect.

"oh! xiao went to my room last night and invited me to a picnic near wangshu inn. i just thought it'd be more convenient if i started traveling there earlier, you know?"

"that sounds (unacceptable, he wanted to say. how could your other acolytes just let you wander alone?) a bit unsafe, your- [name]. if you don't mind, i can assist you to wangshu inn to reassure that you arrive there in one piece."

you would've refused zhongli's offer in any other scenario, but after practically ignoring his existence yesterday, you accepted as a way to apologize. perhaps you could ease his mind with a little bit of conversation. surely that would be enough to pay for your mistake yesterday.

now, xiao had absolutely no idea how courting worked. he tried going around the inn, looking for books, anything, that could assist him with the topic. perhaps you would like dead offerings? should he got hunting for wild animals? or would you rather he seduce you with his body like in those e-ro-ti-ka books he found somewhere around the inn? he felt defeated, not knowing what to do once you arrived for your little picnic date. things would've been much easier had he had rex lapis as a guide and an advisor, he thought to himself, so imagine his surprise once he spotted rex lapis' mortal form walking with you towards him.

zhongli was certainly planning on sabotaging your supposed friend date with xiao, scheming in his head how he would steal you away from the adeptus, using those moments to win you over. and when you two spent a few hours in pleasant conversation, walking side-by-side, ever so often smiling at each other and giddily laughing, he was pretty sure he was going to go through with his plan, despite the initial guilt he felt for sabotaging a close friend. however, when he saw the way xiao's cheeks grew ever-so-pink at the way you hugged him the moment you saw him and the way a smile threatened to break through the usually-stoic-man's facade, he decided to leave you two alone to bond, letting xiao have his moment with you.

zhongli sat quietly in wangshu inn's restaurant, plates empty as he wondered what you and xiao were up to at that very moment. the good food lessened the sting he felt, jealousy clawing at his insides. he shouldn't regret his decision, he told himself. not when alatus looked so elated to be around you. he nodded to himself, yes, this is the right thing to do.

looking down at his empty plate, that is when he realized he has no mora with him.

#zhongli x reader #genshin impact x gender neutral reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #sagau #genshin sagau #genshin cult au #morax x reader #childe x reader #ningguang x reader #ganyu x reader #xiao x reader #alatus x reader #sagau zhongli #sagau ningguang #sagau childe #sagau xiao #sagau ganyu #genshin zhongli #genshin childe #genshin ningguang #genshin ganyu #genshin xiao #self aware genshin #self aware au #self aware genshin au #do you like how messy my tags are #ajax x reader

[blackbackedjackal]

You know I've been feeling a little anxious bc Captain's werewolf form and June's shadowy version of her werewolf form look a lot a like and I always hope no one accuses either of us of design theft like it happened to me with one of my old characters, though I made his werewolf form in like 2020. June is cool as hell (if not cooler) I wouldn't want someone to be a jerk about it. Maybe I should draw them together shaking hands as a preventive measure lol

Heya! I hope this is ok to post but please don't worry about it! June's design is based off of other (mostly animated) werewolf designs I liked, but was given meaning through her story and the reason as to /why/ her form looks a certain way.

It's not that she's just shadowy, it's an intentional visual representation of black trauma. There's are cultural and social stigmas of Black people being systematically denied access to mental health resources or being told that they're just "lazy" or "crazy" or "faking it". June's form is altered by her mental/emotional state, it's what she /believes/ she is due to her past trauma and her story is, in part, learning deal with her trauma in a healthy way.

June's form is also based on the lesser known theories that The Beast of Gévaudan (which June is related to via her lycan lineage) was either a product of mass hysteria from the high number of wolf attacks in the region or was potentially a serial killer. The way the beast is often described (black fur, red lips, white/yellowed eyes and teeth) is similar to racist depictions of Black people in the past. I used this as a basis for designing her form. It's the intention and her story that's important, followed by visuals that are found within the werewolf genre and outside of it.

I'm a little too tired to go more in-depth but I'll leave this quote from the Jim Crow museum:

The mission of the Jim Crow Museum is straightforward: use items of intolerance to teach tolerance. We examine the historical patterns of race relations and the origins and consequences of racist depictions. The aim is to engage visitors in open and honest dialogues about this country's racial history...The Jim Crow Museum is founded on the belief that open, honest, even painful discussions about race are necessary to avoid yesterday's mistakes.

June's story is about racism. It's about intolerance towards black queer folk. It's about how Black people (especially black women) have to suffer under a system that denies them mental health resources, resulting in many Black people turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms. Her design was me intentionally marrying old werewolf motifs with a different perspective on the werewolf genre (since even today is it still mostly a white space). There's a stark difference to me when someone comes up with a similar design independently vs when someone is actively lifting direct inspiration from my work and twisting the meaning in the process.

#ask #racism cw

[ponett]

Got a spoilery ask about SLARPG regarding Melody's character arc and, to a lesser extent, the ending, so I'll put this below a read more!

Anonymous asked:

Heya! I adore adore adore SLARPG, and have latched pretty hard onto Melody and Harmony's dichotomy for a while... I was wondering whether you saw Harmony more as an obstacle to Melody's growth, or something to be worked on and reconciled with more like Madeline and Badeline from Celeste? Unless it's spoilers of course. It's one of the few threads left open after the game, and as a plural woman myself I was just curious. X3

I'll say up front that I've generally avoided stepping in and telling people what The One Correct Interpretation is for a lot of things in SLARPG. I didn't intend for Melody to be read as plural, since in the story Harmony is a parasitic outside force, but I also understand where that interpretation comes from and won't tell folks they're wrong for relating to her like that. That's just the beauty of art. We can relate to things however we want. I just wanna make sure my personal framing is clear before I talk about the thought behind Melody and Harmony's relationship

Harmony is more of a literary device than a character. While she's not an alternate personality for Melody, she's also not really a full person in her own right. I don't think about Harmony having her own arc. She's a magical force that occasionally externalizes Melody's darker, more self-critical thoughts for the audience, where normally she would keep them to herself. She has her own design and name to make the dialogue boxes easier to follow. I also keep it intentionally vague whether or not other people would be able to see Harmony because I find that understated uncertainty more fun.

On a literal level, Harmony is a magical parasite, and therefore an obstacle to be overcome. She's not supposed to be there, straight up. But because she's just the embodiment of dark thoughts that Melody is already having, there isn't really much point in "defeating" Harmony to me - which is why things play out the way they do.

Even if Melody got rid of Harmony, she would still have to deal with those feelings. It would be a purely symbolic victory. And symbolic victories like that are often satisfying as hell in fiction, but in real life you can't defeat your shadow self to stop those 3am "what if my friends are only pretending to like me" thoughts. So instead, Harmony is something Melody needs to cope with and minimize. It's not about getting rid of bad thoughts forever, but rather learning how to deal with them better. And that's an active, life-long process. And so Harmony remains, but Melody is working on having healthier relationships with both her loved ones and herself.

I'll also say that, while I love Celeste, Madeline and Badeline's arc is mostly irrelevant to the way I write Melody and Harmony. (I don't think this ask is accusing me of plagiarizing Maddy Thorson or anything, to be clear. I'm just on a tangent since the comparison was brought up.) SLARPG began development in 2015, so the Harmony scenes, and Melody's arc as a whole, were already planned before Celeste came out. While I worried about getting compared to a much more popular game, I stuck to my guns, knowing that my story was different enough to stand on its own. If anything, I just avoided specific phrases like "reflection" or "I'm a part of you" to try and keep people from just pointing and going "Celeste reference!"

Unfortunately the "wow this is just like Celeste" comments were unavoidable, as were the newfound generalizations about what all indie games about trans girls with anxiety must be like because there are two (2) whole games that share some common story tropes, and it seems like the ending may have thrown some people off because of expectations created by Celeste. But what are you gonna do? I at least avoided my absolute nightmare scenario of Deltarune Ch.2 doing glitch aesthetics or giving Susie and Noelle a kiss mechanic lmao

#anon #ask #slarpg asks #slarpg spoilers

[jqhotchner]

stars

nine

yn adjust the camera making sure it didn’t show her baby bump. she is about to do an interview discussing the album and fenty beauty. she didn’t need to world to see her bump just yet.

“rihanna! it’s so great to have you on the show!”

yn smiles. “it’s great to be here!” she states honestly. yn is really excited to discuss more about the album and she’s really excited to discus more about fenty beauty. she’s been working on her cosmetic line for a few years now! wanting everything to be absolutely perfect.

yn is now onto making her last name into an even bigger brand. she’s now getting into the fashion world and making sexy lingerie, bras, a few t-shirt designs, even making men boxers and everything you could think of. yn is ready for this new era in her life!

this just means she gets to be home more with her babies and her husband. she’d still travel here and there, but she’d be able to work from home instead of moving around too much.

aaron’s excited about that. he’d expressed he’s going to be putting in less hours as well! with derek and david willing to help out with more paperwork, he figured he could take advantage of that so he could get home to his family as soon as possible.

“so, we saw you’re currently married. congratulations are in order!”

“thank you!”

“how’s married life treating you? from our end you look absolutely stunning!”

yn blushes. “yeah, it’s been great! my husband and i got married two months back. we’re really enjoying married life. although if you talk to my mother she’d say we were already married. just made it official in the court of law.” yn giggles.

“mothers are always speeding up the process. id like to think mine just wanted me and my husband to give her grandchildren right after the wedding.”

yn laugh.

“how’s the album coming along? we hear this one’s gonna be the last for awhile.”

“yeah, im in the process of doing other projects. it just came down to wanting to spend as much time with the people i love, you know? ill get back into my music eventually. for now i think the fans will enjoy other plans i have!”

“like fenty beauty, correct?”

“yeah!”

“how long have you been working on your cosmetics line?”

“for about two years! i wanted it to be perfect and inclusive! so many different skin tones out there, you know? i have family members with darker complexions than mine. a lot of times they couldn’t find the right foundation or concealer. i wanted to make sure that everyone feels included. not left in the dust!”

“i understand that completely. took me awhile to find one that matches my skin tone even slightly. what else can we expect from fenty beauty?”

“it won’t just be makeup, it’ll also lead to having a better skin care routine. i just got a few family members into taking better care of their skin. you wouldn’t believe what most of them said they use for their skin.” yn shivers.

“well, i for one am really excited about fenty beauty and about this next album. when can we expect another single? and do you have a date for when the album is released?”

“the next single is out the twenty-second and the album will be released the eight of next month! along with a few other surprises!” yn winks into the camera.

“you heard it here first, folks! rihanna album will be released february eight! that was rihanna. thank you for your time, ri.”

“thank you for having me.” yn waves before shutting her laptop. she turns over and spots aaron staring at her. “what?” she blushed.

“just—you’re so fucking beautiful.” aaron kisses her shoulder.

“baby,”

“i mean it.”

yn leans over and aaron kisses her passionately. “how much time we got?” aaron groans.

yn turns to look at the clock. jessica currently has jack. she took him to the park to give yn alone time for the interview.

“twenty minutes.”

aaron smirks. “that’s enough time!”

#aaron hotchner x fem!reader #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x black!reader #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotch fic #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotch x reader #jqhotchner #jqhotchner masterlist #stars jqhotchner #aaron hotch fanfiction #aaron hotch imagine #aaron hotchner x female reader

[theresattrpgforthat]

Found your blog by chance, seems like a very cool concept!

ʕっ• ᴥ • ʔっ🫖🍵

I wonder if you have played Warhammer Fantasy RPG, and if you have any thoughts on it, or who you would recommend it to bonus question, any rules light one session RPGs with ready example scenarios you'd recommend?

Hello there! I do not have any experience with Warhammer in any of its forms, unfortunately. The closes I’ve gotten to experiencing anything Warhammer is the actual play episodes hosted on Fandible. I’ll post links to each of their episodes below.

Only War | Black Crusade | Age of Sigmar | The Black, the Grey & the Skaven | Wrath & Glory

Now, let’s see if I can do anything about the second half of your request!

Theme: Rules-Light Single Sessions.

A Complicated Profession, by Always Checkers Publishing.

A Complicated Profession is a light-hearted sci-fi TTRPG for 3 to 5 players. It's a one-shot that usually lasts a few sessions. What do bounty hunters do when the galaxy no longer needs them? In this game, they start new careers hosting intergalactic cruises!

Reunite your disbanded crew of jaded sidekicks, shabby droids and shady accomplices. Then pick a hosting role and start a new life together. 

While it may last a little longer than one session, I’m really excited about A Complicated Profession, as my game group will be playing it in about a month or so! Character creation is something of a fill-it-in mad-libs style process, which I can foresee being pretty quick and easy to set up. The tone of the game is really lighthearted as well, which I think is a great thing to look for when playing one-shots, especially if you’re playing games with folks you don’t know very well. I I don’t know game doesn’t have a predetermined scenario, but the focus of the game itself is pretty narrow, so I think it would be pretty easy to figure out what kinds of obstacles your retired bounty hunters will be up to.

Never & More, by Small Stories.

You are the newest recruits of The Society of Ushers, an occult secret society. Your mission is to prove yourself to your superiors, master the rituals required to move up a rung, and learn how to talk to ravens. Your direct superior and teacher, the Belfry-Devil, has finally deemed you suitable to circulate by yourselves amongst greater society, trusting you to remain faithful to the Ushers in the face of attempted poaching, targeted seduction, and superior parties.

This is a simple example of the kinds of games that exist in the Lasers-and-Feelings family of games, all designed around the concept of two core stats that tell us about your characters’ strengths and weaknesses. Many L&F games come with a few quick steps to create your character, a specific setting or mission, and a series of roll tables to help the GM construct a threat and series of obstacles. If you like rules-light games that are quick to read and occult settings, you might want to check out this game.

For Moria, by Luis Lasbelin.

With the Balrog dead, the hope of retaking Moria is more alive than ever. Thousands of dwarves gather from the great fortresses hidden beneath the mountains with the sole purpose of fighting to reclaim the once great dwarven stronghold.

For Moria uses the Breathless game system for games of terror and tension.

Breathless games are meant to put your characters in heavily dangerous situations, with resources that are guaranteed to run out. Because of this, I think they are a good fit for one-shot games, because there’s always the chance that your character meets some kind of doom. Because this game is about dwarves retaking Moria now that the Balrog is dead, I’d say that the setting does a lot of heavy lifting, assuming your characters are familiar with Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Definitely worth checking out.

Wolf Head, by A.C. Luke.

The King is just. Rather than execute you, he cursed you with the head of a wolf. Instead of death, you were exiled to be hunted for the rest of your days.

But now, the King needs you, or someone like you. There is a great crisis threatening the realm. If you were to solve it, he would remove the curse, pardon you of your crimes. What would you be willing to do for absolution?

WOLF HEAD is a dark fantasy tabletop role-playing game about medieval fable and what you will, and won't, do to be let back into the fold. Players take on the roles of wolves, criminals cursed with a wolf head and banished from society. You have become defined by your crimes—did you commit murder, foment revolution, speak heresy, or love the wrong person? And will what you did help or hinder you in clawing back what they took from you?

Wolf Head looks to have the capacity to be either a one-shot or take place over a large campaign. The game is meant to be zero-prep, which means that you can get a game up and running in no time, and the structure of quests means that you can start a one-shot with a specific quest that ends the session once it’s been accomplished. I don’t own this game, so I’m not sure if it comes with pre-written scenarios, but if it doesn’t, I’m expecting some tools to help you create your own quest pretty quickly.

Escape from Dino Island, by Sam Tung & Sam Roberts.

Escape from Dino Island is a thrilling adventure game about intrepid heroes trapped on an island overrun with creatures from a lost age—dinosaurs!

Players take on the role of everyday people who are brave and competent, but also in over their head. The game is designed to help you create the kind of stories that are full of action and suspense, but in which fighting is rarely a good option. Will you escape with your life? And what kind of person will you become in your quest to survive? There’s only one way to find out…

As a one-shot PbtA game, Escape from Dino Island starts you with a pretty tight premise: you’re trapped on an island populated with dinosaurs. Your characters all have different strengths that can help them get off the island, but one thing you have very little of is time. This is another story-first kind of game, but unlike other PbtA games, which require multiple sessions to tease out all of your character conflicts, Escape from Dino Island is meant to be played in one sitting, which means that any advancements available to your characters are expected to show up before the end of the first session.

Operation: Final Monarch, by poor students.

Operation Final Monarch is a one-page Tabletop RPG for 4-6 players. One player will act as the GM, providing obstacles, portraying passengers, and describing the Watchful Luftrahmer. You play as Infiltrators, spies from the fallen countries around Arstarkan. Your final mission is to kill Aleksander Von Korte.

When situations get risky you gamble with danger and can always push your luck to try to succeed in any situation. Be careful not to roll a 1 though, as a devastating consequence will soon follow. Use can also use your leverage over the passengers of the Watchful Luftrahmer, asking them questions they don’t want to answer or enacting your special abilities. When it all comes crashing down you will have to reveal your secrets to the other players. What do you really think about them? Are you secretly in love or hold a seed of resentment?

I keep an eye on one-page rpgs because they tend to be good candidates for single-session play. With only a few rules and not much room for character advancement, these games focus on giving you the basic premise of the game and the tools you have to play through it. Operation: Final Monarch gives your a very specific goal - assassinate Alexander Von Korte. You’re given a bottle setting to play this in as well - on Alexander’s blimp. I’m really interested in this game because it knows exactly what kind of experience it wants to give you, and it’s succinct and well laid out, which means that learning how to play isn’t that hard at all!

All Hands on Deck, by Alice V.

A gm-less, storytelling, Descended From the Queen game for three to six people about  a ship, its crew, and the sea they sail on. It is a game about the relationships between those people, about relying on each other, about being an individual in a team.

I wanted to spotlight a Descended from the Queen game because these games have a very unique mode of gameplay, which makes them really good for one-shot play. These games usually consist of a series of prompts attached to a regular playing card deck. Each turn consists of pulling a card from the deck, and answering the prompt related to it. Descended from the Queen games tend to be rather introspective, focusing on relationships and the ways they can affect our perceptions of events. The scenarios are also tied to each individual game, so in All Hands on Deck, the scenario involves a ships’ crew on a voyage, and the conflicts that may exist between different members due to the relationships they have to the Captain and each-other.

This Ship Is No Mother, by Thomas Manuel.

This Ship Is No Mother is a game about people in space, working jobs that are probably going to get them killed. Inspired by movies like Alien and games like Mothership and Dread, this is for fans of tension, creepy-crawlies, and general horror. Mechanically, it's a card-based Forged in the Dark game, first in the series of games currently called the Cardsharp Sonata.

In this game, players start with a full deck of cards and as you play, that deck will run down. When the deck ends, there is a climactic moment of panic as one of the characters is going to do something stupid and get themselves (and maybe everyone else) killed.

I got a chance to play this game with the creator last year and it really delivered! This Ship Is No Mother was originally designed as a way to run Mothership scenarios using a narrative system, with a time limit built in due to the fact that it uses cards instead of dice. You’ll use cards as resources, and since there’s only so many in the deck, you’ll run out of them one way or another. If you like suspense and alien horror, this is definitely worth checking out.

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Koboldly Go, by CoffeeSnake Studios.

Lady Blackbird, by John Harper.

Something is Wrong With the Chickens, by Elliot Davis.

The Great Soul Train Robbery, by Cloven Pine Games.

Faewater, by A Smouldering Lighthouse.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #game recommendations #dnd #asks #one-shot games

[ieatpastriesforfun]

r/daggerheart is toxic AF...and I love it

Note: This is just a rant about the subbreddit and their inability process any critique of the game that goes against their narrative of the game. The game itself has a lot of good parts, which I really like. But this post isn't about the game, but the subbreddit.

So you know, I am a nerd that like to nerd about games and probabilities. I've been interested in Daggerheart for a while because I am a fan of Critical Role, and the beta playtest rules recently came out. I was super excited, so I read through the PDF as soon as I got the chance, also started a game with my partner.

And honestly, there are some great parts to the game. But there are also some design decisions that made me scratch my head. So I shared some of my thoughts on r/daggerheart.

Oh boy did I poke a beehive. That subbreddit is pretty hostile toward anyone who dares to criticize the game. My first post critiquing the complexity of the damage system got down voted to oblivion. They told me I shouldn't have opinion on the very things I can read because I haven't played the game. So when I played the game and posted my feedback, these folks dismissed my criticisms because I was suffering from "new system syndrome."

Oh, and the comments. They were something else. The sub is dominated by a group of people who are pushing the narrative that Daggerheart is "rules-light" and "very easy" and "less math than DND."

Yes, Daggerheart is a rules-light game with a 377 page rulesbook. Because this is still beta, it is missing a ton of rules, not to mention artwork. But sure, it's a rules-light game. Because what is page count if not just a number?

Yes, Daggerheart is "very easy" if you ignore the fact that every character has HP, minor damage threshold, major damage threshold, severe damage threshold, stress, hope, and armor on top of your abilities and backstory and everything else you are trying to juggle.

Yes, Daggerheart has less math than DND because instead of just subtracting the damage from the HP, you compare the damage to each of the thresholds to decide whether or not you want to reduce the damage by armor, then determine how much you lower the HP by, unless it is below the minor threshold, in which case you take stress, but if you are filled up on stress, you take 1 HP. Oh, and you know, if you also ignore the fact that you roll two dice, add the numbers, and check to see which one is bigger to decide which one is bigger every single time you want to do something.

So yeah, if you ignore all of those very obvious things that I can see with my very own eyes, my own experience of running the game, my experience having played a rules-light RPG like Candela, they are right: Daggerheart is a rules-light game that is very easy to play with less math than DND /s.

Seriously, these folks will fight you tooth-and-nail to tell you that what you can see is wrong. They will gaslight you, tell you about how 11-years can play Daggerheart, their 73 year old mother can play Daggerheart, tell you that you are playing the game wrong, DND has taught you bad habits, and that your critique doesn't matter because all you want is the game to be more like DND.

And I love it. I love seeing the cognitive dissonance. I love going at it with these die-hard fans. And it's pretty easy on my part. I don't need to get mean—all I need to do is point out very obvious things. And you know, no foul no harm—we keep going until one or both of us get sick of arguing about whatever specific thing we are arguing about.

Anyway, enough of my rant.

I want Daggerheart to succeed. I really do. I think Matt Mercer and friends are pretty good folks, and I find their story inspiring, and I would love to see them succeed. I hope that Daggerheart developers listen to the critical feedbacks, make the game better, and not try to push any weird narratives (like they did with Candela vs FitD).

#daggerheart #reddit #critical role #ttrpg

[laciere]

Bo Ruberg: In making video games about queer and trans characters, like We Know The Devil, do you draw from your own personal experiences? Aevee Bee: Yes, but it's more complicated than that. I've been thinking a lot about this idea of "empathy games." You're supposed to be able to experience what it's like to be this other person, right? To me, that sounds very similar to the confessional writing that a lot of queer artists get pushed into. It's like, "Tell us about your queerness" rather than "Create a new experience for yourself." I'm wary of confessional work, but also confessional work is just hard for me to do. I have other ways of getting at similar things. We Know the Devil is super autobiographical, but it's also about me unpacking that autobiographical history and finding alternative avenues out of it. A confessional story about my own childhood would be this static product, like, "Look at this. Here is a thing that happened. It's tragic and bad. Empathize with it."Instead, the game offers alternatives. It says, "Here's a thing that brings you in and allows you to both experience queer suffering but also to escape from it." In making a game like that, you can control and process your personal truth instead of just reproducing it. Rather than give an outsider ownership of whatever queer story I'm telling, I feel like I'm giving other queer people the ability to reclaim and control their own stories and their pasts. Maybe that's too idealistic, but a lot of people have interpreted We know the Devil as being about how they were able to process, understand, or control a queer narrative. The game has these tragic endings but then it has this really powerful, subversive final act that allows you to break through. I think that's part of the game's success. Ruberg: You make an important point about the value of designing queer games for queer players, rather than for the mainstream. Are you also interested in straight, cisgender people playing your games? Bee: I'm not trying to make games for straight people. At some point, I had the revelation that I didn't need to make work that was accessible for as wide an audience as possible. I was like, "oh wait, I can make this stuff for a niche audience and be successful." That was informed by my journalism around #GamerGate, because I was like, "Why are we making stuff for these people who don't understand, who don't want to understand, or who are actively trying to attack us for doing this sort of work?" We don't need to talk to them. Rather than putting all your energy into trying to convert the one person who is really angry on the internet, why not take that time and create work for people who actually matter? With that said, with We Know the Devil, I wrote a very honest and personal story that was true to myself and that is inherently accessible for others. The game is about women in love with other women, but a lot of folks who don't identify in that way still really relate to the narrative. If you're interested in making games, you should be thinking about it that way rather than trying to create something for some other person. Instead, be like, "I am creating this thing for myself and you are invited to participate. I am asking you to open yourself and leave behind certain assumptions." That's what good stories do. They invite you in.

"Aevee Bee: On Designing for Queer Players and Remaking Autobiographical Truth", in The Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers are Reimagining The Medium of Video Games (2020, Duke University Press)

#the queer games avant garde #aevee bee #we know the devil #reading log #interviews #video games #bo ruberg

[probablyaparadox]

Oh gosh here we go again- the peak of my hyper fixation on something where I finally post a theory... SO CROCODILE- (Y'all love this guy on tumblr-)I'm going to be very truthful, this started out as a head cannon which I found evidence for in this theory to bring my idea's to completion, and really ties up my thought process together.

What are the key takeaways? 1. Crocodile specifically Avoids having a ring on ring finger, and this could be because he has a spouse 2. Him having lost them in some way, and Iva knowing about them. But why Iva? And why do I say them? Y'all already know- I'm saying Crocodile is gay, and has a husband, well somewhere out there. This makes logistic sense because well, why Iva becomes answered, but we also have a subtle hint in crocodiles overall design. Firstly

Crocodiles Outfit is surprisingly evocative of the victorian dress. Mostly thanks to the vest and cravat look. Additionally, the victorian era began in 1837, very close to when Cigars became popular. I bring this up partially because I think it's cool, and partially because it allows for some implications to come across, as one piece's world spans socially over several decades in terms of atmosphere and acceptance. Mostly that the victorian era was a time where being LGBTQ+ was still considered taboo. So while most of new kama is living in the times of 1970's to modern day, he is very much living in the victorian era. One revolves around being loud and proud, and the other very much around subtleties. What subtleties does he have? Well. For starters, It's a very- Choice colour with the purple vest there. (this is mostly a joke, although purple is associated with signalling, it's usually a different manner as far as I'm aware.) What I actually want to talk about is the earring. Most characters in one piece Wear double earrings if they are wearing them (I.E. Law, bart, Nami, Blackbeard etc.) For those of you unaware, Earring signalling goes like this. Right is gay, left is straight. I could only find three characters wearing a single earring. 1. Zoro on his left. 2. Benn Beckman on his right (Good for him!/hj) and 3. Crocodile on his right. So with this ramble aside. I think his interactions with Iva and the gays TM make much more sense. He's down with the gays because well. He is. They literally give him an entirely new outfit, just like they do for the rest of the LGBTQ+ people they bring in. And why IVA SPECIFICALLY would know that he is married, as per Iva knowing and being all gay peoples parent (/hj). In all seriousness I think it would make sense in this context that he asked Iva to help with his wedding or something of the like, since he (and presumably his husband) likely didn't have many connections to people who could do wedding stuff non-judgementally I.E. a cake or getting someone to do the vows. It's very wholesome, but it's something that I could see as Crocodile wanting to be kept secret, as he's been characterized as someone very secretive. This part is pure speculation/almost definitely false; but. I could definitely see some sort of "held hostage" situation. As Crocodile said "If you want to protect something, do it right." This could be someone who is protecting something, but also someone who lost it. I mean, they've forced the other warlords into similar corners, with the protection of Amazon Lily, or the release of Arlong (and likewise the safe return of all the escaped slaves from the Sun pirates who just wanted to go home.) It makes the "wanting to have a power that can match the WG or any nation in force" goal of his have a much more interesting reason than "KING OF THE PIRATES." We got enough folks aiming for that already, and I feel like if you beat an early antagonist that badly and just keep using him, you gotta have some kind of pay off that doesn't involve him getting beat again.

#one piece #crocodile one piece #sir crocodile #emporio ivankov #one piece ivankov #one piece theory #one piece theories #OH GOD THIS IS LONG #Sorry about the rant guys I promise I'll stop talking about crocodile now #This completely explains why he hired Bon clay besides bon clay being one of the more capable members #LGBTQ+ Friendly workplaces are in one piece are limited to Baroque works kamabaka kingdom and the red haired pirates #Yea Idk about Benn but I felt the need to acknowledge it+ it's funny #cross guild #Cross guild is the ultimate friendgroup of autism/gay/silly #this theory doesn't disprove crocodad #just disregard speculation and it fits perfectly #*looks at Oda* #*Grabby hands motion* #Give backstory

[artists-who-rarely-draws]

Oh wow! I wasn't expecting you all to like the mcd sona so much!!! But I'm so happy you do!! Thank you to everyone for the compliments and have a garroth in return!

(I just got my laptop back so I'm relearning how to render on csp bare with me lmfao)

Also!! Some of you showed interest in me making a minecraft roleplay of my own!!!!! I'm posting about it day to day on tik tok but!! If yall want to hear about it here I'll make posts!!

So under the cut has some info on that in the mean time! To see if anyone has any intrest ^^

I do not know what to call it rn so it has the temporary name of 'Villiage Tributes' which I hate but I suck at titles lmfaoo

Character design stuff and their info is at the bottom for now I'll talk about what I know I want video formatting and general universe lore wise ^^.

Video Format:

-whole the main focus will be on the storytelling there will be some just general playing minecraft aspects! Like the getting materials and building, because I liked a small amount of those ya know! And no one includes them at all anymore. :(

-audience feedback will be a HUGE part! Mainly in things like end pairings and junk so long as it doesn't compromise the writing ^^

-while the main medium will be well-minecraft lolol, I would want to have some scenes/ Intros be done with art/animatics!!! To make up for some parts where minecraft may lack the proper ommf lmfao (like when a important character in introduced the first scene will be drawn to better show off character designs and junk!

Universe Lore:

-it will be kind of a skyrim kingdom build- where there is a major central city and leader, and a bunch of regional lords as well, maybe like a council thing? Oh?

-there are currently 3 major love interests! (For the mc) they will get individual posts but here are just the uh, biggest tropes? With them?

-Guard x Noble (come on i- how can I not?? Mcd or not it's necessary for medival fantasy come ON)

-Flirt Hopeless romantic x oblivious (it's cute trust me)

-Villian x hero (i- come on come ON)

Also!!! There's a possibly poly options!!!! (Not with the villian so sorry lads)

-this is taking place directly after a giant Civil War for the rights of Animal and Magic Folk! So the world we enter in is currently recovering and rebuilding and has gone through MASSIVE social and legal changes!

-we won't be originally starting off in a village! We will be starting in something more of a camp/ settlement? And ontop of everything we will be going through the process of getting it legally recognized as a village!!

Character designs and some info!

Mc

Yeah, I know, I never promised I wouldn't be cringe. Most of

Name: Mello

Pronouns: Any/ all

Powers: under construction

Most of the backstory is top secret for now lol.

Fun fact:

-Stims when upset by frantically tapping a finger against her palm

Love intrest 1:

(He is getting a ref remake because I did this on my phone and on a day where I just could- NOT draw for the life of me!)

So! This is getting way to long- so I will make follow up posts if yall want so!! Let me know! I'd LOVE to chat about it! There is so much work I'm doing all the time and I have so much lore

#art #oc art #digital art #mcd garroth #mcd art #mcd #aphmau mcd #minecraft diaries #minecraft #roleplay #roleplay series #minecraft series

[chinchillamajor]

So, remember that D20 system for determining the power level of any Golbetty-caused offspring @cottagedeer came up with, for all those pregnant AU Simons out there?

Deer rolled a natural 20 for one Simon. (That is, "this kid is not even remotely humanoid in form, and could end entire worlds if they felt like it.") And, using my special 1s-or-20s die, so did I.

I saw Deer went back to the drawing board on that particular Golbaby's design, to something more fittingly unknowably eldritch.

I know this world of pregnant Simon AUs is the furthest thing from a competition. Yet I found myself thinking, "I should really step up my game on *my* design, too."

I'd figured that, for my Star Simon AU, Star Simon's kiddo Dandelion chose to Nope out of the whole "being born in a physical form" thing altogether partway through the pregnancy, lest the kiddo end up wiping out Star Simon and the rest of his planet in the process. (Very kind of Dandelion to do that, really.)

Thus came Dandelion v1.0: a cute little abstract star shape, with cute little puffy wings.

But, with the whole "world ender" levels of Golbaby power afoot here, I got to thinking. What if the star shape with wings Star Simon sees is just, like... a stronger form of those parent-specific, "protect this kid at all costs" hormones kicking in, showing him what he'd want to see?

What would Dandelion *actually* look like?

Well...

Behold, a concept sketch of Dandelion's true form! A sort of optic nerve/dandelion plant hybrid. And they are *ginormous.*

Thankfully for those who'd be freaked out by an eyeball the size of a house suddenly floating into view, most people can't actually *see* Dandelion.

With no physical form, the kiddo exists 100% in the mental/magical realms. So unless someone's able to see through dimensions, it's rare that anyone's standing at *just* the right angle to catch a glimpse of them.

(It DOES happen, though. Poor Simons.)

I had to let the other folks who'd created all those pregnant Simon AUs know about this. What about the idea of Dandelion getting a play date with the other Golbabies out there?

Which was great, until I remembered @mushroomnoodles 's Golbaby Morrigan *loves* to chew on things, as a baby.

Best to not bring those two together on play dates until way, WAY off in the future. Which, bonus: in 2000 years or so, when Morri assumes their god-level form, Dandelion will finally have someone who's as tall as they are!

Then I had another idea. Dandelion's whole thing is their ability to portal from dimension to dimension, right? What if all those other Golbabies out there could see each other, through a bunch of portals opened at the same time? Maybe they could all have a party, even!

That's when I remembered: my IRL Dandelion's Nope Day last year was December 8th.

Why couldn't that be this fictional Dandelion's birthday, of sorts?

So, watch for another post on the 8th!

#star simon au #cw mpreg #simon petrikov mpreg

[wowbright]

Fic: Home for Christmas

Fandom/pairing: Glee, Kurt/Blaine

Event: December Klaine Fanworks Challenge 2023

Prompt: I'll Be Home For Christmas

Words: ~650 words                                  

Rating: Teen and up

Summary: On Blaine’s second Christmas as a missionary, he calls the Anderson clan. But first, he calls Kurt.

Notes: This is part of my Mormon!Klaine universe. It takes place after Out of Eden, which I am still in the process of posting to AO3. It’s among the likely possibilities for their future.

* * *

Christmas was as perfect as it could get on a mission. Blaine spent the day at the refugee center, playing with kids and chatting with the adults who didn't know German, but knew English. He and his companion came here at least twice a week now; President Steele had increased their service hours to ten a week so they could help out with the church’s refugee efforts. And because it was Christmas, they were allowed to spend even more time volunteering.

This was the kind of missionary work Blaine loved—sharing Christ's love not by preaching, but by helping to put smiles on the faces of people who had every reason to frown.

Unfortunately, they couldn't spend forever there. In the evening, they returned to their apartment to make their twice-a-year phone calls home. Blaine’s companion went into the bedroom for his call, shutting the door behind him. Blaine stayed in the kitchen and removed his contraband phone from its hiding place in his bag. He would call Arizona in a few minutes, but first he had someone else to talk to.

“Blaine! I'm so glad you got a chance to call! Merry Christmas!” Kurt’s voice was effervescent. It made Blaine feel light and bubbly inside. He was so grateful to Elder Nixon for convincing him to buy this phone.

“Me too. My companion is in the bedroom now calling his folks, and the door is closed. I love Christmas!” Blaine was already smiling so hard, he could feel a pleasant ache in his cheeks.

"Have you already called your folks?”

“No, he thinks that's what I'm doing now. And I will call them, but I had to hear your voice first. So tell me all about your Christmas!”

“Well—” Kurt launched into a warm and funny story about a candy cane incident involving his dad and aunt. “And yesterday’s caroling at the senior center with the old members of the glee club was fun. Most of our audience really seemed to enjoy it, but my favorite was the old lady who hated us. They had a big table of craft supplies for making decorations, and she kept taking the pipe cleaners and folding them up in suggestive designs and then throwing them at us. And she had the most creative insults! Really spunky! I can only aspire to be so charismatic in my old age.”

Blaine chuckled. Kurt was one of a kind.

“Now, tell me about your day,” Kurt said. “What did you do? I hope you didn't have to sit through an uncomfortable Christmas dinner with a family you hardly know. I hated those. I always felt like I was imposing.”

"It was great!” Blaine told Kurt all about it. They texted regularly, so Kurt was familiar with many of the names and personalities. But talking was special. Blaine didn't get many chances where he was alone enough that he could carry on a conversation out loud on his verboten phone.

“I'm so glad you're getting to volunteer more,” Kurt said. “You sound really happy.”

“I am, when I'm working with them. Some of the other stuff is still hard, but whenever I can help people, everything gets better,” Blaine said. “I still miss you, though. A lot.”

“I know. I miss you, too. I don't say it much, because I don't want to do anything that would pull you back home before you’re ready. But I’ll be really, really happy to see you and hold you and kiss you and … Well, my dad’s in the next room. I can't get too graphic. But I'm looking forward to all that when you get back, Blaine.”

Blaine felt himself blushing—out of delight more than modesty. “Me, too. And I can't wait to be home with you next Christmas.”

“Oh?” Kurt’s tone was flirtatious. “Whose home? Yours or mine?”

“It doesn't matter. Anywhere you are is home to me, Kurt.”

#december klaine challenge 2023 #prompt: I'll Be Home For Christmas #mormon!klaine #wowbright writes fic #klaine fic #klaine fanfic #klaine fanfiction

[mauesartetc]

Do you have any suggestions on how to make a purposefully plain character design.. not look too boring? Let me know if I can elaborate

Hmm! I think I get what you mean. I'm actually in the process of putting together a short ebook/worksheet thing concerning character design, and one section touches on this. Sometimes when folks see a design that looks a little bland, the first instinct is to jazz it up with a ton of detail, and before too long, this buries the character under heaps of visual noise that may or may not represent them accurately. So you definitely don't want to add things for the sake of adding things. Instead, be selective about what you do add.

A good rule of thumb I like to use is that if a small detail has:

Symbolic significance

Relevance to the character's backstory

Relevance to the character's lifestyle

...or some combination of the above, leave it in. If not, toss it.

However, it's also possible to add visual interest without adding detail. This is where contrast comes in.

Size contrast:

Shape contrast:

(See this post for more about shape language)

And color contrast:

The design still reads as "plain" in each of these cases, but now there's a bit more there to intrigue viewers. And the area of the design with the most contrast is the one that will attract the viewer's eye first. For emotionally expressive characters, you'll usually want this area to be the face (and the eyes in particular), but you can use contrast to draw attention to other areas as well. Just make sure they don't steal any thunder from the main focal point.

For this lady's refined design, I combined elements of my favorite iterations from the size, shape, and color sketches. The visuals are still fairly simple, but more interesting to look at.

Hope that helps!

#character design #ask #fullmusicbardsquared

[weremagnus]

Ok, several questions bc you have my dream job lol:

1. How did you get into the video game industry as a concept artist?

1a. Was it hard?

1b. What kind of degree did you need to work with the company ur currently employed with?

2. Is it hard being a full time artist?

Hi! Thanks for asking these questions. I'll do my best to answer based on my experiences.

1. How did you get into the video game industry as a concept artist?

I spent a year after graduation from college taking on any work that came my way. All really low budget stuff, a real hodgepodge of things: some of it was games, some of it was like... logos for local businesses. In that year I also took a trip to Burbank to attend the CTN Animation Expo (there's another one called Lightbox now) and I brought my college portfolio with me to show recruiters. I ended up meeting some folks who worked at a studio that interested me and they passed my name along to their recruitment department.

I do want to note: I didn't start as a concept artist. My first position involved concept art, but was primarily creating 2D game assets. As I kept working I was given opportunities that eventually earned a concept artist role.

1a. Was it hard?

At times it felt really difficult. Between jobs during that post-grad year, I was online researching what studios were out there and sending my portfolio to any hiring email I could find. Here are some of the places I was looking (originally I thought I'd get into the animation industry)

ANW

Canadian Animation Resources

These are newer resources that I know of since then:

Game dev jobs

Canadian Game Devs Discord

I often felt discouraged and out of my depth. I had no idea how to get in, and it could feel hopeless when I'd never get any worthwhile responses. It took a lot of patience, perseverance and determination to keep at it.

1b. What kind of degree did you need to work with the company ur currently employed with?

I have a bachelor's degree of Visual Communication and Design with a character design specialization. I don't think I needed it to get hired, but it certainly helped. I think it helped most in getting hired for a position that was slightly above entry-level.

I've been part of the hiring process and I can confidently say that while post-secondary education credentials are great to see on a resume, they've never been the deciding factor. I've seen more importance assigned to a portfolio with strong fundamentals, examples of work that prove an artist can match the project they're applying for, and that they interview well.

2. Is it hard being a full time artist?

It can be challenging, especially when you're starting out, but I don't think that's exclusive to the art profession. My biggest challenges were lifestyle changes when I was suddenly no longer a teenager/student but now an employee who has to be accountable to others and be good at managing their time.

Challenges specific to the career: you'll have to learn how to be willing and open about having your work critiqued, by both peers and superiors (art director, professors, etc). You'll have to disconnect yourself from the work you create on the job otherwise you risk taking every piece of feedback personally.

There are many days where you have no will to draw or design, but you have to do it anyway because it's your job. And there's no secret to getting through those days: you just force yourself.

There are also days, sometimes weeks, where you have to work on an assignment that doesn't interest you at all, but you're responsible for getting the work done.

#reply #text

[thirtyknives]

How to Burn the Goat

Friends. The Gävle Goat still stands.

I don't think the Swedes are going to pull it off this year. There's a bunch of shit working against them - not in the least the relocation from the Goat's traditional home in Castle Square to Rådhusesplanaden, a much more exposed location- so no dishonour is upon them. In the fight between recreational arsonists and the forces of law, sometimes the forces of law win. But it isn't about recreational arson, is it? It's the forces of Light beating back the long winter Darkness, the ritual immolation of 2022's psychic garbage, burned as a sacrifice for the Unconquered Sun. And I really, really don't need to tell you just how much psychic garbage there is to torch. So let's burn the motherfucker together.

The obvious and easy option to symbolically burn the Goat at a distance for tumblrinas is a "like to charge, share to cast" reblog chain. There's a few going round so I won't bother trying to link to them all. Slightly more involved is burning your own goat.

SAFETY FIRST MY DARLINGS

First off if you're in an area with a fire ban, don't fucking burn anything. Fire bans exist for a reason. Non fire options include:

Feed a picture of the Gävle Goat into a paper shredder, or just rip it up yourself.

Make Goat shaped foods (cookies, cake, even sammiches) and eat them.

Play my mate @thefallingdream's printable game The Goat Must Burn

Have a Goat themed cocktail, like an Old Goat or a Fainting Goat, or maybe goat milk lassi if you prefer to avoid alcohol.

Make effigies from Plasticine or modelling clay and flatten it

It's also a less widely celebrated tradition to toss the smaller Science Club Goat into the Gävle River. If you have a river to hand, you can always make a wee goatlet out of sticks, leaves and other natural materials and toss it right the fuck in. Remember, we're symbolic arsonists, not environmental vandals, so stick to shit that's in the river in the first place.

IF YOU DO OPT TO BURN, HERE IS A NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF WAYS TO DO SO SAFELY.

Choose your burn location wisely. Safer places to burn include:

Fireplaces

Barbecues

Firepits

Braziers

Clear areas of concrete or tile (OUTDOORS)

Clear areas of beach, away from other people

Ash has a habit of floating, so don't burn close to buildings. Get yourself something to put out the fire if it gets away from you. For small goats, a bucket of water will probably do, but running water from a hose is better. If you want to have a fire extinguisher to hand, make sure you know how to use it.

I also suggest that if you're not someone who lights a lot of fires for whatever reason, find someone who does to help you keep shit under control. I've made a lot of campfires and bonfires in the last forty years, so I can confidently build and set fires, and keep them contained. Scouts and avid campers generally have an idea of what they're doing too, and I guess if you're in a climate where fireplaces are a thing you'll have more folks around who can cremate a goat safely.

We also won't be drinking until after the Goat is safely extinguished. Even though the average age of participants is mid thirties and we're all legally able to, even an intelligent person can make for a stupid drunk and we'd rather not risk accidents. This is double so for myself, as I will be the Designated Fire Maniac for this event.

Bad places to burn your Goat:

Bedrooms (especially on desks or beds)

Indoors in general

Leaf strewn woodlands

Barns

Roads

Around unsupervised small children or drunks

I know there's bound to be a few of you who want to burn a goat but who have unsupportive home environments where this kind of lightweight witchcraft is a punishable offense. I can't stress enough that even the Small Scale Abstract Option below can burn your damn house down if you try it secretly in your bedroom or whatever. Just opt for a non-fire option if that's you.

FRIENDS YOU WILL NOT CLEAR THE PSYCHIC GARBAGE OF THE YEAR IF YOU BURN DOWN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD IN THE PROCESS

Now that I've got that bit out of the way, let's burn shit!

Option One: Small Scale Abstract Option

Just write "goat" on a bit of paper or a leaf or other safe to burn material and burn it safely in a little metal bowl, brazier, or whatever. You can supe it up by using a scrap of paper with strong negative vibes associated with 2022, like a power bill, legal summons or passive-aggressive note from your roomie.

Then ya burn it. Scrunch the paper into a ball, light your match, stuff the flaming end inside the ball of paper. Boom. Done.

If you want to print out the OG Goat or draw it, that works too. All we want to do here is consign the Goat to the ashes. That's it.

Option Two: Burn the Goat in Effigy

If you have space, time and the right level of bloody minded determination, why not build yourself a goat and burn it? It doesn't have to be complicated or large. Paper crafted goats or origami are fantastic for this, if you have the skill.

This one is made from toilet paper rolls and ice block sticks.

This is the larger goat we burned in 2020. It was made of paper shopping bags, natural wool and corrugated cardboard packing boxes for support:

If you're crafting your own there's a couple of considerations to keep in mind.

First is flammability. Stick to natural, flammable materials like paper, card, sticks and wood. String like twines made from jute, cotton or hemp, or natural yarn will also burn cleanly. I avoid adhesives at all and just use string, but if you want a glue wheatpaste will get the job done and will make the Goat smell like toast as it goes up. Metal fixtures like staples, nails or wire are fine too, just be mindful that they'll remain in the ashes afterwards and may need to be disposed of responsibly

Avoid using plastic tapes or glues like PVA. They burn fast and hot, in ways that can be unpredictable, and release nasty gases as they do. I generally also only use materials that are already the right color, but if you want to paint it avoid acrylic paints for the same reason you skip plastic tapes and glue. Tea and coffee washes will get the job done without choking you out or risking the goat burning unpredictably.

Both the goats above have hollow interiors. For us, this means we can write down our sorrows and insert them into the goat's body to be burned along with it. But it also provides oxygen for the fire and helps the goat to burn. I don't usually burn in proper fireplaces, but opt for short fast immolation so I don't use sticks or timber supports. If yours is going into a fireplace or barbecue you can use heavier materials that take longer to burn.

I am also not going to do any talking whatsoever about accelerants you can add to get this fire going. That is Advanced Level Immolation, and I will not be held accountable for any you people blasting your eyebrows off with a poorly timed spritzing of petrol. Let your designated fire maniac deal with that shit or just don't risk it at all.

Your second consideration when building your Goat is size. Pick your safe place to burn it before you start building, and construct it to fit its pyre. Again, safe places to burn your goat include:

Fireplaces

Barbecues

Firepits

Braziers

Clear areas of concrete or tile (OUTDOORS)

Clear areas of beach, away from other people

Small goats are just as good as large ones if you don't have a lot of room. For our purposes, burning an origami goat in a metal pail is just as good as my bigger guys. This year I'm crocheting a goat from paper yarn based very loosely on this pattern, because I've personally had a bitch of a year and each stitch is really sealing in that suffering. But it doesn't have to be fancy. It just needs to be goaty.

Let's make this happen, everyone!

Pictured: My 2020 goat. I burn on New Year's Eve to give the Swedes time to get theirs done first. That wall behind the Goat is wet, and so is the grass. Not shown is the garden hose at the ready and the many sober adults supervising, including a Designated Fire Maniac (me).

The 2021 Goat. Co-incident? I think not.

#yule #gavle goat #gavlebocken #gävle goat #gävlebocken