sideblog for random ramblings. main @sycamorality.
xe/it. i exist and ramble about stuff.
used as a reblog blog mostly. decided i want to organise my main more
main is @sycamorality and i used to have matching urls with @/invited-anarchy. they're my friend! you should look at their blog :]
you can find me on toyhouse under sycamorality, and my name list is here
feel free to poke me about anything here. this is mostly for anything and whatever. mostly non-fandom related but i might post some warrior cats or wings of fire stuff on occasion or something.
general naviation -
i'll probably figure out tags as i go, but here's some basic ones i plan on using!
#from main - stuff from my main i felt like reblogging here
#musings - random text posts about anything
#askbox galore - askbox stuff
#doa ramblings / #worldbuilding ramblings - stuff related to my old worldbuilding project, and worldbuilding on its own. i think worldbuilding is fun!
#fandom ramblings - anything related to fandoms i'm in i didn't feel like throwing on main
#gameplaying - screenshots and etc of games im playing
#game fuckery - did you know games like breaking on me? tag for bugs and glitches that happen to me in games, whenever applicable
fandoms, when applicable, will usually be tagged #-> [fandom], instead of maintagging.
pin tags -
#-cat pin and #-bird pin are for reblogged cat and bird images respectively
#-cat colors and #-cat genetics are for cats whose colors i really like and posts regarding cat genetics
#-traits and #-markings are for animals with neat little traits [like unique tail feathers etc] and markings/patterns i think are cool, and #-iridescence is used for iridescent [and on occasion just shiny] animals, like birds!
#-critter pin is for creatures [whether fantasy species or real] i think are really neat and wanan save for later and #-creature color pin is for any animal that's either really colorful or has really cool accent colors
#-environment is used for environments i think look cool
#-color pin is used for color palettes etc i wan't to save, #-worldbuilding pin is used for worldbuilding posts and #-writing pin is used for writing posts
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This is the HTML/Coding for Website mimicking resources in Archive of our Own (Ao3). To find Part I where I go over the Basics, General Text HTML and some Fancy Formatting (images, dividers, columns, photos, tabs etc. CLICK HERE!
Other Websites:
Texting
-How to make iOS Text Messages on Ao3 by CodenameCarrot, La_Temperanza
-A Quick Generator for Embeddable iOS Text Messages by 221b_ee
-imessage Skin by Adzaema
-Retro imessage by Adzaema
-Basic Text Message Work Skin by ProfessorMotz
- Bubble platform [workskin] by Khashana
-Chat Log HTML by deathbymistletoe
-LINE Messenger/Chat by imperiousmarshmellow
-IDOLish Rabbit Chat Workskin by associate
-Replika workskin by FaeriMagic
-Texting Workskin to match light/dark mode by irrationalpie
Tumblr
-Tumblr style CSS Tweaks by Aposiopesis
-Ao3 Workskin Testing and Tutorials by junietuesday25 tumblr DM
-How to make Tumblr Posts on Ao3 by phyyripo
-Plain Text Social Media Platforms by anubisms
-Tumblr Post Work Skin by tsukinosaugi
Twitter
-Repository - Twitter by gadaursan
- How to mimic Social Media in an Ao3 work by aerynevenstar
-Twitter Work Skin Template by etc e tal
-Twitter Workskin: Tweets and Profile by starskin
-Twitter Mock-Up by TheBrookesNook
Ao3/Fandom
-How to mimic Authors notes and Kudos/Comment Buttons by La_Temperanza
-How to mimic AO3 Comments by bittermoons
-How to add mobile Ao3 in your fic by DemigodofAgni
-How to make a fanfic style header Ao3 style by ElectricAlice
-Template for adding post chapter content by SpookyTesting
-CSS based full Ao3 fic integration (Header/Overview, Comments, Title, Summary & Buttons) by deciMae
-How to Mimic LiveJournal Posts and Comments by cursedcuriosities
-Dreamwidth Entries & Comments Work Skin by folk_melody
Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp
-Whatsapp Group Chat builder by FestiveFerret
-How to make Facebook Messenger Chat on Ao3 by ran_a_dom
-Whatsapp Work Skin Template Revamped by etc e tal
-Whatsapp group chat skin by ovely
-Instagram DMs for Ao3 by monarch_rhapsodies
-How to make Instagram DM mockup by xslytherclawx
-Penstagram chats on ao3 by deciMae
Snapchat
-Snapchat skin by Azdaema
-Snapchat Template for Ao3 by starskin
Reddit/Forum
-UPDATED Reddit Skin by diamine
-2020 Reddit Work Skin by timstokerlovebot
-Reddit Work Skin CSS & HTML by knave_of_swords
-How to mimic Social Media in an Ao3 work by aerynevenstar
-template Reddit Skin by spookedcroon
-template:Subreddit page by ireseen
-Ao3 workskin for Forum Thread by fencesit
-Ao3 workskin for Forum Thread [Expansion Pack] by AMereDream
-How to mimic 4chan posts without just taking screenshots of 4chan
Twitch/Youtube
-Mimicking Twitch Chat for fics by Ultraviollett
-Twitch Chat Work Skin by cherrari
-Workskin testing by tohmas [Youtube comments]
-Youtube Work Skin by 1864s
-Youtube Comment Section Workskin by LupaMoe
Discord/Slack/Zoom
-2023 Discord Theme Workskin by TrojanTeapot
-Discord Work Skin by unpredictableArtist
-Discord (Dark Theme) Workskin by Heterochromia_Mars
-Skin for Recreating Discord’s Server Member List by SpookyTesting
-Ao3 Workskin Testing and Tutorials by junietuesday25
-Slack Workskin by Khashana
-Zoom inspired Ao3 skin by mystyrust
Wikipedia
-Fake Wikipedia article about a TV show: Work Skin by Anonymous
-Wikipedia article work skin by styletests
-SCP Wiki Style Workskin by thesnager
Working Games in Ao3 Tutorials
Logic Grid Puzzle Work Skin & Tutorial by BookKeep
The Case Of The Clickable Murdle by VThinksOn
Review Sites:
Yelp Reviews by kiwiana
Amazon Reviews by kiwiana
Rate My Professor Work Skin by BookKeep
Video Game Dialog Mimics
-Dialog [workskin] by Clover_Zero
-Dialogue Workskin (with parallax BG effect) by mystyrust
-My S Ranks--System Windows by unpredictableArtist [computer dialog workskin]
-Tutorial: Ace Attorney Work Skin by QuailFence
-Among Us Ao3 skin by mystyrust
-How to Mimic Undertale Fonts on Ao3 by La_Temperanza
-Tutorial:Rain Code Work Skin by faish
-Balder's Gate 3 Documents Work Skin by Professor_Rye
-SpookyTesting has SOO many Nintendo based ones
–Mimicking Minecraft for some fics by Ultraviollett
Runescape Right Click Menu Formatting by fennfics
How to put Z skits in your Tales fics by wingedcatgirl
How to make Honkai: Star Rail Messages by html_hell (jihnari)
Hold-hands inspired Texting skin by cursedcuriocities(SetsuntaMew)
Simple Linkshell Ao3 Work Skin by Pent – Final Fantasy XIV mimic
Homestuck Chat Clients by 77angel-skins
Workskin: Slay the Princess by ASpooky
Slay the Princess: Updated Workskin by Lilto
Misc. Sites
--How to mimic Deadpool Thinking boxes by La_Temperanza
--FetLife Skin [Work Skin] by Khashana
--Disco Elysium workskin by SarunoHadaki
--StarTrek PADD workskin by duskyspirit
--MDZS-themed letters by allollipoppins
--A Newbie's Guide to Podficcing by Adzaema [skin for podfics]
--Skin for making Character Intro Cards by SpookyTesting
--Kpop Photocards by legonerd
–OVR System Workskin by unpredictableArtist
-How to make Stylized CSS Card Links for your fics by buttertartz
-vroom vroom kachow: Formula1 Race Results Workskin by mackerel_cheese
Bonus: Ever wanted to see how crazy HTML can be on AO3? Try playing But can it run Doom? or Tropémon by gifbot
Happy Creating!
Last updated: Feb 8 2025 (Have a resource that you want to share? My inbox is open!)
Scientists at Cortical Labs have successfully trained a cluster of approximately 200,000 living human neurons, grown on a microelectrode array chip, to play the classic 3D video game DOOM.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
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A vain queen routinely asked her mirror if she was the most beautiful of them all. It always responded in the negative. Despite her obsession, she sacrificed her perfect skin to save a small child from dragonfire, marring it irreparably. She sullenly checked the mirror one final time.
"You don't understand! The kingdom requires a perfect queen! They will lose faith in us if they see her with such a... vile, grotesque face, even as a princess!" It wasn't the first time she'd heard her father yell at the wizard's council to make her 'the most beautiful and perfect queen they'd ever seen'. She overheard him often, arguing against them and their deity-imparted wisdom, ever since her mother passed from a dragon attack. She never thought the dragon ever meant any harm.
The wizards always talked too quietly for her to hear their side of the argument, and her father always yelled loudly enough for her to hear his side of it, about how ugly and vile she was, and how she needed to be changed.
It was only when she'd reached her late teens and was considered 'ready' to be a queen she thought understood she what he was arguing with them about all those years of her life; woken up in the middle of the full moon night, hushed and led down to the Runegrounds, instructed to stay completely still no matter how painful it felt and bound to the center for the wizard's council to cast their spell.
She didn't know how to expect how painful that was, even with her father's warning. It felt like she was burning, twisting, warping, in every which way, outside, inside, everywhere; even if nothing but her outwardly appearance changed to that of an angel's beauty and feather's softness.
He'd given her that lously, horrible mirror that always told her she wasn't the most beautiful of them all after that night; told her to ask it if she was the most beautiful of them all, and when it' responded "You are the ugliest of them all.", his face scrunched up and he'd told her that it only speaks in lies, because he'd made sure the wizard's council had given her the most beautiful and perfect skin in all the world.
Not that she believed him; she didn't even find herself even the slightest bit pretty, though she held on to the belief that the mirror only spoke in lies for the longest time. It helped, at least a little, when she'd always found herself so horribly doll-faced and uncanny.
She asked the mirror, "Am I the most beautiful of them all?" and it responded as it did the first time: "You are the ugliest of them all." She tried to believe what her father had told her. Deep down, though, she knew she could never believe that the mirror only spoke in lies, and she knew the mirror was always telling the truth. Her eyes, her mouth, her arms; every single part of her body — it all moved so uncannily, in ways that she could swear looked wrong.
And she asked the mirror once more, in the span of nothing but minutes, "Am I the most beautiful of them all?", hearing that same "You are the ugliest of them all", still holding on to the hope that her father was telling the truth.
But when the day came, she had her crowning ceremony, festival, festivities, celeberations and feasts, all of the kingdom looked at her with awe, wonder, amazement, admiration — every positive look under the sun — in their eyes, and she didn't know what to think. It must have been part of the spell, the wizard's council had cast on her, under her father's order, to make everyone look at her, think of her, see her, in such ways.
She excused herself, told everyone that she needed to grab something from her room, that she'd be back soon; and up the stairs she went, into her room, not to grab something, but to ask the mirror if she was the most beautiful.
And ask the mirror she did; "Am I the most beautiful of them all?" and in response once more, "You are the ugliest of them all.", and she held on to it, because she hated how everyone had looked at her, she didn't like it, she felt rotten on the inside just from perceiving their looks at all; felt that even the most dirtied, unwashed, ungroomed farmer at the celebrations had looked prettier than her.
Then back down she went, to the festivities, to the feasts, to those gutwrenching adoring looks everyone had for her. It was hard to enjoy the festivities and celeberation, hard to ignore how everyone looked at her, as if she was to be loved no matter what, as if she was to be saved no matter what, as if her beauty had to be the only thing left of her. It made her feel gross and horrible.
And one the week of celebrations and feasts and festivities were done, she went back to her room, and asked the mirror again to save her own sanity, "Am I the most beautiful of them all?" and once more in response got "You are the ugliest of them all.", and had never once felt happier being told she looked as horrible as she felt.
Another week had passed, she had gone down to the plaza, to buy herself some food and give money to the poor, for she felt horribly of how her father, and the king before him, and king before that king, had treated those who didn't do well, those who couldn't work, those who couldn't provide for themselves or their families.
She had yet to take a king for herself, for she did not want a lover to deal with what she was and what she was becoming; someone who looks so perfect on the outside but feels so horrible, ill, gross, ugly, repulsive on the inside. Once, she consulted the wizard's council to reverse their spell, but they could not for the laws put in place that a king's direct orders may never gone against.
And when she got back home, she asked the mirror once more, "Am I the most beautiful of them all?" and her heart almost sank before it responded "You are the ugliest of them all." and she felt better about herself once more, that at least a mirror sees what she feels, and sighed, for she wished that anything else but that mirror could also see it, even if that would never happen.
Such a little bit of hope, that little bit of feeling seen by nothing but an enchanted inanimate object with no thoughts or feelings of its own, is the only thing that kept her going.
It repeated, day after day, night after night, week after week, month after month, year after year; that after being so adored by the kingdom and its people, she would always return to the mirror, asking "Am I the most beautiful of them all?" to be told "You are the ugliest of them all.", told that she looked the same way she felt.
It repeated like that for years, until she was told about another supposed "dragon attack", a plasma dragon, they said, known for wrecking havoc with storms and hypnosis, if it caught your gaze for as much as a second. She'd jumped immediately to helping the townsfolk, makeshift blindfold of old, torn up clothes to protect herself from the hypnosis, to not be bothered by the people's gazes, to defend them from the dragon.
In the eastern part of the town, the dragon, barely as big as a house, stood with its back arched up, spines and nostrils flared up, mouth agape, as an angry farmer waved a pitchfork at it to protect their only child, before the queen came running in and pushed the farmer out of the way.
The dragon aimed its gaping maw, glowing with unnaturally purple fire, at the child, which the queen now stood in front of, her eyes still covered by the blindfold, as the fire burst out and the child ran as the queen stood her ground, her perfect skin burning away as they both stood there.
"My people fear you and are willing to kill you to keep you away. Go, go back home, back to where you came from, for I do not want neither you or my people hurt," she told the dragon, and it nodded respectfully, leaping back into the skies and flying back home.
She felt the gazes of the kingdom on her as she walked back, feeling her perfect and soft skin burned and charred, heard their gasps and murmurs, more still burning off as every second passed, until there was so little left as she reached back to the castle, back to her room, and clutched the blindfold around her eyes as she asked the mirror, once more, as she always had, to make herself feel better, for she felt terrible;
"Am I the most beautiful of them all?" and the mirror did not respond for a few seconds, until the last few pieces of her perfect skin had been burned and singed and charred to ash, but once all of it had crumbled to light ash, it responded,
"You are the most beautiful of them all."
And she did not know what to feel, but a sinking feeling in her chest, until she ripped off her blindfold and looked in the mirror, only to see a furred wolf-face look back at her in the reflection of the mirror, the mirror that had only ever told her that she looked as ugly as she felt, until now, and no more did she feel her body moved in ways it should not, looked in ways it should not, for now she felt it looked as it should, moved as it should, felt grateful, grateful for the dragon that had burned her perfect skin to a crisp, grateful that she will no longer feel like everything is wrong, and that was when she finally understood, understood why her father spent so many nights arguing with the wizard's council, to change her, to make her perfect, and she felt betrayed.
i'd like to add that the shadow color isnt necessarily dictated entirely by the primary light source, but the bounce light! so for the example of a sunny environment, the reason the shadows are blue are because of the light from the blue sky reflects across the environment; but, if the character were to be under tree cover, the bounce light would be coming from the leaves and thus the shadow would look greener.
James Gurney is an absolute master and gives really good clarity on colour techniques. Yes, it is traditional paint focused, but the principles are the same. Yes it is informed by the environmental colour but as a painting technique it is achieved this way!
I would also suggest that in digital processing, rather than apply a regular colour layer at a mid opacity, try out the different types of layers, Eg. Screen or Multiply. This can give you at least a starting point to help direct your colour palette.
Layer Blend Modes are so so so important to working in digital art. There's a ton of math that goes into figuring out how the layers should blend together, which is why some of the modes you can pick are literally called Multiply, Add, Divide, and Difference (that's subtraction). The graphics software takes the color values of your base and blend layers and runs a calculation to get your resulting layer appearance. The ones that don't have specifically mathematical sounding names are still doing calculations, but they're more complicated (think linear Algebra and higher). Some of them, like dodge and burn, are named for actual photo editing techniques.
While it's not super important to know about the mathematical side of blend modes, I think it's worth knowing at least enough about how each of the categories of blend modes works and why they do what they do; if for no other reason than having a starting point when you start experimenting with them in your work.
An overview of the basic blend modes and how they work from Genevieve's Design Studio: Accessible with minimal color knowledge; practical and illustration focused. https://youtu.be/kMc87hQrJd0?si=TWCB365pKSfWS8p0. (16 minutes) This creator also has a ton of free resources you can download, including a Blend Modes cheatsheet, but fair warning: you have to create an account to get them!
Want to learn even more about the math-y stuff? It has great film visuals! A video from FilmmakerIQ: You need some basic knowledge of RGB color models, understanding of values/luma, and at least a tenuous understanding of Algebraic formulas. (26 minutes) https://youtu.be/F7_kaTP7_W4?si=x0urqXZ8f51nQVKl
I’ve had these saved for a long time and unfortunately don’t know the source either, but here are the other tutorials from this artist if anybody is interested!
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Yeah, sure, seeing new things is helpful as a fantasy writer. But. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that exposure to new things is the same as traveling. You know what else exposes you to new things? The internet. Documentaries. Books. Freaking Youtube. So when you’re bored of cats and cooking tutorials, go on an adventure!
You wanna write create some fantasy creatures but don’t know where to start? Go check out some videos The Weird Creatures Earth has Had.
Want some inspiration for your Super Evil Villain’s Villanous Deeds?
Or maybe you want some weird locations to kick start your Fantasy World Terraforming?
Or maybe you need knowledge of bunches of historical places and cities and cultures?
But maybe you’re basing fantasy on the modern world?
Okay but lets say you want to start from the same inspiration as GRRM? (and part two!)
That’s just the stuff I could quickly grab. Things I’m subscribed to, that I know offhand. There is So. Much. Stuff. Online.
The best thing about the internet is that it means its not just the fortunate sons that get to learn, and explore and imagine and write. We get to see stories from all over the place, from all sorts of people, who bring All Kinds of New Ideas.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming