#they look a little wonky to me in some panels

[dorklyelectric]

"You build a career, you focus, and then suddenly the world's ending and it's too late to find... Someone."

Enjoy this mshenko comic I put together with my sleep deprived brain cause pacing go brrrr

#mass effect #mshenko #mshepard #kaidan alenko #john shepard #sheploo #this was TWENTY PAGES jfc #and i made a sequel to this bit?? goddamn #past me was cookin something #this was probably THE piece where I was adjusting my art style and getting used to drawing the two of them so like... #they look a little wonky to me in some panels #nevertheless if you hyperfixate on a game youre bound to massively improve right :)

[rebouks]

Keeping Lag to a Minimum...

I was chatting about a few things I do to combat lag over on discord and realised I do quite a bit of maintenance to reduce lag/load times. I decided to write em all down and before I knew it, I had a big ol' list. Here's hoping it helps!

Save/File Tips:

Clear your caches (located in the same spot as your mod folder fyi) I usually delete the onlinethumbnailcache, avatarcache and localthumbcache caches every time I exit the game, the main one to delete regularly is the localthumbcache file, they're just temporary files but it can get pretty big after a while.. if you're having any mod issues, particularly ui ones, it's always worth deleting that to see if it helps.

Remove any saves you're not using from your saves folder, and keep an eye on save file sizes. In my experience, any saves over around 30-40mb start to get a bit laggy. Things that bump this size up are the amount of townies in game and the amount of lots/objects in the world.

Regarding the above point, I regularly bulldoze lots I don't need anymore, just to save the game from having to cope with extra shit to load in the background and reduce save file bloat.

Similarly, I delete a lot of unnecessary townies. Also, try to keep the amount of outfits on townies to a minimum, ain't no townie need four swimsuit outfits, the game will thank you..

If you have cheats enabled you can usually shift-click/delete object on things like random coffee cups or stray cupcakes sims foolishly drop around the world (or eat em.. whatever tickles ur pickle) just get rid!

Whilst we're keeping objects in game to a minimum.. I try to clear sims inventories now and then, including townies. You can do this via mccc even if you're not currently playing that household by heading to MC Cleaner -> Sell Sim Inventory/Sell Household Inventory. RANDOM LUMPS OF CLAY BEGONE!

Think of a save file like a lot.. the more objects in it, the laggier it gets! Try your best to remove anything or anyone unnecessary where you can.

Hit "Save As" instead of "Save" now and then - the more you overwrite a save, the more chance it has of going wonky, treat your game to a fresh one now and then and remove the old one from your saves folder (maybe don't delete it right away in case you wanna roll back, keep it somewhere safe).

If you can (although ik it can be a pain) set up a new/fresh save, you'd be surprised how bogged down old ones can get! For legacy players, it's usually best to do this whenever you have a small family to save yourself some pain, since you can just save the household and take em to a new save (you will lose sims inventories/household inventories/relationships with sims outside the household tho so beware! Pictures/other collectables can be saved to a lot however, and you can always cheat back relationship bits etc.. bit of a last resort but new saves are shiny and fast!)

Make sure your Screenshots/Video folders are empty - move em somewhere else, it works, trust me. If you have a lot of custom music installed try n' clear some of those out too.. the smaller that Sims 4 directory is, the better.

Delete any last exceptions/last crashes (same spot as your mod folder again) you don't need em unless you're planning to upload em somewhere for help.

Settings Etc:

If you get a bad lag spike, opening the main menu and/or saving can randomly stop this. If it doesn't, try exiting the game, clearing your localthumbcache and restarting.

Clearing all notifications from the game panel can also help.

If you can, close all other apps and background apps you don't need whilst playing, ts4 is super memory hungry so it can definitely help.

The GraphicsRules Override file by Simp4Sims can reduce lag/latency and make your game look a little better in the process!

Srslysims Simulation Lag Fix mod can help reduce lag too (if you've altered the game speed via mccc tho, don't use this unless you plan on resetting it to default).

If you aren't keen on, or barely use a pack, consider disabling it.

Not ideal, especially for those of us taking screenshots, but lowering the graphics settings whilst playing definitely helps.

If you use re/g-shade, consider switching it off whilst playing and only turn it on for screenshots.

A clean and tidy pc/laptop runs better in general. Remove anything you're not using/don't need anymore to free up space, remove temp files, clean up your folders now and again etc etc.. especially that dreaded mod folder, speaking of...

Managing Mods:

SORT OUT YOUR MODS FOLDER FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.. skdsjdjs it doesn't have to be immaculate but at the very least try n' clear it out now n' then. Also try to separate your script mods/overrides from the rest, patch days don't need to be so stressful ;-;

Personally, I don't merge my mods; if something breaks it's much harder to pinpoint! It makes it easier to find/delete specific mods too.. and let's face it, there's usually one or two items in that set you could do without lmaooo.. also, don't think it helps much tbh! Yeah you could say the game doesn't have to work as hard to load merged files but that's debatable, it's still the same amount of items/polys at the end of the day ¯\(°_o)/¯

If you like merging files and/or see results from doing so, you can merge stuff you definitely know you're never getting rid of, especially CAS/BB stuff.. but steer clear of merging gameplay/script mods! If a merged file seems to be the culprit when using the 50/50 method, try unmerging it and 50/50ing it again! You might not need to get rid of everything if something's borked.

Bulk Rename Utility can be used to remove all spaces and special characters from your mod files, the game doesn't particularly like loading those so it'll thank you.

The Sims 4 Mod Manager is a great way to sort through your mods, you can easily see, move and delete files from here (not great for build/buy, poses etc as thumbnails are usually missing, but great for CAS stuff). An extra hint with this that I've noticed is that if any of my mods get renamed with [D1] at the beginning after looking through them via the mod manager, it means it's a duplicate file so you can get rid.

I also use the Sims 4 Tray Importer to help me sort through mods. Simply save a sim/lot with any cc you don't want and find it in the importer, you can then go through all the cc in the cc tab and delete/sort it (I also use this to sort cc if a bunch has the wrong tags etc, makes it easier to find in my folders by saving em to a lot or w/e - it also spots duplicates which is handy).

It's a ballache, but the 50/50 method is tried and tested if you're having issues.

I like to keep an abandoned cc folder tucked away somewhere, that way you can remove mods willy nilly without stressing about losing them. If you change your mind, you can always grab it back!

#ts4 #sims 4 #simblr #tips #reducing ts4 lag #uhhhhh #idk what else to tag this as #skdjskjd #ALSO! feel free to rb and add ur own tips! #lawd knows we need it with this game lmaoooo #as chaotic as he is.. i bet oscar's pc is immaculate #😌

[astaroth1357]

Flipping the Script: Leviathan Meet-Cute (Human World AU)

So what if you met the demon boys in the human world instead? You’re not magic. You’re not special. You’re an average little human that came crashing into some demons one day. Good luck!

Contents: Pretty new format for me, second person (you), forgive any wonkiness

Part One (You are here), Part Two, Part Three (Coming Soon...)

~♡♡♡~

You’re a hardcore otaku influencer with a niche in creating and sharing cosplay. You’ve befriended a lot of other enthusiasts pursuing your passions, but there was one guy that you met at a recent convention that stood out from all of the rest.

The Seven Lords was just having yet another milestone anniversary, so several friends in your circle all decided to get together and do a group cosplay for the fans, you all were even offered space for a panel and locations for meet-and-greets! Your whole fanbase was ecstatic, and so were you, but there was just one problem…

The friend that agreed to be your Third Lord backed out at the last minute! His baggage was totally lost on the flight there and suddenly your whole group was without a member to complete the set. Though you knew it wasn’t a huge deal, you hated to disappoint your fans who were looking for a full group photo-op…

But then you saw this guy waiting around your hotel lobby-

“I can't believe Wess had to cancel on us…!” You thought to yourself while tapping your foot furiously against the hotel's linoleum floor. You were waiting for check-in last night when your collaborator sent his text to everyone, and your team still hadn’t found a suitable replacement… How could you guys have a TSL photo event without a Lord of Shadows?? Especially when you're the one dressed as Henry! What self-respecting group TSL cosplay doesn’t have those two together?? They're the closest pair in the show! The Sun and Shadow shippers were going to start a riot…

You were all still double-checking your gear and supplies down in the lobby. Months of work had gone into planning and prepping for this event… Your friends were trying to calm you down as best as they could, but your nerves weren’t on your side… You hated letting down your fans, even if it was entirely out of your control. But without a replacement, what exactly could you do? Just as you were about to throw in the towel and get dressed, a bunch of shouting from the hallway entrance caught your attention.

“Why the hell am I stuck carryin’ all your crap, huh Levi?! Ya got two working hands!”

“Because this outfit is heavy, Mam-er-Malcom! I need help, or else I'll get sweaty and gross!”

“You're already gross, so what's it matter?”

“Shut up, scumbag!!”

'Yeesh, what a loud pair...' You turned to look their way with a visible frown to show your annoyance only for your jaw hit the floor. Two men walked out of the hall and into the lobby, one being a dark-skinned male with the whitest hair you'd ever seen, and the other… Sweet kami-sama above, the other guy…!!

He. Was. Perfect!! The dark, shadowy armor, constructed fron what you could only guess was EVA foam and faux furs, combined with his violet hair made him look like the spitting image of the Third Lord! It was almost like the character himself had climbed off the page!! You had to cover your mouth to contain an audible gasp of shock while glancing at the others in your team. Only a few of your friends had noticed the man's arrival, but those who had all shot you back the same kind of look, “Go get that guy. NOW!” Who were you to refuse?

The god-tier Third Lord cosplayer was still arguing with his companion when you first made your approach, allowing you to sneak up pretty close without getting noticed. By the time you were in speaking distance, you were already marveling at the craftsmanship of his cosplay up close. The foam pieces looked flawlessly metallic and there were no patches of hot glue mishaps, frayed stitching, or painting mistakes. It was truly something else!

“Hey, what'cha gawkin’ at??”

The white-haired male caught you red-handed, leading the cosplayer in his company to turn in your direction. Though, amusingly, the moment your eyes met he seemed just as star struck as you were. You wasted no time thrusting your hand out towards him with your most “camera-winning” smile.

“Hi! Uhm, I’m Y/n L/n and I'm-"

“-the most popular cosplay model on Instagram, three-time champion of the WCS competitions, and the host of the ‘TSL Today’ fan podcast-!”

You froze from surprise as the cosplayer slapped his mouth shut with his own hand in a bid to stop rambling. His cheeks instantly tinged pink as he must have realized that he was spitting your own resume at you in excitement. It was hard not to feel a bit flattered at the sudden eruption of joy, so you smiled back more genuinely.

“That’s right! You've heard of me?”

You waited for his response with a patient, maybe even endeared, gaze. Seeing that you weren’t immediately weirded out by his hyped babbling, he uncovered his mouth to respond shyly.

“Y-yeah, of course I do…! I uh… came here to see your meet-and-greet today…”

He winced, face getting hotter, and looked like he wanted to double over from embarrassment, but honestly, you couldn’t have been happier. A creator of THIS caliber was one of YOUR fans?? Talk about a “diamond in the rough” moment!

“Really? That’s awesome!! Because I couldn’t help but notice that cosplay you're wearing… Did you make it yourself?”

How his face recalibrated from flustered to ecstatic in just a few seconds could have made your heart melt. After he confirmed that his cosplay was his own handiwork you began to gush about the design, asking rapid-fire questions about the materials he bought, what patterns he found, and his different sewing techniques. You both were so caught up in each other's passion that you hardly even registered the other guy standing next to him until he finally cleared his throat insistently.

“Yo Levi… This crap’s gettin’ heavy. Are we going or what?”

The cosplayer, who you guessed was Levi, turned to the man reluctantly, which sent a surge of panic through you as you still hadn’t asked him to stay.

“Wait!!”

Both men flinched a bit at your sudden exclamation, making your cheeks flush with color, but you pressed on regardless,

“Um, Levi right? My team and I could use your help… Our Third Lord just dropped out on us today because of baggage troubles and we really need a replacement for the shoot. Your outfit is fantastic! Do you think that you could step into the role for us? I have early access badges to the vendors room, so we can take a look together if that uh… if that…? Um. Levi...?”

The man in front of you looked like he was moments away from breaking down in tears, but somehow holding them back through sheer force of will… and his closed eyelids making a decent dam.

“H-hold on… I think I need to pinch myself because this can’t be happening. Is this actually happening?”

His voice wobbled while the man next to him, Malcolm(?), rolled his eyes behind his gold-tinted glasses.

“Hey, that doesn’t answer their questions, ya know?” He elbowed Levi while looking at you with a serious expression, “Are ya willin’ to take him AND his stuff with ya?”

“Of course! It’s important to have everything while yo-”

“Great. You can have’em.”

You were taken aback just a bit by the speed of his response, but not as much as Levi because he quickly leapt back into the conscious world in a panic!

“Wha-wh-Whaah?? You can’t just answer for me!!”

Malcolm shrugged his shoulders, letting several bags he had on slide to the ground but cushioning the fall a bit with his foot.

“Why not? It’s clear ya wanna go with them. Unless you wanna leave them hangin'…”

“N-No!! I mean, yes! No-er UGH!”

You watched Levi cover his face in frustration feeling a twinge of sympathy. Does he get tongue-tied like this often? After a few seconds to compose himself, he finally straightened up to give his true response.

“Y-yes, I want to go with you…! Being able to help one of your online idols is like a dream come true for any fan! What can I do to help?”

You could feel your smile grow twice as wide from the combination of relief and gratitude. Maybe the shoot would go alright after all…

“Give me your hand.”

Levi stuttered watching you reach your hand out towards his, using your other one to pull out a black marker that you always kept on your person for fans. His skin was soft, but strangely cold, when he rested his knuckles into your upturned palm. The icy jolt even made you jump a bit. Holy crap, was he cold-blooded or something?? When he flashed you a concerned glance, you quickly recovered uncapped the marker between your fingers. With years of built up practice, you ran the black ink over his pale skin, but instead of a signature, you left one of your burner numbers that you used for interacting with collaborators.

“Here. We still need a bit of time to get ready, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the con. Text me your name and I'll send you back where to meet up once we're ready to go.”

Levi was staring at the black marks on his hand like you'd just handed him a key item in a video game when one of your team shouted back from behind you.

“Y/n! Why aren’t you dressed yet?? We gotta go!”

“Shit, I’m coming!” You turned to head back, but you spared just a second to smile at Levi over your shoulder. “Thank you so much, Levi, you're going to be a huge help! Don't forget to text.”

“I won’t!”

Levi's promise made you grin lift even higher. With a wink and a wave, you made your way back to the others with a brand new pep in your step. Mission, saved!!

Meanwhile…

“… Did ya seriously just score a number in that getup?”

“I swear, I’ll never wash this hand again...!!”

“Fuck's sake, Levi, stop being so gross! At least put it in your phone before your sweaty palms wipe it off!”

“Gah, you're right!!”

#this is one of those fics #i have completely finished in my head #but only 60% written #gonna play with fire this Christmas #obey me #obey me shall we date #shall-we-date-obey-me #obey me leviathan #obey me nightbringer #obey me scenarios #obey me what if #tales from the drafts #obey me fic #obey me x reader #leviathan x mc

[brother-emperors]

how long do you typically spend drawing a comic page? I'm a perfectionist and I have a hard time keeping a reasonable working pace for comics

so I’m actually going to not answer this one (the answer is both less and more time than people think, and it depends) but instead I’m going to give you some advice on how to deal with perfectionism when it comes to making comics

the first thing is to see if you can kill your inner perfectionist, which basically means, can you get comfortable with imperfections? this is something that can be difficult to do, but it can also really take some weight off your shoulders if you can look at a line that’s a little squiggly instead of perfectly smooth and move on from it. there’s a whole page, a single wonky line, is like. fine, especially if you’re doing more than one page.

if not, that’s okay! we’re moving on to the 75%-80% rule, which is: figure out what giving 100% in art looks like for you, then find out what giving 70%-80% looks like. As a person, you can probably consistently give 80% to any given illustration, but doing 100% all the time is going to fuck you up in the long run. If you can get comfortable consistently giving a 80%, you can then decide when you want to crank it up for dramatic effect, or you can save going all in on something fun or a big project. if perfectionism is a hard habit to break, instead try it reframe it as giving a ‘perfect’ 80% instead of 100. it’s all about that overall visual consistency, baby!

comics can feel like doing seven or eight individual illustrations on a page (panels) and some people definitely tackle them this way, and that makes learning what you can consistently give without wanting to shove your hands into cement very important. If every panel is a solid 80%, the entire page looks Good (which means the entire page is working at 100% because you have visual consistency/coherency and that’s what matters)

ideally, you reach a point where you can gauge what a good 80% of what you can give looks like across an entire sequence. for me, Trikaranos is operating at 80% while Ex Voto is 70% (part of it is that Trikaranos is more demanding, while Ex Voto is more casual and vibes based, but for both I put a lot more work into formatting and lettering)

part of what can help with all of this is figuring out a good work pipeline that encourages finishing up a sequence to keep you from getting stuck agonizing on small details

a decent one is this

thumbnails > rough pencils > do tight pencils where you think you’ll need it (I do tight pencils on facial expressions, furniture if there are bodies on it, and perspective shots) > inks > colors > lettering

adjust it based on whatever your own needs are, etc.

what’s imperative to this is that you don’t do the pencils > inks > coloring stages in sequential order, but instead jump around so that you don’t burn your energy through it (in that there’s a drop in quality as you either get tired or start to rush). Jumping around lets you spread out your high energy points and it picks up the slack for when you want to just get it done, but also it forcibly keeps you from spending too much time on one specific thing. (which is why breaking it up into stages is important, instead something like finishing one whole page from pencils to colors and then doing the next one)

when I do single page comics, I usually alternate every other panel, when I do multi page comics, I’ll either alternate entire pages or I’ll do the first and last pages at the start, and then jump around the middle in whatever order I feel like.

whenever I find myself spending too much time on something, I will set a playlist that has either a 15 minute or half hour run time, and when I reach the last song, if I’m still fucking around focusing on one thing, I’ll make myself move in and return to it later. I do this the most with the inking stage so that I don’t over ink something (I find crosshatching relaxing, but it doesn’t often look good because I do too much in one place and it looks bad because it doesn’t work with the rest of the panels and then I have to start over), and then I can go back to a panel with fresh eyes later and decide whether or not more detail is necessary for the whole page to look good, or if it’s fine as is.

and ofc, the most important guideline of all: the Fuck It, We’re Done rule, which is at some point, you may look at a page and go ‘I don’t want to work on this any more, I’m tired, it’s not fun, I’ll be stuck here forever, etc’ and that’s when you put your pencil down, physically move back from the page, and figure out what the bare minimum amount of work you need to do in order for the whole page to be coherent is, do JUST THAT, and post it.

at the end of the day, it’s the whole page that’s important, not all the individual details, so try not to focus on too many small details early on, but instead go back and add them in closer to the end. You can clean up any line art mistakes that are bothering you here at this stage too.

finally, don’t zoom in too close on a digital canvas, especially if you’re doing pencils. there’s no reason for a reader to zoom in close like that unless you specifically want them too, spare your hands the agony of tiny details that won’t be seen when you upload it at viewer resolutions. I know artists who won’t go past 150% because those details won’t show up at print resolutions.

HEUGHGHHH this is so so long, but hopefully there is some helpful advice in there for you, anon

#ask tag #long post #art supply tag #like technically #it’s more like art advice but the same kind of deal #ymmv this is a very professional ‘I have deadlines to meet’ type of thing. because I had deadlines to meet lmao #this is also close to how the American industry pros go about doing it. so. spare yourself the student loan debt #and modify it away to suit your needs

[detailtilted]

Somebody saaaave me! (I need opinions about colors.)

I'm working on the Comic-Con 2008 enhanced edition videos. This one has presented some new sorts of challenges. One challenge is that a lot of the videos I'm working with have wonky (I think) colors.

The video editing software I'm using has some color correction capabilities, but I'm really bad with colors. I know we have some amazing artists here, and I think pretty much anyone, artist or not, will have better judgment on this than I do. I once had to Google what colors went with gray because I'd bought some gray jeans and then after I brought them home I was convinced nothing in my closet went with them. Yes, gray.

I've made some attempts to improve the video colors, but I don't have a clue what I'm doing so it's mostly trial and error. I've also been looking at them for so long that I'm not sure if I've made them better or worse. I'm pretty sure the first set is at least a little better, but I'm not sure if it's only better in that it will make people only want to claw out one eye instead of both. I don't want anyone to claw any eyes out watching my videos!

Below are the examples I'm currently working with, including my settings in case that means anything to anyone. Just don't laugh too hard if my settings are idiotic! I'd be happy for any suggestions or opinions, good or bad, regardless of whether you think you're good with colors or not. However you want to communicate is fine, including private messages if you prefer that.

Set #1

This set of videos will be the main set people see, so it's especially important to me that this one not look horrible. It has the most stable and consistent focus on Jared and Jensen and there's coverage for most of the event.

In addition to color issues, I adjusted the aspect ratio because the original video was squished. I noticed it in their faces first, but you can also tell pretty clearly when you compare the Comic-Con logos in the background with other video sets. This is the one where I feel pretty sure I made it better -- I'm just not sure if it's better enough.

Example video link.

Set #2

This set of videos will never be the main full-screen video, but it will be my first choice for the talking head bubbles (not sure that's the right term, I'll explain at the end of this post) for the other guests when possible. It has the most stable coverage when focusing on the other guests. It covers less than 30% of the panel though.

I truly don't know if I've made this one better or worse. My initial reaction of the original was that it was way too green, but I've tweaked this one so much and nothing looks quite right to me. I think the tablecloth is supposed to be black, but tweaking the colors enough to make it more black makes the rest of it look worse to me. Similarly, I think their faces might be a little too pale, but adding in a little more red doesn't seem to affect their faces, it just makes the other parts look worse to me. The main pieces of this video that people will see is just the heads. (The example at the bottom of this post uses this video for Eric's head.)

Example video link.

Set #3

This set of videos will only be the main full-screen video for very short segments of time, to cover gaps in set #1. It will mostly be used for talking head bubbles. This set covers most of the event, but it has much less coverage of Jared and Jensen and it's very jittery.

I actually thought the colors on this one looked very good though, so I didn't tweak them at all. I just upscaled the videos as normal and left it alone. Every time I look at this video, it makes me doubt the above changes even more because the colors in those really don't look like this one and I haven't been able to get them anywhere close.

Example video link.

"Talking Head Bubbles"

Here's an example of what I mean by that. I'm trying to create a best-of-both worlds scenario where we can feast our eyes on Jared and Jensen the whole time, but also still see who's talking sometimes when one of the videos had coverage of it. It's taking quite a bit of effort to make that watchable -- the main video (Set #1) bobs around randomly, and the insert videos (Sets 2 and 3) bob around randomly in different directions, so it's been quite a challenge to make it look stable enough that people won't think I'm trying to hypnotize them with Eric's head or something as it swings back and forth like a pendulum! 🤣

#enhanced edition con video development #please help the color impaired #video editing woes #going cross-eyed

[hymnism]

well here is sunny's scuffed gif tutorial for anyone who wants to learn how to gif 🎉🎉

so first of all you're obviously going to need a clip of whatever you want to gif. you can either download full videos or use a screen recorder (like obs for example) to record the specific scene you want to gif

once you have your clip you go into photoshop and look for "file -> import -> video frames to layers" then choose your clip and you'll get a screen like this

you can use the two small arrows to trim the clip to just what you need then click ok and it will open the clip up into frames

(btw if you don't already have it on make sure to go to "window" and turn on timeline. that's where you will see the frames)

now personally my first step is cropping and resizing. cropping is kind of self explanatory but to resize the gif make sure you go to "image -> image size" (NOT canvas size. just wanted to say that since the options are kind of similar) (although you can still use canvas size for cropping) and here is a handy little chart that is helpful if you want to know what to resize gifs to (width is what's important here height can be whatever you want it to be)

now personally my next step is sharpening although you can probably also do this at the end. i use maizekeen's gif sharpening actions (if you don't know how to use actions in photoshop there are many tutorials online but very basically you download the actions then go into the actions menu (windows -> action if you don't have it open) and click on load actions) and then from there you just choose your action and click the play button

then after that is usually when i delete any extra unwanted frames in the timeline (it's not necessary to delete the frames from the layers panel)

NOW is the fun part and also where a lot of this becomes up to taste and personal style ✨

make sure you have your adjustment panel open (window -> adjustments)

the ones underlined are the main ones i use. i recommend playing around and seeing what does what and seeing what ends up looking cool to you

oh and when you use adjustment layers make sure they are above all the layers of the gif like this

i made some different edits of the same gif to show some of the different things you can do. like i said it's up to personal taste and style

here is the original unedited for comparison

and here are some different edits i did real quick to hopefully give you some ideas for what you can do

and if you want to change the speed of a gif make sure to select all frames and then use this little arrow

i tend to use either 0.05 or 0.04 since anything faster or slower tends to start looking wonky but you can try it out yourself and see what looks good to you

btw here is the difference between 0.05 (left) and 0.04 (right)

NOW FOR SAVING

when you feel like you're done you wanna go to "export -> save for web" (it might say legacy next to yours it still works the same) and you will get a window like this

the most important things here are the two options i circled. most of the time i just leave these at adaptive and pattern. perceptual and selective can be used in place of adaptive but i've found that adaptive tends to look best. diffusion instead of pattern can help lower the size of a file in some situations but it doesn't always work but for the love of god please don't set it to "no dither". also make sure the looping option is set to forever (unless you specifically wanna make a non looping gif)

and from this menu you can preview your gif (lower left corner). slightly above the preview button is where you can see your file size (in this case this gif is 7.8mb) tumblr says their gif limit is 10mb but in reality it's slightly less than that so if your gif is 9.7~9.8mb it's probably too big

now if everything looks good then just click on save and name your gif and you're done 👍

now i'm sure there are a lot of things i didn't explain well so if there are any question feel free to send me an ask or a dm and i'll try to explain things more in depth :)

#my posts #gif tutorial

[lightamp]

skybound image transformers (what do I call this lmfaooooo idk) 1 spoilers! My reaction:

some spike and sparkplug drama owo

love carly's wizard van

so spike wants to be an astronaut and Carly and artist? very different!

and we are speed running the skystar (Jetstar?) divorce!!!!

Optimus looks a little wonky but like. It's fine

"get behind me small creatures!" v cute

lmaooo ratchet kicking star right in the face

I forgot starscream blew bb's face off omg ahjdkflg the divorce distracted me

ravage noooo not my baby 😭 I hope ravage is okay idk

nice twist in exploding teletrann!!

Sideways panel sideways panel!!!

Starscream is such a bitch I love him

DIVORCE PART 2??? sorry my ass is already thi king about this universes Jetstar I'm so fucking typical lol

my ass shipping optijet too just like armada....girl

and Jetfire fucking dies 😭😭😭😭😭😭 noooooooo I love you I know you were on like so few pages but I love you 😭😭

I already want a fix it this is bs 😭😭

do NOT say his name - starscream, leader of the decepticons

Rip Davey sorry starscream was starscream and squished ya 🫡

And that's it for this issue! I enjoyed it! We still have to see where it goes but I like this start!

#transformer energon universe spoilers #tf spoilers #transformers #skybound transformers #image transformers #idk what to call this oop

[skaiind]

A lot of your work has really inspired me to take a shot at making comics. I know it's a lot to ask but I was wondering how to go about the process. Do you write and refine scripts before illustrating pages or do you just have a general plot in mind? Big fan of your work, your artstyle is magnificent.

first of all, that's amazing! comics are one of the best ways to learn art, because they challenge every aspect of your skill, it can be frustrating, but very very rewarding and worth it! and i am deeply moved that my work has inspired you to do so! thank you very much!!

my process has several steps, an each one sort of refines the last one as i revisit the same page over and over (which is great because i look at it with fresh eyes and manage to make it even better!!) but it turned out long, so get comfortable:

first i write a rough draft, trying to write as fast as possible with no stopping as much as i can, just so you can get the story (chapter) out. once the whole thing is finished, i edit it to make more sense! fix any mistakes, format it sort of like a script and also i try to be as descriptive as possible when explaining a scene - not just the vibes of it but i try to write out what i want the panels to look like or have, what POV or angle they're in, what details should be visible, describe the page design alltogether, etc. for the scripts i use notion.to because it was the most comfortable to organise all the chapters and notes and stuff in one place!

once the script is completed, i plan out the panels - that means i get a bunch of sketch paper (a3) and one by one as i reread the script, i draw out the panels and use little post its to shortly describe what should be in each panel (ex.: wide view of room, Michael in middle looking angrily at the clipboard). during this i also can edit the script a bit again, as with fresh eyes maybe i managed to think of something BETTER for the scene. i usually plan out about 15-20 pages in one sitting this way, because it's mostly just drawing rectangles and visualising the page in your head.

then we move on to ACTUALLY SKETCHING inside those panels, and with this i start from backgrounds first, then characters, then added details. at first i used just the red lead pencils, but then i began adding different colours like layers for the beforementioned categories. and when doing this i try to do as many pages as possible in one sitting, because the first page always comes out wonky, but then you get the flow of the story going and it gets easier (also good practice!!) and again, here i can refine the script, because maybe the post it i placed earlier doesn't make as much sense anymore and the scene might look different. so i sketch it how i think is best at the moment. i try to be as clear as possible, so the lining process later doesn't frustrate me too much.

now it's time to scan everthing and because i have a smaller scanner that means i must do it twice for each page. that's okay though because at least it comes out high quality when i photomerge them on photoshop later on. i apply autocontrast+autocolor to the picture, and the page looks more legible, and then transfer some to procreate on my ipad.

then you test out what lines/brush look best, and once you've got a chosen one - you LINE IT. Starting with defining the panels better, so they're not wiggly unless they look better that way. i again start from backgrounds because they're tedious and hard, then the characters, add some more details and then the speech bubbles. each on a separate layer so i can edit each one later if needed.

then all that's left is shading everything and exporting that bad boy out into the world!

what is common in most of these stages, is that i keep editing as i go. when i think of how i want the panels to look, i try to imagine it not just as a comic panel but like a scene in a movie (if specifically - horror movies and other times a one-camera comedy tv-shows or just a combination of both) and that really helps me visualize the panel.

another thing to keep in mind when writing a bigger/longer story is to know where it's going or at least what are you trying to show through it, but even that isn't necessary because in comics you can just keep exploring an idea or a concept without going really anywhere and it can still end up being amazing.

in the end you must remember that the comic you're making for YOU first and audience second. because when you start thinking about what other people will think, it'll become frustrating very fast and lose the fun. an creating comics is already frustrating in on itself, there's no need to bring in any more to it.

i hope you will make comics! i hope they will be fun for you and i'm very happy you want to put out more of this fantastic media into the world!

i also hope the long answer helped :))

#long post #asks

[genericpuff]

Ive got a question. If Rachel was a webtoon original but did NOT have her assistants to help with her art, would you still be so scrutinizing? Because I’ve seen plenty of other webtoon originals with wonky art and they don’t get as much flack as Rachel does. I think its generally okay for anatomy and hand gestures look bad in a weekly serial comic. When you’re crunching for time you have to sacrifice some of the art to complete deadlines.

~ Would you still love me if I was a worm? ~

You're asking 'what if's' that do not apply here and change the circumstances in which my blog and the community surrounding it exists.

Assuming you're the same anon from last, everything I said in that last post still answers your question here. There are comics that have and do get scrutinized, such as Boyfriends, Let's Play, and Religiously Gay. LO is just the one I want to talk about because it's the one that I loved the most before it fell the hardest. It's not much more complicated than that. I think it's easy to fall for the idea that all I do is criticize LO, but you're on an LO-critical-themed blog, of course it's all you're gonna see here lol

Literally nowhere am I saying that LO's art has to be perfect and absent of mistakes, wonkiness, or shortcuts. When it comes to making sacrifices to meet deadlines, you're preaching to the choir. But LO isn't a Webtoon Original without assistants or accolades or massive amounts of support from the platform. And I feel like you're taking my "nitpicking" of things like emoji's showing up in the comic and panels being copy pasted a little too seriously (it's shitposting, my guy) and severely misunderstanding the cause and effect of why LO is scrutinized the way that it is. Asking me "would it still be criticized if xyz" is severely missing the point of why we criticize it.

So to answer your question, no, I don't think LO would get the flak that it does if it didn't exist in the form that it does. But it does exist in that form, hence that's why we talk about it. So what's your question, really?

#sorry if i'm coming across as salty #but pulling the whole 'whataboutism' card just doesn't fly for me lol #“but what if LO was a canvas comic” then this blog wouldn't even exist for you to ask that question now would it LOL #ama #ask me anything #anon ama #anon ask me anything

[giuliano-fan-account]

Hxh ch 396-397 review

WHY DID EVERYBODY FLOCK TO MY CHAPTER 395 REVIEW FOUNDING PART ONE OK??????

Anyways yeah I didnt do reviews for the past couple of weeks because Things happened and I got busy and it got me out of my groove so.

I have been reading of course because who am I .

I’ll do an overview of the rest of the flashbacks because those Messed Me Up actually and I have art and things to say about it.

Spoilers, obviously . (Warning for Child Abduction and death)

Chapter 396: Founding part 2

Sadly I dont have viz screenshots because of it only being the recent 3 lol so I’ll be using an unofficial translation

There he is again with some weird Popcorn Cauliflower lookin things and ooh nooo

Hi Uvogin!

Also hi Phinks with the walnut hair. At this point I’ve adjusted to how wonky it looks though but

SARASA *50 crying emojis*

I actually love Sarasa a lot. She’s adorable and confident and fearless... I really hope nothing BAD HAPPENS TO THIS CHARACTER. auughgggggg

I also really like Sheila. Even though they didn’t end up being actual phantom troupe members Sarasa and Sheila matter to me and I really want to know what Togashi has in mind by bringing her back into the plot. But aside from that we also get another moment of exposition for Pakunoda and Chrollos relationship. Im Not Crying Youare.

I love to think that while a lot of other people call him ‘Little bro’, Pakunoda is the closest to being his actual “big sister”  

Power cleaners moment. I actually slipped up and call them Power Rangers sometimes or like for example “Ranger red” instead of Clean up red. Whats funny is that I didn’t even watch power rangers as a kid this is just how it is

Look at all those sillies

I really really want to know what this sounded like because Im not gonna say that it’s really bad just because they’re kids, but I think it would be very funny if they were sugar coating it not even on purpose because of how young and silly they are.

Chrollo is actually 11 you learn in 397 so I’m guessing that would mean Paku is 10, Sarasa is like 8-9 or something since she’s the youngest, and Sheila is somewhere inbetween them all.

I love how out of context he sounds like a victorian child whos about to make an important announcement.

“Father, may I have the mic?” I never thought I would hear those words but knowing that it comes from baby Chrollo makes it all make sense.

Also look theres Nobunaga!! Wow!! He’s finally in his own flashback!

I like the composition of this panel because This chapter is supposed to be a highlight on Uvos progression and his relationship with Chrollo and the fact that Chrollo is straight ahead of him really drives that home.

IM CRYING THIS PANEL

To be honest you gotta love this because you really just see how sincere he is in just wanting to make all the other kids happy here, and they are ecstatic

With Chrollo doing all the same lines though just imagine theres this kid and he just has crazy vocal range for no reason and hes talking to himself in 7 different voices

omfg is he Jerma985. .

.....

..i mean  i did make this one thing

Anyways

HOLY CRAP JEDSURS

I bet he put his entire freakin heart into that line like no holding back

I love how everybodys like stunned and then theres just Nobu who is there

HELLO??????????? JFC

ALSO IS THIS A SAIKI K REFERENCE BECAUSE I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF TOGASHI JUST SLIPPED THAT IN THERE... (In some volume extras I think of vol 35 he put references in random panels and replaced the text and there was a saiki k reference in one. Fun fact)

Scrungly Sarasa and Sheila only ever

I also really like the composition of these panels.. Its also very centric on Uvo and Chrollo which I appreciate. Also I can see it being animated a lot for no reason like its so easy to imagine with this format.

When the Sarasa are Scurngly and adorble

Im just gonna put this whole page here and then talk abt it I love it so so so so so omuch and tears are definitely not in my eyes right now because of it.

So first of all, I read this translation first, and I think the lines they put here are better than what they put in the VIZ one. I don’t remember what they were, but the top panels lines here are just so raw and “That was me dubbing you!” Flows well. Sometimes unofficial translations can be wonky, but they did great on this page.

I love Love Love the way this page was drawn too. The way that Uvo and Chrollo just look shocked and are shown side by side is great, and I love the focus and detail on Sarasa and also even though it’s a still picture, her hair has so much motion and i i i i

Everybody’s reactions are nice too. I’m just thinking. No wonder Togashi had to take all that time off especially for these chapters. Drawing this many people is not easy at all...

IM M MLITERALLY CRYIGN HH hh  G HHhhhhh UE h fhf hh n SNIFF

I like Uvo and Machi’s dynamic lol. They seemed to already be friends which is just really funny since she’s just this tiny little child and then Uvo is like. Already like 6 foot 2 or something idk. (He grows to be 8′5.)

This is so funny because when you think of the Phantom Troupe you think of incredibly twisted people, but no, their original original name came from them trying to make a company name for their little dubbing thing.

Im Crying again haha. I mean I guess in the end he did become a villain, so wish fulfilled!

This line is so relevant to so many things involving Uvogin, even having to do with his character in the yorknew arc

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO ONO NO ON NO NON ONON ONO OOOHHH NOOOO SARASA. COMMUNICATION IS KEY SARASA. JUST TELL THEM THAT THERE WAS A BUNCH OF TAPES THERE. SARASA. SARASA NO STOP RUNNING COME BACK

NO!!!!!!!!!! YOU CANT DO THAT

Chapter 397: Founding Part 3

at least this time I can take fro m the viz official translation.. Ha ha

Are you ready guys? This is going to be a wild ride! (Warning for Child Abduction and death especially here)

So they finally notice that Sarasa’s not here and there Might be Something wrong! WHY DID I HAVE TO BE RIGHT ABOUT THIS IN MY CHAPTER 395 REVIEW.

This is Depressing but I love the attention to detail with how he’s gripping his shorts. I just wanted to point that out

Oh and haha he’s blaming himself for something only somewhat inside his control as a young child... Hmm.. That sounds familiar...

Dont you love when you start having a little more hope for something again...

Oh haha look at them on the bike Oh look everybodys doing their own part in the search!!!......

Oh god....

....And then everything just plummets....

Seriously when I read this part I felt my heart drop. SO much so that I made a whole redraw of it for chapter 357!

I love Hunter x Hunter.

THIS WAS THE TREE. THE TREE. TOGASHI WHY. I TRUSTED YOU WITH THE TREE. WHYYYYYY

mmm I hate this I hate this I hate this I hate this

Currently completely Fine right now actually ignore everything I just said.

NEVERMIND. IM NOT SHOWING THE PANELS WHERE IT HAS WHATS IN THE BAG FOR OBVIOUS REASONS BUT LIKE. THERE WAS A NOTE. ON HER AND IT HAD A FREAKING SMILEY FACE ON IT

A SMILE FACE....

My exact reaction

GEEEZZZ!!!!!

GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IM NOT OK WITH THIS AT ALL OK OH MY GOD NEXT PAGE NOW PLEASE NEXT

Thank You.

I feel like the flowers on her head would be little orange roses.. Because well for one, the orange cleaner, and also orange roses are a symbol for Joy I think and that’s perfect for her

Im so glad that Togashi decided to make this little scene because I wouldn’t be able to handle what just happened before without this closure and Im pretty sure that was done on purpose because That was like one of the most horrific scenes in Hunter x Hunter in my opinion.

You could feel how everybody was panicking and the grief and anguish and it was just aaahhhhhhggghghhgh.......

Anyways. Onto another thing that is helping me process all of this lol

NEN!!

LITTLE MACHI AND NEN!! EVEN BETTER!

This is another line that I liked better in the unofficial translation

JUST. JUST. “Those pretty eyes of yours make my skin crawl.” ESPECIALLY IN THE CONTEXT OF MACHI IS SUCH A COOL LINE!!! anyways :)

I like nen so This is also very relieving. We are getting lore....

THIS GUYS LIKE 11 AND HES ALREADY DOING STUFF TO FIX METEOR CITY. SO IS CHROLLO THE REASON WHY METEOR CITY HAS TO DO WITH THE MAFIA???? PROBABLY.

Add Predicts the technological revolution to baby Chrollo’s achievement list. This kid Hunter x Hunter children are insane for a fact

He would do great in my English 10 Honors class with all that evidence and reasoning there

hey guys its Shalnark here  and today I’m going to explain chrollos Nefarious plot  

Hes so happy that he didnt have to do 3 paragraphs of more explaining! ..also

Jus dont even ask why I made this but I sure did I also made a video but idk how to put videos on tumblr other than have them be at the top which is not what I want so you just get this

I kind of wish we got more of younger Shalnark because we got focus on Paku and Uvo who are both... decreased  and you know...  

oh god I just realized

All the phantom troupe characters that are commonly nicknamed are Dead. Quick everybody stop saying Nobu for Nobunaga

Anyways

At least he gets a little bit of a moment here

I feel so bad for Sheila little sheila talk here

Like man her best friend just got Murdered and she can not do this. I bet part of her does not want to be involved with the troupe anymore because they have the most to do with her death, and maybe she even counts them responsible for them not caring, and with that she probably blames herself too.

I really want to see her again she is such a character and there’s no way that Togashi’s just gonna bring her back here and not have her be plot relevant. Was she for or against the kurta massacre!??!?!?!? wha????

Top ten ways to become a mass murderer

lets play a game. Is this a quote from Kurapika or Chrollo?

Look at all these parallels and foreshadowing... Putting that in perspective, that means that Chrollo became the very person he sought to destroy as a child, and I wonder if he realizes that, especially now in his current mental and emotional condition. But at the same time, he may have been expecting that. He should know that the Troupe has all the right to be persecuted with the amount of carnage that they’ve caused.

THIS OUT OF CONTEXT.

I think the whole thing with the Villain and this panel is a callback to Uvo’s line about being the worlds greatest villain, and maybe Chrollo was thinking that he would fit as leader because of that but...

Get pranked! Also notice how Paku is also gripping the end of her dress. Since I’m an empath, I can tell that Paku is having mixed feelings and is nervous about this /s

In 3 years he shed his old pair of eyes and then regrew Strange Eyes. Hold on.

This is extremely important and like one of the best things Ive ever made.

He has Strange Eyes HE GOT HIS STRANGE EYES LETS GOOOOOO

I decided I wanted to do math So their reunion happens around 7 years before the Kurta massacre, and that’s when Chrollo is 21.. so 10 years after sarasa’s death is when the Kurta massacre takes place.

Ok were finally to the end of this fun fun fun Chapter! I have 2 questions.

1. Where is Phinks?

2. Shalnark What has he the Hair and Outfit? What? Ok well technically he’s in style since this is like the mid-late 80′s then but he looks a little bit like a Flamboyant Pop star from that era and then everybody else is just regular for their character. Then there’s just Shalnark with his fluffy mullet and the oversized suit and the collar

And also if that was his style when and why did he change? We could have had a totally different Shalnark tbh but I’m happy with the one we have.

Anyways

Hope you enjoyed this absolute behemoth  of a post and I may do another one with the next two chapters some time

In the meantime, who knows, just keep doing what you do & make sure you drink enough water so that your pee looks like light pineapple juice or lemonade (that means youre healthy)

#hxh #hunterxhunter #review #hxh ch 396 #hxh ch 397 #hxh spoilers #phantom troupe #sarasa hxh #sheila hxh #chrollo #uvogin #pakunoda #shalnark #nobunaga #machi #franklin bordeau #phinks #feitan #hxh fanart #fanart #hxh manga #kurapika

[kinmokusei-stars]

Everybody deserves some sweetness and flowers on Valentines day! (♡^▽^♡)ノ～ ♡

Happy Valentine's day! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡ This is a little comic I did to celebrate! It's nothing big or grand, and it's definitely cheesy, but I think that's fitting on today out of all days! ^^ Just something cute and wholesome! I definitely wish more things would have the men receive flowers as a sign of love and appreciation too! I love mutual shows of affection, so I hope you enjoy this short little comic of Bouquet shenanigans!

I did some experimenting with the backgrounds of panels, so excuse me if anything looks a bit wonky! LMAO

#oc x canon #ocxcanon #canon x oc #oc x character #inuyasha x oc #inuyasha #inuyasha oc #inuyasha fanart #inuyasha fanfiction #fancharacter #fan character #inuyasha fancharacter #fan oc #anime art #my artwork #valentines day #happy valentine's day #happy valentines

[frodo-with-glasses]

4, 6, 13 (especially 13; love you for the semicolon tattoo Frodo has)

https://www.tumblr.com/frodo-with-glasses/711440150764355584/group-chat-shenanigans?source=share

Ooh, great choice >:-D Let’s go!

(Read the whole comic here!)

4. What part of this piece was the most difficult to draw?

It's exactly what you might expect: Frodo's left arm (the one holding the phone) in the last panel definitely gave me some trouble. I was trying to find a pose that both a) looked natural and b) made Frodo's tattoo visible; you can actually see how many lines I drew and erased in the zoomed-in picture in this reblog.

I also had to try multiple different positions and designs for the tattoo before I found one that I liked. In a few early attempts, the tattoo actually went down the length of his arm! But in the end, I'm glad I kept it contained to the wrist.

6. What is your favorite part of this piece?

Oh man, it's so hard to pick! I love all of the modern designs, and I think most of the drawings turned out really well. (Pippin looks a bit wonky, but that's just because I'm not used to drawing people who are upside down.) In the end, I think my favorite part is just the slew of "Benadryl Cabbagepatch" names. That was a HYSTERICAL day on the Fig Tree Server, and I love seeing everyone's creativity and crazy senses of humor coming together like this! X-D

13. What Easter eggs/small details are hidden in this drawing?

OKAY *cracks knuckles* lemme give you the whole breakdown here.

Usernames and Avatar Icons

Frodo - DownFromTheDoor (referencing Bilbo's poem) - a book (because he's a nerd)

Pippin - tookursnacks (because he's a Took and he likes to eat) - peace sign (dunno, just felt appropriate)

Sam - taterz (obvious) - a potato (also obvious)

Merry - Herbmaster (because he really likes pipeweed) - the Horn of Rohan

Fatty - BigPapa (because he's. he's big) - plus signs (see previous)

Rosie - RoseGardens (cute play on her name) - a rose (same)

Gimli - Rock-n-Roll (dwarves like rocks) - an axe (obvious)

Aragorn - Telcontar (Elvish for "Strider", the dynasty name Aragorn chooses for himself) - crown surrounded by seven stars (part of the sigil of the King of Gondor)

Legolas - TraLaLally (reference to the 1977 Hobbit movie) - bow and arrow (obvious)

Boromir - TEAMGONDOR (in all caps because he is A LotTM) - the Horn of Gondor (obvious)

Tom Bombadil - Tim Bimbadimdim (I thought it would be funny) - a feather (he has one in the brim of his hat)

Goldberry - 💛🫐 (suggested by someone on the server, unfortunately not at all obvious in a black-and-white art style) - a star (seemed appropriate)

Gandalf - Gandalf (obvious) - wizard's hat (also obvious)

Design Choices

All four of the main hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin) have a bracelet with a Single Bead, indicating they are part of the Core Friend Group

Merry wears dog tags and a watch. I imagine he has served in the military in some capacity, or aspires to do so; and the watch is there because he's the kind of detail-oriented person who's very concerned with being on time.

Sam and Rosie have matching bracelets: his is the sun, and hers is the moon. (Someone pointed out that the little thing hanging off her phone also looks like a sun. This is correct, but the bracelets were supposed to be the matching set.)

Rosie is also the only one of the gang to have a decorative phone case and a PopSocket.

Aragorn's mug says "GONDOR U", and the icon on his laptop is the shards of Narsil. It's kinda hard to see, but he also has a ring on his left hand, indicating that he's either engaged or married to Arwen.

Frodo gets the most Easter eggs. He too has a watch, because he's the sort to at least TRY to be on time; he has the tattoo, reading "worth f;ghting for", as aforementioned; and his shirt is a polo from the company Hang Ten, as indicated by the little feet embroidered on the lapel! I chose that one for two reasons: number one, little feet is Very Hobbity, and number two, they're my dad's favorite brand of polo. (He likes the little feet.)

PHONE DETAILS. Merry, Pippin, and Legolas are the only ones to have Extremely Fancy New Phones with three cameras on the back, because they are rich kids who can afford to have that sort of thing. Gimli is also rich, but his phone only has two cameras because he's not an Instagrammer. Sam and Rosie only have two-camera phones because theirs are cheaper older models. Everyone has phone cases except for Legolas. Gimli's phone case is a Particularly Chunky Heavy-Duty OtterBox. Aragorn is the only one with a laptop because he's Old. And, as aforementioned, Rosie is the only one who has a PopSocket.

Initial Conversation

I did actually plan the chat in the first panel very carefully! If you look at the time stamps beside the messages, you can see how the conversation picks up speed. It starts with Frodo declining some kind of an activity that night, saying he's busy with something else. Pippin responds, asking what he's doing. Frodo replies and sends photographic evidence, calling Bilbo "Beebo". Sam thinks this is very funny and repeats "Beebo". Frodo, encouraged by Sam thinking this is funny, doubles down the joke with "Beebo Bongos". Then Merry jumps in with "Blorbo Bagpipes". By this point, messages are coming in within the same minute, and then the rest of the chaos unfolds. X-D

Anyway, thanks for giving me an excuse to ramble about this comic! I had a lot of fun drawing it and I'm delighted to share the Deep Lore LOL

ARTIST COMMENTARY ASK GAME!

#artist commentary ask game #frodo baggins #bilbo baggins #my art #my writing #modern au

[floofrights]

Hi. As someone who hopes to one day start my own webcomic, I'm fascinated by how your deleted scenes archive features almost complete art that follows a widly different route that that of the final narrative. It's a bit mindblowing to me, honestly.

If I may ask, how does your process work? Do you follow the conventional script -> sketch -> final art workflow and just take "kill your darlings" to heart regardless of which step you're in, or do you use the art itself as part of your writing (and consequently rewriting) process?

My process is very unconventional and also very flawed in a lot of ways. But it's the process that works for me. Sometimes.

(This is gonna be really long by the way and also it's probably gonna be wonky and messy so be warned lol)

When it comes to making a chilli issue, and just most of my comics in general, I don't write scripts. Would making comics be a lot easier if I did? Probably. Certainly. Absolutely. But it's not my process. At some point I'd like to start writing scripts before I work on an issue, but it always just felt easier not to.

Instead of a script, I write a very rough outline in my sketchbook, with notes so illegible only I could read them. I often deviate from these notes as I'm making pages however. Sometimes I'm about to hit a story beat and I decide it can be done in a slightly different way, so I do that instead. But I don't differ too much from these notes. For the most part.

When it comes to dialogue, it's very on the fly. I may have specific character quotes in my head when I'm planning out an issue, but most of it is only written in the moment when I'm actually making the page.

In terms of art, Chilli has a very "simple" style, and that was on purpose. I used to draw final lineart in my webcomics, and I found it very tedious. What I'd often find is I'd like the undersketch of a panel more than the final art. So when I started making Chilli, I just used the undersketch AS the final lineart, and I developed and refined that style as time went on.

When actually making an issue, I start off by figuring out the panel layout of a page. Sometimes this can be edited as I work on a page, but this is where I visualize the panels ahead of time. Once the border is done, I begin to draw the lineart. Sometimes I make a rough undersketch for a panel if it's particularly complicated, but usually I don't do that.

Once the lineart's done, I go back and give a thick outline to all the characters, and any other elements in panel, to make them pop from the background. It also makes it easier to color the page. Because the coloring process in Chilli is so simple, I often just use the paint bucket tool.

Now for dialogue! Again, this is usually only written at this point in the process. Even if I know what HAS to be said, HOW I say it can be tricky to figure out. Once the dialogue's done, I create the speech bubbles, and then boom! Finished page.

On an average day, I can draw four pages of an issue, but this is far from my limit. If i really wanted to, I could make 5-6 pages a day, but my wrist would absolutely not like that lmao.

And so day by day, I work through an issue, four pages at a time, until eventually, I have a finished draft! Does this mean the issue is finished? Nope!

Once a draft is complete, I do a mini "round of edits," where go through and make little changes fit to my liking. This could range from editing dialogue to make it less clunky, to redoing an entire panel. Once this round is finished, I set the issue aside. I don't work on it. I don't even look at it. I need it fresh out of my mind.

Eventually, usually about a couple weeks before it's released, I go through the issue and do an even bigger "round of edits," rewriting even more dialogue and redrawing even more panels. I do at least a few more rounds of edits until I'm finally satisfied, and that's when the issue's released.

Sometimes however, things can go horribly wrong.

Issue 12 was supposed to be a completely different issue. It was supposed to be the start of a new arc, but as I was making the issue, I just found myself unsatisfied and not that confident in the story I was setting up. So I scrapped that attempt halfway through, and instead began work on the issue 12 that would eventually release.

"Red Meat" in particular was a very troubling arc to make. I made probably about 300+ pages for that arc, and I ended up scrapping over a third of that. I did not do a good job at planning out the story for that arc, and it ended up biting me in the ass later when I realized I didn't like where the arc was headed.

Issues 25 & 26 were both drafted at this point, and I didn't like either of them, issue 26 specifically. The problems they had couldn't really be fixed in rounds of edits either, they were fundamental problems. If I wanted to fix them, I'd have to scrap a lot of what I'd already made.

So I did.

I redid a lot of issue 25, and I scrapped that version of issue 26 entirely. It was for the best ultimately, but in the moment it felt very demoralizing having to scrap so many finished pages.

Issue 27 also ended up being way too long (like almost 70 pages) so I had to cut a lot of (finished) pages in that one too to keep the pacing up. I cut out a lot of good stuff from that issue, but it was for the best. Even after those cuts the issue's still tied with issue 12 as the longest chilli issue.

What happened in Red Meat was a worst case scenario though, and going forward, im gonna make sure that something like that never happens again. Because, fuck. It didn't feel good scrapping those finished pages lol.

My process is very messy and slightly taxing, but it's the process I'm familiar with. I would not recommend doing what I do, especially if you've never made a webcomic before, but instead to try and develop your own method that works for you! Different processes work for different people

Thank you for your ask! Good luck on your webcomic journey, wherever it takes ya!

#ctvo #comic

[foryoupeko]

Ranking Peko's Execution depicted in the SDR2 manga

Honorable Mention: Kazuichi POV Manga

I can't find much about the Kazuichi manga but it seems like they skip the class trials so it could never be on the list. Based off the intro I don't think they could do Peko's subtle expressions well anyways

Source

3rd Place: Chiaki POV Manga

 I really don't care for the art style for the Chiaki manga. Everyone shares the same expressions and it barely gets exaggerated so it feels like looking at the same panel.

Source

2nd Place: Hajime POV Manga

The artstyle is super pretty! But I feel like they prioritize prettiness over impact. For instance, why does Fuyuhiko look so pretty when he’s crying?

 Also I get why they replaced Peko holding Fuyuhiko at the end with her holding his hand but I'm still bitter. BELIEVE ME, I understand that Peko could never protect Fuyuhiko in a full embrace but this made it feel so impersonal for some reason?

Source

1st Place: Nagito POV Manga

Honest to God, this manga is part of the reason why I fell for this ship.

The pacing gets a little wonky but the paneling makes up for it. The expressions are very in character and is pushed as far as it can go.

Source

#danganronpa #sdr2 #fuyuhiko kuzuryu #Peko Pekoyama

[mintywolf]

A Long Road Home - Author Notes

Page 32

I don’t give a flying squirrel* about sports but the first panel is giving me thoughts about a southern gothic baseball AU haha. But it would have to be a 1940s A League of Their Own inspired AU to even hold my interest. I don’t want to write one but I would probably read it.

This page has some of my favorite Laudna faces so far, haha. I love her so much. <3 She is described in my character notes (and Remember Us) as having slightly wonky teeth but she’s never had her mouth open in a close enough shot for it to be visible. Imogen finds it very charming.

There were two possible outcomes I considered here (both involving Mage Hand skulduggery on Imogen’s part so Laudna can have a prize).

The first had Laudna trying first and losing. Imogen doesn’t win either, but since the carnival barker on the previous page had (inaccurately, for the time) identified them as a couple and invited Imogen to “win a prize for your girl” she is filled with determination to do just that and so Mage Hands her way to victory and gives her the toy.

In the second version the barker doesn’t say anything particularly shippy because they’re kind of skeptical of Laudna like everyone else. Imogen tries first and loses, Laudna goes next and is about to lose even more badly but Imogen, noting her disappointment, intervenes surreptitiously to make it look like she won it herself. (There was never a scenario in which she did not cheat, haha. Imogen does not play fair.)

Both cute but I decided the second version was truer to their characters. The difference between Imogen outright winning the prize and giving it to Laudna and rigging the game to make her believe she won it herself is subtle but the second scenario lets Imogen let Laudna have a little more control over the situation.

It ended up being a good decision too because now that they’re actually girlfriends the “mistaken for girlfriends” ship tease kind of loses its bite. (Judging by the timestamp from the dm where I was workshopping this with a friend, I wrote the script for this page almost a year ago.)

The cat whisker-looking things, if you’re not super familiar with comic punctuation, are used to denote breath noises like gasping, coughing, laughter, etc. (It’s been used in this on a few pages before.) If there’s no word in between it’s just a breath sound. I was trying to convey that excited hyperventilation Laudna does when she’s really happy. :)

*this is a highly esoteric pun because the local baseball team is the Flying Squirrels.

#a long road home #author notes

[ofpineapplesanddawns]

(I found this in my drafts from January, and decided to fix it up and post it. Don’t remember where I was going with this, but I think it might be involved with a future scene in the actual story later on, or the ending might just be a possible event, who knows. :3c)

Was thinking about the Mystery Flesh Pit National Park thing again (my beloved...), which got me thinking about my Celestial Harmonies National Park Au, so here’s something silly for it while I try to figure out what the hell to do with the next chapter because it’s been MONTHS.

Anyway, if you’re new to the au, Crowley works at a national park in the states that is protected by an eldritch angel Aziraphale who pretends to be a mountain man-looking human that Crowley has a crush on and vise versa. 

Warning: Fire

This takes place before their relationship and before Crowley learns the truth about Aziraphale.

On with the fic!

--

“You didn’t have to come out with me, but it’s nice to have the company.” Crowley said as he unscrewed the paneling on the control board, taking a look inside.

Yep, just as he suspected, the wiring and motherboard for the radio controls were fried. Judging by the smell and the, uh, burnt object that was clearly not made of metal and protective rubber, a little rodent found a way into the building. 

Clearly the culprit, poor thing. Must have nibbled on some wires or something.

“I was in the area, and it’s always nice to spend time with you, dear.” Aziraphale smiled as he walked around the fire tower’s control room. 

This was one of the ones that was meant to be manned, but due to the fact that the power was wonky and the controls no longer working properly, it was out of order. But that’s why Crowley was here, really, they should get a professional, but he was one of the only ones who seemed to have any idea of how to repair something like this.

He had a feeling the reason he got the task was because he was one of the youngest on staff and Hastur and Ligur were not computer savvy in any way. So, instantly, that meant that they thought the youth should handle computer stuff. 

Fourteenth century minds, those two. 

“Oh my, the poor little thing.” Aziraphale frowned as he looked inside. “Right, well, how do you go about fixing this?”

“Replace the parts, easy enough to do. I suspected as much so I got some replacement items ordered and they came in. Can’t be too careful, it’s meant to be dry this summer.”

“Oh yes.” Aziraphale’s frown deepened. “I’ll have to do my best to keep watch of that.”

Crowley snorted. “Just listen to the radio every morning and look at those silly Smokey Bear signs they’ve got scattered about for the visitors.”

“But those only do so much, dear. I’ll have to keep my eyes out everywhere, you never know how far deep into these woods a fire could start. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen.”

Crowley paused in his unscrewing of the burnt circuit board. “You’ve seen a fire happen here?”

“A few times, actually. Quite scary, really, but I do my best to take care of them before they get worst.”

The younger of the two sat up, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve put out fires? A man of many jobs here, that’s what you are.”

Aziraphale laughed. “It’s my home, Crowley. I must do everything I can to protect it and keep it safe!”

“How do you put out the fires then? Do you have a team or something?” He asked as he got back to work.

“Oh, uh, well, it’s a system, really. Lots of water and the like. I tend to do it all myself.”

“But... but that’s dangerous! You could get hurt, or-or killed!”

Aziraphale waved a hand about. “Calm down, love, I’m fine! I’ve done it for years, and have always been very careful! I never get too close, I very much like my body as it is, thank you very much. Goodness knows I do not need to be filling out that paperwork.” He muttered this last part but Crowley still heard it.

“Paperwork? What?”

“Nothing, do not worry your pretty head about it!” Aziraphale laughed, but it almost sounded forced. “Ah, yes, let’s, uh, get back to the task at hand. Get this place back to working order, ship shaped and all that, yes?”

Crowley eyed him, but nodded. “Yeah, alright, back to work then.” He turned back to the circuit board, glancing at Aziraphale, who was fiddling with some of the tools that Crowley had left out.

Another thing to add to the weird list of things Aziraphale has said or done since meeting him weeks ago. He puts out fires all by himself? Something about paperwork tied to harm and his body? 

Aziraphale continued to be the biggest mystery in this park, aside from that blasted angel, and Crowley was going to do his best to figure him out. Someday. 

--

The fire was blazing and the smoke was hurting his eyes and throat, but Crowley wasn’t going to let that stop him. 

“Aziraphale!” He screamed. “Aziraphale, where are you!?”

He knew he had to be here somewhere, he saw the idiot run into the fire. “I can’t find you! Where are you!?” He called out, only to scream when a large, flaming branch dropped to the ground in front of him, knocking him to the ground. 

He coughed harshly and looked around, even with all the smoke and heat around him, he felt a wetness on his face. 

“You said you’re safe doing this! You said you knew how to handle this!” 

He still couldn’t see any sign of the angel, no wings or eyes, nothing.

Maybe...

Maybe he wasn’t able to stop this one.

Maybe he got overwhelmed.

Maybe...

Crowley didn’t know he was screaming at Heaven, Hell, and whoever else until he curled up, his chest aching something horrible. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, it all hurt, but nothing hurt more than having no idea where Aziraphale had gone. 

--

(Yeah, not sure if that ending will happen, I just know that I did have a forest fire in mind for this story, but we’ll see how that goes.)

#good omens #celestial harmonies national park au #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #anthony j crowley #john's drabbles