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duhragonball · 1 month ago

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Stardust Crusaders Liveblog: JJBA Ch. 183-192

Last time, the boys finally made it to Egypt. So they're home free, right? Well, not really, because they crossed the Red Sea into the southeastern tip of Egypt, and now they have to cross the entire country to get to Cairo.

But that shouldn't take too long, right? After all, the Tarot-themed bad guys are pretty much all defeated. Right? You're shaking your head, are you saying they added more Major Arcana?

One of the things I really enjoyed about Part 7 were all the wide shots of scenery, but I should have known Part 3 had plenty of the same.

All right, so first thing's first, the boys meet up with some guys from the Speedwagon Foundation, who provide them with some provisions, a new robot hand for Joseph, and a new ally. Only Joseph and Avdol know who it is, and everyone else is astonished to find out it's a dog. Say hello to Iggy, whose Stand is named after the Fool card. Iggy immediately starts dry humping Polnareff's face and farting. Come get this work, Dio.

Speaking of Dio, the Speedwagon guys have some intel on him. They spotted nine people leaving a building where Dio is suspected to be hiding, but that's about all they know. It's a safe bet that they're Stand users, but the only Tarot cards left are the Emperor (Hol Horse) and The World, which Kakyoin presumes to be Dio's Stand. Avdol has no idea what to make of this.

Okay, time out, real quick.

So I think this is kind of a mistake. The Tarot thing in Part 3 was a neat idea, and it seems like a good way to organize and name all the major characters in the story. Six good guys versus Dio and fifteen henchmen. It works.

But now we're down to the end and suddenly Araki pulls the rug out from under the audience and reveals nine more henchmen we have to deal with. They have a whole other theme, and when we get through with them, there's still another henchman we have to deal with, and that guy's just named after pop music references because Araki was over it, I guess.

So we end up with six good guys taking on twenty-six bad guys. Is that a problem? Well, I can't complain much, since Part 3 is one of my favorites, and a lot of these Egyptian Stand battles are classics.

Still, it feels like we're dragging things out for no particular reason. Most of these battles are really short and simple, and maybe if there were fewer of them, there'd be more room for the characters to develop a bit before they get beaten down. Hell, Avdol's only been in two Stand battles since the story started. Kakyoin's helped out a few times, but his only solo wins are Tower of Grey and Death Thirteen. It just seems weird to have so many enemies in this story only to use most of them as fodder for Jotaro.

Then again, that may be the point of Part 3. Araki introduced the Stand concept with this story, and it does feel like much of the action is designed to demonstrate the width and breadth of what a Stand could be. So rather than have a handful of Stands in longer battles, Araki crammed as many Stands as possible into Part 3, just to showcase the variety.

But getting back to the Tarot, somewhere in the middle of watching the anime series, I realized that one of the Enemy Stands would be named "The World", and that's when it finally hit me that Dio was the Za Warudo Guy from various memes in 2006-2007. Back then, I used to see stuff from the Stardust Crusaders OVA, as well as the video games, with Dio's over-the-top offense. The time-stopping, the road-roller throwing, the knife tossing, the WRYYYYYYYYYY-screaming, etc.

What I didn't know was how in the hell anyone was supposed to beat the guy. The memes were all about how insanely OP the guy was, and it seemed like a joke instead of a serious story. And yet here's Joseph Joestar and his pals marching off to Egypt to pick a fight with this guy. They're doomed. They're fighting their way to Cairo just to die.

And that's the kind of tone that was set for my introduction to Stardust Crusaders. It kind of fucking rules.

As for the mysterious new Stand Users, the gang doesn't have to go far to learn more about them, since one of them has already been preparing an ambush. His Stand moves water around. It makes a water-hand to attack this Speedwagon guy, but usually it just slashes at people like a knife. For example...

Kakyoin gets taken out first, and he barely had a chance to do anything. This looks pretty horrific, and it does take him out of the story for a while, but he miraculously recovers. We'll go into that later, but for now, say goodbye to Kakyoin, because he'll be riding the pine for the next several arcs.

The enemy doesn't introduce himself until the end, but for the sake of clarity, this guy's name is N'Doul, and his Stand is called Geb. He's blind, but that doesn't slow him down much, since he uses some sort of echolocation to detect his targets. You take a step, and he can somehow hear that and knows to send Geb to attack that spot. I assume this is part of Geb's ability.

However, Geb has a weakness, in that Iggy can smell it coming before it attacks. I suppose this is because it uses water to hit things, and dogs are good at smelling water. So getting the drop on Iggy might be impossible for N'Doul. On the other hand, Iggy's not much of a team player, and he seems fine with leaving the others to die.

Avdol nearly figures out how to beat Geb by dropping his bracelets on the sand to simulate footsteps. When Geb attacks, he singes it with Magician's Red, but doesn't score a clean hit. Geb, however, slashes Avdol's throat, which looks like a fatality, but no, he's fine after this.

So with two men down and no idea where to find the Stand User, Jotaro makes a break for it and grabs Iggy. N'doul doesn't understand what he's up to, but Jotaro has figured out that Iggy can smell Geb before he attacks. So he's hoping to use that to his advantage. Even if Iggy doesn't want to cooperate, he'll have to warn Jotaro or they'll both get killed.

But Iggy tries to escape using his Stand, the Fool. It's kind of like Geb except it uses sand instead of water, and it seems a lot more versatile. Maybe Iggy's just more creative. Here, he makes a pair of sandy wings to glide over the desert. This way, N'Doul can't find him, and Jotaro has a harder time keeping up with him.

N'Doul is confused for a while, until the Fool loses altitude, and Jotaro has to use Star Platinum to bounce them back up into the air. That's enough for N'Doul to figure out that they're airborne.

All N'doul has to do is wait for them to come back down again, but Iggy isn't going to make him wait that long. He drops sand down to the ground, which allows N'Doul to guage Jotaro's exact position and altitude.

But before Geb can attack, Jotaro goes on the offensive. He's already gotten close enough to spot N'Doul, so now he just grabs Iggy and throws him at N'Doul using Star Platinum.

This forces both of them to use their Stands to protect themselves from the collision, which gives Jotaro time to get close to N'Doul without getting attacked.

And so, once N'Doul gets his bearings, he discovers that Jotaro is right behind him. From here, it's just a matter of which one can strike first.

But Star Platinum is all about speed and precision, so it's not too surprising to see Jotaro win this. Geb manages to knock off Jotaro's hat, but that's all.

Jotaro doesn't hit N'Doul hard enough to kill him, but N'Doul attacks himself with Geb to kill himself anyway. He expects Jotaro to interrogate him using Joseph's Hermit Purple, and N'Doul prefers to die than to betray Dio's confidence. As N'Doul explains it, his Stand allowed him to commit crimes at will, and he was totally free to do as he pleased, but Dio was the first person to see value in N'Doul, and he seems to take this very seriously.

Before he dies, N'Doul gives Jotaro his name, and the name of his Stand, and explains the theme behind his group. The nine Stand Users are named for the Egyptian Gods of Prosperity, known as the Ennead. N'Doul claims that the Ennead mythology was the basis for the Tarot, but the connection seems kind of flimsy to me.

The best link I could find is the French occultist Ettailia (real name Jean-Baptiste Alliette). I thought his psuedonym was kind of cool until I realized it was just his last name spelled backwards. It looks like Ettailia was the one who got the ball rolling on using Tarot decks for divination and occult purposes, and he took inspiration from contemporaries who claimed the Tarot was the Book of Thoth, i.e. a mystical tome of ancient Egyptian wisdom. But this all happened in the 18th century A.D. millennia after the Ennead were worshiped in Egypt.

Then again, the characters in Stardust Crusaders who take the Tarot seriously would probably buy into the Egyptian connection, even if the Tarot deck itself seems to have originated in Europe. And it would certainly suit Dio's aesthetic, since he clearly enjoys living in Egypt and the counsel of fortunetellers like Enya Geil.

Anyway, the fight's over, Jotaro wins again, and Iggy is nice enough to fetch his lost hat. But Iggy made sure to spit out his gum all over the hat as a last "fuck you" to Jotaro for forcing him to fight N'Doul.

Speaking of the Book of Thoth, we meet the next two Ennead guys when the Joestar Group takes Kakyoin and Avdol to the hospital. These are Oingo and Boingo, and they're brothers. Boingo, the younger brother, has a Stand called Thoth which takes the form of a comic book that predicts the future. Together they use this to do various shenanigans.

For example, Boingo's comic predicts that Joseph, Jotaro, and Polnareff will go to a cafe and drink poisoned tea, so all Oingo has to do is infiltrate a cafe and make sure to poison the tea when they inevitably show up.

This is a weird arc, because the two sides never actually fight each other. This is more of an exploration by Araki of the concept of Fate. It's a recurring theme throughout JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that Fate is more than an abstract philosophical construct. Rather, Fate is a genuine, tangible force of nature, and it cannot be denied for long. The villains try to cheat or manipulate Fate, because Fate always seems to bend towards justice.

For example, there's plenty of cafes in this town, so there's no reason for the good guys to pick the one in Boingo's comic. Indeed, Polnareff chooses one at random by tossing his cigarette on the ground and seeing which one it points towards. But this leads them right to the cafe in Boingo's comics, where Oingo is waiting for them, disguised as a waiter.

But why should they drink tea? I mean, they order it at first, but suddenly Joseph gets paranoid, and suggests they avoid drinking anything unless it comes out of a can or a bottle. So he changes the order to three Cokes, and he specifies three cans just to be extra sure no one poisoned them.

But Polnareff doesn't see how anyone could possibly have been expecting them to come to this particular cafe. After all, they chose it at random, and if Joseph's that worried about it, they can just go to another one. Except... the one they go to is on fire, thanks to Polnareff's misplaced cigarette. This convinces Joseph to just go back in and order the tea like they were going to do from the start.

Again, there's no conflict here. Everything proceeds exactly as Boingo predicted. The only tension is with Oingo, who knows Boingo's Stand always tells the truth, but he still has to live with the suspense.

In any event, Oingo and Boingo's plot is foiled when Iggy starts a ruckus nearby, and the Joestar party goes to deal with that before they can drink enough poisoned tea to get killed. The comic book only showed them holding the cups to their lips. It never actually said they would die.

This is the main weakness of Boingo's Stand. Thoth's predictions are absolute, but they leave a lot of wiggle room in the interpretation, and they only show so much of the future. If you want to know what happens next, you have to wait for more images to appear, and you might miss an opportunity. For example, another sequence in the comic predicts that the boys will meet a guy and decide to mug him for no good reason. This turns out to be a huge mistake, but Thoth doesn't tell them that until later.

In the meantime, they go ahead and mug the guy when they meet him in real life. I mean, why not?

When I watched this arc in the anime, I wondered why the scenes from the Thoth comic were rendered in such a wildly different art style. It seemed eccentric at first, more of a whimsical choice than anything else. But now that I'm reading the comic version, it seems much more obvious. Araki has to draw the prediction, then draw the same events all over again when the prediction comes to pass. So the change in style is to keep things from getting too repetitive. Also, it's clear which panels are the prediction and which ones are "real" life.

Finally, the boys hit paydirt, as Thoth shows them planting a bomb in an orange and using it to blow up Jotaro. The comic even shows Jotaro getting exploded, so that's it, right? They're guaranteed to win now! All Oingo has to do is prepare a bomb and hide it in the good guys' car while they're not looking.

However, Joseph and Polnareff catch him in the car, so Oingo's only chance is to use his Stand, Khnum, which lets him change shape.

The good news is that Oingo fools them without any trouble. His disguise sucks, but Joseph and Polnareff are dumbasses, so they fall for it anyway. The bad news is that it works too well, because now they want Oingo to get in the car and ride with them. You know, in the car, where Oingo planted the bomb. The bomb that's destined to blow up in Jotaro's face. Or maybe, just a guy who looks like Jotaro. Uh-oh.

So now Oingo is in deep shit. He can't convince them to let him out of the car without arousing suspicion, and Polnareff keeps making his anxiety worse with his usual himbo banter. He asks Jotaro to do his cigarette trick, and Oingo freaks out because he doesn't know if he can. Fortunately, Pol demonstrates. You just flip a cigarette into your mouth. That sounds really painful, but doable.

Except Jotaro can do the trick with five cigarettes at once. This is a pretty awesome scene, because it immediately sets up the lore that this is what the Stardust Crusaders have been doing on all those long days of travel. Jotaro does tricks with cigarettes and teaches Polnareff how to do them too. Anyway, Oingo manages to pull it off, but just barely.

Finally, Polnareff starts getting ready to eat the booby-trapped orange, and Oingo panics and claims he has to go poop. He runs out of the car, and he seems to be home free, when Polnareff decides he doesn't want the orange after all and tosses it out of the car.

And Oingo steps on the orange before he can change back to normal, so it blows up in his face, his Jotaro-like face, thereby fulfilling the prophecy. Joseph and Polnareff don't even notice.

Boingo rushes to his brother's side, and swears revenge. Oingo pleads for him to reconsider, since Boingo is so timid, especially on his own. But before they can do anything else, that guy they mugged comes back with a posse. Turns out he's rich and he hired some guys to help him get revenge.

Eventually, Polnareff and Joseph arrive to meet the real Jotaro, who has no idea what's been going on. They're meeting up at the hospital to visit Kakyoin, and an ambulance pulls up with Oingo and Boingo in it. Joseph and Pol sort of recognize Oingo's clothes, but they don't really want to know, and they just move on with their day.

#jojo's bizarre adventure #stardust crusaders #jotaro kujo #joseph joestar #noriaki kakyoin #mohammed avdol #iggy #oingo #boingo #n'doul

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eri-pl · 6 months ago

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Silm Advent calendar 17: Generations

Today, instead of fiction, you'll have a loredump (terrible as the foundations of the Earth… ok maybe not).

Because, no matter, how much I would love a young Estel complaining on learning history, I think this would be more helpful. When writing Númenor stuff (and other, but this one is for Númenor) I often encountered a problem of "but how old would this character be at this point, and would they even be alive? would they have family?), so, I made a comprehensive info.

Also, instead of a drawing, charts:

All the (proper) kings and queens of Númenor, their ages at various events in their life + linear trends for the early part (stable trend, only slightly falling) and the late part (predictably crashing down).

Now for the lore:

Numenoran age. They aged in a somewhat Elvish way. Up to the age of 20 they seem to age normally (physically at least; mentally they age faster and are more capable than normal Men), then their biological aging slows down about 5 times, so (after 20): biological age = (age/5 + 16).

It gets fuzzy near the end, because the early Númenoreans lived to 400 and more in good health, then either died or aged rapidly. Also, for the line of Elros and particularly good and noble kings the biological age would probably be lower, knowing Tolkien, and for the particularly fallen ones the aging would be faster. But it’s a good estimate.

I’ll be putting estimated biological age (rounded to a nearest full number) in [] brackets.

Data to help estimate the missing birth dates: The men usually married at age of 45 [25] up to 95 [35] or even 120 [40] if they were important or talented. The women usually married at age 40 [24] - 45 [25] up to 95 [35]. In the line of Elros it was even later: for men up to 150 [46] or later, and for women often 95 [35]. The women were fertile up to the age of about 125 or 140, the text is fuzzy about it. Also, they had long spans between kids, usually 10-15 years, never below 5. So says the "Fall of Númenor".

Kings:

I'm skipping the Tar- / Ar- for sake of readability; we all know they were kings anyway.

1. Elros (ruling name: Minyatur) was born in FA 532, but more convenient for the math will be to call it SA -58. He became king in 32 (all further dates are SA), aged 90 [34]. He died in 442, aged 500 [116].

2. Vardamir was born in 61, when Elros was 119 [40]. He inherited the throne in 442, aged 381 [92] and yielded it to his son immediately. He died in 471, aged 410 [98].

Here begins the early Númenorean model (described in terms of average age + standard deviation): a prince is born during his grandfather's reign, has his first child when he’s about 162±18 [48 ±4], becomes king at age of about 230±29 [62±6], yields the throne at age about 388±20 [94±4], dies at age of about 403±6 [97±1], saying farewell to his children and grandchildren. There are some exceptions, but it generally works like that.

3. Amandil was born in 192, when Vardamir was 131 [42], and Elros was 250 [66] and ruled. He became the king in 442, aged 250 [66] (Elendil was 92 [34]), yielded in 590, aged 398 [96] and died in 603, aged 411 [98]. He was 250 [66] when Elros died and 279 [72] when Vardamir died.

4. Elendil was born in 350, when Amandil was 158 [48], Vardamir was 289 [74] and Elros was 408 [98] and ruled. He became king in 590, aged 240 [64] (his children were 69 [30], 58 [28] and 47 [25]), and yielded in 740, aged 390 [94]. He was 92 [34] when Elros died, 121 [40] when Vardamir died, and 253 when Amandil died. He died in 751, aged 401 [96].

Silmarien was born in 521, when Elendil was 171 [50], Amandil was 329 [82] and ruled. Elros was notably dead and therefore not able to voice an opinion about the concept of ruling queens. She was 82 [32] when Amandil died and 230 [62] when Elendil died.

Isilmë was born in 532, when Elendil was 182 [52], Amandil was 340 [84] and ruled. Silmarien was 11 [which is normal 11].

5. Meneldur was born in 543 (again 11 year gap), when Elendil was 193, Amandil was 340 [84] and ruled. He became king in 740 aged 197 [55] (Aldarion was 40 [24]), yielded in 883 aged 340 [84], and died in 942 aged 399 [96]. He was 104 [37] when Amandil died and 252 [66] when Elendil died.

The Númenoreans started sailing to ME in 600, when Meneldur was 57 [27], Elendil 250 [66] and ruled, Amandil was 408 [98] (and we need to assume only a 3 year error to not have him alive at this point, and the date 600 seems like an approximation).

6. Aldarion was blond (yay, blond kings, it strengthens my blond Pharazôn hypothesis!). He was born in 700 when Meneldur was 167 [49], Elendil was 360 [88] and ruled. He became king in 883 when he was 183 [53] (Ancalimë was only 10), yielded in 1075 when he was 375 [91] and died in 1098 aged 398 [96]. He was 51 [26] when Elendil died and 242 [64] when Meneldur died.

7. Ancalimë was born in 873, when Aldarion was 173 [51], Meneldur was 230 [62] and ruled. She married in 1000, aged 127 [41] (Aldarion was 300 [76]). She became queen in 1075, aged 202 [56] (Anárion was 72 [30]), yielded in 1280, aged 407 [97], and died in 1285, aged 412 [98]. She was 225 [61] when Aldarion died and 69 [30] when Meneldur died.

8. Anárion was born in 1003, 3 years after the marriage of his parents, when Ancalimë was 130 [42], Aldarion was 303 [77] and ruled. He became king in 1280, aged 277 [71] (Surion was 106 [37]), and yielded in 1394, aged 391 [94]. He died in 1404, aged 401 [96]. He was 282 [72] when Ancalimë died and 95 [35] when Aldarion died.

9. Súrion was born in 1174, when Anárion was 171 [50], Ancalimë was 301 [76] and ruled. (Súrion was preceded by two older sisters, who did not inherit because of family drama). He became king in 1394 (Telperien was 74 [31]), aged 220 [60], yielded in 1556, aged 382 [92], died in 1574, aged 400 [96]. He was 230 [62] when Anárion died and 111 [38] when Ancalimë died

10. Telperien was born in 1320, when Súrion was 146 [45], Anárion was 317 [79] and ruled. She became queen in 1556, aged 236 [63] (Minastir was 82 [32]), didn't marry, and died in 1731 aged 411 [98]. She was 84 [33] when Anárion died and 254 [67] when Súrion died.

The war of Sauron and the Elves happened in 1693, and Sauron regained the Nine (and the Seven) in 1699, so since this date we can have him giving rings to people in our fics. At this time, Telperien is the queen and she’s 379 [92], she dies 32 years after. Still, Númenor doesn’t have full-on colonies yet, so I doubt any Númenoreans get Rings so early. They are also still very decent people at this point.

11. Minastir was born in 1474, Telperien was his aunt, and was 154 [47] at the time, Súrion (his grandfather) was 300 [76] and ruled. It's confusing but it seems that he fought Sauron not as the king yet. He fought the war in 1700, aged 226 [61], Telperien was 380 [92], Ciryatan was 66 [29]. He became king in 1731, aged 257 [67] (Ciryatan was 93 [35]), yielded in 1869, aged 395 [95] and died in 1873 aged 399 [96]. He was 100 [36] when Súrion died and 257 [61] when Telperien died (obv).

12. Ciryatan was born in 1634, when Minastir was 160 [48] and Telperien was 314 [79] and ruled. He became king in 1869, aged 235 [63], yielded in 2029, aged 395 [95], and died in 2035, aged 401 [96]. He began exploiting the people of ME.

Here begins the late model (no averages, because they go down in a linear manner, so have a avg-stdev and avg+stdev instead): a prince is born during his grandfather's reign, has his first child at age of about 75 [31] (late period) to 145 [45] (early period), becomes king at age of about 240 [64] (early period) to 153 [46] (late period), does not yield the throne and dies at age of about 218 [59] (late period) to 373 [91] (early period), cursing his too short life. Maybe for the worse kings in the later period the biological ages should be higher than resulting from the calculations.

13. Atanamir (who called him “the Great”? I wouldn’t.) was born in 1800, when Ciryatan was 166 [49] and Minastir was 326 [81] and ruled. He became king in 2029, aged 229 [62], did not yield the sceptre (!) and died in 2221, aged 421 [100], because he clung to his life very hard. He was 235 [63] when Ciryatan died and 73 [31] when Minastir died.

14. Ancalimon was born in 1986, when Atanamir was 186 [53], and Ciryatan was 352 [86] and ruled. He became king in 2221, aged 235 [63], and died in 2386, aged 400 [96]. He was 49 [26] when Ciryatan died.

Umbar was fortified in 2280, during Ancalimon’s reign, when he was 294 [75] and Telemmaitë was 144 [45] and Vanimeldë was a 3yo child. Pelagir was built (by the Faithful) in 2350, still during his reign, when he was 364 [89], Telemmaitë was 214 [59] and Vanimeldë was 73 [31].

15. Telemmaitë was born in 2136, when Ancalimon was 150 [46] and Atanamir was 336 [83] and ruled. He became king in 2386, aged 250 [66], and died in 2526, aged 390 [94]. He was 85 [33] when Atanamir died.

16. Vanimeldë was born in 2277, when Telemmaitë was 141 [44], and Ancalimon was 291 [74] and ruled. She became queen in 2526, aged 249 [66], she died in 2637, aged 360 [88]. She was 109 [38] when Ancalimon died.

When she died, her second cousin and husband, Herculamo (born in 2286), usurped the throne at the age of 240 [64] and de facto ruled as Tar-Anducal. He died in 2657, aged 371 [90].

17. Alcarin was born in 2406 when his parents were 129 [42] and 120 [40], Telemmaitë was 270 [70] and ruled. He theoretically became king in 2637 aged 231 [62], actually became king in 2657, aged 251 [66], died in 2737, aged 331 [82]. He was 120 [40] when Telemmaitë died.

18. Calmacil (Adunaic name: Belzagar) was born in 2516, when Alcarin was 110 [38], Vanimeldë was 239 [64], and Telemmaitë was 380 [92] and ruled. He became king in 2737, aged 221 [60], died in 2825, aged 309 [78]. He was 121 [40] when Vanimeldë died and 10 when Telemmaitë died.

19. Ardamir (Adunaic name: Abattârik) was born in 2618, when Calmacil was 102 [36], Alcarin was 212 [58], and Vanimeldë was 341 [84] and ruled. He became king in 2825, aged 207 [58], died in 2899, aged 281 [72]. He was 119 [40] when Alcarin died, 39 [24] when Herculamo died, and 19 when Vanimeldë died.

20. Adûnakhor (Quenya name: Herunúmen) was born in 2709, when Ardamir was 91 [34], Calmacil was 193 [55], and Alcarin was 303 [77] and ruled. He became king in 2899, aged 190 [54], died in 2962, aged 253 [67]. He was 116 [39] when Calmacil died and 28 [22] when Alcarin died.

21. Zimrathôn (Quenya name: Hostamir) was born in 2798, when Adûnakhor was 89 [34], Ardamir was 180 [52], and Calmacil was 282 [72] and ruled. He became king in 2962, aged 164 [49] and died in 3033, aged 235 [63]. He was 101 [36] when Ardamir died and 27 [21] when Calmacil died.

22. Sakalthôr (Quenya name: Falassion) was born in 2876, when Zimrthôn was 78 [32], Adûnakhor was 167 [49] and Ardamir was 258 [68] and ruled. He became king in 3033, aged 157 [47], died in 3102, aged 226 [61]. He was 86 [33] when Adûnakhor died, and 23 [21] when Ardamir died.

23. Gimilzôr (Quenya name: Telemnar) was born in 2960, when Sakalthôr was 84 [32], Zimrathôn was 162 [48] and Adûnakhor was 251 [66] and at the very end of his reign. He became king in 3102, aged 142 [44], and died in 3175, aged 215 [59], very unhappy that he could not have his younger son succeed him. He was 73 [31] when Zimrathôn died, and only 2 when Adûnakhor died.

24. Palantir (Adunaic name: Inziladûn) was born in 3035, when Gimilzôr was 75 [31], Sakalthôr was 159 [48] and ruled. He joined the golden line and the silver line ancestry, being the 19th descendant of Meneldur and the 17th descendant of Silmarien. He became king in 3175, aged 140 [44], still did not yield the throne to his daughter (which I’m not sure the people would accept anyway), died in 3255, aged 220 [60]. He was 73 [31] when Sakalthôr died.

25. Miriel (Adunaic name: Zimraphel) was born in 3117, when Palantir was 82 [33], Gimilzôr was 157 [47] and ruled, became queen in theory in 3255, aged 138 [44]. She died tragically in 3319 in the Fall, aged 202 [56]. She was 58 [28] when Gimilzôr died.

Pharazôn was a year younger than Miriel: born in 3118, became de facto king in 3255, aged 137 [43], died (? I’ve seen a version of: “was frozen in time under mountains”) in 3319, aged 201 [56].

Other important people: Amandil was the 18th lord of Andúnië, which puts him in the same generation from the early kings as Sakalthôr. But also (assuming the cousins were not removed cousins), Pharazôn is in the same generation from the lords of Andúnië as Amandil, even if age-wise he’s close to Elendil.

Elendil was a year younger than Pharazôn and two younger than Miriel: born in 3119, during the reign of Gimilzôr. He was 56 [27] when Palantir became king and 136 [43] when Pharazôn took the sceptre.

In 3262 Sauron was brought to Númenor (Pharazôn, Elendil and Miriel were 144ish [45]). In about 3265 he became Pharazôn’s main advisor and the temple was built. In 3310 (when Pharazôn was 192 [54] and starting to feel really old so the number in the brackets should probably be bigger) the fleet building began.

In 3316 Amandil sailed to ask the Valar for mercy. Unfortunately, we don’t know his age, but let’s estimate: he married at… 45 minimum, but knowing Tolkien it would be more like 95. Elendil was born a year to, say, 10 after that. So 3119 - (46 to 105) = Amandil born in 3004 to 3073 = 243 [65] to 308 [78] years old when he sailed. So he was old, but not necessarily very old. Also, when Sauron began his reign of terror, he would be 192 [54] to 261 [68]. When Palantir became king, he would be 102 [36] to 171 [50]. Also, he was definitely born before Gimilzôr became the king and was 29 [22] to 98 [36] at that time.

Post-Númenor

Elendil was born in 3119, became the High King of Men in 3320, and died in 3441, aged 322 [80]. He outlived Anárion by a year.

Isildur was born in 3209, when Elendil was 90 [34], became the co-king of Gondor in 3320, aged 111 [38], and the High King in 3441, aged 232 [62]. He died tragically in 2 TA, aged 234 [63]. He was 232 [62] when Elendil died and when he took the Ring from Sauron’s finger.

Anárion was born in 3219, when Elendil was 100 [36], co-ruled from 3320, died in 3440, aged 221 [60]. Meneldil was born in 3318, as the last child born in Númenor, when Anárion was 99 [36]. He became king in TA 2, aged 125 [41] and died in TA 158, aged 281 [72]. The ages gradually get more normal, and I won’t analyze the further kings anyway. Maybe next year. I really want to have a primer for "how old was Aragorn when…." :)

During the Fall, Elendil was 202, Isildur was 110 and Anárion was 100. A year later, in 3320 Gondor and Arnor were founded. Elendil was 203 [57], Isildur was 111 [38], and Anárion was 101 [36].

#silm #silmarillion #tolkien legendarium #the silm #the silmarillion #silm advent calendar #numenor

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minato-division01 · 6 months ago

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"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad." - Salvador Dalí

Introduction

Basilisk, referred to as Bātsu Kuromiya, stands as the second of three androids fashioned by Nadya Kuromiya, the leader of Oculus and former scientist of Chuohku. Once a vibrant Eastern green mamba snake prior to his transformation, this humanoid being embodies a feral and unrestrained essence, finding any excuse to cause utter chaos and anarchy. Nevertheless, he displays unwavering loyalty to his creator, executing her commands with a fervor that unmistakably reflects this frenzied half-human's commitment.

Bātsu boasts untamed green locks that align seamlessly with his tumultuous character. His hair is a wild mess, showcasing his free-spirited and erratic disposition. Adorning his neck is a skull tattoo, a representation of his fierce and cruel inclinations. He also sports two black tear tattoos underneath both of his yellow eyes. His gaze is intense and penetrating, frequently exuding a threatening look that can unsettle those nearby. Generally, Bātsu's demeanor radiates arrogance and contempt, adorned with a sly grin that suggests he relishes in others' unease. Also, like his fellow androids, he also as a "Kill Mode" that consistently activates whenever he is excited or stressed.

Bātsu's attire combines shades of black and white, radiating a vibe of insurrection and boldness. He typically sports a dark jacket featuring white highlights, which lends him a polished yet edgy look. The jacket boasts a high collar that occasionally hides part of his tattoo, introducing an air of intrigue. Beneath, he dons a snug shirt that flatters his lean and nimble physique. His trousers follow a similar design, black adorned with white accents, striking a balance between fashion and practicality. Rounding off his ensemble are durable boots that enhance his rugged, action-ready demeanor. He is also seldom spotted without a cigarette in his grasp, with wisps of smoke curling around him, further amplifying his rebellious and unrestrained character.

Name Meaning

Bātsu (罰) - The kanji 罰 means "punishment" or "penalty." This character is often associated with consequences and retribution. It symbolizes the concept of administering justice or punishment.

Kuromiya (黒宮) - "Kuromiya" (黒宮) is composed of two kanji characters: 黒 (kuro) meaning "black," and 宮 (miya) meaning "palace" or "shrine."

Aliases

"Basilisk"

"The Green Menace"

"The Mad Hatter of Japan"

HavocSerpent - Gaming Handle

"Idiot/Maniac/Little Brother" - Shiori

"Bātsu-san/Big Brother" - Gin

Biographical Info

Gender - Male

Age - 4 (22 Physically)

Birthday - October 31st

Ethnicity - Japanese

Hair Color - Wild Green

Eye Color - Yellow-orange

Height - 192 cm/6'4"

Weight - 82 kg/180 lb.

Star Sign - Scorpio

Piercings - Has a silver ball piercing on his tongue

Markings - An intricate skull tattoo on the front of his neck, a teardrop tattoo under both of his eyes, and a symbol on his right hip

Family - Creator

"Older Sister"

"Younger Sibling"

Voiced By - Wataru Takagi (Speaking) / Hiroomi Tosaka (Rapping)

Personality

To say that Bātsu is just a little unhinged would be a complete and gross understatement. He is an untamed and erratic force, capturing the very spirit of disorder. His life mantra emphasizes his awareness of himself and the intentionality behind his choices, even if others perceive him as mad. His mood swings are intense, and this unpredictability is both his greatest asset and his most considerable flaw.

Bātsu's wild persona, akin to that of a ferocious beast, creates an imposing and fearsome aura around him, and his courage is rooted in his madness; he seldom exhibits signs of worry or trepidation, often leaping into tumultuous situations without a second thought. Nevertheless, this same unpredictability can turn against him, making him susceptible to being outsmarted by those who can foresee his erratic moves.

He embodies the essence of a true metal enthusiast, exuding an untamed and spirited nature. He revels in the chaos he creates, embodying the traits of a frenzied warrior, fueled by a basic desire for turmoil and havoc. His boldness in confronting peril and relentless resolve make him a daunting adversary, yet his absence of tactical foresight can expose him to risks. The combination of his wildness, courage, and steadfast allegiance crafts a persona that is intriguing and multifaceted, perpetually teetering on the edge of insanity and strategy.

Quirky and full of life, Bātsu's way of interacting is characterized by his strange and often nonsensical remarks that leave people feeling either confused or irritated. He throws social etiquette to the wind, which can make him appear callous or impolite. His biting remarks leave no one untouched, and he is quick to point out the flaws of others. What's more, he is fully aware of his unpleasant traits but has no desire, whatsoever, to alter or change them, which only helps to upset people more.

In spite of his rough exterior, he reveals a surprisingly tender nature when it comes to his friends and family, displaying a depth of loyalty and affection that starkly contrasts with his typical conduct. His connection with his family is intricate and layered. He harbors a profound appreciation for Nadya, who has provided him with a place to call home and a physical existence, yet he often finds himself speaking out of turn or belittling her. The looming threat of consequences, along with the presence of his sister Shiori, usually keeps him in check when he oversteps his boundaries.

Likewise, the relationship he shares with Shiori is similarly fraught; she is among the few people he genuinely fears, largely because of her fearsome "Yandere persona." Their exchanges are marked by relentless quarreling and disputes, with Shiori expressing disdain for Bātsu's attitude while he, conversely, ridicules her perverse loyalty to Nadya. Despite their contrasting personalities, the siblings manage to collaborate quite well on tasks, demonstrating an unexpected degree of synergy and teamwork. And whenever one is in trouble, the other is not too far off.

As stated, he is quite loyal to his friends and family, believing that the only one who can talk shit about them is him, and him, alone. Unlike most of his fellow androids who only activate their "Defense/Kill Mode" in times of stress or peril, Bātsu tends to activate his all the time, enjoying the pleasure and euphoria he gets when he, in his own words, "hyperactivates". It is one of the many quirks that makes him, as he says, 'unique'.

Trivia

Unlike his siblings and creator, he is a very big fan of 86, though he is prohibited by Nadya from playing their music in the lab.

Though he is not a betting man, he finds it hard to turn down a dare. He is constantly getting himself injured for going through with stupid and/or dangerous stunts.

He is a huge collector of weaponry, owning a large selection of knives and firearms.

Though he can digest human food, he prefers to drink actual poison or toxins.

He has a teardrop tattoo under both of his eyes. In gang culture, this is synonymous with the fact that the person has either spent time in jail, or committed murder. When asked, Bātsu just gives a toothy grin before walking off.

He is good friends with A.R.K./Aruto Shinozaki, though he frequently competes with the other android to see which of the two is crazier and better at causing mayhem.

He is also good friends with Scorpion Den; more specifically Trickster, who, the android feels, is one of the few people in the world to truly understand him.

His virtual form is the same as the symbol on his right hip.

Like his siblings, he has a snake-bot form, reminiscent of his previous form.

Though there are few things in the world that scare him, he admits that the first time he ever actually feared for his life was when he █████████ as a practical joke, but wound up incurring her wrath when she ███████████████.

#hypmic #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic #hypnosis mic oc #hypnosis microphone #minato division #oculus #bātsu kuromiya #basilisk #mini profile

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s10127470 · 2 years ago

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AU Idea: X-Spiders

Have you ever wondered what if would be like if other Marvel characters had spider powers?

No? Well too bad!

I stumbled upon this incredible artwork done by the incredibly talented Marcus the Visual, which as you can see, depicts several of the X-Men with spider powers, but done in a way that combines that with their already existing powers.

And after seeing this, this gave me the idea of make an entire AU around this concept.

And I figured now would be the best time to do so since this month not only marks the 60th anniversary of the X-Men, but also because there's been notable rise in Spider-Man AU concepts and Spidersona AUs thanks to the recent release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

So without further ado, let's jump in!

-Immediately, when fleshing out this concept, the hardest part of it was trying to figure out how the X-Men would get their powers. When it comes to power origins, Spider-Man and the X-Men are about as different as you can get. Spidey got his powers from a radioactive spider bite, whereas the X-Men (along with the entire mutant race as a whole) are born with their powers. So after some long thinking, I decided on this. In the universe of the X-Spiders, mutants sadly don't exist. But you're probably wondering, how would characters like Nightcrawler have their iconic looks? Well I decided to have this AU set in the distant future, at least several centuries from now. During that time, it would make sense that there would some physical changes to occur to the human race. I could imagine that would some type of genetic oddity developed during those centuries, causing some humans to appear….well, non-human. As for how the X-Men got their powers, first we got to discuss their standing in this world. X-Men initially ran a foster home for orphaned and abandoned children founded by Charles Xavier and Wolverine (who are longtime friends in this universe), particularly for those who were born with the genetic oddity. As for the powers. Well sometime ago, Oscorp created a species of genetically-modified spiders, with each one having their own unique abilities. But an accident caused to the spiders to get loose. And overtime, each of the X-Men would find themselves getting bitten by one of these spiders. Like how any normal person would react, the X-Men freaked out about their newfound powers and decided to hide them. But overtime, they found themselves in situations where they inadvertently used their powers, and as a result, helped someone in need. Because of this, the X-Men became superheroes and decided to use their newfound powers to help the people around them. Yeah…..their origin isn’t as shrouded in tragedy as Spidey’s.

-As for the X-Spiders themselves, the group consists of Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Gambit, Jubilee, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Beast, Rogue, Colossus, Iceman, Psylocke and Shadowcat. They all have the standard spider powers: superhuman physicality, the ability to stick to and scale any surface, Spider Sense, and the ability to shoot organic webbing from their wrists. What's unique about each X-Spider, apart from the fact they each have their own special powers, is that with some of them, their webbing is made up of different properties, to correspond with their powers.

-Cyclops (Scott Summers, 26, 6'2, 192 lbs, Scott Porter): As you would expect from him, he's the leader of the team. He was the very first kid taken in by Charles and Wolverine at age 8, alongside his younger brother Alex, after their parents died in a plane crash. Personality-wise, he's more like his iteration from X-Men Evolution, being far more outgoing and confident than most of his other iterations, while still being a disciplined and hardworking leader. His special power allows him to shoot ruby-colored beams of concussive force from his eyes. He can also combine the energy of his beams with his webbings, for an extra crunch. He's currently in relationship with Jean and when he's not doing hero-work, works as a DJ for a local radio station.

-Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett, Unknown, 5'4, 305 lbs, Steve Blum): The co-founder of the foster home and a longtime friend of Charles. Just like Cyclops, he's pretty similar to his X-Men Evolution iteration, being more laid back and a mentor to the kids. Out of all the X-Spiders, he has the best endurance and senses. His special power allows him to eject retractable bone claws from his knuckles. The bite also caused his entire skeleton to become coated in metal. He can also shoot metal webbing, which is very hard to cut through. When he's not doing hero-work, he works as a police officer.

-Storm (Ororo Munroe, 26, 5'11, 127 lbs, Danielle Nicolet): Found as an orphan on the streets of Kenya, she was taken in by Charles at age 10. Personality-wise, she's what you would expect from any version of Storm. Her special power allows her to generate bio-electricity from her body. She can also glide, shoot electrical webbing and even control her hair (which is BIG as HELL and in form of dreadlocks in this universe) as if they were spider legs. She's currently in a relationship with physician Donald Blake and when she's not doing hero-work, works as a meteorologist for the local news.

-Gambit (Remy LeBeau, 24, 6'3, 193 lbs, Troy Baker): Found as a thieving orphan on the streets of New Orleans, he was taken in by Charles at 13. Personality-wise, he's what you would expect from any version of Gambit. Out of all the X-Spiders, he's the fastest. His special power allows him to generate kinetic energy from his body and use it charge anything he touches. He can also shoot kinetic energy webbing. He's currently in a relationship with Rogue and when's not doing hero-work, he's working as a cook for a local Cajun restaurant.

-Jubilee (Jubilation Lee, 13, 5'0, 90 lbs, Haley Tju): Found living as thieving orphan in a Beverly Hills mall, she's the most recent addition to the family, having been taken by them just last year. Personality-wise, she's what you would expect from any version I of Jubilee. Her special powers allows her to shoot burst of energy that resemble fireworks. She's also able to shoot multicolored energy-charged webbing. When she's not doing hero-work, she's attending the local junior high school.

-Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner, 25, 5'9, 161 lbs, Liam O'Brien): Found as a homeless orphan in Germany, constantly on the run due to his demonic appearance, he was taken in by Xavier at age 9. Personality-wise, he's what you would expect from any version of Nightcrawler. And yes, he's still deeply religious. Out of all the X-Spiders, he's the most agile and flexible. His special power allows him to teleport. He can also become nearly invisible in shadows. He's currently in a relationship with fellow housemate Wren Worthington (a female) and when he's not doing hero-work, he works as a delivery boy for GrubHub.

-Jean Grey (26, 5'9, 122 lbs, Jennifer Hale): After her parents died in a car crash at age 9, she was taken into the foster home. Personality-wise, what you would expect from any version of Jean. Her special powers is telepathy and psionic energy manipulation. She can also glide like Storm and shoot psionic-energy webbing. She's currently in a relationship with Cyclops and when she's not doing hero-work, she works as a surgeon for the local hospital.

-Beast (Henry McCoy, 28, 6'6, 410 lbs, Fred Tatasciore): Abandoned at birth by parents due to his animalistic appearance and forced to live in the wild, he was found at age 11 and taken in by Charles. Personality-wise, what would you expect from any version of Beast. Just like Nightcrawler, he's the most agile and flexible of the X-Spiders, as well as the third strongest. His special power is a venomous bite that can paralyze his foes. He's currently in a relationship with S.W.O.R.D. agent Abigail Brand and when he's not doing hero-work, he works as a professor for the local university.

-Rogue (Marian Carlyle, 23, 5'9, 133 lbs, Melissa Disney): Having spent most of her life going from foster family to foster family, she eventually found herself at the X foster home around age 10. Personality-wise, what you would expect from the best versions of Rogue. Out of all the X-Spiders, she's the second strongest. Her special powers allows her to copy the powers and abilities of those around her. She can also climb like Storm and Jean. She's currently in a relationship with Gambit and when she's not doing hero-work, she's working on the local farms.

-Colossus (Piotr Rasputin, 22, 6'11/7'6, 265 lbs/505 lbs, Chris Cox): After his parents died due to illness, he, his older brother Mikhail, and his newborn sister Illyana, would find themselves out on the streets. They would eventually be found by Charles when Colossus was about 6. Personality-wise, what you would expect from any version of Colossus. Out of all the X-Spiders, he's the strongest. His special power allows him to convert his skin into organic steel, granting him even greater strength and durability. He can also shoot metallic webbing, similar to Wolverine. He's currently in a relationship with fellow housemate Emma Frost and when he's not doing hero-work, he's attending Empire State University, majoring in the arts.

-Iceman (Bobby Drake, 21, 5'8, 145 lbs, Robbie Daymond): After his parents died in a skiing accident at the age of 9, he and his younger brother Ronnie found themselves in the care of Xavier. Personality-wise, what you would expect from Iceman. His special power allowing himself to convert the moisture in the air into ice. He also has a strong resistance to freezing temperatures, can cover his entire body in ice, and shoots icy webbing. He's currently in a relationship with Johnny Storm and when he's not doing hero-work, he attends Empire State University, majoring in accounting.

-Psylocke (Betsy Braddock, 25, 5'11, 155 lbs, Grey Griffin): A Japanese girl who initially grew up in an abusive orphanage in England, Betsy ran away at age 14 and found her way to the states. There, she would be taken in by Charles. Personality-wise, she's a adventurous thrill-seeker with a witty attitude. Her special powers are telepathy and being able to create constructs out of psionic energy. She's also shoots psionic energy webbing just like Jean. When she's not doing hero-work, she's working as a martial arts instructor.

-Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde, 19, 5'7, 114 lbs, Danielle Judovits): After her parents were killed during a mugging at age 9, she found herself on the streets, with her only companion being her pet iguana Lockheed. She would eventually be found by Wolverine and brought into the home. Personality-wise, what you would expect from any version of Shadowcat. Her special power allows her to phase through most soldier objects. She's currently in a relationship with Doreen Green and when she's not doing hero-work, she attends training in order to become a firefighter.

Well that's all for now!

Let me know what you guys think about this AU idea and if you could, give me some ideas for some of the villains of this AU.

I'm most likely gonna make a part 2 to this and I want the villains of this AU to be a mashup between the X-Men villains and some of the iconic Spidey villains.

#au idea #marvel au #x-men au #spider man au #xmen #scott summers #logan howlett #ororo munroe #remy lebeau #jubilation lee #kurt wagner #jean grey #henry mccoy #marian carlyle #piotr rasputin #bobby drake #betsy braddock #kitty pryde

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x-ref · 1 year ago

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Uncanny X-Men #192 by Chris Claremont and John Romita, Jr.

This is a helluva good run up to the Trial of Magneto. Here's the first meeting between "present day" Kitty and Rachel. Kitty's all punk rock after becoming a ninja in Japan with Wolverine. Rachel's a little more New Wave but on her way to some radical acceptance of her Hound persona. I fucking love everything about this issue. You've got most of the team waiting around the airport while back in Westchester current team leader Nightcrawler bonds with Rogue and Colossus while also getting their asses kicked by Warlock's dad. You can also see Claremont building out some concepts to keep the Phoenix character IP alive and well with Rachel. Here's your goddamn redhead Phoenix, Shooter! Anyway. One of the things I love is how in these nascent days of endless character crossovers, while Wolvie and Kitty are in Japan -- they're not in the main book and their absence is noted over and over again. And they're missed! Things are going weird while they're gone. Storm gives leadership to Nightcrawler who struggles to fill her shoes and Professor X's health declines and Rachel is just fucking weird and the New Mutants are lurking out there kinda holding themselves together better than the main team. I read all of these issues in back issues, slowly filling in all the gaps from about issue 209 backwards and forwards. I got 209 in the middle of one of those three packs of comics they used to sell at the pharmacy. I can't even remember what the front-facing books were that I wanted. Here I am still thinking about the X-Men though. I went from 209 directly to issue 225 which was on the stands at the time, so I jumped right from Nimrod absolutely fucking destroying the X-Men and the Hellfire Club to Fall of the Mutants. They'll always be the beautiful and the doomed standing up for their values until the end to me.

#uncanny x-men #chris claremont #john romita jr #marvel comics

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motivationchairpls · 6 months ago

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Assignment 1 - Creating "Concepts" - Refining the Character

After I did the character silhouettes, I followed Leo’s advice and picked the 5th design for further development. I spent quite a lot of time thinking of how to add integrity as an element in this character design. There were several ways in my mind,

Colour palette

Facial expression

Posture

Colour palette

I started to refine my character with a colour scheme that consists of black, white and blue. To demonstrate integrity, it is crucial to use colours that can evoke trust and authenticity. Therefore, I used white as the dominant colour of the character. Black is the contrast colour of white, so it plays a major role as a subdominant colour to balance the entire design. I have a feeling that dark blue always gives off the sense of formality, wisdom and reliability, so I picked an extreme saturated blue as an accent colour to enhance the character’s trait.

Adding Details

After I painted the grey scale silhouettes with the colour palette, I then moved on to the accessories details. A unified design is able to highlight the character in a compelling way, therefore, it is important to integrate various visual elements into a specific design code. I believe a design code needs to be a certain instance that can reflect reality, thus, resonate with the audience. Therefore, I used Time as the design language to work on the details. I researched topics related to Time to gather inspiration, and I found myself intrigued by the peculiar clockwork mechanic. I took references from gears, dials and spring spar to create some circular ring patterns on the collar area. I also took some references on steampunk design style to create the dress, hat and props.

Final Design

This was the most exciting part in the assignment. However, it was also the most challenging stage as I was facing a huge issue, Time. Since I was still settling in the first week and I also went in the wrong direction in the very beginning, there was not much time left before the deadline. I really had to push myself to complete the final drawing under pressure. I realised that there was no way for me to fully render a character under 20 hours, so an excellent idea came up. I decided to follow the logic of “simple is the best” by using the simplest method to finish my character.

Fig.1 Artist 192's work

By looking at a Japanese artist 192, twitter@choomoranma, the style is pretty plain, yet, their main focus is on the line flows, featuring a distinctive dynamic movement.

To implement this style, I decided to use colour blocks to define the basic shape. I focused on posture at first as this is also one of the factors to embody my character with integrity and elegance. I made my character hold a stopwatch and stand in a three-quarter view to emphasise the design code, ‘time’ again. I blocked out her cloak in a spiralling arc to satisfy the ‘elegance’ requirement. After that, I utilised gradient blendings to add shading and depth to the character. In order to keep the colour platte as simple as possible, I only used one high contrast vibrant colour on both background and shadow. I tried to elevate my design by using a light yellow colour, a contrast colour to the background, on the ornament details. The greatest challenge in refining the character is the facial expression. Because I lacked practice, I found it difficult to draw a human's face. However, I tried to draw a stiff facial expression to deliver the idea of self-control. I wanted to use a rigid expression to indicate that the character is suppressing her feelings in order to carry out what she believes is true or good, which I believe is related to integrity.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the final result. I am quite surprised that the design works well with a very simple colour palette. However, I think I can do better on facial expression and time management as well.

References:

Fig.1: twitter.com. Available at:

https://x.com/choomoranma

(Accessed: January 13, 2025)

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lakshay-gaur-sas · 6 months ago

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Blog 3: Hyperrealism in Red Dead Redemption 2: Crafting Believable Open-World Experiences [Depiction]

As a gamer I have always been a fan of Rockstar Games from classic games like GTA, Max Payne, Man Hunt and Red Dead Redemption. I have spent an unhealthy amount of hours exploring the world of Red Dead Redemption 2. I have been inside the world of RDR 2 so long that I somehow memorized the routes to certain locations. I will give credit as well as blame to the hyperrealism in RDR2 for making me stay in there for a questionable amount of time. Juul (2005) suggests that “Games achieve immersion when rules and representations combine seamlessly,” in Red Dead Redemption 2 the environments are not just empty worlds but also play an important role in story narration.

One of the elements that made me love Red Dead Redemption 2 is its use of environmental storytelling. From stumbling upon abandoned cabins that hint at untold tragedies to observing the evolving behaviour of non-playable characters (NPCs), also a fun fact Rockstar brough in around 700 voice actors, 300,000 animations, 500 motion-capture actors, 500,000 lines of dialogue and the most important and fascinating thing was music 192 mission tracks, 110 musicians. Jenkins (2004) emphasizes that “environmental storytelling creates spaces ripe for player exploration ” and I saw this coming alive in Red Dead Redemption 2. Every interaction that being from observing NPC behaviors to finding remnants of old conflicts enriches the world-building and invites personal engagement.

The realism doesn't stop there. The game's dynamic weather and environmental systems are incredible. I've found myself slowing down during a storm just to be amazed at how the rain affects the visibility or how snow crunches underfoot which affects how you navigate around the world. Manovich (2001) talks about sensory coherence in digital environments and Red Dead Redemption 2 nails that so well. It’s not just about aesthetic visuals but it’s about how every detail comes together to create a world that feels alive and believable.

Through the course of me playing RDR 2 I got to observe how RDR2 uses traditional cinematic elements. Use of simple camera angles and beautiful plus right compositions sets apart the RDR2 from other games. I got to see really classic camera shots but that was executed so beautifully making the character moments really intense. Bolter and Grusin's (1999) concept of "remediation" explains this situation in a perfect way. They discuss how new media like games will adapt to techniques originally derived from older form of cinema. I have to say that RDR 2 wasn't just a game but a whole cinematic experience. I felt as if playing as Arthur Morgan gave me eyes inside this character's life and surrounding making me immersed into this game.

For me the real magic of Red Dead Redemption 2 is how it makes you feel. There's a weight to its world a sense of wonder and melancholy that sticks with you even after you've put down the controller. It's not just about exploring a beautifully crafted game its about living in its world shaping its story through your choices. That's what makes the hyperrealism so impactful. It's not just thee to look good it's there to make you care. By pushing the boundaries of what games can achieve Red Dead Redemption 2 sets a new standard for immersion and storytelling. I want to achieve that someday. (Fingers crossed x100)

References:

H.Jenkins (2004). “Game Design as Narrative Architecture,” in First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game. MIT Press. Available at: https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/2789/first-person (Accessed: 13 December 2024).

J. Juul (2005). Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. MIT Press. Available at: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262101103/half-real/ (Accessed: 12 December 2024).

J.D. Bolter, R. Grusin (1999). Remediation: Understanding New Media. MIT Press. Available at: https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/2783/remediation (Accessed: 12 December 2024).

L. Manovich (2001). The Language of New Media. MIT Press. Available at: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262632553/the-language-of-new-media/ (Accessed: 12 December 2024).

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magicisrealandsoismyally · 7 months ago

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Of course Sam and Brennan are included, they are on camera in the whole episode(s). That makes them cast. They can be producers and cast at the same time. Directors, producers, and writers play side and background characters in movies all the time, they're still also cast members in the credits. That's not skew, that's data. Yeah. Brennan and Sam have a large affect on the data. They also appear a lot, because yk, they're high ranking members of the company. Having high ranking cis white men does not make you more inclusive. There's no such thing as "this data point is too high for reasons that don't put it outside the purview of the concept we are studying to count". Sam hosts 2 shows. Brennan is one of the most common Um Actually, Game Changer, and Make Some Noise guests. Brennan is the main producer of a show that when combined with its spin-offs which he also produces, is the largest single IP the company has.

It doesn't have to be malicious behavior, but when the pattern is there, there should be something done. I don't think they're doing it intentionally, the most malicious thing about systemic oppression is that it's kinda easy not to notice you're adding to it.

As an actual stats major, 74 is actually a perfectly fine sample size because it's greater than 30 and you can use a t-distribution to do hypothesis tests. The bigger issue is getting population stats given that the sample we have is currently under question for being biased, and I don't know if there is a recent census on the gender identity of Californian comedians out there.

There really is no clean mathematical way of calculating this information, but that shouldn't stop us from using the data. We still run surveys on smoking despite and use that data despite the fact that experiments eliminate more confounding variables, but it'd be morally reprehensible to assign random people the taste of smoking cigarettes.

You're still focusing on the wrong number here. 10 trans people is fine representation, but i'm not getting represented by 10 people. I'm getting represented by 3.

As of the moment I am writing this, there are 288 episodes in the dimension 20 show. This includes actual episodes, recaps, liveshows, and behind the scenes. There are also 192 episodes of Adventuring Party. There are also 59 episodes of Adventuring Academy. There are 4 episodes of Fantasy High Extra Credit. Sum all of that up plus the 2 time quangle vods, the ricky perry movie, (not the 15 animations) that aren't under the dimension 20 show's seasons and you get 546.

Let's compare that to the main game Game Shows. There are 76 episodes of Game Changer (including the cut for times and the behind the scenes, but not including the trailer for season 4). There are 39 episodes in Make Some Noise (including the cut for times). There are 16 episodes of Play It By Ear. There are 40 episodes of Dirty Laundry (not including the cocktail recipe shorts, i don't think it's fair to include all 47 two to three minute videos of Grant teaching cocktails). Gastronauts has 4 episodes. Game Changer has 150 episodes (including behind the scenes and live shows). Breaking News has 108 episodes. Thousandaires has 6 episodes. There are 11 episodes of Total Forgiveness (not including grant's stand up special or ally's diary reading). There are 15 episodes of Paranoia. This sums up to 315 episodes.

There are more Dimension 20 episodes than game show episodes. Are you going to say dropout isn't a game show company? I think it's kinda fair to say, that a large enough chunk of dropout is Dimension 20. A lot of the newest talent for the other shows makes their first appearance through dropout. In fact, 2/3 of the TMAs in this graph (Omar Najam and Persephone Valentine) first appeared in Dimension 20 seasons. Omar Najam has 2 non-d20 videos out of 30 total videos. Persephone Valentine has 7 non-d20 videos out of 37 total videos. Add in Mano Agapion's 21 videos, and 65.9% of TMA rep is just dimension 20. If you exclude the episodes where it's Mano hosting his own (now canceled) show, that percentage becomes 78.87%. Of course people are asking for more transfem ttrpg players. Because it's how we've gotten most of our representation. Because everyone's first argument to us talking about a lack of representation was "name a transfem comedian" and our natural response is going to be "okay, you have a large ttrpg show known for giving lesser known players and GMs a platform. Here's a list of transfem ttrpg players."

So based on @plaidos's posting about lack of trans fem rep at Dropout and the ensuing arguments about how true it was, I did a deep dive on the numbers;

Dimension 20, Game Changer, Um, Actually, and Dirty Laundry have featured (to date) 319 performers, ranging in frequency of appearence from Brennan's 290 episodes, to 167 people with one each.

74 people have five or more appearences:

Cisgender men: 38 performers, 1546 episodes

Cisgender women: 26 performers, 824 episodes

Non-cis and TME: 7 performers, 317 episodes

Non-cis and TMA: 3 performers, 26 episodes

#magic talks

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skylarynns-1870 · 2 years ago

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House Rules - will be updated as needed

Ability Score Rolling

The way we build characters in my DND group is almost always rolling for starts. Why do we do this?

Because rolling stats is broken and we are agents of chaos. [I actually have a campaign designed to be as broken as possible but that's not relevant.]

How we do this: Take 4d6, roll them, and then remove the lowest die from the total. For example, say you rolled 5, 4, 3, and 2. You would remove the 2, as it's the lowest, and add up 5+4+3 to be 11. You would roll 8 times this way [we use 8 stats; the additional ones are Agility and Sanity] to make a stat array; you're not allowed to cherry pick higher rolls over lower ones. You can roll up to 2 stat arrays, but you cannot mix and match them. If one of the stat arrays has more than one dump stat [like the nightmarishly abysmal 12 11 11 11 10 9 6 5 array I initially rolled for Josie] that array is unviable and doesn't count. I ended up with 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 and 11 11 11 14 15 15 16 17 as my arrays for Josie; I went with the latter.

Thoughts and Prayers Mechanic

I'm sure some of you have seen the video[s] pointing out that, Rules-As-Written, the Stabilize action does not actually have a given range and requires only a successful DC 10 Medicine check to work. Firstly, I believe this rule has been revised and RAW now say it has a range of touch. Secondly, Iris really likes this concept and was begging Matt to let her use it with her character; Matt thinks it's ridiculous and disagreed until Damien [ever the devil's advocate] came up with this mechanic.

How it works: Firstly, to take the Thoughts and Prayers action you must have proficiency in the Religion skill. When taking the Thoughts and Prayers action, it is now a DC 15 Religion check as opposed to the original DC 10 Medicine check, and it has infinite range; you are merely saying a prayer for the sake of someone else. You can either specify who your character is praying for when you take the action [being as specific or vague as you like] or let the DM choose at random who gets stabilized by your religious intervention.

As for who in the party can use the action, Izel, Dominique, and Alina all have proficiency in Religion I think so they can probably do it. All I know is Josie can't.

Critical Damage

I'm not actually sure how crits normally work RAW, but here's how we do them.

How it works: When you roll a nat 20 [or nat 19 if you can crit on that] on an attack roll, you dish out the maximum possible damage times two. Say, for example, your attack does 7d12+12 fire damage for some ungodly reason. If you crit, that would instead be [7*2*12]+[12*2] = [14*12]+24 = 168+24 = totaling 192 fire damage.

Eldritch Wounds

Since there will be much fighting of eldritch monsters in the campaign, our DM Matt came up with this concept [with help from Damien] where sometimes, when you've survived an encounter with something eldritch, it leaves a permanent mark and you are forever changed.

How this manifests: Firstly, the Eldritch Wound will never fully heal, and often continues to weep blood [though you're unaffected by the blood loss] like Josie's missing eye below.

What this does: When you survive an Eldritch Wound, you get one of the Dark Gifts off the 5e wikidot.

There aren't enough Dark Gifts there for all eleven characters in the party to get one, but we don't plan on everyone dealing with an Eldritch Wound. Actually three of the characters started out with Eldritch Wounds:

Josie - missing eye; see above

Kojiro - claw[?] marks all over, one actually going through his eye [though unlike Josie that eye is a) still present and b) still functional]

Boris - an infected bite on his shoulder that led to gnarly black veins spreading, including going up to his eye and making it look jacked [yeah we might like eye trauma a bit in this group]

#dnd #dnd5e #dungeons and dragons #house rules #stat rolling #thoughts and prayers mechanic #critical damage #eldritch wounds #josie doyle #josephine doyle #kojiro mori #boris starkov #1870 campaign

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xsharepro · 3 years ago

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192 Character Concepts Bundle

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#192 Character #192 Character Concepts #ai file #Concepts #graphic #illustrations #psd file

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lilareviewsbooks · 2 years ago

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More Short SFF Books!

Guys! Thank you so much for the love on my post on short SFF books! It was a lot for a tiny little blog like me lmao, and it made me feel very appreciated - thank you, again!

I thought that because of all that love, this deserved a second edition. So, since short SFF is definitely my specialty, and I won't stop reading these novellas any time soon, here's some other SFF short books I think might be worth your time!

Also, check out part one of this list if you’d like some more books in this vein :)

The Monk and Robot Duology, starting with A Psalm For The Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

152 to 160 pages

duology (so far!! I'm hoping and praying, Ms. Chambers!)

queer rep of all kinds, but our protagonist is non-binary!

If you know me, then it's a surprise this didn't make it into the first edition of this list. I love Monk and Robot! They're My Favorite Books, so rest assured that they come very highly recommended!

This one follows Sibling Dex, a disciple of Allae, the god of small comforts, as they decide to change the course of their professional life and become a travelling tea monk. Along the way, they meet Mosscap, a very friendly robot, with one question - "what do humans need?" There's just one problem: robots have been living in the wild for generations, and they haven't interacted with humans since they gained consciousness. Can Sibling Dex handle this responsibility?

I hardly have the words to describe this one. This is a sci-fi, I guess, but it feels like a fantasy -- it's just so atmospheric and draws you into this utopian and equitable world full of nature and community. Monk and Robot really emphasizes the best parts of life, the best parts of humanity. It will warm your heart because you will see your life in it - in all it's smallness and its gorgeousness. It's perfect if you want something that's short, sweet, and with a conflict that doesn't span the whole entire world, but is focused instead on two people - or, I guess, on one person and a robot.

Mandatory reading for everyone! Get your hands on a copy, you won't regret it!

Our Lady of Endless Worlds Duology, starting with Sisters of the Vast Black, by Lina Rather

176 to 192 pages

duology

sapphic rep

We're staying on theme here, with another religious-y pick. I give you: Sisters of the Vast Black! This one is about nuns! In space!

Some time into the future, the Catholic Church is alive and well. The sisters of the Order of Saint Rita live on their (get this) living ship, a gigantic animal they use to navigate between space stations and planets. I think this one is worth it just for that concept, I fell in love with it!

This book follows the Sisters as they receive a distress call from a colony, and find out that the Church's means might be more nefarious than they seem. But, mostly, it's about the sisters themselves, as they grapple with their faith, the ever-changing universe and the questionable morality of the Church.

I loved this one! Not only are the characters very compelling, the setting is just so cool. This concept of the living space ship is so fucking neat, and the duology gets down to the nitty-gritty of it. Not to mention, the idea of religion, and contemporary religion in particular, surviving mostly unchanged into the future is so interesting! I don't know if it's me being nerdy, but I just found the concept here so, so compelling, I couldn't resist bringing these books home with me!

The Seventh Perfection, by Daniel Polansky

176 pages

standalone

I don't remember it being queer, but I could be wrong??

I guess this is also kind of religious in a way lmao. The Seventh Perfection follows Manet as she searches for someone for the God-King, who runs the kingdom she lives in, using her perfect dominion over the seven perfections to help her.

The unique thing about this book, though, is how the story is told. Instead of following Manet's perspective as she goes through her city, interviewing people, we only see one side of her dialogue. As Manet speaks to a shopkeeper, for example, we are only treated to his answers. In this manner, its up to the reader to put some pieces together.

Although it is nothing too complicated, - especially for veterans of books such as The Locked Tomb or fantasy behemoths like A Song of Ice and Fire, with their crazy amount of characters - the structure is pretty unique. Like Esme N pointed out in her Good Reads review of this one, it kind of reads as if you're a POV character in a videogame, going NPC to NPC. I'd say this one is for the anyone who likes different approaches to stories in SFF, and enjoys being a little bit confused!

Elder Race, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

201 pages

standalone

no queer rep that I remember, either

Elder Race is an interesting one, as well. This one is definitely for fans of books with almost anthropological approaches to culture, such as The Left Hand of Darkness and A Memory Called Empire. Elder Nyr is a scientist, sent to another planet in order to explore it, who lives in his space ship. Except that, for the locals, that space ship is a giant tower, and Nyr is its mysterious sorceror of legend. Now, Lynesse comes to search for him so that he can help her deal with the threat of demon.

The result of the interaction between Lynesse and Nyr, and the fact that each of them have POV chapters, means that this reads as almost two separate books. One of them is a sci-fi, and that's Nyr's perspective, who is from a society with very high-end technology, and sees all problems as matters of science. Meanwhile, Lynesse sees everything as magical, so hers reads almost like a fantasy. It makes for such an interesting experience!

I think about this book constantly, and have been wanting to reread it for ages. I quite liked this particular approach, not to mention the concept! Plus, I love books that go deep into culture like this one. And, of course, it's from prolific and famous author Adrian Tchaikovsky, who wrote the Children of Time series, and although I haven't read the rest of his work, I've heard this is a good starting off point in case you want to get into his other books.

Princess Floralinda And The Forty-Flight Tower, by Tasmyn Muir

146 pages

standalone

non-binary rep

I'm always singing Ms. Muir praise, and that's for a reason! This one follows Princess Floralinda, who is locked up in a (guess!) forty-flight tower by an evil witch. She has placed one monster at every floor, and no prince has managed to get through the first one, let alone trudge up the stairs to rescue Floralinda.

With impeccable sense of humor, which is a trademark of Ms. Muir's fiction, we follow Floralinda's plight as she waits for someone to come rescue her - and then eventually notices no-one might be coming, after all. Her character development is astounding, and it's so satisfying to follow her. It's also just so impressive that so much can be packed into so little pages when it comes to her arc.

And I forgot to mention - there's a fun fairy character who will help Floralinda on her way! I think it's worth reading just for that!

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vosling · 3 months ago

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Alas! The future versions are imo absolutely not all the same people (+1 to prev). At the very least, they do not all grow into the same future person.

OP - the connectivity and iterative lineage of many Michaels is unknown, which basically means you can't assume how most of these Michaels relate to one another. The best way I can explain it is a follows (but mind you, this is still simplified).

Let's start with what is generally considered the Michael. The first Michael we encounter in the show, also nicknamed “Latvia Michael” and "Cowboy Michael". For this simplified explanation, let's consider Latvia Michael the Michael ancestor on the evolutionary tree of ever-further-branching Michael subspecies.

But that's the linear start, and it's not that simple. Because Latvia Michael traveled to the 2021 from (simplified) 10 years in the future. Since he got introduced in Episode 44, the narrative has progressed about 4 years. In other words, it was 2021 in the show when Michael was introduced and it's 2025 in the show now. So Michael has looped through 2021-2025 at least twice, yeah?[1] And Michael has already existed in 2030 though we (the show, the audience) haven't even been to that time yet.

Everywhen and everywhere Michael has been (in spacetime), there have been opportunities for Michael(subspecies) to branch out. Some of this we have seen in action (we witness a Michael getting iterated), some of we haven't (a new Michael enters the room, let's roll with it!).

Knowing how a Michael branches out from the "original" is what we call iterative lineage. Mind that "original" and "real" are highly contested concepts in the show - but that's diving into iterative personhood realms and you're not here for that.

Known iterative lineages: some of the Michaels on the show branched off Michael-after-he-got-introduced-to-the-show. An example of this Michael is Tex(as Michael), who is of the lineage of the Compound Michaels. We can trace this back to Episodes 80 and 81. Another example are Lieutenant and Michaels in OIs army, who are of the lineage of the double agent Michael, send to OI by Ty Betteridge. We can trace this back to Episodes 124 and 132. Old Man can be traced back to Episode 146.

Then there is the complication that other Michaels may originate from Michael-before-he-was-introduced-to-the-show. Which are both "earlier" Michaels (by evolutionary lineage logic they descend from a Michael with less life experience) but they are introduced later in the show.

And/but often, we don't know the exact iterative lineage of a new Michael introduced. So that's the case with the Numbered Michaels that attend Tex' poker night. We currently don't know their origin. They are all numbered now, but that doesn't mean they're connected. These numbers could have been assigned after Tex "saved their life" (offhand mention in Episode 196). Basically: Tex could be running the Michael version of a shelter, adopting Michaels from all kinds of bad fates. These Michaels could all have different iterative lineages.

I'm writing this all out because it's fun for me to talk about, not to tell you what to do! But maybe it will give you a bit more context to how "Are iterations all one person or do they have their own personhood" is an ongoing theme in the show. Most characters are at least somewhat fluid in their answer, based on context, because humans are hypocrites :3

But generally Mike Walters(species), which includes all the Michaels, consider every iteration its own person. Every iteration has been shaped by his own individual experiences and (if given the time and opportunity) will form his own relationships/build his own life.

[1] This Michael died for the second time and so far seemingly final time in Episode 168, which was released August 7, 2024. A new Michael was introduced recently, in Episode 192, when VHS Michael (self-appointed iterative lineage of "Mikeybear" + "betrothed to Edgar") and one Compound Overnighter Michaels[2] got consolidated ie merged into 1 person. Just to quickly highlight out how quickly iterative lineages can get messy.

[2] We don't even know how many Compound Michaels (with presumed Overnighter subspecies) have existed, what their iterative lineage structure looks like, nor how long they've been experimented on. I have some suspicions regarding the protocols set up by the Compound but that's steering too far away from canon + this post. But it comes down to: we have no idea how long it's been since Michael turned himself in and this one Overnighter got consolidated. From the POV of that particular Overnighter, it could have been 3 weeks. It could have been 8 years. We don't know.

I hope you know about woe.begone already, but if you don't, I must tell you THERE ARE SO MANY MICHAELS

Woe.begone is about time travel and the main character is named Mike Walters, and all the future versions of him go by Micheal.

Here is a wiki link explaining some of the michaels: https://woebegone.miraheze.org/wiki/Michael_Walters. There are more that aren't on there - particularly the Poker Night Michaels. There are 92 of them and they go by numbers instead of names and all play poker in Tex's (Texas Michael's) bar. There's also VHS Michael which is the only one who isn't a cowboy.

Pls enjoy the chaos of all the michaels

what. hwat the fuck

92??????

i feel like if i put these guys on multiple michael friday it’ll straight up outlive the account. this. this is like 3 whole months of nonstop michael.

well technically all the future versions of him are still him right? so i can just put him as one day right? (coping) (but i’m probably just going to do that.)

by god……. this series is the bane of my existence. the root of all evil. it was made specifically to target me. oh my god.

uhhh he can be tomorrow’s michael yeah. thabks for the submission/pain.

#OI's Michael army has hundreds of Michaels btw. Episode 132 mentions a 472 and 681 and 223 and 963. My guess is they started with a thousand #obviously many of those didn't make it through all their training but there were still hundreds of OI-numbered Michaels at the end #shshshsh sorry it's just funny that the Poker Night Michaels got mentioned but the army of Michaels wasn't /lh #woe.begone #w.bg #woe.begone spoilers #I wrote Michael so many times it's not a word anymore #I keep wondering if I misspelled it #anyways #sorry for the Lore drop OP I promise I'm not invested in the choices you make from here on out my brain just went BRRRRR at the opportunity #to ramble about my favorite podcast and the way it mimicks evolution and how science_irl builds fossil records to create the geologic recor #but then #time travel fucks everything up 😂#as a long-term theme W.BG likes to defy categorization #science_inuniverse keeps trying to make sense of time travel concepts and build theories and the fandom clutches on to it like a life jacke #and then the creator introduces a new concept that fucks it all up again by creating all kinds of new variations in the system #it's a lot of fun for nerds like yours truly #anyways pt. 2 #I'm having a little too much fun with this

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virtues-end · 3 years ago

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FAQ

◈ Will we ever learn about the MCs past?

Indeed you will. Details about the MCs past will unfold gradually throughout the story.

◈ Does the MC age/is the MC immortal?

The MC has not physically aged since undergoing the ritual of binding ~7 years ago. As a result of that ritual, they are also effectively immortal. Canonically, the MC is somewhere between their late 20s and mid 30s.

◈ Why doesn't the MC just run away?

The MC will suffer severe (physical) consequences should they stray too far apart from their Keeper, becoming violently ill (potentially to the point of unconsciousness) if the distance becomes too great.

◈ Why doesn't the MC just kill Shea?

The magical seal on the MCs body prevents them from attacking their Keeper with the intent to kill. Also, I would not have a story if I let the MC act as a deranged murderhobo all of the time (a little murdering is okay, though).

◈ How do you pronounce Shea?

Feel free to pronounce it however you wish. I personally pronounce it as [ʃeɪ].

◈ Can the main character be trans?

Yes. You'll also be able to choose whether they've transitioned or not. It's something that might also come up later, in talks with other characters. For intimate scenes, the first time you engage in one you will be asked to 'set' your character's top and bottom parts.

◈ Who are the ROs?

Virtue's End has four relationship options: Shea, Penrose, Elexis, and Idris. You can read more information about them in this post. If you'd like to see my sketches of them, you can do so here.

◈ How tall are the ROs?

I've kept it deliberately vague in-game for immersive purposes but Shea is 192 cm (6'3"), Penrose is 198 cm (6'6"), Elexis is 176 cm (5'9"), and Idris is 169 cm (5'7").

◈ Are there any poly relationships in the game?

I'd like there to be, though it'll probably be complicated. Coding/writing-wise, but also... all of these people are not okay. Some of them hate each other's guts, or at the very least strongly dislike each other. And I don't want to force a loving relationship where there is none, so it would be toxic as hell. We'll see.

◈ Are any of the ROs trans?

Male Penrose is a trans man, and female Elexis is a trans woman. In addition, both Shea and Elexis can be set to nonbinary. All of the characters have set top and bottom parts that you will not be able to change.

◈ Are there any mystery or secret ROs?

At the moment, I've decided to limit the (full) relationship options to Shea, Penrose, Elexis, and Idris. However, the player might occasionally have the opportunity to engage in a fling/hook-up with a minor character.

If you're familiar with the old version of Virtue's End and are wondering about the ROs that were cut (namely Sutton, Eiri, Guinn, and Sinclair), some of them might still make an appearance, though they won't be full ROs. I've also chosen to 'merge' a few of them with the existing companions.

◈ Do you answer 'RO reacts’ kind of asks?

As these types of asks require a lot of energy to respond to, I generally do not answer them. However, I might make an exception if it’s a particularly interesting concept or prompt.

◈ Are you still working on the game?

Yes, I am! Although the game was on hiatus for a while, I've since resumed working on it, and am currently working on chapter two. Fair warning, I'm a slow writer, but I'm steadily chipping away at it. :-)

◈ Is there a Virtue's End discord server?

No. There used be, but I deleted it due to a variety of reasons (hiatus, inactivity, social anxiety, etc). And I'm currently not really interested in running a new one.

◈ Do you have a Patreon/Ko-Fi?

I do. I have a Patreon, where I post early access to game updates and sketches and progress updates, that sort of thing. Please note, however, that it doesn't offer very many Patreon 'exclusives' such as short stories/snippets/things like that. All game updates will be released publicly eventually, so please don't feel like you need to pay for them. I'd be extremely grateful for any support you could give me, however. I also have a Ko-Fi, though it serves as more of a tip jar.

◈ When was the game last updated?

The public version of the game was last updated on October the 15th 2024. The Patreon version last received an update on December 11th 2024.

◈ What's the current word count of the game?

The public version is a little over 76k words (excl. code). The Patreon demo is around 99k words.

◈ Do you have an update schedule?

Sort of? My goal is to release an update roughly every 1-2 months. The length of these updates may vary, depending on how much time I've had to work on them and other (real life) factors. The Patreon version receives more frequent, 'incomplete' updates, whilst I generally try to update the public demo when I have something a little more substantial/finished.

◈ Is the old version of the game still playable?

Yep! The previous version of the game remains up on Dashingdon. Please note, however, that it will no longer receive updates.

◈ Is Virtue's End a standalone game or part of a series?

Virtue's End is a standalone book. I currently have no plans for a sequel.

◈ Do you accept nsfw asks?

Yes, I do, but it depends on the contents of the ask whether I feel comfortable answering it or not. Fair warning, messages that solely consist of people being horny about characters will most likely be received with a chuckle but will otherwise remain unanswered.

Any NSFW or suggestive asks will be clearly marked as mature and tagged with ‘nsfve’. Explicit content will always be hidden under a cut.

#faq #long post

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