#also I have no idea how these are gonna look on mobile but I'm almost always on pc so. that's none of my business

[spiritsong]

aune's darting around camp taking pictures of everyone with her brand new ye olde camera and being a general bother. someone stop her (I got freecam)

[hattiestgal]

If you don't mind my asking, how do you go about drawing fat? :3

JUST THE EXCUSE I WAS LOOKING FOR

So, for me personally, a lot of the time when I draw fat characters, I'm not looking to specifically capture the specifics of fat as much as the feel of fat. Bulkier, rounder shapes in the right places that has a feeling of weight to em! A lot of that is intuition and simplification at this point, but it all works on the same frame as just any ol' person. Like take this-

For example. This is the basis for any body shape, not just the more average one that it may imply. Sure- it can be that average body shape:

But also a fat one too!

And a big part of that is knowing where fat usually tends to bunch up on the body, so lets take a look piece by piece! (Please keep in mind this is very simplified, and not completely precise in some parts)

THE FACE: Cheeks (in purple) and especially the chin (in light blue) are the places where a lot of the fat is gonna wanna gather and round out on your face! Additionally, theres a small pocket of fat beneath the cranium on the backside of your head. It's small, but it is there. I believe fat can build up elsewhere like the bridge of your nose and forehead, but generally speaking, you're gonna have a whole lot more buildup in other places first.

THE TORSO: A lot of the fat built up on the torso is gonna be sent to your tummy. More cushioning for vital organs, mostly out of the way, it just makes sense. Additionally, the lower backs fat builds up and joins with a patch of fat on your sides that forms what is typically referred to as the love handles to make that double belly look. Along with this, the immediate next target for the torso is the breasts, followed by the upper back!

THE ARMS: For this limb, a VERY notable amount of the fat present builds up on the tricep and bicep areas, lessening once you get towards the flexor and extensor areas. You can almost think of the arm as a sort of triangular shape, wide side starting from the shoulder and tapering towards the hand, which itself mostly builds up fat around the back of the hand and the fingers. The shoulders themselves don't build up too much fat unless you got a lot

THE LEGS: And finally, you can think of the legs having pretty similar curves to what you're probably already used to thinking. The front of the thighs getting a big buildup, along with the back of the calves, the other parts being flatter in turn. As far as the feet go- similarly to the hands, the top of the feet, along with the heels get most of the buildup, as fat on your soles would impede mobility. The glute, hip and crotch area will also especially build up fat, lending to the same triangular shape that you can see in the arm!

A big thing to note with fat is that it tends to taper off towards joints. Your knees, elbows, shoulders, hips, and all the other places are gonna have significantly less fat so that you remain mobile and flexible, as that's important!

Now that we have an idea of where fat builds up on the body, you might have something that looks kinda like this

Which yes, does demonstrate a solid understanding of the places fat builds up, lacks the weight you're probably trying to convey, which brings us to out next point! Fat is well... heavy! Gravity is what gives fat much of it's shape, especially as you tread towards larger and larger bodies.

This is demonstrated really well on the arms especially-

Those big ol' bits of fat'll really start to sag when left hanging, and they will squish like hell if they run into something. I like to think of these bits of fat as big ol' ovals that squash and stretch depending on if there's an obstacle in their way or not

These are the important shapes to remember when it comes to the weightiness of fat! If you take all of this into mind, you should be getting something a lot closer to that shape you've been after!

Oh, and always remember that fat bodies come in all variety of shapes and sizes! Play around with a whole lot, and seek out all the resources you can! it'll really lend to your knowledge when it comes to this kinda stuff!

And as I always recommend when it comes to learning art- look at what your favorite artists do with fat bodies. See what you really like about the fat bodies they draw and try to replicate it in your own work, I promise you it's one of the most helpful things ever.

This is like the most basic of basics when it comes to drawing fat bodies though. If there's any additional thing about fat bodies, or maybe you want clarification on something, don't be afraid to ask! If there's enough to cover, I'll make an addition to this post!

[pompadorbz]

FINALLY FINISHED MY QPHIL 3.0 DESIGN HOORAY (cant wait to. redesign it again in like 3 months.) (CHECK UNDER THE CUT FOR MY SILLY DESIGN NOTES!!)

I think I said this before but i so. SO BADLY wanted him to have a sleep theme since I always loved how his presence on the island was kinda up in the air. Is it a dream? Is it not? When he goes between the island and hardcore is that change really happening? Who knows.

The idea of making his usual outfit more like a housecoat was super appealing to me, so I opted for this open housecoat look with really heavy frills which were super fun to figure out, and I knew from pretty early on that I wanted to give him a quilt pattern SOMEWHERE on his design, so I thought the inside of the coat would do nicely for a sorta "default state". It also meant I could attribute meaning to the symbols and colours I used. wink nudge.

He has a more subtle angel theme, like with the mobile on his walking stick being a halo with the wing placement further emphasizing this, as well as just his generally lighter colour scheme. When I say sleep was his theme I almost more-so imagine it as like. The feeling of waking up in the morning where you're mostly refreshed but still a LITTLE drowsy. Lots of very spring-y, morning colours.

Just some other quick notes, I always really liked the mod in the server where you could have the crows perch on your shoulder and follow cuz of the lantern, so I thought it'd be fun if I made it so brian just straight up WAS the lantern. So I made him look like one of those wall outlet nightlights!! The backpack being kinda cat shaped was COMPLETELY unintentional but a very welcome result. Missa backpack is real.

As for the alternate outfits, I have a bolas one, as well as an ender king one since I deemed those two the most important. For the ender king I weirdly don't have many notes, like it's fairly straightforward (Save for the elephant in the room but now I'm gonna keep my secrets on why that's a thing). The Quilt design is supposed to be a lighter, easier-on-the-eyes version of the no texture pattern, and I imagine that all the goop and gunk on Phil is hidden under the coat. I imagine it'd look fairly similar to canon so just like. imagine it for now. Might draw it one day. MAYBE. There's some tiny additional colour symbolism but I'll hold my tongue on that and let you guys draw your own conclusions there. I WILL say, however, that instead of his theme being sleep, his theme is "nightmare" (and also kinda sleepwalking since both fit).

The Bolas design was SUPER fun to work with. For starters I wanted the three designs to be in three different states. One with the coat, one with the coat reversed, and one without the coat entirely. Since I wanted to do the checker pattern thing with the possession design, having the sleeveless bolas design worked really well for the shape I landed on, even if it wasn't conventional. and SPEAKING of non-conventional design choices, I decided to go against the usual plague doctor + gas mask fusion design. Which might be controversial... But god. The moment I thought of his mask being a falconry hood, the idea just wouldn't leave my mind. Because of this, the full mask is kinda separated into two parts. The eye mask which kinda also mirrors his usual sleep mask, and the gas mask itself (I kept it in a beak shape since it'd feel odd if i made it any other shape for phil, lol). When designing the whole thing I kept thinking about more apocalypse setting clothing. Like mad max. Or the one gag from that one spongebob movie. Lots of leather. And of course, to match the other sleep themes, the Bolas outfit's theme is "fever dream", although its a bit more subtle. It's easily the weirdest design, The pops of green were simultaneously in reference to the friendship emerald... As well as... Well, the green chain right below the chain on the sickness themed design was probably the most tasteful way I could've chosen to get across vomit without it being too on the nose. (also sidenote, I had a few friends compare bolas phil to... a fly. Which wasn't intentional but it's kinda funny that the guy designed after fever dreams looks a little bit like a bug.) Ok thats it for design commentary I'm gonna go to bedge nyow.

[yellowroseswrites]

Hey, could I get Matt murdock with #8 and #20 off of your most recent prompt list? Maybe with a reader who has self harm problems? Thank you so much!

Here you are lovely, sorry for the insanely long wait :)

TW- Self harm mentions, I tried staying as gn as possible but I'll have to re-edit to be sure, reader hurt their arm but nothing else is specific I don't think, a little ooc matt, Written on mobile :(

817 words, enjoy!

“Are you alright?”

A simple question really. Not one that should scare you as much as it does, but it’s coming from Matt.

Your all-knowing, no-nonsense super boyfriend. The one who can tell you more about yourself than you’ll ever know and the one who sees you best without ever really seeing you.

He just returned from his “night job” as you called it. He kept bad guys off the streets while you were left at home to fight your own demons.

The answer to his question is no, but he didn’t deserve to hear that. You should be asking him if he’s alright, not the other way around. So you did what you do best, you hid and you lied.

“Of course, ‘m just tired. How was your night?” A simple lie, but a lie nonetheless. You didn’t like lying to your sweet, loving boyfriend, but you also didn’t like the idea of telling him about your most recent relapse either. 

He hummed slightly as he managed to change into his sleeping clothes, a nice baggy shirt and sweatpants that highlighted everything they should. He tossed one of his shirts over to you, with far too much aim and accuracy for a blind man, “Here, it’ll be more comfortable, it’s supposed to get warm in the morning.”

Okay, this is great, this is fine, it’ll be fine. He won’t notice. You slowly took off the sweatshirt you were wearing, paying careful attention to your fresh bandages. 

You don’t know why you relapsed, and you aren't even quite sure why you started harming yourself in the first place, but it’s been something that you have fallen back on time and time again. You had told Matt about your issues with it, and he was nothing but kind and understanding. You ended that conversation with a promise to stay clean, you promised you would talk to him before doing anything, and you promised you wouldn’t lie about it if you ever did it again.

So, you’ve broken three promises tonight, and you would really like it if your super-senses boyfriend wouldn’t sense the guilt that is practically flowing out of your being. 

You finally manage to get the sweatshirt off of you as quietly as you can. You pull the t-shirt on over your head and Matt almost immediately turns your way.

“Do you have a bandage on?” 

Your heart nearly stops. You try your best to even out your breathing, you don’t want Matt to notice that you’re stressed. You take a breath before answering, “What? No, why?”

He walks a little closer to you, while still keeping his distance. He’s only hesitant when you’re panicking. He knows, he knows, he knows. “I heard it. I heard the fabric and the bandage, I-. Please tell me you didn't hurt yourself again."

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You stayed silent.

“Im sorry, i shouldnt word it like that. You can tell me if you did.”

“No, no I can’t, you’re gonna be mad at me, you're gonna leave me, i-.” You couldn't breathe. You were looking at the ground, your hands scratching at your sides. You weren't sure when Matt made his way to you, but soon enough you felt his arms wrap around you. You smelled his body wash and gripped his shirt to ground yourself. You caught your breath before removing yourself from him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, I'm not mad. Just go take a seat on the bed okay?"

You did as he said, sitting on the edge of the large bed. You watched as he made his way to the bathroom. You heard some scrambling and a few sighs, but you let him be. It took about 5 minutes before he walked out again. When he reappeared he was holding a trash bag in one hand and a first aid kit in the other.

"What are you doing?" You asked quietly.

He placed the trash bag by the door, "Taking care of you."

"Why?"

He sat next to you and opened the kit, "Because you clearly can't do it yourself." He grabbed your bandaged arm, making sure to stay as gentle as possible. "I'm going to redo your bandages okay? If you don't change them out you're gonna get infected."

You simply nodded and let him do as he wished. Your gaze stayed strictly on the ground. You didn't want to see his face as he ran his fingers along your wounds, even though you could hear the change in his breathing. You hated this, you hated feeling so exposed to him, but he somehow managed to make you feel safe.

He finished rewrapping your wounds before letting you lay back against the pillows. He put up the first aid kit and crawled into bed with you, pulling you as close to him as possible. 

"Goodnight Angel."

[midnightkolrath]

Looking over 'Fire Inside' abit more deeply

Well, with my first impressions I put out when the full lyrics weren't out yet and I was playing it by ear....

Well NOW the lyrics are out there, so you know what that means. Time for me to look them over and see what each part may mean...in my own thoughts, of course.

Putting under a Read More because it gonna be a kinda long one. I thank anyone who takes the time to humor me in reading my thought dumps;;

Video note: Visuals show Dante during this first part, so its likely meant to be taken in his perspective...buuut I'll take time to see it in the eyes of both twins, whenever possible. It later swaps to Vergil visually for a section of lyrics too, buuut I'll probably condense both twins there too. I'll color code each one based on how the video had either Dante, Vergil or Both in visuals.

I'm also obviously gonna go over each lyric once, since songs are songs and repeat their chrous, ect. I probably won't note down EVERY bit of lyric, but pretty much ones that I have thoughts on.

I know its been stated that the song is pretty much about Dante and Vergil, buuut some other thoughts/ideas sneak in too.

Also another note: I know this song was made for the mobile game, Peak of Combat, but the fact that it takes place around the DMC3 era with some...[cough] liberties, I'm gonna focus alot on that.

-

Darkened Dynasty Endless Rivalry Meeting Violently You can't change me

[Darkened Dynasty] may be referring to Dante's general thoughts about his father during this point of time, as the setting is based around DMC3. Dante has distaste towards his father at this point in time, even telling Vergil that he "has no father" during their first encounter. He really has sour feelings against his father's side, so he may feel that its on the darkened end for him.

On Vergil's end, it may be him feeling that his lack of power that he feels he has is affecting him in a sense that he feels he can't live up to his father's legacy while also having feelings of failure in protecting his mother. Hell, his whole quest to gain power is majorly in part due to the trauma he suffered following his mother's death and the fact that he had to force himself to grow up almost immediately after his family was attacked by demons. He was 7-8 years old then and had alot of time roaming alone to stir and think about it. The conclusion of him personally thinking he was a failure in several cases to his family while thinking he should take up his father's power because he feels himself best to utilise it....alot of layers there. I could go on more here but we'd be here for ages, lmao

[Endless Rivalry] is obviously referring to the rivalry between the twins. When you think about it, Sibling Rivalry is pretty endless…regardless if its on a lighter end or not. Its always gonna be there, in one shape or form. Of course, by this point during DMC3, the rivalry of Dante and Vergil is at their peak on the goal of just wanting to best the other in pure combat. In the first fight, there's really only aggression with the goal of putting the other down. Of course, it eventually simmers down into a more casual rivalry with a light competitive edge by the end of DMC5, buuut you know.

[Meeting Violently] is pretty much how Dante and Vergil pretty much always meet when crossing paths....the DMC1 prequel novel (well, before Gilver was retconned as a clone made by Mundus), the DMC3 manga and game, DMC1 with Vergil as Nelo Angelo, and DMC5 after Vergil reunites himself. Though the tone is different per each situation, its like they're destined to always meet again this way...though after DMC5, that'll likely change with their relationship slowly turning around.

-

First its Ebony Then its Ivory Making Revelry You can't save me

The [ebony and ivory] lines are very much obviously Dante's perspective, with how he always pulls them out for a fight...buuut seeing as how the twins often clash, I would see this from Vergil's perspective on what he may see while they fight.

[Making Revelry] is a fun one, because revelries tend to refer to parties....which Dante and Vergil quip about during their first fight in 3. Dante jokes about how much the "party" Vergil set up for them sucks, while Vergil responds with how he was "so excited to see him that he couldn't concentrate on preparations for the bash". So this line can be referring to their clash as a "party" they're making together through combat.

[You can't save me]...oh boy. I wouldponder this one for Dante's case, but here I can't help but think about the end of 3 and how Dante was able to save his brother from falling into the demon world. I do wonder if Dante thought, in his perspective that he knew he couldn't save Vergil but he still had to try. In Vergil's case...I think he felt the same. He threw away the sheath to Yamato upon preparing to fight Mundus after all...which usually means that either it wasn't going to be a fight he was going to back down from....or he knew it was a slim chance of victory. He tosses aside Yamato's sheath in DMC5 as well, before splitting himself into V and Urizen....which makes me believe in both cases it was moreso that he knew he likely wasn't going to survive as his full self again...or he wasn't backing down his decision.

-

Can't stop and I will never hit the breaks All nine levels and no matter what it takes All these places and their shadow figured shapes Bouta make their last mistakes There are no more escapes

Now this whole part screams Dante for me, honestly...which I mean, makes sense.

[Can't stop and I will never hit the breaks] is like Dante hyping up to do what he does best in demon slaying. He's usually a loose cannon, especially at this age, so it makes sense.

[All nine levels] is a cheeky one, because its very likely referring to the 9 circles of hell in Dante's Inferno. Which...you know. Is where Dante got his namesake alongside the Divine Comedy. (Well its moreso the poet himself, who uuuh practically wrote self insert fanfics but ya know-).

The rest of the lyrics is pretty much Dante raving about getting to kick demon ass as per usual. Like hell yeah, slay those demons. I could see this as a like on Vergil's end too, with how he's usually ruthless against demons that get in his way.

-

Branches Entwine Through the dark so we can find Ourselves in time

Before we lose our mind

These bunch of lyrics have me thinking on how this may refer to Dante and Vergil's paths always being intertwined with each other as the sons of sparda. DMC3 has a moment of Dante even pointing out that they're the halves of the same whole, with carrying the soul of their father's legacy. So...its like destiny. Even if its not a direct involvement too...Nero came from Vergil, so Vergil's shadow is felt in nearly every game one way or another. (2 is practically the only exclusion but....2 is 2 soo...).

I also wonder if it could also be referring to how the twins may be looking to find 'themselves' in time before their next conflict....before its too late. Dante goes through an arc in 3 to find a reason for himself to ultimately keep going and attempt to stop his brother....and it keeps going from place to place from there. Vergil mainly has his big arc in 5 and pretty much the VoV manga, since V is a part of himself. It took Vergil longer, but with Bury the light, he did manage to eventually find himself again. DMC5 could've ended up in the 'too late' puddle had Nero not intercepted the two, but thankfully that wasn't the case and the two brothers are reunited on a lighter field where they easily could've killed each other.

-

All lain aside It's written in our blood Two souls divide

[Its written in our blood, Two souls divide]. Now this not only has me thinking about the whole two souls line near the climax of the game, but also the fact that the tower needs the twins' blood to open the gate to the demon world. (Also Lady's, but you know, parts of a whole puzzle).

-

Our roots beneath the flood We've lost control Angels with bells do toll No we can't hide The fire inside

[Angels with bells do toll] has me thinking about the tower in 3 and how it has bells which, iirc, represent the seven deadly sins. I think they're also meant to be like angels screaming/singing when rang which uh...I guess its not so much a fun fact, but its what I think of here. Still having that DMC3 ties here, lmaooo

[No we can't hide, The fire inside] is the main chrous and where the name of the song comes from and it pretty much sums Dante and Vergil's rivalry relationship. There's always gonna be that inner fire inside each of them that sparks that very rivalry.

-

Another casualty Done waiting patiently Call me your majesty Don't take too long

[Another casualty, Done waiting patiently] is like...for me, its either referring to the fact that...you know. Many people likely died when the tower was risen up in 3 and how Vergil was pretty much done and set towards his path at that point. OR the many demons Vergil had slain while getting where he needed to go in the tower while waiting on Arkham to let him know that Dante still had and was taking care of his half of the amulet.

[Call me your majesty] has me pondering if its a foreshadow towards Vergil splitting into Urizen, who takes the mantle of Demon King. With V fusing back with him to bring about Vergil's rebirth...he's still technically a Demon King, right? He ate the fruit to carry that title, so...well. I mean. Its not like the demons in the demon realm would accept a son of sparda holding the title, until he'd put them in their place over it. Man, now I'm curious about that. Maybe one day we'll see that in play...maybe not. Its a silly side thought.

[Don't take too long] has me wondering if this is Vergil waiting at the top of the tower in 3 for Dante to come along so they can have their clash...or Vergil's inner thoughts on telling himself not to take too long in gaining the power he wants.

-

It's my reality Under the canopy Of moonlit tragedy I don't belong

[It's my reality, Under the canopy, Of moonlit tragedy] are lyrics I wanted to cover all in a row here. I think they may be referring to how Vergil sees his own reality under the cover of not just conflict with his brother at the top of the tower in the path of gaining power...atleast that's how I see the moonlit tragedy connecting, obviously...but also...the attack against his family back when he was a child took place at night. (Atleast that's what I take from the context of the depiction from VoV), so...moonlit tragedy could also refer to that. Probably thinking abit too hard there, but I can see it appliable there too.

[I don't belong] has me thinking abit on how this may be referring to how Vergil thinks he doesn't belong among humanity (he looks down on them after all early on), OR how he personally feels he doesn't belong with his brother. He did put out an offer to Dante in the DMC3 manga to join him in his personal quest, but Dante obviously turned it down. The lyric kinda reminded me of that. They're all the family they have left for each other, but their souls and goals are so at odds that it just wasn't meant to be....until DMC5 that is. Now they're together through thick and thin.

-

Can't stop and I will never veil my name Buried lights and I've hidden all my shame Will keep fighting till there's nothing left to claim Watch my blade is taking aim And you're gonna end in flame

[Can't stop and I will never veil my name] has me thinking about the lyric from Bury the Light. 'I am the reclaimer of my name'...I'm curious if its a cheeky reference, and I wouldn't doubt it. The lyric has me think that this is Vergil stating that he won't stop on his path to power and never lose sight of his goals...but alas, with how DMC3 ends, he not only ends up losing that for himself but he literally does lose his name. Mundus reshapes him into Nelo Angelo rather than 'Vergil'. So with Bury the Light, and how there's a lyric about how he reclaims his own name, I've kinda always seen that as him reclaiming who he is...especially after his rebirth.

[Buried lights and I've hidden all my shame] is another cheeky Bury the light reference I'm sure. I wanna do a deeper dive on the lyrics of that song down the line, especially with how Casey himself has put down the general meaning and storytelling of it. But here I see that Vergil's trying to bury parts about himself...namely the trauma he's had to endure in his childhood. The "shame" he sees himself having, all to do with that one tragic moment. What matters to him is power and never having to feel so weak and helpless again....as much as he even shoves the real reason for wanting power in the first place. Its why V laments about it in the VoV manga, I feel. Vergil is never one to really show any hint of vulnerability for himself...with us only being able to even see it through V.

[Will keep fighting till there's nothing left to claim] is a lyric I think just generally just fits Vergil. He wants power and won't let anyone stand in his way for his pursuit of it. Urizen is like a VERY clear showcase of that. I'm also thinking about DMC3's ending with him trying to take on Mundus and being so determined to even try. Plus his final fight with Dante and wanting to claim force edge.

-

Inside of me Don't push beneath Now I must prey Don't drift away

These lyrics, I'm like...I'm thinking about Devil Trigger (Which is more Nero's theme, but I'm mentioning anyway due to the lyrics I'm thinking of) and Subhuman....and how there's parts that refer to struggling to control the inner demons inside. I always thought about how Dante, Vergil and Nero have their DT forms and how that side of them is probably hard to control at times. Vergil, I feel, eventually controls it more sooner (Which makes sense since he picked up on getting DT first over Dante).

-

I'm not possessed I just can't rest All trees decay Endless dismay

[All trees decay, Endless dismay] has me wondering like...whoa is this referring to the 'family tree' and how the Sparda family is pretty much just....broken in many respects. Tragically. Part of my mind brings me to the tree in DMC5 but I have a high chance on it not referring to that. :' P

Dante also ends up losing Vergil at the end of 3, which contributes to the whole 'family tree being symbolizing as decaying' because...wow, Dante lost the other other family member he had left. And it affects him ALOT afterwards.

-

I've said before that there's a reason why I like this song and its grown on me and I think I've showcased why abit, hah. Its good when you dig deeper into it, just like Devil Trigger and Bury the Light.

[dr-docktor]

Local Docktor thinks its a fantastic idea to crossover his two biggest interests at the moment.

First for some context (don't worry, I'll keep it brief). One of my best friends has been working on a table-top RPG since like high school called Percentile. And its the main game that the group plays for our campaigns. Thus, it never leaves my head.

You know what else doesn't leave my head? Spies are Forever.

So here I am. Planning out what theoretical character sheets would look like for Owen and Curt. I'm so normal. I swear. Below the cut includes my insane ramblings on this topic.

I will also be playing a little fast and loose with some of the rules here because making character sheets in this game, while fun, is LENGTHY. And I'm insane but I'm not THAT insane

Ok so I want to start with Owen because I'm making him a mage and I LOVE building mages.

For the sake of simplicity I'm gonna keep 'em both human. (boring I know. but the list of ancestries is so long it almost overwhelms me for this)

To quickly explain the percentages: That is basically your rate of success on any given skill/action. So the higher the number, the more likely they are to succeed!

Owen's Stats

Power represents magic. POW is just another word for mana. And size mainly only impacts things like how easy you are to tackle/grapple and what spaces you can squeeze into.

So he's got 10 HP

14 POW

2 Soak (armor, it takes 2 points off of whatever damage they were hit with)

+28 initiative bonus (initiative dictates who goes first in combat. The higher your number, the more likely you are to go first)

and can move 5 squares per turn (turns last 6 seconds), or 6 if he runs.

All fairly standard for a human mage. The interesting stuff starts with choosing his spells.

In Percentile, the standard mage can have a few collections of spells called Spell Schools. They can only have one spell from each school prepared at once but can spend 6 hours a day switching them out safely (or do it within seconds if you wanna feel the consequences)

So here's the spell schools I think he'd have

BLAST -> its in the name, you get several spells that are just different types of blasts. So magical bullets, lasers, etc.

CHANGE -> He'd probably use this spell school mainly for his DMA disguise but instead of a mask he can physically change his appearance for several hours a day.

VISION -> Great for espionage and detective work. Spells include making you really good at looking for stuff, being able to see events that transpired previously within a room, and gathering information.

WOUNDING -> Gives him access to several magical bladed weapons. Good for Torture and homosexually sword fighting your ex lover.

really good... ouch.

Skills/knowledges are another story and are one of my least favorite parts of character building so I'll briefly go over it.

High intimidation, spot hidden (looking for stuff. almost every percentile character needs a decent spot hidden), move quietly, resist, and rapine (rapine is like sleight of hand, pickpocketing, handling small and/or delicate things)

Middling physical skills like jumping, climbing, etc. first aid, hide, and survival

Low grapple.

His knowledges would include

High performance (haha actor man), espionage, and literacy

Middling lore

Low cooking. and everything else. He can cook its just all post WWII British food which I think should qualify for being bad at it.

OK NOW FOR MY FAVORITE PART: Traits and Scars.

SCARS

his scars include more physical stuff like reduced hearing and chronic pain (player would roll a dice to see how bad the pain is that day to see if he needs to use a mobility device). But also include

Untrusting - CHAR INT based - compelled to roll an idea check to see if someone is lying every time he starts a new interaction with someone. On a fail he believes they are lying no matter what

POSSIBLE TRAITS

Magic Hair, for my long-haired Owen fans. Basically he has hair that's so cool it makes him more charismatic.

Strong Promises. Whenever the character makes a promise, they get a bonus to whatever stat that will help them achieve that promise.

Plotting. Whenever characters with this trait record or speak out a plan, it functions as if they practiced it for an additional day. Perfect for villain monologues.

Pull At Soul. Characters with this trait declare a goal during each level up. These goals can be something like “plan with everyone in the party about the mission & use that plan”, it can be “avenge my fathers killer” “seek out & find the sage” or more abstract things, “Die & be born anew in the eyes of my community” or “See the moon as it truly is”. They cannot tell any other characters about this goal. Once they achieve this goal as determined by them & the GM, anytime they are at 1 HP they can choose to level up.

Buddies! -> Select another character. Decide on a secret handshake, set of gestures, or exchange. It does not have to be uniform, but does have to be meaningful. Anytime you perform this with them, and one of you gains exhaustion, instantly both of you gain 1d3 to a stat. They do not have to be the same stat, select them when you take the maneuver. If the other dies, this trait is removed, granting the character back the trait points, and the character gains a -1d3 to that stat forever.  (THE FUCKING HANDSHAKE)

I think that's all for Owen!!

It's Curt's turn!

God I was SO tempted to make him a Ragamuffin for this. But I'm sticking with humans. I don't even know why. I just think it would be funny. Something fun about the 'brute' being made of fabric and fluff.

Anyway. Stats!!

12 HP

8 POW (not important given he's a fighter and not a mage)

3 soak

+27 Initiative bonus

and can move 4 squares per turn, 6 squares if he's running.

Instead of spells, fighters get weapon proficiencies and maneuvers! Maneuvers are basically fancy fighting styles and actions.

Possible weapon options: Short sword (what they fight with in the show), a gun, and fisticuffs. Mages also get a weapon or two and tbh these could all apply to Owen too.

Possible maneuvers:

Taunt -> It is what it says on the tin, mock your opponent to try and make them get sloppy and target you instead of your allies.

Reckless Strike Back -> When dodging an attack, you can take one extra damage to attempt to hit your opponent back. If you fail you take extra damage.

Induced Sloppiness -> Make yourself unpredictable! on a success you get bonuses to damage and to land hits. Those attacks are really difficult to parry and dodge. On a fail your opponent gets a bonus to parrying and dodging.

Dodging into My Blade -> you must have this maneuver readied. If you opponent dodges your or your allies attack while this is readied, you can basically say "Lmaoooo" and attack them again

Skills!

High physical stuff like jumping and climbing, resist, move quietly, hide

Middling intimidation, spot hidden, repine, and grapple

Low first aid (scared of own blood) and listen.

Knowledges!

High linguistics, cooking, and espionage

Middling riding arts (for cars and stuff)

Low almost everything else (doesn't mean he's dumb. Fighters just aren't built for having a ton of knowledges)

Possible Scars!

Alcoholic - CON based - Roll a withstand check upon the GM's orders to see if you feel the urge to take a drink. On a fail you either take a swig or suffer withdrawal

Bad With Magic - POW and CON based - Anytime characters with this scar roll a check involving power expenditure, the GM describes it as if they are deeply unsettled by it, that it seems strange, random and scary, and that they are somehow making a mistake, regardless of what the magic does, how it functions, or if they succeeded or not. 

Possible Traits!

Buddies! -> Select another character. Decide on a secret handshake, set of gestures, or exchange. It does not have to be uniform, but does have to be meaningful. Anytime you perform this with them, and one of you gains exhaustion, instantly both of you gain 1d3 to a stat. They do not have to be the same stat, select them when you take the maneuver. If the other dies, this trait is removed, granting the character back the trait points, and the character gains a -1d3 to that stat forever.  (THE FUCKING HANDSHAKE AGAIN)

Poison Blood -> Anyone eating characters with this trait takes 1d6 necrotic damage per SIZ consumed, and the character can take 1 HP from themselves to coat weapons in their blood, which deals 1d4 necrotic damage or stuns the enemy for 1d4-1 turns. It will add this effect to 1 attack until it dries in 3d6+CON turns. (something something alcohol-poisoned blood)

Sturdy ->  While at max HP characters with this trait cannot be reduced below 1 HP in one hit.

Natural Jester -> Anytime characters with this trait crit fail any check, anyone who witnesses it must roll a withstand check or be stunned for 1 turn. 

Fast to The Fight -> Add +3 to initiative rolls (can be taken more than once)

There's actually a TON of traits that could fit Curt but I'm capping it off here because I will go overboard.

Anyway thanks for reading! Sorry if any of this is incomprehensible.

[doubleedgemode]

I just got a few stitches (for a little intervention, so don't worry, I'm fine!) and it made me realise how stitches can limit the area's mobility... I wonder if back when A.B.A had stitches (or if she has them now*) that kind of influenced her way of approaching movement. Hmm

Oh and ofc. There's Paracelsus having a sewn mouth.. I suppose being a fucked up magical focu-WAIT. she only has them in key mode. What if when he became a key he gained the stitches cause A.B.A's influence (*adds this to the Paracelsus becoming into something familiar to get close to her is not that dissimilar to an anglerfish luring an unsuspecting fish/an orchid mantis' modus operandi)

(*afaik, headcanons aside, only times for now that we have seen A.B.A be depicted with LONG stitches is in her "birth" picture, in her legs, and, if you wanna count it, her (scrapped?) concept art with her having some in her forehead (internet translator said (maybe metal iirc?) wire... Dunno if that's a medical term or a mistranslation of whatever word they use in japanese, but that would truly add to her frankenstein motif, which, makes sense as IIRC said sketch was the one mentioning said influence. But I digress, maybe they could be taken away before isuka/xx/ac, but the influence in movement thing could still work, as A.B.A had them just after being born, they could have influenced her back then before she healed/learnt that "WAIT you can take them off?"

I have seen headcanons that maybe A.B.A wears her bandages to hide stitches (and um well stop bleeding) which I really like, even if I myself wouldn't commit to that idea. In Strive, her alledged neck stitch at least would have been healed since we see it in the open I think. But ALSO I have seen strive a.b.as with franken-neck stitching and I LoVe them so much. She looks so cool. Keep doing that if that's already your jam please.

My personal hc is that due to her advanced healing factor *Effusively points at how FAST she could heal wounds AND reattach her arm in Night of Knives* , she can heal stitch-requiring wounds almost asap, HOWEVER, unless really necessary she'd think it's an unnecessary use of her blood reservoir. Also, even if she can heal fast, she's so... SO... A.B.A that she then quickly gets new wounds out of reckless activities lmao.

I do believe she has enough knowledge to attend herself in these cases (probably with no anesthesia) but she's definitely not gonna get picked by the unlicensed doctors union for sure

But maybe all of this is moot cause maybe stitches aren't as tight as I thought (I just got mine I have no experience) and esp for a stitched up creature is nbd but.. still

[feral-mouse]

So I have had this idea in my head for months now. I don't exactly remember what spurred it on but one day I was like "Yo what if Jacob had a stand? 👀" And thus Radiohead was created

I'm gonna be putting more pictures on what his stand looks like and does below, with more in depth information on how it works if anyone's interested

Jacob belongs to @carnivorekitty uwu

First I wanna start off with some smaller things before I get into the main parts lol. Honestly, I wasn't sure what Jacob would name his stand. The only reason why I chose Radiohead as its name was because of this post, and I don't think Jacob would want to name his stand Creep so sdpfjsdp. Also I know the color scheme is kinda weird, I had no idea what colors to choose and I always imagined his stand was blue so like if anyone has a better color scheme for his stand, go fucking wild 👍

So the main gimmick with Radiohead is that its joints shoot off and can be used as projectile weapons. Other than packing a mean punch (its knuckles also have studs so you don't want that hitting your face lol), its mainly good for the fishing wire that connects each of its body parts together. This wire is deadly. It is extremely sharp and can almost cut through anything. Jacob has the ability to control where his stand's joints go, so in theory, he could tie someone up with his wire and chop them up. While he has a close-ranged stand, meaning it can't leave more than 10 meters away from him, it does have long-ranged abilities due to its reach with the fishing wires. It will be more difficult to control the further away it is from him, since he'll have to take perspective into account, and if it gets too far away from him, he just won't be able to see where he wants the joints to go. (I do also wanna mention I never decided how long the wires could reach. They stop at some point but I don't know when 😔)

His stand is also pretty good at fighting in the water uwu. Its legs can switch between a leg mode and a tail mode by connecting its legs with magnets that will hold them together. This gives its more mobility in the water with its multiple fins and webbed hands and feet.

The downside to his stand is that since each of its body parts is connected to a long string of wire, this means that the inside of his stand is hollow, making it susceptible to blunt force attacks. The best strategy I could think of is that Jacob should try to use his wires against enemies that can punch, whereas he should not separate at all when facing against enemies that can deal slashing damage.

I was trying to think of how injuries would transfer to Jacob if his stand got hurt. I decided that dealing blunt blows can result in broken bones, and if his wires ever got cut, he's losing a limb 😔

[fioras-resolve]

hey, let's talk about this blog post from 2014. this is an open letter from the creators of number-merging mobile game Threes, in response to various imitators like 2048. it's a fascinating case study in the midst of recent discussions of plagiarism.

so, look. Threes and 2048 are both mobile games that you can play right now, for free. i highly encourage that you play both of them before reading further. i want you to see how different these games feel to play.

okay, so. this blog post from Asher Vollmer and Greg Wohlwend is interesting to look back on, but it's worth remembering the context it was made in. the mobile gaming scene is absolutely awash with copycats and imitators, and has been for over a decade. mobile games like this are typically pretty simple and thus incredibly easy to copy. if you have a good idea for a mobile game, you are almost immediately going to get people looking to cash in on your idea. this has been cited by former free-to-play dev Caryl Shaw as one of the reasons she left that industry. it's important to keep in mind that cheap imitators and cash-ins are absolutely an issue endemic to the platform.

that said, 2048 is not the same game as Threes. Vollmer complains that people tell him they like 2048 more, but it's not hard to see why they do. it's faster-paced, easier to understand, and more immediately gratifying. Threes takes a bit of practice to really understand what it's doing. its advantages over 2048, e.g. granular control, more predictable rng, more depth long-term, are more relevant to mid- or high-level play. also, this might seem minor, but 2048 actually comes with an objective, it's right there in the title. it means that players have a goal to reach for beyond just a high score. even if you think 2048 is a worse game that Threes, they're clearly different games, and it's not hard to see why 2048 became memetic in a way that Threes didn't.

the letter acknowledges this. it doesn't call 2048 a knock-off, but instead a rip-off, and points out rightly that Threes didn't get the time to grow an audience or the credit for doing it first. i am intensely sympathetic to this, and you should be too. as an indie gamedev even outside of mobile, i worry that my good ideas might be stolen for a profit. even though i'm confident in my abilities as a developer, i'm less confident in my ability to predict the market, and the fear of plagiarism doesn't help.

but i'm not gonna lie, Vollmer and Wohlwend's letter here comes off as salty and antagonistic toward a fellow game developer. it simply wasn't enough to say that it's bad that they didn't get the credit they deserve, they also had to call 2048 a "broken game." to be clear! it has been almost a decade since both games came out! and i still go back to 2048! i decided to go back to Threes recently and give it a proper shot, and while yeah, it's better than i remember it, 2048 is not that much worse of an experience! it's like Minesweeper for me, one of those games i go back to when i need something to do. and like Minesweeper, it's fairly barebones as a game, but that doesn't really stop me from loving it.

but what really sticks out to me about the letter is actually this line that i haven't been able to get out of my head:

We know Threes is a better game, we spent over a year on it.

this has bothered me for a while. not just because it's a wrongheaded way of thinking about quality, (plenty of AAA games that took more than a year suck) but because it's a common one. it's a kind of romanticization of work that treats the process as more important than the result. i understand this mindset, it's one that a lot of creators adopt, including me, because we love the work that we do. but it just doesn't always shake out that way. sometimes the work you do doesn't coalesce, and sometimes a great idea can be developed over a weekend. my current gamedev project which you can help playtest on my discord is a less ambitious project than ones i've taken on in the past, but also one i'm more confident i can pull off. it's often less important how much time you spend, than how you spend it and why.

*sigh*

Asher, Greg. if you are for some reason reading this, i do respect y'all as gamedevs. i think you did great on Threes, and also Puzzlejuice, and a lot of other games you've worked on separately. you called out an important issue in mobile gamedev, and one that's still with us today. you made an good, important game on a platform that is now dominated by predatory monetization and junk food entertainment. Threes represented a better world for mobile, and your post pushed back against what mobile had become.

but 2048 is fine.

[uhgood-girl]

i have dealt with a lot of grief, already, throughout my not very long life and yet i remain surprised by all of the different shades of it i still find myself experiencing for the first time.

processing the final members leaving today feels like a large, deep bruise i was ignoring but can no longer pretend isn't there, so purple it's almost black.

i wasn't expecting this level of emptiness? how it already feels like a long, dark corridor in a once full house that should give back an answer when you shout and yet only your own voice echoes between the doors.

maybe that sounds melodramatic, i know i don't know these people irl but i know other army get it when i say the amount of comfort bts provide as this steady, background hum in the trudge of daily life cannot be understated. just knowing they're out there, existing, together, maybe making more amazing music, pursuing their own forms of existential happiness is really grounding. it's inspiring. those are my long distance besties, i don't give a parasocial fuck.

so in contrast, knowing they have been fully removed from that individual pursuit, forced into a mandatory conscription to appease a government who they don't personally seem to agree with and who also would happily expend them for it's own gain feels like thorns. like knives. like an unwanted reminder of our helplessness in the knowledge that even the best and brightest of us are not exempt from the bullshit powers that be's whims while they look at all of us like pawns on a chessboard. low value and consumable.

for me right now, it's honestly just boiling down not to the fact that they're gone necessarily, if they were on a vacation of their own choosing, i would happily wait however long, but that they've been forced to leave. you can for sure keep any tirade of "it's an honor to serve, they always planned to do so, blah blah blah" to yourself too because their intrisinc loyalty and integrity does not make the system as a whole less fucked up.

bc mandatory military enlistment is fucked up. the military industrial complex is FUCKED UP. if you are sad today but also not a little bit angry at the system that has gotten us here, and i'm talking look past the blue house, the color you're searching for is white, i hope you can find a little bit of space at some point for some healthy indignation.

tweet. (not me, i just like and agree with it)

it feels better than grief and sure as hell mobilizes better, but per usual, i digress.

the grief is still insistent.

i cried when jimin took off his beanie in that live this morning. he had already said he didn't want to show us and yet the comments were full of people demanding he do so. ultimately the decision was his and i respect what he chose. i also hope he found some comfort in the flood of comments calling him cute and beautiful but it still broke my heart knowing what hair to someone like him (self expressed gender fluid, likely queer), how much of your identity can be wrapped up in it, probably meant. how it probably feels representative of this larger thing he is not eager to do as a whole.

hell, the idea of namjoon having to pick up a gun and point it at a person shaped target, edges not eroded but sharp and distinct, breaks my fucking heart.

i could go on for each of them individually tbh but i don't want to add to anything you may have not already considered, we don't all have to be victims to my imagination here.

i just need the world to not blow up between now and 2025. i'm begging. or even after that, really. what if we lived a few years in precedented times? is that even possible at this stage?

is this our monkey's paw? you get to live at the same time as bts but you're also gonna experience the (deserved, burn it down) collapse of the colonial empire? good luck!

i don't even know how to end this, i just needed to get some of it out. my biggest comfort in all of this right now is knowing there are people taking this just as well as i am at least. and by well i mean not very well at all, obviously lol. misery does love company, it's true. but i think because much like seokjin's views on embarrassment, it's easier to bear when shared.

and yet, please just step over my sad, fetal position body till i can get it together. i'm gonna need a moment, or ten. go on, i'll catch up.

[lilietsblog]

hi, i noticed you reblogged my post highlighting my tags talking about how i don't appreciate likes, specifically saying something to the affect of "artists do appreciate likes" and i'd like to clear something up, I Am An Artist, My Posts Don't Often Get Reblogged and so i'm Not Getting New Eyes On My Posts and i'm Getting Discouraged‚ like why should i post art if nobody's gonna see it?

i don't really care for likes, all a like is to me is a "hey i saw your post! not gonna say anything about it, just saw it!" and its so easy to do with double tap to like, if i could turn them off on my posts i would, i promise you that. you literally highlighted my tags and said the opposite about People Like Me, basically about Me, which is just an absurd thing to do

also, did you see what blog of mine you were reblogging from? my sideblog for reblogging things to, because my main is for my art, other things "wouldn't match that wallpaper" so i put them on a dedicated blog so i can add tags and interact more without just liking posts, because i've been on the other side of getting like 11k likes or whatever and 5k reblogs‚ meaning i got hardly any feedback and people are now seeing it through the top posts of #long furby or whatever (not to mention that 5k reblogs started with a staff member reblogging it to the radar? so like, reblogs can really do some work)

i know its a bad idea to interact with discourse, especially when its something i could just block you for, i mean i'd really rather not talk to a like truther, but i'd like to tell you these things so you get a perspective of where i was coming from with those tags‚ and so you reconsider your argument against them

i hope you have a nice day‚ feel free to not answer this ask if it doesn't match your wallpaper, please stop telling artists what they should think

here's an idea for you too, turn off double tap to like, try to only interact with posts Intentionally, treat a day like you only have 100 likes or something, make a like matter, show us artists we're wrong

First, I'm not on mobile, "double tap for like" is not a thing in the browser. And I do interact with posts intentionally - if I don't like the post I don't put "like" on it, I just like the overwhelming majority of what's on my dash and I'm always happy to see (almost) any art that people on here actually made. I like it! Quite intentionally! It all matters to me! Like if I don't have the headspace to consider the post I don't - don’t scroll further I get off tumblr and go do something else

I didn't actually see what blog of yours I was reblogging from, no, I don't normally look at those things /sideglare into the "dont reblog from terfs" discourse/

And no, likes don't just mean "I saw your post". Yes, it's easy to put them, but people still choose to. They mean "I saw your post and I am glad I did and I want to see more of these". Literally tumblr has actual algorithms that determine things based on likes - whether to show something in a tag, the "based on your likes" recommendation thing.

Also..

>I Am An Artist, My Posts Don't Often Get Reblogged and so i'm Not Getting New Eyes On My Posts and i'm Getting Discouraged‚ like why should i post art if nobody's gonna see it?

so...

>all a like is to me is a "hey i saw your post!

people. seeing your posts. which is what you're saying you want. ???

Anyway, the real reason I'm wading into this discourse is that arguments like yours ARE MAKING PEOPLE STOP LIKING ART. Engaging with it at all in any way. Instead of going "ooh I should go through this blog and like this person's art, make their day, ooh look this picture is cool enough I want to reblog it!" people just go "artists are touchy, better not go on this dude's blog at all lest I accidentally like something"

like... not just yours. You're not the only person losing out on potential reblogs here. Everyone is. This campaign is driving art appreciators away, period.

Oh, and maintaining a sideblog is not something you can expect from other people as a mandatory obligation. It's not tumblr tax to be obligated to have a sideblog. Nor to blog anything at all. "Hey, if you don't post anything people are going to think you're a bot" =/= "hey, if you don't post anything you're evil and don't belong here".

---

P.S. If I did do that? If I did limit myself to 100 likes per day for ONLY STUFF THAT REALLY MATTERS?

You would have no way of knowing that, would you? Even if the likes I gave your art were from my Precious 100 Likes Supply, you would still be upset by them?

[beetroot-merchant]

Tell me about the anatomical traits of bipedalism this is not a joke I really want to know

REEEHEEHEE lucky me!! this is gonna focus on (the rise of) human bipedalism (pun intended) because i dont know jackshit about any other animals! ALSO im going to link everything i mention to its wikipedia article as further reading 4 those interested :3

also, pleas keep in mind i have zero formal education on this whatsoever i am literally just a hyperfixated child

Before we get straight into it, a brief word on evolution, since I include some human ancestors here- if you see a scientific name rather than a colloquial one like chimp or gorilla, that's a human ancestor. The reason the ancestors in question look like they're transitioning from chimps to humans is because chimps and the rest of the great apes haven't begun their bipedalism journey, and human ancestors did! We're more derived than chimps from our common ancestor :3 that's all thank you

The skull // foramen magnum positioning

OK SO i have no idea how to ease into this so im throwing it all at you raw. This is a human skull from the bottom view with the jaw removed:

Aside from looking freaky as hell, it's also got that big hole right in the center. It's called the foramen magnum, and it's the hole where your brain connects to the spinal cord- AKA, where your neck is. Cool, but what's this gotta do with anything? Take a gander now at this gorilla skull:

(Image src: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gorilla_Male_skull_base.png)

See how much closer to the back of the skull the gorilla's foramen magnum is? This is because gorillas primarily walk quadrupedally!

(Image src: https://origins.swau.edu/papers/man/hominid/index.html)

Here's also an example of the changing of its placement as bipedalism evolved- from left to right, that's a modern chimpanzee, Australopithecus africanus, Homo erectus, and a modern human.

If you're having trouble imagining how the placement of the neck could indicate how a primate walks, try getting on all fours and looking around you- you have to tilt your head up almost as far as it can go just to see forwards, and you can't see directly above you like you can when standing on your legs. If you try to maintain the position for a while, you'll get exhausted- and a majority of the mobility in your neck is now useless, because who cares about seeing the floor from twenty different angles? All of this is taken care of by just making the neck come out a lil closer to the back of your head. Behold my incredible artistic explanation:

The placement of the neck is uh, a LITTLE exaggerated, but you get the gist. Or at least, I hope you do, 'cause I'm moving on now.

The curves // spinal structure

Ok I'm going to come clean about this i think the spine is the most boring aspect of primate bipedalism to talk about because it's biophysics and its like whats the point of biology if you're just going to make it physics again, I came here to escape! But FINE, I'll talk about it.

also my sources here are probably the least reliable in the whole post because i had to go refresh my memory on fucking QUORA because i completely zone out whenever someone starts talking biophysics. SORRY FOR RAMBLING FOR TWO ENTIRE PARAGRAPHS it will happen again

Behold the curves in the spine for this chimp vs. this Man.

(Image src: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-human-spines-zig-zag-unlike-other-apes-How-is-it-not-detrimental)

And you should immediately see the differences. I mean, the red line's right there for you. C'mon. That dip inwards at the neck is called the cervical curve, the bump outwards at your ribcage is your thoracic curve, the final dip inwards between the ribs and the pelvis is the lumbar curve, and the tailbone-ish bit at the pelvis is your sacral curve! And quadrupedal apes have none of it.

The reason, in short, is gravity. It's painfully difficult to find an image that shows this that doesn't look goofy as hell, so please have this hilariously crunchy picture because it's the best I can do short of making my own.

(Image src: https://efossils.org/book/lumbar-vertebra)

This is where we get to the physics bit that I'm really not confident about whatsoever and I could be completely making up but AS FAR AS I UNDERSTAND:

Essentially, the weight on either side of that line has to be somewhat equal, but the dot it comes out of cannot move. Whenever a chimp like in the images or something similar stands up, it has to exert constant muscular effort to remain upright, because there's an imbalance. There isn't a demonstration of this I can think of like we had for the foramen magnum, but just imagine doing that Michael Jackson lean stunt or being bent over at your hip constantly. Physics bit over.

So, to keep us from being Anatomically Hunched Over Forever, we developed the lumbar curve- but because just inverting the curve in our spine was basically just as bad because now our ribs would be weird, we also got the thoracic curve to make up for it- but because our head being bent forward with the thoracic curve would also be weird (it'd create the same issue as discussed above with the foramen magnum), we ALSO got the cervical curve to make up for that. Do you see now why I don't like this? Funny as hell, don't get me wrong, but man.

The ass // pelvic structure

Can you tell my maturity is rapidly declining? The pelvis, as you can probably guess, is really indicitave of whether a primate was bi or quadrupedal. Feast your eyes upon the pelvis bones of a chimp, an Ardipithecus ramidus, and a human respectively.

(Image src: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Ardipithecus-pelvis-at-44-mya-was-already-more-human-than-chimpanzee-like-Three_fig4_280721011)

Take a look at that side view in the first row- it's wild how different those shapes are! If you're having trouble picturing this in 3D, a human pelvis is more bowl-shaped whereas a chimp's is kind of flat, like a road sign. This allows for two main things, as far as I can tell - one, our pelvises literally serve as bowls for our internal organs, just as extra support, and two, this broader, wider area gives more space for the ass muscles to attach, which makes standing on one leg easier- a problem quadrupeds obviously don't have.

A second change you might notice is that the pelvis obviously shrunk along with changing shape! This is to bring the sacral curve closer to the hips to create sort of a ⊥ (upside-down T) shape, which makes everything way more stable than if it was a ⅄ (upside-down Y) shape. This matters because the ball-and-socket joints we walk on are actually relatively unstable to balance on, we needa make things as stable as possible, to put less muscular effort into balancing!

Another, far, faar more subtle difference is the size of the hip joints (check the side views in the first row again - not the holes! The little circular imprints above them) has gotten bigger! This is because when you half the number of limbs that are supporting your weight, you double the weight each limb is carrying- so our bones need to be thicker and stronger than a quadrupedal ape's down there!

The legs // knee structure

I'm not doing this. No more physics please no more physics

The feef // inline big toes and arches

Let's kick (lol. lmao) this bit off with some human-chimp comparisons, as always!

The big thing here, as you can guess, is the weird big toe chimps have (although we gotta keep in mind that we're the more divergent species, AKA the weird ones!) which you probably already know is for climbing trees! As our ancestors left the canopies we slowly lost need for a big toe like that and now we've got lame ass feet.

One thing we did gain, though, is three arches in our feet- y'know, that inwards dip in the "palm"? Chimps and other quadrupedal apes don't have that, and are flat-footed! It helps with walking and stuff. I dunno.

God, that's a lot! If you read all the way here, um, thank you! Hope you learned something or at least thought this was cool ^^ I'd be happy to try and answer any questions :3!!

[dorothygale123]

Today's subject: footbinding! Or more specifically, the myth about the dumbass that started it!

For those who don't know, footbinding is the old Chinese practice of taking young girls and physically restraining their feet in their growth period to keep them small and 'delicate.' It is a very painful process that causes severe complications with mobility that only get worse as you get older. Thankfully, footbinding has been banned in China since 1912, but centuries of girls and women had to suffer through it.

So what kind of psychotic bastard would go out and create it?

Our story begins with the goddess Lu O, cited as having helped keep the world up when it was still forming and becoming a patron of women with shrines to her being built by ladies seeking her aid. This is where Chow-sin, the last king of the Yin dynasty and a real piece of work. You see, he takes one look at Lu O's statue and decides that this ancient and powerful goddess obviously has nothing better to do than become one of his wives. Lu O takes offense to this, obviously, and starts thinking about how to punish him.

One of her attendants, a fox, steps up and says "No worries boss, I got this!"

He does not got this.

Back on earth, the king's officials are trying really hard to convince him that trying to marry a goddess maybe isn't such a good idea, when one of them steps up and volunteers the daughter of a viceroy he doesn't like, saying she's the most beautiful woman ever. The king takes the bait and sends his 'proposal' over.

The viceroy, Su-nan, is understandably reluctant to send his sweet baby girl to this asshat. So reluctant, in fact that they go to war over it for several years. Eventually his daughter, Ta-ki, says she can't stand the suffering for her sake to go on any longer and begs her father to surrender. He eventually does, and Ta-ki is sent to marry Chow-sin.

Now, remember that fox I talked about 2 paragraphs ago? He decides NOW is the best time to show up. Not any time in the past 5 years where there was war and suffering, but now.

😑

Anyways, just before Ta-ki is sent off to marry the king, the fox comes into her room and is all like

"Hey, can I borrow your body? I promise to screw over Chow-sin with it!"

"Will you be responsible with it?"

" ..... yes?"

"........... Then I guess so?"

So he possesses her and because he sucks at his job, his feet turn into itty bitty fox feet. Deciding no one would care and nothing he did would impact generations of women to come, he decides to leave them.

(ノ｀Д´)ノ彡┻━┻

So he marries Chow-sin and not only becomes his favorite wife and convinces him to do all kinds of horrible, tyrannical things, he also wows the entire court with Ta-ki's beauty. However, no matter what they did they could never be as pretty as her. The only thing they could hope to imitate was her tiny feet by mutilating themselves and their daughters for the next few centuries.

I swear to God I'm gonna skin him.

Eventually the people have it with the evil king nonsense, rebel and execute Chow-sin. The fox leaves Ta-ki's body and goes back to Lu O for praise ona job well done.

Lu O, the protector of women.

I like to think their conversation went something like this:

Lu O: So, you waited around for five years.

Fox: Yep.

Lu O: Let a war wage on that cost hundreds of men their lives and just as many women their brothers, fathers, or husbands.

Fox: Correct.

Lu O: Possessed an innocent young girl.

Fox: Uh-huh.

Lu O: Used her body to convince the king to commit atrocities- which almost got her executed with him-

Fox: Keyword being 'almost!'

Lu O: Started a painful and debilitating practice that has already caused untold pain for countless girls and women-

Fox: I did? When?

Lu O: And you want to know if you did a good job.

Fox: .... Yes?

I feel like he needed new employment after that.

Sh*tpost Masterlist

[muckmagister]

6 11 25

do you use a watch?

not until very recently! just over a week ago i bought a heath tracker under the instruction of my cardiologist who wanted me to have something i could use to check my heart rate easily and often just in case, y'know? and well naturally this fancy gizmo also tells the time ^^ so i guess i wear a watch now even if it's primary purpose is to tell me my heart rate and how well i've slept lmao

anything from your childhood you've held onto?

a big fart. sorry, i'm- it's- i've answered this question in two previous asks if you wanna look ffjdjsjs😭 no but if i hadn't gone to bed already i would go take photos of my cool rock collection that i've had for ages and if i remember in the morning i'll reblog this and add them on 👍

would you say you have good taste in music?

i like the music i listen to it's nice :)

honestly everyone else seems to know what they're doing when they listen to music but istg i started like 10 years late. like as in. for almost half my life i just didn't listen to music at all. i mean obviously i heard music but i don't remember ever having any real opinions on the stuff i heard or any desire to go out of my way to listen to anything, at least not until way later than all of my peers seemed to.

yeah it's the autism i know, but i still don't think i've met someone who's had the same experience with music that i've had, or keep having.

ok i'm rambling now but honestly i don't often listen to music in general. it's a very present thing to me, like i can't listen to something if i can't sing along to the lyrics and jive with it y'know? which means at lot of the time i'm more comfortable in silence.

like, music is something i put on to Listen to and not to just like have in the background. idk sometimes when my brothers cooking breakfast he puts some music on, and it's nice and i enjoy it too but that's just something i'd never think to do if i were in the same position. and like a friend of mine loves to drive around and listen to music and i could never do that, like the music would just be distracting me from driving, it'd be downright unsafe lmao. when i listen to stuff at my computer i actually tend to just end up on an open tab with the lyrics there to just sing along even if i already know the song.

one of the only situations i can think of where i choose to listen to music and do something else at the same time is when i'm playing a specific type of videogame, where the music helps me get into that sort of flow state. and i think that's just cause it helps relax/distract the parts of my brain that aren't engaged with the videogame in a way that actually helps me stay focused on the game. like if i'm playing tetris a part of me is gonna get bored and look for something else to do, but if i listen to music and distract that part of me with a song to sing along to, then the tetris playing bits can focus even deeper on playing tetris. media symbiosis. i no idea. ok now i'm stopping myself here and putting all this shit behind a read more fjdhjskskks😭 oH but here's my tetris highscore btw #humblebrag

also you can just. play tetris, btw. for free. it's just on tetris.com like that's literally the link too and it's all there it's great. i was double checking it just now and it even works on mobile browsers it's fantastic. i love tetris

[riricitaa]

Story time as I promised also I really want to let it out somehow cus nobody in real life took what I'm going through seriously (except for my parents)

This is gonna be long and I have no idea how to put text under the cut via mobile, so just scroll past it if you want.

Let me go back in time like 4 years ago, this guy, our neighbour, sent me a Facebook friend request, and canceled it like minutes later, because it was gone, I only got the notification and when I checked there was nothing, so I figured it was accidental because it often happens to me.

One week or so later, his mom came to my mom asking for my hand in marriage, my mom told her that it wasn't up to her, and that if he wants he could directly approach me and talk to me, and why not they get to know each other.

One day later, his mom came back and was like well, I discussed the situation with my son and he actually refused, (because I am older than him (like 2 or 3 years))

Up until then, I haven't said anything nor gave any opinion whatsoever, I was just observing as if the matter didn't concern me at all lol.

And I wasn't actually interested at all tbh so I was kinda glad that they suggested and discussed and took the decision alone 😅.

Moving on, years later, few months ago, I noticed that he was always looking at me from his balcony and his window as they directly open to my window, each time I be in my room I catch him standing looking at me, it was summer time so my window was always open and you know how hot it gets here so yeah, I wouldn't be fully clothed, and since I am a hijabi it's even more weird and uncomfortable to be looked at by a man when you're supposed to be alone.

Sometimes too I be in the storage room up on the roof doing some chores and stuff and I catch him standing there looking at me.

I started to even find him around the corner on the street when I'm about to leave for work and when I'm going back from work, every single day, it's like he knows my schedule.

I decided to take different paths each day to avoid him, until he figured it out as well and he always showing up.

I live in a country and within a society that if I confronted him or told his parents, I'd be accused that I'm making it up and that I'm the one harassing and stalking him, and they will always find a way to twist it so it's always the woman's fault.

I kept it to myself, I wasn't feeling safe at all, for months, my window is always closed, I would never leave the house late, I was, still am, living in a nightmare.

I finally decided to go to the police but it was for nothing because "the case lacks evidence and proof". What evidence and what proof?! Do they want something to actually happen so they can do something about it? Why do we as women always go through this? Why?

Today was awful because he was there doing it, with a smug smile this time, and I'm here helpless, not feeling safe in my own house, in my own room.

I have been at this job teaching for almost 10 years and today for the first time I broke down in class in front of the kids, I was crying and I couldn't stop. I never bring my personal issues to work with me, but today it was different, I couldn't help it!

I don't know what to do, I hate this neighbourhood. I hate this city, I hate this world, I hate myself.

Unfortunately it's never going to change. It'd 2023 ffs!

I'm sorry if you read all this, because I know it won't make any difference.

I just wanted to let it out!

[themagicruby]

i'm tripping for the first time in a while on a p low dose of an rc and im like out of the peak where i was just playing dragon age inquisition and i cannot decide if i should smoke marijuana or not like logically i know it is very synergistic and will make me peak again but also..... will it make me more sleepy or not probably not but also maybe it will. i also think that i could probably take half a klonopin to dampen the effects if i needed cause the rc im on is often compared to shrooms in effect and structure (ofc i know it's its own thing) but ppl say that benzos decrease the effects of psilocybin so it might also do that for this but who's to say - not a lot of info and i didn't have the patience to scroll thru this one guys trip report where he took a benzo at one point to see what the effects were. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i mean i took a very low dose of this rc which i've taken multiple times before and it will end so ultimately whatever i do doesn't matter usually when i trip i smoke a lot of weed throughout but that also was when i was smoking a lot of weed in general and now my tolerance is wayyyyy lower. but i did roll a joint with a more cbd heavy strain earlier so it won't b like getting hit by a semi if i smoke it

lmao tumblr mobile formatting is terrible i press enter and this paragraph is down here, maybe ittl look different if i post this which i think i will and probably no one will read which is fine but if you are reading this; Hi!

also i know how very much this reads like someone who is on a psychedelic lol i might delete this in the morning but maybe i'll keep it for posterities sake or whatever, and also if i smoke (which i almost certainly will go do after i post this) i'll probably reblog this with what happened. this is what blogs were made for folks! lol ok bye

while writing the tags i realize i have no idea what the rc community on tumblr is like maybe there are ppl who follow tags idk anyway bye for real until i reblog this

EDIT: uugh ok i can feel myself coming down do i just wait it out or do i smoke i kinda wanna smoke.... i really wanna smoke lol but i also dont wanna b up all night cause my gf's asleep and i can't like watch stuff on my tv and i dont really wanna sit at my computer cause my neck is stiff from playing dragon age lol. i know im probably gonna smoke lol but ok if this ends up fuckinf me over and making me stay up all night at least i'll have this post as reference for next time