#// to give us individual character icons like????

[sheavoid]

// HOWLING PURRING BARKING MEOWING

#lari here (ooc) #// idk why it took riot so long #// to give us individual character icons like????

[kathaynesart]

Replica Holiday Special Winners!

Happy Holidays everyone! It's that time of year and you know what that means! Time to announce the winners for the DTIYS Replica Holiday Special Cover!

I received so many wonderful submissions. Far more than I had anticipated! They were all so unique and creative and it was an absolute joy to look at each and every one of them! I really underestimated however how difficult it would be to choose with them all being so unique from each other. In the end, I decided to gauge the top picks on how well their cover captured the "essence" of what this Special is going to be like! Without further ado, here are the winners.

HONORABLE MENTION - @matchstique

Buddy! I love this piece so dang much! It has so much character and perfectly displays the wacky hijinks we can expect as well as the huge amount of stress our poor boys are under during these trying, pregnancy times. The movement and colors work so well and make me excited for what comes next! Seldom do I see pregnant females shown as the badasses they are, but you have gone and turned Cassandra into an absolute icon with this piece! Bless you!

3RD PLACE - @thegunnsara

Sara, the shear amount of craft you put into your art is STAGGERING. Every scuff on Raph's shell and wisp of smoke screams of a quality I can only hope to attain someday. I literally want to be you when I grow up! That said, the concept of this piece is also fantastic. One of the things I'm must excited about for this Special is getting to see Raph and Casey as they were and witnessing the strong bond they share. I love them dearly and this cover captures their strength and tenacity so perfectly. Gods among men.

2ND PLACE - @cupcakeslushie

Slushie, this cover is so damn fun and dynamic that I can't stop looking at it! Your attention to detail and composition are masterful and the fact that you could fit such a bombastic battle into such a limited space speaks to how crazy talented you are! You also do a wonderful job of retaining both the intensity of the apocalypse but also that playful edge that Rise always manages to retain! It's definitely the cover that would catch my eye on a shelf and make me want to turn the page to see what happens next!

1ST PLACE - @abbeyofcyn

Cyn, the moment I saw this cover, I gasped! It's funny because this is both a piece I could have totally seen myself doing had I done the cover, yet crafted in a unique way I could have never come up with on my own! On top of that, this slick composition scratches my little designer brain juuust right. The use of the hands motif is such a great element because to me, it encapsulates the conflicting themes of family/parenthood with the drama of what it means to be human. On top of that, having each character as one of the digits both connected to and encircling Casey is such a wonderful touch that really drives the symbolism home. Somehow, you managed to peer into the future and perfectly capture how the finale of this special is going to feel. Thank you so much Cyn for such a wonderful piece!

~~~~~~~~~

Now that I think about it, looking back on these winners as a set, all four them actually do an amazing job as individual covers for each of the four "acts" that will make up this special. That was not at all my intention, but it kind of worked out perfectly for that. Gets me all emotional!

I also definitely want to put a spotlight on the other amazing submissions, many of which made it SO close to the top slots! I was going to post these pieces individually but I was worried people wouldn't then go to their blogs to view the covers, so instead have a compilation and links to the full versions! Please check out everyones amazing covers and give them some love. They all worked really hard and it means so much to me. Thank you everyone!

@dreamundraws - LINK @honeylief - LINK @gemini-forest - LINK @memorydarkness - LINK @skullythefriendlyskullface - LINK @v-albion - LINK @its-wabby-stuff - LINK @yris-latteyi - LINK @reagi-df - LINK @chaoscontrol50 - LINK / LINK @murasakibonnet - LINK @hitwiththetmnt - LINK @xandriagreat - LINK @karonkar - LINK @sunydays - LINK (sorry my dear, yours did not appear on my hashtag reference at first! D: But still love it!) @quailaz - LINK @delicatechildwitch - LINK

Thank you again all of you! You all did such an amazing job!

#replica dtiys #replica #rottmnt replica #holiday speical #rottmnt #save rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #not my art

[agent371]

This post is talking about the designs (and the designs only, I haven't read anything from the authors and dont even know who they are so this is design based only) released for the new Damian Wayne comic - The Boy Wonder. I will be heavily critical and btching about these, but please tell me your thoughts as well. After Damian, the others are under the cut. Please read because it's important.

Damian's design is actually really good and the best one, which is probably good since this is a comic about him. And I love how he's not whitewashed, which is something that happens way too much in comics.

Now, to Nightwing, his design is okay for a Nightwing design, but he just looks off in this style. I think if they tried to stylise him more, it could look a lot cooler. So I think he's just got wasted potential. Also, he's probably whitewashed as well to make damian more special as the "only" POC in the family (probly why Cass, Duke, Luke, and Luicus aren't here as well).

Babs is next, and this is the main reason I made this post. They abled her. DC authors stop abling disabled characters, please, for the love of me, I can't stand it. She can be disabled and still be relevant in the plot. I swear the only reason authors do this is because they don't know how to write disabled characters. If they need a Batgirl, use Steph or Cass because they are more than capable of doing it. I know they aren't as iconic as Babs, but move on DC. She's so much more interesting as Oracle.

Batman, I'm not a fan of his big blocky design. I just don't like it. He also looks really irrelevant and giving this is a comic about Robin (his son!) I think he should be relevant or look like he isn't a background character who just grunts, like for the design it looks like he doesn't talk. Don't like it.

Jason now, I actually love his Red Hood costume it looks sick, and the R on the chest *chefs kiss*. But his robin outfit is too gritty, and from that, I can tell he's going to be mischaracterised as the "angry Robin," so Hood looks cool, but that's all it is, his looks.

Tim. There is so much to say, omg. Where is his hero outfit! Everyone else got them. Why didn't he? You can actually see RR in the preview, so why wasn't that design put here? Why is it just Tim? And why does kid Tim look homless you know he grew up rich, before and after his adoption sure he has a style but his cloths wouldn't be friad he'd still look sleek and scruff not on the verge of his cloths falling off his back. For this, I can tell he'll also be mischaracterised as just like Jason since this is a Damian comic they are doing to do him so dirty. :( Sad day for a 90's Tim Drake fan (like every day, tbh save my guy). His RR design also has a shitty mask, but other than that, it seems fine, I like the wings/cape for it that looks pretty cool.

Alfred is a stereotypical old man. He's got no individuality what so ever and will proble be in one panel, say something sarcastic, and never show up again.

Ra's is okay. That's all.

Talia doesn't even look like herself . If you showed me her design with no context, I would not know who she is.

Carrie. Why is she here? Like honestly, why? There are better characters to include in a comic like this, like Steph or Cass or Duke or Helana. They would all be better chooses than Carrie. I'm not the biggest Damian fan, but ofter, Damian fans have been wanting him and Huntress as in a comic for a bit. I do like her design, but I just don't get why she's here. (I'm not including her image because of the limit bit is on my previous repost)

#dc comics #the boy wonder #damian wayne #robin #dick grayson #nightwing #barbara gordon #batgirl #batman #bruce wayne #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #alfred pennyworth #ra's al ghul #talia al ghul #carrie kelley #character design #character sheet #dc stop ableing disabled characters challenge

[kaylawallace]

KATIE DOUGLAS GIF PACK

⁀➷           if you click the source link at the bottom of this post you will be redirected to a payhip link for a download of #527 gifs of KATIE DOUGLAS in THE GIRL WHO ESCAPED (2023) - all of these gifs were made by me so please give this a like or reblog if you use them. below the read more is a list of rules for using my gifs, please follow them as there aren’t many and it’s just the bare minimum i ask of y’all.

these gifs are free but donations are appreciated.

content warnings: substances, flickering lights, flashes of a gun, hospitals, uniformed police officers (non katie) notes: the context of these gifs is pretty self explanatory but i have attempted to avoid most matter that might be triggering for individuals, please look at these gifs with that in mind and be cautious. 

do not use my gifs to roleplay actual people/celebs.

do not use my gifs for crackships.

do not use my gifs to roleplay characters that are minors.

do not use my gifs for gif icons without permission & visible credit.

#gif pack #gif hunt #gifpackshq #gifhunthub #gifsociety #*mine #katie douglas #katie douglas gif pack #katie douglas gifs #katie douglas gif hunt

[ssalballoon]

Wait but how do you draw faces???? ): Do you have more suggestions for that sort of thing?

oh faces! i'm going to assume you're drawing in a semi(?) realistic/ anime-ish style? that's kinda the style i'm familiar with, if you're going for a super 2D graphical style then a lot of my advice won't really apply! i'll put it under the cut

1) I think the most important thing for faces is to always keep in mind the 3D form and planes of the face. Looking at a lot of simplified art (like anime) is a little detrimental for this because it's easy to think the features of the face are just kinda pasted on

Here's a tool from William Nguyen that lets you play around with any angle and light source you desire for heads! It really emphasizes the 3D form and especially the planes of the face. It's helped me out a ton!

Sinix has a video on drawing faces from any angle from imagination (no reference), again focusing on the 3D nature of faces. For individual features of the face (eyes, nose, mouth, etc) he has a playlist of anatomy tutorials!

- I advise against turning to memory and iconography for features of the face (like 👁️ and 👄) Icons like these are useful when the 2D shape is more important for communicating information quickly like in standardized hazard signs. But for more realistic drawing, you want to rely on the 3D form so these simplistic drawings can be jarring in certain styles when in the context of a full human face. This Proko video mentions that you should treat the features of the face like the eye as just another abstract form and not think of it specifically as an "eye" (Proko's channel is also a good general art resource)

2) basic proportions

This is about where specific features of the face are located. I never really studied this on its own, but I think drawing a lot just got me familiar with it. I'm hesitant to link a specific resource here because I didn't really use any myself;; while this isn't as exhaustive as I'd like, I like how Marc Brunet explains it! (Although I'm not a big fan of how he delineates male/female faces and facial features so black and white...? like don't feel obligated to stick to that specific face shape for female characters TTOTT i think it can get pretty redundant compared to the diversity of the male faces he draws)

- Facial proportions change with age! So you should be mindful of it depending on how old the character that you're drawing is

3) expressions

Drawing faces means you're gonna have to draw expressions, even if that expression is a neutral face. I'm admittedly not the best at this, but try pushing the expressions to their extremes to make them more interesting (of course depends on context). 2D disney expressions/concept art accomplish this perfectly and are a good reference to study from (I personally enjoy Shiyoon Kim's concept art!)

- Note how when you cry, the entire face (+body) moves to create that expression. It's not just a tear falling down the cheek, it's the eyebrows furrowing, the muscles around the eyes scrunching in(?), mucus running down the nose, mouth and lips tightening, eyes and nose becoming red, shoulders hunching up, etc.

- as a small aside I want to emphasize the importance of eyebrows because I avoided drawing them/ moving them around more when I started learning to draw, don't do that!! they're crucial for drawing expressions!

4) diversity

Try depicting facial diversity to make a character unique and more interesting!

- semirealism helped me turn away from the hyperstylization of certain anime styles where a lot of these unique features are smoothed away. Things like wrinkles around the brows/eyes/mouth, eye/nose/mouth shape and size, facial bone structure, facial hair, etc really help to individualize a character/ capture their likeness

- also people of different races have different facial features that you should be mindful of. I don't feel knowledgeable enough to give specific advice on this, but if you're unfamiliar with something please use references!!

This can be challenging especially in stylized drawing, since you tend to have to pick and choose what you choose to depict. For example, I find that trying to draw out all the wrinkles of a character, while it may be accurate, it just doesn't fit my style. I therefore have to balance the amount of details to include to achieve a character's likeness. However, stylization also allows you to emphasize those unique features which makes a character more memorable to me!

as another example this is a personal trick i use but i've found drawing the bottom lip helps make a more masculine face, and drawing the top lip as well for a more feminine face...??? idk why this works for me (and it may not work for you!) but yeah try playing around with what details you include/exclude and see what you end up liking!

okie I think that's all I have for faces..? hopefully i'm not missing anything... again I prefer to let actual teachers give specific advice on how to draw, I feel more comfortable talking about general ideas and referring you to better sources that you can learn from first-hand!

also I think in my efforts to explain the key aspects of drawing faces I've kind of made it seem like I follow strict delineated steps... no I truly just wing it every time I draw TTOTT I just think these points are important to keep in mind so that when you amass more knowledge about them you can internalize it to become a habit!

enough yapping from me thank you for your ask! i hope this can be of help to you 🫡💞

#my asks #art resources #edit just realized this may have been more about how i draw faces like step by step and not so generalized TTOTT #i'm sorry if i didn't really answer your question correctly TTOTT;;;

[nekropsii]

Ask Game Speed Round!!

[For the Unpopular Opinion Ask Game!!]

These are all a bunch of smaller ones I thought would be too cumbersome and spammy to post on their own... Enjoy!!

Content Warning: Long.

While I do really like Dave's character as it exists in the comic- no clue what version of Dave most of the fandom is talking about, but I don't know him- I kind of like the themes in Davesprite's character more than I do Dave's. It's another Hal situation.

Dave's character tackled a lot of things very personally relatable to me in ways I'd never seen illustrated before, but Davesprite is more interesting to think about, and seems a little more fun to write. Dave was great representation for me, as someone who grew up in a very bad home, but Davesprite just has that extra oomph with his talk of humanity and individuality. Really like that guy.

---

@lupinecalibrator

This may come across as crass, or stepping out of my own lane, but I don't think giving them either multiple sets of pronouns, neopronouns, or both actually rids them of the bigotry in their characters. Lipstick on a pig situation. It just seems like a lazy, incurious fix. Yes, trans headcanons are great, but more and more often I see people use it as a cure-all to the issues a character has, either in a Doylist or Watsonian way. Queer friendliness does not eliminate racism. If a character is a bigoted caricature of a specific group of people, then slapping on a leftist layer of paint by saying "actually they're a minority icon in this other way" doesn't actually... Get rid of the problem. It's just kind of... Tone deaf.

We see this often with Transmisogynistic Caricatures getting claimed as Gay Icons, and people just saying that because they've just claimed them as a campy gay queen, the transmisogyny has been nullified- you can't talk about it anymore, they're the real good leftist in the room, you're a killjoy, and they've defeated bigotry. Not how it works.

---

Kind of tired of how some act like her only character traits are Silly Ditzy Furry Girl. Jade is an incredibly, incredibly intelligent young girl, an excellent marksman, and so, so deeply lonely. We need to talk about Jade's chronic loneliness more.

Also, I think she's some kind of Psychotic. One of the flavors. It just feels right to me. It feels canon-adjacent. Or, at least, a textually valid way to read her character. I have a whole post about it somewhere. Mituna and Jade shaking hands on the Psychosis.

---

Taking this opportunity to defend Aranea. Some people really need to stop acting like she's worse than Vriska. We all know what Aranea did was justified. Maybe not correct, but justified. And fucking awesome to watch.

Like, look. She spent an unfathomable amount of years being shot down and ignored and belittled by people who were supposed to be her friends... Aranea had to literally pay Meenah, her own best friend, to listen to her infodump, and even then Meenah couldn't afford to give her own best friend enough respect to just listen to her talk about something she's passionate about for 5 minutes.

I need you to think to yourself, genuinely. If you spent thousands- and I mean thousands upon thousands- of years getting ignored and walked on by everyone around you, even your own friends... If you spent thousands upon thousands of years getting called boring and a doormat to your face by even your own friends... Wouldn't you go crazy, too? Wouldn't you snap? Wouldn't you want to do something drastic just to get people to look at you? Just to be seen as something other than weak and boring? Just to be seen as worth even an iota of interest, a shred of someone's time? Wouldn't you? Because I think any normal person wouldn't take thousands upon thousands of years. I don't think you would last a decade. I wouldn't either, and I'm a pretty patient person.

Y'all are just jealous you can't play billiards with planets using your mind when you're mad. That shit was so awesome.

---

@searedtroutpeacharugula

This is not an Unpopular Opinion, or even an Opinion, I'm just pointing this out. Do you ever think about the fact that we hardly got any conversations between Rose and Jade? I do. This haunts me. This fucks me up so bad. We get plenty between John and Dave, and Dave and Jade, and Dave and Rose, and Rose and John, and Jade and John... But hardly anything between Rose and Jade!! This is so fucked up. We were robbed. I need to watch them hang out.

---

Okay, this is less of an Unpopular Opinion, and more of an Unpopular Fact, but... Mituna doesn't just throw slurs at people. That's one of the things people jump to when they're talking about Defanging Mituna- they always say something about how he "calls people slurs every two seconds". He literally doesn't. That is legitimately not a thing he does. If you heard that before and believed it, you were literally lied to. That is straight up demonstrably not true.

Like, if you're trying to think of something Mituna does every two seconds unprompted, it's either sex jokes or apologizing. Slurs aren't a thing he just slings around casually. He said a grand total of one slur... To Meenah... And it's a fake troll slur. And then we get it defined to us... Aaaand it's the troll equivalent to "Cracker". That's it. That's the crime he's committed- calling someone a word that is immediately after defined to us as "Someone who is at the top of and benefits from the furthering of the oppressive Fuchsia-Down power structure, and the Lowbloods that help enforce it." That's the slur he used. That's what made people start declaring that "he would totally say the N Word" with full and complete confidence. Absolutely ridiculous. He's called no one else any kind of genuine slur. He just called Meenah a Wader once, and then she and Kankri got upset about it, because they are both, by definition, Waders.

---

Leijon Hot Take Party Pack: If you think Nepeta shipping her friends together is fine, or even adorable, but then sneer at or get grossed out by Meulin doing the same thing, you're a hypocrite. I don't care if you say "Meulin's writing Friend Fic, though, that's weird!!" the problem with Shipping Your Friends and Writing Romantic Fanfiction Of Your Friends is at the same root.

The problem with these things isn't the presence of writing, it's the presence of, you know, shipping your friends? If you're fine with Nepeta doing it, you've gotta be fine with Meulin doing it. Be fine with both or neither. It's the same damn thing. I'm pretty sure both friend groups are fine with it, too, so it's not like this is a boundaries issue or anything. Both or neither. Pick one.

---

Observation: I do think it's cool how Jane and Jake are related and have similarly opposing relationships with their gender. Jake's oft presented with Feminine themes and imagery, and Jane with Masculine themes and imagery. Very cool. Wish more people made that correlation.

---

Okay, that's all for now!! Thank you for reading, if you did. Have a nice rest of your day. :)

#homestuck #homestuck meta #homestuck analysis #alpha trolls #beforan trolls #dancestors #beta kids #beta trolls #alpha kids #dave strider #davesprite #gamzee makara #kurloz makara #jade harley #aranea serket #rose lalonde #mituna captor #nepeta leijon #meulin leijon #jane crocker #im not pdf tagging all that. #nekro.pdf #nekro.sms

[9800sblog]

Pick A Card tarot reading - which Britney Spears musical era are you? 🤔

from ...Baby One More Time to Hold Me Closer, which one of the icon's released albums fit best with you at the moment? let's ask tarot and find out, what is the soundtrack of your life?

this was @saturnsbabe69 request! ;)

pick one tarot card from my very low budget montage (britney pictures simply fillers).

from left to right, north to south:

Pile 1 strength, Pile 2 hanged man, Pile 3 hermit, Pile 4 king of pentacles, Pile 5 6 of cups, Pile 6 7 of pentacles, Pile 7 judgement, Pile 8 the world, Pile 9 3 of pentacles, Pile 10 6 of wands.

-> pile 1

...Baby One More Time (1999)

you're all about soft power! the most important thing in your life is probably your friends, you'd do anything for those you choose to keep in your life and you love going out with them during summer, but you also love getting away from the center of attention to restore your peace, you're quite introspective. right now, you might be living the consequences from your actions, you've accepted it but you're still in suffering - you might have neglected a situation/person in your life or smother it/them out of desperation and now it's gone. you know the pain is temporary and you turn that pain into some beautiful thoughts, your perspective on life might be tinted but it's still somehow bright and beautiful. you might be going through a coming of age experience. you have the spirit of a leader and an ace, you know how to bring everyone together, yet you feel alone, you're looking for someone to be that person for you too, you might have many friends, but you want that special love ^^ your personality is big and people naturally gravitate towards you, you feel loved and loving, you feel you have so much and you just wanna give back to others, you're a really caring, sensitive individual, who uses rational thinking to protect yourself. main character energy.

your theme song:

-> pile 2

Femme Fatale (2011), S&M (Remix) (2011), B In The Mix, The Remixes Vol 2 (2011)

you're comfortable in discomfort, you dance while the world ends, you're both the parent friend and the party friend. you're unafraid and experienced and you have no time to waste on things that don't matter, the world is such an oppressive mess and you think there's no reason why you should let that take part in your chill time. you're someone that doesn't care about romance and you wanna have fun as much as you can, for as long as you can, the only time is now, you live in the present. you're the life of the party but when it's time for business, you take it seriously. you might have some anarchist ideologies, you seem to believe the socioeconomic systems of your modern world steals you of your personal power and ability to be a human, you call for a social awakening and you think there's no pretty way to do it - that might just mean "work is hard so I'm gonna party even harder" - you think being selfish (not self-centered) and not thinking about the future is part of self care. this era was the time when the popular belief was the world would end in 2012, people wanted to enjoy their lives as much as possible.

your theme song:

-> pile 3

Blackout (2007), Britney & Kevin: Chaotic DVD Bonus Audio (2005)

you're super introspective and private, you don't necessarily hide anything, but youre complicated, one would have to pay close attention and take their time to connect the dots and understand your entire vibe. some may think you put yourself in an unnecessarily unfortunate situation, like you have everything to go anywhere you want, but you just stay stuck; others think you are stuck, but you don't realize it, that you think you're powerful, but you're actually childish and delusional; the truth, however, is that you're in a moment of analysis to come up with the best plan before making bigger decisions, you like to wait for the most favorable time to take action. you might not have many friends, but those few close relationships fulfill you more than anything else ever could, they take over your entire heart. your heart is your biggest treasure and is the basis for all your decisions, you've been hurt and lied to in ways that has changed your entire worldview, so you're extra careful now and you may act in ways that others don't understand, you might feel like you're lying to yourself and others too. but you stay true to yourself no matter what, you might have very strong spiritual beliefs that keep you grounded and looking forward to the future, you know that limbo and pain are temporary and you're sure of your capacity to survive them, no matter that anyone says.

your theme song:

-> pile 4

Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), My Only Wish (This Year) (2000)

it's your world and we're just living in it, you feel like your life is a spectacle for people to watch and you have to be on your best behavior at all times. you prefer actions over words, you think people should act on their thoughts and feelings, instead of hiding them, so you worry and ponder a lot about yours. you are great at public speaking because you know how to manipulate reality into your ideals, almost like you have double personality; you've got many people to support you and put you back on the line if you stray from it. you like the feeling of nostalgia, you might think there's no reason to say absolute goodbye to your childhood, that might translate in the way you talk or dress, you're not childish tho, but you like that playful innocence sometimes, it can feel refreshing since you feel like people expect too much from you that you don't even understand. you think other people talk too much about things they don't know and you think it sucks that you still need to find a way to please them somehow, you wish the world was just you and your people.

your theme song:

-> pile 5

Britney (2001)

you're a walking contradiction! you're probably such a hipster!! >:) you love music that is older than you, you care so much what others think of you but you pretend it doesn't bother you at all, and you're very spiritual, but you have your yin/yang energies out of balance. you approach life as if you're stuck, but you know it's a temporary and natural situation, you need to go through that to become stronger, but you still mourn the fact that you can't do anything at this time, it's like having to exercise on a beautiful, sunny day. you're a creative soul but you don't use that creativity to deal with emotions, you wanna get things done, you're more comfortable and productive on a yang energy/way of approaching the world, you wanna be seen as a king, but not a queen (roles and responsibilities). you want everything and then some, you might like to use your material abilities to allow yourself to have many options. you probably have a superiority complex, fucking hipsters 🙄...... you remind me of lorelai gilmore! ;)

your theme song:

-> pile 6

Glory (2020)

you're the goat. you've worked really hard to reap the fruits of your labor, now you deserve to settle down. you dream of a knight in shiny armor - romantically or not, you want someone to take the time to see you in your most human form, you want to bare your soul, to show your dark and lonely side. you might relate to the saying that "it's lonely at the top", you might have everything you wanted, except for this one thing that is out of reach and that might be community, you seem to lack that sense of intimate and close relationships. you're really satisfied with life, you're happy and fulfilled, you have more than you need, there's just this one thing you think "damn, wish I could tap that".

your theme song:

-> pile 7

Britney Jean (2013), Ooh La La (2013), Bangerz (2013), Pretty Girls (2015), The Essential Britney Spears (2013)

you go with the flow and it takes you far. you might have recently ended a very important connection in your life because of sneaky actions and lies. you need no patience anymore, you've done your job, you feel comfortable in yourself, knowing you're not the problem. you think you'd be better if somebody more experienced would show you the way through life, specially if they're a spiritual guide (might be tarot). you wanna be that guide too, you like to share the things you learned with those around you. you think you can't control anything or anyone, except for yourself and you don't try, whatever happens, happens. you might believe in destiny, afterlife, God's plan, free will or karma.

your theme song:

-> pile 8

Circus (2008), The Singles Collection (2009)

you're a god of yourself and your own world, you're on a league of your own, there's no one quite like you, a trendsetter, others may try to copy but they could never get to be as iconic as you. you've been through some really difficult, overwhelming, surreal times, the way you deal with your demons is even more surreal, you're a boss, I lack words to describe how amazing you are. you understand the importance of family and friendships, you put those above any material matters, you're very nurturing, dedicated and you expect the same in return. you are protective of yourself and those close to you and you're ready to fight anyone that disrupts your peace. your grandness transpires into the little things you do, your confidence and amazing, outstanding personality traits shows in your everyday life, even when it's not your best work, it's still better than average. you might lack imagination (or creative control in your work), you like to keep low expectations, you're not used to things going well for you. you are an angel tho.

your theme song:

-> pile 9

In The Zone (2003) + DVD Bonus (2004), Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (2004), B In The Mix, The Remixes (2005)

you're all about big businesses. you think a lot about the circle of life, you're open to the guidance of those at the top of the hierarchy and you help those who are lower than you, you think people should help people. you don't wanna change anyone, you just wanna do your thing while other people do their thing. you are incredibly magnetic and you might use human instincts to get things done, pretty privilege being an example. there's a feeling of you coming out of the dead, you might have waited a long time for something that you have finally accomplished and you feel like royalty. this is the biggest time of your life (so far), you have that x factor, you're at the top, you wanna enjoy all of life's big and little pleasures and you have the freedom to do so.

your theme song:

-> pile 10

Hold Me Closer (2021), Toxic Pony (2022), ELVIS (2023)

you're a community person, it's people that build you up, you're likely an extrovert that loves to dance, party and travel with friends, you see nobody above nobody - if it was up to you, social hierarchies would be gone completely. this might not be the best time of your life, but you're incredibly hopeful because this moment in the present feels so otherworldly amazing. you feel as one with your environment, connected with everything and everyone. you feel safe to follow your heart because you have people to help you build your stability, you feel like there isn't one ruler above all - you might have recently broken up a deal with quite an important figure in your life, but it only broadened your horizons, like they were a lunar eclipse and you, the sun. your heart is strong and beating faster than ever! oh you're a big deal! super humble but hey you can totally brag!

your theme song:

i love britney spears

#tarot #celebrity tarot reading #celebrity readings #tarot game #free tarot #britney spears #pick a card #pick a deck #pick a picture #pick a pile #pac #pac tarot #Spotify

[ravenstargames]

✦ Lost in Limbo Devlog #7 | 11.02.23

And November is here! 💜 This month has been packed with work for all of us and a few of irl events like birthdays, family vacations and so on! We hope October has been a good month for y'all—we have made some progress on different areas, so let's jump right into it, shall we?

For the spooky month we had Kayden work on both the Halloween Special Ravenstar icon and an art piece of our dear Master Gael enjoying the festivities! I wanted to feature this piece in the devlog as we only posted it on Twitter—my fault! I came back from a trip with my parents last saturday so everything was a bit chaotic and I didn't schedule the tumblr post T_T But here it is! We hope you like it as much as we do!

And now for the actual progress of the game, Raquel has finished Amon's CG and has been working on Envy's (we are giving you this little sneak peek!). She's also getting ready to work on Gael's, and we estimate that as soon as Gael's is finished, we'll be able to open our itch.io page! I have also been working on the itch thumbnails, covers, etc! 💜

We have also started working on the concept art of the first secondary character you'll meet in the demo. They had a sprite already, but we have improved so much it didn't sit right with us to just use the old sprite. We are redoing their design for it to be more attractive and unique!

In previous devlogs we talked about having six supporting characters in the first demo, but that changed along with the script. Don't worry—you'll meet them eventually!

The programming department (me) has been working hard to finish the last few screens of the demo, those being the Extras screen, the Gallery selection screen, each LI's individual gallery, and the credits. I have also been testing how to unlock the CGs and adjusting a few more things. This month I'm confident I'll finish the last screen left and then there will only be a few adjustments left. We'll see, hehe. I like to remain positive! 💜

The demo script is officially done and being revised by Allie, our lovely editor! As of right now, they have finished reading the script for the first time and we have already talked about having a meeting to discuss some things. We are beyond excited! I have also sent the script to a few friends who are interested in the project to gather as much feedback as I can, so hopefully I can start coding the script really really soon! 💜

In this devlog, you can tell some departments are finishing their work! Writing and Programming are coming to an end, so I (Seyl) will most likely move to other areas that need help. We are still working hard to bring you the demo around February, but we'll see how things work out for us. There's still a feeew things to do, but we hope you are as happy with our progress as we are!

See you all very soon! Remember to rest, take care of yourselves, and remember that your best and your worst looks different every day! 💜

#lost in limbo #visual novel #otome #indiedev #devlog

[stxrrynxghts]

What I loved about StarBharat

Yup, after relentlessly bashing my fav show, I have finally decided to show a part where I actually praise it. Yay~~~

The aesthetics. The palace and over all aesthetics were on fiyaahh. I may not be a fan of the costumes, but well, they have done pretty well for a TV show. TV shows cannot spend that much on costumes as compared to films.

Music. The BGMs were really good, as well as the Sanskrit shlokas for the characters. C'mon guys we were all jamming to the multiple Arjun themes for sure

The bond b/w the Pandavas. It was so sweet, and how they showed the Pandavas be a team, a family, together in everything, and well, being brotherly in general.

Yudhishthira. Canon Yudhishthira isn't exactly a saint, but the one in this show, is actually competent. He seems conflicted, done with this shit, wondering how much low can someone sink than this, and well, he also knows how to kick some ass, so yup. Approved!

The portions of stories really explained , like the twins getting screentime. They have individual talents, which separate them not only as the twin duo, but as Nakul and Sahadeva, two individuals.

Also Nakul fangirling over himself hehe

Krishna---he may be irritating at times, but SRJ has managed to capture the serious, tragic, godly, loving and naughty Krishna completely. And yeah, didn't Krishna just LOVEE to irritate half of the world- *cue Yada Yada*

Arjun. My boi is so sweet and gentle, and well, the way he speaks is so soft and pretty oMg

#ParAv till death folks

Bhimasena. No words.

The bromance triangle of Dury, Karna and Ashwa.

Karna is a git in canon, but StarB's Karna gives me meme vibes, LOL

MAMASHREE

All the Kuru bois having beautiful, shiny, lustrous hair, irrespective of their generation. YAAS, they inherited this from granddaddy.

the tilaks, crescent moon with personalized designs for the Kurus, fire for the Panchals, blue for the Matsyas, the Vaishnava tilak for Krishna and snake for Balarama.

oh Boi how much potential did these love stories have

BHIMAAAAA (again, yes.)

The attractive trash-talking done by Arjun and Bhima, as well as their sons

oh my gawd the Kauravas are such memes it is making me laugh

Balarama's irritated expression at everything Krishna does

RUKUUUUUUUUU

Abhimanyu being iconic~~~~~~~

Draupadi's eye makeup>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tbh they tried to make us ship ArDi, but ik we all ended up liking Yudhishthira x Draupadi after seeing this show-

Subhadra's pretty hairstyles

Uttara my bby

Kunti and Gandhari and Madri

Brihannala *heart heart*

Sexy Pandavas while killing Mamashree

"DURYODHAANNAAAAAA!!!!!" *guess who?*

"Dhanush Uthao Arjun"

Arjun being confused

"BHIMAAAAAAA!!!!" in response to "DURYODHANAAAAA"

Arjun flying into a rage after Abhimanyu's death and kicking some ass

Duryodhan getting his ass kicked by Abhimanyu in the same way Arjun did 25-30 years ago #nogrowth

"Mitra Karna~~~" #nohomo

Subhadra being a dumb cutie uwu

Uttara, if only u had some screentime

GURU DRONA

Krishna again

Bhima eating his way through life makes me aspire to be like him

the Pandavas joking with each other <333333333333333

#mahabharat #mahabharata #hindu mythology #starbharat

[saltpepperbeard]

What are your top 5 Ed x Stede moments? 😊 I’m curiously asking several blogs to see how many of us share favorites!

MAN, anon! I tried to give this one some thought to see if the choosing would get any easier/become any clearer. Spoiler alert: IT DID NOT HSDLKS I AM STILL JUST AS TORN AS I WAS BEFORE. But let me see if I can at least ~*~attempt this~*~. My first three were easy but then the LAST TWO HAD ME PACING SHDLKS:

So okay, obviously have to put their first kiss in the ranking because it's so iconic and it's the thing that got me into the show in the first place! Like, literally the FIRST scene I laid eyes upon. And it had me crying full blown tears at work because I was just so floored that we weren't queer baited and that it was so sweet and tentative and cautious and just,,, The rest was history of course lol!

Like really, the Power it has. Didn't even know the characters or the story that much at all, and was already crying LMAO.

Then of course I have to put the second beach kiss(es) because good god lol GOOD GOD!!! I think I adore it so so much mainly because Ed and Stede are finally on the same page. No more doubts, no more worries, no more anxieties, no more questioning if they have the same feelings or are going too slow/fast. Just them and their strong, solid love--their good bones.

Not to mention Ed dropping the double "I love you" ??? I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am that we heard a legitimate "I love you." And Ed being the one to say it after all the hurt, all the pain in feeling unlovable, all the fear that he'd die completely alone, all the worry that his strong feelings were too much...Man. MAN.

And thennnnn the reunion scene because yeah. Yeah. I've said this before and I'll say it again: watching this at like 4:30am for the first time almost gave me an out of body experience HSLDSHS. Like, I think there's just something about the fact that we were all going through so many different iterations of possible reunions during the s1-s2 gap. We envisioned angsty, silly, romantic, and everything in between.

But this lol THIS,,,

I feel like it just surpassed expectations in such a beautiful, fantastical way. Like genuinely, I never EVER anticipated Ed being stuck in purgatory about to die and Stede coming to him as a mermaid because the real Stede is sitting with his body begging him not to succumb.

Also, Stede begging and screaming at Ed not to die/to wake up/to come back to him always makes me feel some sort of way. Something something he's normally so silly and so theatrical but he's so choked up and so serious in that moment that it PUNCHES ME IN THE KIDNEYS. Like it really just goes to show how utterly desperate he is. And that last, whispered, strained, "come back to me..." ??? Homie............

ALSO also, obligatory "This Woman's Work" mention because I knew that song and nothing else for like two months straight HSKLDS. Or two months gay, rather.

...

see this is where i start Dying because i'm being pulled in so many different directions lol DO I GO FOR ROMANTIC, OR SILLY, OR EARNEST, OR,,, SKLDJHLDJKDKDA

Okay okay I think I'm going to have to go earnest because I adore that they actually talked things through together. FLEETING LMAO, BUT STILL GLAD THEY DID, EVEN IF IT WAS JUST FOR A BIT. I just love that they actually expressed some frustrations, that Stede actually talked about his fears/his panic, that Ed set a boundary, and that Stede respected it. And then Stede gently navigated around and expressed his love in different ways and it folded Ed in half almost immediately hsdkljs YOU LOVE TO SEE IT.

But yeah no--if me rolling around Atticus' fics and me writing my own stories is any indication, I really REALLY LIKE IT WHEN THESE TWO ACTUALLY TALK LMAO. BECAUSE THEY HAVE SO SO MUCH BOTTLED UP, BOTH INDIVIDUALLY AND AS A COUPLE, SO IT'S JUST HSLDKS TALK IT THROUGH AS A CREW OF TWO MY BELOVED!!!

......

oh god oh god what do i pick for the last one lol WHAT DO I PICK FOR THE LAST ONE,,,

mmmMMmmmMMMM,,,,,,

SUCCUMBED TO MORE TALKING IT THROUGH LMAO.

I love so many of their other moments, and honestly, so many things could have made this list. But the bathtub scene...man. Taika saying it's more vulnerable and even more romantic than their first kiss is shdljks yeah. YEAH. LIKE HE'S COOKING A BIT WITH THAT BECAUSE IT'S JUST,,,

I feel like it's such a pivotal and important step in their relationship. Ed has literally never told that secret to anyone else, but he entrusted it with Stede. He feels safe enough around Stede to expose the darkest parts of his past, and he's entirely right to do so, because Stede doesn't view him any differently at all. Stede is right there, wanting to be his friend--loving him still.

And I think it's also good for Stede because of that vulnerability. He gets to see how much Ed trusts him and feels safe around him. He's getting to see Ed and Ed alone, which can't be said for so many other people.

It's just the two of them in that moment and I adore it so much.

...I just adore THEM so much, anon, so thank you for spreading this sweet little ask around! It was super fun to consider, aLBEIT SLIGHTLY RGGHGHGHH INDUCING BECAUSE I COULD INCLUDE SO MUCH LMAO. But thank you kindly! <3

Also, for the record, if I had to rank them from most favorite to still favorite but not AS favorite, I'd go Double Beach Kiss, Reunion, First Kiss, Love Everything About You, and Bathtub.

#Answered #Gentlebeard #Blackbonnet #Edward Teach #Stede Bonnet #OFMD #OFMD Season 2 #This was delightful #AND GOT ME YAPPIN' UNSURPRISINGLY HSDJKLS

[h-worksrambles]

James' interactions with Eddie are something I've found myself thinking about a lot since finishing Silent Hill 2. Pretty much every character in the game serves double duty as being fleshed out as individuals, while also serving as a commentary on some facet of James as a character. Maria is the most obvious, but you also have Angela's self loathing and suicidal ideation, which reflects James' own self flagellation through Pyramid Head. Laura echoes many of the regrets James himself feels about his distance and possible neglect of Mary before she died, and throws those thoughts back in his face out of her own anger. By that same logic, I'd argue Eddie is a means for James to confront his denial as well as his capacity for violence.

Eddie comes to Silent Hill on the run after lashing out against those who bullied him since childhood. After being mocked for years due to his appearance and weight, he shoots both his bully, and the bully's dog, and so ends up coming to the town. Like James and Angela, he too committed a crime of passion (assuming Angela did indeed kill her abusive dad as is implied), and all three are trying to come to terms with what they did. Unlike Angela, who knows what she did and has been conditioned by her abuse to blame herself, Eddie is closer to James, seeming to actively deny what he has done. Or at least only sometimes. It's not entirely clear (and I invite anyone to correct me if I'm minsinterpreting) but Eddie seems to experience multiple personalities. He flips between being more aware of his surroundings and past, and more out of it and unaware. Sometimes he's gleefully boasting about how the people he's killed had it coming. Sometimes he's sat eating pizza like he isn't even aware what kind of place he's in. And we see this flip when James confronts Eddie in Toulca Prison, finding him standing over another body. At first he revels in his kill, and rationalises it, before seeming to flip, and attempt to feign ignorance, as if the prior conversation never happened. For all his bravado, I'd imagine the blood on his hands is extremely traumatic, just as it is for James, and this is likely a psychological coping mechanism. With his false memories repressing his past actions and allowing him to deny it, Eddie mirrors James in that respect. As well as how they're both mild mannered people but who are capable of acts of terrible violence when pushed far enough.

What really stands out to me is that every encounter with Eddie is done in a way that allows James to claim the moral high-ground. When James finds Eddie vommiting in the apartment bathroom, he expresses concern. When Laura runs off from the bowling alley, James berates Eddie for not showing more concern for her safety (giving us one of the most iconic meme lines in the series). And most blatantly, James is horrified when he finds Eddie, having just shot somebody dead. Most tellingly he says "You can't just kill someone just because of the way they looked at you!" And yet, isn't that precisely what James did? He killed Mary because of the exhaustion of caring for her in the late stages of her illness. Because of the way she spoke to him. The way she looked at him. James spends all his interactions with Eddie trying to convince himself that he's a good person. A better person than Eddie. But the more he encounters Eddie, the more Eddie becomes a mirror to him. He definitely has his own struggles as a character and makes a very prescient point about what happens when people are constantly rejected, mocked and socially isolated by society, convinced that they are unlovable (in some ways, Silent Hill 2 was making some very relevant points about incel culture in 2001). But he's also a means for James to confront the parts of himself he doesn't like. His frustration, self-loathing, denial and violent streak. When Eddie tells James that they're the same, that they were both called by the town for a reason...he's right.

And ultimately, for all of James' posturing, all his denial, all his attempts to be the moral voice of reason, James still ultimately ends standing over Eddie's corpse.

Once again, he's killed another person. And confronting that side of himself one of the last things he does before arriving at the Lakeview Hotel and being forced to fully accept the truth...

#this game is so good and i feel like i have to start putting my thoughts down about the story #i feel like you could do something like this for james' dynamic with every character tbh #eddie dombrowski #james sunderland #silent hill 2 #silent hill #silent hill 2 spoilers #canon typical cws

[comradefleur]

i get that the original tmm will always reign supreme but we not gon act like new didn't improve on the extension of the characters. it's not perfect but this is genuinely one of the few remakes ive seen that actually does not look like trash next to the source material in this aspect

i saw someone saying "is the character growth in the room w us rn" or smth like that about it, but it's like it IS!??? lettuce's growing confidence is more palpable & accessible, to the point where it's so shocking and refreshing

mint isn't just posh and stuck up 24/7, she's loving while keeping the same teasing streak she was beloved for. not to mention she has this unbreakable thirst for bettering the environment

zakuro isn't an indifferent lonewolf archetype and deeply cares about her friends & community rather than her withdrawn individualism. and if you like zakumint it's obvious how much she respects mint this time around and doesn't just put up with her! and all the while she still manages to maintain her cool girl essence and mystique that she was iconic for

this one is really huge to me, which is ichigo isn't reduced to the being just a lovergirl. i'm not saying that i hate how she was in the og but most of her character was about crushing on aoyama. and not to say that she never gave a fuck about anything else, but this time around it's more obvious how deeply cares about bettering the world around her and saving and maintaining it

another big one and personally my all time fav thing about the reboot are all the scenes of the mews coming together with an unmistakable bond of friendship instead of them just being thrown together for the sake of humanity. they're genuinely close this time around and it's so endearing. they're constantly expressing their love for one another, embracing and saying how thankful they are to be together and it's so warm and beautiful

not to mention other things like the mews all being able to use mew aqua with those cute ass magic wands. and the spotlight is shared much more in terms of each girl's personal plight

the mews (particularly lettuce) actually acknowledging the origins of the aliens and the fact that earth doesn't actually belong to humans was crazy to me too. THERE'S SO MUCH!

like you can shit on pacing, artstyle and scene rewrites all you want ill give you those willingly, but character development??? no i don't think so cuz look at the material!

#tokyo mew mew reboot #tokyo mew mew new #tokyo mew mew #mew ichigo #ichigo momomiya #mew zakuro #zakuro fujiwara #mew mint #mint aizawa #mew lettuce #lettuce midorikawa #mew purin #purin fon #mew bu-ling #bu ling huang #zakumint #pomegranate tea

[dailyadventureprompts]

I just discovered your blog and I love it a lot! You have such a rich understanding of dnd and a lot of creativity! I was wondering if you could do a monsters reimagined on illithids/mindflayers? They are so iconic and I love them, I think a good idea for them is to keep the weird hivemind and brain eating and psionics, but ditch the tadpole concept. I would also just like to know how they came to be as they are right now, like. How did we get here?? Thanks!!

Monsters Reimagined: Mindflayers

The illithid have been a popular ask for reimaginings but It's taken me a while to get around to them in part because unlike a lot of the other features on monsters reimagined, their lore/execution within the game doesn't rest on a specific problematic trope or inconsistent storytelling. Mindflayers as they stand IMO are one of d&d's great villains, and if anything suffer from being too successful to the point of overexposure.

It took the asker remarking on how much they liked mindflayers for me to give them the onceover they really deserved. Yes, they worked great as antagonists ( being irredeemable slavers who violate the minds and bodies of those they subjugate, working inevitably towards the most awful ends), but their villany was born out of the same shallow bioessentialism as “always evil” orcs,IE inherent to their character. I’m a firm believer in the idea that if something is capable of making decisions, it’s capable of deciding not to be a bastard, so If I was going to overhaul the illithid, I’d need to get to the roots of why the squid headed bastards were the way they were.

TLDR: What we know today as the mindflayers are in fact the remnants of a long dead world, with many of their most monstrous qualities being bioengineered attempts to stave off the inevitable and hold onto their power. The “Elder brains” which rule the illithid are tyrants, the ultimate class parasites, who indoctrinate and mentally dominate the other mindflayers into acting as tools of domination over the peoples they consider chattel. Is possible for an individual illithid to break free of this system, but doing so is difficult, as it requires them to not only break out of any magical compulsion, but to abandon the paradigms that have defined their existence.

Spoiler alert: we’re going to be talking about white supremacy in this one

I think someone described it pretty succinctly that alien invasion stories are something that industrial nations invented when they started imagining what would happen if a more advanced people came along and started doing to them what they’d be doing to everyone else in the world.  Mindflayers (and a few other aberrations) fill that niche in oldschool d&d, with the low levels made up of the feudal heroes largely picking on “uninteligent” tribal brutes, only to hit level 7 or so where all of a sudden they’re fighting creatures who’s intelligence exceeds their own. 

The weird thing is how in the alien invasion stories, the aliens always want to enslave humanity.. Despite imagining the technology required to cross the vastness of space, the authors were unable to conceive of a world outside of the hierarchies of exploitation, even in the case of benign colonization like “day the earth stood still” and “childhood’s end”.

I’ve talked before about how d&d has a lot of baked-in tropes that assumes colonialism and racial supremicy as a default, but today we’re going to look at things form the other angle. Namely: can we use the mindflayers to talk about systems of oppression and how they manipulate us into being complacent tools with colonialism and genocide. 

First though, a detour on illithid biology/feeding, and how I’ve tried to make it make sense:  

In addition to a mostly vestigal digestive system, mindflayers possess adaptations that allow them to turn psychic energy into health and wellbeing, with their feeding being something like running a magnet over a computer screen except that the screen is a brain. This can be done delicately so as to case no long term damage, but sometimes it’s faster to just shuck the brain out and be done with it.

On their homeworld, the illithid cultivated a form of “thinking fungus” that draws in stray thought energy from the astral sea, the stray equivalent of radio static. This fungus grows around many mindflayer settlements and is one of the dead giveaways that they’ve moved into the region.

 The goal of every illithid is to prove themselves so at the end of their life (or sooner) they can join with the elderbrain, a grotesque amalgamation of all the most bastardly awful mindflayer’s brains that lives in a big tank in the center of their settlements ( or pilots their spelljammer ships) and mentally influences everything in a 5 mile radius. The elder brain creates a reinforcing social pressure: if you’re not doing everything you can to serve it, you’ll be culled, and if you don’t do your absolute best ( or if the elderbrain is just feeling cruel) your whole life will be for nothing. These brains are not a natural part of the illithid lifecycle, and are instead more equivalent to liches: influential mindflayers that learned that they could force others of their kind to tribute psionic energy through thier bonds, extending their life long beyond where their bodies can keep up. By ensuring that only those most useful join the gesthalt, the original ego ensures that no other personality is capable of overtaking their own.

Every so often in their life, mindflayers reproduce by regurgitating a load of parasitic tadpoles into the elderbrain pool where the weak ones get to be its snacks, and the strong ones get implanted into the skulls of promising candidates who’s brains are eaten as they’re transformed into new midnflayers. All of this is super squick, but what’s almost nonsensical is the fact that left to their own devices the tadpoles grow up into colossal, borderline feral worm monsters, meaning that in their natural state no one would be around to put the tadpoles in anyone’s heads. I rationalize this as the result of extensive biomancy augmentations that occured in the illithid’s development, a “cure” for the sterility imposed by their dying world and a handy means of population control/indoctrination for the elder brain, who’s able to etch the basics of its own personality onto each tadpole as it prepares to take a host.

And here we’ll bring the two ideas together, about how illithid can help represent white supremacy:  Like all imperialist or autocratic systems, the society of the mindflayers is self reinforcing, creating a population of desperate individuals and using their desperation to turn them into a tool to benefit those at the system’s top. Every illithid is not only born with the elderbrain’s world view as the foundation of its mind, the society in which it is raised is set up so that the only metric of growth or success is being useful to the elder brain, with any deviancy from expectation ( incluging over ambition) are dealt with harshly to the point of execution.

An indivual illithid could break free, but that would require a depth of personal examination is frowned upon in mindflayer circles, as well as the acceptance that there is a way to live outside the elderbrain’s guidance without going hungry and devouring their own sapience like the pale and wretched creatures that outsiders call “illithid vampires” 

Much like racism,misogyny, imperialism, capitalism and fascism, the society of mindflayers creates a desperate population that are convinced that the only way to be is to be in a particular way that ends up benefiting those at the very top. Breaking free takes a tremendous amount of bravery, and a willingness to alienate yourself from all you thought familiar and true in the process.

Art

#Illithid #villian #monsters reimagined #spelljammer #Slavers #heavy topics #scifi #dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #5e #dm advice #dm tip #dm tips #dm tools #writing advice #psionics

[emmys-grimoire]

Nightbringer - Lesson 1 Summary & Analysis

It turns out I probably won’t get to lesson 10 by the end of the weekend, so I’m getting started on my lesson 1-5 summaries. 

I have school throughout the week, but I’m hoping to crank these out every other day until we finally catch up to the current lesson. I’m not used to doing ten lessons all at once! But we’ll get there, eventually.

Also expect fewer screenshots than usual after this summary. The analysis portion will also be lighter until we get to the meat of the story. Lessons 1-3 are pretty light.

Caution: spoilers ahead.

The Story

The game begins with a chatroom with an “unregistered” individual with a demon icon. When you ask who they are, they’re cryptic and don’t give you a straight answer (“Perhaps you know me, perhaps you don’t”) but they make it clear they’re *very* acquainted with you. They claim nothing remains hidden to them and they see everything (whether it’s past, present, or future) and they show you a group picture of the brothers. They ask you if you know them, and you can either confirm or deny you do. If you claim you don’t, they say something must have gone wrong but not to worry, you soon will.

They tell us they’re going “to take you someplace where you’re happy. A place that will bring you more joy than any other”.

They also claim that “time” is like a “dark, heavy mud” to them that sits in a container and swirls around like a vortex. They get all cryptic again and begin asking you questions they know you don’t have the answer to (“Will you be entering your own past?” “Or the past, present, or even future of someone you don’t know?”) before yeeting you back in time.

You wake up in the student council hall much like you do in the OG game. Also like in the OG game, Diavolo is the first to greet you, though this time he’s in his full-fledged demon form and shocked/confused at your sudden appearance. He and the brothers found you knocked out cold and they’re glad you’re finally awake. They just assume you’re a lost demon, but it’s never really elaborated on *how* you look like a demon.

Lucifer asks Diavolo what they’re going to do with you, and Diavolo tells us the facility they’re currently in is still under construction – and they found you there. He wants to know just how you got there, and asks if you’re even from the Devildom, you’re none the wiser. Then character introductions are had! Then your cell phone rings. Those are still apparently a thing.

It’s Solomon. You have a short conversation and he deduces what might have happened.

After the phone call, Diavolo continues the introductions – but you’re interrupted by none other than a near-feral Satan, who at this point is the living manifestation of wrath. We learn he’s so destructive that they had to wrap him in chains and throw him into a locker, but apparently Asmo didn’t make sure the chains were tight enough because he didn’t want to harm his tender hands, so he’s predictably ultra pissy now. You’re still given introductions, but the brothers aren’t allowed to interact with you before Satan threatens to kill everyone. Diavolo is amused more than alarmed.

Satan begins lashing out physically and everyone takes cover. Leviathan asks why he has to be stuck with Satan as a brother, and Asmodeus reveals it’s because the Demon King insisted they do. Lucifer says that they’re new to the Devildom, as because of that, they’re in no position to refuse him. You’re finally allowed to cut in and ask either when the Great Celestial War happened or if you’re in the past.

The answer you get is the same: Mammon is predictably confused about your questions and asks if you got hit in the head during the war, which just concluded. Diavolo asks your name.

Satan interrupts again. You try to use your pact to make him “stay” but it doesn’t work. The brothers are confused and wonder if you were trying to cast a spell. Satan advances and… Ruri-chan suddenly interrupts. It’s your phone again.

Leviathan is enthralled. He tells you that it’s your job to play Ruri Tunes all day every day.

Lucifer tells him to snap out of it, they’re in the middle of being attacked. Suddenly, you “feel a warm light building inside” and your “stay!” actually works this time. The others are shocked when all the brothers suddenly get grounded. Diavolo laughs at all of them. The others are less than amused, but Diavolo concludes *fate* must have brought them all together. In the OG game, Diavolo is a big believer in destiny, so it looks like they’re continuing this trend with him.

He expands on what was said before, and explains that the brothers are former angels who were cast out of the Celestial Realm following the Great Celestial War. He admits things are a bit unstable in the Devildom at the moment.

As a result he hires you as their babysitter attendant. The brothers are less than enthused, Lucifer insists they aren’t children, but whatever Diavolo says goes.

Due to the newness of their friendship, Lucifer isn’t the lapdog he is in the OG game. He complains about and questions Diavolo’s commands more.

He’s also less considerate to technically newborn Satan, but Satan is perpetually trying to murder everyone, so…

You exchange DDD info with Diavolo so you remain in contact. It may be centuries earlier than the present timeline, but cell phones and social media are forever, apparently. Asmo insists on signing you up for everything.

Belphie is getting sleepy, and you can suggest they head back to the House of Lamentation. Diavolo is perplexed at you even knowing what it is because it’s only very recently been built in the Devildom. The brothers are excited to finally have a home of their own. Apparently they were staying at the castle in the interim.

We learn the House of Lamentation still has the cursed history it did in the previous game. You learn Mammon isn’t scared of ghosts at this point. Belphie falls asleep and Lucifer decides it’s finally time to go.

Diavolo forbids you from staying at the House of Lamentation, and seems perplexed to learn you don’t have your own place. He shows you the Wanderer’s Whereabouts app, that you can use to spy on the brothers as though they were ants in an ant farm.

Before he can tell you where you’re going to stay, Solomon drops in! He introduces us as his apprentice. Diavolo is stunned and though Solomon didn’t have any close demon relationships other than Barbatos. You can imply you’re his best apprentice or someone more… intimate. 

Diavolo suggests we bunk with Solomon at his place. When you’re finally alone with him, you chat about what happened. You give him the run-down, then he suggests you go home. You’re staying at Cocytus Hall this time.

When you arrive, Solomon explains what happened at length. We just blipped out of existence in the present timeline, apparently. He had to analyze the magical traces our yeeting left behind to deduce where we went, and he asked Barbatos to send him back to that point in time instead of just bringing us back, apparently.

And we can’t send ourselves back yet! Wonderful. Our pacts have weakened in our travel through spacetime and, while not entirely severed, need to be reforged in order to realize their full power again. It is the only way to go back.

Lucifer texts you and tells you to come to the Demon Lord’s Castle tomorrow. Diavolo has something to talk about.

The following morning, Asmo and Mammon arrive to escore you to the castle. Solomons busy in the kitchen fixing breakfast. The two of them are excited to try food prepared by the most famous sorcerer from the human world. Knowingly, you try to escape before it’s too late. Asmo lingers behind and swipes a muffin.

You take a detour and go shopping instead. The brothers haven’t been allowed to go exploring since they fell because they’ve been stuck in the castle up until now. Mammon brandishes Lucifer’s credit card, and Asmo foolishly believes Lucifer must have lended it to him. You can remind them that you’re wanted at the castle, but Mammon brushes you off and calls you a killjoy.

It isn’t long before we get to encounter some good ol’ fantasy racism!

Mammon is kicked out of one of the shops. Since the newly-transformed demons are newcomers and having been out and about their new home yet, they weren’t expecting such a cold reception. 

Asmo decides to distract Mammon from his stewing with ice cream. Mammon admits some of the Devildom foods sound gross, but they’re growing on him. He finds something written on his popsicle stick: the word “WINNER”. It activates a gacha and he wins a hostile giant snake.

You flee, but you’re pursued. Asmo doesn’t have his charm powers yet, so you have to settle for lobbing the noxious muffin at it after calling the help hotline printed on the stick fails.

Once you finally get to the castle, you tell Diavolo what happened and he finds it hilarious. Lucifer wants to lecture, but simply confiscates the credit card. You can suggest where he should hide it. Mammon and Asmo leave, and you can finally get back to business.

Diavolo wants to establish RAD, and he wants you and Lucifer to be founding members. This is why they’ll still be in the school uniforms. Lucifer doesn’t trust you and doesn’t believe this is a good decision on Diavolo’s behalf.

What follows is the most Lucifer-esque “but thou must” dialogue choice reactions yet. If you refuse:

Okay man. I was just agreeing with you.

Afterwards, he makes it clear he doesn’t intend on being your friend.

Then the giant snake returns, and he’s forced to ask you for assistance.

Thoughts & Analysis

This was essentially just a re-introduction lesson, but it does set up the background of the situation up nicely. The brothers are newcomers to the Devildom and they're still having trouble adjusting to their new environment... and more importantly, their new environment is reacting to them.

The goal of the first season of Nightbringer is clear: you must reforge your pacts in order to get back to the present timeline, but thankfully it's not just a retread of the OG Season 1. I don't know why we can't just have Barbatos snap his fingers and fix everything like he's done before -- it's clear he can ferry people back and forth (though he claimed it can be imprecise) -- but I've always had a problem with Barbatos's powers and how he's supposed to fit inside the cosmology of the universe. It felt like him being a demon put too much power in the Devildom’s hands, and they had to nerf him later to make things happen even though it doesn’t really make much sense (he gets rid of the dark crevasse in S4 but it’s effects remain for... some reason?)

But now we have *another* entity that can travel through time. Spoiler alert: the demon in the prologue video is not Barbatos, and Mr. Bowlcut is not Solomon. I'll expand on that in the later lessons, but it looks like we might finally have a Big Bad on our hands.

I'm *not* terribly fond of everyone looking exactly the same as they do in the previous game -- and there's no reason for them to don uniforms for a school that still doesn't exist yet -- but whatever.

My opinion on the story has improved as it’s progressed, nitpicks aside. It’s not perfect, but the writing team is trying again.

#obey me #obey me! #obey me nightbringer #obey me! nighbringer #obey me spoilers #om nightbringer #obey me solomon #obey me mammon #obey me lucifer #obey me asmodeus #obey me leviathan #obey me diavolo #commentary #analysis #obey me nightbringer season 1

[kitsune-pop]

I hope I'm like Optimus Prime

and I honestly could leave it at that. but he means the world to me, and I just wanted to share the profound affect he has had on me throughout my life

I often think about an interview with the original voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, and how he came up with the iconic voice that has spanned generations. in it he describes his brother, who was in the military, telling him that if he's auditioning for the part of a leader, he should have a voice strong enough to be kind

strong enough to be kind. both obvious and profound. and yet, it works. Optimus Prime has a voice that is both soothing and inspiring, as comfortable telling a story to a child and powerful enough to put fear into his enemies

his character reflects that as well. we see Optimus fearlessly charge into impossible battles and emerge victorious, and we see him visiting sick children and playing basketball with his friends

(this is real and I love it so much)

at the end of the day, Optimus is kind, considerate and willing to learn, grow and change to better himself as a person, yet is unyielding in his conviction to see all sentient beings free from tyranny throughout the galaxy

kind of funny for a trans woman's source of personal inspiration to be what many consider to be a pillar of masculinity, but it's his willingness to grow and change as he visits different worlds, cultures and individuals while standing firm in his beliefs that all people, no matter what, deserve respect and dignity

put it that way, maybe it's extremely obvious that I'm inspired by him

and yet, with his infinite gentleness, he is still a warrior. someone who stands on the front lines of a great and terrible war, putting himself in danger first, to act as a shield for those behind him. he is unwavering in his beliefs, and no force could hope to bring him down. as a trans person, I would do anything in the world to have someone like that fight for my right to exist

and all of this comes at great personal cost to him. because for all his strength, he is still... well, "human" isn't quite right. but you get the picture. he is not invulnerable. sure, the Cybertronians are like, fantastically strong compared to us. you can blow them up, dismember them, toss them off a cliff and they'll still keep coming. but Optimus has no more defense against loss than any human has. he sees innocence broken, beauty devastated and lives lost

and he never gives up. he will be the last one standing, no matter what.he will help where he can, however he can, even at great personal cost

and at the end of it all? at the end of the pain, suffering and loss? after seeing his home and family destroyed? watching innocence suffer and die for no reason at all?

all he wants is to make others feel better. he want to see people smile. he will help you forget all you've been through, if just for a moment, so you may know peace

I hope I'm like Optimus Prime

#silly millie speaks #transformers #transformers g1 #optimus prime #transgirl #mtf girl #transgender #gay #lesbian #bisexual #queer #intersex #aromantic #asexual

[mahou-furbies]

I thought I'd wait until the designs for the whole team are revealed but since we got a proper view of Will's look let's have a few words on the reboot already.

Overall: I think the new art style is fine, haters gonna hate. Will having orange hair instead of red isn't really an issue for me either.

I'm always interested in the henshin look and so far I'm not really into this yet, hopefully it'll grow on me or at least look more interesting in a group of (hopefully) similarly themed but still unique designs. My biggest issue is that it doesn't look very magical, without the twirly patterns the pieces would be normal enough to be worn as a casual outfit at least individually. The symbol on the chest also feels a little unfinished and basic and more like a pin you could get at a comic convention.

As for the wings, I think they're alright but make me think of fairies rather than witches, but to be fair the old ones aren't really witchy either. The old ones are more iconic/memorable though but also a pain to draw.

Also this time around it appears they left out the "the transformed version looks older", which I suppose is fine, the original did actually use it as a plot element and give some character to the girls, but not that much and I really wouldn't care for the discourse.

Regardless Even if I prefer her old look, I think the worst thing they could have done would have been use the same design again, which I don't care for since I've already seen it. And the new look isn't awful so overall feeling positive about this.

Will's love for frogs seems to have survived. She also has freckles which is great.

As for the other girls, I think they look alright too. I prefer Taranee's new hair, Cornelia and Irma haven't changed much (though Cornelia has some moles which is also a nice detail) and as for my fave Hay Lin... I miss the ponytails but as a friend of multicoloured hair I like this too. Dunno about the "Asian girl with a dyed hair streak" trope though but at least if any of the girls were to dye their hair like that I would say Hay Lin would be the most likely one personality wise.

Also since we're changing things around, I wonder if they'll do anything about Hay Lin's name? I hear it's not very Chinese.

Finally Elyon with her "what the hell is going on" design. I really like the old look and the new one is fine as well, it's just strange that she's the only one to get such a huge overhaul, there's nothing left of her old design.

#w.i.t.c.h.