An avatar of Twirly
Let's talk about: LyraNot the art supplier
Whew. Doing those character sheets is tiring, and having to design and build an armor has been particularly painful ^^ Sorry it took so much time, but it's finally here. So let's talk about Lyra, Luciano's beautiful goth childhood friend.
Although her goth aesthetic hides it a little, the tears in her clothes are not ornamental: they are genuine wear and tear. Lyra lives in poverty; she frequently jumps from one job to another, almost always due to furious arguments with her employers over her aggressive and outspoken temperament. Her inability to hold down a job for long periods means that she can barely save enough money each month to pay her rent. It would not be surprising if she went without food for days, were it not for the discreet help of Luciano and Ella: they often invite her to their home to eat, and Luciano lends her money “a' la Scrooge McDuck”: being proud, Lyra would never accept money unless she promised to pay it back, so Luciano lends it to her and uses the excuse of debt as a weapon to push her to do what he says and keep up appearances, but in reality he will never ask for it back.
Despite her miserable life, Lyra actually comes from a wealthy family. Her parents are rich entrepreneurs in the luxury wine industry and export their wines all over the world. However, as it is a family business, they would like Lyra to start working in the family business, but she has flatly refused, preferring to pursue her vocation as a musician. The constant insistence of her family, especially her mother, and their very different personalities led Lyra to break off all relations with them, refusing any help. Not a social animal at all, only a few people can tolerate her abrasive character, resulting in a mostly solitary life. On the other hand, being anaffective herself, she does not feel the need to surround herself with people. Her only friends are Luciano and his friends, and her band of women only. Her friendship with Luciano is deep, with a complicity that borders on a romantic relationship, which at the beginning of his relationship with Ella generated more than a few misunderstandings and jealousy. She maliciously enjoys teasing Luna about her height, relishing her sharp reactions and arguments with her. A classic case of a temperamental friendship.
She looks like a very tall, slender girl, extremely thin due to malnutrition, with characteristic enormous pigtails. She always wears the same tattered clothes, as she has no money to buy new ones. There is only one place where Lyra feels and shows herself to be truly happy: the stage, where she becomes unrecognisable. Music is her reason for living, but breaking through is difficult and success does not come easily. Will she finally succeed? Will she have to surrender to harsh reality? Or will she find a balance between dreams and pragmatism? This, for now, no one knows.
Her introverted side
When she feels the need to protect herself from the outside world (especially from her mother's impositions), Lyra get covered from head to toe in a thick black armor with sharp spikes, to keep anything unwanted at bay. This is her “introverted power,” so to speak. However, the armor makes her emotionally distant and also hurts those who would like to help her, contributing to making her a person that people prefer to avoid. Behind these layers of fortifications lies a person who is more fragile than she appears, who deep down regrets hurting those around her and who only wants to be free to express herself without constraints. Perhaps more than any other character in this story, Lyra represents the misunderstood, whose ambitions are continually frustrated by an overly competitive society that requires her to conform in order to please everyone, a definition of which Lyra is the exact opposite. She is a character I have a lot of sympathy for, and I hope to do her justice in the future.
An avatar of Franca
Changes under the hood
Very short update: i've updated yet again how blog posts are rendered in the page. Before, the way i rendered the angular components was causing html to incorrectly interrupt in the wrong places and that was causing problems in the format, espectially where images were in place. But now everything is well formatted and behaving ! of course that mean older posts are now all over the place, so you may have an unpleasing read experience... Since the number of posts is still low, i'm gonna refactor all to align them to the new format and eveything will be nice again. Please look forward it ! (PS: the next character post will be about Lyra. I'm roughly half way right now ^^).
An avatar of Luna
Mail is (not) deadFantastic pen-pals and where to find them
While i'm compleating the next character sheet, i want to talk about a simple and fun event i'm regularly hosting on Schmoe's discord: the Penpals Inklinks.
It is something like a blend of an art share and secret santa: people who want to join enter their name in a webpage i'm hosting on this site, and at a given date they will be randomly paired. After the pairing, they draw something and their work is send by physical mail to their pal.
Like all the good things, the idea was born almost by chance. One fated day, the user Youki did a colored drawing with her new acrylic markers, and offered to gift it to the first who request it. I was quick enough to ask it first. 😇
The day this postcard came in my mailbox i was happy like i wasn't from a long time : not only it was very good, in this digital era receiving something physical, handmade, filled me of a joy now long time forgotten. I started to wish more people people could feel the same joy i felt: and so, i begun to think how it could be done.

I had my reserves of course; i though people wouldn't like the idea to give their address online to unknown people, and i feared some accident could occur. But the people frequenting Schmoe's discord is usually cool and well behaved, so with Her permission i started to lay down the rules of the newborn Penpals Inklinks (the name is Schmoe's choosing ^^) and soon after the first edition has taken place.

The penpals were well received, and every time people post the drawings they received feels like an holiday. We are now on the 4th edition, and i plan to continue with the penpals as long there will be at least another person interested. Heck, one day i could even be paired with Schmoe ! Being paired with her for me is like winning that 5-star gatcha pull you're waiting since two years, so i have an extra thrill every time the extraction is near 🤣

(To be frank, everything is in my sole hands, so it would be trivial to manupulate the results and pair myself with whoever i wish, but what's the point in that ? I'm not doing this to get free gifts. It would be a betrayal to everyone who entered their names, and i will be paired with everyone sooner or later regardless. No reason to be a cheater.)

Of everything i've accomplished in my life so far, this is something i'm particularly proud. See everyone enjoying sending and receiving physical drawings throu mail and sharing an happy moment is a moving feeling for me; in an historical moment where everything is threatened to be drown on genAI slop, void of meaning and intention, this little event makes me think there will still need for something genuine, tangible, personal. I keep every card received like a little treasure.

Now more then ever, we need to be remembered there are other people out there, seeking to share a little piece of them to someone other. With this feeling in the head and in the heart, i can't stop thinking every time "Yes. You did something little, but it's something good".

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