cherrybomb

Ooh, one thing that's especially good about these recent pieces is the body language! So good and expressive. also SU is such a charming show i adore it so much <3 It's really neat going back through your thread and seeing how much you've improved. I especially dig this character: The scars+head tilt+slightly manic expression just makes for a really great, distinctive portrait.

Haha, goddamn. Gotta love it when a member of the Supreme Court is running around saying stuff that looks like random garbage plucked right out of Stormfront. (and by "love" i mean "feel the hate flow through, bitter and warm, like a shot of cheap whiskey")

I know that everyone has their preference, but from what I've read of the transcripts, the Japanese dialogue is the definition of dry and literal. It's perfectly serviceable, but bland, and I can't imagine willingly choosing it over the alternative. The English localization has so much in the way of flavor and wit, and I love it for that. EDIT: But, the cool thing is, my opinion doesn't matter - yours does! If you don't think you'll enjoy trying to ape the flavor of the game, it's going to be an excruciating process for you. It's your fanfic and you should absolutely write what's fun and right for you. To be fair, the original Tactics script had a notoriously, lovably inept translation. We're talking Grade-A engrish, here.

[align=center][/align] Best of luck getting in! Hope to see flailing about Balmung soon.

I'm partial to Ejinn. Gonna make me a Kappa.

It might not be a negative retcon to you, but it is to a lot of people, because again, it's completely unnecessary and only serves to dilute the character's motivations and over-complicate things for no narrative benefit. Practicing Occam's Razor in storytelling is cool & good; that's why an unnecessary addition to a story can be just as bad as an outright negative one. Especially in a mythos as convoluted as your average Final Fantasy game. now brb, gotta go cringe forever because of how many times i've typed "retcon" today

The problem isn't just an aversion to anything that didn't happen in the original, though - you're kind of glossing over the more relevant point. Candor's post is absolutely spot-on; introducing a retcon for absolutely no narrative benefit besides over-complication for the sake of it is a major storytelling pitfall. (& as a metal gear fan i'm intimately familiar with it :II) Even putting aside all the stuff that makes Genesis such an obnoxious and trite character, his inclusion is just plain redundant and unnecessary, which is a thing that's endemic to the extended universe style of writing in general. It's kind of telling that even a lot of the people who really like Crisis Core's story tend to say stuff like, "yea it was surprisingly good whenever Genesis wasn't on screen"

This is really fucking excellent. It's not often that you get resolution on a fourteen year cliffhanger. First Shenmue 3, and then Nier 2 by way of Platinum Games... pinch me. oh also FFVII remake or w/e

I'm not sure if you're messing with me and if I'm ruining the joke by explaining, but in this context it's short for extended universe. Usually born from the creative process of "aww shit how long can we cash in on ?" also, FFVII is a Cool Game

aww ye gimme me the batshit surreality of the Wall Market infiltration in full, glorious HD my ideal for this is that they keep the EU stuff far away. the dumb retcons, the floaty Advent Children style of "action", the complete 180 of most of the cast's personality into blandville, all of it. blech that stuff has been so consistently bad. I hope they keep the off-kilter charm of the original; if they tone that down in favor of constant brooding melodrama it'll kill my enthusiasm super fast. Let Aeris/th be the awesome saucy weirdo she was in the original and not the pure-hearted macguffin she is in everything else. Let Yuffie still be kind of an amoral asshole and not a generic genki girl, let Cloud go back to being that cocky goober who says shit like, "Shinra dog! I'm gonna dognap you!!" FFVII has the goofy distinction of being both under- and over- rated. It's a very flawed but uniquely cool game that's often misremembered, or remembered for the wrong reasons. I'm cautiously optimistic about this.

I'm still reeling a little bit because of the tank I had in a Stone Vigil run not long ago; an un-jobbed GLD with no shield who was pretty much magnetically attracted to any and all AoEs. I was so bewildered by the experience, I couldn't even bring myself to get mad. He was new to the dungeon so I don't thiiink he was trolling? but it definitely seemed like our questions/advice were falling on deaf ears. It took about six wipes and a "nice heals, lol" comment from him to get anyone to actually initiate a votekick, and even then I still felt weirdly guilty about it. If he manages to get past this point without learning what's up, I'm sure story Garuda will be A Fun Experience for anyone who lands themselves in his group.

These are the key words right here. When you're paying money for a gym membership it's way easier to get yourself up and out there even if you're not the most disciplined type. Gotta get that money's worth, right? For a lot of people without that incentive, excuses become increasingly compelling and procrastination more and more commonplace. It's very important to develop the discipline to be able to force yourself into a workout even if you're not feeling it, and push yourself enough that you continue to get benefiting returns. I'm not sure if you're out of shape and looking to make some changes or if you're just looking to stay fit, but either way, anyone physically capable of doing it really benefits from at least 30 minutes of cardio a day. Jogging, biking, aerobics - anything to get you moving and breathing. In fact that's probably the best way to open for your "real" workout if you're looking to get into strength training or anything more serious. Don't be afraid to start slow and work your way up. You want to test your limits and steadily improve, but not at the risk of hurting yourself and resetting everything back to zero. (ask me how i know!! shin splints suck >:I) Compete with yourself; record your progress in a fitness log, and try to do a little bit better each time. The sense of accomplishment you get when you push past a plateau is absolutely exhilarating, and it's that feeling that's going to keep you going. Having immediate, visual proof in the form of an ongoing log makes it way more visceral. ed: oh, I just spotted your edit. Oops. I wanted to keep things general in case you were just starting to work out, but since you're active a lot of this stuff is a no-brainer. I'll try and get more specific when I have time tomorrow.

I agree with this post in its entirety, but especially this sentiment here. Those folks are havin' fun, and I just don't have it in me to judge someone over how they spend their time roleplaying in Catgirls Online. We're all in this deeply, deeply nerdy hobby together, so I figure I might as well make the best of it. I personally just find it more rewarding to practice the "yes, and" principle instead of trying to shut someone down OOC or pull out a condescending IC dismissal. It probably helps to have a character that's willing to just bemusedly go with the flow. But on the other end of the scale (and this is slightly off-topic from the main subject of the thread but I saw someone mention it and it's worth repeating so) if someone is making you genuinely uncomfortable? Then you really don't need an excuse, or a graceful opt-out. Trust your gut instinct and don't force yourself to continue to interact with a possible creeper out of some misguided need to be polite. A lot of people use OH BUT ITS JUST MY CHARACTER as a rationalization for absolutely vile behavior and pulling shit on shy, permissive people who don't have the self-confidence to just say 'no.' Err on the side of caution and stay safe. I haven't encountered this in-game yet, but I'm 100% willing to believe this is just as rampant in MMO RP communities as it is in collab writing ones.

Trying to art with a mouse sounds like an actual nightmare to me but you really make it work; those are some very nice pieces. Great job, and all my kudos for doing free art for people - that's super neat of you.

I'm late, but I just wanna nth the love for stuff like this and the card readings and such. Seems like it'd be a great way to pull interested people into the RP if they're skirting around because they don't have anything to buy or any crafts to contribute to the flea market.

When I first came here and was flipping through wiki pages out of idle curiosity, Rena Gran was the first character I really took notice of because she has such a cool aesthetic.

When you post your screenshots I get the overpowering urge to immediately roll an elezen lady. It's downright diabolical. i have too many characters already!!!

ahaha what Mine turned out sort of accurate to what I had in mind, surprisingly. A few years older, tho.

I love the way you handled the line weight in that Xaela piece! It's gorgeous. A really clean, crisp look.

I really want this to be what your catman actually looks like. If it isn't, you're gonna break my heart.

Pretty much perfection right here

I'm really digging the last picture! That's a weapons-grade smolder, right there.

Your art has a lot of charm in general, but the latest sketch is a slam dunk. That expression is great. :love:

I can't really contribute much advice here because I'm still feeling this stuff out for myself, but I will say that I get the struggle with shyness - if you're an introverted person, I imagine it's really hard to put yourself out there and act against type. Even with the layers of separation that we get in online roleplaying, it's not necessarily as simple as "just getting over it", if you're the type who literally freezes like a deer in a spotlight. It's one thing to write an outgoing character when you're anything but, it's another thing entirely to play one out in realtime. Take this with a grain of salt, but one thing that might work for people with major social anxiety is to try approaching people OOC first. Tell them that their character sounds interesting and you'd like to interact with them but you're strapped for ideas how, or something. Improv can be really hard, especially with people you don't know; if you can break the ice OOC a bit, that'll take a lot of the pressure off you. I can't speak for everyone, but I imagine a lot of people would be accommodating in that kind of situation, so long as you're willing to brainstorm ideas too and not just make them do the mental footwork. If you're shy or have social anxiety, it's a hurdle that you're going to have to overcome if you don't want to have to rely on others to approach you; it wont be easy, and it won't be instantaneous, but gradually, as you put yourself out there more and more and strengthen your coping mechanisms in case embarrassment occurs, it'll get better.

Speaking as an outsider and newcomer here, I have to agree. It's discourse like this that keeps my toeing the edge of the community instead of jumping in the deep end even though a lot of people here seem pretty cool, tbh. Probably shooting myself in the shoot by posting this when I'm still brand new, but whatever. It's a little discouraging to see an otherwise decent community with such a strong undercurrent of tension. Like, what do triggers even have to do with anything? Was the out-of-nowhere fist-shaking at some perceived hivemind of oversensitive tumblrina babbys remotely necessary? Punishing personal attacks and other such behaviors that have a consistently negative effect on a community =/= a happiness is mandatory citizen-esque 1984 regime. It's not that difficult to understand - just have a little self-awareness, and some empathy for the other folks behind the keyboard, even if you disagree with 'em.