#I also plan on adding more fake screenshots of other characters for fun

[mydearestreaderfanfics]

⭑★Alex's Tips for Making Your SMAU★⭑

You know them, you love them-- Social Media AU's, better known by their acronym SMAU, are a hugely popular type of fanfic. They can also be a little daunting if you've never made one before (I would know lol!) So, I've compiled a list of tips + tricks and resources I wish I would have known about prior to making Why Else Would We Have Met.

If there is something on this list that you feel is missing, I'd love to hear from you so that I can add it. ❀.(*´◡`*)❀.

☽・◦・★・◦・【☆】・◦・★・◦・【☆】・◦・★・◦・【☆】・◦・★・◦・☾

✮⭑・【Ｔｉｐｓ　＋　Ｔｒｉｃｋｓ】・⭑✮

Plan out a chunk of the story before anything

Make a note to yourself for what you want each screenshot to convey

Keep tabs on how different characters type

Showing character profiles before the story starts is a fun way to get people acquainted w/ your characters before the story begins

Use real social media as reference

Use other SMAU as reference

Adding a masterlist is helpful for both the reader + you

Tumblr can only fit 10 images at a time, if you want to post more than that in one go use a side-by-side collage maker like Kapwing

The most important thing is that you are having fun ♡

☽・◦・★・◦・【☆】・◦・★・◦・【☆】・◦・★・◦・【☆】・◦・★・◦・☾

✮⭑・【Ａｐｐｓ　＋　Ｗｅｂｓｉｔｅｓ】・⭑✮

✿- Android Only ♥- iPhone Only ♛- Online

Social Dummy*- [Free]

Good for most fake posts/messages.

Yazzy✿- [Free]

Good for most fake posts/messages.

Kurved- [$$$]

Fake messages, emails, airline tickets, call logs, + doctor notes.

Fake All- [Free]

Fake calls, messages, and notifs.

Tweetgen♛- [Free]

Fake Twitter. Tweets, reply chains, blocks, and suspensions.

GenerateStatus♛- [Free]

Fake Snaps, Instagram, + Facebook. Slow loading + kinda shady.

Messages- [Predownloaded]

You can literally message yourself, create a contact using your number, and delete certain messages to make it look like a real conversation. It takes a little bit of work but the result is great + you already have the app!

*Only available to those who've downloaded it previously.

☽・◦・★・◦・【☆】・◦・★・◦・【☆】・◦・★・◦・【☆】・◦・★・◦・☾

✮⭑・【Ｏｔｈｅｒ　Ｒｅｓｏｕｒｃｅｓ】・⭑✮

myherowritings has beautifully written smau's (fun fact: they're the person that inspired me to try my hand at smau's)

shinsuque has a great post about character profiles

Tags like #smau help and #smau tips, while full of actual smau's, also have comprehensive help lists and answers to different questions.

#smau #resources #fanfic resources #writing tips #fanfic tips #writing resources #smau guide #smau resources #mod alex #long post

[ravenbrenna09]

Jij Verliest - Chapter Eight: Clips 3&4

master list

...

note: decided to drop two clips today because one was just texts; also as much as I want to italicize the texts, I’m not going to because Tumblr never gets all of them :/

also, mild spoilers for the the first part of Pokémon Sword and Shield

...

Maandag 14:11

Broerrrs + Luc

20 July, 14:11

Robbe: What are you guys doing on Wednesday?

Jens: Uh, I’m working that night. But not until like 19:00.

Lucas: I’m working that morning.

Jens: Really?

Lucas: Yeah.

Aaron: I don’t have to work.

Moyo: Me either.

Jens: Lucky you.

Lucas: Why?

Robbe: Because Sander wants to meet you guys. And he gets off at 16:00 on Wednesday.

Jens: Wait really?

Robbe: Yeah. Do you have a problem with it?

Jens: What? No, of course not. I guess I just didn’t expect it to be so soon. Especially after everything that happened.

Robbe: I know, but I want him to meet you guys. Officially. As my boyfriend.

Aaron: Awww, Robbe has a boyfriend.

Robbe: I’ve said he’s my boyfriend multiple times.

Lucas: Yeah, he literally won’t shut up about it.

Robbe: I’m sorry. How many times do you talk about Jens?

Lucas: :)

Aaron: I know, but it’s still new and I’m allowed to be excited.

Moyo: That’s true. We’re excited. And Wednesday sounds good to me. Noor and I are going out tonight.

Jens: Have fun! Wednesday sounds good to me too. Am I going to like him still after everything?

Lucas: Yes.

Jens: Oh really?

Lucas: One look at how he makes Robbe happy and you’ll like him again.

Robbe: I didn’t realize you stopped.

Lucas: He didn’t. He just says that he does. He’s gotta be all macho and protective.

Jens: You like me when I’m macho and protective.

Aaron: VDS at it again.

Moyo: You’re still in the group chat?

Jens: And? I can flirt with my boyfriend when I want to. Even in the group chat.

Robbe: I’m screenshotting that.

Aaron: What for?

Robbe: For when we eventually add Sander to this chat. And Jens tells me not to flirt with my boyfriend. I have proof that I can flirt in the group chat.

Jens: Are we adding Sander to the group chat? We haven’t even met him officially yet. And we never added Thomas to it. 

Robbe: I know, but I have a feeling about this one. Plus, I know you guys already like him anyways. Especially Aaron.

Aaron: That’s true.

Jens: In love Robbe is my favorite Robbe.

Moyo: Yeah.

Lucas: Agreed.

Robbe: Thanks guys.

…

Dinsdag 19:25

It had been on Robbe’s mind for awhile—days, weeks even. It was time for something different.

At least for Tuesday. 

Tonight, Sander was going over to Britt’s parents’ house. It had been an unexpected and last-minute invite from her parents and Sander was asked to come. Britt had messaged Robbe about it, asking if it was okay, and Robbe had said that it was. It still felt a little weird—as weird as his boyfriend pretending to be dating his ex-girlfriend could be—but that wasn’t why Robbe was upset. But, Robbe didn’t even know if ‘upset’ was the word he should be using… Disappointed? Maybe.

It wasn't about Sander going over to Britt’s. It was Sander going over to Britt’s tonight. 

Changing up his streams had been on Robbe’s mind for a few weeks and yesterday afternoon, after playing numerous matches that were just like all the others, he finally decided that he wanted to do it. At least for one day. When Britt had asked—followed shortly by Sander’s call—he thought of pushing the change off until later but, at the same time, Robbe didn’t want to. 

Since that Friday night, Robbe had been itching to play Pokémon Sword and Shield, the newest generation in the franchise. With their buzzed and love-drunk minds, they hadn’t really gotten very far into the game. Every once in a while, they would pause to kiss and it would end up a little more handsy than originally planned. Once they managed to pull themselves away, they would barely make any progress before they would tumble back against the bed, kissing each other. 

So Robbe went out and bought a Nintendo Switch after his Monday night stream. Because Sander had a copy of Pokémon Shield—he remembered the opening title scene quite vividly—Robbe chose the opposite version before looking through to see what other games were compatible with the console. Once he got his new purchase home, he spent the majority of the evening setting it up with the help of YouTube videos. Zoë had brought him a plateful of spaghetti as he was knee-deep in cords. 

Once he woke up on Tuesday morning, Robbe put the finishing touches to make sure that everything would run smoothly—or as smoothly as it could without going live. Even though Robbe had informed them that he was going to do something different, his nerves were still running high, bouncing in his chest. For years, Fortnite had been the only thing that Robbe streamed. So the bulk of his audience would expect Fortnite from him.

Before he started the stream, his phone vibrated loudly against the desk, pulling his gaze from the computer in front of him.

Sander: Have a good stream, baby. I’m hoping to catch the end. If not, I’ll watch it before bed.

A flood of warmth shot through Robbe and soothed all of the erratic nerves in his chest. Unconsciously adjusting his headphones, Robbe typed out a quick message.

Robbe: Have a good dinner. Text me when you get home.

Sander: I will <3

Once Robbe placed his phone to the side, glancing at Sander’s framed sketch, he started the stream. Even though he was still nervous, it was all for nothing. To his surprise, a majority of his regular audience were excited to see him play through Sword for the first time. On the other hand, there were still a handful of people who weren’t excited. Before they left the chat, they made passive aggressive comments about going to watch a Fortnite streamer, and the comments stung a little. Thankfully, the majority of his audience encouraged him and he started the game with little fuss. 

On that Friday evening with Sander, they had chosen the water-type starter, Sobble. While Robbe thought that the anxious salamander (or chameleon?) was adorable, he ended up choosing the Scorbunny this time around, which he named Flint. The white bunny with a bandage on his nose had interested him. Plus, if he and Sander were going to continue with Sobble, he wanted to do something different with this one. Once he hit the first route of the game, Robbe caught a Rookidee, which he named Alloy. It was a small bird that looked angry but would eventually evolve into a Corviknight. 

When Robbe finally reached the Wild Area, the vast area between cities—and, he learned, Pokémon’s first step into an open world—Robbe paused to consider getting the online services to connect with his viewers who had Pokémon. After a few minutes, he decided to wait until later in the game before he got the online services. Plus, he wanted to look into the other games on the Switch so he could do what they were temporarily dubbing “Nintendo Tuesday.”

As Robbe prepared to enter the Opening Ceremonies for the first time, his phone vibrated against the desk, drawing his attention. Rebel, Rebel played again as Sander’s text message popped up on the screen. 

Sander: Baby, buzz me in. 

Pulling down his headphones, he barely could make out the buzzer in the hallway. It was still going—which meant that no one else was home. “Umm,” Robbe said, placing his controller on the desk. His character was mid-conversation with a stadium worker and his chat was moving very quickly. “Sorry, I’m going to take my five-minute break now.” 

Muting his microphone and placing his headphones on the desk, Robbe shot out of his bedroom door and hit the buzzer on the front door. It only took nearly a full minute for Sander to arrive at the front door, knocking lightly, and Robbe opened it impatiently to find him there on his doormat. Sander was dressed in a long-sleeve black button-up with a pair of skinny jeans. His cheeks were flushed, likely from the heat. 

As soon as the door opened, Sander stepped into the apartment and kissed him hurriedly. His skin was hot to the touch—and a little sweaty–but Robbe didn’t mind, bringing him closer against him. Sander wrapped his arms around Robbe’s waist before pulling back. “Hi, baby.”

“Hey,” Robbe said, beaming. 

“I’m sorry for interrupting your stream,” he said. “I just really wanted to see you.” 

“Is everything okay?” Robbe asked. 

“Yeah,” Sander said, squeezing his waist. “Everything is fine. While we were at dinner, her parents asked us if we were really dating because we never kissed in front of them. When her father tried to force us to kiss to prove that we weren’t faking it, Britt exploded. She got into a fight with her dad and I could only watch with her mom as they fought. In the end, she came out to her parents.”

Robbe felt his eyes grow wide, pulling back. “What?”

Sander nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t tell you before because she wasn’t ready yet. But when I took her to my apartment and was going to come over here, she let me know that I could tell you. She’s been in a relationship with her girlfriend for six months. Her parents were always a little overbearing and controlling in her life and tonight was the last straw. She packed a bag and she’s staying in Noor’s bedroom until she figures out what to do.”

“Wow,” Robbe said. “I’m so sorry.”

Sander shrugged with a sad look on his face. “It’s been a long time coming. Since she’s found out, she’s been a ticking time bomb with her parents. They always talked about her being with a good guy—even when she was with me, both real and fake—and she internalized all of it. Every time, she got a little closer until it was too much.”

Robbe nodded. He understood that feeling. In high school, he exploded at the Broerrrs. He had been going through so much—his mother in the hospital and his repressed feelings that he refused to acknowledge to even himself—until one day it was too much. Thankfully, he had Milan and Zoë to help him. The Broerrrs forgave his explosion and changed when they realized how much Robbe was hurt by their words. Avoiding Sander’s gaze, he mumbled, “I know what it’s like… to explode.” 

Sander nodded, pressing a kiss to Robbe’s forehead. For a second, they simply rocked in the silence of the foyer. Soon, Sander ducked his head down to press a kiss against Robbe’s lips and he arched against Sander’s chest. Robbe stood on his toes, wrapping his arms around Sander’s neck, and kissed him back. Sander wrapped his arms tighter around Robbe, bringing him flush against his chest, as he dug his fingers into his hair. 

Pulling back, Sander kissed his nose. “You better get back to your stream. I just really wanted to see you.”

“They can wait a little more,” Robbe said.  

“Yeah, but you don’t want to keep them waiting forever,” Sander said grinning. Placing one more kiss on his lips, he moved back to the front door. As Sander reached to open the door and step outside, Robbe tugged him back against him and Sander looked at him confused. “What is it?” 

“You don’t have to leave,” Robbe said. Sander stared down at him with half-lidded eyes and Robbe swallowed his nerves. “You can stay here and come on the stream with me—or hang out in my room if you feel more comfortable with that.” A small smile grew on Sander’s face. “Besides, I need your expertise about my stream and I’d love to have you with me.”

“Didn’t you say last week that I would be distracting?”

“Maybe,” Robbe said, tilting his head back. Sander stared at him with a sly smile on his face. “Maybe I also changed my mind about you being distracting. But you have to promise to be on your best behavior.” 

“Okay,” Sander said, gripping his hips tightly. “I’d love to join. But I don’t know how much help I’m going to be with Fortnite and online matches. All I know is what you’ve told me or I’ve heard on your streams.” 

Robbe smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips before moving to the kitchen. “I’ll be back soon. I still need to grab a glass of water or I’m not going to be able to make it the rest of the stream without another break.” 

When Robbe returned to his bedroom, Sander had kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned his shirt, exposing the black shirt he had beneath it. His bag had been discarded at the foot of the bed. There was an emotional look on his face as he turned to Robbe who stepped into the doorway. 

“You’re playing Pokémon?” Robbe nodded, relishing when Sander closed the distance and pressed another kiss to his lips. Even with a full glass of water in his hands, Robbe wasted no time in wrapping his free arm around his shoulders and kissing him back. When they separated, Sander grinned. “Lucky for you, Mr. IJzermans, I’m quite the Pokémon expert.”

Robbe smiled, stealing another fleeting kiss. “Lucky me.” 

#wtfock #wtfam #jij verliest #robbe ijzermans #sander driesen #twitch streamer!robbe #tattoo artist!sander #sobbe #rosander #they're in love

[teruteruki]

MP100 Analysis: Teru’s Sexuality

(Honestly, “Teru’s Sexuality” isn’t what I really wanted to title this, but it was the simplest one I could think of. This analysis mostly focus on Teruki’s feelings for Kageyama and his gay coding. So I guess the extended title would be “MP100 Analysis: Teruki’s Romantic Orientation and His Feelings Towards Mob,” but that one doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.)

Okay, well, it took me a week to prepare for this, but here it is! I apologize for the long wait. Here are some ground rules:

1. I will only be using manga pictures. I am aware of the official art and the anime adding extra scenes. However, the canoncity (canonness?) of such material could be debated since it’s not the source material, but instead derived from it. I don’t want to face debates on me using faulty evidence.

2. Since I am using the manga, there will be HEAVY manga spoilers. Not slight such as “oh, Teru oogles Mob during this arc,” but MAJOR things such as screencaps of the last few arcs. If you’re okay with that, then good! But if you haven’t read the manga, I highly suggest you do that first. (AND that you read it from the beginning!)

3. While I am doing this because I personally believe Teru is gay, please do not take this post as fact/canon. I don’t want this to cause any drama in the fandom. It’s all for fun after all! And on that note, I don’t mind seeing everyone else’s takes on this.

4. As I was writing this I realized that I used “Kageyama” instead of “Mob.” So just to specify: “Kageyama” only refers to Shigeo. “Ritsu” is, well, Ritsu.

With that out of the way, the analysis is under the cut!

I’m planning to cover all aspects of why I believe Teru is gay. For that reason, I’ll be splitting things up into sections. (Otherwise, it’d just be one big jumble of words.) First section

Attachment.

After Teru’s first defeat, we can clearly see that he’s fixated on Kageyama. Which...in itself is peculiar. He loses a fight to some amazing psychic, has a fever for 3 days, and yet is immediately able to look past it? Hmm...

He has almost immediately adopted Kageyama’s ideals and is even trying to act on them. As soon as he sees Ritsu, he steps in and tries to change the other’s mindset. Just like Kageyama did for him.

There’s also the image of the shining light in the dark. I believe this is a metaphor for Kageyama. It’s clear that Teruki holds him to higher expectations than, really, anyone else, and would definitely see him as a “light,” so to say. This especially works considering Teruki’s speech about “being the light vs being in the light” from when we first met him.

This is a good display of Teruki is already fixated on Kageyama despite not seeing him again.

Then, there is the Ritsu kidnapping arc.

Teruki tries to come along when Kageyama is planning to save his brother. You could argue that it’s only because Kageyama didn’t have a plan ready, but that begs the question as to why Teru should care so much. He has met Ritsu once and said interaction wasn’t exactly under good intentions. This is simply Teru taking an interest in the things Kageyama cares about.

However, there is also his “explanation” for coming along.

But we all know that Teru doesn’t need Kageyama’s help to defeat a group of Claw members. He did it before when he was younger and less experienced. What would stop him from doing it now?

There is also the fact that after Dimple pointed out that Teruki’s help wasn’t much, Teru then went out of his way to refuse financial support among other things. He wanted to do this with Kageyama alone. That’s something that, easily, could be interpreted as an attempt to impress the other.

Teruki has also gone out of his way to track down/talk to Kageyama several times.

The first time there was a viable excuse - he needed to talk to Kageyama about the “fake White T Poison.” However, the other two times he simply wanted to be around Kageyama.

(During this scene, Kageyama was going out shopping. Nothing exactly was wrong, Teru just decided to talk to him.)

(At this time, Teru seemed to simply pick Kageyama out from a crowd again, and partly because the boy was upset. Which - if not due to Teru’s “need” to be close to Kageyama - is due to another point I have.)

Protectiveness

Teru is needlessly protective of Kageyama. Both physically and emotionally.

When Kageyama was panicking over Ritsu’s kidnapping, Teruki didn’t just let him go. But why? Kageyama is one of the strongest psychics he knows. He could most definitely just take down claw with the amount of power he has. Surely the “structure” doesn’t matter.

He also goes out of his way to stick to what Kageyama wants, and even Dimple says that it’s thoughtful. And as we all know, Teru is great at plans and strategy. If he wanted to, he could devise a plan on his own. The only reasons for him letting Kageyama takeover is to: make him happy, see more of his talent, and to make sure Teru sticks to his ideals. 

 It also speaks to how much Teruki has changed from the beginning. He used to insist that he was the main character, and now here he is, following behind instead of taking the lead. Amazing how just one guy could change him so much.

Teruki continues to take Kageyama’s feelings into account during the entire kidnapping arc. He does it to the point where it slightly inhibits their chances of escape.

Having three psychics to take on the Claw members would help tremendously, but immediately after seeing Kageyama’s worried expression, he backtracks and says they can fight without Ritsu.

And then, after seeing Kageyama unconscious, he starts to panic.

Part of this panic can be explained by Teruki’s shock. He sees Kageyama as some impossible opponent, so the assumption that a Claw member was able to defeat him is possibly earth-shattering. However, that doesn’t exactly explain the clear, genuine relief Teru shows when Kageyama wakes up.

Part of it must be his protectiveness.

Then, during the World Domination arc, Teru actually pleads for Kageyama to turn out alright.

And lastly, during the Final arc, he outright says that he can and will protect Kageyama. (Not to mention that this was after an attempt to comfort Kageyama, because Teru knew something was wrong.)

At the very least, it’s easy to see that Teru cares about Kageyama.

Reactions

A weird subtitle, I know, but I’m referring to how Teruki reacts differently to things concerning Kageyama than to anything else. A good example of this is when Ritsu started to cry. Teru didn’t react at all. He was uninterested, really.

But earlier, when Ritsu and Kageyama were reconciling, he looked blatantly happy.

Same for when Kageyama first woke up. (Posted earlier.)

There was a similar occurrence when they first infiltrated Claw, as well. Teruki was distracted with staring at Kageyama and didn’t notice an enemy until the guy was only a few feet behind him.

And then there’s the time Kageyama mentioned he was getting popular. Teruki’s reaction is vastly different from Ritsu’s.

Ritsu straight up cries tears of joy. He’s happy that his brother is finally getting the recognition he deserves.

But Teruki visibly stops. You could claim it’s because he knows Kageyama isn’t actually popular, but there’s no way to be sure. He hasn’t seen what Kageyama’s school life is like, so he wouldn’t know if girls are actually staring or not. If anything, he believes what Kageyama is saying and seems slighty disappointed.

(He then proceeds to say Kageyama is handsome. Do I even need to touch on that?)

And then we head into the Divine Tree arc. Ironically, I think Teruki’s true feelings shine the most while he’s under hypnosis.

Right off the bat, we know its Teruki’s true feelings because Dimple tells us so. And Dimple has no reason to lie. That’s what this arc is about - 100% truth.

The wording here is something that sticks out. Their relationship, not friendship, not rivalry. In Teru’s eyes, their relationship is either doesn’t fit those labels or is more complicated than that. This makes perfect sense under the premise that Teruki has romantic feelings for Kageyama.

And then, as the arc continues, Teruki keeps putting Kageyama before the Divine Tree.

The focus of the hypnosis is that everyone will put the Divine Tree first. The Tree is supposed to be important enough to them that, apparently, if Kageyama agreed to be the co-founder, it would instantly give him Tsubomi’s love. And yet here we can see that even though Teru is actively fighting over it, the Tree is still an afterthought when he’s talking.

And when Teru is blasted away, we once again see that Kageyama is his priority.

Not even hypnosis could stop his strong feelings.

(And at this time I’d like to say that yes, Dimple said Teru felt respect, but there’s no way to be certain about that. The only one that knows what he felt at that time is himself.)

And finally, the notorious panel set during the epilogue.

Everyone else is seen actively engaging and teasing Kageyama about his crush, but Teruki avoids the conversation. And there is, honestly, no other explanation that makes sense besides Teruki harboring some negative feelings towards the whole Kageyama-Tsubomi circumstance. (We all know it doesn’t take that long to sip some tea.)

Heteronormativity

This section won’t be as screenshot heavy as the other few. That’s partly because this was a section I thought of while writing this post and also because, well, the only screenshots I’d have would be of Teruki before his change in character. (I would also like to give credit to @terumobwiki. His post gave me a good idea of what to write for this section, and without it, I may have left this part out.)

Before meeting Kageyama, Teruki was living the stereotypical “dream life.” He had a girlfriend, was popular in school, great at sports, etc etc. But we clearly see in his flashback (at least, in the manga) that he isn’t actually happy with all this. When he’s being congratulated on his perfect scores, he looks bored or possibly even depressed. A perfect life isn’t what he actually wants. He was just forcing himself to enjoy it.

And then, after Kageyama comes into his life, Teruki isn’t mentioned to have a girlfriend ever again. Which is definitely interesting, considering we blatantly see that he still has fangirls and gets confessions often. It’s clear throughout the show that he still struggles with pride, too, and yet this other key factor of his past self isn’t there. And, unsurprisingly, he seems to be way happier without a girlfriend.

Conclusion: Teruki is gay and has romantic feelings for Kageyama. The evidence is in all the previously mentioned points. And yes, other characters close to Kageyama have some of these traits, but not all four. For example, Ritsu is protective of Kageyama, but he doesn’t go out of his way to stick by his brother, nor does he change his morals to fit the other’s. 

And if you don’t think this is what a crush is like, think back to the last one you had. Did you not wish to spend more time with that person? Did you not want to show off in front of them, or instead, wanted to watch them more closely? Did you not react differently around them than compared to others?

Case in point.

#URGH this took forever but hey im finally done!!!! #now i can fuckign uhhhhh relax #for maybe 5 minutes before i dive into writing my claw!teru au lol #post #analysis #terumob #mp100 #mob psycho 100

[markteare]

Fallout 4: Nuka-World DLC

Nuka-World trailer featuring DLC cover art by John Gravato.

It has been a while since I have had the time to post and I wanted to get something up about Nuka-World. Rather than hit all of the details in a bunch of smaller Nuka-World posts I decided I would cover as much as I could in one overview post. While re-watching the trailer recently, I was reminded of just how many different aspects of that DLC I got to work on as the art lead. Highlighting my work from the trailer felt like a good way to run through my efforts, so take a look at the trailer linked above and then read on below.

Nuka-World screenshot I created for marketing.

My general responsibilities began with creating the pitch for the DLC. The two design leads, Justin Schram and Alan Nanes, and I started developing a series of ideas for the DLC. After one false start, we came in with a stack of new ideas as one-sheets and started the pitch meeting with what was then called “Raiders and Rides” as a working title. Todd accepted it before even hearing the other ones. I was very happy about this as it was my favorite pitch of the group.

Nuka-World screenshot I created for marketing.

As the art lead for the project I was responsible for overseeing all things art-related; art direction, pipeline, etc. Since this was a DLC for Fallout 4, much of the core art direction was established by Istvan Pele, the art director on the base game. My job for the DLC was to create a reason for players to want to come back to the game for more. I also wanted to test some of my ideas for improvements to the pipelines and the smaller scale of a DLC was a great place for that. More than anything I wanted to use my additional influence on the DLC to give the players loads of memorable fun and value for their money.

My Nuka-World key art based on the original Fallout 4 key art.

One of the first things I did once the plan was greenlit was to create the key art. I used it in all of my slides for internal and external presentations and to set the initial tone and pillars of the DLC for the team. More detailed post on the key art here.

My original Bottle & Cappy slide art turned into Nuka-World coffee mug art.

A key contrast built into the DLC from the start was the mix of horrible, violent, raider gangs with the fun, lighthearted, theme park. To add that contrast into my slides I created a closing slide featuring who I imagined the park mascots to be. Bottle & Cappy were born as a way to incorporate a fun note as my closing slide. As the DLC progressed it became clear we needed to use them in the park and then in the marketing. Post DLC they have joined the permanent Fallout lore in other titles and in merchandising.

Nuka-World screenshot I created for marketing.

As the first artist on the project, I started by sketching key broad strokes of the DLC into the engine to guide the art team toward my vision. I added in the first-pass landscape and weather to get the environment feeling like I wanted. Then I started blocking in key landmarks of the park in grey boxed art to get the layout started. I added sub leads for the park environment art (Jason Muck) and the landscape (Andrew Barron). To help build enough new geometry to fill the park, I prototyped some park assets using the color remapping I developed for the base game. This workflow would allow faster park asset creation allowing us to build a larger environment with a smaller team.

Nuka-World screenshot I created for marketing. 

Once the environment team was going I shifted focus to characters, creatures, and weapons. I knew they going to take much more hands-on work from me duse to the small team size. We had one character artist (Charles Kim) and one weapon artist (Dane Olds) in house. Concept art and the bulk of the non-environment art was planned to be outsourced. Raiders were the main focus for the DLC and I knew they would take up the majority of the resources. Inspite of that limitation I also wanted to get the players as many new creatures as I could. I came up with a list of easy but dramatic creature ideas to test to maximize reuse but feel new to the player. I did fast "proof of concept" tests for each idea to determine which ideas would work in-game. I repeated this same pattern to fill out the weapon list with cheap and fun additions at a minimal cost.

Nuka-World screenshot I created for marketing.

The raider gangs were the main feature of the DLC but due to the volume of work they required, and our lack of staff in those departments, the decision was made to outsource all of the raider concepts and the models. I knew outsourcing the concepts was going to be tricky since the outsourcing group was in China but I had no other option. I supplied lots of ref and photo bashed some quick collages to get something for them to start with besides a written description. This method yielded a few good designs but nothing good enough to move forward with alone. Luckily for me, John Gravato (concept artist) stepped up and took on wrangling some of the design revisions and additions in his spare time. Ray Leder (concept artist) also knocked out a few additional helmet designs. Leveraging their stellar support and iterating with the team in China I was able to arrive at the armor sets that defined the three raider gangs and could combine for massive variety for the player.

My trailer directorial debut: the Nuka-World E3 teaser.

For this DLC, in particular, Todd's plan for us was to market it like a full game. This meant we would work with marketing on screens, a teaser, a trailer, a theme song, a Bottle & Cappy trailer (similar to the SPECIAL videos for the base game), and a physical park map. The Bottle & Cappy trailer was handled by an outside vendor which took most of the load off of us except for lite direction and feedback. The rest was up to myself and a handful of people on the team. Animator Neal Thibodeaux did a lot of the heavy lifting on both the teaser and the trailer which were both made in the engine. Artist Natalia Smirnova created the logos and artwork for the map and we worked very hard to make it accurate to the park and have that authentic theme park map feel. Not only were we going to use it to guide people around the park in-game, we were also putting a physical version in Game Stop as a preorder bonus.

Bottle & Cappy trailer.

Nuka-World park map pre-order bonus.

One of the things that got me the leadership role on the DLC was my history of adding all kinds of content to the game in addition to my role as a VFX artist. I don't like it when a good idea dies from a lack of resource time. Over the years I have learned all of the workflows in our engine to find clever ways to make my ideas come to life without additional help. This often includes sourcing existing art for kitbashing new work from in order to save time. Unfortunately, this is the kind of work that has often proven hard to teach and or delegate. Having the lead role allowed me to incorporate it more than ever before into our pipelines, but throughout the DLC I still had to do a lot of the work myself.

Below is a breakdown of all of my work in the trailer which turns out to be a good cross-section of all of the additional things I did on the DLC.

00:02 Direction and feedback for outsourced Bottle & Cappy video.

00:15 Unique models and editor setup for Nukatron. Flipbook port of B&C video for in-game Nukatron and Nuka-Cola machines.

00:20 Water VFX for the landscape. Art direction for the five themed areas of the park.

00:23 Ported mannequin models to animatronics and animated them. Created all Nuka-World mannequin outfits as texture swaps or new meshes.

00:24 Set dressed and captured trailer footage in-game.

00:26 Developed efficient color remapping pipeline (CRP) for the fast creation of park assets. I built fake western mountain rocks for themed park area.

00:28 Created a quantum variant for all 6 Mirelurk creature types. Created the water and VFX for the Quantum river.

00:30 Concepted and built the armor for Porter Gage the main companion for the DLC. Modeled and posed Bottle& Cappy park sculptures (using CRP). Built the Fizztop Mountain asset for the main landmark for the park (using CRP).

00:40 Technical assistance on execution of the intro train ride.

00:42 Created park color guide and prototype weathers for DLC color direction.

00:43 Concepted and built Nuka bottle Protectron (using CRP). 

00:45 Art direction for park map and then execution of in-game navigation via map kiosks.

00:48 Created all of the painted feral ghoul DLC variants.

00:51 Created the Gatorclaw death claw variant model. Created a Nuka-World specific lunch box player prize system from my lunch box system in the base game.

00:52 Created the Brhamaliff models. Planned a high-level melee tree with art assets to supplement a limitation of the base game.

00:56 Created the unique robot meshes for Nuka Spray Mr. Handy

00:57 Designed the damage structure for weaponized Nuka-Cola flavors.

00:58 Created all of the western clothing meshes.

01:00 Prototyped the original sandworm concept in-game to test viability. Created the Sandworm VFX. Trained the character artist in kitbash modeling to add Acid Soaker. Created all of the VFX for the acid soaker.

01:03 Art directed the raider factions. Designed all clothing as armor/under armor for maximum mix and match. Cleaned up all outsourced outfit meshes for maximum compatibility within the armor system.

01:04 Created all texture variants for raider underclothes. Brought the slave collar from Fallout 3 and rebuilt for Nuka-World with power on/off functionality.

01:07 Added motion to some Bottle & Cappy statues.

01:09 Designed trash pile loot system to add the feel of overflowing trash at a theme park and add a new loot system to the park.

01:13 Concept and design for paddleball weapons and mods. (see other post)

01:18 Art direction for raider gangs.

01:19 Ported alien mesh to animatronic enemy for the park. Revised the Fallout 3 alien blaster as playable weapon (not shipped).

01:20 Built the Overboss bumper car power armor. Worked with design to create the plan for the opening boss fight with squirt gun mechanic (see other post). Built all of the electric VFX for the boss fight.

01:21 Original concept for spider cricket hopper enemy.

01:17 Tuxedo mesh for Kiddie Kingdom boss ghoul.

01:23 Flying swarm as a single enemy proof of concept. All ant variant meshes.

01:28 Shot this shot setup and set dressing for the teaser.

01:33 Original Bottle & Cappy idea and concept painting.

#fallout 4 #fallout4 #nuka cola #nukaworld #nuka world #nuka #BethesdaGameStudios #artdirection #concept art #proof of concept #dlc #Skyrim #fallout

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

Troy’s Crystal Necklaces are IMPORTANT AND IDK HOW and other insane ramblings

No matter what happens from here on out, I think those crystals are important and I GOTTA know what they’re for! At the very least, they’re important to me. So cool... So glowy... *o* I want one...

So there are a couple possibilities for what they could be used for and my main guess is Stealing/Storing/Transferring Siren powers (Yes, I know, that’s probably Tyrene’s power, but, hey, humor me! I think it’d be an interesting twist to something we already know.)

Troy being able to steal siren powers and possibly keep them in the glowy crystals around his neck? Hell yeah! How? I have no fuckin’ clue!

Since his tattoos are red they could be derived from the crystals and, if this is the case, he is probably the one who stole Lilith’s tattoos during the trailer and possibly transfers them to Tyrene. (I’ll get more into this later as to why I don’t think he kept them) I lowkey kinda think they’re like raw seraph crystals or smth bc male siren goes against all the lore (maybe he’s like a seraph himself or some bullshit? yaknow, red vs blue... or he just used the crystals to steal a siren’s tattoos and put them on himself...) unless he’s actually trans which I'm afraid they wouldn’t have the balls to do. but oh mama if he is, that representation will be like nothing we’ve ever seen

Troy having gotten Siren powers from his sister Tyrene stealing them and giving them to him? I mean,,, yeah that’s probably what happened but GLOWY MAGIC CRYSTALS THE ERIDIANS DIDN’T LIKE BECAUSE SERAPHS COULD THEN STEAL THEIR POWERS AND USE THEM AGAINST THEM IN WAR (THAT IS [APPARENTLY] COMING)??? Now that’s some good reintegration shit mhmmmm. The Eridium buffeth and the Seraph taketh away.

Also, a siren being able to steal another siren’s powers seems kinda counterintuitive. Her power is useless unless she meets other sirens (THERE ARE 6 IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE - despite what the games want us to believe, that’s pretty fuckin’ rare!) and what is it even used for? All the other sirens we’ve met have very powerful, combat-oriented skills (even w/ Angel, while I’m still not sure what her power was exactly tbh. technological integration? (Phaseshift-ing of the bits???) that’s p powerful with Eridian tech I'm sure). If the Sirens were created by Eridians, they were probably made to be on the same side. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make a lot more sense for something that didn’t want the Sirens around to have the power to steal theirs and redistribute them to their own forces?

Consider:

and

I mean, after all, “their return is to be feared” and Seraph crystals only started appearing after the opening of the second vault on Pandora (which could be triggering the return of the Seraphs... thus causing them to want to plunder vaults/kill Sirens? who knows lol). Also, the cultists leaving Pandora and heading to Promethea could very well be bringing back Seraph crystals. Shit, the guy you sell the crystals to in order to get some seriously powerful gear could have been shipping them off to Promethea. 

My only problem is they’re pink, not red, but it might be a product of activating them/”storing” the siren powers in them/some weird bullshit. I know raw eridium is a shade or two darker than processed Eridium, so it could possibly be some bullshit like “raw seraph crystals are redder while processed seraph crystals are pink” or something.

Actually, now that I think about it, the only way to get Seraph crystals is through Seraph Guardians. Disregarding the Dragons bc its a DnD Campaign, the Seraph Guardians are all hopped up on whatever the seraph crystals did to them. Maybe the crystals are drained of their power once we kill the Seraph Guardians and that is why they are that shade of pink. Maybe when they’re charged up they’re a more saturated red color. I mean, Hyperius is able to grow to the size of a skyscraper and Gee can absorb elemental damage so 👀

This is all a huge reach, but I’m having fun, so let’s continue.

Now there is this tidbit from the Battleborn Easter Egg: “VISIT PROMET[H]EA CHILDREN OF THE VAULT. WE ARE NOT ON PANDORA ANYMORE. TANNIS IS NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS. DO NOT OPEN THE VAULTS”. Ignoring the Tannis bit, I’m very curious why they don’t want the vaults open. Maybe it would bring about the return of the Eridians and they don’t want that? I mean... technically the Watcher is already back after opening only 2 vaults (Pandora1 and Elpis). Which is a whole nother thing that I could totally get into if the twins (either of them) are actually stealing people’s Siren powers lmao, be it with just the magic crystals or their own magic alien powers. The war the Watcher mentions could 100% be against the Calypso twins. I can’t help but wonder if it should be something bigger though lmao... sounded so ominous... 

Now of the theory that Tyrene is the one who can steal powers and gave Lilith’s to Troy: Totally possible. Boring, but possible. There is that screenshot of her holding a really glowing lookin’ orb (AND THE INSIDE IS GLOWING REDDISH: THE SAME COLOR AS TROY’S CRYSTALS OHHHHH-) which is probably someone’s Siren powers. My only way to dispute this is to say she also doesn’t have any facial tattoos like Lilith does, (Angel doesn’t have facial tattoos either) though Maya and Steele did have tattoos on their faces, and Troy totally does have a unique facial tattoo that wouldn’t match up with Lilith’s at all (I mention this because it could hint that she is the one to get the powers transferred onto her, not the other way around). Also, immediately after the scene with the image below, there is a shot of an area being absolutely BLITZED by fireballs and Lilith is usually associated with fire (Firehawk).

I do think this snapshot happens right after they steal Lilith's powers. Tyrene looks so smug like “oh, let’s see what this baby can DO”. So either she just got Lilith’s powers, or she’s about to shove her glowing ball into her brother and idk which is worse lol

Now, I mentioned before that Troy has facial tattoos, which don’t match up with Lilith’s tattoos at all. You would think transferring the powers would transfer over the same tattoos. But Alas, to disprove this part of the theory, Tyrene actually has a unique set of tattoos as well, as far as I can tell. 

Her tattoos. I can’t tell if Troy’s are similar or not because of her jacket, but you can catch a glimpse of them here! (At least, I think those are his tattoos. His arm is kinda a weird gray color...  🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 Maybe the transference did an ouch of some kind)

AFAIK neither of these match Lilith’s.

Also, fun fact! Tyrene is the only Siren we’ve seen to not show off her chest tattoos. IDK if its a Siren thing or if they just want to show off their cleavage or what, but unlike the others, her clothes are not revealing whatsoever (in fact, she seals up her neck and stuff? Is weird). Troy, on the other hand, looks like he went on a shopping spree with Macklemore and V from DMC5. He’s also showing a fair bit of abdomen lol (Have you seen his ab tattoo that says Calypso? Neat). Interestingly enough, his red tattoos don’t seem to go down the left side of his abdomen like Siren tattoos do (easily seen on Lilith), nor his chest, and although they could be hidden by his jacket, I don’t think that’s the case. 

Also, I kinda wanna go on a tangent here and talk about his face? At first, I thought he had maybe gotten some Glasgow scars, but if you look up where his sideburns are, that is way too clean and almost mechanical to be scarring (plus, its super symmetrical, he has one right down the middle of his chin as well- which interestingly enough is not visible on his bust in the Mask of Mayhem... then again neither are Tyrene’s scars. Worship at its finest). My first thought after that was that he peeled someone’s face off and stapled it to his own 😅 I mean! He works with psychos, right? It’s not too far fetched? right? (tbh the placement of the metal bits (cheekbones, cheeks, one on his chin) gives me a huge Jack vibe, so maybe it's just his homage to the man, the myth, the legend)

Maybe the tattoos are fake/implanted technology in order to keep the cult in check and the crystals are there to keep them powered/working. Maybe he had to get a face stapled back on after whatever took his arm ripped his face off too. Who knowwwws. Maybe he had to have head implants for his arm to work (if its a prosthetic like Rhys’s, it could just be a huge exoskeleton arm) and being on Promethea (Pandora for a while before they left as per the easter egg I guess), they probably don’t have the greatest medical expertise, unlike Hyperion. Also, the crystals could totally just be a power source for his arm. That’d be super badass, just rip it off his neck and shove it into that ring looking area and power up. I’ll be honest, we’re throwing theories at the wall here to see what sticks!

But back on the topic of Power Stealing! For either one having the power of transferring (be it magic crystals or magic alien space superpowers), they could already have taken another siren’s power and are just adding onto it. Could be the reason Troy has 2 crystals (one for lilith, one for another siren), could be the reason both their tattoos are different from all the sirens we’ve seen so far. 

Personally, I like the theory that they stole the new little girl character’s siren powers and we’re going to help her and Maya get them back. Somewhere in the process, Lilith probably loses her powers to them. It would explain why he has two crystals instead of just one. Maya probably knows all this smart shit about who the twins are and what their cult is and has a plan but needs our help getting to the twins. 

I also just came up with this now, but I like the idea that the little girl is either actually working with the Calypso twins or being manipulated by them in order to get Maya and Lilith to show up on Promethea. Think about it. They need/want to collect Siren powers, right? What better way to do so than to jerk at the heartstrings of two super powerful sirens with a huge connection to their own powers by sending a little girl out who “got hers stolen by some big bad cult leaders”. In the Mask of Mayhem trailer, we see the little girl a few times. At one point, in the top right, right next to Troy and Tyrene, we see an unfamiliar smoll character who looks like this (below) and has the beginnings of what I think are growing wings at her back (meaning Siren) although her left arm is covered, which might mean she probably doesn’t have tattoos. Yet.

Maybe she was promised her own powers if she lured the two Sirens to the Calypso twins. I was going to use her earrings and gages to see if they were the same character but the girl below just so happened to be conveniently wearing a pair of headphones lol. Maybe its just coincidence. I do think their hair is different, the statue has a bun/ponytail, but that could be solved by her chopping it off with that huge knife or keeping it in a bun and keeping her hood up. Maybe the two characters are twins themselves and one joined the cult and the other wants to help her leave. Who knowwwwwsssss

I don’t trust her lies.

Also, one more thing, during the scene with Lilith on the floor, when they’re locking arms, Troy pulls away first, while Tyrene slowly retracts her hand like she’s unsure of what to do. Not the greatest of proofs indeed, but something to think about. Perhaps he’s just impatient to try out his new powers. Maybe he’s done this before and knows what he’s doing. She could just be annoyed and is giving him a death glare behind that fabulous collar. We may never know. There are plenty of ways to read into it.

Of course, Tyrene seems like to big boss type out of the whole thing anyway, so its more than likely she is the one that has the power to take and transfer Siren powers. She is the one in the Mask of Mayhem with the wings, and I find it interesting that they made it a point to have Troy’s left arm (the arm Sirens have their tattoos on!!) to be “under construction” during the video. It’s very likely the reason is because he gets his tattoos through his sister during the game. If that’s the case, well fuckin’ played Gearbox. Foreshadowing 100.

Shit, idk, maybe it's all just some weird shit that happens when your twin is a Siren. You get like... negative siren powers. it would explain his Shadow the Hedgehog color scheme smh. She stole all the blue pigment from him in the womb so he’s just red in the places her tattoos are lmao

Maybe his crystals are just Promethea’s version of Eridium, after all, the Vault key here seems to be producing a shitton of red light. be weird tho, since eridium didnt exist until we opened the vault so... maybe tannis just grabbed one of them siren-power-holding-crystals you just brought her after beating the shit out of an emo biker fuck and shoved in the vault key and prayed it would work while t-posing to assert dominance

who knowwwwwsss 

#bl3 #borderlands 3 #troy #tyrene #calypso twins #bl3 theory #Borderlands Theory

[aion-rsa]

Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive is Built on the Shoulders of Giants

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When Brandon Sanderson wrote The Way of Kings, the first book in The Stormlight Archive series, he was ready to give up on publishing. Throwing away any ideas of what the market wanted, he decided to write something instead for himself. Now, 18 years later, Rhythm of War, the fourth book of The Stormlight Archive, marks Sanderson’s 25th novel (in addition to assorted novellas, short stories, and graphic novels), and something over seven million words of published fiction. He is, of course, not the only person who has enjoyed the epic fantasy saga.

That success was never a guarantee. Sanderson wrote 13 novels before he sold one: Elantris, in 2003. (It was published in 2005.) “The Way of Kings was number 13, the last of those unpublished books,” he recalls to Den of Geek. When trying to write for the market, he produced what he feels were some really awful novels, and beginning The Way of Kings was a way to return to the types of stories that he loved: big, chunky fantasy. “I love big epics,” he says. “I grew up on Anne McCaffrey and Robert Jordan and these really great, meaty epic fantasy series, which are my first love… I always wanted to do one of those myself.”

Rhythm of War continues the story of a war between humans and the parshmen (the singers) who are the native species of the world of Roshar. As powers of old have returned, the humans and the spren (magical spirits attuned to certain emotions or elements) have begun to reform the Radiant Knights. The singers have joined with powers to become the Fused, hosts to ancient souls in modern bodies.

The human cast includes Kaladin, a surgeon who became a soldier, benched at the beginning of the book due to his PTSD; Shallan, a woman with dissociative identity disorder who is also a master illusionist working in tandem for the heroes and a secretive spy enclave that claims to have answers to the universe; Dalinar, a Bondsmith who can heighten the abilities of others (among other gifts), and who struggles against pressures to become a high king; Navani, his wife, a queen who is more an engineer; and many others. This volume also reveals the pasts of singer sisters Eshonai and Venli as, in the present, Venli develops a secret plan for the singers’ independence, free from both human and the Fused. 

The spren are one of the most fascinating fantasy inventions featured in the series, and their role is even more important in Rhythm of War as Shallan and her partner, Adolin, try to form a treaty with the honorspren to aid in the war. The spren, especially those who have bonded with humans, are reminiscent of the daemons from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, but they are also quite unique. Sanderson was partly inspired by Japanese kami, and the idea that everything has a spirit. In the world of The Stormlight Archive, the minds of people shape the energy of the world, the spirits that embody objects and emotions. By depicting the spren, Sanderson wants readers to immediately know they are in a fantastic world.

“When people have powerful emotions, they attract spren,” Sanderson explains. “They also fulfill a writerly need: a lot of times, as writers, we’re looking for [ways to] show, don’t tell.” The spren give Sanderson, he explains, a way to reveal the emotions of his characters without using cliched expressions and depictions, while at the same time heightening the sense of the world as fantastical. “It’s also just a lot of fun to write,” Sanderson adds.

Sanderson is well known for writing strong women. (In a favorite line from Rhythm of War, one character, trying to convince Kaladin to partner up, reminds him that he likes smart girls: “Is there really anyone who doesn’t like smart girls?” Kaladin immediately replies.) Sanderson’s inclusion of prominent female characters with agency as central protagonists in his work comes from the fantasy he grew up on: Anne McCaffrey, Barbara Hambly, and Melanie Rawn. The book that made him into a reader was Hambly’s Dragonsbane, which features a woman who gave up her career in magic to raise a family—a book that gave Sanderson insight into his mother’s own choices in life. When he finished, he recalls thinking: “Wait a minute, I think I just finished a fun story about slaying a dragon, and I think I understand my mom better.… That lesson stayed with me my whole life, and my whole career.”

Sanderson strives to create authentic depictions of characters outside his own experiences. “When I write characters, I try very hard to represent that character, and anything about them, as well as if that character could write, they would represent it,” Sanderson says. He hopes that when readers find a character they identify with, they read that character and think, of Sanderson: “Wow, he must be like me!” To do this, Sanderson relies on beta readers—especially in cases like Shallan’s dissociative identity disorder (DID). “DID is represented so poorly in storytelling,” Sanderson explains. “It’s really sensationalized a lot of times. I wanted to do it right.” It took many drafts and very patient beta readers to build Shallan into the fully fleshed-out character she has become.

While Rhythm of War has many moving pieces, it’s surprisingly accessible for readers who haven’t picked up previous volumes of The Stormlight Archive, while returning fans of course will feel right at home in Sanderson’s rich fantasy world. Sanderson intends all of his books to have a quality of completeness—he works to make sure that each novel has its own identity, and that the novels don’t blend in with each other. He did not design Rhythm of War with the intent that readers would pick it up first, but he’s pleased it also works that way. “I remember doing that as a kid,” he says, “not knowing the series even was a series, or not being able to find the first one, and being like, ‘Well, I’m just going to read this one.’ There’s actually a fun to that, a piecing things together.”

Readers who have been following The Stormlight Archive since The Way of Kings was released back in 2010 have been waiting eagerly (and patiently) for each volume; it’s been just over three years since the previous installment in the series, Oathbringer, was released. But, for some Sanderson fans, the wait for the series has been even longer. “Way back when I first sold Elantris,” Sanderson remembers, “my editor … said, ‘What else do you have?’” So Sanderson submitted The Way of Kings, though it was not quite ready for publishing—something the editor and Sanderson both agreed on. “Writing a 300,000-word novel is a special skill,” he explains, “and I had not practiced that specific skill yet.”

Somehow, Amazon got word that The Way of Kings existed and put up a listing for the title. As Sanderson became better known, he told fans that asked that he did plan to return to The Way of Kings, but in the meantime, fans started to post fake reviews for it, Sanderson says, complete with doctored customer photos. One fan created a book cover with an image of Elvis and a fake blurb from Terry Goodkind. Readers continued to express their eagerness with this sort of fannish love until the real version of The Way of Kings was published in 2010. (The fake listing has since been removed, after Sanderson made sure to take “copious screenshots.”)

Between the false listing and the publication, Sanderson worked on those skills to create a true epic. Part of the experience needed for such a creative feat came from taking on the final books of The Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan’s death.

“I usually use the metaphor that I was like Sam carrying the Ring for a little bit to finish it off,” Sanderson jokes. “The Wheel of Time experience basically forced me to go to the writing books gym and lift weights much heavier than I was accustomed to.” (Sanderson’s work on completing the series led the current-in-development Wheel of Time Amazon television series team to enlist him as a consulting producer. He has read several of the scripts and given the team advice as needed. Though he is not able to reveal much about the project, Sanderson reports: “I really have enjoyed the process of enjoying with Rafe [Judkins], the showrunner, on the television show.”)

Working on The Wheel of Time book series helped Sanderson figure out what he wanted to accomplish with The Way of Kings and the subsequent books, avoiding some of the problems he’d identified in epic fantasy. With The Stormlight Archive, Sanderson explains, “I’ve tried to make it not feel slow. I’ve tried to make it feel like each book has its own soul.” 

As for the real series’ reception: “The fans just latched onto it immediately,” Sanderson says. The series itself has so many moving parts, it’s hard to make a good elevator pitch, so Sanderson claims the series’ fans had to already trust him in order to begin. He recalls the pre-internet days when readers never knew when a new book in their favorite series was coming out; now, with the immediacy and accessibility of the internet, Sanderson tries to be upfront with his readers that each Stormlight Archive book will appear about once every three years.

To “hopefully keep fans satiated between volumes,” Sanderson and his team have also included pages of original art, and beautiful front-paper and end-paper portraits in full color in the series. “Why is there not more art in books for adults?” Sanderson wonders. “Why do kids get all the art?” Including original paintings, diagrams, and illustrations reinforces Sanderson’s deep world-building. Reprints of the earlier books in the series have sometimes even had art added as readers have asked for more detail about particular aspects of the world.

Credit: Art by Ben McSweeney © Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC

The series is planned to be ten books. “I do plan it to be two five-book arcs,” Sanderson explains. “Book five should bring us to a pretty major climactic moment in the series.” In the meantime, fans of Sanderson’s world can play in it themselves via the board game, Call to Adventure: The Stormlight Archive, which features over 150 cards with art based on the world. With so much world-building already done for The Stormlight Archive, fans may wonder if a tabletop role playing game, similar to the Mistborn Adventure Game from Crafty Games, based on another of Sanderson’s series, is in the works. “No immediate plans,” Sanderson says, “but I’m sure we’ll do one eventually.”

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Sanderson easily acknowledges the influences and inspirations of writers who have come before. “I have an advantage over a lot of the epic fantasy writers of my youth in that I got to read all of their books and see what was working and what wasn’t working,” he points out. But, in addition to building from other writers, Sanderson is dedicated to exploring the real world through his imaginary ones.

“Fantasy is wonderful escapism. This is why I love to read it,” he says. “But it is also a path to understanding other people. That’s what I love about fiction, and that’s what I love about fantasy in particular. It’s perhaps too lofty for me to aspire to change the world through my goofy fantasy novels, but I at least want to try to represent the world accurately so that, when you’re done with the book, if you’ve read about people different from yourself, you have come to understand them a little bit better.”

Rhythm of War is now available to buy wherever books are sold. You can find out more here.

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[werewolfgabby]

Evaluation

This was a really interesting project to work on, as it was a task to make a games concept but with a literature based starting point. I came up with the base concept for the game (Halloween Dating Sim) before we even started this project as it’s something I hadn’t really done before yet, and would give me a chance to explore a new aesthetic. I also really wanted to do a game like this as it would allow me to work on my background drawing skills - since they are a huge part of these types of game.

Since I already had a brief idea of what I wanted to do before I started, I chose to research all the books that had supernatural themes or creatures that weren’t regular humans - so that I could relate it to the monster idea I had. I chose these books to research: Woman in Black, Jekyll & Hyde, Frankenstein, Let The Right One In, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

The main book that I chose to influence this project was Jekyll and Hyde, since I loved the mystery and secrecy aspect of the novel, as well as the main character - Jekyll - and his issues with split personality and the supernatural. This Victorian Gothic novel combined with my original idea to make the dating simulator meant that I now had a dual genre game. While the initial game appears to be a modern dating simulator set in a cursed town, it is actually a detective game which allows you to expose the darker side of the town’s residents. In that sense, the novel starting point has actually stayed very prominent in my project - there is a character who is based on Jekyll & Hyde who is the main villain, and the main character you play as (Bailey) almost takes on a similar role to Utterson, trying to solve the mystery. 

For this project - Cauldron Hollow - I have created many different characters, some background artwork and a book cover, as well as some fake screenshots of how the game-play could look. When I went into the project I had planned to create more expressions and poses for each character and draw more backgrounds, but due to my limited time frame I am happy with the amount of work i’ve been able to produce. 

The Characters

I wanted to design a range of date-able characters for this game so that I would have more examples of character design for my portfolio. My poor time management definitely affected the outcome of this work quite significantly - as it was at least a week into the project when I started making the characters. I gave myself some time to think about the designs but did very few concept sketches before jumping into the final artwork, as I was worried that I wouldn’t have any actual finished work to show if I didn’t do it quickly. I wanted to have a decent amount of characters to show a lot of variety in the designs, which led to me having hardly any time to focus on each one.

 I did all the artwork over one weekend, which was a very poor idea - as I had no time to come up with several iterations for each. On top of this, drawing 9 characters in such a short amount of time left me severely burnt out by the end, and as a result some character artwork clearly has significantly less effort put into it. The character I made last, Robin, as a result was the one I liked the least - the colours didn’t really fit properly, the pose was a little rigid and the linework was messy. I think that this was partially due to the type of brush I was using, which I don’t think is suitable for the kind of clean line-work I was after - as a result I will change my brush for the next project to try and get a more appealing finish. 

If I could redraw these characters, I would do a lot of things differently. I would dedicate more time to each one and really focus on the ‘quality vs quantity’ as my mindset for this project was ‘more work means better’. I would also spend more time creating multiple different looks for each character so I could then pick the best concept and refine it, rather than finalising the first result in my head. On top of this, I would like to spread out the character design across a wider period of time, so that I don’t overwork myself on one - or even just do less characters. 

There are some things I did like about the character design - I did try and vary my poses more; each character does have a fairly unique pose (even if the anatomy isn’t great, which I’d like to focus more heavily on in the next project) which I haven’t really tried before, and I think that they definitely look better because of it even if it isn’t a massive change. I also really like the colour schemes of some of the designs, and the outfit design I did, as I think it matches the kind of aesthetic I was going for. One final thing i’m glad I did was to keep the characters consistent in terms of shading, highlights, art style and brush texture - they do all look like they’re part of a set rather than all being drawn in completely different ways. I think the fact that I used a consistent colour palette throughout the project definitely influenced this, as I found that most characters fit pretty nicely together.

The Backgrounds

I came into this project wanting to improve my backgrounds, since they’re a big part of dating sim games and aesthetics. I am actually really happy how they turned out since I’m not normally very confident with them. The first background I made was of a bedroom and window, which I coloured in the same way that I had done the characters. Thanks to the perspective drawing feature, all the features of the room look relatively accurate, which I’m really happy about. It was only the hand drawn features (such as the pumpkin clock) which look a little out of place- but to remedy this I think I just need more practice with perspective.

For the window background, if I could improve it I think I would have added more detail to the walls - as the painting and picture frames are empty. I would have also liked to make the space outside of the window a lot more detailed - but I was too tired after drawing the initial room to bother spending more time on it. To fix this, I could have left it and came back later to finish it off when I was inspired to do it. 

I coloured the room with the same colour palette I had used for all the other work, which complimented the character well but also left me with a very limited range of tones that I could use. Overall, I think that trying to work entirely in a certain set of colours was a nice experience, but I don’t think it was really noticeable at all for the most part - I think I should either use 4-5 colours in a palette next time or non at all, but it was still an interesting experience. 

I was planning on creating a range of backgrounds but I had not anticipated how much time I would spend on the next one. It took me over 7 hours to draw from start to finish, and while it was absolutely worth it, it didn’t really give me a lot of time to do anything else. This is also an issue which I think can be fixed with practice - as I was still pretty new to the idea. I do really love the Garden background and how it turned out, especially thanks to all the soft lighting and level of detail which I included. For these backgrounds, I actually looked at a variety of reference images while creating it, and it really paid off I think - so hopefully I will continue to do so in the future. While I’m really happy with the few backgrounds I did produce, it would have been nice to have the chance to do more. 

The Book Cover & Designs 

Having to design a book cover was a pretty challenging part of this project as it’s new to me, so I wasn’t really sure what to put on the front. I did a few different ideas and eventually settled on the one that would allow me to both draw a background and a detailed character. This particular scene involved me having to draw a foreshortened character, which I struggled with. I kept at it until it looked right to me, but in hindsight I could have just looked up a reference to help me. Like the other backgrounds, I looked up reference images for the building rooftops, and as a result I think they turned out really well. 

The actual character artwork had some issues initially - her face was too wide, the eyes were slightly wrong for a reason I couldn’t pinpoint, and the whole thing looked a bit flat. I ended up having to change the colour palette at this point just to help the character stand out from the background. I’m glad that I went back and fixed all the issues before finishing the work, as i’m a lot happier now with how it’s turned out, although the face still bothers me a bit. I think if I could do this again i’d love to attempt an actual painting, rather than just soft shading and adding overlay layers, as it’s something I haven’t done in a while. I’m happy with how the character is posed as well as I think it actually looks different from my usual static poses. On top of this, I’m really glad that I went for a handwritten title as it gives it more of a fun feel. I do however think that it doesn’t really show the dating simulator aspect of the game- but I would have liked to create an alternate cover that is a lot happier and more pastel if I had more time, to show the dual genres present in the game. 

[akiharashizuka]

Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS episode 3 thoughts

(I feel like this screenshot isn’t the most representative one, but it can’t be helped since the title shows up there)

First Contact

I expected that Knight to not give any information, however I didn’t think he would just try to blow up both himself and Playmaker. And he had no second thoughts about it. I know it’s a virtual reality, but Ignis said that you suffer mental damage. I doubt he wasn’t aware of that. This scene made me question if he’s really human or something else.

Oh, wow. 

Ok, the Knight was terrified when Ignis “ate” him, so I guess he is human, but was mentally prepared for exploding. 

Hmm I guess the person is safe, but the account got permanently erased or something. It’s just my speculation.

Pfff xD I could have sworn this would happen. 

However, I didn’t expect Blue Angel to challenge him as well. I understand why Gō did that, since he likes standing out and Playmaker stole the spotlight, but I don’t really get why Aoi as well.

The exit was great though xD

So Revolver has the “3 things” speech pattern. The difference is that he just stated that they are going to find out Playmaker’s identity soon and started enunciating the reasons. Yūsaku says beforehand that there are 3 reasons why *insert statement here*

And his reasons make so much sense. I’m impressed he could notice so much and put things together in a short amount of time. Ok, I know Yūsaku had been challenging the Knight of Hanoi for a while, but I assume it hasn’t been that long since he started. Plus, he just got his hands on Ignis, which is the organization’s goal. So, they had no reason to pay that much attention to him (only keep their guard up).

Ugh...What’s this? Link VRAINS avatars? They can create stuff like this too? o_O

I think they are avatars, since a few weird looking reporters are shown, followed by these two. Ok...they probably look even weirder.

The frog-like one yelled at the pigeon not to use his real name, so that probably settles it. And they are clearly in Link VRAINS. So, people can be really creative with their avatars.

Some even got so far to create fake avatars that look like Playmaker O_O

The one that posed like a bodybuilder cracked me xD

Decode Talker seems to be materializing by itself. I have to agree with Kusanagi: Data Storm might be really incredible.

Too bad Ignis can’t give more info. So, along with most of his body, he also lost plenty of memories. That’s a bit sad. He was on the run for so long, but might have forgotten why.

Aww, now I feel sorry for him.

I bet he was trying to protest and tell them that he actually has a name, but couldn’t since Kusanagi turned the sound off. 

Hmm, so the subs went with “Eye”, for the spelling of his nickname. I would have chosen “I” (the letter), since Yūsaku said it comes from A.I. And the pronunciation is the same for the word “eye”, that’s why Kusanagi thought it was a good name. The wiki uses “Ai”, which works too, but it’s more of a feminine name. Doesn’t really matter though, since either one is fine and I’ll still call him Ignis anyway.

It looks like more people want to try the Data Storm and Speed Duels. Who can blame them? It’s something new that seems fun and exciting.

However, the in-game security (?) doesn’t agree and goes as far as suspending their accounts (well, that was more for ignoring the warning). Hmm, so SOL Technology doesn’t want more people to use the Data Storm, I guess.

Speaking of which, we get more of the higher-ups speaking this time. I checked the ending credits and they are indeed (code)named Rook and Knight. Hopefully the others will be added soon enough. 

As for Akira’s plan for catching Playmaker, it sounds rather simple, but I guess it’s the most effective one.

Talking business while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Sure xD

Some info about Ema was revealed to be an information hunter and doesn’t really take sides. Which I think it’s interesting. However, here she is kinda being employed by Akira to investigate Playmaker. Hmm, I guess his plan is more complex then. It’s not only to allure him in a battle with Hanoi and capture him, but also gather information.

One thing that I noticed is that they are being rather casual. Well, not that much for Akira since he’s always serious, but he called her by her first name, without any honorifics. And Ema just tells him straight (sort of) that he is willing to use anything to have his way, including her.

Wait...Gō’s home is some deposit-like building? Decorated with a wrestling ring, training equipment and a TV O_O That looks like a unique place to live. 

His obsession for popularity is kinda getting on my nerves. Though, from the info revealed, there has to be more to it. And it’s starting to show some signs of that, since the manager (I initially thought he was the butler) pointed out that Gō is a hard-worker and doesn’t duel for money.

About Akira wanting to ask him to duel Playmaker, guess that was obvious, considering what he told Ema. Hmm, I didn’t think he will explain the situation to them (sure, without giving any vital info). But I liked how Gō turned the offer down xD

Akira definitely has data on Gō’s background. The big hint is what the manager said about him looking like he knew everything and being ready to threaten them. 

Before he left, Akira pointed out the hand-made belt. This is just a guess, but it looks like it was made by a child (or maybe more). It has to be related to why Gō worked so hard to become a popular duelist and why he wants to protect that fame. 

Another peculiar thing regarding Yūsaku is that he managed to decipher something about Ignis’ program, while Kusanagi had to idea what to do. 

And that something is no other than the memory of Revolver destroying the Cyberse. It gets even better when the system starting acting up and Revolver’s face shows up. So he can sense Ignis as well.

At first I was a bit confused, since clearly they weren’t in Link VRAINS, but the city looked digitized, then Revolver passed by on his dragon. I must say, the moment was intense.

When Kusanagi showed up, I realized that it was a vision, most likely from the virtual reality and only Yūsaku could see it. It most likely has to do with sensing Ignis and how he instinctively knew about Speed Duels.

Should I worry that Yūsaku smiled when he said that Ignis will disappear if he tears apart his program?

Well, Ignis does reveal stuff...And as I expected, he doesn’t remember why he is being chased...And not even why he escaped in the first place. I’m surprised that Ignis didn’t give up on running away. That memory must have left quite an impact on him.

That must be Dr. Kogami. His name was revealed in the cast list for this episode. Hmm, nothing really interesting here, just that they are planning something and, of course, a Revolver is willing to challenge Playmaker.

Then, that strange sound started playing and Revolver was in a hurry to leave. Now that’s curious.

So that’s Revolver’s real form. Sure, it’s shadowed (for now), but the silhouette looks different than his avatar.

You know, it kind of reminds me of the image shown last week with (supposedly) Kusanagi’s brother. However, that doesn’t make much sense. At this point at least.

It’s gotten more tragic all of a sudden...So that person is his father and Revolver only wants to make his wish come true...I have no idea what happened, but I’m already sympathizing with him. And I’m glad it’s that way. 

I love how VRAINS already gives us hints that the characters are more than what they seem.

That mark must be important. I have no idea right now what it could be, but I’ll make sure to keep it in mind.

This may sound trivial, but why are there so few students O_O The classroom is huge, but there can only be seen 15 students...Is the class so boring that most of them would rather skip? Or they just want to hang out in Link VRAINS?

Either way, I’m glad this was brought up. I’ve been trying to find the origin behind the Knights of Hanoi. I mean, Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, but I highly doubt they took it from here. I had read a little about the city, but couldn’t find any connection (at least at that time). Another possible name origin is the puzzle game, Tower of Hanoi. Again, I couldn’t seem to find a solid connection, but since the teacher is explaining this very puzzle, this might be it.

Just to give a brief explanation, the creator of this puzzle took inspiration from a legend which takes place in an Indian temple. Then, why “Hanoi” you might ask. The only explanation I found is that the temple in the legend may be located anywhere, including Hanoi. I’m not satisfied with this, but oh well (I should probably search for other sources...). The legend says that in the temple, there is a room with 3 posts, surrounded by disks. The priests, commanded by an ancient prophecy, have to move the disks, following some rules (I'm assuming these are the rules of the game itself). The priests have been doing that for a while and, when the puzzle is completed, the world will end (it’s kinda forced, but this might connect to revolver wanting to destroy the Cyberse)

Now, for the rules. As seen in the image, the disks have different sizes. They can only be moved on top of a bigger disk. Also, only one can be moved at a time. And you can only move the uppermost disk on the stack.

Not sure if all this info will be useful in the future, but I couldn’t help myself when I saw the teacher explaining the Tower of Hanoi. And the scene moved on to something else, so yeah...

Shima just being a fanboy again. I wonder what Yūsaku thinks in this kind of situations xD

Hmm, so he left Ignis watch over his house...That doesn’t sound like a very good idea.

Ok, first off, what kind of house is that? The walls are cracked and overall it looks like it could be abandoned. Hmm, I guess the rent is cheap.

Luckily, there is that little robot who keeps it clean. I wonder where did Yūsaku get that. Did he build it? Either way, it seems it (or should I use “she”?) is called Roboppy.

And 3rd, Ignis looked so suspicious there. Then he convinces Roboppy to become his underling. I kinda have a bad feeling about this xD It’s not only about him getting free, but also if Ignis keeps his promise and modifies Roboppy, it’s gonna be troublesome. Then again, he might not do that.

On a side note,  I chuckled at “idiot is a prohibited word”.

Oh. 

This has to be a different person than the guy Yūsaku dueled. I might be spoiling it, but the summary already revealed that Gō disguises as a Knight of Hanoi and duels Playmaker. Plus, we’ve seen Gō logging in right before this. And if you compare the vices, you’ll notice that they are the same.

Of course, Yūsaku leaves immediately. I guess it’s a good thing he sits next to Shima who checks Link VRAINS regularly. 

Next episode we get more stuff about Gō, which should be interesting. He most likely contacted Akira and went on with his offer. Also, when Yūsaku gets home, he might have a surprise...not a pleasant one though. 

#vrains #vrains spoilers #yugioh vrains #Akihara's random opinion thing