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Don't you worry, Harry, after this next Boss Blind there will be a nice Negative Joker Tag. You like Negative Joker Tags, right Harry? Who doesn't love a free Joker you can stick right in your pocket. That's just one of the many bonuses we're trying to secure here at the Débardeurs' Union. So you see, that's exactly why I need you to do this favor for me.

An "all face cards are debuffed" Boss Blind, Harry? When you're running a Baron deck? Oh, that is dreadful, isn't it? Truly some rotten luck. But I like you, Harry, my boy, so I'm just going to put this Reroll Boss Blind Tag right on this table. Just a small gift from me to you. You don't have to take it of course, in fact, I don't even want you to take it. These are just options! But picture it, Harry, all your steel kings powerless against that boss blind, your precious mult dead in the water, it really isn't enough to scrape by. What do you have left, Harry? What else do you have in those pockets of yours? You don't need to tell me, I already know. You pruned all those pesky number cards from your deck already. Yes, you are a real Hanged Man guy, aren't you? But we can fix this Harry, just me and you.

Harry, of course skipping this blind for a rare joker will give you Blueprint. Do you really think I would waste valuable union time having my men hand you an Obelisk? What would I gain from watching you lose on ante 4? I'm a busy joker, Harry!

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Curiosity got the better of me and I watched James Somerton's Revolutionary Girl Utena analysis video. I ended up transcribing some of it to better follow some of what's said, so putting some of those snippets here. Placing these specifically because it paints a real bleak picture of how this man views abuse survivors. (For a more thorough debunking/clarifying commentary on the vid, this post's pretty good!)

14:16 Looking at real-world parallels, a given individual can endure much less debilitating physical and psychological trauma and be ruled as unfit by the state to make their own decisions. There are a number of other hints and instances in the plot, that strongly indicate that Anthy's willpower is so eroded that she has no sense of self-preservation whatsoever and is emotionally stunted to the point where she needs people to make decisions for her because she does not know how to think for herself. Something that Utena has been trying to get her to realize about herself this whole time.

Citing conservatorships as a supporting argument is wild. Ah yes, in real life mentally ill/disabled people can lose their rights!

39:30 People generally feel good when they are reassured of their Self existing in the world. When you are told that your self is to be a victim over time, your brain can cross those wires. Suddenly victimhood feels good, because you get that positive reassurance dopamine hit.

Very strange way to frame this. Wires cross, dopamine hits... how about actually talking about psychology and coping mechanisms?

51:42 That yes [Utena] somehow did manage to use the power of revolution and she used it in an impossible, selfless way. She liberated her best friend from a toxic power dynamic she had with her family. And for those who know, getting someone to abandon a toxic family environment, even if it is emotionally and psychologically damaging, is next to impossible. Many people who try to separate a friend from a toxic family end up having to abandon their friendship to protect their own mental health. Through a not-so-allegorical reading, we can say Utena did the same. That ultimately in spite of her bravado and nobility, she had to throw in the towel.

This is at the end of the video and is presumably a personal anecdote/observation by Mr. Somerton. When I got to this part his reductive view of Anthy made a lot more sense, it almost feels like he's trying to absolve himself.

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handmade drawing references :)

I took these pictures mainly to analyze my hand structure. Feel free to use them for your art, if you'd like to!

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The New Drowned Man

When I saw it mentioned in a blogpost some time ago that Fruits of the Zee was getting revamped and updated, I immediately wondered if anything was being done concerning Mr Eaten and Mutton Island's worship of him.

During the festival there is a hidden Seeking Mr Eaten's Name option, which meant I had to dust off my seeker to investigate posthaste.

I think this is a very graceful way to move away from SMEN and bring Mutton Island more in line with newer FL's writing. I don't know if the base carousel of Mutton Island will be changed, but if nothing else the festival will be different. I adore the King-in-Coral's compassion for the seeker.

This tidbit was also reassuring because when I was doing the festival on my main I was confused about The Drowned Man being used to refer to the Fathomking/King-in-Coral cuz I could've sworn that title belonged to Mr Eaten. I was not misremembering, the change is on purpose! While I have mixed feelings about SMEN's background I love rping an awful little zealot so this was a brief delight.

I support the new Drowned Man because honestly, Mr Eaten is fuckin BLEAK and unsustainable. I love the fucked up hunger curse and ghost story that is Mr Eaten but I am also an Axile enjoyer. From a worldbuilding standpoint, this feels more solid compared to the doomsday cult of seekers. The deal the flukes made is still horrifying, and there is still the matter of a deep, painful wrath. But there is rehabilitation, there is adaptation, there is community, and there is love. These are closer to ongoing FL themes than the bottomless pit that is Mr Eaten. The well whispers will never stop and Seeking is a curse not easily broken (with strong implications of madness), but the Mutton Islanders deserve change instead of being stuck for old worldbuilding's sake.

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OC-TOBER 2023 PROMPTS!!

general tag: #oc-tober / my prompts: #bweirdOCtober

F.A.Q:

Do I have to draw EVERY DAY? NO! I highly encourage skipping as many days as you need to avoid burnout! There are 10 main days in the event (marked with a ⭐ star) that you can focus on if you don't feel up to doing every day, or you can choose your own adventure and just do the prompts you personally like!

Do I have to DRAW? NO! You can also write fanfiction snippets, repost older art that fits the theme, tweet headcanons/backstory, roleplay in-character as your oc ... genuinely anything that fits the theme is OK!!

Can I start early? YES! I understand some people work at a slower pace and might need a head start! So long as you wait until October to post it, you can start working as early as you need!

I missed the start of the event .. do I have to catch up? NO! Please don't stress about days you missed, you're allowed to just skip to the current prompt!

RULES:

1. MAKE FRIENDS! The community is the best part of this event .. please try to follow new people, ask questions about ocs you like, compliment people's styles, ask friends to create with you, etc! 2. TAKE IT EASY! Skip a day if you're tired, busy or just not interested in the prompt. You don't have to catch up on it later. This is supposed to be fun, not work! 3. BE KIND! Please think about the people around you - don't give people unwarranted harsh criticism, content warn for themes/imagery in your work that could trigger someone, don't create anything hateful, etc

MORE:

text version / tips and ideas on bweird.art or below ↓

star = main prompts | no star = optional

INTRO WEEK

1: FAVE OC ⭐ -Which of your characters is your favourite right now? 2: NEW OC -Who is your newest OC? -Design a new OC right now 3: OLD OC ⭐ -Do you remember the first OC you ever made? -Is there an OC you haven't drawn in a long time? 4: RE-DESIGN -An OC who has changed a lot over the years -Take an old OC and update their design right now  

BACKSTORY WEEK

5: RELATIONSHIPS ⭐ -Who is important to your OC? -Do they have a partner? -Do they have a best friend? -Are they close to their family? 6: SYMBOL -What imagery do you associate with your oc? -Are there any colours, flowers, animals or concepts that symbolize them? 7: PERSONALITY ⭐ -How does your OC behave? -What are their positive traits? -What are their negative traits? -Are they extroverted or introverted? 8: PAST -What was your OC like as a child? -Where did they grow up? -Are there any significant moments from their past that shaped who they are? 9: FUTURE ⭐ -Does your OC have a goal they're working towards? -What will your OC look like when they get older -Do you have a planned ending for their story?

PALETTE WEEK

10: pumpkin patch palette #251604 #1E3807 #5B5E1A #A2A657 #EBA00F #F3ECCC

11: hot cocoa palette #520B13 #BB382E #E27E6D #88392C #AF5D40 #E1AFA4

12: midnight zone palette #000007 #000049 #183885 #004D4F #0E8788 #FFF1C0

13: peachy palette #DE6450 #DB9171 #FFC1AE #FEE1AD #FFF2E0 #D9D8D8

14: haunted house palette #552506 #6E25AA #ED690B #F925A0 #8F8BA7 #A6C1AA

FUN + GAMES WEEK

15: MEME ⭐ -Post memes that remind you of your OC -Draw your OC as a meme -Fill out a character meme (classic deviantart style) 16: FOOD -What is your OC's favourite food? -What is their least favourite? -Can they cook? 17: EYES-CLOSED ⭐ -Draw your OC with your eyes closed! No cheating! -Write a scene without looking at the keyboard! Keep the typos in! 18: SWAP -Swap the style or aesthetic of two of your OCs -Species or gender swap AU -Invert an OC's colour scheme 19: INSPIRATION ⭐ -Is your OC inspired by any pre-existing characters? -Are there any particular songs/lyrics that inspired something about one of your OCs -Do you have a dedicated pinterest moodboard for your character? 20: INVENTORY -What does your OC carry around with them on a daily basis? -Are there any objects that have sentimental value for them? -Loot drop for your DnD OC  

FRIENDS WEEK

21-25: There's no specific daily prompts for this week, but here are some ideas you can try ... -Art trades with friends who are doing the event with you -Your OC interacting with a friend's OC -Gift art for someone whose OCs you like -Work together and collaborate on something with a friend -Roleplay an OC scene together with someone  

HALLOWEEN WEEK

26: FEAR ⭐ -What is your OC scared of? -Draw one of your OCs trying to scare the others 27: MONSTER -Do you have any monster OCs? (eg: vampires, werewolves, creatures, ghosts...) -Draw a human OC as a monster -Design a new monster 28: TRICK -Play a trick on an OC -Do you have an OC who would play tricks on people? 29: TREAT -What is your OC's favourite halloween candy? -Give an OC a special treat to make up for yesterday's trick 30: MAGIC -Do any of your characters have magical powers? -Give an OC a magical or cursed artifact -Create a magic-using OC like a witch or wizard 27: COSTUME ⭐ -What is your OC dressing as for halloween?

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helping gale really is help one (1) man overcome his splitting tendencies of all-good or all-bad and integrate a more complex, nuanced concept for himself and others.

he is neither gale the special prodigy wizard on par with a literal god nor gale the shitbag idiot doomed to make mistakes, marred by disgusting human flaws. he is in fact Just A Man, capable of good and bad like everyone else, prone to success or failure like everyone else. he does not need to be ruled by pride or shame.

his idolization (and dismissal) of mystra and the player character are extensions of his stark flip-flopping binary. it is also a tool to help bolster his own unstable self-esteem. if who he is with is good, then he is good. being in a relationship with mystra was the ultimate affirmation.

his desire for godhood is to pursue a version of himself without flaws. or, if there are flaws, he can easily fix them as a god. he thinks if he is a god he will finally be Good Enough, but the only person actively invested in seeing him as uniquely defective is himself. he uses magic as a coping mechanism, it is literally magical escapism. to flee his own (natural, human) flaws into a world where he is in complete control, where everything is (or can be made) beautiful.

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gale's hand starts to hurt and he drops a comment about the song ending soon but everyone keeps playing. he then drops another, snippier comment that any good song really would have ended by now, there's no need to milk this one for so long. that is quite enough choruses.

i think if you taught lae'zel a basic rhythm she could get super into it but then she will not play anything else. this rhythm is good, she likes it, it speaks to her, she feels it in her chest, there is no reason to change it. she refuses to change it. you will have to change, she has committed.

astarion keeps flicking sour notes at the crowd and peering at his lute like he hasn't the faintest idea why or how it keeps producing such unpleasant sounds. he's doing it on purpose, taking the piss out of it and hoping you'll tell him to stop cuz he really doesn't want to bother with it. can't he just stand there and look pretty?

crying, they're so bad at this 😭

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My son saw a bug on the ceiling for the first time

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Both Bibliomania and Happiness are manga that utilize style changes for interesting effects and perception but where I'd recommend Bibliomania with a few light warnings, Happiness is a lot heavier and there's a whole chapter I'd advise skipping unless you're in the mood for feeling sick and haunted.

I'd love to do some posts about both, though some of what makes Bibliomania so cool is huge spoilers. Some of Happiness's most effective pages are also tricky to post cuz they are unpleasant to look at. Which is the point but still.

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Shitty Specter Knight aesthetic: while doing research on this guy i saw one of those google-suggested questions and it was like. “is specter knight a boy or a girl?” man he’s a fucking lich why do you care so much about what’s in his pants

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The new summer event's brought me back to Fallen London and while hunting for clues I am delighted to learn that finally, finally Flute Street can be revisited without a fate cost. I can finally get the Renown 40 item. I will have to do that on a second trip as I don't have enough favours and am down here for a Starving Men clue.

Seeing the old writing concerning the Rubberies though is giving me Thoughts. Thoughts of a similar vein I'm turning over anyway as I pay attention to what's said of the Starved Men. Except unlike the old writers I trust the new ones a bit more and have already seen proof it's hopefully not the worst lens I fear.

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a comic about mikage’s status as a memory ghost and how he feels about himself in general

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Wild to me that some people entertain the notion of Mikage and Tokiko being Utena’s parents when a) Mikage’s defective (homo)sexuality and inability to fuck is so central to his arc and character defined by ineffectiveness and b) TOKIKO LIVES.

No Tokiko can’t be a ghost because her entire point is to Live A Normal Life. If she had a daughter surely she would mention it as she recounts her mundane, domestic, as-scripted existence. Especially in combination to her remark about flowers must die to fruit.

Mikage’s whole problem is he cannot cross the barrier.

Even years later as a “better”, more effective man, he can’t. He’s disconnected. With himself, with others, with time and space.

He is inanimate, a robot, revolving in place. Nothing he does in the Black Rose arc has any lasting consequences, he leaves no mark on the world. He is not a dynamic character, but a plot device. He is a transformative catharsis for his duelists and a warning for Utena and little more. Being something so significant as Utena’s father is antithetical to how the narrative treats him.

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Intimidated thinking about how I’m gonna tackle composing all my Revolutionary Girl Utena posts but I gotta... There are so many thoughts in my skull and I especially keep being baffled by some Mikage takes I see.

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more drawings of the cats (3)