#big sky screencaps

[mvdeanw]

Beau Arlen / Big Sky - 2x18

Dean ( Jensen ) love club: @jillmariej @deanwanddamons @deanwinchesterswitch @brilovesdeanwinchester @septembersghost @waywardbaby @spnfangirl1314 @shawnie74 @kwistowee @queenofallerdalehall @charred-angelwings @girlshunttoo @adoptdontshoppets @ddriverpicksthemusic @milo-winchester-4ever @wickedinspirations @quicklymybasement @jensensgotyoudean @lequisha @deansraspberrypie @thoughts-and-funnies @raidens-realm @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @eevvvaa @siospins2 @doublebill @avanatural @samastrophe @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior @catnipster69 @waynes-multiverse

[avanatural]

Big Sky 03x01 “Do You Love an Apple”

[slashericons]

[skynetpirate]

I love 1 (one) dashing sky pirate.

This has to be my favorite scene starring Don Karnage, and probably the one that made him my first cartoon crush back when I was a wee one haha.

« Long time no see, ¿ sì ? »

[supernightboy08]

My favorite Blue Sky Studios characters:

1. Scrat

2. Manny

3. Deigo

4. Sid The Sloth

5. Ellie

6. Blu

7. Jewel

8. Rodney Copperbottom

9. Big Weld

[regallibellbright]

You know, since I watched, uh, eleven episodes in one go and I’m relatively eh on Dear Shine Sky, I skipped it pretty much every time.

I was expecting to watch everything through the final episode. Didn’t consider, though I probably should have, the possibility they would do like Healin’ Good, recognize they hit it so far out of the park with the first ending, and close on the original instead. (Well, with a mild difference. And if you need me, I’ll be picking up my fourth version of Hirogarism on iTunes.)

Yeah. This was a REALLY good finale, and the post-credits stinger with Sky performing the same kind of rescue that inspired her was perfect. Gonna miss you, Hero Girl.

[bansheehaunt]

SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman (2002) - Game Boy Advance

[hawkland]

Art Masterpost: The Beginning Story by emmbrancsxx0 (@valleydean) Art by sidewinder (@hawkland)

When I saw an endverse story up for claims in this year's @deancashorrorfest — particularly one exploring the beginnings of how it all came to be — I knew I had to get my grubby, greedy hands on it. When I found out it was written by none other than @valleydean, I may have made some hqppy screeching noises to rival Castiel's true voice. Getting to do art for one of my favorite writers is always exciting, if sometimes anxiety-inducing, but I ended up having an absolute blast working on these with Mallory and am really happy with how they turned out. Thank you for being such an amazing partner to work with, and I'm so excited for everyone else getting to read the story now!

Thank you as well to @kingdumbass for organizing Horrorfest once again, and creating one of my favorite little Destiel communities on the net. It's always a ton of fun and I love how you keep the server going & engaging year round.

Some rambling comments on the art & my process below the cut.

As usual these were all done in watercolor with a little bit of black & white acrylic pen work for fine details and lines. I used rough/cold press paper for all of these to keep a consistent feeling and because it's always my favorite for doing any portraits and where I want a lot of blending control.

The hardest thing for me was deciding which of the many memorable scenes and moments I wanted to illustrate in the time I had available. I had a pretty clear vision for the title art early on: to show Dean & Cas at the beginning of it all, with a collage of elements of destruction behind them and doing the title text in the "Croatoan graffiti" style. There were a bunch of different reference shots combined for that one: screencaps from 5x04, a later-season shot of Dean & Cas walking together to get their positions how I wanted, etc. My Cas "face" reference was actually from Stonehenge Apocalypse as I wanted him looking a little more human/hopeful than standard s4-5 Cas as he's pretty low on grace but still has a little "angel mojo" left.

(As Mallory commented when I shared it as a WIP, "That's a man who's about to be destroyed!" :D D:)

I'm also really glad I was able to get the painting to Mallory at DC-Con! You can see in the pic that it's pretty big (16"x20") to get all that detail in!

For the next piece, there's a small scene of Dean and Cas on the road under smoke-filled skies, past a "God Saves" billboard that just struck me. I'd just driven out to Pittsburgh and back on the PA Turnpike so used some quick reference snaps I took combined with photos of the hazy skies from the Canadian wildfires earlier this year to get the atmosphere I wanted. I tried to keep some of the same washed-out colors and feeling of the title piece for that, save the color of the sky.

For the rest, I wanted to do one piece each of Cas and Dean at critical moments in their journey through the story. Cas facing himself in the shattered glass of a pharmacy cabinet was a moment I knew I had to try to capture. It reminded me of that amazing shot of Misha in Gotham Knights, with Harvey and the smashed mirror, so that was definitely in my mind as a visual reference.

Cas himself is a combination of some Purgatory screencaps and some out-of-character Misha pics from here and there to get his hair the way I wanted it to look (even if I ended up painting over most of it with interference silver watercolor to create the effect of the shattered glass. Here's an in-progress look:

The Dean rooftop piece is one I'd had in my head as soon as I read the passage in the story, but it was the last piece I tackled. The city in flames behind Dean was pretty much done in one shot as a spontaneous wet-in-wet wash...though it was a little eerie and unsettling working on it this past week with current events playing out on the tv while I painted.

Finally, I really wanted to do a piece showing Dean and Cas as they are near the end of the story compared to how they started out. This one came together in a really fast burst of inspiration - I think one day drawing and two days painting because it's smaller than the others (12"x6") and I wanted it to be really close up and intimate. Drawing:

Poor boys have been through a lot. And it's only going to get worse )-:

Anyway, that's more than enough from me. Have you gone to start reading the story yet? If not, go there now! Bookmark! Read! Leave lots of love in the comments! Reblog and check out the rest of this year's Horrorfest collection while you're there!

[born-in-hell]

q!BBH's Desert Lore is eerily similar to a scene in Salad Fingers Episode 10 "Birthday" ─ and other coincidences

WARNING: Salad Fingers is a gore web series. Therefore, All pictures here are going to be censored as to not havily disturb anyone. The links for the original pictures will be listed at the end for whoever wants to see them in full.

While reading this, its good to keep in mind that cc!Bad has made references to gorey underground web series before, such as "Llamas With Hats". Therefore, it wouldn't be a big stretch for him to have used Salad Fingers as inspiration for his character's lore, or as reference.

Also huge huge huge thanks to @demodraws0606 for listening to my insane thoughts and helping me w this go give them some love !!

On the day 26/nov/2023, Badboyhalo opened stream in the desert for the last time. Most people started comparing this scene to the Pinkie Pie birthday scene. But i could not help but think "huh, this reminds me of that salad fingers scene. I might be insane". so i went to look and.....:

U can't say they arent similar. An immense desert with a clouded sky and a wooden table with 6 places, which are taken by copies of the main character. The only difference is, besides the obvious gore, that one of the chairs is empty for q!BBH, while all are taken in Salad Fingers.

Another simmilarity is that Salad Fingers tries to interact with the clones, but just as q!BBH's, they neither aknowlege him nor respond.

Demo noticed how the scenery is really similar between the two:

Despite all this, the episode has no narrative connection to q!BBH's lore. It revolves around Hubert Cumberdale's (a finger puppet created by Salad) and, later on, Salad Finger's birthdays. Generally, i understood it is about the passage of time, together with childbirth/motherhood.

But, right before this scene, still on episode 10, Salad Fingers goes to the doctor. Eventually the focus changes, and the doctor is now examinating a horse while Salad Fingers watches. The horse seems to represent Salad Finger's child. When q!BBH lost his memory, he kept talking obsessively about taking Dapper to the doctor.

Another curious coincidence is that, on the same episode and same scene as the table, "Birthday", Salad Fingers is gifted a tophat as his birthday gift:

Demo pointed out, aswell, how on epidsode 13, named "Harvest" salad fingers is walking through the deserted wasteland towards a glowing circle in the sky (the Sun). During the first desert stream, q!BBH is seen walking towards the Sun aswell. Here are some screencaps from said Salad Fingers episode:

The "Edge of Forever" name is also funny considering q!Forever's and q!Bad's close friendship. But i personally think the usage of the word "forever" is only a coincidence. Or it could be related to q!Bad's immortality, the Edge of Forever, than, being where bbh goes to be reincarnated.

On the end of this same episode, "Harvest", Salad Fingers dies and is substituted by Boy Fingers, who is essentially a clone of Salad. This might be relevant, regarding q!BBH possibly dying, but i dont really know how to fit this into a complete theory. Although, since Salad dies from being boiled in a soup and consumed by Boy Fingers, there might be some connection to q!Bad's theme of gluttony.

The way both Salad Fingers and amnesiac Q!Badboyhalo behave also overlaps a bit. The constant jumping from subject to subject, a certain level of innocence and naiveness, a detachment from reality and unacknowledgement of death and violence.

Overall, the themes that Salad Fingers explores ─ birth, motherhood, fatherhood, conflituous familial relationships, some may say xenofobia or racism, and the 1st World War ─ arent at all related to q!Bad's story. I don't believe cc!Bad used Salad Fingers for anything other than inspiration ─ if it was even used. But, i still found all of this curious and interesting, and i wanted to share with all of you.

If u have any thoughts, feel free to share them! I personally am not a fan of gore, so i haven't seen all of Salad Fingers. This is another reason i'm writing this, so ppl that know more than me can share what they think.

Ty sm for taking ur time and reading this !!!

Uncensored Pictures:

─ Table Scene

─ Tophat

Banners/Dividers by @/inklore

[mirikitakato]

[Translation] Skits of "Our magical party wiz you" and the staged reading ""A Mixer After the Mission"

Good day, everyone! I have translated the skits and the staged reading from the “Our magical party wiz you!” (Mahoawa) event on January 28-29th, 2024. It took me a while, and this is not the full translation for the 2-hour show. There are also Q&A activities involving seiyuus and some additional skits with characters. However, I translated all the skits featuring CaiOwe and the 20-minute main skit "A Mixer After the Mission" written by the devil Tsushimi Bunta!

Please feel free to share the link to the translation or screencap it to react.

Characters: Oz, Arthur, Mithra, Rutile, Cain, Owen, Snow

(The Day’s skit)

Owen: Hey, are you kidding me?

Mithra: That's my line.

Cain: Hey there, you two. Let's not start off on such a tense note, alright? What's going on?

Mithra: The thing I just had for lunch is called Napolitan pasta. This guy has more bacon in his bowl than mine, not fair at all.

Cain: More bacon? How nice!

Owen: That's not nice, comparing to that pudding he has. Mithra's pudding is bigger than mine.

Mithra: Obviously, because I eat faster than you.

Owen: You were just eating everything randomly, weren't you? Ah, I feel sorry for that pudding, being eaten by someone like you.

Mithra: So you're not giving up? How unsightly.

Owen: Hah? You want to die?

Mithra: Just what I want.

Owen: Cuore Memini–

Mithra: Athrim—

Cain: Wait, hold on!! Let's not start a fight out of nowhere! You'll wreck the place.

Rutile: Ah, how about this? Since we're in a theater, why not have a competition fitting this place?

Mithra: A competition fitting this place?

Rutile: Let's have the spirits of this land as judges. Since they love singing and art, we could have a poetry competition. What do you think, dear spirits? (The audience applauds)

Rutile: Thank you.

Mithra: Well, okay. I'm the strongest at writing poems.

Owen: I won't go along with your ridiculousness. Such a stupid game.

Mithra: Oh? Is it because you don’t have confidence?

Owen: Aren't you just led by the nose?

Cain: Please don't start a new round of quarrels, guys. Owen, if you're not interested…

Owen: Fine, I'll participate. With Mithra's brain, my victory is assured.

Sir Knight, let's start quickly *kick*

Cain: Ouch! Why did you suddenly kick me?!

The theme is “Winter”. Owen, you first!

Owen: Eh? Me?

Cain: 321, GO!

Owen: The…the winter sun…on top of the sky…turns into…a frozen white jade…

Rutile: Wow, what a beautiful imagery!

Owen: On the snow field…there's…a fluffy dog…but his fur sheds…and vanishes with the wind…

Cain: Ahhh, he was so fluffy, though.

Mithra: That's it? Well, no surprise that you're at this level

Rutile: But the first part was great! I couldn't have come up with “frozen sun”!

Cain: I also love fluffy dogs, they’re like winter. When you see your dog getting shaggy, you know winter's here. It's a shame his fur fell out.

Owen: Oh, you like that? Then why don't I turn you into a big hairless dog and throw you into an extremely cold place where it snows all the time?

Cain: Why do you come up with words to insult me so easily?!

Cain: Next theme is “Northern Wizards”. 321, GO!

Mithra: On the snow field…there is a fluffy dog.

Owen: Wait, don't copy me.

Cain: It’s even the same dog.

Mithra: Standing there is a creature more majestic than a dog, a huge crocodile... and the strongest and most fearsome, me...

Mithra: Hmmm, sounds weird. Rutile, you are up.

Rutile: Huh!? Uh...if you step on the shadow...

Owen: Hey hey, it'd be cheating to ask others for help, wouldn't it? Rutile, don't say more.

Rutile: I'm...I'm sorry. I can't resist answering when someone asks me...

Mithra: Huh? Is there a rule against asking others?

Cain: Well...no, there isn't. Sorry, I forgot to set rules. But I trust the spirits (audience) will judge fairly. Let's hear Rutile's first.

Rutile: Yes! Owen's expression was particularly poetic, and Mithra was great at involving others.

Cain: I see. Both had unique elements in their poems. What do the spirits think?

(The audience applauds)

Cain: I see. Congratulations, Owen and Mithra, you share the victory!

Rutile: Congratulations!

Mithra: Winning was too easy. Poetry seems like child's play.

Owen: You just won without a fight. Let's start over.

Cain: The spirits seem pleased, making the atmosphere livelier and more energetic here.

Owen: That means…

Mithra: Then...

Owen/Mithra: *fighting each other* Cuore Memini/Arthim!

(The Night’s skit)

Snow: You're back too. Just walking around, not bothering anyone and not killing anyone?

Owen: You think I'm Mithra? I don't do those things. *sound of chewing*

Cain: What are you eating?

Owen: Dango from a nearby stall. It's right over there, by the red gate.

Snow: You're right, it smells sweet and delicious.

Cain: I noticed it too when I passed by earlier today. But I was so full that I couldn't eat anymore, so I didn't buy any.

Owen: Because you had too much Napolitan pasta, didn’t you? What a glutton, ordering such a large portion.

Cain: I couldn't help it! It was so delicious. After that, I walked around the streets with Rutile for a long time and started feeling hungry again.

Hey, give me one.

Owen: The song of hot dango.

Cain: What?

Owen: If you want one, sing. This is a payback for making me do weird things during the day.

Cain: Are you still holding a grudge over that...? Eh…Impromptu singing? I've never done that without a drink...

Snow: How about this? They also sell hot drinks near the red gate. It's slightly sweet and tastes a bit like wine, but it's actually non-alcoholic.

Cain: Thanks. Ohhh, it smells good. Now this can set the mood I need...

Owen: Cuore Morito

Cain: Ugh!?

Snow: Owen!? What did you--

Cain: ....He he he...there...is a pile of hot dango...~

Snow: Cain!?

Cain: Dango dango~~ Taran taran tan tan~

Owen: He's started drunken dancing and singing now. How clumsy and amusing.

Snow: Dear! Did you cast a spell on Cain? That kid took just a sip and he's already drunk.

Cain: Ha, ha ha...Let's take off our clothes to dance and sing, everyone...

Owen: Do it, do it~

Snow: Wah!!! Wait--! Noscomnia!

Cain: What just happened?

Owen: What, we were just getting to the good part.

Snow: Phew, that was close. Are you okay, dear? You were only dancing and singing, don’t worry.

Cain: I can’t remember…..But then that means I fulfilled Owen’s request?

Owen: Well, you could say that. Here, I'll give you a dango, catch it. *throw it away*

Cain: Ah! Hey, don’t just toss dango around like that!

The staged reading "A Mixer After the Mission" written by Tsushimi Bunta

Arthur: Look, Lord Oz, there are fireworks lighting up the sunset sky.

Oz: Indeed.

Rutile: It seems people are setting off fireworks to celebrate the resolution of the recent event. How beautiful.

Cain: Strange occurrences took place at Granvelle Castle. Although very dangerous and tricky, fortunately, we managed to solve them successfully.

Snow: That's right, the people on the street are also very happy. Beautiful music is coming from the square, it feels delightful.

Oz: Indeed.

Snow: Ah, dear Oz, the young wizards are all very happy now. You should sometimes respond to them with something more enthusiastic, like "Wow! That's fantastic!"

Arthur: Just watching the fireworks with Lord Oz makes me happy enough. And is this music the same as the one played during the inauguration ceremony?

Cain: Yes, the sound of fireworks, the music from that day, and the laughter of the people. Just hearing them makes me feel like I've been transported back to the day of the inauguration ceremony.

Arthur: The sages and their wizards gathered on the terrace of Granville Castle and waved many times to the people.

Rutile: After that, a lot of things really happened. Time has really flown by since then. Being able to become so close to Lord Arthur, Uncle Mithra, and others is like a dream.

Speaking of which, where are Uncle Mithra and Mr. Owen?

Cain: Hmm? Oh, I don't see them either. Weird, they were with us just a moment ago.

Snow: Maybe they went to confirm "The Legendary Wind Passage"?

Arthur: What is "The Legendary Wind Passage"?

Snow: The land in this area is blessed by the wind spirit, thus strong winds blow sometimes. The most famous one is a passage where there are always violent storms. It is said that only the strongest wizard can pass through this legendary passage.

Arthur: So it’s the strongest passage?

Snow: Exactly, the strongest passage, literally as the words imply.

Cain: I'm pretty sure those two are competing to see who can fly through that passage faster.

Rutile: I am very confident in my broom-flying skills and would like to participate too...

Mithra: Arhtim

Arthur: They're back. Welcome back, Mr. Mithra, Mr. Owen.

Mithra: We're back.

Owen: Ugh, that was the worst.

Mithra: Oz, it is said that only the strongest wizard can pass through the wind passage - the strongest path, and I have conquered it. In other words, I'm the strongest. Your strongest throne has been taken away by me. How about that? Don't you want to say something?

Oz: Wow, that's fantastic.

Mithra: Huh?

Oz: Wow, that's fantastic.

Mithra: What's that?

Oz: Wow, that's—

Mithra: Shut up, you're noisy.

Arthur: Lord Oz, your level of agreement is truly superb.

Speaking of celebration, it seems that Lord Oz, Mr. Mithra, and Mr. Owen have never participated in a mixer.

Oz: Mixer?

Arthur: A mixer is to celebrate an encounter. If possible, how about holding one now? I feel a bit regretful not being able to join the social gathering with Lord Oz and others.

I also want to plan a mixer for 22 people including the Sage.

But now that we are here, how about practicing this bonding event in advance?

Mithra: Interesting, I want to join this thing called a mixer or something

Arthur: Thank you, Mr. Mithra.

How about Lord Oz?

Oz: Yes.

Arthur: Thank you so much!

How about Owen?

Owen: I won't. It's boring.

Cain: Don't say that.

If we sit face to face in a social gathering, we can understand each other better and maybe become closer.

Owen: When did I say I want to get along with you?

Cain: I want to get along well with you.

Owen: I don't want to. As if I would go.

Cain: Uhmm okay, that's good then! I actually don't want to get along with you either, but I have to do this because my lord is here. Lucky for me that you refused me first.

Owen: Oh? So you actually don't want to get along with me?

Cain: Yeah, why should I want to get along with you? You took my eyeball.

Owen: Ha ha, what a pitiful Sir Knight.

Owen: Then I will reluctantly join this mixer. Let's get close to each other, shall we?

Cain: Is that so?! Thank you, Owen!

Owen: Huh?

Cain: That's good for you, Arthur.

Owen: What does this mean?

Cain: Everyone, let's join in the fun!

Owen: Hey? Hey!

Arthur: I see!

Speaking of which, the Sage told me once…in mixer, people are supposed to have some special events.

Rutile: Special events?

Mithra: No matter what those are, it’s not a problem for me

Arthur: I don't know the specific details. Let's try to find out.

Rutile: I think I have an idea! (Rutile starts singing)

Rutile: Why do you want to drink? Why do you want to drink? Because you want to drink, so you drink!

(T/n: He is singing a parody of なんで持ってんの, a japanese drinking song)

Arthur: *confused voice* W-what song is that?

Rutile: This is the kind of song everyone sings at the beginning of a mixer.

Cain: Somehow, it feels like I’ve heard it somewhere before.

Rutile: Really? I created this song, though.

Cain: Really? But it sounds a bit familiar… Anyway, since we have songs, there should also be dances, right? Like dancing in pairs at a ball.

Arthur: That sounds appropriate! Perfect for social occasions to celebrate new encounters.

Owen: So how about this?

Owen: We play a game where one person acts as the king and the rest are retainers who follow the king's orders.

Cain: This game might not be suitable for this event, right?

Owen: …it isn’t?

Cain: It could make the atmosphere tense. It doesn’t seem like a social game.

Rutile: Although it sounds fun, I don’t think it's suitable for social gatherings.

Owen:…Hmmm, whatever.

Arthur: So, what dishes do you think should be served at the party?

Rutile: Dishes, huh? If there’s a grand feast at the mixer, the atmosphere will be livelier.

Cain: You must be hungry, Rutile. How about roasting a whole pig or something?

Arthur: Sounds like the mixer will be quite lively.

Rutile: It does sound that way! A roasted whole pig would be nice at a mixer.

Owen: Hey, how about this?

Mixing a hot sauce puff into a plate of sweet puffs filled with thick cream.

Cain: Absolutely not. That's a terrible idea.

Owen: Why?

Cain: Well, it's just not feasible. People who eat the hot sauce puff would be in for a bad time. This is meant to be a rare opportunity to meet new friends, and doing this would definitely make the atmosphere tense.

Owen: …Wouldn’t that make everything surprisingly lively though?

Cain: No, absolutely not. This would make it difficult to warm up the atmosphere. Think about it carefully— putting hot sauce in the puff for people to eat. It's going to be very tense, I'm telling you.

Rutile: I would certainly feel nervous…

Owen: Hmmm, whatever.

Snow: Ah, now I remember!

Rutile: What is it, Lord Snow?

Snow: Dear Sage mentioned a "first impression" game that seems to be held at the mixer.

Rutile: A game of first impressions?

Snow: Yes, for example, a question like "Who looks the gentlest here, or the richest person," and then you point to someone intuitively.

Snow: I hope everyone points to me when being asked "Who is the cutest person here?"

Oz: He just blurts out his wish.

Mithra: I definitely don't think you're the cutest person. If you asked who the scariest person is, I'd probably point to you.

Snow: I'm not scary. I'm obviously very cute.

Rutile: Very cute, indeed. But since we’ve met before, it might be difficult to judge as if it were the first time.

Snow: No worries. If it's just for a short time, I can erase your memory!

Mithra: Hah?

Owen: Erase memory?

Snow: Noscomnia.

Snow: Great, now we can play the first impression game!

Snow: Okay, after preparing, let’s point out who the cutest person here is.

Arthur: What just happened?

Mithra: What kind of terrifying magic was just used?

Owen: Step any closer, and I'll kill you.

Owen: Cuore-- Mithra: Arthi-- Oz: Voz--

Snow: Wait, wait, don't be so excited yet

Mithra: What do you mean?

Owen: Who are you?

Oz: Voz–

Snow: I said wait! Now everyone is playing the First Impression game.

Rutile: First Impression game?

Snow: Yes, it is to determine who the cutest person here is in the first impression.

Cain: Hold on a minute, I don't remember anything, not even you or myself.

Snow: Well, don't worry about that.

Cain: Don't worry?!

Snow: Yeah, don't stress about it, it's no big deal.

Cain: Is it really okay?

…Well, I suppose it is!

Rutile: Great, I don’t remember anything either, so I feel relieved to hear you say that.

Mithra: What's going on? That boy's complete lack of any sense of crisis is making me irrationally angry. My stomach seems to be hurting too.

Rutile: Oops, brother over there, do you have a stomachache?

Drink some hot potion to soothe your stomach, it'll help. I'll warm it up for you now.

Ah, but... T/n: Usually Rutile calls Mithra "Oji-san," but he's addressing Mithra as "Onii-san" now.

Mithra: What's the matter?

Rutile: This potion is very bitter. Brother, can you handle it? Will it be difficult for you?

Mithra: Not a problem. If need be, I can even eat grass.

Rutile: Ha ha, you're quite the wild one.

My first impression of you, brother, is that you're a very wild person.

Mithra: Ah, thank you.

My first impression of you is that of a careless person.

Snow: Look like someone knows how to play the game already!

Arthur: Hm? If you look closely, you two have the same eye color.

Cain: Ah, you are talking about me?

Owen: Me?

Rutile: That's right. Maybe you guys are brothers?

Ah, I feel like I have a brother too.

Cain: Do I have a brother?

*look at Owen* Can I call you big bro then?

Owen: What a joke. First of all, how could I have a brother with such weak magic power?

Besides, just from the appearance point of view, my hair color is similar to that guy’s.

Arthur: Are you talking about me?

Owen: Your magic power is pretty strong. Maybe we really are brothers.

Arthur: …Big Brother!

Owen: What's wrong~

Oz: Wrong…!

Arthur: Ah. Oz: That’s definitely wrong, although I don’t know why. Arthur: You over there… Oz: …Are you talking to me?

Arthur: …Sir, you have been silent until now.

Can you say a little more? That way we can get to know your personality better. Maybe the cutest person here is you.

Oz: I have nothing to say to you.

Arthur: Why?

Oz: *Silence* Because I have nothing to say.

Arthur: But why?

Oz: *Longer silence* Because I don't have anything to say so I won't say—

Arthur: Why—!

Snow: So, you guys have nothing to say. Okay, I get it! Let's begin! When I ask who the cutest person here is, everyone points to me.

Mithra: Isn't this cheating?

Snow: Humph! Forget it, let's not ask you; let's ask the spirits of this land.

(Snow asked who is the cutest, who is the noblest, who is the sexiest, and who is liked by animals. The audience responded with Snow, Arthur, Mithra, and Owen. After that, Snow returns memories to everyone.)

Arthur: Where are we?

Owen: Feels like there's a gap in my memory...

Cain: And I feel like I just had a strange dream...

Snow: Ha ha, the first impression game was so much fun!

Oz: I don't remember anything...

Cain: I want to join in too.

Snow: But you already participated.

Cain: Eh? I did? My memory's a bit fuzzy.

Owen: Too bad for you, then.

Snow, did you cast some strange magic on us?

Arthur: I feel like Owen and I were brothers...

Oz: Wrong.

Snow: Ha ha! That was so fun!

Mithra: So, what about the mixer to celebrate our encounter? Is this the end?

Arthur: No, it's not over yet. It's been a while since we last met.

Let’s reminisce about the events from when we first met until now.

Mithra: Are we talking about my heroic deeds?

Arthur: Mithra, Owen, Lord Oz, Cain, Rutile, Lord Snow, and our other esteemed comrades. And let's not forget the heroic deeds of our dear Sir Sage.

Cain: From the Ancient Birds and Beasts to the Resurrected City of the Dead. Three monsters attacking Granville Castle. And the perilous adventures in the Western Kingdom.

Rutile: Too many to recount. Let's share our stories tonight as we delve into the memories we share with the Sage.

Owen: There might be some pages I'd rather forget completely though.

Arthur: Even so, these are the nostalgic scenes that shape who we are. No matter how embarrassing or heartbreaking they may be, let's hold them dear in our hearts. Like precious friends, let's cherish those dark pages with tenderness.

Oz: That’s just like you, who is good at loving others.

Arthur: It's thanks to you, Lord Oz, and the watchful eyes of everyone else, that I'm able to do this. Now, everyone! Let's prepare some warm black tea and sweets. Get ready for our trip down memory lane, with the sound of fireworks and the music we love, while listening to everyone's laughter.

--- END ---

[thebibliomancer]

Earth X #12

The penultimate issue. What a crazy time it has been.

Look, tandem Silver Surfers. A surfboard built for two.

Also, Tony. This is his issue. Last time he revealed that he’s been hiding in a giant robot this whole time. And he launches it to buy time when the Celestials land on Earth.

Why are the Celestials on Earth? Earth is their egg.

What is he buying time for? Black Bolt screamed a name into deep space. So for whoever’s name that was to show up.

What’s going on? Just so much. Everyone is mutated because Black Bolt set off a terrigen bomb after blinding Uatu the Watcher. A psychic kid called the Skull tried to take over the world and got his neck snapped by Captain America. Which aggroed the Celestials because the Skull was their failsafe, to keep humanity under control when everybody mutated. Because everybody mutating was the Celestial plan, so that the egg would have powerful guardians.

What’s been going on? Everything. Spider-Man got his groove back. Reed is Doom. Namor is half on fire. Machine Man is the new Watcher. There’s a werewolf on the Moon. And I did mention that the Earth is an egg!

Earth X is a wild ride.

The Celestials are big.

They’re big, they’re here, and they’re going to wipe out all life before humanity does any more damage.

That’s less than ideal if you like humanity. Or Inhumanity as it has become.

Tony Stark is Earth’s last line of defense and we already know he’s not going to survive this. He’s just buying time.

His latest, greatest armor is a heavily retooled Red Ronin. Which was a giant robot built to fight Godzilla and which Tony has been improving in the years since the terrigen bomb.

It shoots Iron Men as bullets.

That’s cool. Probably not efficient. But cool.

A giant Iron Man that shoots smaller Iron Men and if you look at the screencaps, it still looks like an angry, flailing toddler next to one Celestial.

And there’s at least ten of them.

But this is apparently what Tony has been preparing for his entire life.

Or so Reed speculates. He attributes Tony’s constant preparation for the next threat to come over the horizon to some subconscious sense that there was something wrong with Earth. But Reed says a lot of stuff in Earth X.

Most of the subplots have been taken care of by now. But there’s a few left.

Uatu the Cantwatchanything gets John Jameson to pull the Ultimate Nullifier on Machine Man. But that doesn’t go anywhere because the sun comes up over the Moon and John turns into a wolf in a spacesuit.

We finally follow up on Loki’s role in all this.

He was part of the trip to the Realm of Death plot earlier. Teaming up with Clea to betray Thor and the Hulk and then betraying her to get yoinked to Asgard for punishment. Leaving Loki free to plot to take Earth. But Aaron had an off-panel conversation with Loki.

What he apparently told him was all that exposition about Asgardians actually being shape-shifting aliens whose powers, appearances, and personalities are based on what people observing them think they should be.

Loki is furious. All this time as the scheming villain just because someone thought there needed to be one. He had to talk in that faux Shakespearean just because someone thought gods would talk that way!

(This feels like a precursor to the more meta God of Stories stuff. So Earth X gets another tally for ideas borrowed.)

He tries to tell the other Asgardians but nobody believes the trickster.

So he stabs himself to death. To make a really emphatic point.

The most dramatic.

Anyway. The doomed fight Iron Man is waging against a whole Host of Celestials.

Yeah.

He gets the thumbs down and goes down in flames.

The Celestials smack him down. He manages to walk out of the wreckage but a shard of metal is poking through him.

He walks away from the fight but not very far.

But he looks up into the sky and knows he succeeded in buying enough time when he sees Silvered Surfers.

And the Silver Surfer(s) herald another arrival.

Towering over the Celestials even more than they themselves towered over New New York.

Hi Galactus.

You were pretty explicitly said to be dead.

Did Black Bolt scream your name so hard you stopped being a star?

One last mystery for one last issue.

Although I still don’t know what the X in Earth X means. Thirteen issues counting 0 and that hasn’t been explained.

[dei2dei]

Li Mei's Kit: A Meta Analysis

I haven't been able to play the beta, but I find Li Mei's very VERY Chinese traits interesting. They leaned hard into them, and I wanted to take a moment to go all meta-geek about her fu lions and her fireworks.

Sometimes called "foo dogs", they're stylized lions and are used as guardian symbols all over China. MK has used them with great abandon throughout; they're pretty stereotypical. Traditionally, guardian lions are paired: one has a paw holding a ball, the other has a paw holding a lion cub. The one with the ball is male, the ball representing the world and the material; the one with the cub is female, representing nurturing/care and the spiritual. The female lion protects those inside, while the male protects the structure itself, and you can keep going down into layers here. Turtles on turtles, or lions on lions, as it were.

What's interesting to me is the guardian-protector angle of them and the choice of that for Li Mei. As an Umgadi, she would have been dedicated to protecting the royal family; the idea of being able to summon a spiritual guardian lion to protect her charges is a great note. When she fails in her service and leaves and becomes Constable of Sun Do, she absolutely does not leave behind her protectiveness, but in fact extends it to the capital at large. She's not just protecting Sindel and Kitana and Mileena now, it's everybody.

(and the best screencap I could find was a fu lion against Kitana, which amuses me on some level). The firecrackers are another spirit protection aspect, and I hadn't known about this moving to China. The folklore is that there was a monster who lived in the mountains that would come down to a village, terrorize it, and then leave. One year an old man shows up and spends a few days protecting the village; eventually he says "I can't do this anymore, I have places to go and things to do, but I'll help you protect yourselves". He teaches the community what to do: namely, Nian hates the color red, as well as loud noises like drums and music and… you guessed it, fireworks. Not only do they make for some pretty sweet particle effects, but they lean into that idea of protection again, a little subtle reinforcement that this is part of who Li Mei is. She's a guardian, and with her bright lights and loud noises, she's going to keep the bad things away. The last "big" element in Li Mei's kit that's new is her Sky Lantern. From a gaming POV it's a great anti-air move, and it actually leans into the historical side of things: they were used in China initially for military purposes, and then took on a non-military angle. Li Mei's kit leans into the military side of things, so these aren't unexpected.

But the sky lanterns do have a significance today that is less about the military, and more about family and reunions. Much like the fu dogs also have nuture/care and family tied into them, so do the lanterns - which means Li Mei has a whole boatload of "I will protect and care for everyone as my family". Especially since she was taken from hers and became a warrior-priestess. Despite - or in spite of - everything that's happened, Li Mei is going to continue to protect her family... which at this point is all of Sun Do. And just maybe all of Outworld, but only time will tell.

[khaliarart]

Recently found your art blog from the IZ tag and I really love how your lineart/shading combo looks like actual show screencaps from a distance. I was wondering if you had any tutorials for how you pull that off, especially for pieces like /post/722388451213918208/attack-on-drawile ? I ask not because I'm trying to rip your style or anything but I really have a thing for animated screencap + cel shading quality fanart that doesn't just look like grainy VHS footage.

So I don't have a tutorial and I never tried to make one, but I'll try my best to give a quick rundown here. My process is very messy and I usually rush through and don't reflect back on it.

The background I made by planting blobs onto the screen I color picked from different anime backgrounds (got no pic tho). Then I used the ClipStudio colorize feature to blend them into one big sky blob and added some building blobs per hand (picture 1). I then blurred it all with gaussian blur (picture 2).

I always use the same line brush, it's a photoshop round brush on the smallest size that will work. The colors of the character I pick straight from the reference.

From there I only use colors I find in the background to shade the character. In this case I put a purple multiply onto the flat colors to merge the character more into the scene. Then I put a gradient map onto the entire image, usually on Hard Light mode and 50% opacity.

From there I think the key is to stay simple in your shading. Animation usually isn't heavily shaded, it often only has a lighter rim and darker shadows. I picked only one color for all shadows, the same purple I used for the gradient map and that's found in the background.

Last step is random stuff that looks fun- making the rim light stronger with a big glow with a soft airbrush and also adding the little particles. I also made some soft airbrush shadows to the large parts like the tail and arm, because a hard shadow that big would have been to much.

I didn't use any grain or chromatic aberration filters. They may have added to a screenshot feel but that wasn't my focus here.

Hope that helps!

[supernightboy08]

Happy Mother’s Day!

My Favorite Mothers:

1. Vanilla The Rabbit

2. Grandma Rosiepuff

3. Aunt Cass

4. Pretzel Lady

5. Nani Pelekai

6. Longclaw

7. Ellie

[arcplaysgames]

Actually, no. lemme recap now because I bet once I meet the Big Bad and beat them it'll be like 2 hours of cutscenes and dialogue.

Where did I leave off-- REALLY? THAT LONG AGO? FUCK ME.

Okay SOMEONE remind me LATER to sum up Empress, because I completed it. Note to self, it's around 12/2 in your screencaps.

So Shido wins the elections because it turns out that no one saw the Thieves' big calling card for him, and those who did didn't remember it. There is obviously Some Shit going on with people's mass apathy syndrome.

Because Persona only has one theme and it's "people will be too lazy to pay attention to the truth, fucking sheeple," I guess.

/clucks tongue. I'm not really impressed by this turn of the story, I'm kinda Over the slow increase in apathy that winds up being the undoing of the world until we beat up a god and save everyone. This is the third time, I would have shaken shit up by having the Hidden Big Bad send the Thieves a calling card, demanding they come protect their Treasure, and then you meet the Big Bad and just gimme a villain with a motive, goddamn. It's a supernatural story, the sky's the limit!

I shouldn't kvetch too much yet. Anyway, Shido admits to his crimes, but the populace doesn't seem to care and still supports him.

Shido's lackeys basically go "okay Shido had a major meltdown buuuuuut we can still carry his agenda forward bc if we don't, we're all going down with the ship here."

Excellent question. In P4G I had a pretty strong idea what was doing that and here I do not, can y'all drop some hints?

Morgana points out that the general public has a Palace and has a Treasure. It's Mementos. So if the crew wants to force a mass shift in the world's perception, they can do that. But like all other Palaces, when the Treasure is taken, Mementos will collapse, to be replaced with new, corrected cognition.

In the process, the crew will lose their powers. Oh and Morgana is gonna die.

The game hasn't said that part yet but if they didn't kill Ryuji, they're gonna kill Morgana, fucking bet.

I love you, Morgana Notacat.

This was actually where I got my idea of what Morgana is. Morgana's upgraded Persona is Mercurius/Hermes. Yanno, the god of messages, of thieves, of swiftness, and well-known classic psychopomp.

Morgana keeps remembering himself being born in Mementos. He's without a doubt some manifestation of humanity's rebellion against systems, the literally cognitive patron saint of Phantom Thieves. He's a mascot in the most literal sense, an emblem of good luck for the Thieves' work.

Even the fact he's a cat kind of fits in nicely. Cats are free spirits who opt-into being it other people. They are creatures of choice.

I'm gonna be big sad when Morgana fucking dies lemme tell you. I'm pretty sure he's, like, sustained by Mementos and the plan is to collapse it? Yeah, Morgana is fucked.

Goddamn HERMES, that's so cool. Morgana, our psychopomp into the bowels of the collective unconsciousness.

GODDAMIT NOTIGOR WHAT DO YOU WANT, IT IS CHRISTMAS FUCKING EVE, YOU BETTER GIMME PRESENTS.

I know that you know that we all know that this isn't Igor but sometimes it fucking floors me how much he isn't Igor, jesus fucking christ. Who tf is this guy. I hope he's the Big Bad somehow bc there ain't anyone else at this point.

Please don't pull another It Was The Gas Station Attendant, Persona, I'm fucking on my knees begging you.

lmao i love the game poking the player to ensure they noticed Morgana is acting odd

Deep in Mementos is... this..... uh..... thing. A bunch of otherworldly veins flowing down into the core.

/looks nervously around

so uh. is it a hot take to say that, uh, the last segment of this game here, the Mementos Depths, is the ugliest place in the game? Just wondering because wow working through this place, I was struck by how completely aesthetically unappealing all of this is. It should be mysterious and eerie but mostly I am finding it.... blurgh. I thought Kaneshiro's Palace was pretty unappealing too, but this is bad enough I feel the need to remark on it.

/gestures at screen. What is all this????? oh god it reminds me of the Collector Base in Mass Effect 2. Except that game came out in 2010 for the previous generation console. /winces

Anyway.

The Depths of Mementos is a prison of complacency.

All of the Shadows the Thieves defeated are in the prison cells. They are relieved to be there, where they don't have to think. Everything is taken care of for them.

Man, remember back in Persona 3 when it turned out that defeating all the Full Moon shadows was actually the thing that doomed the world? Wouldn't it be hilarious is the Thieves fucked all this up the whole time? l m a o.

I honestly don't know if that's what's happening here yet, I haven't reached, like, the Explanation, but it does feel a bit like alllllllll the way back at the start of the liveblog when I was contending with the ethics of the entire idea of stealing someone's heart and what it does. The game went out of its way to justify doing it with Shido's attempted suicide, but the bridge to far for me (and thankfully for Ann too) was killing these people.

But now what happens seems to be akin to ego death instead, and.... I dunno, man, is that much different than murder?

SIGHS LOUDLY

okay is that true or is this another fucking situation where Izanami is like "WELL REALLY when you THINK ABOUT IT all I'm doing is giving humanity what they really want soooooooooo it makes you think huh, doesn't it make you think"

MAYBE THE GAME WILL PROVE ME WRONG, I DUNNO YET.

oh my god. oh my god.

IGOR!!!!!!!! IGOR IS IN THERE!!!!

LEMME IN!!!!!! LEMME IIIIIIIIN I NEED TO SEE HIMMMMM I NEED TO TALK TO HIM I MISS HIM sobs

yeah no, bet, it's igor's cell. which means Notigor locked him up? maybe Notigor is the final boss, that'd be great, it'd slot in perfectly with this place being a prison and Reverie having been stuck in the shitty Velvet Prison this whole time.

please igor help me, i'm so tired of the edgelord execution shit.

PSYCHOPOMP MORGANA!!!!!!!!!!

me pressing my face against the bars whispering I'll be back for you igor i love you

lol what if it isn't even igor in there can you imagine

[londonfoginacup]

The mythological symbol of a ladder extending from Earth to heaven appeared in a dream to Jacob, son of Isaac. The icon of a cosmic stairway on which angels move up and down between the earth below and Yahweh at the top is recorded in the Hebrew bible. Within the major world religions, the image of the sky ladder is little more than a vestige of a motif that played a far more prominent role in ancient cosmologies worldwide. You don't know your bible.

(Note: religion and theology talk ahead)

Ex… Excuse me??????? I wake up to THIS?? Anon what. WHAT.

“You don’t know your Bible” oh my god I have never felt so insulted. I don’t fall for anon bait usually but jfc you’ve found my weak spot. WHAT. Are you really trying to imply that my funny little Daylight/Late Night Talking fanart was in reference to JACOB’S LADDER?

(Screencapped like this to make it smaller)

What. Do you think I am unaware of the theological interpretations of Jacob’s Ladder? The ladder that Jacob saw in a dream/vision while fleeing from Esau? Are you trying to make me aware of the many interpretations of Jacob’s Ladder, anon, that perhaps it’s referring to the many exiles of the Jewish people (I lean toward that one), or that it signifies the bridge between Earth and heaven (as Jacob was likely on Mount Moriah at the time), or perhaps that it’s a representation of the personal struggle with sin over a lifetime, the way one ascends and falls? Is it a representation of the covenant between God and his people? Or even the Islamic interpretation, which I do not pretend to know nearly as much about, that the ladder represents the straight and narrow path? Or, as you refer to the Bible, I assume you are looking for the common Christian interpretation where this ladder is God bridging the gap to Man, unlike when Man tried to do the opposite with the Tower of Babel, now Jesus himself is the ladder, as he himself states in John 1:50-51?

Anon. ANON. You come to ME about religion? Would you perhaps like to see the photo I took MYSELF of the Jacob’s ladder that climbs the side of the cathedral in Bath? (Trick question you can’t because I’m at work and it’s on my home computer)

Well first of all I’ll have you know that the art I made was based off of this post “second mv now where he's coming from the sky...”. Like??? I was doing art based on the symbolism of Harry’s videos. Come on. If this was a ladder ascending to the heavens, Harry would be a HELL OF A LOT HIGHER UP. PLANES FLY HIGHER THAN THAT BOY. I assume that the vision is more of him creating a separation for himself, of coming down to interact with the world and ascending back to safety. Also, if anything, I would look at the art I made and deduce a sort of princess and the pea idea from it. A stranded princess sleeping atop an offered bed while people around watch to see if she really is the princess she says she is, waiting for her to fail at the tasks given her, an audience intent on hoping she will miss the pea under her heaven-high stack of mattresses, or hoping perhaps that she’ll just fall off the ladder.

Anon. NOTHING in this art was biblical allegory. And if it was? You would be able to tell! I am not subtle with my allegories!

Perhaps you would like to read my Christmas fic Unto You in which I wrote the story of the birth of Christ as an a/b/o fic set in Victorian England where Harry is Mother Mary. IS THAT SUBTLE ENOUGH FOR YOU?

Or, actually more subtle, my Big Bang fic Through a Mirror Dimly the title of which references 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”‬ ‭(ESV‬‬ version), in which I use that verse in reference to the darkness that Louis in that fic is living in, as someone struggling with undiagnosed OCD and whose roommate is not able to see him for who he truly is until the truth is revealed.

“little more than a vestige of a motif that played a far more prominent role in ancient cosmologies worldwide” Your attempt at pretentiousness is lost when you are not fighting a real battle. Come to me when you want to have a real conversation about the apologetic implications of Phil 1:15-18 and using biblical types as trope in fic. Then we can talk.