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#I WONDERED WHAT WAS IN MY DRAFTS AND HERE IT IS
yoursweetwife · 3 days
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You entered my sinful life, just don’t leave
warning: female reader, soft Aventurine, Aventurine is called Kakavasha, fluff, kissing, mention of Topaz, slightly suggestive at the end. bad english
P.s I wrote this fanfic before the official art from Hoyo appeared, after that I left it in drafts, since too many stories about this started to appear. Anyway, this is just a cute story before this wonderful man's banner comes out :D
My requests are open!
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Aventurine was in no hurry to open his eyes when he woke up. He continued to lie on the large bed, wrapped in soft sheets and enjoying the rays of the sun warming his pale skin.
Out of habit, his right hand ran along the now empty side of the bed. He shivered slightly because of the cold, as if this place had been empty for a long time. Aventurine frowned and gripped the sheets tightly, suddenly a wave of doubt washed over the young man. Was this a dream? However, he calmed down when he heard quiet footsteps approaching the place where he lay.
He tried to hide the smile that threatened to appear on his face when a warm palm touched his cheek. Thin fingers first ran along the skin at the base of the hair, removing yellow strands from the face, then slowly went down along the cheekbone, nose, eyelids, lips…
"I know you're awake, Kakavasha."
A soft voice brought Aventurine out of his sleepy state. Disappointment quickly gave way to a feeling of warmth in my soul. He liked it so much when you called him by his real name, it made him understand that in this terrible unfair world there is a person who cares about him.
Aventurine covered your hand with his own, not allowing you to remove it, and smiled maliciously.
"I wonder how I gave myself away?"
The quiet laugh that left your mouth blessed the player's ears. You adjusted Aventurine's shirt on your body. In his house, this is practically your only clothing, even if you have a lot of your own things here, considering that you often spend the night with him. But by the way the blond stares at you, especially after a shower, you can understand that he loves it when you do this.
"The smile on your whole face gave you away. Shouldn't a poker player be able to not show emotions?"
Aventurine chuckled cheerfully. As a person who intrigues with his incomprehensible behavior, he really cannot control himself around his lover.
“It’s hard not to smile knowing that I got this treasure.”
Aventurine ran his hand over your collarbone, a slight shiver running through your body as his cold fingers touched your soft skin. His long fingers rested on a necklace of aventurine, his birthstone. This is exactly what he gave you in the third year of friendship, it’s surprising that you kept it for so long.
"You're making me blush again. Better get up before I call Topaz."
It was funny to see how Aventurine's face turned sour at the mention of Topaz. Unfortunately, your threats were not a bluff. Angry Topaz is not the most pleasant company, especially in the morning. The blond threw his head back on the pillow and sighed offendedly.
"Okay, okay. I'll get up, but only after the kiss."
You sighed in annoyance and lightly hit his bare chest. It's so hard to say no to those puppy dog ​​eyes.
"Just one kiss."
You ignored the blonde's happy sigh and began to slowly lean towards his face. Your soft lips touched him and Aventurine could not stop the satisfied smile spreading across his face.
He gently cupped your cheek with his palm to deepen the kiss, and you couldn’t help but let out a soft moan, Aventurine pouring all the love and passion even into such innocent kisses. You pulled away from his lips. A quiet chuckle escaped your lips as the player reached for your lips with a pitiful moan.
"Satisfied?"
"Mmm no."
Suddenly, Aventurine grabbed you by the waist and threw you onto the soft sheets. With a loud squeal, your head landed on the soft pillow, Aventurine's strong arms pinning your arms to the sides of your head, preventing you from escaping. A smug smirk appeared on his face at the sight of your red face.
"K-Kakavasha, you're a liar, I can't believe I fell for it again."
Aventurina laughed quietly and brought his face closer to yours, without looking away from your beautiful eyes.
“And you will fall into this trap more than once, sweetie. We both know that you cannot refuse me.”
His left hand moved closer to your face to brush away stray strands. Your heart beat loudly against your chest; not everyone can see his gentle expression on his face. This showed the trust that Kakavasha had in you.
You chuckled and completely relaxed your body.
"I don't think anything will happen if we're a couple of hours late."
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nn-ee-zz · 12 hours
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I don’t really have a lot to ask I just want to say I love your art style! It kind of reminds me of like Eldritch Horror meets Celestial Divinity type of thing so with that said I was wondering on how you came to this type of art style you do and how long did it take you to experiment until you found the style that you wanted? Sorry if that sounds kinda confusing 😅 thanks for taking the time to read this and have a good rest of your day!
Thank you! I did not found my artstyle, my artstyle found me. Here is a timeline of my digital art/illustration journey
2014 - The beginning
I finally took my tablet and bit the bullet that was digital art. I remember specifically forcing myself to draw (because it was not fun) because I wanted to learn digital art no matter what it took.
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2016 - Experimental
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Boldness seems to have dominated this phase, not because of the themes but because I rendered without any under sketch (example above of how the first draft looked like vs the end)
2017 - The breakthrough
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It was only from here that digital art began feeling RIGHT. The most important things I've learned were how to render texture variation (especially softer things like hair and fur) and how to color a drawing from greyscale. I was slowly settling onto my desired artstyle
2019 - Happy accident
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We were tasked to design characters based on chess pieces during college. 1 week deadline. With the mindset that no one will see my designs except my teacher and I, I did things boldly and rendered them (trad ink plus digital shading) to emphasize shape and design, rather than texture variation.
I began mixing traditional lineart with digital rendering.
2020 - Fallen from heaven
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My friend and I decided to attempt to design angels based on widely popular tumblr emoji mashups. It was the first time I colored one of my character design drawings, using similar methods to the ones I've learned in 2017.
2017 - 2024
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I cannot name nor describe my artstyle nowadays. I haven't seen many people with something similar either. I use what I've learned in all my phases; the spontaneous boldness of 2016, the texture variation of 2017, the sharp shapes and design mindset of 2019, the mix of traditional and digital from 2020. It all melted together and keeps evolving.
The way I approached art changed too. I was so worried about making things beautiful and technically outstanding when today I only worry about making things interesting and readable.
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xamag-draws · 3 hours
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BBR thoughts 2024
Since I mentioned that I finally dusted off an old project of mine and was ruminating on how I'd remake it, I thought I'd elaborate a little, now that I've solidified some concepts. For funsies
This is gonna be a bit of a long and unfocused one, but I don't share my personal thoughts here often, especially the stuff about my projects I always marinate in. And for once it's something that people have existing context for, so hey why not
So for anyone who hasn't been following me for a gajillion years, The Black Brick Road of OZ was a webcomic that I posted around 2013-2015, back when I was in highschool going on college (which is kinda crazy to think about). It was sort of a darker twist on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, although I definitely leaned a lot more into dark humor more than anything in those first few chapters
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I don't think it's available to read anywhere anymore, and I know people have been asking me about it. So here's the full proper archive of BBR, as full as it can be with deceased Flash
I totally used it as an excuse to shamelessly and self-indulgently experiment. It had interactive pages and GIFs and was wayyy too overproduced for what I could handle or what was necessary, but I did have great fun making it while it lasted
Unfortunately, that excess and the fact that I've changed too much as a person by the time I was in college is what ultimately killed it. The direction I wanted to go in was practically unrecognizable from the original idea started back in 2011, so there were many old hold-ups that I felt ruined it
At the time I kinda wished I could start/rewrite it all over, but considering that I pretty much had the entire script done at that point, it felt like a pointless sisyphean task. So I just put it on a shelf and didn't look back for about 8 years, because I didn't know what else to do
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Now to be fair, the nature of my art has always been iterative and cyclical; when I feel like my creative juices have run dry I prefer to leave a project to marinate and move on to something else; cycle through other old things and bring in new skills and perspectives into the mix when I'm ready again. Not very productive, but it is what makes me happy to work on my OCs; I'm doomed to hit a wall with them eventually and I need some time to be able to find a new direction
So that said, I'm glad that BBR was left to marinate for that long. I don't think I was prepared, emotionally or intellectually, to tackle it again until now. The Wizard of Oz book (and the entire series of them, really) has always been near and dear to my heart, but there's a lot of context around it that I'm only unpacking now that I'm older
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I think I always inherently feel negatively about the stuff I've made in the past, like its faults always jump out to me more than the positives, especially the more time passes. I've never liked that, and I do really appreciate the kind things people have to say about BBR to this day. The fact that it still can be recognized and remembered is very sweet
When I left it, I already found it "kinda cringe", and that feeling only deepened with years. When I took my first look back at it, asking the question "how would I rewrite it now?", at first I took a very cynical approach, as in "everything would have to be torn down"
But the more I sat on it, the more I found that I still see some merit and charm in the ideas I was putting out; I just didn't know how to execute them at the time (not to pretend that I know what I'm doing now, but I certainly know more at least). Turns out a lot of my old concepts could be changed substantially with just a few small tweaks. So I'd say that's a nicer way to think about my previous work
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If you haven't seen yet, I posted a first draft of my new designs for some of the characters (the main group, the Goods and the Wickeds). Definitely subject to change, but more or less how I see them now
I'm just playing with these concepts; by no means would I attempt to remake BBR right this moment. Call it a pipe dream among my other ones. But just for fun, this is the direction I'd like to take:
Nowadays I'd probably make it a visual novel, with more emphasis on the visual part than the novel because I'm no English prose writer by any means. It'd still let me play a little with the interactivity while helping cut some corners on the drawing part (only some, I imagine I'd go hog wild anyway)
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I've always intended for some events inspired by the sequel books to take place in BBR's past. Stuff like Jinjur's revolt or Ozma's rule preceeds the main events here. So I think it would be fun to follow the past of a few key characters alongside the main story. One chapter focusing on the present quest to see the Wizard, then one focusing on the past events (that are maybe reflective thematically); rinse and repeat
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I'm also sticking a little closer to the original text in some regards. Not everything that I enjoy from the books would be translated here, it's still just a very loose fantasy on the material; but I'd like to be closer in spirit at least
I like mature, wise and powerful Glinda, I like kind and vulnerable Tin Man, I like the Wizard being a pathetic yet loveable liar, so I'm sprinkling in more of that for example
I'd like to keep some whimsy, but make it more grounded and a bit more serious to be coherent in tone. I think the original TWWOOZ book was a more realistic fantasy in some ways, even for the standards of the time; I like its simple but vivid tactile descriptions and details like bringing attention that Dorothy needed to eat and sleep
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I find it funny that Baum specifically was averse to making his books scary or unpleasant, finding that unnecessary for telling a compelling kids story, but they still can get pretty dark and disturbing, at least for our modern sensibilities. Let's just say that I intend to use the Evoldo and Chopfyt storylines for my purposes. In that way, I feel like a "darker" Wizard of Oz retelling can still mostly be tonally in line with the original and balance it with enough heart and occasional humor
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I slowly grew to appreciate the quaint old-timey quality of the original series, as well. The first book is both timeless and very much a product of the 1900s. Originally I tried to give it a little modern or at least anachronistic spin, but it was moreso because it's what I knew best, so these days I'd rather intentionally lean into the time period. Still not fully historically accurate by any means, but at least directly acknowledging the influence
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The events of the story span across 40 years of these characters' lives, so I'm drawing inspiration from the entire so-called La Belle Epoque: the time period around 1880s-1920s. Basically I'm cooking, and my soup is old Victorian fashion morphing into Edwardian fashion and slowly inching towards flappers
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Some new Dolly outfits
Lots of crazy things, political changes and innovations were happening at the turn of the century, which I think is noted and reflected by Baum in the books as well; the character of Tik-Tok might not blow any minds now, but he was one of the first robot characters in literature at that point; and don't even get me started on Jinjur, etc. Plenty of really interesting stuff one could lightly ponder in an Oz adaptation these days
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Aesthetically, art nouveau has always been a big artistic influence for me, and it'd definitely be its time to shine here. John R. Neill's illustrations of the Oz books often keep me company as well. Nouveau architecture in particular fits that fairytale whimsy extremely well imo
I'd allow myself a little bit of art deco here and there, but ultimately its intimidating geometrical splendor is an antithetical to the flowery nature of nouveau and I associate it with a completely different era. Definitely fitting some characters like my Wicked Witch of the West, but shouldn't be overused
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One of my main problems with the original BBR was that eventually I lost track of what it was even about; and the original ending felt too mean and unfulfilling to be worth it. Now I'd like to stick to the theme of home and family as my main theme, but in a different, more bittersweet way than in the book
An interesting connection I made is that a lot of my aforementioned older key characters (the Witches, Jinjur, the Nome King, etc) all came from the same reformatory as kids, that's how they know each other. In my recent research I learned that in those reformatories it was usually frowned upon to release the children back to the families, which were seen as the original corrupting influence regardless of the circumstance. The reformatory did everything in its power to cut that connection and make itself the only family those wayward kids were supposed to know and love. That's an unexpected tie into the theme of home that I'd like to explore as well
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So yeah that's the current state of it. I have a bunch of outfit concepts I'm slowly cooking, although I'm now sure whether I'd post them... But I do miss these funny guys, and I'm glad some people still do as well :)
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the-bitter-ocean · 2 days
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(MAJOR 2HATS SPOILERS- Artist’s notes under the cut)
Overture/ Beginning/Prelude/Foreward
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here are the og sketches of the opening scene in ISAT I did of what it would be like if any of the other party members was in Loop’s position. If you want to see the cool finished version of the Overture composition (Mirabelle) you should go look at @tealgoat wonderful piece that can be found here
First initial draft of designs+ personality of each one can be found here and the latest redesign/ redrawing of those designs + human designs can be found here
The first one I worked on was “Overture” which depicts my take on a SASASAP! Mirabelle more commonly known as “Rewind” or “Riri” {{she/they}} for short in my Au In Cycles And Cessation. I wanted her reaction to be sad and desperate but most noticeably angry. She tried so hard and it all amounted to nothing. She couldn’t take it anymore. She is the only one of the four shown visibly angry.
Second one is “Beginning” which depicts my take on a SASASAP ! Bonnie aka “Constant” or “Con”/“Connie” <(they/them)> for short. I wanted the emotion for Bonnie to be sadness, anger and confusion. Blind to the situation at hand because they made their wish on impulse so that they could be free. They are the only ones out of the four who have their eyes closed.
Third one is “Prelude” which depicts my take on a SASASAP ! Isabeau aka “Cycle” or “Cy” [[he/they/it]] for short . I wanted Isa’s emotions to be sadness but in contrast to both Mira and Bonnie I wanted the emotion to be something that’s quieter and more subtle. The emotions are sadness, resignation and relief. Happy that this can finally end- one way or another. He is the only one out of the four visibly smiling.
Last but not least is “Foreward” which depicts my take on a SASASAP! Odile aka “Eon” <<any pronouns>>. I wanted Odile’s emotions to be subtle in the way that Isabeau’s was but in a different direction. The emotions are sadness, resignation, determination. Theyre resigned to their decision and knows she has no other options left but moves forward anyhow. She is the only one of the four visibly determined to end things once and for all.
I know for the aus my mutuals Basil (Of Stitches & Sequence) Pastell (In Recipies & Repetition) and Teal (In Tales of Time) made (which are very good and you should all go check them out) the alt loopers guide is loop guiding them and not their alt selves so the drawings/ designs is not canon to any of those stories!! but it still a neat thought experiment / character study.
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oblonger · 2 days
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@sincerely-sofie
I wanted to write something that somehow involved the mortal mentioned in this post for a while. I personally prefer writing wholesome and angsty feels over action, so I feel like this needs a second draft. But I don't feel passionate enough about this specific one-shot to do so. Anyway, here you go!
Darkrai had won
Darkrai had obtained everything he'd ever wanted. Everyone in this world and beyond were recieving what they deserved...
Yet he was still unsatisfied.
Darkrai told Dialga, a pitiful legend at his beck and call, to allow time to flow through him, and only him.
Darkrai felt his heart began beating again. Breath entered his lungs. He could now move once more. He rose from his throne and traveled down the corridor. He could simply visit her nightmares whenever he wanted, but the sight of her true body filled him with glee.
The silence was wonderful, Darkrai looked through the massive window he had dug into this cave wall. Taking in the breathtaking scenery of a pitch black night sky. The few pokemon in view, locked in place mid fight. No doubt suffering the way he wanted them to.
Darkrai entered the dungeon he had been making his way towards. Chained to the wall, and asleep in a breathless nightmare, was Cresselia.
Well, not quite Cresselia. To be precise, it was the Audino that he brought with him when he struck her down. He never bothered to remember the Audino's name. He simply called her Cresselia as a symbol of regret, for ending the true Cresselia's life in a fit of shortsightedness.
Darkrai smiled as he entered into Cresselia's nightmare.
"Good evening Cresselia." Darkrai announced upon entering her dream, turning it from whatever endless torture he had put her in last time, into a completely featureless void. He was the only thing besides her in here.
The Audino uncurled from the fetal position and groveled at his feet. Muttering apologies and begging him not to hurt her.
Pointless.
"I'm hurt Cresselia. I put in so much effort into making the perfect nightmare for you... and THIS is the gratitude I recieve?"
Darkrai snapped his fingers and an explosion went off from directly beneath her. Launching her a fair distance from him, landing on her back. She continued to spout apologies as she looked at him with sorrow, agony and terror.
What a wonderful look for her.
"Apology accepted. Cresselia." Darkrai taunted.
The Audino flopped onto her belly, facing away from him. quietly bawling her eyes out.
"I have done quite a lot of pondering as of late Cresselia. And I wanted to get your input." She continued to cry. Hoping her lack of response would get him to leave her alone.
She knew it wouldn't, he knew that she knew that. But seeing her utterly pathetic attempts at resisting filled Darkrai with joy.
"Tell me Cresselia." Darkrai wickedly grinned. "Do you have a fear of blood?"
The Audino flinched. She turned her head back to face him.
Darkrai's smile widened. "I suppose that is a yes then, hmm?"
Darkrai used his powers over this realm to make his claws as jagged as rotting, rusted metal, and serrated as a Sharpedo's teeth. Cresselia fell from her side onto her back, and tried to crawl away while facing him. Once more asking for forgiveness and for him to not hurt her, or some other nonsense.
Darkrai used his powers to drag Cresselia closer to him. He didn't need to approach her when watching her efforts to escape in vain was so much more entertaining.
Once she was within range, she stopped crawling. Holding her arms up to her face to try and shield it.
"Oh come now Cresselia." Darkrai said in a mockingly upbeat tone. "You don't believe I shall go through all of this effort, and not let you see the fruits of my labor?" Darkrai rose a hand, and her along with it. Perfectly exposing her stomach to him, with her head locked into position to force her to watch. Her eyes being prevented from shutting.
She was crying hysterically as he raised his arm to give her comeuppance.
He began his first slash when he suddenly stopped, right before his claw reached her.
Something felt... off.
It felt like Darkrai's skin was prickling across his body. Was she trying to fight back with her powers? No. She stopped trying to use her abilities decades ago.
Darkrai was staring off into the distance. Trying to figure out why this prickling feeling was so familiar to him.
The feeling got worse, and suddenly he felt the presence of another legend near his body.
Impossible, he killed or sealed all of the problematic ones away...
Then, Darkrai remembered where he felt this feeling before. It was Celebi. But how? How did she escape her imprisonment!?
Darkrai left Cresselia's dream, not even bothering to begin a new nightmare.
His eyes shot open and he briskly turned around, just quick enough to register that there was a Focus Punch mere inches from his face.
He didn't have time to react.
The attack connected. Launching him into the wall above Cresselia. Intense waves of pain echoing through his body multiple times. The wind being knocked out of him. Darkrai fell to the ground, gasping for air. Had he been a bit weaker it would have KO'd him instantly. It had been several decades since he'd last felt pain, that his tolerance for it was at its minimum
He looked up, expecting to see Celebi with some mortal. A foolish ploy to try and usurp him.
It wasn't Celebi.
Nor was it a random mortal.
It was Grovyle.
But... it couldn't be.
He knows it cant be him because he killed Grovyle personally.
The passage of time closed behind him, the lack of blinding light allowing Darkrai to better see his assailant.
It was Grovyle. But he was different. The leaf atop his head was incredibly long, dragging across the floor. The seeds that Sceptiles have on their backs were on his. His skin slowly shifted between lighter and darker shades of green.
But what made Darkrai realize who this was, was seeing the two antenna atop his head.
The antennae of a Celebi.
Darkrai quickly stood himself up and launched forward a volley of Dark Void. He wasn't taking any chances.
Grovyle didn't even move as his fist began glowing again, charging another Focus Punch. The Dark Void opened beneath him and pulsed waves of energy into him. Grovyle stumbled forward a bit before opening his mouth and biting down on something kept within.
Darkrai recognized the distinct crunch that it made.
A Chesto berry.
Before Darkrai could hide in the shadows, Grovyle bolted forward, eyes burning with a rage that far surpassed his own, and punched Darkrai hard in the side of his stomach launching him across the room and into the side wall. Darkrai coughed blood onto the floor. He could feel his consciousness slipping.
He wasn't going to lose this fight. HE DESERVES TO HAVE THIS!
Darkrai sunk into the shadows. The darkness of the room allowing him to reappear wherever he desires.
Darkrai waited for his chance. He kept himself in the shadows, searching for an opening.
Grovyle's expression didn't change, but his posture straightened. His shoulders became slack.
Darkrai knew what he was trying to do. He couldn't be hasty. As much as he wanted to gore him right now.
Grovyle stepped towards Cresselia and with a quick slash of his leaves, broke the chains that were more symbolic than functional.
Despite that, Darkrai's wrath surged. How DARE he try and save her!
And what a fool he was! Because now that he's distracted, he can strike!
Darkrai shot out from one of the walls behind him, preparing a shadow claw. Although his pain tolerance was low, he was nothing if not more powerful, one clean strike and this fool will be KO'd, allowing him to seal him away! All of his efforts in vain! He will be trapped forever! Just like this world's Celebi!! He'd won!!! HE HAD-
Darkrai felt true fear for the first time ever, when Grovyle locked eyes with him, as he moved his head very slightly to dodge the attack. Darkrai's claw missing his unblinking eyes by a hair's breadth.
Darkrai's last waking moments were of watching Grovyle unleash an X-scissor on him.
Darkrai awoke upon his throne. Everything hurt. Grovyle was crouched some distance away, rummaging through his satchel.
Not only had he bested him in combat, but he had also taken him out of the prison, and put him on his throne... LIKE SOME SORT OF TOY!!!
Darkrai launched forward, claws ready to splay this interloper's insides across the room.
Grovyle stood up straight, closing his satchel with no urgency whatsoever. And then he ducked under Darkrai's assault. His arm shot forward and grabbed Darkrai's forehead.
In an instant, Darkrai's entire body filled with an unimaginable pain. Darkrai fell upon his back and howled in torment. It felt like every fiber of his being was being burned, frozen, electrocuted and stabbed all at once.
He could see Grovyle staring at him with an intense anger... and what seemed to be pity.
The pain was too intense. It was bad enough that he hadn't felt pain in so long that he could only barely handle his body aching from the previous fight.
Once again, Darkrai passed out.
Darkrai awoke once more in the same spot he'd been in. The pain throughout his body having been dulled, except for his head, where it felt like it had been split in half.
Darkrai tried to lift an arm, but something was holding him down. Even his eyes felt sluggish. He looked around to see grovyle standing some distance off with his back towards him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a different pokemon, frozen in place. Too far for him to make out.
Grovyle moved his arm to drop a used, grey TM onto the ground. Making sure it was clearly visible to Darkrai.
"You know. My plan was to curse you with everlasting pain, and then seal you away." Grovyle suddenly broke the silence. His voice dripping with hatred. "So that way, you would suffer for the rest of eternity..."
"... But I realized something." Grovyle turned to look at him. His eyes burning with a fury unmatched. "I'm too nice for that."
Grovyle slowly began taking steps towards him. "At some point, I would feel guilty for doing that to you. No matter how much you deserve it." Darkrai wanted to attack him, but only his eyes were capable of movement.
It dawned on him what Grovyle had done, once he realized that his heart only beat twice since he'd woke up.
Darkrai tried to reach out to Dialga, demanding that he needn't any precision, that he could let time flow freely as long as Darkrai can move again.
... But there was no response.
"At that point, I would just come back and finish the job."
Grovyle crouched down on one knee and lowered his head to look at Darkrai.
"Death is far too merciful for you... But I'm a merciful guy."
Grovyle lifted a hand. a crackling orb of yellow-white energy formed just above it.
Hyper Beam.
Grovyle moved his hand and held the orb just above Darkrai's head. Right over where he had cursed him.
Darkrai's eyes stared straight into Grovyle, he used his psychic powers to speak with him.
"I hope everyone you ever love perishes."
Grovyle gave a disgusted chuckle.
"Too late."
Faster than an instant, Darkrai was dead.
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waterfreshner · 2 days
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DONT JUDGE ME I FOUND THIS IN MY DRAFTS DONT TAKE JT SERIOUSLY
Background:
You and Miguel had a son two years ago after getting married. An accident happened, and Vulture 2099 killed him as an infant. It devastated you, but it hit Miguel harder since it was the second time he lost a kid. The only thing keeping you together was caring for your husband, channeling your maternal energies into making sure he was doing well and wasn't entirely swallowed by grief. Now you have gotten into a new rhythm and went out to your anniversary dinner, and now you have broken the news to Miguel…….. Your period is two weeks late, and you just took a pregnancy test.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
“I'm home!” I shouted down the hall, throwing my keys on the counter.
“I'm in here!” he replied from the bedroom.
I entered the room to find him lounging on the bed in his regular civilian clothes. He didn't have many days off, and I came home early just to spend time with him since I rarely got to cuddle with my husband, wear sweatpants, watch telenovelas, and eat snacks.
“What's up? How's your day been?” he asks as I collapse on the bed
“It was a day,” I sigh, rubbing my temple. “Susan was a bitch again today, and of course, nobody did anything to help.”
I move next to Miguel, and he puts his arm around my shoulder. “I am glad to be home with you,” I say, smiling at him
I look at Miguel and see how relaxed he is; his hair is unkempt, and his dark circles aren't as prominent as they used to be. He looks good like this, domestic and happy. I hate knowing that this will probably change soon the second I show him the pregnancy test hidden in my purse.
“I’m glad you're home too,” Miguel says before kissing me on the forehead. I zone out, staring at my wallet, until I hear Miguel talking to me gently
“¿Qué ocurre?’ he asked, looking at me worriedly.
“I'm fine,” I groan as I stand up.
I couldn't keep this from him; he deserves to know. I seemed to leave my body as I watched myself slowly stand up from the bed and walk to my purse while Miguel moved his attention back to his show. Time seemed to slow as I grabbed the test and sat back down.
“What did you get me?” Miguel inquires, sitting up and looking at me.
I take a deep breath and try to map out what I'm going to say. It should be short and sweet, easy and simple.
“I'm pregnant,” I mutter under my breath, not truly believing the words myself.
“What?” Miguel says, looking at the test with a puzzled expression.
“I'm pregnant,” I repeat louder, pointing at the two lines on the test.
For a moment, I thought I had broken Miguel. He stared at the test for almost a full minute before saying anything.
“Are you sure?” he asks quietly.
“I'm pretty sure I took three pregnancy tests, and all of them were positive,” I responded gently.
“Have you scheduled any appointments yet to see how far along you are?” he says, finally setting the test down.
“Not yet,” I answer, sitting down, trying to gauge how well he is taking this.
“Do you want to try again?” he turns to face me, gently taking my hand and scanning my face for any sign of uncertainty or grief.
“I think so,” I respond quietly, squeezing his hand slightly
“Ok then,” he says before picking up his phone, immediately making an appointment at the nearest clinic, and then setting his phone back down.
Neither of us knew what to say or how to respond. We just sat there hugging and staring at the positive test with doubt, wondering if we were ready to be parents again after the loss of our son (INSERT BABY NAME HERE). The rest of the evening, we were in some kind of denial. We went about our everyday routine as if nothing had happened, except I noticed Miguel was being more careful around me. He moved me out of the way of bumping into things and told me to sit down because I'd been standing for “so long.” Even though I was only on my feet for 15 minutes, he wouldn't even let me help cut vegetables for dinner.
“Miguel, I'm not made of glass,” I say exasperatedly. I'm pregnant.”
“hi, pregnant. I'm Dad,” he says with a shit-eating grin before doing a little dance, aka hitting the griddy because he is a silly goose on the loose, and he desires to choke slam fifteen-year-olds into trains and tell them they are a mistake. 😀
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soberpluto · 20 hours
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Know Your Soul Purpose With Your Big 3
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It's been so much time since I've been here, but it's amazing to be back! Now, here's a topic I was wondering about today...
All our configurations hold divine meaning, in that before we are born, our souls chose the type of experiences we needed to undergo as part of our next visit on Earth. What makes us "us" is perfect in design. And what we're "made of" can be neatly seen in our birth charts. No birth nor birth chart happen by chance.
While it’s accurate that specific karmic work (which is part of our life's mission) is indicated by studying the positions of Saturn, its aspects, planets falling in water houses and the configuration of lunar nodes, I feel we can also find great part our soul's purpose (our main lessons) by analyzing our Big 3. This is equal to drawing a picture of the blueprint of our unique navigation system, our compasses through our human experience.
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To make a draft of your soul's blueprint, take these steps!
Look at your chart to know your Ascendant, Sun and Moon signs and chart ruler(s). If your rising sign has two rulers, take them both into account. In my case, I always use whole sign system.
Identify the houses of your placements.
Start drafting your Ascendant, Sun and Moon signs' significations using the tables below, including both positive and negative traits. If we're moving through life based mostly on our positive qualities, it's very likely we're on the right track. Conversely, living constantly under the influence of our negative traits marks potential blockages to get where we need to be.
Add to your blueprint areas in which you naturally express your placement's traits (houses). This is important because you will know where your mission will be accomplished more easily or naturally.
Have fun!
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If you're having a bit of trouble to come up with yours, take my own example...
I am proud of myself when I present to the world as passionate, powerful, magnetic, and intuitive (positive Scorpio rising qualities). I realize that when I become vengeful, jealous, obsessive and/or mournful (negative Scorpio rising qualities), I am attracting unnecessarily challenging circumstances that hinder my lessons in my life. My personality (rising sign) projects most in my physical appearance image and identity, in my close communities and in the pursuit of my dreams (Chart Rulers in 1st and 11th house). I feel my life has meaning when I act as a nurturing, sensitive, creative and empathetic person (positive traits of Cancer sun), but when I become needy, emotionally instable, insecure and/or manipulating with others (negative traits of Cancer sun), I realize that I am blocking myself from living in my fullest potential. The area where my conscious self (Sun sign) shines most is in my path towards higher learning, distant travelling, truth seeking, legal affairs and spirituality (Sun in 9th house). I feel safe and fulfilled when I can be brave, independent, assertive and passionate (positive Moon in Aries traits). But, when I realize that I'm repeatedly reacting in a violent, selfish, impulsive and/or inconstant way (negative Moon in Aries traits), I know that am blocking my ability to be peaceful within myself and move ahead in life. My emotional needs (Moon sign) are best taken care of through my habits, health care, daily routine, service to others, jobs, and pets (Moon in the 6th house).
Now, what information can you derive from this description? What does this tell about my purpose in this life?
Naturally, I am pulled to creative, healing and spiritual work. I studied Industrial Design in college, but I've expanded my career in other directions, including developing and managing intermittently art and esoteric online businesses while also holding an office job in Change Management. I am also the eternal student, self-learning and passionate about higher knowledge. I like to share my insights with others and help them find their own truth, their own awakening. I am drawn to intense (and sometimes not so positive) experiences and relationships, and have drastically changed my own image, jobs and spiritual views along the years. I've certainly went through a lot of turmoil, but also have gained significant life lessons and valuable wisdom thanks to the way I approach life. I cannot help to be deeply emotional, empathetic, passionate, excitable, idealistic and inspired, for the good and the bad! Even though it's not been an easy road, I realize that little by little my purpose is being fulfilled... and I hope you all do!
What about you? Let me know what you find out about yourself!
Thanks for reading! 😘🖤
Written by @soberpluto
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batbabydamian · 3 months
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🐱 Nightwing #110 rambling AKA wailing about how Dick and Jon love Damian
backtracking to 2 weeks ago in Titans #6 for a sec when Dick expressed how he wanted to look for Damian - it was nice to get a nod of Dick being concerned, but i was a bit bummed he didn't start a search. and i get it, the world needs saving, Dick's gotta do what he has to!!
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different writer/story, but this line popped into my head the moment Babs said Earth needs the Titans
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Damian means the world to Dick!! the Titans can take care of the literal world without him for a bit!!
but ykw it's fine since this issue proved me wrong, and Dick looks for Damian anyway!! 😭 basically "the world's still in danger but my brother needs me right now" this was just the start of the issue and i fell to my knees THEY BOTH REALLY DROPPED EVERYTHING FOR DAMIAN
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the part where they plan to wait out Damian's match was so funny to me because Dick keeps repeating to Jon that they shouldn't engage, but then Dick just goes "NEVERMIND i'm going in" 😭 he couldn't stand watching Damian be hurt anymore i'm weeping
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with context this is actually so sad for Damian orz otherwise i just wanted to say i love these drawings!! it's just a really cool page to me - i love the posing, especially in the hands/claws!! the intense expressions!! also so efficient in showing how the match escalates with Damian quickly overpowering Gail (along with seeing Jon's dread 🙁)
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THEY WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THIS WOULD DO TO DAMIAN 😭
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just more panels of Dick and Jon worrying over Damian :')
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DYNAMIC DUO 2.0!! and ofc they have a dramatic entrance haha
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HEAD IN MY HANDS...CRYING... i'm assuming Damian's hands are still supposed to be covered in blood since the first thing he thinks about when he returns to being human is what he had done without his control. and this bothers him to the end of the issue 😭 (HIS EXPRESSIONS EVEN WITH THE MASK ON 😭)
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not sure if it's intentional, but Dick's speech to Damian in B:WFA ep 113 is kinda brought to canon here through both Dick and Jon
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this was a sleep deprived reactionary rambling, so not much thought is left in my head lol i was hoping for some cute cat Damian shenanigans, but i'll happily take Dick and Jon being protective over Damian! 🥺
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one last duo pic for the road :)
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inkykeiji · 1 year
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okay but you can't tell me daddy dazai isn't GREAT at aftercare. he can take you apart and put you back together again and he loves to spoil and coddle you too. <3
with you, yes, absolutely 100%!!!! he would be the fucking sweetest and he’d already have multiple potential care plans in place before you even begin the scene, each tailored to a specific outcome—the ways he thinks you’re most likely to react by the time the scene is over, with a few of them branching out into sub-plans based on what turns the scene may take as it develops. each aftercare plan is attuned to what he knows your specific set of needs will be by the end of him fucking you into the prettiest shattered shards of yourself. if the session ends up being purely psychological torture then you can bet your ass he’s got a whole novels-worth of words of affirmation written on the walls of his skull, just waiting to be spoken to you. if the session is more physical in nature then he’s prepared with your favourite nutritious snack + a bottle of water + first aid materials. if it’s any combination of both he’s prepared with whatever percentage of each he believes must be met; various aftercare blends each customized to that particular result.
afterwards, after he’s sure your initial, instinctive and most immediate needs have been throughly dealt with and resolved, it’s whatever you further need—your favourite comfort film, or cozy cuddles beneath fluffy blankets with him and your most cherished stuffy, or tender kisses scattered across your marred skin and mangled limbs, gentle lips so healing, so loving as they skim across your body, each stamp of them against your flesh leaving a soft, small blossom of warmth in its wake; whatever it is, whatever you want, he is more than ready and willing to give it.
i genuinely believe that like, 97% of the time this man is fucking brutal and sincerely, severely sadistic in the bedroom; loves teasing you to the point of tears and then far beyond that, staining his name into your skin through deep indents beneath all 32 of his teeth and splats of broken blood vessels beneath his fingertips, can be downright fucking cruel when he wants to be, when the mood strikes him (and takes genuine delight and pleasure in it all)—and as such, being a god at aftercare is a must, when it concerns you, anyway.
with akutagawa tho?????? eeeeeee probably not
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presiding · 4 months
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a doctor turned serial killer turned doctor again, an actor who paints, a gang leader, a mining baron, and a vice overseer walk into the room.
oh yeah and they lead karnaca now.
dishonored 2 is my fav game but i think it's mid, story-wise. here's why dh1 works and why dh2's overarching story sorta misses
tl;dr: story integration is critical for gameplay that offers audience payoff, but emily's personal arc from dishonor to honor is inconsistently demonstrated in the story, and is not an interactive part of the gameplay.
essay/long version under cut >
recap: what's dishonored's deal
[skip if you want] dh1 is an underdog story: corvo is an honorable man swept up in the machinations of a callous city, so his canonical ending being 'this child will rule over an empire' isn't about the child's rule but rather about corvo's reputation being restored in a more hopeful city, due to his & the player's rejection of the violent connotations of the tagline 'revenge solves everything.'
similarly, in dh1 DLCs, daud's story arc is that of an anti-hero: a dishonorable man who realises too late he has done irreparable harm. he sees the error of his ways after a single monumental death, and eventually a single life redeems him when he/the player stepped in to circumvent a terrible fate for a child, enabling her to rule unfettered.
daud & corvo come to a satisfying conclusion within the extent of their narrative arcs. it doesn't matter that a child on a throne isn't really a fix for a decaying empire - the player's actions throughout the city of dunwall was what mattered - and these stories could be framed as parables. in that sense, young emily as a ruler is a metaphor for a hopeful future for the city & empire.
dishonored 1 & its DLCs are also great examples of storytelling with perfectly integrated gameplay - you, the player, worked towards the outcome that redeemed the protagonists.
in your efforts to save young emily, you either achieved a good outcome (corvo) or prevented a worse outcome (daud).
bringing us to dh2 -
what's emily's arc
emily's arc is a coming of age: we're introduced to a reigning empress who questions her role & skillset ("am i the empress my mother wanted me to be?"), then her titular fall from grace occurs. from there, she learns to reject the violent, selfish connotations in 'take back whats yours' tagline (a la daud & corvo!) while rediscovering why her rule is critical to the empire.
emily's rule is no longer metaphorical, but:
a literal thing for audience assessment (is emily a good ruler?) AND
the crux of her storyline.
at the beginning of dh2, emily is introduced as a disengaged leader ("i wish i could just run away from all this;" "i dont know if whether i should sail to the opposite side of the world, or have everyone around me executed"). the antihero has a precedent for the dishonored series in daud, so it's not at first glance an issue*, however, the fact that emily has ruled poorly reframes corvo & daud's endings as being less than ideal (a moralistic retcon) *we could talk here about how ready an audience was in 2016 for a flawed women as a protagonist, hell, even in 2023,,,
throwback to the beginning of this essay when i said:
'this child will rule over an empire' isn't about the child's rule but rather about corvo's reputation
emily's story arc, unlike for daud & corvo, is literally about the quality of her rule. we're no longer in metaphor territory (ironic phrase): a parable-style ending doesn't work.
does emily become a good ruler
we know she becomes a good ruler because the game says so. it is narrated to the audience via a (literal) word of god in the space of 30 seconds, after the final boss. the outsider tells us that emily becomes known as Just & Clever.
drawing a distinction here - this narration is not the same as the player actively being involved.
the player does not throughout the game become aware that emily has made political allies. during the game, she doesn't talk to these characters about saving karnaca or being a better ruler to the empire (there's a few lines might imply it, but you need to be actively looking and being careful to wait for every voice line. it's a far cry from daud & corvo's fight to save emily being unmissable - even though daud doesn't know at the beginning that's the goal).
how does the game show it
you can coincidentally not kill most of your subjects and never be aware that emily is looking to restore karnaca by means of instating a council - it's never brought up. it *couldn't* be brought up, because that council serves under the fake duke (armando), who is the last person she speaks to before she leaves for dunwall. its her suggestion that he rules karnaca, but armando's condition is that he will rule as he sees fit.
to back up a bit, emily's canonical method of restoring karnaca is by banding together key allies - hypatia, stilton, [byrne &or paolo], pastor, under a council beneath the duke's body double. they are passionate people who would each individually make worthwhile advisors, but if you think about those characters sitting at a table trying to reach an agreement, it feels like an assortment of people that emily didn't kill along the way and doesn't feel organic (up to interpretation). it's not stated if emily herself banded this council together, but logically she must have (worth a mention these are mostly characters that you as the player had reasonable rationale to kill during a high chaos run, except pastor). the underlying concept may be that karnaca's power is returned to its people - which is interesting given that the monarchy remains and armando's decision is final.
this overarching solution could also be taken as a critique to dh1's 'put your kid on the throne,' which is another reason its worthwhile looking at how emily was shown to be a better leader. obviously my point isn't that her solution was bad given the circumstance, but i mean she has very little agency here in all. if emily was shown to be more controlling as a leader, this could be interpreted as character growth, but that's not the case.
coming of age
how do you learn & grow when you can't specify your failings? emily doesn't really touch on her shortcomings as an empress. she non-specifically worries delilah makes a better empress than her. it's hard to argue her worries are meaningful when someone good at their job will still worry when lives are in the balance.
emily's best 'aha' moments (eg. crack in the slab comment about gaining perspective) are consistently undercut by a conversation with sokolov or meagan afterwards in which she demonstrates she hasn't learned anything (before the grand palace, emily condemns 'toadies sucking up to me' and is reminded by meagan that she's part of the problem). the story is confused about what it's trying to say about emily's progress, and when she's meant to show progress, if she was meant to show any progress at all. it could be argued that emily was never even a bad ruler, she had just been fed misinformation about the problems in karnaca and been the victim of slander by her political enemies. the game doesn't make this clear - it's easier to argue that the opposite is true given that her allies only have criticism.
worth a mention here that the heart quotes about armando - a fake ruler - interestingly mirror emily's character concerns. "see how he sighs? his life is a gilded cage." but this essay is already long.
while corvo & daud spend their games (and through the gameplay) 'earning' their redemption, emily is being led by the NPCs around her to a conclusion and a fix for the political mess in karnaca: meagan & sokolov guide emily to her missions, and there's no recurring quest for emily to investigate possible allies. she is able to gather the people she hasn't killed to herself by manner of... post-game narration. during the game, she's primarily concerned with getting her throne back.
an easy fix: if there had been less dialogue & narrative focus on emily's failings perhaps the ending would have felt more satisfying. it has the feel of cut content, but i don't know what was cut to be able to comment on it.
so what went wrong?
i can't help but wonder if arkane were worried they would lose a certain demographic if corvo wasn't playable (may have been deemed too much of a risk - 2013 was a different time), and so they had to take out story elements that were unique to emily's growth as a character/empress, because the usual storyline/gameplay integration had to work for both characters - in other words, gameplay that made sense for both corvo & emily was prioritised before emily's story & character development. which is a silly problem to have in a game that added character voices for the sake of improving characterisation - maybe emily's tale would have felt more akin to a parable if she had less lines that betrayed her ignorance (to the disdain of those around her).
i wish more care had been taken with emily's story. most players will never really notice the large variety of different endings - they're not particularly satisfying in and of themselves.
it's ironic that one of Emily's complaints is about her father/protector being overbearing, when his (parallel universe) presence in the gameplay may be one of the reasons her own narrative arc falls flat.
what are the upsides here
changing tune from what didn't work - don't you think the concept is fantastic? it's a great idea overall - can you imagine if the coming of age storyline was better integrated into the game?
it's valuable to talk about the integration of story and gameplay and characterisation from a craft perspective. dh2 genuinely is my favourite game - it's beautiful, the imm-sim design philosophy makes the world a delight to explore, the combat gives endless creative options for tackling any fight, there is a far greater diversity of cast in an in-text canonical way. there's loads to love!
i love emily as a dodgy leader, to me it adds interesting dimensionality to the outsider's narrations - of course in dunwall there's never a neat happily ever after! emily, like the outsider, both work well as characters who hold ultimate power but aren't necessarily worthy of it - and this makes perfect sense for the dishonored universe's morality & critiques of power. however, within this grey area there's still plenty of room for a satisfying ending, which isn't what we ended up with, whatever the true reason for that was. and also, damn, emily's a marked assassin empress, if she can't lead well then who can?
while dh1 was criticised for its narrative simplicity, dh2 in contrast and in hindsight shows us that simplicity isn't so bad - there's satisfaction in gameplay achieves a clear, simple narrative goal.
#are you a dh1 enjoyer but less so a dh2 enjoyer?#have you ever wondered why you don't love dh2 as much?#here's 1.8k words that might articulate some of that.#light reading.i guess#this essay wasn't meant to cover everything - just the core of the plot and why its important to integrate story & gameplay#and to compare dh1 & 2#dishonored#dishonored 2#dishonored 2 spoilers#emily kaldwin#daud#corvo attano#this week i'm cracking things out of my drafts!#<333 don't get me started on doto.#some of this might be contentious. idk i try to live in a bubble#the meme version was easier to read i know i know#this essay would have been a lot longer had i integrated more references from the game#i know a few others have said this but imagine if they went a different way with emily#like she realises shes not fit for the job and maybe no one is and says fuck the system cause shes got a rebellious streak#and does a kickflip on the monarchy and institutes something else. i dont even care what. make it funny#and then for the sake of continuing the trend we spend dishonored 3 undoing the horrible leadership emily instates <3#i think they really loved emily as a character. i FEEL the love i believe its there.but didn't think enough bout how she would be perceived#there's a good couple comments from baldur's gate 3 devs about how much work goes into writing women to account for sexism#there's more that i could have added to this essay but for brevity's (ha.ha) sake i'll leave it there#other textposts about this game that i see around tend to romanticise dishonoreds story a little more
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kotaskenny · 10 months
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Hangman searching Kenny's face
Dynamite 7/14/21
Double or Nothing 5/28/23
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sumeragi-hokuto · 10 months
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Set 4 of chapter 3, volume 4 of the Tokyo Babylon manga. 9th chapter overall.
Cleaning/typesetting done by me, official Dark Horse translation used.
Select/open the images to view in higher quality.
Previous, Next
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pyrriax · 5 days
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hope ur able to feelin better soon pyrr. wont say too much cause obv dont know the situation nd dont wanna overstep but ya <3
its ok thank you jest it means a lot <3
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^ this is beest (singularity) btw ^_^ a quick drawing of it but yeah
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neversetyoufree · 2 years
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Wait ok I’ve just had a realization.
We know from the case with Amelia and Charlatan that, if he puts effort into looking for them, Noé can unearth memories in someone’s mind that have been repressed, and maybe even hidden through magical means. We also know that Ruthven can erase or suppress his victims’ memories of when he bites them and makes them swear an oath. Noé is clueless that anything happened to him, and Jeanne has, at best, only the foggiest of impressions.
But if Noé ever drinks Jeanne’s blood, he could find the details of what Ruthven did to her hidden in her memories.
I can't see Noé ever biting Jeanne unless it's specifically to extract information in this way, so it's not likely to happen any time soon, but still! If Jeanne (or maybe if Vanitas) ever decides she needs to know exactly what manipulation and silencing she's forgotten, Noé could be the key.
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itspileofgoodthings · 8 months
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I used to experience the practical realities of life as a blur and a whirlwind, especially new experiences, that would take me to the highest heights and lowest lows on a wild rollercoaster. And so I was often either crying or practically glowing with delight and wonder. That’s changed as I’ve gotten older and to be honest I’ve missed the highs many times. Like just. Is this the price I pay for being more of an adult and understanding how things work—that I don’t get to be lifted up anymore? And there is some truth to it. The heady rush doesn’t happen nearly as often. I am not swept away on the wings of emotion. But I don’t miss the lows. The meltdowns that would happen, the pain stacked on pain stacked on pain that was the result of me simply not knowing how things worked, doing things wrong (innocently), and getting snapped at. like it’s all just evening out.
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padfootastic · 2 years
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officially submitting my first ever entry for @impishtubist ‘s Sirius & Harry Saturday: a headcanon about baby harry using his crayons to try and draw sirius’ tattoos on himself. (there’s also protective james and prongsfoot friendship and it’s all quite fluffy)
“Harry! What are you doing?” Sirius leaned forward with a laugh, trying to get a better glimpse of his toddling godson, who’d stripped down until he was clad only in his diaper.
“Lookit Siri, I’m you!” Harry squealed, finally losing the battle against gravity in his excitement and falling forward. Lucky for him, his godfather knew him enough to be prepared with outstretched arms.
Sirius dangled him mid-air in front of him, hands under his armpits. It was the best vantage point to scrutinise the new additions to his godson’s previously unmarked skin.
Because, somehow, Harry had gotten his hands on a permanent marker and had drawn all over himself. And not just anything, but very specific artwork that Sirius could recognise instantly, shaky as it was.
“You know your dad’s gonna kill me, buddy,” Sirius mused absently as he shifted Harry’s weight to one hand and ran one black-tipped nail against the runic figures on his pudgy chest and belly. Well, figures that were attempting to be runic, if he wanted to be accurate. Harry’s hand wasn’t steady enough for straight lines, yet, nor was his theoretical knowledge good enough to capture them perfectly even if they were.
“No, I you, Siri!” Harry repeated stubbornly, and by Merlin, what was the allure of Dark Magic in the face of his adorable godson?
He trailed his finger across the jagged lines on his flank, across his arms, up to his shoulders. There were some unrecognisable scribbles on his upper back, like he’d tried to reach back and color in but couldn’t. Of course, he couldn’t, Harry’s arms were tiny. But it was clear that he was trying to replicate the antlers on Sirius’ back. Unbidden, his gaze fell to Harry’s wrist and sure enough, there was a messy circle with shapes drawn inside it. It was a valiant effort to recreate his family’s crest. Sirius could feel his heart-melting out of his pores.
“Oh, Harry, you little troublemaker, you,” he cooed, bringing his godson into the circle of his arms to tuck him against his chest, biting his lip at how Harry instantly relaxed into him, head tucked under Sirius’ chin.
“You like my tattoos, huh? Couldn’t wait until you grew up a bit, had to have them right now, is that it?” He continued, slightly bouncing Harry in his arms as he walked back and forth.
“Siri pwetty, Hawwy also pwetty,” Harry babbled from his perch and Sirius’ heart melted.
“Dammit, sweetheart, I have a reputation to maintain. You can’t go around saying things like that,” he mock-scolded.
“Things like what, Padfoot?” James’ voice entered the conversation and Sirius had to suppress his laughter at what he’d say when he discovered the state his son was in.
“Oh, nothing much, Harry just wants to be pretty like me,” Sirius said, special emphasis on the ‘me’. “Guess being a carbon copy of his dad isn’t quite cutting it for him anymore.”
He turned to face James as he spoke and couldn’t stop the laughter bubbling in him at the expression on his face. Sirius’ words were already pulling a very strong deadpan from him but one look at his son, covered in black squiggles and smudges, and it immediately gave way to one of pronounced horror.
“Wha—“ James’ words were more of a strangled wheeze. “Padfoot, what did you do to my son?”
“Excuse you,” Sirius said, offended. “I didn’t do anything. This one’s all Harry. I didn’t even know what he was doing until he crawled into the room.”
That didn’t seem to help. “Oh, baby, I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone with Sirius, he’s become rather forgetful in his advanced age, hasn’t he?” With an exaggerated frown on his face, James plucked Harry out of Sirius’ arms and settled him in his own. The kid was, as always, overjoyed to be reunited with his father.
Sirius tried hard to hold onto his outrage—how dare James call him old?—but it was hard, nigh impossible, when he could see Harry rubbing the top of his head back and forth against James’ jaw, like an adorable little kitten.
“So, what’s with-“ James ran a hand down Harry’s arm “-all this?”
“Harry’s trying to be like his extremely cool, not-old-at-all godfather.”
James raised a skeptical eyebrow. Sirius ignored him in favour of talking to his godson.
“Don’t you worry, love, when you’re old enough, I’ll be right there to take you for your first proper tattoo,” he tapped Harry’s little button nose, making him giggle.
It wasn’t enough to mask James’ shocked exhale. “What do you mean first proper tattoo?”
“Look at him and tell me he’s not interested,” Sirius pointed at the little bundle of joy in his arms. Absently, he wondered what kind of tattoo Harry would like, if any. Would he be the sentimental kind, like his dad who never put something on his body he hadn’t considered fifty times over? Or more like Sirius, who’d only needed the thought to pop it into his head to get it inked.
“He’s three and thinks colors, and shapes, on your body look cool. That’s- that doesn’t mean anything!”
“Well, I’m just saying,” Sirius shrugged, deliberately keeping his face clear of anything that could give him away. Of course he knew the reaction his words would elicit, that was part of why he said it. “The option’s there on the table if he ever wants to. With parents like you and Lily, and me of course, the kid’s on the right track for a few pieces of his own.”
“But—“
“And of course, no one except his godfather can be trusted with something like this, right? It’s basically my magic-given duty to escort him to the tattoo parlour,” Sirius finished with a flourish. One of his hands had travelled upwards to ruffle Harry’s hair, marvelling at the soft feel of the inky strands slipping between his fingers.
“No- That’s not- you are not torturing my baby like that!” James finally found his voice, and what a loud one it was too for Harry was startled out of his lazy doze against his dad’s chest by the deep rumble that vibrated through him. His green eyes were wide open, looking at his dad who so rarely raised his voice, and James immediately shrunk—literally, Sirius could see the transformation in real-time, the way his shoulders dropped, his face relaxed, and his nose came down from its high perch.
“Oh, Daddy’s sorry, honey, he didn’t mean to shout,” he whispered in between careful kisses pressed to Harry’s face. “Daddy’s gonna be more careful, okay?”
“Otay,” Harry replied, equally quietly, still staring at him with remnants of shock in his eyes.
Sirius broke the moment with a loud snort—accidental of course but this was too much for him—and immediately attracted James’ ire again.
“You—“ he started accusingly before darting a quick look downward to see Harry was alright. He was. “You can’t be—Harry’s not gonna get tatted, Padfoot! It hurts too much. I won’t have it.”
“You won’t have it?” Sirius repeated, amused. “May I remind you when you got your first tattoo? Or mine, for that matter.” That took the wind right out of his sails.
“Er, that’s not the point here,” James replied shiftily, dropping his gaze to Harry instead of looking at him.
“Remember the runic tattoos we etched into our skin? Could’ve literally blown ourselves inside out right there in the do—“
James slapped a hand against his mouth, effectively stopping him. “Okay, I think that’s enough, I get it.”
Sirius raised his eyebrows, as if to say ‘Do you?’. Harry giggled at his father and godfather’s antics, happily oblivious to the pinched look on the former’s face as he realised the precedent his own actions had set. Sirius couldn’t wait to have this conversation all over again when he was all grown up and could add his own input. He was looking forward to tag-teaming against James, to be honest.
“You—you don’t think he’ll do something like that, do you?” James asked hesitantly, glancing between the two of them.
“He is your kid,” Sirius pointed out. “And Lily’s. And a tad bit mine.”
“He’s all yours, especially when he pulls stunts like this.”
Sirius grinned, wide and uncontrollable, at that, unable to help the warmth that spread through his entire body at those words. He knows James was trying to take a shot at him but it didn’t take away from the fact that Harry was his too, has been from the day he was born—no, since the day James flooed into his house, pale and shaking, telling him that ‘We’re having a kid, Padfoot! An actual baby! Can you believe it?!’
For all the jokes and potshots and snippy back-and-forths they had, Sirius knew he would never be able to thank Jamie for allowing him into his life—into Harry’s life—like this. James had always been free with his affections, sharing heart and home without a second thought but Sirius knew that there were many who’d have put their foot down at the level of involvement he assumed in his godson’s life, and that James and Lily didn’t, wouldn’t, do that. He didn’t know where he’d be without the Potters today, and imagining such a world—it was chilling, to say the very least.
“Pads?” James’ soft voice interrupted his morose thoughts and he snapped his eyes up to meet concerned hazel ones. There was a silent question in them.
Sirius shrugged wryly. Silently raised his hands for Harry, needing to hold him close, and after another searching glance, James passed the now peacefully sleeping child over. Something loosened in his chest when he felt the familiar weight resting against him. He immediately buried his nose in Harry’s hair, taking a deep breath, letting the scent of baby powder and blueberry shampoo fill his lungs, ground him.
“I’ll be the coolest godfather there ever was,” he whispered, feeling a knot in his throat where more words should be. He wanted to say that he loved Harry more than life itself, that he’d always be there for him. The world could tilt off its axis but Sirius’ love for the Potters wouldn’t wane. It couldn’t, really, not with how deeply they were entrenched in his life—in his very being.
“Of course, you will. No one would ever doubt that.” James placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. “But you’re still not allowed to take my baby to a tattoo parlour, no matter how old he gets.”
if you liked this, i have an entire thing on my ao3 about tattoos and harry and sirius bonding over them postwar >.<
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