#Domain-Driven Design

[technicalfika]

Domain-Driven Design: Unveiling the Power of Strategic Software Development

In the world of software development, creating robust and efficient applications requires more than just writing code. It involves understanding the complex interactions between various components and aligning the software’s design with the real-world domain it serves. This is where Domain-Driven Design (DDD) comes into play. In this article, we’ll explore what Domain-Driven Design is, its key…

[tinchicus]

Hoy veremos otro tipo de diseño que podemos implementar para nuestras aplicaciones. Espero les sea de utilidad y tengan un buen finde!

[jcmarchi]

A portable light system that can digitize everyday objects

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/a-portable-light-system-that-can-digitize-everyday-objects/

A portable light system that can digitize everyday objects

When Nikola Tesla predicted we’d have handheld phones that could display videos, photographs, and more, his musings seemed like a distant dream. Nearly 100 years later, smartphones are like an extra appendage for many of us.

Digital fabrication engineers are now working toward expanding the display capabilities of other everyday objects. One avenue they’re exploring is reprogrammable surfaces — or items whose appearances we can digitally alter — to help users present important information, such as health statistics, as well as new designs on things like a wall, mug, or shoe.

Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the University of California at Berkeley, and Aarhus University have taken an intriguing step forward by fabricating “PortaChrome,” a portable light system and design tool that can change the color and textures of various objects. Equipped with ultraviolet (UV) and red, green, and blue (RGB) LEDs, the device can be attached to everyday objects like shirts and headphones. Once a user creates a design and sends it to a PortaChrome machine via Bluetooth, the surface can be programmed into multicolor displays of health data, entertainment, and fashion designs.

Play video

PortaChrome: A portable light system that can digitize everyday objects Video: MIT CSAIL

To make an item reprogrammable, the object must be coated with photochromic dye, an invisible ink that can be turned into different colors with light patterns. Once it’s coated, individuals can create and relay patterns to the item via the team’s graphic design software, or use the team’s API to interact with the device directly and embed data-driven designs. When attached to a surface, PortaChrome’s UV lights saturate the dye while the RGB LEDs desaturate it, activating the colors and ensuring each pixel is toned to match the intended design.

Zhu and her colleagues’ integrated light system changes objects’ colors in less than four minutes on average, which is eight times faster than their prior work, “Photo-Chromeleon.” This speed boost comes from switching to a light source that makes contact with the object to transmit UV and RGB rays. Photo-Chromeleon used a projector to help activate the color-changing properties of photochromic dye, where the light on the object’s surface is at a reduced intensity.

“PortaChrome provides a more convenient way to reprogram your surroundings,” says Yunyi Zhu ’20, MEng ’21, an MIT PhD student in electrical engineering and computer science, affiliate of CSAIL, and lead author on a paper about the work. “Compared with our projector-based system from before, PortaChrome is a more portable light source that can be placed directly on top of the photochromic surface. This allows the color change to happen without user intervention and helps us avoid contaminating our environment with UV. As a result, users can wear their heart rate chart on their shirt after a workout, for instance.”

Giving everyday objects a makeover

In demos, PortaChrome displayed health data on different surfaces. A user hiked with PortaChrome sewed onto their backpack, putting it into direct contact with the back of their shirt, which was coated in photochromic dye. Altitude and heart rate sensors sent data to the lighting device, which was then converted into a chart through a reprogramming script developed by the researchers. This process created a health visualization on the back of the user’s shirt. In a similar showing, MIT researchers displayed a heart gradually coming together on the back of a tablet to show how a user was progressing toward a fitness goal.

PortaChrome also showed a flair for customizing wearables. For example, the researchers redesigned some white headphones with sideways blue lines and horizontal yellow and purple stripes. The photochromic dye was coated on the headphones and the team then attached the PortaChrome device to the inside of the headphone case. Finally, the researchers successfully reprogrammed their patterns onto the object, which resembled watercolor art. Researchers also recolored a wrist splint to match different clothes using this process.

Eventually, the work could be used to digitize consumers’ belongings. Imagine putting on a cloak that can change your entire shirt design, or using your car cover to give your vehicle a new look.

PortaChrome’s main ingredients

On the hardware end, PortaChrome is a combination of four main ingredients. Their portable device consists of a textile base as a sort of backbone, a textile layer with the UV lights soldered on and another with the RGB stuck on, and a silicone diffusion layer to top it off. Resembling a translucent honeycomb, the silicone layer covers the interlaced UV and RGB LEDs and directs them toward individual pixels to properly illuminate a design over a surface.

This device can be flexibly wrapped around objects with different shapes. For tables and other flat surfaces, you could place PortaChrome on top, like a placemat. For a curved item like a thermos, you could wrap the light source around like a coffee cup sleeve to ensure it reprograms the entire surface.

The portable, flexible light system is crafted with maker space-available tools (like laser cutters, for example), and the same method can be replicated with flexible PCB materials and other mass manufacturing systems.

While it can also quickly convert our surroundings into dynamic displays, Zhu and her colleagues believe it could benefit from further speed boosts. They’d like to use smaller LEDs, with the likely result being a surface that could be reprogrammed in seconds with a higher-resolution design, thanks to increased light intensity.

“The surfaces of our everyday things are encoded with colors and visual textures, delivering crucial information and shaping how we interact with them,” says Georgia Tech postdoc Tingyu Cheng, who was not involved with the research. “PortaChrome is taking a leap forward by providing reprogrammable surfaces with the integration of flexible light sources (UV and RGB LEDs) and photochromic pigments into everyday objects, pixelating the environment with dynamic color and patterns. The capabilities demonstrated by PortaChrome could revolutionize the way we interact with our surroundings, particularly in domains like personalized fashion and adaptive user interfaces. This technology enables real-time customization that seamlessly integrates into daily life, offering a glimpse into the future of ‘ubiquitous displays.’”

Zhu is joined by nine CSAIL affiliates on the paper: MIT PhD student and MIT Media Lab affiliate Cedric Honnet; former visiting undergraduate researchers Yixiao Kang, Angelina J. Zheng, and Grace Tang; MIT undergraduate student Luca Musk; University of Michigan Assistant Professor Junyi Zhu SM ’19, PhD ’24; recent postdoc and Aarhus University assistant professor Michael Wessely; and senior author Stefanie Mueller, the TIBCO Career Development Associate Professor in the MIT departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering and leader of the HCI Engineering Group at CSAIL.

This work was supported by the MIT-GIST Joint Research Program and was presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in October.

[liloinkoink]

doomsday group (me, maruu, chris, cj, and smurg) have been making a dnd au for our wl/sol/ctm storylines and it's been slowly drivign us mad so im gonna do a few posts explaining it maybe?

to start, characters:

Name: Ellery Pronouns: he/him, they/them Player: Lew (me!) Race: Winter Eladrin Elf | Reborn Class: Warlock Subclass: Otherworldly Patron - Mrykul, death god | Pact of the Tome

Ellery leads a small temple to Myrkul, god of death, decay, old age, autumn, and dusk. Ellery is a prophet, receiving visions from his god to help run the temple. As leader, people tend to go to him for guidance.

Ellery's design, art by Maruu

Name: Syyrin Pronouns: she/her Player: CJ @cjskribblez Race: Tiefling Class: Artificer Subclass: Alchemist

Syyrin is the other founding member of the temple and Ellery's loyal second in command, often helping him with the more menial tasks of starting and upkeeping a cult. She spends her free time crafting things and studying alchemy.

Syyrin's design, art by CJ

Name: Flint Pronouns: he/him Player: Smurg @smurgle Race: Dragonborn | Black Class: Rogue Subclass: Soulknife

A member of the Myrkul temple, Flint has no formal role, though his general nosiness means he's generally familiar with the workings and gossips of the lives of temple residents. He's close friends with both Ellery and Syyrin, and is often spending time with the both of them.

Flint’s design, art by Smurg

Name: Iscariot Pronouns: he/him Player: Chris @chrisrin Race: Hobgoblin Class: Paladin Subclass: Oath of the Watchers (previously Oathbreaker)

Member of a group of worshipers of Cyric, god of power, chaos, murder, and lies. This group has taken root in Ellery's temple, and is trying to steal power away. Iscariot had once been a paladin driven exclusively by violence for its own sake, but has recently found himself unable to use magic, as he's begun to doubt his faith.

Iscariot’s design, art by Chris

Name: Mar Pronouns: she/her Player: Maruu @xmaruu11 Race: Water Genasi | Reborn Class: Cleric Subclass: Life Domain | Hestia

A cleric of Life worshiping Hestia, goddess of hearth, community, and family. She's betrayed and sold by her own family, ending as a sacrifice for the Cyric-worshipping group infiltrating the Myrkul temple.

Mar's design, art by Maruu

[ dnd au plot summary post here ]

[this-user-is-new]

another thing that’s frustrating about arcane season two is that whenever i try to make sense of an event that involves magic, the explanation just creates another incoherent plotline, especially with the case of mel medarda.

how does she break free from leblanc’s black rose domain, something controlled by a vastly more powerful and experienced mage?

mel was born super powerful. because the show says so. yeah, she went from a nonviolent, politically driven aristocrat to a full-on superpowered mage because ... well, she obviously trained off-screen, with leblanc, maybe? the show doesn’t say. but you know what the show says? that she was born super powerful, and that’s enough.

okay ... then, if she’s always had this immense power, why has she never experienced even the slightest manifestation of it in her ~30 years of life? why was she so oblivious about her nature? it's hard to believe.

well, according to external league lore, her father secretly put runes in her tattoos to suppress her magic. so, it makes total sense.

yeah … but then how is she able to use magic now, when those tattoos are still on her body? what changed?

during the council attack in season 1, when she instinctively used a shield, that ... somehow broke the tattoos’ suppression. it’s magic, okay?!

but the runes, which were specifically designed to suppress her magic, are a form of magic in themselves. so why does mel suddenly break free of them?

because her magic is more powerful than ... magic? because, the show says that she’s very powerful ...

but this contradicts established league lore. even mages like ryze can’t just do whatever they want, magic has its boundaries for them too. so, mages can’t just act without limits or consequences. if mel can break free of magic-suppressing runes so easily, it undermines the very concept of magic rules that have been established within the broader lore, no?

... arcane is the new canon? although none of this is said in arcane.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Olga Lautman at Unmasking Russia:

The First Step of Every Dictator Is the Same: Control the Information Space

The Trump White House recently unveiled its latest weapon in the war on truth: state-run propaganda called White House Wire. Hosted on the official WH.gov domain and styled to mimic a legitimate news site, it’s packed wall-to-wall with fawning, loyalty coverage of Trump. But this isn’t news. It’s a carefully constructed illusion—an official platform built to amplify regime-approved messaging, elevate loyalist voices, and fabricate the illusion of nationwide support. White House Wire publishes cherry-picked headlines from right-wing outlets, recycled social media posts from Trump officials, and fawning press releases dressed up as journalism.

[“White House Wire isn’t journalism. It’s regime propaganda on the taxpayer’s dime.”]

Visually, the site mirrors Kremlin-backed platforms like Russia Today and Sputnik—headline-driven and deliberately designed to blur the line between state messaging and “journalism.” And it’s another clear sign that Trump is building a state media machine in plain sight.

In Russia, state media doesn’t just influence the national conversation but creates it. Independent journalists have long been silenced, exiled, imprisoned, or killed. Entire networks function as obedient megaphones for the Kremlin. Dissenting voices are labeled traitors and foreign agents, while loyalists are rewarded with airtime, protection, money, and power. And the Kremlin’s version of events is the only version allowed to exist.

[“In Russia, the state controls reality. Trump is trying to do the same in America.”]

This isn’t new. For over a century, Soviet and Russian leaders have understood that controlling the narrative and the information space is essential to having control over the people. The well-oiled propaganda machine they built has evolved with technology, becoming more precise, pervasive, and psychologically effective. Now, we’re watching that same playbook unfold in the United States.

Silencing the Press, Elevating the Propagandists

Simultaneously, as the White House launches its “news wire,” Trump is escalating his assault on the free press. For example, reporters from the Associated Press—one of the most respected and nonpartisan global news organizations—remain barred from key events. Their offense? Refusing to adopt Trump’s preferred rebranding of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

[“This is a classic authoritarian tactic—demanding loyalty to enforce ideological obedience.”]

And it doesn’t stop at language. Trump is actively weaponizing federal agencies to investigate and intimidate news outlets. The message is clear: report facts, demand accountability, and you’ll be punished. This isn’t just about discrediting the press—it’s about suppressing dissent, silencing independent reporting, and pressuring journalists into self-censorship. At the same time, the regime is elevating a parallel media class—handpicked MAGA influencers, conspiracy theorists, and loyal propagandists—whose sole purpose is to amplify state narratives and validate the illusion of popular support.

These so-called “influencer briefings,” now held inside the White House, echo the Kremlin’s long-standing strategy of elevating loyalist media and propaganda figures. Attendees like Sean Spicer, Rogan O’Handley, and Jack Posobiec—the conspiracy extremist behind Pizzagate—aren’t journalists. They are operatives whose sole role is to validate and amplify regime propaganda. Even Trump family friends are brought in to deliver scripted praise in choreographed sessions—a propaganda spectacle masquerading as press access, carefully staged for viral clips and public manipulation. It’s classic propaganda theater… Just as Putin relies on figures like Dmitry Kiselyov or Margarita Simonyan to blur truth and loyalty, Trump is building his own cadre of narrative enforcers.

[...]

From Free Press to Propaganda State

Authoritarian regimes know that truth threatens power—which is why they work relentlessly to silence it. Trump is no exception. One of the most egregious recent examples: after a court halted Trump’s attempt to dismantle Voice of America, he moved to convert it into a state propaganda tool, bringing in One America News (OAN) to provide its “newsfeed.” VOA, a taxpayer-funded broadcaster created to counter disinformation, promote democratic values, and deliver fact-based news to oppressed populations, is now being co-opted to push Trump’s political agenda. For decades, VOA has been a trusted lifeline for millions—reaching listeners from behind the Iron Curtain to modern-day Iran and China. Now, it’s being repurposed as a megaphone for far-right extremism. Kari Lake, a senior adviser at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, brokered the OAN deal, openly framing it as part of Trump’s “information war.” Meanwhile, more than 1,000 VOA journalists remain locked out under Trump’s executive order to dismantle the agency—a move still being fought in court.

In Trump’s America, the right-wing state media propaganda outlets are getting preferential treatment at the expense of established legacy outlets.

[breedable-heath]

Half-Elf Pregnant with Magic

[Part one] PART TWO ⬇️

Heath is a trans male half-elf who is currently working for the Elf King by letting the Elf-wizard Glen store raw magic power in his womb. Being a half-elf, Heath's human blood disables him from using the magic in his body, so it is forced to stay confined in his womb.

The Elf-King pushes Glen to take Heath throughout his domain to collect the bicentennial magic tax. Every two hundred years the elf-king collects a tax on magic. Usually the magic is stored in swords, gems, wands, staffs, or crystals. Using a half-elf to store the magic was like having the ultimate anti-magic vault. In previous tax years, the donated magic items have not reacted well to being together, resulting in the magic escaping and fighting. Another collection year, the collector never made it back to the capitol and the magic items were never found again. But magic seeps through all that it can to return to its natural state.

Everything, that is, except for human blood.

Glen and Heath approach the elf city of Monteciil, a city central in the elflands. The city itself was built over a large sinkhole that revealed an underground lake. Heath heard the legends humankind tell about the underground lake water. Yet, he feared how it would be for him to climb the stairs on his way out.

Heath places his hands on his swollen ball belly, akin to the size of a 38 week pregnancy. He and Glen both watched the forest pass them by through the windows of a carriage.

The feeling of pressure had finally subsided inside Heath’s belly. The last 2 times that Glen transferred magic inside him he noticed a rising feeling of pressure and weight. Like his body was starting to buckle from carrying so much magic.

The carriage strikes a root and the half elf and the elf bounce inside; the swollen one grips his stomach. The wizard asks with concerned eyebrows, “are you sure about this?”

“What other choice do I have?” Heath asks.

“I could write to him again.”

For a moment, Heath considers this. “It’s not painful. I’m uncomfortable, sure. But I don’t want to fail the elf-king on the basis of discomfort. That’s a generous offer.”

“Of course,” Glen smiles warmly and rests a hand on Heath’s knee.

Thankfully, there was an elevator that led down to Monteciil.

“We’re staying with the governor,” Glen informs Heath. This would be their third governor they met on this trip.

“So that’s why you bought me that new tunic,” Heath thinks to himself. Glen had paid to have the arms and hem adjusted, since the tunic was designed for a man far taller and larger than Heath.

The governor’s estate is grand and crafted masterfully. A young elf maiden wearing a blue veil led Heath to his room. She uses magic to carry his trunk into the room. Heath waddles around the room, noticing how sacred the high-ceiling bedroom feels with ancient carvings driven into the limestone. The first elf, Polinia, sitting under the first oak tree. There was incredible detail, down to the flowering tall grasses and the first butterfly and the first rabbit. All of them have names unknown to Heath.

Heath notices a peace of parchment on the table with elven script. “Excuse me, I can’t read this,” Heath holds up the note.

The elf maid in blue ignores him at first, and then takes a the parchment. She returns later with another one, this one written in man-tongue words with elf letters.

Welcome to Monteciil, Vault of the Elf-King, Heath son of Linda.

His lips breaks into a half smile as he read his human mother’s name. He misses his mother. Gods, if she could see him now pregnant with raw magic. He keeps reading the note:

Tomorrow at midday the silent sister will bring you and the Wizard Glen to the underground lake. After this you are permitted to stay as long as you need at his majesty the King’s discretion.

Heath had some time alone in his own chambers. He found the bath was still hot and he stepped inside the bath.

He hears the knock and the voice of the wizard. “I got some dinner for you from the chef. They really are feeding you the same dishes elves serve their expecting mothers.” Their voice echoes in the chamber. “Heath?”

“I’m in the bath!”

Glen walked through the guest chambers and into the bathing room. They set the plate down on Heath’s belly which would not stay underwater.

Heath blushed. “I’m bathing!”

“And I’ve seen you naked before.” Glen pulled up a chair, they grabbed a face cloth, and started on Heath’s back. “Heath, I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine, really. I’m uncomfortable and my back hurts and I have to go to the bathroom more often, but I can serve my king.” Heath’s tone was even and cold.

Glen gathered hot water in the face cloth and squeezed it out to let it run down his back. “I know you’re willing to continue but that wasn’t what I meant.” Glen was glad Heath couldn’t see their blush. “I mean that when elves store magic like you are it’s so that they can conceive a child.”

“I know that.”

“So when your body stores up this much magic, it would only be natural for … your libido to increase.” Gods, why was it so hard to talk to him?

Heath was silent for a time. “I can take care of my own needs, as of now.”

Glen’s face turned bright red. “OH. Uh, I mean like when elves have this much magic inside their womb they crave to be inseminated. And You can’t get pregnant or else the king will kill us both.”

“No creampies for me, then.” Heath leaned back in the tub and tilted his head for an upside down view of Glen. He passed his empty plate to the elf and stroked his bulbous belly. If he were pregnant, Glen would estimate that he was ready to birth twins.

Glen kissed Heath. They kissed him tenderly, savoring every point of contact. Glen’s soft hands framed Heath’s face. They glanced at his enormous belly, his out-ward pointing belly button, and the line forming down his torso. Heath did such a good job letting them fill him up with magic, pumping that wand inside him and only once being able to cum. Heath noticed Glen’s eyes wandering to his pussy. Slowly, he brought a hand to his clitoris and began to play with himself. He rose an eyebrow at Glen.

Glen moved next to the bathtub and rolled up their sleeve, dipping their arm into the water to touch Heath’s clitoris. He gasped suddenly. Glen quickly learned what maneuvers made the big bellied half-elf whimper and what made him moan. Their fingers increased with speed and intensity and Heath was moving in the tub quickly making the water lop over the edge. Heath’s head jerked from left to right. Glen, getting scared he would smack his head, grabbed Heath’s jaw with their free hand.

Glen watched Heath’s eyes widen, his mouth gape, and his sounds change into a series of moans. His belly bobbed when Heath tried to grind himself on their fingers.

Glen whispered “good boy,” despite their best judgement.

And Heath, laying exhausted in the bath tub, smiled.

[jesncin]

Lil' musing about Public Domain, AI theft and Transformative creativity

Old essay originally written on Cohost in February 2024. With additions.

I'm putting my thoughts here because I don't want to risk going viral for subtweeting discourse again, here we go! So with the Steamboat Willie Variant of Mickey Mouse going to public domain I've seen the usual cynical pushback over transformative art. Particularly in response to overplayed EDGY DARK WINNIE THE POOH and EDGY DARK STEAMBOAT MICKEY and YOUR CHILDHOOD THING DARK NOW that inevitably happens around this time.

But to group all transformative art as derivative, soul-less, profit-driven, lazy and "reliant on past successes" is frankly just...really silly? I saw a notable concept artist making this over-simplified talking point, and I find it odd that someone can look at the most visible (by being formulaic, provocative and made by rich people) examples of public domain adaptations and just generalize all art ever inspired by a thing as uninventive and compare artists who do that to being "ai-like". It feels like the false dichotomy constantly set between "real books" and fanfiction.

We've seen marginalized people reclaim cosmic horror from Lovecraftian fiction. I've seen queer people reckon with and reclaim the queer history of Peter Pan. There's something special about taking a familiar thing and informing it with a perspective that wasn't present in its original iteration. It takes a whole other part of your creative brain muscles to adapt and reimagine something that already exists. And it can be just as creatively fulfilling as making original stuff.

While it's important to recognize and remember the origin of archetypes in stories or movements in art, I think there's sometimes a misplaced reverence put towards the original version of something. Whenever I talk about how Asian writers like Gene Yang and Sarah Kuhn have more thoroughly integrated Superman's immigrant themes in their re-imaginings of his mythos than their white peers have, I get hit with the constant "hey remember Superman's creators were the sons of Jewish immigrants (who made racist jokes about Chinese people)" and "hey remember, Gene Yang and Gurihiru's Superman Smashes the Klan was based on a radio show arc made by WHITE people first (who made the story about a binary of Good white people vs Bad white people, along with centering how white people feel about racism)".

Especially if it's a means of centering white creatives, people love to dismiss the transformative contributions of marginalized people, but especially that of people of color. It took until 2016 for the World Fantasy Award to change their statuette to not be based after the face of renown racist H.P Lovecraft, after all.

Last year I gave myself the goal to do something "unnecessarily ambitious" with no plan of pitching/printing/selling it. Just "art for art's sake", something really not-algorithm-friendly. And yeah, that ended up being a fully rendered, 40-page martian manhunter fan comic. I did it for no other reason than being a huge fan of a severely unpopular character and feeling like there was a new story I really wanted to tell about the character that would never happen in canon with how little there's been written about him. I don't think it's fair to call writing 40 pages of a new origin story, drawing fully colored pages with unique re-designs, reading hours of martian manhunter comics to tie different aspects of his lore into coherent worldbuilding, putting that comic up for free for the few other Green Justice League Guy fans to read, as lazy, profit-driven, and soul-less.

There's tons of artists who do stuff like this all the time. It just comes off as being very out of touch to view true creativity as only existing one way. That transformative media must inherently be "less". One time a white guy pitched to me some ideas he had for Superman if he ever had a chance to write him, and I said "that sounds cool, you should write a fanfic about it" and another white guy (who felt the need to come to the first one's defense), viewed what I said as an insult. There's something about doing fanart because you enjoy it and don't need to profit out of everything you make that's seen as lesser than having the seal of canonicity from a company.

My motto with making needlessly ambitious fancomics is "You don't need to work for DC Comics to make DC comics". Because canonicity has nothing to do with what makes art special.

To bring this back to edgy Mickey Mouse spin offs, even if you do just want to make cliche mascot-horrified stuff because you enjoy it, then by all means go ahead! I always go back to this video Sagan Hawkes did about petscop-inspired video series. There's a running theme about grappling with the concept of Originality in Art in relation to youtube horror projects (the thesis comes around at 2:04:10), and some valuable words are shared in the collected interviews with web series creatives (2:18:47) in the end. SeireaSong (creator behind Diminish) talks about how misguided conversations surrounding "originality" can be (2:29:43). It's so worth it to watch when you have the time.

Anyway happy 2024! Be good to each other.

[crazyhorses57]

2025 Corrupted alicorn lineup plus lore

Presenting: the corrupted alicorns and one very doomed Rarity. Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon look pretty pissed, wonder what she did...

Lore/design details:

The corrupted alicorns are all sharper-more angles, pointier feathers, etc.

All of their cutie marks are different from their uncorrupted selves. Corruption changes their relationship with their domain, which changes their cutie mark.

Daybreaker - embraces the full power of the Sun, no longer cares about the cycle of night and day. Her cutie mark becomes an angry bright yellow and red sun, and the moon disappears from it.

Nightmare Moon - driven insane by a botched ritual that amplified her negative feelings and damaged her horn, embraces the fear of the night. The dreamcatcher in her cutie mark (and the sun within it) is torn apart, and the silver border is tarnished.

Limerance - her love for Shining Armor became an obsession with keeping him alive, turned the Crystal Empire into a trap that forces everyone within to devote their lives to finding a way to save him. The crystal heart in her cutie mark has gone from blue to magenta, and the golden accents have turned into the mind-altering smoke of her hair.

Stellar Magus - abandoned (or was abandoned by?) friendship for magic. The white stars representing her friends are gone, and the central star is darker.

Stellar is the least insane of the corrupted alicorns, which is why her hair isn't going all over the place. She just doesn't care about anything except researching more magic.

Limerance's horn is more gnarled in appearance, since Cadance wasn't particularly versed or practiced in casting powerful/advanced magic, so when she dove head-first into the sort of powerful spells that might save (and extend) Shiny's life she damaged her horn.

tumblr didnt like the full res pic, go to my dA for that

[tsu-xyz]

GOD GAMES Baldur’s Gate streams from the EPIC CAST

But make it story-driven

I love watching the livestreams of Troy (Hermes), MocaMedia (Area), Luke Holt (Zeus), and Mason (Tiresias) playing Baldur’s Gate 3, (No I haven’t played it myself, so I’m in the same boat as Mason, but it’s finee

This is an AU if the Greek Gods angered some form of Higher Deities (Not the titans) they were not aware of their existence, and began a war between them.

These Higher Deities, victorious, casted the gods aside and cursed them to near-mortality, stripping them away from most of their powers.

(I’m taking some Baldur’s Gate stuff into account, like mixing the designs from the game and from my own designs of the EPIC characters, but only the one’s I actually know of lol)

Here’s Hermes:

In brief, Hermes had been attempting to spread the message of the existence of these Higher Deities, however they ripped his ability to travel in light speed; They clipped the wings of the winged sandals, and (in my personal design of Hermes in general) tore apart his big wings. Disabling him from floating/flying.

They left the small wings on his head alone as a form of mockery to him, leaving him with hopeless hope he’ll one day fly again.

Yes. He has a trauma response if one tries touching his wings. No he won’t even let Ares or Zeus or Tiresias touch them.

Here’s Tiresias:

Tiresias, the undead prophet, foresaw this event and rushed to get Hermes to spread the word. However, it was already too late.

Yes, Tiresias is blind in this unlike in the gameplay lol

My explanation for why Tiresias is w/ Hermes, Ares, and Zeus, is that, in this story-driven AU when the Higher Deities took over, the three domains: Olympus, the mortal plane/oceans, and the Underworld, were all morphed together. (Kinda like the Merge in Ninjago)

If Troy, MocaMedia, Luke Holt, or Mason begin to romance one of the Baldur’s Gate characters, I might do some art of that too :)

I’ll be doing Ares and Zeus next !

[pico-digital-studios]

EXE May Part 3: Infectious Cases and other prompts

So, I decided to get these out much earlier than normal after ElectricSakura16 wound up in major controversy, but here are all of the remaining prompts for EXE May, the majority of which focus on Toxinfect, my own Sonic.exe entity!

Click "Keep reading" if you want to check them out! All sprites and assets belong to their original creators.

Day 16: Main Entity

You might remember him as "SoniKiller" from Sonic.EXE All-Stars 2/SonicAllStars2.exe, so you can consider this his new official self. To sum him up, he was created out of the universe's negativity (e.g., mere electrons), and as such, can feed on any and all negativity in our world and all others to grow stronger.

He once made an attempt at conquering one universe, though was driven out, so he's now starting from scratch and picking a much easier target; humanity as a whole. By engineering his own domain, using countless outlets and mediums to make it known, and bringing in his own creations whilst mimicking other entities, he has big plans to bring "peace and salvation" (actually mass extinction, eternal torment and the purging of almost all humankind) upon our world.

And when the end of time comes? He'll gladly restart the universe just so he can do it all over again!

Day 17: Faker

Toxinfect does one heck of a job masquerading as Sonic to lure future victims in, though often times, he doesn't really need said form. There are several oddities with it, like the gray in the ears, a red tint on both pupils, and white on the front of the shoes. Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't see him as Sonic. He'll drag you into his world regardless, and your fate is sealed the moment you make contact with any medium of his.

Day 18: Beast Form

Unfortunately, I can't really design a "true" form for him, due to him being pure negativity given life, and his true form would more than likely be too much for any mortal to bear witness to. The closest you get to seeing him manifest in real-life is either his File-0.X mimicry or his human form I'll touch on later, so I made a compromise with the second criteria for this prompt; bringing up Toxinfect's "Negative Failure" form!

Think Mario's Madness's Ultra M, but in the form of a hedgehog. This form is a major mish-mash of different components from other Sonic games, especially those that have gotten the most criticism from people over the years. This form is Toxinfect's second most powerful, and is almost impossible to destroy, but if he shifts into his even more powerful Perfected form, you might as well say your prayers, because victory against him at that point is all but impossible.

Day 19: Toxinfect's Victims

Specifically, these are some of the more notable victims that Toxinfect has claimed in the past, though not all are entirely helpless, nor are all outright innocent, either. From left-to-right:

Akzekuplen: Toxinfect's equivalent of Lord Mortis, a counterpart of Exetior (made by JaizKoys) who lost his winning streak to the Infect and now bides his time helping others, while reflecting on the blood on his hands.

Chinayu: The "Sonic" seen in Toxinfect's version of SONIC 0, who was thrown through countless deaths until they found a way out and escaped his clutches.

Tom Wilson: The titular protagonist of the original creepypasta. His real-world body was destroyed after he actively defied Toxinfect, so he now spends his existence helping others get back home.

Sadie Harolds: Toxinfect's counterpart of Sarah Henderson, who met her end via accidental murder and tormented her former friends until an alteration to a deal changed her orientation drastically.

Luke Arscott: Toxinfect's counterpart of Luther Artwright, still struggling with the idea of heroics after he refused to be complicit in Sadie's death, though still does his best anyway.

Raymond Parkinson: A victim who has cracked under repeated deaths and has lost all sanity, willingly massacring others in a hopeless bid to return home.

Layla: The alternate version of SonicPC's Alan, who overcame the trials and tribulations set out for her by Toxinfect and was one of the few lucky enough to return home in one piece.

Anaiya: Toxinfect's counterpart of Alice D'Imperatore, a former ally of the Cross of Purity (Toxinfect's version of the Cult of X) until Cadencia (the counterpart of Caffrin the Gamer Girl) came along and claimed her for chickening out. In spite of the terror she's endured, her determination and willingness to stop Toxinfect has kept her going time and time again.

Day 20: Laughing

This 20th one is for him laughing. Not much to say about it, really.

Day 21: The Victim's Level

This concept is within a level that's a mix of Egg Gauntlet Zone and Sandopolis Act 2, where the Tails victim for the run (Adam) is carefully treading through, all while Toxinfect lurks in the shadows to keep him on edge and mock him for his efforts to escape.

Day 22: You're Too Slow

Once Adam stepped into the final arena of the zone, it started filling up with oil. Desperate to survive, he started flying upwards, only for Toxinfect (mimicking a mix of JC X and 2011 X here) to show up on the ceiling and rip off his tails, sending him plummeting into the oil below. And if that wasn't enough, he opted to set the oil on fire to burn him alive! What a grisly way to go out, huh?

Day 23: D-Sides

I'd like to introduce you to Toxinfect's official D-Sides counterpart, known as "Toxinfected"!

Compared to the original Toxinfect, Toxinfected was once human, like you and me, in the form of Theo Igorian, though was murdered by three entitled students and found his soul tethered to his incomplete game project. Using it, he decided he'd be bringing justice against all toxicity, and those entitled students were right up at the top of the list. He only targets cruel/irredeemable people, though - kinder people see him as a pseudo-therapist if they've been through particularly rough patches.

Day 24: Mario Mix

You might notice that the sprite pick used for him here is different to that from his official sprite sheet. Well, I felt both that I went for fitted better for this scenario in question.

No matter what type of dimension Toxinfect appears in, he remains a massive terror to all; if Mario was the one who caught the Infect's eye rather than Sonic, this is essentially what you'd get! Then again, considering his domain is very vast, it's likely areas like this already exist.

Day 25: Any Other Mix

For this occasion, I decided to go for Undertale as my personal pick!Toxinfect's vessel is themed around the unused assets for Chara, making him appear more off compared to everyone else, and consistently stalking you controlling Frisk throughout the domain formed after the Underground. But that's not to say survivors don't exist here as well, even from the most unlikely of vessels like Monster Kid!

Day 26: Super Form

This one's themed around his "Gold" appearance via the PCX mimicry, albeit with normal skin and without the inhibitor rings present. This is the closest you'll get to seeing such a form, as it's nothing compared to his Negative Failure and Perfected forms.

Day 27: Werehog

The sprite used is that from the Java version of Sonic Unleashed, and I decided to see what I could do with only the colours presented. I'd say it came out quite well, even if such a form is currently non-canon to Toxinfect.

Day 28: Humanised

Toxinfect does something unique in that he's not solely bound to one particular human form when blending in amongst us - he can adopt any skin tone, any hair colour, and any match of clothing. His hairstyle could even be different to throw off those who think they've caught on. Extra images are present to show what some of these are like, including a look he adopts when around the Cross of Purity.

Day 29: FNF Concept

This one focuses around an FNF concept for Toxinfect, known as "Sonic's True Enlightenment", of which he took inspiration from Mario's Madness and its ending where Boyfriend and Girlfriend bit the dust.

The mod itself is mostly a normal one in the vein of MM, but the "Soulless" difficulty must be avoided at all costs if you do not wish to be imprisoned with him and forced to sing your lungs out for an eternity. Only two have managed to slip past the cracks, while many others still remain stuck in the endless cycles that bind them to a lack of sunshine. Perhaps all of us are too slow to escape the terror of chaos...

Day 30: Personal Favourite Sonicpastas

This one is for my personal favourite Sonic the Hedgehog creepypastas/horrorbrews. From left-to-right, these are:

Shadow.exe by SoulCaptor: A seemingly normal EXE game which hides dark secrets, and the path of a serial killer obsessed with slaughtering the only survivor of a separated family.

The Sonic Bootleg Tape of 1995 by RodrigoJogos: A direct-to-video remake of AoSTH Episode 66, depicting a bootleg episode by Cartoons R Fun that has much more graphic material than any AoSTH episode would ever contain.

Tails Doll: Ever unsettling to look at, and some feared that Sonic R was its gateway through to us. No surprise that many a creepypasta spawned for the voodoo doll.

Friendship: A Sonic 2 Creepypasta by NotSoDevy: An alternate ending to Sonic 2 GG/SMS where Sonic runs through West Side Island without Tails, and ultimately pays the price for discovering what became of his best friend...

A Frozen Trap: One player messed around too much with Sonic Advance and caused a slow but painful and cold death for the Amy Rose within, and when faced with something like this, she proved powerless to do anything about it.

El Pendrive Azul/Blue Pendrive by Sinuois: A Spanish creepypasta predating Sonic.exe, with a malicious program on a blue pendrive capable of being harmful to anyone who suffers from epilepsy.

Sonic 3 Hacked Cartridge: Two friends discover a hacked pair of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles cartridges, depicting strange things, including the presence of a Sally Acorn. The writer discovering it later got the attention of the cartridges' original owner, who always watches... in the walls... under the floors...

Day 31: GAME OVER

And that brings us to this point! All games must come to an end at some point, and this one is no exception. For now, though, it's GAME OVER.

Bonus: Alien Message

(CONTINUATION OF THE SONIC.EXE/SALLY.EXE TAKE MADE FOR THIS EVENT)

[doumadono]

Could I request some SFW headcanons for Viking Shoto and Viking Dabi? Whatever aspects you delve into, I'm all ears! 💜💜💙💙

A/N: I sincerely hope you find enjoyment in this collection of headcanons ♥

KVITRAVN - MHA VIKING AU

Viking Shoto

Shoto is well-versed in ancient runic scripts, using them not only for communication but also to unlock the secrets of his Viking heritage, often deciphering ancient texts and prophecies.

Shoto has a talent for playing a unique Viking instrument known as the harmony harp, using it to create soothing melodies that bring tranquility to the hearts of those around him. With nimble fingers, he skillfully plucks the sweetest notes, ensuring that the captivating melody not only enchants but also leaves all the females utterly captivated by him.

Shoto is a master archer, his accuracy unmatched even in challenging conditions. His arrows are tipped with special materials that make them particularly effective against his foes.

Shoto's torso is adorned with intricate tattoos, featuring a combination of runic symbols and Viking patterns believed to bring good luck.

Shoto's ambitions extend beyond mere conquest. He seeks to reshape the Viking world, envisioning a domain where fear of his name is as chilling as the ice he commands.

Shoto's dedication to his craft is unparalleled. He undergoes rigorous training routines, honing his physical strength and combat skills to perfection through discipline and hard work.

Shoto harbors a deep-seated resentment towards Touya, driven by the fear that Touya might ascend to the throne after Endeavor's demise. In Shoto's perspective, the rightful heir to the throne should be him, considering his status as the youngest and, in his opinion, the most intelligent among the brothers.

Viking Dabi

Dabi's weapons are covered with a secret mix that, when ignited, produces mesmerizing blue flames. This unique touch adds an eerie beauty to his prowess on the battlefield.

Dabi is an exceptional tracker, navigating the dense forests and treacherous terrains with uncanny ease.

Dabi's loyalty to his Viking kin is unwavering. He's known to stand by his comrades in times of adversity, earning the respect and trust of those who fight alongside him.

Dabi, surprisingly, has a talent for blacksmithing. He forges weapons with intricate designs.

In quiet moments, Dabi can be found gazing at the stars, pondering the mysteries of the cosmos. This solitary ritual is his way of finding solace in the vastness of the Viking world.

Dabi possesses an extraordinary affinity for thunderstorms - amid them, his focus sharpens. When the skies resonate with thunderous roars and illuminate with lightning flashes, Dabi's combat abilities surge, transforming him into an unstoppable force.

Dabi's role in battles extends beyond direct confrontation. He excels as a strategic saboteur, targeting supply lines and strategically weakening his enemies before engaging in open combat.

On the battlefield, Dabi sports an intimidating mask crafted from the jawbone of a wolf, covering his lower face from the nose downward.

Touya never envisioned himself as a prospective earl following his father's demise. Ruling was never his inclination; instead, he was always drawn to adventures and battles.

[infernothechaosgod]

THE CHAINED CIRCUS POST!

(If youve been ever intrested in my blog please read this it would mean alot to me!)

I've realized i've been talking about my comic the chained circus for quite some time but barely explained whats it about what characters are in it and overall how it'll look so heres a post explaining what The chained circus or TCC comic is!

Since last year i've been meaning to make a comic using rubberhose public domain characters, before steamboat willie came into the public domain i planned to make a very diffrent plot based comic that was suppoust to be a "fan" work and looking back would probably end up too big for me, but with steamboat willie free now i've decided i'll try to not break any trademarks or copyrights and make an plot-gag oryginal comic

the characters are based on their already known counterparts and there is inspiration taken from comics and shorts that still belong to the walt disney company and dreamworks inc. however the characters arent the same, there are many things changed about them role wise, design wise and characterization wise, at first I aimed to have them be as close to their most popular characterizations but then i realized that I had perspective on some of these characters others do not have and after few nights spent looking at the wall intensly and thinking I decided to do what I find the most fun and intresting despite it posibly not being a take everyone might enjoy or find "accurate" it is a take I put lots of love and hope into

indie works have been a big intrest of mine for years and public domain made me see some real gorgeous stories with lots of work put into them from other other small artist, what I admired the most about them is how the characters often got re-written in ways that would not even be looked at in corporate workspaces, and after slowing things down I looked at my own work from an outsiders perspective and asked myself "why shoudnt I write them diffrently to how they were written before?" and the only answears that I could think of made me feel more like a executive breathing down an artists neck rathen than the artist

while I understand my takes on characters in the story might not be everyones cup of tea I like them and genuinely have fun with them and must ask everyone reading this who do enjoy already existing takes on all of these characters to at least give my works a chance and look at them for a moment even from the corner of your eye

Whats the comic about?

Its about toons that at their lowest [or stupidest] decided to sign a contract with a shady ringmaster simply referred to as "MR" the toons are now stuck working for him as entertainers at his circus...a very porly managed circus, MR is not the brightest and while not truly evil he is quite stupid, that mixed with his greed leads to circus endlessly having to deal with something, be it undoing a badly struck deal, having to preform in shady places, sudden changes in their work schedules none are happy with or the accual devil who knows!

what type of a comic is this?

The chained circus is a gag comic! mostly lighthearted many chapters/stories wont be very plot driven but despite that there still will be ongoing plot in it you might wanna follow!

unlike a typical gag comic things will change overtime, one story wont be forgotten to make another one work and suddently characters wont forget their lessons or morals from before [unless theres an accual reason for it in the story]

And while the comic is mostly a comedy there will be serious moments in it there and there but do not worry! anything that will require a content warning or a trigger warning will be marked at the start of the chapter/in title card [ I write more about that below ]

overall id say that there will be more gag and comedy focused chapters but the lore/story driven chapters will leave a stronger mark after themselfs

The artstyle?

The comic will be in black and white with the only color visible being yellow, i plan on making the artstyle slightly messy i want you to feel like youre looking at something indie, not put through corporstions eye, i plan on the lineart being a bit rought and the texture of both characters fur and clothes will have noise to it, I dont plan on making it visualy busy or overwhelming but you'll mostlikely wont see much still color (or well brightness)

while not ideal and more of concept art here are some examples

Who will be the main characters?

The main characters are

Michael charm (mickey mouse) as the clown

Oswald charm (oswald the lucky rabbit) as the arial dancer

Julius. (Julius the cat) he does all the paperwork

Minerva mice (minnie mouse) as the magician

Francine fanny cottontail (sometimes reffered to as "bunny lou") as the Contortionist

Peg leg pete (accual name "peter fluffpaw") as the strong man

While the recurring Side characters are

MR. - The circuses ringmaster, but definitley not head, the man that menaged to lock others in with a bunch of contracts but cant multiply by 2 (oryginal character)

Alice comedy - julius' right hand woman and best friend! She helps with the paperwork and despite not spending much time with the toons because of their...strong reaction to her, she tries to be kind and helpful to them, what a sweet kid! (alice comedies)

Age rating? content warnings?

The chained circus is very much not made with children in mind but also not adults, id say its rated T (teen, aka 13+) While i don't plan on making every character swear every chapter 40+ times an ocassional cuss word there and there might be dropped, some humor can be based around more adult themes, none of it would be too serious, it is a gag comic afterall but I do plan on putting warnings at the start of the chapter at the title card since i belive all triggers are valid, there will be 3 levels of warnings,

Blue for jokes or brief mentions

Purple for slightly serious implements/showcases

Red for explicit serious showcases

do keep in mind that red rating will be barely used and most likely will be for things like characters being in distress, scary imaginary, heavier arguments and such, things I belive could be heavy or upseting for some but not dreadfull, like I said more plot driven chapters will happen but it is suppoust to be a comedy comic at the end of the day

when and where can I read it?

I plan on writing out a whole chapter then uploading it over the course of 2 weeks publishing few pages at the time [as you decided on a poll i made] the comic will be avaiable here, comic fury and on my neocities website! I'll link all of them here when the first pages of the pilot will be out

as of relase date I hope to start publishing first pages this month but cant yet tell if early on or later on I'll update this post and make other seperate posts about it when I figure it out

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS POST! LIKE I SAID IT MEANS ALOT TO ME AND WORDS CANT EXPRESS HOW MUCH ANY SUPPORT OF YOURS MEANS TO ME! <3<3<3<3<3

Feel free to tag me, ask me anything in my askbox or reblog or comment whatever id love to answear your questions or hear your thoughts ^ ^!

[sculkapologist]

Was suddenly possessed with the desire for a lil set of profiles for everyone in the Corrupted World minecraft AU!! you can probably tell by their names that these guys started life in the Bendy fandom, but then we got really carried away with MINECRAFT LORE...

the Basic Premise of Corrupted World AU is that when a bit of code gets corrupted, or degrades over time, the world replaces that code with something similar -- a corrupted bit of grassland will be overwritten by the code of nearby grassland. This works fine for most things, but there's nothing else like a Player in the world of Minecraft.................... these little bits of encroaching mob data have been mostly benign, until Joey's curiosity stretches the world to its limits, and the world's corruption becomes more aggressive.

Some basic notes on everyone under the cut!

Jack is an old player whose code changed so slowly that he honestly can't remember a time when he wasn't a little sheepy. A peaceful, friendly guy who loves to explore and makes contacts wherever he goes -- moving from village to village, build to build, to bring items he's found in his travels to trade and sell, sounding his own broken goat horn to announce his wares. Thanks to Jack, the world's far-flung players might be able to start to connect again...

(design by Mochi and Shazz, character by Mochi)

Sammy is a grumpy and strangely cautious player who keeps to himself ever since he escaped from an Ancient City..... changed. He was once an adventurous builder with an exacting sense of aesthetics, but now he's just trying to survive quietly with his sheep. Afflicted with painfully sensitive hearing and infected with sculk, he hides in an underground, wool-insulated home out in the hills and lives the most pacifist life he can manage, avoiding any death that could spread the sculk in his body.

(design and character by Shazz (me!))

Henry was always driven to look out for others, and when he died defending a village from attack, the grateful villagers helped to revive him the only way they knew how. He kind of wishes they'd just let him respawn... not realising some glitching armour had scrambled his health too badly to come back normally. In any case, Henry's gotten attached to the village... becoming more protective of the people there... almost unwilling to leave.

(design by Maf and Shazz, character by Maf)

A bit of a loner with a strange sense of humour, Norman often lingered near the ocean and didn't notice the little changes like not needing air when his water-breathing potions should've run out... until the corruption of his code made it sort of impossible for him to return to land. That's alright; he's perfectly happy to hassle the others when they wander into his territory.

(design by Shazz and Boo, character by Thren)

Wickedly clever with a knack for experimentation, Susie was left stranded in the Nether a long time ago and was determined to thrive even in that hellish domain -- and thrive she did. Now she's gotten a bit of reputation even on the Overworld, both for a mastery of potions and magic, and a cruel willingness to take what she wants.

(design by Boo and Thren, character by Thren)

Ever since Joey defeated the Ender Dragon and heard that conversation between two mysterious voices, he hasn't been able to let go of the idea that there is something more beyond this world of blocks and code -- but this charismatic dreamer has been prying at the world's secrets well before that. He convinced Susie to join him as the first to explore the Nether, talked Sammy into delving into an Ancient City with him, and tried to get Henry to join him in his quest for the End, gifting him code-modified armour that was better than anything his old friend could get. For some reason, though, they all lost contact, and Joey found himself alone in the End, where more code experiments in a land where only one mob is really prevalent had... an effect on him....

(design and character by Boo)

Pete isn't a player at all, he's a villager... but one day he found himself outside of his village, suddenly realised how big the world is, and couldn't resist the urge to explore. He's close with Jack, and has joined up with him on some expeditions to aid his own work as a cartographer. Without the ability to respawn, though, it's significantly more dangerous for him, and the two of them MAY have poked into some evoker magic looking for an alternative...

(design and character by Thren and Mochi)

Linda is deeply interested in the world's history, curious what sort of people or ancient players must've once populated the ruins, and she's also an experienced crafter with a penchant for metalworking. While the world of Minecraft has no real concept of monogamous relationships, she's settled with Henry as her one-and-only... which works out now that he's partially made of metal. Linda hadn't experienced any code corruption until data replacement became more aggressive, and it's still subtle for now. But it's handy to be able to touch things that are burning hot without taking damage!

(design by Shazz, character by Thren and Maf)

Fixing Sammy should be easy enough, Joey thought. Some of his data was corrupted by sculk -- if they can find that lost data in the code somewhere, it just needs to be reintegrated with Sammy. Attach it to an eye of ender, replace one of Sammy's eyes with the eye of ender -- simple! A complete Sammy! ...the lost data itself had other ideas. This strange construct that collected around the eye Joey provided is a mix of Sammy's lost data, garbled junk data, and -- he claims -- the remnants of an Ancient Player from the days when end cities were populated, before everything went so wrong and Minecraft's world became so lonely. His speech is glitchy and garbled, struggling to describe a Game and Code and a True Player that he believes must reset a world that has been "running too long." In lieu of a username, this apocalyptic anomaly goes by "the Prophet".

(design and character by Shazz)

[xxpaganheartxx]

And So, You See in the Night Sky, Lies the Stars We Adore

—for Gaia, Our Mother, Our Home Eternal

And so, you see in Nyx’s evening skies, lie the stars we adore,

Though, their Promethean flames may have burnt out aeons before,

Their brilliance lingers in a fireworks show eternally bright,

As Infinite nuclear reactions painting the blessed night.

Each twinkle is a whisper from a time long past,

Ancient suns whose glory could never last.

But still they shine like The Gods with eternal radiant grace,

Scattered like thoughts across infinite time and space.

Each Blessed Nebulae, an explosive grave and a cradle alike,

Births the very planets that we once thought godlike.

Divine bursts of creation and destruction, life and decay,

Dance in silence across the Milky Way.

And yet, this wonder doesn’t only lie above—

It breathes beneath, in the roots and soil, whispering with quiet love.

For underfoot do the Trees speak,

To all plants and fungi in a language truly unique.

They speak through networks buried deep,

Through a mycelial tongue where the dead forever sleep,

They murmur of seasons, of rain, of fire, and flood,

They share ageless wisdom through the mud.

And above each wind blows their breathless demands,

It's here in the Forest’s hush, all flora understand.

The moss listens close, the fern gently leans,

To share in the dreamings of the doves that preen.

Meanwhile in the water swim the brave Salmon, creatures of the vast sea's domain,

Their bodies designed; a purpose ingrained.

One day they hear the call of Mother's Melodious voice,

To the echoes of their birthplace, they chase a Siren’s song, and alongside their ancestors they shall rejoice.

Against the current, they bravely strive,

From salt to snowmelt, their gills burning, they fiercely dive.

Driven by this force, a powerful yearning, burning bright and bold,

Transcending their limits, like us, their story is yet to be told.

Unrecognizable to their former state,

Defying boundaries, life and death they negate.

Their existence alone is a symphony, unseen and grand,

As they unravel the Moirai's thread with a fearless hand.

And in the blessed Chaos some call Fate,

There lies no cruel design, no scheme of hate.

Just patterns woven by unseen hands,

In the forests, in the rivers, across the skies and lands,

Amidst the many tragedies one may perceive,

There lies a symphony of infinite spheres, a tapestry left for the universe to weave.

If there's no grand design or inherent rule to command,

One can at least see the undeniable beauty of the infinite, perhaps by foolishness left unmanned.

So marvel at this world while you can, in her beauties both vast and small—

Marvel at Mother Gaia, eternal, our cradle and the great blue marble.

And next time you hear a bird's song, stop and listen to it for me,

As she sings for Mother Gaia, of what was, what is, and what will forever be.

[youryurigoddess]

A. Z. Fell & Co. bookshop and its statues, part 2

Welcome to the second part of my insane deep dive into Aziraphale’s world of slightly outdated decor, golden-colored trinkets, and their ostentatiously Greek (especially for a representative of an originally Judeo-Christian mythology) symbolism. As a short recap, the last installment covered six pieces in the northern and central sections of the bookshop plus a plot-important medal previously displayed on one of them, but currently left with the other bibelots on the bookseller’s desk. We’ll start right there, where we previously left off.

While a lot of the bookshop action plays out in the circle between the formerly discussed statues, its office part is especially close to Aziraphale himself. As the titular Guardian of the Eastern Gate, the angel consciously spends most of his time in this small space in the Eastern part of the bookshop, confined to his desk or reading stand. This means that the decorations of this area have more personal significance and are most probably used as daily reminders for him to keep his thoughts and priorities on track as much as provide pleasant distraction from the weary eyes.

The two windowsill figures of the Art Deco dancers from S1 were replaced by a somewhat similar set of twin statues by Ernest Rancoulet called Retour des Bois (Return from the Woods). Depicting a young woman accompanied by a putto, Aphrodite and Eros, frolicking in a dance through the woods and meadows. This bucolic fantasy with Aphrodite makes some sense when we consider how Aziraphale’s personal love story started (and will presumably end) in a garden, but let’s deep deeper into its protagonists. Or protagonist, actually, because what else can be told about Love itself?

Eros as the god of Desire is usually presented in art as a handsome young man, though in some appearances he is a boy full of mischief, ever in the company of his mother. It is usually under the guidance of Aphrodite when he employs his signature bow and arrows to make mortals and immortals alike to fall in love. His role in myths is mostly complementary, as a catalyst for other mythological figures and their stories, with the notable exception being the myth of Eros and Psyche, the story of how he met and fell in love with his wife.

In short, they are the original star-crossed lovers from entirely separate worlds who meet and fall in love by divine happenstance, only to be separated by Psyche’s family. Convinced by her sisters that her husband is, in fact, a vile winged serpent, Psyche breaks his one rule and the attempt to kill the monster leads her to falling in passionate love with him. Eros flees and Psyche wanders the Earth searching for him and succumbing to a series of impossible tasks reminding of those from the Scarborough Fair ballad or the more modern fairytale about Cinderella. She ultimately fails, but is saved by the healed Eros, granted immortality and the status of his equal, after which they can properly marry with a huge wedding banquet, a real feast of the gods.

In the Christian Middle Ages, the union of Eros and Psyche started to symbolize the temptation and fall of the human soul, driven by the sexual curiosity and lust from the Love’s domain, mirroring the original sin and the expulsion from Eden.

Oh, and their Latin names? Cupid and Anima. C+A.

We’ll get back to them in a minute.

According to unnecessary but extensive research, the two mid-century table lamps standing over the desk were most probably produced in France after another unspecified 19th century sculptor like the example above, although this particular putti design can be also found in the so called Hollywood regency style of the same time period. The putto is holding onto a cornucopia, a classical antiquity symbol of plenty, which then continues to the bulb section.

The cornucopia is an easily recognizable symbol of abundance, fertility and, to lesser extant, peace and good fortune. Since the horn is phallic-shaped, but hollow at the same time, it combines intimate imagery of both male and female character at the same time, which further ties into notions of fertility. In its role as a fertility symbol, the cornucopia is also usually associated with Demeter, whose small statue is also standing on the bookshop’s counter. Which seems like a recurring theme.

I saw multiple theories about Aziraphale’s centerpiece, but somehow the truth proved to be much less significant than previously thought. This roman soldier, possibly a centurion, driving his two horses in a highly decorated chariot is made from a marble powder resin composite and takes the most visible place in the Eastern part of the bookshop even though it’s seemingly one of the newest additions to Aziraphale’s collection — its author, Lorenzo Toni, was born in 1938 and became a sculpture master by the 1970s. 

At first glance, the parallel to the Marly Horses seems obvious and we could leave it basically at what was written recently on Crowley and Aziraphale’s dynamics. But here is where instead of commenting on the antique sculpture that seems to be the inspiration behind this piece or the many intricacies of Roman chariot racing I’ll do something completely unhinged — i.e., play my Greek philosophy card.

In the dialogue "Phaedrus ”, Plato presents the allegory of the chariot to explain the tripartite nature of the human soul or — you guessed it — psyche. The charioteer is the man’s Reason, the rational part that loves truth and knowledge, which should rule over the other parts of the soul through the use of logic. One of the horses, the white one, is man’s Spirit, a motivated part which seeks glory, honor, recognition and victory. The second horse, the black one, represents man’s Appetite — an ever so hungry part which desires food, drink, material wealth and physical intimacy.

And the fun part? This triad is established to analyze the madness of love. In a classical Greek context, that is not between a man and a woman, but erastes and eromenos:

The charioteer is filled with warmth and desire as he gazes into the eyes of the one he loves. The good horse is controlled by its sense of shame, but the bad horse, overcome with desire, does everything it can to go up to the boy and suggest to it the pleasures of sex. The bad horse eventually wears out its charioteer and partner, and drags them towards the boy; yet when the charioteer looks into the boy's face, his memory is carried back to the sight of the forms of beauty and self-control he had with the gods, and pulls back violently on the reins. As this occurs over and over, the bad horse eventually becomes obedient and finally dies of fright when seeing the boy's face, allowing the lover's soul to follow the boy in reverence and awe. The lover now pursues the boy. As he gets closer to his quarry, and the love is reciprocated, the opportunity for sexual contact again presents itself. If the lover and beloved surpass this desire they have won the "true Olympic Contests"; it is the perfect combination of human self-control and divine madness, and after death, their souls return to heaven.

And such a perfect combination of the motifs already introduced to us by the two Eros statues and the Head of the Victorious Athlete.

Aziraphale might be a titular Companion to Owls (or, to be precise, the companion to one particular Nite Owl), but he had also made sure to have at least one owl keeping him company. And of course, the owl of Athena (who was interestingly both a bird and a snake goddess) is an absolutely conclusion here as the universal symbol of wisdom and knowledge in the Western culture, but it can’t be that easy, right?

In the Bible, you'll find that owls often symbolize something unclean and forbidden, as well as desolation, loneliness, and destruction. This symbolic significance is pointed out in Leviticus 11:16-17 and Deuteronomy 14:11-17 where owls are mentioned among the birds not to be eaten. Owls were considered unclean most likely because they are predatory creatures who eat raw flesh with the blood still in it, and that was an even bigger food safety concern for the biblical nomads than to us today.

Owls are also among the wild predators that have long dwelled in the desert lands and abandoned ruins of Egypt and the Holy Land. Both Isaiah and Zephaniah speak of owls nesting in ruined wastelands to paint symbolic images of barrenness, emptiness, and utter desolation. In Psalm 102:3–6, the owl symbolizes the loneliness of the psalmist’s tortured heart:

For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. In my distress I groan aloud and am reduced to skin and bones. I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof. All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse. For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside. My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass. But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.

It’s a devastating, but still beautiful piece that deals with the feeling of utter rejection, the ultimate bad breakup of the relationship between a human and their God. And this… simply didn’t happen between God and Aziraphale, not even during his Job job. The angel had always considered Her love and ineffability as a given, even when the whole Heavenly Host was against him during the Non-Apocalypse. His allegiance stayed with God, not necessarily Her angels. Which brings us yet again to the motion of Crowley as the owl.

The angel and the demon are the companions to each other's loneliness, but Aziraphale’s needs seem significantly bigger than their Arrangement that he even considered a wooden substitute protectively hovering over him 24/7. He seems to be the one who is the loneliest and most rejected.

Oh, and if you think that putting a small bronze statue of a putto with a bronze putto-shaped candleholder right behind it (visible on the filing cabinet in the bottom right corner) is already a stretch, let me show you what’s on the other side of that wall.

Just like before the bookshop fire, the famous sink in the small backroom is adorned with a perfectly kitschy white plaster sculpture of The Two Cherubs, a small part of a larger painting by Raphael (the painter, not the Archangel) titled Sistine Madonna. In the painting the Madonna, holding Christ Child and flanked by Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara, stands on clouds before dozens of obscured putti, while two distinctive winged putti rest on their elbows beneath her. with bombastic side eyes and clearly unspoken, but very controversial thoughts about the whole scene and their role in it.

With an attitude like that, there’s no wonder that the putti have inspired some legends. According to one, the original cherubs were children of one of his models they would come in to watch. Struck by their posture, he added them to the painting exactly as he saw them. Another story says that Raphael was inspired by two street urchins looking wistfully into the window of a baker's shop.

The Germans implicitly tied this painting into a legend of their own, "Raphael's Dream." Arising in the last decades of the 18th century, the legend — which made its way into a number of stories and even a play — presents Raphael as receiving a heavenly vision that enabled him to present his divine Madonna. It is claimed the painting has stirred many viewers, and that at the sight of the canvas some were transfixed to a state of religious ecstasy akin to Stendhal Syndrome (including one of Freud's patients).

Their big, seemingly cherubic companion doesn’t seem to have a specific provenance, but what’s left of his limbs might suggest that it could be an infant Jesus as well as another putto. But honestly who knows at this point.

On the other side of the same room, right at the door leading to the big backroom, there are two lamps with Auguste Moreau’s Young Lovers, a bronze sculpture depicting a courting couple on the verge of a physical embrace, holding garlands of roses and hiding under some old vines. Which aligns perfectly with the beloved romcom trope of a rain shelter leading to sudden love realizations, as well as Crowley choosing this part of the bookshop to have a word with his angel in private and then offering his advice on anything related to human love. No wonder that the angel looked at him like that.

This statue carries with it more than one allegorical interpretation, intentional or not. Arguably the most obvious one is the myth of Eros and Psyche, one we already covered in this post. But similarly to his earlier sculpture, Eros also serves here as an allegory for nature and the return to the natural state itself. Like Adam in Eden, he's unclothed and symbolically crowned as a ruler of his domain. Psyche, enamored with his confidence, is about to take her own leap of faith as her fabric restraints fall away. One could say that she's tempted to follow him into nature, deep into the garden of love.

And with that exact thought I will leave you today, dear reader. Through this analysis we learnt many things, among them two significant facts about Aziraphale: firstly, he’s an utter and incorrigible romantic, and secondly, a hoarder. Forget Crowley’s souvenirs — the amount of this angel’s statues is something else. And it isn’t even his hyperfixation!