arseniy-arsenicum33

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

A bunch of abandoned WIPs...

Sometimes you spend a lot of time on an idea, that for some reason isn't worth pursuing... Let me yell into the void about this year's pile...

So, my Idea for the duration of this season, was to make little vignettes with funny or memorable moments from different POVs, since I already watch nearly every Hermit... How did it go? Terribly... It stopped right after the first batch at the end of February...

The Ministry of Ministers governing The Neighbourhood...

Let's start with the most complicated it terms of reasons to abandon... At the start of the season, 9 hermits have settled so close to each other, that it somewhat organically formed the neighbourhood... With its own HOA and everything... I really thought that this bit would last longer than it did... And tried to make a model for every minister... I've got four...

Ren appointed himself as a Minister of Ministers, and Cleo as a Minister of Garbage... There was talks about a coop, I was very excited for this... Here is Cleo getting ready to smash Ren's head with two garbage can lids... But no coop come to fruition... They already overthrew him in season 9, and didn't want to end up with all Ren's responsibilities AGAIN... Understandable... Still, there was no reason to post this, so I didn't...

Stress got the role of Minister of Food, and was very happy with her poisonous potato hat... Shame, she isn't part of Hermitcraft anymore, but I respect her decision...

Sometime later Wels has also became the Minister of Light... So here he is lighting up street lamps with torches... He never got the hat, as far as I'm aware...

Oofff... Here he is... Remember, then at the start of the season, Beef and Iskall had this whole sitcom situationship? Iskall repainted Beef's house red with netherrack? While Beef was desperately trying to be left alone on his farm? Good times... Here they are parodying the American Gothic by Grant Wood... Let me just say, I've made this in may, and this is the last model I'll make of Iskall... No graces for him, get out... Moving on...

Here are all the other Ministers... I just haven't came up with fitting poses for them... And because I like to make long themed posts, in order to not clog up the Hero Forge tag posting them one by one, I couldn't post any of them, while the others are unfinished... Somewhere down the line Keralis became the secretary and was pooping in the meeting room, so my workload increased... Xisuma is the tricky one, you see, he was the Minister of Idiots, meaning, he's the one wrangling the Villagers... The reasonable thing to model would be some villager interaction... But you see... His hat... Is a separate model of a whole person hiding inside Xisuma's body... And Hero Forge doesn't allow more than two human models on the same base... So, no villagers for me... Nowadays, this problem could've been solved with kitbashing... But even if I get the monthly subscription, there are the guaranties that I would have the time to model anything and not be overtaken by my job and other hobbies? To risky, I don't have that kind of money to subscribe to things... Oh, and Juppet is also here... I really like Joe's skin, I really do... But, boy, is is making my life in particular more troubled than it needs to be... This is seriously the best I could translate his skin in Hero Forge, this Ugly-Sonic-Live-Action-Muppet-Remake-Looking-Ass... This is the reason, you are not getting any Juppet models, I gave up... For someone, who is a total nobody in the fandom circle, I sure do have a lot of high standards...

Tall Claims Court Episode 1: ZombieCleo vs Docm77...

I wanted to make something akin to courtroom sketches that would illustrate the trial... And quickly run out of breath, the plan was just to big... Courtroom drama works in part because it's in a room, in an enclosed space, with stands and furniture and whatnot... And Hero Forge is built...not for that... I did manage to model something resembling a table for Cleo...

But for Doc I've just ran out of juice and was putting back this model, until it became utterly irrelevant... Juppet is also...not helping... I like Joe's skin this season, but it made my life specifically very hard... So the model is unfinished to this day, and undoubtedly, will stay this way forever...

RenDog's testimony... I like to make my models viewable from every angle, and here I just couldn't bring myself to model a whole witness-stand, then I can just crop out the dangling legs, and False's tail, holding the shield/table... To much work for not enough payout... And I was supposed to make the same stand for Beef's testimony about Doc's esophagus... And Judge Bdubs's... No thanks...

Here's a good look at Ren's GigaCorp uniform, that I also, probably, would never use...

Stranglers from season 9...

Mmm, the real coop, how I miss you... These poses are taken from this absolutely gorgeous animatic by Mefazy at 2:24... I already had models for HotGuy and Gorgon Cleo... So it was only fitting... But it couldn't fit in any other posts, so here it is for the first time...

The coronation of the Dungeon Queen... I don't even remember my reasoning for making this... Could've been part of DND-Hermits... I just couldn't make the pose work as I wanted... No matter what I did, Tango's gaze kept getting sultrier... Not the mood I'm trying to express here...

Eeeeehhh... Could've been cool, if I had any skills in photoshop to put small Grian onto his palm... You can tell the model is old, because now we have better options for hand poses...

Somewhat recent...

Scientist Gem! Studying Pearl from a distance... I just dressed her up and forgot to pose properly...

And this was supposed to be Mumbo's death in Wild Life... I wanted to make explosion from the horse tails... Just couldn't bother... So here is Mumbo deathly scared of this abomination...

Okay, I've got them of my chest... Let's hope, in the new year, I will develop a work ethic, and stop putting so much on myself, while being unsure about the necessity of my labour... I was supposed to make these for fun, there did the fun go? I'm free...

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Caution! Wild Life in this area!

This is a dumping ground of models I've made while watching the newest season of Life Series... Could've done more, even had ideas, but struggled with motivation... Still, wanted to share what I've got, before the end of the year...

Our newest winner! Yes, Gem has a gun, she deserves it... Based on this poster for the first Fast & Furious...

Oh, Bamboozlers, your fate has been sealed from the start, and yet, I still rooted for you... Rivals the Clockers as my favorite teamup of all time... Based on Ink-ghoul skins and renders... Shame, we didn't see Lizzie in this dress in the finale...

These aren't hawks, what are you talking about? These are clearly parrots, and Lizzie is training them to sit together and look pretty... I've completely remodeled Lizzie's face to more align with this art by eydilily which is to me the Ideal Lizzie design, exactly how I see her in my head...

Tuff Guys taste-test... WHAT MY CLOCK AND BELLS TASTE LIKE?! Bdubs, you heathen... I tried making models specifically referencing Wild Cards, but dropped the idea, once I couldn't make a convincing snail...

Cleo the Arsonist and the Enabler... She is only happy then stuff burns...

It's the Creaking Neighbour! To be completely honest, this new Rimeweaver's bodice was the push, that made me finally format this post... It just looks so much like a tree bark, perfect fit, instantly made this model 10 times more coherent... Unimportant stuff under the cut...

Alternative Bamboozler placement, they were made to work together...

Different angle of the Scar's model... Yep, there's a whole diamond sword tucked behind his back...

I might muster another post with unfinished WIPs, just to put them behind me... We'll see if I do... Oh, and that google spreadsheet with links to all of my models I keep promising? Still unfinished, I'm as unorganised as ever...

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Have a handful of alliances I'm totally normal about.

Bonus very hostile game of Capture the Flag under the cut:

(Scar was so gleeful in escaping with that shield that I really wanted to use that pose for him.)

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Traffic smp members/ships in hero forge :D

So I was messing around in hero forge and created some of the life series members- Tango

Ethubs (Etho and Bdubs)

And the Flower Husbands (Scott and Jimmy)

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Have you guys ever heard about this game "Slay The Princess"?

I sure have... It's been constantly spinning in my mind for a couple of months...

So I've tried to make something in Hero Forge about it... Here are my attempts at slaying modeling Chapter 2 Princesses...

Bonus: Hero Forge doesn't allow more than two figures on one base, so there is no way I could model The Stranger... So here is five of her fragments:

And also Tower lifting the chin of a raven that was used to determine Her hand position... He was so charming to me, I've decided to show you... Not Long, but a Little Quiet...

All models are free to use in your DnD campaigns, and will be available through links in my Google Doc... Once I finish compiling it... I also need to acknowledge, that I'm not the first person doing this... That honor, as far as I'm aware, goes to @imafuckingnerdineveryway and their two sets of models: Long Quiet and Shifting Mound Adversary and Damsel Which were partial inspiration for starting this project... Check them out! More people should engage with Hero Forge as an art program!

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Part 5 Feverish Mania...

3rd March... I wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, unable to breathe through my nose, my forehead is scorching... Force myself to get up and take medication... Text my boss, I won't come to work for 1-3 days... Shambling to kitchen, I'm dehydrated... The thought of a Princess overpowers any other... Well... Now, that I'm awake... Can't wait... For the next three days all I do is sleep and play STP... And I remember close to nothing from it... Minutes merge into hours into days, route after route I'm chipping away, hearing line after line... Is this what I’ve wanted? Is this how I chose to spent my twenties? Is this even enjoyable anymore? I don't have an answer... I don't remember the life before this... I’m trapped in a prison of my own making… More happy time passes... I am forensically piecing together this part from my notes, steam achievements and a diagram of possible routes by cephalofrog... I didn't use it while playing, marking my paths in the notebook, but now, their clear and simple schemes are very helpful...

I start with Damsel... The last to my knowledge "Enter without the blade" route... I am numb to her, she is too perfect, an idea, not a person... Slay... "Ladykiller"... Oh... Chapter 3 The Grey... Short sweet chapter with some gratuitous art of literally burning alive... I've already watched my body dissolve in stomach acid... This does not have an effect on me... I do not protest, we are burning together... This is what I deserve... Clear it up, and go back to the Damsel... My vision is blurry, so it takes me a while to notice the changes, while I press "But what do you want to do?" options... But ones I do notice, it does have an effect on me... This is so cool and clever… I was right, I've turned her into a cardboard cutout... The Smitten couldn't have been happier...

I needed a breather after that... I still refuse to bring the blade to the basement in chapter one... Decided to check out steam achievements for the first time, to see, did I miss something? A couple of pointers to non-slaying activities would be appreciated... "Terminal velocity" - fall for the rest of your life... But I did that! With Wraith! Where did I screw up? Check out guide... Oh... Okay, I might need to replay Nightmare section with blade again, clearly, I did miss something, and we can't have that... "Anger", "Bargaining", "Depression", "Acceptance" and one more have the same type of pictures as "Denial", which I got by turning back in chapter 2... Maybe, it will lead to different results if I do this in other chapters? Hypothesis needs investigation...

So I did exactly that... Finished Nightmare for real this time... Noted, having a blade changes most of [Interactions]... Do I need to replay Witch, Beast and Damsel again? Guess I do... So I did exactly that... Wasn't that much of a problem, took me only an hour... Skip button, my beloved... A couple of new phrases, but nothing revolutionary... Okay, it's time to bravely turn around and leave my hero's quest... Oh... It leads to the Stranger... Huh... Unexpected result...

Mini-tangent number 3... Have you guys ever heard about this game "Monster Prom"? It's a multiplayer dating simulator with monsters and high emphasis on comedy and shenanigans... You can fight over the affection of a werewolf athlete or an eldritch otaku with your IRL friends... Or you can play on your own and become an advisor to the mean business centered gorgon to help her become the most feared mafia boss in town... Most of the time it's fun and games, anything can happen! But some endings are... highly meta and very existential... It starts simple, in the first game you can luck into getting some strange drugs, which grants some of your love interests awareness of their position in our reality... The age old "Character in the game discovers that they are in fact, a character in a game", meta 101, if you will... Oh, and you can romance the Narrator, who is also a student, just very antisocial... (STP, take notes)… In sequels the developers, Beautiful Glitch, upped the antics… And by the time Monster Roadtrip (MP3) comes, if you play the game for unintended lengths it starts to glitch, break its own code, overlap routes, create a duplicate locations, force you into traumatic liminal spaces and by the end characters and developers are having discussions on a bench about their relationship... This cheeky dating sim party-game becomes a full-blown horror, and then a meta-analysis of essence of art creation itself, and it's honestly GREAT... So yeah, Stranger's route caters to me and me specifically...

Chapter 2 The Stranger... Contrarian? What? I thought, that the voices are Princess's perception of us... But why is he here if that's the case? We haven't met her... I'm back to my Narrator's perception theory hypothesis... I will believe this until further evidence prove it wrong... Amazing, we can throw the knife out! Just what I've always wanted! And it has a different cursor-sprite if you hold it the cool way! No notes, this is great... Slay the Princess takes a moment to be silly and channel the Monster Prom energy... The staircase... By the sheer coincidence I've picked the Right stairs first... Are the steps... Backs of Princesses? Or just soft? I met a standard to me Princess... The whole fragmentation thing happens, awesome... "The Illusion of choice" achievement pops up, so I'm getting ready to see this exact thing a couple of times... Then I take the Left stairs... The cold and jagged... And, regarding the Princess put in my notes: "What a B*tch"... "You can address me as Your Royal Highness" - Ugh... And for the third time I take the middle... She is so... Unbothered... So in my notes the paths are called: B*tch, Mid & Standard... The other two are: Scary and Depressed... Really cool venture, glad to have it here...

So... If turning around in the first chapter leads to the Stranger, when what should I do for the stages of grief achievements? I've started to go to the second chapters that I've seen and turning around in them... In a single file it worked... Damsel, Nightmare, Witch and Beast got me up to "Depression"... And on my fifth time there was a series of realizations... - "No blade" option could only get me four princesses... - "No blade" option is greyed out, so I cannot possibly pick it... - Picking up the blade makes Princess antagonistic to me from the start... I've spent close to twenty hours in the game by this point, and I've encountered all of this things right now for the first time... (This should've been a CLEAR SIGN, that my way of playing is flawed and unintended, but alas)... "You can address me as Your Royal Highness" - Oh... This whole time... Left stairs in the Stranger's route were a path to "You came here with a knife" Princess... Madam... I'm sorry for calling you a B*tch, now I see the circumstances that you are working with... You have a right to be cold and unapologetic with me, I indeed came here with a knife to slay you... That's a completely reasonable reaction... I'm so so so so so sorry... This moment of sudden realization is best illustrated in my notes: B*tch, Mid & Standard = Cold, Mid & Soft... Yeah, right-stairs Princess got a rename too... I called her Standard only because I didn't see any other, and had no idea that her "Creature of perception" powers start working even before our meeting... This game managed to surprise me by one of its foundational mechanics twenty hours in...

Alright-alright, I'm not here for this... I just need to get to a second chapter and turn around for an achievement... Sigh... Okay, Narrator, just this once I will humor you, and slay the Princess exactly how you've asked... It feels terrible... And it's... A GOOD ENDING?! Oh, you bastard! I'm wise to your tricks! Wait-wait-wait, why are the credits rolling?! No! I'm not here for this! I'm doing a different thing! God, I haven't saved since the start of this! AAAAA!!! So here I am, replaying from the start... Cursing at Narrator and upsetting the Hand-entity... Nobody wins here... It's an ending... I'm watching the credits roll once again... Enough for now, I'm going to bed... Not for long... Two and a half hours later, I am sitting at my computer... In that time, I’ve checked out “Slay the Princess” tag here, on tumblr and also watched “Kitchen Fork” animatic on youtube… Spoilers don’t bother me anymore, I await the end…

And starting fresh with a knife... No words, only stabbing... Check pulse... Oh... Chapter 2 The Razor... It makes a lot of sense, if you think about it... The only thing I knew about this Princess was that she had an unexpected knife and stabbed me... Of course, my mind transformed her into blades-for-bones murder-maniac... "Hehe!" She has a lot of funny lines, that my delirious and feverish brain likes... But... God, oh God... Chapter 3 The Arms Race / No Way Out... You can get to here in six different ways: C+H+Br, C+H+Sr, C+H+Pa, C+Cn+Br, C+Cn+Sr, C+Cn+Pa... And all voices have something to say about every first dialog option, which gives you another buddy for the second... And there are 15-18 first options in each Chapter 3 (Counting the variations that lead directly to stabbing), that means, that you have 11-17 second options so there are... A LOT of variety in this chapter alone... And I needed to explore each of them... Oh... I wanted to give up... I really did, this wasn't worth it, text just repeats itself in new ways... But sunk-cost fallacy kept me trudging forward... This isn't my first rodeo...

Mini-tangent number 4... Have you guys ever heard about this game "Monster Prom"? I'm sure you did at least once... MP being one part a party-game is based on random showing of events... No two playthroughs are the same, and you don't have much saying on which events will show up... It is also a game based on a stat-system... You visit specific location -> You get the stat, connected to said location -> and here is where the event plays out with a backdrop of this location -> each event gives you two options with a fail-state being "Not enough stat", which is to say, 4 outcomes for every event... So, in order to 100% Monster Prom you need to encounter every event at least 4 times, you would also need to meet a stat-requirement to win/lose and see different texts for that... Got it? Good... Well... There are also Secret endings that work by giving you three specials events chained one after another... And then, with a Christmas update Beautiful Glitch added "A gift box" to the shop... It's a free item with a pool of 24 different stat-changing gifts... Oh, my mistake, 20 items and 4 that give you new Secret endings... One of which, I swear to god, shows up once in a blue moon... And it's one of the biggest hurdles to 100% MP... You need to win a lottery at least 8 times and make sure to have required stats to pick only unseen options... Did I mention, that there are 2030 outcomes? There is an achievement for this! This is torture! Devs, why did you put this here?! I've never got 100% achievement for Monster Prom... However...

In the sequels devs added a full-blown event/outcome checklist, so you can actually see which ones you missing... I guess enough people whined about this is the first game... The second game has 1196 outcomes... This is... Manageable in comparison... And it took me 151 hours to get this achievement... The third game is less chaotic, making itself more of recourse-management endeavor... You travel in a car from location to location, of which there are 69, each has 3 guaranteed events with just 2-3 outcomes, no failures this time... And it has only 801 outcomes... It took me 196 hours to see them all... Why is that? Well, apart from location-based events, there are also road-events, and they are completely random on every second week... So... We are back to lottery... I love these games, I really do... But GOD... This isn't supposed to be encouraged... It brings only misery...

And I would never ask for this kind of challenge in STP... I'm glad there is no achievement for my kind of behavior and no possible way to track down how much of written text have you seen... This would ruin STP for a lot of people... This was the stage in my journey, there I've started to feel Shame for what I am doing... STP is not the same kind of game as MP, and I am a FOOL for trying to impose familiar to me tactics on this new experience... I came here to broaden my horizons, not to grind it into powder and snort... I've turned myself into a consumer, trying to squeeze the last drops out of the toothpaste... This isn't how you supposed to play this game, heck, this isn't how you supposed to play ANY game... I didn't let myself even get to any ending, before I've recklessly started to manipulate fabric of time and space out of my sick curiosity... This is a narrative-driven visual novel, how did I even-? Oh... I was terrified of missing something important... And in doing that... I've missed the point, of why I even wanted to play this game in the first place... My life stopped, I am stuck in this moment, unable to do anything before I finish what I've started... This is the new low for me... I am alone and diseased, obsessed and miserable, doing all the wrong things to a piece of art that I deeply love... Scraping of the paint from a canvas and unable to stop… What a misguided approach...

Chapter 4 Mutually Assured Destruction / Empty Cup... Two short and straight to the point finales for a very cool routes, nothing to add... Actually, no...

Mini-tangent number 5... Have you guys ever heard about this game "Monster Prom" this novel "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons? It's an old-school sci-fi with multiple main characters each telling stories of how and why they got chosen to make this pilgrimage to the planet Hyperion and sacrifice themselves to great and powerful God of pain Shrike... He is described as being covered in spikes and blades, to inflict pain, of course... Razor's final form, "A Perfect Woman", if you will, reminded me of Shrike... That's it...

Part 6 Final Push...

I don't have a lot of notes or memories about these last four... This is what obsession without engagement does to a person... Chapter 2 The Spectre... I got here by murdering her, she has every right to call me "A Killer", of course I let her possess me, I already know how this thing works, we did that already with Wraith... Excited to see her interaction with Narrator and other voices... Hehe, yes, get his ass! Most of the other choices lead back to the Wraith... Replay it a couple more times... The Spectre doesn't have her own Chapter 3? Strange... Chapter 2 The Tower... I was honestly dreading this one, because I knew through "Kitchen Fork" animatic, that I would have the voice of Broken in my head for entire time... But, you know what? HE IS GREAT in this one... I was so surprised to like him this much... Once he becomes this shady priest submitting himself to the Tower, and whispering sweet nothings it my ear, it was hard to not agree with him... Have you seen this Goddess? I've made an embarrassing amount of screenshots during this part... And Apotheosis... Ooooh... What a perfect moment... My jaw was on the floor, the Broken was ecstatic, the animation gave me chills, the music was something that I'll never forget... And your choices don't matter! There are only seven of them, I was done quickly, and still was happy to rewatch it again and again... You can also get to Fury, if you try to slay Tower... But why would you do that? Come on, just surrender your will to her, don't be a killjoy... It'll be fiiine... Chapter 3 The Fury... "With a squelching sound you are unwound"...

Mini-tangent number 6... Have you guys ever heard about the novels "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett and "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman... They have a similar dynamics between the Gods and the believers... That is to say, the Gods are only as powerful as the amount of faith they get from the believers... At the start of SG an eagle drops a turtle into a monastery... The turtle suddenly remembers that it is, and always has been, a Great and Powerful God Om... But now, he can't do much of anything, apart from pestering this novice Brutta, who can hear the voice of Om trying to communicate with him... Why is that? Because you see, this is actually a temple to the Om, but only Brutta actually Believes in Om, and not just going through the motions and rituals because it's a tradition as other priests... Oh, but one of them is planning a Holy War in the name of Om, so the plot revolves around Brutta and Om trying to stop it, and get Om back to his powerful self... And to some extent, Gods are also "The creatures of perception"... In SG there is a joke about how the Goddess of wisdom is forced to waddle everywhere with a penguin, because the sculptor of her most prominent statue botched an owl... Now the believers actually think she has a penguin as a companion, and she is stuck with this... And God, I really need to shut up, this is already a 14 page document, keep it moving, will ya? I am actively procrastinating at this point... I've already summarized the plots of two books, was this really necessary? I'm not Hbomberguy, for crying out loud...

Chapter 2 The Prisoner... The monkey paw curls, as I put the shackle on my neck... I wanted to keep her company at the start of all of this... I got what I've asked for, beggars can't be choosers... I think this is the best outcome for both of us... She straight up cuts her head off, if you don't do this... If she was good at small talk, I think, this could've rivaled gaining Thorns trust as the sweetest moment in the game... I really like how her braids and tiara are more chain-like now... I must say, after my confusion about who are we playing as it's so cathartic to hear Tower, Prisoner and Adversary straight up call us "Little Bird" or "Good Bird"... It took me thirty hours, but this mystery has been solved... I was actively weeping caring Prisoner's head up the stairs... I've already knew about our "non-dying if we don't want to" abilities from the Razor's route... But The fact that Princess can pretty much do the same, if only WE believe she can, hasn't crossed my mind... Maybe because I chose to torture myself instead of enjoying the narrative... Yeah... That's why... Chapter 3 The Grey... It was really unexpected, how much the Grey route changes... Can't complain, kind of wish more of this kind of variety was in different approaches for the third chapters... But honestly, if Grey stays out as an exception, I would be perfectly fine with it... She is more unique this way...

Chapter 2 The Adversary... And here I thought I was nearly done... Adversary is such an interconnected, looping back on itself, screwing with my brain chapter... This was a challenge in and of itself to not lose track of there I am... (Or maybe it was my fever)... Must say, Stubborn and Adversary have surpassed my expectations as honest to god soulmates, even more than Smitten and Damsel... Can't say I'd enjoy the same dynamic in a relationship, but Stubborn sure does, and I'm very happy for him... After I was done picking every option and seeing how much longer I can live with myself, I did a clear Stubborn-driven fight, it's what they both deserve... Naturally, with a poetry option... I also have a pencil marking saying "make me rage-boy", but can't connect it to anything, or even remember the context... Chapter 3 The Eye of a Needle... This was a second punch to the gut, regarding how many choices you have here... I thought I would end this with a victory lap, no, I've barely dragged myself over a finish line... This was a journey, thankfully, now I can finish the game...

Part 7 No...

Are you kidding? Of course I can’t! If there ever been a more appropriate time to stop and reconsider, it is now! I’ve already ruined a huge chunk of the game for myself, I don’t want to continue leveling up this meadow into a parking lot! My hubris lead me to this… I am ashamed, I am disgusted, I am humbled… Somehow, in a game with a pre-thesis “There are no premature endings. There are no wrong decisions.” I took every wrong one and not a single right! I have found a new and exciting ways to have a crisis! This is sad… I am sad… You are sad… Nobody wins here, and it’s all my fault! What do I even do now? I can’t finish the game, that would ruin it even more… I can’t just leave it here, I’ve already sunk so much time into it… I know both so much and so little, I can’t form a cohesive discussion topic to just talk about it to someone on the internet… It’s like that proverb about the Prince travelling the world so quickly, he can’t even tell a single story from his adventure, and thus he travels the world again, this time actually appreciating the experience… But how would I do it? I can’t simply forget everything to start over! This is frustrating! What am I supposed to do?! AAAAA!!! “There are only fresh perspectives and new beginnings” - … Oh… I have an idea… I pick up my phone…

- “Hey, how are you?”… - “Fancy hearing from you again. First time in a span of four days”. - “Yeah, I’m sorry… I’ve become a little sick and obsessed”… - “That’s what I’ve thought. Do you feel alright now?”. - “The fever subsides… And… Can I ask you something?”… - “Go on”. - “Would you like to play STP with me? You as a decision-maker, and me as just a translator”… - “Hehe, I’ve thought you’d never ask. I’d like to”. - “Great! I really need a fresh perspective… A haven’t seen an ending yet, and I’d like to experience it with you… Translation wont take long, I already know every line”… - “Okay. Important question”. - “I’m all ears”… - “Is there a way to kiss the Princess?”. - “Hehe, there is”… - “Heck yeah! Wait for my return to the city, don’t do anything stupid”. - “I promise, I wont… Maybe in the meantime I’ll write something about it to clear my mind”… So I did exactly that... I am free... P.S. I will do anything to restrain myself after Pristine Cut comes… This can’t happen again… I’ve learned my lesson… Going to strangle every stupid thought in my brain…

Hyperfixation speedrun 100% (WR?!)

(Includes Slay the Princess Spoilers, Random Tangents & Mental Breakdown Documentation)

If you clicked this accidentally, this is another warning... Go and play Slay the Princess, blind (Yes, exactly like Doki-Doki), you can thank me later... Don't rush you playthrough in a single day, take breaks, engage in a story, it is worth it, trust me... Save, if you need to close the game, not because you are scared of decisions... Take time to think, just in general... And for the rest of you, the four-five people, that will read this to the end... This is going to be a boring wall of text, no pictures, nothing, just my graphomania at full display... Reconsider... Let's begin...

Part 1 Prologue...

This isn't something I normally post here, but I'm overflowing with thoughts about this game and cannot discuss it with anyone IRL right now... Language barrier prevents my friends from experiencing STP, so until I literally put them in front of my computer and translate vocally every single line (This is a regular occurrence, a "Let's play party"), I'm going to scream into the void... How did it all started? 1.5 months ago I first heard about this game from This song... To say that I'm very into indie-games and nerdcore is an underestimate, let's just leave it at that, so I don't dox myself on accident... So, of course I'm already subscribed to the most of small, but noteworthy musicians, such as Musiclide... The song intrigued me to no ends... It made me want to play the game, which is the highest honor a song like this can achieve…  I also wanted to go fully blind and swore that I would not watch any letsplays... But I didn't had the finances to buy it, and never in my life had I pirated an Indie-game... It's a matter of principle, and a real test of my will to not spoil anything for myself... (Now I am aware about Black Tabby Games stance on piracy, but, again, checking the developers social media was against my full blindness plans)... On the 23rd of February my girlfriend, noticing that I constantly bring up STP in conversations and seeing my struggles, gifted it to me... Unfortunately for her, I am a mad man, as you will see later… I haven't had the proper time to play right until 28th... And I'm writing this on the 6th of march... After a week... And a 38 hours of slaying princesses... So, how did it go? Well...

Part 2 Exploration phase...

28th Feb... I got back home from work early… Well, well, well... What a great opportunity to start playing... Chapter 1 The Hero and The Princess... "You're on a path in the woods"... Aha, a path... Paths are not appearing by themselves... If there is a path, it means two things: There is a destination... And people regularly seek that destination... I'll keep mental note of that, while I'm playing... - me, a liar... First thing I did is took out notebook and started noting down my every move... So I didn't take any mental notes, all of them were literal... Since it's my first playthrough, let's stick to my own morale code and see there it takes us... No knife, knives are threatening, I wouldn't be eager to welcome somebody armed and dangerous while I'm locked in a basement... Picking every opportunity to chat with Narrator and talking to the Princess... Well, she seems innocent, tired and sometimes threatening… I want to help her... Oh... She's chewing her arm of... Cool... Let’s not make rushed decisions… Resisting the Narrator takes me to... Chapter 2 The Damsel... Oh, hey! There is a new buddy inside my head! I remember you from the song! He is also wants to help the Princess, but I am more in line with a Hero... I want to do the right thing without the ulterior motive of romance, I'm on a rescue mission, after all... No knife, I won't pick it, until I literally have no other options... "We should look at ourselves! What if we have a feather out of place?" - wait, what feather? You mean to tell me, that I'm wearing one of those hats with plumages? Did I always had this hat, or did it appear on me, because YOU are here, Mister Smitten? (There are literally feathers on a main menu screen, Past Me... In my defense, at this point I've thought that we are playing as some sort of dragon)... Why is she... so not herself? It's nice to see her smile, but why did she become so bland, like a cardboard cutout? (This is literally one of my notes, I was so right on the money! More on that later...) I liked you more before... I see that Smitten is absolutely over the moon with you, what is happening in here? Why is every obstacle so nonexistent? Did I pick the lame route? Did I somehow strip Princess of her personality? Is she trying to mold herself to my preferences, so I'm more likely to save her? It couldn't be the Narrator, he is to annoyed at all of this to be the cause... Alright... Getting out of the cabin, hooray! Oh... The hands... They took her... The Mirror... So I am not a dragon... But a different monster... Good to know... Now I'm conversing with the Hand-entity... Alone... What a cool animation of all hand movements... The speeches have this gravitas to them, hard to explain... "This vessel is a creature of perception..." - so I did rob her of all her personality, oops, my bad... "Bring me more perspectives, so that I may be whole." - alright, so the crux of the game is restarting and taking different routes, got it... "She asks that I tell you to remember her." - oh, how sweet, the damsel truly loved me... "You wont." - the shattering glass forcefully flings me away from screen...

I am again in Chapter 1... I can ask all of the same questions to the Narrator... Let's strategize a little... Now that I saved the Princess, what other non-lethal way can I take? I've seen an option to keep her company in the cabin... Wouldn't it be nice? Maybe I can forage in the forest for food to feed her... Maybe I can find a sturdy branch to bend the chains... Maybe using my blade I can construct a makeshift metal file, grind away the shackle and free the princess that way, without arm-loss... I am very resourceful, after all... Oh... She doesn't like that idea, she wants to be free right now... Could she escape on her own? Oh... She can... Ouch... "Everything goes dark, and you die." Chapter 2 The Nightmare... New buddy! I guess, my actions not only change the Princess, but also myself... Or is it the Princess's perception of me? Or maybe Narrator's? Something to think about... The same questions from the Damsel chapter... Let's pick everything that I haven't heard... "Turn around and leave" - sure, why not? Oh... The Hand-entity is not happy with me... Sorry...

I am again in Chapter 1... Got it, don't just turn around and leave... Ugh, now I need to replay everything, to see Nightmare Princess, sorry, I was just curious... Taking the same options... No blade? Yes... Keep company? Yes... Retrieve the blade? WAIT A SECOND! There is my option to "Stick to the plan and lock her up in the basement?"... Did I screw myself? Now I can't get to the Nightmare? Aw, shucks... Well, now that I am here, let's see there the story takes me... Closing the door... Oh... She killed me... Chapter 2 The Beast... New buddy! Hunted... Yeah, my survival instincts aren't the best, you should be helpful... If only I've listened to you... No blade... Aaand the desire to chit-chat with unseen threat got me eaten... Understandable... Chapter 3 The Wild... WHAT?! THREE CHAPTERS? So this is more in depth, than I anticipated... And a new buddy... Broken... What a downer... What even are we right now? A Mycelium? The voice of a Princess rings in my mind… If we are truly one, let's follow her... Oh... I am breaking the confines of reality itself... Narrator isn't happy... The Mirror... I don't look so good... Another chat with a Hand-entity... Glass shatters... This is, once again, the most startling part of this game... For now...

I am again in Chapter 1... Got it, I'm going to die, if I close this door... Investigate arm? Why would I do this? - I did do this... The door closes behind the Princess, I starve to death... I guess, that is one way to free her, since the door closes on me every time... Chapter 2 The Witch... New buddy! Opportunist, oh you slimy devil... What a cool rooted-cabin, I dig this aesthetic... And a new Princess, that I can actually see! She doesn't trust me, but I am unarmed, and ready to make everything right... Okay, I will step on the stairs first… I'm not listening to you, Opportunist, you are going to get us killed! Oh... She broke my back! How rude! But, I guess, since my perceptions form Princess into her Chapter 2 version, that is my fault... Her back is also broken... Not good…   Thank you, Hand-entity... The Mirror... I am progressing very fast... But can I even finish the game if I didn't bring The Nightmare to the Hand-entity? Or should I call It "Solitary Lights"? Is this part supposed to be literal? I'm going to stick to Hand-entity for now... And I probably should start all over, just to be sure, I don't miss anything... Deleting save... Oof... Girlfriend comes home from work... Closing the game to spent time with her... - "How’s your day been?”… - “Nothing major, or interesting. Yours?”. - "I finally started playing STP"... - "Mmm, and how is it?". - " It's... Phenomenal... Honestly, it's everything I thought it would be, and even more"... - "You don't sound satisfied". - "Yeah, I fucked up a little, so I need to start over... This time, using save-files to not miss anything"... - "You are already thinking about 100% it?". - "Yeah... You know me too well"... - "Please remember to feed yourself while I'm visiting mom. Hyperfixate all you want, just not at the cost of your health". - "I promise"...

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Wow! My god, I've never could've guessed, that someday someone would take inspiration from my silly works... Thank you... Your Skizz is so lovable <3~...

BACK ON MY CRAP. AGAIN. FOR THE 100TH TIME. I'm procrastinating finishing the Impulse doodles so for now? Skizz. Featuring him in a leather vest (inspired by @arseniy-arsenicum33)

Uh. Will I ever draw him consistently? No.

(Reblogs with tags/comments are appreciated, Thankyu)

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Season 9 Hermits as DND heroes and villains... (Mostly villains)...

The Dungeon Master... The Warden Wrangler... The Frost Warlock... TangoTek...

The Gorgon King... The Statues Sourseress... The Undead Sculptress... ZombieCleo...

The Immortal King... The Forgotten Ruler... The Wealth Hoarder... Ren the King...

The Bone Mage... Axe of The Screaming Void Wielder... The Musical Necromancer... XisumaVoid...

The Vampire Lord... The Treacherous Backstabber... The Keeper of Vaults... Mumbo Killsalot Jumbo...

The Cursed Knight... The Honourable Hero... And His Inner Demon... WelsKnight...

The Elven Archer... The Magical Baker... The Mattress Store Owner... GoodTimesWithScar...

The Dwarven Warrior... The Realm Liberator... The King Slayer... ImpulseSV...

The Forest Protector... The King Maker... The Leshy... BdoubleO100... This whole project started long ago with an ask by @theshadiertwin two months ago... Shockingly, the Idea of using a DND-character creator for creating actual DND-characters instead of little vignettes never occured to me... But I really wanted to model every Hermit first... If you have any ideas of what class each hermit can be, please tell! And I will be making a part 2 someday... Bdubs one has a little bit of a backstory... It's conceptually based on this model of Inscription-Leshy Bdubs by my good friend @randomtotallyrealgirl... But made more akin to slavic view of Leshy as a Forest Guardian... It's not a cultural appropriation, if it's my culture... Rens also from slavic folklore, he was inspired by Koschey the Immortal who conquered death, hoarded enormous amounts of wealth and spent his forever life by withering over it... You can use them freely, play as them, put them as npcs in your homebrew, come up with stats and character builds, go nuts! And there are some nice secrets, if you view them in 3D... I just need to add them to the growing google doc of my models... And actually post said doc on my blog... Yeah... Soon...

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Some models I've made while watching Hermitcraft...

First delivery!

He needs an intervention...

Zookeeper with zero fight or flight response...

This season I've started watching Beef, and I like him very much! Big Salmon outfit for my tired farmer...

Ah yes, the most cyberpunk food of all... Soup...

Skizz, don't be that guy... And that's all for now... I didn't have an overarching theme for these, but also didn't wanted to keep them in a vault forever... Enjoy, I guess...

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Fishing buddies!

I love fisherwoman Gem so so much... I already have a whole gallery of Gem-minis, but I just had to make another... And Grian here is like: Buy a man eat fish, He day, Teach fish man to a lifetime... Special thanks goes to Cel for his art, Bakuvex for hers and Oxi for theirs! All of them did a fantastic Gem renditions, so check them out!

Also, I've tried to one-up myself and model her whole base! Check out this monstrosity! Very excited for the Dredge motifs... I only know about the game from this Stupendium song, so this is my uneducated guess, how Gem's season is going to progress... This is based mostly on Oxi's art once again... Man, was creating a boat out of shields hard... This is my most time-consuming process, YET, more than 12 hours... But I am very proud of it... I always make my models to make sense in 360 view, but this was the first time that it HAD to be viewed in 360... I wish I had Hero Forge PRO to photo this in better lighting... Someday...

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Mayor Scar in Hero Forge!

Notes: - I did say I'd post some of my older ones but this is actually my most recent one (admittedly I created it about a month ago by now) - I was inspired by Scar having his mayoral skin on in Secret Life and also by Jellie's recent passing (RIP Jellie <3) - Also the Vex wings are transparent leather, which is a thing (cause I'd imagine they're like leathery bat wings, but transparent) - The diamond rock thing is supposed to mimic the diamond throne, even if it's just a small chunk of it - Unfortunately I wasn't able to put on his blue sash or flower brooch thing, welp Link: (view it in 3D!) https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D45056960/

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Say hi to the new Hermits!

I am so happy for both of them! Can't wait to watch their shenanigans!

Also, there is this small creator, AdieCraft, whose inclusion was speculated upon in some circles... It peaked my interest, I've watched a couple of his videos, and he is Great! Maybe not in this season, but one day he can become a part of hermitcraft, that would be pretty neat! Check him out!

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

Alter-ego pack for Hermitcraft TCG just dropped!

Having models for all the Hermits opens possibilities to play dress up with them... Once again, huge thanks to Ink-Ghoul for their original minecraft models...

First of all, two Boss-battles, which are technically not in alter-ego packs... I've got very lucky with Hero Forge already having Pharaoh costume... With some modifications (Cub is wearing long sleeve crop top) I've got a pretty convincing season 7 Cub... I've debated in my head for the longest time, should I make a completely different cooler-looking DoomGuy armour for Evil X with spikes and skulls... OR, and hear me out, would it be more in character for Xisuma to make his dark and twisted edgelord persona by just putting angry eyebrows on the visior and bathe in red paint... You can see which interpretation won in my head...

As I stated in previous post, I was making WelsKnight with the full intent of making HelsKnight as well, not just a recolour, but a full seperate armour-set, kinda like this piece by Kiwi... He is more beat up and sharp, all bark no bite...

Jevin, but GREEN... from the time he was a goon of Evil X in season 8... My guy is glowing!

While working on this HotGuy pose, I discovered that both the TCG-card and one of HotGuy calendars are made using the same render... Pretty cool... PoultryMan, who is the man behind the Chicken mask?

Beetlejhost uses a new and exciting Hero Forge feature - transparent plastic! It's fantastic! Yeah, yeah, a pen instead of a flower...

Peace, Love & Plants (and soul-harvesting) for these two fellas...

For a PG-server, hermitcraft sure does have a lot of mafiosos... Who are also furries... Strange, how that happens...

Cubfan got two models... Our lucky winner... That's pretty much all of my backlog... Posting this right now, before the start of season 10... I am so ready to experience new season with a community! I've been watching from season 6, but because of language barrier, had no one to talk about it... Until now!

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

All Hermits in Hero Forge!

Season 10 is coming! And I've finished modeling every Hermit (Thus far) in their TCG-cards poses!

Special thanks to Hoffen for their original minecraft models...

You've already saw these eight models in my Life-series minis showcase, slight tweaks and costume changes... I really need to buy Hero Forge subscription, so i can manipulate fingers individually... Now, for the new guys... Guess what?! I've figured out how to make links! Now you can see my references directly! Technology!

Ren got his cool casual look...

Docm77 inspired primarily by Belmarzi's design, such as this... It was very funny to suddenly stop in the middle of this project to model him hugging Snoop Dogg...

JoeHills, unsurprisingly, based on real-life Joe Hills... But I did have this comic by my side while modeling him, for moral support, because modeling someone's likeness is always stressful...

Cleo's pose pose a challenge, It uses a transparent one-legged skeleton inside the main body... Like a real armour-stand magic! I like how it turned out...

I've started watching Zedaph very recently, so both Noxolotl's and Applestruda's portrayals of him were very helpful in forming mine...

Blaise's Hermit line up was used for Cub and Hypno, which you will see down the line... Bee's art was helpful, once again, and these Cub-arts by Sylvan...

My main goal with Jevin was to somehow convincingly make a slime look slimy... I was so ready to make him as rotund as this art, but alas, program restrictions...

This art was used for False at the very beginning, but it drifted so much with the addition of cheekbones, that it doesn't look like it at all anymore...

Hypno had a surprise for me, because before making this model, I've never saw this brown line on his chest as a boob-window... But now, I am convinced... This is the art, that guided me to that conclusion... Ghostea's and Locus's portraits were useful for figuring out his face...

Iskall lifted from this art... Hero Forge doesn't have any cool one-eyed visors, so I've settled on monocle for him and Doc...

Hero Forge also for some reason doesn't have a hand-held flower, so pretend, that Stress doesn't hold a pen, okay? And has a cardigan... Based mainly on this and this art, which was also used for XB...

My best guess with Keralis was that he is doing Edvard Munch's "The Scream" ommage... Thanks to Myra and Cole , without them, Keralis would've looked more like a bug with them big ol' eyes...

Oh, boy, XB... A true enigma for me... Pictured here, lightly jogging... Only you could tell me, if I did a good job with him, I sincerely have no idea... Since this is in part a TCG-inspired project, it would've been wise to use references from the actual TCG-cards... To bad, I've came up with this idea near the end of a project...

I have made so many Xisuma-costumes, and only now I am showing you the main friendly-neighbourhood DoomGuy cosplayer himself... Do I need to credit id Software for this?

WelsKnight is my champion in regards to how many references I needed for him... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7! Despite how many armour options Hero Forge has, making something coherent out of them was difficult... Especially, keeping in mind, that one day I'm going to model HelsKnight as well...

And finally, TinFoilChef, based heavily on this stunning artwork... And somewhat on this skin by Ink-Ghoul... It all comes around...

And the Creator Himself! Beef! And his wonderful portraits: 1 2 3 4...

I actually going to use him as an example, to address something...

Here is how my screen looks, then I am working on a model... My method of creation is derivative by nature, it requires the art and creativity of other people... And I have SO MUCH anxiety about this... Not being an artist, but still trying to make something with my limited capabilities... And post it on the internet, oh horror...

With recent talks about plagiarism and AI-art, it has come to my attention, that I myself not so different from AI, just not so efficient... So, this is why I so obsessively document my influences, it is the least I can do... Credit the artists, that I stole from... Please, check out everyone mentioned, subscribe to them, commission new pieces of art...

And if you've liked my dorky "minecraft youtubers made in DND character creator" models... Thank you...

Sometime later there will be a google doc on my blog with links to every model I've ever made, go nuts with them... Try Hero Forge for yourself, it's fun...

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

DocM77 with a new Hermit!

Docm77 wouldn't just spread lies on the internet... They are gonna be best buds!

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

You are so right... This IS the work of genius!

I'm doing a little snooping around in the model, just to comprehend how it's done... And my God is it interesting! Don't be fooled by Its looks... First of all, this Beast has EIGHT tails, six for the rainbow, one as a cat's tail and the mantis one to cover up the gap in the shields from the top... Also, SIX horns! For what? FOR HIGHLIGHTS in the eyes! Each dot and line is a separate horn! And the cheeks of the cat? BEAR EARS!

Here, have this pulsating mass of a cat without the shields and rainbow tails... I feel like I'm dissecting a Lovecraftian monster... I am in shock and awe of Its construction... The legs are the "Extra Shorthair cat tails" recently added, coming from the spine...

The parts in blue are a body of this creature... It was a human once... It sits in a "Floor time" pose, a default for legless characters, but under very specific circumstances... You would've needed to take away It's legs separately under the hip, not just click "Delete legs" in a menu... But in exchange, benevolent creator gifted four arms to the creature... Sorta... You can see in the menu on the right that both right arms were intact, in fact, they were used to hold the shields... One was taken away completely, and the last one is cut In the elbow...

Here is how it looks like without all of the complicated posing... (And with legs to once again stand up)... r/KnightlyMe earned my full respect and adoration... It has been fascinating, It's been horrifying and very fun, to take this model apart to see all of the intricate design choices...

@prguitarman I don't know if you're at all familiar with Hero Forge, a website for designing tabletop miniatures to be color 3D printed. There are some real geniuses on the site who use it to make things that are absolutely unexpected, like redditor /r/KnightlyMe/ who recently posted this:

[arseniy-arsenicum33]

King's private area violators! WANTED! 12 Xisumas!

One of the funniest moments from season 9, the Great Xisuma Party! I've discovered for myself, that I REALLY like Hermits dressing up as eachother... Here is my interpretations of Xisuma costumes, I've tried to make them somewhat uniform, but distinct from one another... Hope, every mob reads by the colouring and helmets...