Ok... Who Exploded 😐

Posted another Horrorvale fic, this time it's a comm fic for a friend from the HV discord server (not sure if they have a tumblr lmao), starring their OC Emilyn! MAJOR endgame spoilers tho so if you haven't gotten their maybe save it for later

if you're ok with an incessant amount of boops reblog this so I can get those other 2 badges <3

Hi, everyone, I'm really hoping if any of my posts can blow up again it's this one.

Trans rights are getting worse and worse in the U. S.

Currently, several states are moving to completely ban trans healthcare for minors, limit trans healthcare for adults 26 and younger, ban public drag, place limitations on trans participation in sports, and a lot of other horrific shit.

My only other post that really blew up was about discourse, and so is this one.

I need you all to listen to me. Please.

We don't have a place for discourse right now.

Please, regardless of your stance on queer/LGBTQIA+ topics and the inter-community discourse, remember that we can't win anything divided.

That means, regardless of your view on that one controversial subset of the community, you need to work with us. That means regardless of your views on dysphoria, you need to work with us. We can't afford to get divided on the million different flavors of queer discourse running rampant through the community.

Those laws I mentioned earlier? Their endgame is to make trans existence illegal.

They will keep pushing the age for transitioning back further and further until it's basically inaccessible. They will make performative drag illegal, then all drag, and drag will include trans people in their eyes. They will keep going until we are forced to detransition and go into the closet.

This is really fucking scary and we need, above all else, to be a united community right now.

So please. Fucking please. Set aside your hot takes and discourse. We all live and die by what rights we can get in an allocishet society.

This means stand with each other. Stand with aces, with aros, with enbies, with pan people, poly people, stand with mspec gays and lesbians, stand with kinksters and furries too, because we have our differences but if we get caught up fighting each other then the people that want us all dead will take advantage of that distraction and criminalize us all.

Discourse is a fucking psyop and we need to wise up to it really, really fast.

Please boost this. And please don't argue with me on this post.

i cannot keep quiet about this anymore.

if you're in the US or Canada and interested in learning a language using a free app please get a library card and download MANGO. it's very good and extremely free with a library card (there are many public libraries and universities using the service, so make an account and use the search feature here to find out if there's one near you).

mango currently has 72 available languages and dialects (that's right! different courses for french or canadian french! spanish or latam spanish!). it's set up basically like an audiobook with text. the idea is that the narrator explains the words while you read, and you repeat after them or say the translation out loud when prompted. there's a daily review where you go through flashcards. you can also use the flashcards at your leisure and create your own. at the end of each chapter there's a listening comprehension quiz and a reading comprehension quiz. i cannot emphasize how effective this all is. and it's free with a card.

if you're not in the US or Canada and/or looking for something more like duolingo (don't use duolingo btw tldr they fired translators and replaced them with "ai"), then try BUSUU! it only has 14 languages atm but the lessons are really descriptive and effective. it also has a feature where you can correct other people's open-ended speaking/typing exercises. you set your fluent languages, and exercises by people learning those languages will appear in your feed for you to correct. you can even add others as friends! and, much like duolingo, it has a streak and leaderboard system for you to strive for, minus the guilt-tripping owl.

busuu is free (you watch ads to unlock lessons and they're all skippable after like five seconds), although it also has paid premium/plus versions (i don't use the paid version—the language courses are available for free, and the ad system is Really unobtrusive).

so that's my wisdom for the day. mango and busuu. please check them out :)

Commissions back up!

Info below:

(All prices are in USD)

Half Body:

Sketch: $5

Lineart: $10

Color: $15

Full Body:

Sketch: $10

Lineart: $15

Color: $20

Additional Characters:

Each additional character is an extra $10 (+$5 for sketches)

Shading (optional):

Cell: +$5

Smooth +$10

Backgrounds:

I'll do simple color (and even simple shapes) backgrounds for free. If you provide a photo to me, whether it be one you took or a free use one you found, that will be free also (I will check if I'm able to use it).

If I'm drawing a background:

Simple (limited detail & shading) +$8

Complex (a more detailed environment, like a full room or more detailed nature) +$15

If it's a complex cityscape, it'd be +$20

Things I won't draw:

Heavy gore. If it's mild I'll be fine with it but if the reference photos I'd have to look up would be traumatizing I will not.

(This list will be added to as I think of more things)

I will do nsfw works. I will let you know if something suggested (nsfw or not) makes me uncomfortable.

Contact me through DMs if you're interested

I’m also still doing mspaint commissions!! Either a custom pride doodle or a mspaint comic based on a prompt!!

gofundme.com

Help Heba Rebuild Life After Surviving Genocide, organized by Rolla Salem Ali Alaydi

My name is Heba Slaisel, and I am a laboratory technician wh… Rolla Salem Ali Alaydi needs your support for Help Heba Rebuild Life After

I'm personally acquainted with some of the organisers of this campaign and they have been working tirelessly to get Heba to safety and to also help her attend her classes at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

made a lil beastie!!

PIGLET'S BIG GAME - INTERVIEW WITH PASCAL CAMMISOTTO

Earlier this week I interviewed Pascal (game designer on Piglet's Big Game 2003) about the making of the title that has received a whirlwind of attention online recently. You can find more information in my video that's going up today on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/@eurothug4000/videos

How did the project come into existence?

At that time, Doki Denki studio was already working with Disney. 

We had released three PlayStation 1 games with them. Disney was working on the film Piglet's Big Movie and was looking for a studio to develop the video game alongside it. 

I don’t want to say anything inaccurate, but I believe it was, officially, our first PlayStation 2 game released on the market.

If the information I found online is correct, Piglet's Big Movie was released after Piglet's Big Game came out! Were you given any direction by Disney on what the game should be like and if it should be similar to the movie in any way? Or did you have complete freedom in designing the game (story, gameplay etc.) as you wish?

I’m not too sure anymore how everything came together, but I believe Disney didn’t give us access to the film's content. 

They were very secretive (and I think that was quite common at the time). They just wanted a ‘product’ to accompany the movie release. 

All we knew was that it revolved around Piglet. So the game’s story was developed by us (the game design team), as narrative designers didn’t exist back then. 

We had a lot of freedom, both in writing and game design, and I think that was partly thanks to Disney's producer, Risa Cohen. She really supported our decisions in the interest of quality.

What do you specifically remember working on for the game? (Certain levels, overall gameplay loop etc.?)

I remember several things: the horror gameplay, which was completely new for this target audience; the hour of real-time cinematics that I directed with the animation team; the cameras in each room that I placed as best as I could to follow the action; and finally, the overly difficult combat (which I wanted to tone down, but wasn’t allowed to. ^^). 

The atmosphere in the studio was fantastic, and I genuinely recall a sense of pride in what we were doing. 

Yes, it was a kids’ game, and yes, sometimes it was cheesy, but we still had so much fun making it, as if we were making it for ourselves. It was truly a great project.

Do you remember what the reception was to the game at the time of its release?

Yes, the game was very well received. It was considered by reviewers to be a very good children’s game. At that time, many licensed games (especially those for kids) were rushed and uninspired. 

That wasn’t our philosophy at the studio. We wanted to make a good game, even if the target audience was very young. 

I think that’s why the game surprised people with its strong approach and quality.

Have you seen some of the posts about Piglet's Big Game recently? What was your reaction to seeing them if so?

Absolutely not. I just found out, and of course, I’m thrilled that it’s being talked about again!

People online are talking about the "horror" aspects of the game, were these intentional? Was the aim to have a game that had elements of the horror genre?

When Disney spoke with the studio about this game, Marc Albinet (the head of game design, my boss) immediately wanted to make ‘a Resident Evil for kids.’ 

I believe he even went to Disney to pitch the idea, and he must have been convincing because they said yes. 

Since we didn’t have access to the movie’s script, we created a story centered around Piglet. It focused on his lack of self-confidence and the courage he would need to help his friends, who were asleep and trapped in a nightmare. 

The horror element was tied to these nightmares that the player would need to resolve.

Are there any links or anything that you'd like me to mention so people can find you online, or any projects you're working on?

You can find me on X (@KaMiZoTo), but I rarely tweet. Since my time at Doki Denki, I've gained quite a bit of experience, and now I have my own studio: 

http://drawmeapixel.com

We released in 2020 "There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension", which I recommend everyone try without watching any let’s plays to avoid spoilers! (The experience relies on surprise.)

store.steampowered.com

There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension on Steam

There is no game. So don't go messing things up by clicking everywhere. You don’t want to be kicked out of your video game world, do you? Of

We’re also working on a new secret project with the same meta spirit!

A big thank you to Pascal for taking the time to talk about the game!

FORBIDDEN SIREN INTERVIEW WITH MIKI TAKAHASHI (CONCEPT ARTIST ON SIREN)

Thank you to Bokeh Game Studio and Miki Takahashi for taking the time to answer my questions!! I featured some of the answers in my latest video on the first Siren game, but here's the full interview for everyone to read:

1. What kind of directions did you receive when asked to design the Shibito? And what aspects of the designs in particular do you feel come from you and your style specifically?

2. How did you approach combining humans with sea creatures in the context of horror? I imagine you could take that idea but also end up making it look too cool or even quite funny, so how did you ensure they stayed creepy?

(Answering both 1 and 2)Regarding the combination of humans and sea creatures – as there was the aspect of the “Sea Sending” ritual in the story, the Art Director requested that sea creatures be incorporated into the Shibito’s design.

However, I preferred to detach myself from a traditional horror design. There are many monsters with decaying bodies, big mouths, fangs, and glaring eyes seen in other works. I also felt that if the creator’s intention of trying to intimidate viewers becomes too obvious, the result would be less interesting.

The Shibito is a physical manifestation of God’s blessing. They are not zombies, but rather bodies that are being reborn. This is why I incorporated the colors and shapes of lively, beautiful sea creatures in the design.

I also believe that ultimately in horror, there is a fine line between humor and pity. The final design was an outcome of pursuing this line.

3. What was your favourite Shibito design and why? Were there any particular Shibito concepts you made that you really liked but didn’t end up in the game?

I would say that Mina Onnda’s Shibito Brain is my favourite. This is the first Shibito I had designed, and I remember Toyama liking it. This therefore allowed the overall approach of the Shibito’s design to be clearer in my head.

4. Datatsushi’s appearance resembles a Shakoki-dogu. When it came to the design process, were the real-life counterparts the origin or starting point of a design? Or did they only come in during the later stages of creation to finalise details? I’m interested in how the relationship between reality and fiction worked during development!

Thank you for spotting the resemblance of the Shakoki-dogu! The design was inspired by the

beheading of Datatsushi. The reason for it… I think I will leave it up to your imagination.

5. What did you learn from your time working on the first Siren game? Are there any particular memories you’d like to share?

Through thoroughly incorporating the world and atmosphere of the game, I discovered how rewarding it is to create a convincing design. I find that the stories and settings that aren’t present on-screen are the most important aspects. I believe these give depth in the overall design of a work and stirs the imagination of the viewer.