#and I did those in Rebelle 5 but they would've been easier in 6

[mel-addams]

HEY there's new folks here since I last rambled about Rebelle, and they've got a HUGE sale going on for the preorder of the next version, SO

TL;DR: amazing traditional-paint-emulating drawing program on huge preorder discount, $30 for Pro version GO GET YOU YOURS

I've been using the digital art program Rebelle for a bit over a year, and it is SO GOOD at emulating the feel of working with traditional paints, pencils, and pastels! It's got thick (or thin) impasto texture for oils/acrylics, water physics (!!) for watercolors, and can actually use the texture of your canvas to affect both wet and dry media brushes. It feels SO MUCH better than hooking a texture into a brush and working on a canvas that just...doesn't match it, or applying a texture afterward. BUT ALSO they're gonna be updating it soon, and adding not just standard digital niceties, but also METALLIC. PAINTS. Plus more texture stuff you can control, and even better texture reactivity, but METALLIC! PAINTS!! USING THE BUILT-IN LIGHTING AND TEXTURE SHENANIGANS, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO MESS AROUND WITH WRANGLING/OUTSOURCING EFFECTS YOURSELF

And the pre-order price from now until November 30th is ONLY $30 for the Pro version (which I absolutely recommend!), when the price is usually $150 (!!). The Pro preorder price will increase to $50 from December 1st to the 13th, then full price when it releases on December 14th. And they don't do subscription! Just free updates (typically good and/or requested features, as well as bugfixes), in between full upgrades like this that have been HUGELY discounted on release.

You can check out further info on Version 7's upgrade features, as well as the link to buy it, via the link at the top of the post. BUT if you wanna test out basic watercolor simulation, and/or test the trial version of Rebelle 6 (I think) to see if you like how it feels? You can check out this link: https://www.escapemotions.com/products/rebelle/try/

(Also they often do this sort of thing with the free bonus papers for spreading the word, as mentioned at the beginning of the Version 7 info link. I think it's happened...at least each time they've done a version upgrade, maybe once or twice in between? And it's been a different set of papers each time. But I already did my shared-post earlier. This post is genuinely just 'cause I think stuff like the feel of brushes reacting to visible texture and water physics (which you can pause!) are SO NICE, and the preorder price is bonkers-cheap. I still need side stuff like Affinity for like...fonts, but Rebelle is my current favorite for actual drawing and painting.)

PERSONAL EXAMPLE TIME

Playing around with watercolor drips, because you can control the "tilt" of the canvas (via either a tablet's features if it can, or a disk in the UI if not): Bakuratober Ghost prompt

Using canvas texture to get a RAD cracked-paint look on a dark canvas (I used the Straw canvas from the "Mulberry Coconut & Straw" purchasable paper set): Bakuratober Vampire prompt

Taking advantage of thick acrylic texture (plus watercolor which flowed into the brush streaks for emphasis), to simulate both muscle and sand texture (body horror warning): Bakuratober bonus prompt (Nightmare)

Combining a mildly textured pencil with a subtly textured canvas to emulate how I use physical colored pencils (plus layer effects for glowy ghosties): Bakuratober Dancer prompt

Combining wet canvas and watercolors to let the pigment feather out to create a "blurry" foreground effect (plus setting lineart as a masking fluid layer to keep colors contained): Disco (Elysium) Harmony

[loriane-elmuerto]

give meeee pre-relationship + sarai/din AND domestic life + dom/carlos pls <333

Ship questions

Sarai x Mando

1. How did they first meet?

Back in 8 ABY, Mando was out on a job in the Outer Rim hunting down a criminal gang leader who had kidnapped an important political figure to sell off into slavery. He managed to hunt down the criminal and the politician, but he discovered there was another prisoner as well, a relatively unknown smuggler and gambler with a rather impressive bounty on her head in the underworld, so he thought it would be a great idea to bring her in. She wasn't all too happy about it and after leaving a literal dent in his chestplate from a simple punch, they agreed that she'll work with him until her bounty is paid off.

2. What was their first impression of each other?

Less than great. Din thought she was some unlucky hotshot upstart that pissed off the wrong people at the wrong time, while Sarai thought he was yet another bounty hunter who has taken one too many cues from Boba Fett. Basically, they weren't impressed.

3. Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?

Oh yeah. OH YEAH. The people they encountered (such as Greef, Cara, Cobb, and Kuiil) saw how well they worked together as a pair and how they protected the kid with their lives. Some even already thought they were a pair and were just really good at hiding it.

4. Who felt romantic feelings first?

I gotta say, it was definitely Mando. This guy discovered that he has a weakness for kids and good treatment of kids when he saw how motherly Sarai acted towards Grogu since day 1. That, and her kindness towards people also turned from an annoyance to a trait he admired.

5. Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

Oh both of them 🤡🤡���� Mando didn't want to get attached because he knew they were working only temporarily and that their relationship would've just been used against him eventually, while Sarai resisted because of her upbringing and because she had never known what loves feels like. The only example she had was her sister Aminata, who spent 10 years separated from the love of her life and showed their happiness for like. 5 seconds.

6. If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

Mando would've just walked away and Sarai would've laughed in your face.

7. What would their lives be like if they had never met?

For Mando it's easier to say bc...... The show events would happen as usual

For Sarai I believe the galaxy would've given a very different path of life - she'd most likely rejoin the New Republic as a Rebel fighter, running jobs as Ghost Storm once again. And I don't think she would've become a Jedi Knight.

Dom x Carlos

1. If they get married, who proposes?

Oh, Carlos absolutely. Man has been whipped since Racoon City.

2. What’s the wedding like? Who attends?

The wedding happens in 2004, and it's very very private in a courthouse, where only the closest of their friends attended. Those two didn't want any attention, so only Chris, Jill, and Dom's close friend from RPD Regina were the witnesses. Afterwards they had a quick photoshoot, a lunch, and called it a day.

3. How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

Three kids + one adopted from the Dimitrescu castle! Their youngest is a very curious bean that doesn't know bounds and is always getting involved in some activities with her parents or her sisters. The middle one is the more artistic child who joins a musical school. She's also the one who has the biggest opinion of things, much to the surprise of her parents. The oldest one is the negotiator and daddy's daughter, she has Carlos wrapped around her little fingers. Contrary to popular belief, she's not the "serious" one or anything, that's the youngest kid. This one has a silver tongue and a wicked sense of humor.

Their adoptive daughter Alona is a former maid of Alcina who survives the horrors of the village and gets adopted into the Oliveira family after everything. She's rather shy and more closed off, used to a completely different lifestyle, but she does take a liking to the family, especially the kids. Dominique and Carlos fought hard to keep her happy and safe from the hostile world.

4. Do they have any pets?

Nope! Though they sometimes wish they do. They tried to raise some less maintenance requiring pets to teach some responsibility into their kids, but their lifestyle didn't leave much room for that.

5. Who’s the stricter parent?

Definitely Dominique. Carlos is the one who goes easy and gives in much easily if his girls blink those pretty brown eyes, coupled with some tears, whereas Dominique sees right through them. She recognizes those patterns and she won't be fooled so easily. Carlos, if he could, would spoil them rotten, especially considering his own upbringing. Dom is a little different.

6. Who worries the most?

I'd say also Dominique? She's used to holding all four corners of the house, keeping tabs on everything, so long-term assignments that take her away from home are always stress-inducing for her. She fully trusts Carlos and knows he will do the right thing, but that's just who she is.

7. Who kills the bugs in the house?

Both of them!

8. How do they celebrate holidays?

They always try to create a memorable experience each year for their kids, no matter the circumstances. They also make it a rule to always invite their friends and always have a day off, especially on Christmas. Other holidays are more flexible, but Christmas? You better be ready for that invite, it's sacred to them.

9. Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

Carlos. Dominique is used to the early bird regime, and her marriage with Sam didn't change much, considering they were both police officers. Carlos is the type of person to stay in a little longer in the morning, and he'll make sure his lovely wife is right there by his side, because she deserves the extra rest after everything she does for the world.

10. Who’s the better cook?

Dominique! Girl is used to making food for herself and others, this doesn't change in this relationship as well. Carlos acts as the support by helping with side tasks and little jokes that make the process much more fun.

11. Who likes to dance?

CARLOS. Look at that man and tell me he doesn't like to dance. Don't get me wrong, Dom has the moves too, but Carlos lives for that stuff. One of the kids' best memories are secretly watching their parents dancing to Frank Sinatra in the middle of the living room as Carlos sang to Dominique.

[deck16]

This is a continuation of the campaign journal of Adventures in Lyria. The first entry is here and you can see all entries here.

Act 8: The Battle for Silvercap Mountain

Along with Salvius' Twentieth Legion, the heroes assault Silvercap Mountain!

Minor note: I'm no longer using MidJourney for art, as discussed in Act 1. My subscription ran out. Instead, I am running a locally-installed version of Stable Diffusion.

Para Bellum

The heroes return from the Feywild to Celandra's Glade. In the previous act, the heroes convinced the Marchioness of Helicalis to no longer support the lycanthrope rebels. The rebels are now vulnerable, and Davith Salvius has been using his position as Celandra's heir (see Act 6) to rally fey troops into an army. Now the heroes are back, it's time to launch the attack, and destroy the False Moon (see Act 5)!

Davith's army consisted of fey animals of usual and unusual size, animated trees and plants, and creatures like saytrs, nymphs and harpies.

Marcus Salvius (first seen Act 3) had forgotten about his stay in the Feywild, as mortals often do. (Luckily none of the heroes succumbed to this.) But his mind was still sharp enough to help lead his son's army!

Marcus was disappointed that the heroes had not managed to secure a reprieve for Celandra (see Act 6). Upon her petrified wooden form a small number of seeds appeared, as if she were crying. These seeds were called "Celandra's Tears", and would sprout into sleep-inducing dandelions. As DM, I thought these might be cultivated and used to neutralise Strabo's legions in an upcoming story, but the plot diverged, and these seeds would remain unused in the party inventory until the end of the campaign.

Xanaphia expressed private concerns to Cyrus that they would die. Marcus gave an speech, intended to rally.

"Forgive an old tribune from interrupting, but habits die hard. "This is it. Sometime tomorrow, we may be dead." He laughs. "I remember the last time I felt this way. Atop the final tower on Letocetum's walls, lycans crossing along the parapets, ascending from within, and scaling the sides. I thought I was to die there, along with the brave men and women who fought with me. I would've died there happily, knowing we had bought time for the city's evacuation. But a little boat sailed by and saved me and many of those fighting with me. Do you remember, Cyrus? Zeke? "Let's not forget who renewed my purpose. I was drunken shell until renewed by Lukil, and of course you too Cyrus and Zeke, and Zilt as well. They say it is easier to create than destroy. You, who have re-created me from ashes, and thereby this Legion, should have no trouble destroying an opposing Legion. "Fate heaps a great burden on shoulders. We alone can stop the lycan threat. Who knows how far it has gotten? Who knows what other souls are battling to the death in towers, streets, and fields across our Republic?" Salvius nods to Garo. "The gods of our Republic are watching. We should make sure they are not ashamed. If we are dispatched to the afterlife, let us be able to look at the parade of victims killed by the lycans with heads unbowed, able to say we did all we could. Let us not say we quailed when we should have been steadfast, or acted brazenly when we should have kept cool heads. "It will be a long day tomorrow. Rest well."

The Assault Begins

The fey army marches on Silvercap Mountain, the False Moon looming large over it. The army enters into battle against the rebel forces consisting of lycanthropes and undead raised by their necromancer allies. As the armies clash, the heroes split up to take out key targets.

There were a number of strategically important targets for the heroes: a horde of undead ripe for area-damage, a pair of tough were-bears, and catapults operated by were-rats. The heroes split up and tackled all of them!

While I don't remember who tackled what exactly, I do remember that Cyrus neutralised the bank of catapults with frightful efficiency by combining his magic with the Bellicent Torc, a magic item found back in Act 2.

Ascending the Mountain

As planned, the heroes ascend the mountain as battle rages at its base. The way is not clear, and many battles await them.

Their first foes were the necromancers Cazna and the Corpse-Whisperer (first seen Act 5), who guarded the start of the spiral path up the mountain with their own undead minions. Cyrus snuck around the side of the battle and employed a wall of fire to devastating effect, burning both necromancers to death.

Cyrus, mistaking the fight with Cazna for the final fight rather than the first fight, imbibed a potion obtained way back circa Act 1. It gave him supernaturally good luck, improving all his rolls, though the effect would end if he failed any. Cyrus spent the entire ascension of the mountain attempting to do as little as possible, and avoiding things that were trivial and/or likely to fail. It worked: when he did act he made it count, his good rolls ensured good results.

The ascension up the mountain was gruelling. Not only was the climb enough to possibly cause exhaustion, but skirmishes with lycanthropes whittled down the heroes' resources. It was possible to take short rests, but overuse of this would put pressure on the army below holding out for them. From memory, the heroes did quite well in ascending quickly and without great losses.

From the heights of the mountain, the heroes could see ships approaching the coast of Cantia. This confirmed Ezekial's vision -- Magnus Strabo was headed there to quell the rebellion.

The heroes turned a corner to see a massive force arrayed against them along a cliff. With determination, they got to fighting. But a short time into the combat, a gold dragon was seen approaching. With little they could do, the heroes battled on. Thankfully the dragon appeared to be on their side, belching fire at their enemies. (As DM I let the players place the massive cone and roll the immense damage.) The dragon is hit by a strange magical attack as it flies away, but its attack greatly helped the heroes push through. As the heroes climbed the mountain they would look to find where this dragon went, even sending familiars to search; but it could not be found.

The dragon flies past, belching fire on your foes! The heat is intense even at this distance, causing the rocks to glow a dull red. The dragon wheels up to avoid the mountain and begins flying away, perhaps gaining distance for a follow-up attack. Something strange is happening. The sun is getting brighter. Warmer. Out away from the mountain, you see a column of light gathering, shining down near-vertically from above. As it tightens, it grows brighter. It is chasing after the dragon! The dragon banks from side to side to avoid it, but it can't shake it. It intersects the dragon just as it tightens into a blinding ray, plunging the whole mountainside into darkness for a split second. The dragon flinches, left wing torn open, it struggles to control its descent. A second later the sound of its pained roar reaches your position, echoing around the rocky cliffs. The dragon's path takes it behind the mountain; you cannot see its fate.

This strange beam-magic was later employed on the heroes as they neared the top of the mountain. The same magic that was causing the False Moon was being used to concentrate sunlight on targets. But the heroes weren't foolish enough to loiter, and just moved quickly, avoiding serious damage. They didn't know, but they were being spotted by an arcane eye. The slow-moving nature of that spell meant the heroes could easily outrun it.

At the mountain summit, just outside the entrance to an underground area, the heroes met a group of necromancers who were trying to flee via teleportation circle. They told the heroes they had no desire to fight a losing battle, and that they would just leave if allowed to finish their spells. I cannot remember what action the heroes took. Either way, the heroes commandeered valuable supplies (including healing potions and spell-recovery potions) gathered by the departing necromancers.

The Summit

The heroes confront Phelund Phylund (first seen Act 1) at the summit of Silvercap Mountain.

There was a small complex carved into the mountain summit. Much of it was currently abandoned, used for sleeping areas for necromancers and other ranking members of Phelund's forces. Soon enough the heroes entered into the chamber from where the False Moon was being projected. Flutter recognised, from knowledge found in the previous act, that the place had been built long ago by the aarakocra -- their light magic was being abused for the False Moon.

You're in a large chamber carved into the mountain itself. It's in ruin, with scattered materials and furniture pushed aside. Central is an arcane circle, transcribed with various sigils and runes, whose markings on the floor radiate with a strong orange light. In the middle of the circle is a framed, round window, perched on a stand, whose likeness has been artfully crafted to look like the face of the moon. It shines a beam upward. Following the beam upward, you notice the ceiling opens onto the sky. A massive glass or crystal pyramid sits atop this chamber, replacing the rocky summit the mountain presumably once had. The false moon takes up the entire viewing angle. Between you and the arcane circle is a familiar figure: Pheland Phylund. He's clutching a greatsword in one claw. He's flanked by lycans. Inside the circle itself you see two figures: a ragged, emaciated kenku with frayed feathers, and an regal-looking bird-like humanoid not unlike Velthreek. "Here you are then. It all comes down to a fight in some ruined old chamber." "We may as well parley before we get to the bloody business. It took you time to climb the mountain, there's no harm in a few minutes more, is they? Whichever one of us lives tells the story, they may as well get it straight." "I fair knew you'd come. You graduated from meddlers to alliance breakers. First you free prisoners at my estate. Then you ruin Finella Bellicent's plan to take her family torc, set her daughter up as Cantia's true Queen. I had to kill poor Fiona, who quailed at the contingency plan of a wholly lycan nation. You killed Simserion, but not before he provided us with the two you see in the circle behind me." "What next? You escaped me at Letocetum, and from there you liberated the half-blood centurion from his fort that we had conquered. Apparently you then proceeded to break our alliance with the unseelie and somehow rallied this army to assault this mountain." "I can see patterns. I suspect I know how this ends. But I can hope you slip up. I'll even do you a deal: if you lose, I'll kill you quickly rather than let you turn. I expect the same; I don't want to be the trophy of any triumph in Lyria."

The battle was dynamic and brutal. Phelund's werewolf guards were expert fighters, and some stealthy were-rats emerged from the shadows. The taller bird-like creature was a powerful wizard that cast a number of spells, including wall of light. There was no clear front-line in this battle, and Garo, Ezekial, and Xanaphia found themselves constantly shifting to protect Flutter.

Cyrus, meanwhile, used the confusion to sneak up to the spell circle. He begun to disrupt it with his chaotic magic. It worked, though it need several attempts to fully disrupt. Each disruption sent rainbow-coloured lightning and sparks through the chamber, harming everyone inside.

The party eventually won and the foes were defeated. Flutter noticed that Cyrus was not stopping his disruption of the circle. Cyrus and Flutter were already at odds over Cyrus destroying archaeology precious to Flutter. To Flutter, this seemed more of the same, so he attacked Cyrus. Xanaphia hit back with her own magic, and hard. Cyrus did not stop, though, and the circle was disrupted. The intra-party conflict was put on hold as everyone needed to flee from a build-up of dangerous chaotic magics!

Cyrus's player had been presented with a secret choice. He could let the magics build up and overload, resulting in the cataclysmic destruction of the moutain-top (though with enough time to escape). Or he could more gently destroy the magic circle by internalising some of the chaotic overload, causing a less cataclysmic destruction (relatively speaking), but at high risk to himself.

Such a strange experience. For the last few moments you've had the increasing sense of a new, precarious source of magical power nearby, but you haven't been able to pinpoint where. Now you know what it is. It's you. Is it your mind? Your soul? Your sanity. A barrier that you never knew existed cracks. Thoughts come unbidden, from the mundane to the emotional, from the pleasant to the terrifying. Your death in the Underdark, Kytah's death in a basement; Zilt's triumphs with his kin, Xanaphia's picnic after her flight.

Cyrus chose the gentler option. This put him at serious risk of permanently losing his sanity. He rolled, and he avoided this fate.

Amidst the cacophony of unwelcome thoughts you see a butterfly with radiant orange wings. Concentrating with all your might you follow it, and are taken to the the twilight lake-side forest from your second vision. There's a figure standing some distance away. Is it short, or is it tall? Or is it just a rock or tree? You can't seem to focus. Despite the tranquillity of the scene, you sense your cacophony of thoughts and memories encroaching. It's now or never: you need to mentally prepare weather the storm. So prepared, you face the chaotic assault of thoughts. It feels like an eternity of rebuking your worst thoughts, and false thoughts, and embracing those that are true or good. Eventually, you find yourself staring at the cold hard real world, covered in sweat, sick to the stomach, but in control of your mind once more.

Lady Xilo waited for the heroes at the exit of the underground chambers. She had an injured arm, which led some to theorise she was the golden dragon seen earlier. Cyrus decided to leave with Lady Xilo, and gave the group his goodbyes. There was a partial easing of tensions: some goodbyes were heartfelt, and some goodbyes were diplomatically cool.

Lady Xilo rushes forward to embrace Cyrus. "See? I knew you were up to the task, my dear Cyrus!" "You've done everything I could've hoped for and more. I think you are deserving of a rest, Cyrus. Would you like me to return you home?" Xilo takes Cyrus and Xanaphia by the arm, and the trio vanish into a brief twisting storm of golden flakes.

The heroes had saved the day! The lycanthrope rebels lost their leadership. The ending of the False Moon meant that most of the remaining lycanthropes -- including the ones battling at the base of the mountain -- reverted to their natural form. And the Umbralenses -- which would soon be distributed to authorities -- meant any defiant lycanthrope remnants could be combated, and afflicted populations cured.

But there was little time to relax or rejoice. Magnus Strabo -- Ezekial's ancestral nemesis -- was en-route to quell the rebellion. The heroes feared his retribution for the rebellion would be bloody and misplaced, just as it was against the Nova Laconians some decades ago.