#i've never animated on such a small scale before it's fun!

[bigkickguy]

I have not animated in many years - anyway here's a super tiny wip of a one step from eden mod I'm making! When I get too bored I just like making little things haha if I finish making Yesod I also want to make Roland! But also Malkuth and Gebura!! ...and the rest of the head librarians.... I'll see how many I get done haha

#kickdraw #library of ruina #one step from eden #yesod #hahaaaa i did all my secondary animation before any body movement and now yesod is just standing there hadkfjghadf #i've never animated on such a small scale before it's fun! #idk what spells to give him or weapon yet - we'll figure it out eventually haha

[goldenamaranthe-blog]

First Tears: Chaggie

Chaggie Week of Firsts - Day 4

In the Morningstar mansion (castle, it's definitely a small scale castle) guest bedroom where Vaggie is sitting up in bed with fresh bandages. Charlie is sitting on a plush chair at her bed side. The remains of a shared lunch sit on a platter on the bedside table.

Charlie: Soooooo.... Pa-pa-pa... (taps her hands against the edge of the bed) How are you feeling?

Vaggie: Honestly, I'm doing much better. (clears her throat) I probably should have said this earlier, but thank you. For all the help. I'm not used to... well... any of this.

Charlie: (beams with sunshine sparkles) It's no problem! Really! Actually, you being here has been amazing!

Vaggie: I've literally just been sleeping and being a leach.

Charlie: YOU'RE NOTHING LIKE A LEACH!!! Ah! Sorry. You're not a leach, Vaggie. I've appreciated your company. (softens and stares down at her hands on the bed) It makes the estate feel less... lonely.

Vaggie: (eyes soften) Hey.

Charlie: (looks up at Vaggie) Hmm?

Vaggie: (gently places her hand on Charlie's) I get it.

Bedroom Clock: Tick! .... Tick! .... Tick! .... Tick! .... DONG!!!

Vaggie: (blushes and looks at her hand before quickly tearing it away) Sorry! Sorry. I probably should have asked first.

Charlie: (blushing so hard her cheek circles disappear - thinking: I'm never washing this hand again - before snapping back to the present) NO!!! No! It's fine! Fine! Really! I've already manhandled you while you were topless, it's only fair!

Vaggie: (remaining eye nearly pops out of her socket as she blushes harder)

Charlie: (stomach drops) NOT LIKE THAT!!!! Like from when I've helped you bandage your back!!! I haven't been sneaking into your room at night to cop-a-feel!!! I swear!!!

-Awkward Silence-

Charlie: (trying her damndest to save the conversation) H-Have you ever wondered why.... pineapples don't wear sunglasses?

Vaggie: (blinks in sheer shock at the sudden shift in conversation) Pineapples don't have eyes.

Charlie: But imagine if they did! They'd be the coolest fruit around. Speaking of cool, do you know what's cool? Penguins. They waddle around like they own the ice.

Vaggie: Uh-huh...

Charlie: And then there are those random thoughts that pop into your head! Like, why do we say "heads up!" when we really mean "duck"?

Vaggie: (rolls her eye as she slowly untenses her shoulders) ......I've got to be dreaming right now.

Charlie: (completely misses Vaggie's statement) Oh! D-Did you know that the universe is expanding? It's like a giant balloon getting bigger and bigger, except there's no clown making balloon animals out of stars.

Vaggie: Pfft! (covers her mouth) Charlie, please...

Charlie: Okay, okay, I'll stop... After I tell you about this amazing deodorant I found! It smells like vanilla mixed with a hint of honey, and it mixes perfectly with my cherry apple shampoo and body wash! I smell like an apple pie!

Vaggie: (whole face goes blank) Did- .....Did you just say you smell like an apple pie?

Charlie: Um... yes? Isn't it delightful?

Vaggie: ....heh

Charlie: Vaggie?

Vaggie: Hehehehe...

Charlie: Vaggie, are you okay?

Vaggie: (bursts into laughter so loud that it makes Razzle and Dazzle jump up from their naping spot in the windowsill) I cannot believe you're real!!!

Charlie: (undignified pout) Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?

Vaggie: (doubles over in laughter as tears stream down her cheeks) You... you smell like an apple pie!

Charlie: (pout sets deeper) Hey, don't make fun of me!

Vaggie: (still laughing and wiping away a tear) I'm sorry! I just... I can't believe you actually said that!

Charlie: (smiling back before pretending to scoff haughtily) Well, it's true! And it's not just any apple pie, it's like... gourmet apple pie!

Vaggie: (gets sent into another round of giggles) You're the Princess of Hell for fuck's sakes, Charlie!

Charlie: (trying to hold back her own laughter) And I smell A-MA-ZING!!!

Vaggie: I shouldn't be laughing! That shampoo and body wash you gave me makes me smell like a pina colada every time I shower!

Charlie: (laughter finally bursts passed her lips) Maybe I did that on purpose! Make you smell so good I want to drink you down!

Vaggie: (still giggling) What? You want me to take a bite out of you while you drink me in or something? I don't think you taste as good as an actual pie, Charlie.

Charlie: (snickering) Wanna find out?

-Pause as the world goes silent-

Charlie: (blushing) I-I mean....

Vaggie: (arches an eyebrow and smirks) Maybe another time, princesa. We did just eat lunch.

Charlie: (steam billows out of her ears as she undergoes a full body blush) Hoooooooh-oh-okay.....

#chaggie #charlie morningstar #vaggie #chaggiefirsts #day 4 #tears #tears of laughter count #sorry - folks - I'm not making Charlie her usual rainbow this time #that would have been painstakingly obnoxious #everything finally came to a head in vaggie's mind and she had a small mental breakdown #apple pie #pina colada

[my-plastic-life]

I did a thing... actually, I did several things. :D My ani-ME (anime doll version) needed manga in her house, so of course I had to make mini Inuyasha manga! I've done this before, but this time it's different... I didn't do miniature versions of the Viz BIG volumes. Nope, I did all 56 original Japanese volumes. Because ani-ME is in Japan, so she must have the original volumes!!! :D What a task this was - because the volumes are so old, it's hard to find high resolution pictures of them online. And even if you do, many times it's just the front, not the back and definitely not the spine. I found some, but then the front and back cover colors were completely different, some had text and graphics cut off from what was most likely a scanned image, the colors were inconsistent between various websites, some colors were clashing badly due to low quality resolution, etc.

So I literally made a template in Photoshop of the real size of the original manga (obtained via Amazon) and rebuilt EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. from scratch. I was able to find a site with all the original cover photos, and then I found the most high resolution cover I could find to duplicate the pattern that's on all books (colors vary), recreated the logo for each book (the character symbols and the gradients are all different for each volume), redrew the SS Comics logo that's on all books, and I even replicated each individual barcode. Because I'm nothing if not a consistent perfectionist. :D

For the backs, I used the images I found and just copied and pasted the characters and Japanese text, and for the teeny tiny characters I used the brush tool to trace over them. Even though I knew you probably wouldn't be able to see them in such a small scale, no way was I leaving them out! Consistency, darn it! :D

For the spines, I found complete sets on eBay and used a photo of the spines from those auctions as a template. I redid everything on the spine except the character head at the top of each, which is copied and pasted from the eBay files. They're definitely pretty low resolution, but hopefully it's not noticeable at such a small scale.

And the volume numbers? Try as I might, I could NOT find a font that matched them. So I got the most high resolution volumes I could find and made number templates... so each time I needed one of the volume numbers, I'd just use a color overlay on it and plop it where it needed to go on the front and spine.

Then the fun part - resizing them all to 1/6 scale. They're a little over an inch tall right now. And because they're not very thick in the spine, wrapping the covers around foam board to mimic pages wasn't working. So I had to make pages... for 56 volumes LOL. I just took my cover template, sized it down, and made it a blank white with a black stroke so I could see where to cut. I could fit 11 mini pages in one row across a regular sized sheet of printer paper (I used cardstock for extra thickness and stability), and I could fit like six rows on a sheet. I was able to fit 11 pages in one volume to allow the spine room, so 56 volumes x 11 mini pages each = 616 total pages I wound up cutting, then stacking and gluing together. But, of course, that wasn't a perfect fit, as the pages, despite being sanded down to be completely straight and smooth, poked out of the covers. So I had to wrap the covers around the pages, mark where they hit, and use an X-acto knife to trim the pages down before gluing them inside the covers.

But finally, I was done! It was time-consuming, but I love how these little books turned out. They don't open, but that's totally okay. That would be way too much work, and every time I make a book that opens, it never closes again. I did, however, manage to find some pages from the original first volume (in Japanese), so I printed a second volume 1 cover and glued those pages inside. So now ani-ME has an open book she can read too!

So there you have it! My mini, 1/6 scale Japanese volumes of Inuyasha - all 56 of them! I made that bookshelf just for them, but I intentionally left more room in case I want to add more manga later. But of course we had to have Inuyasha manga on the shelf - it's the most important! :D And the poster on the wall is totally a tag from one of my shirts LOL.

Showing off her new bookshelf stocked full of all 56 volumes of the Inuyasha manga:

Relaxing in bed, reading from the beginning:

Why yes, she is reading the Inuyasha manga on an Inuyasha pillow :D

All 56 volumes on the bookshelf:

What do you do with an Inuyasha shirt tag? Make an instant doll poster, of course!

Front covers:

Back covers:

Volume 1 pages (glued in order, right to left):

Size reference (shown with American penny):

#my plastic life #doll photography #one sixth scale #azone international #azone pure neemo #azonejp #Kiku Ningyo #Inuyasha #manga #anime #anime doll #tenderwolf #myfroggystufffanpics

[bakubunny]

Apologies, another sharing session involving a fandom you've never mentioned, also I've been realizing that every time I do this it results in a long ass ask so I apologize once more 💀🙏

Context: As a kid the first ever anime I watched was Fairy Tail and I was absolutely obsessed with it but never actually finished it. So naturally, recently I've been rewatching through it to relive that part of my life. Long story short, back then I had a crush on Natsu Dragneel and I still do to this day. In the show, he's something called a Dragon Slayer, specifically the Fire Dragon Slayer (side note: people usually call him Salamander in the show which I just think is really cool—) He was raised by a dragon and was taught special powerful magic along with developing dragon-esque characteristics like an enhanced sense of smell, increased strength, increased stamina, fangs, sometimes he gets scales during fights, he growls when he's pissed, etc. Dragon Slayers have to eat whatever their respective element is to be able to replenish their magical energy, so obviously you can commonly see Natsu literally eating fire, just as long as he didn't make it himself.

OK AFTER THAT LONG ASS EXPLANATION— I haven't been able to stop thinking about primal play with Natsu.

I feel like bro would be absolutely clueless about what it is until you explain it to him and he's all in. One night when Happy is off hanging out at the guild for the night and you two aren't, he takes you out to a secluded forest and says he'll give you a head start since you're obviously gonna need it. So you excitedly giggle (or nervously, you can't tell) and take off into the forest.

You're trying your best to make it hard for Natsu to reach you, ducking under fallen trees, going through bushes, jumping over small streams, etc. He gives you about 30 seconds, then bolts. With his enhanced senses and endurance, he's easily able to catch up to you. Almost too easily.

To make it more fun, he lets you get away a few times, just to give you some hope and also to let you wear yourself out. I feel like he'd get really into it, like he's growling as he chases you. He thought this would be fun but he didn't realize how amazing it would feel to just let his predator instincts loose for a little bit.

To just have fun chasing and teasing a cute little lamb, giving her hope that she can escape when he knows she won't. Only to eventually tackle her to the ground and pin her hands and legs to the forest floor as she tries to fight and her chest heaves heavy breaths from the excursion.

He savors the sight for a few seconds before he clicks his tongue in mock disappointment as he shakes his head. "Seriously? I gave you a head start and everything. It's like you wanted to be caught. Isn't the whole thing with prey that they're supposed to have survival instincts?" He mocks.

You continue to gasp for air and fight against his strength even though you know it's hopeless. He takes the hand he isn't using to pin your wrists to your stomach and begins running it up the side of your thigh, his warm palm ironically sending shivers down your spine. It goes under your shirt, stopping at your side to which he gives a squeeze.

"So warm and soft... almost too warm. You okay down there, lamb?" He chuckles, tilting his head with the biggest shit eating grin on his face. There's just something that makes him so happy to know that you're this attracted to his dragon nature. You both know how much your arousal is growing. If Natsu couldn't already smell it on you he can certainly feel it due to him sitting on top of the heat between your thighs in order to pin your legs down. Of course he has to tease you about it. He leans down and gets right up close to your face.

"What? Too shy to talk?" He mocks. You turn your head away and bite your lip, too shy to look at him as your face burns. Natsu laughs. "Aww... look at that! Too shy to even look at me or talk to me. That's alright though. I can make you talk for me." He then practically rips your clothes off, tearing your top, your leggings, everything to shreds, leaving you bare and vulnerable to him. He licks his lips at the sight, his forked tongue peaking out from between his lips for an instant.

He leans down next to your face, his breath fanning against the shell of your ear,

"Or maybe scream for me..." he growls.

Also I've seen the concept of Natsu going into a rut come up a few times which like 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 we'll save that for another day—

first thought: “this just in: miz is into another stupidly strong redhead who’s into primal play. add him to the list.”

but in all seriousness, i… need to watch fairy tail apparently. sounds like there’s at least one more pretty boy whose cheeks i might want to smoosh. 😔😵‍💫

also thank you for sending this in! i don’t mind rot from other fandoms…. that’s usually what pulls me in lmao.

you and i both seem to suffer from the “same man, different fonts” ailment with many of our favorite characters lmao.

#let’s see hereeee #kiri yuuji sukuna natsu #who else? 😆 #i’d add joe to the list but he’s not a redhead #all in jest and good fun of course #im right there with you #on fridays we share with the class #x reader #natsu dragneel #fairy tail

[teriwrites]

about me: a writeblr re-re-re-introduction

Hello! My old pinned post is officially over a year old and makes me cringe whenever I'm on my blog, so it's time to freshen things up again!

me

I'm Teri, I'm smack dab in the middle of my 20s and figuring out life. My writing is pretty exclusively original stuff, a lot of novels and a lot of fantasy, but I play around with various genres in short stories. Sort of a jack-of-all-trades in regards to hobbies - aside from writing, there's anything from baking to drawing with my ancient art tablet to cross-stitch to playing music to rambling around the patch of woods near my house to watching long-form D&D let's plays.

my goals

I recognize that every time I post something like this, it's with the intention of finally becoming as active on writeblr as I was during the pandemic. I also recognize I've never quite managed that.

So here are some more general goals to get me through 2024:

Finish my 2nd draft of Beyond Alder Creek

Write as cringey and brutally honest as I never allowed myself to as a teenager.

Speaking of, a large reading/writing goal of mine is to go back through every NaNo draft I've ever written (I've participated since 2011). So aside from just reading that and likely turning it into a whole spectacle on here for people's amusement, generally just survive reading through the writing from 8th grade. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks lol

Finally, I have a general goal every year of reaching 100K words, between writing and editing and the like, but I'd happily be a little looser with that goal if it meant getting through others.

And now, without further ado:

my writing

Before I get specifically into WIPs, a general overview of the kind of writing you can expect from me:

As I said, I'm a fantasy nerd. I love worldbuilding, both on a large scale (nations and cultures and political relationships) and a small scale (a magic shop in an otherwise contemporary setting).

There's not a lot of romance in my writing, but there Are a lot of transformational relationships and codependency. Friendships, siblings, guardians, general ride-or-dies.

Thought experiments. I've been trying to catch and indulge more in my 'wait, what if?' ideas. Sometimes, that's fun little snippets of silly ideas, sometimes it's a majorly emotionally heavy scene for a story I'll never write. Sometimes, it's coming up with ideas to 'combine genres'. It's all about expanding the range.

wips*

Beyond Alder Creek /// draft 2 /// tag: bac

Winnie Pewitt has never believed in the fae. That is, until her little brother disappears, and she stumbles upon a faerie ring on the edge of town. Inside, a man seemingly carved from gold suggests that he knows who took the boy. With everyone else around their hometown accepting her brother's fate as certainty, Winnie takes it upon herself to craft the perfect deal and enter the realm of the fae with her new companion in tow.

The Lies in the Legend /// draft 1 /// tag: litl

The fictional autobiography of an elven noblewoman who rose rapidly in station and influence from an unremarkable youth to a diplomatic powerhouse. Spanning centuries during the prime of her life, Lady Ghislaine Agassi charts the course of her career and reputation, and highlights the dangers of making myths out of our idols.

*Though these are my primary WIPs, I have a page that covers various other WIPs and projects that I've brought up over the past few years.

I think that about covers everything! As always, I can't make any promises about how the year will wind up and where it takes us. But I will say, I've actually been writing recently, and yk I'm just gonna ride that high.

And for fun, here's some random facts about me:

fun facts

I have degrees in psychology and music!

I've lived across three continents, but currently live in upstate New York for whatever reason lol

The animals I've ridden on the back of include: horse, pony, elephant, and ostrich. The horse was my least favorite. By far.

I got diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a couple months after Covid landed stateside (in May 2020) and am Always ready to talk someone's ear off about it.

The first story I ever wrote was on PowerPoint and was about war breaking out between humans and aliens that had taken refuge on Earth after their planet was destroyed. I was 8. There was a Lot of Clipart involved.

I've never been published, but I once secretly planned out, wrote, edited, and self-printed a couple copies of a novel about my best friends and our college apartment. They received it for Christmas last year and loved it (or at least were kind enough to tell me they did)!

#writeblr introduction #writeblr #writeblr intro #writers on tumblr #writing #hello once again friends #here is my annual promise to be different this year and actually talk about writing #we'll see how long it lasts this go round! #teritalks

[autumnbrambleagain]

edit: rant edited to reflect how Snoot Game treats gender identity b/c i hadn't really done more than look at a few convos about it

I'm GBH, Goodbye Volcano High got like, the worst fucking shake

Disclaimer, I haven't played it (there is a very special irony in this that i'll get into in a bit), but I've watched people on youtube play it, and I think it's. Fine? It's fine. But everything surrounding this game, everything that happened to and around it, it's fucking wild. I've never seen a game get such a poor serve-up on the tennis court before.

It gets put up on the big console premier along huge AAA budget games. That's rough. A small intimate-scale VN about the end of the world as a metaphor for growing up and leaving highschool and changing and also a non-metaphor for the world ending as itself a metaphor for the new generation entering into what feels like an absolutely hopeless, pointless future (spoilers: the future is pretty fucking dire (the present is already fucking bad))?

Those are some rough themes! That isn't doomchief and master slayer punching guys! And not to denigrate doomchief! These are some ROUGH themes and the trust that those themes will be handled WELL isn't something you want to give out so readily! Those are themes that are easy to fuck up! Fair! But still. Oof!

To have your relatively small scale game put up as a launch title alongside mass-consumption AAA games. Ouch.

I'll admit: the art style was pretty rough, it's really rough on first look. I made fun of it too.

Then it comes out the MC is enby, that it deals with queer themes, and 4chan-esque folk go nuts over it. Snoot Game comes out which, apparently, seemingly, actually not bad! A lot more ironic but with serious themes handled, apparently earnestly, and it's overall... good!? Even some critical accounts suggest it isn't, at least, bad? Whichever: it comes out faster than GVH does, so it now has a parody-competitor dealing with the same themes, but not just as a JOKE but actually putting effort into it too. Like. That's the thing. Snoot Game DEALS with strong themes of growing up, of becoming a person, it DEALS with the themes GVH is saying it will deal with... and it uses the characters to do it too.

And it does it, by some accounts, WELL.

Ouch!

Granted Snoot Game is from 4chan and apparently I'm now reading one of the themes is Fang accepting they're a woman and they were just being enby to try and be different, and while it seems like it DOES handle it very seriously, and like, the game seems to penalize you for being shitty about their gender, and like, detransitioning IS a thing! I don't want to give TOO much trust to a 4chan-derived game either. I'm literally enby, but I also wasn't always enby, but like. Having a game where the message of "you were only trans because you were pressured into being different", it's, ehhhhhhhh not great no!

TBH without going through Snoot Game I can't really speak about it but Snoot Game overall isn't the main point, the main point is:

Some people are already now primed with associations and expectations, you already have a doppleganger as your competitor. OUCH.

So like.

Pretty rough.

And while Snoot Game, from the compressed summaries of it I've seen, seems to actually have honest heart and love in it in its final form, a lot of people just seem to be along for the hate-ride against GVH at this point because "eww the alphabet rainbow furries."

And then the writer has to step down because they found out she's into child por--wait, it was just 3d animations? That someone else made? That she was watching and criticizing as part of an article on how dumb video game porn is?

Oh. See, there's a difference between "the author is an active pedophile" and "the author watched a Harry Potter porn animation to write an article on the concept of video game porn," but in our modern era there's really never a distinction. Drawing something bad is the same as doing it in real life. Looking at it at all is the same as doing it in real life. If you see a woman's ankle on the street, make sure to head immediately to confession or God will judge you for the rape you have committed in your heart.

We live in such a media-literacy dead-end zone that people are calling the original Lolita book child porn. We live in such a media-literacy dead-end timeline that people are saying the only media that should be permitted to exist is happy comfort fluff where nothing bad ever happens because if you make bad things happen in fiction it means you're an evil villain :3 i'm not an evil villain, though, i don't watch bad media!

So of course it's fine to ruin careers because that's not EVIL. I didn't look at the BAD media so I CAN'T be evil. So you know, we have this modern purity pandemic of people thinking they're heroes for getting people to kill themselves because they drew or wrote "the wrong kind of thing" and are therefore EVIL and we're in a post-DnD world the cultural well got poisoned by DnD's secular take on evangelical protestantism's absolute morality of saved-vs-nonsaved. You're Lawful Good, you know you're Lawful Good. Whatever you to do Chaotic Evil people? That's fine. You can do whatever you want to them. You're Good.

Anyway, then it gets delayed to remove all her influence from the game, because at this point, even admitting you know what sex is online seems to be enough to ruin anything you touch tbh. Humanity's doing great, btw.

Like I can find twitter posts of her apologizing for "hurting people" by having seen harry potter porn. Your species is insane, just btb.

GVH finally comes out quietly and everyone's so fucking. MAD at this game. Hardcore 4chan whateverfolk hate it because there's queers and highschoolers. Other people dislike it because Snoot Game already came out and now GVH feels like fanfiction of THAT to them. They already met these characters, enjoyed them written like they were in Snoot Game, so how they come off in GVH feels worse. And you know, sure! That's a rough fucking shake when a fanfiction comes out before your actual release and it's good! For others it's tainted because a ""sex perver"" had worked on it. For others the art style and that it premiered alongside big name AAA games as a launch title was enough to slot it firmly in the derision zone. For some, because the queer community cannot NOT devour its own tail, it's doing queerness wRONG (Fang's parents MISGENDER and DEADNAME them!!! you can't put that in a game that deals with gender as a theme!!!!)

And then you have people who don't care about ANY of that, who are upset that everyone dies in the end and "your choices didn't matter", despite your choices affecting your relationships with the other characters. Granted? Sure! More actual endings beyond the end-of-the-world concert would be great! But comparing it to Mass Effect 3 where NOTHING mattered because the Reapers destroy everything and you pick one option at the end and their implied consequences before like 4 different changes to the ending came out to retcon "oh yeah everyone in the galaxy is stranded, everyone probably dies anyway, you accomplished nothing everyone's still dead" ? ?

The world's ending. That's the point. It's what you do with the time left that seems to be the point? Yeah? No? I'm not saying it HIT that theme well, and I'm not saying it actually failed at it either. I honestly think it did FINE. The criticism i keep seeing is "everyone died so nothing mattered." Buddy. Buddy. YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. Please do not let that convince you that nothing you ever did mattered.

Among all that it came out buggy, apparently, and the music minigame isn't like. Super. Good. Doesn't matter too much if you do well or not. Not greatly designed? So you know. The game also has just general internal problems too mechanically, so people without a dog in the race just don't enjoy playing it? Like, the art style was all on the creators, like, it's... it's not GREAT I'll be real! It's really weird. It's humans in those latex dolphin masks the memes weren't off base even i was laughing at it and groaning at yet another piece of media whose theme was "leaving highschool is like the world ending"

but like.

GVH isn't like. I dont' think this is some great amazing the best game ever. The art style's grown on me but in the way where you learn to ignore how it looks. But like, I see people complaining it's too whiny--wait, the characters aren't depressed ENOUGH about the world ending--honestly, honestly,

I think I like it? I haven't played it but I've watched it and I think I like it. I'm not like, this is probably the last day in a while I'll ever even think about the game, it isn't going to stick with me for years and years, it didnt' make a big impact on me--but I liked it well enough???

At this point, my default assumption at this point is if someone strongly openly firmly dislikes this game it's not at all for any good reasons--or rather, that it's not on the value of the game in-and-of-itself. This poor game was saddled with all this WEIGHT on top of it. Can you even dig it clear of this external context and examine the game itself for what it is anymore?

I'm writing all these words and like. I haven't PLAYED it i've just watched other people play it. I'm not even BIG into the game it's like... it's okay!

But oh my god I cannot get over what a fucking. BAD serve-up the game had leading to its release and just beyond. Oof. Ouch. God. That's real rough, buddy. I have never seen something get this POOR a serve. What an absolute rough, ravage, unfair birth for a thing into the world!

I think if the game congealed out of the aether (and maybe with a more... better art direction?) it'd be fondly remembered in small quantities?

Instead it's just... the actual game itself is just BURIED under all this mess.

It's fucking fascinating to me, honestly. It's far more fascinating what happened to this game than the game itself at this point, and that, too, isn't very fair to the poor game. I, too, am here not to talk about the game, to care about the game, to have anything to say about the game. I am PART of this problem I'm talking about. Instead of addressing the game I'm talking about the context that was built around it.

I'm here because I remembered the drama, looked into all the drama, then went to watch the game and, after seeing ALL of that, EVERYthing I read through to get to the game itself, actually seeing the game was just... like... for this? All of that, for this?

Huh.

#long #autumn says things #autumn rambles

[clever-fox-studios]

Art Lessons

I'm just dropping this here because the idea keeps floating in my head about revisiting something I did back in the SAMS server (yes, hi, I was there, some of you probably know me from art chat) that I really enjoyed and I've been considering trying again to provide accessible resources to young or under-skilled artists.

So, back in the day (early 2023) when I was there (SAMS), I held a couple of streams where I tried to explain anatomy and breaking down bodies into shapes and how those lessons overlapped into other subjects like non-humans. I felt there was a moderate success, as I am and always have been, self-taught and thus I don't have the formal knowledge that comes from university classes (though I would like some one day); having been online enough I've seen the biases in the art community with the agism and such where older people who "missed" the window of opportunity are often pushed aside because they're expected to "know" by now how to Do The Thing when they weren't given the same opportunities then.

I've also seen how most how-to books, videos and classes, in many countries, seem to lack general fundamentals as part of their criteria; the number of 'students' who professed that their teachers or the instructor seemed to assume they had a basic idea of how to draw already before starting class was... staggering to say the least.

"I didn't know what [this] meant, I was just told to do it."

"We were never taught how to break this down, we just had to copy [this]."

Etc.

Nevermind the style biases; I despise the "Anime isn't art" arguments and how they try to force a style onto the learners as if they're superior for being 'traditional' or 'realistic'. I'm a person who does push for the fundamentals because they can be applied to all styles in some way; learn the rules to then break the rules and all that. Technical skill is not the same as style, in my book.

So, that being said, I would really love to revisit those streams one day soon, if the interest is still there. I'm planning to open a discord server for it where I can host the small-scale streams until I get a platform open for larger audiences; I'm thinking Twitch, but my set up isn't really good for that, and I need a certain amount of watch time/followers on Tiktok and Youtube (for some stupid reason) so while I figure that out, discord is better than nothing. VODs could be made or uploaded to Youtube later for review until I make proper edited stuff, but that's much later.

I just really miss offering help because art should be accessible and no one should feel isolated in the "you should know by now" bubble simply because their living situation or environment didn't afford them the time or resources to sit and draw all day, every day and teach themselves where classes failed or assumed they knew what they were dong already. Also, that live feedback can help a lot and allow others to run at their own pace instead of getting steamrolled by the 'natural talent' as I can repeat or revisit something and answer questions in real-time (as much as I'm able).

So if that's something that seems fun or interesting, I'd leave it open to any age (behave yourselves) to come learn; if I get enough interest I'll start making the discord and think of a schedule plan, but for now it's an idea!

Thank you for dropping by!

#art lessons #beginner artist #how to draw #discord #stream #art stream #classes #learn to draw #skill building

[dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night]

I know you've done similar with sirens/mermaids, but do you know that Japanese dish where you eat a paralyzed yet live fish? That but with some sort of mermaid/siren. For your angsty, gorey pleasure to boost you from writer's block. Hang in there, we know the feeling. 🥹

Oh boy can I do that!! Thank you so much, friend. I'm always open to writing anything regarding butchering, cooking, and/or eating sentient fantasy species. It's one of my favorite concepts.

TW: eating a living person, cruelty, character death, mermaid whumpee, human whumpers, multiple whumpers

Verity and Caroline took their seats at the seafood restaurant, holding hands over the polished wood table. They looked at the other tables to see what kind of food they could expect at this restaurant, renowned for its unique selection of exotic seafood.

A whole extended family sat at the longest table in the room, digging into a twenty foot tentacle of a juvenile kraken. A group of men in suits shared a platter of giant squid eyes, each the size of a basketball. A woman sat alone, eating sea anemone the same shades of blue and red as her hair.

"May I interest you and your wife in our Ikizukuri options?" the waiter asked. He wore thick framed glasses and a fake smile. "They're discounted today. Of course, we have many other kinds of food if you're looking for something a little less animated."

"What's Ikizukuri?" Caroline asked, slightly mispronouncing the word.

"A dish originating in Japan," the waiter ssaid, rattling off a well practiced explanation. "It literally translates as served alive. Sea creatures like fish are prepared to be eaten alive."

"That sounds like a really interesting experience," Caroline said brightly. "What do you think, honey?"

"It sounds a bit morbid," Verity said. "Do you really want to eat something that's still breathing?"

"Yes. I think it would be very interesting."

After a moment of hesitation, Verity smiled at Caroline. "Well, it's our anniversary. Spoiling my lovely wife is definitely on the table."

"Wonderful," the waiter said. "Please follow me. I'll show you today's selection."

Caroline picked up her small red purse from the table before following after the waiter. Verity put their arm around her waist, a familiar gesture of affection.

They entered a room far larger than the seating area. Other than the door they came in and the door leading to the kitchen, all of the wall space was taken up by massive fish tanks. More similar to what might be found in a zoo than any Red Lobster display.

"Interesting fish," Verity remarked, looking at a school of exotic, bright green fish swimming in circles.

Before the waiter could tell them what the fish was called, Caroline interupted with a gasp of delight.

"Is that a mermaid?" she asked, staring at a creature in the water far above her.

The mermaid noticed her and tried to swim away, but there was nowhere secretive for it to disappear to. Its gorgeous scales glimmered shades of blue and gray under the artificial lights. Long tentacles flowed from her body, a jellyfish like imitation of human hair. Scales adorned its whole body, so different from childish versions of mermaids with the skin of women on their faces and chests.

"Yes," the waiter said. "All our mermaids are bred in captivity. We only buy from farms of the best of quaility."

"I've never tried mermaid before," Caroline said to Verity. "I'd really like to try it."

Verity pursed their lips. Mermaid was very pricey. Not as expensive as kraken or griffin, but an extreme dip into the bank account of a middle class couple. But they had set aside plenty of money for their tenth anniversary, and Verity didn't want to ruin Caroline's adventurous fun.

"That's a wonderful idea," Verity said. "I've always wanted to try mermaid."

"Is that gray the one you want?" the waiter asked. "The grays tend to be very fatty. Some people prefer more lean meat, but I'm not sure on your tastes."

"I like fatty meat," Verity said. "It has a nice texture."

Caroline nodded in agreement.

"We usually drench them in soy sauce to reduce the likelihood of the uncooked meat transmitting illnesses," the waiter said. "It destroys a lot of harmful bacteria. I'll take your order to the chefs if you would seat yourselves again."

Verity and Caroline walked back to their table. The lights made from lit candles in old soda bottles interested Verity, and they stared at them while Caroline talked. They liked listening to their wife talk. The subject didn't really matter. She had such a wonderful voice, with inflections in all the right places.

Multiplr waiters carried out the mermaid on a wooden serving platter. The mermaid was four feet long, larger than it had looked in the tank. It laid atop steaming hot noodles. Everything was drenched in interesting sauces of differing colors and consistency. The dish smelt as salty as the ocean populated by wild mermaids.

"That looks delicious," Caroline said gleefully.

"I'm glad to hear that," the waiter said. "Be careful, the noodles are very hot. But the mermaid should be cool enough to start on. Can I get you anything else?"

"Do you serve alcohol?" Verity asked.

"Of course. The drink menu is on the table beside you."

Verity and Caroline took turns looking over the drink menu, before ordering sake for Verity and vodka for Caroline. The waiter disappeared and came back a moment later with their drinks, leaving the bottles on the table next to the glasses.

"Here's to us," Verity said, raising the small cup of sake. "And our ten years of marriage."

Caroline raised her glass of vodka in agreement. They both took a drink of their respective alcohols, finding them ridiculously strong tasting. A perfect way to wake them back up after a day full of celebrating with friends and siblings.

The mermaids gills spasmed as it tried desperately to breathe, a literal fish out of water. Verity felt secretly relieved that it would probably die of shock or suffocation instead of from being eaten. But mermaids ate each other in the wild, so it was hardly a moral conundrum.

Caroline cut out a chunk of the mermaid's tail and ate it. A smile lit up her face. "You have to try that. It's delicious. And I know you like salt."

The piece of the mermaid's arm Verity tried struck a good balance between savory and salty. They appreciated Caroline's judgment in ordering this, and ignored the mermaid's weak struggling as they continued to eat its still living flesh.

Mermaid blood gave the noodles a sweet flavor, complementing the salt filled sauces. Caroline and Verity disagreed on what the best part of the mermaid was. Caroline preffered the delicate gills and Verity the fatty flesh of the stomach.

The mermaid was long dead by the time they wrapped up their anniversary meal. Not yet done with the mermaids body or the noodles, they took them home with them. Verity carried the heavy takeout box to save their wife the trouble, and earned themself a kiss on the cheek.

Taglist: @heavenly-whumper @whumpsday @whumpshaped @hugh-lauries-bald-spot @devourerofcheesecake

#Whump #Mermaid whumpee #Mermaid whump #Eaten alive #Food related whump #Multiple whumpers #Human whumpers #Married whumpers

[clonerightsagenda]

My week continues to be a parade of horrors, so anyway, here's Team Xing in the college AU:

First off, fun college fact - American universities love international students because they can charge them out of state tuition. Do they want to create a vibrant international community on their campus? Maybe; but they also want vibrant international dollars. Amestris is more fantasy European but I know American higher ed so that's what you're getting.

The AU equivalent to the Xingese emperor is a wealthy businessman who has a whole bunch of kids via various wives and mistresses. He's getting up in years and hasn't indicated who will inherit control of his privately owned corporation, so many of his children are trying to win his favor and get brought into the fold.

Mei is a dual enrollment student. Do state universities do dual enrollment? I can't remember; I've worked at a community college too long. This one does. Her mother was never married to her father, so they never saw any money from him, and she has no illusions of getting a cut when he dies. As much as the money would help her family, she's not a fan of his business or ethics either. She's planning on studying medicine with an emphasis in alternative practices, even though what she really wants to do is small animal practice with a focus in exotics. Vet med is too expensive with too little returns for her current financial situation. Still, she hangs around the vet school a lot and has a massive puppy crush on Al. (A lot of people have crushes on Al. Ed is bewildered by this but mostly glad it's not him. Demi icon.)

Ling's mother *was* briefly married to his father, so his family got some money in the divorce and is doing better than Mei's. However, he has ambitions. He is, unfortunately, a business major, because he wants to get hired onto his dad's company and rise in the ranks with his expertise in international economics thanks to studying abroad. His mother died when he was young, and he was raised by a family friend (Fu) alongside his granddaughter. I don't know what Lan Fan is majoring in, but she's the undisputed champion of the campus parkour club. You will rarely see her walking to class on the sidewalk - she's roaming the underground steam tunnels, climbing onto the library roof through the 3rd floor annex window, or up on the belltower just cause. She's away from campus a lot because of a health problem Fu develops partway through freshman year. When on campus, if she is not scaling various buildings she is probably in the dining hall getting her money's worth at the all you can eat locations.

Ling also has health problems - hypoglycemia - and has to reach out to his instructors about making up missed classes. Roy is busy using his office hours to plot against the government administration, so instead of offering help he refers Ling to a classmate who knows his stuff and hey, is even in the same residence hall! Not only are they in the same residence hall; Ling's room is directly above Ed and Al's. Ed learns this when the guy he's supposed to be tutoring arrives via the window. Ed endures a month of Ling complaining about his terrible roommate and then another month of Ling bragging about his terrible roommate before he finally sees them in the elevator and goes wait, is that my fucking cousin?? (reprise).

#fma college au #fma

[2xplusungood]

Im just gonna say it: My opinion is that recent "rebalances" to minecraft absolutely have sucked immensely lately, namely these two big ones:

Netherite changes: So now instead of simply mining the 24+whatever you need for tools ancient debris, you now also have to obtain netherite upgrades found in Bastion chests, which not only adds what feels like a completely unnecessary step to something that already requires a decent amount of commitment, but now gives the same problem to netherite armor that Elytras have: With limited world sizes, items that can only be collected through exploration are much more finite. Have fun no longer being able to have netherite on public servers becuase a group of the more grind-motivated players already have all the netherite upgrades in the world and have decided to gatekeep them from other people. Either that, or they are super generous with it and hand them out to everyone, which completely INVALIDATES the change's point of making netherite harder to get. In essence, it basically adds griefing potential without making it an overall better game.

Villager changes: This one I've seen coming for a long time now, ever since the Mojang devs hopped on Hermitcraft with Doc and said that villager changes were coming.

In my opinion, the biggest issue with villager trading is the random nature of trades and sitting there breaking and places lecterns to hopefully get mending. I think having a more straight forward way of getting the enchantment you want is a step in the right direction but its still probably the worst possible way it could've been implemented.

First off, you need to find a swamp biome (which holy shit I am so goddamned tired of wandering in random directions hoping to find a specific biome, not becuase I think its cool but because theres some specific bullshit I need from it before I leave it forever)

Then at the BARE MINIMUM, you now have to transport villagers TO that biome. I don't feel like I can stress enough how bad of an idea this is. Moving and transporting villagers is extremely annoying and is downright DISCOURAGED by the game (Lures do not work on them and theres no way to make them follow you becuase they are... you know... supposed to be PEOPLE and not just animals)

It was, however, by no means impossible and could still be done if you really needed to have them somewhere but it was never something you HAD to do to get specific items and if they do not add the two missing village types, you will now.

My next point is that Mojang seems to want to kill any gameplay outside of their views of how to play the game. Like I keep seeing these youtubes parroting the fact that "oh you can build these super overpowered villager breeders and converters to get super cheap trades" without actually answering "how is this a bad thing"

One of the biggest draws of minecraft is the extremely low skill floor but extremely high skill ceiling. A casual player can get all the tools they need to make whatever they like on a small to medium scale, but someone who is more willing to push minecraft to its limits are happily given the tool necessary to do so, regardless of how gamebreaking they can be.

Want infinite iron? Break the game by making a golem farm

Infinite copper: Break the game by utilizing the absolutely absurdly obscure mechanic of zombie reinforcements and then convert them to drowns.

Slime: Making a slime farm in a slime chunk or swamp using mushrooms

Need infinite TNT? Dupe it using coral, a mechanic that is 100% a bug but at this point will not be fixed (For the time being, barring any sudden changes in developer opinion) due to its millions of uses.

The point Im making is that farms not only add a means for getting a ridiculous amounts of materials to make ridiculous buildings that would otherwise take way more time, but also add a whole new layer of gameplay for the insane tech-minded crowd

Zombie discounts however? Somehow they are bad. Somehow, the ability to get cheap trades through a VERY involved process (Either you are manually infecting and curing them like a psychopath or building the infrastructure to automatically infect and cure them like a high functioning pyschopath). Its so terrible how you can... get certain enchantments easier... or get glass easier... or mid tier armor and weapons/tools? Like you don't even get these resources passively like most farms and each villager you bring into your trading hall requires some manner of time investment.

So WHY nerf villagers? Are they the most fun to deal with? Is actually doing this farms the pinnacle of gameplay? Not really, but the answer would be to streamline this process (Being able to manually cycle trades without constantly breaking the workblock would be a good start) and not just take it out back and old yeller that shit.

My tinfoil is that some Microsoft exec found out about villager farms and decided it didn't fit with the kid-friendly brand they've made.

#mineblr #minecraft

[rolladerbie]

Muse List

HERE'S MY MUSE LIST UNDER THE CUT CUT CUT---

Just gonna put it out there, that on top of my OCs, I have the ability to play the following if asked (In no particular order):

Knock Out, Breakdown, Soundwave, Shockwave, Starscream, Megatron, Pharma, Ratchet, Bumblebee ---

Trying to think of who all I've rped in the past and I'm having a hard time remembering. -IF- there's someone Canonical that you'd like that you don't see on THE LIST, please feel free to grab me by the ears and point me in that direction-- even if I need a little handholding through it. I'm willing to write anyone. (Besides, I'm a degenerate and enjoy holding hands.)

𝕄𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕤

Failsafe ; Decepticon BioWeapons Engineer - Alt: B-2 Spirit

Very likely a Sparkeater, we simply don't know for sure.

Cannibalizes parts from deceased mechs

Vivisection is the word of the day.

Failsafe is a cold, calculating individual who prides himself in his ability to make infectious diseases jump from Organic to Mechanic. As such, he likes to target Cybertronian colonized planets and plant an organic creature with one of his viruses. Then he just sits back and watches the world go up in flames. In a nutshell, he's playing Plague Inc and everyone else has to suffer for it.

Moshpit ; Autobot Wrecker - Alt; HMMWV

Heavy duty punch boy

Secretly the dad friend

Actually a soft boy

Favorite color is pink and he loves hello kitty.

Moshpit is a massive mech that does massive damage on a massive scale, even when he doesn't mean to. 'Bull in a China Shop' is the best way to describe him, and it's not something that he can readily help. Him big. He has adopted Derby as his little sister, and he's ferociously protective of her- however, it's rare that they get to see one another anymore. He's everyone's dadfriend and he has the habit of adopting jusssst about everyone.

𝔽𝕖𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕤

Derby ; Autobot Wrecker; Alt- 1986 Chevy Caprice - Custom Paint

Was a cop before she was a Wrecker.

Suffering from a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)- She doesn't remember before the last thirty-seven years.

Behavior has changed from rigid police officer to rough and tumble demolitions expert due to TBI.

Derby was once a rather strict member of the Iacon Police before the War. She rather enjoyed her job because she found it fun to solve mysteries. When the war occurred, she served with the Autobots for some time, but having seen certain settlements being accosted so severely, she joined up with the Wreckers. Risking her life to keep the weak safe was what she signed on for. After millions of years of fighting, she suffered an injury so bad that she's lucky to be alive. Who she use to be is almost completely gone, however.

Mix-Tape ; Neutral Code Cracker / Mnemosurgeon; Alt- Boombox

Is actually a minicon and is thus quite small

Was a radio host before the war and values music like it's a lost artform.

Has been used by, and threatened by both sides of the war.

Mix-Tape never lived a very exciting life before the war. In fact, she ran a radio show about musical therapy and how certain tones can alleviate stress in a frame. When the war happened, she briefly joined the Autobots as a code maker and breaker. She was kidnapped by the cons, and then kidnapped back by the Autobots. This 'passing of the ball' got so bad that she eventually defected both sides and tried to hide out. This didn't work, however. She's been on the run ever since.

Lockjaw; Former Dinobot turned Decepticon ; Alt - Dilophosaurus

Has been treated like a pet since her Decepticon reformation.

Is a berserker, where her animal side takes over when she enters a blind rage.

Fires superheated plasma from her mouth.

Lockjaw was once a proud Dinobot, and a scout to boot. She was able to infiltrate most areas and send back information to her comrades in arms. This job, however, got her caught, and as a result, suffered a worse fate than death: Reformatting. Not only was this a painful process, it involved enough trauma to cause her to forget everything she ever stood for. Now she's a die-hard Decepticon loyalist who will lose herself to her more predatory side in a fight.

Scrape; Autobot Former Dispatch, now Battle Medic; Alt- 1965 Mustang

What medical License?

Hands On Learning

The leg bone's connected to the hip bone---right?

Scrape was content being a dispatch officer for the police before the war. She even entered into communications when the war started! But as the Autobots began to lose numbers, she found herself on the frontlines trying to do what she could to save lives. Her Medic mentor was felled in battle, and she did everything she possibly could to patch them up. They still ended up dying. She paints herself as a Medic to honor them, and actually does her best to learn as she goes.

The Furies; Decepticon Mercenaries; Alt- F-18 Hornet

(From left to right) Medusa, Fury and Harpy

Medusa is the 'baby', the 'nice one' and is very ahodere.

Medusa has an outlier ability that makes it to where locking optics with her for a period of time can shut down basic motor functions. She is unaware she has this ability

Fury is the eldest, the bitch, and very tsundere.

Fury is a tactician and has the habit of being a control freak

Harpy is the 'middle child', can be a touch aloof and is very Yandere

Harpy is by no means an autobot, but she romanticizes the forbidden relationships between autobots and decepticons.

The Furies are a trine of Seeker Mercenaries that are called in when all else fails. They are skilled assassins who have no qualms about taking out others among their ranks as well as Autobots. Of the three, Harpy takes the most prisoners because she 'falls in love' with those she interrogates and when she grows bored she disposes of them. Of the three, Medusa is something of a pacifist, but that does not mean that she does not support her 'sisters' in their endeavors. Fury rather enjoys the act of interrogation, and the three of them together is something of a horror to endure.

ℍ𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕤

Raziel; Human with Cybernetic Enhancements ; Ex Military

Took part in a military program to test cybernetics. Currently her left arm, spine and heart have been replaced.

Having worked so close to the Military, she has been given the opportunity to study Cybertronians and their anatomy thanks to POWs that have been taken by the government since the Roswell Crash.

Learning what makes a Cybertronian tick, she then synthesized pain killers for them.

Raziel wasn't always the equivalent of a Repo!Man, harvesting organs from fallen Cybertronians. She was once a doctor for a secret branch of the military that dealt with Off-World issues. Having been brought on to study Cybertronian frames, she has sickened her mind with knowledge that no human has a right to know. She lost her arm to one of these POWs, and with her advanced knowledge on their biology, had a new arm made. All of her time working with these bots gave her something of a rapport with them. If they cooperated and let her learn as much as she could, she'd see to it they were released. Come to find, according to the military, Death is a quick release. Having left the military behind, she moved on to stalking Cybertronian battle grounds to harvest organs before the clean up crew could arrive for either side. She's now made herself a little chop shop where Mechs and Femmes of all kinds come for various acts. Whether it's a paint job, a tire rotation, or a t-cog replacement, she's there for the job.

She's also synthesized drugs for Cybertronians. The downside is, they're highly addictive...

#transformers rp #transformers oc #cybertronian oc #human oc #maccadam's #oc artwork #oc art #sushi speaks

[enbyleighlines]

Leigh plays Tellius prt 25

I like how they throw this foreshadowing into the story so early. I'll talk it about this more once we learn the aforementioned secret, but for now I'll just say that I find the parallels between Naesala and another king quite fascinating.

I had to get this base conversation, even though I've seen it before. I think it's just such a sweet addition to the story. I mentioned it before, but I just love these three brothers. Their backstory is so sad, and I love how, even though they still bicker and don't always get along, they all rely on and support one another.

See, like this right here. This base conversation is payoff for the ridiculous little argument Rolf and Boyd got into earlier about skill vs strength. I think the Tellius duology does sibling relationships so well. Ike and Mist have a similar dynamic, wherein they biker and tease one another, while also clearly caring for one another.

Oh, Ilyana. Never change.

I couldn't stop cackling during this base conversation. I just love everything about it— Ike's no nonsense attitude towards Aimee's flirtations, Soren rushing in to save Ike from doing something that could get him in trouble, and then Soren aggressively flirting with Aimee for some sweet, sweet discounts. It's such a lovely callback to the base conversation in PoR, wherein Soren gives Aimee advice on how to seduce Ike in exchange for a rare staff.

I know a lot of people headcanon Soren as a jealous partner, and it's not that I disagree (I think he has a possessive streak which embarrasses him), but I think he's also very confident in the fact that Ike isn't interested in the various women that flirt with him, so he has no reason to feel threatened. Sure, if a woman oversteps their boundaries, Soren is going to step in. But he isn't overly jealous. And I think that sort of thing is rare in characters like him, the intensely-in-love-with-their-best-childhood-friend archetype. He loves Ike, that is for certain. But he's also a pragmatic person who takes his position as staff officer very seriously. If there is a way for him to get a discount on goods or get his hands on an extremely rare item, well, he's not afraid to do what needs to be done.

As he says in this conversation, "What I do now, I do for the good of the company."

Gosh, I love this base conversation. It's literally just Ranulf talking about Soren's character growth from PoR to RD. Ranulf is always carefully observing Soren, like that moment in PoR where he implies he knows about Soren's laguz heritage, or that moment when he asks Ike about whether or not his "nervous little staff officer" has snapped yet. I think Soren and Ranulf should interact more! I'm so mad they cut out the scene where Soren reluctantly agrees to ride on transformed Ranulf's back. Ahhh. I have so many brainworms about these two. I don't ship them romantically, but I think that their dynamic is just so fun to think about. It's my personal belief that they would (eventually, after a lot of effort on Ranulf's part) become good friends (even if Soren would never admit it).

Let Ike have two boyfriends!! Let them all travel the world together as a partially queerplatonic throuple!!! Ugh my heart hurts just thinking about it.

AND HERE IT IS

This is my favorite cutscene in the game. Gosh, seeing Ranulf animated in this scene is always such a treat. The smooth delivery of his lines, the small little ear twitches, the fact that he is just too damn handsome... Yeah, I'll admit it. I 100% have a bit of a crush on Ranulf. I totally understand why Lyre and Kyza fight over him.

I mean, I love a lot of other things about this cutscene. I love how effortlessly cool Zelgius is, I love the grand scale of it all, I love the gloomy, misty atmosphere, I love how each laguz and beorc in the background is animated with such care and attention to detail, I even love Tibarn's ridiculous line "To wing, brothers! Catch me if you can!" And oooh, don't even get me started on the low timbre of Skrimir's voice. I'm not usually into muscular men, but Skrimir is an exception.

Maybe I just have a thing for catboys...

Gosh, I love this dynamic between Skrimir and Soren. This one-sided infatuation is so damn cute. And I'm glad to see someone else appreciate Soren as much as I do. Of course, Soren immediately rejects him and rushes to stand by Ike.

I don't ship these Soren and Skrimir, but I understand the people that do. It's a very fun dynamic.

Anyway, that's it for now! Sorry for the long wait on this one. I have been struggling to get back into routine after having a week off from work. Also, I'm sorry if I talked too much about shipping in this one. But it is impossible for me to be normal about this part of the game, with so much focus put on Soren. In PoR, Soren struggled with the fact that he didn't feel like he belonged anywhere, that he was unwanted, and now look at him!! He's so much more confident now, less afraid to speak his mind.

I just want to grab him by the face and tell him, "You're doing great, sweetie!"

Would he kill me for doing that? Oh, absolutely.

Would it be worth it anyway?

I think anyone who has read this far already knows the answer.

#leigh plays tellius #fire emblem radiant dawn #radiant dawn #fe10 #tellius

[sharky857]

The Palia Experience™ (so far)

Believe it or not, I'm trying it out because a friend of mine ended up despising this (beta) game so much they went and asked the game company to straight up delete their account for good.

Know that I won't dig into some controversial/sus stuff ongoing with some cosmetic bundles, because right now I am not even interested in purchasing a single thing in game.

All this is going to be purely from a(n oblivious) player's pov, who is also still a newb who's just "learned" how to plant & water crops.

For starter, I appreciated same ol' warnings for flashing lights & stuff. I'm not photo-sensitive myself, but I can see how this can be a nice thing for those who have this issue to varied degrees.

What I would also appreciate would be the possibility to have subtitles in the cutscenes (unless this option is already available but dumdum me couldn't spot it).

Customisation has lots of options to choose from right away, and I'm saying so as someone who comes from Warframe, where the only "Operator" free stuff is 4-5 hairstyles and a Zariman suit, with everything else locked behind either plats or a grindfest.

Besides, you can also have a small selection of colours to tweak. This is what I ended up mashing together.

The graphic looks cartoony/simplistic, and it kinda reminds me of another game: "Paladins" (another friend of mine described it as "generic unity style 'cutesy fantasy' aesthetics").

Makes me wonder if this has anything to do with both games running on "Unreal Engine". 🤔

Also, despite my PC would meet the requirements to run the game at "high" settings, I decided to keep them at the default ones the game itself chose: "medium". This resulted in my GPU (GTX 1650) not breaking a sweat, ever and unironically.

(Yes, this means that my screenshots are all taken with the graphics set on "medium".)

Even so, it hasn't been uncommon for me to see the game freeze and/or stutter. What left me puzzled this whole time is that the CPU (of the i7 kind) would at time show spikes of 60% usage. A sign that, maybe, the graphic isn't as "simplistic" as it looks.

Still, I have yet to experience any game implosion, so I guess I am still all good here.

And btw: yes, the game devs themselves know about the latter issues I mentioned. 👇

There is only one thing that keeps on leaving me quite fascinated.

Queue. Queue everywhere.

Apparently, the servers are still so damn tiny that, no matter where you're trying to load into, even though you are already logged in game, you will have a high chance of seeing a message like this in the corner of the loading screen. 👇

Logging into the game? "X Palians ahead of you."

Loading into a cutscene before/after a quest? "X Palians ahead of you."

Going to the village? "X Palians ahead of you."

Coming back to your tent/home? "X Palians ahead of you."

Imagine playing something like Warframe (the only other co-op game with quests I could think of). Imagine if you loaded in your own Orbiter and tried to start absolutely anything, even while in "solo" mode:

Loading a mission: "X Tenno ahead of you."

Starting/Progressing with a quest whatever: "X Tenno ahead of you."

Waiting for the cutscene(s) to said quest to load: "X Tenno ahead of you."

Going to a relay or a free roam (imagine instances didn't exist either): "X Tenno ahead of you."

Moving back to your Orbiter to call it a day: "X Tenno ahead of you."

You got the picture. Not really a fun and also sliiiightly irritating in the long run. 😅

But hey, it's a beta game that has just come out of "closed beta" only 1-2 days ago. So hopefully they will be able to expand their servers soon enough.

As for the gameplay itself, it's nothing really special to me, probably because I am already familiar with some of the mechanics. I've seen this being called "a mix between Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley", and so far I'm mildly getting the latter's vibes (never played any "Animal Crossing" game).

All in all, if I were to rate this game on a scale of 0 to 10, I would give it a generous 7. "Generous" because of the aforementioned controversy with the bundle discounts so-called "scam" (which is still unclear whether or not it's been accidental, haven't kept up with the news in this regards), plus the current, microscopic size of the servers.

#palia #palia game #palia open beta #sharky's stunning skills at gaming #I'm also dreading the moment I'll have to open that chat & ask for help to other players #I'm such a sucker for playing solo & interacting with other people (total strangers) gibs me THE ANXIETY 😔

[leidensygdom]

For your Gharmyra campaign, I've got a bunch of questions!

You've run fucking 90 SESSIONS, which is a crazy long game (so congrats to that lmao), so what would be some of your favorite moments to come out of the game? This is both from your players and something they did that was amazing, and from you surprising yourself through a great DM moment!

For your worldbuilding, what's your favorite bit of info? Could be a large thing, could be a small little detail that your players will probably never interact with but you love it anyway!

Finally (there may be more later lmao), I ADORE the crystal and watcher lore you have! Where did the idea come from, and how did it change as you developed it?? I love hearing inspirations and the creative process!! And what's the most tragic/cool/fucked up thing you did with the watchers to your players??

In conclusion, your world's cool as hell, your art's sick as FUCK, and I adore all of your characters!!!

AAA THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU'RE SO NICE!!!

Higlights: From a player

There's been a lot of highlights in these 90 sessions. I'll focus a bit on Laestis here, since the other players are no longer in game (because they just don't have the time or drive for dnd anymore). One of the highlights was a bit of a climax that happened after Act 1's end and Act 2's beginning, which was about dealing with her patron's crystallized corpse and retrieving the staff that once belonged to Vest. I even got a commission by the ever-fantastic EllirhShaan from that scene:

A watcher's original, crystallized corpse isn't really more than a bunch of crystal for the most part. Which means that if, unoccupied, someone else can take that over and use it. Vest's "mother" (Solaralith) decided to use it to avoid Laestis from retrieving Vest's crystal staff (seen in the background of the last panel). So, threatening golden watcher is the Solaralith-possesed-Vest-corpse, while friendly looking watcher is Vest's appareance (Which was more ghostly). Getting to settle that down, getting Solaralith vanished for a bit, retrieving a significative weapon that was a next step towards their pact (and in a way, helped giving Vest more physical presence) and leaving behind her current sword (the one that had hosted Vest's seed for all this time (which Laestis took from the sword) was all very climatic!

Highlights: As a DM

On my end, as a DM, I really enjoyed Mythannae's Nightmare arc. Before he became my PC in another campaign, he was a background NPC. He had been a dissident watcher, that lead a group that tried to do exactly the same than the party is trying to do: End the long feud between watchers and avoid the war. And yet, his group failed terribly, which ended with the death of most (or worse-than-death fates) and very few of them surviving the ordeal. I'll explain what is a Nightmare a bit late, but let's say it's somewhere where memories persist so strongly, you can view stuff from the past. And to get information, they visited one related to Mythannae- And got to talk with their memory!

And also fight him (in a friendly manner) to understand the sheet power that the big watchers have. For scale, a token is about the size of these lil gems in the center of the five platforms. I got to do an animated battlemap, which I was very excited about! The fight was tense and fun, the party found out methods to end watchers, they retrieved the weapon that was used to kill Mythannae in the past. Also found out a bit more about a NPC that they had quite a lot of doubts about, who happened to be very close with Mythannae

A bit of lore I enjoy

So, other than the watchers (and a lot of worldbuilding focused on nations, which can be a bit harder to develop in a post like this), the mechanic of the Nightmares was fun and a great way to introduce lore in the shape of a dungeon.

Basically, in this setting, extremely strong memories, if mixed with a magically charged environment, can create Nightmares. They're areas where reality is over-written by the source of these memories: Things change to adapt the past, often creating whole new areas and spaces that can be traversed as if they were physical. Nightmares can be caused by individuals or collectives. They're often chaotic and not completely logical: Events that might have been many years apart (or very far away physically) can happen in 2 rooms one next to the other. It allows the players to have a much more direct view on these events, and even partake in them. Which is always fun to have, since the alternative tends to be a lore dump or giving them lenghty text descriptions.

Usually, they need to face the source of the memories to end a nightmare: It tends to be the person who caused the nightmare in the first place. The first time, they fought a knight of the Ark'Sava from the times they were most tyrannical. The second time, they faced Mythannae. The physical objects that were tied to these were a statue to said knight, and Mythannae's whole corpse.

Here's the Ark'Savan guy : ) his name is Sygdom, he's where I get my nickname from. The nightmares had some mechanics tied to it, related to how long they were in the space, and how involved they got in them: The line of reality and dream got more progressively erased, and the memories started to overwhelm the characters. Mechanically, they could accumulate up to 30 "nightmare points", which had 3 tiers. Each tier meant the dream-stuff around them affected them further, to the point they started to get their views influenced by it. For example, one character started to side more with the Ark'Savans, while another character was more akin to the Ark'Vossians. It affected against enemies and even between them: In the second tier (from 10 to 20), they couldn't end their turn next to each other due to some natural distrust. It was overall a fun bunch of things!

On the watchers

So! Watchers were made originally as part of a lore for a forum. I was given the task to give some lore to a barren land in the map, and I ended up going for "drows" and "crystals". I had no idea what drows were like in DnD canon and just ignored it altogether. Don't regret it. The idea was that, within that setting, drow had thrived and made great advancements, but suddenly disaster struck their main city and most of them perished in the catastrophe, with few survivors running away and scattering across distant caves. They had relied in crystals for technology, but now, they feared it: The crystals were related to the mess, but the survivors weren't sure what went wrong.

Millenia passed, and people kept fearing the magic crystals, never going back to where the catastrophe stuck because it was an extremely dangerous land. But there were almost no records on what did exactly go wrong. And some people were tired of being kept in the dark, of not using a resource that was so invaluable. Something that could give them the chance to fight back much bigger nations, which were all readying for war. These people started to investigate and use the crystals, and their leader travelled to where the catastrophe stuck. He returned with a crystallized arm and much knowledge, including the fact that people in said place had both, feared and yet also adored crystalline creatures. Unknowingly to him, being magically corrupted made him the perfect vessel for watchers, which had caused the accident, and were looking forward to expanding their reach.

THAT was the original lore. It was done when i was 14 years old or so. Then, the forum died down due to drama, and I never got to explore much the lore. I decided to port it (With adaptations) to another forum, but this time, I decided to instead focus on the city that had fallen down due to crystal corruption and watchers: Try to understand what happened before disaster struck. The idea was that, if the lore advanced enough in that forum, the disaster could happen. OR it could be prevented! That's how Gharmyra was born, and how the watchers were further developed. Again, that other forum died (RP forums die like crazy), and I was again left with a lot of lore and nowhere to use it.

(Here's a watcher, to spice up the post : ) ) And that's when, years later, I decided to port it towards a DnD campaign. All these new ports meant refining the lore, cleaning up issues and holes, and detailing things further. A surprising amount of the ideas came from ages ago, but my 14yo worldbuilding was not the best in many regards So I've had a lot of time to polish things and bring them to their current state!

Anyways, this is a very long post already!! I'll get into watcher spooky things in another moment. I hope that does answer most of it though, I appreciate a lot the questions <3 It's giving me an itch to get finally back from the long hiatus!!

#dnd #dnd art #dnd homebrew #homebrew #worldbuilding #watcher #watchers #kalashtar #gharmyra #undead #crystal #drow #dark elf #elf #ttrpg #pathfinder

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

Okay so I’ve already squealed about most of what I love about Canto Bites but not only is it my favourite of the three stories, it’s one of my favourite fanfics I’ve ever read, I’m absolutely obsessed with the angst. Like, I’ve read more than my fair share of death scenes, but that one hit HARD and I enjoyed reading it all so much

And I don’t think I need to elaborate on how much I enjoyed the spicy part

BUT question time! It’s like 6am right now so I’ll send more questions once I’ve thought of them but I have to know, Quizzy said that racing fathiers was unlike MXW, so how did they end up there? And how did they fall in with Guiye and Krol?

Eeeeee thank you!!! Honestly I really, really struggle with reading. I absolutely don't have the attention span for it and my mind tends to wander or glaze over paragraphs and I have to focus really hard on it and go back over and over, so I've always thought like, how could I possibly write something good if I can't even read well. Which sucks because like, I love literature! I just hate reading. So, it's just really nice to hear. Thank you.

Especially this work, which I worried about before releasing. It was more small scale, dialogue-heavy than the others. My husband did not enjoy this one as much because he said it felt kind of out of character for the Grand Inquisitor but honestly? I have to push back on that. There's always this razor's edge of cruelty he's about to step over, but he isn't doing so because he also knows this person. We've never seen the Grand Inquisitor react to someone they were friends with before becoming an Inquisitor. Yes he is more amicable, tame, and open, but he's constantly on the verge of flipping that switch too if he needs to. And there is more than one way to bring someone to the dark side, it isn't all torture and physical violence. It can be coercion and manipulation, which he is absolutely doing here. Both are desperately trying to flip the other to their side, but neither is willing to give.

As for your questions: so, I'll be the first to admit I don't know that much about horse racing, BUT, specifically in Star Wars canon, over and over I was finding references to how badly racing fathiers were treated, especially at Canto Bight. MXW is very empathetic towards animals, and would never want to make an animal suffer. Mostly, fathiers are used as work and transportation animals in the galaxy far, far away, especially on backwater planets such as Dantooine where even electricity is rare. MXW likely moved to Dantooine to escape persecution, found work as a rancher breeding fathiers as work animals and doing like, fun local races at fairs there, but then started supplying fathiers to rebels and heard about the Grand Admiral and concocted a larger plot around racing fathiers specifically for revenge. So in a sense, they are starting to blur their morality in the name of their wrath, although they are doing their best to still balance looking after the animals too.

Unlike NAJ, MXW hasn't completely lost themselves to the darkness, which is why their fates are necessarily so different. It really is good to compare NAJ and MXW though. MXW is definitely toeing the line with the dark side- angry, passionate, overly-attached. But their reaction to the Inquisitor is to desperately try to look for their friend, to find the goodness, and be revolted by or even refuse to accept the bad. NAJ's reaction to "do you know what I do to Jedi?" is literally just, *shrug* "doesn't matter, I'm not a Jedi" when yeah, it ABSOLUTELY should matter. NAJ already lost the battle and doesn't even realize it yet. The Grand Inquisitor senses that MXW is maybe starting to play in that space, and wants to exploit that, but doesn't get the chance.

As for Guiye and Krol, I think they are fairly recent additions to MXW's life, met through the rebellion's activities on Dantooine. Dantooine was one of the first places the rebellion actually had a physical base, although even that comes years after this. I still think it would have been an early rallying/meetup point. Guiye is a Twi'lek and Krol is a grizzled old man, but this small crew definitely gets along well. This story takes place pretty early on after the formation of the empire, like ~5-7 years in, in my mind. Which is also why the Grand Inquisitor is all around less experienced than we see him later on.

Thanks for the ask, again I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

#canto bites q&a

[fourseasonsfigs]

Candy Puff - Happy Camp Pink Powder

Today is the third set of these adorable Candy Puff Junzhe pairs! And there's no better way to round it out than with some pink powder fun.

The joint Happy Camp appearance is a perennial fig favorite. It's also a perennial Four Seasons Figthusiast favorite, since few things have made me laugh harder than watching Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan chase each other around in a circle!

If you haven't had a chance to watch this, please please do, it's worth every second, I promise. If you can't watch the entire thing, here's a few highlights for your viewing enjoyment!

If you don't have time right now, no worries... I have some favorite pics!

I love this episode SO MUCH. This and the concert is what I watch if I'm ever having a tough day, it never fails to cheer me up.

In yesterday's post, we had animal ears and little fangs - today we have cute little teeth in their laughing mouths.

This is a nice angle on their Happy Camp blue jumpsuits. Unlike in the show, these have managed to escape unscathed from the extreme powdering.

These figs are clearly from the end of the game, when their hair is half pink powder! It's an interesting stylistic choice the fig maker made to make Zhehan's shorter buzzed hair a lighter pink. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, but it does distinguish him from Gong Jun's tousled mop!

You can see more of the detail here. The cute pointing fingers are not from the pink powder game, but a nice callback to the dancing challenge.

The other dancing hands are super cute too. I always like this pose, I find it especially charming.

Back around the other way! Sometimes I feel this exact 3/4 view is always the one that is the least interesting, because I consistently run out of things to say on this angle! And you know me, when do I ever run out of things to say? 😅

Wow, we get some height difference here! Haha, this is probably accurate to scale!

There we go! Back to some cute faces. This is also a great view of Junjun's hair. I don't recall it being quite this boisterous in the show, but I like it! It goes well with his laughing eyes.

We've come back around to the front and I've swapped sides! They're so cute.

We've got some pink hair, all right! Junjun's swoopy hair here never fails to amuse!

These figs, like most of the Candy Puff ones, stand up ok. Their feet are a little bit on the bigger side (of very small), which helps offset the weight of their larger-than-regular heads + the very stylized hair with this series.

And that's it for these series of Junzhe figs! I'm waiting on the final Wenzhou set to arrive before I do the remaining two other fig sets in that series.

Material: PVC (and a ton of pink powder)

Fig Count: 250

Scene Count: 18

Rating: Pure pink chaos!

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

#junzhe #happy camp #zhang zhehan #gong jun #woh cast #word of honor cast #shl #shl cast #figthusiast