BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

From April to the end of December 2016, have courage to start and share your in-progress works! Release your shrines unfinished, and use community enthusiasm and feedback as fuel to keep working on them.
Sophia
Posts: 126
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2016 12:30 pm
Contact:

BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Sophia »

-waves- Hi team! I'm a bit confused on whether or not I am allowed to share this yet (I think the topic says a layout, an index, a site page, and an introduction, which I do have, but not yet the five articles it notes for general plugging), so if I have started waaay early, slap me, and I'll take it down til the appropriate moment. Apologies if so!

BOMBSHELL is my shrine to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII. I am replaying FFVIII right now, with Transistor and ME1, in the hopes of getting three projects off the ground as quickly as possible. My intro page is maybe even too diary-entry-y. I'm a bit worried this is effectively going to be a series of static blog-posts, but I suppose that's what I really like a shrine anyway, you know? Yet somehow it feels like I'm letting my girl Q down. She's always been one of my favorite characters.

I'm sharing this mostly because it helps to make something 'official' for me - then I start putting the work in, as opposed to holding it back until it's perfect while working consistently.

If you looked, thank you. <3 I'd love to know any thoughts - and this is deliberateley not a 'sweet' topic. I am a newb to this scene and to web-designing generally, and I wanted to be educated! However, I realize there's maybe not even enough there to comment on. I promise to post soon that I've changed that.

RAY GUN SUE
User avatar
Jae
Posts: 81
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Contact:

Re: BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Jae »

Ahh, Quistis! I love it so far. The layout stands out to me, because the way you've arranged your text (e.g., minuet) is elegant. You have such a classy writing style, and I'm excited to see the interpretive content, which I think goes really well with characters from FFVIII. I can't wait to see what you bring to the table.

One thing - on the intro page, you have "#protips for FVII gameplay" and I think you meant VIII? If not, I seem to have taken a joke too seriously. :pale2:
fayth
I come and go, but I'm around.
Robin
Events Staffer
Posts: 3072
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2014 3:15 pm
Location: North Carolina, USA
Contact:

Re: BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Robin »

Hey there! Aww this is great so far--looking forward to all that you're going to add! The navigation is hella cool as well with the magic slidey-out effect <3

One thing I did want to ask about in terms of the layout--is the following effect intentional? (The other parts of the image being fragmented made me think it might be, but I wasn't sure, so I thought I would ask :) )

Image

(I'm using the latest version of Firefox on Windows with a 1366 x 768 resolution)
~ a dream is a wish your heart makes ~
withinmyworld.org
Stefi
Administrator
Posts: 275
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:55 pm
Location: WEST COAST BEST COAST
Contact:

Re: BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Stefi »

I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS!! It's been many years since a good Quistis shrine has popped up, and I'm glad you decided to make one to her :inlove: I think I have may have mentioned this to you before, but I really admire the way you write! Your writing style has such incredible personality and flows together so seamlessly. I'm really looking forward to site, and so far everything looks promising :heart:

Anyway! I've noticed that you've got a couple of broken characters, which you can easily fix by replacing it with HTML numbers (reference list here). It's know it's kind of a pain in the butt as fancy (fancier?) characters, like e-acute, don't show up properly especially if you code from scratch.

Also, the width of the layout is also a bit too wide, I think? My resolution is at 1280x800 and I have to scroll left in order to get to the navigation (screenshot here). You can probably fix it by moving your navigation to the left side of the text box, though! :) A good rule of thumb is to design a layout with a max with of 800px or 1024px since that's the minimum width of most desktop screen resolutions these days.

Hope that helps out a bit!
Sophia
Posts: 126
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2016 12:30 pm
Contact:

Re: BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Sophia »

-hugs all- Thank you, @Jae, @Robin, and @Stefi, for the encouragement and critiques. I've refangled the layout with them in mind. If you wouldn't mind letting me know (via discord or whatever is convenient) if some of your concerns have been addressed (e.g. too big, breaking apart, after a quick cache clear), I'd appreciate it.

For example: now, tinier!

And also, @Robin, that break was regrettably not intentional. >< But I think I stamped it out~!

For what it's worth, here's what I saw:
Image

And here is what I see now:
Image

RAY GUN SUE
Megan
Freelance Staffer
Posts: 650
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:13 pm
Contact:

Re: BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Megan »

I think this layout is really unique! I like how you set up the index page as well... Very creative! Can't wait to see what you do with this! :D
please know that i am yours to keep, my beautiful girl.
Anise
Posts: 178
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 7:24 pm
Contact:

Re: BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Anise »

Love the layout but I too am having some issues. I'm in Firefox in Windows with 1920x1080 and I'm having a similar problem to Robin.Image
The Second Guardian Network ☆☆ Esperits.ORG
Masao
Host
Posts: 579
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:29 am
Contact:

Re: BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Masao »

That seems be to be the h1's margin pushing it off. If you set set margin-top: 0; it should work.

Code: Select all

h1 {
    font-family: "KG Primary Dots", Garamond, serif;
    font-size: 65px;
    line-height: 26.4px;
    text-align: left;
    margin-top: 0;
}
The difference between Chrome and Firefox is because they have different browser CSS defaults, so to be safe, you can always set specific margins and paddings, to be consistent.

Also the shrine looks great :yay: Looking forward to all your pages. I really enjoyed your introduction. :heart:
THE FATE OF DESTRUCTION IS ALSO THE JOY OF REBIRTH.
Sophia
Posts: 126
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2016 12:30 pm
Contact:

Re: BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Sophia »

I think that did it.

Also, I gave up my dream of clever invisible image floats, so if that was wonking up somebody's browser, it no longer wonks.

EDIT: Also, thank you all. <3 I sincerely appreciate all the feedback!

RAY GUN SUE
Lethe
Posts: 1342
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:20 pm
Contact:

Re: BOMBSHELL · a tribute to Quistis Trepe of FFVIII

Post by Lethe »

I'VE BEEN WANTING TO LEAVE A LENGHTY COMMENT ON THIS FOR DAYS but I've been so busy. At least you got to see my preliminary yelling in the meantime. :eyes:

Seeing how the feedback in this topic so far has been worked into the shrine is so lovely!! (... I'm happy the horizontal scrollbar is gone for me haha...) I am very, very fond of your layout due to so many different things - it's minimal, yet expressive, and I see a mix of sternness and hard edges along with a surprising softness in the background, and it just reminds me so much of Quistis. Don't know how much of it is intentional, but at the very least, that fractured face, the placement of the title and the shrine title itself make one very curious about this particular shrine.

When I was at your network before, I did go "what's up with this title", but now, after reading your brief outline of the reasoning behind it - and especially the It-Girl article (never heard the term before, different time and language) - I am really looking forward to a longer essay! There seems to be so much content in that short paragraph already, and so many different directions an essay, or even the shrine as a whole, can take based on the shrine title... AAAAAAAAH THE EXCITEMENT.

ALSO, THE "Q" OF YOUR MAIN CONTENT FONT IS SO GORGEOUS. OMG. QUISTIS IS SPECIAL. (By the way, I love all the colours you've chosen, but I think the italic parts of the text are a bit difficult to read as the font setting makes the text quite narrow.)

I think the first impression one gets from this shrine is how markedly refreshing it is, and a large part is due to what you bring to the table with being rather new to coding and shrining. I love it very much, and this shrine shows exactly why it's so beneficial and inspiring to the community as a whole when someone new joins. ;_; It's... very touching how you write about shrines and the process of shrining on the shrine itself as you engage with the activity and the subject matter, and it doesn't come across as being out of place at all, but makes the experience something very personal. ... I think I'm so moved because people tend to be so intimidated about their lack of experience (and I wish it weren't so, but all of us are here to help) when it comes to their first few shrines, and your shrine just presents those first steps as something very lovable, in a "I'm new, this is what I want to do and achieve, this is what I'd like to explore, using this particular medium". aaah /rolls

"Personal" is really what captures the content so far, and it's what I love seeing in shrines! I think your blogging background and penchant for longer texts that explore several different aspects of a subject shows, and that's nothing you need to worry about! I'm sure it'll make your shrine very special. :heart:

I admire your writing so much, and love how engaging and entertaining it is; reading it here really does feel like traversing the landscapes of Final Fantasy, FFVIII, its characters and part of your history alongside you. The way you described/introduced FFVIII is beautiful, already touching on several things that make up its mood and themes. ;__________; (I GET EMOTIONAL BECAUSE INTRODUCTIONS TO THINGS BASED ON THEIR THEMES and reading about themes in general is my fav thing.)

Something that was surprising at first is how much you already went into details of the game so as to outline not just the themes, but Squall specifically on the introduction page... It's surprising because it means already giving the spotlight to a character on a shrine to a different character, before the latter has been introduced on the shrine. But it's so fitting because, as much as other Final Fantasy installments have several different characteristics that make them what they are (IX' whimsical mood or VII's love and fight for the planet, for example), when I think of VIII, what makes it is Squall: Squall and his internal monologues that colour the entire game, Squall and his journey and growth, Squall as the representation of the game's themes, Squall and Rinoa as a continuation of a past love story, and so on. (After reading all those shrine classics, I certainly see why he is such a loved character.)

That's why it's so very touching to me that you go on not just to talk about your past self and the crush on Squall, but use those past feelings to transition to Quistis' perspective... The way you introduced Quistis - including the way you phrased those sentences - on that page following what you've said about FFVIII and Squall really, really touched me. And then there's the way you so beautifully wrote about that line of Quisti's too.... ... To be honest, I teared up when I read those last few paragraphs, and I know I'll come back to reread that page - and hopefully the rest of your shrine - again and again.

I can hardly wait for the rest of the content, and the two essay themes you have up already greatly intrigue me. As I've said before, Quistis is one of my favourite Final Fantasy characters, and I've always wanted to see more shrines to her (it's been a while, as Stefi said) - especially so as to explore her inner life, beyond the facts of the game, as FFVIII's side characters didn't have as much presence as I would have liked to see.

About "Learning to Love the Princess" in particular: Reading so many of the Quistis and Rinoa shrines that have come before, I very much like good introspection regarding the feelings Quistis may have felt towards Rinoa. To me, it feels as though that kind of analysis inevitably has to come from some kind of personal place, while also sometimes being a commentary on women in social setting and the portrayal of women in media in general, if one wants to include that... I'm looking forward to what you have to say. :heart: :heart:
Sophia wrote:I'm a bit confused on whether or not I am allowed to share this yet (I think the topic says a layout, an index, a site page, and an introduction, which I do have, but not yet the five articles it notes for general plugging), so if I have started waaay early, slap me, and I'll take it down til the appropriate moment. Apologies if so!
Your content is fine! The part about the five articles refers to another Challenge that fell into the timeframe of the Construction Zone Challenge; it's now obsolete as that Challenge concluded a while ago. In any case, we will get rid of that rule altogether for all kinds of shrines in the future.

Lastly, some typos if you'd like to know about them, otherwise ignore:
Show/HideSPOILERSPOILER_SHOW
INDEX
Your shrine made us realize Amassment has had a mistake on that rather new page lol:
There are no rules to making shrines and there no expectations. -> "There are no rules to making shrines and there are no expectations."

Amassement -> Amassment

WORLD
included -> including

INTRODUCTION
in his eye . -> remove space before period

Hot Topic® -> here's another special symbol that needs to be fixed

to a wall if. -> remove "if"

in at least two sense -> "senses"

SPECULATION
In the same way I think trying to introduce someone else wo why I love FFVIII's Quistis Trepe -> "wo" needs to be "to", I think?


I HAVE TO GO TO BED BYE
Both despair and ecstasy are part of the elements that compose a person.
Post Reply