So like, I have this thing where i have a checklist app where i keep all my ideas in, kinda like an idea journal but with an app. I use it for reminders but i also use it whenever i have an idea that comes to mind i can write it down. This includes my dream jorunal, qoute books, and just other small ideas i have here and there.
An example from my book is the idea of a fantacy world that's secretly super advanced tech that has even more conveniences and subtle quality of life choices then even our moden life does, like bracelet that give a hologram with smartphone features. Or a spell that makes periods not so damn horrible.
So yeah, i was kinda thinking that one thing on my bucket list was to share passing thoughts written down on thsese kinda journal checklist thigns. So right now i'm going to scream into the void and ask if this thign has a proper name, and if anyone else does it or an i just weird. Or if i am weird and other people also do it.
It's been just over a year since Deltarune chapters 3 & 4 released! I did the 3D work, which mostly means Tenna 📺 I figured it's been long enough to share some "behind the scenes" stuff, starting with a look at the Maya file for his static poses...
I'd individually render the poses to get that early 3D shine ✨ Here's some of them at their original resolutions! I would work from text descriptions from Toby, and sometimes there'd be a Paint sketch to help out. Gigi drew the concept that I modeled from and some poses too!
I had a lot of fun pushing myself to match the dynamic poses Toby had in mind for Tenna - making him so crazy and expressive was something I couldn't have done without his prompts. He'd draw the faces on afterward too, which really brought Tenna to life!
(lots more after the Read More cut...!)
Here are some of the Paint sketches Toby drew to help me with specific Tenna poses! I love seeing his drawings LOL, genuinely really good and evocative 👍
There was a time when I was struggling to capture what he wanted for these specific Tenna poses… Until Toby acted them out himself, and I thought, "Ah, it's like that. I understand." and then I was able to make them just how he pictured them.
When looking through the renders and choosing what to share, I laughed at these two… Remember when Tenna had a gun? Remember when he bent over in a very specific way that might remind you of another, different image? No? Maybe you don't…? Well. Don't worry about it.
These ones are cute… Tenna is pretty cute sometimes! Has anyone ever thought this? Actually, before people knew he was going to be a strange 3D sprite the Whole Time, I was worried people wouldn't like the style and it'd sour people's views on him. I'm glad that didn't happen.
Toby thought it would be funny to have Tenna do some really smooth, mocapped animations sometimes - specifically free to use ones that often pop up in other things. An extra funny part to me is how many frames these take up in the game, and how his tails are stuck to his legs…
Speaking of mocap, Toby wanted Tenna to use custom mocap animations as far back as 2016 - Ten(na) years ago! I got an Xbox Kinect at the time and learnt how to set this up, but then never used it. Here's a look at messing with mocaped stuff again in 2022. So Normal.
Don't bother trying to help him here, he's just being dramatic 🙄
I particularly like these poses - I think I improvised most of these just based off the context they get used in… I always liked posing his tie and coat tails as if they were also parts of his body he could move. Which I guess they are?
After I rendered out the individual poses in high quality, I'd force the color palette to be limited to just a few shades and then I'd shrink the result down to pixel sized sprites. Like these! I'd tidy them up a little, but they'd really get improved on at the pixel scale by Clairvoire.
As well as Tenna's sprites, I also worked on his intro "movie"…! Seeing people be completely overloaded by this on first playthroughs would always make me laugh. In game, there's a ton of extra editing done by Everdraed, but my unedited cut looks like this ⬇️
This was the entire storyboard I had to work from, and I'm realizing now that there's the note "put him in car etc" that I never did and actually don't know what it would mean exactly. Working on this had me listen to the accompanying audio many times, but it's good so it's okay.
Here are a bunch of random clips of the Maya project for Tenna's intro movie. This is how movies get made, I think!! Yeah… Just like this.
Say it with him, folks!!
For the 3D Ralsei clip from the intro, Toby really wanted it to look a certain way, and drew more sketches for guiding me with this part than any other. They genuinely helped.
Remember how Toby's original storyboard has the note "covered in slime and shrinks"? That meant I had to learn how to make 3D slime. You can see my tech advancing here.
I'm really happy with how the final Tenna animation at the end of the intro movie turned out! It wouldn't look as good if it wasn't for some 2D animation to reference from SmallBuStudio, so thank you to them for the help! Tenna is cute… Huh, I already said that…?
Phew!! That's a lot of Tenna. I hope it was fun to look through my posts! Oh, one more thing - the Fangamer Mr. Tenna Figurine just straight up uses the 3D model I made, which I think is really funny and cool and nice. Check it out if you want! Thanks for reading!
i had to dig so deep through old backup files to find this, enjoy!
RIP (In loving, random access memory)
After a long illness, my beloved laptop, 3, while surrounded by family and tech support, succumbed in the night to an internal error. My laptop leaves behind one bereaved admin (me), an estranged guest user, an elderly warranty and a large extended family of synced mobile devices and browser bookmarks. Friends, we are gathered in this subdomain today to honor the memory, both RAM and hard drive, volatile and non-volatile, and mourn the data loss of a beloved digital companion. Caches to caches, rust to rust. Though its hard drive may be wiped, its chassis refurbished, and its processor sold for scrap, its torrent downloads and browser history will live on in our hearts, and eventually come back to haunt me.
As the fog returns this evening, it presents unique and compelling photographic opportunities. This image captures the 1877 Tall Ship Elissa re-entering Galveston Harbor. This is just another stunning view from the Galveston Ferry. 12/23/25 TXDot
How to explain AuDHD things to NTs, by my therapist
"Imagine you're playing chess all day, every day, on a timer, where any wrong move could result in confusion or awkwardness. You are constantly anticipating, strategizing, and analyzing every move."
"Imagine you’re an actor performing a role for 8-12 hours a day, acting as ‘normal.’ You’re following rules you’ve studied your whole life, but one small slip, like showing your interests or being yourself, might make people question you or treat you differently. It’s exhausting because the role never ends and it feels like I’m always one wrong word away from the audience turning on me.”
“Imagine that your phone battery dies by lunchtime every day and the only way to recharge it is by sitting in complete silence for 12 hours. Even then, it only gets to 50%.”
"Imagine trying to use an old laptop with too many tabs open. It lags, freezes and crashes. That’s my brain on a regular workday. No matter how much I try to "push through", the system just shuts down.”
"It’s like sprinting with a permanently broken ankle: it’s possible but it hurts, and it’s not sustainable forever.”
#i appreciate how genuine and non-judgemental this comic feels
#like left one is not upset at right one for caring while being powerless
#and right one seems genuinely distraught and not performative
I'm glad the facial expressions are coming across accurately!
It can feel so absurd to say gosh I hope the torment maze removes some fire and rusty nails soon, but alas, sometimes that's all one can do.
Writing 和風細雨 (he2feng1xi4yu3; gentle breeze and light rain) with a cat's tail on a water-writing mat.
Water-writing mats turn black when wet and return to their original colour once dry, so they are often used to practise calligraphy with water. The black colour allows you to see your writing clearly, and the mat can be reused as soon as the writing dries and disappears.
