#Apotheosis cover art

[almaadst]

I finished the cover for the second arc of "Apotheosis"! ヾ(≧ ▽ ≦)ゝ This is for Jujutsu Kaisen fanfic @renren-writes and her friend are writing - which you can already read HERE - please give them some love and support! (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ) On the cover, you can see young Geto, Gojo, and Riko along with two OCs Orise (between Riko and Geto) and Himari (on the bottom)! All of them were so lovely to draw so I have to include all the close-ups of them 😭✨✋ I love drawing covers, especially related to such good anime/manga as JJK! (I have to catch up with the second season ASAP!) Other: Commission info Apotheosis part one Prince of Tennis PLEASE DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT MY or OWNER PERMISSION

[automatic-purification-system]

Here's my art piece for @magireco-minibang ! It's a cover for @enderprophet 's fic, The Book of Wishes!

I'm really excited for where this fic is gonna go, so please go check it out!

[blacktabbygames]

We're thrilled to announce that we've wrapped principal development work on Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut. We'll be releasing it this Fall (date TBD) so we can simultaneous ship the update with both the game's console release (surprise!) as well as official subtitling support for 11 new languages, all with the help of our wonderful new partners at Serenity Forge (who you might know from their publishing work on Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!)

There's a lot for us to share about The Pristine Cut, but before we get into the details, please check out our new trailer!

Here's what we've got coming for you: Content

For those of you who are just now hearing about The Pristine Cut, it's an entirely free director's cut of the game that adds about 35% more content on top of the initial release.

This includes massive expansions to The Den, The Apotheosis, and The Fury routes, each of which is over three times bigger than their release versions, with tons of variations to discover across multiple playthroughs.

On top of this, we're adding three brand new chapter three routes that will add even more depth to your stories with The Damsel, The Prisoner, and The Spectre.

And we're adding a new ending.

All in all, these additions come to over 2,500 new voice lines, over 1,200 new hand-drawn illustrations, and over 15 new tracks of music.

We're also adding an extensive CG gallery with over 400 unlocks to help all you completionists track your progress, complete with cryptic hints to help you discover some of the game's more obscure and buried interactions.

Languages

And all of this is coming with a giant wave of localization support, covering the following languages: Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, German, Russian, Spanish (Latin American), Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, and Polish. These localizations are just going to cover subtitles, so we can be as thorough as possible about maintaining the quality of Jonny and Nichole's performances.

Consoles, Physical Release and New Merch

With the help of Serenity Forge, we’re bringing Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut to every major current console — Nintendo Switch, PS4 + 5, and Xbox.

And these won’t just be available as digital downloads. You’ll also be able to pick up a physical edition for the Switch and PS5, with an exclusive sticker sheet and a download code for the game’s soundtrack.

And if that’s not enough we’re also doing a Collector’s Edition, complete with a 7 inch statue of the Princess, a mirror with a lenticular lens, an acrylic standee, and more.

And finally (for now), we’re launching the first wave of new line of sticker sheets, featuring chibi art of the Princesses as seen in The Pristine Cut’s new gallery. Pre-order them now at Topatoco!

Alongside these developments, we've also launched a new website for the game: check out slaytheprincess.com where you can order the physical editions, check out merch, and more!

Thank you so much for your patience while we've worked to make The Pristine Cut the definitive version of Slay the Princess. We can't wait to share all of the game's new stories with you this Fall.

Until then, we're back to working full-time on the next Episode of Scarlet Hollow (and have been for about a few weeks now!)

Best, Abby and Tony

[blackbird5154]

Some possible sources of inspiration for Meliora design

It is known that when creating Meliora, Tobias Forge was inspired by the movie "Metropolis" and the art deco style of the 1920-30s. Here I want to share my findings of some borrowed elements in the third era.

The Palace of the Soviets was a project to construct a political convention center in Moscow on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The project was never realized. Zbigniew Bielak wrote in his blog: "Check out the rough concept sketches leading up to this apotheosis of Soviet esprit". Meliora is probably referring to the USSR as a failed utopia.

The building beneath the lustful megalomaniac resembles Boston Avenue United Methodist Church (1929).

This element is taken from the old RKO building (usually known as the General Electric Building) (1929-31). The theme of electricity is given a lot of attention in Meliora.

The lanterns in the hands are made in the style of the Helsinki Central Railway Station (1907) lamps. Papa Emeritus is compared to Lucifer the Light-bringer, and at the same time he is the bearer of the idea of enlightenment.

Another unrealized building, a concept by visionary artist Hugh Ferriss, can be seen in the City's urban landscape from the music video. Hugh Ferriss was an American architect and illustrator who created many images of futuristic New York in the 1920s, he's also the author of the book "The Metropolis of Tomorrow".

This building is the actual Odeon Cinema in Glasgow. It was built in 1934 and was originally owned by the American Paramount movie studio. A prime example of mid-1930s architectural modernism.

The cover of "From the Pinnacle to the Pit" is painted from Nick Gaetano's "Romantic Manifesto." It is a 2006 painting inspired by Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged".

[jrwi-fanapalooza]

Peter and rolan are the only non-riptide characters left

Pictures and reasons under the cut

Caspian

im SO sure hes been submitted already but i need to cover my bases. i just watched 101 and the caspian art that just casually popped up on screen.... listen... im not even attracted to men but god DAMN have you seen that man?! holy shit.

Peter

hes just a rock collecting guy and hes going through a lot right now so i feel like he needs some support (and a kiss) and hes so cringefail but in like a good earness way

[emiliehenry]

BOOM

An explosion blowed in the tower of dark arts girl's bathrooms. Coating the walls and ground with lavender foam.

Weasley and you were coughing, completely drenched.

- "I do not understand, it should have worked." Garreth observed the cauldron.

- "Should have for sure, but worked? It clearly did not! You call that a Felix Felicis?" You giggled and threw bubbles in his face.

- "Hey! You cannot do that!" Weasley gasped.

- "Why not?" You did it again.

Garreth attempted to make you stop by grabbing both of your hands but ended up slipping, falling over you. Your back hitting the cold tiles.

- "Ouch!" You let out.

- "Oh sorry! I did not mean to!" Weasley said on an apologetic tone.

He tried to get up in a rush but due to the slipperiness of the floor he lost balance again.

- "AH! Weasley! Are you trying to kill me?" You hissed.

The boy rose his head, wet ginger locks leaving water drops on your face. The proximity with his freckles tainted face made you blush a little.

- "I think the ground is not very dry..."

- "Yes indeed..." You turned your head to hide the embarrassement you were building up.

Weasley finally noticed the position you were in and his face turned as red as his hair.

- "Oh Merlin! I am so sorry!" He gently moved away, avoiding any sudden movements.

Once standing he helped you get up.

- "Well, I think we will have to study now... We cannot count anymore on the poti-". He tried to break the weird tension, but noticed mid sentence your white shirt was now see through.

You follow his eyes and immediatly covered your chest. As your cheeks turned red and started to feel hot you realised you did not brought your robe to the bathrooms. And where now concerned on how you could leave the room.

Weasley started to undress, which was now the apotheosis of your panic.

- "G-Garreth what are you do-" You received a robe straight in the face.

- "So you could cover yourself. Sorry it is not a Hufflepuff one..." He mumbled.

- "Oh... Thanks..." You expressed while putting it on. It was way bigger than your regular garment, but it was warm and comforting.

- "Let's get dried up before we get sick."

Weasley grabbed your hand, as you used to do. However, for some reason, it felt different this time.

[planetary-sparrow]

Here’s a little “about me” pinned post :D

Hi my name’s Sparrow (they/them)

This blog is for my art - usually sketches or digital art, but sometimes other art mediums or just cool things I wanna show y’all

I also post art and cosplay photos on instagram, cosplay videos on tiktok, and piano covers on youtube (planetary.sparrow for all of them)

Main fandoms are Just Roll With It (I’m caught up so far on Riptide, Blood in the Bayou, The Suckening, Apotheosis, Total Monster Kill, and Wonderlust), the Dream SMP (mainly technoblade and benchtrio, and I do not support dream team or wilbur), the QSMP (mainly slimecicle), and My Chemical Romance

I reblog stuff on @summertime-sparrow (mainly cool art from those fandoms)

Hope that’s a good enough introduction lol thanks for stopping by 💜

[abyssalbrews]

High res versions of the art, a Foundry VTT module, and other formats, as well as a full compendium of our 100+ items can be found on our Patreon

Apotheosis

The divine and their rules and laws are all so boring to me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing terrible about a little holy drama when they get on their operatic antics, but you know at a base level the devotion is just something that I can’t reconcile. I thought very little of it when I was seated on a bench next to a downtrodden Paladin who rambled endlessly about what he had sacrificed to get where he was today. To me, he was just sitting there covered in a stenching muck and dripping claret. He eventually got up and walked away leaving this beaming shield where he sat. I called after him but he simply replied “I’m done!”... Well, at least I have a shield now!

If you want to see more of our items you can check us out on our Website, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Bluesky, Threads or Instagram where we post them regularly. You can also find us at our Discord server where you can hang out and chat with the community.

[biblioklept]

Mass-market Monday | Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin. Ace Books, first edition (1969). Cover art by Leo & Diane Dillon. 286 pages. I read all of Le Guin’s Hainish novels eight years ago, and wrote this about The Left Hand of Darkness: —The Left Hand of Darkness is amazing. Perfect in its strange imperfections and crammed with fables and myths and misunderstandings, it is the apotheosis of Le Guin’s…

[burning-sol]

(Context: Bizly just explained how he wanted to finish the fight with Elotl)

Grizzly: I was going to step on him and say, "You are nothing, you are imperfect, you are ugly," and then I was going to cast command and say, "And you will worship."

*there's a slight pause*

Bizly: YES!! Condi: *laughing* Jesus christ. Grizzly: And then kick him into the lava...

Charlie: You guys are- you guys are fucked dude.

I didn't ask permission because I'm shy but I used @/bacchusen's art for the cover because it's the best piece of fanart for this line ever. Go and fucking reblog it again 400 notes isn't enough.

[monstersdownthepath]

Demigod Dossier: Asura Rana, part 2

Pictured: Not any of the Rana, but the closest thing we’re likely to get to an image of them: the highest CR Asura, the Asurendra from Bestiary 3, pg. 23. I could have re-used the same pic from last time, but that might be too confusing...

Lawful Evil Mistakes of the Gods The Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 110~111

Aah, the poor Asura Rana... Among fiendish demigods, they’re one of the least developed, having barely any lore in ANY book, not a single representative with a statblock, and most damning? Not a single piece of art depicting any of them. It’s a shame, because they have some of the more compelling lore of any of the fiends, being directly created by the gods’ mistakes and acting as living representations of divine failures and frustrations. If any fiend should have an easy time spreading apostasy and heresy and weakening the overall amount of faith of the world, it should be them. 

As I discussed in the last post that introduced the majority of their lore, Asura Rana are not traditionally ascended from lessers of their kind, but rather born from one specific, apocalyptic tragedy that caused death and trauma across a whole nation, continent, or even an entire planet. This isn’t ALWAYS the case, mind, as some lesser asura can be reborn into greater and greater forms--usually, but not always, with the blessing of another Rana--due to achieving some physical or spiritual apotheosis and blooming into a semi-divine entity... and, rarely, suffering a humiliating but enlightening defeat can see an asura reincarnating into a form stronger than the one before it.

The three we’ll be discussing are one of each: Chupurvagasti, born fully-formed when an entire planet was covered in toxic mists by an enraged god; Gavidya, who ascended over time as he wove lies and apostasies into a hundred different religious groups, causing them to fracture and self-destruct; and Ioramvul, who died thousands of times by his own hand and became stronger with every death until he ascended to the status of a Rana. I also, for many reasons, find each of them amusing or interesting enough to review. So how about we look at what these lore-less fiends offer...

The Asura Rana work freely with mortals, seeing them as potential allies and tools in their battles against the divine… if only to destroy them once they’ve outlived their usefulness. Worshipers receive Boons that are are relatively simple: a trio of spell-like abilities, each of which may be used 1/day. Boons are normally gained slowly, at levels 12, 16, and 20, however entering the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel Prestige Classes can see the Boons gained as early as levels 10, 13, and 16. Note that while they are Lawful Evil fiends that live in Hell, they are not devils, thus you cannot enter the Diabolist Prestige Class to obtain their Boons without DM fiat.

Chupurvagasti, the Lady of Poison Mist Rana of Mists, Poison, and Veils Domains: Air, Evil, Law, Trickery Subdomains: Cloud, Deception, Fear, Wind

Obedience: Meditate while wearing a veil soaked in acrid, toxic chemicals that induce minor rashes. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against poison effects.

Off to a rough start! While the chemicals are stated to only be foul enough to cause ‘minor rashes,’ you can bet that over time, that nastiness will build up. Good thing your chosen goddess also gives you protection from poison! And that most DMs won’t bother with tracking your long-term exposure to dangerous chemicals. It’s hard to be scared of anything that’d take 20~30 years to start having side-effects, especially when Neutralize Poison (or Lesser Restoration) will likely be available to you within a year or two at most.

Like most of the Rana, this Obedience is quite subtle and easy to hide, despite the awful first impression it’ll probably leave on anyone seeing you do it for the first time. Even the resulting rashes can be explained away if you wave off the ritual as some sort of esoteric skin-cleansing or beauty regimen. Or the precursor to one, as you apply ointment and balm to the rashes to soothe them! One whiff of the Narsty coming off your rags, and few people will likely stick around to actually investigate further and figure out you’re worshiping a nihilistic destroyer deity. It’s even easier if you’re an Alchemist, or even just a regular chemist, as you can synthesize your own mixtures to minimize their potential damage to you and remove the complications of getting them in the first place! All in all, quite simple... but, of course, impossible to do if your belongings get stolen, which I always ding points off for.

The benefit isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. Extra protection from poison is good at all levels and in every campaign (except Evil vs Good, as goody-goods are unlikely to wield poison), and while poisons are rarely dangerous to a given party after level 8 or so, they can certainly be a resource-drain when trying to handle them and especially when trying to undo their damage before it begins to stack up. If nothing else, having a bit of a buffer between yourself and needing to waste a party spell slot on Neutralize Poison is good.

Boon 1: Displacement Boon 2: Quickened Stinking Cloud Boon 3: Quickened Cloudkill

And here we are in the meat of it! Chupur gives quite the handy selection of spells to her followers as they level, all three of them being excellent defensive tools. Displacement is a one-size fits all buff for anyone expecting to be attacked a lot, imposing a 50% miss chance to attacks against yourself or another character expected to go into the front line. While the duration leaves much to be desired, it’s hard to hate a free cast of Displacement saved for a particularly gnarly fight with an enemy that has a lot of attacks. That it lets you cast it on someone else instead of just yourself is a nice ribbon, as it lets you pick whether you want to save your tank some HP, or your backline from any stray blows that get through.

Next-- hey! HEY! HEY!!! That’s CHEATING, you little rat! It’s spell level 3, 6, and 9 for Boons 1, 2, and 3 (respective) for Asura Rana! You thought you were being sneaky, didn’t you? But I caught you right in the act! Trying to get your followers a level 7 spell when you thought no one was looking! Well I’m onto you!

... anyway. Yes, while Chupur may be [through gritted teeth] breaking the established rules to get her followers Quickened Stinking Cloud, she at least broke them to get them a great spell. I can’t think of any reason you WOULDN’T want a Quickened spell of any sort, least of all a spell that not only breaks line of sight between you and hostiles, but can outright stop entire groups of enemies from fighting back at all once it’s used. Anything not immune to poison that gets caught in a Stinking Cloud has to save versus nausea that lasts for as long as they remain in the fog, and then for 1d4+1 extra rounds on top of that once they exit, so even if they managed to stumble out and spot you, they won’t be able to do anything for--at the very least--two more entire rounds. And because it’s Quickened? You can lob a Fireball into a crowd, then fart all over whoever survived to keep them from firing back.

Worst case scenario, it’s a more expensive Obscuring Fog, which itself is already a great defensive spell. I can’t be angry at this, no matter how much it breaks the rules. [grumbling] lawful evil my ass... 

This, of course, leads nicely into Cloudkill. Take everything I said about Stinking Cloud and put it here as well, but add in the caveat that instead of just nauseating everyone inside, Cloudkill... well, kills them. Innocent commoners and weaker minions are slain outright, while moderately stronger ones must save every turn or die. Anything with more than 6 HD takes 1d4 Con damage every round they remain in the cloud, which builds quickly since there’s no actual way to resist the Con damage unless you’re immune to poison (making the save only cuts the damage in half, min 1).

Perhaps to keep down potential cheese strats with Forcecage, the cloud automatically moves 10ft forward each round until it can simply go no further, preventing you from using the Quickened nature of the spell to perform a one-two punch of locking an enemy in a box and then spraying them with RAID... but you CAN enclose an enemy (or enemies) in a U-shaped Wall of Force (which unlike Forcecage, doesn’t allow a save), as the cloud cannot move past the Wall and will simply stop once it touches it. If you or an ally can coordinate your spells, you can Wall of Force, then Quickened Cloudkill into the gap, then another ally can seal the remaining exit point with another Wall spell of any sort to assure the deaths of all creatures inside.

While this can work with Wall of Stone or similar spells, it’s up to the DM how they interpret the cloud’s inexorable movement; I specifically chose WoF because it says ‘spells cannot pass through it,’ so the cloud would stop moving once it reached the wall. If the DM states, reasonably, that the cloud stops if it cannot penetrate a substance, you can get away with Wall of Stone, Ice, Bone, or similar. Or you can eschew lethal combos and just spray it over a crowd of enemies to mop up everyone not worth your time! Much like with stanky cloud, it’s hard to not be excited for Quickened Mass Extinction.

------

Gavidya, the Numberless Rana of Corruption, Indoctrination, and Lies Domains: Community, Evil, Law, Trickery Subdomains: Deception, Family, Slavery, Thievery

Obedience: Count the bearings inside a sap, assigning each the name of someone you know and intend to indoctrinate or deceive. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus on Bluff checks to tell lies and on saving throws against Divination effects.

Again, continuing the trend Asura Rana tend to have of making an Obedience subtle, if odd. Your behavior is likely to come off as obsessive-compulsive rather than any level of Evil, especially since you don’t have to state aloud the names on your list. I enjoy the idea of a character starting out with a single name on their list, but over the course of the campaign, they eventually acquire a name for every individual bearing inside their sacred weapon (note, Gavidya is one of THREE whole deities whose sacred weapon is the sap!). So, yes; easily concealed Obedience which requires very little investment--a sap can be replaced if stolen for a measly 1 gold in anything but a desolate dungeon--only minorly complicated by the fact that saps in Pathfinder tend to be metal or wood beatsticks, not socks full of beans, stones, or ball bearings, as the Obedience implies. Still, a sack of ball bearings isn’t exp-- wait

wait what?

hold on, am I blind? Am I crazy?? Am I stupid??? where on earth in equipment are the ball bearings?! I could have SWORN...

... huh. I guess they don’t exist in Pathfinder! This is odd, considering the modernity of some of its tech. I suppose you could get away with filling a leather or burlap bag with wooden bearings, which should absolutely exist on Golarion, or marbles, which not only exist but are statted out (costing 1sp for a bag, adventurer pocket change), in place of metallic bearings to replace a lost or stolen sap.

Anyway, the benefit. Benefit’s good, because any Divination spell that has a saving throw is typically one you really want to save against to keep an enemy from having an easy time analyzing you, especially if you’re going to be living up to your Rana’s standards of lying at every available opportunity. Top contenders are Scrying and the entire Detect Thoughts family along with their imitators, but there’s also the niche case of Mind Thrust and its line of Except Bigger versions being incredibly rare cases of offensive Divination spells. It’s not as valuable in a battle as having saves against Necromancy or Enchantment, but it’s very valuable OUT of battle whenever someone out there is trying to get a read on you.

Boon 1: Glibness Boon 2: Create Greater Mindscape Boon 3: Microcosm

Well, this first one’s easy! Glibness should be a spell familiar to anyone who’s ever played as, with, or against a Bard. The absolutely divine +20 bonus it gives to make your lies believable cancels out the -20 penalty associated with telling impossible lies, allowing you to gaslight and girlboss (gender neutral) your way past pretty much anyone trying to gatekeep you. Even if your lie contradicts everything they know, they’ll at least give it some thought and sometimes even a take a moment to double-check their own knowledge, which gives you enough time to think of something even more convincing (or just run). If you’re not brave enough to go around trying to convince people you’re Aroden reborn, the +20 bonus is quite handy even if you’re not the party’s face, turning you into one for the absolutely monstrous duration of 10 min/level. If you ARE the party’s face it’s practically unnecessary overkill, but if you’re going to be lying ANYWAY, you may as well lie in style.

This second one, though? This one requires a bit more explanation than I could ever fit into a single article, but I’ll do my best: So long as you have a vague idea about who you’re going to aim the spell at, it’s a Save-or-Suck sleep effect on upwards to 13 creatures at once (+1 per level)... and you don’t need line-of-effect. The Mindscape spell operates similarly to Dimension Door, in that you need only paint an area and the spell locks onto whatever target falls into that area, without you needing to be able to draw line-of-effect or even know what you’re shooting at. If you need a room cleared, you can target a soldier garrison and say you’re affecting as many people as possible... but if, say, you saw someone of high rank enter that same garrison, or if you know the king is in his chambers, or the big bad evil guy is in the hall next door, or have any other sort of firsthand knowledge that there’s a specific target or targets you want to pick for this spell (as in, you must have seen or heard that they’re within the spell’s area), the spell automatically and unerringly seeks them out even among a crowd.

I’m actually going to take a second paragraph here to explain what Greater Create Mindscape does in the simplest terms I can: You pick the area of the spell, pick how many targets (or specify targets) you want to affect, and then any target that fails their save AS WELL AS YOURSELF are drawn into a mindscape of your design. The mindscape is essentially a temporary dream demiplane; you choose what it looks like, how big it is, if certain magics are empowered or suppressed (as though it were a proper plane), what sorts of monsters or beasts are inside (you can directly control a number of those monsters equal to your caster level; all others are mindless constructs), whether or not damage taken within the mindscape translates to the victim’s actual HP bar, and the method by which the mindscape can be escaped, which must be possible for all creatures within the mindscape (”Make it to the edge of the forest,” “open the front door of the manor,” “defeat this boss monster,” “catch this rabbit,” etc).

Already a hell of a spell! Snare an entire crowd of enemies in your imagination zone, putting them through a gauntlet of deadly traps and hostile monster encounters... while also being there yourself, as your mental avatar must also be present. Tempting as it may be to lock away dozens of foes at a time in your mind palace where damage done to them is also dealt to the real them, the reverse is true for you as well, and now suddenly you have 13+ people who want you gone. While you possess your full retinue of abilities, so do they, and while YOU’RE probably extremely powerful, your mental constructs can’t be so overpowering that your victims have no hope of defeating them; victory must be possible, even if it’s difficult. No conjuring 20 mental Tarrasques (okay, you can, but they’ll only be strong enough to challenge your weakest enemy)! The most generically good use of this spell, in my opinion, is akin to a Mass Hold Monster, as any creature trapped in a mindscape becomes effectively catatonic and cannot be awoken even if their body takes damage, allowing your allies to execute them one at a time... or defend your carcass from everyone who made their save.

Whoof, that was long, and we’re still not done talking about the power offered by the Numberless! Microcosm is a hell of a spell to give out, only otherwise being available to Psychics, and for good reason: it’s a rare example of a Save-And-Suck. It can affect only 30 HD worth of creatures (significantly less than you’d think, especially if you’re fighting anything but Humanoids and Monstrous Humanoids), but any creature with less than 10 HD gets no saving throw to avoid being trapped in a permanent mindscape. Anything with 11 to 15 HD is trapped for 10 minutes per level even if they successfully save, and permanently if they fail, so it’s basically a confirmed kill on anything not immune to the spell no matter what. Anything with 16 HD or higher--like any boss or even midboss-level threat you’ll be facing at the level you get this power--avoids the effect if they succeed their save. Microcosm is an off-switch for combats with creatures that would waste your time, and an extremely potent Save-or-Suck against anything worth your time.

Of all the Rana we’ve seen so far, Gavidya has the best record so far, with all three of his spells being extremely useful!

------

Ioramvul, With the Mouth Full of Boulders Rana of Caverns, Cliffs, and Premature Burials Domains: Death, Earth, Evil, Law Subdomains: Caves, Fear, Murder, Undead

Obedience: Partially bury yourself in dirt or gravel while meditating. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against earth effects and petrification.

Three for three on the ‘easily hidden Obedience ritual’ front (two for three if you consider Chupur’s acrid facemask routine difficult to hide), and probably one of the simplest and easiest Obediences ever. Dirt and gravel are all over the god dang planet, so unless you’re in space, in the arctic, in an Elemental Plane besides Earth, or are somehow in a dungeon made of plastic or metal, you can perform this Obedience. “partially” is also a key phrase here, because it means you don’t need a full covering; in a pinch, enough to cover your feet or both hands (or, in the tradition of your Rana, half your face) will satisfy the conditions. 

Simple, easy, and can be performed in just about any condition. What more could you want? A good benefit, perhaps. Earth effects aren’t the most common thing on the planet--if something’s demanding a saving throw, it’s probably Fire or Water--so the majority of this time, this effect will probably just be sitting pretty and unused on your character sheet. The extra protection against petrification is welcome, at least; any protection against a Save-or-Suck as damning as petrification is a good ribbon, even if it IS uncommon.

Boon 1: Spiked Pit Boon 2: Statue Boon 3: Clashing Rocks

I will sing the praises of the Pit spells all the live-long day if I have to. I won’t stop until I see them on the list of every caster who wants control of the battlefield! The Pit spells work on everything, are useful even if the target makes their save (because they linger, and thus more enemies can be pushed in), shaft any enemy without a climb or fly speed, combo well with anything that can take advantage of shooting fish in barrels, and with a bit of creativity can be used to temporarily remove traps or other obstacles. Their major downside is that they’re useless against enemies that can fly, but that’s what the rest of your repertoire is for (or a well-placed tanglefoot bag when they’re hovering over the hole). As battlefield control goes, there’s little better than narrowing where your enemies can move by opening a pit of spikes on part of the map, and Rangers and Hunters love few things more than enemies they have the high ground over. The extra damage from the spikes is more of a ribbon on top of this present than anything else.

I will be first to admit, though, that for all the good I see in making pits, Statue took a while to grow on me. I never saw it as ever worth preparing or even having, considering that using it optimally locks you out of AoOs and immediate actions, but if you’re going full-caster? Why not have 8 Hardness between you and whatever your enemies are doing? Not like you’ll miss the loss of AC since you barely had any anyway. It also--and this is the part that turned me around on the spell--renders you immune to an enormous variety of spells and effects, because the majority of offensive magic only affects creatures, and while you’re in statue form, you’re considered an object. No mind-affecting effects for you, thanks! Just watch out for enemies with heavy picks or warhammers...

Oh, also, even if you’re not the party’s caster, you can just hand the spell over to them anyway. It affects whoever you touch!

Speaking of stone, though, we end on one of the funniest spells in Pathfinder. Possibly the most ‘unga bunga’ level 9 spell you could have on your list, and one of the most effective to boot. High-level enemies tend to have immunity to enormous lists of status ailments, wide elemental resistances and some protection from Save-or-Sucks... but do you know what few enemies have defenses against? Being hit with a huge rock. Let alone two huge rocks! Clashing Rocks conjures two enormous boulders on either side of the target and then sandwich-smashes them, dealing 20d6 damage and knocking the target prone with nothing but a successful ranged touch attack to hit; this averages to about 75, so it’s not especially jaw-dropping, but it’s an attack instead of a save and knocks them prone... and, if they fail a Reflex saving throw, they take an additional 8d6 bludgeoning damage (Reflex DC 15 half) and get buried under tons of stone. potentially taking them out of the fight entirely or even killing them via suffocation if they can’t make the DC 25 Strength check to escape. 

Even if the attack misses, the stones still deal 10d6 damage and knock the victim prone (Reflex save for half and avoid being knocked over), and the same damage/knockdown effect occurs to every creature and object in the 30x30 space of the stones when they appear and the 30ft distance they travel to smash into the target. That’s a lot of sure damage over a wide area to a lot of potential targets, but also there’s just something special about hitting something like a dragon or a vampire with enormous rocks. Like how I complimented the Pit spells, Clashing Rocks works on everything and alters the battlefield when it’s used, because those rocks don’t go away after the spell ends. Now there’s a 30x60 mound of difficult terrain smack dab where an enemy used to be, and everyone has to deal with it.

... also, even if you didn’t need it for the damage, a creative player could come up with at least three or four uses for 80 tons of earth and stone that can just be waved into existence as needed.

[almaadst]

And the third “Apotheosis” cover for @renrenardine ! This is a much darker one which I love doing! Orise is JJK OC from this fanfic - I highly recommend reading it! (✿◡‿◡) Other: Commission info “Apotheosis” part one “Apotheosis” part two PLEASE DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT MY or OWNER PERMISSION

[mixed-kester]

hello ms. esther! sorry for suddenly intruding, but i've seen you a lot on my dash n just wanted to say hi! and, well, to also give this tiny brainrot about u and wanderer in offering haha:

i don't know much about your personal lore, but seeing your art for throwaway-yandere's wood vs salt fic had me Thinking Thoughts. do you remember how in the beginning of wanderer-era, before he got his memories as scaramouche back, wanderer was pretty calm and nice? a little ditzy or, well, easily distracted sometimes, yes, but generally, he seemed like someone safe (or at the very least, like he wouldn't suddenly stab you in the back).

what if he met you while in this state? before the traveler found him and brought him back to the sanctuary of surasthana? what if he saw you and felt some dim, compelling force in the hollow of his chest where his heart should be (the lingering influence of irminsul, the all-encompassing obsessive love that scaramouche had for you you you—) when he sees you, a passing visitor in the grand bazaar, and quietly wonders if he's met you before.

now, this could go in many different ways depending on whether or not you remember him (even with irminsul's deletion of scaramouche's existence) and if he decides to do anything about that. one such timeline, like the wood vs salt-esque au, would be so interesting because, well, he doesn't remember pantalone ever being that close to you before. he doesn't remember you working for alhaitham either.

but you still look the same. still smile the same. still blush, huff, and laugh the same and wanderer can't help but cling to that (can't help but listen to the snake-like whispers just behind his ear to hold onto you, tighter this time, and make sure you'll never leave again).

some things are different. some things are the same. and all these unwanted anomalies are easy enough to correct, with or without his vision.

he's learned from the best, after all.

aaa this is very messy n all but i hope i got the idea across! if this isnt ur cup of tea that is very fine wdyhdbd but if nothing else, i would like to say ur art is very cool n ur ebg lore (at least the little i saw of it bc i had pre-mids that week) is very :eyes:

the object of my thoughts.

tags: wanderer, self-insert, situated inside @throwaway-yandere's Apotheosis on Your First Feast...kind of??? maybe??? an AU of sorts.

a/n: omg brain go brrrrr? welcome to my humble blog ajnsbvkjbhlka don't be shy to interact i don't bite- btw this fic is probably nothing like the ask aaaaaaa words: 1,072

The Grand Bazaar is as bustling as ever. Her nose gets hit with the damp, yet fresh air of the hidden city nestled underneath Sumeru's Great Tree.

At once, Esther hears the quiet, lively atmosphere of the merchants, the lingering tune of a song in Zubayr Theater (Sadly, Nilou will not be dancing today.), and the smell of freshly-made street food, minus the bugs that so happens to linger on the stalls.

This place almost ticks all her checkboxes of a "safe space".

almost.

She found herself sitting beside a food stall, waiting for her order to arrive. In Esther's defense, the food was quite tempting. Scented Meat Balls always have a thing going for her mouth. One moment it's there, the next…an empty platter and greasy hands.

A very pleasant experience, 10/10.

With nothing better to do, she rummaged for her shoulder bag and pulled out a small notepad. Some of the signatures are falling off, the purple yarn barely holding it together, and the handmade cover is dirtied with charcoal stains.

Carefully tightening the seams with a sigh, she then looked around, looking for someone to draw. She wouldn't want to ask someone for permission, no. She has to be discreet; quick, yet accurate.

The last time she got "caught", Esther was quite embarrassed, although her subject at the time was quite flattered and even offered some good critiques at her pose anatomy before being dragged off by Alhaitham, of all people.

Alhaitham, your current boss, and the current Acting Grand Sage of Sumeru. Who assigned you to Varanara, just six hours ago.

Vanarana, the supposed home of the Aranara, the children of the Lord of Verdure.

…the Lord of Verdure, and the successful rescuing of Sumeru's future.

A rescue that I refused to join in.

Esther shook her head in an attempt to dispel the frankly annoying and intrusive thoughts in her head. Quickly putting her notepad, aside, she thanked the waitress and tested the waters on the meat balls, still smoking.

Ow. Too hot.

Her eyes roamed around the bazaar like a camera, looking for interesting people to draw. Interesting poses to draw. A merchant selling fruits, a vendor calling for customers. Quite banal.

I spy, with my eyes…

I spy, with my eyes…

there!

Her hands fly towards the notepad, leaves ruffling as she attempts to find an empty page.

The slight off-colored white invites her in to draw the first line, to fill it up with her lines, to see the figure of a person, the someone she chose to draw.

Reaching out again, she tests if the balls are too hot. Feeling the warm, crumbly texture of the finger food, she eats one whole and quickly focuses on the task at hand.

She looks quickly.

He's not looking at her. Perfect.

She quickly dismissed the hat in her drawing. That thing is a pain to draw quickly, she thinks, instead opting for just an ellipse with shaded points.

She quickly deconstructs his relaxed figure, filling it up with more details as the platter beside her grows more and more empty with each passing hour

He doesn't look like he's from here, Esther figures as she draws the man's robes- kimono, she corrects herself- hanging loosely on his figure, making for quite the focus on his high-collared undershirt-

Esther chokes on a crumb. Coughing, she hides her face on her arm and shakes her head again. Taking a bite out of the meatballs, carefully this time, she erases the quite scandalizing abs on her drawing, scolding herself for the…distraction.

She tries to finish the figure without looking this time. A large gold ornament on his left chest… hair shaped like a weird bowl cut…red eyeliner…

hang on.

She glances again. He did not seem to notice, and was still facing away from her, talking to what she presumes is his boss. how did i know his eyeliner is red?

Her gaze lingers on the drawing, slightly smudging the freshly-drawn face as she traces its jaw. She thinks hard, her eyebrows furrowing, the tapping of her pencil serving as a pendulum for her thoughts.

think, think, think.

She tries to chase the thought, but it slips away from her grasp like a falling leaf amid a strong breeze. Whatever the thought is... she deems it not important.

Esther looks at her drawing again, and her grip makes a dent in the notepad. This drawing, this pathetic croquis of a figure...it's too ugly. It doesn't even shine a light on the guy. This drawing of hers is too disgusting to see the light of day.

The left arm is too long, the face is off, the torso is contorted unnaturally, the fingers are unproportioned, the face is off, the eyes are off, the eyes are off, the eyes are off-

…

She tears off the page, throws it on a random garbage bag, and leaves the bazaar in lower spirits than when she came. so much for relaxation.

If she dared to look back, the subject of her interest has filched the torn paper.

Behind the tree, his errand remained forgotten, the fruits on the forest floor as he traced every uneven line that captured his inhuman self, marvelling at the seemingly glorious art in his hands.

Why did she discard it? he can only wonder as he gingerly holds the paper like it's a treasured possession of his. He does not understand. Why did she throw it away?

Should he find her? He thinks about it, but then considers his chances. An unknown person asks for her, saying something about knowing her vaguely and asking to come with him? He might as well parade around Sumeru City with the biggest hat he could find, yelling loudly.

What name would he give her when she asks for it?

He is a shugenja; a wanderer, as he calls himself. A tree with no roots. Somebody with no home, no kin, no destination. Someone with no name, no identity to hang on with. Trekking across Teyvat to train himself...it's just an excuse.

That's how absurd this is.

So why is he so hung up on this one person who drew him in such a human fashion? What is there to her that piqued him?

Have we met before?

He sighs, and folds the paper, tucking it in his hat. He picks up the sunsettias on the ground, and makes way to the nearby river to wash it.

[beautifulbizarremagazine]

For the past two decades, @carrieannbaade has been absolutely killing it with her pro-feminist, trompe l’œil paintings inspired by her intricately layered hand cut/hand-assembled collages. While her narratives are ***through-the-roof IMAGINATIVE***, rabid art lovers will find them extra appealing since she incorporates imagery that she plucks straight from the hallowed halls of art history. If you’re intrigued and want to learn more about Carrie’s art path, sip on your favorite bevvy while enjoying our recent article about her creative background – you totally deserve the “you time”, and it just might make your own creative sparks fly high🍷 🍷 🍵 🧋 ☕ 🍷 🍷 👉 https://beautifulbizarre.net/2022/12/01/scissors-and-tears-carrie-ann-baade/ And if you didn’t already know, she released a really excellent art book called "Scissors & Tears" via @laluzdejesus which covers the past 20 years of her creative output…and yes, it’s totally worth the $40! ☺️ ☺️ ☺️ ☺️ 👉 https://laluzdejesus.com/gallery/carrie-ann-baade-scissors-tears-hardcover/ 👉 https://carrieannbaade.com/ 👉 https://www.instagram.com/carrieannbaade/ ••• ARTWORK: Image 1/5: “Moral Apotheosis”, 2022 Image 2: “Snake Headed Girl”, 2010 Image 3: “Involuntary Thoughts”, 2004 Image 4: “Melancholia With Demons”, 2005 ••• #beautifulbizarre #carrieannbaade #artbook #collageart #painting #popsurrealism (at La Luz De Jesus Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpts6achjp5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[foxtricksterwriting]

Slaughter Squad MC

Author's Note; Yeah yeah I made another one. This one's a little different tho, lolol. @harlequinoccult, here take the bastard /affectionate

Legal Name:█̝̗̩̥̜̘̾̿̎̽̄̓̇ͫͮ̃̽ͯ̄ͫͣ͘͢█̞̖̝̲̞̹̤̲̠̮̟ͫ͗͐̈́̎͘█̡̡͔̤̓ͮͤͥ̒̇̌̐̓█̶̶̧̰̫̣͔̘͓̠͙̐́ͨͩ͋͂̏ͤ̌̒͗̑ͭͤ̈́̓ͦ̚̚█̷̷͚̟̟̳̮̫͈̹̻ͮ̿̀̕ͅ█̸̢̛̗̫̮̻̥͍̺̦̮͈͕̑͐̀ͬͯͧ̋̑̆̽̆̾̅̉͋̂ͫ́̔̂ͬ͜͠ █̰̔̃ͮ█͈̜̤̤͉͋█͓̍ͧ̅͌ͧ͜█̷̶̴̢̨͖̱͎̟̹̪̭̟̹͖͙͇̳͎̟̗̗̜͚̓͐̽́̍͊ͨ̎ͤ̐ͥͦ͐̓͑̓ͭ̄̈͊̑͝͞ (You don't need that, lovey~)

Alias: Apotheosis (Do you know what that word means, lovey? I'll tell you, if you beg~)

Gender + Pronouns: Demiboy + he/they

Age: 23

Occupation: Crime Scene Cleaner (It certainly comes in handy, eheh)

More About Him; So full of themself they should have a fucking medal. He's materialistic and loves having new shit. Said new shit ends up wrecked some odd days later, so you shouldn't buy anything for him. They go the extra mile with everything; he goes all out with his makeup, hair, outfit, and general attitude. He never shuts up about his fucking music, but artfully dodges mentioning anything specific. Their 'personality' is so heavy handed you can't help but think it's forced, not that they'd tell you.

When he's not wearing that damned mask, he's surprisingly calm. He's still excitable and loud, but not nearly as obnoxious. More willing to listen to others and go along with plans that don't align with their own, too. If you pay close enough attention, you can almost see the energy bubbling under the surface. Catch them at a bad time and you'll get some unhinged ramblings about beautiful music and art. They're quick to cover it up, however.

Some characteristics always stick, with or without the mask; they're quick to help and love pink. He'll let someone vent about their problems, and offer advice if prompted. And he's the first to come up with..... creative solutions to problems. They brush their own problems off and move on so quickly you have to wonder if you even brought them up in the first place. And despite the cheerfulness, he always has some sort of plan. Never unprepared. They try to hide this with a veil of impulsivity and reckless abandon, and it seems to work wonders. And, of course, their loner tendencies. He typically doesn't want anything to do with anyone unless they can help him somehow or give him something. He'll be pleasant if someone approaches him first, though. Generally, it's hard to tell if this is how he is naturally or if this is forced behavior. Sometimes, you can catch him staring wistfully to groups of people, suggesting the former.

Not to mention almost everyone that talks to him goes missing, only to end up displayed somewhere after being brutally murdered. People seem to have noticed this little connection, leading to others avoiding him like their life depends on it. How the police haven't been involved is a fucking mystery, honestly.

It's hard to tell what's their true personality and what's a facade. Either way, you'd be better off staying far, far away.

Fun Facts;

This fucker has a pinterest, find it here. Mofo's face claim is there.

He also has a playlist, found on youtube here and spotify there.

Has a dog, named Mace. Not Macey, just Mace. She's a Irish Wolfhound and bigger than him. He'll happily talk about her for hours.

Allergic to wasps and bees, terrified of wasps but not bees.

Desperately wants to murder Carter. Would give his literal heart to kill Carter.

Does actually make music, under his nickname █̩͎͓̙̼͔͆̿ͪͮ̓͘_̷̷̪͉̺͍̥͖̯̭ͦ̒ͣͤ̄̓̅̊͒ͬ́͢͡█ (Nuh-uh-uh! Can't have you giving away my secrets like that~)

Selectively mute, knows sign language but normally will use a text-to-speech app on their phone. Has downloaded a vocaloid-like voice program for this for shits and giggles.

Would probably be best friends with Overdose, I think they're similar enough they'd get along good. Or hate each other lmao

They'd romance Sweetheart or The Host, maybe Overdose but that's undecided.

[katekelton]

https://gallery30south.com/kelton-phoenix/

Kate Kelton: PHOENIX

JANUARY 2023

Seeking to elevate brave Silence Breakers who’ve come forward during the #MeToo movement, Kate Kelton’s portraiture combines their oft familiar faces with elements of her family’s Czech architecture. Her portraits are cloaked in the garb of statues that Ladislav Šaloun sculpted onto the central train station that her great- grandfather, Josef Fanta, designed for Prague between 1901 – 1909. Sampling and mixing her own lineage, Kate has transformed a historical body of work, itself a thing of lasting beauty, exchanging granite for graphite; plaster for paint.

Headdresses and crowns deify Kate Kelton’s subjects. She uplifts the Unsung Sheroes & Heroes, Patriarchy Smashers, Warrior Survivors, Silence Breakers, Philosophers, Truth-Tellers, Whistle Blowers and Thought Giants. She paints portraits cloaked in the garb of statues Ladislav Šaloun sculpted onto the train station that her great-grandfather, Josef Fanta, designed for Prague in 1901 – 1909.

Apotheosis through a reclaimed, reapplied Art Nouveau.

Kate’s recent work is a matter of expansion through contrast – she is as ephemeral as her subjects are concrete architecture; she is structural when her subjects should slip through your fingers like too-fine sand. Taken as a whole, the works in her magnificent series Phoenix are incredibly intelligent, but when looked at individually, you come to understand that these are statements of life beyond themselves. The series take embellishments of a Prague train station designed by her great-grandfather, Josef Fanta, and combines these with portraits of men and women who have stood against the sexual harassment and assault rampant in Hollywood –particularly those who have testified against Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly, and Bill Cosby, and made allegations against Franco Zeffirelli, Donald Trump, Russell Simmons, Max Landis, Michael Jackson, Nick Carter, Luc Besson, and others. These women, like Kate herself, have suffered in the era where powerful men, every bit as immovable as the train station, wielded their power without check. The portraits emblazoned on architectural elements, they are marked against the edifice, every bit as permanent, and perhaps even more defining. If you approach those as portraits, you’re taking the moment but missing the permanence. If you take them as statuary, you’re missing the fact that they are, in fact, alive within those gazes. It’s really incredible how much a shift of the light, a dart of the eye, can turn each of them from a memorial into a promise. This is not an exhibition about tragedy. This is a monument to courage, survival and empowerment.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Kate Kelton was born in the south of Germany, after her parents escaped Czechoslovakia. Her early years were spent in a VW bus traveling Europe with her mother, an abstract painter. Settling in Toronto, Canada at age seven, Kelton attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts as a Visual Arts Major, and received a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Film, from Ryerson University. Her father was an architect. His grandfather, and namesake, was Josef Fanta: renowned Art Nouveau architect, engineer and sculptor, who worked closely with Alphonse Mucha. Photographer Dagmar Hochová is Kelton’s great aunt, on her mother’s side. Kelton also had a recurring role on Stephen King’s Haven on the Syfy Channel. When the illustrated re- edition of the book it’s based on, The Colorado Kid, was published, she illustrated the front and back inside covers. Her first lead role on tv was opposite Eric Roberts and Eddie Izzard, in the Independent Film Channel’s Bullet In The Face. Alex Maleev illustrated her for the poster. Her first feature film, Deepa Mehta’s The Republic of Love, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her film credits include cult classics, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and American Psycho II. Did you also spot her in music videos, like Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me?” Almost as good as googling her as “the Tic Tac girl.” ;} Kate has exhibited her artwork internationally for decades, at, among others: the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the New Walk Museum & Art Gallery in the UK; Gallery 1988 in New York, Venice, and West Hollywood; Gabba Gallery, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, and Durden & Ray in Los Angeles; Art On Scene in Beverly Hills; Galerie F in Chicago; Lawless Concept in Montreal; and The Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto. Her work has toured with Yoko Ono’s Group Show Arising from Zurich, to Portugal, to the UK and Germany.