Voices in my Head Theatre

[Gralhruk]

Are we gearing up for next year's avatar contest?

[Linklegacy77]

That last one kinda reminds me of the XKCD Richard Stallman with demonic wings.

[itches]

I've been wanting to give her hair for a while now, most of my comic characters have it so why not the avatar? And then while I'm there, why not try to make it transparent?

I'm using PaintNet to alter it and ... well learning how to use it while I'm working is a bit of a handicap. I'm going in and erasing the white sections around the figure, either whole swaths or going in and removing it pixel by pixel. *click* *click* *click-draaaaaag* *click* That sort of thing.

Only what turns out is happening, is it's sometimes turning some of the pixels only semi transparent. And I don't know why. It would be awsome if I could make it do that on command, but it seems to be doing it at random and I'm not sure why.

This is why I typically stuck with MsPaint. I know how to use it.

Edit: Hmm





http://online-roleplaying.com/forums...3&pictureid=22

http://online-roleplaying.com/forums...3&pictureid=20



http://www.online-roleplaying.com/tw...1384856967.png

[itches]

So .... yeah. Do I just declare myself the winner of next year's avatar contest now, or do I wait?

[Gralhruk]

First off, you should be using GiMP. It's free, not terribly large, has most of the functionality of Adobe Photoshop (which costs thousands of dollars), has a lot of documentation and support, and you can get a portable version that doesn't require an install. There is a bit of a learning curve, but if you are going to spend time learning something you can't go wrong with it.

Secondly, there is no such thing as "semi-transparent". A pixel is either a color or transparent. Actually, it's simpler than that - every pixel has a color, but some formats specify that a certain color shouldn't be displayed at all (thus, transparent).

The dilemma you run into with transparency is the transition areas - from the image to the background. You want those to be semi-transparent, but there is no way to specify in an image that this pixel should be this color but faded 50%. So either you make a hard edge and then you can get basically the same result on any background you happen to put the image over OR you decide that the image is only ever going to be on one color background and you make your transition areas fade to that color.

The issue with method one is that your transition areas always look a little rough because you aren't blending your actual image color with the background color at all. The issue with method two is that when you put the image on a different background, all of your transition areas look like crap because they are fading to a different color than the actual background.

[itches]

So I didn't mention it before, but I ended up getting a Surface Pro 2. Most expensive e-book reader ever - but awesome.

[Gralhruk]

I have to admit that I want a surface pro 2.

[itches]

It's great. It is an ebook reader, it has kindle installed, I can read it on the train no problem - and it runs both Dragon Age: Origins and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Bloodlines is 9 years old and I've wanted to play it since the moment it came out, but have never had a machine that could run it.

Until now.

[Flagg Thornington]

Howdy all. It's been a long time since I visited the site. Good to see some familiar members. I hope y'all have been doing well.

Also I looked through the new map tool thread. Must one be a programmer to make a map? Or am I missing something?

Cheers to all!

[itches]

I had that exact same arguement with Gral. It's actually very easy to make a basic gridmap. But it also allows you to make very complicated versions that make my head hurt.

[gridmap]
[token=B3]Hi[/token]
[/gridmap]

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Hi

 

[Gralhruk]

Hi Flagg! Good to see you around again .

“

It's actually very easy to make a basic gridmap.

”

This is the relevant point . And feel free to ask me any questions if something isn't clear.

[itches]

Make a game using gridmap and avatars

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[Tashalar]

Who wins?

[Flagg Thornington]

Thanks, I'll give it a try. My good friend will be starting a 3.5 D&D game soon if any of the old hands have an interest let me know. Is there some way to view an archive of the games I ran some time ago? I could arrange a forum donation if needed.

[itches]

It appears that your old games have been removed. 2008 was a long time ago.

[itches]

Some context

This is an except of the novel I'm pretending to write. It comes in at the end of section one, and has been kicking my arse for months now. This is only the first third or first half of the entry. I've been trying to have each one come in at about a thousand words, but this part is 14-Hundred words by itself.

Amicula: The protagonist and narrator, a girl with burgeoning empathic abilities she struggles to control.
Elicia: A mysterious, yet interesting girl Ami knows. She has rainbow dyed hair, and tends to dress in multicoloured outfits.
Robyn: Ami's roommate, currently flirting with a guy Ami knows is a sleaze.
Jordan: Someone from Ami's past. A source of much sorrow, self loathing and angst for yet undefined reasons.
The Plan: A needlessly complicated plan to convince Robyn that the Sleaze is a sleaze, included Elicia's unwitting involvement. Not important to this entry.
The Dance: People move in time to music.

Everything had been set in motion about an hour before the dance was due to start, which meant it was too late to back out now. Robyn wouldn't let me see what she was going to wear, so once she finished getting me laced up in my gear she scuttled off to get ready in peace, leaving me – literally – all dressed up with nowhere to go.

I'd arranged to meet Elicia at my room before I escorted her to the dance and her 'date,' but now that it was too late to do anything to stop it, I couldn't stop thinking about all the ways it could go wrong. I tried to put it out of my mind and wasn't getting anywhere when I remembered the bottle of vodka I had stashed away. I knew I shouldn't, I'd need an alert mind if I was going to pull tonight off, but I rationalised to myself that I'd also need a clear mind. So I had a drink, then I had two, then I had more. I was still drinking – and had a decent buzz going – when E finally turned up. I hid the bottle at the knock and opened the door to a vision of white.

Elicia's hair was freshly done, colours so vivid they almost glowed, but that was the only colour she wore. She had abandoned her normal rainbow-coloured outfit in favour of a simple, unadorned white dress that clung to her from shoulders to feet. As it always seemed with her clothing choices, it was impractical for the weather, the only concession made towards the cold being a white lace cardigan thrown over her otherwise bare shoulders, and the hint of her normal black boots peeking out from under the hem.

She had always been beautiful, but dressed like this she took it to whole other level and looked more like an elegant, radiant angel then rainbow adorned girl I normally wasted time with.

Amicula: Wow.

She flushed pink, giving me a shy smile that was a stark contrast with how she normally behaved.

Elicia: I'll take that as a good wow.
Amicula: Umm, yeah. You look … I mean … wow.

Her smile turned into a grin and she raked her eyes down over me.

Elicia: You're looking pretty wow yourself.

I started blushing in tern, unable to stop the blood from rushing to my face. She wasn't wrong, I looked amazing. I'd gone back to town to buy the outfit I had been admiring earlier with Robyn and the black taffeta over skirt with petticoats alone would have been amazing, but combined with the long silk gloves and dark corset that did amazing things to my breasts, they transformed me into a dark gothic goddess.

Elicia: Shall we go milady? The ball awaits.

She held out her arm, I slipped mine through it and we set out together.

The dance was as I expected, filled with terrible music and people I didn't like. Robyn still hadn't turned up by the time we got there, so I did my best impression of a wall flower while waiting, trying to ignore the looks and glares people were throwing at me. I quickly became thankful that I had been drinking earlier, even in my half drunk state I could feel the pressure of everyone's attention pushing against my mind. Coming here totally sober would have been a super bad idea. As it was I only survived by keeping most of my attention focused on Elicia, trying to pretend all the others weren't there. Not that my Rainbow Girl wasn't without her own drama.

Elicia: Ami, did you lure me under false pretences?
Amicula: What I, no-no. Why would you say that?
Elicia: You promised me dancing.
Amicula: I did no such thing.
Elicia: It's called a 'Dance.' The dancing was implied.

I did a quick scan of the room, but Robyn and the sleaze hadn't turned up yet. I hoped they hadn't decided to skip straight to the traditional post-dance activities, that would have sunk my plan without any hope of recovery.

Amicula: People dancing at a dance? I've never heard of such a thing.
Elicia: They really should put more thought into this non-dance dance. The name must have confused so many people.
Amicula: Next thing you know there will be guys and girls dancing together, think of the scandal!
Elicia: A terrible terrible thing. Good thing it's just us girls here.
Amicula: So much better.
Elicia: So?
Amicula: So?
Elicia: Do you want to dance? With me.
Amicula: What out there? Around people?
Elicia: You're hopeless sometimes.

She grabbed my hand and led me out onto the dance floor, near the edge but still too visible for my comfort. I could feel the pressure on my mental barriers grow as more people began to glance at us.

Amicula: Umm E, I don't do this. Dance where I can be seen. I really need to go, to not be here.

She hushed me and turned to drape her hands over my shoulders, locking eyes with my own

Elicia: Just focus on me Little Shadow, there's no one else here, only the two of us. And you do owe me a dance.

My hands automatically went to her waste in response and she gave me another half smile, starting to move in time to the music. The vodka was really starting to kick in by this point so I figured what the hell, and joined in. If I could survive it sure beat standing around being bored.

The dance didn't last long and some upbeat piece of shit I'd never heard of came on and we dropped out arms. She smiled at me again, an obvious invitation and question, and I couldn't help but smile back. I'd already survived one dance, why not another?

E was much better at it than me, her dancing embodying the 'Who-Gives-A-Fuck' attitude that was the best thing about her. I mean tend not to give a fuck either, but I can't own it like she does. Plus I'm only a passable dancer normally, and the outfit sure wasn't helping, but with E still so close I got caught up in her energy and stopped worrying. She was so closer her flickering, waving arms still seemed around me, close enough to see her laughing eyes reflecting the coloured lights above us, close enough for my hair to brush her face as I spun my head, close enough for me to smell her, something exotic yet familiar – like a happy memory from childhood you've half forgotten. The scent engulfed and drove me.

The song ended and moved onto something low and slow and I didn't wait for her to ask, I wasn't done dancing. I wrapped my arms over her shoulders and around her neck, while her arms encircled me and she pressed her body against my own. She was unbelievable warm, intoxicating, tantalising as it radiated out – and every fibre within me suddenly tensed.

I couldn't breath. The music, the people around us, the storm of emotions raining against my mind, it all disappeared until there was only Elicia. Rainbow Girl, the mysterious bewitching creature who treated the world like I only wished I could. Exciting, brilliant, always ready with the right words to take away my worries and get me all turned about and flustered. Possessed of an undeniable, almost inhuman beauty unlike anyone I'd ever met, and pressed up against me in what I now realised was a very thin dress.

The world had disappeared and Elicia grew to fill the void. I looked at her and saw all the little details I'd never noticed before. The spots where the many coloured hair dye had stained her skin, a pale almost invisible scar that ran down from her corner of her mouth to the edge of her chin, a spider-web of sorrow hinting lines etched out between her eyes, eyes that were caught on my own, no longer asking a question but offering a promise, still glimmering with laughter, but a shallow mirth that was layered over a rare vulnerability she was letting me see for the first time.

She leant in and kissed me with peppermint lips.

I don't know what I did it. Maybe because I was drunk, too drunk to care about tomorrow or yesterday. Maybe I was sick of mourning Jordan, of the hatred and self loathing I drowned myself in every day. Maybe because E was an exciting, exotic, and embarrassingly gorgeous girl burning red hot in my arms. Maybe I was just tired of being alone.

I don't know why, but I forgot all about Robyn, the plan, the dance, my tortured history and returned the kiss, matching fire with fire as the long burning heat between us reached breaking point.

[itches]

Why did I think it was a good idea to write a penrose triangle into a MsPaint Stickfigure comic? Didn't I realise that I would then have to draw it?

[itches]

The First Dream of 2014

I was exhausted on New Years Eve, so I went to bed at around 10pm. Yes I know I normally can't get to sleep until after midnight, but that day I was tired. So the only day I go to sleep before midnight is New Years Eve. That's dedicated rebellion for you.

After a short sleep, making it undisturbed by the fireworks exploding right about my roof, I was woken up at 2:40am by the weirdest fucking dream I have ever had. I'm going to tell you about it.

The protagonist of this dream was a young woman attending collage. We shall call this young woman Protagonist, because I don't like names, even in my subconscious. Protagonist was sharing a room with a girl called Roommate. In the next room over was the girl, Neighbour. Roommate and Protagonist were both friends with another girl called NiceGirl. NiceGirl was a nice girl, but very innocent. As is traditional with dreams, I don't remember most of the details, and the further back the plot goes the worse the data loss gets. So this start out a little vague.

Protagonist and Neighbour had an unfriendly, but not very vicious rivalry going on in regards to building robots. Robots in this sense are small mechanical devices about the size and shape of a baseball. Neighbour was a very good at robot building, and Protagonist only dabbled in it. Despite the fact that she wasn't as good, Protagonist stumbled across the right design and her robot was in the right place at the right time to save someone's life, winning her an award and irritating Neighbour to no end. This was the cumulation of an on going plot in the dream between the two of them.

While Protagonist and Neighbour were competing, Protagonist and Roommate had this ongoing, undercurrent of sexual tension that was fun, but causing issues. You see Roommate was out and proud as a lesbian, but Protagonist was more conflicted about things. After much, much subtle flirting and enjoyable tension things finally came to a head when they kissed and Protagonist admitted that she had feelings for Roommate, despite the fact that she was a girl. It was sweet.

The problem comes from another character, Archer. Archer was a guy (and yes he was a Bow-and-Arrow archer) who was interested in Protagonist. Protagonist wasn't disinterested in him, and while she and Roommate were trying to sort out what was going on between them, Protagonist had been flirting with Archer in a "Maybe I'm Interested, Maybe I'm Not" sort of way. Just having fun, you know? In the aftermath of The Kiss, rather than stop toying with Archer, Protagonist did it one more time, justifying it by the fact that nothing had been committed to with Roommate, and she was just messing about with Archer.

Needless to say Roommate found out and was not pleased. She accused Protagonist of toying with her, of not meaning anything that had happened, of not taking her sexuality seriously. It was an ugly moment, touching upon themes of Lesbian Until Graduation, sexual orientation and promiscuity. Roommate stormed off and Protagonist was pretty pissed. She hadn't done anything wrong, sure she was attracted to Roommate, liked her even, but they hadn't agreed to date or promised anything, and while she would have liked to see where that attraction would have led, if a little bit of harmless flirting with a guy could sink it all, maybe it was better off dead before it started.

It took Neighbour to shake her out of her self-righteous sulking. In a blunt way only possible from someone who isn't your friend Neighbour laid it out. Was Protagonist interested in Roommate? Was this interest beyond just mild experimentation? Was Protagonist aware that her new-found notoriety was having an effect on Roommate? Leaving aside the question of if it was right or wrong for Protagonist to keep flirting with Archer, the bottom line was that Roommate was hurt by it, and Protagonist needed to decide what was more important to her, being right or fixing things with Roommate. Because at this stage if she wanted a relationship with Roommate, it was going to be up to her to do something to make it happen.

So far this dream is all pretty normal stuff for a pretty normal person (which does beg the question of why *I* was having it). Relationships, romance, robots. That's all about to change. Everything to follow becomes kinda graphic, so if you're under 18 go ask an adult if you can keep reading.

Not SFW, or Orp. Read More?

[itches]

It's Monday morning. Start your week right, with coffee in your hand, hatred in your heart. And ... A Poodle

Gender: And a Poodle

Gender: And a Poodle

But itches, you ask, don't you make casual categorisations of people as Male and Female all the time?

Well, I answer, the thing about that is-

*smokebomb*
*flee*

[itches]

"So itches," I thought to myself. "You have some free time tonight, why not try a few matches on Mass Effect 3: Multiplayer to relax?”
“Yeah that could be fun," I thought back to myself. "But let's try a silver match instead of just slumming it on bronze. This could be fun."

I was wrong. It dropped me into a match where one person was already dead and the other was bleeding out, and executed before I could revive them. On the first wave. Things only got worse as the game progressed.

The match ended, with me alone, with no shields, with no consumables, only a sliver of health, while mechs slowly marched into sight from all sides, and a Dragoon trying to lash me again, and again, and again as I cowered in terror behind some cover. I made it, but my hands were actually shaking afterwards.

The N7 rank of the three people playing with me? 80. Combined. Time to slum it on bronze!

[Gralhruk]

I don't know what any of that means except that you clearly should be posting in Bards.

[itches]

Just because it amuses me, after joking about wanting to be a dragon in the Dragon Age games.

Do you wanna be a dragon?

Do you want to be a dragon?
To fly high and far away!
It's not too late to change your course
Maybe a horse
You could be a great bay

To be full of my power
You know it not
Forever beyond your ken

Do you want to be a dragon?
It doesn't have to be a dragon

[itches]

It's my birthday. Can you guess how old I am?

"Birthday: And a Poodle"

"Birthday: And a Poodle"

My grandfather once told me a story that happened long ago. One night after the rest of his family was asleep, he went out to the little bar they had in the backroom of their house, poured himself a drink and sat down in the dim light. The next morning was his birthday, he was going to be thirty years old, and that was felt tragic.

My grandfather turned 81 this year, and according to him what he wouldn't give to be thirty again.

My grandfather is a wise man, he has the intelligence to know what is going on, and the experience to know what it means. He is well worth paying attention to when he talks. I know this, but damn if my turning thirty today doesn't feel tragic.

[Gralhruk]

Cheer yourself up by buying an awesome PC. And don't worry if it doesn't click right now - pretty soon you'll feel the same way as Grandpa. I know I do .

[Gralhruk]

And Happy Birthday!